
[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 153 (Monday, August 10, 2015)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 47862-47864]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-19500]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[EPA-R08-OAR-2012-0346; FRL-9932-04-Region 8]


Approval and Promulgation of State Implementation Plans; State of 
Colorado; Interstate Transport of Pollution for the 2006 24-Hour 
PM2.5 NAAQS

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is approving a May 
11, 2012 State Implementation Plan (SIP) submission from the State of 
Colorado that is intended to demonstrate that its SIP meets certain 
interstate transport requirements of the Clean Air Act (Act or CAA) for 
the 2006 fine particulate matter (PM2.5) National Ambient 
Air Quality Standards (NAAQS). This submission addresses the 
requirement that Colorado's SIP contain adequate provisions prohibiting 
air emissions that will have certain adverse air quality effects in 
other states. EPA is determining that Colorado's existing SIP contains 
adequate provisions to ensure that air emissions in Colorado do not 
significantly contribute to nonattainment or interfere with maintenance 
of the 2006 24-hour PM2.5 NAAQS in any other state, or 
interfere with another state's measures to prevent significant 
deterioration of air quality or to protect visibility. EPA is also 
approving the portion of Colorado's submission that addresses the CAA 
requirement that SIPs contain adequate provisions related to interstate 
and international pollution abatement.

DATES: This final rule is effective on September 9, 2015.

ADDRESSES: EPA has established a docket for this action under Docket ID 
No. EPA-R08-OAR-2012-0346. All documents in the docket are listed on 
the www.regulations.gov Web site. Although listed in the index, some 
information is not publicly available, e.g., Confidential Business 
Information (CBI) or other information whose disclosure is restricted 
by statute. Certain other material, such as copyrighted material, is 
not placed on the Internet and will be publicly available only in hard 
copy form. Publicly available docket materials are available either 
electronically through www.regulations.gov or in hard copy at the Air 
Program, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Region 8, 1595 Wynkoop 
Street, Denver, Colorado

[[Page 47863]]

80202-1129. EPA requests that if at all possible, you contact the 
individual listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section to 
view the hard copy of the docket. You may view the hard copy of the 
docket Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., excluding federal 
holidays.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Adam Clark, Air Program, U.S. 
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Region 8, Mail Code 8P-AR, 1595 
Wynkoop Street, Denver, Colorado 80202-1129, 303-312-7104, 
clark.adam@epa.gov.

