31334 Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 129 / Thursday, July 5, 2018 / Rules and Regulations 

1Upon the effective date of reclassification, we 

note that certain regulatory changes would occur 

(c) * * * 

Title State effective 

date 

EPA effective 

date Final rule citation/date Comments 

*******

5 CCR 1001–05, Regulation Number 3, Part F, Regional Haze Limits—Best Available Retrofit Technology (BART) and Reasonable 

Progress (RP) 

VI. Regional Haze Determinations ............................ 2/14/2017 8/6/2018 [Insert Federal Register 

citation], 7/5/2018.

* * * * * * * 

* * * * * 

[FR Doc. 2018–14387 Filed 7–3–18; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

40 CFR Part 81 

[EPA–R09–OAR–2018–0223; FRL–9980– 

48—Region 9] 

Air Plan Approval; California; Eastern 

Kern Air Pollution Control District; 

Reclassification 

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA). 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: Under the Clean Air Act, the 

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) 

is granting a request by the State of 

California to reclassify the Eastern Kern 

County (‘‘Eastern Kern’’) nonattainment 

area from ‘‘Moderate’’ to ‘‘Serious’’ for 

the 2008 ozone national ambient air 

quality standards (NAAQS). In 

connection with the reclassification, the 

EPA is establishing a deadline of no 

later than 12 months from the effective 

date of reclassification for submittal of 

revisions to the Eastern Kern portion of 

the California State Implementation 

Plan (SIP) to meet certain additional 

requirements for Serious ozone 

nonattainment areas. The EPA has 

already received SIP revision submittals 

addressing most of the additional SIP 

requirements. 

DATES: This rule is effective on August 

6, 2018. 

ADDRESSES: The EPA has established a 

docket for this action under Docket ID 

No. EPA–R09–OAR–2018–0223. All 

documents in the docket are listed on 

the http://www.regulations.gov website. 

Although listed in the index, some 

information is not publicly available, 

e.g., 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 are available through http://

www.regulations.gov, or please contact 

the person identified in the FOR FURTHER

INFORMATION CONTACT section for 

additional availability information. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Nancy Levin, EPA Region IX, (415) 972– 

3848, levin.nancy@epa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Throughout this document, ‘‘we,’’ ‘‘us’’ 

and ‘‘our’’ refer to the EPA. 

Table of Contents 

I. Proposed Action 

II. Public Comments and EPA Responses 

III. EPA Action 

IV. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews 

I. Proposed Action 

On May 14, 2018 (83 FR 22235), the 

EPA proposed to grant a request by the 

State of California to reclassify the 

Eastern Kern nonattainment area from 

Moderate to Serious for the 2008 ozone 

NAAQS. Our May 14, 2018 proposed 

rule provides: Background information 

concerning the Clean Air Act (CAA); the 

EPA’s promulgation of the NAAQS; SIPs 

to implement, maintain, and enforce the 

NAAQS within each state; ozone and its 

precursors (volatile organic compounds 

(VOC) and oxides of nitrogen (NOX)); 

the 2008 ozone NAAQS; area 

designations, classifications and 

reclassifications for the 2008 ozone 

NAAQS; and SIP revisions required to 

address CAA ozone nonattainment area 

plan requirements based on 

classification. 

Our proposed rule also describes the 

California Air Resources Board’s (CARB) 

request for reclassification of the Eastern 

Kern 2008 ozone nonattainment area 

from Moderate to Serious, our 

evaluation of the request, and the basis 

for our proposed approval of the 

request. Lastly, our proposed rule 

describes the SIP revisions that CARB 

has already submitted to the EPA for the 

Eastern Kern ozone nonattainment area 

and finds that all the SIP elements that 

apply to Eastern Kern as a Serious ozone 

nonattainment area for the 2008 ozone 

NAAQS have been addressed except for 

new source review (NSR) and 

reasonably available control technology 

(RACT) for major sources of NOX. 

Today, we are taking final action to 

grant CARB’s reclassification request for 

the Eastern Kern ozone nonattainment 

area and to establish a 12-month 

deadline (from the effective date of this 

final rule) for submittal of the two 

remaining SIP elements for this area. 

Please see our May 14, 2018 proposed 

rule for further detail concerning these 

topics. 

