[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 184 (Monday, September 25, 2017)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 44519-44521]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-20336]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 52
[EPA-R04-OAR-2009-0226; FRL-9968-17-Region 4]
Air Plan Approval; GA: Emission Reduction Credits
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency.
ACTION: Direct final rule.
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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is taking direct
final action to approve changes to the Georgia State Implementation
Plan (SIP) to revise the Emission Reduction Credits (ERC) regulation.
EPA is approving portions of the SIP revision submitted by the State of
Georgia, through the Georgia Department of Natural Resources'
Environmental Protection Division (GA EPD) on September 15, 2008. The
revision expands the eligibility for sources in Barrow County that can
participate in the ERC Program, adds a provision for reevaluation of
the Certificates of ERC, changes the administrative fees, and
eliminates an exemption for certain types of ERCs. This action is being
taken pursuant to the Clean Air Act (CAA or Act).
DATES: This direct final rule is effective November 24, 2017 without
further notice, unless EPA receives adverse comment by October 25,
2017. If EPA receives such comments, it will publish a timely
withdrawal of the direct final rule in the Federal Register and inform
the public that the rule will not take effect.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-R04-
OAR-2009-0226 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: Sean Lakeman, 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. Mr. Lakeman can be reached via telephone at (404) 562-9043
or via electronic mail at [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
On September 15, 2008, GA EPD submitted a SIP revision to EPA for
approval that involves changes to Georgia's emissions reduction credits
rule and the administrative fees found in Georgia Rule 391-3-1-.03(13).
Rule 391-3-1-.03(13) provides for the creation, banking, transfer, and
use of nitrogen oxides (NOX) and volatile organic compounds
(VOC) ERCs in Federally designated ozone nonattainment areas in Georgia
and administrative fees associated with the ERC Program.
GA EPD oversees the ERC Program, which was created in 1999 and
approved into Georgia's SIP on July 10, 2001 (66 FR 35906). The ERC
Program facilitates construction permitting for major emission sources
that are subject to Nonattainment New Source Review (NNSR) permitting
in Georgia ozone nonattainment areas. Emissions point sources within
the 25-county area surrounding Atlanta that require Best Available
Control Technology (BACT) and offset permitting are also eligible for
the ERC Program.
The ERC Program allows eligible sources that voluntarily reduce
emissions in the affected counties to certify and ``bank'' these
reductions as ERCs for future use by themselves or others. The banked
ERCs hold their value for ten years, at which point they begin
devaluing ten percent per year until they have reached 50 percent of
their original value. The ERC Program is intended to help the Atlanta
area achieve compliance with federal standards for ground-level ozone.
The
[[Page 44520]]
ERC does not allow for any increase in emissions of NOX or
VOC in the area to which it is applicable. In this action, EPA is
approving the portion of Georgia's submission that makes changes to the
applicability, discounting and revocation, and administrative fees
sections of Rule 391-3-1-.03(13)--``Emission Reduction Credits.''
II. Analysis of State's Submittals
The September 15, 2008, SIP revision involves changes to Georgia's
Rule 391-3-1-.03--``Permits'' paragraph (13) ``Emissions Reduction
Credits,'' which provides for the creation, banking, transfer, and use
of NOX and VOC ERCs in Federally designated ozone
nonattainment areas in Georgia, as well as administrative fees
associated with the ERC Program. Georgia's September 15, 2008, changes
to 391-3-1-.03(13) include:
--Under applicability paragraph (a), Georgia modifies eligibility to
participate in the ERC Program for stationary sources in Barrow County
by removing Barrow County from the list of counties with sources
eligible to create and bank NOX and VOC ERCs only for
electric generating units that have the potential to emit
NOX and VOC emissions in amounts greater than 100 tons per
year (tpy), and adding Barrow County to the list of counties with
sources eligible to create and bank NOX and VOC ERCs for any
stationary source that has the potential to emit NOX and VOC
emissions in amounts greater than 100 tpy. This change expands the
universe of stationary sources in Barrow County that may voluntarily
reduce NOX and VOC emissions and then credit those
reductions at an equal or reduced rate against future emissions of
those pollutants--thus incentivizing overall emissions reductions.
Accordingly, EPA is approving this change as SIP strengthening.
--Under discounting and revocation of ERCs paragraph (d), Georgia
removes a provision that previously allowed ERCs created through the
shutdown of individual process equipment to retain their value
indefinitely. Like ERCs created through other methods, these ERCs will
now retain their original value for ten years, at which point they will
begin devaluing ten percent per year until they have reached 50 percent
of their original value. EPA has concluded that the removal of this
provision will strengthen Georgia's SIP because the change will
decrease the value of these ERCs when they are used to offset emissions
occurring more than ten years in the future, thus reducing overall
emissions in areas where the Program is implemented. Accordingly, EPA
is approving the revision to the Georgia SIP.
--Under discounting and revocation of ERCs paragraph (d), Georgia adds
a new provision that allows owners to re-evaluate certificates of ERCs
to determine if credits specified in the certificate have been
discounted or revoked in accordance with the requirements of Rule 391-
3-1-.03(13)(d)1. EPA is approving this provision as consistent with
section 110(a) of the CAA.
