Approval and Promulgation of Implementation Plans; State of Alabama; Regional Haze State Implementation Plan, 38515-38523 [2012-15475]
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Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 125 / Thursday, June 28, 2012 / Rules and Regulations
copy of the rule, to each House of the
Congress and to the Comptroller General
of the United States. EPA will submit a
report containing this rule and other
required information to the U.S. Senate,
the U.S. House of Representatives, and
the Comptroller General of the United
States prior to publication of the rule in
the Federal Register. A major rule
cannot take effect until 60 days after it
is published in the Federal Register.
This action is not a ‘‘major rule’’ as
defined by 5 U.S.C. 804(2).
K. Petitions for Judicial Review
Under section 307(b)(1) of the CAA,
petitions for judicial review of this
action must be filed in the United States
Court of Appeals for the appropriate
circuit by August 27, 2012. Filing a
petition for reconsideration by the
Administrator of this final rule does not
affect the finality of this rule 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).
38515
Dated: June 13, 2012.
A. Stanley Meiburg,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region 4.
Therefore, 40 CFR part 52 is amended
as follows:
PART 52—[AMENDED]
1. The authority citation for part 52
continues to read as follows:
■
List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 52
Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.
Environmental protection, Air
pollution control, Incorporation by
reference, Intergovernmental relations,
Nitrogen dioxide, Particulate matter,
Reporting and recordkeeping
requirements, Sulfur oxides, Volatile
organic compounds.
Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.
2. Section 52.2120 (e) is amended by
adding an entry for ‘‘Regional Haze
Plan’’ at the end of the table to read as
follows:
■
§ 52.2120
*
Identification of plan.
*
*
(e) * * *
*
*
EPA-APPROVED SOUTH CAROLINA NON-REGULATORY PROVISIONS
Provision
State effective date
*
*
*
Regional haze plan ....................................................................
*
12/17/2007
3. Section 52.2132 is amended by
removing and reserving paragraph (a) to
read as follows:
■
§ 52.2132
Visibility protection.
(a) [Reserved]
*
*
*
*
*
[FR Doc. 2012–15465 Filed 6–27–12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560–50–P
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
AGENCY
40 CFR Part 52
[EPA–R04–OAR–2009–0782; FRL–9691–8]
Approval and Promulgation of
Implementation Plans; State of
Alabama; Regional Haze State
Implementation Plan
Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Final rule.
AGENCY:
EPA is finalizing a limited
approval of a revision to the Alabama
State Implementation Plan (SIP)
submitted by the State of Alabama
through the Alabama Department of
Environmental Management (ADEM) on
July 15, 2008. Alabama’s July 15, 2008,
SIP revision addresses regional haze for
the first implementation period.
Specifically, this SIP revision addresses
the requirements of the Clean Air Act
(CAA or Act) and EPA’s rules that
require states to prevent any future and
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SUMMARY:
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EPA approval date
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remedy any existing anthropogenic
impairment of visibility in mandatory
Class I areas (national parks and
wilderness areas) caused by emissions
of air pollutants from numerous sources
located over a wide geographic area
(also referred to as the ‘‘regional haze
program’’). States are required to assure
reasonable progress toward the national
goal of achieving natural visibility
conditions in Class I areas. EPA is
finalizing a limited approval of
Alabama’s July 15, 2008, SIP revision to
implement the regional haze
requirements for Alabama on the basis
that this SIP revision, as a whole,
strengthens the Alabama SIP.
Additionally, EPA is rescinding the
federal regulations previously approved
into the Alabama SIP on November 24,
1987, and approving the provisions in
Alabama’s July 15, 2008, SIP submittal
to meet the long-term strategy (LTS)
requirements for reasonably attributable
visibility impairment (RAVI). In a
separate action published on June 7,
2012, EPA finalized a limited
disapproval of this same SIP revision
because of the deficiencies in the State’s
regional haze SIP revision arising from
the remand by the U.S. Court of Appeals
for the District of Columbia Circuit (DC
Circuit) to EPA of the Clean Air
Interstate Rule (CAIR).
DATES: Effective Date: This rule will be
effective July 30, 2012, except for the
amendment to § 52.61, which is
effective on August 7, 2012.
Explanation
*
[Insert citation of publication].
EPA has established a
docket for this action under Docket
Identification No. EPA–R04–OAR–
2009–0782. All documents in the docket
are listed on the www.regulations.gov
Web site. Although listed in the index,
some information is not publicly
available, i.e., Confidential Business
Information 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 either electronically through
www.regulations.gov or in hard copy at
the Regulatory Development Section,
Air Planning Branch, Air, Pesticides and
Toxics Management Division, U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency,
Region 4, 61 Forsyth Street SW.,
Atlanta, Georgia 30303–8960. EPA
requests that if at all possible, you
contact the person listed in the FOR
FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section
for further information. The Regional
Office’s official hours of business are
Monday through Friday, 8:30 to 4:30,
excluding federal holidays.
ADDRESSES:
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Michele Notarianni, Regulatory
Development Section, Air Planning
Branch, Air, Pesticides and Toxics
Management Division, U.S.
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Environmental Protection Agency,
Region 4, 61 Forsyth Street SW.,
Atlanta, Georgia 30303–8960. Michele
Notarianni can be reached at telephone
number (404) 562–9031 and by
electronic mail at
notarianni.michele@epa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Table of Contents
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I. What is the background for this final
action?
II. What is EPA’s response to comments
received on this action?
III. What is the effect of this final action?
IV. Final Action
V. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews
I. What is the background for this final
action?
Regional haze is visibility impairment
that is produced by a multitude of
sources and activities which are located
across a broad geographic area and emit
fine particles (e.g., sulfates, nitrates,
organic carbon, elemental carbon, and
soil dust), and their precursors (e.g.,
sulfur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen oxides
(NOX), and in some cases, ammonia and
volatile organic compounds. Fine
particle precursors react in the
atmosphere to form fine particulate
matter (PM2.5) which impairs visibility
by scattering and absorbing light.
Visibility impairment reduces the
clarity, color, and visible distance that
one can see. PM2.5 can also cause
serious health effects and mortality in
humans and contributes to
environmental effects such as acid
deposition and eutrophication.
In section 169A of the 1977
Amendments to the CAA, Congress
created a program for protecting
visibility in the nation’s national parks
and wilderness areas. This section of the
CAA establishes as a national goal the
‘‘prevention of any future, and the
remedying of any existing, impairment
of visibility in mandatory Class I areas
which impairment results from
manmade air pollution.’’ On December
2, 1980, EPA promulgated regulations to
address visibility impairment in Class I
areas that is ‘‘reasonably attributable’’ to
a single source or small group of
sources, i.e., ‘‘reasonably attributable
visibility impairment.’’ See 45 FR
80084. These regulations represented
the first phase in addressing visibility
impairment. EPA deferred action on
regional haze that emanates from a
variety of sources until monitoring,
modeling, and scientific knowledge
about the relationships between
pollutants and visibility impairment
were improved.
Congress added section 169B to the
CAA in 1990 to address regional haze
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issues. EPA promulgated a rule to
address regional haze on July 1, 1999
(64 FR 35713), the Regional Haze Rule
(RHR). The RHR revised the existing
visibility regulations to integrate into
the regulation provisions addressing
regional haze impairment and
established a comprehensive visibility
protection program for Class I areas. The
requirements for regional haze, found at
40 CFR 51.308 and 51.309, are included
in EPA’s visibility protection
regulations at 40 CFR 51.300–309. The
requirement to submit a regional haze
SIP applies to all 50 states, the District
of Columbia, and the Virgin Islands. 40
CFR 51.308(b) requires states to submit
the first implementation plan
addressing regional haze visibility
impairment no later than December 17,
2007.
On July 15, 2008, ADEM submitted a
revision to Alabama’s SIP to address
regional haze in the State’s and other
states’ Class I areas. On February 28,
2012, EPA published an action
proposing a limited approval of
Alabama’s July 15, 2008, SIP revision to
address the first implementation period
for regional haze.1 See 77 FR 11937. EPA
proposed a limited approval of
Alabama’s July 15, 2008, SIP revision to
implement the regional haze
requirements for Alabama on the basis
that this revision, as a whole,
strengthens the Alabama SIP. See
section II of this rulemaking for a
summary of the comments received on
the proposed actions and EPA’s
responses to these comments. Detailed
background information and EPA’s
rationale for the proposed action is
provided in EPA’s February 28, 2012,
proposed rulemaking. See 77 FR 11937.
Following the remand of CAIR, EPA
issued a new rule in 2011 to address the
interstate transport of NOX and SO2 in
the eastern United States. See 76 FR
48208 (August 8, 2011) (‘‘the Transport
Rule,’’ also known as the Cross-State Air
Pollution Rule (CSAPR)). On December
30, 2011, EPA proposed to find that the
trading programs in the Transport Rule
would achieve greater reasonable
progress towards the national goal of
achieving natural visibility conditions
than would best available retrofit
technology (BART) in the states in
which the Transport Rule applies
(including Alabama). See 76 FR 82219.
1 In a separate action, published on June 7, 2012
(77 FR 33642), EPA finalized a limited disapproval
of the Alabama regional haze SIP because of
deficiencies in the State’s regional haze SIP
submittal arising from the State’s reliance on CAIR
to meet certain regional haze requirements. This
final limited disapproval triggers a 24-month clock
by which a Federal Implementation Plan (FIP) or
EPA-approved SIP must be in place to address the
deficiencies.
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Based on this proposed finding, EPA
also proposed to revise the RHR to allow
states to substitute participation in the
trading programs under the Transport
Rule for source-specific BART. EPA
finalized this finding and RHR revision
on June 7, 2012 (77 FR 33642).
Also on December 30, 2011, the DC
Circuit stayed the Transport Rule
(including the provisions that would
have sunset CAIR and the CAIR FIPs)
and instructed the EPA to continue to
administer CAIR pending the outcome
of the court’s decision on the petitions
for review challenging the Transport
Rule. EME Homer City v. EPA, No. 11–
1302.
II. What is EPA’s response to comments
received on this action?
EPA received two sets of comments
on the February 28, 2012, rulemaking
proposing a limited approval of
Alabama’s July 15, 2008, regional haze
SIP revision. Specifically, the comments
were received from the Sierra Club and
ADEM. Full sets of the comments
provided by all of the aforementioned
entities (hereinafter referred to as ‘‘the
Commenter’’) are provided in the docket
for today’s final action. A summary of
the comments and EPA’s responses are
provided below.
Comment 1: The Commenter does not
believe that ADEM can rely on CAIR or
the Transport Rule to exempt the eight
power plants with BART-eligible
electric generating units (EGUs) from an
SO2 and NOX BART analysis. The
Commenter enclosed letters that it
submitted to EPA on February 28, 2012,
with its comments on the Agency’s
proposed December 30, 2011,
rulemaking to find that the Transport
Rule is ‘‘better than BART’’ and to use
the Transport Rule as an alternative to
BART for Alabama and other states
subject to the Transport Rule. See 76 FR
82219. The Commenter incorporates the
comments in this letter by reference and
repeats a subset of those comments,
including the following: The Transport
Rule cannot serve as a BART alternative
for the regional haze SIP process in
Alabama; EPA has not demonstrated
that the Transport Rule assures greater
reasonable progress than source-specific
BART; EPA failed to account for the
geographical and temporal uncertainties
in emissions reductions inherent in a
cap-and-trade program such as the
Transport Rule; EPA underestimated the
visibility improvements from BART
using ‘‘presumptive BART, rather than
actual BART;’’ ‘‘case specific BART
determinations for SO2 emissions from
EGUs in Alabama would almost
certainly ensure greater progress than
would be achieved by CSAPR;’’ and
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EPA has not accounted for the
differences in averaging time under
BART, the Transport Rule, and in
measuring visibility impacts.
Response 1: These comments are
beyond the scope of this rulemaking. In
today’s rule, EPA is finalizing a limited
approval of Alabama’s regional haze
SIP. EPA did not propose to find that
participation in the Transport Rule is an
alternative to BART in this action nor
did EPA reopen discussions on the
CAIR provisions as they relate to
BART.2 As noted above, EPA proposed
to find that the Transport Rule is ‘‘Better
than BART’’ and to use the Transport
Rule as an alternative to BART for
Alabama in a separate action on
December 30, 2011, and the Commenter
is merely reiterating and incorporating
its comments on that separate action.
