[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 240 (Friday, December 15, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 59603-59604]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-27094]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[FRL-9972-15-OAR]
Allocations of Cross-State Air Pollution Rule Allowances From New
Unit Set-Asides for 2017 Control Periods
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice of data availability (NODA).
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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is providing notice
of the availability of preliminary lists of units eligible for second-
round allocations of emission allowances for the 2017 control periods
from the new unit set-asides (NUSAs) established under the Cross-State
Air Pollution Rule (CSAPR). EPA has posted spreadsheets containing the
lists on EPA's website. EPA will consider timely objections to the
lists before determining the amounts of the second-round allocations.
DATES: Objections to the information referenced in this notice must be
received on or before January 16, 2018.
ADDRESSES: Submit your objections via email to [email protected].
Include ``2017 NUSA allocations'' in the email subject line and include
your name, title, affiliation, address, phone number, and email address
in the body of the email.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Questions concerning this action
should be addressed to Robert Miller at (202) 343-9077 or
[email protected] or Kenon Smith at (202) 343-9164 or
[email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under each CSAPR trading program where EPA
is responsible for determining emission allowance allocations, a
portion of each state's emissions budget for the program for each
control period is reserved in a NUSA (and in an additional Indian
country NUSA in the case of states with Indian country within their
borders) for allocation to certain units that would not otherwise
receive allowance allocations. The procedures for identifying the
eligible units for each control period and for allocating allowances
from the NUSAs and Indian country NUSAs to those units are set forth in
the CSAPR regulations at 40 CFR 97.411(b) and 97.412 (NOX
Annual Trading Program), 97.511(b) and 97.512 (NOX Ozone
Season Group 1 Trading Program), 97.611(b) and 97.612 (SO2
Group 1 Trading Program), 97.711(b) and 97.712 (SO2 Group 2
Trading Program), and 97.811(b) and 97.812 (NOX Ozone Season
Group 2 Trading Program). Each NUSA allowance allocation process
involves up to two rounds of allocations to eligible units, termed
``new'' units, followed by the allocation to ``existing'' units of any
allowances not allocated to new units.
This notice concerns EPA's preliminary identification of units
eligible to receive allowances in the second round of NUSA allocations
for the 2017 control periods. The units eligible for second-round
allocations for a given control period are CSAPR-affected units that
commenced commercial operation between January 1 of the year before
that control period and November 30 of the year of that control period.
In the case of the 2017 control periods, an eligible unit therefore
must have commenced commercial operation between January 1, 2016 and
November 30, 2017 (inclusive). Generally, where a unit is eligible to
receive a second-round NUSA allocation under a given CSAPR trading
program for a given control period, the unit's maximum potential
second-round allocation equals the positive difference (if any) between
the unit's emissions during the control period as reported under 40 CFR
part 75 and any first-round NUSA allocation the unit received.\1\ If
the total of such maximum potential allocations to all eligible units
would exceed the total allowances remaining in the NUSA, the
allocations are reduced on a pro-rata basis.
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\1\ EPA notes that a unit's emissions occurring before its
monitor certification deadline are not considered to have occurred
during a control period and consequently are not included in the
emission amounts used to determine NUSA allocations. See 40 CFR
97.406(c)(3), 97.506(c)(3), 97.606(c)(3), 97.706(c)(3), and
97.806(c)(3).
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The preliminary lists of eligible units are set forth in Excel
spreadsheets titled
``CSAPR_NUSA_2017_NOx_Annual_2nd_Round_Prelim_Data,''
``CSAPR_NUSA_2017_ NOx_Ozone_Season_2nd_Round_Prelim_Data,'' and
``CSAPR_NUSA_2017_SO _2nd_Round_Prelim_Data'' available on EPA's
website at https://www.epa.gov/csapr/csapr-compliance-year-2017-nusa-nodas. Each
[[Page 59604]]
spreadsheet contains a separate worksheet for each state covered by
that program showing each unit preliminarily identified as eligible for
a second-round NUSA allocation. Each state worksheet also contains a
summary showing (1) the quantity of allowances initially available in
that state's 2017 NUSA, (2) the sum of the 2017 NUSA allowance
allocations that were made in the first round to new units in that
state, if any, and (3) the quantity of allowances in the 2017 NUSA
available for second-round allocations to new units (or ultimately for
allocations to existing units), if any.
Objections should be strictly limited to whether EPA has correctly
identified the units eligible for second-round 2017 NUSA allocations
according to the criteria established in the regulations and should be
emailed to the address identified in ADDRESSES. Objections must
include: (1) Precise identification of the specific data the commenter
believes are inaccurate, (2) new proposed data upon which the commenter
believes EPA should rely instead, and (3) the reasons why EPA should
rely on the commenter's proposed data and not the data referenced in
this notice.
EPA notes that an allocation or lack of allocation of allowances to
a given unit does not constitute a determination that CSAPR does or
does not apply to the unit. EPA also notes that allocations are subject
to potential correction if a unit to which NUSA allowances have been
allocated for a given control period is not actually an affected unit
as of the start of that control period.\2\
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\2\ See 40 CFR 97.411(c), 97.511(c), 97.611(c), 97.711(c), and
97.811(c).
(Authority: 40 CFR 97.411(b), 97.511(b), 97.611(b), 97.711(b), and
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97.811(b).)
Dated: December 1, 2017.
Reid P. Harvey,
Director, Clean Air Markets Division, Office of Atmospheric Programs,
Office of Air and Radiation.
[FR Doc. 2017-27094 Filed 12-14-17; 8:45 am]
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