35254 Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 125 / Friday, July 2, 2021 / Proposed Rules 

1On February 25, 2019 (effective April 17, 2019), 

EPA issued a decision to retain the existing NAAQS 

for SO2. See 84 FR 9866 (March 18, 2019). 

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 Orders 12866 (58 FR 51735, 

October 4, 1993) and 13563 (76 FR 3821, 

January 21, 2011); 

• 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 CAA; 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, the SIP is not approved 

to apply on any Indian reservation land 

or in any other area where 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, 

Nitrogen dioxide, Ozone, Reporting and 

recordkeeping requirements, Volatile 

organic compounds. 

Dated: June 28, 2021. 

Cheryl Newton, 

Acting Regional Administrator, Region 5. 

[FR Doc. 2021–14152 Filed 7–1–21; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

40 CFR Part 81 

[EPA–R04–OAR–2021–0322; FRL–10025– 

78–Region 4] 

Air Quality Designations; NC: 

Redesignation of the Brunswick 

County 2010 Sulfur Dioxide 

Unclassifiable Area 

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA). 

ACTION: Proposed rule. 

SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA) is proposing to approve a 

submission by the State of North 

Carolina, through the Department of Air 

Quality (DAQ), on April 23, 2021, to 

redesignate the Brunswick County, 

North Carolina, unclassifiable area 

(hereinafter referred to as the 

‘‘Brunswick County Area’’ or ‘‘Area’’) to 

attainment/unclassifiable for the 2010 

1-hour primary sulfur dioxide (SO2) 

national ambient air quality standard 

(hereinafter referred to as the ‘‘2010 SO2

1-hour NAAQS’’). Because EPA now has 

sufficient information to determine that 

the Brunswick County Area is attaining 

the 2010 1-hour SO2 national ambient 

air quality standards (NAAQS), the 

Agency is proposing to approve the 

State’s redesignation request, thereby 

redesignating the Area from 

unclassifiable to attainment/ 

unclassifiable for the 2010 1-hour SO2

NAAQS. 

DATES: Comments must be received on 

or before August 2, 2021. 

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, 

identified by Docket ID No. EPA–R04– 

OAR–2021–0322 at http://

www.regulations.gov. Follow the online 

instructions for submitting comments. 

Once submitted, comments cannot be 

edited or removed from Regulations.gov. 

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. 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, 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: 

Evan Adams, Air Regulatory 

Management Section, Air Planning and 

Implementation Branch, Air and 

Radiation Division, U.S. Environmental 

Protection Agency, Region 4, 61 Forsyth 

Street SW, Atlanta, Georgia 30303–8960. 

Mr. Adams can be reached by telephone 

at (404) 562–9009 or via electronic mail 

at adams.evan@epa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background 

The Clean Air Act (CAA or Act) 

establishes a process for air quality 

management through the establishment 

and implementation of the NAAQS. On 

June 2, 2010, EPA revised the primary 

SO2 NAAQS, establishing a new 1-hour 

SO2 standard of 75 parts per billion 

(ppb). See 75 FR 35520 (June 22, 2010).1

After the promulgation of a new or 

revised NAAQS, EPA is required to 

designate all areas of the country 

pursuant to section 107(d)(1)–(2) of the 

CAA. For the 2010 1-hour SO2 NAAQS, 

designations were based on EPA’s 

application of the nationwide analytical 

approach to, and technical assessment 

of, the weight of evidence for each area, 

including but not limited to available air 

quality monitoring data and air quality 

modeling results. In advance of 

designating the Brunswick County Area, 

EPA issued updated designations 

guidance through a March 20, 2015, 

memorandum from Stephen D. Page, 

Director, U.S. EPA, Office of Air Quality 

Planning and Standards, to Regional Air 

Division Directors, U.S. EPA Regions 

1–10, titled ‘‘Updated Guidance for Area 

Designations for the 2010 Primary 

Sulfur Dioxide National Ambient Air 

Quality Standard.’’ This document 

contains the factors that EPA evaluated 

in determining the appropriate 

designations and associated boundaries 

when designating the Brunswick County 

Area, including: (1) Air quality 

characterization via ambient monitoring 

or dispersion modeling results; (2) 

emissions-related data; (3) meteorology; 

(4) geography and topography; and (5) 


lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with PROPOSALS1
Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 125 / Friday, July 2, 2021 / Proposed Rules 35255 

2The 2015 memorandum is available at https:// 

www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2016-04/ 

documents/20150320so2designations.pdf. 