EPA addressed these comments
concerning the Transport Rule as a
BART alternative in a final action that
was published on June 7, 2012, and has
determined that they do not affect the
Agency’s ability to finalize a limited
approval of Alabama’s regional haze
SIP. EPA’s responses to these comments
can be found in Docket ID No. EPA–
HQ–OAR–2011–0729 at
www.regulations.gov.
Comment 2: The Commenter asserts
that because ‘‘the BART component of
Alabama’s RH SIP is an essential
element to the state’s LTS for achieving
it RPGs, Alabama’s treatment of CAIR
(and now EPA’s proposed substitution
of CSAPR for CAIR) as an acceptable
BART-alternative must be addressed in
this present comment process.
Separating the BART analysis from the
remaining portion of the RH SIP would
result in an inadequate SIP.’’ The
Commenter supports its position by
repeating statements made in its
February 28, 2012, comments on the
Agency’s proposed December 30, 2011,
rulemaking to find that the Transport
Rule is ‘‘Better than BART’’ and to use
the Transport Rule as an alternative to
BART for Alabama and other states
subject to the Transport Rule. For
example, the Commenter states that
‘‘EPA cannot exempt sources from the
RHR’s BART requirements without full
consideration of how that exemption
would affect the overarching reasonable
progress mandate.’’
Response 2: As discussed in the
response to Comment 1, today’s action
does not address reliance on CAIR or
CSAPR to satisfy BART requirements.
2 In
a final action published on July 6, 2005, EPA
addressed similar comments related to CAIR and
determined that CAIR makes greater reasonable
progress than BART for certain EGUs and pollutants
(70 FR 39138). EPA did not reopen comment on
that issue through this rulemaking.
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Comments related to the approvability
of CAIR or CSAPR for the Alabama
regional haze SIP are therefore beyond
the scope of this rulemaking and were
addressed by EPA in a separate action
published on June 7, 2012 (77 FR
33642). EPA addressed the Commenter’s
repeated statements regarding the
interrelatedness of BART, the LTS, and
RPGs in that final rulemaking action
and those responses support this limited
approval action.3
EPA believes the Commenter
overstates the overarching nature of the
changes due to CAIR or CSAPR. The
reliance on CAIR in the Alabama
submittal was consistent with EPA
policy at the time the submittal was
prepared. CSAPR is a replacement for
CAIR, addressing the same regional EGU
emissions, with many similar regulatory
attributes. The need to address changes
to the LTS resulting from the
replacement of CAIR with CSAPR was
acknowledged in the proposal, and as
stated in the proposal, EPA believes that
the five-year progress report is the
appropriate time to address any changes
to the RPG demonstration and, if
necessary, the LTS. EPA expects that
this demonstration will address the
impacts on the RPG due to the
replacement of CAIR with CSAPR as
well as other adjustments to the
projected 2018 emissions due to
updated information on the emissions
for other sources and source categories.
If this assessment determines an
adjustment to the regional haze plan is
necessary, EPA regulations require a SIP
revision within a year of the five-year
progress report.
Comment 3: The Commenter believes
that Alabama should have considered
the cumulative impacts of the
particulate matter (PM) emissions from
the State’s PM BART-eligible EGUs
when performing BART exemption
modeling and that the State should not
have modeled these sources in isolation
of one another or without regard to PM
emissions from sources in other states
which impact the Sipsey Wilderness
Area (Sipsey) or any Class I area. The
Commenter also believes that ADEM
should have considered both filterable
3 See EPA, Response to Comments Document,
Regional Haze: Revisions to Provisions Governing
Alternatives to Source-Specific Best Available
Retrofit Technology (BART) Determinations,
Limited SIP Disapprovals, and Federal
Implementation Plans (76 FR 82219; December 30,
2011), Docket Number EPA–HQ–OAR–2011–0729
(May 30, 2012), pages 49–51 (noting that EPA
‘‘disagree[s] with comments that we cannot evaluate
the BART requirements in isolation from the
reasonable progress requirements. We have on
several occasions undertaken evaluations of a
state’s BART determination or promulgated a FIP
separately from our evaluation of whether the SIP
as a whole will ensure reasonable progress.’’).
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38517
and condensable PM when conducting
this modeling.
Response 3: As discussed in the
proposal, (see section IV.C.6.B.2,
February 28, 2012, 77 FR 11950–11951),
Alabama adequately justified its
contribution threshold of 0.5 deciview.
While states have the discretion to set
an appropriate contribution threshold
considering the number of emissions
sources affecting the Class I area at issue
and the magnitude of the individual
sources’ impacts, the states’ analysis
must be consistent with the CAA, the
RHR, and EPA’s Guidelines for BART
Determinations Under the Regional
Haze Rule at Appendix Y to 40 CFR part
51 (BART Guidelines). Consistent with
the regulations and EPA’s guidance,
‘‘the contribution threshold should be
used to determine whether an
individual source is reasonably
anticipated to contribute to visibility
impairment. You should not aggregate
the visibility effects of multiple sources
and compare their collective effects
against your contribution threshold
because this would inappropriately
create a ‘contribution to contribution’
test.’’ See also 70 FR 39121. Alabama’s
analysis in the regional haze SIP
revision was consistent with EPA’s
regulations and guidance on the issue of
cumulative analyses.
It is unclear what condensable PM
emissions the Commenter believes that
the State should have included in its
visibility modeling. Each of the units
evaluated for BART in Alabama’s
regional haze SIP followed the Visibility
Improvement State and Tribal
Association of the Southeast (VISTAS)
modeling protocol and considered the
contribution of total PM10 and PM2.5 (as
a subset of the total PM10) as well as
condensable PM (primarily sulfuric acid
mist) (see Appendix H.9 of Alabama’s
regional haze SIP). Regarding modeling
in Alabama’s submittal that uses PM
only for its BART-eligible EGUs, EPA
previously determined that this
approach is appropriate for EGUs where
the State proposed to rely on CAIR to
satisfy the BART requirements for SO2
and NOX.4
Comment 4: The Commenter
disagrees with ADEM’s BART analyses
for the five BART eligible-units at the
Solutia, Inc., facility in Decatur,
Alabama, as well as its analyses for the
seven BART-eligible units at
International Paper’s Courtland,
4 Regional Haze Regulations and Guidelines for
Best Available Retrofit Technology (BART)
Determinations, EPA Memorandum from Joseph
Paisie, Group Leader, Geographic Strategies Group,
OAQPS, to Kay Prince, Branch Chief, EPA Region
4, July 19, 2006, located at: https://www.epa.gov/
visibility/pdfs/memo_2006_07_19.pdf.
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Alabama, facility (International Paper).
In particular, the Commenter states that
Alabama’s BART analyses failed to
consider all available retrofit
technologies. The Commenter identified
combustion controls that ‘‘should be
considered for NOX BART’’ including:
flue gas recirculation, overfire air, low
NOX burners, and ultra low NOX
burners; as well as post-combustion
controls such as: selective catalytic
reduction (SCR) and selective noncatalytic reduction (SNCR). Regarding
SO2 BART, the Commenter believes that
ADEM should have considered
additional controls such as: ‘‘a number
of post-combustion flue gas
desulfurization options’’ (e.g., dry
sorbent injection, spray dryer absorbers,
wet scrubbers, circulating dry scrubbers)
as well as fuel switching (e.g., switching
from coal to oil). For PM BART, the
Commenter identifies the following
controls for consideration: changing the
operation of any air pre-heaters;
installing fabric filters or baghouses;
installing or upgrading electrostatic
precipitators (ESPs); switching to wet
ESPs; upgrading electrodes (e.g.,
possibly changing from wire to rigid
discharge electrode); switching to ‘‘a
lower sulfur coal or a different sort or
blend of fuel;’’ addition of a trona
injection system; installation of
scrubbers; and upgrading any existing
scrubbers. The Commenter believes that
Alabama should have considered all of
the above-mentioned control options
when conducting its BART analyses,
regardless of their comparative costs.
The Commenter also contends that
ADEM: Ignored less costly yet equally
efficient controls; should have fully
considered options for improving
existing controls instead of just those
involving a complete replacement of
control devices (e.g., ESP upgrade
options);’’ should have evaluated
different combinations of controls in
making its BART determinations; and
must ensure that current controls are
actually operating at BART levels where
ADEM concluded that those controls are
BART. Finally, the Commenter believes
that it is not possible to determine if the
proper costing methodology was
followed by these sources ‘‘without
supporting data in the docket.’’
Response 4: As stated in EPA’s BART
Guidelines, available retrofit control
options are those air pollution control
technologies with a practical potential
for application to the emissions unit and
the regulated pollutant under
evaluation. In identifying ‘‘all’’ options,
a state must identify the most stringent
option and a reasonable set of options
for analysis that reflects a
comprehensive list of available
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technologies. It is not necessary to list
all permutations of available control
levels that exist for a given technology;
the list is complete if it includes the
maximum level of control that each
technology is capable of achieving.5
Attachment H–6 to Appendix H of the
State’s regional haze SIP submittal
summarizes the State’s assessment of
the available strategies evaluated at each
facility for BART, including many of the
control options that the Commenter
believes were ignored by ADEM;
assesses the five statutory BART factors,
including ADEM’s estimates of the costs
of control sufficient to identify and
evaluate the cost methodology
employed; and describes ADEM’s basis
for accepting or rejecting each measure
as BART. For example, ADEM notes in
Appendix H that Solutia has already
installed a rotating opposed fired air
combustion control system to reduce
NOX formation from Boiler No. 7.
ADEM identified SNCR and SCR as
available post-combustion control
options for this unit and noted that
modeling for all of the NOX control
options evaluated indicated relatively
small to no reduction in visibility
impacts, even with the maximum
additional NOX control. In considering
the five BART statutory factors for this
unit, ADEM relied most heavily on the
lack of visibility improvement at any
federal Class I areas as the basis for its
BART determination. Modeling lesser
options would not have changed this
result. Similar analyses and similar
results were attained for all the BARTsubject units at this facility and at
International Paper. EPA has reviewed
ADEM’s analyses and concluded they
were conducted in a manner that is
consistent with EPA’s BART Guidelines
and reflect a reasonable application of
EPA’s guidance to these sources.
Emissions limits for these operations are
contained in the State’s title V permits
for these facilities.
Comment 5: The Commenter
disagrees with ADEM’s methodology for
identifying pollutants and sources
subject to a reasonable progress
analysis. The concerns identified by the
Commenter include an ‘‘incomplete
identification of emissions units likely
to have the largest impacts on visibility’’
at federal Class I areas; improper
reliance on CAIR to exempt out-of-state
EGUs from conducting reasonable
progress analyses; and a failure to
identify and consider all proposed
major new sources or major
modifications to sources within and
outside of the State.
5 EPA’s
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Regarding in-state sources, the
Commenter notes that ADEM’s SO2 area
of influence (AOI) methodology
captured only 55 percent of the total
point source SO2 contribution to
visibility impairment in Sipsey and only
61–73 percent of the total contribution
at federal Class I areas in neighboring
states. The Commenter believes that,
due to cumulative impacts, the
reasonable progress analysis should
have encompassed a greater number of
units with SO2 emissions that impact
the State’s Class I area and that
Alabama’s LTS should have further
considered reducing NOX and ammonia
emissions.
For the out-of-state CAIR EGUs that
impact Alabama’s Class I area, the
Commenter believes that ADEM must
conduct reasonable progress control
analyses in order to determine which
emissions control measures would be
needed at these EGUs to make
reasonable progress toward improving
visibility at Sipsey and reiterates
statements made in its aforementioned
February 28, 2012, comment letter
regarding EPA’s December 30, 2011,
proposed rule.
Regarding proposed major new
sources or major modifications new
sources, the Commenter states that there
is no evidence that Alabama’s regional
haze SIP submittal complies with the
requirement in 40 CFR 51.306(d) that
the LTS provides for review of the
impacts from any new major stationary
source or major modifications on
visibility in any mandatory Class I area
in accordance with 40 CFR 51.307,
51.166, 51.160 and any binding
guidance insofar as these provisions
pertain to protection of visibility.
According to the Commenter, ADEM
should have identified these sources
and any increases in emissions resulting
from installation and operation of new
pollution controls (e.g., increased
ammonia emissions from new SCRs and
SNCRs) and considered them in a
cumulative impact analysis for Sipsey.
