Air Plan Conditional Approval; California; Bay Area Air Quality Management District

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY <CFR>40 CFR Part 52</CFR> <DEPDOC>[EPA-R09-OAR-2024-0417; FRL-12279-01-R9]</DEPDOC> <SUBJECT>Air Plan Conditional Approval; California; Bay Area Air Quality Management District</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 to conditionally approve revisions to the Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD) portion of the California State Implementation Plan (SIP). These revisions concern emissions of oxides of nitrogen (NO <E T="52">X</E> ) from natural gas-fired furnaces and water heaters. We are proposing to approve local rules to regulate these emission sources under the Clean Air Act (CAA). We are taking comments on this proposal and plan to follow with a final action. </SUM> <EFFDATE> <HD SOURCE="HED">DATES:</HD> Comments must be received on or before December 30, 2025. </EFFDATE> <HD SOURCE="HED">ADDRESSES:</HD> Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-R09-OAR-2024-0417 at <E T="03">https://www.regulations.gov.</E> For comments submitted at <E T="03">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 the person identified in the <E T="02">FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT</E> section. 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> If you need assistance in a language other than English or if you are a person with a disability who needs a reasonable accommodation at no cost to you, please contact the person identified in the <E T="02">FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT</E> section. <FURINF> <HD SOURCE="HED">FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:</HD> Allison Kawasaki, EPA Region IX, 75 Hawthorne St., San Francisco, CA 94105; phone: (415) 972-3922; email: <E T="03">kawasaki.allison@epa.gov.</E> </FURINF> <SUPLINF> <HD SOURCE="HED">SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:</HD> Throughout this document, “we,” “us” and “our” refer to the EPA. <HD SOURCE="HD1">Table of Contents </HD> <EXTRACT> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">I. The State's Submittal</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">A. What rules did the State submit?</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">B. Are there other versions of these rules?</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">C. What is the purpose of the submitted rules?</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">II. The EPA's Evaluation and Action</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">A. How is the EPA evaluating the rules?</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">B. Do the rules meet the evaluation criteria?</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">C. What are the rule deficiencies?</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">D. The EPA's Recommendations To Further Improve the Rules</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">E. Public Comment and Proposed Action</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">III. Incorporation by Reference</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">IV. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews</FP> </EXTRACT> <HD SOURCE="HD1">I. The State's Submittal</HD> <HD SOURCE="HD2">A. What rules did the State submit?</HD> Table 1 lists the rules addressed by this proposal with the dates that they were adopted by the local air agency and submitted by the California Air Resources Board (CARB). <GPOTABLE COLS="5" OPTS="L2,nj,i1" CDEF="xs60,12,r50,xs80,12"> <TTITLE>Table 1—Submitted Rules</TTITLE> <CHED H="1">Local agency</CHED> <CHED H="1">Rule No.</CHED> <CHED H="1">Rule title</CHED> <CHED H="1">Adopted/amended</CHED> <CHED H="1">Submitted</CHED> <ROW> <ENT I="01">BAAQMD</ENT> <ENT>9-4</ENT> <ENT>Nitrogen Oxides from Natural Gas-Fired Furnaces</ENT> <ENT>(Amended)03/15/23</ENT> <ENT>01/10/2024</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="01">BAAQMD</ENT> <ENT>9-6</ENT> <ENT>Nitrogen Oxides from Natural Gas-Fired Boilers and Water Heaters</ENT> <ENT>(Adopted) 03/15/23</ENT> <ENT>01/10/2024</ENT> </ROW> </GPOTABLE> On July 10, 2024, the submittal for BAAQMD Rule 9-4 and Rule 9-6 were deemed complete by operation of law to meet the completeness criteria in 40 CFR part 51, appendix V. <HD SOURCE="HD2">B. Are there other versions of these rules?</HD> We approved an earlier version of Rule 9-4 into the SIP on January 7, 1986 (47 FR 29231). The BAAQMD adopted revisions to the SIP-approved version on March 15, 2023, and CARB submitted them to us on January 10, 2024. If we take final action to approve the March 15, 2023 version of Rule 9-4, this version will replace the previously approved version of this rule in the SIP. There is no previous version of Rule 9-6 in the SIP. The BAAQMD locally adopted an earlier version of Rule 9-6 on April 1, 1992, and an amended version of the rule (amended March 15, 2023) was submitted by CARB to the EPA on January 10, 2024. <HD SOURCE="HD2">C. What is the purpose of the submitted rules?