Opinion ID: 187425
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Certifying 8-Hour RACT Based Upon 1-Hour RACT

Text: The Phase 2 Rule provides that a control measure approved as RACT under the 1-hour standard will be approved as RACT under the 8-hour standard absent information indicating it should not be approved. Phase 2 Rule, 70 Fed. Reg. at 71,652/3. Rather than reassessing what constitutes RACT, a state can certify that controls that previously satisfied the RACT requirement also satisfy the requirement under the 8-hour standard. New Jersey contends this provision is contrary to the Act and arbitrary and capricious. In New Jersey’s view the EPA should require a re-analysis for all sources, not just those for which no controls had been considered RACT under the 1-hour standard, see id. at 71,655, because what is “reasonably available” changes over time. Without a re-analysis, New Jersey maintains there is no basis for states to certify that the initial RACT analysis meets the RACT requirement under the 8- hour NAAQS and states may apply outdated RACT controls. New Jersey thus claims that the EPA should have either updated its RACT guidance documents or at least provided uniform criteria for states to use in making RACT certifications. The EPA promulgates two types of guidance that assist states in determining what control techniques meet the RACT requirement, control techniques guidelines (CTGs) and 11 alternative control techniques (ACTs). Section 183 of the Act requires the EPA to issue CTGs for certain categories of sources that emit VOCs. See 42 U.S.C. § 7511b. Where CTGs exist, they establish the presumptive level of control meeting RACT. Phase 2 Rule, 70 Fed. Reg. at 71,654/3. Still, states can opt to require alternative controls rather than following the guidance in the CTGs. Notice of Final Determination and Availability of Final Control Techniques Guidelines, 71 Fed. Reg. 58,745, 58,747 (Oct. 5, 2006). Section 183(c) of the Act requires the EPA to issue ACTs for major sources of VOCs and NOX. 42 U.S.C. § 7511b(c). The ACTs “describe available control techniques and their cost effectiveness” but do not establish presumptive RACT. Phase 2 Rule, 70 Fed. Reg. at 71,654/3. Thus, neither the CTGs nor ACTs set firm RACT requirements. Despite New Jersey’s concerns, the EPA’s certification provision does not conflict with the Act and is not arbitrary and capricious. Although the EPA did not revise the guidance documents, the EPA’s case-by-case approach adequately ensures that RACT determinations will take into account advances in technology. First, the EPA has directed states to consider available information in addition to the CTG and ACT documents when making RACT determinations. Id. at 71,655/1. If a state is presented with information indicating that a previous RACT determination is inappropriate, the state must consider that information and modify its RACT determinations accordingly. Id. Second, when submitting RACT certifications to the EPA as part of their RACT SIP submissions, states must provide supporting information. Id. at 71,655/2. Third, if additional information is presented during notice-and-comment rulemaking, both the state and the EPA are required to consider that information as part of the rulemaking; this includes information presented during notice-and-comment rulemaking for RACT SIP submissions for previously controlled sources. Id. Because the EPA could reasonably conclude that these 12 mechanisms will ensure the case-by-case determinations will take into account advances in technology, the EPA could also reasonably conclude “that the best way to address the possibility that CTGs or ACTs might not reflect all currently available technologies was by requiring each State to consider any new available information in making its certification, which will then be reviewed by the EPA as part of the SIP submission process,” EPA Br. at 67; see also Phase 2 Rule, 70 Fed. Reg. at 71,655/1. See Nat’l Wildlife Fed’n v. EPA, 286 F.3d 554, 566-67 (D.C. Cir. 2002). Likewise, given the assurances that RACT determinations will reflect advances in technology, the EPA’s approach is consistent with the statutory goal of timely attainment of the NAAQS, see CAA §§ 172, 182, 42 U.S.C. §§ 7502, 7511a. Additionally, even if the EPA had revised the national guidelines and provided uniform criteria as New Jersey preferred, such actions would not have eliminated case-by-case inquiries by the states and the EPA. Both the CTGs and ACTs are guidance documents, see Conn. Fund for the Env’t v. EPA, 672 F.2d 998, 1003 (2d Cir. 1982); United States v. Ford Motor Co., 736 F. Supp. 1539, 1543 (W.D. Mo. 1990), and neither sets firm RACT requirements. Thus, despite the existence of the CTGs, the EPA makes case-specific determinations as part of its SIP approval process. Notice of Final Determination and Availability of Final Control Techniques Guidelines, 71 Fed. Reg. at 58,747. ACTs are also merely guidelines and do not create presumptive RACT levels. Phase 2 Rule, 70 Fed. Reg. at 71,654/3. As case-by-case determinations would be necessary even if the EPA had revised the guidance documents, the EPA could reasonably determine that the costs entailed in revising the guidance documents outweighed the benefits. The EPA has discretion to consider the costs of regulation unless the relevant statute precludes such a consideration. See, e.g., Sierra Club, 294 F.3d at 162-63. 13 The EPA’s approach also addresses New Jersey’s concern that allowing states to make RACT determinations by relying on 15-year-old CTGs plus new information, if any, provided by the public in comments is “an inadequate substitute” for requiring each state to undertake a new RACT determination for each source category. As noted, the EPA has directed states to submit supporting documentation along with RACT certifications. Phase 2 Rule, 70 Fed. Reg. at 71,655/2. Thus, the EPA will have available the information needed to verify states’ determinations that the previous controls are still appropriate under the 8-hour standard. Additionally, persons disagreeing with a particular RACT certification can seek judicial review of a particular SIP approval. A state may also complete an entirely new RACT analysis if it so chooses. Id. at 71,652/3. In sum, we hold that the EPA’s decision to forego a revision of the nationwide guidelines in favor of case-by-case RACT certifications was reasonable and not inconsistent with the statutory goal of expeditious attainment. Because the Phase 2 Rule requires each state to verify that previously-required RACT controls still satisfy the RACT requirement, we need not address the EPA’s assertion that a new RACT determination will likely “result in the same or similar control technology as the initial RACT determination under the 1-hour standard because the fundamental control techniques . . . are still applicable.” Id. at 71,654/1. The EPA did not rest the rule upon this ground; each state must “consider new information” — information that may prove the EPA wrong — when the state determines whether previously-required controls “still represent[] an appropriate RACT level of control.” Id. at 71,655/1.