Response 5: Concerning the State’s
AOI methodology for the identification
of emission units for reasonable
progress evaluation, as noted in EPA’s
Reasonable Progress Guidance 6 and
discussed further in EPA’s February 28,
2012, proposal action on the Alabama
regional haze SIP submittal (77 FR
11949), the RHR gives states wide
latitude to determine additional control
requirements, and there are many ways
6 Guidance for Setting Reasonable Progress Goals
Under the Regional Haze Program, July 1, 2007,
memorandum from William L. Wehrum, Acting
Assistant Administrator for Air and Radiation, to
EPA Regional Administrators, EPA Regions 1–10
(‘‘EPA’s Reasonable Progress Guidance’’), page 4–2.
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to approach identifying additional
reasonable measures as long as they
consider the four statutory factors.
Further, states have considerable
flexibility in how to take these factors
into consideration. EPA’s Reasonable
Progress Guidance recognizes that there
are numerous ways to approach
development of the LTS and to focus on
those source categories that may have
the greatest impact on visibility at Class
1 areas, considering the statutory factors
at a minimum.7 Significant control
programs are being implemented
nationally and across the southeast
during the first implementation period,
as described in chapter 7 of Alabama’s
regional haze SIP submittal. The impact
of programs such as CAIR, CSAPR, and
the NOX SIP Call are being realized
regionally, and the implementation of
these programs in Alabama will
significantly reduce emissions and
improve visibility at Sipsey and at
federal Class I areas outside Alabama.
Regarding its reliance on CAIR, the
State took into account emissions
reductions expected from CAIR to
determine the 2018 reasonable progress
goals (RPGs) for its Class I areas. This
approach was fully consistent with EPA
guidance at the time of SIP
development. ADEM determined that no
additional SO2 controls beyond CAIR
are reasonable for its EGUs in the first
implementation period based on the
State’s review of the statutory factors
(i.e., the costs of compliance, the time
necessary for compliance, the energy
and non-air quality environmental
impacts of compliance, and the
remaining useful life of any potentially
affected sources) as evaluated by EPA
for CAIR, and that CAIR is expected to
reduce EGU SO2 emissions by
approximately 70 percent.
Regarding the consideration of new
sources and major modifications, the
Alabama regional haze SIP revisions
subject to this rulemaking address the
regional haze requirements of 40 CFR
51.308 whereas the regulation cited by
the Commenter, 40 CFR 51.306(d), 40
CFR 51.307, 51.166, and 51.160, are
specific to the new source review (NSR)
requirements for RAVI. Furthermore, as
identified in footnote 19 of EPA’s the
February 28, 2012, proposed rulemaking
77 FR 11955, Alabama has already
addressed the NSR requirements for
visibility (40 CFR 51.307) and RAVI LTS
(40 CFR 51.306) in its SIP. New sources
and major modifications are also
explicitly part of the emissions
inventory used to project future
conditions.
7 EPA’s Reasonable Progress Guidance, pages
4–1, 4–2.
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The projected inventories for 2009
and 2018 account for post-2002
emissions reductions from promulgated
and proposed federal, state, local, and
site-specific control programs and
account for expected growth in
emissions from new sources. For EGUs,
the Integrated Planning Model was run
to estimate emissions of the proposed
and existing units in 2009 and 2018.
These results were adjusted based on
state and local air agencies’ knowledge
of planned emissions controls at
specific EGUs. For non-EGUs, VISTAS
used recently updated growth and
control data consistent with the data
used in EPA’s CAIR analyses
supplemented by state and local air
agencies’ data and updated forecasts
from the U.S. Department of Energy.
These updates are documented in the
MACTEC emissions inventory report
‘‘Documentation of the 2002 Base Year
and 2009 and 2018 Projection Year
Emission Inventories for VISTAS’’ dated
February 2007 (Appendix D of
Alabama’s regional haze SIP submittal).
The technical information provided in
the record demonstrates that the
emissions inventory in the SIP
adequately reflects projection 2018
conditions and that the LTS meets the
requirements of the RHR and is
approvable. EPA finds that these
inventories provide a reasonable
assessment of future emissions from
North Carolina sources.
Comment 6: The Commenter believes
that ADEM improperly exempted
several sources from a reasonable
progress evaluation for SO2 even though
the State determined that these sources
were above its minimum threshold for
performing such an analysis and
reiterates statements made in its
aforementioned February 28, 2012,
comment letters regarding EPA’s
December 30, 2011, proposed rule. The
Commenter disagrees with ADEM’s
decision to exempt EGUs subject to
CAIR from conducting reasonable
progress analyses. As for non-EGUs
subject to BART, the Commenter
accepts ADEM’s conclusion that the
BART determinations satisfy
requirements under the RHR’s
reasonable progress provisions for
International Paper and Solutia;
however, the Commenter disagrees with
Alabama’s BART determinations for
these units.
Response 6: See the response to
Comment 5 regarding the State’s
determination that no additional SO2
controls beyond CAIR are reasonable for
its EGUs in the first implementation
period. Regarding the BART
determinations for non-EGUs, EPA has
reviewed the ADEM analyses and
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concluded they were conducted in a
manner that is consistent with EPA’s
BART Guidelines and reflect a
reasonable application of EPA’s
guidance to these sources (see response
to Comment 4).
Comment 7: According to the
Commenter, the cost effectiveness
analysis used to make the reasonable
progress determination for the Cargill,
Inc. facility (Cargill) was flawed, and
therefore, EPA cannot approve
Alabama’s proposed SIP. The
Commenter contends that the inputs
used for the efficiency of the pollution
controls analyzed and the costs
attributed to those controls were
improper.
Response 7: Cargill shut down
operations of this facility in 2009 and
sold the site to DeBruce Grain in August
2010. DeBruce Grain plans to operate a
grain handling, shipping, and storage
facility and is no longer expected to be
a main contributor to regional haze.
Comment 8: The Commenter states
that ADEM improperly estimated
emissions reductions for 2018 and that
Alabama’s projection of future visibility
conditions for 2018 is based on
‘‘uncertain federal and state pollution
control projects, including, in large part,
on the emissions reductions anticipated
from CAIR.’’ The Commenter also
believes that anticipated emissions
reductions resulting from the other
control programs considered by
Alabama (e.g., Industrial Boiler MACT,
the Atlanta/Birmingham/Northern
Kentucky 1997 8-hour ozone
nonattainment area SIP) are just as
uncertain as those resulting under CAIR
and the Transport Rule, and that
Alabama ‘‘need[s] to base its LTS on
concrete, definite SO2 emissions
reductions.’’ Because of the alleged
uncertainty of the actual reductions
predicted under the pollution control
programs identified by the Commenter,
the Commenter believes that additional
SO2 reductions are necessary at this
time to ensure that Alabama’s RPGs are
met. The Commenter requests that, at a
minimum, EPA should ensure that
ADEM follows through on its
commitment to re-evaluate its ability to
meet its RPGs in the five-year progress
review. While the Commenter
acknowledges that the RPGs exceed the
uniform rate of progress and are
projected to be met, it contends that the
State should ‘‘go beyond the URP
[uniform rate of progress] analysis in
establishing RPGs and do everything it
can to ensure visibility impacts to
affected Class I areas are reduced.’’
Response 8: The technical
information provided in the record
demonstrates that the emissions
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inventory in the SIP adequately reflects
projected 2018 conditions and should
be approved. Alabama’s 2018
projections are based on the State’s
technical analysis of the anticipated
emissions rates and level of activity for
EGUs, other point sources, nonpoint
sources, on-road sources, and off-road
sources based on their emissions in the
2002 base year, considering growth and
additional emissions controls to be in
place and federally enforceable by 2018.
The emissions inventory used in the
regional haze technical analyses that
was developed by VISTAS with
assistance from Alabama projected 2002
emissions (the latest region-wide
inventory available at the time the
submittal was being developed) and
applied reductions expected from
federal and state regulations affecting
the emissions of volatile organic
compounds and the visibility impairing
pollutants NOX, PM, and SO2.
To minimize the differences between
the 2018 projected emissions used in
the Alabama regional haze submittal
and what actually occurs in 2018, the
RHR requires that the five-year review
address any expected significant
differences due to changed
circumstances from the initial 2018
projected emissions, provide updated
expectations regarding emissions for the
implementation period, and evaluate
the impact of these differences on RPGs.
It is expected that individual projections
within a statewide inventory will vary
from actual emissions over a 16-year
period. For example, some facilities
shut down whereas others expand
operations. Furthermore, economic
projections and population changes
used to estimate growth often differ
from actual events; new rules are
modified, changing their expected
effectiveness; and methodologies to
estimate emissions improve, modifying
emissions estimates. The five-year
review is a mechanism to assure that
these expected differences from
projected emissions are considered and
their impact on the 2018 RPGs is
evaluated. In the regional haze program,
uncertainties associated with modeled
emissions projections into the future are
addressed through the requirement
under the RHR to submit periodic
progress reports in the form of a SIP
revision. Specifically, 40 CFR 51.308(g)
requires each state to submit a report
every five years evaluating progress
toward the RPGs for each mandatory
Class I area located in the state and for
each Class I area outside the state that
may be affected by emissions from the
state. Since this five-year progress reevaluation is a mandatory requirement,
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it is unnecessary for EPA to take
additional measures to ‘‘ensure’’ that the
State meets its reporting obligation. In
the specific instances of uncertainty of
future reductions cited by the
Commenter, the State’s analysis of
projected emissions and its reliance on
these projections to establish its RPGs
meets the requirements of the regional
haze regulations and EPA guidance.
Regarding the need to go beyond the
URP analysis when establishing RPGs,
EPA affirmed in the RHR that the URP
is not a ‘‘presumptive target;’’ rather, it
is an analytical requirement for setting
RPGs. See 64 FR 35731. In determining
RPGs for Alabama’s Class I area, the
State identified sources through its AOI
methodology for reasonable progress
control evaluation and described those
evaluations in its SIP. Thus, the State
went beyond the URP to identify and
evaluate sources for potential control
under reasonable progress in accordance
with EPA regulations and guidance.
Comment 9: The Commenter contends
that Alabama’s regional haze SIP must
require revisions to address RAVI
within three years of a Federal Land
Manager (FLM) certifying visibility
impairment and that the State’s
commitment to address RAVI, should a
FLM certify visibility impairment, is not
enough.
Response 9: The SIP revisions do not
address RAVI requirements since this
was the subject of previous rulemakings.
EPA’s visibility regulations direct states
to coordinate their RAVI LTS provisions
with those for regional haze and the
RAVI portion of a SIP must address any
integral vistas identified by the FLMs.
However, as stated in the February 28,
2012, proposed rulemaking, the FLMs
have not identified any integral vistas in
Alabama, the Class I area in Alabama is
not experiencing RAVI, and no Alabama
sources are affected by the RAVI
provisions. Thus, the July 15, 2008,
Alabama regional haze SIP revision did
not explicitly address the coordination
of the regional haze with the RAVI LTS
although Alabama made a commitment
to address RAVI should the FLM certify
visibility impairment from an
individual source. EPA finds that
Alabama’s regional haze SIP
appropriately supplements and
augments the State’s RAVI visibility
provisions to address regional haze by
updating the LTS provisions as Alabama
has done. The commitments in
Alabama’s SIP are consistent with the
regulatory requirements for this
provision.
Comment 10a: The Commenter claims
that Alabama’s regional haze SIP does
not explain how monitoring data and
other information is used to determine
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the contribution of emissions from
within the State to regional haze
visibility impairment at Class I areas
within and outside Alabama. Therefore,
the Commenter believes that EPA must
disapprove Alabama’s regional haze SIP.
Comment 10b: The Commenter states
that the SIP must clearly state the
method by which the State intends to
report visibility monitoring to the EPA.
Additionally, the Commenter states that
if Alabama plans to rely on the
referenced Visibility Information
Exchange Web System (VIEWS) Web
site for reporting, the SIP must clearly
state that Alabama intends to use the
Web site as its way of reporting
visibility monitoring data. ‘‘If Alabama
intends to use another method of
reporting visibility, the proposal needs
to explain that. If Alabama intends to
use VIEWS for reporting, it is not
sufficient for Alabama to ‘encourage’
VISTAS to maintain the Web site.’’ The
Commenter also states that the Alabama
SIP needs to have an enforceable
mechanism to transmit the Interagency
Monitoring of Protected Visual
Environments (IMPROVE) data to EPA
as well as an enforceable mechanism to
ensure that the IMPROVE data is
continually gathered. The ‘‘SIP must
include an enforceable requirement that
the data is gathered by Alabama unless
it is gathered by other entities such as
VISTAS and the National Park Service.’’
The Commenter concludes by stating
that ‘‘[b]ecause such an enforceable
requirement is missing, EPA must
disapprove the SIP submittal in this
regard.’’
