[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 92 (Thursday, May 12, 2022)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 29103-29105]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-10063]



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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[EPA-R09-OAR-2022-0416; FRL-9820-01-R9]


Limited Approval, Limited Disapproval of California Air Plan 
Revisions; California Air Resources Board

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Proposed rule.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing a 
limited approval and limited disapproval of California Code of 
Regulations, Title 17, Division 3, Chapter 1, Subchapter 10 Climate 
Change, Article 4, Subarticle 13: Greenhouse Gas Emission Standards for 
Crude Oil and Natural Gas Facilities (Oil and Gas Methane Rule) into 
the California State Implementation Plan (SIP). These revisions concern 
emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from crude oil and 
natural gas facilities. We are proposing action on a state rule to 
regulate these emission sources under the Clean Air Act (CAA or the 
Act). We are also proposing to disapprove the reasonably available 
control technology demonstrations for the 2008 and 2015 ozone National 
Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for sources covered by the EPA's 
2016 Control Techniques Guidelines for the Oil and Natural Gas Industry 
(Oil and Gas CTG) for the Sacramento Metropolitan Air Quality 
Management District (SMAQMD), San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control 
District (SJVAPCD), South Coast Air Quality Management District 
(SCAQMD), Ventura County Air Pollution Control District (VCAPCD), and 
the Yolo-Solano Air Quality Management District (YSAQMD). We are taking 
comments on this proposal and plan to follow with a final action.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before June 13, 2022.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-R09-
OAR-2022-0416 at https://www.regulations.gov. For comments submitted at 
Regulations.gov, follow the online instructions for submitting 
comments. Once submitted, comments cannot be edited or removed from 
Regulations.gov. 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. 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: Nicole Law, EPA Region IX, 75 
Hawthorne St., San Francisco, CA 94105. By phone: (415) 947-4126 or by 
email at [email protected]. Donnique Sherman, EPA Region IX, 75 
Hawthorne St., San Francisco, CA 94105. By phone: (415) 947-4129 or by 
email at [email protected]. Sina Schwenk-Mueller, EPA Region IX, 
75 Hawthorne St., San Francisco, CA 94105. By phone: (415) 947-4100 or 
by email at [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 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. What are the rule deficiencies?
    D. The EPA's Recommendations To Further Improve the Rule
    E. Public Comment and Proposed Action
III. Incorporation by Reference
IV. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

I. The State's Submittal

A. What did the State submit?

    Table 1 lists the rule addressed by this proposal with the dates 
that it was adopted and submitted by the California Air Resources Board 
(CARB).

                                             Table 1--Submitted Rule
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                   Agency                                 Rule title                  Adopted        Submitted
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CARB.......................................  California Code of Regulations,          03/23/2017      12/11/2018
                                              Title 17, Division 3, Chapter 1,
                                              Subchapter 10 Climate Change,
                                              Article 4 Subarticle 13:
                                              Greenhouse Gas Emission Standards
                                              for Crude Oil and Natural Gas
                                              Facilities (Oil and Gas Methane
                                              Rule).
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    The submission also contains a staff report evaluating the Oil and 
Gas Methane Rule against the Federal RACT standard, and concluding that 
the Oil and Gas Methane Rule, in combination with applicable SIP-
approved local air district rules, meets the RACT requirement for 2008 
and 2015 ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for 
sources covered by the EPA's 2016 Control Techniques Guidelines for the 
Oil and Natural Gas Industry for SMAQMD, SJVAPCD, SCAQMD,\1\ VCAPCD, 
and YSAQMD. On June 11, 2019, the submittal for the Oil and Gas Methane 
Rule 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.
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    \1\ The SCAQMD regulates both the South Coast Air Basin, and the 
Riverside County (Coachella Valley) ozone nonattainment areas.
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B. Are there other versions of this rule?

    There are no previous versions of the Oil and Gas Methane Rule in 
the California SIP.

C. What is the purpose of the submitted rule?

    Emissions of VOCs contribute to the production of ground-level 
ozone, smog and particulate matter (PM), which harm human health and 
the environment. Section 110(a) of the CAA requires states to submit 
regulations that control VOC emissions. The Oil and Gas

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Methane Rule establishes methane emission standards for crude oil and 
natural gas facilities in furtherance of the California Global Warming 
Solutions Act (AB 32, as codified in sections 38500-38599 of the Health 
and Safety Code). Because many of the methane controls in the Oil and 
Gas Methane Rule also reduce VOC emissions, the Oil and Gas Methane 
Rule was submitted into the California SIP as a rule that controls VOC 
emissions. The EPA's technical support document (TSD) has more 
information about this rule.

