AGENCY:

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION:

Final rule.

SUMMARY:

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is approving revisions to the North Dakota State Implementation Plan (SIP) for all National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for the purposes of transferring authority from the North Dakota Department of Health (NDDH) to the North Dakota Department of Environmental Quality (NDDEQ). We are approving the related recodification of the portions of North Dakota's Air Pollution Rules that have been previously approved into the SIP. The EPA is taking this action pursuant to section 110 of the Clean Air Act (CAA).

DATES:

This rule is effective on March 15, 2019.

ADDRESSES:

The EPA has established a docket for this action under Docket ID No. EPA-R08-OAR-2018-0616. All documents in the docket are listed on the http://www.regulations.gov website. Although listed in the index, some information is not publicly available, e.g., CBI or other information whose disclosure is restricted by statute. Certain other material, such as copyrighted material, is not placed on the internet and will be publicly available only in hard copy form. Publicly available docket materials are available through http://www.regulations.gov, or please contact the person identified in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section for additional availability information.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Kate Gregory, Air Program, EPA, Region 8, Mailcode 8P-AR, 1595 Wynkoop Street, Denver, Colorado 80202-1129, (303) 312-6175, gregory.kate@epa.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Throughout this document “we,” “us,” and “our” means the EPA.

I. Background

The background for this action is discussed in detail in our October 10, 2018 proposal (83 FR 50865). In that document we proposed to approve revisions to the North Dakota SIP for all NAAQS for the purposes of transferring authority from the NDDH to the NDDEQ. We also proposed to approve the related recodification of the portions of North Dakota's Air Pollution Rules that have been previously approved into the SIP.

Table 1 shows the North Dakota air pollution rules that have been recodified in the North Dakota Administrative Code (NDAC) and indicates their old and new references in the SIP.

We received no comments on our proposal and this rule will be finalized as proposed without revisions.

II. Final Action

We are approving the August 18, 2018 revisions to the North Dakota infrastructure SIP, for all NAAQS, for the purposes of the transfer of authority from NDDH to the NDDEQ. We are also approving the corresponding recodification of the entire SIP. For the basis of our approval, please refer to the October 10, 2018 proposal (83 FR 50865).

All revisions to the SIP program will be federally enforceable as of the effective date of today's approval of the respective revision and recodification of that program. Based on the process outlined in our proposal and our subsequent conversations with the State, we have determined that our approval of the SIP program should become fully effective under federal law on March 15, 2019. The State plans to rely on the date when the EPA signs the final notice for purposes of notifying the state legislature that the EPA has approved these revisions, which will provide for the transfer authority from NDDH to NDDEQ to be effective under State law. Prior to the effective date of this approval, the State intends to take the necessary additional steps as specified in S.L. 2017, ch. 199, Section 1, to ensure that NDDEQ rules and the NDDEQ would become federally enforceable on the effective date of the EPA's approval. Unless and until the NDDEQ rules and agency become fully effective under federal law, for purposes of federal law the EPA recognizes the State's program as currently approved under the North Dakota Department of Health.

III. Incorporation by Reference

In this document, the EPA is finalizing regulatory text that includes incorporation by reference. In accordance with requirements of 1 CFR 51.5, the EPA is finalizing the incorporation by reference the NDDEQ rules regarding definitions and permitting requirements discussed in section I of this preamble. The EPA has made, and will continue to make, these materials generally available through www.regulations.gov and at the EPA Region 8 Office (please contact the person identified in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section of this preamble for more information). Therefore, these materials have been approved by the EPA for inclusion in the SIP, have been incorporated by reference by the EPA into that plan, are fully federally enforceable under sections 110 and 113 of the CAA as of the effective date of the final rulemaking of the EPA's approval, and will be incorporated by reference in the next update to the SIP compilation.^[1]

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 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);
• Is not an Executive Order 13771 (82 FR 9339, February 2, 2017) regulatory action because SIP approvals are exempted under Executive Order 12866;
• 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, 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).

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 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. The 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 Clean Air Act, petitions for judicial review of this action must be filed in the United States Court of Appeals for the appropriate circuit by April 8, 2019. Filing a petition for reconsideration by the Administrator of this 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 52

• Environmental protection
• Air pollution control
• Carbon monoxide
• Incorporation by reference
• Intergovernmental relations
• Greenhouse gases
• Lead
• Nitrogen dioxide
• Ozone
• Particulate matter
• Reporting and recordkeeping requirements
• Sulfur oxides
• Volatile organic compounds

40 CFR part 52 is amended as follows:

PART 52—APPROVAL AND PROMULGATION OF IMPLEMENTATION PLANS

1. The authority citation for part 52 continues to read as follows:

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

Subpart JJ—North Dakota

2. In § 52.1820, paragraph (c), the table is revised to read as follows:

Footnotes