Responses 10a, 10b: As noted by the
Commenter, the primary monitoring
network for regional haze in Alabama is
the IMPROVE network, and there is
currently one IMPROVE site in
Alabama, within the Bankhead National
Forest and managed by the FLM, which
serves as the monitoring site for Sipsey.
IMPROVE monitoring data from 2000–
2004 serves as the baseline for the
regional haze program, and is relied
upon in the Alabama regional haze
submittal and in providing annual
visibility data to EPA. Monitoring data
is different from emissions data or
analyses conducted to attribute
contribution. These analyses are part of
the ten-year implementation period
updates conducted by the states.
In its SIP revision, Alabama states its
intention to rely on the IMPROVE
network for complying with the regional
haze monitoring requirement in EPA’s
RHR for the current and future regional
haze implementation periods. Data
produced by the IMPROVE monitoring
network will be used nearly
continuously for preparing the five-year
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progress reports and the 10-year SIP
revisions, each of which relies on
analysis of the preceding five years of
data. The VIEWS Web site has been
maintained by VISTAS and the other
regional planning organizations (RPOs)
to provide ready access to the IMPROVE
data and data analysis tools. Alabama is
encouraging VISTAS and the other
RPOs to maintain VIEWS or a similar
data management system to facilitate
analysis of the IMPROVE data. Alabama
cannot legally bind federal and state
legislatures to continue to fund the
monitoring program for regional haze.
Alabama’s SIP adequately addresses this
provision and explains how monitoring
data and other information has been and
will be used to determine the
contribution of emissions from within
the State to regional haze visibility
impairment at federal Class I areas.
Comment 11: The Commenter
believes that EPA should fully approve
the State’s implementation plan as it
applies to regional haze since it is likely
that either CAIR or the Transport Rule
will be in effect in the future.
Response 11: Today, EPA is finalizing
action on a limited approval of
Alabama’s regional haze SIP that results
in an approval of the entire regional
haze submission and all of its elements,
preserving the visibility benefits offered
by the SIP. EPA has the authority to
issue a limited approval and believes
that it is appropriate and necessary to
promulgate a limited approval of
Alabama’s regional haze SIP. On
December 30, 2011, EPA proposed a
limited disapproval for Alabama’s
regional haze SIP and explained that
EPA cannot fully approve regional haze
SIP revisions that rely on CAIR for
emissions reduction measures for the
reasons discussed in that action.
Comments on the disapproval are
therefore beyond the scope of this
rulemaking. EPA finalized the limited
disapproval of Alabama’s regional haze
SIP in a final action published June 7,
2012 (77 FR 33642).
Comment 12: The Commenter
expressed concern with EPA’s proposed
approach of adopting FIPs at the time of
disapproval to replace reliance on CAIR
in the regional haze SIPs with reliance
on the Transport Rule. The Commenter
believes that states should be given
every opportunity provided by the Act
to make revisions to correct SIP
deficiencies before EPA acts by
imposing a FIP.
Response 12: As discussed in the
response to Comment 11, today’s action
addresses the limited approval, and EPA
finalized a limited disapproval in a
separate action published on June 7,
2012. In that same action, EPA did not
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finalize a FIP for Alabama. EPA’s
response to comments on the final
disapproval can be found in Docket ID
No. EPA–HQ–OAR–2011–0729 at
www.regulations.gov.
III. What is the effect of this final
action?
Under CAA sections 301(a) and
110(k)(6) and EPA’s long-standing
guidance, a limited approval results in
approval of the entire SIP revision, even
of those parts that are deficient and
prevent EPA from granting a full
approval of the SIP revision. Today,
EPA is finalizing a limited approval of
Alabama’s July 15, 2008, regional haze
SIP revision. This limited approval
results in approval of Alabama’s entire
regional haze submission and all its
elements. EPA is taking this approach
because Alabama’s SIP will be stronger
and more protective of the environment
with the implementation of those
measures by the State and having
federal approval and enforceability than
it would without those measures being
included in its SIP.
IV. Final Action
EPA is finalizing a limited approval of
a revision to the Alabama SIP submitted
by the State of Alabama on July 15,
2008, as meeting some of the applicable
regional haze requirements as set forth
in sections 169A and 169B of the CAA
and in 40 CFR 51.300–308. Also in this
action, EPA is rescinding the federal
regulations in 40 CFR 52.61 that were
approved into the Alabama SIP on
November 24, 1987, and approving the
provisions in Alabama’s July 15, 2008,
SIP submittal to meet the monitoring
and LTS requirements for RAVI at 40
CFR 51.306.
V. Statutory and Executive Order
Reviews
A. Executive Order 12866, Regulatory
Planning and Review
The Office of Management and Budget
(OMB) has exempted this regulatory
action from Executive Order 12866,
entitled ‘‘Regulatory Planning and
Review.’’
B. Paperwork Reduction Act
Under the Paperwork Reduction Act,
44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq., OMB must
approve all ‘‘collections of information’’
by EPA. The Act defines ‘‘collection of
information’’ as a requirement for
answers to ‘‘* * * identical reporting or
recordkeeping requirements imposed on
ten or more persons * * *’’. 44 U.S.C.
3502(3)(A). The Paperwork Reduction
Act does not apply to this action.
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C. Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA)
The RFA generally requires an agency
to conduct a regulatory flexibility
analysis of any rule subject to notice
and comment rulemaking requirements
unless the agency certifies that the rule
will not have a significant economic
impact on a substantial number of small
entities. Small entities include small
businesses, small not-for-profit
enterprises, and small governmental
jurisdictions.
This rule will not have a significant
impact on a substantial number of small
entities because SIP approvals under
section 110 and subchapter I, part D of
the CAA do not create any new
requirements but simply approve
requirements that the State is already
imposing. Therefore, because the federal
SIP approval does not create any new
requirements, I certify that this action
will not have a significant economic
impact on a substantial number of small
entities.
Moreover, due to the nature of the
federal-state relationship under the
CAA, preparation of flexibility analysis
would constitute federal inquiry into
the economic reasonableness of state
action. The CAA forbids EPA to base its
actions concerning SIPs on such
grounds. Union Electric Co., v. EPA, 427
U.S. 246, 255–66 (1976); 42 U.S.C.
7410(a)(2).
D. Unfunded Mandates Reform Act
(UMRA)
Under sections 202 of the UMRA of
1995 (‘‘Unfunded Mandates Act’’),
signed into law on March 22, 1995, EPA
must prepare a budgetary impact
statement to accompany any proposed
or final rule that includes a federal
mandate that may result in estimated
costs to state, local, or tribal
governments in the aggregate; or to the
private sector, of $100 million or more.
Under section 205, EPA must select the
most cost-effective and least
burdensome alternative that achieves
the objectives of the rule and is
consistent with statutory requirements.
Section 203 requires EPA to establish a
plan for informing and advising any
small governments that may be
significantly or uniquely impacted by
the rule.
EPA has determined that today’s
action does not include a federal
mandate that may result in estimated
costs of $100 million or more to either
state, local, or tribal governments in the
aggregate, or to the private sector. This
federal action approves pre-existing
requirements under state or local law,
and imposes no new requirements.
Accordingly, no additional costs to
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state, local, or tribal governments, or to
the private sector, result from this
action.
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E. Executive Order 13132, Federalism
Federalism (64 FR 43255, August 10,
1999) revokes and replaces Executive
Orders 12612 (Federalism) and 12875
(Enhancing the Intergovernmental
Partnership). Executive Order 13132
requires EPA to develop an accountable
process to ensure ‘‘meaningful and
timely input by State and local officials
in the development of regulatory
policies that have Federalism
implications.’’ ‘‘Policies that have
federalism implications’’ is defined in
the Executive Order to include
regulations that have ‘‘substantial direct
effects on the states, on the relationship
between the national government and
the states, or on the distribution of
power and responsibilities among the
various levels of government.’’ Under
Executive Order 13132, EPA may not
issue a regulation that has Federalism
implications, that imposes substantial
direct compliance costs, and that is not
required by statute, unless the federal
government provides the funds
necessary to pay the direct compliance
costs incurred by state and local
governments, or EPA consults with state
and local officials early in the process
of developing the proposed regulation.
EPA also may not issue a regulation that
has Federalism implications and that
preempts state law unless the Agency
consults with state and local officials
early in the process of developing the
proposed regulation.
This rule will not have substantial
direct effects on the states, on the
relationship between the national
government and the states, or on the
distribution of power and
responsibilities among the various
levels of government, as specified in
Executive Order 13132, because it
merely approves a state rule
implementing a federal standard, and
does not alter the relationship or the
distribution of power and
responsibilities established in the CAA.
Thus, the requirements of section 6 of
the Executive Order do not apply to this
rule.
F. Executive Order 13175, Coordination
With Indian Tribal Governments
Executive Order 13175, entitled
‘‘Consultation and Coordination with
Indian Tribal Governments’’ (65 FR
67249, November 9, 2000), requires EPA
to develop an accountable process to
ensure ‘‘meaningful and timely input by
tribal officials in the development of
regulatory policies that have tribal
implications.’’ This rule does not have
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tribal implications, as specified in
Executive Order 13175. It will not have
substantial direct effects on tribal
governments. Thus, Executive Order
13175 does not apply to this rule.
G. Executive Order 13045, Protection of
Children From Environmental Health
Risks and Safety Risks
Protection of Children from
Environmental Health Risks and Safety
Risks (62 FR 19885, April 23, 1997),
applies to any rule that: (1) Is
determined to be ‘‘economically
significant’’ as defined under Executive
Order 12866, and (2) concerns an
environmental health or safety risk that
EPA has reason to believe may have a
disproportionate effect on children. If
the regulatory action meets both criteria,
the Agency must evaluate the
environmental health or safety effects of
the planned rule on children, and
explain why the planned regulation is
preferable to other potentially effective
and reasonably feasible alternatives
considered by the Agency.
This rule is not subject to Executive
Order 13045 because it does not involve
decisions intended to mitigate
environmental health or safety risks.
H. Executive Order 13211, Actions That
Significantly Affect Energy Supply,
Distribution, or Use
This rule is not subject to Executive
Order 13211, ‘‘Actions Concerning
Regulations That Significantly Affect
Energy Supply, Distribution, or Use’’ (66
FR 28355, May 22, 2001) because it is
not a significant regulatory action under
Executive Order 12866.
I. National Technology Transfer and
Advancement Act (NTTAA)
Section 12 of the NTTAA of 1995
requires federal agencies to evaluate
existing technical standards when
developing a new regulation. To comply
with NTTAA, EPA must consider and
use ‘‘voluntary consensus standards’’
(VCS) if available and applicable when
developing programs and policies
unless doing so would be inconsistent
with applicable law or otherwise
impractical.
EPA believes that VCS are
inapplicable to this action. Today’s
action does not require the public to
perform activities conducive to the use
of VCS.
J. Congressional Review Act
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
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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. EPA will submit a
report containing this rule and other
required information to the U.S. Senate,
the U.S. House of Representatives, and
the Comptroller General of the United
States prior to publication of the rule in
the Federal Register. A major rule
cannot take effect until 60 days after it
is published in the Federal Register.
This action is not a ‘‘major rule’’ as
defined by 5 U.S.C. 804(2).
K. Petitions for Judicial Review
Under section 307(b)(1) of the CAA,
petitions for judicial review of this
action must be filed in the United States
Court of Appeals for the appropriate
circuit by August 27, 2012. Filing a
petition for reconsideration by the
Administrator of this final rule does not
affect the finality of this rule 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, Intergovernmental relations,
Nitrogen dioxide, Particulate matter,
Reporting and recordkeeping
requirements, Sulfur oxides, Volatile
organic compounds.
Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.
Dated: June 14, 2012.
A. Stanley Meiburg,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region 4.
40 CFR part 52 is amended as follows:
PART 52—[AMENDED]
1. The authority citation for part 52
continues to read as follows:
■
Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.
Subpart B—Alabama
2. Section 52.50 (e) is amended by
adding a new entry for ‘‘Regional Haze
Plan’’ at the end of the table to read as
follows:
■
§ 52.50
*
Identification of plan.
*
*
(e) * * *
E:\FR\FM\28JNR1.SGM
28JNR1
*
*
38523
Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 125 / Thursday, June 28, 2012 / Rules and Regulations
EPA APPROVED ALABAMA NON-REGULATORY PROVISIONS
Name of nonregulatory SIP
provision
Applicable geographic or
nonattainment area
State submittal
date/effective date
*
*
Regional haze plan ......................
