Document ID: EPA-R07-OAR-2019-0468-0001
Agency: epa
Document Type: Proposed Rule
Title: Air Plan Approval; Iowa; Revisions to Regional Haze Plan and Visibility Requirements in Infrastructure State Implementation Plans for the 2006 PM2.5, 2012 PM2.5, 2010 NO2, 2010 SO2, 2008 Ozone, and 2015 Ozone NAAQS
Posted Date: 2019-08-22T04:00Z

[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 163 (Thursday, August 22, 2019)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 43741-43745]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-18137]

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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[EPA-R07-OAR-2019-0468; FRL-9998-40-Region 7]

Air Plan Approval; Iowa; Revisions to Regional Haze Plan and 
Visibility Requirements in Infrastructure State Implementation Plans 
for the 2006 PM2.5, 2012 PM2.5, 2010 NO2, 2010 SO2, 2008 Ozone, and 
2015 Ozone NAAQS

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Proposed rule.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to 
approve Iowa's request on four actions regarding the Iowa State 
Implementation Plan (SIP). The four SIP actions relate to Iowa's 
Regional Haze Plan and infrastructure SIPs for the 2006 Fine 
Particulate Matter (PM2.5), 2012 PM2.5, 2010 
Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2), 2010 Sulfur Dioxide 
(SO2), 2008 Ozone, and 2015 Ozone National Ambient Air 
Quality Standards (NAAQS).

DATES: Comments must be received on or before September 23, 2019.

ADDRESSES: You may send comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-R07-
OAR-2019-0468 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 at telephone number (913) 551-
7588; email address wolkins.jed@epa.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Throughout this document ``we,'' ``us,'' and 
``our'' refer to EPA.

Table of Contents

I. Written Comments
II. What is being addressed in this document?
    A. Regional Haze SIPs and Their Relationship With CAIR and CSAPR
    B. Infrastructure SIPs
    C. What are the prong 4 requirements?
    D. What is the EPA's analysis of how Iowa addressed prong 4 and 
regional haze?
III. Have the requirements for approval of a SIP revision been met?
IV. What action is the the EPA taking?
V. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

I. Written Comments

    Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-R07-OAR-2019-
0468, 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?

    On May 14, 2019, the State of Iowa submitted a request to revise 
the State of Iowa's Regional Haze Plan, changing from reliance on the 
Clean Air Interstate Rule (CAIR) to reliance on the Cross State Air 
Pollution Rule (CSAPR) for certain regional haze requirements; removing 
EPA's Federal Implementation Plan (FIP) for reliance on CSAPR for 
certain regional haze requirements, converting EPA's limited approval/
limited disapproval of Iowa's Regional Haze Plan for the first regional 
haze planning period to a full approval; and approving the states' 
submissions addressing the Clean Air Act (CAA or the Act) section 
110(a)(2)(D)(i)(II) provision (prong 4) that prohibits emissions 
activity in one state from interfering with measures to protect 
visibility in another state of Iowa's infrastructure SIP submittals for 
the 2006 PM2.5, 2012 PM2.5, 2010 NO2, 
2010 SO2, 2008 Ozone, and 2015 Ozone NAAQS. The EPA is 
proposing approve these requests.

A. Regional Haze SIPs and Their Relationship With CAIR and CSAPR

    Section 169A(b)(2)(A) of the CAA requires states to submit Regional 
Haze SIPs that contain such measures as may be necessary to make 
reasonable progress towards the natural visibility goal at Class I 
areas, including a requirement that certain categories of existing 
major stationary sources built between 1962 and 1977 procure, install, 
and operate Best Available Retrofit Technology (BART) as determined by 
the state. Under the Regional Haze Rule (RHR), adopted in 1999, states 
are directed to conduct BART determinations for such ``BART-eligible'' 
sources that may be anticipated to cause or contribute to visibility 
impairment in a Class I area.\1\ Rather than requiring source-specific 
BART controls, states also have the flexibility to adopt an emissions 
trading program or other alternative program as long as the alternative 
provides greater reasonable progress towards improving visibility than 
BART.\2\ The EPA provided states with this flexibility in the 1999 RHR, 
and further refined the criteria for assessing whether an alternative 
program provides for greater reasonable progress in two subsequent 
rulemakings.\3\
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    \1\ See 64 FR 35714 (July 1, 1999).
    \2\ See 40 CFR 51.308(e)(2).
    \3\ See 70 FR 39104 (July 6, 2005) and 71 FR 60612 (October 13, 
2006).
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    The EPA demonstrated that CAIR would achieve greater reasonable

