[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 100 (Tuesday, May 24, 2016)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 32652-32654]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-12096]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 52
[EPA-R04-OAR-2015-0518; FRL-9946-76-Region 4]
Air Plan Approval; North Carolina; Regional Haze
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Final rule.
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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is finalizing
approval of a revision to North Carolina's regional haze State
Implementation Plan (SIP), submitted by the North Carolina Department
of Environmental Quality (formerly known as the North Carolina
Department of Environment and Natural Resources (NC DENR)) on October
31, 2014, that relies on an alternative to Best Available Retrofit
Technology (BART) to satisfy BART requirements for electric generating
units (EGUs) formerly subject to the Clean Air Interstate Rule (CAIR).
EPA is also finalizing its determination that final approval of this
SIP revision corrects the deficiencies that led to EPA's limited
disapproval of the State's regional haze SIP on June 7, 2012, and is
converting EPA's June 27, 2012, limited approval to a full approval.
This submittal addresses the requirements of the Clean Air Act (CAA or
Act) and EPA's rules that require states to prevent any future, and
remedy any existing, manmade impairment of visibility in mandatory
Class I areas caused by emissions of air pollutants from numerous
sources located over a wide geographic area
[[Page 32653]]
(also referred to as the regional haze program). States are required to
assure reasonable progress toward the national goal of achieving
natural visibility conditions in Class I areas.
DATES: This rule is effective June 23, 2016.
ADDRESSES: EPA has established a docket for these actions under Docket
Identification No. EPA-R04-OAR-2015-0518. All documents in the docket
are listed on the www.regulations.gov Web site. Although listed in the
index, some information is not publicly available, i.e., Confidential
Business Information or other information whose disclosure 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 either electronically through www.regulations.gov or in hard
copy at the Air Regulatory Management Section, Air Planning and
Implementation Branch, Air, Pesticides and Toxics Management Division,
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 4, 61 Forsyth Street SW.,
Atlanta, Georgia 30303-8960. EPA requests that if at all possible, you
contact the person listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT
section to schedule your inspection. The Regional Office's official
hours of business are Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.,
excluding Federal holidays.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Michele Notarianni, Air Regulatory
Management Section, Air Planning and Implementation Branch, Air,
Pesticides and Toxics Management Division, U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency, Region 4, 61 Forsyth Street SW., Atlanta, Georgia
30303-8960. Ms. Notarianni can be reached via electronic mail at
[email protected] or via telephone at (404) 562-9031.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background and Overview
Regional haze is visibility impairment that is produced by a
multitude of sources and activities which are located across a broad
geographic area and emit fine particles (e.g., sulfates, nitrates,
organic carbon, elemental carbon, and soil dust) and their precursors
(e.g., sulfur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen oxides
(NOX), and in some cases, ammonia and volatile organic
compounds). In section 169A of the 1977 Amendments to the CAA, Congress
created a program for protecting visibility in the nation's national
parks and wilderness areas. In the 1990 CAA Amendments, Congress
amended the visibility provisions in the CAA to focus attention on the
problem of regional haze.
In 1999, EPA promulgated the regional haze rule (RHR), which
requires states to develop and implement SIPs to ensure reasonable
progress toward improving visibility in Class I areas by reducing
emissions that cause or contribute to regional haze. See 64 FR 35713
(July 1, 1999). The RHR requires each state, the District of Columbia,
and the Virgin Islands to each submit a regional haze SIP no later than
December 17, 2007. Under 40 CFR 51.308(e), the SIP must contain
emission limitations representing BART and schedules for compliance
with BART for each BART-eligible source, unless the SIP demonstrates
that an emissions trading program or other alternative (BART
Alternative) will achieve greater reasonable progress toward natural
visibility conditions than would have resulted from the installation
and operation of BART at all sources subject to BART and covered by the
BART Alternative. An approvable BART Alternative must meet the criteria
in 40 CFR 51.308(e)(2).
North Carolina submitted its regional haze SIP on December 17,
2007, the regional haze SIP submittal deadline. Fully consistent with
EPA's regulations at the time, the SIP relied on CAIR to satisfy
NOX and SO2 BART requirements for CAIR-subject
EGUs in the State and to partially satisfy the requirement for a long-
term strategy sufficient to achieve the State-adopted reasonable
progress goals. EPA finalized a limited disapproval of North Carolina's
regional haze SIP on June 7, 2012 (77 FR 33642), triggering the
requirement for EPA to promulgate a Federal Implementation Plan (FIP)
unless EPA approves a SIP revision that corrects the deficiency. EPA
finalized a limited approval of North Carolina's regional haze SIP on
June 27, 2012 (77 FR 38185), as meeting the remaining applicable
regional haze requirements set forth in the CAA and the RHR. On October
31, 2014, NC DENR submitted a revision to North Carolina's regional
haze SIP to correct the deficiencies identified in the June 7, 2012,
limited disapproval by replacing reliance on CAIR with reliance on a
BART Alternative to satisfy NOX and SO2 BART
requirements for EGUs formerly subject to CAIR.
