83 FR 16761 - Promoting Domestic Manufacturing and Job CreationPolicies and Procedures Relating to Implementation of Air Quality Standards
Executive Office of the President
Federal Register Volume 83, Issue 73 (April 16, 2018)
Page Range
16761-16765
FR Document
2018-08094
Federal Register, Volume 83 Issue 73 (Monday, April 16, 2018)
[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 73 (Monday, April 16, 2018)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 16761-16765]
From the Federal Register Online [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2018-08094]
[[Page 16759]]
Vol. 83
Monday,
No. 73
April 16, 2018
Part III
The President
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Memorandum of April 12, 2018--Promoting Domestic Manufacturing and Job
Creation--Policies and Procedures Relating to Implementation of Air
Quality Standards
Presidential Documents
Federal Register / Vol. 83 , No. 73 / Monday, April 16, 2018 /
Presidential Documents
___________________________________________________________________
Title 3--
The President
[[Page 16761]]
Memorandum of April 12, 2018
Promoting Domestic Manufacturing and Job
Creation--Policies and Procedures Relating to
Implementation of Air Quality Standards
Memorandum for the Administrator of the Environmental
Protection Agency
Under the Clean Air Act (CAA), Public Law 88-206, the
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) establishes
National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for
certain common air pollutants, often referred to as
``criteria pollutants,'' which it must review every 5
years. Over the past four decades, EPA has revised
these standards a number of times to increase their
stringency, including revisions to the standards for
ozone, particulate matter, and four other criteria
pollutants. Since 1970, emissions of criteria
pollutants have declined dramatically and air quality
has improved significantly. At the same time, each new
revision of the NAAQS triggers numerous new planning,
permitting, and other requirements for affected States,
localities, and regulated entities. In addition, each
new revision can affect the planning for and
availability of Federal funding for certain new
transportation projects.
Under the CAA, States with areas that do not meet
revised NAAQS must submit for approval to the
Administrator of the EPA (Administrator) State
Implementation Plans (SIPs) showing how they will
comply with the revised standards. States that fail to
submit a SIP or that submit an inadequate SIP risk the
imposition of a Federal Implementation Plan (FIP) that
establishes a path to compliance. In addition,
manufacturers and other applicants seeking
preconstruction permits for new construction generally
must demonstrate compliance with the new standards as
soon as they go into effect. As the NAAQS have become
more stringent, obtaining the air permits needed to
construct new manufacturing and industrial facilities
or to expand or modernize existing facilities has
become increasingly difficult. In some areas, revised
NAAQS are approaching what are considered to be
``background levels'' of pollution (i.e., levels
associated with natural sources or emissions
originating outside of the United States), leading to
significant practical challenges for constructing or
expanding manufacturing and industrial facilities.
Those challenges range from difficulties in
demonstrating compliance to costs and uncertainty
associated with permitting delays and emissions-control
requirements.
Under the CAA, EPA has also established a Regional Haze
Program, which requires States to submit for the
Administrator's approval plans that cover 10-year
implementation periods and to demonstrate ``reasonable
progress'' toward improving and maintaining visibility
in certain national parks and wilderness areas. In
recent years, States have spent significant time and
resources developing Regional Haze Program SIPs. EPA,
however, has rejected several of them, in whole or in
part, and issued FIPs in their place, which often
impose more costly and burdensome measures.
Given the national importance of successful and
efficient implementation of air quality standards to
promote public health, welfare, and economic growth,
this memorandum directs the Administrator to take
specific actions to ensure efficient and cost-effective
implementation of the NAAQS program, including with
regard to permitting decisions for new and expanded
facilities, and with respect to the Regional Haze
Program. These actions are intended
[[Page 16762]]
to ensure that EPA carries out its core missions of
protecting the environment and improving air quality in
accord with statutory requirements, while reducing
unnecessary impediments to new manufacturing and
business expansion essential for a growing economy.
Accordingly, by the authority vested in me as President
by the Constitution and the laws of the United States
of America, it is hereby directed as follows:
Section 1. Timely Processing of State Implementation
Plans. The Administrator shall, as practicable and
consistent with law, endeavor in all cases to take
final action on SIPs within 18 months of the date of
the submission of a SIP. This goal applies to all SIPs
and SIP revisions submitted pursuant to section 110 of
the CAA (42 U.S.C. 7410). The Administrator shall
consider the expansion of existing performance goals
related to the timely processing of SIPs starting with
the Fiscal Year (FY) 2019 performance plan.
