39012 Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 153 / Wednesday, August 8, 2018 / Proposed Rules 

1 81 FR 58010, August 24, 2016. 

2 706 F.3d 428 (D.C. Cir. 2013). 

3This requirement was codified in 40 CFR 

51.165(a)(13). See 81 FR 58010, August 24, 2016. 

Dated: July 24, 2018. 

Cecil Rodrigues, 

Acting Regional Administrator, Region III. 

[FR Doc. 2018–16776 Filed 8–7–18; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

40 CFR Part 52 

[EPA–R09–OAR–2018–0413; FRL–9981– 

73—Region 9] 

Revisions to California State 

Implementation Plan; South Coast Air 

Quality Management District; 

Stationary Source Permits 

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA). 

ACTION: Proposed rule. 

SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA) is proposing action on a 

revision to the South Coast Air Quality 

Management District (SCAQMD or 

District) portion of the California State 

Implementation Plan (SIP). We are 

proposing a conditional approval of an 

update to provisions governing issuance 

of permits for stationary sources, 

including review and permitting of 

major sources and major modifications 

under part D of title I of the Clean Air 

Act (CAA). Specifically, the revision 

pertains to SCAQMD Rule 1325— 

Federal PM2.5 New Source Review 

Program. We are taking comments on 

this proposal and a final action will 

follow. 

DATES: Any comments must arrive by 

September 7, 2018. 

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, 

identified by Docket ID No. EPA–R09– 

OAR–2018–0413 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 

cannot be removed or edited 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: 

Laura Yannayon, EPA Region 9, (415) 

972–3534, yannayon.laura@epa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Throughout this document, the terms 

‘‘we,’’ ‘‘us,’’ and ‘‘our’’ refer to 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 

A. How is the EPA evaluating the rule? 

B. Does the rule meet the evaluation 

criteria? 

III. Proposed Action and Public Comment 

IV. Incorporation by Reference 

V. 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 it was adopted 

by SCAQMD and submitted by the 

California Air Resources Board (CARB), 

the governor’s designee for California 

SIP submittals. Rule 1325 contains the 

District’s New Source Review (NSR) 

permit program applicable to new and 

modified major sources emitting fine 

particulate matter (PM2.5) and PM2.5

precursors. 

TABLE 1—SUBMITTED RULE

Rule No. Rule title Amended Submitted 

1325 ............... Federal PM2.5 New Source Review Program ............................................................................. 11/4/16 5/8/17 

On November 1, 2017, CARB’s May 8, 

2017 submittal of Rule 1325 was 

deemed to meet the completeness 

criteria in 40 CFR part 51, appendix V. 

Completeness criteria must be met 

before formal EPA review. 

B. Are there other versions of this rule? 

The current SIP contains a version of 

Rule 1325—Federal PM2.5 New Source 

Review Program, approved into the SIP 

on May 1, 2015 (80 FR 24821). 

Consistent with the District’s stated 

intent to have the submitted rule replace 

the existing SIP-approved rule in its 

entirety, EPA’s conditional approval of 

the rule identified above in Table 1 

would have the effect of entirely 

superseding our prior approval of the 

same rule in the current SIP-approved 

program. 

C. What is the purpose of the submitted 

rule? 

For areas designated as nonattainment 

for one or more National Ambient Air 

Quality Standards (NAAQS), the SIP 

must include preconstruction permit 

requirements for new or modified major 

stationary sources of such 

nonattainment pollutant(s), commonly 

referred to as ‘‘Nonattainment New 

Source Review’’ (NNSR). CAA 172(c)(5). 

