Air Plan Partial Approval and Partial Disapproval; South Carolina; Minor Source Permit Program Revisions

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY <CFR>40 CFR Part 52</CFR> <DEPDOC>[EPA-R04-OAR-2024-0241; FRL-12545-01-R4]</DEPDOC> <SUBJECT>Air Plan Partial Approval and Partial Disapproval; South Carolina; Minor Source Permit Program Revisions</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 partially approve and partially disapprove changes to South Carolina's State Implementation Plan (SIP) to revise regulations prescribing minor source permit program requirements, including minor new source review (NSR) requirements as submitted by the State of South Carolina, through the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (SC DHEC), on the following dates: October 1, 2007; July 18, 2011; June 17, 2013; August 8, 2014; January 20, 2016; July 27, 2016; and April 24, 2020. This action is being proposed pursuant to the Clean Air Act (CAA or Act). </SUM> <EFFDATE> <HD SOURCE="HED">DATES:</HD> Comments must be received on or before February 20, 2025. </EFFDATE> <HD SOURCE="HED">ADDRESSES:</HD> Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-R04-OAR-2024-0241 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> . 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. 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, 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> <FURINF> <HD SOURCE="HED">FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:</HD> Weston Freund, Air Regulatory Management Section, Air Planning and Implementation Branch, Air and Radiation Division, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 4, 61 Forsyth Street SW, Atlanta, Georgia 30303-8960. The telephone number is (404) 562-8773. Mr. Freund can also be reached via electronic mail at <E T="03">freund.weston@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 action is EPA proposing?</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">II. Analysis of the State's Submittals</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">A. Overview and Analysis of Changes to Regulation 61-62.1, Section II, Permit Requirements</FP> 1. Subsection II(B)—Exemptions From the Requirement To Obtain a Construction Permit <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">a. Paragraph II(B)(2)</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">i. Subparagraph II(B)(2)(b)</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">ii. Subparagraph II(B)(2)(f)</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">iii. Subparagraph II(B)(2)(h)</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">b. Paragraph II(B)(3)</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">c. Paragraph II(B)(5)</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">d. Paragraph II(B)(6)</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">e. Paragraph II(B)(7)</FP> 2. Subsection II(C)—Construction Permit Applications 3. Subsection II(D)—General Construction Permits 4. Subsection II(E)—Synthetic Minor Construction Permits <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">a. Subparagraphs II(E)(4)(a)-(E)(4)(d)</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">b. Subparagraph II(E)(4)(c)</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">c. Subparagraph II(E)(4)(e)</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">d. Subparagraph II(E)(4)(g)</FP> 5. Subsection II(F)—Operating Permits <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">a. Paragraphs II(F)(2) and (F)(3)</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">b. Paragraph II(F)(5)</FP> 6. Subsection II(G)—Conditional Major Operating Permits <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">a. Subparagraph II(G)(2)(d)</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">b. Subparagraph II(G)(7)(c)</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">c. Subparagraph II(G)(7)(g)</FP> 7. Subsection II(H)—Operating Permit Renewal Requests 8. Subsection II(I)—Registration Permits <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">a. Subparagraph II(I)(2)(a)(ii)</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">b. Subparagraph II(I)(2)(e)</FP> 9. Subsection II(K)—Exceptions 10. Subsection II(N)—Public Participation Procedures <FP SOURCE="FP-2">III. Incorporation by Reference</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">IV. Proposed Action</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">V. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews</FP> </EXTRACT> <HD SOURCE="HD1">I. What action is EPA proposing?