Document ID: EPA-R05-OAR-2021-0936-0001
Agency: epa
Document Type: Proposed Rule
Title: Proposed approval of the Indiana BP Whiting Refinery Temporary Alternative Opacity Limitations
Posted Date: 2022-08-17T04:00Z

[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 158 (Wednesday, August 17, 2022)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 50594-50596]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-17515]

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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[EPA-R05-OAR-2021-0936; FRL-9859-01-R5]

Air Plan Approval; Indiana; Opacity Rule

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Proposed rule.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to 
approve a revision to the Indiana State Implementation Plan (SIP), 
authorizing temporary alternative opacity limitations at the BP 
Products North America, Inc. (BP) facility in Whiting, Indiana during 
startup and shutdown. This proposed action is consistent with the Clean 
Air Act (CAA) and EPA regulations regarding emissions during these 
periods in the refinery sector.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before September 16, 2022.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-R05-
OAR-2021-0936 at https://www.regulations.gov, or via email to 
[email protected]. 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

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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 https://www2.epa.gov/dockets/commenting-epa-dockets.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Matt Rau, Environmental Engineer, 
Control Strategies Section, Air Programs Branch (AR-18J), Environmental 
Protection Agency, Region 5, 77 West Jackson Boulevard, Chicago, 
Illinois 60604, (312) 886-6524, [email protected]. The EPA Region 5 
office is open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, 
excluding Federal holidays and facility closures due to COVID-19.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Throughout this document whenever ``we,'' 
``us,'' or ``our'' is used, we mean EPA.

I. Background

    On December 14, 2021, the Indiana Department of Environmental 
Management (IDEM) submitted a request to EPA to approve an addition to 
its SIP to allow BP a temporary alternative opacity limitation (TAOL) 
measurement for its Whiting, Indiana facility under 326 Indiana 
Administrative Code (IAC) 5-1-3, a revision that is codified at 326 IAC 
5-1-8 and part of the State's SIP for opacity. At 326 IAC 5-1-3(d), the 
rule provides the IDEM Commissioner authority to approve a TAOL where 
they determine it is necessary that alternate TAOL is submitted to EPA 
as a SIP revision.
    BP's Whiting facility currently employs electrostatic precipitators 
(ESPs) as part of its opacity control technology for two fluidized 
catalytic cracking units (FCUs), FCU 500 and FCU 600, used in 
production. BP has demonstrated to the IDEM Commissioner that use of 
these ESPs during periods of startup, shutdown, or hot standby present 
a safety hazard from coke residues on a solid catalyst within the FCUs. 
To address the safety hazard, BP proposed and demonstrated the efficacy 
of control technology borrowed from the National Emission Standards for 
Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP) for Petroleum Refineries: Catalytic 
Cracking Units, Catalytic Reforming Units, and Sulfur Recovery Units, 
which is found at 40 CFR part 63, subpart UUU. BP will maintain the 
inlet velocity to the primary internal cyclones of the FCU catalyst 
regenerator at or above 20 feet per second. Indiana revised 326 IAC 5-
1-8 to include the NESHAP control option as a TAOL for BP's FCU 500 and 
FCU 600 to ease the safety concerns when operating the ESP during these 
nonroutine operations.
    Indiana provided a demonstration of compliance with CAA 110(l), 
which prohibit SIP revisions from interfering with attaining air 
quality standards and reasonable further progress requirements. The 
demonstration notes it is difficult for BP's FCU 500 and FCU 600 to 
meet the opacity limits in 326 IAC 5-1-8 during startup, shutdown, and 
hot standby \1\ events with safety concerns when FCU emissions are 
routed through an active ESP. The demonstration notes that EPA refinery 
rules approved on December 1, 2015 (80 FR 75177), provide work 
practices for FCU startup, shutdown, and hot standby events. BP expects 
these events could occur a few times per year. BP provided data that 
shows it can meet the refinery rules work practice requirements. EPA 
regulations on the refinery sector will limit emissions from BP's FCU 
500 and FCU 600 during periods of startup, shutdown, or hot standby.
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    \1\ Hot standby as defined in the NESHAP at 40 CFR 63.1579.
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II. Analysis of Indiana's Revision

    EPA agrees that the TAOL for BP's Whiting facility follows the 
requirements in the 40 CFR part 63, subpart UUU, NESHAP, that this 
alternative technology conforms to 326 IAC 5-1-3, and that the revision 
to the Indiana SIP is appropriate. This opacity rule revision applies 
to BP's FCU 500 and FCU 600, and BP will be required to follow the same 
requirements contained in the NESHAP for the TAOL. Specifically, BP 
must maintain the inlet velocity to the primary internal cyclones of 
the FCUs at or above 20 feet per second during periods of startup, 
shutdown, or hot standby. This TAOL reflects an established option of a 
relevant NESHAP, which is at least as stringent as the general opacity 
rule. The records and calculations specified in the source specific 
TAOL will be sufficient to show BP Whiting's FCUs are complying with 
the TAOL.

III. What action is EPA taking?

    EPA is proposing to approve Indiana's opacity rule section 326 IAC 
5-1-8 as a revision to the Indiana SIP. The rule revision provides BP's 
FCU 500 and FCU 600 with a TAOL consistent with the requirements of 40 
CFR part 63, subpart UUU.

IV. Incorporation by Reference

    In this rule, EPA is proposing to include in a final EPA rule 
regulatory text that includes incorporation by reference. In accordance 
with requirements of 1 CFR 51.5, EPA is proposing to incorporate by 
reference Indiana Rule 326 IAC 5-1-8, effective December 8, 2021, as 
discussed in Section I of this preamble. 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).

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 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);
     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);

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     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 proposed rule does not have tribal implications and will 
not impose substantial direct costs on tribal governments or preempt 
tribal law as specified by Executive Order 13175 (65 FR 67249, November 
9, 2000).

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 52

    Environmental protection, Air pollution control, Incorporation by 
reference, Intergovernmental relations, Particulate matter, Reporting 
and recordkeeping requirements.

    Dated: August 9, 2022.
Debra Shore,
Regional Administrator, Region 5.
[FR Doc. 2022-17515 Filed 8-16-22; 8:45 am]
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