Air Quality Plans; Guam; Guam Environmental Protection Agency; New Source Review, 25984-25986 [2025-11264]

Agencies

• ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 116 (Wednesday, June 18, 2025)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 25984-25986]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2025-11264]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[EPA-R09-OAR-2025-0216; FRL-12613-01-R9]


Air Quality Plans; Guam; Guam Environmental Protection Agency; 
New Source Review

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Proposed rule.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing 
approval of a revision to the Guam State Implementation Plan (SIP). 
This revision governs the Guam Environmental Protection Agency's 
(GEPA's) issuance of permits for stationary sources and focuses on the 
preconstruction review and permitting of major sources and major 
modifications under part D of title I of the Clean Air Act (CAA or 
``the Act''). We are taking comments on this proposal and plan to 
follow with a final action.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before July 18, 2025.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-R09-
OAR-2025-0216 at https://www.regulations.gov. For comments submitted at 
Regulations.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 the 
disclosure of which 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 the person identified in 
the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section. 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. If you need assistance in a 
language other than English or if you are a person with disabilities 
who needs a reasonable accommodation at no cost to you, please contact 
the person identified in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Cecelia Working, EPA Region IX, 75 
Hawthorne St., San Francisco, CA 94105; by phone: (213) 244-1911; or by 
email to [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Throughout this document, ``we,'' ``us,'' 
and ``our'' refer to the EPA.

Table of Contents

I. The State's Submittal
    A. What rule did the State submit?
    B. Are there other versions of this rule?
    C. What is the purpose of the submitted rule?
II. The EPA's Evaluation and Action
    A. What is the background for this proposal?
    B. How is the EPA evaluating the rule?
    C. Does the rule meet the evaluation criteria?
    D. Proposed Action and Public Comment
III. Incorporation by Reference
IV. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

I. The State's Submittal

A. What rule did the State submit?

    Table 1 lists the rule addressed by this proposal, including the 
date on which it was adopted by Guam, the State effective date, and the 
date on which it was submitted to the EPA by the GEPA. The GEPA is the 
air pollution control agency for Guam and the designated State \1\ lead 
agency for submitting revisions of the Guam SIP to the EPA.
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    \1\ CAA section 302(d) defines the term ``State'' to include 
Guam.

                                                                 Table 1--Submitted Rule
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                                                                                                        State adoption  State effective  State submittal
               Air agency                   Rule or regulation No.               Rule title                  date             date             date
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Guam EPA................................  Title 22, Division 1,       Guam Air Pollution Standards           12/28/22         12/29/22         03/13/25
                                           Chapter 1, Article 8.       and Regulations New Source
                                                                       Review Requirements for New
                                                                       and Modified Major Sources in
                                                                       SO2 Nonattainment Areas
                                                                       Adopted on October 17, 2022.
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    This document proposes to approve Guam Administrative Rules and 
Regulations (GAR) Title 22, Division 1, Chapter 1, Article 8 (``Article 
8'') into the GEPA portion of the Guam SIP. This rule was submitted to 
the EPA by the GEPA on March 13, 2025, by a letter of the same date. 
The rule was adopted into the GAR on December 28, 2022, and became 
effective on December 29, 2022.\2\ We find that GEPA's March 13, 2025 
SIP submittal for Article 8 meets the completeness criteria in 40 CFR 
part 51 Appendix V, which must be met before formal EPA review.
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    \2\ The Guam Governor signed the law completing the multi-step 
process for adopting Article 8 into the GAR on December 28, 2022, 
following an earlier rulemaking process by the GEPA that concluded 
on October 17, 2022 and a subsequent legislative approval process 
that concluded on December 16, 2022.
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B. Are there other versions of this rule?

    There are no previous versions of Article 8 in the Guam SIP.

C. What is the purpose of the submitted rule?

    Article 8 is intended to address the CAA's statutory and regulatory 
requirements for Nonattainment New Source Review (NNSR) permit programs 
for major sources emitting nonattainment air pollutants, The NNSR 
requirements are applicable to Guam as a result of the designation of 
the Piti-Cabras area in Guam as nonattainment for the 2010 1-hour 
sulfur dioxide (SO2) National Ambient Air Quality Standard 
(NAAQS).

