80 FR 57732 - Approval and Promulgation of State Plans for Designated Facilities and Pollutants; Missouri; Control of Mercury Emissions From Electric Generating Units

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

Federal Register Volume 80, Issue 186 (September 25, 2015)

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is taking direct final action to approve a revision to the Missouri State Plan received May 7, 2013. This revision rescinds the state rule and associated state plan controlling mercury emissions from electric generating units. This rule is being rescinded because the Federal Clean Air Mercury Rule, which is the basis for this rule and associated plan, has been vacated and removed from the Code of Federal Regulations. This action will make Missouri's State Plan consistent with Federal regulations.

[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 186 (Friday, September 25, 2015)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 57732-57734]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2015-24339]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 62

[EPA-R07-OAR-2015-0427; FRL-9934-68-Region 7]


Approval and Promulgation of State Plans for Designated 
Facilities and Pollutants; Missouri; Control of Mercury Emissions From 
Electric Generating Units

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Direct final rule.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is taking direct 
final action to approve a revision to the Missouri State Plan received 
May 7, 2013. This revision rescinds the state rule and associated state 
plan controlling mercury emissions from electric generating units. This 
rule is being rescinded because the Federal Clean Air Mercury Rule, 
which is the basis for this rule and associated plan, has been vacated 
and removed from the Code of Federal Regulations. This action will make 
Missouri's State Plan consistent with Federal regulations.

DATES: This direct final rule will be effective November 24, 2015, 
without further notice, unless EPA receives adverse comment by October 
26, 2015.
    If EPA receives adverse comment, we will publish a timely 
withdrawal of the direct final rule in the Federal Register informing 
the public that the rule will not take effect.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-R07-
OAR-2015-0427, by one of the following methods:
    1. www.regulations.gov. Follow the on-line instructions for 
submitting comments.
    2. Email: [email protected].
    3. Mail or Hand Delivery: Amy Bhesania, Environmental Protection 
Agency, Air Planning and Development Branch, 11201 Renner Boulevard, 
Lenexa, Kansas 66219.
    Instructions: Direct your comments to Docket ID No. EPA-R07-OAR-
205-0427. EPA's policy is that all comments received will be included 
in the public docket without change and may be made available online at 
www.regulations.gov, 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 through www.regulations.gov or 
email information that you consider to be CBI or otherwise protected. 
The www.regulations.gov Web site 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 www.regulations.gov, 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 and with any disk or CD-ROM you submit. 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.
    Docket: All documents in the docket are listed in the 
www.regulations.gov index. Although listed in the index, some 
information is not publicly available, i.e., CBI or other information 
whose disclosure is restricted by statute. Certain other material, such 
as copyrighted material, will be publicly available only in hard copy 
form. Publicly available docket materials are available either 
electronically in www.regulations.gov or in hard copy at the 
Environmental Protection Agency, Air Planning and Development Branch, 
11201 Renner Boulevard, Lenexa, Kansas 66219. The Regional Office's 
official hours of business are Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 
p.m., excluding legal holidays. The interested persons wanting to 
examine these documents should make an appointment with the office at 
least 24 hours in advance.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Amy Bhesania, Environmental Protection 
Agency, Air Planning and Development Branch, 11201 Renner Boulevard, 
Lenexa, Kansas 66219 at (913) 551-7147, or by email at 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Throughout this document ``we,'' ``us,'' or 
``our'' refer to EPA. This section provides additional information by 
addressing the following:

I. What is being addressed in this document?
II. Have the requirements for approval of a Section 111(d) plan 
revision been met?
III. What action is EPA taking?

I. What is being addressed in this document?

    EPA is taking direct final action to approve a revision to the 
Missouri State Plan received May 7, 2013. This revision rescinds 
Missouri state rule 10 CSR 10-6.368, Control of Mercury Emissions from 
Electric Generating Units, and associated state plan. The state rule 
and plan was originally incorporated into the Missouri State

[[Page 57733]]

Plan on January 7, 2008, (73 FR 3194) following the March 15, 2005, 
promulgation of the Federal Clean Air Mercury Rule (CAMR) which 
permanently capped and reduced mercury emissions from coal-fired power 
plants through a regional mercury trading program (70 FR 28606). On 
February 8, 2008, the D.C. Circuit Court vacated EPA's rule removing 
power plants from the Clean Air Act (CAA) list of sources of hazardous 
air pollutants, and at the same time, the Court vacated the Clean Air 
Mercury Rule. New Jersey v. EPA, 517 F.3d 574 (D.C. Cir. 2008). On 
February 16, 2012, EPA replaced CAMR with the Mercury and Air Toxics 
Standards (MATS rule) (77 FR 9304). Missouri has accepted delegation of 
this standard (80 FR 10596). Therefore, this rule and associated plan 
is being rescinded and removed from the Missouri State Plan to make the 
plan consistent with Federal regulations.

