Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 241 / Monday, December 16, 2024 / Rules and Regulations 101475 

Dated: December 9, 2024. 

M.I. Kuperman, 

Captain, U.S. Coast Guard, Captain of the 

Port Eastern Great Lakes. 

[FR Doc. 2024–29510 Filed 12–13–24; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 9110–04–P 

DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND 

SECURITY 

Coast Guard 

33 CFR Part 165 

[Docket No. USCG–2024–1072] 

Safety Zone; Military Ocean Terminal 

Concord Safety Zone, Suisun Bay, 

Concord, CA 

AGENCY: Coast Guard, DHS. 

ACTION: Notification of enforcement of 

regulation. 

SUMMARY: The Coast Guard will enforce 

a safety zone in the navigable waters of 

the Suisun Bay, off Concord, CA, in 

support of explosive handling 

operations at Military Ocean Terminal 

Concord (MOTCO) on December 12, 

2024, through December 19, 2024. This 

safety zone is necessary to protect 

personnel, vessels, and the marine 

environment from potential explosions 

within the explosive arc. The safety 

zone is open to all persons and vessels 

for transitory use, but vessel operators 

desiring to anchor within the safety 

zone must obtain the permission of the 

Captain of the Port (COTP) San 

Francisco or a designated 

representative. 

DATES: The regulations in 33 CFR 

165.1198 will be enforced without 

actual notice from 12:01 a.m. on 

December 13, 2024, until 11:59 p.m. on 

December 19, 2024. For purposes of 

enforcement, we will use actual notice 

to enforce the regulations in 33 CFR 

165.1198 on December 12, 2024. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: If 

you have questions about this 

notification of enforcement, call or 

email Lieutenant William Harris, U.S. 

Coast Guard Sector San Francisco, 

Waterways Management Division, at 

(415) 399–7443, SFWaterways@

uscg.mil. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Coast 

Guard will enforce the safety zone in 33 

CFR 165.1198 for the Military Ocean 

Terminal Concord, CA (MOTCO) 

regulated area from 12:01 a.m. on 

December 12, 2024, until 11:59 p.m. on 

December 19, 2024. This safety zone is 

necessary to protect personnel, vessels, 

and the marine environment from 

potential explosion within the explosive 

arc. The regulation for this safety zone, 

§ 165.1198, specifies the locations of the 

safety zone which encompasses the 

navigable waters in the area between 

500 yards of MOTCO Pier 2 in position 

38°03′30′′ N, 122°01′14′′ W and 3,000 

yards of the pier. During the 

enforcement period, as reflected in 

§ 165.1198(d), if you are the operator of 

a vessel in the regulated area you must 

comply with the instructions of the 

COTP or the designated on-scene patrol 

personnel. Vessel operators desiring to 

anchor or otherwise loiter within the 

safety zone must contact Sector San 

Francisco Vessel Traffic Service at (415) 

399–7410, or VHF Channel 14 to obtain 

permission. 

In addition to this notification of 

enforcement in the Federal Register, the 

Coast Guard plans to provide 

notification of this enforcement period 

via Broadcast Notice to Mariners. 

Dated: December 10, 2024. 

Jordan M. Baldueza, 

Captain, U.S. Coast Guard, Captain of the 

Port San Francisco. 

[FR Doc. 2024–29520 Filed 12–13–24; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 9110–04–P 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

40 CFR Part 52 

[EPA–R06–OAR–2024–0380; FRL–12206– 

02–R6] 

Finding of Failure To Attain by the 

Attainment Date for the 2010 1-Hour 

Primary Sulfur Dioxide National 

Ambient Air Quality Standard; 

Louisiana; Evangeline Parish 

Nonattainment Area 

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA). 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA) is making a determination 

that the Evangeline Parish, Louisiana, 

sulfur dioxide (SO2) nonattainment area 

(NAA) failed to attain the 2010 1-hour 

primary SO2 national ambient air 

quality standard (2010 SO2 NAAQS) 

under the Clean Air Act (CAA or the 

Act) by the applicable statutory 

attainment date of April 9, 2023. This 

determination is based upon 

consideration and review of all relevant 

and available information for the NAA, 

including reported emissions records 

and available modeling data for the 

area’s primary SO2 source, Cabot 

Corporation’s Ville Platte Plant (Cabot). 

