82 FR 44753 - Approval and Promulgation of Implementation Plans; Louisiana; Regional Haze State Implementation Plan

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

Federal Register Volume 82, Issue 185 (September 26, 2017)

Pursuant to the Federal Clean Air Act (CAA or the Act), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is amending our recent proposal to approve a revision to the Louisiana State Implementation Plan (SIP) for regional haze submitted for parallel processing on August 24, 2017. On July 13, 2017, we proposed to approve a SIP revision by the State of Louisiana through the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (LDEQ) to address certain Best Available Retrofit Technology requirements under Regional Haze for the Entergy R. S. Nelson facility (Nelson), which is an electric generating unit in Calcasieu Parish. We now amend that proposal, by proposing to approve a compliance date three years from the effective date of the final EPA approval of the SIP revision for Nelson to meet an emission limit for sulfur dioxide (SO<INF>2</INF>) emissions.

[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 185 (Tuesday, September 26, 2017)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 44753-44754]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2017-20533]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[EPA-R06-OAR-2017-0129; FRL-9967-64-Region 6]


Approval and Promulgation of Implementation Plans; Louisiana; 
Regional Haze State Implementation Plan

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Proposed rule.

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SUMMARY: Pursuant to the Federal Clean Air Act (CAA or the Act), the 
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is amending our recent proposal 
to approve a revision to the Louisiana State Implementation Plan (SIP) 
for regional haze submitted for parallel processing on August 24, 2017. 
On July 13, 2017, we proposed to approve a SIP revision by the State of 
Louisiana through the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality 
(LDEQ) to address certain Best Available Retrofit Technology 
requirements under Regional Haze for the Entergy R. S. Nelson facility 
(Nelson), which is an electric generating unit in Calcasieu Parish. We 
now amend that proposal, by proposing to approve a compliance date 
three years from the effective date of the final EPA approval of the 
SIP revision for Nelson to meet an emission limit for sulfur dioxide 
(SO2) emissions.

DATES: Written comments must be received on or before October 26, 2017.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket No. EPA-R06-OAR-
2017-0129, at http://www.regulations.gov or via email to 
[email protected]. 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 (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. 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 Jennifer Huser, 214-665-
7347, [email protected]. For the full EPA public comment policy, 
information about CBI or multimedia submissions, and general guidance 
on making effective comments, please visit http://www2.epa.gov/dockets/commenting-epa-dockets.
    Docket: The index to the docket for this action is available 
electronically at www.regulations.gov and in hard copy at the EPA 
Region 6, 1445 Ross Avenue, Suite 700, Dallas, Texas. While all 
documents in the docket are listed in the index, some information may 
be publicly available only at the hard copy location (e.g., copyrighted 
material), and some may not be publicly available at either location 
(e.g., CBI).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jennifer Huser, 214-665-7347, 
[email protected]. To inspect the hard copy materials, please 
schedule an appointment with Ms. Huser or Mr. Bill Deese at 214-665-
7253.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Throughout this document wherever ``we,'' 
``us,'' or ``our'' is used, we mean the EPA.

I. Background

    Regional haze is visibility impairment that is produced by a 
multitude of sources and activities which are located across a broad 
geographic area and emit fine particles (PM2.5) (e.g., 
sulfates, nitrates, organic carbon, elemental carbon, and soil dust) 
and their precursors. Fine particle precursors, such as SO2, 
react in the atmosphere to form PM2.5, which also impair 
visibility by scattering and absorbing light. The CAA's visibility 
protection program helps to protect clear views in national parks and 
wilderness areas identified as ``Class I Federal areas'' (CAA section 
169A, 40 CFR 51 subpart P and 40 CFR 81 subpart D). Vistas in these 
areas are often obscured by visibility-impairing pollutants caused by 
emissions from numerous sources located over a wide geographic area. 
The program requires SIPs to address visibility-impairing pollutants. 
For more information on regional haze, visibility protection, and SIPs 
please see our May 19, 2017 and July 13, 2017 Federal Register 
proposals for Louisiana EGUs discussed below. These proposals can be 
accessed through regulations.gov (docket EPA-R06-OAR-207-0129).
    On May 19, 2017, we published a proposal to approve a Louisiana SIP 
revision to address regional haze requirements for EGUs with the 
exception of the Entergy R. S. Nelson EGU (Entergy Nelson) in Calcasieu 
Parish (82 FR 22936). On July 13, 2017, we published a proposal to 
approve a proposed Louisiana SIP revision

