Air Plan Approval; Texas; Clean Air Act Requirements for Enhanced Vehicle Inspection and Maintenance and Nonattainment New Source Review, 11913-11915 [2021-02758]
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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 38 / Monday, March 1, 2021 / Proposed Rules
a. Revising the introductory text; and
b. Adding a period at the end of
paragraph (f).
The revision and addition read as
follows:
benefits of expanding other existing
regulations, as detailed in question 6,
differ from the costs and benefits of
requiring SMSs for all passenger
vessels?’’
§ 213.39
Dated: February 19, 2021.
M.T. Cunningham,
Chief, Office of Regulations and
Administrative Law, U.S. Coast Guard.
■
■
Exceptions to mandatory transfer.
USAID is not required to transfer a
debt to the Financial Management
Service (FMS) of the U.S. Department of
the Treasury pursuant to § 214.37(b)
during such period of time that the debt:
*
*
*
*
*
Kent Kuyumjian,
Deputy Chief Financial Officer.
[FR Doc. 2021–04011 Filed 2–26–21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 9110–04–P
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
AGENCY
[FR Doc. 2021–03385 Filed 2–26–21; 8:45 am]
40 CFR Part 52
BILLING CODE 6116–01–P
[EPA–R06–OAR–2020–0343; FRL–10016–
31–Region 6]
DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND
SECURITY
Air Plan Approval; Texas; Clean Air
Act Requirements for Enhanced
Vehicle Inspection and Maintenance
and Nonattainment New Source
Review
Coast Guard
33 CFR Part 96
Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Proposed rule.
AGENCY:
46 CFR Parts 71, 115, and 176
[Docket No. USCG–2020–0123]
RIN 1625–AC65
Pursuant to the Federal Clean
Air Act (CAA or the Act), the
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
is proposing to approve portions of two
State Implementation Plan (SIP)
revisions submitted by the State of
Texas for the 2008 8-hour ozone
National Ambient Air Quality Standard
(NAAQS). The SIP revisions proposed
for approval describe how CAA
requirements for vehicle Inspection and
Maintenance (I/M) and Nonattainment
New Source Review (NNSR) are met in
the Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) and
Houston-Galveston-Brazoria (HGB)
serious ozone nonattainment areas.
DATES: Written comments must be
received on or before March 31, 2021.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments,
identified by Docket No. EPA–R06–
OAR–2020–0343, at https://
www.regulations.gov or via email to
paige.carrie@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
SUMMARY:
Safety Management Systems for
Domestic Passenger Vessels
Coast Guard, DHS.
Advance notice of proposed
rulemaking; correction.
AGENCY:
ACTION:
The Coast Guard is correcting
an advance notice of proposed
rulemaking (ANPRM) published in the
Federal Register of January 15, 2021,
seeking public comment on the
potential use of Safety Management
Systems (SMSs) to improve safety and
reduce marine casualties on board U.S.flagged passenger vessels. The ANPRM
contained an incorrect internal crossreference in the list of questions for the
public.
DATES: March 1, 2021.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For
information about this document, call or
email Lieutenant Kimberly Gates, Vessel
and Facility Operating Standards
Division (CG–OES–2), U.S. Coast Guard;
telephone 202–372–1455, email
kimberly.m.gates@uscg.mil.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In FR Doc.
2021–01058, beginning on page 3899 in
the issue of January 15, 2021, make the
following correction in the
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section:
On page 3902 in the third column, in
the paragraph for Question 19, replace
the text ‘‘question 4’’ with the text
‘‘question 6.’’
The corrected Question 19 reads as
follows: ‘‘How would the costs and
SUMMARY:
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11913
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 Carrie Paige, 214–665–6521,
paige.carrie@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://
www.epa.gov/dockets/commenting-epadockets.
Docket: The index to the docket for
this action is available electronically at
www.regulations.gov. While all
documents in the docket are listed in
the index, some information may not be
publicly available due to docket file size
restrictions or content (e.g., CBI).
Ms.
Carrie Paige, EPA Region 6 Office,
Infrastructure and Ozone Section, 214–
665–6521, paige.carrie@epa.gov. Out of
an abundance of caution for members of
the public and our staff, the EPA Region
6 office may be closed to the public to
reduce the risk of transmitting COVID–
19. We encourage the public to submit
comments via https://
www.regulations.gov, as there will be a
delay in processing mail and no courier
or hand deliveries will be accepted.