SCAQMD Rule 1325 addresses NNSR 

permit requirements for major sources 

of PM2.5. Rule 1325 has been amended 

to address SCAQMD’s reclassification 

from a Moderate to a Serious PM2.5

nonattainment area and to implement 

additional provisions pertaining to 

precursors, as promulgated in EPA’s 

rule entitled Fine Particulate Matter 

National Ambient Air Quality 

Standards: State Implementation Plan 

Requirements (‘‘2016 Implementation 

Rule’’).1

II. The EPA’s Evaluation and Action 

A. How is the EPA evaluating the rule? 

Under EPA’s 2016 Implementation 

Rule, which implements the D.C. Circuit 

court’s January 2013 decision in NRDC 

v. EPA,2 areas classified as 

nonattainment for any PM2.5 NAAQS 

are required to comply with the parts of 

CAA subpart 4 section 189(e) 3 that 

require the control of major stationary 

sources of PM10 precursors (and hence 

under the court decision, PM2.5

precursors) ‘‘except where the 

Administrator determines that such 

sources do not contribute significantly 


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4 81 FR 1514, January 13, 2016. 

5 80 FR 24821. 

to PM10 levels which exceed the 

standard in the area.’’ The 2016 

Implementation Rule amended the 

definitions of (1) Regulated NSR 

Pollutant with regards to PM2.5

precursors; (2) Major Stationary Source 

with regards to major sources locating in 

PM2.5 nonattainment areas classified as 

Moderate and Serious; and (3) 

Significant with regards to emissions of 

PM2.5 precursors. Rule 1325 is subject to 

these new regulatory requirements. 

The SCAQMD is classified as a 

Moderate nonattainment area for the 

2012 PM2.5 NAAQS. On January 13, 

2016,4 the SCAQMD was reclassified 

from a Moderate to a Serious PM2.5

nonattainment area for the 2006 PM2.5

NAAQS. The major source permitting 

threshold for a Moderate PM2.5

nonattainment area is 100 tons per year 

(tpy) of direct PM2.5 or any PM2.5

precursor, and 70 tpy for a Serious PM2.5

nonattainment area. 

In addition, EPA has reviewed the 

submitted rule for compliance with: (1) 

The requirements for SIPs as set forth in 

CAA section 110(a)(2); (2) the 

requirements related to SIP revisions in 

CAA sections 110(l) and 193; (3) the 

requirements for stationary source 

preconstruction permitting programs in 

CAA section 173(a) through (c); and (4) 

the requirements related to the review 

and modification of major sources in 40 

CFR part 51.165 that pertain to a PM2.5

nonattainment area classified as 

Serious. 

B. Does the rule meet the evaluation 

criteria? 

In our previous May 1, 2015 5 action 

we evaluated Rule 1325 in accordance 

with the CAA and regulatory 

requirements listed in Section II.A of 

this preamble. In that action, we 

determined Rule 1325 satisfied the 

applicable requirements for a PM2.5

NNSR permit program. Below we 

discuss and evaluate the revised 

portions of submitted Rule 1325 to 

determine if the revisions meet current 

applicable requirements for a PM2.5

NNSR permit program. 

Section (a)—Applicability, contains 

minor revisions to clarify that the rule 

applies to major polluting facilities that 

will emit PM2.5 or its precursors in areas 

federally-designated as nonattainment 

for PM2.5. EPA finds these clarifying 

revisions approvable. 

Section (b)—Definitions, has been 

revised to update: (1) The effective date 

of the referenced 40 CFR 51.165(a)(1) 

definitions; (2) the definition of Major 

Polluting Facility to include a 70 tpy 

emissions threshold, effective upon the 

date of the EPA’s approval of the 

November 4, 2016 amendments to Rule 

1325; (3) the definition of Precursors to 

include volatile organic compounds 

(VOC) and ammonia, effective upon the 

date of the EPA’s approval of the 

November 4, 2016 amendments to Rule 

1325; and (4) the definition of 

‘‘Significant’’ to include VOC and 

ammonia and specify a 40 tpy 

threshold. EPA finds these revisions 

approvable, as they are consistent with 

current applicable requirements for a 

serious PM2.5 nonattainment area. 

The definition of Regulated NSR 

Pollutant was not revised to include 

VOC and ammonia as PM2.5 precursors. 

