Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 113 / Monday, June 13, 2022 / Proposed Rules 35709 

as meeting federal requirements and 

does not impose additional 

requirements beyond those imposed by 

state law. 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 Clean Air Act; 

and 

• Does not provide the EPA with the 

discretionary authority to address 

disproportionate human health or 

environmental effects with practical, 

appropriate, 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 the EPA or 

an Indian tribe has demonstrated that a 

tribe has jurisdiction. The Las Vegas 

Tribe of Paiute Indians of the Las Vegas 

Indian Colony have areas of Indian 

country located within the Las Vegas 

Valley nonattainment area for the 2015 

ozone NAAQS. In those areas of Indian 

country, the proposed 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, 

Ozone, Reporting and recordkeeping 

requirements, Volatile organic 

compounds. 

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

Dated: June 6, 2022. 

Martha Guzman Aceves, 

Regional Administrator, Region IX. 

[FR Doc. 2022–12609 Filed 6–10–22; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

40 CFR Part 52 

[EPA–R07–OAR–2022–0482; FRL–9906–01– 

R7] 

Air Plan Approval; Missouri; General 

Conformity Rescission 

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA). 

ACTION: Proposed rule. 

SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA) is proposing to approve a 

revision to the Missouri State 

Implementation Plan (SIP) relating to 

General Conformity received on April 

15, 2022. In its submission, Missouri 

requests EPA approval of rescission of 

the Missouri General Conformity Rule 

from the Missouri SIP. General 

Conformity ensures actions taken by 

federal agencies, such as airport 

construction, do not interfere with a 

state’s plans to attain and maintain 

national standards for air quality. After 

rescission of the state’s General 

Conformity Rule, federal agency actions 

will be subject to the Federal General 

Conformity Rule. 

DATES: Comments must be received on 

or before July 13, 2022. 

ADDRESSES: You may send comments, 

identified by Docket ID No. EPA–R07– 

OAR–2022–0482 to https://

www.regulations.gov. Follow the online 

instructions for submitting comments. 

Instructions: All submissions received 

must include the Docket ID No. for this 

rulemaking. Comments received will be 

posted without change to https://

www.regulations.gov/, including any 

personal information provided. For 

detailed instructions on sending 

comments and additional information 

on the rulemaking process, see the 

‘‘Written Comments’’ heading of the 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of 

this document. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jed 

D. Wolkins, Environmental Protection 

Agency, Region 7 Office, Air Quality 

Planning Branch, 11201 Renner 

Boulevard, Lenexa, Kansas 66219; 

telephone number: (913) 551–7588; 

email address: wolkins.jed@epa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

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

and ‘‘our’’ refer to the EPA. 

Table of Contents 

I. Written Comments 

II. What is being addressed in this document? 

III. What is General Conformity? 

IV. Have the requirements for approval of a 

SIP revision been met? 

V. What action is the EPA taking? 

VI. Environmental Justice Concerns 

VII. Incorporation by Reference 

VIII. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews 

I. Written Comments 

Submit your comments, identified by 

Docket ID No. EPA–R07–OAR–2022– 

0482, at https://www.regulations.gov. 

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, 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. 

II. What is being addressed in this 

document? 

The EPA is proposing to approve the 

rescission of Missouri’s General 

Conformity Rule, 10 CSR 10–6.300 from 

Missouri’s SIP. General Conformity 

ensures actions taken by federal 

agencies, such as airport construction, 

do not interfere with a state’s plans to 

attain and maintain national standards 

for air quality. After rescission of the 

state’s General Conformity Rule, federal 

agency actions will be subject to the 

Federal General Conformity Rule. 

III. What is General Conformity? 

The purpose of the General 

Conformity rule is to ensure that federal 

activities do not cause or contribute to 


khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with PROPOSALS
35710 Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 113 / Monday, June 13, 2022 / Proposed Rules 

new violations of National Ambient Air 

Quality Standards (NAAQS), federal 

actions do not worsen existing 

violations of the NAAQS, and 

attainment of the NAAQS is not 

delayed. General Conformity covers 

most aspects of federally funded or 

approved actions not covered by the 

Transportation Conformity program. In 

November 1993, the EPA promulgated 

two sets of regulations to implement 

section 176(c) of the Clean Air Act 

(CAA). First, on November 24, 1993, the 

EPA promulgated the Transportation 

Conformity regulations, which apply to 

highways and mass transit. These 

regulations establish the criteria and 

procedures for determining whether 

transportation plans, programs, and 

projects funded under title 23 U.S.C. or 

the Federal Transit Act conform with 

the State Implementation Plan (SIP) (58 

FR 62188). Then, on November 30, 

1993, the EPA promulgated a second set 

of regulations, known as the General 

Conformity regulations, which apply to 

all other federal actions. These 

regulations ensured that other federal 

actions also conformed to the SIPs (58 

FR 63214). 

