Minnesota: Final Approval of State Underground Storage Tank Program Revisions, Codification, and Incorporation by Reference

<RULE> ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY <CFR>40 CFR Part 282</CFR> <DEPDOC>[EPA-R05-UST-2023-0631; FRL 12762-02-R5]</DEPDOC> <SUBJECT>Minnesota: Final Approval of State Underground Storage Tank Program Revisions, Codification, and Incorporation by Reference</SUBJECT> <HD SOURCE="HED">AGENCY:</HD> Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). <HD SOURCE="HED">ACTION:</HD> Direct final rule. <SUM> <HD SOURCE="HED">SUMMARY:</HD> Pursuant to the Solid Waste Disposal Act of 1965, as amended (commonly known as the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA)), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is taking direct final action to approve revisions to the State of Minnesota's Underground Storage Tank (UST) program submitted by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency. This action also codifies EPA's approval of Minnesota's state program and incorporates by reference those provisions of Minnesota's statutes and regulations that EPA has determined meet the requirements for approval. The provisions will be subject to EPA's inspection and enforcement authorities under RCRA Subtitle I and other applicable statutory and regulatory provisions. </SUM> <EFFDATE> <HD SOURCE="HED">DATES:</HD> This rule is effective November 10, 2025, unless EPA receives adverse comment by October 14, 2025. If EPA receives significant adverse comments, EPA will publish a timely withdrawal in the <E T="04">Federal Register</E> informing the public that the rule will not take effect. The incorporation by reference of certain publications listed in the regulations is approved by the Director of the Federal Register, as of November 10, 2025, in accordance with 5 U.S.C. 552(a) and 1 CFR part 51. </EFFDATE> <HD SOURCE="HED">ADDRESSES:</HD> Submit your comments by one of the following methods: 1. <E T="03">Federal eRulemaking Portal: https://www.regulations.gov.</E> Follow the on-line instructions for submitting comments. 2. <E T="03">Email: restaino.mark@epa.gov.</E> <E T="03">Instructions:</E> Direct your comments to Docket ID No. EPA-R05-UST-2023-0631. EPA's policy is that all comments received will be included in the public docket without change and may be available online at <E T="03">https://www.regulations.gov,</E> including any personal information provided, unless the comment includes information claimed to be Confidential Business Information (CBI) or other information whose disclosure is restricted by statute. Do not submit information that you consider to be CBI or otherwise protected through <E T="03">https://www.regulations.gov</E> or by email. The Federal <E T="03">https://www.regulations.gov</E> website is an “anonymous access” system, which means EPA will not know your identity or contact information unless you provide it in the body of your comment. If you send an email comment directly to EPA without going through <E T="03">https://www.regulations.gov,</E> your email address will be automatically captured and included as part of the comment that is placed in the public docket and made available on the internet. If you submit an electronic comment, EPA recommends that you include your name and other contact information in the body of your comment. If EPA cannot read your comment due to technical difficulties, and cannot contact you for clarification, EPA may not be able to consider your comment. Electronic files should avoid the use of special characters, any form of encryption, and be free of any defects or viruses. EPA encourages electronic submittals, but if you are unable to submit electronically, please reach out to EPA contact person listed in the document for assistance. <E T="03">Docket:</E> All documents in the docket are listed in the <E T="03">https://www.regulations.gov</E> index. Although listed in the index, some information might not be publicly available, for example, CBI or other information whose disclosure is restricted by statute. Publicly available docket materials are available electronically through <E T="03">www.regulations.gov.</E> <FURINF> <HD SOURCE="HED">FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:</HD> Mark Restaino, Remediation Branch, Land, Chemical, and Redevelopment Division, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 5, 77 W Jackson Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois 60604; (312) 886-0394; <E T="03">restaino.mark@epa.gov.</E> Emily Lane, Office of Regional Counsel, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 5, 77 W Jackson Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois 60604; (312) 353-6344; <E T="03">lane.emily@epa.gov.</E> </FURINF> <SUPLINF> <HD SOURCE="HED">SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:</HD> <HD SOURCE="HD1">I. Approval of Revisions to Minnesota's Underground Storage Tank Program</HD> <HD SOURCE="HD2">A. Why are revisions to state programs necessary?