[Federal Register: February 17, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 31)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Page 7370-7372]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr17fe04-9]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 52
[CA 295-0434a; FRL-7614-9]
Revisions to the California State Implementation Plan, San
Joaquin Valley Unified Air Pollution Control District
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Direct final rule.
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SUMMARY: EPA is taking direct final action to approve a revision to the
San Joaquin Valley Unified Air Pollution Control District (SJVUAPCD)
portion of the California State Implementation Plan (SIP). This
revision concerns oxides of nitrogen (NOX) emissions from
residential water heaters. We are approving a local rule that regulates
these emission sources under the Clean Air Act as amended in 1990 (CAA
or the Act).
DATES: This rule is effective on April 19, 2004 without further notice,
unless EPA receives adverse comments by March 18, 2004. If we receive
such comment, 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 Andy Steckel, Rulemaking Office Chief (AIR-
4), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region IX, 75 Hawthorne
Street, San Francisco, CA 94105-3901, or e-mail to
steckel.andrew@epa.gov, or submit comments at http://www.regulations.gov
.
You can inspect copies of the submitted SIP revision, EPA's
technical support document (TSD), and public comments at our Region IX
office during normal business hours by appointment. You may also see
copies of the submitted SIP revisions by appointment at the following
locations:
Air and Radiation Docket and Information Center, U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency, Room B-102, 1301 Constitution Avenue, NW., (Mail
Code 6102T), Washington, DC 20460.
California Air Resources Board, Stationary Source Division, Rule
Evaluation Section, 1001 ``I'' Street, Sacramento, CA 95814.
San Joaquin Valley Unified Air Pollution Control District, 1990 E.
Gettysburg, Fresno, CA 93726.
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: Yvonne Fong, EPA Region IX, (415) 947-
4117, fong.yvonnew@epa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Throughout this document, ``we,'' ``us'' and
``our'' refer to EPA.
Table of Contents
I. The State's Submittal
A. What rule did the State submit?
B. Are there other versions of this rule?
C. What is the purpose of the submitted rule?
II. EPA's Evaluation and Action.
A. How is EPA evaluating the rule?
B. Does the rule meet the evaluation criteria?
C. EPA recommendations to further improve the rule.
D. Public comment and final action.
III. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews
I. The State's Submittal
A. What Rule Did the State Submit?
Table 1 lists the rule we are approving with the dates that it was
adopted by the local air agency and submitted by the California Air
Resources Board (CARB).
[[Page 7371]]
Table 1.--Submitted Rule
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule Rule title Adopted Submitted
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SJVUAPCD............................... 4902 Residential Water Heaters. 06/17/93 11/04/03
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On December 23, 2003, this rule submittal was found to meet the
completeness criteria in 40 CFR part 51, Appendix V, which must be met
before formal EPA review.
B. Are There Other Versions of This Rule?
There are no previous versions of Rule 4902 in the SIP.
C. What Is the Purpose of the Submitted Rule?
NOX helps produce ground-level ozone, smog and
particulate matter, which harm human health and the environment.
Section 110(a) of the CAA requires states to submit regulations that
control NOX emissions. Rule 4902 limits emissions of oxides
of nitrogen, specifically nitrogen oxide (NO2), from
residential gas-fired water heaters and applies to all water heaters
with a rated heat input less than or equal to 75,000 Btu/hr
manufactured after December 17, 1993. The TSD has more information
about this rule.
II. EPA's Evaluation and Action
A. How Is EPA Evaluating the Rule?
Generally, SIP rules must be enforceable (see section 110(a) of the
Act), must require Reasonably Available Control Technology (RACT) for
major sources in ozone nonattainment areas (see sections 182(a)(2)(A)
and 182(f)), and must not relax existing requirements (see sections
110(l) and 193). Residential water heaters are not major sources, so
Rule 4902 does not need to fulfill RACT.
Guidance and policy documents that we used to help evaluate
enforceability requirements consistently include the following:
1. ``State Implementation Plans; Nitrogen Oxides Supplement to the
General Preamble; Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 Implementation of
Title I; Proposed Rule,'' (the NOX Supplement), 57 FR 55620,
November 25, 1992.
2. ``Issues Relating to VOC Regulation Cutpoints, Deficiencies, and
Deviations,'' EPA, May 25, 1988 (the Bluebook).
3. ``Guidance Document for Correcting Common VOC & Other Rule
Deficiencies,'' EPA Region 9, August 21, 2001 (the Little Bluebook).
B. Does the Rule Meet the Evaluation Criteria?
We believe this rule is 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 Rule
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 rule.
D. Public Comment and Final Action
As authorized in section 110(k)(3) of the Act, EPA is fully
approving the submitted rule because we believe it fulfills 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 rule. If we
receive adverse comments by March 18, 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 April 19, 2004. This will incorporate this
rule into the federally enforceable SIP.
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 (Pub. L. 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
[[Page 7372]]
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 April 19, 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).)
List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 52
Environmental protection, Air pollution control, Incorporation by
reference, Intergovernmental relations, Nitrogen dioxide, Ozone,
Reporting and recordkeeping requirements.
Dated: January 8, 2004.
Wayne Nastri,
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 paragraph (c)(321) to read as
follows:
Sec. 52.220 Identification of plan.
* * * * *
(c) * * *
(321) New and amended regulations for the following APCDs were
submitted on November 4, 2003, by the Governor's designee.
(i) Incorporation by reference.
(B) San Joaquin Valley Unified Air Pollution Control District.
(1) Rule 4902, adopted on June 17, 1993.
* * * * *
[FR Doc. 04-3220 Filed 2-13-04; 8:45 am]
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