II. Public Comments and EPA 

Responses 

The EPA’s proposed action provided 

a 30-day public comment period. During 

this period, we received four comments 

that were submitted anonymously. The 

commenters raised issues that are 

outside of the scope of this rulemaking, 

including foreign policy, wildfire 

suppression, dams, wind turbines, air 

quality in China and India, water 

quality in China, and climate change. 

The comment letters are available in the 

docket for this rulemaking. 

III. EPA Action 

Pursuant to CAA section 181(b)(3) 

and 40 CFR 51.1103(b), the EPA is 

granting a request by the State of 

California to reclassify the Eastern Kern 

nonattainment area from Moderate to 

Serious for the 2008 ozone NAAQS. In 

connection with the reclassification, the 

EPA is establishing a deadline of no 

later than 12 months from the effective 

date of reclassification for submittal of 

the two remaining SIP elements (i.e., 

NSR and RACT for major sources of 

NOX) for Serious ozone nonattainment 

areas that have not already been 

submitted for the Eastern Kern ozone 

nonattainment area.1


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Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 129 / Thursday, July 5, 2018 / Rules and Regulations 31335 

automatically and do not require a SIP revision. For 

example, upon reclassification from Moderate to 

Serious, the applicability (or ‘‘de minimis’’) 

thresholds under our General Conformity rule (see 

40 CFR part 93) would drop from 100 tons per year 

to 50 tons per year for VOC or NOX. See 40 CFR 

93.153(b)(1). Under the General Conformity rule, 

federal agencies bear the responsibility of 

determining conformity of actions in nonattainment 

and maintenance areas that require Federal permits, 

approvals, or funding. 

IV. Statutory and Executive Order 

Reviews 

Under Executive Orders 12866 (58 FR 

51735, October 4, 1993) and 13563 (76 

FR 3821, January 21, 2011), this final 

action is not a ‘‘significant regulatory 

action’’ and therefore is not subject to 

review by the Office of Management and 

Budget. Voluntary reclassifications 

under section 181(b)(3) of the CAA are 

based solely upon requests by the state, 

and the EPA is required under the CAA 

to grant them. This final action does not, 

in and of itself, impose any new 

requirements on any sector of the 

economy. In addition, because the 

statutory requirements are clearly 

defined with respect to the differently 

classified areas, and because those 

requirements are automatically triggered 

by classification, reclassification does 

not impose a materially adverse impact 

under Executive Order 12866. For these 

reasons, this final action is also not 

subject to Executive Order 13211, 

‘‘Actions Concerning Regulations That 

Significantly Affect Energy Supply, 

Distribution, or Use’’ (66 FR 28355, May 

22, 2001). Furthermore, this final action 

is not an Executive Order 13771 (82 FR 

9339, February 2, 2017) regulatory 

action because actions such as 

reclassifications made at the request of 

a state are exempt under Executive 

Order 12866. 

In addition, I certify that this final 

rule will not have a significant 

economic impact on a substantial 

number of small entities under the 

Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 601 

et seq.). This final action 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), because the EPA is 

required to grant requests by states for 

voluntary reclassifications and such 

reclassifications in and of themselves do 

not impose any federal 

intergovernmental mandate. 

Executive Order 13175 (65 FR 67249, 

November 9, 2000) requires the EPA to 

develop an accountable process to 

ensure ‘‘meaningful and timely input by 

tribal officials in the development of 

regulatory policies that have tribal 

implications.’’ ‘‘Policies that have tribal 

implications’’ is defined in the 

Executive Order to include regulations 

that have ‘‘substantial direct effects on 

one or more Indian tribes, on the 

relationship between the Federal 

government and Indian tribes, or on the 

distribution of power and 

responsibilities between the Federal 

government and Indian tribes.’’ There 

are no Indian reservation lands or other 

areas where the EPA or an Indian tribe 

has demonstrated that a tribe has 

jurisdiction within the Eastern Kern 

ozone nonattainment area, and thus, 

this final 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. 

This final action also does not have 

Federalism implications because it does 

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, as specified in 

Executive Order 13132 (64 FR 43255, 

August 10, 1999). This final action does 

not alter the relationship or the 

distribution of power and 

responsibilities established in the Clean 

Air Act. 

This final rule also is not subject to 

Executive Order 13045, ‘‘Protection of 

Children from Environmental Health 

Risks and Safety Risks’’ (62 FR 19885, 

April 23, 1997), because the EPA 

interprets Executive Order 13045 as 

applying only to those regulatory 

actions that concern health or safety 

risks, such that the analysis required 

under section 5–501 of the Executive 

Order has the potential to influence the 

regulation. 