</HD> Section 9004 of RCRA authorizes EPA to approve state underground storage tank (UST) programs to operate in lieu of the Federal UST program. EPA may approve a state program if the state demonstrates, pursuant to section 9004(a), 42 U.S.C. 6991c(a), that the state program includes the elements set forth at section 9004(a)(1) through (9), 42 U.S.C. 6991c(a)(1) through (9), and provides for adequate enforcement of compliance with UST standards (section 9004(a), 42 U.S.C. 6991c(a)). Additionally, EPA must find, pursuant to section 9004(b), 42 U.S.C. 6991c(b), that the state program is “no less stringent” than the Federal program in the elements set forth at section 9004(a)(1) through (7), 42 U.S.C. 6991c(a)(1) through (7). States such as Minnesota that have received final UST program approval from EPA under section 9004 of RCRA must, to retain such approval, revise their approved programs when the controlling Federal or State statutory or regulatory authority is changed, and EPA determines a revision is required. In 2015, EPA revised the Federal UST regulations and determined that states must revise their UST programs accordingly. <HD SOURCE="HD2">B. What decisions has EPA made in this rule?</HD> On August 22, 2023, in accordance with 40 CFR 281.51, Minnesota submitted a complete program revision application seeking EPA approval for its UST program revisions (State Application) (which was inclusive of the Minnesota Attorney General's letter to the Regional Administrator dated April 17, 2023, and received by EPA on April 25, 2023). Minnesota's revisions correspond to EPA's final rule published on July 15, 2015 (80 FR 41566), which revised the 1988 UST regulations and the 1988 State Program Approval (SPA) regulations. As required by 40 CFR 281.20, the State Application contains the following: a transmittal letter requesting approval; a description of the program and operating procedures; a demonstration of the State's procedures to ensure adequate enforcement; a Memorandum of Agreement outlining the roles and responsibilities of EPA and the implementing agency; a statement of certification from the Attorney General; and copies of all relevant State statutes and regulations. EPA has reviewed the State Application and determined that the revisions to Minnesota's UST program are no less stringent than the corresponding Federal requirements in subpart C of 40 CFR part 281, and that the Minnesota program provides for adequate enforcement of compliance (40 CFR 281.11(b)). Therefore, EPA grants Minnesota final approval to operate its UST program with the changes described in the State Application and as outlined below in section I.G. of this preamble. <HD SOURCE="HD2">C. What is the effect of this approval decision?</HD> This action does not impose additional requirements on the regulated community because the regulations being approved by this rule are already effective in Minnesota and they are not changed by this action. This action merely approves the existing State regulations as meeting the Federal requirements and renders them federally enforceable. <HD SOURCE="HD2">D. Why is EPA using a direct final rule?</HD> EPA is publishing this direct final rule concurrently with a proposed rulemaking because EPA views this as a noncontroversial action and anticipates no significant negative comment. EPA is providing an opportunity for public comment now. <HD SOURCE="HD2">E. What happens if EPA receives comments that oppose this action?</HD> Along with this direct final rule, EPA is publishing a separate document in the “Proposed Rules” section of this issue of the <E T="04">Federal Register</E> that serves as the proposal to approve the State's UST program revisions, providing opportunity for public comment. If EPA receives comments that oppose this approval, EPA will withdraw the direct final rule by publishing a document in the <E T="04">Federal Register</E> before the rule becomes effective. EPA will not make any further decision on the approval of the State program changes until it considers any significant negative comment received during the comment period. EPA will address any significant negative comment in a later final rule. You may not have another opportunity to comment. If you want to comment on this approval, you must do so at this time. <HD SOURCE="HD2">F. For what has Minnesota previously been approved?</HD> On November 30, 2001 (66 FR 59713), EPA finalized a rule approving Minnesota's UST program, effective December 31, 2001, to operate in lieu of the Federal program. In the rule (66 FR 59713) EPA codified the approved Minnesota program, incorporating by reference the State statutes and regulatory provisions that are subject to EPA's inspection and enforcement authorities under RCRA sections 9005 and 9006, 42 U.S.C. 6991d and 6991e, and other applicable statutory and regulatory provisions. <HD SOURCE="HD2">G. What are the changes EPA is approving with this action?</HD> On August 22, 2023, in accordance with 40 CFR 281.51, Minnesota submitted a complete application for final approval of its UST program revisions, including Minnesota Rule Chapter ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ Preview showing 10k of 48k characters. 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