II. The EPA's Evaluation and Action

A. How is the EPA evaluating the rule?

    Rules in the SIP 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).
    Generally, SIP rules must require reasonably available control 
technology (RACT) for each category of sources covered by a Control 
Techniques Guidelines (CTG) document as well as each major source of 
VOCs in ozone nonattainment areas classified as Moderate or above (see 
CAA section 182(b)(2)). Five California air districts contain 
nonattainment areas classified as Moderate or above for the 2008 or 
2015 ozone NAAQS, and contain operations covered by the Oil and Gas 
CTG: SMAQMD, SJVAPCD, SCAQMD, VCAPCD, and YSAQMD.\2\ We refer to these 
districts collectively as ``applicable local air districts.'' The Oil 
and Gas Methane Rule applies statewide, including within the applicable 
local air districts. Therefore, this rule must implement RACT.
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    \2\ 40 CFR 81.305. See also Staff Report at pp. 1-2.
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    Guidance and policy documents that we used 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); 57 FR 18070 (April 28, 1992).
    2. ``Issues Relating to VOC Regulation Cutpoints, Deficiencies, 
and Deviations,'' EPA, May 25, 1988 (the Bluebook, revised January 
11, 1990).
    3. ``Guidance Document for Correcting Common VOC & Other Rule 
Deficiencies,'' EPA Region 9, August 21, 2001 (the Little Bluebook).
    4. EPA 453/B-16-001, Control Techniques Guidelines for the Oil 
and Natural Gas Industry, October 2016.

B. Does the rule meet the evaluation criteria?

    The Oil and Gas Methane Rule improves the SIP by establishing 
emission limits and by clarifying monitoring, recording and 
recordkeeping provisions. The rule is largely consistent with CAA 
requirements and relevant guidance regarding enforceability, RACT and 
SIP revisions. However, the Oil and Gas Methane Rule contains a number 
of deficiencies that preclude full approval. The rule provisions that 
do not meet the evaluation criteria are summarized below and discussed 
further in the TSD.

C. What are the rule deficiencies?

    The Oil and Gas Methane Rule contains several provisions that do 
not meet the enforceability or stringency criteria. These provisions do 
not satisfy the requirements of section 110 and part D of title I of 
the Act and prevent full approval of the SIP revision. Key issues 
include insufficiently bounded director's discretion, lack of clearly 
specified test methods for some categories of emission sources, 
undefined terms, references to undefined district rules, insufficient 
reporting and recordkeeping, and a lack of initial and continuous 
compliance requirements for some categories of emission sources. 
Additionally, the rule may not capture all storage tanks in the oil and 
gas sector in the applicable local air districts that are required to 
meet RACT; the rule allows delay of leak repairs in several sections; 
and there are several exemptions in the rule that may reduce the rule's 
stringency. The TSD includes in-depth descriptions of the rule 
deficiencies.
    In addition, the RACT demonstration for the applicable local air 
districts relies on both the Oil and Gas Methane Rule, and the SIP-
approved local rules regulating sources covered by the Oil and Gas CTG. 
Some of these rules contain deficiencies that would preclude approval 
of the RACT demonstration for these districts, even if the deficiencies 
in the Oil and Gas Methane Rule were rectified. These deficiencies are 
identified and discussed in the TSD.

D. The EPA's Recommendations To Further Improve the Rule

    The TSD includes recommendations for the next time CARB modifies 
the rule.

