Approval and Promulgation of Implementation Plans; Louisiana; Regional Haze State Implementation Plan, 44753-44754 [2017-20533]
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Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 185 / Tuesday, September 26, 2017 / Proposed Rules
back to the original position, 26°56′00″
N., 082°21′11″ W.
(2) Spectator Area. All waters of the
Gulf of Mexico contained with the
following points: 26°55′33″ N.,
082°22′21″ W., thence to position
26°54′14″ N., 082°21′35″ W., thence to
position 26°54′11″ N., 082°21′40″ W.,
thence to position 26°55′31″ N.,
082°22′26″ W., thence back to position
26°55′33″ N., 082°22′21″ W.
(3) Enforcement Area. All waters of
the Gulf of Mexico encompassed within
the following points: 26°56′09″ N.,
082°22′12″ W., thence to position
26°54′13″ N., 082°21′03″ W., thence to
position 26°53′58″ N., 082°21′43″ W.,
thence to position 26°55′56″ N.,
082°22′48″ W., thence back to position
26°56′09″ N., 082°22′12″ W.
(b) Definition. The term ‘‘designated
representative’’ means Coast Guard
Patrol Commanders, including Coast
Guard coxswains, petty officers, and
other officers operating Coast Guard
vessels, and Federal, state, and local
officers designated by or assisting the
COTP St. Petersburg in the enforcement
of the regulated areas.
(c) Regulations.
(1) All persons and vessels are
prohibited from entering, transiting
through, anchoring in, or remaining
within the Race Area unless an
authorized race participant.
(2) Designated representatives may
control vessel traffic throughout the
enforcement area as determined by the
prevailing conditions.
(3) All vessels are to be anchored and/
or operate at a No Wake Speed in the
spectator area. On-scene designated
representatives will direct spectator
vessels to the spectator area.
(4) Persons and vessels may request
authorization to enter, transit through,
anchor in, or remain within the
regulated areas by contacting the COTP
St. Petersburg by telephone at (727)
824–7506, or a designated
representative via VHF radio on channel
16. If authorization is granted by the
COTP St. Petersburg or a designated
representative, all persons and vessels
receiving such authorization must
comply with the instructions of the
COTP St. Petersburg or a designated
representative.
(d) Enforcement Period. This rule will
be enforced daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
on the third weekend of November
(Friday, Saturday and Sunday).
Dated: September 20, 2017.
Holly L. Najarian,
Captain, U.S. Coast Guard, Captain of the
Port Saint Petersburg.
[FR Doc. 2017–20534 Filed 9–25–17; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 9110–04–P
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Jkt 241001
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
AGENCY
40 CFR Part 52
[EPA–R06–OAR–2017–0129; FRL–9967–64–
Region 6]
Approval and Promulgation of
Implementation Plans; Louisiana;
Regional Haze State Implementation
Plan
Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Proposed rule.
AGENCY:
Pursuant to the Federal Clean
Air Act (CAA or the Act), the
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
is amending our recent proposal to
approve a revision to the Louisiana
State Implementation Plan (SIP) for
regional haze submitted for parallel
processing on August 24, 2017. On July
13, 2017, we proposed to approve a SIP
revision by the State of Louisiana
through the Louisiana Department of
Environmental Quality (LDEQ) to
address certain Best Available Retrofit
Technology requirements under
Regional Haze for the Entergy R. S.
Nelson facility (Nelson), which is an
electric generating unit in Calcasieu
Parish. We now amend that proposal, by
proposing to approve a compliance date
three years from the effective date of the
final EPA approval of the SIP revision
for Nelson to meet an emission limit for
sulfur dioxide (SO2) emissions.
DATES: Written comments must be
received on or before October 26, 2017.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments,
identified by Docket No. EPA–R06–
OAR–2017–0129, at https://
www.regulations.gov or via email to
huser.jennifer@epa.gov. Follow the
online instructions for submitting
comments. Once submitted, comments
cannot be edited or removed from
Regulations.gov. The EPA may publish
any comment received to its public
docket. Do not submit electronically any
information you consider to be
Confidential Business Information (CBI)
or other information whose disclosure is
restricted by statute. Multimedia
submissions (audio, video, etc.) must be
accompanied by a written comment.
The written comment is considered the
official comment and should include
discussion of all points you wish to
make. The EPA will generally not
consider comments or comment
contents located outside of the primary
submission (i.e. on the web, cloud, or
other file sharing system). For
additional submission methods, please
contact Jennifer Huser, 214–665–7347,
huser.jennifer@epa.gov. For the full EPA
SUMMARY:
PO 00000
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44753
public comment policy, information
about CBI or multimedia submissions,
and general guidance on making
effective comments, please visit https://
www2.epa.gov/dockets/commentingepa-dockets.
