
[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 209 (Wednesday, October 29, 2014)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 64353-64356]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-25742]


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 ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[EPA-R09-OAR-2014-0696; FRL-9918-58-Region 9]


Revisions to the California State Implementation Plan, Ventura 
County Air Pollution Control District

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Proposed rule.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to 
approve a State Implementation Plan (SIP) revision submitted by 
California for the Ventura County Air Pollution Control District 
(VCAPCD or ``the District'') portion of the California SIP. The 
submitted SIP revision contains the District's demonstration regarding 
Reasonably Available Control Technology (RACT) requirements for the 
2008 8-hour ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS). We 
are proposing to approve the submitted SIP revision under the Clean Air 
Act as amended in 1990 (CAA or the Act). We are taking comments on this 
proposal and plan to follow with a final action.

DATES: Any comments must arrive by November 28, 2014.

ADDRESSES: Submit comments, identified by docket number EPA-R09-OAR-
2014-0696, by one of the following methods:
    1. Federal eRulemaking Portal: www.regulations.gov. Follow the on-
line instructions.
    2. Email: steckel.andrew@epa.gov.
    3. Mail or deliver: Andrew Steckel (Air-4), U.S. Environmental 
Protection Agency Region IX, 75 Hawthorne Street, San Francisco, CA 
94105-3901.
    Instructions: All comments will be included in the public docket 
without change and may be made available online at www.regulations.gov, 
including any personal information provided, unless the comment 
includes Confidential Business Information (CBI) or other information 
whose disclosure is restricted by statute. Information that you 
consider CBI or otherwise protected should be clearly identified as 
such and should not be submitted through www.regulations.gov or email. 
www.regulations.gov is an ``anonymous access'' system, and EPA will not 
know your identity or contact information unless you provide it in the 
body of your comment. If you send email directly to EPA, your email 
address will be automatically captured and included as part of the 
public comment. If EPA cannot read your comment due to technical 
difficulties and cannot contact you for clarification, EPA may not be 
able to consider your comment. Electronic files should avoid the use of 
special characters, any form of encryption, and be free of any defects 
or viruses.
    Docket: Generally, documents in the docket for this action are 
available electronically at www.regulations.gov and in hard copy at EPA 
Region IX, 75 Hawthorne Street, San Francisco, California. While all 
documents in the docket are listed at www.regulations.gov, some 
information may be publicly available only at the hard copy location 
(e.g., copyrighted material, large maps), and some may not be publicly 
available in either location (e.g., CBI). To inspect the hard copy 
materials, please schedule an appointment during normal business hours 
with the contact listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Stanley Tong, EPA Region IX, (415) 
947-4122, tong.stanley@epa.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Throughout this document, ``we,'' ``us'' and 
``our'' refer to EPA.

Table of Contents

I. The State's Submittal
    A. What document did the State submit?
    B. Are there other versions of document?
    C. What is the purpose of the RACT SIP submission?
II. EPA's Evaluation and Proposed Action
    A. How is EPA evaluating the RACT SIP submission?
    B. Does the RACT SIP submission meet the evaluation criteria?
    C. EPA's Recommendation To Strengthen the RACT SIP
    D. Proposed Action and Public Comment
III. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

I. The State's Submittal

A. What document did the State submit?

    Table 1 lists the document addressed by this proposal with the date 
that it was adopted by the local air agency and submitted by the 
California Air Resources Board.

                                           Table 1--Submitted Document
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                Local agency                               Document                   Adopted        Submitted
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
VCAPCD.....................................  2014 Reasonably Available Control           6/10/14         7/18/14
                                              Technology (RACT) State
                                              Implementation Plan (SIP) Revision
                                              (``2014 RACT SIP'').
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[[Page 64354]]

    On September 18 2014, EPA determined that the submittal for 
VCAPCD's 2014 RACT SIP met the completeness criteria in 40 CFR Part 51 
Appendix V, which must be met before formal EPA review.

