Outer Continental Shelf Air Regulations; Consistency Update for Maryland

<RULE> ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY <CFR>40 CFR Part 55</CFR> <DEPDOC>[EPA-R03-OAR-2022-0776; FRL-10292-02-R3]</DEPDOC> <SUBJECT>Outer Continental Shelf Air Regulations; Consistency Update for Maryland</SUBJECT> <HD SOURCE="HED">AGENCY:</HD> Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). <HD SOURCE="HED">ACTION:</HD> Final rule. <SUM> <HD SOURCE="HED">SUMMARY:</HD> The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is updating a portion of the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Air Regulations. Requirements applying to OCS sources located within 25 miles of states' seaward boundaries must be updated periodically to remain consistent with the requirements of the corresponding onshore area (COA), as mandated by the Clean Air Act (CAA). The portion of the OCS air regulations that is being updated pertains to the requirements for OCS sources for which Maryland is the designated COA. The State of Maryland's requirements discussed in this document will be incorporated by reference into the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) and listed in the appendix to the Federal OCS air regulations. </SUM> <EFFDATE> <HD SOURCE="HED">DATES:</HD> This final rule is effective on February 5, 2024. The incorporation by reference of certain publications listed in this rule is approved by the Director of the Federal Register as of February 5, 2024. </EFFDATE> <HD SOURCE="HED">ADDRESSES:</HD> EPA has established a docket for this action under Docket ID Number EPA-R03-OAR-2022-0776. All documents in the docket are listed on the <E T="03">www.regulations.gov</E> website. Although listed in the index, some information is not publicly available, <E T="03">e.g.,</E> confidential business information (CBI) or other information whose disclosure is restricted by statute. Certain other material, such as copyrighted material, is not placed on the internet and will be publicly available only in hard copy form. Publicly available docket materials are available through <E T="03">www.regulations.gov,</E> or at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, EPA Region 3 Regional Office, Air and Radiation Division, Four Penn Center, 1600 JFK Blvd., Philadelphia, PA 19103. EPA requests that you contact the contact listed in the <E T="02">FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT</E> section to schedule your inspection. <FURINF> <HD SOURCE="HED">FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:</HD> Gwendolyn Supplee, Permits Branch (3AD10), Air & Radiation Division, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region III, Four Penn Center, 1600 John F. Kennedy Boulevard, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19103. The telephone number is (215) 814-2763. Ms. Supplee can also be reached via electronic mail at <E T="03">supplee.gwendolyn@epa.gov.</E> </FURINF> <SUPLINF> <HD SOURCE="HED">SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:</HD> <HD SOURCE="HD1">Table of Contents </HD> <EXTRACT> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">I. Background and Purpose</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">II. Public Comments and EPA Responses</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">III. Final Action</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">IV. Incorporation by Reference</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">V. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews</FP> </EXTRACT> <HD SOURCE="HD1">I. Background and Purpose</HD> On September 4, 1992, EPA promulgated 40 CFR part 55  <SU>1</SU> <FTREF/> which established requirements to control air pollution from OCS sources in order to attain and maintain Federal and state ambient air quality standards and to comply with the provisions of part C of title I of the CAA. The regulations at 40 CFR part 55 apply to all OCS sources offshore of the states except those located in the Gulf of Mexico west of 87.5 degrees longitude. Section 328 of the CAA requires that for such sources located within 25 miles of a state's seaward boundary, the requirements shall be the same as would be applicable if the sources were located in the COA. Because the OCS requirements are based on onshore requirements, and onshore requirements may change, section 328(a)(1) requires that EPA update the OCS requirements as necessary to maintain consistency with onshore requirements. <FTNT> <SU>1</SU>  The reader may refer to the notice of proposed rulemaking, December 5, 1991 (56 FR 63774), and the preamble to the final rule promulgated September 4, 1992 (57 FR 40792), for further background and information on the OCS regulations. </FTNT> On October 19, 2022 (87 FR 63465), EPA published a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) proposing to incorporate various Maryland air pollution control requirements into 40 CFR part 55. Pursuant to 40 CFR 55.12, consistency reviews will occur: (1) At least annually; (2) upon receipt of a Notice of Intent (NOI) under 40 CFR 55.4; or (3) when a state or local agency submits a rule to EPA to be considered for incorporation by reference in 40 CFR part 55. EPA's NPRM was initiated