47930 Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 197 / Friday, October 13, 2017 / Rules and Regulations 

1 70 FR 25172 (May 12, 2005). 

2See 76 FR 48208 (August 8, 2011). 

3Order of December 30, 2011, in EME Homer City 

Generation, L.P. v. EPA, D.C. Cir. No. 11–1302. 

4EME Homer City Generation, L.P. v. EPA, 696 

F.3d 7 (D.C. Cir. 2012), cert. granted 133 U.S. 2857 

(2013). 

5EPA v. EME Homer City Generation, L.P., 134 S. 

Ct. 1584, 1600–01 (2014). 

6See 40 CFR 51.123(ff) (sunsetting CAIR 

requirements related to NOX); 40 CFR 51.124(s) 

(sunsetting CAIR requirements related to SO2). 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

40 CFR Part 52 

[EPA–R04–OAR–2017–0452; FRL–9969– 

30—Region 4] 

Air Plan Approval; Georgia; CrossState Air Pollution Rule 

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA). 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA) is approving portions of 

a revision to the Georgia State 

Implementation Plan (SIP) concerning 

the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule 

(CSAPR) and the Clean Air Interstate 

Rule (CAIR) that was submitted by 

Georgia on July 26, 2017. Under CSAPR, 

large electricity generating units (EGUs) 

in Georgia are subject to Federal 

Implementation Plans (FIPs) requiring 

the units to participate in CSAPR’s 

federal trading program for annual 

emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOX), one 

of CSAPR’s two federal trading 

programs for annual emissions of sulfur 

dioxide (SO2), and one of CSAPR’s two 

federal trading programs for ozone 

season emissions of NOX. This action 

approves the State’s regulations 

requiring large Georgia EGUs to 

participate in new CSAPR state trading 

programs for annual NOX, annual SO2, 

and ozone season NOX emissions 

integrated with the CSAPR federal 

trading programs, replacing the 

corresponding FIP requirements. Under 

the CSAPR regulations, approval of 

these portions of the SIP revision 

automatically eliminates Georgia’s 

units’ obligations under the 

corresponding CSAPR FIPs addressing 

interstate transport requirements for the 

1997 Annual Fine Particulate Matter 

(PM2.5) National Ambient Air Quality 

Standards (NAAQS), the 2006 24-hour 

PM2.5 NAAQS, and the 1997 8-hour 

Ozone NAAQS. Approval of these 

portions of the SIP revision satisfies 

Georgia’s good neighbor obligation for 

the 1997 Annual PM2.5 NAAQS, the 

2006 24-hour PM2.5 NAAQS, and the 

1997 8-hour Ozone NAAQS. In 

addition, approval of this revision 

removes from Georgia’s SIP those state 

trading program rules adopted to 

comply with CAIR. 

DATES: This rule is effective November 

13, 2017. 

ADDRESSES: EPA has established a 

docket for this action under Docket 

Identification No. EPA–R04–OAR– 

2017–0452. All documents in the docket 

are listed on the www.regulations.gov 

Web site. Although listed in the index, 

some information may not be publicly 

available, i.e., 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 and will be publicly 

available only in hard copy form. 

Publicly available docket materials are 

available either electronically through 

www.regulations.gov or in hard copy at 

the Air Regulatory Management Section, 

Air Planning and Implementation 

Branch, Air, Pesticides and Toxics 

Management Division, U.S. 

Environmental Protection Agency, 

Region 4, 61 Forsyth Street SW., 

Atlanta, Georgia 30303–8960. EPA 

requests that if at all possible, you 

contact the person listed in the FOR

FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section to 

schedule your inspection. The Regional 

Office’s official hours of business are 

Monday through Friday 8:30 a.m. to 

4:30 p.m., excluding federal holidays. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Ashten Bailey, Air Regulatory 

Management Section, Air, Pesticides 

and Toxics Management Division, U.S. 

