[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 213 (Monday, November 4, 2024)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 87505-87509]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-25560]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[EPA-R09-OAR-2024-0418; FRL-12225-02-R9]


Air Plan Revisions; California; San Diego County Air Pollution 
Control District and Mojave Desert Air Quality Management District

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is taking final 
action to approve revisions to the San Diego County Air Pollution 
Control District (SDCAPCD) and Mojave Desert Air Quality Management 
District (MDAQMD) portions of the California State Implementation Plan 
(SIP). These revisions concern negative declarations for the Control 
Techniques Guidelines (CTG) for the Oil and Natural Gas Industry (Oil 
and Natural Gas CTG).

DATES: This rule is effective December 4, 2024.

ADDRESSES: The EPA has established a docket for this action under 
Docket ID No. EPA-R09-OAR-2024-0418. All documents in the docket are 
listed on the https://www.regulations.gov website. Although listed in 
the index, some information is not publicly available, e.g., 
Confidential Business Information (CBI) 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 https://www.regulations.gov, or please 
contact the person identified in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT 
section for additional availability information. If you need assistance 
in a language other than English or if you are a person with a 
disability who needs a reasonable accommodation at no cost to you, 
please contact the person identified in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION 
CONTACT section.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Eugene Chen, EPA Region IX, 75 
Hawthorne St., San Francisco, CA 94105. By phone: (415) 947-4304 or by 
email at <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#e5868d808bcb809082808b80a5809584cb828a93"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="ec8f848982c289998b898289ac899c8dc28b839a">[email protected]</span></a>.

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 September 23, 2024, the EPA proposed to approve the California 
Air Resources Board's (CARB) submittal of negative declarations for the 
Oil and Natural Gas CTG adopted by SDCAPCD and MDAQMD.\1\ As discussed 
in our proposed action, these negative declarations should provide 
reasonable assurances that no sources subject to the CTG's requirements 
currently exist in the relevant ozone nonattainment areas. Based on our 
review, we did not identify any sources that would be subject to the 
Oil and Natural Gas CTG and agreed with the SDCAPCD and MDAQMD negative 
declarations. We therefore proposed approval of these negative 
declarations for the Oil and Natural Gas CTG.
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    \1\ 89 FR 77467.

                      Table 1--Submitted Documents
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                              Submitted
     Local agency              Document           Adopted       to EPA
------------------------------------------------------------------------
SDCAPCD...............  2020 Reasonably          10/14/2020   12/29/2020
                         Available Control
                         Technology
                         Demonstration for the
                         National Ambient Air
                         Quality Standards for
                         Ozone in San Diego
                         County (``2020 RACT
                         SIP'')--Negative
                         Declaration for Oil
                         and Natural Gas CTG.
MDAQMD................  70 ppb Ozone Standard    10/28/2019   12/20/2019
                         Implementation
                         Evaluation: RACT SIP
                         Analysis; Federal
                         Negative
                         Declarations; and
                         Emission Statement
                         Certification--Negati
                         ve Declaration for
                         Oil and Natural Gas
                         CTG.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    As discussed in our September 23, 2024 (89 FR 77467) proposal, we 
only proposed action on the negative declaration for the Oil and 
Natural Gas CTG in Attachment B of the SDCAPCD submittal and did not 
propose action on any other elements of the submittal. Similarly, for 
the MDAQMD submittal, we only proposed action on the negative 
declaration for the Oil and Natural Gas CTG in table 2 and did not 
propose action on any other elements of the submittal. In both cases, 
the negative declarations for the Oil and Natural Gas CTG were 
submitted for the 2008 and 2015 ozone National Ambient Air Quality 
Standards (NAAQS).<SUP>2 3</SUP>
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    \2\ Page 10 of MDAQMD 70 ppb O3 Evaluation, Final Staff Report.
    \3\ Page B-10 of SDCAPCD 2020 RACT SIP, Attachment B.

