Document ID: EPA-R05-OAR-2011-0328-0006
Agency: epa
Document Type: Rule
Title: Final Approval of the Flint Hills Resources Amended Findings and Order (Minnesota)
Posted Date: 2013-05-15T04:00Z

[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 94 (Wednesday, May 15, 2013)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 28501-28503]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-11477]

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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[EPA-R05-OAR-2011-0328; FRL-9811-7]

Approval and Promulgation of Air Quality Implementation Plans; 
Minnesota; Flint Hills Resources Pine Bend

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: EPA is approving Minnesota's August 29, 2011, request to 
revise its sulfur dioxide (SO2) state implementation plan 
(SIP) for Flint Hills Resources Pine Bend, LLC (FHR Pine Bend), in 
Dakota County. The facility is shutting down an incinerator and 
rerouting process gases to address a safety issue. The revised SIP also 
includes other emission reductions. This revision will result in a 
decrease in SO2 emissions. EPA published a direct final 
approval of this SIP revision request on January 31, 2013, but received 
an adverse comment and therefore withdrew the approval. EPA is hereby 
addressing the comment and taking final action on Minnesota's August 
29, 2011, submittal.

DATES: This rule is effective June 14, 2013.

ADDRESSES: EPA has established a docket for this action under Docket 
Identification EPA-R05-OAR-2011-0328. All documents in these dockets 
are listed on the www.regulations.gov Web site. Although listed in the 
index, some information is not publicly available, e.g., CBI or other 
information whose disclosure is restricted by statute. Certain other 
material, such as copyrighted material, will be publicly available only 
in hard copy. Publicly available docket materials are available either 
electronically in www.regulations.gov or in hard copy at the U.S. 
Environmental Protection Agency, Region 5, Air and Radiation Division, 
77 West Jackson Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois 60604. This facility is 
open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding 
Federal holidays. We recommend that you telephone Mary Portanova at 
(312) 353-5954 before visiting the Region 5 office.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mary Portanova, Environmental 
Engineer, Control Strategies Section, Air Programs Branch (AR-18J), 
Environmental Protection Agency, Region 5, 77 West Jackson Boulevard, 
Chicago, Illinois 60604, (312) 353-5954, portanova.mary@epa.gov.

[[Page 28502]]

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 is EPA's response to comments?
III. Final Action
IV. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

I. What is the background for this action?

    On August 29, 2011, Minnesota submitted a request to EPA to revise 
its SO2 SIP for the FHR Pine Bend oil refinery in Rosemount, 
Dakota County. FHR Pine Bend is making modifications to its facility to 
address plant safety and improve energy efficiency. The facility will 
remove its Merox process incinerator, reroute process gases to an 
existing heater, take additional restrictions on steam-air decoking 
activities for certain boilers, revise the SO2 emission 
limits for its fluid catalytic cracking unit, and make plans to add a 
boiler. See the January 31, 2013, direct final approval (78 FR 6733) 
for additional information. Overall, the August 29, 2011, SIP revision 
provides for a reduction in SO2 emissions of over 3100 tons 
per year. EPA's January 31, 2013, direct final action approving 
Minnesota's SIP revision request received one adverse public comment, 
so EPA withdrew the final action on March 26, 2013 (78 FR 18241).