Environmental Protection Agency, 

Region 4, 61 Forsyth Street SW., 

Atlanta, Georgia 30303–8960. Ms. Bailey 

can be reached by telephone at (404) 

562–9164 or via electronic mail at 

bailey.ashten@epa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background on CAIR 

To help reduce interstate transport of 

ozone and PM2.5 pollution in the eastern 

half of the United States, EPA finalized 

CAIR in May 2005.1 CAIR addressed 

both the 1997 Ozone and PM2.5 NAAQS 

and required 28 states, including 

Georgia, and the District of Columbia to 

limit emissions of NOX and SO2. For 

CAIR, EPA developed three separate cap 

and trade programs that could be used 

to achieve the required reductions: The 

CAIR NOX ozone season trading 

program, the CAIR NOX annual trading 

program, and the CAIR SO2 trading 

program. Georgia was subject to CAIR 

requirements only with respect to 

annual NOX and SO2 emissions. 

On December 23, 2008, CAIR was 

remanded to EPA by the United States 

Court of Appeals for the District of 

Columbia Circuit (D.C. Circuit) in North 

Carolina v. EPA, 531 F.3d 896 (D.C. Cir. 

2008), modified on rehearing, 550 F.3d 

1176. This ruling allowed CAIR to 

remain in effect until a new interstate 

transport rule consistent with the 

Court’s opinion was developed. While 

EPA worked on developing a new rule 

to address the interstate transport of air 

pollution, the CAIR program continued 

as planned with the NOX annual and 

ozone season programs beginning in 

2009 and the SO2 annual program 

beginning in 2010. 

In response to the remand of CAIR, 

EPA promulgated CSAPR on July 6, 

2011.2 Along with provisions discussed 

more fully in the following section, the 

rule contained provisions that would 

sunset CAIR-related obligations on a 

schedule coordinated with the 

implementation of CSAPR compliance 

requirements. CSAPR was to become 

effective January 1, 2012; however, the 

timing of CSAPR’s implementation was 

impacted by a number of court actions. 

On December 30, 2011, the D.C. Circuit 

stayed CSAPR prior to its 

implementation, and EPA was ordered 

to continue administering CAIR on an 

interim basis.3 In a subsequent decision 

on the merits, the Court vacated CSAPR 

based on a subset of petitioners’ claims.4

However, on April 29, 2014, the U.S. 

Supreme Court reversed that decision 

and remanded the case to the D.C. 

Circuit for further proceedings.5

Throughout the initial round of D.C. 

Circuit proceedings and the ensuing 

Supreme Court proceedings, the stay on 

CSAPR remained in place, and EPA 

continued to implement CAIR. 

Following the April 2014 Supreme 

Court decision, EPA filed a motion 

asking the D.C. Circuit to lift the stay in 

order to allow CSAPR to replace CAIR 

in an equitable and orderly manner 

while further D.C. Circuit proceedings 

were held to resolve remaining claims 

from petitioners. Additionally, EPA’s 

motion requested to toll, by three years, 

all CSAPR compliance deadlines that 

had not passed as of the approval date 

of the stay. On October 23, 2014, the 

D.C. Circuit granted EPA’s request, and 

on December 3, 2014 (79 FR 71663), in 

an interim final rule, EPA set the 

updated effective date of CSAPR as 

January 1, 2015, and tolled the 

implementation of CSAPR Phase 1 to 

2015 and CSAPR Phase 2 to 2017. In 

accordance with the interim final rule, 

the sunset date for CAIR was December 

31, 2014, and EPA began implementing 

CSAPR on January 1, 2015.6


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Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 197 / Friday, October 13, 2017 / Rules and Regulations 47931 

7See 81 FR 74504 (October 26, 2016). The CSAPR 

Update was promulgated to address interstate 

pollution with respect to the 2008 8-hour Ozone 

NAAQS and to address a judicial remand of certain 

original CSAPR ozone season NOX budgets 

promulgated with respect to the 1997 8-hour Ozone 

NAAQS. See 81 FR at 74505. The CSAPR Update 

established new emission reduction requirements 

addressing the more recent NAAQS and 

coordinated them with the remaining emission 

reduction requirements addressing the older ozone 

NAAQS, so that starting in 2017, CSAPR includes 

two geographically separate trading programs for 

ozone season NOX emissions covering EGUs in a 

total of 23 states. See 40 CFR 52.38(b)(1)–(2). 

