[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 233 (Tuesday, December 4, 2018)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 62468-62470]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-26294]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[EPA-R06-OAR-2018-0676; FRL-9986-66-Region 6]


Air Plan Approval; Texas; Emission Statements

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Direct final rule.

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SUMMARY: Pursuant to the Federal Clean Air Act (CAA or the Act), the 
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is approving a portion of a State 
Implementation Plan (SIP) revision submitted by the State of Texas for 
the 2008 8-hour ozone national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS). 
The portion of the SIP revision being approved pertains to CAA 2008 
ozone NAAQS requirement for emission statements in the Dallas/Fort 
Worth ozone nonattainment area (DFW area).

DATES: This rule is effective on March 4, 2019 without further notice, 
unless the EPA receives relevant adverse comment by January 3, 2019. If 
the EPA receives such comment, the EPA will publish a timely withdrawal 
in the Federal Register informing the public that this rule will not 
take effect.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket No. EPA-R06-OAR-
2018-0676, at https://www.regulations.gov or via email to [email protected]. Follow the online instructions for submitting 
comments. Once submitted, comments cannot be edited or removed from 
Regulations.gov. The EPA may publish any comment received to its public 
docket. Do not submit electronically any information you consider to be 
Confidential Business Information (CBI) or other information whose 
disclosure is restricted by statute. Multimedia submissions (audio, 
video, etc.) must be accompanied by a written comment. The written 
comment is considered the official comment and should include 
discussion of all points you wish to make. The EPA will generally not 
consider comments or comment contents located outside of the primary 
submission (i.e., on the web, cloud, or other file sharing system). For 
additional submission methods, please contact Ms. Karolina Ruan Lei, 
214-665-7346, [email protected]. For the full EPA public 
comment policy, information about CBI or multimedia submissions, and 
general guidance on making effective comments, please visit https://www.epa.gov/dockets/commenting-epa-dockets.
    Docket: The index to the docket for this action is available 
electronically at www.regulations.gov and in hard copy at EPA Region 6, 
1445 Ross Avenue, Suite 700, Dallas, Texas. While all documents in the 
docket are listed in the index, some information may be publicly 
available only at the hard copy location (e.g., copyrighted material), 
and some may not be publicly available at either location (e.g., CBI).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Karolina Ruan Lei, 214-665-7346, 
[email protected]. To inspect the hard copy materials, please 
schedule an appointment with Ms. Karolina Ruan Lei or Mr. Bill Deese at 
214-665-7253.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Throughout this document ``we,'' ``us,'' and 
``our'' means the EPA.

I. Background

    Section 110 of the CAA requires states to develop and submit to the 
EPA a SIP to ensure that state air quality meets the NAAQS. These 
ambient standards currently address six criteria pollutants: Carbon 
monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, ozone, lead, particulate matter, and sulfur 
dioxide. Each federally-approved SIP protects air quality primarily by 
addressing air pollution at its point of origin through air pollution 
regulations and control strategies. The EPA approved SIP regulations 
and control strategies are federally enforceable.
    In 2008, we revised the 8-hour ozone primary and secondary NAAQS to 
a level of 0.075 parts per million (ppm) to provide increased 
protection of public health and the environment (73 FR 16436, March 27, 
2008). The 2008 8-hour ozone NAAQS revised the 1997 8-hour ozone NAAQS 
of 0.08 ppm. The DFW area was classified as a ``Moderate'' ozone 
nonattainment area for the 2008 8-hour ozone NAAQS (77 FR 30088, May 
21, 2012). The DFW 2008 ozone nonattainment area consists of Collin, 
Dallas, Denton, Ellis, Johnson, Kaufman, Parker, Rockwall, Tarrant, and 
Wise counties.
    On August 21, 2018, Texas submitted a SIP revision addressing 
oxides of nitrogen (NOx) reasonably available control 
technology (RACT) for a cement manufacturing plant in Ellis County as a 
part of its DFW 2008 8-hour ozone NAAQS SIP update. That SIP revision 
also included a description of how the CAA Section 182(a)(3)(B) 
requirement for emission statements from stationary point sources are 
met in the DFW area for the 2008 ozone NAAQS, using already-existing 
measures previously