*
Statewide ...............................
*
7/15/2008
3. Section 52.61 is amended by
removing and reserving paragraph (a) to
read as follows:
■
§ 52.61
*
Visibility protection.
(a) [Reserved]
*
*
*
*
[FR Doc. 2012–15475 Filed 6–27–12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560–50–P
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
AGENCY
40 CFR Part 141
[EPA–HQ–OW–2012–0288; FRL–9693–4]
Expedited Approval of Alternative Test
Procedures for the Analysis of
Contaminants Under the Safe Drinking
Water Act; Analysis and Sampling
Procedures
Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Final rule.
AGENCY:
This action announces the
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s
(EPA’s) approval of alternative testing
methods for use in measuring the levels
of contaminants in drinking water and
determining compliance with national
SUMMARY:
DATES:
*
6/28/2012
This action is effective June 28,
2012.
Safe
Drinking Water Hotline (800) 426–4791
or Glynda Smith, Technical Support
Center, Standards and Risk Management
Division, Office of Ground Water and
Drinking Water (MS 140),
Environmental Protection Agency, 26
West Martin Luther King Drive,
Cincinnati, OH 45268; telephone
number: (513) 569–7652; email address:
smith.glynda@epa.gov.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Explanation
*
[Insert citation of publication].
I. General Information
A. Does this action apply to me?
Public water systems are the regulated
entities required to measure
contaminants in drinking water
samples. In addition, EPA Regions as
well as States and Tribal governments
with authority to administer the
regulatory program for public water
systems under SDWA may also measure
contaminants in water samples. When
EPA sets a monitoring requirement in its
national primary drinking water
regulations for a given contaminant, the
Agency also establishes in the
regulations standardized test procedures
for analysis of the contaminant. This
action makes alternative testing
methods available for particular
drinking water contaminants beyond the
testing methods currently established in
the regulations. EPA is providing public
water systems required to test water
samples with a choice of using either a
test procedure already established in the
existing regulations or an alternative test
procedure that has been approved in
this action or in prior expedited
approval actions. Categories and entities
that may ultimately be affected by this
action include:
Examples of potentially regulated
entities
State, Local, & Tribal Governments.
Industry ......................................
Municipalities ..............................
wreier-aviles on DSK5TPTVN1PROD with RULES
*
primary drinking water regulations. The
Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA)
authorizes EPA to approve the use of
alternative testing methods through
publication in the Federal Register. EPA
is using this streamlined authority to
make 10 additional methods available
for analyzing drinking water samples
required by regulation. This expedited
approach provides public water
systems, laboratories, and primacy
agencies with more timely access to new
measurement techniques and greater
flexibility in the selection of analytical
methods, thereby reducing monitoring
costs while maintaining public health
protection.
Category
1 North
EPA approval date
NAICS 1
States, local and Tribal governments that analyze water samples on behalf of public water systems required to conduct such analysis; States, local and Tribal governments that themselves operate community and non-transient non-community water systems required to monitor.
Private operators of community and non-transient non-community water systems required to
monitor.
Municipal operators of community and non-transient non-community water systems required to
monitor.
924110
221310
924110
American Industry Classification System.
This table is not exhaustive, but rather
provides a guide for readers regarding
entities likely to be affected by this
action. This table lists the types of
entities that EPA is now aware could
potentially be affected by this action.
Other types of entities not listed in the
table could also be impacted. To
determine whether your facility is
affected by this action, you should
carefully examine the applicability
VerDate Mar<15>2010
17:26 Jun 27, 2012
Jkt 226001
language in the Code of Federal
Regulations (CFR) at 40 CFR 141.2
(definition of public water system). If
you have questions regarding the
applicability of this action to a
particular entity, consult the person
listed in the preceding FOR FURTHER
INFORMATION CONTACT section.
PO 00000
Frm 00061
Fmt 4700
Sfmt 4700
B. How can I get copies of this document
and other related information?
Docket. EPA established a docket for
this action under Docket ID No. EPA–
HQ–OW–2012–0288. Publicly available
docket materials are available either
electronically through
www.regulations.gov or in hard copy at
the Water Docket in the EPA Docket
Center, (EPA/DC) EPA West, Room
3334, 1301 Constitution Ave. NW.,
E:\FR\FM\28JNR1.SGM
28JNR1
Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 125 (Thursday, June 28, 2012)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 38515-38523]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-15475]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 52
[EPA-R04-OAR-2009-0782; FRL-9691-8]
Approval and Promulgation of Implementation Plans; State of
Alabama; Regional Haze State Implementation Plan
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Final rule.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: EPA is finalizing a limited approval of a revision to the
Alabama State Implementation Plan (SIP) submitted by the State of
Alabama through the Alabama Department of Environmental Management
(ADEM) on July 15, 2008. Alabama's July 15, 2008, SIP revision
addresses regional haze for the first implementation period.
Specifically, this SIP revision addresses the requirements of the Clean
Air Act (CAA or Act) and EPA's rules that require states to prevent any
future and remedy any existing anthropogenic impairment of visibility
in mandatory Class I areas (national parks and wilderness areas) caused
by emissions of air pollutants from numerous sources located over a
wide geographic area (also referred to as the ``regional haze
program''). States are required to assure reasonable progress toward
the national goal of achieving natural visibility conditions in Class I
areas. EPA is finalizing a limited approval of Alabama's July 15, 2008,
SIP revision to implement the regional haze requirements for Alabama on
the basis that this SIP revision, as a whole, strengthens the Alabama
SIP. Additionally, EPA is rescinding the federal regulations previously
approved into the Alabama SIP on November 24, 1987, and approving the
provisions in Alabama's July 15, 2008, SIP submittal to meet the long-
term strategy (LTS) requirements for reasonably attributable visibility
impairment (RAVI). In a separate action published on June 7, 2012, EPA
finalized a limited disapproval of this same SIP revision because of
the deficiencies in the State's regional haze SIP revision arising from
the remand by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia
Circuit (DC Circuit) to EPA of the Clean Air Interstate Rule (CAIR).
DATES: Effective Date: This rule will be effective July 30, 2012,
except for the amendment to Sec. 52.61, which is effective on August
7, 2012.
ADDRESSES: EPA has established a docket for this action under Docket
Identification No. EPA-R04-OAR-2009-0782. All documents in the docket
are listed on the www.regulations.gov Web site. Although listed in the
index, some information is not publicly available, i.e., Confidential
Business Information 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 either electronically through www.regulations.gov or in hard
copy at the Regulatory Development Section, Air Planning Branch, Air,
Pesticides and Toxics Management Division, U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency, Region 4, 61 Forsyth Street SW., Atlanta, Georgia
30303-8960. EPA requests that if at all possible, you contact the
person listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section for
further information. The Regional Office's official hours of business
are Monday through Friday, 8:30 to 4:30, excluding federal holidays.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Michele Notarianni, Regulatory
Development Section, Air Planning Branch, Air, Pesticides and Toxics
Management Division, U.S.
[[Page 38516]]
Environmental Protection Agency, Region 4, 61 Forsyth Street SW.,
Atlanta, Georgia 30303-8960. Michele Notarianni can be reached at
telephone number (404) 562-9031 and by electronic mail at
notarianni.michele@epa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Table of Contents
I. What is the background for this final action?
II. What is EPA's response to comments received on this action?
III. What is the effect of this final action?
IV. Final Action
V. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews
I. What is the background for this final action?
Regional haze is visibility impairment that is produced by a
multitude of sources and activities which are located across a broad
geographic area and emit fine particles (e.g., sulfates, nitrates,
organic carbon, elemental carbon, and soil dust), and their precursors
(e.g., sulfur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen oxides
(NOX), and in some cases, ammonia and volatile organic
compounds. Fine particle precursors react in the atmosphere to form
fine particulate matter (PM2.5) which impairs visibility by
scattering and absorbing light. Visibility impairment reduces the
clarity, color, and visible distance that one can see. PM2.5
can also cause serious health effects and mortality in humans and
contributes to environmental effects such as acid deposition and
eutrophication.
In section 169A of the 1977 Amendments to the CAA, Congress created
a program for protecting visibility in the nation's national parks and
wilderness areas. This section of the CAA establishes as a national
goal the ``prevention of any future, and the remedying of any existing,
impairment of visibility in mandatory Class I areas which impairment
results from manmade air pollution.'' On December 2, 1980, EPA
promulgated regulations to address visibility impairment in Class I
areas that is ``reasonably attributable'' to a single source or small
group of sources, i.e., ``reasonably attributable visibility
impairment.'' See 45 FR 80084. These regulations represented the first
phase in addressing visibility impairment. EPA deferred action on
regional haze that emanates from a variety of sources until monitoring,
modeling, and scientific knowledge about the relationships between
pollutants and visibility impairment were improved.
Congress added section 169B to the CAA in 1990 to address regional
haze issues. EPA promulgated a rule to address regional haze on July 1,
1999 (64 FR 35713), the Regional Haze Rule (RHR). The RHR revised the
existing visibility regulations to integrate into the regulation
provisions addressing regional haze impairment and established a
comprehensive visibility protection program for Class I areas. The
requirements for regional haze, found at 40 CFR 51.308 and 51.309, are
included in EPA's visibility protection regulations at 40 CFR 51.300-
309. The requirement to submit a regional haze SIP applies to all 50
states, the District of Columbia, and the Virgin Islands. 40 CFR
51.308(b) requires states to submit the first implementation plan
addressing regional haze visibility impairment no later than December
17, 2007.
On July 15, 2008, ADEM submitted a revision to Alabama's SIP to
address regional haze in the State's and other states' Class I areas.
On February 28, 2012, EPA published an action proposing a limited
approval of Alabama's July 15, 2008, SIP revision to address the first
implementation period for regional haze.\1\ See 77 FR 11937. EPA
proposed a limited approval of Alabama's July 15, 2008, SIP revision to
implement the regional haze requirements for Alabama on the basis that
this revision, as a whole, strengthens the Alabama SIP. See section II
of this rulemaking for a summary of the comments received on the
proposed actions and EPA's responses to these comments. Detailed
background information and EPA's rationale for the proposed action is
provided in EPA's February 28, 2012, proposed rulemaking. See 77 FR
11937.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ In a separate action, published on June 7, 2012 (77 FR
33642), EPA finalized a limited disapproval of the Alabama regional
haze SIP because of deficiencies in the State's regional haze SIP
submittal arising from the State's reliance on CAIR to meet certain
regional haze requirements. This final limited disapproval triggers
a 24-month clock by which a Federal Implementation Plan (FIP) or
EPA-approved SIP must be in place to address the deficiencies.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Following the remand of CAIR, EPA issued a new rule in 2011 to
address the interstate transport of NOX and SO2
in the eastern United States. See 76 FR 48208 (August 8, 2011) (``the
Transport Rule,'' also known as the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule
(CSAPR)). On December 30, 2011, EPA proposed to find that the trading
programs in the Transport Rule would achieve greater reasonable
progress towards the national goal of achieving natural visibility
conditions than would best available retrofit technology (BART) in the
states in which the Transport Rule applies (including Alabama). See 76
FR 82219. Based on this proposed finding, EPA also proposed to revise
the RHR to allow states to substitute participation in the trading
programs under the Transport Rule for source-specific BART. EPA
finalized this finding and RHR revision on June 7, 2012 (77 FR 33642).
Also on December 30, 2011, the DC Circuit stayed the Transport Rule
(including the provisions that would have sunset CAIR and the CAIR
FIPs) and instructed the EPA to continue to administer CAIR pending the
outcome of the court's decision on the petitions for review challenging
the Transport Rule. EME Homer City v. EPA, No. 11-1302.
II. What is EPA's response to comments received on this action?
EPA received two sets of comments on the February 28, 2012,
rulemaking proposing a limited approval of Alabama's July 15, 2008,
regional haze SIP revision. Specifically, the comments were received
from the Sierra Club and ADEM. Full sets of the comments provided by
all of the aforementioned entities (hereinafter referred to as ``the
Commenter'') are provided in the docket for today's final action. A
summary of the comments and EPA's responses are provided below.
