Air Plan Approval; California; Mojave Desert Air Quality Management District

<RULE> ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY <CFR>40 CFR Part 52</CFR> <DEPDOC>[EPA-R09-OAR-2024-0209; FRL-11948-02-R9]</DEPDOC> <SUBJECT>Air Plan Approval; California; Mojave Desert Air Quality Management District</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 taking final action to approve revisions to the Mojave Desert Air Quality Management District (MDAQMD or “District”) portion of the California State Implementation Plan (SIP). These revisions concern recodification of prohibitory and administrative rules used by the District to regulate air pollutants under the Clean Air Act (CAA or the Act) including volatile organic compounds (VOCs), oxides of nitrogen (NO <E T="52">X</E> ) and particulate matter (PM). The intended effect is to update the California SIP to reflect the recodified rules. </SUM> <EFFDATE> <HD SOURCE="HED">DATES:</HD> These rules are effective January 3, 2025. </EFFDATE> <HD SOURCE="HED">ADDRESSES:</HD> The EPA has established a docket for this action under Docket ID No. EPA-R09-OAR-2024-0209. 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> 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">https://www.regulations.gov,</E> or please contact the person identified in the <E T="02">FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT</E> section for additional availability information. 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> La Kenya Evans-Hopper, EPA Region IX, 75 Hawthorne St., San Francisco, CA 94105; phone: (415) 972-3245; email: <E T="03">evanshopper.lakenya@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. Proposed Action</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">II. Public Comments and EPA Responses</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">III. EPA 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. Proposed Action</HD> On July 16, 2024 (89 FR 57819), under CAA section 110(k)(3), the EPA proposed to approve certain MDAQMD rules because they represent recodifications of existing SIP rules. The EPA also proposed to approve certain rescissions of existing SIP rules for the Riverside County portion of the MDAQMD SIP because they mirror recodified rules that were proposed for approval. <SU>1</SU> <FTREF/> <FTNT> <SU>1</SU>  The MDAQMD's jurisdiction includes the desert portion of San Bernardino County and the far eastern portion of Riverside County. </FTNT> In our proposed rule, we described the complicated regulatory history of the MDAQMD from the early 1970's to the present time. The applicable SIP for the area the District now regulates consists of a mixture of rules from current and former agencies. Rules adopted by MDAQMD apply District-wide; rules adopted by the San Bernardino County Air Pollution Control District (SBCAPCD) apply only in the San Bernardino County portion of the District; and rules adopted by the Riverside County APCD (RCAPCD), the Southern California APCD (SoCalAPCD), or the South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) only apply in the Riverside County portion of the District. The purpose of the SIP revisions that are the subject of this action is to align the SIP versions of the rules with those that are in effect in the MDAQMD. Table 1 lists the MDAQMD rules that were submitted for inclusion in the SIP with the date each rule was adopted and then submitted by the California Air Resources Board (CARB). <SU>2</SU> <FTREF/> When these rules were submitted, CARB also requested rescission of the analogous rules in the SIP that were adopted by SCAQMD. <SU>3</SU> <FTREF/> Table 2 lists the rules to be rescinded by this action with the dates that they were adopted by SCAQMD, approved by the EPA (with the associated <E T="04">Federal Register</E> citations), subsequently rescinded by MDAQMD, and then submitted by CARB for rescission. <FTNT> <SU>2</SU>  The SBCAPCD rules have adoption dates prior to the formation of the MDAQMD because the rules were not revised or amended when the MDAQMD was formed and first adopted its rulebook. The rules were merely recodified as being MDAQMD rules that apply District-wide. </FTNT> <FTNT> <SU>3</SU>  The versions of Rules 104, 408, 443, 468, 469 and 472 that are currently part of the applicable SIP for the Riverside County portion of the MDAQMD were adopted by the SoCalAPCD, rather than the SCAQMD. </FTNT> <GPOTABLE COLS="5" OPTS="L2,nj,i1" CDEF="xs72,8,r50,r25,xs80"> <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/revised date</CHED> <CHED H="1">Submittal date</CHED> <ROW> <ENT I="01">MDAQMD</ENT> <ENT>104</ENT> <ENT>Reporting of Source Test Data and Analyses</ENT> <ENT>December 19, 1988</ENT> <ENT>October 13, 2023.