Docket: The index to the docket for
this action is available electronically at
www.regulations.gov and in hard copy
at the EPA Region 6, 1445 Ross Avenue,
Suite 700, Dallas, Texas. While all
documents in the docket are listed in
the index, some information may be
publicly available only at the hard copy
location (e.g., copyrighted material), and
some may not be publicly available at
either location (e.g., CBI).
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Jennifer Huser, 214–665–7347,
huser.jennifer@epa.gov. To inspect the
hard copy materials, please schedule an
appointment with Ms. Huser or Mr. Bill
Deese at 214–665–7253.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Throughout this document wherever
‘‘we,’’ ‘‘us,’’ or ‘‘our’’ is used, we mean
the EPA.
I. Background
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 (PM2.5) (e.g., sulfates,
nitrates, organic carbon, elemental
carbon, and soil dust) and their
precursors. Fine particle precursors,
such as SO2, react in the atmosphere to
form PM2.5, which also impair visibility
by scattering and absorbing light. The
CAA’s visibility protection program
helps to protect clear views in national
parks and wilderness areas identified as
‘‘Class I Federal areas’’ (CAA section
169A, 40 CFR 51 subpart P and 40 CFR
81 subpart D). Vistas in these areas are
often obscured by visibility-impairing
pollutants caused by emissions from
numerous sources located over a wide
geographic area. The program requires
SIPs to address visibility-impairing
pollutants. For more information on
regional haze, visibility protection, and
SIPs please see our May 19, 2017 and
July 13, 2017 Federal Register proposals
for Louisiana EGUs discussed below.
These proposals can be accessed
through regulations.gov (docket EPA–
R06–OAR–207–0129).
On May 19, 2017, we published a
proposal to approve a Louisiana SIP
revision to address regional haze
requirements for EGUs with the
exception of the Entergy R. S. Nelson
EGU (Entergy Nelson) in Calcasieu
Parish (82 FR 22936). On July 13, 2017,
we published a proposal to approve a
proposed Louisiana SIP revision
E:\FR\FM\26SEP1.SGM
26SEP1
44754
Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 185 / Tuesday, September 26, 2017 / Proposed Rules
submitted for parallel processing to
address regional haze requirements for
Entergy Nelson (82 FR 32294). In the
July 13, 2017 action, we proposed to
approve an SO2 emissions limit of 0.6
pounds per million British Thermal
Units (lbs/MMBtu) at Entergy Nelson
Unit 6. The compliance date we
proposed to approve was no later than
the effective date of our approval of a
final SIP. On August 24, 2017, Louisiana
submitted a letter explaining its intent
to revise the compliance date in its SIP
for Entergy Nelson Unit 6 based on a
public comment received during the
State’s comment period. On June 21,
2017, Entergy, the owner and operator
of Nelson, submitted a comment to
LDEQ on the proposed SIP. The
comment letter requests a three-year
period for the transition to the proposed
SO2 limit for Nelson Unit 6. Entergy’s
letter explains that coal contracts are in
place for the next three years. Entergy
requests this longer compliance time to
allow the company’s fuel procurement
to transition to new mines with lower
sulfur coal. As a result, Louisiana’s
revised compliance date for Entergy
Nelson Unit 6 to meet the SO2 emissions
limit is three years from the effective
date of our approval of the SIP revision.
II. The EPA’s Evaluation
We sent clarifying questions via email
to Entergy regarding their need for three
years to comply with the emission limit
of 0.6 lbs/MMBtu. The questions and
Entergy’s response are included in the
docket. A compliance date of three years
from the effective date of our approval
of the SIP revision allows time for
Entergy Nelson to ensure that Unit 6 is
able to continuously meet a SO2
emissions limit of 0.6 lbs/MMBtu once
the emission limit becomes enforceable.
We believe this is a reasonable basis to
allow three years for Nelson Unit 6 to
comply with this limit, and this change
meets the requirement that BART be
installed and operational ‘‘as
expeditiously as practicable, but in no
event later than five years after approval
of the [SIP].’’ 40 CFR 51.308(e)(1)(v). As
a result, we propose to approve this SIP
revision when it is submitted to EPA.