Because the definition for the term 

Major Modification relies on the 

definition of Regulated NSR Pollutant, 

Rule 1325 does not satisfy the 

requirement to include VOC and 

ammonia as PM2.5 precursors when 

evaluating if a project will result in a 

major modification, and it is therefore 

deficient. 

Section (f)—Two Year Limit on 

Facility Exemption has been revised to 

lower the emissions threshold for this 

exemption provision from 100 tpy to 70 

tpy, effective upon the date of the EPA’s 

approval of the November 4, 2016 

amendments to Rule 1325. The 

provision requires a source to aggregate 

its PM2.5 emissions from any permit 

actions that occur within a two-year 

period to determine if emissions exceed 

70 tpy; if so, offsets are required for the 

aggregated emission increase. This 

provision requiring PM2.5 emissions to 

be aggregated is more stringent that 

CAA requirements. Therefore, EPA 

finds this more stringent provision 

acceptable. 

Section (j)—Offset Exemptions for 

Regulatory Compliance has been added. 

This provision allows the Executive 

Officer to exempt new or modified 

sources installed solely to comply with 

District, state or federal air pollution 

control regulations from the otherwise 

applicable offset requirements. EPA 

finds this new provision approvable. 

In addition, other minor editorial or 

conforming edits have been made 

throughout the rule. EPA finds these 

revisions approvable. 

With respect to procedural 

requirements, CAA sections 110(a)(2) 

and 110(l) require that revisions to a SIP 

be adopted by the state after reasonable 

notice and public hearing. EPA has 

promulgated specific procedural 

requirements for SIP revisions in 40 

CFR part 51, subpart V. These 

requirements include publication of 

notices by prominent advertisement in 

the relevant geographic area, a public 

hearing or notice of an opportunity for 

a public hearing on the proposed 

revisions, and a public comment period 

of at least 30 days. 

Based on our review of the public 

process documentation included in the 

May 5, 2017 submittal, we find that 

SCAQMD has provided sufficient 

evidence of public notice and 

opportunity for comment and a public 

hearing prior to adoption and submittal 

of these rules to EPA. 

Section 193 of the Act, which was 

added by the Clean Air Act 

Amendments of 1990, includes a clause 

providing in pertinent part: ‘‘No control 

requirement in effect, or required to be 

adopted by an order, settlement 

agreement, or plan in effect before 

November 15, 1990, in any area which 

is a nonattainment area for any air 

pollutant may be modified after 

November 15, 1990, in any manner 

unless the modification insures 

equivalent or greater emission 

reductions of such air pollutant.’’ Since 

PM2.5 is a NAAQS adopted after 1990, 

there are no existing PM2.5 control 

requirements that would be subject to 

the provisions of Section 193 of the 

CAA. Therefore, for the purposes of our 

analysis of Rule 1325, we find that 

Section 193 of the CAA does not apply 

to this action. 

III. Proposed Action and Public 

Comment 

Because the revisions to Rule 1325 do 

not ensure VOC and ammonia emissions 

are evaluated to determine if a proposed 

project will result in a major 

modification, EPA cannot grant full 

approval of this rule under section 

110(k)(3) of the Act. However, in a letter 

dated June 26, 2018, the District 

committed to adopt and submit specific 

enforceable measures to address this 

deficiency. The District committed to 

submit these revisions to CARB within 

11 months of the date of EPA’s final 

action. In addition, in a letter dated July 

16, 2018, CARB committed to submit 

the adopted rule revisions to EPA no 

later than 12 months from the date of 

EPA’s final action. Accordingly, 

pursuant to section 110(k)(4) of the Act, 

EPA is proposing a conditional approval 

of the submitted rule. We are proposing 

to conditionally approve the submitted 

rule based on our determination that 

separate from the deficiency listed 

above, the rule satisfies the applicable 

requirements discussed in Section II.A 

of this action. 