II. What is EPA's Response to Comments?

    EPA received one comment during the public comment period for the 
January 31, 2013, rulemaking. A summary of the comment and EPA's 
response are provided below.
    Comment: The commenter objects to the FHR Pine Bend SIP amendment 
because of concerns that SO2 emissions are grossly 
underestimated when only fuel gas hydrogen sulfide (H2S) is 
used to determine compliance with SO2 emission limits, 
because there are other sulfur compounds in fuel gas that also 
contribute to SO2 emissions. The commenter recommends that 
SO2 continuous emissions monitors (CEMs) be installed on all 
fuel gas sources at FHR Pine Bend, including the new boiler.
    Response: The gas combustion units at FHR Pine Bend are fueled by 
natural gas and/or refinery fuel gas. Natural gas contains very little 
sulfur. Refinery fuel gas may contain sulfur compounds. At FHR Pine 
Bend, refinery fuel gas is generated by the facility's processes and 
collected into two fuel gas mix drums, designated 41V-33 and 45V-39. 
The gases are then distributed from these mix drums to combustion units 
at the facility, such as boilers and heaters. FHR Pine Bend operates 
H2S CEMs on the mix drums to satisfy the requirements of the 
New Source Performance Standards (40 CFR part 60, subparts J and Ja). 
The 41V-33 mix drum receives gases which contain H2S, but do 
not contain a large concentration of other sulfur compounds. FHR Pine 
Bend operates a CEM which measures total sulfur in the 41V-33 mix drum 
gases. The 45V-39 mix drum receives gases from different processes, and 
these gases may contain sulfur compounds other than H2S. FHR 
Pine Bend uses stack SO2 CEMs and fuel flow meters at two 
representative heaters fired with gases from the 45V-39 mix drum to 
determine the sulfur content of the fuel gases for SO2 
compliance calculations. The SO2 emissions from FHR Pine 
Bend's gas-fired combustion sources are calculated using the CEM data 
for the mix drum gas stream which supplies them. For the Merox off-gas 
incinerator, FHR Pine Bend uses a CEM that directly measures the 
incinerator's SO2 emissions. This SO2 CEM will be 
moved to the 31H-2 process heater when the Merox off-gas stream is 
directed to that heater. Data from the CEM will be used to determine 
compliance with the SO2 SIP emission limits at the 31H-2 
heater. In a letter to EPA dated March 15, 2013, FHR Pine Bend 
explained its continuous emissions monitoring methods for sulfur and 
confirmed that it is already required to continuously measure the 
sulfur in the refinery fuel gas it combusts, and that its 
SO2 emissions calculations account for the different sulfur 
compounds present in the gas. Therefore, EPA is satisfied that FHR Pine 
Bend is correctly measuring its sulfur emissions and is already 
performing the continuous SO2 monitoring that the commenter 
expects.

III. Final Action

    EPA is approving Minnesota's August 29, 2011, request to revise its 
SO2 SIP for FHR Pine Bend, in Dakota County.

IV. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

    Under the Clean Air Act (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 Order 
12866 (58 FR 51735, October 4, 1993);
     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, this rule does not have tribal implications as 
specified by Executive Order 13175 (65 FR 67249, November 9, 2000), 
because the SIP is not approved to apply in Indian country located in 
the state, and EPA notes that it will not 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

[[Page 28503]]

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 July 15, 2013. 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. 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, Air pollution control, Incorporation by 
reference, Intergovernmental relations, Sulfur oxides.

    Dated: April 29, 2013.
Susan Hedman,
Regional Administrator, Region 5.

    40 CFR part 52 is amended as follows:

PART 52--APPROVAL AND PROMULGATION OF IMPLEMENTATION PLANS

0
1. The authority citation for part 52 continues to read as follows:

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

0
2. In Sec.  52.1220, the table in paragraph (d) is amended by revising 
the entry for ``Flint Hills Resources, L.P. (formerly Koch Petroleum)'' 
to read as follows:

Sec.  52.1220  Identification of plan.

* * * * *
    (d) * * *

                                 EPA-Approved Minnesota Source-Specific Permits
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                                                          State
          Name of source               Permit No.    effective  date    EPA approval date         Comments
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                                                  * * * * * * *
Flint Hills Resources Pine Bend,    ...............        08/29/11   05/15/13, [INSERT     Amendment Nine to
 LLC.                                                                  PAGE NUMBER WHERE     Findings and Order.
                                                                       THE DOCUMENT
                                                                       BEGINS].
 
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[FR Doc. 2013-11477 Filed 5-14-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P