3This designation guidance has since been 

supplemented by a July 22, 2016, designation 

guidance memorandum from Stephen D. Page, 

Director, U.S. EPA, Office of Air Quality Planning 

and Standards, to Regional Air Division Directors, 

U.S. EPA Regions 1–10. The 2016 memorandum is 

available at https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/ 

files/2016-07/documents/areadesign.pdf. 

4The version of the EPA’s ‘‘SO2 NAAQS 

Designations Source-Oriented Monitoring Technical 

Assistance Document’’ (Monitoring TAD) available 

at the time of the Round 2 designations action was 

released in December 2013. The current version of 

the Monitoring TAD was released in February 2016 

and superseded the version released in December 

2013. 

5 ‘‘Sulfur Dioxide (SO2) National Ambient Air 

Quality Standards Designations Modeling Technical 

Assistance Document,’’ August 2016 draft, available 

at https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2016- 

06/documents/so2modelingtad.pdf. EPA released 

earlier drafts of this document in May 2013 and 

February 2016. 

6See Sierra Club et. al. v. McCarthy, Civil Action 

No. 3:13–cv–3953–SI (N.D. Cal.) and 79 FR 31325 

(June 2, 2014). 

7CPI Southport was also subject to EPA’s 2015 

Data Requirements Rule (DRR) for the 2010 SO2

1-hour NAAQS. See https://www.epa.gov/sites/ 

production/files/2016-06/documents/nc.pdf for 

North Carolina’s letter and DRR source list, dated 

January 15, 2016. EPA separately promulgated the 

DRR which required states to undertake air quality 

characterization for areas with SO2 sources meeting 

certain criteria. Specifically, the DRR required state 

air agencies to provide additional monitoring or 

modeling information to characterize air quality in 

areas associated with sources meeting certain 

criteria or that have otherwise been listed under the 

DRR by EPA or state air agencies, or to instead 

impose federally enforceable emission limitations 

on those sources restricting their annual SO2

emissions to less than 2,000 tons per year, or 

provide documentation that the sources have been 

shut down, by specified dates. The information 

generated by implementation of the DRR informed 

EPA’s designations. 

8See 81 FR 45039 (July 12, 2016, effective 

September 12, 2016) codified at 40 CFR 81.334. 

9EPA’s SO2 designations website can be found at 

https://www.epa.gov/sulfur-dioxide-designations/ 

epa-completes-second-round-sulfur-dioxidedesignations. 

10While CAA section 107(d)(3)(E) also lists 

specific requirements for redesignations, those 

requirements only apply to redesignations of 

nonattainment areas to attainment and, therefore, 

are not applicable in the context of a redesignation 

of an area from unclassifiable to attainment/ 

unclassifiable. 

11Historically, EPA has designated most areas 

that do not meet the definition of nonattainment as 

‘‘unclassifiable/attainment.’’ EPA has reversed the 

order of the label to be ‘‘attainment/unclassifiable’’ 

to better convey the definition of the designation 

category and so that the category is more easily 

distinguished from the separate unclassifiable 

Continued 

jurisdictional boundaries.2 3 The 

guidance also referenced EPA’s nonbinding Monitoring Technical 

Assistance Document (Monitoring 

TAD) 4 and Modeling Technical 

Assistance Document (Modeling TAD),5

which contain scientifically sound 

recommendations on how air agencies 

should conduct such monitoring or 

modeling. 

EPA completed the first set of initial 

area designations for the 2010 

1-hour SO2 NAAQS in 2013 (Round 1). 

Pursuant to a March 2, 2015, consent 

decree and court-ordered schedule,6

EPA finalized a second set of initial area 

designations for the 2010 1-hour SO2

NAAQS in 2016 (Round 2). The March 

2, 2015, consent decree identified the 

following emissions criteria such that 

EPA must designate, in Round 2, an area 

surrounding any stationary source 

which had: (a) Annual emissions in 

2012 exceeding 16,000 tons of SO2, or 

(b) both an annual average emissions 

rate of at least 0.45 pounds of SO2 per 

one million British thermal units, 

according to EPA’s Clean Air Markets 

Division Database, and annual 

emissions of at least 2,600 tons of SO2

in 2012. North Carolina had one source, 

the Capital Power Incorporated (CPI) 

Southport Cape Fear facility in 

Brunswick County, that met these 

Round 2 criteria. 

