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[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 38 (Monday, March 1, 2021)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 11878-11880]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-04064]

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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[EPA-R04-OAR-2020-0344; FRL-10018-03-Region 4]

Air Plan Approval; North Carolina: Permits Requiring Public 
Participation

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is approving a State 
Implementation Plan (SIP) revision submitted by the State of North 
Carolina, through the North Carolina Department of Environmental 
Quality (NCDEQ), Division of Air Quality, on July 10, 2019. This SIP 
revision seeks to modify the State's permitting program public 
participation procedures by adding two types of minor source permits to 
the list of permits that must undergo public participation and by 
making minor edits. EPA is approving this revision pursuant to the 
Clean Air Act (CAA or Act).

DATES: This rule is effective March 31, 2021.

ADDRESSES: EPA has established a docket for this action under Docket 
Identification No. EPA-R04-OAR-2020-0344. All documents in the docket 
are listed on the www.regulations.gov website. Although listed in the 
index, some information is not publicly available, i.e., 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 can either 
be retrieved electronically through www.regulations.gov or in hard copy 
at the Air Regulatory Management Section, Air Planning and 
Implementation Branch, Air and Radiation Division, U.S. Environmental 
Protection Agency, Region 4, 61 Forsyth Street SW, Atlanta, Georgia 
30303-8960. EPA requests that if at all possible, you contact the 
person listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section to 
schedule your inspection. The Regional Office's official hours of 
business are Monday through Friday 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., excluding 
Federal holidays.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: D. Brad Akers, Air Regulatory 
Management Section, Air Planning and Implementation Branch, Air and 
Radiation Division, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 4, 61 
Forsyth Street SW, Atlanta, Georgia 30303-8960. Mr. Akers can be 
reached via electronic mail at [email protected] or via telephone at 
(404) 562-9089.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background

    EPA is approving changes to the North Carolina SIP that were 
provided to EPA through NCDEQ via a letter dated July 10, 2019. EPA is 
approving this SIP revision which makes changes to 15A North Carolina 
Administrative Code (NCAC) Subchapter 02Q, Section .0306, Permits 
Requiring Public Participation.\1\ The July 10, 2019, SIP revision 
changes to Section .0306 add two types of permits subject to public 
participation and makes several minor edits, including the removal of 
obsolete regulatory references.\2\ The permits listed in Section .0306 
must undergo public notice for comments with the opportunity for the 
public to request a public hearing. Pursuant to Section .0307(d), 
Public Participation Procedures, the public comment period for these 
permits must last for at least 30 days.
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    \1\ The State submitted the SIP revision following the 
readoption of several air regulations, including .0306, pursuant to 
North Carolina's 10-year regulatory readoption process at North 
Carolina General Statute 150B-21.3A.
    \2\ North Carolina's April 1, 2018, rule revision also removed 
paragraph (b) from the state-effective version of the rule. This 
paragraph required a 30-day public notice period for permits that 
placed a physical or operational limitation on a facility to avoid 
title V requirements under 15 NCAC 02Q 0500. Furthermore, the 
revised rule renumbered paragraph (c) of the state-effective version 
of the rule to paragraph (b). However, these changes are not before 
EPA for action because (1) the version of paragraph (b) that the 
State removed in the April 1, 2018, rule revision is not in the SIP, 
and (2) the version of paragraph (b) in the SIP is identical to the 
version of paragraph (b) in the April 1, 2018, rule. See 67 FR 64990 
(October 22, 2002).
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    EPA is approving the two additions to the list of permits requiring 
public participation pursuant to CAA section 110 as a SIP-strengthening 
measure and 40 CFR 51.161. EPA is approving the remaining changes to 
Section .0306 because they are minor edits that do not interfere with 
attainment and maintenance of the national ambient air

[[Page 11879]]

quality standards or any other applicable requirement of the Act. See 
EPA's October 14, 2020 (85 FR 65013), notice of proposed rulemaking 
(NPRM) for further detail on these changes and EPA's rationale for 
approving them. EPA did not receive any adverse public comments on the 
October 14, 2020, NPRM.\3\
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    \3\ EPA received one comment in support of the proposed action, 
which is available in the docket for this action.
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II. Incorporation by Reference

    In this document, 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 15A NCAC 
Subchapter 02Q, Section .0306, Permits Requiring Public Participation, 
state effective April 1, 2018, which expands the types of permits which 
require public participation and makes minor edits to the rule. EPA has 
made, and will continue to make, these materials generally available 
through www.regulations.gov and 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, these 
materials have been approved by EPA for inclusion in the SIP, have 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 in the next update to the SIP compilation.\4\
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    \4\ See 62 FR 27968 (May 22, 1997).
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III. Final Action

    EPA is approving changes to the North Carolina SIP included in a 
July 10, 2019, submittal. Specifically, EPA is approving changes to 15A 
NCAC 02Q .0306, Permits Requiring Public Participation, that add two 
types of permits to the list of permits that must undergo public 
participation and make minor edits, including the removal of obsolete 
regulatory references. EPA is approving these changes for the reasons 
described above.

IV. 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. 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 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 April 30, 2021. 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. 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, Intergovernmental relations, Lead, Nitrogen 
dioxide, Ozone, Particulate matter, Reporting and recordkeeping 
requirements, Sulfur oxides, Volatile organic compounds.

Signing Statement

    This document of the Environmental Protection Agency was signed on 
December 14, 2020, by Mary Walker, Regional Administrator, pursuant to 
the Statutory Deadline of the Clean Air Act. That document with the 
original signature and date is maintained by EPA. For administrative 
purposes only, and in compliance with requirements of the Office of the 
Federal Register, the undersigned EPA Official re-signs the document 
for publication, as an official document of the Environmental 
Protection Agency. This administrative process in no way alters the 
legal effect of this document upon publication in the Federal Register.

    Dated: February 23, 2021.
John Blevins,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region 4.

    For the reasons stated in the preamble, the EPA amends 40 CFR part 
52 as follows:

[[Page 11880]]

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 II--North Carolina

0
2. In 52.1770, amend the table in paragraph (c)(1) by revising the 
entry for ``Section .0306'' under ``Subchapter 2Q Air Quality 
Permits'', under ``Section .0300 Construction and Operating Permits'' 
to read as follows:

Sec.  52.1770   Identification of plan.

* * * * *
    (c) * * *

                                   (1) EPA Approved North Carolina Regulations
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                                                                State
          State citation                Title/subject      effective date    EPA approval date      Explanation
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                                                  * * * * * * *
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                                        Subchapter 2Q Air Quality Permits
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                                                  * * * * * * *
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                                Section .0300 Construction and Operating Permits
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                                                  * * * * * * *
Section .0306.....................  Permits Requiring            4/1/2018  3/1/2021, [Insert
                                     Public Participation.                  citation of
                                                                            publication].
 
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[FR Doc. 2021-04064 Filed 2-26-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P
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