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[[Page 87506]]

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. We have summarized these 
comments and included our responses below.
    Comment 1: One commenter inquired about grants for the 
electrification of equipment on small farms and included information 
regarding a certain model of electric tractor deployed in Europe.
    Response 1: Our proposed action is related to oil and natural gas 
sources located in certain California air districts. We do not consider 
this comment to be germane because it is beyond the scope of our 
proposed action.
    Comment 2: One commenter expressed general support for the proposed 
action and urged the EPA to adopt the proposed rulemakings.
    Response 2: The EPA acknowledges the comment.
    Comment 3: One commenter urged the EPA to take action to regulate 
cannabis growth. The commenter asserts that cannabis cultivation is 
responsible for significant emissions of greenhouse gases and that 
cannabis plants themselves are a source of terpenes, which are VOCs 
that ``when mixed with nitrogen oxide and sunlight, form ozone-
degrading aerosols.''
    Response 3: We acknowledge the information provided by the 
commenter regarding the potential for the cannabis cultivation industry 
to be a source of greenhouse gas emissions and VOCs. As noted in our 
response to Comment 1 of this preamble above, our proposed action is 
related to oil and natural gas sources located in certain California 
air districts. As a result, we do not consider this comment to be 
germane because it is beyond the scope of our proposed action.
    Comment 4: One commenter opposes the EPA action on the proposed 
rulemakings. The commenter notes the need for ozone regulation in 
southwest California under the 2008 and 2015 ozone NAAQS because ``the 
ozone emitted by the oil and natural gas industries has a stronger 
impact than in more temperate regions.'' The commenter suggests that 
``providing a bulwark against accelerated ozone production from [these] 
sources is paramount'' and concludes by stating ``if the SDCAPCD, 
MDAQMD and EPA sign onto the negative decision to include oil and 
natural gas industries in these portions of the California SIP, the 
problem of ground-level ozone will not be fully resolved.''
    Response 4: We acknowledge the commenters concerns regarding ozone 
levels in southwest California and attainment of the 2008 and 2015 
ozone NAAQS for the areas at issue in the EPA's proposed action. 
However, we disagree with the commenter that the proposed action will 
negatively impact ozone emissions in the areas at issue. We wish to 
clarify that the EPA's proposed action involves a negative declaration, 
not a negative decision. As discussed above and in our proposed action, 
the negative declarations from SDCAPCD and MDAQMD represent their 
certifications that there are no sources subject to the Oil and Natural 
Gas CTG present in their jurisdictions. A negative declaration does not 
exempt sources from regulation, and if sources subject to the Oil and 
Natural Gas CTG subsequently came to exist in either of the Districts, 
CAA sections 182(b)(2) and (f) would require that District to adopt 
control measures implementing RACT for the CTG.\4\
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    \4\ In a separate action earlier this year, the EPA proposed to 
approve a California statewide regulation into the California SIP 
for those areas that need to regulate sources covered by the Oil and 
Natural Gas CTG. See 89 FR 36729 (May 3, 2024).
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III. EPA Action

    None of the comments submitted change our assessment of the SIP 
revision as described in the proposed action at issue. Therefore, as 
authorized in section 110(k)(3) of the Act, the EPA is approving 
SDCAPCD's and MDAQMD's negative declarations for the Oil and Natural 
Gas CTG because they fulfill the relevant requirements in CAA sections 
110(a), 110(l), and 182(b)(2). In addition, our approval of SDCAPCD's 
negative declaration terminates the EPA's obligation to promulgate a 
Federal Implementation Plan (FIP) for SDCAPCD arising from our November 
16, 2020 finding of failure to submit for the Oil and Natural Gas 
CTG.\5\
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    \5\ November 16, 2020. 85 FR 72963. Our November 16, 2020 
finding of failure to submit also triggered offset sanctions and 
highway funding sanctions. These sanctions clocks were extinguished 
by SDCAPCD's December 29, 2020 submittal and our May 6, 2021 letter 
determining that the District's negative declaration submittal was 
complete. See Docket Item B-01.
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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:
    <bullet> 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 14094 (88 FR 21879, April 11, 2023);
    <bullet> Does not impose an information collection burden under the 
provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.);
    <bullet> 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.);
    <bullet> 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);
    <bullet> Does not have federalism implications as specified in 
Executive Order 13132 (64 FR 43255, August 10, 1999);
    <bullet> Is not subject to Executive Order 13045 (62 FR 19885, 
April 23, 1997) because it approves a State program;
    <bullet> Is not a significant regulatory action subject to 
Executive Order 13211 (66 FR 28355, May 22, 2001); and
    <bullet> 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.
    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).
    Executive Order 12898 (Federal Actions To Address Environmental 
Justice in Minority Populations and Low-Income Populations, 59 FR 7629, 
February 16, 1994) directs Federal agencies to identify and address 
``disproportionately high and adverse human health or environmental 
effects'' of their actions on communities with environmental justice 
(EJ) concerns to the greatest extent practicable and permitted by law. 
The EPA defines EJ as ``the fair treatment and meaningful involvement 
of all people regardless of race, color, national origin, or income 
with respect to the development, implementation, and enforcement of

