ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
                40 CFR Part 52
                [EPAR09OAR20210943; FRL937201-Region 9]
                Limited Approval, Limited Disapproval of California Air Plan Revisions; South Coast Air Quality Management District; Refinery Flares
                
                    AGENCY:
                    Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
                
                
                    ACTION:
                    Proposed rule.
                
                
                    SUMMARY:
                    
                        The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing a limited approval and limited disapproval of revisions to the South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) portion of the California State Implementation Plan (SIP). These revisions concern emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and oxides of nitrogen (NO
                        X
                        ) from refinery flares. We are proposing action on a local rule to regulate these emission sources under the Clean Air Act (CAA or the Act). We are taking comments on this proposal and plan to follow with a final action.
                    
                
                
                    DATES:
                    Comments must be received on or before April 25, 2022.
                
                
                    ADDRESSES:
                    
                        Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPAR09OAR20210943 at 
                        https://www.regulations.gov.
                         For comments submitted at 
                        Regulations.gov
                        , follow the online instructions for submitting comments. Once submitted, comments cannot be edited or removed from 
                        Regulations.gov
                        . 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 
                        https://www.epa.gov/dockets/commenting-epa-dockets.
                         If you need assistance in a language other than English or if you are a person with disabilities who needs a reasonable accommodation at no cost to you, please contact the person identified in the 
                        FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT
                         section.
                    
                
                
                    FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
                    
                        Donnique Sherman, EPA Region IX, 75 Hawthorne St., San Francisco, CA 94105. By phone: (415) 9474129 or by email at 
                        sherman.donnique@epa.gov.
                    
                
            
            
                SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
                Throughout this document, we, us and our refer to the EPA.
                Table of Contents
                
                    I. The State's Submittal
                    A. What rule did the State submit?
                    B. Are there other versions of this rule?
                    C. What is the purpose of the submitted rule?
                    II. The EPA's Evaluation and Action
                    A. How is the EPA evaluating the rule?
                    B. Does the rule meet the evaluation criteria?
                    C. What are the rule deficiencies?
                    D. The EPA's Recommendations To Further Improve the Rule
                    E. Public Comment and Proposed Action
                    III. Incorporation by Reference
                    IV. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews
                
                I. The State's Submittal
                A. What rule did the State submit?
                Table 1 lists the rule addressed by this proposal with the date that it was amended by the local air agency and submitted by the California Air Resources Board (CARB).
                
                    Table 1Submitted Rule
                    
                        Local agency
                        Rule No.
                        Rule title
                        Amended
                        Submitted
                    
                    
                        SCAQMD
                        1118
                        Control of Emissions from Refinery Flares
                        07/07/2017
                        02/16/2018
                    
                
                On August 16, 2018, the submittal for SCAQMD Rule 1118 was deemed by operation of law to meet the completeness criteria in 40 CFR part 51 appendix V, which must be met before formal EPA review.
                B. Are there other versions of this rule?
                We approved an earlier version of Rule 1118 into the SIP on August 28, 2007 (72 FR 49196). The SCAQMD adopted revisions to the SIP-approved version on July 7, 2017, and CARB submitted them to us on February 16, 2018. If we take final action to approve the July 7, 2017 version of Rule 1118, this version will replace the previously approved version of this rule in the SIP.
                C. What is the purpose of the submitted rule?
                
                    Emissions of NO
                    X
                     and VOCs contribute to the production of ground-level ozone, smog and particulate matter (PM), which harm human health and the environment. Section 110(a) of the CAA requires states to submit regulations that control NO
                    X
                     and VOC emissions. Rule 1118 Control of Emissions from Refinery Flares is designed to monitor and record data on refinery and related flaring operations, and to control and minimize flaring and flare related emissions. The EPA's technical support document (TSD) has more information about this rule.
                
                II. The EPA's Evaluation and Action
                A. How is the EPA evaluating the rule?
                Rules in the SIP must be enforceable (see CAA section 110(a)(2)), must not interfere with applicable requirements concerning attainment and reasonable further progress or other CAA requirements (see CAA section 110(l)), and must not modify certain SIP control requirements in nonattainment areas without ensuring equivalent or greater emissions reductions (see CAA section 193).
                
                    Generally, SIP rules must require reasonably available control technology (RACT) for each category of sources covered by a Control Techniques Guidelines (CTG) document as well as each major source of NO
                    X
                     and VOCs in ozone nonattainment areas classified as Moderate or above (see CAA section 182(b)(2)). The SCAQMD regulates an ozone nonattainment area classified as Extreme for the 2015 8-hour ozone NAAQS (40 CFR 81.305). Therefore, this rule must implement RACT.
                
                Guidance and policy documents that we used to evaluate enforceability, revision/relaxation, and rule stringency requirements for the applicable criteria pollutants include the following:
                
                    1. State Implementation Plans; General Preamble for the Implementation of Title I of the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990, 57 FR 13498 (April 16, 1992); 57 FR 18070 (April 28, 1992).
                    
