Document ID: EPA-R07-OAR-2021-0171-0001
Agency: epa
Document Type: Proposed Rule
Title: Air Quality State Implementation Plans; Approvals and Promulgations: Nebraska; Revisions to the Nebraska Administrative Code; Rules of Practice and Procedure
Posted Date: 2021-03-19T04:00Z

[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 52 (Friday, March 19, 2021)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 14856-14858]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-05321]

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 Proposed Rules
                                                 Federal Register
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 This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains notices to the public of 
 the proposed issuance of rules and regulations. The purpose of these 
 notices is to give interested persons an opportunity to participate in 
 the rule making prior to the adoption of the final rules.
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  Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 52 / Friday, March 19, 2021 / 
Proposed Rules  

[[Page 14856]]

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[EPA-R07-OAR-2021-0171; FRL-10021-33-Region 7]

Air Plan Approval; Nebraska; Revisions to Title 115 of the 
Nebraska Administrative Code; Rules of Practice and Procedure

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency.

ACTION: Proposed rule.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to 
approve revisions to the State Implementation Plan (SIP) submitted by 
the State of Nebraska on September 24, 2020. This proposed action will 
amend the SIP to revise title 115 of the Nebraska Administrative Code 
``Nebraska Rules of Practice and Procedure.'' Title 115 describes the 
procedures the Nebraska Department of Environment and Energy (NDEE), 
formerly the Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality (NDEQ), will 
follow for proceedings under the Administrative Procedure Act. These 
proceedings include contested cases, rulemaking petitions, and 
declaratory rulings among others. In addition, title 115 contains 
procedures related to submission and review of confidentiality claims 
for trade secrets, public hearing requirements for permits, and other 
fact-finding hearings not covered in other more program specific 
regulatory titles. These proposed changes consolidate five chapters 
into a single chapter by removing duplicative language and 
incorporating by reference model rules of agency procedure promulgated 
by the Attorney General for agency use in accordance with the 
Administrative Procedure Act. The proposed revisions also update 
language; renumber chapters; and make minor wording changes. The 
proposed changes do not substantively change any existing statutory or 
regulatory requirement or impact the stringency of the SIP or air 
quality, do not revise emission limits or procedures, nor do they 
impact the State's ability to attain or maintain the National Ambient 
Air Quality Standards.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before April 19, 2021.

ADDRESSES: You may send comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-R07-
OAR-2021-0171 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: William Stone, Environmental 
Protection Agency, Region 7 Office, Air Quality Planning Branch, 11201 
Renner Boulevard, Lenexa, Kansas 66219; telephone number: (913) 551-
7714; email address: stone.william@epa.gov.

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

Table of Contents

I. Written Comments
II. What is being addressed in this document?
III. Have the requirements for approval of a SIP revision been met?
IV. What action is EPA taking?
V. Incorporation by Reference
VI. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

I. Written Comments

    Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-R07-OAR-2021-
0171, 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?

    EPA is proposing to amend Nebraska's SIP to include revisions to 
title 115 of the Nebraska Administrative Code. The EPA is proposing to 
approve revisions to the Nebraska SIP received on September 24, 2020. 
The revisions are to Title 115--Nebraska Rules of Practice and 
Procedure. These revisions are described in detail in the technical 
support document (TSD) included in the docket for this action.
    EPA is proposing approval of these revisions as they do not 
substantively change any existing statutory or regulatory requirement. 
These revisions do not impact the stringency of the SIP or air quality.

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 public notice of the revisions from February 28, 2019, 
to April 2, 2019, and held a public hearing on April 3, 2019. The state 
received no comments. As explained in more detail in the TSD which is 
part of this docket, the SIP revision submission meets the substantive 
requirements of the Clean Air Act (CAA), including section 110 and 
implementing regulations.

IV. What action is the EPA taking?

    The EPA is proposing to amend the Nebraska SIP by approving the 
State's request to revise Title 115--Nebraska Rules of Practice and 
Procedure. Approval of these revisions will ensure consistency between 
state and federally-approved rules. The EPA has determined that these 
changes will not adversely impact air quality.
    The EPA is processing this as a proposed action because we are

[[Page 14857]]

soliciting comments on this proposed action. Final rulemaking will 
occur after consideration of any comments.

V. Incorporation by Reference

    In this action, the EPA is proposing to include regulatory text in 
a final rule that includes incorporation by reference. In accordance 
with requirements of 1 CFR 51.5, the EPA is proposing to incorporate by 
reference the Nebraska Regulations described in the proposed amendments 
to 40 CFR part 52 set forth below. EPA has made, and will continue to 
make, these materials generally available through www.regulations.gov 
and at the EPA Region 7 Office (please contact the person identified in 
the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section of this preamble for more 
information).

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 Act and applicable 
Federal regulations. 42 U.S.C. 7410(k); 40 CFR 52.02(a). Thus, in 
reviewing SIP submissions, the 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 the National Technology 
Transfer and Advancement Act (NTTA) because this rulemaking does not 
involve technical standards; 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 the 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, Air pollution control, Carbon monoxide, 
Incorporation by reference, Intergovernmental relations, Lead, Nitrogen 
dioxide, Ozone, Particulate matter, Reporting and recordkeeping 
requirements, Sulfur oxides, Volatile organic compounds.

    Dated: March 9, 2021.
Edward H. Chu,
Acting 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:

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

Subpart CC--Nebraska

0
2. In Sec.  52.1420:
0
a. The table in paragraph (c) is amended by revising the entries ``115-
1'', ``115-2'', and ``115-3''; and
0
b. The table in paragraph (c) is amended by removing the entries ``115-
4'', ``115-5'', ``115-6'', ``115-7'', ``115-8'', ``115-9'', and ``115-
10''.
    The revisions read as follows:

Sec.  52.1420  Identification of plan.

* * * * *
    (c) * * *

                                       EPA--Approved Nebraska Regulations
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
     Nebraska                                  State
     citation              Title          effective date       EPA approval date              Explanation
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                STATE OF NEBRASKA
                                       Department of Environmental Quality
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
                                                  * * * * * * *
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                   Title 115--Rules of Practice and Procedure
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
115-1............  Adoption of Model           6/24/2019  [Date of publication of     ..........................
                    Rules.                                 the final rule in the
                                                           Federal Register],
                                                           [Federal Register
                                                           citation of the final
                                                           rule].
115-2............  Confidentiality for         6/24/2019  [Date of publication of     ..........................
                    Trade Secrets.                         the final rule in the
                                                           Federal Register],
                                                           [Federal Register
                                                           citation of the final
                                                           rule].
115-3............  Public Hearings......       6/24/2019  [Date of publication of     ..........................
                                                           the final rule in the
                                                           Federal Register],
                                                           [Federal Register
                                                           citation of the final
                                                           rule].
 
                                                  * * * * * * *
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[[Page 14858]]

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[FR Doc. 2021-05321 Filed 3-18-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P