Please call or email the contact listed
above if you need alternative access to
material indexed but not provided in
the docket.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Throughout this document wherever
‘‘we,’’ ‘‘us,’’ or ‘‘our’’ is used, we mean
the EPA.
I. Background
On March 12, 2008, the EPA revised
both the primary and secondary NAAQS
for ozone to a level of 0.075 parts per
million (ppm) to provide increased
protection of public health and the
environment (73 FR 16436, March 27,
2008).1 The 2008 ozone NAAQS retains
the same general form and averaging
time as the 0.08 ppm NAAQS set in
1997 but is set at a more protective
level. Specifically, the 2008 ozone
NAAQS is attained when the 3-year
average of the annual fourth-highest
daily maximum 8-hour average ambient
air quality ozone concentrations is less
1 For a history of the ozone NAAQS, please visit
https://www.epa.gov/ground-level-ozone-pollution/
table-historical-ozone-national-ambient-air-qualitystandards-naaqs. For information on EPA’s periodic
review of the ozone NAAQS, please visit https://
www.epa.gov/naaqs/ozone-o3-air-qualitystandards.
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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 38 / Monday, March 1, 2021 / Proposed Rules
than or equal to 0.075 ppm. See 40 CFR
50.15.2
Both the DFW and HGB areas were
designated as nonattainment for the
2008 ozone NAAQS (77 FR 30088, May
21, 2012). The DFW area consists of
Collin, Dallas, Denton, Ellis, Johnson,
Kaufman, Parker, Rockwall, Tarrant and
Wise counties. The HGB area consists of
Brazoria, Chambers, Fort Bend,
Galveston, Harris, Liberty, Montgomery
and Waller counties.
On December 23, 2014, the D.C.
Circuit Court issued a decision rejecting,
among other things, our attainment
deadlines for the 2008 ozone
nonattainment areas, finding that we
did not have statutory authority under
the CAA to extend those deadlines to
the end of the calendar year. NRDC v.
EPA, 777 F.3d 456, 464–69 (D.C. Cir.
2014). Consistent with the court’s
decision we modified the attainment
deadlines for all nonattainment areas for
the 2008 ozone NAAQS, and set the
attainment deadline for all 2008
moderate ozone nonattainment areas,
including the DFW area as July 20,
2018, and the HGB area (initially
classified as marginal) as July 20, 2015
(80 FR 12264, March 6, 2015). The HGB
area qualified for a 1-year extension of
the attainment deadline and we revised
the attainment deadline to July 20, 2016
(81 FR 26697, May 4, 2016). The HGB
area did not meet the revised attainment
deadline of July 20, 2016, and we
reclassified the area to moderate (81 FR
90207, December 14, 2016). The DFW
and HGB areas did not meet the
moderate area attainment deadline and
were accordingly reclassified as serious
(84 FR 44238, August 23, 2019).3
Section 182 of the CAA outlines SIP
requirements applicable to ozone
nonattainment areas in each
classification category. The serious area
classification triggers additional
requirements, including NNSR and
enhanced vehicle I/M. See CAA section
182(c) and 40 CFR 51.350.
On May 13, 2020, the Texas
Commission on Environment Quality
(TCEQ or State) submitted to EPA a SIP
revision for each of the DFW and HGB
serious ozone nonattainment areas. In
those SIP revisions, the State describes
how the DFW and HGB areas meet the
enhanced vehicle I/M program and
NNSR requirements for serious ozone
nonattainment areas using existing
2 The current NAAQS for ozone is an 8-hour
standard of 0.070 ppm, finalized in 2015 (October
26, 2015, 80 FR 65292). This action does not
address the 2015 ozone NAAQS.
3 The attainment deadline for a serious area
classification is 9 years after the initial designation
as nonattainment, which in this case is July 20,
2021. See 40 CFR 51.1103 and 84 FR 44238.
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measures already approved into the SIP.
These two SIP revisions are available in
the docket for this action, at
www.regulations.gov, docket number
EPA–R06–OAR–2020–0343.
