[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 15 (Tuesday, January 24, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Pages 4624-4627]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-1669]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[FRL-5142-5]
Proposed Revision of Initial List of Categories of Sources and
Schedule for Standards Under Sections 112(c)(1), 112(c)(9), and 112(e)
of the Clean Air Act
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Proposed delisting of the asbestos processing area source
category from the initial list of categories and [[Page 4625]] schedule
for major and area sources of hazardous air pollutants.
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SUMMARY: This notice proposes a revision to the initial list of
categories of sources of hazardous air pollutants (HAP), published on
July 16, 1992, and the schedule for promulgation of emission standards,
published on December 3, 1993. The Agency is obligated to, ``from time
to time, but no less often than every 8 years, revise, if appropriate,
in response to public comment or new information, a list of all
categories and subcategories of major sources and area sources. . .''.
Today's proposal would, if made final, remove an area source
category (asbestos processing ) that was listed on July 16, 1992. The
proposal to remove (delist) the asbestos processing source category is
based on information obtained during the initial stage of standards
development for this source category. These data conclusively show that
asbestos emissions from specific plants that were the basis for the
initial listing are significantly lower than previously estimated. As a
result, the Agency believes that no source in the category emits
asbestos in quantities which may cause a lifetime risk of cancer
greater than one in one million in the individual most exposed to such
emissions and that the previous determination that asbestos emissions
from these plants pose a threat of adverse health effects appears to be
no longer supportable.
Through this notice, EPA solicits comments on this proposed
decision.
DATES: Comments. Written comments must be received on or before
February 23, 1995.
ADDRESSES: Interested parties may submit written comments (in
duplicate) to Public Docket No. A-94-69, at the following address: U.
S. Environmental Protection Agency, Air Docket Section, Waterside Mall,
Room 1500, 401 M Street, S.W., Washington, D.C., 20460. The Agency
requests that a separate copy also be sent to the contact person listed
below.
Docket. Docket No. A-94-69, containing supporting information used
in developing this notice, is available for public inspection and
copying between 8:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, at the
Agency's Air Docket, 401 M Street, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20460. A
reasonable fee may be charged for copying.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For information concerning specific
aspects of this proposal, contact Susan Fairchild-Zapata, Minerals and
Inorganic Chemicals Group, Emission Standards Division (MD-13), U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park, NC 27711,
telephone number (919) 541-5167.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
The Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 (Pub. L. 101-549) amended the
Clean Air Act (the Act) to require, under section 112, that the Agency
list and promulgate regulations requiring control of emissions of HAPs
from categories of major and area sources. Section 112(c)(1) requires
the Administrator to publish, and from time to time revise, if
appropriate, in response to comments or new information, a list of all
categories and subcategories of major and area sources of HAPs. Section
112(c)(3) requires that the Administrator list any area source category
(one for which each source emits less than 10 tons/year of any one HAP
and less than 25 tons per year of all HAPs) that the Administrator
finds poses a threat of adverse health effects to human health.
Pursuant to the various specific listing requirements in section
112(c), the Agency published on July 16, 1992 (57 FR 31590) a finding
of adverse effects for the source category of asbestos processing and
therefore included that source category on the list of source
categories that would be thenceforth subject to emission standards.
Following this listing, pursuant to requirements in section 112(e), the
Agency on December 3, 1993 (58 FR 63941) published a schedule for the
promulgation of emission standards for each of the 174 listed source
categories. The reader is directed to these two notices for information
related to development of the initial list and schedule.
Subsequent to publication of the initial list and schedule, several
notices have revised the list and schedule in the context of actions
related to individual source categories. For example, on November 12,
1993 (58 FR 60021), the Agency listed marine vessel loading operations
as a category of major sources, with standards to be promulgated,
pursuant to section 112(c)(5) by the year 2000. As another example, on
September 8, 1994 (59 FR 46339), the Agency promulgated standards for
HAP emissions for industrial process cooling towers. This latter action
did not revise the list or schedule, per se, but specifically
delineated rule applicability by defining the affected sources within
the listed category. The Agency believes that defining rule
applicability and affected sources as part of standard setting
constitutes an important aspect of list clarification. As was stated in
the original listing notice (57 FR 31576):
The Agency recognizes that these descriptions [in the initial
list], like the list itself, may be revised from time to time as
better information becomes available. The Agency intends to revise
these descriptions as part of the process of establishing standards
for each category. Ultimately, a definition of each listed category,
or subsequently listed subcategories, will be incorporated in each
rule establishing a NESHAP for a category.
Various other Agency actions may trigger the need for revisions to
the list or schedule. As one example, the Administrator may delete
categories of sources pursuant to section 112 (c)(9), on her own motion
or on petition, subject to criteria regarding cancer effects, non-
cancer health effects and environmental effects. In addition, under
section 112(c)(1), the Agency may revise the initial source category
list if new information indicates that such action is appropriate.