[[Page 43742]]

progress than BART in revisions to the RHR made in 2005.\4\ In those 
revisions, the EPA amended its regulations to provide that states 
participating in the CAIR cap-and-trade programs pursuant to an EPA-
approved CAIR SIP or states that remain subject to a CAIR FIP need not 
require affected BART-eligible electric generating units (EGUs) to 
install, operate, and maintain BART for emissions of SO2 and 
nitrogen oxides (NOX). As a result of the EPA's 
determination that CAIR was ``better-than-BART,'' a number of states in 
the CAIR region, including Iowa, relied on the CAIR cap-and-trade 
programs as an alternative to BART for EGU emissions of SO2 
and NOX in designing their Regional Haze SIPs. These states 
also relied on CAIR as an element of a long-term strategy (LTS) for 
achieving reasonable progress. However, in 2008, the United States 
Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (D.C. Circuit) 
remanded CAIR to the EPA, which it did without vacatur to preserve the 
environmental benefits provided by CAIR.\5\ On August 8, 2011, acting 
on the D.C. Circuit's remand, the EPA promulgated CSAPR to replace CAIR 
and issued FIPs to implement the rule in CSAPR-subject states.\6\ 
Implementation of CSAPR was scheduled to begin on January 1, 2012, when 
CSAPR would have superseded the CAIR program.
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    \4\ CAIR created regional cap-and-trade programs to reduce 
SO2 and NOX emissions in 27 eastern states 
(and the District of Columbia), including Iowa, that contributed to 
downwind nonattainment or interfered with maintenance of the 1997 8-
hour ozone NAAQS or the 1997 PM2.5 NAAQS. See 70 FR 39104 
(July 6, 2005).
    \5\ North Carolina v. EPA, 550 F.3d 1176, 1178 (D.C. Cir. 2008).
    \6\ CSAPR requires 28 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 ozone 
NAAQS, the 1997 annual PM2.5 NAAQS, the 2006 24-hour 
PM2.5 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 budgets 
applying to emissions in 2017 and later years. See 76 FR 48208 
(August 8, 2011).
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    Due to the D.C. Circuit's 2008 ruling that CAIR was ``fatally 
flawed'' and its resulting status as a temporary measure following that 
ruling, the EPA could not fully approve Regional Haze SIPs to the 
extent that they relied on CAIR to satisfy the EGU BART requirement. On 
these grounds, the EPA published in the Federal Register a limited 
disapproval of Iowa's Regional Haze SIP on June 7, 2012, and 
promulgated a FIP relying on CSAPR rather than CAIR, pending Iowa's 
submission, and EPA approval of, a SIP revision that corrected the 
deficiency.\7\ The EPA finalized a limited approval of Iowa's Regional 
Haze SIP on June 26, 2012, as meeting the remaining applicable Regional 
Haze requirements set forth in the CAA and the RHR.\8\
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    \7\ See 77 FR 33642, 77 FR 33653-77 FR 336554 (June 7, 2012). 
EPA finalized limited disapprovals of fourteen states' regional haze 
SIP submissions that relied on CAIR in this action, including 
Iowa's.
    \8\ See 77 FR 38006. (June 26, 2012)
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    In the June 7, 2012 limited disapproval action, the EPA also 
amended the RHR to provide that participation by a state's EGUs in a 
CSAPR trading program for a given pollutant--either a CSAPR Federal 
trading program implemented through a CSAPR FIP or an integrated CSAPR 
state trading program implemented through an approved CSAPR SIP 
revision--qualifies as a BART alternative for those EGUs for that 
pollutant.\9\ Since the EPA promulgated this amendment, numerous states 
covered by CSAPR have come to rely on the provision through either SIPs 
or FIPs.\10\ Iowa is currently relying on the FIP published in the 
Federal Register on June 7, 2012 to rely on CSAPR as a BART-alternative 
for the covered BART-eligible sources.
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    \9\ See 40 CFR 51.308(e)(4).
    \10\ EPA has promulgated FIPs relying on CSAPR participation for 
BART purposes for Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Michigan, 