B. Are there other versions of this document?

    While there is no previous version of VCAPCD's 2014 RACT SIP, we 
approved VCAPCD's 2006 RACT SIP analysis on April 21, 2009 (74 FR 
18148) for the 1997 8-hour ozone NAAQS, and VCAPCD's 2009 RACT SIP 
Revision on May 15, 2014 (79 FR 27761) for several newly issued Control 
Techniques Guidelines (CTG) documents.

C. What is the purpose of the RACT SIP submission?

    Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and nitrogen oxides 
(NOX) help produce ground-level ozone and smog, which harm 
human health and the environment. Section 110(a) of the CAA requires 
States to submit enforceable regulations that control VOC and 
NOX emissions. Sections 182(b)(2) and (f) require that SIPs 
for ozone nonattainment areas classified as moderate or above require 
implementation of RACT for any source covered by a CTG document and any 
other major stationary source of VOCs or NOX. The VCAPCD is 
subject to this requirement as it is designated and classified as a 
serious ozone nonattainment area for the 2008 8-hour ozone NAAQS. 40 
CFR 81.305; 77 FR 3008 (May 21, 2012) (final rule designating and 
classifying Ventura County APCD as serious nonattainment for the 2008 
8-hour ozone NAAQS). Therefore, VCAPCD must, at a minimum, adopt RACT-
level controls for all sources covered by a CTG document and for all 
major non-CTG stationary sources of VOCs or NOX. Any 
stationary source that emits or has a potential to emit at least 50 
tons per year (tpy) of VOCs or NOX is a major stationary 
source in a serious ozone nonattainment area. CAA section 182(c), (f).
    Section III.D. of the preamble to EPA's proposed rule to implement 
the 2008 NAAQS (78 FR 34178, June 6, 2013) states in part that ``RACT 
SIPs must contain adopted RACT regulations, certifications where 
appropriate that existing provisions are RACT, and/or negative 
declarations that there are no sources in the nonattainment area 
covered by a specific CTG source category.'' The preamble further 
states that ``States must also submit appropriate supporting 
information for their RACT submission as described in the Phase 2 Rule. 
See 70 FR 71651.'' The submitted document is VCAPCD's demonstration and 
certification that its rules fulfill RACT for the 2008 8-hour ozone 
NAAQS and that the District has adopted negative declarations where it 
has no sources covered by a CTG document. EPA's technical support 
document (TSD) has more information about the District's submission and 
EPA's evaluation thereof.

II. EPA's Evaluation and Proposed Action

A. How is EPA evaluating the RACT SIP submission?

    Rules and guidance documents that we use to evaluate CAA section 
182 RACT SIPs include the following:

    1. ``Final Rule to Implement the 8-Hour Ozone National Ambient 
Air Quality Standard--Phase 2'' (70 FR71612; November 29, 2005).
    2. ``Implementation of the 2008 National Ambient Air Quality 
Standards for Ozone: State Implementation Plan Requirements''--
Proposed Rule (78 FR 34178; June 6, 2013).
    3. ``State Implementation Plans, General Preamble for the 
Implementation of Title I of the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990'' 
(57 FR 13498; April 16, 1992).
    4. Issues Relating to VOC Regulation Cutpoints, Deficiencies, 
and Deviations: Clarification to Appendix D of November 24, 1987 
Federal Register, May 25, 1988, U.S. EPA, Air Quality Management 
Division, Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards (``The Blue 
Book'').
    5. Guidance Document for Correcting Common VOC and Other Rule 
Deficiencies, August 21, 2001, U.S. EPA Region IX (the ``Little 
Bluebook'').
    6. ``State Implementation Plans; Nitrogen Oxides Supplement to 
the General Preamble for the Implementation of Title I of the Clean 
Air Act Amendments of 1990'' (57 FR 55620, November 25, 1992) (``the 
NOX Supplement'').
    7. Memorandum from William T. Harnett to Regional Air Division 
Directors, (May 18, 2006), ``RACT Qs & As--Reasonably Available 
Control Technology (RACT) Questions and Answers.''
    8. RACT SIPs, Letter dated March 9, 2006 from EPA Region IX 
(Andrew Steckel) to CARB (Kurt Karperos) describing Region IX's 
understanding of what constitutes a minimally acceptable RACT SIP.
    9. EPA's CTGs http://www.epa.gov/glo/SIPToolkit/ctgs.html.