EPA evaluated the Brunswick County 

Area, using the five factors identified 

previously, during the Round 2 

designations. This evaluation is 

discussed further in Section III of this 

notice. The CPI Southport facility, 

located on the coast of southeastern 

North Carolina in the southeastern 

portion of Brunswick County, was an 

electric power generation plant with 

two electric generating units (EGUs) that 

were permitted to combust a variety of 

solid fuels, including coal, woody 

biomass fuels, and tire derived fuel. CPI 

was included in the list of facilities to 

be designated pursuant to the March 2, 

2015, Consent Decree.7

EPA’s March 20, 2015, guidance 

specified the designation category 

definitions to be used in the Round 2 

designations. Specifically, EPA defined 

a ‘‘nonattainment’’ area as an area that 

EPA has determined violates the 2010 

1-hour SO2 NAAQS based on the most 

recent three years of quality-assured, 

certified ambient air quality monitoring 

data or an appropriate modeling 

analysis, or that EPA has determined 

contributes to a violation in a nearby 

area; and defined an ‘‘attainment’’ area 

as an area that EPA has determined 

meets the 2010 1-hour SO2 NAAQS and 

does not contribute to a violation of the 

NAAQS in a nearby area based on 

either: (a) The most recent three years of 

ambient air quality monitoring data 

from a monitoring network in an area 

that is sufficient to be compared to the 

NAAQS per EPA interpretations in the 

Monitoring TAD, or (b) an appropriate 

modeling analysis. 

As discussed further in Section III of 

this notice, EPA was unable to 

determine whether the Brunswick 

County Area met the definition of a 

nonattainment area or the definition of 

an attainment area based on the 

available information at the time of the 

Round 2 designations. As a result, EPA 

designated the Brunswick County Area 

as unclassifiable in the Round 2 

designations published on July 12, 

2016.8 The Area includes all six 

townships (Lockwood Folly Township, 

Northwest Township, Shallotte 

Township, Smithville Township, Town 

Creek Township, Waccamaw Township) 

within the jurisdictional boundary of 

Brunswick County. Detailed rationale, 

analyses, and other information 

supporting EPA’s original Round 2 

designation for this Area can be found 

in the Round 2 designation’s technical 

support document (TSD) for North 

Carolina. All supporting materials for 

the original 2010 1-hour SO2 NAAQS 

designation for the Brunswick County 

Area, including the TSD, can be found 

on EPA’s SO2 designations website.9

After reviewing North Carolina’s 

redesignation request under CAA 

section 107(d)(3)(D) and all available 

information, EPA is proposing to 

redesignate the Brunswick County Area 

from unclassifiable to attainment/ 

unclassifiable for the 2010 1-hour SO2

standard based on a valid ambient SO2

design value that adequately 

characterizes the SO2 air quality in the 

Brunswick County Area. See Sections II 

and III below for more information on 

the criteria to redesignate unclassifiable 

SO2 areas and the rationale for this 

proposed action. 

II. What are the criteria for 

redesignating an area from 

unclassifiable to attainment/ 

unclassifiable? 

Section 107(d)(3)(A) of the CAA 

provides that the Administrator may 

notify the Governor of any state that the 

designation of an area should be revised 

‘‘on the basis of air quality data, 

planning and control considerations, or 

any other air quality-related 

considerations the Administrator deems 

appropriate.’’ 10 The Act further 

provides in section 107(d)(3)(D) that 

even if the Administrator has not 

notified a state Governor that a 

designation should be revised, the 

Governor of any state may, on the 

Governor’s own motion, submit a 

request to revise the designation of any 

area, and the Administrator must 

approve or deny the request. In keeping 

with CAA section 107(d)(3)(A), areas 

that are redesignated to attainment/ 

unclassifiable 11 must meet the 


lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with PROPOSALS1
35256 Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 125 / Friday, July 2, 2021 / Proposed Rules 

category. See 83 FR 1098 (January 9, 2018) and 83 

FR 25776 (June 4, 2018). EPA reserves the 

‘‘attainment’’ category for when EPA redesignates a 

nonattainment area that has attained the relevant 

NAAQS and has an approved maintenance plan. 