Missouri, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, 
and West Virginia, 77 FR at 33654, and Nebraska, 77 FR 40150, 40151 
(July 6, 2012). EPA has approved Minnesota's and Wisconsin's SIPs 
relying on CSAPR participation for BART purposes. See 77 FR 34801, 
34806 (June 12, 2012) for Minnesota and 77 FR 46952, 46959 (August 
7, 2012) for Wisconsin.
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    Numerous parties filed petitions for review of CSAPR in the D.C. 
Circuit, and on August 21, 2012, the court issued its ruling, vacating 
and remanding CSAPR to the EPA and ordering continued implementation of 
CAIR.\11\ The D.C. Circuit's vacatur of CSAPR was reversed by the 
United States Supreme Court on April 29, 2014, and the case was 
remanded to the D.C. Circuit to resolve remaining issues in accordance 
with the high court's ruling.\12\ On remand, the D.C. Circuit affirmed 
CSAPR in most respects, but invalidated without vacating some of the 
CSAPR budgets as to a number of states.\13\ The remanded budgets 
include the Phase 2 SO2 emissions budgets for Alabama, 
Georgia, South Carolina, and Texas and the Phase 2 ozone-season 
NOX budgets for eleven states. This litigation ultimately 
delayed implementation of CSAPR for three years, from January 1, 2012, 
when CSAPR's cap-and-trade programs were originally scheduled to 
replace the CAIR cap-and-trade programs, to January 1, 2015. Thus, the 
rule's Phase 2 budgets that were originally promulgated to begin on 
January 1, 2014, began on January 1, 2017.
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    \11\ EME Homer City Generation, L.P. v. EPA, 696 F.3d 7, 38 
(D.C. Cir. 2012).
    \12\ EPA v. EME Homer City Generation, L.P., 134 S. Ct. 1584 
(2014).
    \13\ EME Homer City Generation, L.P. v. EPA, 795 F.3d 118 (D.C. 
Cir. 2015).
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    Recognizing that changes to the scope of CSAPR's coverage could 
potentially affect its 2012 determination that CSAPR is ``better than 
BART,'' on November 10, 2016,\14\ the EPA published in the Federal 
Register a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) explaining the Agency's 
belief that the potentially material changes to the scope of CSAPR 
coverage resulting from the D.C. Circuit's remand would not have 
altered EPA's 2012 conclusion that CSAPR is ``better-than-BART,'' that 
is, that participation in CSAPR remains available as an alternative to 
BART for EGUs covered by the trading programs on a pollutant-specific 
basis. On September 21, 2017, the Administrator signed the final 
action, ``Interstate Transport of Fine Particulate Matter: Revision of 
Federal Implementation Plan Requirements for Texas.'' \15\ In this 
action, the agency removed Texas from the CSAPR annual NOX 
and SO2 trading programs and affirmed the continued validity 
of the Agency's 2012 determination that participation in CSAPR meets 
the Regional Haze Rule's criteria for an alternative to the application 
of source-specific BART.
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    \14\ See 81 FR 78954 (November 10, 2016)
    \15\ Legal challenges to this rule are pending. Nat'l Parks 
Conservation Ass'n v. EPA, No. 17-1253 (D.C. Cir. filed November 28, 
2017).
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    On May 14, 2019, the State of Iowa submitted request to revise its 
Regional Haze SIP to rely on its participation in the CSAPR annual 
trading programs for NOX and SO2 to satisfy the 
requirements of 40 CFR 51.308(d)(3) and 51.308(e) with respect to 
emissions of NOX and SO2 from electric generating 
units, pursuant to the option provided in 40 CFR 51.308(e)(4) (the 
``CSAPR-better-than-BART'' provision).
    We are proposing to approve Iowa's submission as satisfying the 
SO2 and NOX requirements in 40 CFR 51.308(d)(3) 
and (e) for BART-eligible EGUs subject to the CSAPR SO2 
trading program and the annual CSAPR NOX trading program. We 
are also proposing to convert the limited approval/limited disapproval 
of Iowa's Regional Haze plan to a full approval. Finally, the EPA is 
proposing to withdraw the FIP relying on CSAPR as a BART-alternative 
for these sources.

