E6-19385. Standards of Performance for Industrial-Commercial-Institutional Steam Generating Units

AGENCY:

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION:

Proposed rule.

SUMMARY:

We are proposing a facility-specific nitrogen oxides (NO_X) standard for a steam generating unit which simultaneously combusts fossil fuel and chemical by-product/waste at the Innovene USA facility located in Lima, Ohio. New source performance standards limiting emissions of, among other pollutants, NO_X from industrial-commercial-institutional steam generating units capable of combusting more than 100 million British thermal units per hour were promulgated on November 25, 1986. The standards limit NO_X emissions from the combustion of fossil fuels by themselves or in combination with other fuels or wastes. The standards include provisions for the establishment of facility-specific NO_X standards for steam generating units which simultaneously combust fossil fuel and chemical by-product/waste under certain conditions.

DATES:

Comments. Comments must be received on or before December 18, 2006, unless a hearing is requested by November 27, 2006. If a timely hearing request is submitted, the hearing will be held on December 1, 2006 and we must receive written comments on or before January 2, 2007.

ADDRESSES:

Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2006-0497, by one of the following methods:

• http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the on-line instructions for submitting comments.
• E-mail: [e-mail].
• Fax: [phone].
• Mail: Air and Radiation Docket and Information Center, Environmental Protection Agency, Mailcode: 6102T, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20460. Please include a total of two copies.
• Hand Delivery: Air and Radiation Docket and Information Center, U.S. EPA, 1301 Constitution Avenue, NW., Room B-108, Washington, DC. Such deliveries are only accepted during the Docket's normal hours of operation, and special arrangements should be made for deliveries of boxed information.

We request that a separate copy also be sent to the contact person listed below (see FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT).

Note:

The EPA Docket Center suffered damage due to flooding during the last week of June 2006. The Docket Center is continuing to operate. However, during the cleanup, there will be temporary changes to Docket Center telephone numbers, addresses, and hours of operation for people who wish to visit the Public Reading Room to view documents. Consult EPA's Federal Register notice at 71 FR 38147 (July 5, 2006) or the EPA Web site at http://www.epa.gov/​epahome/​dockets.htm for current information on docket status, locations, and telephone numbers. The Docket Center's mailing address for U.S. mail and the procedures for submitting comments to http://www.regulations.gov are not affected by the flooding and will remain the same.

Instructions: Direct your comments to Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2006-0497. 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.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 information that you consider to be CBI or otherwise protected through http://www.regulations.gov or e-mail. The http://www.regulations.gov Web site are “anonymous access” systems, 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 http://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 docket are listed in the http://www.regulations.gov index. 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 http://www.regulations.gov or in hard copy at the Air and Radiation Docket, EPA/DC, EPA West, Room B102, 1301 Constitution Ave., NW., Washington, DC. The Public Reading Room is open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding legal holidays. The telephone number for the Public Reading Room is [phone], and the telephone number for the Air Docket is [phone].

Public Hearing. If a public hearing is held, it will be held at EPA's campus located at 109 T.W. Alexander Drive in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina or at an alternate site nearby.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Mr. James A. Eddinger, Energy Strategies Group, Sector Policies and Programs Division (D243-01), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina 27711; telephone number [phone]; facsimile number [phone]; electronic mail address [e-mail].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Regulated Entities. The only regulated entity that will be affected by this proposed amendment is the Innovene USA facility located in Lima, Ohio.

What Should I Consider as I Prepare My Comments for EPA?

Submitting CBI. Do not submit this information to EPA through regulations.gov or e-mail. Clearly mark the part or all of the information that you claim to be CBI. For CBI information in a disk or CD ROM that you mail to EPA, mark the outside of the disk or CD ROM as CBI and then identify electronically within the disk or CD ROM the specific information that is claimed as CBI. In addition to one complete version of the comment that includes information claimed as CBI, a copy of the comment that does not contain the information claimed as CBI must be submitted for inclusion in the public docket. Information so marked will not be disclosed except in accordance with procedures set forth in 40 CFR part 2. Send or deliver information identified as CBI to only the following address: Mr. James Eddinger, c/o OAQPS Document Control Officer (Room C404-02), U.S. EPA, Research Triangle Park, NC 27711, Attention Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2006-0497.