[[Page 87507]]

environmental laws, regulations, and policies.'' The EPA further 
defines the term fair treatment to mean that ``no group of people 
should bear a disproportionate burden of environmental harms and risks, 
including those resulting from the negative environmental consequences 
of industrial, governmental, and commercial operations or programs and 
policies.''
    The Districts did not evaluate EJ considerations as part of its SIP 
submittal; the CAA and applicable implementing regulations neither 
prohibit nor require such an evaluation. The EPA did not perform an EJ 
analysis and did not consider EJ in this action. Due to the nature of 
the action being taken here, this action is expected to have a neutral 
to positive impact on the air quality of the affected area. 
Consideration of EJ is not required as part of this action, and there 
is no information in the record inconsistent with the stated goals of 
Executive Order 12898 of achieving EJ for communities with EJ concerns.
    This action is subject to the Congressional Review Act (CRA), and 
the EPA will submit a rule report to each House of the Congress and to 
the Comptroller General of the United States. 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 January 3, 2025. Filing a 
petition for reconsideration by the Administrator of this final rule 
does not affect the finality of this rule for the purposes of judicial 
review, nor does it extend the time within which a petition for 
judicial review may be filed, and it 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, Volatile organic compounds.

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

    Dated: October 29, 2024.
Martha Guzman Aceves,
Regional Administrator, Region IX.

    For the reasons stated in the preamble, the Environmental 
Protection Agency amends part 52, chapter I, title 40 of the Code of 
Federal Regulations 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. Amend Sec.  52.222 by adding paragraph (a)(1)(x) and revising 
paragraphs (a)(5)(ii) and (iii) to read as follows.


Sec.  52.222   Negative declarations.

* * * * *
    (a) * * *
    (1) * * *
    (x) The following negative declaration for the 2008 ozone standard 
and 2015 ozone standard was adopted by the District on October 28, 
2019, and submitted to EPA on December 20, 2019: EPA Control Techniques 
Guidelines for the Oil and Natural Gas Industry (453/B-16-001).
* * * * *
    (5) * * *
    (ii) The following negative declarations for the 2008 ozone NAAQS 
were adopted by the San Diego County Air Pollution Control District.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                               Adopted: 12/14/    Adopted: 10/14/    Adopted: 10/14/    Adopted: 10/14/
                                                                              2016 Submitted: 4/  2020 Submitted:    2020 Submitted:    2020 Submitted:
              CTG document No.                             Title                 12/2017 SIP       12/29/2020 SIP     12/29/2020 SIP     12/29/2020 SIP
                                                                               approved: 12/03/   approved: 6/29/    approved: 1/17/    approved: 11/4/
                                                                                     2020               2022               2023               2024
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(A) EPA-450/2-77-008........................  Control of Volatile Organic                    X
                                               Emissions from Existing
                                               Stationary Sources--Volume
                                               II: Surface Coating of Cans,
                                               Coils, Paper, Fabrics,
                                               Automobiles, and Light-Duty
                                               Trucks (Automobiles, and
                                               light-duty truck coatings
                                               only).
(B) EPA-450/2-77-025........................  Control of Refinery Vacuum                     X
                                               Producing Systems, Wastewater
                                               Separators, and Process Unit
                                               Turnarounds.
(C) EPA-450/2-77-032........................  Control of Volatile Organic                    X
                                               Emissions from Existing
                                               Stationary Sources--Volume
                                               III: Surface Coating of Metal
                                               Furniture.
(D) EPA-450/2-77-033........................  Control of Volatile Organic                    X
                                               Emissions from Existing
                                               Stationary Sources--Volume
                                               IV: Surface Coating of
                                               Insulation of Magnet Wire.
(E) EPA-450/2-77-034........................  Control of Volatile Organic                    X
                                               Emissions from Existing
                                               Stationary Sources--Volume V:
                                               Surface Coating of Large
                                               Appliances.
(F) EPA-450/2-78-029........................  Control of Volatile Organic     .................                 X
                                               Emissions from Manufacture of
                                               Synthesized Pharmaceutical
                                               Products.

