
[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 125 (Friday, June 30, 2017)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 29762-29764]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-13196]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[EPA-R09-OAR-2016-0409; FRL-9955-67-Region 9]


Approval of California Air Plan Revisions, Great Basin Unified 
Air Pollution Control District and the Town of Mammoth Lakes

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Direct final rule.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is taking direct 
final action to approve revisions to the Great Basin Unified Air 
Pollution Control District (GBUAPCD) and the Town of Mammoth Lakes 
portion of the California State Implementation Plan (SIP). These 
revisions concern emissions of particulate matter (PM) from wood 
burning devices and road dust in the Town of Mammoth Lakes. We are 
approving local rules that regulate these emission sources under the 
Clean Air Act (CAA or the Act).

DATES: This rule is effective on August 29, 2017 without further 
notice, unless the EPA receives adverse comments by July 31, 2017. If 
we receive such comments, we will publish a timely withdrawal in the 
Federal Register to notify the public that this direct final rule will 
not take effect.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-R09-
OAR-2016-0409 at http://www.regulations.gov, or via email to Andrew 
Steckel, Rulemaking Office Chief at Steckel.Andrew@epa.gov. For 
comments submitted at Regulations.gov, follow the online instructions 
for submitting comments. Once submitted, comments cannot be removed or 
edited from Regulations.gov. For either manner of submission, 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 the person identified in the FOR FURTHER 
INFORMATION CONTACT section. For the full EPA public comment policy, 
information about CBI or multimedia submissions, and general guidance 
on making effective comments, please visit http://www2.epa.gov/dockets/commenting-epa-dockets.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Christine Vineyard, EPA Region IX, 
(415) 947-4125, vineyard.christine@epa.gov.

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

Table of Contents

I. The State's Submittal
    A. What rules did the State submit?
    B. Are there other versions of these rules?
    C. What is the purpose of the submitted rules?
II. The EPA's Evaluation and Action
    A. How is the EPA evaluating the rules?
    B. Do the rules meet the evaluation criteria?
    C. The EPA's Recommendations To Further Improve the Rules
    D. Public Comment and Final Action
III. Incorporation by Reference
IV. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

I. The State's Submittal

A. What rules did the State submit?

    Table 1 lists the rules addressed by this action with the dates 
that they were adopted by the local agencies and submitted by the 
California Air Resources Board (CARB).

                                            Table 1--Submitted Rules
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            Local agency                Rule No.              Rule title              Revised        Submitted
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GBUAPCD............................             431  Particulate Matter (except         05/05/14        11/06/14
                                                      paragraphs M and N).
Town of Mammoth Lakes..............            8.30  Particulate Emissions              06/04/14        11/06/14
                                                      Regulations (except
                                                      paragraphs 8.30.110 and
                                                      8.30.120).
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    On December 11, 2014, the EPA determined that the submittal for 
GBUAPCD Rule 431 and Town of Mammoth Lakes Municipal Code Chapter 8.30 
met the completeness criteria in 40 CFR part 51 Appendix V,

[[Page 29763]]

which must be met before formal EPA review.

B. Are there other versions of these rules?

    We approved earlier versions of Rule 431 and Municipal Code Chapter 
8.30 into the SIP on October 31, 2007 (72 FR 61526) and June 24, 1996 
(61 FR 32341), respectively. The GBUAPCD and Town of Mammoth Lakes 
adopted revisions to the SIP-approved rules on May 5, 2014 and May 7, 
2014 respectively, and CARB submitted them to us on November 6, 2014.