B. Does the RACT SIP submission meet the evaluation criteria?

    VCAPCD's 2014 RACT SIP provides the District's demonstration and 
certification that the applicable SIP for the Ventura County APCD 
satisfies CAA section 182 RACT requirements for the 2008 8-hour ozone 
NAAQS. The District's submittal builds on its 2006 and 2009 RACT SIP 
certifications that its rules meet RACT. However, since, as the 
District points out, many CTGs have not been updated for many years, 
VCAPCD compared its rules to similar rules in other air districts with 
a higher ozone nonattainment classification. VCAPCD also reviewed the 
cost effectiveness of more stringent requirements adopted in other air 
districts.
    Where there are no existing sources covered by a particular CTG 
document, states may, in lieu of adopting RACT requirements for those 
sources, adopt negative declarations certifying that there are no such 
sources in the relevant nonattainment area. Table B-2 of VCAPCD's 2014 
RACT SIP lists not only CTGs, but also other documents relevant to 
establishing RACT at major sources. Negative declarations are only 
required for CTG source categories for which the District has no 
sources covered by the CTG. A negative declaration is not required for 
non-CTG source categories. Table 2 below lists the CTG source 
categories that remain after we excluded non-CTG documents from 
VCAPCD's 2014 RACT SIP Table B-2.

                  Table 2--VCAPCD Negative Declarations
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     CTG source category                 CTG reference document
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Aerospace....................  EPA-453/R-97-004, Aerospace CTG and MACT.
Automobile and Light-duty      EPA-450/2-77-008, Control of Volatile
 Trucks, Surface Coating of.    Organic Emissions from Existing
                                Stationary Sources--Volume II: Surface
                                Coating of Cans, Coils, Paper, Fabrics,
                                Automobiles, and Light-Duty Trucks.
                               EPA 453/R-08-006, Control Techniques
                                Guidelines for Automobile and Light-Duty
                                Truck Assembly Coatings.
Cans and Coils, Surface        EPA-450/2-77-008, Control of Volatile
 Coating of.                    Organic Emissions from Existing
                                Stationary Sources--Volume II: Surface
                                Coating of Cans, Coils, Paper, Fabrics,
                                Automobiles, and Light-Duty Trucks.
Flat Wood Paneling, Surface    EPA-450/2-78-032, Control of Volatile
 Coating of.                    Organic Emissions from Existing
                                Stationary Sources--Volume VII: Factory
                                Surface Coating of Flat Wood Paneling.

[[Page 64355]]

