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[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 12 (Tuesday, January 21, 2025)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 6809-6811]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2025-01215]

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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[EPA-R09-OAR-2024-0627; FRL-12536-02-R9]

Interim Final Determination To Defer Sanctions, San Joaquin 
Valley Unified Air Pollution Control District

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Interim final determination.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is making an interim 
final determination that the California Air Resources Board (CARB) has 
submitted a Clean Air Act (CAA or ``Act'') state implementation plan 
(SIP) revision on behalf of the San Joaquin Valley Unified Air 
Pollution Control District (SJVUAPCD or ``District'') that corrects 
deficiencies concerning the District's new source review (NSR) 
stationary source permitting program. This determination is based on a 
proposed approval, published elsewhere in this issue of the Federal 
Register, of SJVUAPCD Rules 1020, 2020, and 2201. The effect of this 
interim final determination is to defer sanctions that were triggered 
by the EPA's limited disapproval of SJVUAPCD Rule 2201 in 2023.

DATES: This interim final determination is effective January 21, 2025. 
However, comments will be accepted on or before February 20, 2025.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-R09-
OAR-2024-0620 at https://www.regulations.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. 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 https://www.epa.gov/dockets/commenting-epa-dockets. 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: Doris Lo, EPA Region IX, 75 Hawthorne 
St., San Francisco, CA 94105; phone: (415) 972-3959; email: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Throughout this document, ``we,'' ``us,'' 
and ``our'' refer to the EPA.

Table of Contents

I. Background
II. EPA Action
III. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

I. Background

    On July 10, 2023, we published a limited approval and limited 
disapproval of SJVUAPCD Rule 2201 as adopted locally on August 15, 
2019.\1\ We based our limited disapproval action on deficiencies 
identified in the submitted rule. This limited approval and limited 
disapproval action started a sanctions clock for imposition of offset 
sanctions 18 months after August 9,

[[Page 6810]]

2023, and highway sanctions six months later, pursuant to section 179 
of the Clean Air Act (CAA) and our regulations at 40 CFR 52.31. Under 
40 CFR 52.31(d)(1), offset sanctions apply 18 months after the 
effective date of a disapproval and highway sanctions apply six months 
after the offset sanctions, unless we determine that the deficiencies 
forming the basis of the disapproval have been corrected.
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    \1\ 87 FR 45730 (July 29, 2022).
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    On April 20, 2023, SJVUAPCD amended Rules 1020 and 2201 to address 
the deficiencies that were the basis for our limited disapproval of 
Rule 2201, as identified in our July 29, 2022, proposal. The State 
submitted these amended rules to the EPA on October 13, 2023, along 
with other revisions to Rule 2020 adopted on December 18, 2014. In the 
Proposed Rules section of this Federal Register, we are proposing a 
limited approval of these rules because we believe they correct the 
deficiencies identified in our July 10, 2023 disapproval action and 
meet other applicable CAA requirements. This approval is limited 
because the EPA is simultaneously proposing a limited disapproval of 
the rules based on other revisions that do not meet applicable CAA 
requirements. Based on this proposed action, we are taking this final 
rulemaking action, effective on publication, to defer the imposition of 
the offset and highway sanctions that were triggered by our July 10, 
2023 limited disapproval.
    The EPA is providing the public with an opportunity to comment on 
this deferral of sanctions. If comments are submitted that change our 
assessment described in this final determination and our proposed 
limited approval of SJVUAPCD Rules 1020, 2020, and 2201, we intend to 
take subsequent final action to reimpose sanctions pursuant to 40 CFR 
52.31(d). If no comments are submitted that change our assessment, then 
all sanctions and sanction clocks associated with our July 10, 2023 
final action will be permanently terminated on the effective date of a 
final rule approval.

II. EPA Action

    We are making an interim final determination to defer the 
imposition of the offset and highway sanctions associated with our 
limited disapproval of SJVUAPCD Rule 2201 (as adopted in 2023) based on 
our concurrent proposal finding that the State's SIP revision corrects 
the deficiencies that initiated the sanctions.
    Because the EPA has preliminarily determined that the State has 
corrected the deficiencies identified in the EPA's July 10, 2023 
limited disapproval action, relief from sanctions should be provided as 
quickly as possible. Therefore, the EPA is invoking the good cause 
exception under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) in not providing 
an opportunity for comment before this action takes effect.\2\ However, 
by this action, the EPA is providing the public with an opportunity to 
comment on the EPA's determination after the effective date, and the 
EPA will consider any comments received in determining whether to 
reverse such action.
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    \2\ 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(B).
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    The EPA believes that notice-and-comment rulemaking before the 
effective date of this action is impracticable and contrary to the 
public interest. The EPA has reviewed the State's submittal and, 
through its proposed action, is indicating that it is more likely than 
not that the State has corrected the deficiencies that were the basis 
for the limited disapproval that started the sanctions clocks. 
Therefore, it is not in the public interest to apply sanctions. The EPA 
believes that it is necessary to use the interim final rulemaking 
process to defer sanctions while the EPA completes its rulemaking 
process on the approvability of the State's submittal. Moreover, with 
respect to the effective date of this action, the EPA is invoking the 
good cause exception to the 30-day notice requirement of the APA 
because the purpose of this notice is to relieve a restriction.\3\
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    \3\ 5 U.S.C. 553(d)(1).
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III. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

    This action defers Federal sanctions and imposes no additional 
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 subject to Executive Order 13045 (62 FR 19885, 
April 23, 1997) because it proposes to approve a state program;
     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.
    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. 
Executive Order 14096 (Revitalizing Our Nation's Commitment to 
Environmental Justice for All, 88 FR 25251, April 26, 2023) builds on 
and supplements Executive Order 12898 and defines EJ as, among other 
things, ``the just treatment and meaningful involvement of all people, 
regardless of income, race, color, national origin, Tribal affiliation, 
or disability, in agency decision-making and other Federal activities 
that affect human health and the environment.''
    The State 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. Consideration of EJ is 
not required as part of this action, and there is no information in the 
record inconsistent with the stated goal of Executive Orders 12898 and 
14096 of achieving EJ for communities with EJ concerns.
    This action is subject to the Congressional Review Act, and the EPA 
will submit a rule report to each House of the Congress and to the 
Comptroller

[[Page 6811]]

General of the United States. This action is not a ``major rule'' as 
defined by 5 U.S.C. 804(2). The CRA allows the issuing agency to make a 
rule effective sooner than otherwise provided by the CRA if the agency 
makes a good cause finding that notice and comment rulemaking 
procedures are impracticable, unnecessary, or contrary to the public 
interest (5 U.S.C. 808(2)). The EPA has made a good cause finding for 
this action as discussed in Section II of this preamble, including the 
basis for that finding.
    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 March 24, 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 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 CAA section 
307(b)(2)).

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 52

    Environmental protection, Air pollution control, Incorporation by 
reference, Intergovernmental relations, Ammonia, Nitrogen oxides, 
Ozone, Particulate matter, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, 
Sulfur oxides, Volatile organic compounds.

    Dated: January 13, 2025.
Martha Guzman Aceves,
Regional Administrator, Region IX.
[FR Doc. 2025-01215 Filed 1-17-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P
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