C. What is the purpose of the submitted rules?

    PM, including PM equal to or less than 10 microns in diameter 
(PM10), contributes to effects that are harmful to human 
health and the environment, including premature mortality, aggravation 
of respiratory and cardiovascular disease, decreased lung function, 
visibility impairment, and damage to vegetation and ecosystems. Section 
110(a) of the CAA requires states to submit regulations that control PM 
emissions. GBUAPCD Rule 431 (except paragraphs M and N) and Town of 
Mammoth Lakes Municipal Code Chapter 8.30 (except paragraphs 8.30.110 
and 8.30.120) were revised to be consistent with each other, and to 
enable the GBUAPCD to be able to enforce air quality regulations 
governing residential wood combustion and road dust in the Town of 
Mammoth Lakes.\1\ The EPA's technical support document (TSD) has more 
information about these rules.
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    \1\ Rule 431 may apply to communities other than the Town of 
Mammoth Lakes within the Great Basin Unified Air Quality Control 
District if a community is designated a High Wood Smoke Area 
according to the procedures set forth in the Rule.
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II. The EPA's Evaluation and Action

A. How is the EPA evaluating the rules?

    SIP rules must be enforceable (see CAA section 110(a)(2)), must not 
interfere with applicable requirements concerning attainment and 
reasonable further progress or other CAA requirements (see CAA section 
110(l)), and must not modify certain SIP control requirements in 
nonattainment areas without ensuring equivalent or greater emissions 
reductions (see CAA section 193).
    On October 5, 2015 (80 FR 60049), the EPA redesignated the Mammoth 
Lakes Planning Area to attainment of the 24-hour PM10 
National Ambient Air Quality Standard, pursuant to CAA section 
107(d)(3)(D), and determined that the area met the requirements of CAA 
section 107(d)(3)(E). Accordingly, the Mammoth Lakes Planning Area is 
not subject to the nonattainment area requirement to implement either 
Reasonably Available Control Measures (RACM) or Best Available Control 
Measures (BACM) for PM10 and PM10 precursors in 
CAA section 189(b) and (e). Therefore, we are not evaluating GBUAPCD 
Rule 431 and Mammoth Lakes Municipal Code Chapter 8.30 for compliance 
with current RACM or BACM requirements with respect to PM10. 
Should a GBUAPCD nonattainment area take credit for Rule 431 in the 
future as part of meeting its CAA Part D requirements, then we will 
evaluate the rule for current RACM or BACM, as applicable, at that 
time.
    Guidance and policy documents that we use to evaluate 
enforceability, revision/relaxation and rule stringency requirements 
for the applicable criteria pollutants include the following:

1. ``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 and 57 FR 18070, April 28, 1992).
2. ``Issues Relating to VOC Regulation Cutpoints, Deficiencies, and 
Deviations,'' (``the Bluebook,'' U.S. EPA, May 25, 1988; revised 
January 11, 1990).
3. ``Guidance Document for Correcting Common VOC & Other Rule 
Deficiencies,'' (``the Little Bluebook'', EPA Region 9, August 21, 
2001).
4. ``PM10 Guideline Document,'' (EPA 452/R-93-008, April 
1993).

B. Do the rules meet the evaluation criteria?

    We believe these rules are consistent with the relevant policy and 
guidance regarding enforceability and SIP relaxations. The District is 
not including for SIP approval Rule 431 paragraphs M and N regarding 
fees and penalties, and similar provisions in Municipal Code Chapter 
8.30, paragraphs 8.30.110 and 8.30.120. These paragraphs could lead to 
confusion with respect to similar federal requirements. The TSD has 
more information on our evaluation.

C. The EPA's Recommendations To Further Improve the Rules

    The TSD describes additional rule revisions that we recommend for 
the next time the local agencies modify the rules.

