Air Plan Limited Approval and Limited Disapproval; Texas; Attainment Plan for the Rusk and Panola Counties 2010 Sulfur Dioxide Primary National Ambient Air Quality Standard Nonattainment Area; Finding of Failure To Attain the Primary 2010 One-Hour Sulfur Dioxide Standard for Rusk and Panola Counties

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY <CFR>40 CFR Part 52</CFR> <DEPDOC>[EPA-R06-OAR-2022-0311; FRL-12123-01-R6]</DEPDOC> <SUBJECT>Air Plan Limited Approval and Limited Disapproval; Texas; Attainment Plan for the Rusk and Panola Counties 2010 Sulfur Dioxide Primary National Ambient Air Quality Standard Nonattainment Area; Finding of Failure To Attain the Primary 2010 One-Hour Sulfur Dioxide Standard for Rusk and Panola Counties</SUBJECT> <HD SOURCE="HED">AGENCY:</HD> Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). <HD SOURCE="HED">ACTION:</HD> Proposed rule. <SUM> <HD SOURCE="HED">SUMMARY:</HD> The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing two actions in this notice. First, EPA is proposing to determine that the Rusk-Panola Counties, Texas nonattainment area failed to attain the 2010 1-hour primary sulfur dioxide (SO <E T="52">2</E> ) national ambient air quality standard (NAAQS) by the applicable attainment date of January 12, 2022. Second, EPA is proposing a limited approval and limited disapproval of the State Implementation Plan (SIP) revision for the Rusk-Panola 2010 1-hour SO <E T="52">2</E> Primary NAAQS nonattainment area. EPA is proposing a limited disapproval because the SIP contains a force majeure clause that, if triggered, is such that the emissions limitations are not continuously applicable or enforceable. EPA is proposing limited approval because the SIP revision strengthens the SIP but does not fully meet the Act's requirements and provides for attainment, albeit not by the required deadline and with the exception of the force majeure clause. Under this limited approval action, if finalized, all provisions will be fully incorporated into the SIP. The limited disapproval, if finalized, will start sanctions clocks until the deficiency is corrected by the State and approved by EPA. EPA plans to address the deficiency in the SIP through a separate action promulgating a Federal Implementation Plan (FIP). </SUM> <EFFDATE> <HD SOURCE="HED">DATES:</HD> Written comments must be received on or before September 3, 2024. </EFFDATE> <HD SOURCE="HED">ADDRESSES:</HD> Submit your comments, identified by Docket No. EPA-R06-OAR-2022-0311, at <E T="03">https://www.regulations.gov.</E> Follow the online instructions for submitting comments. Once submitted, comments cannot be edited or removed from <E T="03">Regulations.gov.</E> 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 ( <E T="03">i.e.,</E> on the web, cloud, or other file sharing system). For additional submission methods, please contact Andrew Lee, 214-665-6750, <E T="03">lee.andrew.c@epa.gov.</E> For the full EPA public comment policy, information about CBI or multimedia submissions, and general guidance on making effective comments, please visit <E T="03">https://www.epa.gov/dockets/commenting-epa-dockets.</E> <E T="03">Docket:</E> The index to the docket for this action is available electronically at <E T="03">www.regulations.gov.</E> While all documents in the docket are listed in the index, some information may not be publicly available in the electronic docket due to docket file size and/or file type restrictions or content ( <E T="03">e.g.,</E> modeling files, model code, copyrighted material, CBI). <FURINF> <HD SOURCE="HED">FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:</HD> Andrew Lee, EPA Region 6 Office, Ozone and Infrastructure section, 214-665-6750, <E T="03">lee.andrew.c@epa.gov.</E> We encourage the public to submit comments via <E T="03">https://www.regulations.gov.</E> Please call or email the contact listed above if you need alternative access to material indexed but not provided in the docket. Modeling files and other files related to the alternative model review are available upon request. Copyrighted materials are available for review in person at EPA Region 6 office in Dallas. </FURINF> <SUPLINF> <HD SOURCE="HED">SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:</HD> Throughout this document wherever “we,” “us,” or “our” is used, we mean the EPA. <HD SOURCE="HD1">Table of Contents</HD> <EXTRACT> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">I. Background</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2"> A. Rusk and Panola Counties SO <E T="52">2</E> Nonattainment Area </FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2"> B. SO <E T="52">2</E> Nonattainment Area Plans </FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2"> C. Attainment Demonstration for SO <E T="52">2</E> Nonattainment Area Plan </FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">II. Proposed Determination—Finding of Failure To Attain the Primary 2010 One-Hour Sulfur Dioxide Standard</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">A. Applicable Statutory and Regulatory Provisions</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">B. Monitoring Network Considerations</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">C. Data Considerations and Proposed Determination</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">III. Limited Approval/Limited Disapproval</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">A. Force