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[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 138 (Monday, July 20, 2015)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 42730-42733]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-17743]

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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[EPA-R06-OAR-2015-0027; FRL-9930-79-Region-6]

Approval and Promulgation of Implementation Plans; Texas; Low 
Reid Vapor Pressure Fuel Regulations

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Direct final rule.

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SUMMARY: The EPA is taking a direct final action to approve revisions 
to the Texas State Implementation Plan (SIP) related to Low Reid Vapor 
Pressure (RVP) Fuel Regulations that were submitted by the State of 
Texas on January 5, 2015. The EPA evaluated the SIP submittal from 
Texas and determined these revisions are consistent with the 
requirements of the Clean Air Act (Act or CAA). The EPA is approving 
this action under the federal CAA.

DATES: This direct final rule is effective on September 18, 2015 
without further notice, unless the EPA receives relevant adverse 
comment August 19, 2015. If the EPA receives such comment, the EPA will 
publish a timely withdrawal in the Federal Register informing the 
public that this rule will not take effect.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-R06-
OAR-2015-0027, by one of the following methods:
    (1) www.regulations.gov: Follow the on-line instructions.
    (2) Email: Ms. Tracie Donaldson at donaldson.tracie@epa.gov.
    (3) Mail or Delivery: Ms. Tracie Donaldson, Air Permits Section 
(6PD-R), Environmental Protection Agency, 1445 Ross Avenue, Suite 1200, 
Dallas, Texas 75202-2733.

[[Page 42731]]

    Instructions: Direct your comments to Docket ID No. EPA-R06-OAR-
2015-0027. EPA's policy is that all comments received will be included 
in the public docket without change and may be made available online at 
http://www.regulations.gov, including any personal information 
provided, unless the comment includes information claimed to be 
Confidential Business Information (CBI) or other information the 
disclosure of which is restricted by statute. Do not submit information 
through http://www.regulations.gov or email, if you believe that it is 
CBI or otherwise protected from disclosure. The http://www.regulations.gov Web site is an ``anonymous access'' system, which 
means that the EPA will not know your identity or contact information 
unless you provide it in the body of your comment. If you send an email 
comment directly to the EPA without going through http://www.regulations.gov, your email address will be automatically captured 
and included as part of the comment that is placed in the public docket 
and made available on the Internet. If you submit an electronic 
comment, the EPA recommends that you include your name and other 
contact information in the body of your comment along with any disk or 
CD-ROM submitted. If the EPA cannot read your comment due to technical 
difficulties and cannot contact you for clarification, the EPA may not 
be able to consider your comment. Electronic files should avoid the use 
of special characters and any form of encryption and should be free of 
any defects or viruses. For additional information about the EPA's 
public docket, visit the EPA Docket Center homepage at http://www.epa.gov/epahome/dockets.htm.
    Docket: The index to the docket for this action is available 
electronically at www.regulations.gov and in hard copy at EPA Region 6, 
1445 Ross Avenue, Suite 700, Dallas, Texas. While all documents in the 
docket are listed in the index, some information may be publicly 
available only at the hard copy location (e.g., copyrighted material), 
and some may not be publicly available at either location (e.g., CBI).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Tracie Donaldson, (214) 665-6633, 
donaldson.tracie@epa.gov. To inspect the hard copy materials, please 
schedule an appointment with Ms. Donaldson or Mr. Bill Deese at 214-
665-7253.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Throughout this document wherever ``we,'' 
``us,'' or ``our'' is used, we mean the EPA.

I. Background

A. CAA and SIPs

    Section 110 of the CAA requires states to develop and submit to the 
EPA a SIP to ensure that state air quality meets National Ambient Air 
Quality Standards (NAAQS). The NAAQS currently address six criteria 
pollutants: Carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, ozone, lead, particulate 
matter, and sulfur dioxide. Each federally-approved SIP protects air 
quality primarily by addressing air pollution at its point of origin 
through air pollution regulations and control strategies. The EPA-
approved SIP provisions and control strategies are federally 
enforceable. States revise the SIP as needed and submit revisions to 
the EPA for review and approval.

B. SIP Revision Submitted on January 5, 2015

    On September 10, 2014, Texas Commission on Environmental Quality 
(TCEQ) adopted revisions to 30 Texas Administrative Code (TAC) Chapter 
114, Control of Air Pollution from Motor Vehicles, Subchapter H. Low 
Emission Fuels, Division 1. Gasoline Volatility. This review will 
determine if the changes to the Texas SIP are consistent with the 
requirements of the Clean Air Act and EPA's policy and guidance.

