72742 Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 235 / Thursday, December 6, 2012 / Rules and Regulations 

agreement. VA provider agreements 

under this section will provide for 

payments at the rate determined by the 

following formula. For State Homes in 

a metropolitan statistical area, use the 

most recently published CMS Resource 

Utilization Groups (RUG) case-mix 

levels for the applicable metropolitan 

statistical area. For State Homes in a 

rural area, use the most recently 

published CMS Skilled Nursing 

Prospective Payment System case-mix 

levels for the applicable rural area. To 

compute the daily rate for each State 

home, multiply the labor component by 

the State home wage index for each of 

the applicable case-mix levels; then add 

to that amount the non-labor 

component. Divide the sum of the 

results of these calculations by the 

number of applicable case-mix levels. 

Finally, add to this quotient the amount 

based on the CMS payment schedule for 

physician services. The amount for 

physician services, based on 

information published by CMS, is the 

average hourly rate for all physicians, 

with the rate modified by the applicable 

urban or rural geographic index for 

physician work, then multiplied by 12, 

then divided by the number of days in 

the year. 

Note to paragraph (c)(1): The amount 

calculated under this formula reflects the 

prevailing rate payable in the geographic area 

in which the State home is located for 

nursing home care furnished in a nonDepartment nursing home (a public or 

private institution not under the direct 

jurisdiction of VA which furnishes nursing 

home care). Further, the formula for 

establishing these rates includes CMS 

information that is published in the Federal 

Register every year and is effective beginning 

October 1 for the entire fiscal year. 

Accordingly, VA will adjust the rates 

annually. 

(2) The State home shall not charge 

any individual, insurer, or entity (other 

than VA) for the nursing home care paid 

for by VA under a VA provider 

agreement. Also, as a condition of 

receiving payments under paragraph (c) 

of this section, the State home must 

agree not to accept drugs and medicines 

from VA provided under 38 U.S.C. 

1712(d) on behalf of veterans covered by 

this section and corresponding VA 

regulations (payment under paragraph 

(c) of this section includes payment for 

drugs and medicines). 

(3) Agreements under paragraph (c) of 

this section will be subject to this part, 

except to the extent that this part 

conflicts with this section. For purposes 

of this section, the term ‘‘per diem’’ in 

part 51 includes payments under 

provider agreements. 

(4) If a veteran receives a retroactive 

VA service-connected disability rating 

and becomes a veteran identified in 

paragraph (a) of this section, the State 

home may request payment under the 

VA provider agreement for nursing 

home care back to the retroactive 

effective date of the rating or February 

2, 2013, whichever is later. For care 

provided after the effective date but 

before February 2, 2013, the State home 

may request payment at the special per 

diem rate that was in effect at the time 

that the care was rendered. 

(d) VA signing official. VA provider 

agreements must be signed by the 

Director of the VA medical center of 

jurisdiction or designee. 

(e) Forms. Prior to entering into a VA 

provider agreement, State homes must 

submit to the VA medical center of 

jurisdiction a completed VA Form 10– 

10EZ, Application for Medical Benefits 

(or VA Form 10–10EZR, Health Benefits 

Renewal Form, if a completed VA Form 

10–10EZ is already on file at VA), and 

a completed VA Form 10–10SH, State 

Home Program Application for Care— 

Medical Certification, for the veterans 

for whom the State home will seek 

payment under the provider agreement. 

After VA and the State home have 

entered into a VA provider agreement, 

forms for payment must be submitted in 

accordance with paragraph (a) of this 

section. VA Forms 10–10EZ and 10– 

10EZR are set forth in full at § 58.12 of 

this chapter and VA Form 10–10SH is 

set forth in full at § 58.13 of this chapter. 

(The Office of Management and 

Budget has approved the information 

collection requirements in this section 

under control numbers 2900–0091 and 

2900–0160.) 

(f) Termination of VA provider 

agreements. (1) A State home that 

wishes to terminate a VA provider 

agreement with VA must send written 

notice of its intent to the Director of the 

VA medical center of jurisdiction at 

least 30 days before the effective date of 

termination of the agreement. The 

notice shall include the intended date of 

termination. 

(2) VA provider agreements will 

terminate on the date of a final decision 

that the home is no longer recognized by 

VA under § 51.30. 