Comment 1: The Commenter does not believe that ADEM can rely on
CAIR or the Transport Rule to exempt the eight power plants with BART-
eligible electric generating units (EGUs) from an SO2 and
NOX BART analysis. The Commenter enclosed letters that it
submitted to EPA on February 28, 2012, with its comments on the
Agency's proposed December 30, 2011, rulemaking to find that the
Transport Rule is ``better than BART'' and to use the Transport Rule as
an alternative to BART for Alabama and other states subject to the
Transport Rule. See 76 FR 82219. The Commenter incorporates the
comments in this letter by reference and repeats a subset of those
comments, including the following: The Transport Rule cannot serve as a
BART alternative for the regional haze SIP process in Alabama; EPA has
not demonstrated that the Transport Rule assures greater reasonable
progress than source-specific BART; EPA failed to account for the
geographical and temporal uncertainties in emissions reductions
inherent in a cap-and-trade program such as the Transport Rule; EPA
underestimated the visibility improvements from BART using
``presumptive BART, rather than actual BART;'' ``case specific BART
determinations for SO2 emissions from EGUs in Alabama would
almost certainly ensure greater progress than would be achieved by
CSAPR;'' and
[[Page 38517]]
EPA has not accounted for the differences in averaging time under BART,
the Transport Rule, and in measuring visibility impacts.
Response 1: These comments are beyond the scope of this rulemaking.
In today's rule, EPA is finalizing a limited approval of Alabama's
regional haze SIP. EPA did not propose to find that participation in
the Transport Rule is an alternative to BART in this action nor did EPA
reopen discussions on the CAIR provisions as they relate to BART.\2\ As
noted above, EPA proposed to find that the Transport Rule is ``Better
than BART'' and to use the Transport Rule as an alternative to BART for
Alabama in a separate action on December 30, 2011, and the Commenter is
merely reiterating and incorporating its comments on that separate
action. EPA addressed these comments concerning the Transport Rule as a
BART alternative in a final action that was published on June 7, 2012,
and has determined that they do not affect the Agency's ability to
finalize a limited approval of Alabama's regional haze SIP. EPA's
responses to these comments can be found in Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-
2011-0729 at www.regulations.gov.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\2\ In a final action published on July 6, 2005, EPA addressed
similar comments related to CAIR and determined that CAIR makes
greater reasonable progress than BART for certain EGUs and
pollutants (70 FR 39138). EPA did not reopen comment on that issue
through this rulemaking.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Comment 2: The Commenter asserts that because ``the BART component
of Alabama's RH SIP is an essential element to the state's LTS for
achieving it RPGs, Alabama's treatment of CAIR (and now EPA's proposed
substitution of CSAPR for CAIR) as an acceptable BART-alternative must
be addressed in this present comment process. Separating the BART
analysis from the remaining portion of the RH SIP would result in an
inadequate SIP.'' The Commenter supports its position by repeating
statements made in its February 28, 2012, comments on the Agency's
proposed December 30, 2011, rulemaking to find that the Transport Rule
is ``Better than BART'' and to use the Transport Rule as an alternative
to BART for Alabama and other states subject to the Transport Rule. For
example, the Commenter states that ``EPA cannot exempt sources from the
RHR's BART requirements without full consideration of how that
exemption would affect the overarching reasonable progress mandate.''
Response 2: As discussed in the response to Comment 1, today's
action does not address reliance on CAIR or CSAPR to satisfy BART
requirements. Comments related to the approvability of CAIR or CSAPR
for the Alabama regional haze SIP are therefore beyond the scope of
this rulemaking and were addressed by EPA in a separate action
published on June 7, 2012 (77 FR 33642). EPA addressed the Commenter's
repeated statements regarding the interrelatedness of BART, the LTS,
and RPGs in that final rulemaking action and those responses support
this limited approval action.\3\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\3\ See EPA, Response to Comments Document, Regional Haze:
Revisions to Provisions Governing Alternatives to Source-Specific
Best Available Retrofit Technology (BART) Determinations, Limited
SIP Disapprovals, and Federal Implementation Plans (76 FR 82219;
December 30, 2011), Docket Number EPA-HQ-OAR-2011-0729 (May 30,
2012), pages 49-51 (noting that EPA ``disagree[s] with comments that
we cannot evaluate the BART requirements in isolation from the
reasonable progress requirements. We have on several occasions
undertaken evaluations of a state's BART determination or
promulgated a FIP separately from our evaluation of whether the SIP
as a whole will ensure reasonable progress.'').
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
EPA believes the Commenter overstates the overarching nature of the
changes due to CAIR or CSAPR. The reliance on CAIR in the Alabama
submittal was consistent with EPA policy at the time the submittal was
prepared. CSAPR is a replacement for CAIR, addressing the same regional
EGU emissions, with many similar regulatory attributes. The need to
address changes to the LTS resulting from the replacement of CAIR with
CSAPR was acknowledged in the proposal, and as stated in the proposal,
EPA believes that the five-year progress report is the appropriate time
to address any changes to the RPG demonstration and, if necessary, the
LTS. EPA expects that this demonstration will address the impacts on
the RPG due to the replacement of CAIR with CSAPR as well as other
adjustments to the projected 2018 emissions due to updated information
on the emissions for other sources and source categories. If this
assessment determines an adjustment to the regional haze plan is
necessary, EPA regulations require a SIP revision within a year of the
five-year progress report.
Comment 3: The Commenter believes that Alabama should have
considered the cumulative impacts of the particulate matter (PM)
emissions from the State's PM BART-eligible EGUs when performing BART
exemption modeling and that the State should not have modeled these
sources in isolation of one another or without regard to PM emissions
from sources in other states which impact the Sipsey Wilderness Area
(Sipsey) or any Class I area. The Commenter also believes that ADEM
should have considered both filterable and condensable PM when
conducting this modeling.
Response 3: As discussed in the proposal, (see section IV.C.6.B.2,
February 28, 2012, 77 FR 11950-11951), Alabama adequately justified its
contribution threshold of 0.5 deciview. While states have the
discretion to set an appropriate contribution threshold considering the
number of emissions sources affecting the Class I area at issue and the
magnitude of the individual sources' impacts, the states' analysis must
be consistent with the CAA, the RHR, and EPA's Guidelines for BART
Determinations Under the Regional Haze Rule at Appendix Y to 40 CFR
part 51 (BART Guidelines). Consistent with the regulations and EPA's
guidance, ``the contribution threshold should be used to determine
whether an individual source is reasonably anticipated to contribute to
visibility impairment. You should not aggregate the visibility effects
of multiple sources and compare their collective effects against your
contribution threshold because this would inappropriately create a
`contribution to contribution' test.'' See also 70 FR 39121. Alabama's
analysis in the regional haze SIP revision was consistent with EPA's
regulations and guidance on the issue of cumulative analyses.
It is unclear what condensable PM emissions the Commenter believes
that the State should have included in its visibility modeling. Each of
the units evaluated for BART in Alabama's regional haze SIP followed
the Visibility Improvement State and Tribal Association of the
Southeast (VISTAS) modeling protocol and considered the contribution of
total PM10 and PM2.5 (as a subset of the total
PM10) as well as condensable PM (primarily sulfuric acid
mist) (see Appendix H.9 of Alabama's regional haze SIP). Regarding
modeling in Alabama's submittal that uses PM only for its BART-eligible
EGUs, EPA previously determined that this approach is appropriate for
EGUs where the State proposed to rely on CAIR to satisfy the BART
requirements for SO2 and NOX.\4\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\4\ Regional Haze Regulations and Guidelines for Best Available
Retrofit Technology (BART) Determinations, EPA Memorandum from
Joseph Paisie, Group Leader, Geographic Strategies Group, OAQPS, to
Kay Prince, Branch Chief, EPA Region 4, July 19, 2006, located at:
https://www.epa.gov/visibility/pdfs/memo_2006_07_19.pdf.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Comment 4: The Commenter disagrees with ADEM's BART analyses for
the five BART eligible-units at the Solutia, Inc., facility in Decatur,
Alabama, as well as its analyses for the seven BART-eligible units at
International Paper's Courtland,
[[Page 38518]]
Alabama, facility (International Paper). In particular, the Commenter
states that Alabama's BART analyses failed to consider all available
retrofit technologies. The Commenter identified combustion controls
that ``should be considered for NOX BART'' including: flue
gas recirculation, overfire air, low NOX burners, and ultra
low NOX burners; as well as post-combustion controls such
as: selective catalytic reduction (SCR) and selective non-catalytic
reduction (SNCR). Regarding SO2 BART, the Commenter believes
that ADEM should have considered additional controls such as: ``a
number of post-combustion flue gas desulfurization options'' (e.g., dry
sorbent injection, spray dryer absorbers, wet scrubbers, circulating
dry scrubbers) as well as fuel switching (e.g., switching from coal to
oil). For PM BART, the Commenter identifies the following controls for
consideration: changing the operation of any air pre-heaters;
installing fabric filters or baghouses; installing or upgrading
electrostatic precipitators (ESPs); switching to wet ESPs; upgrading
electrodes (e.g., possibly changing from wire to rigid discharge
electrode); switching to ``a lower sulfur coal or a different sort or
blend of fuel;'' addition of a trona injection system; installation of
scrubbers; and upgrading any existing scrubbers. The Commenter believes
that Alabama should have considered all of the above-mentioned control
options when conducting its BART analyses, regardless of their
comparative costs.
The Commenter also contends that ADEM: Ignored less costly yet
equally efficient controls; should have fully considered options for
improving existing controls instead of just those involving a complete
replacement of control devices (e.g., ESP upgrade options);'' should
have evaluated different combinations of controls in making its BART
determinations; and must ensure that current controls are actually
operating at BART levels where ADEM concluded that those controls are
BART. Finally, the Commenter believes that it is not possible to
determine if the proper costing methodology was followed by these
sources ``without supporting data in the docket.''
Response 4: As stated in EPA's BART Guidelines, available retrofit
control options are those air pollution control technologies with a
practical potential for application to the emissions unit and the
regulated pollutant under evaluation. In identifying ``all'' options, a
state must identify the most stringent option and a reasonable set of
options for analysis that reflects a comprehensive list of available
technologies. It is not necessary to list all permutations of available
control levels that exist for a given technology; the list is complete
if it includes the maximum level of control that each technology is
capable of achieving.\5\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\5\ EPA's BART Guidelines at 70 FR 39164.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Attachment H-6 to Appendix H of the State's regional haze SIP
submittal summarizes the State's assessment of the available strategies
evaluated at each facility for BART, including many of the control
options that the Commenter believes were ignored by ADEM; assesses the
five statutory BART factors, including ADEM's estimates of the costs of
control sufficient to identify and evaluate the cost methodology
employed; and describes ADEM's basis for accepting or rejecting each
measure as BART. For example, ADEM notes in Appendix H that Solutia has
already installed a rotating opposed fired air combustion control
system to reduce NOX formation from Boiler No. 7. ADEM
identified SNCR and SCR as available post-combustion control options
for this unit and noted that modeling for all of the NOX
control options evaluated indicated relatively small to no reduction in
visibility impacts, even with the maximum additional NOX
control. In considering the five BART statutory factors for this unit,
ADEM relied most heavily on the lack of visibility improvement at any
federal Class I areas as the basis for its BART determination. Modeling
lesser options would not have changed this result. Similar analyses and
similar results were attained for all the BART-subject units at this
facility and at International Paper. EPA has reviewed ADEM's analyses
and concluded they were conducted in a manner that is consistent with
EPA's BART Guidelines and reflect a reasonable application of EPA's
guidance to these sources. Emissions limits for these operations are
contained in the State's title V permits for these facilities.
Comment 5: The Commenter disagrees with ADEM's methodology for
identifying pollutants and sources subject to a reasonable progress
analysis. The concerns identified by the Commenter include an
``incomplete identification of emissions units likely to have the
largest impacts on visibility'' at federal Class I areas; improper
reliance on CAIR to exempt out-of-state EGUs from conducting reasonable
progress analyses; and a failure to identify and consider all proposed
major new sources or major modifications to sources within and outside
of the State.
Regarding in-state sources, the Commenter notes that ADEM's
SO2 area of influence (AOI) methodology captured only 55
percent of the total point source SO2 contribution to
visibility impairment in Sipsey and only 61-73 percent of the total
contribution at federal Class I areas in neighboring states. The
Commenter believes that, due to cumulative impacts, the reasonable
progress analysis should have encompassed a greater number of units
with SO2 emissions that impact the State's Class I area and
that Alabama's LTS should have further considered reducing
NOX and ammonia emissions.
For the out-of-state CAIR EGUs that impact Alabama's Class I area,
the Commenter believes that ADEM must conduct reasonable progress
control analyses in order to determine which emissions control measures
would be needed at these EGUs to make reasonable progress toward
improving visibility at Sipsey and reiterates statements made in its
aforementioned February 28, 2012, comment letter regarding EPA's
December 30, 2011, proposed rule.
