[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 21 (Thursday, January 31, 2013)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 6733-6736]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-02019]
[[Page 6733]]
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 52
[EPA-R05-OAR-2011-0328; FRL-9774-4]
Approval and Promulgation of Air Quality Implementation Plans;
Minnesota; Flint Hills Resources Pine Bend
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Direct final rule.
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SUMMARY: EPA is approving Minnesota's August 29, 2011, request to
revise its sulfur dioxide (SO2) State Implementation Plan
(SIP) for Flint Hills Resources Pine Bend, LLC (FHR Pine Bend), in
Dakota County. The facility is shutting down an incinerator, rerouting
process gases, planning for a new boiler, and making other emission
limit reductions. This revision will result in a decrease in
SO2 emissions.
DATES: This direct final rule will be effective April 1, 2013, unless
EPA receives adverse comments by March 4, 2013. If adverse comments are
received, EPA will publish a timely withdrawal of the direct final rule
in the Federal Register informing the public that the rule will not
take effect.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-R05-
OAR-2011-0328, by one of the following methods:
1. www.regulations.gov: Follow the on-line instructions for
submitting comments.
2. Email: [email protected].
3. Fax: (312) 692-2450.
4. Mail: Pamela Blakley, Chief, Control Strategies Section, Air
Programs Branch (AR-18J), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 77 West
Jackson Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois 60604.
5. Hand Delivery: Pamela Blakley, Chief, Control Strategies
Section, Air Programs Branch (AR-18J), U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency, 77 West Jackson Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois 60604. Such
deliveries are only accepted during the Regional Office normal hours of
operation, and special arrangements should be made for deliveries of
boxed information. The Regional Office official hours of business are
Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., excluding Federal
holidays.
Instructions: Direct your comments to Docket ID No. EPA-R05-OAR-
2011-0328. EPA's policy is that all comments received 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 information claimed to be Confidential
Business Information (CBI) or other information whose disclosure is
restricted by statute. Do not submit information that you consider to
be CBI or otherwise protected through www.regulations.gov or email. The
www.regulations.gov Web site is an ``anonymous access'' system, which
means EPA will not know your identity or contact information unless you
provide it in the body of your comment. If you send an email comment
directly to EPA without going through www.regulations.gov your email
address will be automatically captured and included as part of the
comment that is placed in the public docket and made available on the
Internet. If you submit an electronic comment, EPA recommends that you
include your name and other contact information in the body of your
comment and with any disk or CD-ROM you submit. 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: All documents in the docket are listed in the
www.regulations.gov index. Although listed in the index, some
information is not publicly available, e.g., CBI or other information
whose disclosure is restricted by statute. Certain other material, such
as copyrighted material, will be publicly available only in hard copy.
Publicly available docket materials are available either electronically
in www.regulations.gov or in hard copy at the Environmental Protection
Agency, Region 5, Air and Radiation Division, 77 West Jackson
Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois 60604. This facility is open from 8:30
a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding Federal holidays.
We recommend that you telephone Mary Portanova, Environmental Engineer,
at (312) 353-5954 before visiting the Region 5 office.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mary Portanova, Environmental
Engineer, Control Strategies Section, Air Programs Branch (AR-18J),
Environmental Protection Agency, Region 5, 77 West Jackson Boulevard,
Chicago, Illinois 60604, (312) 353-5954, [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Throughout this document whenever ``we,''
``us,'' or ``our'' is used, we mean EPA. This supplementary information
section is arranged as follows:
I. What is the background for this action?
II. Analysis
III. What action is EPA taking?
IV. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews
I. What is the background for this action?
On August 29, 2011, Minnesota submitted a request to EPA to revise
its SO2 SIP for the FHR Pine Bend oil refinery in Rosemount,
Dakota County. FHR Pine Bend is making modifications to its facility to
improve energy efficiency and address plant safety. The facility will
remove its Merox process incinerator, reroute process gases to an
existing furnace, take additional restrictions on steam-air decoking
activities for certain boilers, revise the SO2 emission
limits for its fluid catalytic cracking unit, and add a boiler.
FHR Pine Bend is subject to an Administrative Order, which contains
SO2 emission limits and requirements which are intended to
ensure the protection of ambient air quality. The provisions of the
Administrative Order have been approved by EPA into the SO2
SIP for FHR Pine Bend (72 FR 39568, July 19, 2007). Minnesota amended
the Administrative Order for FHR Pine Bend to provide for the
facility's planned modifications, and submitted it to EPA on August 29,
2011, as a SIP revision request. The effective date of the amended
Administrative Order was also August 29, 2011. In addition, Minnesota
has issued FHR Pine Bend an amended permit (03700011-008, August 16,
2011). This permit contains SO2 emission limits and related
requirements for FHR Pine Bend.
After a routine plant safety review, FHR Pine Bend determined that
there was a potential flameout risk with its Merox unit incinerator.