</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="01">MDAQMD</ENT> <ENT>404</ENT> <ENT>Particulate Matter—Concentration</ENT> <ENT>July 25, 1977</ENT> <ENT>May 11, 2023.</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="01">MDAQMD</ENT> <ENT>405</ENT> <ENT>Solid Particulate Matter—Weight</ENT> <ENT>July 25, 1977</ENT> <ENT>May 11, 2023.</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="01">MDAQMD</ENT> <ENT>407</ENT> <ENT>Liquid and Gaseous Air Contaminants</ENT> <ENT>July 25, 1977</ENT> <ENT>September 23, 2022.</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="01">MDAQMD</ENT> <ENT>408</ENT> <ENT>Circumvention</ENT> <ENT>July 25, 1977</ENT> <ENT>May 11, 2023.</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="01">MDAQMD</ENT> <ENT>409</ENT> <ENT>Combustion Contaminants</ENT> <ENT>July 25, 1977</ENT> <ENT>May 11, 2023.</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="01">MDAQMD</ENT> <ENT>443</ENT> <ENT>Labeling of Solvents</ENT> <ENT>July 25, 1977</ENT> <ENT>May 11, 2023.</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="01">MDAQMD</ENT> <ENT>468</ENT> <ENT>Sulfur Recovery Units</ENT> <ENT>July 25, 1977</ENT> <ENT>November 30, 2022.</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="01">MDAQMD</ENT> <ENT>469</ENT> <ENT>Sulfuric Acid Units</ENT> <ENT>July 25, 1977</ENT> <ENT>November 30, 2022.</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="01">MDAQMD</ENT> <ENT>472</ENT> <ENT>Reduction of Animal Matter</ENT> <ENT>July 25, 1977</ENT> <ENT>May 11, 2023.</ENT> </ROW> </GPOTABLE> <GPOTABLE COLS="6" OPTS="L2,nj,p7,7/8,i1" CDEF="s25,r50,r25,r40,r25,xs66"> <TTITLE>Table 2—Submitted Rule Rescissions</TTITLE> <CHED H="1">Local agency</CHED> <CHED H="1">Title</CHED> <CHED H="1">Adopted/amended/revised date</CHED> <CHED H="1"> SIP approval date and FR citation </CHED> <CHED H="1">Date of rescission by MDAQMD</CHED> <CHED H="1">Submittal date</CHED> <ROW> <ENT I="01">SCAQMD Rule 104</ENT> <ENT>Reporting of Source Test Data and Analyses</ENT> <ENT>January 9, 1976</ENT> <ENT>June 14, 1978, 43 FR 25684</ENT> <ENT>April 24, 2023</ENT> <ENT>October 13, 2023.</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="01">SCAQMD Rule 408</ENT> <ENT>Circumvention</ENT> <ENT>May 7, 1976</ENT> <ENT>June 14, 1978, 43 FR 25684</ENT> <ENT>April 25, 2022</ENT> <ENT>May 11, 2023.</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="01">SCAQMD Rule 443</ENT> <ENT>Labeling of Solvents</ENT> <ENT>January 1, 1977</ENT> <ENT>June 14, 1978, 43 FR 25684</ENT> <ENT>October 24, 2022</ENT> <ENT>May 11, 2023.</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="01">SCAQMD Rule 468</ENT> <ENT>Sulfur Recovery Units</ENT> <ENT>October 8, 1976</ENT> <ENT>June 14, 1978, 43 FR 25684</ENT> <ENT>August 22, 2022</ENT> <ENT>November 30, 2022.</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="01">SCAQMD Rule 469</ENT> <ENT>Sulfuric Acid Units</ENT> <ENT>October 8, 1976</ENT> <ENT>June 14, 1978, 43 FR 25684</ENT> <ENT>August 22, 2022</ENT> <ENT>November 30, 2022.</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="01">SCAQMD Rule 472</ENT> <ENT>Reduction of Animal Matter</ENT> <ENT>May 7, 1976</ENT> <ENT>June 14, 1978, 43 FR 25684</ENT> <ENT>August 22, 2022</ENT> <ENT>May 11, 2023.</ENT> </ROW> </GPOTABLE> Table 3 lists the previously-approved rules that had been adopted by the SBCAPCD along with their local adoption dates and EPA approval citations. Upon final approval of the MDAQMD rules listed in table 1, the SCBAPCD rules in table 3 will be superseded in the applicable SIP by the corresponding MDAQMD rules. <GPOTABLE COLS="5" OPTS="L2,nj,i1" CDEF="xs72,8,r50,r25,r50"> <TTITLE>Table 3—SIP Rules To Be Superseded Upon Approval of Rules Listed in Table 1</TTITLE> <CHED H="1">Local agency</CHED> <CHED H="1"> Rule No. </CHED> <CHED H="1">Rule title</CHED> <CHED H="1">SIP approval date and FR citation</CHED> <ROW> <ENT I="01">SBCAPCD</ENT> <ENT>104</ENT> <ENT>Reporting of Source Test Data and Analyses</ENT> <ENT>December 19, 1988</ENT> <ENT>November 27, 1990, 55 FR 49281.</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="01">SBCAPCD</ENT> <ENT>404</ENT> <ENT>Particulate Matter—Concentration</ENT> <ENT>July 25, 1977</ENT> <ENT>December 21, 1978, 43 FR 59489.</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="01">SBCAPCD</ENT> <ENT>405</ENT> <ENT>Solid Particulate Matter—Weight</ENT> <ENT>July 25, ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ Preview showing 10k of 25k characters. 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