[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 115 (Wednesday, June 15, 2016)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 39002-39003]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-14032]
[[Page 39002]]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 52
[EPA-R04-OAR-2015-0675; FRL-9947-61-Region 4]
Air Plan Approval; Kentucky; Source Specific Revision for
Louisville Gas and Electric
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency.
ACTION: Proposed rule.
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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to
approve a State Implementation Plan (SIP) revision submitted by the
Commonwealth of Kentucky through its Energy and Environment Cabinet,
Department of Environmental Protection, Division for Air Quality (KY
DAQ) on February 13, 2013, for the purpose of establishing emission
requirements for the changeover from coal-fired units U4, U5 and U6 to
a new natural gas-fired combined cycle (NGCC) generating unit U15 and
auxiliary boiler U16 at the Louisville Gas and Electric Company, Cane
Run Generating Station (LG & E Cane Run Facility).
DATES: Comments must be received on or before July 15, 2016.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-R04-
OAR-2015-0675 at http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the online
instructions for submitting comments. Once submitted, comments cannot
be edited or removed from Regulations.gov. 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. 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, the full EPA public comment
policy, information about CBI or multimedia submissions, and general
guidance on making effective comments, please visit http://www2.epa.gov/dockets/commenting-epa-dockets.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jane Spann of 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. Ms. Spann may be reached by telephone at (404) 562-9029 or
via electronic mail at [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
Ozone is created when chemical reactions between volatile organic
compounds (VOC) and nitrogen oxides (NOX) occur in the
presence of sunlight. Ozone is reduced by reducing VOC and
NOX emissions. The Louisville Metro Air Pollution Control
District (LMAPCD) adopted regulation 6.42 Reasonably Available Control
Technology Requirements for Major Volatile Organic Compound and
Nitrogen Oxides Emitting Facilities on February 2, 1994. LMAPCD's
regulation 6.42 was submitted to EPA, through the Commonwealth of
Kentucky, on May 21, 1999. On October 23, 2001, EPA approved LMAPCD's
regulation 6.42, section 4.4 of which requires LMAPCD to submit each
source-specific reasonably available control technology (RACT)
determination to EPA for approval into the Kentucky SIP. See 66 FR
53658. On the same date, EPA approved the NOX RACT plan for
LG & E's Cane Run Facility into the SIP. See 66 FR 53684.
On June 13, 2011, LG & E submitted to the Air Pollution Control
Board of Jefferson County (Board) an application for a permit to
construct a new NGCC generating unit U15 and auxiliary boiler U16 and
retire coal-fired units U4, U5 and U6 at LG & E's Cane Run Facility to
comply with other federal requirements, including the Mercury & Air
Toxics Standards and the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule.\1\ In
response, on July 18, 2012, the Board adopted Amendment 2 establishing
NOX emission rates for the new units. On February 13, 2013,
KY DAQ, on behalf of LMAPCD, submitted a SIP revision for EPA to
approve the LG & E Cane Run Generating Station NOX RACT Plan
Amendment 2 into the Kentucky SIP. The LG & E Cane Run Generating
Station NOX RACT Plan Amendment 2 includes two parts: Part
1, the existing NOX RACT Plan for the coal-fired units,
which will remain in effect until those units are retired; and Part 2,
the plan that will become effective upon the start of operation of the
NGCC facility and the shut-down of the coal-fired units.
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\1\ Amendment 2 of the February 13, 2013, submittal includes a
Dew Point Heater (U17). In 2014, LG&E notified LMAPCD that LG&E is
not installing U17 after all.
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II. Analysis of State Submittal
CAA section 110(l) does not allow approval of a SIP revision if the
revision would interfere with any applicable requirement concerning
attainment and reasonable further progress or any other applicable
requirement of the CAA. On May 19, 2015, LMAPCD submitted supplemental
information regarding the February 13, 2013, submittal to address CAA
section 110(l). The May 19, 2015, supplemental document compares the
NOX and VOC emissions from the coal-fired electric
generation units (EGUs) (U4, U5 and U6) to those from the new NGCC
generating unit U15 and auxiliary boiler U16. The comparison shows that
substitution of NGCC units for the coal-fired EGUs will cause a
reduction of 11,660 tons per year (tpy) of NOX allowable
emissions.\2\ It also indicates a possible increase of 25.2 tpy of VOC
allowable emissions.\3\
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\2\ Permitted, maximum, allowable NOX emissions for
any consecutive 12 month period.
\3\ Permitted, maximum, allowable VOC emissions for any
consecutive 12 month period.
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The Louisville area is currently in compliance with the ozone
national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS). To demonstrate that the
potential VOC increase of 25.2 tpy would not interfere with the area's
ongoing attainment of the ozone NAAQS, LMAPCD conducted an analysis of
ozone sensitivity based on data from monitors in the Louisville
Metropolitan Statistical Area and a region-wide modeling project known
as the ``Southeastern Modeling, Analysis, and Planning'' (SEMAP).\4\
The analysis compared the tons per day of ozone reduced based on
NOX reductions and based on VOC reductions and determined
that NOX emission reductions in the Louisville region are 2
to 16 times more effective than VOC emission reductions at reducing
ozone concentrations. Based on this analysis, LMAPCD determined that a
25-ton increase in VOC emissions can be offset with a reduction in
NOX emissions of as much as 400 tons to as little as 50
tons. Therefore, LMAPCD concluded that the potential increase in VOC of
25.2 tpy from the Cane Run facility is offset by the concurrent 11,660
tpy reduction in NOX. EPA has preliminarily determined that
the new NOX RACT plan associated with Cane Run's change from
coal-fired to natural gas-fired units meets the
[[Page 39003]]
requirements of CAA section 110(l). Thus, EPA is proposing to approve
the February 13, 2013, SIP submittal into the federally-approved SIP.
This area is, as noted above, in compliance with the ozone NAAQS and
there is no indication that this proposed action will cause
interference with compliance with the fine particulate matter or
nitrogen dioxide NAAQS.
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\4\ Odam, Talat, and Zac Adelman. Emissions and Air Quality
Modeling for SEMAP. Georgia Institute of Technology Environmental
Engineering Department, the University of North Carolina Institute
for the Environment and the Colorado State University Cooperative
Institute for Research in the Atmosphere. October 15, 2014.
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III. Incorporation by Reference
In this rule, EPA is proposing to include in a final EPA rule
regulatory text that includes incorporation by reference. In accordance
with requirements of 1 CFR 51.5, EPA is proposing to incorporate by
reference the KY DAQ source-specific provision entitled ``Air Pollution
Control Board of Jefferson County Board Order--Amendment 2,'' approved
by LMAPCD on July 18, 2012. EPA has made, and will continue to make,
these documents generally available electronically through
www.regulations.gov and/or in hard copy at the EPA Region 4 office (see
the ADDRESSES section of this preamble for more information).
IV. Proposed Action
EPA is proposing to approve the February 13, 2013, Kentucky SIP
revision which adds LG & E Cane Run Generating Station NOX
RACT Plan Amendment 2 to the federally-approved Kentucky SIP. This SIP
includes emission requirements for the changeover from coal-fired units
to natural gas-fired combined cycle EGUs and associated equipment.
V. 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, this
proposed 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 proposed 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);
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 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.
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, Volatile
organic compounds.
Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.
Dated: June 1, 2016.
Heather McTeer Toney,
Regional Administrator, Region 4.
[FR Doc. 2016-14032 Filed 6-14-16; 8:45 am]
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