II. The TCEQ Submittals and EPA’s
Evaluation
The two Texas SIP revisions include
a statement certifying that the DFW and
HGB areas meet the serious area
requirements for enhanced I/M and
nonattainment NSR for the 2008 eighthour ozone NAAQS. In addition, the SIP
revisions provide a brief history of the
enhanced I/M and NNSR programs in
the Texas SIP. The SIP revisions also
state that, (1) the vehicle I/M program in
the DFW and HGB ozone nonattainment
areas meet the federal requirements for
areas classified as serious or above; and
(2) because the Texas SIP includes
nonattainment NSR requirements, the
requirements for nonattainment NSR are
met for the DFW and HGB serious ozone
nonattainment areas.
Enhanced Vehicle Inspection and
Maintenance
Section 182(c)(3) of the CAA requires
states with ozone nonattainment areas
classified as serious or worse to
implement an enhanced program to
reduce hydrocarbon emissions and
nitrogen oxides (NOX) 4 emissions from
in-use motor vehicles registered in each
urbanized area in the nonattainment
area. The Federal rules addressing I/M
program requirements are provided at
40 CFR part 51, subpart S and further
defined at 40 CFR 51.350
(Applicability). Under these
requirements, serious ozone
nonattainment areas in urbanized areas
with 1980 Census-defined urbanized
populations of 200,000 or more are
required to adopt enhanced I/M
programs (40 CFR 51.350(a)(2) and (4)).
The Texas SIP includes 30 TAC
Section 114.2 (Inspection and
Maintenance Definitions) and 30 TAC
Section 114.50 (Vehicle Emissions
Inspection Requirements) except for 30
TAC Section 114.50(b)(2).5 Under these
provisions Brazoria, Fort Bend,
Galveston, Harris, and Montgomery
counties in the HGB area are included
4 NO and Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC)
X
are precursors to ozone formation.
5 We did not approve 30 TAC Section 114.50(b)(2)
as part of the Texas SIP as (1) it placed an
additional reporting burden upon commanders at
Federal facilities regarding affected Federal vehicles
that is not imposed upon any other affected nonfederal vehicle; and (2) the additional reporting
requirement is not an essential element for an
approvable I/M program, since affected Federal
vehicles are also subject to the same reporting
requirements as other affected non-federal vehicles.
See 66 FR 57261, 57262 (November 14, 2001).
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in the
I/M program, and Collin, Dallas,
Denton, Ellis, Johnson, Kaufman,
Parker, Rockwall, and Tarrant counties
in the DFW area are included in the I/
M program. The program requires that
gasoline powered light-duty vehicles,
and light and heavy-duty trucks
between two and twenty-four years old,
that are registered or required to be
registered in the I/M program area,
including fleets, are subject to annual
inspection and testing. These programs
were adopted and approved as meeting
the applicable requirements of the I/M
rules in response to the area
designations under the one-hour ozone
standard and later the 1997 8-hour
standard. The size of the HGB
nonattainment area did not change with
the implementation of the 2008 ozone
standard. As a result, EPA’s previous
finding that the program covers the
necessary vehicle population is still
appropriate. See 70 FR 58119, 58132
(October 5, 2005) and 71 FR 52670
(September 6, 2006). Wise County was
added to the DFW nonattainment area
under the 2008 standard. Wise County,
however, is not required to be included
in the I/M program as the current I/M
program in the DFW area sufficiently
covers a non-urbanized area population
greater than the urbanized area in Wise
County. To verify, we evaluate the
extent of area coverage for I/M, as
defined at 40 CFR 51.350(b)(2):
‘‘Outside of ozone transport regions,
programs shall nominally cover at least
the entire urbanized area, based on the
1990 census.6 Exclusion of some urban
population is allowed as long as an
equal number of non-urban residents of
the MSA containing the subject
urbanized area are included to
compensate for the exclusion.’’ Based
on the 1990 census, the urban
population of the DFW area covered by
the I/M program (which consisted of 9
counties: Collin, Dallas, Denton, Ellis,
Johnson, Kaufman, Parker, Rockwall
and Tarrant) was 3,198,259 and the
urban population of Wise County was
8,735. Thus, the population of the entire
urbanized area was 3,206,994 (3,198,259
+ 8,735). The urban and non-urban
population of the 9-county DFW area
was 3,885,415. By subtracting the
population of the entire urbanized area
(3,206,994) from the urban and nonurban populations of the 9-county DFW
I/M area (3,885,415¥3,206,994 =
678,421), more than an equal number of
non-urban residents in the 9-county
DFW area are included in the I/M
6 Texas is not included in the Ozone Transport
Region (OTR), which is defined at CAA section
184(a).