in response to the submittal received by EPA on August 5, 2022, of a NOI, from US Wind, Inc., for the proposed installation of an up to 2-gigawatt offshore wind energy facility located approximately 10 nautical miles off the coast of Maryland. In accordance with 40 CFR 55.5, Maryland is the designated COA for this project. EPA intends to address post-NPRM state amendments in its next annual update consistent with 40 CFR 55.12. This action addresses only those regulations identified for incorporation in NPRM, namely the Maryland regulations that were updated as of July 28, 2022. EPA reviewed the Maryland Department of the Environment (“MDE”) air rules for inclusion in 40 CFR part 55 in this action to ensure that they are rationally related to the attainment or maintenance of Federal or state ambient air quality standards and compliance with part C of title I of the CAA, that they are not designed expressly to prevent exploration and development of the OCS, and that they are potentially applicable to OCS sources. See 40 CFR 55.1. EPA has also evaluated the rules to ensure they are not arbitrary or capricious. See 40 CFR 55.12(e). In addition, EPA has excluded administrative or procedural rules, <SU>2</SU> <FTREF/> and requirements that regulate toxics which are not related to the attainment and maintenance of Federal and state ambient air quality standards. <FTNT> <SU>2</SU>  Each COA which has been delegated the authority to implement and enforce part 55 will use its administrative and procedural rules as onshore. However, in those instances where EPA has not delegated authority to implement and enforce 40 CFR part 55, EPA will use its own administrative and procedural requirements to implement the substantive requirements. See 40 CFR 55.14(c)(4). </FTNT> Section 328(a) of the CAA requires that EPA establish requirements to control air pollution from OCS sources located within 25 miles of states' seaward boundaries that are the same as onshore requirements. To comply with this statutory mandate, EPA must incorporate applicable onshore rules into 40 CFR part 55 as they exist onshore. This limits EPA's flexibility in deciding which requirements will be incorporated into 40 CFR part 55 and prevents EPA from making substantive changes to the requirements it incorporates. As a result, EPA may be incorporating rules into 40 CFR part 55 that do not conform to all of EPA's state implementation plan (SIP) guidance or certain requirements of the CAA. Consistency updates may result in the inclusion of state or local rules or regulations into 40 CFR part 55, even though the same rules may ultimately be disapproved for inclusion as part of the SIP. Inclusion in the OCS rule does not imply that a rule meets the requirements of the CAA for SIP approval, nor does it imply that the rule will be approved by EPA for inclusion in the SIP. The specific requirements of the consistency update and the rationale for EPA's action are explained in the October 19, 2022, NPRM. No comments were received on the NPRM. <HD SOURCE="HD1">II. Public Comments and EPA Responses</HD> EPA did not receive any comments on the NPRM. (October 19, 2022, 87 FR 63465). <HD SOURCE="HD1">III. Final Action</HD> EPA is taking final action to incorporate the rules potentially applicable to OCS sources for which the State of Maryland will be the COA. The rules that EPA is taking final action to incorporate are applicable provisions of the Code of Maryland Regulations (COMAR): (1) Chapter 8, Control of Incinerators—COMAR 26.11.08; (2) Chapter 17, Nonattainment Provisions for Major New Sources and Major Modifications General—COMAR 26.11.17; and (3) Chapter 20, Mobile Sources—COMAR 26.11.20, as amended through July 28, 2022. The rules that EPA is taking final action to incorporate will replace the rules identified in the October 19, 2022, NPRM and previously incorporated into “State of Maryland Requirements Applicable to OCS Sources,” dated December 6, 2018, which was incorporated by reference into 40 CFR part 55. See 84 FR 34065; July 16, 2019. This action will have no effect on any provisions that were not subject to changes by Maryland and were also previously incorporated by reference into 40 CFR part 55 through EPA's July 16, 2019 (84 FR 34065) final rule. <HD SOURCE="HD1">IV. Incorporation by Reference</HD> In this rule, EPA is finalizing regulatory text that includes incorporation by reference. In accordance with the requirements of 1 CFR 51.5, EPA is finalizing the incorporation by reference of “State of Maryland Requirements Applicable to OCS Sources,” dated July 28, 2022, which provides the text of MDE air rules in effect as of July 28, 2022, that would apply to OCS sources and described in Section I of this <E T="02">Supplementary Information</E> . EPA has made, and will continue to make, these materials available through <E T="03">www.regulations.gov</E> and at the EPA Region III Office (please contact the person identified in the <E T="02">FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT</E> section of this preamble for more information). <HD SOURCE="HD1">V. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ Preview showing 10k of 21k characters. 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