E. Public Comment and Proposed Action

    As authorized in section 110(k)(3) of the Act, the EPA is proposing 
a limited approval and limited disapproval of the submitted rule. Even 
though the rule has deficiencies, the EPA concludes that the Oil and 
Gas Methane Rule would substantially strengthen the SIP. The limited 
disapproval for the Oil and Gas Methane Rule is based on the 
enforceability and stringency issues identified in section II.C. of 
this notice and described in detail in the TSD.
    In addition, as authorized in section 110(k)(3) of the Act, the EPA 
is proposing a disapproval of the RACT demonstrations for the 2008 and 
2015 ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for sources 
covered by the Oil and Gas CTG for SMAQMD, SJVAPCD, SCAQMD, VCAPCD, and 
YSAQMD.
    We will accept comments from the public on this proposal until June 
13, 2022. If finalized, this action would incorporate the submitted 
rule into the SIP, including those provisions identified as deficient. 
If we finalize this disapproval, CAA section 110(c) would require the 
EPA to promulgate a Federal implementation plan within 24 months unless 
we approve subsequent SIP revisions that correct the deficiencies 
identified in the final disapproval.
    In addition, final disapproval would trigger the offset sanction in 
CAA section 179(b)(2) 18 months after the effective date of a final 
disapproval, and the highway funding sanction in CAA section 179(b)(1) 
six months after the offset sanction is imposed. A sanction will not be 
imposed if the EPA determines that a subsequent SIP submission corrects 
the deficiencies identified in our final action before the applicable 
deadline. The EPA intends to work with the CARB and the applicable 
local air districts to correct the deficiencies in a timely manner.
    Note that the submitted rule has been adopted by CARB, and the 
EPA's final limited disapproval would not prevent the State from 
enforcing it. The limited disapproval also would not prevent any 
portion of the rule from being incorporated by reference into the 
federally enforceable SIP as discussed in a July 9, 1992 EPA memo found 
at: https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2015-07/documents/procsip.pdf.

III. Incorporation by Reference

    In this rulemaking, 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

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51.5, the EPA is proposing to incorporate by reference the CARB rule 
listed in Table 1 and discussed in Section I of this preamble. The EPA 
has made, and will continue to make, these materials available through 
https://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

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

A. Executive Order 12866: Regulatory Planning and Review and Executive 
Order 13563: Improving Regulation and Regulatory Review

    This action is not a significant regulatory action and was 
therefore not submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) 
for review.

B. Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA)

    This action does not impose an information collection burden under 
the PRA because this action does not impose additional requirements 
beyond those imposed by state law.

C. Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA)

    I certify that this action will not have a significant economic 
impact on a substantial number of small entities under the RFA. This 
action will not impose any requirements on small entities beyond those 
imposed by state law.

D. Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA)

    This action does not contain any unfunded mandate as described in 
UMRA, 2 U.S.C. 1531-1538, and does not significantly or uniquely affect 
small governments. This action does not impose additional requirements 
beyond those imposed by state law. Accordingly, no additional costs to 
state, local, or tribal governments, or to the private sector, will 
result from this action.

E. Executive Order 13132: Federalism

    This action does not have federalism implications. It will not have 
substantial direct effects on the states, on the relationship between 
the national government and the states, or on the distribution of power 
and responsibilities among the various levels of government.

F. Executive Order 13175: Coordination With Indian Tribal Governments

    This action does not have tribal implications, as specified in 
Executive Order 13175, because 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, and will not 
impose substantial direct costs on tribal governments or preempt tribal 
law. Thus, Executive Order 13175 does not apply to this action.

G. Executive Order 13045: Protection of Children From Environmental 
Health Risks and Safety Risks

    The EPA interprets Executive Order 13045 as applying only to those 
regulatory actions that concern environmental health or safety risks 
that the EPA has reason to believe may disproportionately affect 
children, per the definition of ``covered regulatory action'' in 
section 2-202 of the Executive order. This action is not subject to 
Executive Order 13045 because it does not impose additional 
requirements beyond those imposed by state law.

H. Executive Order 13211: Actions That Significantly Affect Energy 
Supply, Distribution, or Use

    This action is not subject to Executive Order 13211, because it is 
not a significant regulatory action under Executive Order 12866.

I. National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act (NTTAA)

    Section 12(d) of the NTTAA directs the EPA to use voluntary 
consensus standards in its regulatory activities unless to do so would 
be inconsistent with applicable law or otherwise impractical. The EPA 
believes that this action is not subject to the requirements of section 
12(d) of the NTTAA because application of those requirements would be 
inconsistent with the CAA.

J. Executive Order 12898: Federal Actions To Address Environmental 
Justice in Minority Populations and Low-Income Population

    The EPA lacks the discretionary authority to address environmental 
justice in this rulemaking.

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 52

    Environmental protection, Air pollution control, Incorporation by 
reference, Intergovernmental relations, Reporting and recordkeeping 
requirements, Volatile organic compounds.

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

    Dated: May 4, 2022.
Martha Guzman Aceves,
Regional Administrator, Region IX.
[FR Doc. 2022-10063 Filed 5-11-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P