II. The EPA's Evaluation and Action

A. What is the background for this proposal?

    The EPA's January 2018 designation of the Piti-Cabras area of Guam 
as a

[[Page 25985]]

nonattainment area for the 2010 1-hour SO2 NAAQS \3\ 
triggered the requirement for the GEPA to develop and submit an NNSR 
program to the EPA for SIP approval pursuant to CAA sections 172(c)(5) 
and 173 and 40 CFR 51.160-51.165. Because the Piti-Cabras portion of 
Guam is designated nonattainment for the 2010 1-hour SO2 
NAAQS, the GEPA's NNSR program must satisfy the NNSR requirements 
applicable to SO2 nonattainment areas. This action and the 
EPA's evaluation of the GEPA's submitted NNSR rule specifically address 
whether the rule satisfies the applicable NNSR requirements associated 
with the designation of the Piti-Cabras area as nonattainment for the 
2010 1-hour SO2 standard.
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    \3\ 83 FR 1098, 1171 (January 9, 2018); see 40 CFR 81.353.
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    Additional information regarding Guam's SO2 
nonattainment status and attainment/nonattainment designations for 
other criteria pollutants is included in our Technical Support Document 
(TSD), which may be found in the docket for this rule.

B. How is the EPA evaluating the rule?

    The EPA reviewed Article 8 for compliance with CAA requirements 
for: (1) stationary source preconstruction permitting programs as set 
forth in CAA part D, including CAA sections 172(c)(5) and 173; (2) the 
review and modification of major sources in accordance with 40 CFR 
51.160-51.165 as applicable to the area in Guam designated as 
nonattainment for the 2010 1-hour SO2 NAAQS; (3) SIPs in 
general as set forth in CAA section 110(a)(2), including 110(a)(2)(A) 
and 110(a)(2)(E)(i); \4\ and (4) SIP revisions as set forth in CAA 
section 110(l) \5\ and 193.\6\ Our review evaluated the submittal for 
compliance with the NNSR requirements applicable to SO2 
nonattainment areas, and it specifically ensured that the submittal 
addressed the NNSR requirements applicable to Guam for the 1-hour 2010 
SO2 NAAQS.
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    \4\ CAA section 110(a)(2)(A) requires that regulations submitted 
to the EPA for SIP approval be clear and legally enforceable, and 
CAA section 110(a)(2)(E)(i) requires that states have adequate 
personnel, funding, and authority under state law to carry out their 
proposed SIP revisions.
    \5\ CAA section 110(l) requires SIP revisions to be subject to 
reasonable notice and public hearing prior to adoption and submittal 
by states to EPA and prohibits EPA from approving any SIP revision 
that would interfere with any applicable requirement concerning 
attainment and reasonable further progress or any other applicable 
requirement of the CAA.
    \6\ CAA section 193 prohibits the modification of any SIP-
approved control requirement in effect before November 15, 1990, in 
a nonattainment area, unless the modification ensures equivalent or 
greater emission reductions of the relevant pollutants.
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C. Does the rule meet the evaluation criteria?

    With respect to procedural requirements, CAA sections 110(a)(2) and 
110(l) require that revisions to a SIP be adopted by the state after 
reasonable notice and public hearing. Based on our review of the public 
process documentation included in the March 13, 2025 submittal of 
Article 8, we find that the GEPA has provided sufficient evidence of 
public notice, opportunity for comment, and a public hearing prior to 
adoption and submittal of this rule to the EPA.
    With respect to the substantive requirements found in CAA sections 
172(c)(5) and 173 and 40 CFR 51.160-51.165, we have evaluated Article 8 
in accordance with the applicable CAA and regulatory requirements that 
apply to NNSR permit programs under part D of title I of the Act for 
the 2010 1-hour SO2 NAAQS. Article 8 satisfies these 
requirements as they apply to sources subject to the NNSR permit 
program requirements applicable to Guam's Piti-Cabras 1-hour 
SO2 NAAQS nonattainment area. In addition, we have 
determined that Article 8 satisfies the requirement in CAA section 
110(a)(2)(A) that regulations submitted to the EPA for SIP approval be 
clear and legally enforceable, and have determined that the submittal 
demonstrates in accordance with CAA section 110(a)(2)(E)(i) that the 
GEPA has adequate personnel, funding, and authority under state law to 
carry out this proposed SIP revision. Our TSD contains a more detailed 
discussion of our analysis of Article 8.
    Regarding the additional substantive requirements of CAA sections 
110(l) and 193, our action will result in a more stringent SIP, while 
not relaxing any existing provision contained in the SIP. We have 
concluded that our action would comply with section 110(l) because our 
approval of Article 8 will not interfere with any applicable 
requirement concerning attainment and reasonable further progress or 
any other CAA applicable requirement. In addition, our approval of 
Article 8 will not relax any pre-November 15, 1990 requirement in the 
SIP, and therefore changes to the SIP resulting from this action ensure 
greater or equivalent emission reductions of SO2 in the 
Piti-Cabras area of Guam; accordingly, we have concluded that our 
action is consistent with the requirements of CAA section 193.