DATES: This rule is effective on January 

15, 2025. 

ADDRESSES: EPA established a docket 

for this action under Docket ID No. 

EPA–R06–OAR–2024–0380. 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 or other information whose 

disclosure is restricted by statute. 

Certain other material, such as 

copyrighted material, is not placed on 

the internet. Publicly available docket 

materials are available electronically 

through https://www.regulations.gov. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Ronald Thomas, SO2 and Regional Haze 

Section (R6–ARSH), Air & Radiation 

Division, U.S. Environmental Protection 

Agency, Region 6, 1201 Elm Street, 

Suite 500, Dallas, Texas 75270. His 

direct telephone number is (214) 665– 

7478. Mr. Thomas can also be reached 

via electronic mail at Thomas.Ronald@

epa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

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

and ‘‘our’’ means the EPA. 

I. Background 

The background for this action is 

discussed in detail in our September 4, 

2024, proposal (89 FR 71872). In that 

document, we proposed to determine 

that the Evangeline Parish SO2

nonattainment area failed to attain the 

2010 SO2 NAAQS by the applicable 

statutory attainment date of April 9, 

2023. In summary, our proposed 

determination was based upon 

evaluation of SO2 emissions data and 

prior modeling for the NAA. 

Specifically, this proposed 

determination was supported by data 

showing that emissions have increased 

when comparing the 2020–2022 period 

to the modeled emissions at 

designation. Based on this increase in 

emissions, there is nothing to suggest 

that the area is no longer in violation of 

the NAAQS as demonstrated by the 

2017 modeling analysis for the initial 

designation of the area. 

The public comment period for our 

proposed determination expired on 

October 4, 2024. The EPA received no 

comments on our September 4, 2024, 

proposal. Therefore, we are finalizing 

our action as proposed. 

II. Final Action 

The EPA is finalizing the September 

4, 2024, proposed finding, and per CAA 

section 179(c)(1)–(2), the EPA 

determines that the Evangeline Parish 

SO2 NAA has not attained the 2010 onehour SO2 NAAQS of 75 ppb by the 

applicable statutory attainment date of 

April 9, 2023. 


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101476 Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 241 / Monday, December 16, 2024 / Rules and Regulations 

1See https://www.federalregister.gov/d/2010- 

13947. 

Publication of this final rule has the 

following consequences for the State of 

Louisiana: (1) under CAA section 

179(d), the State has up to 12 months 

from the publication of this notice to 

submit a revised SIP for the area 

demonstrating attainment and 

containing any additional measures that 

the EPA may reasonably prescribe that 

can be feasibly implemented in the area 

in light of technological achievability, 

costs, and any non-air quality and other 

air quality-related health and 

environmental impacts as required; (2) 

according to CAA section 179(d)(3), 

such a revised SIP is to achieve 

attainment of the 2010 SO2 NAAQS as 

expeditiously as practicable, but no later 

than 5 years from the date of notice of 

the area’s failure to attain (i.e., 5 years 

after the EPA publishes a final action in 

the Federal Register determining that 

the area failed to attain the 2010 SO2

NAAQS); and (3) in addition to 

triggering requirements for a new SIP 

submittal, this final determination 

triggers the implementation of 

contingency measures in this NAA 

adopted under 172(c)(9). 

III. Environmental Justice 

Considerations 

Information on Executive Order 12898 

(Federal Actions To Address 

Environmental Justice in Minority 

Populations and Low-Income 

Populations, 59 FR 7629, February 16, 

1994) and how EPA defines 

environmental justice (EJ) can be found 

in the section titled ‘‘IV. Statutory and 

Executive Order Reviews.’’ EPA 

provided analysis of environmental 

justice associated with this action solely 

for informational purposes, and the 

results of this analysis were addressed 

in Section IV of our proposal. 

This final rule formalizes EPA’s 

determination that the Evangeline 

Parish SO2 NAA has failed to attain the 

2010 SO2 NAAQS of 75 ppb by the 

applicable attainment date of April 9, 

2023, in accordance with EPA’s 

obligation to make a determination on 

attainment by the attainment date in 

section 179(c)(1)–(2) of the CAA. This 

action provides notice to the public that 

the area has failed to attain the NAAQS 

and informs the State of Louisiana of 

CAA requirements that the State needs 

to meet. 

