[Federal Register: August 31, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 168)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Page 53005-53007]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr31au04-8]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 52
[CA 207-0437; FRL-7804-1]
Revisions to the California State Implementation Plan, Antelope
Valley Air Quality Management District and Mojave Desert Air Quality
Management District
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Direct final rule.
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SUMMARY: EPA is approving a revision to the Antelope Valley Air Quality
Management District (AVAQMD) and Mojave Desert Air Quality Management
District (MDAQMD) portions of the California State Implementation Plan
(SIP). These revisions concern federally enforceable limitations on the
potential to emit from air pollution sources. We are approving local
rules under the Clean Air Act as amended in 1990 (CAA or the Act).
DATES: This rule is effective on November 1, 2004, without further
notice, unless EPA receives adverse comments by September 30, 2004. If
we receive such comments, we will publish a timely withdrawal in the
Federal Register to notify the public that this rule will not take
effect.
ADDRESSES: Send comments to Gerardo Rios, Permits Office Chief (AIR-3),
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region IX, 75 Hawthorne Street,
San Francisco, CA 94105, or e-mail to R9airpermits@epa.gov, or submit
comments at http://www.regulations.gov.
You can inspect a copy of the submitted SIP revisions and EPA's
technical support documents (TSDs) at our Region IX office during
normal business hours. You may also see a copy of the submitted SIP
revisions and TSDs at the following locations:
Environmental Protection Agency, Air Docket (6102), Ariel Rios
Building, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., Washington DC 20460.
California Air Resources Board, Stationary Source Division, Rule
Evaluation Section, 1001 ``I'' Street, Sacramento, CA 95814.
Antelope Valley Air Quality Management District, 43301 Division Street,
206, Lancaster, CA 93535.
Mojave Desert Air Quality Management District, 14306 Park Avenue,
Victorville, CA 92392.
A copy of the rule may also be available via the Internet at http://www.arb.ca.gov/drdb/drdbltxt.htm.
Please be advised that this is not an
EPA Web site and may not contain the same version of the rule that was
submitted to EPA.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Manny Aquitania, Permits Office (AIR-
3), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region IX, (415) 947-4123,
aquitania.manny@epa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Throughout this document, ``we,'' ``us'' and
``our'' refer to EPA.
Table of Contents
I. The State's Submittal
A. What rules did the State submit?
B. Are there other versions of these rules?
C. What is the purpose of the submitted rules?
II. EPA's Evaluation and Action
A. How is EPA evaluating the rules?
B. Do the rules meet the evaluation criteria?
C. EPA recommendations to further improve the rules
D. Proposed action and public comment
III. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews
I. The State's Submittal
A. What Rules Did the State Submit?
Table 1 lists the rules addressed by this direct final action with
the date that they were adopted by the local air agencies and submitted
by the California Air Resources Board.
Table 1.--Submitted Rules
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Local agency Rule Rule title Adopted or amended Submitted
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
AVAQMD........................... 226 Limitations on Potential 07/21/98 Amended... 02/16/99
to Emit.
MDAQMD........................... 222 Limitations on Potential 07/31/95 Adopted... 10/13/95
to Emit.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On April 23, 1999, the submittal of AVAQMD Rule 226 was found to
meet the completeness criteria in 40 CFR part 51, appendix V, which
must be met before formal EPA review. On November 28, 1995, the
submittal of MDAQMD Rule 222 was found to meet the completeness
criteria.
B. Are There Other Versions of These Rules?
There is no previous versions of AVAQMD Rule 226 and MDAQMD Rule
222 in the SIP.
C. What Is the Purpose of the Submitted Rules?
Section 110(a) of the CAA requires states to submit regulations
that control volatile organic compounds, nitrogen oxides, and other air
pollutants which harm human health and the environment. These rules
were developed as part of the local agency's program to regulate these
pollutants.
The purposes of the submitted rules are as follows:
To create federally enforceable limitations on the
potential to emit air contaminants such that a facility would not
exceed 50% of the Title V threshold for a major source.
To create federally enforceable alternate operational
limitations on the potential to emit for specific source categories,
such as gasoline vapor recovery, solvent use or degreasing, and diesel
engines, such that a facility would not exceed up to 90% of the Title V
threshold for a major source.
These limitations on the potential to emit represent a decrease in
air emissions of certain air contaminants, because the potential to
emit would be in excess of the threshold for a major source if the
facility did not comply with the limitations set forth in this rule.
The TSDs have more information about these rules.
II. EPA's Evaluation and Action
A. How Is EPA Evaluating the Rules?
The rules describe provisions and definitions that support emission
controls of volatile organic compounds, nitrogen oxides, PM-10, and
other air pollutants. In combination with other requirements, this rule
must be enforceable (see section 110(a) of the CAA) and must not relax
existing requirements (see sections 110(l) and 193).
AVAQMD Rule 226 and MDAQMD Rule 222 are modeled on the California
Model Rule developed by the California Association of Air Pollution
Control Officers, CARB, and EPA. In its agreement on the Model Rule,
EPA expressed certain understandings and caveats. See Letter and Model
Rule, Lydia Wegman, Deputy Director, Office
[[Page 53006]]
of Air Quality Planning and Standards, U.S. EPA, to Peter D. Venturini,
Chief, Stationary Source Division, CARB (January 12, 1995). Our review
of these rules incorporates the understandings and caveats expressed in
the letter.
EPA policy that we used to define specific enforceability
requirements includes:
Requirements for Preparation, Adoption, and Submittal of
Implementation Plans, U.S. EPA, 40 CFR part 51.
