[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 57 (Friday, March 23, 2018)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 12694-12696]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-06025]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[EPA-R09-OAR-2018-0120; FRL-9975-81--Region 9]


Approval of California Air Plan Revisions; Butte County Air 
Quality Management District; Stationary Source Permits

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Proposed rule.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to 
approve a revision to the Butte County Air Quality Management District 
(BCAQMD) portion of the California State Implementation Plan (SIP). 
This revision concerns the District's New Source Review (NSR) 
permitting program for new and modified sources of air pollution. We 
are proposing action on a local rule 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 April 23, 2018.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-R09-
OAR-2018-0120 at http://www.regulations.gov, or via email to T. Khoi 
Nguyen, at [email protected]. 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 https://www.epa.gov/dockets/commenting-epa-dockets.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: T. Khoi Nguyen, EPA Region IX, (415) 
947-4120, [email protected].

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

Table of Contents

I. The State's Submittal
    A. What rule did the State submit?
    B. Are there other versions of this rule?
    C. What is the purpose of the submitted rule?
II. The EPA's Evaluation and Action
    A. How is the EPA evaluating the rule?
    B. Does the rule meet the evaluation criteria?
    C. Public Comment and Proposed Action
III. Incorporation by Reference
IV. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

I. The State's Submittal

A. What rule did the State submit?

    Table 1 lists the rule addressed by this proposal with the dates 
that it was amended by the BCAQMD and submitted by the California Air 
Resources Board (CARB), which is the governor's designee for California 
SIP submittals.

                                             Table 1--Submitted Rule
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
           Local agency                 Rule No.               Rule title             Amended        Submitted
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
BCAQMD...........................  432...............  Federal New Source Review         3/23/17         6/12/17
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    On December 12, 2017, the submittal for the BCAQMD was deemed by 
operation of law to meet 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 rule?

    On December 22, 2016, the EPA finalized a limited approval and 
limited disapproval of Rule 432. 81 FR 93820.

C. What is the purpose of the submitted rule?

    Section 110(a) of the CAA requires states to submit regulations 
that include a pre-construction permit program for certain new or 
modified stationary sources of pollutants, including a permit program 
as required by Part D of Title I of the CAA.
    The purpose of District Rule 432 is to implement a federal 
preconstruction permit program for new and modified minor sources of 
regulated NSR pollutants, and new and modified major sources of 
regulated NSR pollutants for which the area is designated 
nonattainment. BCAQMD is currently designated as a nonattainment area 
for the 2008 8-hr ozone and 2006 24-hr PM2.5 NAAQS. The rule 
revision further corrects a deficiency in which the EPA previously 
finalized a limited disapproval of Rule 432 because we determined that 
the rule does not fully satisfy 40 CFR 51.165(a)(13)'s requirements for 
regulation of PM2.5 precursors as it pertains to ammonia. We 
present our evaluation under the CAA and the EPA's regulations of the 
revised NSR rule submitted by CARB, as identified in Table 1, and 
provide our reasoning in general terms below and a more detailed 
analysis in our technical support document (TSD), which is available in 
the docket for the proposed rulemaking.

II. The EPA's Evaluation and Action

A. How is the EPA evaluating the rule?

    The submitted rule must meet the CAA's general requirements for 
SIPs and SIP revisions in CAA sections 110(a)(2), 110(l), and 193 as 
well as the applicable requirements contained in part D of title I of 
the Act (sections 172 and 173) for a nonattainment NSR permit program. 
In addition, the submitted rule must contain the applicable regulatory 
provisions of 40 CFR 51.160-51.165 and 40 CFR 51.307.
    Among other things, section 110 of the Act requires that SIP rules 
be enforceable and provides that the EPA

[[Page 12695]]

may not approve a SIP revision if it would interfere with any 
applicable requirements concerning attainment and reasonable further 
progress or any other requirement of the CAA. In addition, section 
110(a)(2) and section 110(l) of the Act require that each SIP or 
revision to a SIP submitted by a state must be adopted after reasonable 
notice and public hearing.
    Section 110(a)(2)(c) of the Act requires each SIP to include a 
permit program to regulate the modification and construction of any 
stationary source within the areas covered by the SIP as necessary to 
assure attainment and maintenance of the NAAQS. The EPA's regulations 
at 40 CFR 51.160-51.164 provide general programmatic requirements to 
implement this statutory mandate commonly referred to as the ``minor 
NSR'' or ``general NSR'' permit program. These NSR program regulations 
impose requirements for SIP approval of state and local programs that 
are more general in nature as compared to the specific statutory and 
regulatory requirements for nonattainment NSR permitting programs under 
Part D of title I of the Act.
    Part D of title I of the Act contains the general requirements for 
areas designated nonattainment for a NAAQS (section 172), including 
preconstruction permit requirements for new major sources and major 
modifications proposing to construct in nonattainment areas (section 
173).
    Additionally, 40 CFR 51.165 sets forth the EPA's regulatory 
requirements for SIP-approval of a nonattainment NSR permit program.
    The protection of visibility requirements that apply to New Source 
Review programs are contained in 40 CFR 51.307. This provision requires 
that certain actions be taken in consultation with the local Federal 
Land Manager if a new major source or major modification may have an 
impact on visibility in any mandatory Class I Federal Area.
    Section 110(l) of the Act prohibits the EPA from approving any SIP 
revisions that would interfere with any applicable requirement 
concerning attainment and reasonable further progress (RFP) or any 
other applicable requirement of the CAA. Section 193 of the Act, which 
only applies in nonattainment areas, prohibits the modification of a 
SIP-approved control requirement in effect before November 15, 1990, in 
any manner unless the modification insures equivalent or greater 
emission reductions of such air pollutant.
    The EPA has reviewed the submitted rule in accordance with the rule 
evaluation criteria described above. With respect to procedures, based 
on our review of the public process documentation included in the June 
12, 2017 submittal, we are proposing to approve the submitted rule in 
part because we have determined that the BCAQMD has provided sufficient 
evidence of public notice and opportunity for comment and public 
hearings prior to adoption and submittal of this rule, in accordance 
with the requirements of CAA sections 110(a)(2) and 110(l). The 
amendment of Rule 432 now also includes ammonia as a potential 
precursor to PM2.5, thus resolving the limited disapproval 
issue from the December 2016 action. Our TSD, which can be found in the 
docket for this rule, contains a more detailed discussion of the 
approval criteria.

C. Public Comment and Proposed Action

    As authorized in section 110(k)(3) of the Act, the EPA proposes to 
fully approve the submitted rule because it fulfills all relevant 
requirements. We will accept comments from the public on this proposal 
until April 23, 2018. If we take final action to approve the submitted 
rule, our final action will incorporate this rule into the federally-
enforceable SIP.

III. Incorporation by Reference

    In this rule, the EPA is proposing to include in a final EPA rule 
regulatory text that includes incorporation by reference. In accordance 
with requirements of 1 CFR 51.5, the EPA is proposing to incorporate by 
reference the BCAQMD rule described in Table 1 of this preamble. The 
EPA has made, and will continue to make, these materials 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 
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 Clean Air Act; 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

[[Page 12696]]

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 May 22, 2018. 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 section 307(b)(2).)

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 52

    Environmental protection, Air pollution control, Incorporation by 
reference, Intergovernmental relations, New Source Review, Particulate 
matter, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements.


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

     Dated: March 9, 2018.
Alexis Strauss,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region IX.
[FR Doc. 2018-06025 Filed 3-22-18; 8:45 am]
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