(g) Compliance with Federal laws. 

Under provider agreements entered into 

under this section, State homes are not 

required to comply with reporting and 

auditing requirements imposed under 

the Service Contract Act of 1965, as 

amended (41 U.S.C. 351, et seq.); 

however, State homes must comply 

with all other applicable Federal laws 

concerning employment and hiring 

practices including the Fair Labor 

Standards Act, National Labor Relations 

Act, the Civil Rights Acts, the Age 

Discrimination in Employment Act of 

1967, the Vocational Rehabilitation Act 

of 1973, Worker Adjustment and 

Retraining Notification Act, SarbanesOxley Act of 2002, Occupational Health 

and Safety Act of 1970, Immigration 

Reform and Control Act of 1986, 

Consolidated Omnibus Reconciliation 

Act, the Family and Medical Leave Act, 

the Americans with Disabilities Act, the 

Uniformed Services Employment and 

Reemployment Rights Act, the 

Immigration and Nationality Act, the 

Consumer Credit Protection Act, the 

Employee Polygraph Protection Act, and 

the Employee Retirement Income 

Security Act. 

(Authority: 38 U.S.C. 101, 501, 1710, 1720, 

1741–1745; 42 U.S.C. 1395cc) 

[FR Doc. 2012–29521 Filed 12–5–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 8320–01–P 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

40 CFR Part 52 

[EPA–R10–OAR–2012–0078; FRL–9722–9] 

Approval and Promulgation of State 

Implementation Plans: State of 

Washington; Regional Haze State 

Implementation Plan 

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA). 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: EPA is taking final action to 

approve the Best Available Retrofit 

Technology (BART) determination for 

NOX for the TransAlta Centralia 

Generation LLC coal-fired power plant 

in Centralia, Washington (TransAlta). 

The Washington State Department of 

Ecology (Ecology) submitted its 

Regional Haze State Implementation 

Plan (SIP) on December 22, 2010 to meet 

the requirements of the Clean Air Act 

Regional Haze Rule at 40 CFR 50.308. 

On December 29, 2011 Ecology 

submitted an update to the SIP 

submittal containing a revised and 

updated BART determination for 

TransAlta. On May 23, 2012, EPA 

proposed to approve the portion of the 

revised SIP submission containing the 

BART determination for TransAlta.77 

FR 30467. EPA plans to act on the 

remaining Regional Haze SIP elements 

for Washington in the near future. 

DATES: This action is effective on 

January 7, 2013. 

ADDRESSES: EPA has established a 

docket for this action under Docket 

Identification No. EPA–R10–OAR– 

mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with 

Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 235 / Thursday, December 6, 2012 / Rules and Regulations 72743 

2012–0078. Generally documents in the 

docket are available at http:// 

www.regulations.gov or in hard copy at 

EPA Region 10, Office of Air, Waste, 

and Toxics, AWT–107, 1200 Sixth 

Avenue, Seattle, Washington 98101. 

Please note that while many of the 

documents in the docket are available 

electronically at http:// 

www.regulations.gov, some information 

may not be publicly available, i.e., 

Confidential Business Information or 

other information whose disclosure is 

restricted by statute. Certain other 

material, such as copyrighted material, 

large maps or voluminous materials, is 

not placed on the Internet and will be 

publicly available only at the hard copy 

location. To inspect the hard copy 

materials, please schedule an 

appointment during normal business 

hours with the contact listed directly 

below. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Steve Body, (206) 553–0782, or by email 

at body.steve@epa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Throughout this document whenever 

‘‘we,’’ ‘‘us,’’ or ‘‘our’’ is used, we mean 

the EPA. Information is organized as 

follows: 

I. What is the background for this final 

action? 

Ecology submitted its Regional Haze 

SIP on December 22, 2010 to meet the 

requirements of 40 CFR 50.308. On 

December 29, 2011 Ecology submitted 

an update to the SIP submittal 

containing a revised and updated BART 

determination for TransAlta. On May 

23, 2012, EPA proposed to approve the 

portion of the SIP submission 

containing the BART determination for 

NOX at TransAlta. 