[[Page 43743]]

B. Infrastructure SIPs

    By statute, SIPs meeting the requirements of sections 110(a)(1) and 
(2) of the CAA are to be submitted by states within three years (or 
less, if the Administrator so prescribes) after promulgation of a new 
or revised NAAQS to provide for the implementation, maintenance, and 
enforcement of the new or revised NAAQS. The EPA has historically 
referred to these SIP submissions, which are made for satisfying the 
requirements of sections 110(a)(1) and 110(a)(2), as ``infrastructure 
SIP'' submissions. Sections 110(a)(1) and (2) require states to address 
basic SIP elements such as for monitoring, basic program requirements, 
and legal authority that are designed to assure attainment and 
maintenance of the newly established or revised NAAQS. More 
specifically, section 110(a)(1) provides the procedural and timing 
requirements for infrastructure SIPs. Section 110(a)(2) lists specific 
elements that states must meet for the infrastructure SIP requirements 
related to a newly established or revised NAAQS. The contents of an 
infrastructure SIP submission may vary depending upon the specific 
NAAQS in question, as well as the provisions already contained in the 
state's implementation plan at the time at which the state develops and 
submits the submission for a new or revised NAAQS.
    Section 110(a)(2)(D)(i) includes four distinct components, commonly 
referred to as ``prongs,'' that must be addressed in infrastructure SIP 
submissions. The first two prongs, which are codified in section 
110(a)(2)(D)(i)(I), are provisions that prohibit any source or other 
type of emissions activity in one state from contributing significantly 
to nonattainment of the NAAQS in another state (prong 1) and from 
interfering with maintenance of the NAAQS in another state (prong 2). 
The third and fourth prongs, which are codified in section 
110(a)(2)(D)(i)(II), are provisions that prohibit emissions activity in 
one state from interfering with measures required to prevent 
significant deterioration of air quality in another state (prong 3) or 
from interfering with measures to protect visibility in another state 
(prong 4).
    Through this action, the EPA is proposing to approve the prong 4 
portion of Iowa's infrastructure SIP submissions for the 2006 
PM2.5, 2012 PM2.5, 2010 1-hour NO2, 
2010 1-hour SO2, 2008 Ozone, and 2015 Ozone NAAQS. All other 
applicable infrastructure SIP requirements for these SIP submissions 
have been or will be addressed in separate rulemakings. A brief 
background regarding the NAAQS relevant to this proposal is provided 
below. For comprehensive information on these NAAQS, please refer to 
the Federal Register notices cited in the following subsections.
1. 2006 PM2.5 NAAQS
    On October 17, 2006, the EPA revised the 24 hour primary 
PM2.5 NAAQS to 35 micrograms per cubic meter ([mu]g/
m\3\).\16\ States were required to submit infrastructure SIP 
submissions for the 2006 PM2.5 NAAQS to the EPA no later 
than September 21, 2009. Iowa submitted an infrastructure SIP 
submission for the 2006 PM2.5 NAAQS on July 29, 2013. This 
proposed action only addresses the prong 4 element of that submission.
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    \16\ See 71 FR 200 (October 17, 2006).
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2. 2012 PM2.5 NAAQS
    On December 14, 2012, the EPA revised the annual primary 
PM2.5 NAAQS to 12 micrograms per cubic meter ([mu]g/
m\3\).\17\ States were required to submit infrastructure SIP 
submissions for the 2012 PM2.5 NAAQS to the EPA no later 
than December 14, 2015. Iowa submitted an infrastructure SIP submission 
for the 2012 PM2.5 NAAQS on December 22, 2015. This proposed 
action only addresses the prong 4 element of that submission.
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    \17\ See 78 FR 3086 (January 15, 2013).
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3. 2010 1-Hour SO2 NAAQS
    On June 2, 2010, the EPA revised the 1-hour primary SO2 
NAAQS to an hourly standard of 75 parts per billion (ppb) based on a 3-
year average of the annual 99th percentile of 1-hour daily maximum 
concentrations.\18\ States were required to submit infrastructure SIP 
submissions for the 2010 1-hour SO2 NAAQS to the EPA no 
later than June 2, 2013. Iowa submitted an infrastructure SIP 
submission for the 2010 1-hour SO2 NAAQS on July 28, 2013. 
This proposed action only addresses the prong 4 element of that 
submission.
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    \18\ See 75 FR 35520 (June 22, 2010).
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4. 2010 1-Hour NO2 NAAQS
    On January 22, 2010, the EPA promulgated a new 1-hour primary NAAQS 
for NO2 at a level of 100 ppb, based on a 3-year average of 
the 98th percentile of the yearly distribution of 1-hour daily maximum 
concentrations.\19\ States were required to submit infrastructure SIP 
submissions for the 2010 1-hour NO2 NAAQS to the EPA no 
later than January 22, 2013. Iowa submitted infrastructure SIP 
submissions for the 2010 1-hour NO2 NAAQS on July 29, 2013. 
This proposed action only addresses the prong 4 element of those 
submissions.
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    \19\ See 75 FR 6474 (February 9, 2010).
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5. 2008 8-Hour Ozone NAAQS
    On March 12, 2008, the EPA revised the 8-hour Ozone NAAQS to 0.075 
parts per million.\20\ States were required to submit infrastructure 
SIP submissions for the 2008 8-hour Ozone NAAQS to the EPA no later 
than March 12, 2011. Iowa submitted an infrastructure SIP for the 2008 
8-hour Ozone NAAQS on January 17, 2013. This proposed action only 
addresses the prong 4 element of that submission.
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    \20\ See 73 FR 16436 (March 27, 2008).
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6. 2015 8-Hour Ozone NAAQS
    On October 1, 2015, the EPA revised the 8-hour Ozone NAAQS to 0.070 
parts per million.\21\ States were required to submit infrastructure 
SIP submissions for the 2015 8-hour Ozone NAAQS to the EPA no later 
than October 1, 2018. Iowa submitted an infrastructure SIP for the 2015 
8-hour Ozone NAAQS on November 30, 2018. This proposed action only 
addresses the prong 4 element of that submission.
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    \21\ See 80 FR 65292 (October 26, 2015).
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C. What are the prong 4 requirements?