[[Page 87508]]

 
(G) EPA-450/2-78-030........................  Control of Volatile Organic                    X
                                               Emissions from Manufacture of
                                               Pneumatic Rubber Tires.
(H) EPA-450/2-78-032........................  Control of Volatile Organic                    X
                                               Emissions from Existing
                                               Stationary Sources--Volume
                                               VII: Factory Surface Coating
                                               of Flat Wood Paneling.
(I) EPA-450/2-78-036........................  Control of Volatile Organic                    X
                                               Compound Leaks from Petroleum
                                               Refinery Equipment.
(J) EPA-450/3-82-009........................  Control of Volatile Organic                    X
                                               Compound Emissions from Large
                                               Petroleum Dry Cleaners.
(K) EPA-450/3-83-006........................  Control of Volatile Organic                    X
                                               Compound Leaks from Synthetic
                                               Organic Chemical Polymer and
                                               Resin Manufacturing Equipment.
(L) EPA-450/3-83-007........................  Control of Volatile Organic                    X
                                               Compound Equipment Leaks from
                                               Natural Gas/Gasoline
                                               Processing Plants.
(M) EPA-450/3-83-008........................  Control of Volatile Organic                    X
                                               Compound Emissions from
                                               Manufacture of High-Density
                                               Polyethylene, Polypropylene,
                                               and Polystyrene Resins.
(N) EPA-450/3-84-015........................  Control of Volatile Organic                    X
                                               Compound Emissions from Air
                                               Oxidation Processes in
                                               Synthetic Organic Chemical
                                               Manufacturing Industry.
(O) EPA-450/4-91-031........................  Control of Volatile Organic                    X
                                               Compound Emissions from
                                               Reactor Processes and
                                               Distillation Operations in
                                               Synthetic Organic Chemical
                                               Manufacturing Industry.
(P) EPA-453/R-97-004........................  Control of Volatile Organic                    X
                                               Compound Emissions from
                                               Coating Operations at
                                               Aerospace Manufacturing and
                                               Rework Operations.
                                              Aerospace MACT, see the
                                               Federal Register of 6/6/94.
(Q) EPA-453/R-06-004........................  Control Techniques Guidelines                  X
                                               for Flat Wood Paneling
                                               Coatings.
(R) EPA 453/R-07-004........................  Control Techniques Guidelines                  X
                                               for Large Appliance Coatings.
(S) EPA 453/R-07--005.......................  Control Techniques Guidelines                  X
                                               for Metal Furniture Coatings.
(T) EPA-453/R-08-003........................  Control Techniques Guidelines   .................                 X
                                               for Miscellaneous Metal and
                                               Plastic Parts Coatings Tables
                                               3-6.
(U) EPA-453/R-08-004........................  Control Techniques Guidelines   .................                 X
                                               for Fiberglass Boat
                                               Manufacturing Materials.
(V) EPA-453/R-08-006........................  Control Techniques Guidelines                  X
                                               for Automobile and Light-Duty
                                               Truck Assembly Coatings.
(W) --N/A--.................................  Major non-CTG VOC sources.....  .................  .................                 X
(X) EPA-453/B-16-001).......................  Control Techniques Guidelines   .................  .................  .................                 X
                                               for the Oil and Natural Gas
                                               Industry.
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    (iii) The following negative declarations for the 2015 ozone NAAQS 
were adopted by the San Diego County Air Pollution Control District.

[[Page 87509]]



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                                                                             Adopted: 10/14/    Adopted: 10/14/
                                                                             2020 Submitted:    2020 Submitted:
              CTG document No.                           Title                12/29/2020 SIP     12/29/2020 SIP
                                                                             approved: 6/29/    approved: 11/4/
                                                                                   2022               2024
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(A) EPA-450/2-78-029.......................  Control of Volatile Organic                   X
                                              Emissions from Manufacture
                                              of Synthesized
                                              Pharmaceutical Products.
(B) EPA-453/R-08-003.......................  Control Techniques Guidelines                 X
                                              for Miscellaneous Metal and
                                              Plastic Parts Coatings
                                              Tables 3-6.
(C) EPA-453/R-08-004.......................  Control Techniques Guidelines                 X
                                              for Fiberglass Boat
                                              Manufacturing Materials.
(D) EPA-453/B-16-001)......................  Control Techniques Guidelines  .................                 X
                                              for the Oil and Natural Gas
                                              Industry.
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* * * * *
[FR Doc. 2024-25560 Filed 11-1-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P


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