Majeure Provision Deficiency</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">B. Compliance Date Deficiency</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">C. Limited Approval</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">D. Limited Disapproval and Consequences</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">IV. Attainment Demonstration and Longer-Term Averaging</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">V. Review of Modeled Attainment Plan</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">A. Model Selection</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">B. Meteorological Data</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">C. Emissions Data</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">D. Receptor Grid</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">E. Emission Limits</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">F. Background Concentrations</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">G. Summary of Results</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">VI. Review of Other Plan Requirements</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">A. Emissions Inventory</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">B. Reasonably Available Control Measures and Reasonably Available Control Technology (RACM/RACT)</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">C. New Source Review (NSR)</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">D. Reasonable Further Progress (RFP)</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">E. Contingency Measures</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">F. Conformity</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">VII. Proposed Action</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">VIII. Incorporation by Reference</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">IX. Environmental Justice Considerations</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">X. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews</FP> </EXTRACT> <HD SOURCE="HD1">I. Background</HD> <HD SOURCE="HD2"> A. Rusk and Panola Counties SO <E T="54">2</E> Nonattainment Area </HD> On June 22, 2010, the EPA published a new 1-hour primary SO <E T="52">2</E> NAAQS of 75 parts per billion (ppb), which is met at an ambient air quality monitoring site (or in the case of dispersion modeling, at an ambient air quality receptor location) when the 3-year average of the annual 99th percentile of 1-hour daily maximum concentrations does not exceed 75 ppb, as determined in accordance with appendix T of 40 CFR part 50. <SU>1</SU> <FTREF/> On December 13, 2016, the EPA designated portions of Rusk and Panola Counties, Texas as nonattainment for the 2010 1-hour primary SO <E T="52">2</E> NAAQS, effective January 12, 2017. <SU>2</SU> <FTREF/> The primary major source of emissions in the area is the Martin Lake Steam Electric Station (Martin Lake), a coal-fired power plant owned by Luminant Generation Company LLC (Luminant), a subsidiary of Vistra Energy Corporation (Vistra). Section 191 of the CAA directs states to submit SIPs for nonattainment areas to the EPA within 18 months of the effective date of the designation, <E T="03">i.e.,</E> by no later than July 12, 2018 for the Rusk-Panola area. Under CAA section 192, these SIPs are required to demonstrate that their respective areas will attain the NAAQS as expeditiously as practicable, but no later than 5 years from the effective date of designation, <E T="03">i.e.,</E> January 12, 2022. <FTNT> <SU>1</SU>   <E T="03">See</E> 75 FR 35520. <E T="03">See also</E> 40 CFR 50.17(a)-(b). </FTNT> <FTNT> <SU>2</SU>   <E T="03">See</E> 81 FR 89870 <E T="03">See also</E> 40 CFR part 81, subpart C. </FTNT> On August 10, 2020, the EPA published a “Findings of Failure to Submit State Implementation Plans Required for Attainment of the 2010 1-Hour Primary Sulfur Dioxide (SO <E T="52">2</E> ) National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS)” that found that Texas failed to submit the required SO <E T="52">2</E> attainment plan for the Rusk-Panola area by the July 12, 2018 CAA deadline. <SU>3</SU> <FTREF/> This finding, effective on September 9, 2020, triggered 18-month and 24-month deadlines (March 9, 2022 and September 9, 2022) under CAA section 179(a) for the imposition of mandatory emission offsets and highway funding sanctions, respectively, unless and until the state submits a SIP revision satisfying the CAA's completeness criteria. Additionally, this finding triggered the CAA section 110(c) requirement for EPA to promulgate a federal implementation plan (FIP) within two years of the finding (September 9, 2022) unless the state submits and obtains EPA approval of a SIP revision which corrects the deficiency before EPA promulgates a FIP. <FTNT> <SU>3</SU>   <E T="03">See</E> 85 FR 48111 </FTNT> On February 28, 2022, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) submitted a Nonattainment SIP for the Rusk-Panola area. TCEQ's SIP includes an Agreed Order for the Martin Lake facility in the area, adopted on February 14, 2022, which includes emission limits and monitoring requirements. On August 24, 2022, EPA determined that the February 28, 2022 submittal was complete under 40 CFR part 51, App. V, which stop ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ Preview showing 10k of 131k characters. 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