    The prong 4 requirement of CAA section 110(a)(2)(D)(i)(II) requires 
a state's implementation plan to contain provisions prohibiting any 
source or other type of emissions activity within the State from 
emitting any air pollutant in amounts which will interfere with 
measures required to be included in the applicable implementation plan 
for any other State under part C of this subchapter to protect 
visibility (which includes sections 169A and 169B). On September 13, 
2013, the EPA issued Guidance on the Infrastructure State 
Implementation Plan (SIP) Elements Under Clean Air Act Sections 
110(a)(1) and 110(a)(2) (``2013 Guidance'').\22\ The EPA developed this 
document to provide states with guidance for infrastructure SIPs for 
any new or revised NAAQS. The 2013 Guidance states that the prong 4 
requirement may be satisfied by an approved SIP provision that the EPA 
has found to adequately address contribution of that state's sources 
that impacts the visibility program requirements in other states. The 
2013 Guidance also states that the

[[Page 43744]]

EPA interprets this prong to be pollutant-specific, such that the 
infrastructure SIP submission need only address the potential for 
interference with protection of visibility caused by the pollutant 
(including precursors) to which the new or revised NAAQS applies.
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    \22\ ``Guidance on the Infrastructure State Implementation Plan 
(SIP) Elements Under Clean Air Act Sections 110(a)(1) and 
110(a)(2)''; Memorandum from Stephen D. Page, September 13, 2013.
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    The 2013 Guidance lays out how a state's infrastructure SIP may 
satisfy prong 4. One way that a state can meet the requirements is via 
confirmation in its infrastructure SIP submission that the state has an 
approved Regional Haze SIP that fully meets the requirements of 40 CFR 
51.308 or 51.309. 40 CFR 51.308 and 51.309 specifically require that a 
state participating in a regional planning process include all measures 
needed to achieve its apportionment of emission reduction obligations 
agreed upon through that process. A fully approved Regional Haze SIP 
will ensure that emissions from sources under an air agency's 
jurisdiction are not interfering with measures required to be included 
in other air agencies' plans to protect visibility.

