[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 134 (Monday, July 13, 2020)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 41920-41922]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-13635]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 52
[EPA-R01-OAR-2020-0150; FRL-10011-22-Region 1]
Air Plan Approval; New Hampshire; Negative Declaration for the
Oil and Gas Industry
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Final rule.
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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is approving a State
Implementation Plan (SIP) revision submitted by the State of New
Hampshire. The revision provides the State's determination, via a
negative declaration, that there are no facilities within its borders
subject to EPA's 2016 Control Technique Guideline (CTG) for the oil and
gas industry. The intended effect of this action is to approve this
item into the New Hampshire SIP. This action is being taken under the
Clean Air Act.
[[Page 41921]]
DATES: This rule is effective on August 12, 2020.
ADDRESSES: EPA has established a docket for this action under Docket
Identification No. EPA-R01-OAR-2020-0150. All documents in the docket
are listed on the https://www.regulations.gov website. Although listed
in the index, some information is not publicly available, i.e., CBI or
other information whose disclosure is restricted by statute. Certain
other material, such as copyrighted material, is not placed on the
internet and will be publicly available only in hard copy form.
Publicly available docket materials are available at https://www.regulations.gov, or at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency,
EPA Region 1 Regional Office, Air and Radiation Division, 5 Post Office
Square--Suite 100, Boston, MA. EPA requests that if at all possible,
you contact the contact listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT
section to schedule your inspection. The Regional Office's official
hours of business are Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.,
excluding legal holidays and facility closures due to COVID-19.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Bob McConnell, Environmental Engineer,
Air and Radiation Division (Mail Code 05-2), U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency, Region 1, 5 Post Office Square, Suite 100, Boston,
Massachusetts 02109-3912; (617) 918-1046.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Throughout this document whenever ``we,''
``us,'' or ``our'' is used, we mean EPA.
Table of Contents
I. Background and Purpose
II. Response to Comment
III. Final Action
IV. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews
I. Background and Purpose
On April 6, 2020, EPA published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking
(NPRM; see 85 FR 19116) with an associated Direct Final Rule (DFR; see
85 FR 19087) for the State of New Hampshire. The DFR approved a
negative declaration for New Hampshire for EPA's 2016 Control Technique
Guideline (CTG) for the oil and gas industry. We received one, relevant
adverse comment on the NPRM, and so withdrew the DFR via a Withdrawal
Notice published on June 5, 2020. See 85 FR 34524. Other specific
requirements of the State's submittal and the rationale for EPA's
proposed action are explained in the NPRM and will not be restated
here. Our response to the adverse comment on the NPRM is summarized and
responded to in section II below.
II. Response to Comment
We received one, relevant adverse comment on the NPRM. A summary of
the comment, and our response, follows.
Comment: Did EPA even do any independent review to see if sources
exist within New Hampshire? EPA seems to make a categorical conclusion
about New Hampshire's SIP based simply on where EPA ``believes''
sources are located. EPA should withdraw this illogical conclusion and
affirmatively determine whether the state has sources subject to the
CTG based on a review of the State's SIP and an independent review of
EPA's databases.
Response: First, we note that the commenter does not provide any
information to contradict New Hampshire's finding that no sources
subject to EPA's 2016 CTG for the oil and gas industry exist within the
State. EPA is not aware of any information indicating that a facility
subject to the 2016 oil and gas CTG exists within the State of New
Hampshire. Additionally, we note that EPA has historically allowed
states to submit a negative declaration for a particular CTG category
if the state finds that no sources exist in the state which would be
subject to that CTG. EPA has addressed the idea of negative
declarations numerous times and for various NAAQS including in the
General Preamble to the 1990 Amendments,\1\ the 2006 RACT Q&A Memo,\2\
and the 2008 Ozone Implementation Rule.\3\ In each of these documents,
EPA asserted that if no sources exist in the nonattainment area for a
particular CTG category, the state would be allowed to submit a
negative declaration SIP revision. This principle also applies to
states in the ozone transport region.
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\1\ ``State Implementation Plans; General Preamble for the
Implementation of Title I of the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990,''
(57 FR 13498 at 13512 (April 16, 1992)).
\2\ ``RACT Q's and A's--Reasonably Available Control Technology
RACT: Questions and Answers'' Memorandum from William T. Harnett,
May 18, 2006.
\3\ ``Implementation of the 2008 National Ambient Air Quality
Standards for Ozone: State Implementation Plan Requirements,'' (80
FR 12263 at 12278 (March 6, 2015)).
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Second, we note that New Hampshire's finding is consistent with
information contained within EPA data resources of industrial activity
within the United States, such as the National Emissions Inventory
(NEI) database of sources of air pollution, which is available at:
https://www.epa.gov/air-emissions-inventories/national-emissions-inventory-nei. And last, we note that EPA Region 1 worked with New
Hampshire, and EPA headquarters' technical experts on the CTG, to
review the applicability criteria of EPA's 2016 oil and gas CTG to
assist the State with its determination.
III. Final Action
We are approving a negative declaration for EPA's 2016 CTG entitled
``Control Techniques Guidelines for the Oil and Natural Gas Industry''
into the New Hampshire SIP.
IV. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews
Under the Clean Air Act, 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 Clean Air Act.
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 regulatory action because
this action is not significant 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
[[Page 41922]]
Technology Transfer and Advancement Act of 1995 (15 U.S.C. 272 note)
because application of those requirements would be inconsistent with
the Clean Air Act; 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 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).
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. Section 804, however, exempts from section 801 the
following types of rules: Rules of particular applicability; rules
relating to agency management or personnel; and rules of agency
organization, procedure, or practice that do not substantially affect
the rights or obligations of non-agency parties. 5 U.S.C. 804(3).
Because this is a rule of particular applicability, EPA is not required
to submit a rule report regarding this action under section 801.
Under section 307(b)(1) of the Clean Air Act, petitions for
judicial review of this action must be filed in the United States Court
of Appeals for the appropriate circuit by September 11, 2020. 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, Ozone, Volatile organic compounds.
Dated: June 18, 2020.
Dennis Deziel,
Regional Administrator, EPA Region 1.
For the reasons stated in the preamble, EPA amends Part 52 of
chapter I, title 40 of the Code of Federal Regulations 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.
Subpart EE--New Hampshire
0
2. In Sec. 52.1520, amend paragraph (e) by adding an entry in the
table for ``Negative declaration for the 2016 Control Techniques
Guideline for the Oil and Natural Gas Industry'' at the end of the
table, to read as follows:
Sec. 52.1520 Identification of plan.
* * * * *
(e) * * *
New Hampshire Nonregulatory
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State
Applicable geographic or submittal date/
Name of nonregulatory SIP provision nonattainment area effective EPA approved date \3\ Explanations
date
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* * * * * * *
Negative declaration for the 2016 Statewide............................ 12/20/2019 7/13/2020 [Insert Negative declaration.
Control Techniques Guidelines for Federal Register
the Oil and Natural Gas Industry. citation].
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\3\ In order to determine the EPA effective date for a specific provision listed in this table, consult the Federal Register notice cited in this column
for the particular provision.
[FR Doc. 2020-13635 Filed 7-10-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P