III. Proposed Action
EPA amends our proposal to approve
a Louisiana regional haze SIP revision
submitted on August 24, 2017 to allow
a compliance date three years from the
effective date of the final EPA approval
of the SIP revision for Unit 6 of the
Entergy Nelson EGU to meet a SO2
emissions limit of 0.6 lbs/MMBtu.
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IV. Incorporation by Reference
In this action, we are proposing to
include in a final rule regulatory text
that includes incorporation by
reference. In accordance with the
requirements of 1 CFR 51.5, we are
proposing to incorporate by reference
revisions to the Louisiana regulations as
described in the Proposed Action
section above. We have made, and will
continue to make, these documents
generally available electronically
through www.regulations.gov and/or in
hard copy at the EPA Region 6 office.
V. Statutory and Executive Order
Reviews
Under the CAA, the Administrator is
required to approve a SIP submission
that complies with the provisions of the
Act and applicable Federal regulations.
42 U.S.C. 7410(k); 40 CFR 52.02(a).
Thus, in reviewing SIP submissions, the
EPA’s role is to approve state choices,
provided that they meet the criteria of
the CAA. Accordingly, this action
merely proposes to approve state law as
meeting Federal requirements and does
not impose additional requirements
beyond those imposed by state law. For
that reason, this action:
• Is not a ‘‘significant regulatory
action’’ subject to review by the Office
of Management and Budget under
Executive Orders 12866 (58 FR 51735,
October 4, 1993), 13563 (76 FR 3821,
January 21, 2011) and 13771 (82 FR
9339, February 2, 2017);
• Does not impose an information
collection burden under the provisions
of the Paperwork Reduction Act (44
U.S.C. 3501 et seq.);
• Is certified as not having a
significant economic impact on a
substantial number of small entities
under the Regulatory Flexibility Act (5
U.S.C. 601 et seq.);
• Does not contain any unfunded
mandate or significantly or uniquely
affect small governments, as described
in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act
of 1995 (Pub. L. 104–4);
• Does not have Federalism
implications as specified in Executive
Order 13132 (64 FR 43255, August 10,
1999);
• Is not an economically significant
regulatory action based on health or
safety risks subject to Executive Order
13045 (62 FR 19885, April 23, 1997);
• Is not a significant regulatory action
subject to Executive Order 13211 (66 FR
28355, May 22, 2001);
• Is not subject to requirements of
section 12(d) of the National
Technology Transfer and Advancement
Act of 1995 (15 U.S.C. 272 note) because
this action does not involve technical
standards; and
PO 00000
Frm 00011
Fmt 4702
Sfmt 4702
• Does not provide EPA with the
discretionary authority to address, as
appropriate, disproportionate human
health or environmental effects, using
practicable and legally permissible
methods, under Executive Order 12898
(59 FR 7629, February 16, 1994).
In addition, the SIP is not approved to
apply on any Indian reservation land or
in any other area where EPA or an
Indian tribe has demonstrated that a
tribe has jurisdiction. In those areas of
Indian country, the proposed rule does
not have tribal implications and will not
impose substantial direct costs on tribal
governments or preempt tribal law as
specified by Executive Order 13175 (65
FR 67249, November 9, 2000).
List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 52
Environmental protection, Air
pollution control, Incorporation by
reference, Intergovernmental relations,
Nitrogen dioxide, Particulate matter,
Reporting and recordkeeping
requirements, Regional haze, Sulfur
dioxides, Visibility.
Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.
Dated: September 20, 2017.
Samuel Coleman,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region 6.
[FR Doc. 2017–20533 Filed 9–25–17; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560–50–P
FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS
COMMISSION
47 CFR Parts 51, 61, and 69
[WC Docket No: 10–90; CC Docket No. 01–
92]
Parties Asked To Refresh the Record
on Intercarrier Compensation Reform
Related to the Network Edge, Tandem
Switching and Transport, and Transit
Federal Communications
Commission.
ACTION: Proposed rule.
AGENCY:
The Commission invites
interested parties to update the record
on issues raised by the Commission in
the 2011 Intercarrier Compensation
(ICC) Transformation Further Notice of
Proposed Rulemaking (FNPRM)
regarding the network edge for traffic
that interconnects with the Public
Switched Telephone Network, tandem
switching and transport, and transit (the
non-access traffic functional equivalent
of tandem switching and transport). The
Commission seeks updated comment in
light of regulatory and marketplace
developments that have occurred since
the 2011 ICC Transformation FNPRM,
including the transition of certain
SUMMARY:
E:\FR\FM\26SEP1.SGM
26SEP1
]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 185 (Tuesday, September 26, 2017)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 44753-44754]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-20533]
=======================================================================
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 52
[EPA-R06-OAR-2017-0129; FRL-9967-64-Region 6]
Approval and Promulgation of Implementation Plans; Louisiana;
Regional Haze State Implementation Plan
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Proposed rule.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: Pursuant to the Federal Clean Air Act (CAA or the Act), the
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is amending our recent proposal
to approve a revision to the Louisiana State Implementation Plan (SIP)
for regional haze submitted for parallel processing on August 24, 2017.