8States are required to submit good neighbor SIPs 

within three years (or less, if the Administrator so 

prescribes) after a NAAQS is promulgated. CAA 

section 110(a)(1) and (2). Where EPA finds that a 

state fails to submit a required SIP or disapproves 

a SIP, EPA is obligated to promulgate a FIP 

addressing the deficiency. CAA section 110(c). EPA 

found that Georgia failed to make timely 

submissions required to address the good neighbor 

provision with respect to the 1997 Annual PM2.5

and 8-hour Ozone NAAQS (70 FR 21147, April 25, 

2005), and the 2008 8-hour Ozone NAAQS (80 FR 

39961, June 13, 2015). In addition, EPA 

disapproved Georgia’s SIP revision submitted to 

address the good neighbor provision with respect to 

the 2006 24-hour PM2.5 NAAQS. 76 FR 43159 (July 

20, 2011). Accordingly, as a part of CSAPR and the 

CSAPR Update, EPA promulgated FIPs applicable 

to sources in Georgia addressing the good neighbor 

provision with respect to the 1997 annual PM2.5, 

1997 8-hour Ozone NAAQS, and the 2006 24-hour 

PM2.5 NAAQS. As discussed below, when EPA 

finalized the CSAPR Update, EPA determined that 

Georgia did not interfere with nonattainment or 

maintenance for the 2008 8-hour Ozone NAAQS. 

9See 40 CFR 52.38, 52.39. States also retain the 

ability to submit SIP revisions to meet their 

transport-related obligations using mechanisms 

other than the CSAPR federal trading programs or 

integrated state trading programs. 

10States covered by both the CSAPR Update and 

the NOX SIP Call have the additional option to 

expand applicability under the CSAPR NOX Ozone 

Season Group 2 Trading Program to include nonEGUs that would have participated in the former 

NOX Budget Trading Program. 

11CSAPR also provides for a third, more 

streamlined form of SIP revision that is effective 

only for control periods in 2016 and is not relevant 

here. See 40 CFR 52.38(a)(3), (b)(3), (b)(7); 52.39(d), 

(g). 

12 40 CFR 52.38(a)(4), (b)(4), (b)(8); 52.39(e), (h). 

13 40 CFR 52.38(a)(5), (b)(5), (b)(9); 52.39(f), (i). 

14 40 CFR 52.38(a)(6), (b)(10)(i); 52.39(j). 

II. Background on CSAPR and CSAPRRelated SIP Revisions 

As discussed previously, EPA issued 

CSAPR in July 2011 to address the 

requirements of Clean Air Act (CAA or 

Act) section 110(a)(2)(D)(i)(I) concerning 

interstate transport of air pollution. As 

amended (including by the 2016 CSAPR 

Update 7), CSAPR requires 27 Eastern 

states to limit their statewide emissions 

of SO2 and/or NOX in order to mitigate 

transported air pollution unlawfully 

impacting other states’ ability to attain 

or maintain four NAAQS: The 1997 

Annual PM2.5 NAAQS, the 2006 24-hour 

PM2.5 NAAQS, the 1997 8-hour Ozone 

NAAQS, and the 2008 8-hour Ozone 

NAAQS. The CSAPR emissions 

limitations are defined in terms of 

maximum statewide ‘‘budgets’’ for 

emissions of annual SO2, annual NOX, 

and/or ozone season NOX by each 

covered state’s large EGUs. The CSAPR 

state budgets are implemented in two 

phases of generally increasing 

stringency, with the Phase 1 budgets 

applying to emissions in 2015 and 2016 

and the Phase 2 (and CSAPR Update) 

budgets applying to emissions in 2017 

and later years. As a mechanism for 

achieving compliance with the 

emissions limitations, CSAPR 

establishes five federal emissions 

trading programs: a program for annual 

NOX emissions, two geographically 

separate programs for annual SO2

emissions, and two geographically 

separate programs for ozone-season NOX

emissions. CSAPR also establishes FIP 

requirements applicable to the large 

EGUs in each covered state.8 Currently, 

the CSAPR FIP provisions require each 

state’s units to participate in up to three 

of the five CSAPR trading programs. 