II. EPA's Evaluation

    As detailed in the Technical Support Document (TSD) accompanying 
this action, the TCEQ submitted a SIP revision to the Low RVP Fuels 
regulations. In this adoption, TCEQ amended sections 114.306, 114.307, 
114.309 and deleted section 114.304. The amendments to the Regional Low 
RVP Gasoline Regulations remove obsolete requirements that provide no 
benefit to the state and are not necessary for the implementation and 
enforcement of the primary gasoline volatility control requirements of 
the rule. In addition, the proposal would provide regulatory 
consistency between the Chapter 114 gasoline volatility requirements 
and the El Paso Low RVP Gasoline requirements, specified in the 30 TAC 
Chapter 115 regulations in Sec. Sec.  115.252, 115.253, 115.255-
115.257, and 115.259, which do not prohibit the use of MTBE and do not 
require registration and annual reporting.
    In addition, pursuant to section 110(k)(6) of the CAA, 30 TAC 
section 114.306(c) is being removed from the SIP. This section was 
inadvertently approved into the SIP by a previous action. In its April 
25, 2000 SIP submittal, Texas specifically asked us to not include 
114.306(c) into the SIP, but we included it in the SIP on April 26, 
2001 (66 FR 20927, 20931). Our action today corrects this error by 
removing section 114.306(c) from the SIP.
    The amendments remove the prohibition on the increased use of 
methyl-tertiary-butyl-ether (MTBE) in gasoline to conform to the low 
RVP gasoline requirements; remove the requirements for gasoline 
producers and importers that supply low RVP gasoline to the affected 
counties; remove annual reporting and certification requirements on the 
use of MTBE in low RVP gasoline; and make other non-substantive 
clarifying changes as needed for accuracy and consistency.

III. Final Action

    For the reasons stated above and in the TSD, the EPA is taking 
direct final action to approve revisions to the Texas SIP pertaining to 
Low RVP Fuel regulations. We are approving the revisions to the Texas 
SIP under section 110 of the Act. Each revision to an implementation 
plan submitted by a State under this chapter shall be adopted by such 
State after reasonable notice and public hearing. The Administrator 
shall not approve a revision of a plan if the revision would interfere 
with any applicable requirement concerning attainment and reasonable 
further progress. We are publishing this rule without prior proposal 
because we view this as a noncontroversial amendment and anticipate no 
relevant adverse comments. However, in the proposed rules section of 
this Federal Register publication, we are publishing a separate 
document that will serve as the proposal to approve the SIP revision if 
relevant adverse comments are received. This rule will be effective on 
September 18, 2015 without further notice unless we receive relevant 
adverse comment by August 19, 2015. If we receive relevant adverse 
comments, we will publish a timely withdrawal in the Federal Register 
informing the public that the rule will not take effect. We will 
address all public comments in a subsequent final rule based on the 
proposed rule. We will not institute a second comment period on this 
action. Any parties interested in commenting must do so now. 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.

IV. Incorporation by Reference

    In this direct final rule, the EPA is finalizing regulatory text 
that includes

[[Page 42732]]

incorporation by reference. In accordance with requirements of 1 CFR 
51.5, the EPA is finalizing the incorporation by reference of the Texas 
low RVP fuel requirements described in the Final Action section above. 
The EPA has made, and will continue to make, these documents generally 
available electronically through www.regulations.gov and/or in hard 
copy at the EPA Region 6 office.

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. 42 U.S.C. 7410(k); 40 CFR 52.02(a). Thus, in 
reviewing SIP submissions, the 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 Order 
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 Clean Air Act; and
     Does not provide the 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 the 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 and will not impose substantial 
direct costs on tribal governments or preempt tribal law as specified 
by Executive Order 13175 (65 FR 67249, November 9, 2000).
    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. The 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 September 18, 2015. Filing a petition for 
reconsideration by the Administrator of this final rule does not affect 
the finality of this action for the purposed 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, Incorporation by 
reference, Intergovernmental relations, Ozone, Reporting and 
recordkeeping requirements, Sulfur oxides.

    Dated: July 7, 2015.
Ron Curry
Regional Administrator, Region 6.

    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 SS--Texas

0
2. In Sec.  52.2270(c), the table titled ``EPA Approved Regulations in 
the Texas SIP'' is amended by removing the entry for section 114.304 
and revising the entries for sections 114.306, 114.307 and 114.309 to 
read as follows:

Sec.  52.2270  Identification of plan.

* * * * *
    (c) * * *

                                    EPA Approved Regulations in the Texas SIP
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                                               State approval/
    State citation          Title/Subject         submittal         EPA approval date           Explanation
                                                    date
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                                                  * * * * * * *
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                         Chapter 114--Control of Air Pollution From Motor Vehicle Fuels
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[[Page 42733]]

 
                                                  * * * * * * *
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                                        Subchapter H--Low Emission Fuels
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                                         Division 1: Gasoline Volatility
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                                                  * * * * * * *
114.306...............  Recordkeeping               4/25/2000  4/26/2001, 66 FR 20927....  Not in SIP:
                         Requirements.                                                      114.306(c)
114.307...............  Exemptions...........       9/10/2014  7/20/2015, [Insert Federal  .....................
                                                                Register citation].
114.309...............  Affected Counties....       9/10/2014  7/20/2015, [Insert Federal  .....................
                                                                Register citation].
 
                                                  * * * * * * *
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[FR Doc. 2015-17743 Filed 7-17-15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P
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