In a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) published on April 5,
2016 (81 FR 19519), EPA proposed to approve North Carolina's October
31, 2014, BART Alternative regional haze SIP revision; to determine
that final approval of the SIP revision would correct the deficiencies
that led to EPA's limited disapproval of the State's regional haze SIP;
and to convert EPA's limited approval of the State's regional haze SIP
to a full approval, thereby eliminating the need for EPA to issue a FIP
to remedy the deficiencies. The details of North Carolina's submission
and the rationale for EPA's actions are explained in the NPRM. Comments
on the proposed rulemaking were due on or before April 26, 2016.
EPA received one set of comments supporting the proposed actions
and no adverse comments. The supporting comments were provided by Duke
Energy. Table 1 in EPA's NPRM indicates that Units 5-9 at Duke Energy's
Buck power plant were converted from coal to natural gas. See 81 FR
19521 (April 5, 2016). Duke Energy's supporting comments clarify that
these five EGUs were retired from operation in 2011 and 2012 and that
the units have been replaced by two new natural gas-fired combined
cycle turbines equipped with Selective Catalytic Reduction for
NOX control. This clarification does not impact EPA's
conclusions because it does not alter the analysis supporting the BART
Alternative.
II. Final Actions
EPA is finalizing approval of North Carolina's October 31, 2014,
regional haze SIP revision because EPA has determined that the BART
Alternative contained therein meets the requirements of 40 CFR
51.308(e)(2). EPA is also converting EPA's June 27, 2012, limited
approval of North Carolina's regional haze SIP to a full approval
because EPA finds that final approval of the State's October 31, 2014,
regional haze SIP revision corrects the deficiencies that led to EPA's
limited disapproval of the State's regional haze SIP.
III. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews
Under the CAA, the Administrator is required to approve a SIP
submission that complies with the provisions of the Act and applicable
federal regulations. See 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 CAA. Accordingly, these
actions merely approve state law as meeting federal requirements and do
not impose additional requirements beyond those imposed by state law.
For that reason, these actions:
Are not a significant regulatory action subject to review
by the Office of Management and Budget under Executive Orders 12866 (58
FR 51735,
[[Page 32654]]
October 4, 1993) and 13563 (76 FR 3821, January 21, 2011);
do not impose an information collection burden under the
provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.);
are 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.);
do 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);
do not have Federalism implications as specified in
Executive Order 13132 (64 FR 43255, August 10, 1999);
are not an economically significant regulatory action
based on health or safety risks subject to Executive Order 13045 (62 FR
19885, April 23, 1997);
are not a significant regulatory action subject to
Executive Order 13211 (66 FR 28355, May 22, 2001);
are 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
do 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).
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 as specified by Executive Order 13175 (65
FR 67249, November 9, 2000), nor will it 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 these actions 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. These actions are 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 these actions must be filed in the United States Court of Appeals
for the appropriate circuit by July 25, 2016. Filing a petition for
reconsideration by the Administrator of this final rule does not affect
the finality of these actions 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. These actions 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,
Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, Volatile organic compounds.
Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.
Dated: May 12, 2016.
Heather McTeer Toney,
Regional Administrator, Region 4.
40 CFR part 52 is amended as follows:
PART 52--[APPROVAL AND PROMULGATION OF IMPLEMENTATION PLANS]
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1. The authority citation for part 52 continues to read as follows:
Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.
Subpart II--North Carolina
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2. Section 52.1770(e), is amended by adding an entry for ``BART
Alternative Plan'' at the end of the table to read as follows:
Sec. 52.1770 Identification of plan.
* * * * *
(e) * * *
EPA-Approved North Carolina Non-Regulatory Provisions
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State EPA Approval Federal Register
Provision effective date date citation Explanation
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* * * * * * *
BART Alternative Plan............ 10/31/2014 5/24/2016 [Insert Federal This plan modifies the
Register citation]. Regional Haze Plan
approved with a state
effective date of 11/17/
2007 (see above) and
converts the June 27,
2012, limited approval
to a full approval.
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Sec. 52.1776 [Removed and Reserved]
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3. Section 52.1776 is removed and reserved.
[FR Doc. 2016-12096 Filed 5-23-16; 8:45 am]
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