CSAPR includes provisions under 

which states may submit and EPA will 

approve SIP revisions to modify or 

replace the CSAPR FIP requirements 

while allowing states to continue to 

meet their transport-related obligations 

using either CSAPR’s federal emissions 

trading programs or state emissions 

trading programs integrated with the 

federal programs, provided that the SIP 

revisions meet all relevant criteria.9

Through such a SIP revision, a state may 

replace EPA’s default provisions for 

allocating emission allowances among 

the state’s units, employing any stateselected methodology to allocate or 

auction the allowances, subject to 

timing conditions and limits on overall 

allowance quantities. In the case of 

CSAPR’s federal trading programs for 

ozone season NOX emissions (or an 

integrated state trading program), a state 

may also expand trading program 

applicability to include certain smaller 

EGUs.10 If a state wants to replace 

CSAPR FIP requirements with SIP 

requirements under which the state’s 

units participate in a state trading 

program that is integrated with and 

identical to the federal trading program 

even as to the allocation and 

applicability provisions, the state may 

submit a SIP revision for that purpose 

as well. However, no emissions budget 

increases or other substantive changes 

to the trading program provisions are 

allowed. A state whose units are subject 

to multiple CSAPR FIPs and federal 

trading programs may submit SIP 

revisions to modify or replace either 

some or all of those FIP requirements. 

States can submit two basic forms of 

CSAPR-related SIP revisions effective 

for emissions control periods in 2017 or 

later years.11 Specific conditions for 

approval of each form of SIP revision 

are set forth in the CSAPR regulations. 

Under the first alternative—an 

‘‘abbreviated’’ SIP revision—a state may 

submit a SIP revision that upon 

approval replaces the default allowance 

allocation and/or applicability 

provisions of a CSAPR federal trading 

program for the state.12 Approval of an 

abbreviated SIP revision leaves the 

corresponding CSAPR FIP and all other 

provisions of the relevant federal 

trading program in place for the state’s 

units. 

Under the second alternative—a 

‘‘full’’ SIP revision—a state may submit 

a SIP revision that upon approval 

replaces a CSAPR federal trading 

program for the state with a state trading 

program integrated with the federal 

trading program, so long as the state 

trading program is substantively 

identical to the federal trading program 

or does not substantively differ from the 

federal trading program except as 

discussed above with regard to the 

allowance allocation and/or 

applicability provisions.13 For purposes 

of a full SIP revision, a state may either 

adopt state rules with complete trading 

program language, incorporate the 

federal trading program language into its 

state rules by reference (with 

appropriate conforming changes), or 

employ a combination of these 

approaches. 

The CSAPR regulations identify 

several important consequences and 

limitations associated with approval of 

a full SIP revision. First, upon EPA’s 

approval of a full SIP revision as 

correcting the deficiency in the state’s 

implementation plan that was the basis 

for a particular set of CSAPR FIP 

requirements, the obligation to 

participate in the corresponding CSAPR 

federal trading program is automatically 

eliminated for units subject to the state’s 

jurisdiction without the need for a 

separate EPA withdrawal action, so long 

as EPA’s approval of the SIP is full and 

unconditional.14 Second, approval of a 

full SIP revision does not terminate the 

obligation to participate in the 

corresponding CSAPR federal trading 

program for any units located in any 

Indian country within the borders of the 

state, and if and when a unit is located 

in Indian country within a state’s 

borders, EPA may modify the SIP 

approval to exclude from the SIP, and 

include in the surviving CSAPR FIP 

instead, certain trading program 

provisions that apply jointly to units in 

the state and to units in Indian country 


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47932 Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 197 / Friday, October 13, 2017 / Rules and Regulations 

15 40 CFR 52.38(a)(5)(iv)–(v), (a)(6), (b)(5)(v)–(vi), 

(b)(9)(vi)–(vii), (b)(10)(i); 52.39(f)(4)–(5), (i)(4)–(5), 

(j). 

