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[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 147 (Monday, August 1, 2016)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 50362-50365]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-18009]

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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[EPA-R09-OAR-2016-0119; FRL-9948-26-Region 9]

Approval of California Air Plan Revisions, Modoc County Air 
Pollution Control District, Permit Programs

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Direct final rule.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is taking direct 
final action to approve revisions to the Modoc County Air Pollution 
Control District (MCAPCD) portion of the California State 
Implementation Plan (SIP). These revisions concern MCAPCD's 
administrative and procedural requirements to obtain preconstruction 
permits that regulate emission sources under the Clean Air Act as 
amended in 1990 (CAA or the Act). We are approving local rules under 
the CAA.

DATES: This rule is effective on September 30, 2016 without further 
notice, unless the EPA receives adverse comments by August 31, 2016. If 
we receive such comments, we will publish a timely withdrawal in the 
Federal Register to notify the public that this direct final rule will 
not take effect.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-R09-
OAR-2016-0119 at http://www.regulations.gov, or via email to 
R9airpermits@epa.gov. For comments submitted at Regulations.gov, follow 
the online instructions for submitting comments. Once submitted, 
comments

[[Page 50363]]

cannot be edited or removed from Regulations.gov. For either manner of 
submission, 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 http://www2.epa.gov/dockets/commenting-epa-dockets.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ya-Ting (Sheila) Tsai, EPA Region IX, 
(415) 972-3328, Tsai.Ya-Ting@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 rules did the State submit?
    B. Are there other versions of these rules?
    C. What is the purpose of the submitted rule revisions?
II. The EPA's Evaluation and Action
    A. How is the EPA evaluating the rules?
    B. Do the rules meet the evaluation criteria?
    C. Public Comment and Final Action
III. Incorporation by Reference
IV. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

I. The State's Submittal

A. What rules did the State submit?

    Table 1 lists the rules under MCAPCD Regulation II, ``Permit 
System'' addressed by this action with the dates that they were adopted 
by the local air agency and submitted by the California Air Resources 
Board (CARB).

                                            Table 1--Submitted Rules
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                    Adoption or
                  Rule No.                                Rule title              amendment date  Submittal date
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2.3........................................  Transfers..........................       1/15/1989      12/31/1990
2.5........................................  Expiration of Applications.........       1/15/1989      12/31/1990
2.7........................................  Conditional Approval...............       1/15/1989      12/31/1990
2.10.......................................  Further Information................       1/15/1989      12/31/1990
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    On February 28, 1991, the EPA determined that the submittal for the 
MCAPCD rules listed in Table 1 met the completeness criteria in 40 CFR 
part 51 Appendix V, which must be met before formal EPA review.

B. Are there other versions of these rules?

    EPA approved the rules listed in Table 2 into the MCAPCD portion of 
the California SIP on the dates listed. When the rules listed in Table 
1 are approved by EPA, those rules will take the place of the existing 
SIP approved rules listed in Table 2.

                                           Table 2--SIP Approved Rules
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                                      Federal
                  Rule No.                                Rule title               SIP approval      Register
                                                                                       date          citation
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2.3........................................  Transfer...........................      09/22/1972     37 FR 19812
2.5........................................  Cancellation of Applications.......      09/22/1972     37 FR 19812
2.7 *......................................  Provision of Sampling and Testing        09/22/1972     37 FR 19812
                                              Facilities.
2.9 *......................................  Conditional Approval...............      09/22/1972     37 FR 19812
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* Note: SIP approved Rule 2.7--Provision of Sampling and Testing Facilities will be replaced by newly submitted
  Rule 2.10 Further Information. SIP approved Rule 2.9--Conditional Approval will be replaced by submitted Rule
  2.7--Conditional Approval.

C. What is the purpose of the submitted rule revisions?

    Section 110(a) of the CAA requires States to submit regulations 
that will assure attainment and maintenance of the National Ambient 
Quality Air Quality Standards (NAAQS). These rules were developed as 
part of the local agency's general programmatic requirement to 
implement the requirement commonly referred to as the minor or general 
New Source Review (NSR) program. The revisions contained in the 
submitted rules listed in Table 1 are mostly administrative in nature. 
Rule 2.3 prohibits the transfer of an Authority to Construct or Permit 
to Operate without written approval. Rule 2.5 provides the timeline for 
an Authority to Construct or an application for a Permit to Operate to 
expire and/or be extended. Rule 2.7 is renumbered from Rule 2.9 and 
provides additional enforceability by clarifying that equipment cannot 
be operated contrary to permit conditions specified in the permit. Rule 
2.10 is a new rule that allows MCAPCD to require data, sampling, 
testing, and monitoring to determine a stationary source's emissions. 
There are no substantive relaxations to these rules.
    The TSD, which is available in the docket for today's rulemaking, 
has more information about these rules.

