Air Plan Approval; California; San Joaquin Valley Unified Air Pollution Control District
| Published date | 24 March 2020 |
| Citation | 85 FR 16588 |
| Record Number | 2020-05985 |
| Section | Proposed rules |
| Court | Environmental Protection Agency |
Federal Register, Volume 85 Issue 57 (Tuesday, March 24, 2020)
[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 57 (Tuesday, March 24, 2020)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 16588-16590]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-05985]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 52
[EPA-R09-OAR-2020-0079; FRL-10006-51-Region 9]
Air Plan Approval; California; San Joaquin Valley Unified Air
Pollution Control District
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Proposed rule.
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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to
approve a revision to the San Joaquin Valley Unified Air Pollution
Control District (SJVUAPCD) portion of the California State
Implementation Plan (SIP). This revision concerns emissions of oxides
of nitrogen (NOX) and particulate matter (PM) from off-road
mobile, diesel agricultural equipment. We are proposing to approve a
local measure to reduce NOX and PM emissions from these
emission sources under the Clean Air Act (CAA or the Act). We are
taking comments on this proposal and plan to follow with a final
action.
DATES: Any comments must arrive by April 23, 2020.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-R09-
OAR-2020-0079 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 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 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.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Rynda Kay, EPA Region IX, 75 Hawthorne
Street, San Francisco, CA 94105, (415) 947-4118, [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 measure did the State submit?
B. Are there other versions of this measure?
C. What is the purpose of the submitted measure?
II. The EPA's Evaluation and Proposed Action
A. How is the EPA evaluating the measure?
B. Does the measure meet the evaluation criteria?
C. Proposed Action and Request for Public Comment
III. Incorporation by Reference
IV. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews
I. The State's Submittal
A. What measure did the State submit?
Table 1 lists the measure addressed by this proposal with the date
that it was adopted by the California Air Resources Board (CARB). We
refer to this measure as the ``Valley Incentive Measure.''
Table 1--Submitted Measure
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Agency Resolution No. Measure title Adopted Submitted
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CARB.............................. 19-26 ``San Joaquin Valley 12/12/19 02/11/20
Agricultural Equipment
Incentive Measure,'' as
amended by ``Additional
Clarifying Information for
the San Joaquin Valley
Agricultural Equipment
Incentive Measure.''
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We find that the submittal for the Valley Incentive Measure meets
the completeness criteria in 40 CFR part 51 Appendix V, which must be
met before formal EPA review.
B. Are there other versions of this measure?
There are no previous versions of the Valley Incentive Measure in
the SIP.
C. What is the purpose of the submitted measure?
Emissions of NOX contribute to ground-level ozone, smog
and particular matter, which harm human health and the environment.
Emissions of PM, including PM equal to or less than 2.5 microns in
diameter (PM2.5) and PM equal to or less than 10 microns in
diameter (PM10), contribute to effects that are harmful to
human health and the environment, including premature mortality,
aggravation of respiratory and cardiovascular disease, decreased lung
function, visibility impairment, and damage to vegetation and
ecosystems. The CAA generally requires states to submit control
measures to reduce NOX and PM emissions.
The San Joaquin Valley is designated and classified as a Serious
nonattainment area for the 1997 annual and 24-hour PM2.5
standards and the 2006 24-hour PM2.5 standards, and
designated and classified as a Moderate nonattainment area for the 2012
annual PM2.5 standard.\1\ On May 10, 2019, CARB submitted
the ``2018 Plan for the 1997, 2006, and 2012 PM2.5
Standards,'' adopted November 15, 2018 (``2018 PM2.5 Plan'')
and the ``San Joaquin Valley Supplement to the 2016 State Strategy for
the State Implementation Plan,'' adopted October 25, 2018 (``Valley
State SIP Strategy''), which contain, inter alia, a request to extend
the attainment deadline for the 2006 PM2.5 standards from
2019 to 2024 in the San Joaquin Valley and commitments to achieve
specific amounts of PM2.5 and NOX emission
reductions by 2024 and 2025 toward attainment requirements for the 2006
24-hour and the 2012 annual PM2.5 standards,
respectively.\2\
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\1\ 40 CFR 81.305.
\2\ 2018 PM2.5 Plan, 6-2.
