6560-50-P
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 52
[EPA-R09-OAR-2023-0625; FRL-11613-01-R9]
Air Plan Revisions; California; Eastern Kern Air Pollution Control District; Tehama
County Air Pollution Control District; San Diego County Air Pollution Control District
Emissions Statement Requirements
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Proposed rule.
SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to approve revisions,
under the Clean Air Act (CAA or “Act”), to portions of the California State Implementation Plan
(SIP) regarding emissions statements (ES) requirements for the 2015 ozone national ambient air
quality standards (NAAQS). In addition, we are proposing that the following California
nonattainment areas (NAAs) meet the ES requirements for the 2015 ozone NAAQS: Tuscan
Buttes, Kern County (Eastern Kern), and San Diego County. We are taking comments on this
proposal and plan to follow with a final action.
DATES: Comments must be received on or before [INSERT DATE 30 DAYS AFTER DATE
OF PUBLICATION IN THE FEDERAL REGISTER].
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-R09-OAR-2023-0625
at https://www.regulations.gov. For comments submitted at Regulations.gov, follow the online
instructions for submitting comments. Once submitted, comments cannot be edited or removed
from Regulations.gov. 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
(e.g., audio or video) 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 (i.e., on the web, cloud, or other file sharing system). For additional
submission methods, please contact the person identified in the FOR FURTHER
INFORMATION CONTACT section. For the full EPA public comment policy, information
about CBI or multimedia submissions, and general guidance on making effective comments,
please visit https://www.epa.gov/dockets/commenting-epa-dockets. 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 FOR FURTHER
INFORMATION CONTACT section.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Sina Schwenk-Mueller, EPA Region IX, 75
Hawthorne St., San Francisco, CA 94105. By phone: (415) 947-4100 or by email at
schwenkmueller.sina@epa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Throughout this document, “we,” “us” and “our”
refer to the EPA.
Table of Contents
I. The State’s Submittal
A. What rules did the State submit?
B. Are there other versions of these rules?
C. What is the purpose of the submitted rules or rule revisions?
II. The EPA’s Evaluation and Action
A. How is the EPA evaluating the rules?
B. Do the rules meet the evaluation criteria?
C. The EPA’s recommendations to further improve the rule(s)
D. Proposed action and public comment
III. Incorporation by Reference
IV. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews
I. The State’s Submittal
A. What rules did the State submit?
The California Air Resources Board submitted rules for the the Eastern Kern Air
Pollution Control District (APCD), Tehama County APCD, and San Diego County APCD
portions of the California SIP.

Table 1 lists the rules submitted for approval into the SIP with the dates that the rules
were adopted or revised by the local or State air agencies and submitted by the States to fulfill
CAA section 182(a)(3)(B) Emissions Statements (“section 182(a)(3)(B)”) requirements.
TABLE 1 - SUBMITTED RULES
Amended/
Adopted
8/4/22

Submitted
12/7/22

Emission Statement

3/1/22

7/5/22

Emission
Information

12/9/21

3/9/22

Agency
Eastern Kern
APCD

Rule #
Rule 108.2

Rule Title
Emission Statement
Requirements

Tehama
County APCD
San Diego
County APCD

Rule 2:20
Rule 19.3

Deemed
Complete
Complete
by
Operation
of Law
(COL)
6/7/23
COL
1/5/23
COL
9/9/22

Table 1 also list the dates that the EPA determined that the submittals met the
completeness criteria in 40 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) part 51, appendix V or were
deemed by operation of law to meet the completeness criteria in 40 CFR part 51, appendix V
(“complete by operation of law” or COL), which must be met before formal EPA review.
B. Are there other versions of these rules?
There is no previous version of Tehama County APCD Rule 2:20 in the SIP. We
approved an earlier version of Eastern Kern APCD Rule 108.2 into the SIP on May 26, 2004 (69
FR 29880). If we take final action to approve the submitted version of Rule 108.2, it will replace
the existing SIP-approved version. We approved an earlier version of San Diego APCD Rule
19.3 into the SIP on March 9, 2000 (65 FR 12472). If we take final action to approve the
submitted version of Rule 19.3, it will replace the existing SIP-approved version.
C. What is the purpose of the submitted rules or rule revisions?
Under the CAA, a SIP must require stationary sources in ozone NAAs classified as
“Marginal” or above to report annual emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx) and volatile organic
compounds(VOCs). See CAA section 182(a)(3)(B). Whenever the EPA promulgates a new