Pursuant to section 112(c)(9), EPA today is proposing to delete a
category of area sources, the asbestos processing source category, from
the list on the Administrator's own motion. Further, EPA believes that
the previous determination under section 112(c)(1) that asbestos
emissions from these plants pose a threat of adverse health effects,
and hence should be included on the list of area source categories,
appears to no longer be supportable.
Prior to issuance of the initial source category list under section
112(c)(1), the EPA published a draft initial list for public comment,
see 56 FR 28548 (June 21, 1991). Although EPA was not required to take
public comment on the initial source category list, the Agency believed
it was useful to solicit input on a number of issues related to the
list. Indeed, in most instances, even where there is no statutory
requirement to take comment, EPA solicits public comment on actions it
is contemplating. The EPA has, therefore, decided that it is
appropriate to solicit additional public comment on the revision
proposed in today's notice.
II. Description of Proposed Revision
A. Deletion of a Source Category on the Administrator's Own Motion
In today's notice, the Agency is proposing to delete the asbestos
processing area source category on the Administrator's own motion. The
Agency has obtained new information which no longer supports the
finding of a threat of adverse health effects on which the initial
listing for this area source was based under section 112(c)(3).
[[Page 4626]]
The Agency is proposing to take this action under the authority of
section 112(c)(9)(B) for deleting source categories and under section
112(c)(1) of the Act which allows the Agency to revise the list of
source categories if such revision is appropriate in response to new
information. Under section 112(c)(9)(B), the Agency may delete a
category of major or area sources from the list, based on petition of
any person or on the Administrator's own motion, upon a determination
that: (1) In the case of sources that emit HAPs that may result in
cancer, no source in the category (or group of sources in the case of
area sources) emits HAPs in quantities that may cause lifetime cancer
risk greater than one in one million to the most exposed individual;
or, (2) in the case of sources that emit HAPs that may result in non-
cancer adverse health effects or adverse environmental effects,
emissions from no source in the category (or group of sources in the
case of area sources) exceed a level adequate to protect public health
with an ample margin of safety and no adverse environmental effects
will result. As discussed below, the Agency has met the legal
requirements of section 112(c)(9)(B) for this action.
Regarding section 112(c)(1) of the Act, EPA believes that the new
information discussed below indicates that the asbestos processing
source category was improperly listed based on incorrect data. New
information indicates that the level of asbestos emissions from such
sources was greatly overstated in the initial studies, and the new
information indicates that no source in the category is emitting
asbestos in quantities that may cause adverse health effects.
Accordingly, EPA is proposing to revise the source category list by
deleting the asbestos processing source category.
B. Asbestos Processing
The area source category of asbestos processing was included on the
initial source category list, accompanied by a finding under section
112(c)(3) of a threat of adverse effects to human health. The
Administrator made no such finding with regard to environmental effects
and made no finding with regard to the non-carcinogenic effects of
emissions. The reader is referred to the initial July 16, 1992 list (57
FR 31576) for a discussion of this finding. In 1991, the Agency
gathered information from the ten highest emitters of asbestos from
asbestos processing facilities in the Nation to estimate the threat to
human health from these facilities. Asbestos processing includes
asbestos milling, manufacturing and fabrication. Products that are
manufactured or fabricated using asbestos include, but are not limited
to, textiles, papers and felts, friction materials, cements, vinyl-
asbestos floor tiles, gaskets and packings, shotgun shell wads, asphalt
concrete, fireproofing and insulating materials, and chlorine. As cited
in the area source finding, information on asbestos emissions was
limited at that time by the lack of an appropriate measurement method.
Therefore, engineering estimates of asbestos emissions were developed,
which were based in part on the hypothesis that the concentration of
asbestos in particulate matter emitted from fabric filtration
(baghouse) control devices operated at these facilities was the same as
the concentration of asbestos in the captured particulate matter.
After the asbestos processing source category was included in the
initial list under section 112(c)(1) and section 112(c)(3), the Agency
collected information under the authority of section 114 of the Act
from all facilities that mill, manufacture, or fabricate asbestos or
asbestos-containing products. This information was gathered for
development of the maximum achievable control technology (MACT)/
generally available control technology (GACT) asbestos processing
standard. From this information collection activity, new measurements
of asbestos emissions were obtained. This new information was supplied
by a company that operates two of the facilities that had been included
in the 1991 study used to establish the area source finding for
asbestos processing. Details on the new test information are discussed
in the document entitled, ``Particulate and Asbestos Emission Study'',
[Docket No. A-94-69]. The Agency reviewed the methods used to test this
facility and concluded that the emission estimates supplied by the
company are valid. As a result of this information, the Agency now
believes that due to the morphology of asbestos, fibers are captured
selectively by fabric filtration devices (baghouses) with much greater
efficiency than was previously thought. In addition, those two
facilities now process less asbestos than previously, which has
resulted in lower asbestos emissions.