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The Valley Incentive Measure contains a set of enforceable
commitments by CARB to monitor, assess, and regularly report on
emission reductions from off-road mobile, diesel agricultural equipment
replacement
[[Page 16589]]
projects implemented through CARB's Carl Moyer Memorial Air Quality
Standards Attainment Program (Carl Moyer), the United States Department
of Agriculture's Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS)
Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP), and CARB's Funding
Agricultural Replacement Measures for Emission Reductions (FARMER)
Program, according to specific guidelines and/or program criteria.
These program requirements ensure, among other things, that older,
dirtier agricultural equipment currently in operation in the San
Joaquin Valley will be replaced with less-polluting equipment.
The Valley Incentive Measure obligates CARB to achieve specific
amounts of NOX and PM2.5 emission reductions
through implementation of these programs by specific years, to submit
annual reports to the EPA beginning on May 15, 2021, detailing the
implementation of specific projects and the projected emission
reductions, and to adopt and submit substitute measures by specific
dates if the EPA determines that the identified projects will not
achieve the necessary emission reductions by the applicable
implementation deadlines. The Valley Incentive Measure includes
technical corrections and clarifications to the Board resolution
adopting the measure, which are described in a document entitled
``Additional Clarifying Information for the San Joaquin Valley
Agricultural Equipment Incentive Measure.''
We are proposing to approve the Valley Incentive Measure into the
California SIP and to make the State commitments contained therein
enforceable by the EPA and by citizens under the CAA. The State relies
on the Valley Incentive Measure to achieve 5.9 tpd of NOX
and 0.3 tpd PM2.5 emission reductions in 2024 and 5.1 tpd of
NOX and 0.3 tpd PM2.5 emission reductions in 2025
for purposes of meeting the requirements for attainment of the 2006 and
2012 PM2.5 NAAQS. We intend to evaluate CARB's submitted
plans to provide for attainment of the PM2.5 NAAQS in the
San Joaquin Valley through subsequent notice-and-comment rulemaking
actions, as appropriate. The EPA's technical support document (TSD) has
more information about this measure.
II. The EPA's Evaluation and Proposed Action
A. How is the EPA evaluating the measure?
Generally, SIP control measures must be enforceable (see CAA
section 110(a)(2)), must not interfere with applicable requirements
concerning attainment and reasonable further progress or other CAA
requirements (see CAA section 110(l)), and must not modify certain SIP
control requirements in nonattainment areas without ensuring equivalent
or greater emission reductions (see CAA section 193).
The CAA explicitly provides for the use of economic incentive
programs (EIPs) as one tool for states to use to achieve attainment of
the NAAQS.\3\ EIPs use market-based strategies to encourage the
reduction of emissions from stationary, area, and mobile sources in an
efficient manner. EPA has promulgated regulations for statutory EIPs
required under section 182(g) of the Act and has issued guidance for
discretionary EIPs.\4\
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\3\ See, e.g., CAA sections 110(a)(2)(A), 172(c)(6), and
183(e)(4).
\4\ 59 FR 16690 (April 7, 1994), codified at 40 CFR part 51,
subpart U and EPA, ``Improving Air Quality with Economic Incentive
Programs,'' January 2001 (``2001 EIP Guidance''). A ``discretionary
economic incentive program'' is ``any EIP submitted to the EPA as an
implementation plan revision for purposes other than to comply with
the statutory requirements of sections 182(g)(3), 182(g)(5),
187(d)(3), or 187(g) of the Act.'' 40 CFR 51.491.
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The EPA's guidance documents addressing EIPs and other
nontraditional programs provide for some flexibility in meeting
established SIP requirements for enforceability and quantification of
emission reductions, provided the State takes clear responsibility for
ensuring that the emission reductions necessary to meet applicable CAA
requirements are achieved. Accordingly, the EPA has consistently stated
that nontraditional emission reduction measures submitted to satisfy
SIP requirements under the Act must be accompanied by appropriate
``enforceable commitments'' from the State to monitor emission
reductions achieved and to rectify shortfalls in a timely manner.\5\
The EPA has also consistently stated that, where a state intends to
rely on a nontraditional program to satisfy CAA requirements, the state
must demonstrate that the program achieves emission reductions that are
quantifiable, surplus, enforceable, and permanent.\6\
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\5\ See, e.g., EPA, ``Guidance on Incorporating Voluntary Mobile
Source Emission Reduction Programs in State Implementation Plans
(SIPs),'' Richard D. Wilson, Acting Assistant Administrator for Air
and Radiation, October 24, 1997 (``1997 VMEP''), 4-5.
\6\ See, e.g., 2001 EIP Guidance, section 4.1.