12This redesignation request is included in the 

docket for this proposed action. 

13The final Round 2 designations TSD can be 

found at https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/ 

files/2016-07/documents/r4_nc_final_designation_

tsd_06302016.pdf. 

14 Data Requirements Rule for the 2010 1-Hour 

Sulfur Dioxide (SO2) Primary National Ambient Air 

Quality Standard (NAAQS), Final Rule, 80 FR 

51052, August 21, 2015 (https://www.govinfo.gov/ 

content/pkg/FR-2015-08-21/pdf/2015-20367.pdf). In 

accordance with the DRR, 40 CFR part 51, subpart 

BB, through a letter dated June 30, 2016, North 

Carolina notified EPA that the State chose to 

characterize peak 1-hour SO2 concentrations for CPI 

through air quality monitoring. See https://

www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2016-07/ 

documents/north_carolina_source_

characterization.pdf. 

15The monitor is located at the site of maximum 

concentration based on modeling following the 

procedures in EPA SO2 Monitoring TADs. More 

details on the analyses used to support the monitor 

placement are contained in the state’s 2016 annual 

monitoring annual network plan located in the 

docket for this proposed action. 

16North Carolina early certified the Southport 

monitor 2018–2020 air quality data in AQS on 

January 13, 2021. See Table 2 in North Carolina’s 

April 23, 2021, redesignation request. 

17The DAQ’s April 1, 2021 letter rescinding Air 

Quality Permit No. 05884T21 and the January 20, 

2021, certified letter from Mr. Frank Hayward, 

General Manager, CPI USA North Carolina, 

LLC—Southport Plant to Mr. Brad Newland, P.E., 

Regional Air Quality Supervisor, Wilmington 

Regional Office, NC Division of Air Quality, 

requesting permit recission are located in the 

docket for this proposed action. 

requirements for attainment areas and, 

thus, must meet the relevant NAAQS. In 

addition, the area must not contribute to 

ambient air quality in a nearby area that 

does not meet the NAAQS. See the 

definitions for nonattainment area, 

attainment area, and unclassifiable area 

in CAA section 107(d)(1)(A)(i)–(iii). 

In its designations under the 2010 1- 

hour SO2 NAAQS, EPA has generally 

defined an attainment/unclassifiable 

area as an area that, based on available 

information including (but not limited 

to) appropriate monitoring data and/or 

modeling analyses, EPA has determined 

meets the NAAQS and determined that 

the available information indicates that 

the area does not likely contribute to 

ambient air quality in a nearby area that 

does not meet the NAAQS. EPA is 

proposing to find that the Brunswick 

County Area now meets the definition 

of attainment/unclassifiable based upon 

a 3-year certified and complete design 

value of air quality monitoring data that 

demonstrates attainment, i.e., no 

violations of the 2010 1-hour SO2

NAAQS, and the fact that sources in 

Brunswick County are not contributing 

to a nearby area that is violating the 

NAAQS. EPA preliminarily finds this 

information sufficient for the purposes 

of redesignating an area from 

unclassifiable to attainment/ 

unclassifiable. Such redesignations are 

functionally similar to initial 

designations and are not subject to CAA 

section 107(d)(3)(E), which, amongst 

other things, requires attainment to be 

due to permanent and enforceable 

measures and which requires a 

demonstration that the area will 

maintain the NAAQS for 10 years. For 

the Brunswick County Area, DEQ 

submitted a request to redesignate the 

area from unclassifiable to attainment/ 

unclassifiable on April 23, 2021.12

III. What is EPA’s rationale for 

proposing to redesignate the area? 

