Federal Register, Volume 85 Issue 133 (Friday, July 10, 2020)

[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 133 (Friday, July 10, 2020)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 41484-41486]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-14361]

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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 62

[EPA-R06-OAR-2020-0315; FRL-10011-08-Region 6]

Approval and Promulgation of State Air Quality Plans for
Designated Facilities and Pollutants; Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma,
New Mexico, and Albuquerque-Bernalillo County, New Mexico; Control of
Emissions From Existing Hospital/Medical/Infectious Waste Incinerator
Units

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Proposed rule.

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SUMMARY: Pursuant to the Federal Clean Air Act (CAA or the Act), the
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is notifying the public that we
have received CAA section 111(d)/129 negative declarations from
Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Albuquerque-Bernalillo
County, New Mexico, for existing Hospital/Medical/Infectious Waste
Incinerator (HMIWI) units. These negative declarations certify that
HMIWI subject to the requirements of sections 111(d) and 129 of the CAA
do not exist within the jurisdictions of Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma,
New Mexico, and Albuquerque-Bernalillo County. The EPA is proposing to
accept the negative declarations and amend the CFR in accordance with
the requirements of the CAA.

DATES: Written comments must be received on or before August 10, 2020.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket No. EPA-R06-OAR-
2020-0315, at https://www.regulations.gov or via email to ruan-lei.karolina@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 Karolina Ruan Lei, (214)
665-7346, ruan-lei.karolina@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-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: Karolina Ruan Lei, EPA Region 6
Office, Air and Radiation Division--State Planning and Implementation
Branch, (214) 665-7346, ruan-lei.karolina@epa.gov. Out of an abundance
of caution for members of the public and our staff, the EPA Region 6
office will 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

Sections 111(d) and 129 of the CAA require states to submit plans
to control certain pollutants (designated pollutants) at existing solid
waste combustor facilities (designated facilities) whenever standards
of performance have been established under section 111(b) for new
sources of the same type, and the EPA has established emission
guidelines for such existing sources. CAA section 129 directs the EPA
to establish standards of performance for new sources (NSPS)

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and emissions guidelines (EG) for existing sources for each category of
solid waste incinerator specified in CAA section 129. Under CAA section
129, NSPS and EG must contain numerical emissions limitations for
particulate matter, opacity (as appropriate), sulfur dioxide, hydrogen
chloride, oxides of nitrogen, carbon monoxide, lead, cadmium, mercury,
and dioxins and dibenzofurans. While NSPS are directly applicable to
new sources (affected facilities), EG for existing sources (designated
facilities) are intended for states to use to develop a state plan to
submit to the EPA. Once approved by the EPA, the state plan becomes
federally enforceable. If a state does not submit an approvable state
plan to the EPA, the EPA is responsible for developing, implementing,
and enforcing a federal plan.
The regulations at 40 CFR part 60, subpart B, contain general
provisions applicable to the adoption and submittal of state plans for
controlling designated pollutants from designated facilities.
Additionally, 40 CFR part 62, subpart A, provides the procedural
framework by which the EPA will approve or disapprove such plans
submitted by a state. When designated facilities are located in a
state, the state must then develop and submit a plan for the control of
the designated pollutant(s). However, 40 CFR 60.23(b) and 62.06 provide
that if there are no designated facilities of the designated
pollutant(s) in the state, the state may submit a letter of
certification to that effect (i.e., negative declaration) in lieu of a
plan. The negative declaration exempts the state from the requirements
of subpart B that require the submittal of a CAA section 111(d)/129
plan.
On September 15, 1997, the EPA first promulgated the HMIWI NSPS at
40 CFR part 60, subpart Ec, and the HMIWI EG at 40 CFR part 60, subpart
Ce (62 FR 48348). The HMIWI NSPS and EG were amended on October 6,
2009, and on April 4, 2011 (74 FR 51368, 76 FR 18407). The federal plan
for HMIWI subject to the EG at subpart Ce was first promulgated on
August 15, 2000, at 40 CFR part 62, subpart HHH (65 FR 49868). The
HMIWI federal plan was amended on May 13, 2013, to incorporate the
HMIWI EG revisions (78 FR 28051).
As provided under 40 CFR 60.32e(a), the designated facilities to
which the EG apply are HMIWI that: (1) Commenced construction on or
before June 20, 1996, or commenced modification on or before March 16,
1998; or (2) commenced construction after June 20, 1996, but no later
than December 1, 2008, or commenced modification after March 16, 1998,
but no later than April 6, 2010, with limited exceptions as provided in
paragraphs 40 CFR 60.32e(b) through (h).
In order to fulfill obligations under CAA sections 111(d) and 129,
the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ), Louisiana
Department of Environmental Quality (LDEQ), Oklahoma Department of
Environmental Quality (ODEQ), New Mexico Environment Department (NMED),
and City of Albuquerque Environmental Health Department (AEHD)
submitted negative declarations for HMIWI for their individual air
pollution control jurisdictions.\1\ The submittal of these negative
declarations exempts Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and New Mexico
(including Albuquerque-Bernalillo County) from the requirement to
submit a state plan for HMIWI under 40 CFR part 60, subpart Ce.
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\1\ These HMIWI negative declarations from ADEQ, LDEQ, ODEQ,
NMED and AEHD do not cover sources located in Indian country.
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ADEQ, LDEQ, ODEQ, NMED and AEHD each determined that there are no
existing HMIWI subject to CAA sections 111(d) and 129 requirements in
their individual air pollution control jurisdictions. In order to
fulfill obligations under CAA sections 111(d) and 129, ADEQ, LDEQ,
ODEQ, NMED and AEHD submitted negative declaration letters to the EPA
on May 21, 2012, June 25, 2012, April 1, 2020, February 11, 2014, and
February 4, 2014, respectively. A copy of each negative declaration
letter is included in the docket for this rulemaking (Docket No. EPA-
R06-OAR-2020-0315).