Sec. 2. Cooperative Engagement with States to Review
Regional Haze Plans. The Administrator shall undertake
a process to review all full or partial FIPs issued
under the 2007 planning period of the Regional Haze
Program and to develop options, at the request of
affected States, consistent with law, to replace FIPs
with approvable SIPs. The Administrator shall consider
the expansion of existing performance goals related to
the cooperative engagement with States in EPA's review
of Regional Haze Plans starting with the FY 2019
performance plan.
Sec. 3. Timely Processing of Preconstruction Permit
Applications. The Administrator shall endeavor to take
final action on applications for preconstruction
permits, as appropriate and consistent with law, within
1 year of the date of receiving a complete application.
This 1-year goal applies to all completed applications
for preconstruction permits for which EPA is the direct
permitting authority under the CAA. The Administrator
shall also seek to ensure that determinations relating
to the completeness of an application are not unduly
delayed. To the extent that a State is the direct
permitting authority, EPA shall endeavor to provide
prompt technical support, reviews, and determinations,
as necessary and consistent with applicable law, in
order to assist States in the timely issuance of
preconstruction permits. The Administrator shall,
starting with the FY 2019 performance plan, develop
performance goals related to the timely processing of
preconstruction permit applications.
Sec. 4. Demonstrations or Petitions Submitted Pursuant
to Sections 319 and 179B of the CAA Relating to
Emissions Beyond the Control of State and Local Air
Agencies. The Administrator shall take the following
actions with regard to demonstrations or petitions
submitted pursuant to sections 319 and 179B of the CAA
(42 U.S.C. 7619, 7509a), in order to provide relief to
State and local air agencies addressing emissions that
are beyond their control:
(a) Timely Processing. With respect to all
exceptional event demonstrations submitted pursuant to
section 319 of the CAA (42 U.S.C. 7619), and all
demonstrations or petitions relating to international
emissions submitted pursuant to section 179B of the CAA
(42 U.S.C. 7509a), the Administrator shall endeavor to
take final action within 120 days of a complete
submission, as appropriate and consistent with law. The
Administrator shall also endeavor to use available
monitoring data and modeling tools to assist States in
identifying potential exceptional events and
international emissions that may affect concentrations
of criteria pollutants. The Administrator shall,
starting with the FY 2019 performance plan, develop
performance goals related to the timely processing of
demonstrations or petitions.
(b) Policies Relating to International Emissions.
The Administrator shall ensure that EPA continues to
take into consideration a State's ability to meet and
attain NAAQS that may be affected by international
transport of criteria pollutants. With regard to all
demonstrations or petitions submitted pursuant to
section 179B of the CAA, the Administrator shall also
seek to ensure, including through rulemakings or
guidance and as appropriate
[[Page 16763]]
and consistent with law, that EPA does not limit its
consideration of demonstrations or petitions to those
submitted by States located on the borders of the
United States with Mexico or Canada, but rather
considers section 179B demonstrations or petitions
submitted by any State, including but not limited to
those located in the Western United States.
Additionally, with respect to section 179B
demonstrations or petitions, the Administrator shall
ensure that EPA does not limit its consideration to
emissions emanating from Mexico or Canada, but rather
considers, where appropriate, emissions that may
emanate from any location outside the United States,
including emissions from Asia.
(c) Continuing Assessment. In implementing section
179B of the CAA (42 U.S.C. 7509a), section 319 of the
CAA (42 U.S.C. 7619), and section 182(h) of the CAA (42
U.S.C. 7511a(h)), the Administrator shall ensure that
EPA continues to assess background concentrations and
sources of pollution outside of the control of State
and local air agencies that may affect implementation
or application of these provisions. Such assessment may
include current and future trends in pollution from
foreign sources; regional trends in exceptional events,
including wildfires, stratospheric ozone intrusions,
and volcanic seismic activities; and other events, as
appropriate and consistent with law.
Sec. 5. Monitoring and Modeling Data. The Administrator
shall take the following actions to ensure that
monitoring and modeling data is used appropriately in
designations, permitting decisions, and demonstrations:
(a) Designations. Given the significant planning,
permitting, and other requirements for affected States,
localities, and regulated entities associated with
nonattainment designations, the Administrator's goal
for future designations should be, to the extent
feasible and permitted by law, to rely on data from
EPA-approved air quality monitors for such
designations.
