[Federal Register: July 29, 2005 (Volume 70, Number 145)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Page 43817-43818]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr29jy05-34]
[[Page 43817]]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 52
[R03-OAR-2005-MD-0009; FRL-7946-5]
Approval and Promulgation of Air Quality Implementation Plans;
Maryland; VOC RACT for Perdue Farms, Inc.
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Proposed rule.
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SUMMARY: EPA is proposing to approve a State Implementation Plan (SIP)
revision submitted by the State of Maryland. This revision pertains to
a Consent Order establishing volatile organic compound (VOC) reasonably
available control technology (RACT) for Perdue Farms, Incorporated.
This action is being taken under the Clean Air Act (CAA or the Act).
DATES: Written comments must be received on or before August 29, 2005.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Regional Material in
EDocket (RME) ID Number R03-OAR-2005-MD-0009 by one of the following
methods:
A. Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. Follow
the on-line instructions for submitting comments.
B. Agency Web Site: http://www.docket.epa.gov/rmepub/ RME, EPA's
electronic public docket and comment system, is EPA's preferred method
for receiving comments. Follow the on-line instructions for submitting
comments.
C. E-mail: campbell,dave@epa.gov.
D. Mail: R03-OAR-2005-MD-0009, David Campbell, Chief, Air Quality
Planning Branch, Mailcode 3AP21, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency,
Region III, 1650 Arch Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19103.
E. Hand Delivery: At the previously-listed EPA Region III address.
Such deliveries are only accepted during the Docket's normal hours of
operation, and special arrangements should be made for deliveries of
boxed information.
Instructions: Direct your comments to RME ID No. R03-OAR-2005-MD-
0009. EPA's policy is that all comments received will be included in
the public docket without change, and may be made available online at
http://www.docket.epa.gov/rmepub/, including any personal information
provided, unless the comment includes information claimed to be
Confidential Business Information (CBI) or other information whose
disclosure is restricted by statute. Do not submit information that you
consider to be CBI or otherwise protected through RME, regulations.gov
or e-mail. The EPA RME and the Federal regulations.gov Web sites are an
``anonymous access'' system, which means EPA will not know your
identity or contact information unless you provide it in the body of
your comment. If you send an e-mail comment directly to EPA without
going through RME or regulations.gov, your e-mail address will be
automatically captured and included as part of the comment that is
placed in the public docket and made available on the Internet. If you
submit an electronic comment, EPA recommends that you include your name
and other contact information in the body of your comment and with any
disk or CD-ROM you submit. If EPA cannot read your comment due to
technical difficulties and cannot contact you for clarification, EPA
may not be able to consider your comment. Electronic files should avoid
the use of special characters, any form of encryption, and be free of
any defects or viruses.
Docket: All documents in the electronic docket are listed in the
RME index at http://www.docket.epa.gov/rmepub/. Although listed in the
index, some information is not publicly available, i.e., 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 either electronically in RME
or in hard copy during normal business hours at the Air Protection
Division, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region III, 1650 Arch
Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19103. Copies of the State submittal
are available at the Maryland Department of the Environment, 1800
Washington Boulevard, Suite 705, Baltimore, Maryland 21230.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Rose Quinto, (215) 814-2182, or by e-
mail at quinto.rose@epa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
On May 31, 2005, the State of Maryland submitted a formal revision
to its State Implementation Plan (SIP). The SIP revision consists of a
Consent Order establishing VOC RACT for Perdue Farms, Incorporated
(Perdue) located at 6906 Zion Church Road, Wicomico County, Maryland.
II. Summary of SIP Revision
Perdue operates a soybean oil extraction process that involves
heating soybeans, pressing them into thin flakes, and extracting oil by
rinsing the flakes with a hexane based solvent. The solvent is then
evaporated from the solvent/oil mixture and the flakes, is condensed
and reused. Hexane is a VOC and is discharged from the process in
excess of the major source threshold.
Perdue has identified and implemented the following VOC RACT
measures in order to reduce hexane emissions discharged from the
process:
1. Installed and operates an automatic VOC leak monitoring system
at Perdue. This system was installed and is operated in accordance with
the manufacturer's specifications with appropriate set points to
provide warning of leaks from the process;
2. Operates a mineral oil absorption system on the final VOC
exhaust vent in accordance with the manufacturer's recommendations
using groundwater as the cooling source that does not exceed 60 degrees
F;
3. Installed screened sections in the desolventizing toaster to
better provide product/steam contact to improve hexane recovery;
4. Installed a 10-inch diameter vapor line from the extractor to
the distillation system to improve vacuum control in the extraction
system; and
5. In order to minimize the loss of hexane in the soybean
extraction process, prepared a standard operating procedures (SOP)
document for the efficient operation of the soybean extraction process
and a training manual which clearly and concisely identifies the
operation of the process that is used for training new and existing
operators. The manual includes good operating practices that will
minimize VOC emissions and maximize hexane recovery. The SOP document
and the training manual will be made available to the Maryland
Department of the Environment (MDE) upon request.
In addition, Perdue has agreed to limit VOC emissions from the
process to 0.3 gallons per ton of soybean processed in a calendar year
to comply with RACT requirements. Perdue will prepare an annual hexane
emissions report demonstrating compliance with the VOC emission
standards and be made available to MDE upon request. Perdue will
maintain the records required by this Consent Order for at least five
years.
III. Proposed Action
EPA is proposing to approve a revision to the State of Maryland SIP
to establish VOC RACT for Perdue Farms,
[[Page 43818]]
Inc. located in Wicomico County, Maryland submitted on May 31, 2005.
EPA is soliciting public comments on the issues discussed in this
document. These comments will be considered before taking final action.
IV. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews
Under Executive Order 12866 (58 FR 51735, October 4, 1993), this
proposed 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 proposes to approve state law as meeting Federal
requirements and imposes no additional requirements beyond those
imposed by state law. Accordingly, the Administrator certifies that
this proposed 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 proposes to approve 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 proposed rule also does 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), nor will it 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), because it
merely proposes to approve 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
proposed rule also is not subject to Executive Order 13045 (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. As required by section 3
of Executive Order 12988 (61 FR 4729, February 7, 1996), in issuing
this proposed rule, EPA has taken the necessary steps to eliminate
drafting errors and ambiguity, minimize potential litigation, and
provide a clear legal standard for affected conduct. EPA has complied
with Executive Order 12630 (53 FR 8859, March 15, 1988) by examining
the takings implications of the rule in accordance with the ``Attorney
General's Supplemental Guidelines for the Evaluation of Risk and
Avoidance of Unanticipated Takings' issued under the executive order.
This proposed rule pertaining to a Consent Order establishing VOC RACT
for Perdue Farms, Inc. located in Wicomico County, Maryland, does not
impose an information collection burden under the provisions of the
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.).
List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 52
Environmental protection, Air pollution control, Ozone, Reporting
and recordkeeping requirements, Volatile organic compounds.
Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.
Dated: July 22, 2005.
Donald S. Welsh,
Regional Administrator, Region III.
[FR Doc. 05-15052 Filed 7-28-05; 8:45 am]
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