</HD> Emissions of NO <E T="52">X</E> contribute to the production of ground-level ozone, smog and particulate matter, which harm human health and the environment. Section 110(a) of the CAA requires states to submit plans that provide for implementation, maintenance, and enforcement of the NAAQS. The CAA section 172(c)(1) and section 182 requires areas that are designated as “Moderate” or above for ozone nonattainment to implement Reasonably Available Control Technology (RACT) for specific sources. The San Francisco Bay Area is designated as “Marginal” nonattainment for the 2015, 2008, and 1997 8-hour ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS). <SU>1</SU> <FTREF/> The San Francisco Bay Area is a Marginal ozone nonattainment area, which is a less severe classification than Moderate, and thus is not required to implement RACT for the sources regulated by the submitted rules. <FTNT> <SU>1</SU>  40 CFR 81.305. See 83 FR 25776 (June 04, 2018); 77 FR 30088 (May 21, 2012); 69 FR 23858 (June 15, 2004). </FTNT> CAA section 189 requires areas that are are designated Moderate or above for particulate matter nonattainment to assure that reasonably available control measures (RACM) are being implemented within the nonattainment area. The San Francisco Bay Area was designated as Moderate nonattainment for the 2006 24-hour PM <E T="52">2.5</E> NAAQS (74 FR 58688, November 13, 2009). In 2017, the EPA made a determination of attainment by the attainment date (December 31, 2015) for this standard based on air monitoring data. <SU>2</SU> <FTREF/> The EPA generally evaluates PM <E T="52">2.5</E> RACM requirements in the context of broader attainment planning actions as opposed to individual rule submissions. Nonetheless, pursuant to 40 CFR 51.1015(a), an EPA determination that a Moderate PM <E T="52">2.5</E> nonattainment area has attained the PM <E T="52">2.5</E> NAAQS suspends the requirement for the State to demonstrate RACM. Thus, although the State may choose to rely on reductions from these rules in a future plan or RACM demonstration, we will not evaluate the rules for PM <E T="52">2.5</E> RACM in this rulemaking. Accordingly, Rules 9-4 and 9-6 are not being evaluated for RACT or RACM at this time. <FTNT> <SU>2</SU>  See 74 FR 58688 (June 02, 2014); 82 FR 21711 (May 10, 2017). </FTNT> BAAQMD Rule 9-4 is an amended rule that sets emission limits for natural gas-fired furnaces sold, installed, or offered for sale within the District. Amended Rule 9-4 instates more stringent emission requirements that prohibit the sale or installation of natural gas-fired furnaces manufactured after January 1, 2024, that emit more than 14 ng/J (nanograms per Joule) of NO <E T="52">X</E> and natural gas-fired furnaces manufactured after January 1, 2029, that emit more than 0.0 ng/J of NO <E T="52">X</E> . All natural gas-fired furnaces must be certified for sale, installation, or offering for sale within the District. Test methods and procedures are provided in Rule 9-4 for compliance demonstrations. BAAQMD Rule 9-6 is a locally adopted rule that has not been previously approved into the SIP. The rule applies similar emission limit timelines for natural gas-fired water heaters and boilers, where appliances with higher heat input ratings receive a lower NO <E T="52">X</E> emission limit at a later date. Natural gas-fired appliances with a 75,000 British Thermal Unit (BTU)/hour or less rated heat input capacity manufactured after January 1, 2027, cannot be sold, installed, or offered for sale within the district if the appliance emits more than 0 ng/J of NO <E T="52">X</E> . Mid-range and large appliances (75,001 BTU/hour-2,000,000 BTU/hour) manufactured after January 1, 2031, cannot be sold, installed, or offered for sale within the district if the appliance emits more than 0.0 ng/J of NO <E T="52">X</E> . <SU>3</SU> <FTREF/> Mobile Home Water Heaters manufactured after January 1, 2008, cannot emit more than 40 ng/J of NO <E T="52">X</E> . Pools and Spa Heaters manufactured after January 1, 2008, cannot emit more than 40 ng/J of NO <E T="52">X</E> and units manufactured after January 1, 2013, cannot emit more than 14 ng/J of NO <E T="52">X</E> . Appliances subject to Rule 9-6 must ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ Preview showing 10k of 21k characters. Full document text is stored and available for version comparison. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━