The company decided to shut down the incinerator and reroute the gas
streams it had burned to be either recycled or burned in an existing
process heater (31H-2), depending on the mercaptan content of the
gases. The Merox incinerator had previously handled gases from a sulfur
recovery unit which is no longer in operation. Treating the smaller gas
stream that it currently receives had caused the large Merox
incinerator to operate less efficiently. The process heater (31H-2)
will be able to destroy the Merox off-gases using less additional fuel,
resulting in lower emissions of SO2, nitrogen oxides, carbon
monoxide, and greenhouse gases. The SIP revision request includes
revised SO2 emission limits for the process heater (31H-2),
in response to the heater's new input gas streams. The continuous
emission
[[Page 6734]]
monitor (CEM) currently on the Merox incinerator will be moved to the
process heater (31H-2), to measure its SO2 emissions. The
SIP retains the ability for FHR Pine Bend to use the Merox incinerator
temporarily, if it is needed while the gas streams are being rerouted,
but the emission limit applicable to the Merox incinerator for this
potential operation is approximately 700 tons per year (tpy) lower than
its current emission limit. The Merox incinerator is to be permanently
shut down after the gas stream rerouting is complete.
Other updates which are not related to the Merox incinerator
shutdown are also included in the August 29, 2011 SIP revision request.
First, FHR Pine Bend intends to apply for a permit to install a new
boiler. Therefore, SO2 emissions corresponding to a new
boiler were included in the modeling analysis performed for this SIP
revision request, based on the emissions and stack measurements of the
plant's existing Boiler 9. To ensure that the company's SIP will
continue to protect air quality after the addition of the new boiler,
the Administrative Order prohibits the company from operating the new
boiler with stack and emission parameters different from those used in
the dispersion modeling supporting the August 29, 2011 SIP revision
request. Second, the SIP revision request includes an emission limit
reduction of approximately 2700 tpy at the fluid catalytic cracking
unit. The revised emission limit was chosen after a review of recent
continuous emission monitoring data. Third, FHR Pine Bend is taking
additional limits on its steam-air decoking activities for four
heaters. These limits restrict the heaters from being decoked
simultaneously. The decoking process uses steam, air, heat, and water
to periodically remove coke buildup from process heater tubing. The
decoking residues are directed into water-filled quench pits. The
modeled emission rates from the decoking operations have been updated
after engineering analyses at the plant. Fourth, the SIP revision
request accounts for changes in the stack exit temperature of the oil
separation and waste treatment plant's thermal oxidizer stack, which
are expected after a convection stack/heat exchanger replacement is
completed. The replacement will increase energy efficiency at the
thermal oxidizer. Finally, additional revisions to the SIP address the
facility's name change from Flint Hills Resources, LP, to Flint Hills
Resources Pine Bend, LLC, and adjustments to numbering within the rule.
Overall, the August 29, 2011 SIP revision provides for a reduction in
SO2 emissions of over 3100 tpy.
II. Analysis
Section 110(l) of the Clean Air Act states that the Administrator
shall not approve a SIP revision if it would interfere with any
applicable requirement concerning attainment of the national ambient
air quality standards (NAAQS) and reasonable further progress. 42
U.S.C. 7410(l). The August 29, 2011 SIP revision for FHR Pine Bend
represents an overall emissions decrease of over 3100 tpy of
SO2 emissions. The revision also provides for reductions in
nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, and greenhouse gases from the
shutdown of the Merox incinerator and the associated decrease in fuel
usage.
The new operating scenario and new limits for FHR Pine Bend were
evaluated and compared to the SO2 NAAQS and to the previous
SIP scenario using the EPA regulatory dispersion model AERMOD (version
09292), with meteorological data from 2000-2004 collected at the
Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport. The comparative modeling results showed
large reductions, up to approximately sixty percent, in predicted
ambient SO2 concentrations under the new operating scenario.
The modeling analysis demonstrated attainment of the NAAQS for
SO2 (3-hour, 24-hour, and annual). The maximum predicted
SO2 concentrations including neighboring emission sources
and a monitored background concentration were 517 micrograms per cubic
meter ([mu]g/m\3\) for the 3-hour average (compared to the
SO2 NAAQS of 1300 [mu]g/m\3\); 172 [mu]g/m\3\ for the 24-
hour average (compared to the SO2 NAAQS of 365 [mu]g/m\3\);
and 35 [mu]g/m\3\ for the annual average (compared to the
SO2 NAAQS of 80 [mu]g/m\3\).