II. The EPA's Evaluation and Action

A. How is the EPA evaluating the rules?

    SIP rules 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). The submitted rules are revisions

[[Page 50364]]

to existing SIP approved general NSR permit program requirements under 
40 CFR 51.160-51.164. The revisions are primarily administrative in 
nature (reformatting, providing additional clarity and enforceability).

B. Do the rules meet the evaluation criteria?

    We believe these rules are consistent with the relevant policy and 
guidance regarding enforceability and SIP relaxations. These changes 
are mostly administrative in nature and their approval will not 
interfere with any applicable requirement concerning attainment and 
reasonable further progress, or any other CAA application requirement.
    The TSD, which is available in the docket for today's rulemaking, 
has more information on our evaluation.

C. Public Comment and Final Action

    As authorized in section 110(k)(3) of the Act, the EPA is fully 
approving the submitted rules because we believe they fulfill all 
relevant requirements. We do not think anyone will object to this 
approval, so we are finalizing it without proposing it in advance. 
However, in the Proposed Rules section of this Federal Register, we are 
simultaneously proposing approval of the same submitted rules. If we 
receive adverse comments by August 31, 2016, we will publish a timely 
withdrawal in the Federal Register to notify the public that the direct 
final approval will not take effect and we will address the comments in 
a subsequent final action based on the proposal. If we do not receive 
timely adverse comments, the direct final approval will be effective 
without further notice on September 30, 2016. This action will 
incorporate these rules into the federally enforceable SIP.
    Please note that if the EPA receives adverse comment on an 
amendment, paragraph, or section of this rule and if that provision may 
be severed from the remainder of the rule, the EPA may adopt as final 
those provisions of the rule that are not the subject of an adverse 
comment.

III. Incorporation by Reference

    In this rule, the EPA is finalizing regulatory text that includes 
incorporation by reference. In accordance with requirements of 1 CFR 
51.5, the EPA is finalizing the incorporation by reference of the 
MCAPCD rules described in the amendments to 40 CFR part 52 set forth 
below. The EPA has made, and will continue to make, these documents 
available electronically through www.regulations.gov and in hard copy 
at U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region IX (AIR-3), 75 Hawthorne 
Street, San Francisco, CA 94105-3901.

IV. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

    Under the Clean Air Act, 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 Clean Air Act. 
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 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).
    In addition, 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 Clean Air Act, petitions for 
judicial review of this action must be filed in the United States Court 
of Appeals for the appropriate circuit by September 30, 2016. 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 today's Federal Register, rather than file an 
immediate petition for judicial review of this direct final rule, so 
that the 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, Incorporation by 
reference, Intergovernmental relations, Nitrogen dioxide, Ozone, 
Particulate matter, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements.

[[Page 50365]]

    Dated: June 15, 2016.
Alexis Strauss,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region IX.
    Part 52, Chapter I, Title 40 of the Code of Federal Regulations 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 F--California

0
2. Section 52.220 is amended by adding paragraphs (c)(6)(xi)(D), and 
(c)(182)(i)(F)(5), (6), (7), and (8) to read as follows:

Sec.  52.220  Identification of plan.

* * * * *
    (c) * * *
    (6) * * *
    (xi) * * *
    (D) Previously approved September 22, 1972 in paragraph (c)(6) of 
this section and now deleted with replacement in paragraph 
(c)(182)(i)(F)(5), (6), (7), and (8), Rule 2.3 ``Transfer,'' Rule 2.5 
``Cancellation of Application,'' Rule 2.7 ``Provision of Sampling and 
Testing Facilities,'' and Rule 2.9 ``Conditional Approval''.
* * * * *
    (182) * * *
    (i) * * *
    (F) * * *
    (5) Regulation II, ``Permit System,'' Rule 2.3 ``Transfers'' 
amended on January 15, 1989.
    (6) Regulation II, ``Permit System,'' Rule 2.5 ``Expiration of 
Applications'' amended on January 15, 1989.
    (7) Regulation II, ``Permit System,'' Rule 2.7 ``Conditional 
Approval'' amended on January 15, 1989.
    (8) Regulation II, ``Permit System,'' Rule 2.10 ``Further 
Information'' amended on January 15, 1989.
* * * * *
[FR Doc. 2016-18009 Filed 7-29-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6560-50-P
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