                
                2. Issues Relating to VOC Regulation Cutpoints, Deficiencies, and Deviations, EPA, May 25, 1988 (the Bluebook, revised January 11, 1990).
                3. Guidance Document for Correcting Common VOC & Other Rule Deficiencies, EPA Region 9, August 21, 2001 (the Little Bluebook).
                B. Does the rule meet the evaluation criteria?
                Rule 1118 improves the SIP by establishing more stringent emission limits and by clarifying monitoring, recording, and recordkeeping provisions. The rule is largely consistent with CAA requirements and relevant guidance regarding enforceability, RACT, and SIP revisions. Rule provisions which do not meet the evaluation criteria are summarized below and discussed further in the TSD.
                C. What are the rule deficiencies?
                The director's discretion in Rule 1118 Section (j) does not satisfy the requirements of section 110 of the Act and prevents full approval of the SIP revision. Documents submitted for inclusion into the SIP should not include unbounded director's discretion that allows the State to approve alternatives to the applicable SIP without following the SIP revision process described in CAA section 110. Rule 1118 Section (j) provides the Executive Officer the authority to approve American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) methods other than those currently included in the rule. Without further specificity regarding how this authority will be exercised, it could functionally allow for a revision of the SIP without complying with the process for SIP revisions required by the CAA. As a result, this undermines the enforceability of the submission, constitutes a SIP deficiency, and conflicts with CAA Section 110.
                D. The EPA's Recommendations To Further Improve the Rule
                There are no further recommendations.
                E. Public Comment and Proposed Action
                As authorized in section 110(k)(3) of the Act, the EPA is proposing a limited approval and limited disapproval of the submitted rule. The limited disapproval for Rule 1118 is based on the enforceability issue identified in section II.C. of this document. We will accept comments from the public on this proposal until April 25, 2022. If finalized, this action would incorporate the submitted rule into the SIP, including those provisions identified as deficient. If we finalize this disapproval, CAA section 110(c) would require the EPA to promulgate a Federal implementation plan within 24 months unless we approve subsequent SIP revisions that correct the deficiencies identified in the final approval.
                In addition, final disapproval would trigger the offset sanction in CAA section 179(b)(2) 18 months after the effective date of a final disapproval, and the highway funding sanction in CAA section 179(b)(1) six months after the offset sanction is imposed. A sanction will not be imposed if the EPA determines that a subsequent SIP submission corrects the deficiencies identified in our final action before the applicable deadline. The EPA intends to work with the SCAQMD to correct the deficiency in a timely manner.
                
                    Note that the submitted rule has been adopted by the SCAQMD, and the EPA's final limited disapproval would not prevent the local agency from enforcing it. The limited disapproval also would not prevent any portion of the rule from being incorporated by reference into the federally enforceable SIP as discussed in a July 9, 1992 EPA memo found at: 
                    https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2015-07/documents/procsip.pdf.
                
                III. Incorporation by Reference
                
                    In this rule, the 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, the EPA is proposing to incorporate by reference the SCAQMD rule described in Table 1 of this preamble. The EPA has made, and will continue to make, these materials available through 
                    https://www.regulations.gov
                     and at the EPA Region IX Office (please contact the person identified in the 
                    FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT
                     section of this preamble for more information).
                
                IV. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews
                
                    Additional information about these statutes and Executive orders can be found at 
                    https://www.epa.gov/laws-regulations/laws-and-executive-orders.
                
                A. Executive Order 12866: Regulatory Planning and Review and Executive Order 13563: Improving Regulation and Regulatory Review
                This action is not a significant regulatory action and was therefore not submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review.
                B. Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA)
                This action does not impose an information collection burden under the PRA because this action does not impose additional requirements beyond those imposed by state law.
                C. Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA)
                I certify that this action will not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities under the RFA. This action will not impose any requirements on small entities beyond those imposed by state law.
                D. Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA)
                This action does not contain any unfunded mandate as described in UMRA, 2 U.S.C. 15311538, and does not significantly or uniquely affect small governments. This action does not impose additional requirements beyond those imposed by state law. Accordingly, no additional costs to state, local, or tribal governments, or to the private sector, will result from this action.
                E. Executive Order 13132: Federalism
                This action does not have federalism implications. It will not have substantial direct effects on the states, on the relationship between the National Government and the states, or on the distribution of power and responsibilities among the various levels of government.
                F. Executive Order 13175: Coordination With Indian Tribal Governments
                This action does not have tribal implications, as specified in Executive Order 13175, because the SIP is not approved to apply on any Indian reservation land or in any other area where the EPA or an Indian tribe has demonstrated that a tribe has jurisdiction, and will not impose substantial direct costs on tribal governments or preempt tribal law. Thus, Executive Order 13175 does not apply to this action.
                G. Executive Order 13045: Protection of Children From Environmental Health Risks and Safety Risks
                
                    The EPA interprets Executive Order 13045 as applying only to those regulatory actions that concern environmental health or safety risks that the EPA has reason to believe may disproportionately affect children, per the definition of covered regulatory action in section 2202 of the Executive order. This action is not subject to Executive Order 13045 because it does not impose additional 
                    
                    requirements beyond those imposed by state law.
                
                H. Executive Order 13211: Actions That Significantly Affect Energy Supply, Distribution, or Use
                This action is not subject to Executive Order 13211, because it is not a significant regulatory action under Executive Order 12866.
                I. National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act (NTTAA)
                Section 12(d) of the NTTAA directs the EPA to use voluntary consensus standards in its regulatory activities unless to do so would be inconsistent with applicable law or otherwise impractical. The EPA believes that this action is not subject to the requirements of section 12(d) of the NTTAA because application of those requirements would be inconsistent with the CAA.
                J. Executive Order 12898: Federal Actions To Address Environmental Justice in Minority Populations and Low-Income Population
                The EPA lacks the discretionary authority to address environmental justice in this rulemaking.
                
                    List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 52
                    Environmental protection, Air pollution control, Incorporation by reference, Intergovernmental relations, Nitrogen dioxide, Ozone, Particulate matter, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, Volatile organic compounds.
                
                
                    Authority: 
                    
                        42 U.S.C. 7401 
                        et seq.
                    
                
                
                    Dated: March 20, 2022.
                    Martha Guzman Aceves,
                    Regional Administrator, Region IX.
                
            
            [FR Doc. 202206344 Filed 32422; 8:45 am]
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