[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 224 (Thursday, November 19, 2020)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 73634-73636]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-23922]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[EPA-R09-OAR-2019-0498; FRL-10015-31-Region 9]


Air Quality Implementation Plan; California; Calaveras County Air 
Pollution Control District and Mariposa County Air Pollution Control 
District; Stationary Source Permits

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is finalizing 
revisions to the Calaveras County Air Pollution Control District 
(CCAPCD) and the Mariposa County Air Pollution Control District 
(MCAPCD) portions of the California State Implementation Plan (SIP). In 
this action, we are approving two rules, one submitted by the CCAPCD 
and the other by the MCAPCD, governing the issuance of permits for 
stationary sources, focusing on the preconstruction review and 
permitting of major sources and major modifications under part D of 
title I of the Clean Air Act (CAA or ``the Act'').

DATES: Theses rules will be effective on December 21, 2020.

ADDRESSES: The EPA has established a docket for this action under 
Docket ID No. EPA-R09-OAR-2019-0498. All documents in the docket are 
listed on the https://www.regulations.gov website. Although listed in 
the index, some information is not publicly available, e.g., 
Confidential Business Information (CBI) or other information the 
disclosure of which 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 through https://www.regulations.gov, or please 
contact the person identified in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT 
section for additional availability information. If you need assistance 
in a language other than English or if you are a person with 
disabilities who needs a reasonable accommodation at no cost to you, 
please contact the person identified in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION 
CONTACT section.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Amber Batchelder, EPA Region IX, 75 
Hawthorne St., San Francisco, CA 94105. By phone: (415) 947-4174 or by 
email at batchelder.amber@epa.gov.

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

Table of Contents

I. Proposed Action
II. Public Comments and EPA Responses
III. EPA Action
IV. Incorporation by Reference
V. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

I. Proposed Action

    On July 20, 2020 (85 FR 43785), the EPA proposed to approve the 
following rules into the California SIP.

                                            Table 1--Submitted Rules
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
           District              Rule or  regulation No.        Rule title            Adopted      Submitted \1\
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Calaveras County APCD.........  Rule 428................  NSR Requirements for          03/12/19        04/05/19
                                                           New and Modified
                                                           Major Sources in
                                                           Nonattainment Areas.
Mariposa County APCD..........  Regulation XI...........  NSR Requirements for          03/12/19        04/05/19
                                                           New and Modified
                                                           Major Sources in the
                                                           Mariposa County Air
                                                           Pollution Control
                                                           District.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


[[Page 73635]]

    On April 12, 2019,  the EPA determined that the California SIP 
submittals listed above in Table 1 met the completeness criteria in 40 
CFR part 51, appendix V, which must be met before formal EPA review.\2\
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    \1\ Each submittal was transmitted to the EPA via a letter from 
the California Air Resources Board (CARB) dated April 3, 2019.
    \2\ See letter dated April 12, 2019 from Elizabeth J. Adams, US 
EPA Region 9, to Richard Corey, CARB, regarding the April 5, 2019 
submittal of CCAPCD Rule 428; and letter dated April 12, 2019 from 
Elizabeth J. Adams, US EPA Region 9, to Richard Corey, CARB, 
regarding the April 5, 2019 submittal of MCAPCD Regulation XI.
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    For areas designated nonattainment for one or more National Ambient 
Air Quality Standards (NAAQS), the applicable SIP must include 
preconstruction review and permitting requirements for new or modified 
major stationary sources of such nonattainment pollutant(s) under part 
D of title I of the Act, commonly referred to as Nonattainment New 
Source Review (NNSR). The rules listed in Table 1 contain the 
Districts' respective NNSR permit programs applicable to new and 
modified major sources located in areas designated nonattainment for 
any ozone NAAQS. These rules also contain the Districts' respective 
requirements for the review of new major stationary sources or major 
modifications in a designated nonattainment area that may have an 
impact on visibility in any mandatory Class I Federal Area in 
accordance with 40 CFR 51.307. We proposed to approve these rules into 
the California SIP because we determined that they comply with the 
relevant CAA requirements. Our proposed action contains more 
information on the rules and our evaluation.