Tips for Preparing Your Comments. When submitting comments, remember to:

• Identify the rulemaking by docket number and other identifying information (subject heading, Federal Register date and page number).
• Follow directions—EPA may ask you to respond to specific questions or organize comments by referencing a Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) part or section number.
• Explain why you agree or disagree; suggest alternatives and substitute language for your requested changes.
• Describe any assumptions and provide any technical information and/or data that you used.
• If you estimate potential costs or burdens, explain how you arrived at your estimate in sufficient detail to allow for it to be reproduced.
• Provide specific examples to illustrate your concerns, and suggest alternatives.
• Explain your views as clearly as possible, avoiding the use of profanity or personal threats.
• Make sure to submit your comments by the comment period deadline identified.

Public Hearing. If a public hearing is held, it will be held on December 1, 2006 at the EPA facility, Research Triangle Park, NC, or an alternative site nearby. Persons interested in presenting oral testimony or inquiring as to whether a hearing is to be held should contact Ms. Pamela Garrett, Energy Strategies Group, Sector Policies and Programs Division (D243-01), Research Triangle Park, NC 27711, telephone number [phone], at least 2 days in advance of the potential date of the public hearing. Persons interested in attending the public hearing must also call Ms. Garrett to verify the time, date, and location of the hearing. The public hearing will provide interested parties the opportunity to present data, views, or arguments concerning these proposed emission standards.

Worldwide Web (WWW). In addition to being available in the docket, an electronic copy of today's proposal will also be posted on the Technology Transfer Network's (TTN) policy and guidance page http://www/​epa.gov/​ttn/​oarpg. The TTN provides information and technology exchange in various areas of air pollution control.

Direct Final Rule. A direct final rule identical to this proposal is published in the Rules and Regulations section of this Federal Register. If we receive any material adverse comment pertaining to the amendment in the proposal, we will publish a timely notice in the Federal Register informing the public that the amendments are being withdrawn due to adverse comment. We will address all public comments concerning the withdrawn amendments in a subsequent final rule. If no material adverse comments are received, no further action will be taken on the proposal, and the direct final rule will become effective as provided in that action.

The regulatory text for this proposal is identical to that for the direct final rule published in the Rules and Regulations section of this Federal Register. For further supplemental information, the detailed rationale for the proposal, and the regulatory revisions, see the information provided in the direct final rule published in the Rules and Regulations section of this Federal Register.

Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

For a complete discussion of all of the administrative requirements applicable to this action, see the direct final rule in the Rules and Regulations section of this Federal Register.

Regulatory Flexibility Act

The Regulatory Flexibility Act generally requires an agency to prepare a regulatory flexibility analysis of any rule subject to notice and comment rulemaking requirements under the Administrative Procedure Act or any other statute unless the agency certifies that the rule will not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities. Small entities include small businesses, small organizations, and small governmental jurisdictions.

For purposes of assessing the impacts of this proposed rule amendments on small entities, small entity is defined as: (1) A small business whose parent company has fewer than 100 or 1,000 employees, or fewer than 4 billion kilowatt-hours per year of electricity usage, depending on the size definition for the affected North American Industry Classification System code; (2) a small governmental jurisdiction that is a government of a city, county, town, school district or special district with a population of less than 50,000; and (3) a small organization that is any not-for-profit enterprise which is independently owned and operated and is not dominant in its field.

After considering the economic impacts of this proposed rule amendment on small entities, we conclude that this action will not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities. This proposed rule amendment will not impose any requirements on small entities because it does not impose any additional regulatory requirements.

We continue to be interested in the potential impacts of the proposed rule on small entities and welcome comments on issues related to such impacts.

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 60

• Environmental protection
• Administrative practice and procedure
• Air pollution control
• Intergovernmental relations
• Reporting and recordkeeping requirements

Dated: November 9, 2006.

Stephen L. Johnson,

Administrator.