ozone NAAQS, the State and/or air district must submit a new or amended rule to ensure that the
section 182(a)(3)(B) requirements are met.
Section 182(a)(3)(B)(i) requires States to submit a SIP revision that requires that owners
or operators of stationary sources provide the State with a statement of actual emissions of VOCs
and NOx at least annually. Such statements must also include a certification that the information
is accurate to the best knowledge of the individual certifying the statement.1
In lieu of submitting a new or amended rule, the State and/or air district may submit for
SIP approval a certification that an existing SIP-approved rule satisfies the emissions statement
requirements of CAA section 182(a)(3)(B) for the relevant ozone NAAQS. Specifically, the
preamble to the EPA’s “Implementation of the 2015 National Ambient Air Quality Standards for
Ozone: Nonattainment Area State Implementation Plan Requirements” states that “[W]here an
air agency determines that an existing regulation is adequate to meet applicable nonattainment
area planning requirements of CAA section 182…for a revised ozone NAAQS, that air agency’s
SIP revision may provide a written statement certifying that determination in lieu of submitting
new revised regulations.”2 The EPA’s technical support document (TSD), which is in the docket
for this rulemaking, has more information about these rules.
II. The EPA’s Evaluation and Action
A. How is the EPA evaluating the rules?
Rules in the SIP must be enforceable (see CAA section 110(a)(2)), must not interfere
with applicable requirements concerning attainment and reasonable further progress or other
CAA requirements (see CAA section 110(l)), and must not modify certain SIP control
requirements in nonattainment areas without ensuring equivalent or greater emissions reductions

Section 182(a)(3)(B)(ii) “The State may waive the application of clause (i) to any class or category of stationary
sources which emit less than 25 tons per year of volatile organic compounds or oxides of nitrogen if the State, in its
submissions under subparagraphs (1) or (3)(A), provides an inventory of emissions from such class or category of
sources, based on the use of the emission factors established by the Administrator or other methods acceptable to the
Administrator.”
2 “Implementation of the 2015 National Ambient Air Quality Standards for Ozone: Nonattainment Area State
Implementation Plan Requirements,” 83 FR 62998 (December 6, 2018).
(see CAA section 193). Areas classified as Marginal nonattainment or higher are subject to the
requirements of CAA section 182(a)(3)(B).
Guidance and policy documents that we used to evaluate enforceability,
revision/relaxation, and rule stringency requirements for the applicable criteria pollutants include
the following:
1. “Implementation of the 2015 National Ambient Air Quality Standards for Ozone:
Nonattainment Area State Implementation Plan Requirements,” 83 FR 62998 (December
6, 2018).
2. “(Draft) Guidance on the Implementation of an Emission Statement Program,” EPA, July
1992.
3. “State Implementation Plans; General Preamble for the Implementation of title I of the
Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990,” 57 FR 13498 (April 16, 1992); 57 FR 18070 (April
28, 1992).
4. “Issues Relating to VOC Regulation Cutpoints, Deficiencies, and Deviations,” EPA, May
25, 1988 (the Bluebook, revised January 11, 1990).
5. “Guidance Document for Correcting Common VOC & Other Rule Deficiencies,” EPA
Region 9, August 21, 2001 (the Little Bluebook).
B. Do the rules meet the evaluation criteria?
These rules meet CAA requirements and are consistent with relevant guidance regarding
enforceability, SIP revisions, and emissions statement requirements. The TSD has more
information on our evaluation.
C. The EPA’s recommendations to further improve the rule(s)
The TSD includes recommendations for the next time the local agency modifies the rules
or submit certifications.
D. Proposed action and public comment
As authorized in section 110(k)(3) of the Act, the EPA proposes to fully approve the