General Conformity is based on 

evaluating the annual net increase in 

emissions caused by the proposed 

federal activity. The regulations require 

a federal agency proposing certain 

general federal activities to ensure that 

any increase in emissions of harmful air 

pollutants conform to the purpose of the 

applicable implementation plan. This 

includes projecting estimates of the 

direct and indirect emissions that are 

likely to occur. 

General Conformity covers a wide 

variety of federal activities. A federal 

activity is generally an action that 

requires either federal funding and/or 

federal approval. Even if a project is not 

federally-funded, there may be federal 

approvals such as permits that are 

needed. 

The General Conformity Regulations 

do not apply to every area. Rather, the 

requirements only apply in 

nonattainment areas and attainment 

areas with maintenance plans, 

maintenance areas. A nonattainment 

area is an area designated by the EPA as 

not meeting a NAAQS. A maintenance 

area is an area that was once designated 

as nonattainment but has been 

redesignated by the EPA to attainment 

based on meeting the NAAQS and 

having an approved plan to maintain 

the NAAQS. The EPA, in partnership 

with the states or tribes, is responsible 

for the designation of areas as 

nonattainment and redesignating them 

once they achieve the NAAQS. 

For more information on General 

Conformity, please visit www.epa.gov/ 

general-conformity. 

IV. Have the requirements for approval 

of a SIP revision been met? 

Missouri’s General Conformity Rule, 

10 CSR 10–6.300, titled ‘‘Conformity of 

General Federal Actions to State 

Implementation Plans’’, was 

incorporated into the SIP consistent 

with section 176(c) of the CAA, as 

amended (42 U.S.C. 7506(c)), and 

regulations located in 40 CFR part 93, 

subpart B, that directed states to include 

in their SIPs provisions requiring 

General Conformity of federal actions to 

the applicable implementation plan. In 

2005, Congress passed the ‘‘Safe, 

Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity 

Act: A Legacy for Users’’ (SAFETEA– 

LU). Section 6011 of SAFETEA–LU 

amended section 176(c) of the CAA to 

remove the requirement for states to 

adopt a General Conformity rule into the 

SIP. In turn, EPA amended the federal 

General Conformity rule at 40 CFR part 

51, subpart W, to make state adoption of 

a General Conformity rule into the SIP 

optional rather than mandatory (75 FR 

17258). 10 CSR 10–6.300 duplicates 

federal regulations. After rescission of 

the state’s General Conformity Rule, 

federal agency actions will be subject to 

the Federal General Conformity Rule. 

CAA section 110(l), 42 U.S.C. 7410(l), 

states that the Administrator cannot 

approve a SIP revision if the revision 

would interfere with any applicable 

requirement concerning attainment and 

reasonable further progress or any other 

applicable requirement. The federal 

General Conformity rule contains the 

same requirements as the state’s General 

Conformity rule. Therefore, the same 

requirements will apply after the state’s 

rule is rescinded and there will be no 

associated emissions increase or adverse 

impact to air quality. Therefore, the EPA 

is proposing that this change will not 

interfere with: any area’s ability to 

maintain any NAAQS, making 

reasonable progress towards natural 

visibility in Missouri’s Class I areas nor 

any Class I area in another state 

Missouri impacts, or any other 

applicable requirement. 

The State submission has met the 

public notice requirements for SIP 

submissions in accordance with 40 CFR 

51.102. The submission also satisfied 

the completeness criteria of 40 CFR part 

51, appendix V. The State provided 

public notice on this SIP revision from 

August 16, 2021 to October 7, 2021 and 

received no comment. In addition, as 

explained above, the revision meets the 

substantive SIP requirements of the 

CAA, including section 110 and 

implementing regulations. 

V. What action is the EPA taking? 

The EPA is proposing to approve a 

SIP revision submitted by the State of 

Missouri on April 15, 2021, rescinding 

the State General Conformity Rule, 10 

CSR 10–6.300. EPA is proposing to 

determine that this revision would not 

interfere with attainment or 

maintenance of any NAAQS or with any 

other CAA requirement because the 

same requirements exist in federal law. 

We are processing this as a proposed 

action because we are soliciting 

comments on this proposed action. 

Final rulemaking will occur after 

consideration of any comments. 

VI. Environmental Justice Concerns 

This action proposes to approve the 

rescission of the state’s General 

Conformity rule. The state’s rule 

duplicates the federal General 

Conformity rule. Once approved all 

federal actions that would have been 

subject to the state rule will be subject 

to the same requirements in the federal 

rule. For this reason, this proposed 

action will not result in 

disproportionately high and adverse 

human health or environmental effects 

on minority populations, low-income 

populations and/or indigenous peoples. 

VII. Incorporation by Reference 

In this document, the EPA is 

proposing to amend regulatory text that 

includes incorporation by reference. As 

described in Section II of this preamble 

and set forth below in the proposed 

amendments to 40 CFR part 52, the EPA 

is proposing to remove 10 CSR 10–6.300 

of the EPA-Approved Missouri 

Regulations from the Missouri State 

Implementation Plan, which is 

incorporated by reference in accordance 

with the requirements of 1 CFR part 51. 

