Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 211 / Thursday, November 2, 2017 / Rules and Regulations 50811 

EPA-APPROVED MINNESOTA NONREGULATORY PROVISIONS—Continued 

Name of nonregulatory 

SIP provision 

Applicable geographic 

or nonattainment area 

State submittal date/ 

effective date EPA approved date Comments 

Section 110(a)(2) Infrastructure Requirements for the 2010 

sulfur dioxide (SO2) 

NAAQS.

Statewide ................... 6/12/2014 and 5/26/ 

2016.

11/2/2017, [insert 

Federal Register 

citation].

These actions address the following CAA 

elements: 110(a)(2)(A), (B), (C), (D), (E), 

(F), (G), (H), (J), (K), (L), and (M). We 

have not taken action on (D)(i)(I) or the 

visibility portion of (D)(i)(II). We will address these requirements in a separate 

action. EPA has disapproved the elements 

related to the prevention of significant deterioration, specifically as they pertain to 

section 110(a)(2)(C), (D)(i)(II), (D)(ii), and 

(J); however, Minnesota continues to implement the Federally promulgated rules 

for this purpose. 

Section 110(a)(2) Infrastructure Requirements for the 2012 

fine particulate matter (PM2.5) NAAQS.

Statewide ................... 6/12/2014 and 5/26/ 

2016.

11/2/2017, [insert 

Federal Register 

citation].

These actions address the following CAA 

elements: 110(a)(2)(A), (B), (C), (D), (E), 

(F), (G), (H), (J), (K), (L), and (M). We are 

not taking action on (D)(i)(I) or the visibility 

portion of (D)(i)(II). We will address these 

requirements in a separate action. EPA 

has disapproved the elements related to 

the prevention of significant deterioration, 

specifically as they pertain to section 

110(a)(2)(C), (D)(i)(II), (D)(ii), and (J); however, Minnesota continues to implement 

the Federally promulgated rules for this 

purpose. 

[FR Doc. 2017–23461 Filed 11–1–17; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

40 CFR Part 52 

[EPA–R05–OAR–2017–0323; FRL–9970–17– 

Region 5] 

Air Plan Approval; Illinois; Volatile 

Organic Compounds Definition 

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA). 

ACTION: Direct final rule. 

SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA) is approving a state 

submission as a revision to the Illinois 

state implementation plan (SIP) for 

ozone. The revision, submitted on May 

30, 2017, incorporates changes to the 

Illinois Administrative Code (IAC) 

definition of volatile organic material, 

otherwise known as volatile organic 

compound (VOC). The revision removes 

recordkeeping and reporting 

requirements related to the use of tbutyl acetate (also known as tertiary 

butyl acetate) as a VOC, and is in 

response to an EPA rulemaking that 

occurred in 2016. Illinois also added 

information to provide clarity to the list 

of compounds excluded from the 

definition of VOC. 

DATES: This direct final rule will be 

effective January 2, 2018, unless EPA 

receives adverse comments by 

December 4, 2017. If adverse comments 

are received, EPA will publish a timely 

withdrawal of the direct final rule in the 

Federal Register informing the public 

that the rule will not take effect. 

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, 

identified by Docket ID No. EPA–R05– 

OAR–2017–0323 at http://

www.regulations.gov or via email to 

blakley.pamela@epa.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. For either manner of 

submission, 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, 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 

http://www2.epa.gov/dockets/ 

commenting-epa-dockets. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Charles Hatten, Environmental 

Engineer, Control Strategies Section, Air 

Programs Branch (AR–18J), 

Environmental Protection Agency, 

Region 5, 77 West Jackson Boulevard, 

Chicago, Illinois 60604, (312) 886–3031, 

hatten.charles@epa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Throughout this document whenever 

‘‘we,’’ ‘‘us,’’ or ‘‘our’’ is used, we mean 

EPA. This supplementary information 

section is arranged as follows: 

I. What is the background for this action? 

II. What did Illinois submit? 

III. What is EPA’s analysis of the SIP 

revision? 

IV. What action is EPA taking? 

V. Incorporation by Reference 

VI. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews 

I. What is the background for this 

action? 

The Clean Air Act (CAA) requires the 

regulation of VOC for various purposes. 

Section 302(s) of the CAA specifies that 

EPA has the authority to define the 

meaning of ‘‘VOC,’’ and what 

compounds shall be treated as VOC for 

regulatory purposes. 

Tropospheric ozone, commonly 

known as smog, is formed when VOC 


nlaroche on DSK9F9SC42PROD with RULES
50812 Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 211 / Thursday, November 2, 2017 / Rules and Regulations 

1 IUPAC has developed a recognized system of 

nomenclature for chemical compounds. 

