Air Plan Approval; New Jersey; Interstate Transport Requirements for the 2010 1-Hour Sulfur Dioxide Standard

<RULE> ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY <CFR>40 CFR Part 52</CFR> <DEPDOC>[EPA-R02-OAR-2023-0468; FRL-12057-02-R2]</DEPDOC> <SUBJECT>Air Plan Approval; New Jersey; Interstate Transport Requirements for the 2010 1-Hour Sulfur Dioxide Standard</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 approving the portions of a State Implementation Plan (SIP) submittal from the State of New Jersey demonstrating that the State satisfies the infrastructure requirements of the Clean Air Act (CAA) addressing interstate transport of pollution with respect to the 2010 1-hour Sulfur Dioxide (SO <E T="52">2</E> ) primary National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS). This action is being taken in accordance with the requirements of the CAA. </SUM> <EFFDATE> <HD SOURCE="HED">DATES:</HD> This final rule is effective on October 7, 2024. </EFFDATE> <HD SOURCE="HED">ADDRESSES:</HD> The EPA has established a docket for this action under Docket ID Number EPA-R02-OAR-2023-0468. All documents in the docket are listed on the <E T="03">https://www.regulations.gov</E> website. Although listed in the index, some information is not publicly available, <E T="03">e.g.,</E> Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) (formally referred to as 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 electronically through <E T="03">https://www.regulations.gov.</E> <FURINF> <HD SOURCE="HED">FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:</HD> Robert Rutherford, Environmental Protection Agency, Air Programs Branch, Region 2, 290 Broadway, New York, New York 10007-1866, at (212) 637-3712, or by email at <E T="03">rutherford.robert@epa.gov.</E> </FURINF> <SUPLINF> <HD SOURCE="HED">SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:</HD> <HD SOURCE="HD1">Table of Contents</HD> <EXTRACT> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">I. What is the background for this action?</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">II. Environmental Justice Considerations</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">III. What comments were received in response to the EPA's proposed action?</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">IV. What action is the EPA taking?</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">V. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews</FP> </EXTRACT> <HD SOURCE="HD1">I. What is the background for this action?</HD> On October 17, 2014, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) submitted a revision to its SIP to address requirements under section 110(a)(2) of the CAA (the infrastructure requirements) related to the 2008 Lead, 2008 Ozone, 2010 NO <E T="52">2</E> , 2010 SO <E T="52">2</E> , 2006 PM <E T="52">10</E> , 2011 CO, and 2012 PM <E T="52">2.5</E> NAAQS. On July 1, 2024, the EPA proposed to approve the portions of New Jersey's SIP submittal addressing interstate transport for the 2010 1-hour SO <E T="52">2</E> NAAQS as meeting the requirements in section 110(a)(2)(D)(i)(I) of the CAA, often referred to as the “good neighbor” provision. <E T="03">See</E> 89 FR 54396. The EPA had previously  <SU>1</SU> <FTREF/> finalized actions on all applicable section 110(a)(2) elements of the October 17, 2014, submittal with the exception of 110(a)(2)(D)(i)(I) for the 2010 1-hour SO <E T="52">2</E> NAAQS. Further information regarding those actions can be found in the Technical Support Document (TSD) for this action, which is included in the docket for this rulemaking. This rulemaking action is addressing the portions of New Jersey's infrastructure submittal for the 2010 1-hour SO <E T="52">2</E> NAAQS that pertain to the “good neighbor” provision of the CAA. <FTNT> <SU>1</SU>   <E T="03">See</E> 81 FR 64070 (September 19, 2016), 83 FR 24661 (May 30, 2018), 83 FR 40151 (August 14, 2018), and 85 FR 28883 (May 14, 2020). </FTNT> In their SIP submission to the EPA, NJDEP discussed how they have addressed the interstate transport requirements of CAA section 110(a)(2)(D)(i)(I) through their state-adopted rules and enforceable consent decrees, which control sources that impact air quality in neighboring States. NJDEP emphasized that their rules do not hinder other States' air quality standards, and their emissions regulations are stricter than Federal and nearby State rules. New Jersey highlighted its existing SIP-approved regulations and other federally enforceable control measures, including power plant consent decrees and low sulfur fuel requirements for distillate and residual fuels (N.J.A.C. 7:27-9) that have reduced SO <E T="52">2</E> emissions that may be transported to other States. The EPA undertook an independent evaluation of New Jersey's submission in a manner consistent with its evaluation of