The TransAlta power plant, located in 

Centralia, Washington, is a two unit 

coal-fired power plant rated at 702.5 

MW each, when burning coal from the 

Centralia coalfield as originally 

designed. The units now burn coal from 

the Wyoming Powder River Basin and 

are rated at 670 MW each. As explained 

in the proposal, these Units are subject 

to BART. The Regional Haze SIP 

revision imposes as BART a NOX

emission limitation of 0.21 lb/MMBtu 

for each unit based on the installation 

of selective noncatalytic reduction on 

both coal-fired units plus Flex Fuel. It 

also requires a one year performance 

optimization study and lowering the 

emission limits based on the study 

results. Additionally, the BART 

determination requires one unit to cease 

burning coal by December 31, 2020 and 

the second unit by December 31, 2025 

unless Ecology determines that state or 

federal law requires selective catalytic 

reduction to be installed on either unit. 

A detailed explanation of the Regional 

Haze Rule, the BART requirements, 

Ecology’s BART determination for 

TransAlta and EPA’s reasons for 

approving this SIP revision were 

provided in the notice of proposed 

rulemaking on May 23, 2012 and will 

not be restated here. 

II. What is our response to comments 

received on the notice of proposed 

rulemaking? 

The public comment period for EPA’s 

proposal to approve the TransAlta 

BART determination closed on June 22, 

2012. EPA received only one comment 

on its proposal. The comment, from 

TransAlta, encouraged EPA to approve 

the BART determination for NOX as 

proposed. 

III. What action is EPA taking? 

EPA is approving the NOX emissions 

BART determination for TransAlta. 

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, 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 Order 12866 (58 FR 51735, 

October 4, 1993); 

• 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 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, this rule does not have 

tribal implications as specified by 

Executive Order 13175 (65 FR 67249, 

November 9, 2000), because the SIP is 

not approved to apply in Indian country 

located in the state, and EPA notes that 

it will not impose substantial direct 

costs on tribal governments or preempt 

tribal law. Consistent with EPA policy, 

EPA nonetheless provided a 

consultation opportunity to Tribes in 

Idaho, Oregon and Washington in letters 

dated January 14, 2011. EPA received 

one request for consultation, and we 

have followed-up with that Tribe. 

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 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 February 4, 2013. 

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 

mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with 

72744 Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 235 / Thursday, December 6, 2012 / Rules and Regulations 

enforce its requirements. (See section 

307(b)(2)). 

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 52 

Air pollution control, Environmental 

protection,, Incorporation by reference, 

Intergovernmental relations, Nitrogen 

Oxides, Particulate matter, Reporting 

and recordkeeping requirements, Sulfur 

oxides, Visibility. Volatile organic 

compounds. 

Dated: August 20, 2012. 

Dennis J. McLerran, 

Regional Administrator, Region 10. 

40 CFR part 52 is amended as follows: 

PART 52—[AMENDED] 

■ 1. The authority citation for part 52 

continues to read as follows: 

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

Subpart WW—Washington 

■ 2. Section 52.2470 is amended by 

adding paragraph (c)(89) to read as 

follows: 

§ 52.2470 Identification of plan. 

* * * * * 

(c) * * * 

(89) On December 29, 2011, the 

Washington State Department of 

Ecology submitted a Best Available 

Retrofit Technology (BART) 

determination and revised BART Order 

6426 for the TransAlta Centralia 

Generating LLC facility in Centralia, 

Washington. 

(i) Incorporation by reference. 

(A) State of Washington, Department 

of Ecology, Order 6426, first revision, 

‘‘BART Emission Limitations,’’ issued to 

TransAlta Centralia Generation, LLC, 

dated December 13, 2011, except the 

undesignated introductory text, the 

section titled ‘‘Findings,’’ and the 

undesignated text following condition 

13. 

■ 3. Section 52.2475 is amended by 

adding paragraph (g)(2) to read as 

follows: 

§ 52.2475 Approval of plans. 

* * * * * 

(g) * * * 

(2) EPA approves the Best Available 

Retrofit Technology (BART) 

determination for the TransAlta 

Centralia Generating LLC facility in 

Centralia Washington submitted by the 

Washington State Department of 

Ecology on December 29, 2011. 