submitted rules because they fulfill all relevant requirements. We are also proposing that the
following 2015 ozone nonattainment areas have met CAA section 182(a)(3)(B) requirements:
Kern County (Eastern Kern), CA, Tuscan Buttes, CA, San Diego, CA. We will accept comments
from the public on this proposal until [INSERT DATE 30 DAYS AFTER DATE OF
PUBLICATION IN THE FEDERAL REGISTER]. If we take final action to approve the
submitted rules, our final action will incorporate these rules into the federally enforceable SIP.
III. Incorporation by Reference
In this rule, the EPA is proposing to include in a final EPA rule regulatory text that
includes incorporation by reference. In accordance with requirements of 1 CFR 51.5, the EPA is
proposing to incorporate by reference the rules described in table 1, which require sources to
submit emission statements. The EPA has made, and will continue to make, these materials
available through https://www.regulations.gov and at the EPA Region IX Office (please contact
the person identified in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section of this
preamble for more information).
IV. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews
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, the EPA’s role is to approve State
choices, provided that they meet the criteria of the Clean Air Act. Accordingly, this proposed
action merely proposes to approve State law as meeting Federal requirements and does not
impose additional requirements beyond those imposed by State law. For that reason, this
proposed action:
•

Is not a significant regulatory action subject to review by the Office of Management and
Budget under Executive Orders 12866 (58 FR 51735, October 4, 1993) and 14094 (88 FR
21879, April 11, 2023);

•

Does not impose an information collection burden under the provisions of the Paperwork

Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.);
•

Is certified as not having a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small
entities under the Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 601 et seq.);

•

Does not contain any unfunded mandate or significantly or uniquely affect small
governments, as described in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995 (Public Law
104-4);

•

Does not have federalism implications as specified in Executive Order 13132 (64 FR
43255, August 10, 1999);

•

Is not subject to Executive Order 13045 (62 FR 19885, April 23, 1997) because it
proposes to approve a State program;

•

Is not a significant regulatory action subject to Executive Order 13211 (66 FR 28355,
May 22, 2001); and

•

Is not subject to requirements of section 12(d) of the National Technology Transfer and
Advancement Act of 1995 (15 U.S.C. 272 note) because application of those
requirements would be inconsistent with the Clean Air Act.
In addition, the SIP is not approved to apply on any Indian reservation land or in any

other area where the EPA or an Indian tribe has demonstrated that a tribe has jurisdiction. In
those areas of Indian country, the rulemaking does not have Tribal implications and will not
impose substantial direct costs on Tribal governments or preempt Tribal law as specified by
Executive Order 13175 (65 FR 67249, November 9, 2000).
Executive Order 12898 (Federal Actions To Address Environmental Justice in Minority
Populations and Low-Income Populations, 59 FR 7629, February 16, 1994) directs Federal
agencies to identify and address “disproportionately high and adverse human health or
environmental effects” of their actions on minority populations and low-income populations to
the greatest extent practicable and permitted by law. The EPA defines environmental justice (EJ)
as “the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, color, national

origin, or income with respect to the development, implementation, and enforcement of
environmental laws, regulations, and policies.” The EPA further defines the term fair treatment
to mean that “no group of people should bear a disproportionate burden of environmental harms
and risks, including those resulting from the negative environmental consequences of industrial,
governmental, and commercial operations or programs and policies.”
The State did not evaluate EJ considerations as part of its SIP submittal; the CAA and
applicable implementing regulations neither prohibit nor require such an evaluation. The EPA
did not perform an EJ analysis and did not consider EJ in this action.
List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 52
Environmental protection, Air pollution control, Incorporation by reference,
Intergovernmental relations, Nitrogen oxides, Ozone, Particulate matter, Reporting and
recordkeeping requirements, Volatile organic compounds.
Dated: July 2, 2024.
Martha Guzman Aceves,
Regional Administrator,
Region IX.
[FR Doc. 2024-15045 Filed: 7/11/2024 8:45 am; Publication Date: 7/12/2024]