On July 13, 2017, we proposed to approve a SIP revision by the State of
Louisiana through the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality
(LDEQ) to address certain Best Available Retrofit Technology
requirements under Regional Haze for the Entergy R. S. Nelson facility
(Nelson), which is an electric generating unit in Calcasieu Parish. We
now amend that proposal, by proposing to approve a compliance date
three years from the effective date of the final EPA approval of the
SIP revision for Nelson to meet an emission limit for sulfur dioxide
(SO2) emissions.
DATES: Written comments must be received on or before October 26, 2017.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket No. EPA-R06-OAR-
2017-0129, at https://www.regulations.gov or via email to
huser.jennifer@epa.gov. Follow the online instructions for submitting
comments. Once submitted, comments cannot be edited or removed from
Regulations.gov. The EPA may publish any comment received to its public
docket. Do not submit electronically any information you consider to be
Confidential Business Information (CBI) or other information whose
disclosure is restricted by statute. Multimedia submissions (audio,
video, etc.) must be accompanied by a written comment. The written
comment is considered the official comment and should include
discussion of all points you wish to make. The EPA will generally not
consider comments or comment contents located outside of the primary
submission (i.e. on the web, cloud, or other file sharing system). For
additional submission methods, please contact Jennifer Huser, 214-665-
7347, huser.jennifer@epa.gov. For the full EPA public comment policy,
information about CBI or multimedia submissions, and general guidance
on making effective comments, please visit https://www2.epa.gov/dockets/commenting-epa-dockets.
Docket: The index to the docket for this action is available
electronically at www.regulations.gov and in hard copy at the EPA
Region 6, 1445 Ross Avenue, Suite 700, Dallas, Texas. While all
documents in the docket are listed in the index, some information may
be publicly available only at the hard copy location (e.g., copyrighted
material), and some may not be publicly available at either location
(e.g., CBI).
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jennifer Huser, 214-665-7347,
huser.jennifer@epa.gov. To inspect the hard copy materials, please
schedule an appointment with Ms. Huser or Mr. Bill Deese at 214-665-
7253.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Throughout this document wherever ``we,''
``us,'' or ``our'' is used, we mean the EPA.
I. Background
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 (PM2.5) (e.g.,
sulfates, nitrates, organic carbon, elemental carbon, and soil dust)
and their precursors. Fine particle precursors, such as SO2,
react in the atmosphere to form PM2.5, which also impair
visibility by scattering and absorbing light. The CAA's visibility
protection program helps to protect clear views in national parks and
wilderness areas identified as ``Class I Federal areas'' (CAA section
169A, 40 CFR 51 subpart P and 40 CFR 81 subpart D). Vistas in these
areas are often obscured by visibility-impairing pollutants caused by
emissions from numerous sources located over a wide geographic area.
The program requires SIPs to address visibility-impairing pollutants.
For more information on regional haze, visibility protection, and SIPs
please see our May 19, 2017 and July 13, 2017 Federal Register
proposals for Louisiana EGUs discussed below. These proposals can be
accessed through regulations.gov (docket EPA-R06-OAR-207-0129).
On May 19, 2017, we published a proposal to approve a Louisiana SIP
revision to address regional haze requirements for EGUs with the
exception of the Entergy R. S. Nelson EGU (Entergy Nelson) in Calcasieu
Parish (82 FR 22936). On July 13, 2017, we published a proposal to
approve a proposed Louisiana SIP revision
[[Page 44754]]
submitted for parallel processing to address regional haze requirements
for Entergy Nelson (82 FR 32294). In the July 13, 2017 action, we
proposed to approve an SO2 emissions limit of 0.6 pounds per
million British Thermal Units (lbs/MMBtu) at Entergy Nelson Unit 6. The
compliance date we proposed to approve was no later than the effective
date of our approval of a final SIP. On August 24, 2017, Louisiana
submitted a letter explaining its intent to revise the compliance date
in its SIP for Entergy Nelson Unit 6 based on a public comment received
during the State's comment period. On June 21, 2017, Entergy, the owner
and operator of Nelson, submitted a comment to LDEQ on the proposed
SIP. The comment letter requests a three-year period for the transition
to the proposed SO2 limit for Nelson Unit 6. Entergy's
letter explains that coal contracts are in place for the next three
years. Entergy requests this longer compliance time to allow the
company's fuel procurement to transition to new mines with lower sulfur
coal. As a result, Louisiana's revised compliance date for Entergy
Nelson Unit 6 to meet the SO2 emissions limit is three years
from the effective date of our approval of the SIP revision.