2Chemical Abstract Service (CAS) numbers are 

developed by the American Chemical Society. CAS 

numbers are in widespread use, and provide clarity 

because a single CAS number identifies only one 

chemical isomer. 

3 In Table 6 of Attachment 7 to Illinois’ submittal, 

Illinois lists the chemical compounds excluded 

from the definition of VOC, using the designations 

by EPA, IUPAC names, CAS numbers, and 

commonly used alternative names for each. 

4EPA continues to include the CAS number to 

further identify compounds when adopting an 

exclusion from the definition of VOC. See 81 FR 

9339 (February 25, 2016). 

and nitrogen oxides react in the 

atmosphere in the presence of sunlight. 

Because of the harmful effects of ozone, 

EPA and state governments limit the 

amount of VOC that can be released into 

the atmosphere. 

EPA uses the reactivity of ethane as 

the threshold for determining whether a 

compound makes a negligible 

contribution to tropospheric ozone 

formation. Compounds that are less 

reactive than, or equally reactive to, 

ethane under certain assumed 

conditions may be deemed negligibly 

reactive and, therefore, suitable for 

exemption by EPA from the regulatory 

definition of VOC. EPA lists compounds 

it has determined to be negligibly 

reactive in its regulations as being 

excluded from the regulatory definition 

of VOC in 40 CFR 51.100(s). See 81 FR 

9339 (February 25, 2016). 

Illinois’ SIP includes a definition of 

VOC at 35 IAC Part 211, Subpart B, 

Section 7150 (35 IAC 211.7150), which 

conforms to EPA’s regulatory definition 

of VOC. Subsection (a) of 35 IAC 

211.7150 includes a list of compounds 

excluded from the regulatory definition 

of VOC, which reflect the compounds 

EPA has excluded in 40 CFR 51.100(s) 

on the basis that they make a negligible 

contribution to tropospheric ozone 

formation. 

II. What did Illinois submit? 

On May 30, 2017, Illinois submitted, 

as a SIP revision, a change to the 

definition of VOC at 35 IAC 211.7150 in 

response to an EPA rulemaking in 2016 

that updated an existing exemption for 

the compound tertiary butyl acetate. 

Illinois also submitted corrections to 

chemical names and revisions to 

chemical identifiers included in the list 

of excluded compounds at 35 IAC 

211.7150(a). 

The Illinois SIP currently excludes 

tertiary butyl acetate for purposes of 

VOC emissions limitations or VOC 

content requirements. However, the 

Illinois SIP includes the compound as a 

VOC for purposes of all recordkeeping, 

emissions reporting, photochemical 

dispersion modeling and inventory 

requirements which apply to VOC. See 

35 IAC 211.7150(e); 69 FR 69298 

(November 29, 2004). 

In response to an EPA rulemaking in 

2016 (discussed further below), Illinois 

is revising its SIP to remove the 

recordkeeping, emissions reporting, 

photochemical dispersion modeling and 

inventory requirements related to the 

use of t-butyl acetate as a VOC by 

deleting subsection (e) of 35 IAC 

211.7150. 

Additionally, Illinois amended the list 

of excluded compounds by adding the 

International Union of Pure and 

Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) names 1

and CAS registry numbers, 2 and 

presenting common names 

parenthetically.3 Illinois made these 

changes to eliminate confusion and 

make it easier to identify specific 

excluded compounds in 35 IAC 

211.7150(a). 

For example, tertiary butyl acetate 

bears the IUPAC name ‘‘1,1-dimethyl 

ethyl acetic acid ester’’ and CAS number 

540–88–5. EPA lists this compound as 

‘‘t-butyl acetate’’ in 40 CFR 51.100(s)(1). 

Illinois continues to identify the 

compound as tertiary butyl acetate, and 

parenthetically added the IUPAC name 

and CAS number in 35 IAC 

211.7150(a).4

Finally, Illinois made an 

administrative change by deleting the 

words ‘‘of this Section’’ in 35 IAC 

211.7150(d), which discusses 

appropriate testing methods and 

includes a reference to subsection (b) of 

35 IAC 211.7150. 

III. What is EPA’s analysis of the SIP 

revision? 

Effective April 25, 2016, EPA 

amended the regulatory definition of 

VOC to remove applicable 

recordkeeping, emissions reporting, 

photochemical dispersion modeling and 

inventory requirements for the 

compound tertiary butyl acetate. (81 FR 

9339). 

EPA had previously excluded tertiary 

butyl acetate from the definition of VOC 

for purposes of VOC emissions 

limitations and VOC content 

requirements on the basis that it makes 

a negligible contribution to tropospheric 

ozone formation. However, EPA 

continued to define tertiary butyl 

acetate as a VOC for purposes of all 

recordkeeping, emissions reporting, 

photochemical dispersion modeling and 

inventory requirements that apply to 

VOC. See 69 FR 69298 (November 29, 

2004). Tertiary butyl acetate was the 

only compound that was excluded from 

the VOC definition for purposes of 

emission controls but still considered a 

VOC for purposes of recordkeeping and 

reporting requirements. 