VIII. Statutory and Executive Order 

Reviews 

Under the CAA, 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 CAA. Accordingly, this action 

merely approves state law as meeting 

Federal requirements and does not 

impose additional requirements beyond 

those imposed by state law. For that 

reason, this action: 

• Is not a significant regulatory action 

subject to review by the Office of 

Management and Budget under 


khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with PROPOSALS
Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 113 / Monday, June 13, 2022 / Proposed Rules 35711 

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 the 

National Technology Transfer and 

Advancement Act (NTTA) because this 

rulemaking does not involve technical 

standards; 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). 

• 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, Carbon monoxide, 

Incorporation by reference, 

Intergovernmental relations, Lead, 

Nitrogen dioxide, Ozone, Particulate 

matter, Reporting and recordkeeping 

requirements, Sulfur oxides, Volatile 

organic compounds. 

Dated: June 7, 2022. 

Meghan A. McCollister, 

Regional Administrator, Region 7. 

For the reasons stated in the 

preamble, the EPA proposes to amend 

40 CFR part 52 as set forth below: 

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 AA—Missouri 

§ 52.1320 [Amended] 

■ 2. In § 52.1320, the table in paragraph 

(c) is amended by removing the entry 

‘‘10–6.300’’ under the heading ‘‘Chapter 

6—Air Quality Standards, Definitions, 

Sampling and Reference Methods, and 

Air Pollution Control Regulations for 

the State of Missouri’’. 

■ 3. In § 52.1323, paragraphs (h) and (j) 

are revised to read as follows: 

§ 52.1323 Approval status. 

* * * * * 

(h) Missouri rule 10 CSR 10–6.300 

was rescinded on [date 30 days after 

date of publication of final rule in the 

Federal Register]. 

* * * * * 

(j) Missouri rule 10 CSR 10–6.300 was 

rescinded on [date 30 days after date of 

publication of final rule in the Federal 

Register]. 

* * * * * 

[FR Doc. 2022–12610 Filed 6–10–22; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

40 CFR Part 80 

[EPA–HQ–OAR–2022–0434; FRL–9821–01– 

OAR] 

RIN 2060–AV72 

Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) 

Program: Alternative RIN Retirement 

Schedule for Small Refineries 

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA). 

ACTION: Proposed rule. 

SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA) is proposing an 

alternative renewable identification 

number (RIN) retirement schedule for 

small refineries under the Renewable 

Fuel Standard (RFS) program for the 

2020 compliance year. To provide small 

refineries with more time to comply 

with their 2020 RFS obligations 

(including any RIN deficits from 2019 

carried forward into the 2020 

compliance year), EPA is proposing a 

quarterly RIN retirement schedule by 

which a small refinery must comply 

with certain percentages of its 2020 RFS 

obligations. EPA is proposing this action 

because small refineries need more time 

to plan for compliance with their RFS 

obligations given EPA’s delay in 

deciding small refinery exemption (SRE) 

petitions and setting the associated 

compliance deadlines. 

DATES:

Comments. Comments must be 

received on or before July 28, 2022. 

Public hearing. EPA will hold a 

virtual public hearing on June 28, 2022. 

Please refer to the SUPPLEMENTARY

INFORMATION section for additional 

information on the public hearing. 

ADDRESSES:

Comments. You may send your 

comments, identified by Docket ID No. 

EPA–HQ–OAR–2022–0434, by any of 

the following methods: 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: 

https://www.regulations.gov (our 

preferred method) Follow the online 

instructions for submitting comments. 

• Email: a-and-r-Docket@epa.gov. 

Include Docket ID No. EPA–HQ–OAR– 

2022–0434 in the subject line of the 

message. 

• Mail: U.S. Environmental 

Protection Agency, EPA Docket Center, 

Air Docket, Mail Code 28221T, 1200 

Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, 

DC 20460. 

• Hand Delivery or Courier (by 

scheduled appointment only): EPA 

Docket Center, WJC West Building, 

Room 3334, 1301 Constitution Avenue 

NW, Washington, DC 20004. The Docket 

Center’s hours of operations are 8:30 

a.m.–4:30 p.m., Monday–Friday (except 

Federal Holidays). 

Instructions: All submissions received 

must include the Docket ID No. for this 

rulemaking. Comments received may be 

posted without change to https://

www.regulations.gov, including any 

personal information provided. For the 

full EPA public comment policy, 

information about confidential business 

information (CBI) or multimedia 

submissions, and general guidance on 

making effective comments, please visit 

https://www.epa.gov/dockets/ 

commenting-epa-dockets. 

Public hearing. The virtual public 

hearing will be held on June 28, 2022. 

The hearing will begin at 9:00 a.m. 

Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) and end 

when all parties who wish to speak have 

had an opportunity to do so. All hearing 

attendees (including even those who do 

not intend to provide testimony) should 

register for the public hearing by June 

21, 2022. Information on how to register 

can be found at https://www.epa.gov/ 

renewable-fuel-standard-program/ 

proposed-alternative-rin-retirementschedule-small-refineries. Additional 

information regarding the hearing 


khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with PROPOSALS