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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 38 / Monday, March 1, 2021 / Proposed Rules
program to compensate for the
exclusion of the urbanized population
of 8,735 in Wise County.7 Thus, Wise
County need not implement an I/M
program.
Therefore, since the provisions in the
Texas SIP already include the I/M
requirements specified by the CAA for
serious ozone nonattainment areas, we
are proposing to approve this portion of
the two SIP revisions.
Nonattainment NSR
The applicable NNSR requirements
for the various ozone nonattainment
classifications are described in CAA
section 182 and further defined in 40
CFR part 51, subpart I (Review of New
Sources and Modifications). Under
these requirements new major sources
or major modifications at existing
sources in an ozone nonattainment area
must comply with the lowest achievable
emission rate and obtain sufficient
emission offsets.8 For serious ozone
nonattainment areas, major sources are
defined as any stationary source or
group of sources located within a
contiguous area and under common
control that emits, or has the potential
to emit, at least 50 tons per year (tpy)
of NOX or VOC (see CAA sections 182(c)
and 182(f), and 40 CFR 51.165). The
emission offset ratio required for serious
ozone nonattainment areas is 1.2 to 1
(see CAA section 182(c)(10).
The EPA-approved Texas SIP already
includes 30 TAC Section 116.12
(Nonattainment and Prevention of
Significant Deterioration Review
Definitions) and 30 TAC Section
116.150 (New Major Source or Major
Modification in Ozone Nonattainment
Area).9 These provisions require new
major sources or major modifications at
existing sources in the DFW and HGB
areas to comply with the lowest
achievable emission rate and obtain
emission offsets at the serious
classification ratio of 1.2 to 1.
Therefore, since the provisions in the
Texas SIP already include the NNSR
requirements specified by the CAA for
serious ozone nonattainment areas, we
are proposing to approve this portion of
the two SIP revisions.
III. Proposed Action
We are proposing to approve portions
of two revisions to the Texas SIP
7 All population data in this paragraph are from
the 1990 Census. The 1990 Census report for Texas
is in the docket for this rulemaking.
8 Offsets are the ratio of total emissions
reductions of NOX or VOC to the emissions increase
of such air pollutant.
9 See 60 FR 49781, September 27, 1995 and
subsequent revisions at 77 FR 65119, October 25,
2012 and 79 FR 66626, November 10, 2014.
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submitted on May 13, 2020, that
describe how CAA requirements for
vehicle I/M and NNSR are met in the
DFW and HGB serious ozone
nonattainment areas for the 2008 ozone
NAAQS.
IV. 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) and 13563 (76 FR 3821,
January 21, 2011);
• 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
application of those requirements would
be inconsistent with the CAA; 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
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11915
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, Nitrogen dioxide, Ozone,
Reporting and recordkeeping
requirements, Volatile organic
compounds.
Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.
Dated: February 5, 2021.
David Gray,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region 6.
[FR Doc. 2021–02758 Filed 2–26–21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560–50–P
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
AGENCY
40 CFR Part 52
[EPA–R03–OAR–2020–0320; FRL–10020–
55–Region 3]
Air Plan Approval; Pennsylvania; 1997
8-Hour Ozone National Ambient Air
Quality Standard Second Maintenance
Plan for the Youngstown-WarrenSharon Area; Reopening of Comment
Period
Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Proposed rule; reopening of
public comment period.
AGENCY:
The Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) is reopening the comment
period for a proposed rulemaking
published in the Federal Register on
October 30, 2020. EPA is reopening the
comment period based on a request for
a 15-day extension.