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Guidance documents that we use to evaluate discretionary EIPs and
other nontraditional emission reduction programs include the following:
``Guidance on Incorporating Voluntary Mobile Source
Emission Reduction Programs in State Implementation Plans (SIPs),''
Richard D. Wilson, Acting Assistant Administrator for Air and
Radiation, October 24, 1997 (``1997 VMEP'').
``Improving Air Quality with Economic Incentive Programs''
January 2001 (EPA-452/R- 01-001) (``2001 EIP Guidance'').
``Incorporating Emerging and Voluntary Measure in a State
Implementation Plan (SIP),'' Stephen D. Page, OAQPS, October 4, 2004
(``2004 Emerging and Voluntary Measures Guidance'').
``Guidance on Incorporating Bundled Measures in a State
Implementation Plan,'' Stephen D. Page, OAQPS, and Margo Oge, OTAQ,
August 16, 2005 (``2005 Bundled Measures Guidance'').
``Diesel Retrofits: Quantifying and Using Their Emission
Benefits in SIPs and Conformity: Guidance for State and Local Air and
Transportation Agencies,'' March 2018 (EPA-420-B-18-017) (``2018 Diesel
Retrofits Guidance'').
B. Does the measure meet the evaluation criteria?
The Valley Incentive Measure contains clear, mandatory obligations
that are enforceable against CARB and ensure that information about the
emission reductions achieved through the identified incentive programs
will be readily available to the public through CARB's submission of
annual demonstration reports to the EPA. Our approval of the Valley
Incentive Measure would make these obligations enforceable by the EPA
and by citizens under the CAA. The Valley Incentive Measure obligates
the State to monitor implementation of specific projects in accordance
with the identified programs to ensure that these projects achieve
quantifiable, surplus, permanent, and enforceable NOX and
PM2.5 emission reductions. The Valley Incentive Measure does
not alter any existing SIP requirements. Our approval of this measure
would strengthen the SIP and would not interfere with applicable
requirements concerning attainment and reasonable further progress or
other CAA requirements, consistent with the requirements of CAA section
110(l). Section 193 of the CAA does not apply
[[Page 16590]]
to this action because this measure does not modify any SIP control
requirement that was in effect before November 15, 1990.
We are proposing to find that the Valley Incentive Measure
satisfies CAA requirements for enforceability, SIP revisions, and
nontraditional emission reduction programs as interpreted in EPA
guidance documents. The TSD contains more information on our evaluation
of this measure.
C. Proposed Action and Request for Public Comment
The EPA proposes to fully approve the submitted measure under CAA
section 110(k)(3) based on a conclusion that the measure satisfies all
applicable requirements. We will accept comments from the public on
this proposal until April 23, 2020. If we take final action to approve
the submitted measure, our final action will incorporate this measure
into the federally enforceable SIP.
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 the CARB measure described in Table 1 of this preamble. The
EPA has made, and will continue to make, these materials available
through 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 Clean Air Act.
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 Executive Orders
12866 (58 FR 51735, October 4, 1993) and 13563 (76 FR 3821, January 21,
2011);
Is not an Executive Order 13771 (82 FR 9339, February 2,
2017) regulatory action because SIP approvals are exempted under
Executive Order 12866;
Does not impose an information collection burden under the
provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.);
Is certified as not having a significant economic impact
on a substantial number of small entities under the Regulatory
Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 601 et seq.);
Does not contain any unfunded mandate or significantly or
uniquely affect small governments, as described in the Unfunded
Mandates Reform Act of 1995 (Pub. L. 104-4);
Does not have Federalism implications as specified in
Executive Order 13132 (64 FR 43255, August 10, 1999);
Is not an economically significant regulatory action based
on health or safety risks subject to Executive Order 13045 (62 FR
19885, April 23, 1997);
Is not a significant regulatory action subject to
Executive Order 13211 (66 FR 28355, May 22, 2001);
Is not subject to requirements of Section 12(d) of the
National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act of 1995 (15 U.S.C. 272
note) because application of those requirements would be inconsistent
with the Clean Air Act; and
Does not provide the EPA with the discretionary authority
to address disproportionate human health or environmental effects with
practical, appropriate, 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 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
Environmental protection, Air pollution control, Incorporation by
reference, Nitrogen dioxide, Particulate matter, Reporting and
recordkeeping requirements.
Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.
Dated: March 16, 2020.
Deborah Jordan,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region IX.
[FR Doc. 2020-05985 Filed 3-23-20; 8:45 am]
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