 
                               EPA-453/R-06-004, Control Techniques
                                Guidelines for Flat Wood Paneling
                                Coatings.
Flexible Packaging Printing..  EPA-453/R-06-003, Control Techniques
                                Guidelines for Flexible Package
                                Printing.
Large Appliances, Surface      EPA-450/2-77-034, Control of Volatile
 Coating of.                    Organic Emissions from Existing
                                Stationary Sources--Volume V: Surface
                                Coating of Large Appliances.
                               EPA 453/R-07-004, Control Techniques
                                Guidelines for Large Appliance Coatings.
Magnet Wire, Surface Coating   EPA-450/2-77-033, Control of Volatile
 for Insulation of.             Organic Emissions from Existing
                                Stationary Sources--Volume IV: Surface
                                Coating of Insulation of Magnet Wire.
Metal Furniture Coatings.....  EPA-450/2-77-032, Control of Volatile
                                Organic Emissions from Existing
                                Stationary Sources--Volume III: Surface
                                Coating of Metal Furniture.
                               EPA 453/R-07-005, Control Techniques
                                Guidelines for Metal Furniture Coatings.
Paper, Film and Foil Coatings  EPA 453/R-07-003, Control Techniques
                                Guidelines for Paper, Film, and Foil
                                Coatings.
Petroleum Refineries.........  EPA-450/2-77-025, Control of Refinery
                                Vacuum Producing Systems, Wastewater
                                Separators, and Process Unit
                                Turnarounds.
                               EPA-450/2-78-036, Control of Volatile
                                Organic Compound Leaks from Petroleum
                                Refinery Equipment.
Fiberglass Boat Manufacturing  EPA 453/R-08-004, Control Techniques
                                Guidelines for Fiberglass Boat
                                Manufacturing Materials.
Industrial Adhesives.........  EPA 453/R-08-005, Control Techniques
                                Guidelines for Miscellaneous Industrial
                                Adhesives.
Pharmaceutical Products......  EPA-450/2-78-029, Control of Volatile
                                Organic Emissions from Manufacture of
                                Synthesized Pharmaceutical Products.
Pneumatic Rubber Tires,        EPA-450/2-78-030, Control of Volatile
 Manufacture of.                Organic Emissions from Manufacture of
                                Pneumatic Rubber Tires.
Polyester Resin..............  EPA-450/3-83-008, Control of Volatile
                                Organic Compound Emissions from
                                Manufacture of High-Density
                                Polyethylene, Polypropylene, and
                                Polystyrene Resins.
                               EPA-450/3-83-006, Control of Volatile
                                Organic Compound Leaks from Synthetic
                                Organic Chemical Polymer and Resin
                                Manufacturing Equipment.
Synthetic Organic Chemical     EPA-450/3-84-015, Control of Volatile
 Manufacturing.                 Organic Compound Emissions from Air
                                Oxidation Processes in Synthetic Organic
                                Chemical Manufacturing Industry.
                               EPA-450/4-91-031, Control of Volatile
                                Organic Compound Emissions from Reactor
                                Processes and Distillation Operations in
                                Synthetic Organic Chemical Manufacturing
                                Industry.
Petroleum Solvent Dry          EPA-450/3-82-009, Control of Volatile
 Cleaners.                      Organic Compound Emissions from Large
                                Petroleum Dry Cleaners.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    VCAPCD provided its 2014 RACT SIP for public comment prior to the 
public hearing for adoption. No written comments were received by the 
District.
    We are proposing to find that VCAPCD's 2014 RACT SIP submission, 
including the above negative declarations, adequately demonstrate that 
its rules satisfy RACT for the 2008 8-hour ozone NAAQS. Our TSD has 
more information on our evaluation.

C. EPA Recommendations To Strengthen the RACT SIP

    We recommend VCAPCD investigate Rule 70, Storage and Transfer of 
Gasoline, for potential future emission reductions the next time the 
District opens the rule for amendment. We discuss this recommendation 
further in our TSD.

D. Proposed Action and Public Comment

    Based on the evaluations discussed above and more fully in our TSD, 
we are proposing to conclude that VCAPCD's 2014 RACT SIP satisfies CAA 
section 182 RACT requirements for the 2008 8-hour ozone NAAQS and to 
fully approve this submission into the California SIP pursuant to 
section 110(k)(3) of the Act. We will accept comments from the public 
on this proposal for the next 30 days. Unless we receive convincing new 
information during the comment period, we intend to publish a final 
approval action that will incorporate this RACT submission into the 
federally enforceable SIP.

III. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

    Under the Clean Air Act, 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 Clean Air Act. 
Accordingly, this proposed action merely proposes to approve State law 
as meeting Federal requirements and does not impose additional 
requirements beyond those imposed by State law. For that reason, this 
proposed 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 Clean Air Act; and
     Does not provide EPA with the discretionary authority to 
address disproportionate human health or environmental effects with 
practical, appropriate, and legally permissible methods under Executive 
Order 12898 (59 FR 7629, February 16, 1994).

In addition, this proposed action does not have tribal implications as 
specified by Executive Order 13175 (65 FR 67249,

[[Page 64356]]

November 9, 2000), because the SIP is not approved to apply in Indian 
country located in the State, and EPA notes that it will not impose 
substantial direct costs on tribal governments or preempt tribal law.

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 52

    Environmental protection, Air pollution control, Intergovernmental 
relations, Nitrogen dioxide, Ozone, Reporting and recordkeeping 
requirements, Volatile organic compounds.

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

    Dated: October 9, 2014.
Jared Blumenfeld,
Regional Administrator, Region IX.
[FR Doc. 2014-25742 Filed 10-28-14; 8:45 am]
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