Information on SO2 and its 

relationship to negative health impacts 

can be found at final Federal Register 

notice titled ‘‘Primary National Ambient 

Air Quality Standard for Sulfur 

Dioxide’’ (75 FR 35520, June 22, 2010).1

We expect that this action will not have 

a detrimental impact on the population, 

including communities with EJ 

concerns, in and near the Evangeline 

Parish NAA. 

IV. Statutory and Executive Order 

Reviews 

This action finds that an area has 

failed to attain the NAAQS by the 

relevant attainment date and does not 

impose additional or modify existing 

requirements. 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 14094 (88 FR 

21879, April 11, 2023); 

• 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); and 

• 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; 

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 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 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.’’ 

Section IV of the proposal for this 

action presented our EJ analysis, but we 

did not consider EJ as a basis for this 

action. Due to the nature of the action 

being taken here, this action is not 

expected to have a detrimental impact 

on the populations, including 

communities with EJ concerns, in the 

Evangeline Parish NAA. Consideration 

of EJ is not required as part of this 

action, which finds that the NAA failed 

to attain the 2010 SO2 NAAQS by the 

applicable attainment date, and there is 

no information in the record 

inconsistent with the stated goal of E.O. 

12898 of achieving environmental 

justice for communities with EJ 

concerns. 

In addition, this final rulemaking, the 

finding of failure to attain by the 

attainment date for the Evangeline 

Parish SO2 NAA, does not have tribal 

implications as specified by Executive 

Order 13175 (65 FR 67249, November 9, 

2000), because this action is not 

intended to apply in Indian country 

located in the State, and the EPA notes 

that it will not impose substantial direct 

costs on tribal governments or preempt 

tribal law. 

This action is exempt from the 

Congressional Review Act because it is 

a rule of particular applicability. The 

rule makes factual determinations for an 

identified entity (the Evangeline Parish 

area of Louisiana), based on facts and 

circumstances specific to that entity. 

The determination of failure to attain 

the 2010 SO2 NAAQS does not in itself 

create any new requirements beyond 

what is mandated by the CAA. 

Under section 307(b)(1) of the CAA, 

petitions for judicial review of this 

action must be filed in the United States 

Court of Appeals for the appropriate 

circuit by February 14, 2025. 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).) 


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Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 241 / Monday, December 16, 2024 / Rules and Regulations 101477 

1 86 FR 26401 (May 14, 2021) (effective June 14, 

2021). 

2The full text of the comments is available in the 

docket for this action. 

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 52 

Environmental protection, Air 

pollution control, Incorporation by 

reference, Intergovernmental relations, 

Pollution, Reporting and recordkeeping 

requirements, Sulfur oxides. 

Dated: December 9, 2024. 

Earthea Nance, 

Regional Administrator, Region 6. 

For the reasons stated in the 

preamble, the EPA amends chapter I, 

title 40 of the Code of Federal 

Regulations as follows: 

PART 52—APPROVAL AND 

PROMULGATION OF 

IMPLEMENTATION PLANS 

■ 1. The authority citation for part 52 

continues to read as follows: 

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

Subpart T—Louisiana 

■ 2. Amend § 52.978 by adding 

paragraph (b) to read as follows: 

§ 52.978 Control strategy and regulations: 

Sulfur Dioxide. 

* * * * * 

(b) Determination of failure to attain. 

Effective January 15, 2025, the EPA has 

determined that the Evangeline Parish 

nonattainment area failed to attain the 

2010 1-hour primary sulfur dioxide 

(SO2) national ambient air quality 

standard (NAAQS) by the applicable 

statutory attainment date of April 9, 

2023. This determination triggers the 

requirements of CAA section 179(d) for 

the State of Louisiana to submit a 

revision to the Louisiana SIP for the 

Evangeline Parish nonattainment area to 

the EPA December 16, 2024. The SIP 

revision must, among other elements, 

provide for attainment of the 1-hour 

primary SO2 NAAQS in the Evangeline 

Parish SO2 nonattainment area as 

expeditiously as practicable but no later 

than December 16, 2029. 