16 40 CFR 52.38(a)(7), (b)(11)(i); 52.39(k). 

17EME Homer City Generation, L.P. v. EPA (EME 

Homer City II), 795 F.3d 118 (D.C. Cir. 2015). The 

D.C. Circuit also remanded SO2 budgets for 

Alabama, South Carolina, and Texas. The court also 

remanded Phase 2 ozone-season NOX budgets for 

eleven states, which did not include Georgia. 

18See memo entitled ‘‘The U.S. Environmental 

Protection Agency’s Plan for Responding to the 

Remand of the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule Phase 

2 SO2 Budgets for Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina 

and Texas’’ from Janet G. McCabe, EPA Acting 

Assistant Administrator for Air and Radiation, to 

EPA Regional Air Division Directors (June 27, 

2016), available at https://www.regulations.gov/ 

document?D=EPA-HQ-OAR-2016-0598-0003. The 

memo directs the Regional Air Division Directors to 

share the memo with state officials. EPA also 

communicated orally with officials in Alabama, 

Georgia, South Carolina, and Texas in advance of 

the memo. 

19 76 FR 48208, 48213 (August 8, 2011). 

20 81 FR 74504, 74506 (October 26, 2016). EPA 

also determined in the CSAPR Update rulemaking 

that Georgia had no further transport obligation 

under CAA section 110(a)(2)(D)(i)(I) with respect to 

the 1997 Ozone NAAQS beyond the ozone season 

NOX emission reduction requirements established 

in the original CSAPR rulemaking. Id. at 74525. 

21 40 CFR 52.38(a)(2), (b)(2); 52.39(c); 52.584; 

52.585. 22 62 FR 27968 (May 22, 1997). 

within the state’s borders.15 Finally, if at 

the time a full SIP revision is approved 

EPA has already started recording 

allocations of allowances for a given 

control period to a state’s units, the 

federal trading program provisions 

authorizing EPA to complete the process 

of allocating and recording allowances 

for that control period to those units 

will continue to apply, unless EPA’s 

approval of the SIP revision provides 

otherwise.16

On July 28, 2015, the D.C. Circuit 

issued a decision on a number of 

petitions related to CSAPR, which 

found that EPA required more emissions 

reductions than may have been 

necessary to address the downwind air 

quality problems to which some states 

contribute. The Court remanded several 

CSAPR emission budgets to EPA for 

reconsideration, including the Phase 2 

SO2 trading budget for Georgia.17

However, Georgia has voluntarily 

adopted into their SIP a CSAPR state 

trading program that is integrated with 

the federal trading program and 

includes a state-established SO2 budget 

equal to the state’s remanded Phase 2 

SO2 emission budget.18 EPA notes that 

nothing in the Court’s decision affects 

Georgia’s authority to seek 

incorporation into its SIP of a stateestablished budget as stringent as the 

remanded federally-established budget 

or limits EPA’s authority to approve 

such a SIP revision. The CSAPR 

regulations provide each covered state 

with the option to meet its transport 

obligations through SIP revisions 

replacing the federal trading programs 

and requiring the state’s EGUs to 

participate in integrated CSAPR state 

trading programs that apply emissions 

budgets of the same or greater 

stringency. Under the CSAPR 

regulations, when such a SIP revision is 

approved, the corresponding FIP 

provisions are automatically withdrawn. 