[[Page 62469]]

approved by EPA.\1\ EPA is only evaluating the emission statements 
portion of the August 21, 2018 SIP submittal in this action.\2\ A copy 
of the SIP revision submittal that includes the emission statement 
requirement is included in the docket to this rulemaking and is 
available online at www.regulations.gov, Docket number EPA-R06-OAR-
2018-0676. In the SIP revision submittal, Texas noted that the SIP 
revision pertaining to emissions inventory requirements approved by EPA 
on August 26, 1994 (59 FR 44036) meets the CAA requirement for emission 
statements. The codification of the Texas SIP approved by EPA can be 
found at 40 CFR 52.2270(c).
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    \1\ See page 4-4 of the adopted SIP revision submittal by Texas 
that is included in the docket to this action.
    \2\ In a separate action we proposed to approve the remainder of 
the August 21, 2018 SIP submittal. See Docket number EPA-R06-OAR-
2018-0675 online at www.regulations.gov.
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II. The EPA's Evaluation

    CAA section 182(a)(3)(B) calls for SIPs for all ozone nonattainment 
areas to require that the owner or operator of each stationary source 
of nitrogen oxides or volatile organic compounds (ozone precursors) 
provide the State with an annual statement of emissions along with a 
certification that this information is accurate to the best knowledge 
of the individual certifying the statement.
    The Texas SIP includes 30 TAC Section 101.10 (Emissions Inventory 
Requirements). The certification for emission statements is found at 30 
TAC Section 101.10(d) (Certifying statement). We initially approved 
this certification as meeting the CAA emission statement requirement on 
August 26, 1994 (59 FR 44036).\3\ Most recently we approved revisions 
to 30 TAC Section 101.10 (Emissions Inventory Requirements) on June 8, 
2017 (82 FR 26598). The most recently EPA approved Texas regulation 
continues to include appropriate provisions so that the owner or 
operator of each stationary source must provide the State with a 
statement with each emissions inventory attesting that the information 
contained in the inventory is true and accurate to the best knowledge 
of the certifying official (30 TAC Section 101.10(d)(1)). We find that 
the SIP revision submittal that is the subject of this action continues 
to be consistent with those requirements. Therefore, since the Texas 
SIP already includes an approved CAA emission statement requirement, we 
are approving this portion of the SIP revision as it pertains to the 
2008 ozone standard.
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    \3\ In that action, we approved revisions to 30 TAC Section 
101.10: Emissions Inventory Requirements and the emission statement 
program for stationary sources within ozone nonattainment areas as 
the revisions satisfied CAA Section 182(a)(3)(B) requirements and 
was consistent with EPA's draft Guidance on the Implementation of an 
Emission Statement Program (July 1992).
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III. Final Action

    We are approving the revision to the Texas SIP submitted on August 
21, 2018, that pertains to the 2008 ozone NAAQS requirement for 
emission statements for large stationary sources in the DFW area.
    The EPA is publishing this rule without prior proposal because we 
view this as a non-controversial amendment and anticipate no adverse 
comments. However, in the proposed rules section of this Federal 
Register publication, we are publishing a separate document that will 
serve as the proposal to approve the SIP revision if relevant adverse 
comments are received. This rule will be effective on March 4, 2019 
without further notice unless we receive relevant adverse comment by 
January 3, 2019. If we receive relevant adverse comments, we will 
publish a timely withdrawal in the Federal Register informing the 
public that the rule will not take effect. We will address all public 
comments in a subsequent final rule based on the proposed rule. We will 
not institute a second comment period on this action. Any parties 
interested in commenting must do so now. Please note that if we receive 
relevant adverse comment on an amendment, paragraph, or section of this 
rule and if that provision may be severed from the remainder of the 
rule, we may adopt as final those provisions of the rule that are not 
the subject of an adverse comment.

