[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 96 (Monday, May 19, 2014)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 28612-28615]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-11430]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 52
[EPA-R09-OAR-2014-0196; FRL-9909-71-Region 9]
Revisions to the California State Implementation Plan, Ventura
County Air Pollution Control District
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
[[Page 28613]]
ACTION: Direct final rule.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is taking direct
final action to approve revisions to the Ventura County Air Pollution
Control District (VCAPCD) portion of the California State
Implementation Plan (SIP). These revisions concern oxides of nitrogen
(NOX) emissions from large water heaters, boilers, steam
generators, and process heaters. 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 July 18, 2014 without further notice,
unless EPA receives adverse comments by June 18, 2014. 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 comments, identified by docket number EPA-R09-OAR-
2014-0196, by one of the following methods:
1. Federal eRulemaking Portal: www.regulations.gov. Follow the on-
line instructions.
2. Email: [email protected].
3. Mail or deliver: Andrew Steckel (Air-4), U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency Region IX, 75 Hawthorne Street, San Francisco, CA
94105-3901.
Instructions: All comments 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 Confidential Business Information (CBI) or other information
whose disclosure is restricted by statute. Information that you
consider CBI or otherwise protected should be clearly identified as
such and should not be submitted through www.regulations.gov or email.
www.regulations.gov is an ``anonymous access'' system, and EPA will not
know your identity or contact information unless you provide it in the
body of your comment. If you send email directly to EPA, your email
address will be automatically captured and included as part of the
public comment. 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: Generally, documents in the docket for this action are
available electronically at www.regulations.gov and in hard copy at EPA
Region IX, 75 Hawthorne Street, San Francisco, California 94105-3901.
While all documents in the docket are listed at www.regulations.gov,
some information may be publicly available only at the hard copy
location (e.g., copyrighted material, large maps), and some may not be
publicly available in either location (e.g., CBI). To inspect the hard
copy materials, please schedule an appointment during normal business
hours with the contact listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT
section.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Nicole Law, EPA Region IX, (415) 947-
4126, [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Throughout this document, ``we,'' ``us,''
and ``our'' refer to 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 rule revisions?
II. EPA's Evaluation and Action
A. How is EPA evaluating the rules?
B. Do the rules meet the evaluation criteria?
C. EPA Recommendations to Further Improve the Rules
D. Public Comment and Final Action
III. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews
I. The State's Submittal
A. What rules did the State submit?
Table 1 lists the rules we are approving with the dates that they
were adopted by the local air agency and submitted by the California
Air Resource Board.
Table 1--Submitted Rules
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Local agency Rule No. Rule title Amended Submitted
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
VCAPCD....................... 5....................... Effective Date......... 04/13/04 07/19/04
VCAPCD....................... 74.11.1................. Large Water Heaters and 09/11/12 04/22/13
Small Boilers.
VCAPCD....................... 74.15.1................. Boilers, Steam 09/11/12 04/22/13
Generators, and
Process Heaters.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On August 10, 2004, EPA determined that the submittal for VCAPCD
Rule 5 met the completeness criteria in 40 CFR Part 51 Appendix V,
which must be met before formal EPA review. On June 26, 2013, EPA
determined that the submittal for VCAPCD Rules 74.11.1 and 74.15.1 met
the completeness criteria in 40 CFR Part 51 Appendix V, which must be
met before formal EPA review.
B. Are there other versions of these rules?
We approved an earlier version of Rule 5 into the SIP on September
22, 1972 (37 FR 19806). We approved earlier versions of Rule 74.11.1
into the SIP on December 20, 2000 (65 FR 79752) and Rule 74.15.1 on
October 10, 2001 (66 FR 51576).
C. What is the purpose of the submitted rule revisions?
NOX helps produce ground-level ozone, smog and
particulate matter, which harm human health and the environment.
Section 110(a) of the CAA requires States to submit regulations that
control NOX emissions. Rule 74.11.1 lowers NOX
emission limits for units with rated heat input capacity of greater
than or equal to 75,000 BTU/hr and less than 1,000,000 BTU/hr. Rule
74.11.1 will no longer regulate units with rated heat input capacity
equal to or greater than 1,000,000 BTU/hr, but Rule 74.15.11 will. Rule
74.15.1 now regulates boilers with rated heat capacity equal to or
greater than 1,000,000 BTU/hr and less than or equal to 2,000,000 BTU/
hr, which were formerly regulated in Rule 74.11.1. Rule 74.15.1 also
added a new section describing testing requirements which includes
frequency of testing and the type of testing required. Rule 5 added a
definition for existing equipment. EPA's technical support documents
(TSDs) have more information about these rules.
