[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 152 (Monday, August 8, 2016)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 52346-52347]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-18684]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[EPA-HQ-OAR-2009-0234; FRL-9950-31-OAR]
40 CFR Parts 60 and 63
Reconsideration on the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS)
and the Utility New Source Performance Standards Startup and Shutdown
Provisions; Final Action
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice of final action denying petitions for reconsideration.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is providing
notice that it has responded to two petitions for reconsideration of
the final rule titled ``Reconsideration of Certain Startup/Shutdown
Issues: National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants
(NESHAP) From Coal- and Oil-Fired Electric Utility Steam Generating
Units and Standards of Performance (NSPS) for Fossil-Fuel-Fired
Electric Utility, Industrial-Commercial-Institutional, and Small
Industrial-Commercial-Institutional Steam Generating Units,'' published
in the Federal Register on November 19, 2014. The Administrator denied
the requests for reconsideration in separate letters to the
petitioners. The letters and a document providing a full explanation of
the agency's rationale for each denial is in the docket for these
rules.
DATES: August 8, 2016.
[[Page 52347]]
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Jim Eddinger, Sector Policies and
Programs Division (D243-01), Office of Air Quality Planning and
Standards, Environmental Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park,
North Carolina 27711; telephone number: (919) 541-5426; fax number:
(919) 541-5450; email address: [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. How can I get copies of this document and other related information?
This Federal Register document, the petitions for reconsideration,
the letters denying the petitions for reconsideration, and the document
titled ``Denial of Petitions for Reconsideration of Certain Startup/
Shutdown Issues: MATS'' (Reconsideration Response Document) are
available in the dockets the EPA established under Docket ID No. EPA-
HQ-OAR-2009-0234. The Reconsideration Response Document is available in
the MATS docket by conducting a search of the title ``Denial of
Petitions for Reconsideration of Certain Startup/Shutdown Issues:
MATS.'' All documents in the dockets are listed on the
www.regulations.gov Web site. Although listed in the index, some
information is not publicly available, e.g., 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 EPA
Docket Center (EPA/DC), Room 3334, EPA WJC West Building, 1301
Constitution Ave. NW., Washington, DC. The Public Reading Room is open
from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding legal
holidays. The telephone number for the Public Reading Room is (202)
566-1744 and the telephone number for the Air Docket is (202) 566-1742.
This Federal Register document and the Reconsideration Response
Document denying the petitions can also be found on the EPA's Web site
at https://www.epa.gov/mats.
II. Judicial Review
Section 307(b)(1) of the Clean Air Act (CAA) indicates which
Federal Courts of Appeals have venue for petitions for review of final
EPA actions. This section provides, in part, that the petitions for
review must be filed in the United States Court of Appeals for the
District of Columbia Circuit if: (i) The agency action consists of
``nationally applicable regulations promulgated, or final action taken,
by the Administrator,'' or (ii) such actions are locally or regionally
applicable, if ``such action is based on a determination of nationwide
scope or effect and if in taking such action the Administrator finds
and publishes that such action is based on such a determination.''
The EPA's actions denying the petitions for reconsideration are
nationally applicable because the underlying rules--the ``National
Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP) From Coal- and
Oil-Fired Electric Utility Steam Generating Units and Standards of
Performance (NSPS) for Fossil-Fuel-Fired Electric Utility, Industrial-
Commercial-Institutional, and Small Industrial-Commercial-Institutional
Steam Generating Units,'' are nationally applicable. Thus, any
petitions for review of the EPA's decisions denying petitioners'
requests for reconsideration must be filed in the United States Court
of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit by October 7, 2016.
III. Description of Action
On February 16, 2012, pursuant to sections 111 and 112 of the CAA,
the EPA published the final rules titled ``National Emission Standards
for Hazardous Air Pollutants From Coal- and Oil-Fired Electric Utility
Steam Generating Units and Standards of Performance for Fossil-Fuel-
Fired Electric Utility, Industrial-Commercial-Institutional, and Small
Industrial-Commercial-Institutional Steam Generating Units'' (77 FR
9304). The NESHAP issued pursuant to CAA section 112 is referred to as
the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS), and the NSPS rule issued
pursuant to CAA section 111 is referred to as the Utility NSPS.
Following promulgation of the final rules, the Administrator received
petitions for reconsideration of numerous provisions of both MATS and
the Utility NSPS pursuant to CAA section 307(d)(7)(B). The EPA received
20 petitions for reconsideration of the MATS rule and 3 petitions for
reconsideration of the Utility NSPS.
On November 30, 2012, the EPA issued a proposed rule reconsidering
certain new source limits in MATS, the requirements applicable during
periods of startup and shutdown for MATS and the Utility NSPS (for the
particulate matter standard only), certain definitional and monitoring
issues in the Utility NSPS, and additional technical corrections to
both MATS and the Utility NSPS (77 FR 71323). On April 24, 2013, the
EPA issued the final action on reconsideration of the new source MATS,
the definitional and monitoring provisions in the Utility NSPS, and the
technical corrections in both rules (78 FR 24073). The EPA issued the
final action on reconsideration of the startup and shutdown provisions
in the MATS and Utility NSPS on November 19, 2014 (79 FR 68777).
The EPA received two petitions for reconsideration of the November
19, 2014, final action on reconsideration of the startup and shutdown
provisions in the MATS rule. One petition was submitted by the
Environmental Integrity Project, the Chesapeake Climate Action Network,
and the Sierra Club, and the other was submitted by the Utility Air
Regulatory Group.
CAA section 307(d)(7)(B) states that ``[o]nly an objection to a
rule or procedure which was raised with reasonable specificity during
the period for public comment (including any public hearing) may be
raised during judicial review. If the person raising an objection can
demonstrate to the Administrator that it was impracticable to raise
such objection within such time or if the grounds for such objection
arose after the period for public comment (but within the time
specified for judicial review) and if such objection is of central
relevance to the outcome of the rule, the Administrator shall convene a
proceeding for reconsideration of the rule and provide the same
procedural rights as would have been afforded had the information been
available at the time the rule was proposed.''
The EPA carefully reviewed the petitions for reconsideration and
evaluated all issues raised to determine if they meet the CAA section
307(d)(7)(B) criteria for reconsideration. In separate letters to the
petitioners, the EPA Administrator, Gina McCarthy, denied the petitions
for reconsideration. The letters were accompanied by a separate
Reconsideration Response Document that articulates in detail the
rationale for the EPA's final responses. These documents are all
available in the docket for this action.
Dated: July 29, 2016.
Gina McCarthy,
Administrator.
[FR Doc. 2016-18684 Filed 8-5-16; 8:45 am]
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