The dispersion modeling for this SIP revision request did not
specifically address the 1-hour SO2 NAAQS. There were
difficulties in providing a full modeled 1-hour attainment
demonstration for the FHR Pine Bend SIP revision request which were
beyond FHR Pine Bend's control. Because the shutdown of the Merox
incinerator addresses a safety issue, Minnesota submitted the SIP
revision without waiting to complete a full 1-hour SO2
modeling demonstration. Nonattainment area designations have not yet
been promulgated nationally, so the 1-hour SO2 SIP
requirements for Dakota County have not yet been determined. The air
quality monitors in Dakota County clearly show that the area is
currently attaining the 1-hour SO2 NAAQS. There are four
SO2 monitors located within three miles of the FHR Pine Bend
facility. The SO2 concentrations at all four monitors are
well below the 1-hour SO2 NAAQS. The highest of the four
monitors' 2008-2010 design value concentrations was 20 parts per
billion (ppb)(compared to the SO2 NAAQS of 75 ppb). For the
period 2009-2011, the highest of the four Dakota County monitors'
design values was 19 ppb (both design values cited here are from the
same monitor). This monitor is located less than one mile east of FHR
Pine Bend. Minnesota has recommended that EPA designate Dakota County
``unclassifiable'' for the 1-hour SO2 NAAQS. Minnesota must
meet the applicable requirements for Dakota County's final
SO2 designation, which may include a modeled demonstration
that the entire county will continue to maintain the 1-hour
SO2 NAAQS. In the meantime, given the significant
SO2 emission reductions in the FHR Pine Bend SIP revision
submittal, and the fact that the new facility operating scenario has
also resulted in reductions in modeled concentrations for the other
short-term SO2 standards, EPA believes that the August 29,
2011 SIP revision submittal does not endanger Dakota County's continued
attainment of the 1-hour SO2 NAAQS, and the SIP revision
will provide progress toward any future requirements for a modeled
demonstration of attainment of the 1-hour SO2 NAAQS in
Dakota County. It is important to note that future SIP revision
requests or modifications at this or other SO2-emitting
facilities may be required to include full modeled attainment
demonstrations for the 1-hour SO2 NAAQS, in accordance with
section 110(l) of the Clean Air Act.
EPA believes that Minnesota's August 29, 2011, request to revise
its SIP for FHR Pine Bend satisfies the requirements of section 110(l)
of the Clean Air Act. The SIP revision addresses a plant safety issue
and includes significant SO2 reductions which will help the
area continue to maintain the current SO2 standards.
Dispersion modeling shows that ambient SO2 impacts will
decrease under the new operating scenario. The SIP limits and modeling
continue to account for limited use of the Merox incinerator in case it
is temporarily needed during the transition to the new operating
scenario. Actual operations following the shutdown of the Merox
incinerator will therefore produce less SO2 than the modeled
amount. For these reasons, EPA believes that approval of the August 29,
2011 SIP revision request
[[Page 6735]]
will not jeopardize Dakota County's attainment of the SO2
NAAQS.
III. What action is EPA taking?
EPA is approving Minnesota's August 29, 2011, SO2 SIP
revision request for FHR Pine Bend, in Dakota County. This SIP revision
addresses an operating change based on a safety issue, and also results
in a large decrease in SO2 emissions at the facility. This
SIP revision is not expected to jeopardize attainment of the
SO2 NAAQS in Dakota County.
We are publishing this action without prior proposal because we
view this as a noncontroversial amendment and anticipate no adverse
comments. However, in the proposed rules section of this Federal
Register publication, we are publishing a separate document that will
serve as the proposal to approve the state plan if relevant adverse
written comments are filed. This rule will be effective April 1, 2013
without further notice unless we receive relevant adverse written
comments by March 4, 2013. If we receive such comments, we will
withdraw this action before the effective date by publishing a
subsequent document that will withdraw the final action. All public
comments received will then be addressed in a subsequent final rule
based on the proposed action. EPA will not institute a second comment
period. Any parties interested in commenting on this action should do
so at this time. Please note that if 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, EPA may adopt as final those
provisions of the rule that are not the subject of an adverse comment.
If we do not receive any comments, this action will be effective April
1, 2013.
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 Clean Air 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 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 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, 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, this rule does not have tribal implications as
specified by Executive Order 13175 (65 FR 67249, 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.
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. 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 April 1, 2013. 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 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, Sulfur oxides.
Dated: January 17, 2013.
Susan Hedman,
Regional Administrator, Region 5.
40 CFR part 52 is amended as follows:
PART 52--[AMENDED]
0
1. The authority citation for part 52 continues to read as follows:
Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.
0
2. In Sec. 52.1220, the table in paragraph (d) is amended by revising
the entry for ``Flint Hills Resources, L.P. (formerly Koch Petroleum)''
to read as follows:
Sec. 52.1220 Identification of plan.
* * * * *
(d) * * *
[[Page 6736]]
EPA-Approved Minnesota Source-Specific Permits
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State
Name of source Permit No. effective date EPA approval date Comments
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Flint Hills Resources Pine Bend, .............. 08/29/11 01/31/13, [INSERT Amendment Nine to
LLC. PAGE NUMBER WHERE Findings and Order.
THE DOCUMENT BEGINS].
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[FR Doc. 2013-02019 Filed 1-30-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P