[FR Doc. 2012–29397 Filed 12–5–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

40 CFR Part 55 

[EPA–R09–OAR–2004–0091; FRL–9750–6] 

Outer Continental Shelf Air 

Regulations Consistency Update for 

California 

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency. 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection 

Agency (‘‘EPA’’) is finalizing the update 

of the Outer Continental Shelf (‘‘OCS’’) 

Air Regulations proposed in the Federal 

Register on August 30, 2012. 

Requirements applying to OCS sources 

located within 25 miles of States’ 

seaward boundaries must be updated 

periodically to remain consistent with 

the requirements of the corresponding 

onshore area (‘‘COA’’), as mandated by 

the Clean Air Act, as amended in 1990 

(‘‘the Act’’). The portion of the OCS air 

regulations that is being updated 

pertains to the requirements for OCS 

sources for which the Santa Barbara 

County Air Pollution Control District 

(‘‘Santa Barbara County APCD’’ or 

‘‘District’’) is the designated COA. The 

intended effect of approving the OCS 

requirements for the Santa Barbara 

County APCD is to regulate emissions 

from OCS sources in accordance with 

the requirements onshore. 

DATES: This rule is effective on January 

7, 2013. The incorporation by reference 

of certain publications listed in this rule 

is approved by the Director of the 

Federal Register as of January 7, 2013. 

ADDRESSES: EPA has established docket 

number OAR–2004–0091 for this action. 

The index to the docket is available 

electronically at www.regulations.gov 

and in hard copy at EPA Region IX, 75 

Hawthorne Street, San Francisco, 

California. 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 in either 

location (e.g., CBI). To inspect the hard 

copy materials, please schedule an 

appointment during normal business 

hours with the contact listed in the FOR

FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Cynthia G. Allen, Air Division (Air–4), 

U.S. EPA Region 9, 75 Hawthorne 

Street, San Francisco, CA 94105, (415) 

947–4120, allen.cynthia@epa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Throughout this document, the terms 

‘‘we,’’ ‘‘us,’’ or ‘‘our’’ refer to U.S. EPA. 

Organization of this document: The 

following outline is provided to aid in 

locating information in this preamble. 

I. Background 

II. Public Comment 

III. EPA Action 

IV. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews 

I. Background 

On August 30, 2012 (77 FR 52630), 

EPA proposed to incorporate various 

Santa Barbara County APCD air 

pollution control requirements into the 

OCS Air Regulations at 40 CFR part 55. 

We are incorporating these requirements 

in response to the submittal of these 

rules by the District. EPA has evaluated 

the proposed requirements to ensure 

that they are rationally related to the 

attainment or maintenance of federal or 

state ambient air quality standards or 

Part C of title I of the Act, that they are 

not designed expressly to prevent 

exploration and development of the 

OCS and that they are applicable to OCS 

sources. 40 CFR 55.1. EPA has also 

evaluated the rules to ensure that they 

are not arbitrary or capricious. 40 CFR 

55.12(e). 

Section 328(a) of the Act requires that 

EPA establish requirements to control 

air pollution from OCS sources located 

within 25 miles of states’ seaward 

boundaries that are the same as onshore 

requirements. To comply with this 

statutory mandate, EPA must 

incorporate applicable onshore rules 

into part 55 as they exist onshore. This 

limits EPA’s flexibility in deciding 

which requirements will be 

incorporated into part 55 and prevents 

EPA from making substantive changes 

to the requirements it incorporates. As 

a result, EPA may be incorporating rules 

into part 55 that do not conform to all 

of EPA’s state implementation plan 

(SIP) guidance or certain requirements 

of the Act. Consistency updates may 

result in the inclusion of state or local 

rules or regulations into part 55, even 

though the same rules may ultimately be 

disapproved for inclusion as part of the 

SIP. Inclusion in the OCS rule does not 

imply that a rule meets the requirements 

of the Act for SIP approval, nor does it 

imply that the rule will be approved by 

EPA for inclusion in the SIP. 

II. Public Comment 

EPA’s proposed action provided a 30- 

day public comment period. During this 

period, we received no comments on the 

proposed action. 

III. EPA Action 

In this document, EPA takes final 

action to incorporate the proposed 

changes into 40 CFR part 55. No 

changes were made to the proposed 

mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with