DATES: The comment period will reopen
until March 16, 2021 to allow additional
time for stakeholders to review and
comment on the proposal. The comment
period for the proposed rulemaking
published October 30, 2020 (85 FR
68826), which ended on November 30,
2020, is being reopened. EPA must
receive comments on or before March
16, 2021.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments,
identified by Docket ID No. EPA–R03–
OAR–2020–0320 at https://
www.regulations.gov, or via email to
gordon.mike@epa.gov. For comments
submitted at Regulations.gov, follow the
online instructions for submitting
SUMMARY:
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Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 38 (Monday, March 1, 2021)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 11913-11915]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-02758]
=======================================================================
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 52
[EPA-R06-OAR-2020-0343; FRL-10016-31-Region 6]
Air Plan Approval; Texas; Clean Air Act Requirements for Enhanced
Vehicle Inspection and Maintenance and Nonattainment New Source Review
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 proposing to approve portions
of two State Implementation Plan (SIP) revisions submitted by the State
of Texas for the 2008 8-hour ozone National Ambient Air Quality
Standard (NAAQS). The SIP revisions proposed for approval describe how
CAA requirements for vehicle Inspection and Maintenance (I/M) and
Nonattainment New Source Review (NNSR) are met in the Dallas-Fort Worth
(DFW) and Houston-Galveston-Brazoria (HGB) serious ozone nonattainment
areas.
DATES: Written comments must be received on or before March 31, 2021.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket No. EPA-R06-OAR-
2020-0343, at https://www.regulations.gov or via email to
[email protected]. 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 Carrie Paige, 214-665-
6521, [email protected]. For the full EPA public comment policy,
information about CBI or multimedia submissions, and general guidance
on making effective comments, please visit https://www.epa.gov/dockets/commenting-epa-dockets.
Docket: The index to the docket for this action is available
electronically at www.regulations.gov. While all documents in the
docket are listed in the index, some information may not be publicly
available due to docket file size restrictions or content (e.g., CBI).
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Carrie Paige, EPA Region 6 Office,
Infrastructure and Ozone Section, 214-665-6521, [email protected].
Out of an abundance of caution for members of the public and our staff,
the EPA Region 6 office may be closed to the public to reduce the risk
of transmitting COVID-19. We encourage the public to submit comments
via https://www.regulations.gov, as there will be a delay in processing
mail and no courier or hand deliveries will be accepted. Please call or
email the contact listed above if you need alternative access to
material indexed but not provided in the docket.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Throughout this document wherever ``we,''
``us,'' or ``our'' is used, we mean the EPA.
I. Background
On March 12, 2008, the EPA revised both the primary and secondary
NAAQS for ozone to a level of 0.075 parts per million (ppm) to provide
increased protection of public health and the environment (73 FR 16436,
March 27, 2008).\1\ The 2008 ozone NAAQS retains the same general form
and averaging time as the 0.08 ppm NAAQS set in 1997 but is set at a
more protective level. Specifically, the 2008 ozone NAAQS is attained
when the 3-year average of the annual fourth-highest daily maximum 8-
hour average ambient air quality ozone concentrations is less
[[Page 11914]]
than or equal to 0.075 ppm. See 40 CFR 50.15.\2\
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\1\ For a history of the ozone NAAQS, please visit https://www.epa.gov/ground-level-ozone-pollution/table-historical-ozone-national-ambient-air-quality-standards-naaqs. For information on
EPA's periodic review of the ozone NAAQS, please visit https://www.epa.gov/naaqs/ozone-o3-air-quality-standards.
\2\ The current NAAQS for ozone is an 8-hour standard of 0.070
ppm, finalized in 2015 (October 26, 2015, 80 FR 65292). This action
does not address the 2015 ozone NAAQS.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Both the DFW and HGB areas were designated as nonattainment for the
2008 ozone NAAQS (77 FR 30088, May 21, 2012). The DFW area consists of
Collin, Dallas, Denton, Ellis, Johnson, Kaufman, Parker, Rockwall,
Tarrant and Wise counties. The HGB area consists of Brazoria, Chambers,
Fort Bend, Galveston, Harris, Liberty, Montgomery and Waller counties.
On December 23, 2014, the D.C. Circuit Court issued a decision
rejecting, among other things, our attainment deadlines for the 2008
ozone nonattainment areas, finding that we did not have statutory
authority under the CAA to extend those deadlines to the end of the
calendar year. NRDC v. EPA, 777 F.3d 456, 464-69 (D.C. Cir. 2014).