Regarding proposed major new sources or major modifications new
sources, the Commenter states that there is no evidence that Alabama's
regional haze SIP submittal complies with the requirement in 40 CFR
51.306(d) that the LTS provides for review of the impacts from any new
major stationary source or major modifications on visibility in any
mandatory Class I area in accordance with 40 CFR 51.307, 51.166, 51.160
and any binding guidance insofar as these provisions pertain to
protection of visibility. According to the Commenter, ADEM should have
identified these sources and any increases in emissions resulting from
installation and operation of new pollution controls (e.g., increased
ammonia emissions from new SCRs and SNCRs) and considered them in a
cumulative impact analysis for Sipsey.
Response 5: Concerning the State's AOI methodology for the
identification of emission units for reasonable progress evaluation, as
noted in EPA's Reasonable Progress Guidance \6\ and discussed further
in EPA's February 28, 2012, proposal action on the Alabama regional
haze SIP submittal (77 FR 11949), the RHR gives states wide latitude to
determine additional control requirements, and there are many ways
[[Page 38519]]
to approach identifying additional reasonable measures as long as they
consider the four statutory factors. Further, states have considerable
flexibility in how to take these factors into consideration. EPA's
Reasonable Progress Guidance recognizes that there are numerous ways to
approach development of the LTS and to focus on those source categories
that may have the greatest impact on visibility at Class 1 areas,
considering the statutory factors at a minimum.\7\ Significant control
programs are being implemented nationally and across the southeast
during the first implementation period, as described in chapter 7 of
Alabama's regional haze SIP submittal. The impact of programs such as
CAIR, CSAPR, and the NOX SIP Call are being realized
regionally, and the implementation of these programs in Alabama will
significantly reduce emissions and improve visibility at Sipsey and at
federal Class I areas outside Alabama.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\6\ Guidance for Setting Reasonable Progress Goals Under the
Regional Haze Program, July 1, 2007, memorandum from William L.
Wehrum, Acting Assistant Administrator for Air and Radiation, to EPA
Regional Administrators, EPA Regions 1-10 (``EPA's Reasonable
Progress Guidance''), page 4-2.
\7\ EPA's Reasonable Progress Guidance, pages 4-1, 4-2.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Regarding its reliance on CAIR, the State took into account
emissions reductions expected from CAIR to determine the 2018
reasonable progress goals (RPGs) for its Class I areas. This approach
was fully consistent with EPA guidance at the time of SIP development.
ADEM determined that no additional SO2 controls beyond CAIR
are reasonable for its EGUs in the first implementation period based on
the State's review of the statutory factors (i.e., the costs of
compliance, the time necessary for compliance, the energy and non-air
quality environmental impacts of compliance, and the remaining useful
life of any potentially affected sources) as evaluated by EPA for CAIR,
and that CAIR is expected to reduce EGU SO2 emissions by
approximately 70 percent.
Regarding the consideration of new sources and major modifications,
the Alabama regional haze SIP revisions subject to this rulemaking
address the regional haze requirements of 40 CFR 51.308 whereas the
regulation cited by the Commenter, 40 CFR 51.306(d), 40 CFR 51.307,
51.166, and 51.160, are specific to the new source review (NSR)
requirements for RAVI. Furthermore, as identified in footnote 19 of
EPA's the February 28, 2012, proposed rulemaking 77 FR 11955, Alabama
has already addressed the NSR requirements for visibility (40 CFR
51.307) and RAVI LTS (40 CFR 51.306) in its SIP. New sources and major
modifications are also explicitly part of the emissions inventory used
to project future conditions.
The projected inventories for 2009 and 2018 account for post-2002
emissions reductions from promulgated and proposed federal, state,
local, and site-specific control programs and account for expected
growth in emissions from new sources. For EGUs, the Integrated Planning
Model was run to estimate emissions of the proposed and existing units
in 2009 and 2018. These results were adjusted based on state and local
air agencies' knowledge of planned emissions controls at specific EGUs.
For non-EGUs, VISTAS used recently updated growth and control data
consistent with the data used in EPA's CAIR analyses supplemented by
state and local air agencies' data and updated forecasts from the U.S.
Department of Energy. These updates are documented in the MACTEC
emissions inventory report ``Documentation of the 2002 Base Year and
2009 and 2018 Projection Year Emission Inventories for VISTAS'' dated
February 2007 (Appendix D of Alabama's regional haze SIP submittal).
The technical information provided in the record demonstrates that the
emissions inventory in the SIP adequately reflects projection 2018
conditions and that the LTS meets the requirements of the RHR and is
approvable. EPA finds that these inventories provide a reasonable
assessment of future emissions from North Carolina sources.
Comment 6: The Commenter believes that ADEM improperly exempted
several sources from a reasonable progress evaluation for
SO2 even though the State determined that these sources were
above its minimum threshold for performing such an analysis and
reiterates statements made in its aforementioned February 28, 2012,
comment letters regarding EPA's December 30, 2011, proposed rule. The
Commenter disagrees with ADEM's decision to exempt EGUs subject to CAIR
from conducting reasonable progress analyses. As for non-EGUs subject
to BART, the Commenter accepts ADEM's conclusion that the BART
determinations satisfy requirements under the RHR's reasonable progress
provisions for International Paper and Solutia; however, the Commenter
disagrees with Alabama's BART determinations for these units.
Response 6: See the response to Comment 5 regarding the State's
determination that no additional SO2 controls beyond CAIR
are reasonable for its EGUs in the first implementation period.
Regarding the BART determinations for non-EGUs, EPA has reviewed the
ADEM analyses and concluded they were conducted in a manner that is
consistent with EPA's BART Guidelines and reflect a reasonable
application of EPA's guidance to these sources (see response to Comment
4).
Comment 7: According to the Commenter, the cost effectiveness
analysis used to make the reasonable progress determination for the
Cargill, Inc. facility (Cargill) was flawed, and therefore, EPA cannot
approve Alabama's proposed SIP. The Commenter contends that the inputs
used for the efficiency of the pollution controls analyzed and the
costs attributed to those controls were improper.
Response 7: Cargill shut down operations of this facility in 2009
and sold the site to DeBruce Grain in August 2010. DeBruce Grain plans
to operate a grain handling, shipping, and storage facility and is no
longer expected to be a main contributor to regional haze.
Comment 8: The Commenter states that ADEM improperly estimated
emissions reductions for 2018 and that Alabama's projection of future
visibility conditions for 2018 is based on ``uncertain federal and
state pollution control projects, including, in large part, on the
emissions reductions anticipated from CAIR.'' The Commenter also
believes that anticipated emissions reductions resulting from the other
control programs considered by Alabama (e.g., Industrial Boiler MACT,
the Atlanta/Birmingham/Northern Kentucky 1997 8-hour ozone
nonattainment area SIP) are just as uncertain as those resulting under
CAIR and the Transport Rule, and that Alabama ``need[s] to base its LTS
on concrete, definite SO2 emissions reductions.'' Because of
the alleged uncertainty of the actual reductions predicted under the
pollution control programs identified by the Commenter, the Commenter
believes that additional SO2 reductions are necessary at
this time to ensure that Alabama's RPGs are met. The Commenter requests
that, at a minimum, EPA should ensure that ADEM follows through on its
commitment to re-evaluate its ability to meet its RPGs in the five-year
progress review. While the Commenter acknowledges that the RPGs exceed
the uniform rate of progress and are projected to be met, it contends
that the State should ``go beyond the URP [uniform rate of progress]
analysis in establishing RPGs and do everything it can to ensure
visibility impacts to affected Class I areas are reduced.''
Response 8: The technical information provided in the record
demonstrates that the emissions
[[Page 38520]]
inventory in the SIP adequately reflects projected 2018 conditions and
should be approved. Alabama's 2018 projections are based on the State's
technical analysis of the anticipated emissions rates and level of
activity for EGUs, other point sources, nonpoint sources, on-road
sources, and off-road sources based on their emissions in the 2002 base
year, considering growth and additional emissions controls to be in
place and federally enforceable by 2018. The emissions inventory used
in the regional haze technical analyses that was developed by VISTAS
with assistance from Alabama projected 2002 emissions (the latest
region-wide inventory available at the time the submittal was being
developed) and applied reductions expected from federal and state
regulations affecting the emissions of volatile organic compounds and
the visibility impairing pollutants NOX, PM, and
SO2.
To minimize the differences between the 2018 projected emissions
used in the Alabama regional haze submittal and what actually occurs in
2018, the RHR requires that the five-year review address any expected
significant differences due to changed circumstances from the initial
2018 projected emissions, provide updated expectations regarding
emissions for the implementation period, and evaluate the impact of
these differences on RPGs. It is expected that individual projections
within a statewide inventory will vary from actual emissions over a 16-
year period. For example, some facilities shut down whereas others
expand operations. Furthermore, economic projections and population
changes used to estimate growth often differ from actual events; new
rules are modified, changing their expected effectiveness; and
methodologies to estimate emissions improve, modifying emissions
estimates. The five-year review is a mechanism to assure that these
expected differences from projected emissions are considered and their
impact on the 2018 RPGs is evaluated. In the regional haze program,
uncertainties associated with modeled emissions projections into the
future are addressed through the requirement under the RHR to submit
periodic progress reports in the form of a SIP revision. Specifically,
40 CFR 51.308(g) requires each state to submit a report every five
years evaluating progress toward the RPGs for each mandatory Class I
area located in the state and for each Class I area outside the state
that may be affected by emissions from the state. Since this five-year
progress re-evaluation is a mandatory requirement, it is unnecessary
for EPA to take additional measures to ``ensure'' that the State meets
its reporting obligation. In the specific instances of uncertainty of
future reductions cited by the Commenter, the State's analysis of
projected emissions and its reliance on these projections to establish
its RPGs meets the requirements of the regional haze regulations and
EPA guidance.
Regarding the need to go beyond the URP analysis when establishing
RPGs, EPA affirmed in the RHR that the URP is not a ``presumptive
target;'' rather, it is an analytical requirement for setting RPGs. See
64 FR 35731. In determining RPGs for Alabama's Class I area, the State
identified sources through its AOI methodology for reasonable progress
control evaluation and described those evaluations in its SIP. Thus,
the State went beyond the URP to identify and evaluate sources for
potential control under reasonable progress in accordance with EPA
regulations and guidance.
Comment 9: The Commenter contends that Alabama's regional haze SIP
must require revisions to address RAVI within three years of a Federal
Land Manager (FLM) certifying visibility impairment and that the
State's commitment to address RAVI, should a FLM certify visibility
impairment, is not enough.
Response 9: The SIP revisions do not address RAVI requirements
since this was the subject of previous rulemakings. EPA's visibility
regulations direct states to coordinate their RAVI LTS provisions with
those for regional haze and the RAVI portion of a SIP must address any
integral vistas identified by the FLMs. However, as stated in the
February 28, 2012, proposed rulemaking, the FLMs have not identified
any integral vistas in Alabama, the Class I area in Alabama is not
experiencing RAVI, and no Alabama sources are affected by the RAVI
provisions. Thus, the July 15, 2008, Alabama regional haze SIP revision
did not explicitly address the coordination of the regional haze with
the RAVI LTS although Alabama made a commitment to address RAVI should
the FLM certify visibility impairment from an individual source. EPA
finds that Alabama's regional haze SIP appropriately supplements and
augments the State's RAVI visibility provisions to address regional
haze by updating the LTS provisions as Alabama has done. The
commitments in Alabama's SIP are consistent with the regulatory
requirements for this provision.
Comment 10a: The Commenter claims that Alabama's regional haze SIP
does not explain how monitoring data and other information is used to
determine the contribution of emissions from within the State to
regional haze visibility impairment at Class I areas within and outside
Alabama. Therefore, the Commenter believes that EPA must disapprove
Alabama's regional haze SIP.
Comment 10b: The Commenter states that the SIP must clearly state
the method by which the State intends to report visibility monitoring
to the EPA. Additionally, the Commenter states that if Alabama plans to
rely on the referenced Visibility Information Exchange Web System
(VIEWS) Web site for reporting, the SIP must clearly state that Alabama
intends to use the Web site as its way of reporting visibility
monitoring data. ``If Alabama intends to use another method of
reporting visibility, the proposal needs to explain that. If Alabama
intends to use VIEWS for reporting, it is not sufficient for Alabama to
`encourage' VISTAS to maintain the Web site.'' The Commenter also
states that the Alabama SIP needs to have an enforceable mechanism to
transmit the Interagency Monitoring of Protected Visual Environments
(IMPROVE) data to EPA as well as an enforceable mechanism to ensure
that the IMPROVE data is continually gathered. The ``SIP must include
an enforceable requirement that the data is gathered by Alabama unless
it is gathered by other entities such as VISTAS and the National Park
Service.'' The Commenter concludes by stating that ``[b]ecause such an
enforceable requirement is missing, EPA must disapprove the SIP
submittal in this regard.''