--Under administrative fees paragraph (h), Georgia revises the
administrative fees for the ERCs program. EPA is approving this
provision as consistent with section 110(a) of the CAA.
EPA has concluded that these changes will not interfere with any
applicable requirement concerning attainment and reasonable progress,
nor any other applicable requirement of the CAA. EPA is therefore
approving these changes to the Georgia SIP.\1\
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\1\ Other portions of the September 15, 2008, submission were
previously approved, and therefore, are not before EPA for
consideration in this action. See 77 FR 59554 (September 28, 2012)
and 79 FR 36218 (June 26, 2014).
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III. Incorporation by Reference
In this rule, EPA is finalizing regulatory text that includes
incorporation by reference. In accordance with requirements of 1 CFR
51.5, EPA is finalizing the incorporation by reference of Georgia Rule
391-3-1-.03--``Permits,'' effective September 11, 2008. EPA has made,
and will continue to make, these materials generally available through
www.regulations.gov and/or at the EPA Region 4 Office (please contact
the person identified in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section of
this preamble for more information). Therefore, this material has been
approved by EPA for inclusion in the SIP, has been incorporated by
reference by EPA into that plan, are fully federally enforceable under
sections 110 and 113 of the CAA as of the effective date of the final
rulemaking of EPA's approval, and will be incorporated by reference by
the Director of the Federal Register in the next update to the SIP
compilation.\2\
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\2\ 62 FR 27968 (May 22, 1997).
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IV. Final Action
EPA is approving the aforementioned changes to the SIP because they
are consistent with the CFR and the CAA. EPA is publishing this rule
without prior proposal because the Agency views this as a
noncontroversial submittal and anticipates no adverse comments.
However, in the proposed rules section of this Federal Register
publication, EPA is publishing a separate document that will serve as
the proposal to approve the SIP revision should adverse comments be
filed. This rule will be effective November 24, 2017 without further
notice unless the Agency receives adverse comments by October 25, 2017.
If EPA receives such comments, then EPA will publish a document
withdrawing the final rule and informing the public that the rule will
not take effect. All adverse comments received will then be addressed
in a subsequent final rule based on the proposed rule. EPA will not
institute a second comment period. Parties interested in commenting
should do so at this time. If no such comments are received, the public
is advised that this rule will be effective on November 24, 2017 and no
further action will be taken on the proposed rule. Please note that if
we receive adverse comment on an amendment, paragraph, or section of
this rule and if that provision may be severed from the remainder of
the rule, we may adopt as final those provisions of the rule that are
not the subject of an adverse comment.
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
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 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
[[Page 44521]]
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.
The Congressional Review Act, 5 U.S.C. 801 et seq., as added by the
Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996, generally
provides that before a rule may take effect, the agency promulgating
the rule must submit a rule report, which includes a copy of the rule,
to each House of the Congress and to the Comptroller General of the
United States. EPA will submit a report containing this action and
other required information to the U.S. Senate, the U.S. House of
Representatives, and the Comptroller General of the United States prior
to publication of the rule in the Federal Register. A major rule cannot
take effect until 60 days after it is published in the Federal
Register. This action is not a ``major rule'' as defined by 5 U.S.C.
804(2).
Under section 307(b)(1) of the CAA, petitions for judicial review
of this action must be filed in the United States Court of Appeals for
the appropriate circuit by November 24, 2017. Filing a petition for
reconsideration by the Administrator of this final rule does not affect
the finality of this action for the purposes of judicial review nor
does it extend the time within which a petition for judicial review may
be filed, and shall not postpone the effectiveness of such rule or
action. Parties with objections to this direct final rule are
encouraged to file a comment in response to the parallel notice of
proposed rulemaking for this action published in the proposed rules
section of this Federal Register, rather than file an immediate
petition for judicial review of this direct final rule, so that EPA can
withdraw this direct final rule and address the comment in the proposed
rulemaking. This action may not be challenged later in proceedings to
enforce its requirements. See section 307(b)(2).
List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 52
Environmental protection, Air pollution control, Carbon monoxide,
Incorporation by reference, Lead, Nitrogen dioxide, Ozone, Particulate
matter, Sulfur oxides, Volatile organic compounds.
Dated: September 13, 2017.
Onis ``Trey'' Glenn, III,
Regional Administrator, Region 4.
40 CFR Part 52 is amended as follows:
PART 52--APPROVAL AND PROMULGATION OF IMPLEMENTATION PLANS
0
1. The authority citation for part 52 continues to read as follows:
Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.
Subpart L--Georgia
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2. In Sec. 52.570, the table in paragraph (c) is amended by revising
the entry ``391-3-1-.03'' to read as follows:
Sec. 52.570 Identification of plan.
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(c) * * *
EPA-Approved Georgia Regulations
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State
State citation Title/subject effective EPA approval date Explanation
date
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Emission Standards
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391-3-1-.03.................... Permits.......... 9/11/2008 9/25/2017, [insert ....................
Federal Register
citation].
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[FR Doc. 2017-20336 Filed 9-22-17; 8:45 am]
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