II. Proposed Action

The EPA is proposing to amend 40 CFR part 62 to reflect receipt of
the negative declaration letters from ADEQ, LDEQ, ODEQ, NMED and AEHD
certifying that there are no existing HMIWI subject to 40 CFR part 60,
subpart Ce, in their respective jurisdictions in accordance with 40 CFR
60.23(b), 40 CFR 62.06, and sections 111(d) and 129 of the CAA. If a
designated facility (i.e., existing HMIWI) is later found within the
aforementioned jurisdictions after publication of a final action, then
the overlooked facility will become subject to the requirements of the
federal plan for that designated facility, including the compliance
schedule. The federal plan will no longer apply if we subsequently
receive and approve the section 111(d)/129 plan from the jurisdiction
with the overlooked facility.

III. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

Under the CAA, the Administrator is required to approve a CAA
section 111(d)/129 submission that complies with the provisions of the
Act and applicable Federal regulations. 42 U.S.C. 7411(d); 42 U.S.C.
7429; 40 CFR part 60, subparts B and Ce; and 40 CFR part 62, subpart A.
With regard to negative declarations for designated facilities received
by the EPA from states, the EPA's role is to notify the public of the
receipt of such negative declarations and revise 40 CFR part 62
accordingly. 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);
Is not an Executive Order 13771 (82 FR 9339, February 2,
2017) regulatory action because this action is not significant 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 CAA; and
Does not provide the 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).
This rule also does not have Tribal implications because it will
not have a substantial direct effect on one or more

[[Page 41486]]

Indian Tribes, on the relationship between the Federal Government and
Indian Tribes, or on the distribution of power and responsibilities
between the Federal Government and Indian Tribes, as specified by
Executive Order 13175 (65 FR 67249, November 9, 2000).

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 62

Environmental protection, Administrative practice and procedure,
Air pollution control, Intergovernmental relations, Reporting and
recordkeeping requirements, Waste treatment and disposal.

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

Dated: June 29, 2020.
Kenley McQueen,
Regional Administrator, Region 6.
[FR Doc. 2020-14361 Filed 7-9-20; 8:45 am]
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