[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 144 (Thursday, July 26, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 35473-35475]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-16000]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[FRL-9981-31-OAR]
Allocations of Cross-State Air Pollution Rule Allowances From New
Unit Set-Asides for 2018 Control Periods
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice of data availability.
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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is providing notice
of the availability of data on emission allowance allocations to
certain units under the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule (CSAPR) trading
programs. EPA has completed final calculations for the first round of
allocations of allowances from the CSAPR new unit set-asides (NUSAs)
for the 2018 control periods and has posted spreadsheets containing the
calculations on EPA's website. Several changes were made to the
preliminary allocation spreadsheets to eliminate allocations to
existing units that had been incorrectly identified as new units
eligible to receive NUSA allocations. No changes were made to the
calculations of the amounts of allocations to any units correctly
identified as new units, and no additional units were identified as new
units.
DATES: July 26, 2018.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Questions concerning this action
should be addressed to Kenon Smith at (202) 343-9164 or
[email protected] or Jason Kuhns at (202) 564-3236 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 these units are set forth in
the CSAPR trading program regulations at 40 CFR 97.411(b) and 97.412
(NOX Annual), 97.511(b) and 97.512 (NOX Ozone
Season Group 1), 97.611(b) and 97.612 (SO2 Group 1),
97.711(b) and 97.712 (SO2 Group 2), and 97.811(b) and 97.812
(NOX Ozone Season Group 2). 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. In a NODA published in
the Federal Register on May 10, 2018 (83 FR 21772), we provided notice
of preliminary calculations for the first-round 2018
[[Page 35474]]
NUSA allowance allocations. We also described the process for
submitting any objections to the preliminary calculations. This NODA
concerns the final calculations for the first round of 2018 NUSA
allocations.
EPA received three sets of written objections in response to the
May 10, 2018 NODA. For the reasons discussed below, we have concluded
that none of the written objections provides a valid basis for altering
the preliminary calculations of NUSA allowance allocations.
The first two sets of objections, from Madison Gas & Electric
Company (MG&E) and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, are
substantively identical and raise two issues concerning units U1 and U2
at the West Campus Cogeneration Facility (WCCF) in Madison, Wisconsin.
The first objection asserts that January 1, 2017 is the date as of
which units U1 and U2 ``commenced commercial operation'' for CSAPR
purposes. EPA has already addressed this specific issue with respect to
the WCCF units in response to an objection submitted regarding the 2017
NUSA allocations. Our earlier response, which we are not revising, was
published in the Federal Register on February 16, 2018 (83 FR 7034).
Briefly, we agree that, according to the information provided by MG&E,
January 1, 2017 is the date as of which units U1 and U2 should be
considered to have ``commenced commercial operation'' for CSAPR
purposes. Further, we have in fact been using this date for purposes of
determining the units' eligibility to receive 2018 NUSA allocations,
and that is why units U1 and U2 appear in the preliminary first-round
2018 NUSA allocation spreadsheets. However, we acknowledge that our use
of the January 1, 2017 date for this purpose is not clear from the
preliminary NUSA allocation spreadsheets which, instead of displaying
the January 1, 2017 date, display the 2005 date on which the units
commenced commercial operation for other purposes before becoming
subject to CSAPR. The final first-round 2018 NUSA allocation
spreadsheets display the January 1, 2017 date.
The second objection raised with respect to WCCF units U1 and U2
asserts that EPA's exclusion of reported emissions occurring before
July 2017 in calculating the units' NUSA allocations is incorrect. We
disagree. For purposes of the NUSA allocation calculations, we have
properly used the units' reported emissions occurring on and after
their monitor certification deadline of June 30, 2017. We explained the
regulatory basis for this approach in a NODA published on July 28, 2015
(80 FR 44882) regarding 2015 NUSA allocations. Briefly, under the CSAPR
regulations, only emissions that occur during a ``control period'' for
a unit are used in calculating the amounts of any NUSA allocations to
that unit. Because a unit's first control period excludes any period
before the unit's monitor certification deadline, any reported
emissions occurring before the monitor certification deadline are
excluded from the NUSA allocation calculations. A unit's monitor
certification deadline is generally 180 days after the date on which
the unit commences commercial operation for CSAPR purposes,\1\ making
the monitor certification deadline for WCCF units U1 and U2 June 30,
2017. For further explanation, see the July 28, 2015 Federal Register
notice referenced above.
