[Federal Register: November 24, 2008 (Volume 73, Number 227)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Page 70881-70883]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr24no08-8]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 52
[EPA-R04-OAR-2008-0052-200803(a); FRL-8743-8]
Approval and Promulgation of Air Quality Implementation Plans;
Tennessee; Approval of Revisions to the Knox County Portion of the
Tennessee State Implementation Plan--``Permit by Rule'' Provision
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Direct final rule.
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SUMMARY: EPA is taking direct final action to approve the State
Implementation Plan (SIP) revision submitted by the State of Tennessee
on October 12, 2007. The revision pertains to the Knox County portion
of the Tennessee SIP and includes changes to Knox County Air Quality
Management Regulation (Knox County Regulation) Section 25.10--Permit by
Rule. Specifically, Section 25.10 was changed so that it clearly states
that turbines and other internal combustion engines are excluded from
the ``Permit by Rule'' provision. This revision is considered by the
Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC), to be as
or more stringent than the State of Tennessee's SIP requirements. This
action is being taken pursuant to section 110 of the Clean Air Act
(CAA).
DATES: This direct final rule is effective January 23, 2009 without
further notice, unless EPA receives adverse comment by December 24,
2008. If EPA receives such comments, it will publish a timely
withdrawal of the direct final rule in the Federal Register and inform
the public that the rule will not take effect.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-R04-
OAR-2008-0052, by one of the following methods:
1. www.regulations.gov: Follow the on-line instructions for
submitting comments.
2. E-mail: bradley.twunjala@epa.gov.
3. Fax: (404) 562-9019.
4. Mail: ``EPA-R04-OAR-2008-0052,'' Regulatory Development Section,
Air Planning Branch, Air, Pesticides and Toxics Management Division,
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 4, 61 Forsyth Street, SW.,
Atlanta, Georgia 30303-8960.
5. Hand Delivery or Courier: Twunjala Bradley, Regulatory
Development Section, Air Planning Branch, Air, Pesticides and Toxics
Management Division, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 4, 61
Forsyth Street, SW., Atlanta, Georgia 30303-8960. Such deliveries are
only accepted during the Regional Office's normal hours of operation.
The Regional Office's official hours of business are Monday through
Friday, 8:30 to 4:30, excluding federal holidays.
Instructions: Direct your comments to Docket ID No. ``EPA-R04-OAR-
2008-0052.'' EPA's policy is that all comments received will be
included in the public docket without change and may be made available
online at www.regulations.gov, 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 through
www.regulations.gov or e-mail, information that you consider to be CBI
or otherwise protected. The www.regulations.gov Web site is 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 www.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. For additional information about EPA's public
docket visit the EPA Docket Center homepage at http://www.epa.gov/
epahome/dockets.htm.
Docket: All documents in the electronic docket are listed in the
www.regulations.gov index. Although listed in the index, some
information is not publicly available, i.e., CBI or other information
whose disclosure is
[[Page 70882]]
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 www.regulations.gov or in hard copy
at the Regulatory Development Section, Air Planning Branch, Air,
Pesticides and Toxics Management Division, U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency, Region 4, 61 Forsyth Street, SW., Atlanta, Georgia
30303-8960. EPA requests that if at all possible, you contact the
person listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section to
schedule your inspection. The Regional Office's official hours of
business are Monday through Friday, 8:30 to 4:30, excluding federal
holidays.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Twunjala Bradley, Regulatory
Development Section, Air Planning Branch, Air, Pesticides and Toxics
Management Division, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 4, 61
Forsyth Street, SW., Atlanta, Georgia 30303-8960. The telephone number
is (404) 562-9352. Ms. Bradley can also be reached via electronic mail
at bradley.twunjala@epa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Analysis of Submittal
On October 12, 2007, the State of Tennessee submitted a revision to
the Knox County portion of the Tennessee SIP. This revision changes
Knox County Regulation Sections 25.10.B.1.a and 25.10.B.2.a, so that
these sections clearly state that turbines and other internal
combustion engines are excluded from the ``Permit by Rule'' provision.
The intent of the ``Permit by Rule'' provision is to provide a simple
compliance technique to limit a facility's potential emissions below
that of the ``major source'' threshold, with respect to title V of the
CAA. The ``Permit by Rule'' provision operates by using fuel loads to
ensure that a source will not exceed the major source thresholds. Since
internal combustion units and turbines emit more pollutant per fuel
load than external combustion units, they are excluded from this
``Permit by Rule'' compliance technique and must instead follow the
standard permitting approach.
II. Final Action
EPA is taking direct final action to approve the aforementioned
changes into the SIP. EPA is publishing this rule without prior
proposal because the Agency views this as a noncontroversial submittal
and anticipates no adverse comments. However, in the proposed rules
section of this Federal Register publication, EPA is publishing a
separate document that will serve as the proposal to approve the SIP
revision should adverse comments be filed. This rule will be effective
January 23, 2009 without further notice unless the Agency receives
adverse comments by December 24, 2008.
If EPA receives such comments, then EPA will publish a document
withdrawing the final rule and informing the public that the rule will
not take effect. All public comments received will then be addressed in
a subsequent final rule based on the proposed rule. EPA will not
institute a second comment period. Parties interested in commenting
should do so at this time. If no such comments are received, the public
is advised that this rule will be effective on January 23, 2009 and no
further action will be taken on the proposed rule.
III. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews
Under the CAA, 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, EPA's role is to approve state choices,
provided that they meet the criteria of the CAA. 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 Order
12866 (58 FR 51735, October 4, 1993);
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, as 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, this rule does not have tribal implications as
specified by Executive Order 13175 (65 FR 67249, November 9, 2000),
because the SIP is not approved to apply in Indian country located in
the state, and EPA notes that it will not impose substantial direct
costs on tribal governments or preempt tribal law.
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. 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 CAA, petitions for judicial review
of this action must be filed in the United States Court of Appeals for
the appropriate circuit by January 23, 2009. 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, Nitrogen dioxide,
Ozone, Incorporation by reference,
[[Page 70883]]
Particulate matter, Sulfur oxides, Volatile organic compounds.
Dated: November 10, 2008.
Russell L. Wright,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region 4.
0
40 CFR part 52 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 RR--Tennessee
0
2. Section 52.2220(c) is amended in Table 3 of the Knox County portion
of the Tennessee State Implementation Plan by revising the entry for
Section 25.0 to read as follows:
Sec. 52.2220 Identification of plan.
* * * * *
(c) * * *
Table 3--EPA Approved Knox County, Regulations
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State
State citation Title/subject effective date EPA approval date Explanation
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* * * * * * *
Section 25.0..................... Permits............ 12/10/2007 11/24/2008 [Insert
citation of
publication].
* * * * * * *
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[FR Doc. E8-27739 Filed 11-21-08; 8:45 am]
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