In support of this proposed action, we 

have concluded that our conditional 

approval of the submitted rule would 

comply with section 110(l) of the Act 

because the amended rule, as a whole, 


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39014 Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 153 / Wednesday, August 8, 2018 / Proposed Rules 

would not interfere with continued 

attainment of the NAAQS in the South 

Coast Air Basin. The intended effect of 

our proposed conditional approval 

action is to update the applicable SIP 

with current SCAQMD rules and 

provide SCAQMD the opportunity to 

correct the identified deficiencies, as 

discussed in their commitment letter 

dated June 26, 2018. If we finalize this 

action as proposed, our action would 

incorporate this rule into the federally 

enforceable SIP and be codified through 

revisions to 40 CFR 52.220 

(Identification of plan) and 40 CFR 

52.119 (Part D conditional approval). 

If the State meets its commitment to 

submit the required measures within 12 

months of the date of EPA’s final action, 

Rule 1325 will remain a part of the SIP 

until EPA takes final action approving 

or disapproving any subsequently 

submitted SIP revision. However, if the 

District fails to submit a revision within 

the required timeframe, the conditional 

approval will automatically become a 

disapproval, and EPA will issue a 

finding of disapproval. EPA is not 

required to propose the finding of 

disapproval. 

We will accept comments from the 

public on this proposal until September 

7, 2018. If we take final action to 

approve the submitted rule, our final 

action will incorporate this rule into the 

federally enforceable SIP. 

IV. 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 listed in Table 1 of 

this preamble. The EPA has made, and 

will continue to make, these materials 

available electronically through 

www.regulations.gov and in hard copy 

at the EPA Region IX Office (please 

contact the person identified in the FOR

FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section of 

this preamble for more information). 

V. 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 proposed action 

merely proposes to approve state law as 

meeting federal requirements and does 

not impose additional requirements 

beyond those imposed by state law. For 

that reason, this proposed 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); 

• Is not an Executive Order 13771 (82 

FR 9339, February 2, 2017) regulatory 

action because SIP approvals are 

exempted under Executive Order 12866; 

• 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 

disproportionate human health or 

environmental effects with practical, 

appropriate, 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). 

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 52 

Environmental protection, Air 

pollution control, Incorporation by 

reference, Intergovernmental relations, 

Particulate matter, Reporting and 

recordkeeping requirements. 

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

Dated: July 24, 2018. 

Michael Stoker, 

Regional Administrator, Region IX. 

[FR Doc. 2018–16877 Filed 8–7–18; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

40 CFR Part 52 

[EPA–R03–OAR–2018–0507; FRL–9981– 

77—Region 3] 

Approval and Promulgation of Air 

Quality Implementation Plans; 

Maryland; NOX Ozone Season 

Emissions Caps for Non-Trading Large 

NOX Units and Associated Revisions to 

General Administrative Provisions and 

Kraft Pulp Mill Regulation 

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA). 

ACTION: Proposed rule. 

SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA) is proposing to approve a 

state implementation plan (SIP) revision 

submitted by the State of Maryland. 

This revision (Maryland SIP Revision 

#18–03) pertains to a new Maryland 

regulation that establishes ozone season 

nitrogen oxides (NOX) emissions caps 

and other requirements for large nonelectric generating units (non-EGU) in 

Maryland and includes associated 

revisions to two other Maryland 

regulations. The revisions will enable 

Maryland to meet NOX reduction 

requirements related to interstate 

transport of pollution that contributes to 

other states’ nonattainment or interferes 

with other states’ maintenance of the 

ozone national ambient air quality 

standards (NAAQS). This action is being 

taken under the Clean Air Act (CAA). 

DATES: Written comments must be 

received on or before September 7, 

2018. 

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, 

identified by Docket ID No. EPA–R03– 

OAR–2018–0507 at http://

www.regulations.gov, or via email to 

spielberger.susan@epa.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. For either manner 

of submission, 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 


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