I. Background

    On September 21, 2006, EPA promulgated a final rule revising the 
1997 24-hour primary and secondary NAAQS for PM2.5 from 65 
micrograms per cubic meter ([micro]g/m\3\) to 35 [micro]g/m\3\ (October 
17, 2006, 71 FR 61144).
    Section 110(a)(1) of the CAA requires each state to submit to EPA, 
within three years (or such shorter period as the Administrator may 
prescribe) after the promulgation of a primary or secondary NAAQS or 
any revision thereof, a SIP that provides for the ``implementation, 
maintenance, and enforcement'' of such NAAQS. EPA refers to these 
specific submittals as ``infrastructure'' SIPs because they are 
intended to address basic structural SIP requirements for new or 
revised NAAQS. For the 2006 24-hour PM2.5 NAAQS, these 
infrastructure SIPs were due on September 21, 2009. CAA section 
110(a)(2) includes a list of specific elements that ``[e]ach such plan 
submission'' must meet.
    The interstate transport provisions in CAA section 110(a)(2)(D)(i) 
(also called ``good neighbor'' provisions) require each state to submit 
a SIP that prohibits emissions that will have certain adverse air 
quality effects in other states. CAA section 110(a)(2)(D)(i) identifies 
four distinct elements related to the impacts of air pollutants 
transported across state lines. The two elements under 
110(a)(2)(D)(i)(I) require SIPs to contain adequate provisions to 
prohibit any source or other type of emissions activity within the 
state from emitting air pollutants that will (element 1) contribute 
significantly to nonattainment in any other state with respect to any 
such national primary or secondary NAAQS, and (element 2) interfere 
with maintenance by any other state with respect to the same NAAQS. The 
two elements under 110(a)(2)(D)(i)(II) require SIPs to contain adequate 
provisions to prohibit emissions that will interfere with measures 
required to be included in the applicable implementation plan for any 
other state under part C (element 3) to prevent significant 
deterioration of air quality or (element 4) to protect visibility. CAA 
section 110(a)(2)(D)(ii) requires that each SIP shall contain adequate 
provisions insuring compliance with applicable requirements of sections 
126 and 115 (relating to interstate and international pollution 
abatement).
    On May 11, 2012, the Colorado Department of Public Health and 
Environment (CDPHE) submitted an interstate transport SIP which 
concluded that Colorado meets all of the requirements of CAA section 
110(a)(2)(D)(i) for the 2006 24-hour PM2.5 NAAQS.\1\ The 
State's May 11, 2012 interstate transport submission and June 4, 2010 
infrastructure SIP certification for the 2006 24-hour PM2.5 
NAAQS both overlooked the requirements of CAA section 110(a)(2)(D)(ii), 
which requires that each SIP shall contain adequate provisions insuring 
compliance with applicable requirements of sections 126 and 115 
(relating to interstate and international pollution abatement). The 
State submitted a clarification letter on March 12, 2015, which 
explained that the State had inadvertently left discussion of 
110(a)(2)(D)(ii) out of the 2006 24-hour PM2.5 
infrastructure certification.\2\ EPA proposed approval of all 
110(a)(2)(D)(i) and 110(a)(2)(D)(ii) elements of Colorado's May 11, 
2012 submission on May 12, 2015 (80 FR 27121).
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    \1\ Colorado's SIP, dated May 11, 2012, is included in the 
docket for this action.
    \2\ Colorado's certification letter is available in the docket 
for this action.
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II. Response to Comments

    EPA did not receive any comments on the May 12, 2015 proposal.

III. Final Rule

    EPA is approving all four interstate transport elements of CAA 
Section 110(a)(2)(D)(i) from Colorado's May 11, 2012 submission. This 
approval is based on EPA's finding that emissions from Colorado do not 
significantly contribute to nonattainment or interfere with maintenance 
of the 2006 24-hour PM2.5 NAAQS in any other state and that 
the existing Colorado SIP is, therefore, adequate to meet the 
requirements of CAA section 110(a)(2)(D)(i) for the 2006 24-hour 
PM2.5 NAAQS.
    EPA is also approving the 110(a)(2)(D)(ii) portion of Colorado's 
submission, based on our finding that the State's existing SIP is 
adequate to meet the requirements of this element for the 2006 24-hour 
PM2.5 NAAQS.

IV. Statutory and Executive Orders Review

    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, 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 Order 
12866 (58 FR 51735, October 4, 1993);
     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).
    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

[[Page 47864]]

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. EPA will submit a report containing this action 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 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 Clean Air Act, petitions for 
judicial review of this action must be filed in the United States Court 
of Appeals for the appropriate circuit by October 9, 2015. Filing a 
petition for reconsideration by the Administrator of this final rule 
does not affect the finality of this action 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 CAA section 307(b)(2).)

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 52

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

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

    Dated: July 23, 2015.
Debra H. Thomas,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region 8.

    40 CFR part 52 is amended to read 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 G--Colorado

0
2. Section 52.352 is amended by adding paragraph (c) to read as 
follows:


Sec.  52.352  Interstate transport.

* * * * *
    (c) Addition to the Colorado State Implementation Plan of the 
Colorado Interstate Transport SIP regarding 2006 PM2.5 
Standards for all four of the CAA section 110(a)(2)(D)(i) requirements 
submitted by the Governor's designee on May 11, 2012.

[FR Doc. 2015-19500 Filed 8-7-15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P


