[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 7 (Wednesday, January 11, 2017)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 3233-3234]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-00309]
[[Page 3233]]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 52
[EPA-R03-OAR-2016-0238; FRL-9957-87-Region 3]
Approval and Promulgation of Air Quality Implementation Plans;
Maryland; Control of Nitrogen Oxide Emissions from Coal-Fired Electric
Generating Units
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Proposed rule.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to
approve a state implementation plan (SIP) revision submitted by the
State of Maryland. This SIP submittal consists of a regulation for
inclusion in the Maryland SIP which regulates nitrogen oxides
(NOX) emissions from seven coal-fired electric generating
units (EGU) in the State. This action is being taken under the Clean
Air Act (CAA).
DATES: Written comments must be received on or before February 10,
2017.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-R03-
OAR-2016-0238 at http://www.regulations.gov, or via email to
[email protected]. For comments submitted at Regulations.gov, follow
the online instructions for submitting comments. Once submitted,
comments cannot be edited or removed from Regulations.gov. For either
manner of submission, 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 http://www2.epa.gov/dockets/commenting-epa-dockets.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Marilyn Powers, (215) 814-2308 or by
email at [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On November 20, 2015, the State of Maryland,
through the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE), submitted a
revision to its SIP seeking to include regulation COMAR
26.11.38.01--.05--Control of NOX Emissions from Coal-Fired
Electric Generating Units, in the Maryland SIP. On September 8, 2016,
MDE provided a letter to EPA to clarify that this regulation was
submitted as a SIP strengthening measure, and not as a submission to
address reasonably available control technology (RACT) for coal-fired
EGUs.\1\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Subsequent to MDE's submission of this SIP revision to EPA,
the State finalized several changes to COMAR 26.11.38 that were
effective on December 10, 2015. This subsequent MDE action modified
sections .01, recodified sections .04 and .05 to sections .05 and
.06, respectively, and added new sections .04 and .07. These changes
to COMAR 26.11.38 have not yet been submitted to EPA for
incorporation in the Maryland SIP. EPA is proposing approval of
sections .01 through .05 of COMAR 26.11.38 as submitted by MDE on
November 20, 2015, which had a state effective date of August 31,
2015.\\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
I. Background
On March 12, 2008, EPA strengthened the national ambient air
quality standards (NAAQS) for ground level ozone, setting both the
primary and secondary standards to a level of 0.075 parts per million
(ppm) or 75 parts per billion (ppb) averaged over an 8-hour period
(2008 ozone NAAQS). On May 21, 2012 (77 FR 30088), EPA designated areas
that were not attaining the 2008 ozone NAAQS as nonattainment,
including the following three areas or portions of areas in Maryland:
Cecil County (part of the Philadelphia-Wilmington-Atlantic City
Nonattainment Area); Calvert, Charles, Frederick, Montgomery, and
Prince Georges Counties (part of the Washington, DC-MD-VA Nonattainment
Area); and Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Carroll, Harford, and Howard
Counties and the City of Baltimore (the Baltimore Nonattainment Area).
The Philadelphia-Wilmington-Atlantic City Area and Washington, DC-MD-VA
Area were classified as marginal nonattainment areas, and the Baltimore
Area was classified as a moderate nonattainment area for the 2008 ozone
NAAQS.
II. Summary of SIP Revision and EPA Analysis
On November 20, 2015, MDE submitted a regulation as a SIP revision
for EPA approval and incorporation into the Maryland SIP. The revision
consists of Maryland regulation COMAR 26.11.38--Control of
NOX Emissions from Coal-Fired Electric Generating Units. The
regulation, effective in August 2015, establishes NOX
emission standards and additional monitoring and reporting requirements
for coal-fired EGUs.
COMAR 26.11.38 defines the affected units for the regulation as
Brandon Shores Units 1 and 2, C.P. Crane Units 1 and 2, Chalk Point
Units 1 and 2, Dickerson Units 1, 2, and 3, H.A. Wagner Units 2 and 3,
Morgantown Units 1 and 2, and Warrior Run. The regulation requires an
affected EGU to minimize NOX emissions by operating and
optimizing the use of all installed pollution controls and combustion
controls during all times that the unit is in operation while burning
coal. For demonstrating compliance with this requirement, the owner or
operator is required to submit a plan to MDE and EPA for approval that
summarizes the data to be collected to show that each affected EGU is
operating its installed controls.