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\1\ Under the CSAPR programs for ozone season NOX, if
emissions data for a unit are reported only for the May-September
ozone season rather than for the entire year, and if the 180th day
after the date on which a unit commences commercial operation for
CSAPR purposes falls outside the ozone season, then the unit's
monitor certification deadline is the following May 1. See, e.g., 40
CFR 97.830(b)(3).
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The remaining set of written objections, from Grand River Dam
Authority (GRDA), also raises two issues. GRDA's first objection
concerns the amount of reported 2017 ozone season NOX
emissions used to calculate the amount of the first-round 2018 NUSA
allocation to unit 3 at Grand River Energy Center (GREC) in Chouteau,
Oklahoma. Specifically, GRDA asserts that EPA should not have used 0
tons for this purpose. We disagree. The reported date on which GREC
unit 3 commenced commercial operation was March 17, 2017, making the
unit's monitor certification deadline September 13, 2017. As discussed
above with respect to the WCCF facility, only reported emissions
occurring after a unit's monitor certification deadline are used in
computing NUSA allocations because any earlier emissions did not occur
during a control period for the unit. Although GREC unit 3 reported 66
tons of emissions during the entire 2017 ozone season, the unit
reported 0 tons during the portion of the 2017 ozone season on and
after September 13, so our use of 0 tons for purposes of calculating
unit 3's first-round 2018 NUSA allocation is consistent with the
regulations. For further explanation, see the July 28, 2015 Federal
Register notice reference above.
GRDA's second objection consists of a request to revise the total
amount of the NUSA for Oklahoma under the CSAPR NOX Ozone
Season Group 2 Trading Program. This objection is outside the scope of
the May 10, 2018 NODA. EPA's determination regarding the NUSA total
amount was made in the CSAPR Update rulemaking, and the NUSA amount is
codified in the CSAPR regulations at 40 CFR 97.810(a)(17)(ii). The
process of allocating NUSA allowances is strictly an administrative
process that implements regulations already in effect. The total amount
of the NUSA for Oklahoma can be revised only through another
rulemaking, not through this administrative process.
Although no changes were made to the preliminary first-round 2018
NUSA allocations in response to the objections received, based on
internal data reviews EPA has determined that several units listed in
the preliminary allocation spreadsheets in fact are existing units not
eligible to receive 2018 NUSA allocations. Specifically, 14 units in
Illinois, Kansas, and Nebraska were incorrectly included in the
preliminary first-round NUSA allocation spreadsheet for the
SO2 programs, and the Illinois and Nebraska units were also
incorrectly included in the preliminary first-round NUSA allocation
spreadsheet for the annual NOX program.\2\ Generally, these
units were misidentified as eligible units because of discrepancies
between the identification numbers used for the units in different data
sets. In addition, 21 units in Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Texas
were incorrectly included in the preliminary first-round NUSA
allocation spreadsheet for the ozone season NOX programs.
Generally, these units were misidentified as eligible units because a
screening procedure designed to identify units eligible for NUSA
allocations due to relocation between states was executed without
setting appropriate limits on the dates of relocation. We have removed
all the ineligible units from the final first-round 2018 NUSA
allocation spreadsheets.
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\2\ Kansas, not EPA, is responsible for determining all 2018
allowance allocations to Kansas units under the annual
NOX program.
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The detailed unit-by-unit data and final allowance allocation
calculations are set forth in Excel spreadsheets titled
``CSAPR_NUSA_2018_NOX_Annual_1st_Round_Final_Data'',
``CSAPR_NUSA_2018_NOX_OS_1st_Round_Final_Data'', and
``CSAPR_NUSA_2018_SO2_1st_Round_Final_Data,'' available on
EPA's website at https://www.epa.gov/csapr/csapr-compliance-year-2018-nusa-nodas.
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 under 40
[[Page 35475]]
CFR 97.411(c), 97.511(c), 97.611(c), 97.711(c), and 97.811(c),
allocations are subject to potential correction if a unit to which
allowances have been allocated for a given control period is not
actually an affected unit as of the start of that control period.
Authority: 40 CFR 97.411(b), 97.511(b), 97.611(b), 97.711(b),
and 97.811(b).
Dated: June 28, 2018.
Reid P. Harvey,
Director, Clean Air Markets Division, Office of Atmospheric Programs,
Office of Air and Radiation.
[FR Doc. 2018-16000 Filed 7-25-18; 8:45 am]
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