</HD> On October 1, 2007; July 18, 2011; June 17, 2013; August 8, 2014; January 20, 2016; July 27, 2016;  <SU>1</SU> <FTREF/> September 5, 2017; April 24, 2020; and February 4, 2022, SC DHEC  <SU>2</SU> <FTREF/> submitted SIP revisions to EPA for approval that include changes to South Carolina's minor source permitting regulations to clarify and streamline the State's federally approved minor preconstruction and minor operating permitting program. This federally approved program requires stationary sources of air pollutants planning to construct or modify to first obtain a construction permit and to obtain and maintain operating permits in accordance with the South Carolina Code of Regulations Annotated (S.C. Code Ann. Regs. hereinafter “Regulation”) 61-62.1, Section II, <E T="03">Permit Requirements.</E> CAA section 110(a)(2)(C) provides that SIPs must include a program to regulate the construction and modification of any stationary source as necessary to assure that the national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS) are achieved, and it cites to more detailed CAA permitting requirements that pertain to the construction of major sources of air pollution. These CAA requirements for regulating the construction and modification of stationary sources, known collectively as the New Source Review (NSR) program, consists of the following three programs: (1) Prevention of significant deterioration (PSD) for major stationary sources and major modifications in attainment and unclassifiable areas; (2) nonattainment new source review (NNSR) for major stationary sources and major modifications locating in or impacting nonattainment areas, and (3) minor NSR, which applies generally to attainment, unclassifiable, and nonattainment areas for new sources and modifications that fall below the major NSR thresholds. Federal regulations setting forth these NSR programs are prescribed at 40 CFR part 51, subpart I, <E T="03">Review of New Sources and Modifications,</E> and Appendix S to part 51, <E T="03">Emission Offset Interpretive Ruling.</E> Specifically, 40 CFR 51.165 generally details components of the NNSR program in conjunction with Appendix S to part 51. Next, 40 CFR 51.166 prescribes minimum requirements for SIP-approved PSD programs. The regulations at 40 CFR 51.160-164 are generally applicable to all NSR programs, but because of the more specific implementing regulations for the NNSR and PSD programs at 40 CFR 51.165 and 51.166, and 40 CFR 51.160-164 serve primarily as the basis for EPA's evaluation of minor NSR programs. Accordingly, in this proposed action, EPA is evaluating submitted changes to South Carolina's existing SIP-approved minor NSR program against the generally applicable Federal NSR rules and is proposing to approve in part, and disapprove in part, these revisions. EPA is also evaluating changes to provisions for obtaining minor source operating permits, which are already approved into the South Carolina SIP. These regulations include provisions for federally enforceable State operating permits (FESOPs), which include limits on potential to emit (PTE) to enable a source or modification to qualify as minor and avoid major NSR applicability (PSD and NNSR programs) as well as title V major source status. <FTNT> <SU>1</SU>  EPA notes that while the July 27, 2016, submittal was signed and dated by SC DHEC on July 25, 2016, it was received via EPA's SPeCS for SIPs system on July 27, 2016. </FTNT> <FTNT> <SU>2</SU>  On July 1, 2024, SC DHEC was restructured into a health agency, the Department of Public Health, and an environmental agency, the Department of Environmental Services (DES). In a letter dated June 20, 2024, South Carolina represented to EPA that all the functions, powers, and duties of the environmental divisions, offices, and programs of DHEC, including the authority to administer and enforce State implementation plans, are retained and continued in full force and effect under DES. This letter is in the docket for this proposed rulemaking. Throughout this proposal, the terms, “Department”, “South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Services”, “SCDHEC”, “South Carolina Department of Environmental Services”, and “SCDES” are all interchangeable. </FTNT> Through a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) published on August 17, 2017 (82 FR 39083), EPA proposed to approve changes to the October 1, 2007; July 18, 2011; June 17, 2013; August 8, 2014; January 20, 2016; and July 25, 2016 SIP submissions. A comprehensive discussion of EPA's analysis and rationale for those proposed changes to the South Carolina SIP is described in the August 17, 2017 NPRM. Comments on the August 17, 2017 NPRM were due on or before September 18, 2017. Adverse comments were received on the proposed changes to Regulation 61-62.1, subparagraph II(B)(2)(h); Regulation 61-62.1, paragraph II(B)(3); Regulation 61-62.1, paragraph II(B)(5); Regulation 61-62.1, paragraph II(B)(6); Regulation 61-62.1, subsection II(D); Regulation 61-62.1, paragraph II(E)(4); Regulation 61-62.1, Section II(I); Regulation 61-62.1, s ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ Preview showing 10k of 101k characters. Full document text is stored and available for version comparison. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━