The regulation establishes a system-wide emissions rate of 0.15
pounds per million British thermal units (lbs/mmBtu) on a 30-day
rolling average for coal-burning EGUs during the ozone season.\2\
System-wide emissions are an aggregation of NOX emissions
from all coal-fired EGUs owned, operated, or controlled by the same
company. Continuous emissions monitoring (CEM) systems already
installed on these units as a requirement of previous federal and state
programs, will be used to track system-wide emissions and to determine
compliance with the 30-day rolling average emissions limit. See COMAR
26.11.38.05. The 0.15 lb/mmBtu emission rate does not apply to C.P.
Crane and AES Warrior Run, as they are not a part of a system.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\2\ The limit does not apply to an EGU located at a facility
that is solely owned, operated, or controlled. AES Warrior Run is
subject to a limit of 0.10 lb/mmBtu and Charles P. Crane is subject
to the 24-hour block average rates which trigger reporting
requirements.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
To demonstrate compliance with the requirement to optimize
controls, MDE established 24-hour block emissions levels for each coal-
burning EGU based on historical emissions data. Id. During the ozone
season, EGU owners are required to provide a daily report for any unit
that exceeds its 24-hour emissions level. The report requires specific
operating data and an explanation of any exceedances of the 24-hour
level. A detailed discussion of the requirements of regulation COMAR
26.11.38 may be found in the EPA technical support document (TSD)
prepared in support of this proposed rulemaking, which is available in
the
[[Page 3234]]
docket for this rulemaking action and online at www.regulations.gov.
The 14 affected units at the seven plants that are subject to COMAR
26.11.38 have all installed controls as a result of programs requiring
NOX reductions by previous regulatory requirements such as
the NOX SIP Call (65 FR 57356, October 27, 1998), the Clean
Air Interstate Rule (CAIR) (70 FR 25162, May 12, 2005), the Cross State
Air Pollution Rule (CSAPR) (76 FR 48208, August 8, 2011), and
Maryland's Healthy Air Act (HAA). All of the affected units have either
selective catalytic reduction (SCR), selective non-catalytic reduction
(SNCR), or selective alternative catalytic reduction (SACR).
EPA finds that the submittal strengthens the Maryland SIP. COMAR
26.11.38 imposes NOX emissions limits on units subject to
the regulation which are expected to lower NOX emissions
within the State. The NOX emissions limits plus the
operation and optimization of the existing NOX controls
whenever the units are in operation will help Maryland's attainment and
maintenance of the 2008 ozone NAAQS. EPA's detailed analysis of the
Maryland submittal can be found in the TSD developed in support of this
proposed rulemaking action, and can be found in the docket for this
rulemaking action and at www.regulations.gov.
III. Proposed Action
EPA is proposing to approve the November 20, 2015 Maryland SIP
submittal which seeks to include regulation COMAR 26.11.38, Control of
Nitrogen Oxides Emissions from Coal-Fired Electric Generating Units, in
the Maryland SIP as a SIP strengthening measure in accordance with CAA
section 110. EPA is soliciting public comments on the issues discussed
in this document. These comments will be considered before taking final
action.
IV. Incorporation by Reference
In this proposed 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 Maryland regulation COMAR 26.11.28--Control of
Nitrogen Oxides Emissions from Coal-Fired Electric Generating Units.
EPA has made, and will continue to make, these materials generally
available through http://www.regulations.gov and/or at the EPA Region
III Office (please contact the person identified in the FOR FURTHER
INFORMATION CONTACT section of this preamble for more information).
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 CAA 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 CAA. 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 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).
In addition, this action proposing to approve Maryland's regulation
to control NOX emissions from coal-fired electric generating
units 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.
List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 52
Environmental protection, Air pollution control, Incorporation by
reference, Nitrogen dioxide, Ozone, Reporting and recordkeeping
requirements.
Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.
Dated: December 16, 2016.
Shawn M. Garvin,
Regional Administrator, Region III.
[FR Doc. 2017-00309 Filed 1-10-17; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P