In 2016, EPA removed the 

recordkeeping and reporting 

requirements related to tertiary butyl 

acetate as a VOC in response to a 

petition. In removing these 

requirements, EPA stated that the 

primary objective of the recordkeeping 

and reporting requirements for tertiary 

butyl acetate was to address the 

cumulative impacts of ‘‘negligibly 

reactive’’ compounds, and had 

suggested that future exempt 

compounds may also be subject to such 

requirements. However, these 

requirements had not been included in 

any other proposed or final VOC 

exemptions since the tertiary butyl 

acetate rule in 2004. EPA found that 

having high quality data on tertiary 

butyl acetate emissions alone is unlikely 

to be very useful in assessing the 

cumulative impacts of negligibly 

reactive compounds on ozone 

formation, and therefore the 

requirements were not achieving their 

primary objective to inform more 

accurate photochemical modeling in 

support of SIP submissions. 

EPA concluded that there was no 

evidence that tertiary butyl acetate was 

being used at levels that would cause 

concern for ozone formation. 

Additionally, the recordkeeping and 

reporting requirements, which were 

unique among all VOC-exempt 

compounds, were of limited utility 

because they did not provide sufficient 

information to judge the cumulative 

impacts of exempted compounds, and 

because the data had not been 

consistently collected and reported by 

states. As a result, EPA amended 40 CFR 

51.100(s)(5) by removing the 

recordkeeping, emissions reporting, 

photochemical dispersion modeling and 

inventory requirements for tertiary butyl 

acetate as a VOC. This action did not 

affect the existing exclusion of tertiary 

butyl acetate from the regulatory 

definition of VOC for purposes of 

emission limits and control 

requirements found in 40 CFR 

51.100(s)(1). 81 FR 9339 (February 25, 

2016). 

Illinois’ SIP revision is consistent 

with EPA’s action amending the 

definition of VOC at 40 CFR 51.100(s)(5) 

to exclude recordkeeping and reporting 

requirements for tertiary butyl acetate. 

Additionally, this revision did not affect 

the existing exclusion of this compound 

from the regulatory definition of VOC 

for purposes of emission limits and 

control requirements in 35 IAC 

211.7150(a). 

Furthermore, Illinois’ addition of 

IUPAC names and CAS registry 


nlaroche on DSK9F9SC42PROD with RULES
Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 211 / Thursday, November 2, 2017 / Rules and Regulations 50813 

5 62 FR 27968 (May 22, 1997). 

numbers to the list of excluded 

compounds in 35 IAC 211.7150(a) is 

consistent with the Illinois SIP. Illinois 

has kept the EPA designated names of 

the compounds in the list, and added 

information that may make it easier to 

identify compounds that are excluded 

from regulation as VOCs. These changes 

do not interfere with the Federal listing 

of excluded compounds, and provide 

more specific chemical composition, 

structural, and isomeric identification 

information. 

IV. What action is EPA taking? 

EPA is approving revisions to 35 IAC 

211.7150 contained in the May 30, 2017, 

submittal into the Illinois SIP. We are 

publishing this action without prior 

proposal because we view this as a 

noncontroversial amendment and 

anticipate no adverse comments. 

However, in the proposed rules section 

of this Federal Register publication, we 

are publishing a separate document that 

will serve as the proposal to approve the 

state plan if relevant adverse written 

comments are filed. This rule will be 

effective January 2, 2018 without further 

notice unless we receive relevant 

adverse written comments by December 

4, 2017. If we receive such comments, 

we will withdraw this action before the 

effective date by publishing a 

subsequent document that will 

withdraw the final action. All public 

comments received will then be 

addressed in a subsequent final rule 

based on the proposed action. EPA will 

not institute a second comment period. 

Any parties interested in commenting 

on this action should do so at this time. 

Please note that if EPA receives adverse 

comment on an amendment, paragraph, 

or section of this rule and if that 

provision may be severed from the 

remainder of the rule, EPA may adopt 

as final those provisions of the rule that 

are not the subject of an adverse 

comment. If we do not receive any 

comments, this action will be effective 

January 2, 2018. 

V. 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 the Illinois Regulations 

described in the amendments to 40 CFR 

part 52 set forth below. EPA has made, 

and will continue to make, these 

documents generally available through 

www.regulations.gov and at the EPA 

Region 5 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 

State implementation plan, 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.5

VI. Statutory and Executive Order 

Reviews 

Under the CAA, the Administrator is 

required to approve a SIP submission 

that complies with the provisions of the 

CAA and applicable Federal regulations. 