The new emissions data indicate that emissions of asbestos are
approximately 150 times lower than initially estimated and that the
risk to the most exposed individual for both sources is below one in
one million. In addition, the other eight sources in the initial study
have either ceased operations or no longer use asbestos in their
operations. Therefore, the MIR for all ten sources that were the basis
for the original listing are now below one in one million.
Moreover, EPA distributed information collection requests to over
250 other companies thought to be processing asbestos or asbestos-
containing materials. The information provided by these other smaller
potential sources of asbestos indicates that all potential asbestos
processing sources are either no longer operating, not using asbestos,
or using the emission control devices required under the current
asbestos NESHAP, 40 CFR 61 Sec. 61.140 et. seq. This information shows
that the other sources in the asbestos processing source category also
do not present a MIR of greater than one in one million.
Therefore, the Administrator has preliminarily determined that no
source or group of sources in the category emits asbestos in quantities
which may cause a lifetime risk of cancer greater than one in one
million to the individual most exposed to asbestos emissions. As
discussed earlier, EPA based its initial listing of this source
category on the risk to human health caused by the carcinogenic
properties of asbestos emissions. EPA has no information regarding
whether or not there are adverse environmental effects of these
emissions or whether or not noncarcinogenic effects of such asbestos
emissions are at a level that is adequate to protect human health with
an ample margin of safety. However, as the original listing of this
source category was based on the carcinogenic effects of asbestos, and
as the new information substantially refutes the original data upon
which EPA based its initial decision to list this source category, EPA
believes that a delisting would be appropriate in these circumstances.
If this finding is finally determined to be accurate, the Agency will
delete the asbestos processing source category from the source category
list pursuant to section 112(c)(9) of the Act.
The Administrator has also made a preliminary decision to delete
the asbestos processing area source category under section 112(c)(1),
based on new information not in EPA's possession at the time of
listing. The Agency would not have listed this source category had this
information been available at the time of listing. EPA has made a
preliminary decision that this area source category does not present a
threat of adverse effects to human health or the environment sufficient
to warrant regulation under section 112(d) of the Act. Additional
information on this decision is available in the docket. (Docket no. A-
94-69) [[Page 4627]]
EPA notes that the information collected in connection with this
preliminary decision also shows that a subcategory of asbestos
processing sources, the friction product manufacturing subcategory, has
individual facilities which emit more than 10 tons/year of a single
non-asbestos HAP or more than 25 tons per year of a collection of non-
asbestos HAPs (methyl chloroform, methyl ethyl ketone, formaldehyde,
phenol, and toluene). Therefore, EPA intends to add this subcategory to
the source category list as a major source category in a general
revision to the source category list that is currently being developed.
III. Administrative Requirements
A. Docket
The docket (Docket no. A-94-69) is an organized and complete file
of all the information submitted to or otherwise considered by the
Agency in the development of this proposed revision to the initial list
of categories of sources. The principal purpose of this docket is to
allow interested parties to identify and locate documents that serve as
a record of the process engaged in by the Agency to publish today's
proposed revision to the initial list and schedule.
B. Executive Order 12866
Under Executive Order (E.O.) 12866, the EPA must determine whether
the proposed regulatory action is ``significant'' and therefore,
subject to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) review and the
requirements of the Executive Order. The Order defines ``significant''
regulatory action as one that is likely to lead to a rule that may:
(1) Have an annual effect on the economy of $100 million or more or
adversely affect in a material way the economy, a sector of the
economy, productivity, competition, jobs, the environment, public
health or safety in State, local, or tribal governments or communities;
(2) Create a serious inconsistency or otherwise interfere with an
action taken or planned by another agency;
(3) Materially alter the budgetary impact of entitlements, grants,
user fees or loan programs or the rights and obligations of recipients
thereof; or
(4) Raise novel legal or policy issues arising out of legal
mandates, the President's priorities, or the principles set forth in
the Executive Order.
Pursuant to the terms of Executive Order 12866, OMB has determined
that this action is ``significant''. As such, this action was submitted
to OMB for review. Changes made in response to OMB suggestions or
recommendations are documented in the public record.
C. Paperwork Reduction Act
This action does not contain any information collection
requirements subject to OMB review under the Paperwork Reduction Act,
55 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.
D. Regulatory Flexibility Act Compliance
Pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 605(6), I hereby certify that this action will
not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small
entities because it imposes no new requirements.
Dated: January 13, 1995.
Carol M. Browner,
Administrator.
[FR Doc. 95-1669 Filed 1-23-95; 8:45 am]
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