Responses 10a, 10b: As noted by the Commenter, the primary
monitoring network for regional haze in Alabama is the IMPROVE network,
and there is currently one IMPROVE site in Alabama, within the Bankhead
National Forest and managed by the FLM, which serves as the monitoring
site for Sipsey. IMPROVE monitoring data from 2000-2004 serves as the
baseline for the regional haze program, and is relied upon in the
Alabama regional haze submittal and in providing annual visibility data
to EPA. Monitoring data is different from emissions data or analyses
conducted to attribute contribution. These analyses are part of the
ten-year implementation period updates conducted by the states.
In its SIP revision, Alabama states its intention to rely on the
IMPROVE network for complying with the regional haze monitoring
requirement in EPA's RHR for the current and future regional haze
implementation periods. Data produced by the IMPROVE monitoring network
will be used nearly continuously for preparing the five-year
[[Page 38521]]
progress reports and the 10-year SIP revisions, each of which relies on
analysis of the preceding five years of data. The VIEWS Web site has
been maintained by VISTAS and the other regional planning organizations
(RPOs) to provide ready access to the IMPROVE data and data analysis
tools. Alabama is encouraging VISTAS and the other RPOs to maintain
VIEWS or a similar data management system to facilitate analysis of the
IMPROVE data. Alabama cannot legally bind federal and state
legislatures to continue to fund the monitoring program for regional
haze. Alabama's SIP adequately addresses this provision and explains
how monitoring data and other information has been and will be used to
determine the contribution of emissions from within the State to
regional haze visibility impairment at federal Class I areas.
Comment 11: The Commenter believes that EPA should fully approve
the State's implementation plan as it applies to regional haze since it
is likely that either CAIR or the Transport Rule will be in effect in
the future.
Response 11: Today, EPA is finalizing action on a limited approval
of Alabama's regional haze SIP that results in an approval of the
entire regional haze submission and all of its elements, preserving the
visibility benefits offered by the SIP. EPA has the authority to issue
a limited approval and believes that it is appropriate and necessary to
promulgate a limited approval of Alabama's regional haze SIP. On
December 30, 2011, EPA proposed a limited disapproval for Alabama's
regional haze SIP and explained that EPA cannot fully approve regional
haze SIP revisions that rely on CAIR for emissions reduction measures
for the reasons discussed in that action. Comments on the disapproval
are therefore beyond the scope of this rulemaking. EPA finalized the
limited disapproval of Alabama's regional haze SIP in a final action
published June 7, 2012 (77 FR 33642).
Comment 12: The Commenter expressed concern with EPA's proposed
approach of adopting FIPs at the time of disapproval to replace
reliance on CAIR in the regional haze SIPs with reliance on the
Transport Rule. The Commenter believes that states should be given
every opportunity provided by the Act to make revisions to correct SIP
deficiencies before EPA acts by imposing a FIP.
Response 12: As discussed in the response to Comment 11, today's
action addresses the limited approval, and EPA finalized a limited
disapproval in a separate action published on June 7, 2012. In that
same action, EPA did not finalize a FIP for Alabama. EPA's response to
comments on the final disapproval can be found in Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-
OAR-2011-0729 at www.regulations.gov.
III. What is the effect of this final action?
Under CAA sections 301(a) and 110(k)(6) and EPA's long-standing
guidance, a limited approval results in approval of the entire SIP
revision, even of those parts that are deficient and prevent EPA from
granting a full approval of the SIP revision. Today, EPA is finalizing
a limited approval of Alabama's July 15, 2008, regional haze SIP
revision. This limited approval results in approval of Alabama's entire
regional haze submission and all its elements. EPA is taking this
approach because Alabama's SIP will be stronger and more protective of
the environment with the implementation of those measures by the State
and having federal approval and enforceability than it would without
those measures being included in its SIP.
IV. Final Action
EPA is finalizing a limited approval of a revision to the Alabama
SIP submitted by the State of Alabama on July 15, 2008, as meeting some
of the applicable regional haze requirements as set forth in sections
169A and 169B of the CAA and in 40 CFR 51.300-308. Also in this action,
EPA is rescinding the federal regulations in 40 CFR 52.61 that were
approved into the Alabama SIP on November 24, 1987, and approving the
provisions in Alabama's July 15, 2008, SIP submittal to meet the
monitoring and LTS requirements for RAVI at 40 CFR 51.306.
V. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews
A. Executive Order 12866, Regulatory Planning and Review
The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has exempted this
regulatory action from Executive Order 12866, entitled ``Regulatory
Planning and Review.''
B. Paperwork Reduction Act
Under the Paperwork Reduction Act, 44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq., OMB must
approve all ``collections of information'' by EPA. The Act defines
``collection of information'' as a requirement for answers to ``* * *
identical reporting or recordkeeping requirements imposed on ten or
more persons * * *''. 44 U.S.C. 3502(3)(A). The Paperwork Reduction Act
does not apply to this action.
C. Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA)
The RFA generally requires an agency to conduct a regulatory
flexibility analysis of any rule subject to notice and comment
rulemaking requirements unless the agency certifies that the rule will
not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small
entities. Small entities include small businesses, small not-for-profit
enterprises, and small governmental jurisdictions.
This rule will not have a significant impact on a substantial
number of small entities because SIP approvals under section 110 and
subchapter I, part D of the CAA do not create any new requirements but
simply approve requirements that the State is already imposing.
Therefore, because the federal SIP approval does not create any new
requirements, I certify that this action will not have a significant
economic impact on a substantial number of small entities.
Moreover, due to the nature of the federal-state relationship under
the CAA, preparation of flexibility analysis would constitute federal
inquiry into the economic reasonableness of state action. The CAA
forbids EPA to base its actions concerning SIPs on such grounds. Union
Electric Co., v. EPA, 427 U.S. 246, 255-66 (1976); 42 U.S.C.
7410(a)(2).
D. Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA)
Under sections 202 of the UMRA of 1995 (``Unfunded Mandates Act''),
signed into law on March 22, 1995, EPA must prepare a budgetary impact
statement to accompany any proposed or final rule that includes a
federal mandate that may result in estimated costs to state, local, or
tribal governments in the aggregate; or to the private sector, of $100
million or more. Under section 205, EPA must select the most cost-
effective and least burdensome alternative that achieves the objectives
of the rule and is consistent with statutory requirements. Section 203
requires EPA to establish a plan for informing and advising any small
governments that may be significantly or uniquely impacted by the rule.
EPA has determined that today's action does not include a federal
mandate that may result in estimated costs of $100 million or more to
either state, local, or tribal governments in the aggregate, or to the
private sector. This federal action approves pre-existing requirements
under state or local law, and imposes no new requirements. Accordingly,
no additional costs to
[[Page 38522]]
state, local, or tribal governments, or to the private sector, result
from this action.
E. Executive Order 13132, Federalism
Federalism (64 FR 43255, August 10, 1999) revokes and replaces
Executive Orders 12612 (Federalism) and 12875 (Enhancing the
Intergovernmental Partnership). Executive Order 13132 requires EPA to
develop an accountable process to ensure ``meaningful and timely input
by State and local officials in the development of regulatory policies
that have Federalism implications.'' ``Policies that have federalism
implications'' is defined in the Executive Order to include regulations
that have ``substantial direct effects on the states, on the
relationship between the national government and the states, or on the
distribution of power and responsibilities among the various levels of
government.'' Under Executive Order 13132, EPA may not issue a
regulation that has Federalism implications, that imposes substantial
direct compliance costs, and that is not required by statute, unless
the federal government provides the funds necessary to pay the direct
compliance costs incurred by state and local governments, or EPA
consults with state and local officials early in the process of
developing the proposed regulation. EPA also may not issue a regulation
that has Federalism implications and that preempts state law unless the
Agency consults with state and local officials early in the process of
developing the proposed regulation.
This rule will not have substantial direct effects on the states,
on the relationship between the national government and the states, or
on the distribution of power and responsibilities among the various
levels of government, as specified in Executive Order 13132, because it
merely approves a state rule implementing a federal standard, and does
not alter the relationship or the distribution of power and
responsibilities established in the CAA. Thus, the requirements of
section 6 of the Executive Order do not apply to this rule.
F. Executive Order 13175, Coordination With Indian Tribal Governments
Executive Order 13175, entitled ``Consultation and Coordination
with Indian Tribal Governments'' (65 FR 67249, November 9, 2000),
requires EPA to develop an accountable process to ensure ``meaningful
and timely input by tribal officials in the development of regulatory
policies that have tribal implications.'' This rule does not have
tribal implications, as specified in Executive Order 13175. It will not
have substantial direct effects on tribal governments. Thus, Executive
Order 13175 does not apply to this rule.
G. Executive Order 13045, Protection of Children From Environmental
Health Risks and Safety Risks
Protection of Children from Environmental Health Risks and Safety
Risks (62 FR 19885, April 23, 1997), applies to any rule that: (1) Is
determined to be ``economically significant'' as defined under
Executive Order 12866, and (2) concerns an environmental health or
safety risk that EPA has reason to believe may have a disproportionate
effect on children. If the regulatory action meets both criteria, the
Agency must evaluate the environmental health or safety effects of the
planned rule on children, and explain why the planned regulation is
preferable to other potentially effective and reasonably feasible
alternatives considered by the Agency.
This rule is not subject to Executive Order 13045 because it does
not involve decisions intended to mitigate environmental health or
safety risks.
H. Executive Order 13211, Actions That Significantly Affect Energy
Supply, Distribution, or Use
This rule is not subject to Executive Order 13211, ``Actions
Concerning Regulations That Significantly Affect Energy Supply,
Distribution, or Use'' (66 FR 28355, May 22, 2001) because it is not a
significant regulatory action under Executive Order 12866.
I. National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act (NTTAA)
Section 12 of the NTTAA of 1995 requires federal agencies to
evaluate existing technical standards when developing a new regulation.
To comply with NTTAA, EPA must consider and use ``voluntary consensus
standards'' (VCS) if available and applicable when developing programs
and policies unless doing so would be inconsistent with applicable law
or otherwise impractical.
EPA believes that VCS are inapplicable to this action. Today's
action does not require the public to perform activities conducive to
the use of VCS.
J. Congressional Review Act
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. EPA will submit a report containing this rule and other
required information to the U.S. Senate, the U.S. House of
Representatives, and the Comptroller General of the United States prior
to publication of the rule in the Federal Register. A major rule cannot
take effect until 60 days after it is published in the Federal
Register. This action is not a ``major rule'' as defined by 5 U.S.C.
804(2).
K. Petitions for Judicial Review
Under section 307(b)(1) of the CAA, petitions for judicial review
of this action must be filed in the United States Court of Appeals for
the appropriate circuit by August 27, 2012. Filing a petition for
reconsideration by the Administrator of this final rule does not affect
the finality of this rule 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, Intergovernmental relations, Nitrogen dioxide, Particulate
matter, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, Sulfur oxides,
Volatile organic compounds.
Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.
Dated: June 14, 2012.
A. Stanley Meiburg,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region 4.
40 CFR part 52 is amended as follows:
PART 52--[AMENDED]
0
1. The authority citation for part 52 continues to read as follows:
Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.
Subpart B--Alabama
0
2. Section 52.50 (e) is amended by adding a new entry for ``Regional
Haze Plan'' at the end of the table to read as follows:
Sec. 52.50 Identification of plan.
* * * * *
(e) * * *
[[Page 38523]]
EPA Approved Alabama Non-Regulatory Provisions
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
State submittal
Name of nonregulatory SIP provision Applicable geographic or date/effective EPA approval date Explanation
nonattainment area date
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* * * * * * *
Regional haze plan........................... Statewide...................... 7/15/2008 6/28/2012 [Insert citation of
publication].
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
0
3. Section 52.61 is amended by removing and reserving paragraph (a) to
read as follows:
Sec. 52.61 Visibility protection.
(a) [Reserved]
* * * * *
[FR Doc. 2012-15475 Filed 6-27-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P