[FR Doc. 2024–29438 Filed 12–13–24; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

40 CFR Part 52 

[EPA–R06–OAR–2020–0434; FRL–12215– 

02–R6] 

Determination of Attainment by the 

Attainment Date for the 2010 1-Hour 

Primary Sulfur Dioxide National 

Ambient Air Quality Standard; Texas; 

Freestone-Anderson and Titus 

Counties 

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA). 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: Pursuant to the Federal Clean 

Air Act (CAA or the Act), the 

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) 

is finalizing our determination that the 

sulfur dioxide (SO2) nonattainment area 

(NAA) in Freestone and Anderson 

Counties and the SO2 NAA in Titus 

County have each attained the 2010 1- 

hour primary SO2 national ambient air 

quality standard (NAAQS) by the 

applicable attainment date of January 

12, 2022. This determination is based on 

primary source shutdowns, available 

ambient air quality monitoring data 

from the 2019–2021 monitoring period, 

relevant modeling analysis, and 

additional emissions inventory 

information. This final action will 

address the EPA’s obligation under CAA 

section 179(c) to determine whether the 

Freestone-Anderson and Titus SO2

NAAs attained the 2010 1-hour primary 

SO2 NAAQS by the statutory attainment 

date of January 12, 2022, for each area. 

DATES: This rule is effective on January 

15, 2025. 

ADDRESSES: The EPA has established a 

docket for this action under Docket ID 

No. EPA–R06–OAR–2020–0434. 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 or other information whose 

disclosure is restricted by statute. 

Certain other material, such as 

copyrighted material, is not placed on 

the internet. Publicly available docket 

materials are available electronically 

through https://www.regulations.gov. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

James E. Grady, EPA Region 6 Office, 

Regional Haze and SO2 Section, (214) 

665–6745; grady.james@epa.gov. Please 

call or email Mr. Grady above or call Mr. 

Bill Deese at 214–665–7253 if you need 

alternative access to material indexed 

but not provided in the docket. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

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

and ‘‘our’’ mean ‘‘the EPA.’’ 

I. Background 

The background for this action is 

discussed in detail in our September 3, 

2024, proposed action (89 FR 71230). In 

that document, we proposed to 

determine that the Freestone-Anderson 

and Titus NAAs attained the 2010 1- 

hour primary SO2 NAAQS by the 

statutory attainment date of January 12, 

2022. This satisfies the obligation under 

CAA section 179(c) which required EPA 

to issue a determination within 6 

months of the attainment date (i.e., by 

July 12, 2022). Our proposed 

determination was based on EPA’s 

previous clean data determination 

(CDD) published on May 14, 2021; 1 the 

permanent and enforceable shutdowns 

of the primary sources of SO2 emissions 

in these areas; the available modeling 

analysis demonstrating that the Big 

Brown Steam Electric Station in 

Freestone County and the Monticello 

Steam Electric Station in Titus County 

were responsible for almost 100 percent 

of the SO2 impacts on the maximum 

modeled concentrations in each 

respective area; review of emissions 

data showing emissions within the 

Freestone-Anderson and Titus NAA’s 

have been reduced by nearly 100 

percent with the retirements of Big 

Brown and Monticello Steam Electric 

Stations in 2018 and that no other 

sources remain that are contributing to 

a violation of the SO2 NAAQS in those 

NAAs; and the Freestone County and 

Welsh monitors’ reported 2019–2021 

design values of 5 ppb (7 percent of the 

standard) and 19 ppb (25 percent of the 

standard) providing additional evidence 

that these areas are in attainment. 

II. Response to Comments 

The public comment period for our 

proposed determination of attainment 

by the attainment date expired on 

October 3, 2024. We received two 

comments total; 2 one from the Texas 

Commission on Environmental Quality 

(TCEQ) supporting our proposed action; 

and one that was outside the scope of 

this action and not related to the SO2

NAAs or our proposed determination. 

TCEQ’s comment included a request 

that EPA act on the Redesignation 

Request and Maintenance Plan SIP 

revision submitted on March 3, 2022, 

and we plan to act on that SIP submittal 

in a separate action in the future. Since 


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