other States' SO <E T="52">2</E> transport SIP submissions. This approach recognizes that SO <E T="52">2</E> is a relatively more localized pollutant, and its transport is appropriately analyzed through focusing on impacts from point sources at the “urban scale.” <E T="03">See, e.g.,</E> 86 FR 31645, 31546 (June 15, 2021). For the reasons explained in the accompanying TSD in the docket, the EPA determined that New Jersey's SIP is adequate to prevent sources in New Jersey from significantly contributing to nonattainment or interfering with maintenance in another State with respect to the 2010 1-hour SO <E T="52">2</E> NAAQS. This determination is based on a weight of evidence analysis that takes into account the following considerations: SO <E T="52">2</E> emissions statewide have declined significantly from 2014 to 2022; the absence of nearby SO <E T="52">2</E> nonattainment areas in neighboring States or uncharacterized air quality near New Jersey point sources; SO <E T="52">2</E> ambient air quality data far below the SO <E T="52">2</E> NAAQS and exhibiting downward trends or remaining stable; the EPA's impact assessment that shows that New Jersey sources within 50 kilometers of New Jersey's borders are unlikely to significantly contribute to nonattainment or interfere with maintenance in any nearby States based on emission trends, wind patterns, air monitoring, and modeling data; and New Jersey's existing control measures, which ensure that SO <E T="52">2</E> emissions will continue to be effectively controlled for existing and new sources or modifications. A detailed summary of the EPA's review and rationale for the approval of this SIP revision as meeting CAA section 110(a)(2)(D)(i)(I) for the 2010 1-hour SO <E T="52">2</E> may be found in the TSD. <HD SOURCE="HD1">II. Environmental Justice Considerations</HD> New Jersey provided a supplement to the SIP submission being approved with this rulemaking on May 16, 2023. The supplemental submission briefed the EPA on Environmental Justice (EJ) considerations within New Jersey by detailing the State's programs and initiatives addressing the needs of communities with EJ concerns that have been ongoing since 1998. For more information on New Jersey's EJ initiatives, the EPA refers the reader to the proposal published on July 1, 2024. <E T="03">See</E> 89 FR 54397. Although New Jersey considered EJ as part of its SIP submittal, the EPA has determined that conducting its own comprehensive EJ analysis is not necessary in the context of this SIP submission for interstate transport for the 2010 1-hour SO <E T="52">2</E> NAAQS, as the CAA and its applicable implementing regulations neither prohibit nor require such an evaluation of EJ in relation to the relevant requirements. Additionally, there is no evidence suggesting that this action contradicts the goals of E.O. 12898 or that it will disproportionately harm any specific group or have severe health or environmental impacts. The EPA expects that this action, which assesses whether New Jersey's SIP adequately addresses the interstate transport of air pollution that affects downwind States' ability to attain and maintain the 2010 1-hour SO <E T="52">2</E> NAAQS, will generally have a neutral impact on all populations, including communities of color and low-income groups. At the very least, it will not worsen existing air quality standards. In summary, the EPA concludes, for informational purposes only, that this rule will not disproportionately harm communities with environmental justice concerns. New Jersey did evaluate EJ considerations voluntarily in its SIP submission, but the EPA's assessment of these considerations is provided for context, not as the basis for the action. The EPA is taking action under the CAA independently of the State's EJ assessment. <HD SOURCE="HD1">III. What comments were received in response to the EPA's proposed action?</HD> The EPA provided a 30-day review and comment period for the July 1, 2024, proposed rule. The comment period ended on July 31, 2024. We received no comments on the EPA's action. <HD SOURCE="HD1">IV. What action is the EPA taking?</HD> The EPA is approving the portions of New Jersey's SIP submittal addressing interstate transport for the 2010 1-hour SO <E T="52">2</E> NAAQS as meeting the requirements in section 110(a)(2)(D)(i)(I) of the CAA. <HD SOURCE="HD1">V. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews</HD> 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, EPA's role is to approve State choices, provided that they meet the criteria of the Clean Air Act. Accordingly, this action merely approves State law as meeting Federal requirements and does not impose additional requirements beyond those imposed by ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ Preview showing 10k of 18k characters. 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