In the CSAPR rulemaking, EPA 

determined that air pollution 

transported from EGUs in Georgia 

would unlawfully affect other states’ 

ability to attain or maintain the 1997 8- 

hour Ozone NAAQS, the 1997 Annual 

PM2.5 NAAQS, and the 2006 24-hour 

PM2.5 NAAQS, and included Georgia in 

the CSAPR ozone season NOX trading 

program and the annual SO2 and NOX

trading programs.19 In the CSAPR 

Update rulemaking, EPA determined 

that Georgia was not linked to any 

identified downwind nonattainment or 

maintenance receptors for the 2008 8- 

hour Ozone NAAQS.20 Georgia’s units 

meeting the CSAPR applicability criteria 

are consequently currently subject to 

CSAPR FIPs that require participation in 

the CSAPR NOX Annual Trading 

Program, the CSAPR NOX Ozone Season 

Group 1 Trading Program, and the 

CSAPR SO2 Group 2 Trading Program.21

On July 26, 2017, Georgia submitted 

to EPA a SIP revision including 

provisions that, upon approval, 

incorporates into Georgia’s SIP CSAPR 

state trading program regulations to 

replace the CSAPR regulations for all 

three of these federal trading programs 

with regard to Georgia units, and 

removes SIP provisions related to CAIR. 

In a notice of proposed rulemaking 

(NPRM) published on August 16, 2017 

(82 FR 38866), EPA proposed to approve 

the portions of Georgia’s July 26, 2017, 

SIP submittal designed to replace the 

CSAPR federal trading programs and 

remove CAIR from Georgia’s SIP. The 

NPRM provides additional detail 

regarding the background and rationale 

for EPA’s actions. Comments on the 

NPRM were due on or before September 

15, 2017. EPA received no adverse 

comments on the proposed action. 

III. Incorporation by Reference 

In this rule, EPA is finalizing 

regulatory text that includes 

incorporation by reference. In 

accordance with requirements of 1 CFR 

51.5, EPA is finalizing the incorporation 

by reference of Georgia Rules for Air 

Quality Control, Rule 391–3–1–.02(12), 

Rule 391–3–1–.02(13), and Rule 391–3– 

1–.02(14), state effective on July 20, 

2017, comprising Georgia’s Cross State 

Air Pollution Rule NOX Annual Trading 

Program, Georgia’s Cross State Air 

Pollution Rule SO2 Annual Trading 

Program, and Georgia’s Cross State Air 

Pollution Rule NOX Ozone Season 

Trading Program, respectively. EPA has 

made, and will continue to make, these 

materials generally available through 

www.regulations.gov and/or at the EPA 

Region 4 Office (please contact the 

person identified in the ‘‘For Further 

Information Contact’’ section of this 

preamble for more information). 

Therefore, these materials have been 

approved by EPA for inclusion in the 

SIP, have been incorporated by 

reference by EPA into that plan, are 

fully federally enforceable under 

sections 110 and 113 of the CAA as of 

the effective date of the final rulemaking 

of EPA’s approval, and will be 

incorporated by reference by the 

Director of the Federal Register in the 

next update to the SIP compilation.22

IV. Final Actions 

EPA is approving the portions of 

Georgia’s July 26, 2017, SIP submittal 

concerning the establishment for 

Georgia units of CSAPR state trading 

programs for annual NOX, annual SO2

emissions, and ozone season NOX

emissions. This approval revises the 

Georgia Rules for Air Quality Control in 

the SIP to include CSAPR as follows: 

391–3–1–.02(12) will be revised to 

include Georgia’s ‘‘Cross State Air 

Pollution Rule NOX Annual Trading 

Program;’’ 391–3–1–.02(13) will be 

revised to include Georgia’s ‘‘Cross State 

Air Pollution Rule SO2 Annual Trading 

Program;’’ and 391–3–1–.02(14) will be 

added to include ‘‘Georgia’s Cross State 

Air Pollution Rule NOX Ozone Season 

Trading Program.’’ These Georgia 

CSAPR state trading programs will be 

integrated with the federal CSAPR NOX

Annual Trading Program, the federal 

CSAPR SO2 Group 2 Trading Program, 

and the federal CSAPR NOX Ozone 

Season Group 1 Trading Program, 

respectively, and are substantively 

identical to the federal trading 

programs. Georgia units will generally 

be required to meet requirements under 

Georgia’s CSAPR state trading programs 

equivalent to the requirements the units 

otherwise would have been required to 

meet under the corresponding CSAPR 

federal trading programs. EPA is 

approving these portions of the SIP 

revision because they meet the 

requirements of the CAA and EPA’s 

regulations for approval of a CSAPR full 

SIP revision replacing a federal trading 

program with a state trading program. 