Issues Relating to VOC Regulation Cutpoints, Deficiencies,
and Deviations, U.S. EPA (May 25, 1988). (The Bluebook)
Options for Limiting the Potential to Emit of a Stationary
Source Under Section 112 and Title V of the Clean Air Act, Letter from
John Seitz, Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards, to EPA Air
Division Directors (January 25, 1995).
B. Do the Rules Meet the Evaluation Criteria?
The rules improve the SIP by allowing a federally enforceable
operational limitation on the potential to emit air pollutants, thereby
decreasing air emissions to 50% or less of the threshold for a major
source or decreasing air emissions to up to 90% of the threshold for a
major source for specific source categories. We believe these rules are
consistent with the relevant policy and guidance regarding
enforceability and SIP relaxations. The TSD has more information on our
evaluation.
C. EPA Recommendations To Further Improve the Rules
The TSD describes additional rule revisions that do not affect
EPA's current action but are recommended for the next time the local
agency modifies the rules.
D. Proposed Action and Public Comment
As authorized in section 110(k)(3) of the CAA, EPA is fully
approving the submitted rules because we believe they fulfill all
relevant requirements. We do not think anyone will object to this
approval, so we are finalizing it without proposing it in advance.
However, in the Proposed Rules section of this Federal Register, we are
simultaneously proposing approval of the same submitted rules. If we
receive adverse comments by September 30, 2004, we will publish a
timely withdrawal in the Federal Register to notify the public that the
direct final approval will not take effect and we will address the
comments in a subsequent final action based on the proposal. If we do
not receive timely adverse comments, the direct final approval will be
effective without further notice on November 1, 2004. This will
incorporate these rules into the federally enforceable SIP.
Please note that if EPA receives adverse comment on an amendment,
paragraph, or section of this rule and if that provision may be severed
from the remainder of the rule, EPA may adopt as final those provisions
of the rule that are not the subject of an adverse comment.
III. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews
Under Executive Order 12866 (58 FR 51735, October 4, 1993), this
action is not a ``significant regulatory action'' and therefore is not
subject to review by the Office of Management and Budget. For this
reason, this action is also not subject to Executive Order 13211,
``Actions Concerning Regulations That Significantly Affect Energy
Supply, Distribution, or Use'' (66 FR 28355, May 22, 2001). This action
merely approves state law as meeting Federal requirements and imposes
no additional requirements beyond those imposed by state law.
Accordingly, the Administrator certifies that this rule will not have a
significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities
under the Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 601 et seq.). Because
this rule approves pre-existing requirements under state law and does
not impose any additional enforceable duty beyond that required by
state law, it does not contain any unfunded mandate or significantly or
uniquely affect small governments, as described in the Unfunded
Mandates Reform Act of 1995 (Public Law 104-4).
This rule also does not have tribal implications because it will
not have a substantial direct effect on one or more Indian tribes, on
the relationship between the Federal Government and Indian tribes, or
on the distribution of power and responsibilities between the Federal
Government and Indian tribes, as specified by Executive Order 13175 (65
FR 67249, November 9, 2000). This action also does not have Federalism
implications because it does not have substantial direct effects on the
States, on the relationship between the national government and the
States, or on the distribution of power and responsibilities among the
various levels of government, as specified in Executive Order 13132 (64
FR 43255, August 10, 1999). This action merely approves a state rule
implementing a Federal standard, and does not alter the relationship or
the distribution of power and responsibilities established in the Clean
Air Act. This rule also is not subject to Executive Order 13045
``Protection of Children from Environmental Health Risks and Safety
Risks'' (62 FR 19885, April 23, 1997), because it is not economically
significant.
In reviewing SIP submissions, EPA's role is to approve state
choices, provided that they meet the criteria of the Clean Air Act. In
this context, in the absence of a prior existing requirement for the
State to use voluntary consensus standards (VCS), EPA has no authority
to disapprove a SIP submission for failure to use VCS. It would thus be
inconsistent with applicable law for EPA, when it reviews a SIP
submission, to use VCS in place of a SIP submission that otherwise
satisfies the provisions of the Clean Air Act. Thus, the requirements
of section 12(d) of the National Technology Transfer and Advancement
Act of 1995 (15 U.S.C. 272 note) do not apply. This rule does not
impose an information collection burden under the provisions of the
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.).
The Congressional Review Act, 5 U.S.C. section 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. EPA will submit a report containing this
rule 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.
section 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 November 1, 2004. Filing a
petition for reconsideration by the Administrator of this final rule
does not affect the finality of this rule 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).)
[[Page 53007]]
List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 52
Environmental protection, Air pollution control, Incorporation by
reference, Intergovernmental relations, Nitrogen oxides, Particulate
matter, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, Volatile organic
compounds.
Dated: July 23, 2004.
Laura Yoshii,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region IX.
0
Part 52, chapter I, title 40 of the Code of Federal Regulations is
amended as follows:
PART 52--[AMENDED]
0
1. The authority citation for part 52 continues to read as follows:
Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.
Subpart F--California
0
2. Section 52.220 is amended by adding paragraphs (c)(225)(i)(H) and
(262)(i)(E)(3) to read as follows:
Sec. 52.220 Identification of plan.
* * * * *
(c) * * *
(225) * * *
(i) * * *
(H) Mohave Desert Air Quality Management District.
(1) Rule 222, adopted on July 31, 1995.
* * * * *
(262) * * *
(i) * * *
(E) * * *
(3) Rule 226, adopted on March 17, 1998 and amended on July 21,
1998.
* * * * *
[FR Doc. 04-19817 Filed 8-30-04; 8:45 am]
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