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<title>Federal Register, Volume 91 Issue 122 (Friday, June 26, 2026)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 91, Number 122 (Friday, June 26, 2026)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 38576-38582]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2026-12935]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 52
[EPA-R09-OAR-2026-4489; FRL-13421-01-R9]
Air Quality Plan; California; Mojave Desert Air Quality
Management District; Rescissions of Outdated Requirements Within
Riverside County
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Proposed rule.
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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to
approve revisions to the Mojave Desert Air Quality Management District
(MDAQMD or ``District'') portion of the California State Implementation
Plan (SIP). These revisions concern prohibitory rules that regulate
emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and oxides of nitrogen
(NO<INF>X</INF>) under the Clean Air Act (CAA or ``Act'') within the
Riverside County portion of the MDAQMD portion of the California SIP.
We are proposing to approve the rescissions of the rules because the
requirements in the rules are no longer necessary to retain in the SIP
to meet CAA requirements.
DATES: Comments must be received on or before July 27, 2026.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-R09-
OAR-2026-4489 at <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a>. For comments submitted at
<a href="http://Regulations.gov">Regulations.gov</a>, follow the online instructions for submitting
comments. Once submitted, comments cannot be edited or removed from
<a href="http://Regulations.gov">Regulations.gov</a>. 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 the person identified in
the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section. For the full EPA public
comment policy, information about CBI or multimedia submissions, and
general guidance on making effective comments, please visit <a href="https://www.epa.gov/dockets/commenting-epa-dockets">https://www.epa.gov/dockets/commenting-epa-dockets</a>. If you need assistance in a
language other than English or if you are a person with a disability
who needs a reasonable accommodation at no cost to you, please contact
the person identified in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: La Kenya Evans-Hopper, EPA Region IX,
75 Hawthorne St., San Francisco, CA 94105; telephone number: (415) 972-
3245; email address: <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#016477606f72696e717164732f6d606a646f7860416471602f666e77"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="513427303f22393e212134237f3d303a343f2830113421307f363e27">[email protected]</span></a>.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Throughout this document, ``we,'' ``us,''
and ``our'' refer to the EPA.
Table of Contents
I. The State's Submittal
A. What is the background for this proposed action?
B. Which rules did the State request for rescission?
C. What was the purpose of the SIP-approved rules, and what is
the purpose of the State's rescission request?
II. The EPA's Evaluation and Action
A. How is the EPA evaluating the requests for rescission?
B. Do the rule rescissions meet the evaluation criteria?
C. Proposed Action and Public Comment
III. Incorporation by Reference
IV. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews
I. The State's Submittal
A. What is the background for this proposed action?
Under the CAA, the EPA has established National Ambient Air Quality
Standards (NAAQS) for certain pervasive air pollutants, including,
among others, ozone and particulate matter (PM). Under CAA section
110(a), states are required to adopt and submit SIPs to implement,
maintain, and enforce the NAAQS. Under CAA section 107(d), the EPA has
designated all areas
[[Page 38577]]
of the country as attainment, nonattainment, or unclassifiable for the
NAAQS. Areas designated as nonattainment must adopt and submit SIP
revisions that, among other things, provide for attainment of the NAAQS
by the applicable attainment date.
The MDAQMD regulates sources of air pollution within California's
``Mojave Desert Air Basin,'' which lies within the previously-
designated ``Southeast Desert Air Basin.'' \1\ The MDAQMD's
jurisdiction includes the desert portion of San Bernardino County and
the far eastern portion of Riverside County. A portion of San
Bernardino County within the District is also in the West Mojave Desert
ozone nonattainment area.\2\ The Riverside County portion of the
District is designated as unclassifiable/attainment for all the NAAQS.
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\1\ The two air basins are described in the California Air
Resources Board's (CARB's), ``Initial Statement of Reasons for
Proposed Rulemaking, Proposed Amendments to Divide the Southeast
Desert Air Basin and to Modify the Boundary of the South Coast Air
Basin and Proposed Amendments to the Related Agricultural Burning
Regulations,'' April 1996. San Bernardino County is a large county
covering over 20,000 square miles, the majority of which is desert
within the Mojave Desert (also known locally as the ``High Desert''
based on its elevation). MDAQMD's jurisdiction in the Palo Verde
Valley portion of Riverside County covers an area approximately 30
miles wide along the eastern boundary of the county adjoining the
State of Arizona. See also, <a href="https://www.mdaqmd.ca.gov/about-us/district-boundaries">https://www.mdaqmd.ca.gov/about-us/district-boundaries</a>.
\2\ 40 CFR 81.305. The West Mojave Desert ozone nonattainment
area also includes the Antelope Valley portion of Los Angeles
County.
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In 1972, when the original California SIP was submitted and
approved by the EPA, the San Bernardino County Air Pollution Control
District (SBCAPCD) had jurisdiction over stationary sources within all
of San Bernardino County, and Riverside County Air Pollution Control
District (RCAPCD) had jurisdiction over stationary sources within all
of Riverside County. On July 16, 1975, the Los Angeles County Air
Pollution Control District (LACAPCD), Orange County Air Pollution
Control District (OCAPCD), RCAPCD, and SBCAPCD were unified into the
Southern California Air Pollution Control District (SoCalAPCD). On
February 1, 1977, California split the SoCalAPCD into four agencies.
The western coastal area became regulated by the South Coast Air
Quality Management District (SCAQMD) and the remaining eastern desert
portions of Los Angeles, San Bernardino, and Riverside Counties were
seperated back into air pollution control districts for each county
(i.e., LACAPCD, SBCAPCD, and RCAPCD). The original jurisdiction of the
SCAQMD covered an area referred to as the ``South Coast Air Basin''
that included all of Orange County and the western non-desert portions
of Los Angeles, Riverside, and San Bernardino Counties. The
jurisdiction of the LACAPCD, SBCAPCD, and RCAPCD extended over a
portion of an air basin referred to as the ``Southeast Desert Air
Basin.'' \3\
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\3\ 43 FR 25684 (June 14, 1978).
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The Southeast Desert Air Basin portion of Riverside County was
added to the SCAQMD on December 1, 1977. Effective December 1, 1977,
under state law, all SCAQMD Rules and Regulations became applicable
within the Southeast Desert Air Basin portion of Riverside County.\4\
In 1982, the applicability of SCAQMD rules that had been approved as
part of the California SIP was extended to the Southeast Desert Air
Basin portion of Riverside County.\5\ On July 1, 1993, the SBCAPCD was
re-formed as the MDAQMD with jurisdiction in the desert portion of San
Bernardino County. On July 1, 1994, the Palo Verde Valley area in far
eastern Riverside County (and that is a part of the Southeast Desert
Air Basin portion of Riverside County) left the SCAQMD and joined the
MDAQMD.\6\ No changes to the District's boundaries have been made since
1994 and, as stated above, today the MDAQMD's jurisdiction is within
the Mojave Desert Air Basin and consists of the desert portion of San
Bernardino County and the Palo Verde Valley area in the far eastern
portion of Riverside County.
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\4\ Letter dated August 11, 1980, from Gary Rubenstein, Deputy
Executive Officer, CARB to Paul DeFalco, Jr., EPA Regional
Administrator--approved at 47 FR 25013 (June 9, 1982).
\5\ 47 FR 25013 (June 9, 1982).
\6\ The Palo Verde Valley portion of the MDAQMD covers an area
approximately 30 miles wide along the eastern boundary of the county
adjoining the State of Arizona.
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An outgrowth of the complicated regulatory history of the M
Disclosed Labs