[[Page 44754]]

submitted for parallel processing to address regional haze requirements 
for Entergy Nelson (82 FR 32294). In the July 13, 2017 action, we 
proposed to approve an SO2 emissions limit of 0.6 pounds per 
million British Thermal Units (lbs/MMBtu) at Entergy Nelson Unit 6. The 
compliance date we proposed to approve was no later than the effective 
date of our approval of a final SIP. On August 24, 2017, Louisiana 
submitted a letter explaining its intent to revise the compliance date 
in its SIP for Entergy Nelson Unit 6 based on a public comment received 
during the State's comment period. On June 21, 2017, Entergy, the owner 
and operator of Nelson, submitted a comment to LDEQ on the proposed 
SIP. The comment letter requests a three-year period for the transition 
to the proposed SO2 limit for Nelson Unit 6. Entergy's 
letter explains that coal contracts are in place for the next three 
years. Entergy requests this longer compliance time to allow the 
company's fuel procurement to transition to new mines with lower sulfur 
coal. As a result, Louisiana's revised compliance date for Entergy 
Nelson Unit 6 to meet the SO2 emissions limit is three years 
from the effective date of our approval of the SIP revision.

II. The EPA's Evaluation

    We sent clarifying questions via email to Entergy regarding their 
need for three years to comply with the emission limit of 0.6 lbs/
MMBtu. The questions and Entergy's response are included in the docket. 
A compliance date of three years from the effective date of our 
approval of the SIP revision allows time for Entergy Nelson to ensure 
that Unit 6 is able to continuously meet a SO2 emissions 
limit of 0.6 lbs/MMBtu once the emission limit becomes enforceable. We 
believe this is a reasonable basis to allow three years for Nelson Unit 
6 to comply with this limit, and this change meets the requirement that 
BART be installed and operational ``as expeditiously as practicable, 
but in no event later than five years after approval of the [SIP].'' 40 
CFR 51.308(e)(1)(v). As a result, we propose to approve this SIP 
revision when it is submitted to EPA.

III. Proposed Action

    EPA amends our proposal to approve a Louisiana regional haze SIP 
revision submitted on August 24, 2017 to allow a compliance date three 
years from the effective date of the final EPA approval of the SIP 
revision for Unit 6 of the Entergy Nelson EGU to meet a SO2 
emissions limit of 0.6 lbs/MMBtu.

IV. Incorporation by Reference

    In this action, we are proposing to include in a final rule 
regulatory text that includes incorporation by reference. In accordance 
with the requirements of 1 CFR 51.5, we are proposing to incorporate by 
reference revisions to the Louisiana regulations as described in the 
Proposed Action section above. We have made, and will continue to make, 
these documents generally available electronically through 
www.regulations.gov and/or in hard copy at the EPA Region 6 office.

V. 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, the EPA's role is to approve state choices, 
provided that they meet the criteria of the CAA. Accordingly, this 
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 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), 13563 (76 FR 3821, January 21, 
2011) and 13771 (82 FR 9339, February 2, 2017);
     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 this action does not involve technical standards; 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).

In addition, 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 
proposed 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).

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 52

    Environmental protection, Air pollution control, Incorporation by 
reference, Intergovernmental relations, Nitrogen dioxide, Particulate 
matter, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, Regional haze, Sulfur 
dioxides, Visibility.

    Authority:  42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.

    Dated: September 20, 2017.
Samuel Coleman,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region 6.
[FR Doc. 2017-20533 Filed 9-25-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6560-50-P