(b) Permitting Decisions and Demonstrations.
(i) Where modeling is necessary for permitting decisions, for State plans,
or for exceptional event or international emissions demonstrations, the
Administrator shall seek to ensure that EPA's applicable modeling tools are
sufficiently accurate for their intended application; and that the relevant
State or local air agency, or permit applicant as applicable, is consulted
regarding whether the use of modeling projections in lieu of monitored data
is appropriate. The Administrator should also seek to streamline EPA's
processes for considering and approving inputs to models and updates to
modeling techniques, including updates to account for site-specific
conditions. Where EPA-approved models are not representative of site
conditions or planned activities, the Administrator shall seek, as
appropriate and consistent with law, to streamline the process for
approving alternative models and to provide for other methods that promote
innovative State approaches.
(ii) The Administrator shall, consistent with law, continue to take
actions, such as setting significant impact levels and related values, that
enable EPA to clearly identify the types or classes of permitting and
related decisions that do not require modeling or that can rely on
streamlined modeling approaches. This requirement is especially important
in areas for which EPA concludes that permits need to demonstrate
compliance with NAAQS that have yet to be fully implemented. In developing
significant impact levels, EPA should, as appropriate and consistent with
law, allow for natural variability in meteorological conditions and
industrial processes.
Sec. 6. Offsets. To the extent consistent with law and
air quality improvement, the Administrator shall
provide flexibility to States with regard to
identifying and achieving offsets, including by
allowing intrastate and regional inter-precursor
trading. These efforts should include development and
implementation of flexible offset policies in rural
areas where few facilities exist to
[[Page 16764]]
generate offsets, in order to promote their economic
expansion. The Administrator shall examine steps to
help regions and States benefit from flexibilities
available in the permitting process for new facilities
and projects.
Sec. 7. Future NAAQS Reviews. The Administrator shall
evaluate whether EPA is complying fully with the
requirements of section 109(d)(2)(C) of the CAA (42
U.S.C. 7409(d)(2)(C)) relating to the scope and
characterization of advice provided by its Clean Air
Act Scientific Advisory Committee, including
requirements that the Committee advise the
Administrator regarding background concentrations and
adverse public health or other effects that may result
from implementation of revised air quality standards.
In addition, the Administrator shall examine the
current NAAQS review process and develop criteria to
ensure transparency in the evaluation, assessment, and
characterization of scientific evidence in such
reviews. The Administrator shall also develop clear
guidance for differentiating the role of science and
policy considerations in establishing NAAQS.
Sec. 8. Timely Issuance of Implementing Regulations and
Guidance. When issuing any final rule establishing or
revising NAAQS, the Administrator shall, where
appropriate and consistent with law, concurrently issue
regulations and guidance necessary for implementing the
new or revised standards. The regulations and guidance
shall specify the information that is relevant to the
submission and consideration of SIPs and
preconstruction permit applications.
Sec. 9. Review of Rules, Guidance, Memoranda, and
Procedures Relating to State Implementation Plans and
Permitting. The Administrator shall evaluate EPA's
existing rules, guidance, memoranda, and other public
documents relating to the implementation of NAAQS,
including documents that relate to the submission and
consideration of preconstruction permit applications.
The Administrator shall, consistent with law, determine
whether any such documents should be revised or
rescinded to ensure more timely permitting decisions
under the NAAQS. Any resulting revisions or rescissions
should seek, among other things, to provide States with
additional implementation flexibility. The
Administrator should also evaluate the adequacy of
existing internal review procedures to determine
whether they can be improved to ensure prompt
evaluation and timely action on new and pending SIPs
and permit applications.
Sec. 10. General Provisions. (a) Nothing in this
memorandum shall be construed to impair or otherwise
affect:
(i) the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or
the head thereof; or
(ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget
relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.
(b) This memorandum shall be implemented consistent
with applicable law and subject to the availability of
appropriations.
[[Page 16765]]
(c) This memorandum is not intended to, and does
not, create any right or benefit, substantive or
procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any
party against the United States, its departments,
agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or
agents, or any other person.
(d) You are hereby authorized and directed to
publish this memorandum in the Federal Register.
(Presidential Sig.)
THE WHITE HOUSE,
Washington, April 12, 2018
[FR Doc. 2018-08094
Filed 4-13-18; 11:15 am]
Billing code 6560-50-P