II. Public Comments and EPA Responses

    The EPA's proposed action provided a 30-day public comment period. 
During this period, we received two comments, which are included in the 
docket for this action. We do not consider these comments to be germane 
or relevant to this action, thus these comments are not adverse to this 
action. Moreover, the comments lack the required specificity to the 
proposed SIP revisions and the relevant CAA requirements, and do not 
address the specific regulations or provisions in question or recommend 
an action on the SIP submission different from what EPA proposed. 
Therefore, we are finalizing our action as proposed.

III. EPA Action

    No comments were submitted that change our assessment of the rules 
as described in our proposed action. We continue to find that CCAPCD 
Rule 428 and MCAPCD Regulation XI satisfy the relevant requirements for 
a CAA NNSR program for ozone, as well as the associated visibility 
requirements for sources subject to review under such a program in 
accordance with 40 CFR 51.307. Therefore, as authorized in section 
110(k)(3) and 301(a) of the Act, the EPA is finalizing approval of 
CCAPCD Rule 428 and MCAPCD Regulation XI. This action incorporates the 
submitted rules into the California SIP. In conjunction with the EPA's 
SIP approval of the Districts' respective visibility programs for 
sources subject to the NNSR program, this action also revises the scope 
of the visibility Federal Implementation Plan (FIP) at 40 CFR 52.28 in 
California so that this FIP no longer applies to sources located in the 
CCAPCD and MCAPCD that are subject to these District visibility 
programs, while clarifying that the FIP continues to apply in these and 
other areas within California to sources located on any Indian 
reservation land or in any other area where the EPA or an Indian tribe 
has demonstrated that a tribe has jurisdiction.

IV. 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 rules 
listed in Table 1 of this preamble. The EPA has made, and will continue 
to make, these materials available electronically through https://www.regulations.gov and in hard copy at the EPA Region IX Office 
(please contact the person identified in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION 
CONTACT section of this preamble for more information).

V. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

    Additional information about these statutes and Executive orders 
can be found at http://www.epa.gov/laws-regulations/laws-and-executive-orders.
    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 3, 
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 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

[[Page 73636]]

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 CAA, petitions for judicial review 
of this action must be filed in the United States Court of Appeals for 
the appropriate circuit by January 19, 2021. 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

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

    Dated: October 21, 2020.
John Busterud,
Regional Administrator, Region IX.

    For reasons set out in the preamble, EPA amends 40 CFR part 52, 
chapter I, 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 F--California

0
2. Section 52.220 is amended by adding paragraph (c)(544) to read as 
follows:


Sec.  52.220  Identification of plan-in part.

* * * * *
    (c) * * *
    (544) The following regulations were submitted on April 5, 2019 by 
the Governor's designee as an attachment to a letter dated April 3, 
2019.
    (i) Incorporation by reference.
    (A) Calaveras County Air Pollution Control District.
    (1) Rule 428, ``NSR Requirements for New and Modified Major Sources 
in Nonattainment Areas,'' adopted on March 12, 2019.
    (2) [Reserved]
    (B) Mariposa County Air Pollution Control District.
    (1) Regulation XI, ``NSR Requirements for New and Modified Major 
Sources in the Mariposa County Air Pollution Control District,'' 
adopted on March 12, 2019.
    (2) [Reserved]
    (ii) [Reserved]
* * * * *

0
3. Section 52.281 is amended by revising paragraph (d) to read as 
follows:


Sec.  52.281  Visibility protection.

* * * * *
    (d) The provisions of Sec.  52.28 are hereby incorporated and made 
part of the applicable plan for the State of California, except for the 
air pollution control districts listed below. The provisions of Sec.  
52.28 remain the applicable plan for any Indian reservation lands, and 
any other area of Indian country where the EPA or an Indian tribe has 
demonstrated that a tribe has jurisdiction, located within the State of 
California, including any such areas located in the air pollution 
control districts listed below.
    (1) Monterey County air pollution control district,
    (2) Sacramento County air pollution control district,
    (3) Calaveras County air pollution control district, and
    (4) Mariposa County air pollution control district.
* * * * *
[FR Doc. 2020-23922 Filed 11-18-20; 8:45 am]
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