II. Have the requirements for approval of a Section 111(d) plan 
revision been met?

    The Missouri Air Conservation Commission adopted the rescission of 
10 CSR 10-6.368 on February 5, 2013. No comments were received on this 
state action. The Missouri Air Conservation Commission has full legal 
authority to develop rules pursuant to section 643.050 of the Missouri 
Air Conservation Law. The State followed all applicable administrative 
procedures in proposing and adopting the rule actions. After 
publication by the Missouri Secretary of State in the Code of State 
Regulations, the rescission of the rule became effective May 30, 2013. 
The State of Missouri submitted the rule and rescission to us for 
approval pursuant to section 111(d). We have evaluated the state plan 
rescission against criteria in 40 CFR part 60, subpart B ``Adoption and 
Submittal of State Plans for Designated Facilities.'' The state plan 
rescission meets all of the applicable requirements.

III. What action is EPA taking?

    EPA is taking direct final action to approve a revision to the 
Missouri State Plan to rescind Missouri state rule 10 CSR 10-6.368, 
Control of Mercury Emissions from Electric Generating Units, and 
associated state plan.
    We are publishing this direct final rule without a prior proposed 
rule because we view this as a noncontroversial action and anticipate 
no adverse comment. However, in the ``Proposed Rules'' section of this 
Federal Register, we are publishing a separate document that will serve 
as the proposed rule to approve the State Plan revision if adverse 
comments are received on this direct final rule. We will not institute 
a second comment period on this action. Any parties interested in 
commenting must do so at this time. For further information about 
commenting on this rule, see the ADDRESSES section of this document.
    If EPA receives adverse comment, we will publish a timely 
withdrawal in the Federal Register informing the public that this 
direct final rule will not take effect. We will address all public 
comments in any subsequent final rule based on the proposed rule.

Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

    Under the CAA, 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, EPA's role is to approve state choices, 
provided that they meet the criteria of the CAA. Accordingly, this 
action merely approves state law as meeting Federal requirements and 
does not impose additional requirements beyond those imposed by state 
law. For that reason, this 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 13563 (76 FR 3821, January 21, 2011);
     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 (Pub. L. 104-4);
     Does not have Federalism implications as specified in 
Executive Order 13132 (64 FR 43255, August 10, 1999);
     Is not an economically significant regulatory action based 
on health or safety risks subject to Executive Order 13045 (62 FR 
19885, April 23, 1997);
     Is not a significant regulatory action subject to 
Executive Order 13211 (66 FR 28355, May 22, 2001);
     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 CAA; and
     Does not provide EPA with the discretionary authority to 
address, as appropriate, disproportionate human health or environmental 
effects, using practicable and legally permissible methods, under 
Executive Order 12898 (59 FR 7629, February 16, 1994).
    The SIP is not approved to apply on any Indian reservation land or 
in any other area where EPA or an Indian tribe has demonstrated that a 
tribe has jurisdiction. In those areas of Indian country, the rule 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).
    The Congressional Review Act, 5 U.S.C. 801 et seq., as added by the 
Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996, generally 
provides that before a rule may take effect, the agency promulgating 
the rule must submit a rule report, which includes a copy of the rule, 
to each House of the Congress and to the Comptroller General of the 
United States. EPA will submit a report containing this action and 
other required information to the U.S. Senate, the U.S. House of 
Representatives, and the Comptroller General of the United States prior 
to publication of the rule in the Federal Register. A major rule cannot 
take effect until 60 days after it is published in the Federal 
Register. This action is not a ``major rule'' as defined by 5 U.S.C. 
804(2).
    Under section 307(b)(1) of the CAA, petitions for judicial review 
of this action must be filed in the United States Court of Appeals for 
the appropriate circuit by November 24, 2015. Filing a petition for 
reconsideration by the Administrator of this direct final rule does not 
affect the finality of this action for the purposes of judicial review 
nor does it extend the time within which a petition for judicial review 
may be filed, and shall not postpone the effectiveness of such rule or 
action. This action may not be challenged later in proceedings to 
enforce its requirements. (See section 307(b)(2).)

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 62

    Environmental protection, Air pollution control, Administrative 
practice and procedure, Intergovernmental relations, Reporting and 
recordkeeping requirements.

    Dated: September 14, 2015.
Mark Hague,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region 7.

    For the reasons stated in the preamble, EPA amends 40 CFR part 62 
as set forth below:

[[Page 57734]]

PART 62--APPROVAL AND PROMULGATION OF STATE PLANS FOR DESIGNATED 
FACILITIES AND POLLUTANTS

0
1. The authority citation for part 62 continues to read as follows:

    Authority:  42 U.S.C. et seq.

Subpart AA--Missouri


Sec.  62.6362  [Removed]

0
2. Section 62.6362 is removed and reserved.

[FR Doc. 2015-24339 Filed 9-24-15; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6560-50-P