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Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 197 / Friday, October 13, 2017 / Rules and Regulations 47933 

EPA promulgated FIPs requiring 

Georgia units to participate in the 

federal CSAPR NOX Annual Trading 

Program, the federal CSAPR SO2 Group 

2 Trading Program, and the federal 

CSAPR NOX Ozone Season Group 1 

Trading Program in order to address 

Georgia’s obligations under CAA section 

110(a)(2)(D)(i)(I) with respect to the 

1997 Annual PM2.5 NAAQS, the 2006 

24-hour PM2.5 NAAQS, and the 1997 8- 

hour Ozone NAAQS in the absence of 

SIP provisions addressing those 

requirements. Approval of the portions 

of Georgia’s SIP submittal adopting 

CSAPR state trading program rules for 

annual NOX, annual SO2, and ozone 

season NOX substantively identical to 

the corresponding CSAPR federal 

trading program regulations (or differing 

only with respect to the allowance 

allocation methodology) satisfies 

Georgia’s obligation pursuant to CAA 

section 110(a)(2)(D)(i)(I) to prohibit 

emissions which will significantly 

contribute to nonattainment or interfere 

with maintenance of the 1997 Annual 

PM2.5 NAAQS, the 2006 24-hour PM2.5

NAAQS, and the 1997 8-hour Ozone 

NAAQS in any other state and therefore 

corrects the same deficiency in the SIP 

that otherwise would be corrected by 

those CSAPR FIPs. Under the CSAPR 

regulations, upon EPA’s full and 

unconditional approval of a SIP revision 

as correcting the SIP’s deficiency that is 

the basis for a particular CSAPR FIP, the 

obligation to participate in the 

corresponding CSAPR federal trading 

program is automatically eliminated for 

units subject to the state’s jurisdiction 

(but not for any units located in any 

Indian country within the state’s 

borders). Approval of the portions of 

Georgia’s SIP submittal establishing 

CSAPR state trading program rules for 

annual NOX, annual SO2, and ozone 

season NOX emissions therefore results 

in automatic termination of the 

obligations of Georgia units to 

participate in the federal CSAPR NOX

Annual Trading Program, the federal 

CSAPR SO2 Group 2 Trading Program, 

and the federal CSAPR NOX Ozone 

Season Group 1 Trading Program. 

As noted previously, the Phase 2 SO2

budget established for Georgia in the 

CSAPR rulemaking has been remanded 

to EPA for reconsideration. As this 

action finalizes approval of these 

portions of the SIP revision as proposed, 

Georgia will have fulfilled its 

obligations to provide a SIP that 

addresses the interstate transport 

provisions of CAA section 

110(a)(2)(D)(i)(I) with respect to the 

1997 Annual PM2.5 NAAQS, the 2006 

24-hour PM2.5 NAAQS, and the 1997 8- 

hour Ozone NAAQS. Thus, EPA is no 

longer under an obligation to (nor does 

EPA have the authority to) address those 

transport requirements through 

implementation of a FIP, and approval 

of these portions of the SIP revision 

eliminates Georgia units’ obligations to 

participate in the federal CSAPR NOX

Annual Trading Program, the federal 

CSAPR SO2 Group 2 Trading Program, 

and the federal CSAPR NOX Ozone 

Season Group 1 Trading Program. 

Elimination of Georgia units’ obligations 

to participate in the federal trading 

programs includes elimination of the 

federally-established Phase 2 budgets 

capping allocations of CSAPR NOX

Annual allowances, CSAPR SO2 Group 

2 allowances, and CSAPR NOX Ozone 

Season Group 1 allowances to Georgia 

units under those federal trading 

programs. As approval of these portions 

of the SIP revision eliminates Georgia’s 

remanded federally-established Phase 2 

SO2 budget and eliminates EPA’s 

authority to subject units in Georgia to 

a FIP, approval of this SIP action 

addresses the judicial remand of 

Georgia’s federally-established Phase 2 

SO2 budget. 