IV. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

    Under the CAA, the Administrator is required to approve a SIP 
submission that complies with the provisions of the Act and applicable 
Federal regulations. 42 U.S.C. 7410(k); 40 CFR 52.02(a). Thus, in 
reviewing SIP submissions, the EPA's role is to approve state choices, 
provided that they meet the criteria of the CAA. Accordingly, this 
action merely approves state law as meeting Federal requirements and 
does not impose additional requirements beyond those imposed by state 
law. For that reason, this action:
     Is not a ``significant regulatory action'' subject to 
review by the Office of Management and Budget under Executive Orders 
12866 (58 FR 51735, October 4, 1993) and 13563 (76 FR 3821, January 21, 
2011);
     Is not an Executive Order 13771 (82 FR 9339, February 2, 
2017) regulatory action because SIP approvals are exempted under 
Executive Order 12866;
     Does not impose an information collection burden under the 
provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.);
     Is certified as not having a significant economic impact 
on a substantial number of small entities under the Regulatory 
Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 601 et seq.);
     Does not contain any unfunded mandate or significantly or 
uniquely affect small governments, as described in the Unfunded 
Mandates Reform Act of 1995 (Pub. L. 104-4);
     Does not have Federalism implications as specified in 
Executive Order 13132 (64 FR 43255, August 10, 1999);
     Is not an economically significant regulatory action based 
on health or safety risks subject to Executive Order 13045 (62 FR 
19885, April 23, 1997);
     Is not a significant regulatory action subject to 
Executive Order 13211 (66 FR 28355, May 22, 2001);
     Is not subject to requirements of section 12(d) of the 
National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act of 1995 (15 U.S.C. 272 
note) because application of those requirements would be inconsistent 
with the CAA; and
     Does not provide EPA with the discretionary authority to 
address, as appropriate, disproportionate human health or environmental 
effects, using practicable and legally permissible methods, under 
Executive Order 12898 (59 FR 7629, February 16, 1994).
    In addition, the SIP is not approved to apply on any Indian 
reservation land or in any other area where EPA or an Indian tribe has 
demonstrated that a tribe has jurisdiction. In those areas of Indian 
country, the rule does not have tribal implications and will not impose 
substantial direct costs on tribal governments or preempt tribal law as 
specified by Executive Order 13175 (65 FR 67249, November 9, 2000).
    The Congressional Review Act, 5 U.S.C. 801 et seq., as added by the 
Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996, generally 
provides that before a rule may take effect, the agency promulgating 
the rule must submit a rule report, which includes a copy of the rule, 
to each House of the Congress and to the Comptroller General of the 
United States. The EPA will submit a report containing this rule and 
other required information to the U.S. Senate, the U.S. House of 
Representatives, and the Comptroller General of the United States prior 
to publication of the rule in the Federal

[[Page 62470]]

Register. A major rule cannot take effect until 60 days after it is 
published in the Federal Register. This action is not a ``major rule'' 
as defined by 5 U.S.C. 804(2).
    Under section 307(b)(1) of the CAA, petitions for judicial review 
of this action must be filed in the United States Court of Appeals for 
the appropriate circuit by February 4, 2019. Filing a petition for 
reconsideration by the Administrator of this final rule does not affect 
the finality of this rule for the purposes of judicial review nor does 
it extend the time within which a petition for judicial review may be 
filed, and shall not postpone the effectiveness of such rule or action. 
This action may not be challenged later in proceedings to enforce its 
requirements. (See section 307(b)(2).)

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 52

    Environmental protection, Air pollution control, Incorporation by 
reference, Nitrogen dioxide, Ozone, Reporting and recordkeeping 
requirements, Volatile organic compounds.

    Dated: November 26, 2018.
Anne Idsal,
Regional Administrator, Region 6.

    40 CFR part 52 is amended as follows:

PART 52--APPROVAL AND PROMULGATION OF IMPLEMENTATION PLANS

0
1. The authority citation for part 52 continues to read as follows:

    Authority:  42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.

Subpart SS--Texas

0
2. In Sec.  [thinsp]52.2270(e), the second table titled ``EPA Approved 
Nonregulatory Provisions and Quasi-Regulatory Measures in the Texas 
SIP'' is amended by adding an entry at the end for ``Emission Statement 
Requirements for the 2008 Ozone NAAQS''.
    The revision reads as follows:


Sec.  52.2270   Identification of plan.

* * * * *
    (e) * * *

              EPA Approved Nonregulatory Provisions and Quasi-Regulatory Measures in the Texas SIP
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                                       Applicable           State
      Name of SIP provision        geographic or non-    submittal/     EPA approval date         Comments
                                    attainment area    effective date
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                                                  * * * * * * *
Emission Statement Requirements   Dallas-Fort Worth,        8/21/2018  12/4/2018, [Insert  .....................
 for the 2008 Ozone NAAQS.         TX.                                  Federal Register
                                                                        citation].
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[FR Doc. 2018-26294 Filed 12-3-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6560-50-P