II. EPA's Evaluation and Action
A. How is EPA evaluating the rules?
Generally, SIP rules must be enforceable (see section 110(a) of the
Act), must require Reasonably Available Control Technology (RACT) for
each category of sources covered by a Control Techniques Guidelines
(CTG) document as well as each NOX or VOC major source in
ozone nonattainment areas classified as moderate or above (see sections
182(b)(2) and 182(f)), and must not relax existing requirements (see
[[Page 28614]]
sections 110(l) and 193). SIP rules must also implement Reasonable
Available Control Measures (RACM), including such reductions in
emissions from existing sources in the area as may be obtained through
the adoption, at a minimum, of reasonable available control technology
(RACT), as expeditiously as practicable for nonattainment areas (see
CAA section 172(c)(1)). The Ventura County Air Pollution Control
District regulates an ozone nonattainment area classified as serious
for the 8-hour ozone NAAQS (see 40 CFR 81.305), so Ventura's Rules
generally must fulfill RACT and RACM for NOX.
Guidance and policy documents that we use to evaluate
enforceability, RACT, and RACM requirements consistently 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. ``State Implementation Plans; Nitrogen Oxides Supplement to the
General Preamble; Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 Implementation of
Title I; Proposed Rule,'' (the NOX Supplement), 57 FR 55620,
November 25, 1992.
3. ``Issues Relating to VOC Regulation Cutpoints, Deficiencies, and
Deviations,'' EPA, May 25, 1988 (the Bluebook).
4. ``Guidance Document for Correcting Common VOC & Other Rule
Deficiencies,'' EPA Region 9, August 21, 2001 (the Little Bluebook).
5. ``NOX Emissions from Industrial/Commercial/
Institutional (ICI) Boilers,'' EPA-453/R-94-022, March 1994.
6. ``Determination of Reasonably Available Control Technology and
Best Available Retrofit Control Technology for Industrial,
Institutional, and Commercial Boilers, Steam Generators, and Process
Heaters,'' CARB, July 18, 1991.
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. We are not
evaluating the RACM requirement in this action but believe that VCAPCD
is required to evaluate any reasonably available control measure for
the sources covered by these rules. We believe there are no sources
subject to Rule 74.11.1 and Rule 74.15.1 that exceed the major source
threshold (50 tpy), thus they are not required to meet RACT for
NOX. For this reason, we are not making a determination on
RACT for Rules 74.11.1 and 74.15.1. The TSDs have more information on
our evaluation. Rule 5 Effective Date is a rule specifying when rules
are effective. The definition for ``existing equipment'' was added to
clarify the rule. Rule 5 is a general rule and is not specific to
source categories, so it was not evaluated for RACT or RACM. The rule
revisions are not considered relaxations to the SIP as the only change
was the addition of a definition.
C. EPA Recommendations To Further Improve the Rules
The TSDs describes additional rule revisions that we recommend for
the next time the local agency modifies the rules.
D. Public Comment and Final Action
As authorized in section 110(k)(3) of the Act, EPA is fully
approving the submitted rules because we believe they fulfill all
relevant requirements. 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 June 18, 2014, 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 July 18, 2014. This will incorporate these
rules into the federally enforceable SIP.
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.
III. 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, 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 disproportionate human health or environmental effects with
practical, appropriate, 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
[[Page 28615]]
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 July 18, 2014. 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, Nitrogen dioxide, Ozone,
Particulate matter, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements.
Dated: March 21, 2014.
Jared Blumenfeld,
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)(332)(i)(B)(4)
and (c)(429)(i)(A)(2) and (3) to read as follows:
Sec. 52.220 Identification of plan.
* * * * *
(c) * * *
(332) * * *
(i) * * *
(B) * * *
(4) Rule 5, ``Effective Date,'' amended on April 13, 2004.
* * * * *
(429) * * *
(i) * * *
(A) * * *
(2) Rule 74.11.1, ``Large Water Heaters and Small Boilers,''
amended on September 11, 2012.
(3) Rule 74.15.1, ``Boilers, Steam Generators, and Process
Heaters,'' amended on September 11, 2012.
* * * * *
[FR Doc. 2014-11430 Filed 5-16-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P