D. What is the EPA's analysis of how Iowa addressed prong 4 and 
regional haze?

    Each of Iowa's infrastructure SIP submittals (2008 8-hour Ozone, 
2015 8-hour Ozone, 2010 1-hour NO2, 2010 1-hour 
SO2, 2006 24-hour PM2.5, and 2012 annual 
PM2.5) relied on the State having a fully approved Regional 
Haze SIP to satisfy its prong 4 requirements. However, at the time of 
those submittals, the EPA had not fully approved Iowa's Regional Haze 
SIP, as the Agency issued a limited disapproval of the State's original 
Regional Haze plan on June 7, 2012. As detailed earlier in this 
proposed action, the EPA is proposing to convert EPA's limited 
approval/limited disapproval of Iowa's Regional Haze plan to a full 
approval because final approval of Iowa's SIP revision relying on CSAPR 
pursuant to 40 CFR 51.308(e)(4) would correct the deficiencies that led 
to EPA's limited approval/limited disapproval of the State's Regional 
Haze SIP. With this proposed action, the EPA would then fully approve 
Iowa's Regional Haze SIP for the first planning period. Because a state 
may satisfy prong 4 requirements through a fully approved Regional Haze 
SIP, the EPA is therefore also proposing to approve the prong 4 portion 
of Iowa's 2010 1-hour NO2, 2010 1-hour SO2, 2006 
24-hour PM2.5, 2012 annual PM2.5, 2008 8-hour 
Ozone, and 2015 8-hour Ozone infrastructure SIP submissions.

III. Have the requirements for approval of a SIP revision been met?

    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 the Federal Land Managers the draft rule on Febuarary 
28, 2019, providing until April 28, 2019, to receive comments and 
received no comments. The state provided public notice of this SIP 
revision on March 29, 2019, providing until April 29, 2019 to receive 
comments and received no comments. The state held a public hearing on 
April 29, 2019 and received no comments. In addition, as explained 
above, the revision meets the substantive SIP requirements of the CAA, 
including section 110 and implementing regulations.

IV. What action is the the EPA taking?

    The EPA is proposing to take the following actions: approve Iowa's 
SIP submittal relying on CSAPR for certain Regional Haze requirements 
in accordance with the CAA and the Regional Haze Rule (40 CFR 
51.308(e)(4)); withdraw the FIP relying on CSAPR to satisfy those 
requirements; fully approve Iowa's Regional Haze SIP for the first 
planning period; and approve the prong 4 portions for each of the six 
NAAQS identified above. We are soliciting comments on this proposed 
action. Final rulemaking will occur after consideration of any 
comments.

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. 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).
    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, Administrative practice and procedure, 
Air pollution control, Incorporation by reference, Intergovernmental 
relations, Nitrogen dioxide, Ozone, Particulate Matter, Reporting and 
recordkeeping requirements, Sulfur oxides.

    Dated: August 13, 2019.
James B. Gulliford,
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

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

[[Page 43745]]

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

Subpart Q--Iowa

0
2. In Sec.  52.820, the table in paragraph (e) is amended by adding the 
entry ``(51)'' in numerical order to read as follows:

Sec.  52.820  Identification of plan.

* * * * *
    (e) * * *

                                   EPA-Approved Iowa Nonregulatory Provisions
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                                     Applicable
   Name of nonregulatory SIP       geographic or     State submittal
            revision               nonattainment           date        EPA Approval date        Explanation
                                        area
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
                                                  * * * * * * *
(51) Sections 110(a)(2)          Statewide........  1/17/2013; 7/28/   [Date of           This action approves
 Infrastructure Prong 4                              2013; 7/29/2013;   publication of     the following CAA
 Requirements for the 2006 Fine                      7/29/2013; 12/22/  the final rule     elements:
 Particulate Matter, 2012 Fine                       2015; 11/30/       in the Federal     110(a)(2)(D)(i)(II)--
 Particulate Matter, 2010                            2018; 5/14/2019.   Register],         prong 4. [EPA-R07-OAR-
 Nitrogen Dioxide, 2010 Sulfur                                          [Federal           2019-0468; FRL-9998-
 Dioxide, 2008 Ozone, and 2015                                          Register           40-Region 7].
 Ozone NAAQS.                                                           citation of the
                                                                        final rule].
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

0
3. Revise Sec.  52.842 to read as follows:

Sec.  52.842  Visibility protection.

    The requirements of section 169A of the Clean Air Act are met 
because the Regional Haze plan submitted by Iowa on March 25, 2008 and 
supplemented on May 14, 2019, includes fully approvable measures for 
meeting the requirements of the Regional Haze Rule including 40 CFR 
51.308(d)(3) and 51.308(e) with respect to emissions of NOX 
and SO2 from electric generating units.
[FR Doc. 2019-18137 Filed 8-21-19; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6560-50-P