II. The EPA's Evaluation
We sent clarifying questions via email to Entergy regarding their
need for three years to comply with the emission limit of 0.6 lbs/
MMBtu. The questions and Entergy's response are included in the docket.
A compliance date of three years from the effective date of our
approval of the SIP revision allows time for Entergy Nelson to ensure
that Unit 6 is able to continuously meet a SO2 emissions
limit of 0.6 lbs/MMBtu once the emission limit becomes enforceable. We
believe this is a reasonable basis to allow three years for Nelson Unit
6 to comply with this limit, and this change meets the requirement that
BART be installed and operational ``as expeditiously as practicable,
but in no event later than five years after approval of the [SIP].'' 40
CFR 51.308(e)(1)(v). As a result, we propose to approve this SIP
revision when it is submitted to EPA.
III. Proposed Action
EPA amends our proposal to approve a Louisiana regional haze SIP
revision submitted on August 24, 2017 to allow a compliance date three
years from the effective date of the final EPA approval of the SIP
revision for Unit 6 of the Entergy Nelson EGU to meet a SO2
emissions limit of 0.6 lbs/MMBtu.
IV. Incorporation by Reference
In this action, we are proposing to include in a final rule
regulatory text that includes incorporation by reference. In accordance
with the requirements of 1 CFR 51.5, we are proposing to incorporate by
reference revisions to the Louisiana regulations as described in the
Proposed Action section above. We have made, and will continue to make,
these documents generally available electronically through
www.regulations.gov and/or in hard copy at the EPA Region 6 office.
V. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews
Under the CAA, the Administrator is required to approve a SIP
submission that complies with the provisions of the Act and applicable
Federal regulations. 42 U.S.C. 7410(k); 40 CFR 52.02(a). Thus, in
reviewing SIP submissions, the EPA's role is to approve state choices,
provided that they meet the criteria of the CAA. Accordingly, this
action merely proposes to approve state law as meeting Federal
requirements and does not impose additional requirements beyond those
imposed by state law. For that reason, this action:
Is not a ``significant regulatory action'' subject to
review by the Office of Management and Budget under Executive Orders
12866 (58 FR 51735, October 4, 1993), 13563 (76 FR 3821, January 21,
2011) and 13771 (82 FR 9339, February 2, 2017);
Does not impose an information collection burden under the
provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.);
Is certified as not having a significant economic impact
on a substantial number of small entities under the Regulatory
Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 601 et seq.);
Does not contain any unfunded mandate or significantly or
uniquely affect small governments, as described in the Unfunded
Mandates Reform Act of 1995 (Pub. L. 104-4);
Does not have Federalism implications as specified in
Executive Order 13132 (64 FR 43255, August 10, 1999);
Is not an economically significant regulatory action based
on health or safety risks subject to Executive Order 13045 (62 FR
19885, April 23, 1997);
Is not a significant regulatory action subject to
Executive Order 13211 (66 FR 28355, May 22, 2001);
Is not subject to requirements of section 12(d) of the
National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act of 1995 (15 U.S.C. 272
note) because this action does not involve technical standards; and
Does not provide EPA with the discretionary authority to
address, as appropriate, disproportionate human health or environmental
effects, using practicable and legally permissible methods, under
Executive Order 12898 (59 FR 7629, February 16, 1994).
In addition, the SIP is not approved to apply on any Indian reservation
land or in any other area where EPA or an Indian tribe has demonstrated
that a tribe has jurisdiction. In those areas of Indian country, the
proposed rule does not have tribal implications and will not impose
substantial direct costs on tribal governments or preempt tribal law as
specified by Executive Order 13175 (65 FR 67249, November 9, 2000).
List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 52
Environmental protection, Air pollution control, Incorporation by
reference, Intergovernmental relations, Nitrogen dioxide, Particulate
matter, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, Regional haze, Sulfur
dioxides, Visibility.
Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.
Dated: September 20, 2017.
Samuel Coleman,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region 6.
[FR Doc. 2017-20533 Filed 9-25-17; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P