Reclassification actions do not 

involve technical standards and thus, 

the requirements of section 12(d) of the 

National Technology Transfer and 

Advancement Act of 1995 (15 U.S.C. 

272 note) do not apply. This final rule 

does not impose an information 

collection burden under the provisions 

of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 

(44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.). 

Executive Order 12898 (59 FR 7629, 

February 16, 1994) establishes federal 

executive policy on environmental 

justice. Its main provision directs 

federal agencies, to the greatest extent 

practicable and permitted by law, to 

make environmental justice part of their 

mission by identifying and addressing, 

as appropriate, disproportionately high 

and adverse human health or 

environmental effects of their programs 

policies, and activities on minority 

populations and low-income 

populations in the United States. This 

final reclassification action relates to 

ozone, a pollutant that is regional in 

nature, and is not the type of action that 

could result in the types of local 

impacts addressed in Executive Order 

12898. 

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 4, 

2018. 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 81 

Environmental protection, Air 

pollution control, Intergovernmental 

relations, National parks, Ozone, 

Wilderness areas. 

Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq. 

Dated: June 26, 2018. 

Deborah Jordan, 

Acting Regional Administrator, Region IX. 

Part 81, chapter I, title 40 of the Code 

of Federal Regulations is amended as 

follows: 

PART 81—DESIGNATION OF AREAS 

FOR AIR QUALITY PLANNING 

PURPOSES 

■ 1. The authority citation for part 81 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq. 


sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with RULES
31336 Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 129 / Thursday, July 5, 2018 / Rules and Regulations 

Subpart C—Section 107 Attainment 

Status Designations 

■ 2. Section 81.305 is amended in the 

table for ‘‘California-2008 8-Hour Ozone 

NAAQS (Primary and secondary)’’ by 

revising the entry for ‘‘Kern County 

(Eastern Kern), CA’’ to read as follows: 

§ 81.305 California 

* * * * * 

CALIFORNIA—2008 8-HOUR OZONE NAAQS 

[Primary and secondary] 

Designated Area 

Designation Classification 

Date 1 Type Date 1 Type 

*******

Kern County (Eastern Kern), CA: 2 ................................................... ........................ Nonattainment ...... 8/6/2018 Serious. 

Kern County (part): 

That portion of Kern County (with the exception of that 

portion in Hydrologic Unit Number 18090205—the Indian Wells Valley) east and south of a line described as 

follows: Beginning at the Kern-Los Angeles County 

boundary and running north and east along the northwest boundary of the Rancho La Liebre Land Grant to 

the point of intersection with the range line common to 

Range 16 West and Range 17 West, San Bernardino 

Base and Meridian; north along the range line to the 

point of intersection with the Rancho El Tejon Land 

Grant boundary; then southeast, northeast, and northwest along the boundary of the Rancho El Tejon Grant 

to the northwest corner of Section 3, Township 11 

North, Range 17 West; then west 1.2 miles; then north 

to the Rancho El Tejon Land Grant boundary; then 

northwest along the Rancho El Tejon line to the southeast corner of Section 34, Township 32 South, Range 

30 East, Mount Diablo Base and Meridian; then north to 

the northwest corner of Section 35, Township 31 South, 

Range 30 East; then northeast along the boundary of 

the Rancho El Tejon Land Grant to the southwest corner of Section 18, Township 31 South, Range 31 East; 

then east to the southeast corner of Section 13, Township 31 South, Range 31 East; then north along the 

range line common to Range 31 East and Range 32 

East, Mount Diablo Base and Meridian, to the northwest corner of Section 6, Township 29 South, Range 

32 East; then east to the southwest corner of Section 

31, Township 28 South, Range 32 East; then north 

along the range line common to Range 31 East and 

Range 32 East to the northwest corner of Section 6, 

Township 28 South, Range 32 East, then west to the 

southeast corner of Section 36, Township 27 South, 

Range 31 East, then north along the range line common to Range 31 East and Range 32 East to the KernTulare County boundary. 

* * * * * * * 

1This date is July 20, 2012, unless otherwise noted. 

2Excludes Indian country located in each area, unless otherwise noted. 

* * * * * 

[FR Doc. 2018–14444 Filed 7–3–18; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P 


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