Voglio sapere a riguardo di…

jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with PROPOSALS

12306

Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 40 / Wednesday, March 3, 2021 / Proposed Rules
requirements, EPA approved a SIP
revision in which Alabama regulations:
1 Sunset its NOX Budget Trading Program requirements, and 2
incorporated CAIR annual and ozone season NOX state trading programs. See 72 FR 55659. Participation of EGUs in the CAIR ozone season NOX trading program addressed the States obligation under the NOX SIP Call for those units, and Alabama also chose to require nonEGUs subject to the NOX SIP Call to participate in the same CAIR trading program. In this manner, Alabamas CAIR rules incorporated into the SIP
addressed the States obligations under the NOX SIP Call with respect to both EGUs and non-EGUs.
The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit D.C.
Circuit initially vacated CAIR in 2008, but ultimately remanded the rule to EPA
without vacatur to preserve the environmental benefits provided by CAIR. See North Carolina v. EPA, 531
F.3d 896, modified on rehearing, 550
F.3d 1176 D.C. Cir. 2008. The ruling allowed CAIR to remain in effect temporarily until a replacement rule consistent with the courts opinion was developed. While EPA worked on developing a replacement rule, the CAIR
program continued to be implemented with the NOX annual and ozone season trading programs beginning in 2009 and the SO2 annual trading program beginning in 2010.
Following the D.C. Circuits remand of CAIR, EPA promulgated the CrossState Air Pollution Rule CSAPR to replace CAIR and address good neighbor obligations for the 1997 ozone NAAQS, the 1997 PM2.5 NAAQS, and the 2006
PM2.5 NAAQS. See 76 FR 48208 August 8, 2011. Through FIPs, CSAPR required EGUs in eastern states, including Alabama, to meet annual and ozone season NOX emission budgets and annual SO2 emission budgets implemented through new trading programs. Implementation of CSAPR
began on January 1, 2015.4 CSAPR also contained provisions that would sunset CAIR-related obligations on a schedule coordinated with the implementation of the CSAPR compliance requirements.
Participation by a states EGUs in the CSAPR trading program for ozone season NOX generally addressed the states obligation under the NOX SIP
Call for EGUs. CSAPR did not initially contain provisions allowing states to incorporate large non-EGUs into that trading program to meet the requirements of the NOX SIP Call for non-EGUs. EPA also stopped administering CAIR trading programs 4 See
79 FR 71663 December 3, 2014.

VerDate Sep<11>2014

16:34 Mar 02, 2021

Jkt 253001

with respect to emissions occurring after December 31, 2014.5
To comply with CSAPR, Alabama adopted SO2 and NOX CSAPR trading program rules, including budgets, in ADEM Administrative Code Chapters 33535 and 33538. On August 31, 2016, EPA approved Alabamas CSAPR
annual SO2 and annual NOX trading program rules into the SIP.6 See 81 FR
59869. Because EPA stopped administering the CAIR trading programs after 2014, the approved CAIR
rules in the States SIP have not been implemented for several years.
Furthermore, ADEM repealed all CAIR
and CAIR-related regulations from Alabama Administrative Code Chapters 33531, 33535, and 33538 on December 9, 2011.7 Even though the CAIR programs were not being implemented in Alabama, ozone season NOX emissions have remained well below the NOX SIP Call budget levels.
After litigation that reached the Supreme Court, the D.C. Circuit generally upheld CSAPR but remanded several state budgets to EPA for reconsideration. EME Homer City Generation, L.P. v. EPA, 795 F.3d 118, 12930 D.C. Cir. 2015. EPA addressed the remanded ozone season NOX
budgets in the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule Update for the 2008 Ozone NAAQS CSAPR Update, which also partially addressed eastern states good neighbor obligations for the 2008 ozone NAAQS. See 81 FR 74504 October 26, 2016. The air quality modeling for the CSAPR Update demonstrated that Alabama contributes significantly to nonattainment and/or interferes with maintenance of the 2008 ozone NAAQS
in other states. The CSAPR Update reestablished an option for most states to meet their ongoing obligations for non-EGUs under the NOX SIP Call by including the units in the CSAPR
Update trading program.
The CSAPR Update trading program replaced the original CSAPR trading program for ozone season NOX for most covered states. On October 6, 2017, EPA
approved Alabamas CSAPR Update ozone season NOX trading program rules 5 See 79 FR 71663 December 3, 2014 and 81 FR
13275 March 14, 2016.
6 In the 2016 action, EPA did not act on the portion of Alabamas SIP submittal intended to replace Alabama units obligations to participate in CSAPRs federal trading program for ozone-season NOX emissions.
7 Although CAIR-related regulations were repealed from ADEM Administrative Code on December 11, 2011, the repeal of the regulations was not effective until February 20, 2015. EPA is now proposing to remove the repealed regulations from the SIP.

PO 00000

Frm 00014

Fmt 4702

Sfmt 4702

for EGUs into the States SIP.8 See 82 FR
46674. Alabamas EGUs participate in the CSAPR Update trading program, generally also addressing the states obligations under the NOX SIP Call for EGUs. However, Alabama elected not to include its large non-EGUs in the CSAPR Update ozone season trading program. Because Alabamas large nonEGUs no longer participate in any CSAPR or CSAPR Update trading program for ozone season NOX
emissions, the NOX SIP Call regulations at 40 CFR 51.121r2 as well as antibacksliding provisions at 40 CFR
51.905f and 40 CFR 51.1105e require these non-EGUs to maintain compliance with NOX SIP Call requirements in some other way.
Under 40 CFR 51.121f2 of the NOX
SIP Call regulations, where a States SIP
contains control measures for EGUs and large non-EGU boilers and combustion turbines, the SIP must contain enforceable limits on the ozone season NOX mass emissions from these sources.
In addition, under 40 CFR 51.121i4
of the NOX SIP Call regulations as originally promulgated, the SIP also had to require these sources to monitor emissions according to the provisions of 40 CFR part 75, which generally entails the use of continuous emission monitoring systems CEMS. Alabama triggered these requirements by including control measures in its SIP for these types of sources, and the requirements have remained in effect despite the discontinuation of the NOX
Budget Trading Program after the 2008
ozone season. On March 8, 2019, EPA
revised some of the regulations that were originally promulgated in 1998 to implement the NOX SIP Call.9 The revision gave states covered by the NOX
SIP Call greater flexibility concerning the form of the NOX emissions monitoring requirements that the states must include in their SIPs for certain emissions sources. The revision amended 40 CFR 51.121i4 to make Part 75 monitoring, recordkeeping, and reporting optional, such that SIPs may establish alternative monitoring requirements for NOX SIP Call budget units that meet the general requirements of 40 CFR 51.121f1 and i1. Under the updated provision, a states implementation plan still needs to include some form of emissions monitoring requirements for these types of sources, consistent with the NOX SIP
8 This action approved CSAPR and CSAPR
Update-related provisions of Alabama SIP
submissions dated October 26, 2015, and May 19, 2017.
9 See Emissions Monitoring Provisions in State Implementation Plans Required Under the NOX SIP
Call, 84 FR 8422 March 8, 2019.

E:FRFM03MRP1.SGM

03MRP1