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. 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 

Executive Orders 12866 (58 FR 51735, 

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

January 21, 2011); 

• Is not an Executive Order 13771 (82 

FR 9339, February 2, 2017) regulatory 

action because SIP approvals are 

exempted under Executive Order 12866. 

• 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). 

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 January 2, 2018. Filing a 

petition for reconsideration by the 

Administrator of this final rule does not 

affect the finality of this action for the 

purposes of judicial review nor does it 

extend the time within which a petition 

for judicial review may be filed, and 

shall not postpone the effectiveness of 

such rule or action. Parties with 

objections to this direct final rule are 

encouraged to file a comment in 

response to the parallel notice of 

proposed rulemaking for this action 

published in the proposed rules section 

of today’s Federal Register, rather than 

file an immediate petition for judicial 

review of this direct final rule, so that 

EPA can withdraw this direct final rule 

and address the comment in the 

proposed rulemaking. This action may 

not be challenged later in proceedings to 

enforce its requirements. (See section 

307(b)(2).) 


nlaroche on DSK9F9SC42PROD with RULES
50814 Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 211 / Thursday, November 2, 2017 / Rules and Regulations 

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. 

Dated: October 17, 2017. 

Robert A. Kaplan, 

Acting Regional Administrator, Region 5. 

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. 

■ 2. In § 52.720, the table in paragraph 

(c) is amended under ‘‘Part 211: 

Definitions and General Provisions’’, 

‘‘Subpart B: Definitions’’ by revising the 

entry for 211.7150 ‘‘Volatile Organic 

Material (VOM) or Volatile Organic 

Compound (VOC)’’ to read as follows: 

§ 52.720 Identification of plan. 

* * * * * 

(c) * * * 

EPA-APPROVED ILLINOIS REGULATIONS AND STATUTES

Illinois citation Title/subject 

State 

effective 

date 

EPA approval date Comments 

*******

Part 211: Definitions and General Provisions 

*******

Subpart B: Definitions 

*******

211.7150 ...................................... Volatile Organic Material (VOM) 

Or Volatile Organic Compound 

(VOC).

1/23/2017 11/2/2017, [insert Federal Register citation].

*******

* * * * * 

[FR Doc. 2017–23468 Filed 11–1–17; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

40 CFR Part 52 

[EPA–R03–OAR–2016–0638; FRL–9969–93– 

Region 3] 

Determination of Attainment by the 

Attainment Date for the 2008 Ozone 

Standard; Philadelphia-WilmingtonAtlantic City, PA-NJ-MD-DE 

Nonattainment Area 

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA). 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA) is making a final 

determination that the PhiladelphiaWilmington-Atlantic City, PA-NJ-MDDE marginal ozone nonattainment area 

(the Philadelphia Area) has attained the 

2008 ozone national ambient air quality 

standard (NAAQS) by the July 20, 2016 

attainment date. This final 

determination is based on complete, 

certified, and quality assured ambient 

air quality monitoring data for the 

Philadelphia Area for the 2013–2015 

monitoring period. The effect of this 

determination of attainment (DOA) is 

that the Philadelphia Area will not be 

bumped up or reclassified as a moderate 

nonattainment area. The determination 

of attainment is not equivalent to a 

redesignation, and the States in the 

Philadelphia Area must still meet the 

statutory requirements for redesignation 

in order to be redesignated to 

attainment. This determination is also 

not a clean data determination. This 

action is being taken under the Clean 

Air Act (CAA). 

DATES: This final rule is effective on 

December 4, 2017. 

ADDRESSES: EPA has established a 

docket for this action under Docket ID 

EPA–R03–OAR–2016–0638. All 

documents in the docket are listed on 

the http://www.regulations.gov Web 

site. Although listed in the index, some 

information is not publicly available, 

e.g., confidential business information 

(CBI) 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 through http://

www.regulations.gov, or please contact 

the person identified in the FOR FURTHER

INFORMATION CONTACT section for 

additional availability information. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Gregory Becoat, (215) 814–2036, or by 

email at becoat.gregory@epa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background 

On April 18, 2017 (82 FR 18268), EPA 

published a notice of proposed 

rulemaking (NPR) for the Philadelphia 

Area. The Philadelphia Area consists of 

Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery 

and Philadelphia Counties in 

Pennsylvania; Atlantic, Burlington, 

Camden, Cape May, Cumberland, 

Gloucester, Mercer, Ocean and Salem 

Counties in New Jersey; Cecil County, 

Maryland; and New Castle County in 

Delaware. See 40 CFR 81.331, 81.339, 

81.321, and 81.308. In the NPR, EPA 

proposed to determine, in accordance 

with its statutory obligations under 

section 181(b)(2)(A) of the CAA and the 

relevant regulatory provisions (40 CFR 


nlaroche on DSK9F9SC42PROD with RULES