The Brunswick County Area includes 

the CPI Southport facility, which met 

the Round 2 criteria as discussed in 

Section I of this document, and thus, 

EPA was required to designate the Area 

in 2016, under the March 2, 2015, courtordered schedule. After review of all 

available information at that time, 

including modeling provided by the 

State, EPA was unable to determine the 

Area’s attainment status, and therefore, 

designated Brunswick County in its 

entirety as unclassifiable in Round 2 of 

designations for the 2010 1-hour SO2

primary NAAQS on July 12, 2016. EPA’s 

rationale for the unclassifiable 

designation is fully explained in the 

final Round 2 designations TSD.13 For 

Brunswick County, DAQ selected the 

monitoring pathway for purposes of air 

quality characterization pursuant to 

EPA’s SO2 Data Requirements Rule 

(DRR) (80 FR 51052, August 21, 2015).14

Pursuant to requirements under the DRR 

to characterize the air quality in the area 

around CPI Southport, North Carolina 

installed an SO2 monitor in the area of 

maximum concentration for the CPI 

Southport facility (in accordance with 

EPA’s Monitoring TAD and 40 CFR 

parts 50 and 58) and began collecting 

data on January 1, 2017.15

On April 23, 2021, North Carolina 

submitted a letter to EPA requesting that 

the entirety of Brunswick County be 

redesignated to attainment/ 

unclassifiable based on the newly 

available monitoring information, which 

demonstrates attainment of the 2010 1- 

hour SO2 NAAQS. To evaluate North 

Carolina’s redesignation request, EPA 

considered the design value for the air 

quality monitor in Brunswick County by 

assessing the most recent three 

consecutive years (i.e., 2018–2020) of 

quality-assured, certified ambient air 

quality data in the EPA Air Quality 

System (AQS) using data from a monitor 

that was sited and operated in 

accordance with 40 CFR parts 50 and 

58. Procedures for using monitored air 

quality data to determine whether a 

violation has occurred are provided in 

40 CFR part 50 Appendix T, as revised 

in the 2010 1-hour SO2 NAAQS 

rulemaking. As noted previously, the 

2010 1-hour SO2 NAAQS is met when 

the design value is 75 ppb or less. Table 

1, below, contains the most recent three 

years of ambient SO2 monitoring data 

available and shows that the Area is 

attaining the 2010 1-hour SO2 NAAQS 

with a design value of 54 ppb for the 

period 2018–2020.16

TABLE 1—2010 SO2 NAAQS MONITORING DATA FOR THE BRUNSWICK COUNTY AREA

AQS ID Monitor site 

2018 99th 

percentile 

(ppb) 

2019 99th 

percentile 

(ppb) 

2020 99th 

percentile 

(ppb) 

2018–2020 

design value 

(ppb) 

370190005 .............................................. Southport ................................................ 55 * 60 46 54 

* Brunswick County SO2 monitoring measurements for the third quarter (July, August, and September) of 2018 did not meet the data completeness requirement of 75% data capture. However, a valid design value for 2018 to 2020 was obtained using the data substitution procedures 

in 40 CFR part 50, Appendix T, Section 3(c)(ii)(B). 

Additionally, on March 31, 2020, the 

CPI Southport facility ceased operation, 

and the DAQ rescinded the facility’s 

operating permit effective April 1, 

2021.17 After reviewing North Carolina’s 

request under CAA section 107(d)(3)(D) 

and all available information, EPA is 

proposing to find that the three years of 

monitored ambient SO2 data from 2018– 

2020 adequately characterize the SO2 air 

quality in Brunswick County and 

demonstrate attainment of the 2010 

1-hour SO2 NAAQS in the Area. 

Additionally, there is no evidence of 

monitored or modeled violations in the 


lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with PROPOSALS1
Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 125 / Friday, July 2, 2021 / Proposed Rules 35257 

1Paragraph (b)(2) relates to contracts using funds 

appropriated or otherwise made available by the 

American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 

(Pub. L. 111–5). 

surrounding counties such that the 

source is contributing to any nearby area 

that does not meet the NAAQS. EPA is 

therefore proposing to approve North 

Carolina’s redesignation request and 

redesignate the Brunswick County Area 

from unclassifiable to attainment/ 

unclassifiable based on the currently 

available information that demonstrates 

attainment of the 2010 1-hour SO2

NAAQS. 

IV. Proposed Action 

EPA is proposing to approve North 

Carolina’s April 23, 2021, request to 

redesignate the Brunswick County Area 

from unclassifiable to attainment/ 

unclassifiable for the 2010 1-hour SO2

NAAQS. As discussed in prior sections, 

this proposed action is based on the 

currently available monitoring data for 

the Brunswick County Area that 

demonstrate attainment of the 2010 1- 

hour SO2 primary NAAQS. If finalized, 

approval of the redesignation request 

would change the legal designation for 

this Area, found at 40 CFR part 81, from 

unclassifiable to attainment/ 

unclassifiable for the 2010 1-hour SO2

primary NAAQS. 