D. Proposed Action and Public Comment

    As authorized in section 110(k)(3) of the Act, the EPA proposes to 
fully approve the submitted rule because it fulfills all relevant 
requirements.
    We have concluded that our approval of the submitted rule would 
comply with the relevant provisions of CAA sections 110(a)(2), 110(l), 
172(c)(5), 173, and 193, and 40 CFR 51.160-51.165. If we finalize this 
action as proposed, our action will be codified through revisions to 40 
CFR 52.2670 (Identification of plan).
    We will accept comments from the public on this proposal until July 
18, 2025.

III. Incorporation by Reference

    In this rule, the EPA is proposing to include in a final EPA rule 
regulatory text that includes incorporation by reference. In accordance 
with requirements of 1 CFR 51.5, the EPA is proposing to incorporate by 
reference GAR Title 22, Division 1, Chapter 1, Article 8, ``Guam Air 
Pollution Standards and Regulations New Source Review Requirements for 
New and Modified Major Sources in SO2 Nonattainment Areas 
Adopted on October 17, 2022,'' which was adopted by Guam on December 
28, 2022, and effective December 29, 2022. Article 8 is intended to 
address the CAA's statutory and regulatory requirements for NNSR permit 
programs for major sources emitting nonattainment air pollutants under 
part D of title I of the CAA. The EPA has made, and will continue to 
make, these materials available through https://www.regulations.gov and 
at the EPA Region IX Office (please contact the person identified in 
the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section of this preamble for more 
information).

IV. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

    Under the Clean Air Act, the Administrator is required to approve a 
SIP submission that complies with the provisions of the Act and 
applicable federal regulations. 42 U.S.C. 7410(k); 40 CFR 52.02(a). 
Thus, in reviewing SIP submissions, the EPA's role is to approve state 
choices, provided that they meet the criteria of the CAA. Accordingly, 
this proposed 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 proposed action:
     Is not a significant regulatory action subject to review 
by the Office of Management and Budget under

[[Page 25986]]

Executive Order 12866 (58 FR 51735, October 4, 1993);
     Is not subject to Executive Order 14192 (90 FR 9065, 
February 6, 2025) because SIP actions are exempt from review under 
Executive Order 12866;
     Does not impose an information collection burden under the 
provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.);
     Is certified as not having a significant economic impact 
on a substantial number of small entities under the Regulatory 
Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 601 et seq.);
     Does not contain any unfunded mandate or significantly or 
uniquely affect small governments, as described in the Unfunded 
Mandates Reform Act of 1995 (Pub. L. 104-4);
     Does not have federalism implications as specified in 
Executive Order 13132 (64 FR 43255, August 10, 1999);
     Is not subject to Executive Order 13045 (62 FR 19885, 
April 23, 1997) because it proposes to approve a state program;
     Is not a significant regulatory action subject to 
Executive Order 13211 (66 FR 28355, May 22, 2001); and
     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 Clean Air Act.
    In addition, the SIP is not approved to apply on any Indian 
reservation land or in any other area where the EPA or an Indian Tribe 
has demonstrated that a Tribe has jurisdiction. In those areas of 
Indian country, the rule does not have Tribal implications and will not 
impose substantial direct costs on Tribal governments or preempt Tribal 
law as specified by Executive Order 13175 (65 FR 67249, November 9, 
2000).

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 52

    Administrative practice and procedure, Environmental protection, 
Air pollution control, Incorporation by reference, Intergovernmental 
relations, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, and Sulfur 
dioxide.

    Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.

    Dated: June 4, 2025.
Joshua F.W. Cook,
Regional Administrator, Region IX.
[FR Doc. 2025-11264 Filed 6-17-25; 8:45 am]
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