In addition, EPA is approving the 

portions of Georgia’s July 26, 2017, SIP 

revision removing Georgia’s state 

trading provisions adopted to 

implement CAIR: Georgia Rules for Air 

Quality control at provisions 391–3–1– 

.02(12), ‘‘Clean Air Interstate Rule NOX

Annual Trading Program’’ and 391–3– 

1–.02(13) ‘‘Clean Air Interstate Rule SO2

Annual Trading Program.’’ 

V. 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. 

See 42 U.S.C. 7410(k); 40 CFR 52.02(a). 

Thus, in reviewing SIP submissions, 

EPA’s role is to approve state choices, 

provided that they meet the criteria of 

the CAA. 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 

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). 

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 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. 

The Congressional Review Act, 5 

U.S.C. 801 et seq., as added by the Small 

Business Regulatory Enforcement 

Fairness Act of 1996, generally provides 

that before a rule may take effect, the 

agency promulgating the rule must 

submit a rule report, which includes a 

copy of the rule, to each House of the 

Congress and to the Comptroller General 

of the United States. EPA will submit a 

report containing this action and other 

required information to the U.S. Senate, 

the U.S. House of Representatives, and 

the Comptroller General of the United 

States prior to publication of the rule in 

the Federal Register. A major rule 

cannot take effect until 60 days after it 

is published in the Federal Register. 

This action is not a ‘‘major rule’’ as 

defined by 5 U.S.C. 804(2). 

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 December 12, 2017. Filing a 

petition for reconsideration by the 


asabaliauskas on DSKBBXCHB2PROD with RULES
47934 Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 197 / Friday, October 13, 2017 / Rules and Regulations 

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). 

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 52 

Environmental protection, 

Administrative practice and procedure, 

Air pollution control, Incorporation by 

reference, Intergovernmental relations, 

Nitrogen dioxide, Ozone, Particulate 

matter, Reporting and recordkeeping 

requirements, Sulfur oxides. 

Dated: September 29, 2017. 

Onis ‘‘Trey’’ Glenn, III 

Regional Administrator, Region 4. 

40 CFR part 52 is amended 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 A—General Provisions 

§ 52.38 [Amended] 

■ 2. Amend § 52.38: 

■ a. In paragraph (a)(8)(iii) after the 

word ‘‘Alabama’’ by adding the words 

‘‘and Georgia’’; and 

■ b. In paragraph (b)(12)(iii), by 

removing the text ‘‘[none]’’ and adding 

the word ‘‘Georgia’’ in its place. 

§ 52.39 [Amended] 

■ 3. Amend § 52.39 paragraph (m)(3) 

after the word ‘‘Alabama’’ by adding the 

words ‘‘and Georgia’’. 

Subpart L—Georgia 

■ 4. In § 52.570, the table in paragraph 

(c) is amended by revising the entries 

‘‘391–3–1–.02(12)’’ and ‘‘391–3–1– 

.02(13),’’; and adding in numerical order 

an entry for ‘‘391–3–1–.02(14)’’ to read 

as follows: 

§ 52.570 Identification of plan. 

* * * * * 

(c) * * * 

EPA-APPROVED GEORGIA REGULATIONS

State citation Title/subject 

State 

effective 

date 

EPA approval date Explanation 

*******

391–3–1–.02(12) .... Cross State Air Pollution Rule 

NOX Annual Trading Program.

7/20/2017 10/13/2017, [Insert Federal Register citation].

391–3–1–.02(13) .... Cross State Air Pollution Rule 

SO2 Annual Trading Program.

7/20/2017 10/13/2017, [Insert Federal Register citation].

391–3–1–.02(14) .... Cross State Air Pollution Rule 

NOX Ozone Season Trading 

Program.

7/20/2017 10/13/2017, [Insert Federal Register citation].

* * * * * * * 

* * * * * 

[FR Doc. 2017–22126 Filed 10–12–17; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P 


asabaliauskas on DSKBBXCHB2PROD with RULES