Consistent with the court's decision we modified the attainment
deadlines for all nonattainment areas for the 2008 ozone NAAQS, and set
the attainment deadline for all 2008 moderate ozone nonattainment
areas, including the DFW area as July 20, 2018, and the HGB area
(initially classified as marginal) as July 20, 2015 (80 FR 12264, March
6, 2015). The HGB area qualified for a 1-year extension of the
attainment deadline and we revised the attainment deadline to July 20,
2016 (81 FR 26697, May 4, 2016). The HGB area did not meet the revised
attainment deadline of July 20, 2016, and we reclassified the area to
moderate (81 FR 90207, December 14, 2016). The DFW and HGB areas did
not meet the moderate area attainment deadline and were accordingly
reclassified as serious (84 FR 44238, August 23, 2019).\3\ Section 182
of the CAA outlines SIP requirements applicable to ozone nonattainment
areas in each classification category. The serious area classification
triggers additional requirements, including NNSR and enhanced vehicle
I/M. See CAA section 182(c) and 40 CFR 51.350.
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\3\ The attainment deadline for a serious area classification is
9 years after the initial designation as nonattainment, which in
this case is July 20, 2021. See 40 CFR 51.1103 and 84 FR 44238.
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On May 13, 2020, the Texas Commission on Environment Quality (TCEQ
or State) submitted to EPA a SIP revision for each of the DFW and HGB
serious ozone nonattainment areas. In those SIP revisions, the State
describes how the DFW and HGB areas meet the enhanced vehicle I/M
program and NNSR requirements for serious ozone nonattainment areas
using existing measures already approved into the SIP. These two SIP
revisions are available in the docket for this action, at
www.regulations.gov, docket number EPA-R06-OAR-2020-0343.
II. The TCEQ Submittals and EPA's Evaluation
The two Texas SIP revisions include a statement certifying that the
DFW and HGB areas meet the serious area requirements for enhanced I/M
and nonattainment NSR for the 2008 eight-hour ozone NAAQS. In addition,
the SIP revisions provide a brief history of the enhanced I/M and NNSR
programs in the Texas SIP. The SIP revisions also state that, (1) the
vehicle I/M program in the DFW and HGB ozone nonattainment areas meet
the federal requirements for areas classified as serious or above; and
(2) because the Texas SIP includes nonattainment NSR requirements, the
requirements for nonattainment NSR are met for the DFW and HGB serious
ozone nonattainment areas.
Enhanced Vehicle Inspection and Maintenance
Section 182(c)(3) of the CAA requires states with ozone
nonattainment areas classified as serious or worse to implement an
enhanced program to reduce hydrocarbon emissions and nitrogen oxides
(NOX) \4\ emissions from in-use motor vehicles registered in
each urbanized area in the nonattainment area. The Federal rules
addressing I/M program requirements are provided at 40 CFR part 51,
subpart S and further defined at 40 CFR 51.350 (Applicability). Under
these requirements, serious ozone nonattainment areas in urbanized
areas with 1980 Census-defined urbanized populations of 200,000 or more
are required to adopt enhanced I/M programs (40 CFR 51.350(a)(2) and
(4)).
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\4\ NOX and Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC) are
precursors to ozone formation.
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The Texas SIP includes 30 TAC Section 114.2 (Inspection and
Maintenance Definitions) and 30 TAC Section 114.50 (Vehicle Emissions
Inspection Requirements) except for 30 TAC Section 114.50(b)(2).\5\
Under these provisions Brazoria, Fort Bend, Galveston, Harris, and
Montgomery counties in the HGB area are included in the I/M program,
and Collin, Dallas, Denton, Ellis, Johnson, Kaufman, Parker, Rockwall,
and Tarrant counties in the DFW area are included in the I/M program.
The program requires that gasoline powered light-duty vehicles, and
light and heavy-duty trucks between two and twenty-four years old, that
are registered or required to be registered in the I/M program area,
including fleets, are subject to annual inspection and testing. These
programs were adopted and approved as meeting the applicable
requirements of the I/M rules in response to the area designations
under the one-hour ozone standard and later the 1997 8-hour standard.
The size of the HGB nonattainment area did not change with the
implementation of the 2008 ozone standard. As a result, EPA's previous
finding that the program covers the necessary vehicle population is
still appropriate. See 70 FR 58119, 58132 (October 5, 2005) and 71 FR
52670 (September 6, 2006). Wise County was added to the DFW
nonattainment area under the 2008 standard. Wise County, however, is
not required to be included in the I/M program as the current I/M
program in the DFW area sufficiently covers a non-urbanized area
population greater than the urbanized area in Wise County. To verify,
we evaluate the extent of area coverage for I/M, as defined at 40 CFR
51.350(b)(2): ``Outside of ozone transport regions, programs shall
nominally cover at least the entire urbanized area, based on the 1990
census.\6\ Exclusion of some urban population is allowed as long as an
equal number of non-urban residents of the MSA containing the subject
urbanized area are included to compensate for the exclusion.'' Based on
the 1990 census, the urban population of the DFW area covered by the I/
M program (which consisted of 9 counties: Collin, Dallas, Denton,
Ellis, Johnson, Kaufman, Parker, Rockwall and Tarrant) was 3,198,259
and the urban population of Wise County was 8,735. Thus, the population
of the entire urbanized area was 3,206,994 (3,198,259 + 8,735). The
urban and non-urban population of the 9-county DFW area was 3,885,415.