V. Statutory and Executive Order 

Reviews 

Under the CAA, redesignation of an 

area to attainment/unclassifiable is an 

action that affects the status of a 

geographical area and does not impose 

any additional regulatory requirements 

on sources beyond those imposed by 

state law. A redesignation to attainment/ 

unclassifiable does not create any new 

requirements. Accordingly, this 

proposed action merely proposes to 

redesignate an area to attainment/ 

unclassifiable and does not impose 

additional requirements. 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); 

• 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 CAA; and 

• Will not have disproportionate 

human health or environmental effects 

under Executive Order 12898 (59 FR 

7629, February 16, 1994). 

This proposed action does not apply 

on any Indian reservation land or in any 

other area where EPA or an Indian tribe 

has demonstrated that a tribe has 

jurisdiction. In those areas of Indian 

country, this proposed action does not 

have tribal implications as specified by 

Executive Order 13175 (65 FR 67249, 

November 9, 2000), nor will it impose 

substantial direct costs on tribal 

governments or preempt tribal law. 

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 81 

Environmental protection, Air 

pollution control. 

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

Dated: June 28, 2021. 

John Blevins, 

Acting Regional Administrator, Region 4. 

[FR Doc. 2021–14179 Filed 7–1–21; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P 

DEPARTMENT OF STATE 

48 CFR Parts 615 and 652 

[Public Notice: 10574] 

RIN 1400–AE60 

Department of State Acquisition 

Regulation; Access to Contractor 

Records 

AGENCY: Department of State. 

ACTION: Proposed rule. 

SUMMARY: The Department of State 

(DOS) is proposing an amendment to 

the Department of State Acquisition 

Regulation (DOSAR), to add a new 

contract clause relating to Department 

requests for examination of contractor 

records. 

DATES: The Department of State will 

accept comments on this proposed rule 

until August 31, 2021. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments 

by any of the following methods: 

• E-mail: Grayad@state.gov. You 

must include the RIN in the subject line 

of your message. 

• Mail (paper or CD–ROM 

submissions): Ms. Annette Gray, Policy 

Division, Office of the Procurement 

Executive, A/OPE, 2201 C Street NW, 

Suite 3200, State Annex Number 15, 

Washington, DC 20520. 

• Persons with access to the internet 

may view this interim rule and submit 

comments by visiting: http://

www.regulations.gov, and searching for 

docket number DOS–2021–0007. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. 

Tandra Jones, Office of the Procurement 

Executive, A/OPE, 1735 North Lynn 

Street, Room 442, Arlington, VA 22209. 

Telephone 703–875–6643. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

Department proposes to add 48 CFR part 

615, section 615.209–70, Examination 

of Records, and 48 CFR part 652, section 

652.209–70, Examination of Records, to 

the Department of State Acquisition 

Regulation (DOSAR). 

What is the authority for this proposed 

rule? 

Title 41 of the U.S. Code, section 

4706, provides that the head of an 

executive agency, acting through an 

authorized representative, may, for the 

purpose of evaluating the accuracy, 

completeness, and currency of certified 

cost or pricing data required to be 

submitted pursuant to 41 U.S.C. chapter 

35 with respect to a contract or 

subcontract, examine all records of the 

contractor or subcontractor related to: 

(A) The proposal for the contract or 

subcontract; 

(B) the discussions conducted on the 

proposal; 

(C) pricing of the contract or 

subcontract; or 

(D) performance of the contract or 

subcontract. 

The Federal Acquisition Regulation 

(FAR), 48 CFR 15.209(b), Solicitation 

provisions and contract clauses, states 

(in summary) that, when contracting by 

negotiation, except as provided in 

section 15.209(b)(2),1 the contracting 

officer shall insert the clause at section 

52.215–2, Audit and RecordsNegotiation, in solicitations and 

contracts except those for: (1) 

Acquisitions not exceeding the 

simplified acquisition threshold; (2) The 

acquisition of utility services at rates not 

exceeding those established to apply 

uniformly to the general public, plus 

any applicable reasonable connection 


lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with PROPOSALS1