D. Public Comment and Final Action

    As authorized in section 110(k)(3) of the Act, the EPA is fully 
approving the submitted rules because we believe they fulfill all 
relevant requirements.\2\ We do not think anyone will object to this 
approval, so we are finalizing it without proposing it in advance. 
However, in the Proposed Rules section of this Federal Register, we are 
simultaneously proposing approval of the same submitted rules. If we 
receive adverse comments by July 31, 2017, we will publish a timely 
withdrawal in the Federal Register to notify the public that the direct 
final approval will not take effect and we will address the comments in 
a subsequent final action based on the proposal. If we do not receive 
timely adverse comments, the direct final approval will be effective 
without further notice on August 29, 2017. This will incorporate these 
rules into the federally enforceable SIP.
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    \2\ Upon the effective date of this final action, GBUAPCD Rule 
431 (except paragraphs M and N) and Town of Mammoth Lakes Municipal 
Code Chapter 8.30 (except paragraphs 8.30.110 and 8.30.120) would 
supersede existing GBUAPD 431 and Town of Mammoth Lakes 8.30, 
approved at 72 FR 61526 on October 31, 2007 and 61 FR 32341 on June 
24, 1996, respectively in the applicable SIP.
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    Please note that if the EPA receives adverse comment on an 
amendment, paragraph, or section of this rule and if that provision may 
be severed from the remainder of the rule, the EPA may adopt as final 
those provisions of the rule that are not the subject of an adverse 
comment.

III. Incorporation by Reference

    In this rule, the EPA is finalizing regulatory text that includes 
incorporation by reference. In accordance with requirements of 1 CFR 
51.5, the EPA is finalizing the incorporation by reference of the 
GBUAPCD Rule 431 (except paragraphs M and N) and Town of Mammoth Lakes 
Chapter 8.30 (except paragraphs 8.30.110 and 8.30.120), described in 
the amendments to 40 CFR part 52 set forth below. The EPA has made, and 
will continue to make, these documents available through 
www.regulations.gov and at the EPA Region IX Office (please contact the 
person identified in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section of 
this preamble for more information).

IV. 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, the EPA's role is to approve state 
choices, provided that they meet the criteria of the Clean Air Act. 
Accordingly, this action merely approves state law as meeting federal 
requirements and does not impose additional requirements beyond those

[[Page 29764]]

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);
     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 the 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 the 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 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 August 29, 2017. 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. Parties with objections to this direct final 
rule are encouraged to file a comment in response to the parallel 
notice of proposed rulemaking for this action published in the Proposed 
Rules section of today's Federal Register, rather than file an 
immediate petition for judicial review of this direct final rule, so 
that the EPA can withdraw this direct final rule and address the 
comment in the proposed rulemaking. 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, Intergovernmental relations, Particulate matter, Reporting 
and recordkeeping requirements.

    Dated: November 14, 2016.
Alexis Strauss,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region IX.

    Part 52, chapter I, title 40 of the Code of Federal Regulations 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 F--California

0
2. Section 52.220 is amended by adding paragraphs 
(c)(228)(i)(A)(1)(iii), (c)(350)(i)(A)(3), and (c)(457)(i)(I) to read 
as follows:


Sec.  52.220   Identification of plan--in part.

* * * * *
    (c) * * *
    (228) * * *
    (i) * * *
    (A) * * *
    (1) * * *
    (iii) Previously approved on October 2, 1991 in paragraph 
(c)(228)(i)(A)(1)(ii) of this section and now deleted with replacement 
in paragraph (c)(457)(i)(I)(2) of this section, Town of Mammoth Lakes 
Municipal Code Chapter 8.30 dated October 2, 1991.
* * * * *
    (350) * * *
    (i) * * *
    (A) * * *
    (3) Previously approved on October 31, 2007 in paragraph 
(c)(350)(i)(A)(1) of this section and now deleted with replacement in 
paragraph (c)(457)(i)(I)(2) of this section, Rule 431, adopted on 
December 7, 1990 and revised on December 4, 2006.
* * * * *
    (457) * * *
    (i) * * *
    (I) Great Basin Unified Air Pollution Control District.
    (1) Rule 431, Particulate Emissions (except paragraphs M and N), 
revised May 5, 2014.
    (2) Town of Mammoth Lakes Municipal Code Chapter 8.30, Particulate 
Emissions Regulations (except paragraphs 8.30.110 and 8.30.120), as 
adopted in Ordinance Number 14-06, June 4, 2014.
* * * * *

    Editorial note: This document was received for publication by 
the Office of the Federal Register on June 20, 2017.

[FR Doc. 2017-13196 Filed 6-29-17; 8:45 am]
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