By subtracting the population of the entire urbanized area (3,206,994)
from the urban and non-urban populations of the 9-county DFW I/M area
(3,885,415-3,206,994 = 678,421), more than an equal number of non-urban
residents in the 9-county DFW area are included in the I/M
[[Page 11915]]
program to compensate for the exclusion of the urbanized population of
8,735 in Wise County.\7\ Thus, Wise County need not implement an I/M
program.
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\5\ We did not approve 30 TAC Section 114.50(b)(2) as part of
the Texas SIP as (1) it placed an additional reporting burden upon
commanders at Federal facilities regarding affected Federal vehicles
that is not imposed upon any other affected non-federal vehicle; and
(2) the additional reporting requirement is not an essential element
for an approvable I/M program, since affected Federal vehicles are
also subject to the same reporting requirements as other affected
non-federal vehicles. See 66 FR 57261, 57262 (November 14, 2001).
\6\ Texas is not included in the Ozone Transport Region (OTR),
which is defined at CAA section 184(a).
\7\ All population data in this paragraph are from the 1990
Census. The 1990 Census report for Texas is in the docket for this
rulemaking.
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Therefore, since the provisions in the Texas SIP already include
the I/M requirements specified by the CAA for serious ozone
nonattainment areas, we are proposing to approve this portion of the
two SIP revisions.
Nonattainment NSR
The applicable NNSR requirements for the various ozone
nonattainment classifications are described in CAA section 182 and
further defined in 40 CFR part 51, subpart I (Review of New Sources and
Modifications). Under these requirements new major sources or major
modifications at existing sources in an ozone nonattainment area must
comply with the lowest achievable emission rate and obtain sufficient
emission offsets.\8\ For serious ozone nonattainment areas, major
sources are defined as any stationary source or group of sources
located within a contiguous area and under common control that emits,
or has the potential to emit, at least 50 tons per year (tpy) of
NOX or VOC (see CAA sections 182(c) and 182(f), and 40 CFR
51.165). The emission offset ratio required for serious ozone
nonattainment areas is 1.2 to 1 (see CAA section 182(c)(10).
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\8\ Offsets are the ratio of total emissions reductions of
NOX or VOC to the emissions increase of such air
pollutant.
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The EPA-approved Texas SIP already includes 30 TAC Section 116.12
(Nonattainment and Prevention of Significant Deterioration Review
Definitions) and 30 TAC Section 116.150 (New Major Source or Major
Modification in Ozone Nonattainment Area).\9\ These provisions require
new major sources or major modifications at existing sources in the DFW
and HGB areas to comply with the lowest achievable emission rate and
obtain emission offsets at the serious classification ratio of 1.2 to
1.
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\9\ See 60 FR 49781, September 27, 1995 and subsequent revisions
at 77 FR 65119, October 25, 2012 and 79 FR 66626, November 10, 2014.
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Therefore, since the provisions in the Texas SIP already include
the NNSR requirements specified by the CAA for serious ozone
nonattainment areas, we are proposing to approve this portion of the
two SIP revisions.
III. Proposed Action
We are proposing to approve portions of two revisions to the Texas
SIP submitted on May 13, 2020, that describe how CAA requirements for
vehicle I/M and NNSR are met in the DFW and HGB serious ozone
nonattainment areas for the 2008 ozone NAAQS.
IV. 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) and 13563 (76 FR 3821, January 21,
2011);
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 application of those requirements would be inconsistent
with the CAA; 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, Nitrogen dioxide, Ozone, Reporting and recordkeeping
requirements, Volatile organic compounds.
Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.
Dated: February 5, 2021.
David Gray,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region 6.
[FR Doc. 2021-02758 Filed 2-26-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P