[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 227 (Monday, November 28, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page ]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-29155]
[Federal Register: November 28, 1994]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 52
[CA 71-2-6329; FRL-5112-4]
Approval and Promulgation of Implementation Plans; California
State Implementation Plan Revision, Ventura County Air Pollution
Control District
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM).
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SUMMARY: EPA is proposing to approve revisions to the California State
Implementation Plan (SIP) for ozone. These revisions concern the
control of oxides of nitrogen (NOX) from boilers, steam
generators, and process heaters. The intended effect of proposing
approval of this rule is to regulate emissions of oxides of nitrogen
(NOX) in accordance with the requirements of the Clean Air Act, as
amended in 1990 (CAA or the Act). EPA's final action on this notice of
proposed rulemaking will incorporate this rule into the federally
approved SIP. EPA has evaluated this rule and is proposing to approve
it under provisions of the CAA regarding EPA actions on SIP submittals,
SIPs for national primary and secondary ambient air quality standards,
and plan requirements for nonattainment areas.
DATES: Comments on this proposed action must be received in writing on
or before December 28, 1994.
ADDRESSES: Comments may be mailed to: Daniel A. Meer, Rulemaking
Section (A-5-3), Air and Toxics Division, U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency, Region 9, 75 Hawthorne Street, San Francisco, CA 94105. Please
refer to document number CA 71-2-6329 in all correspondence.
Copies of the rule revisions and EPA's evaluation report of the
rule are available for public inspection at EPA's Region 9 office
during normal business hours. Copies of the submitted rule revisions
are also available for inspection at the following locations:
California Air Resources Board, Stationary Source Division, Rule
Evaluation Section, 2020 ``L'' Street, Sacramento, CA 95814.
Ventura County Air Pollution Control District, 800 South Victoria
Avenue, Ventura, CA 93009.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Duane F. James, Rulemaking Section (A-5-3), Air and Toxics Division,
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region IX, 75 Hawthorne Street,
San Francisco, CA 94105, telephone: (415) 744-1191.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Applicability
The rule being proposed for approval into the California SIP is
Ventura County Air Pollution Control District's (VCAPCD) Rule 74.15.1,
``Boilers, Steam Generators, and Process Heaters.'' This rule was
submitted by the California Air Resources Board (ARB) to EPA on
November 18, 1993.
Background
On November 15, 1990, the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 (CAA)
were enacted. Public Law 101-549, 104 Stat. 2399, codified at 42 U.S.C.
7401-7671q. The air quality planning requirements for the reduction of
NOX emissions through reasonably available control technology
(RACT) are set out in section 182(f) of the CAA. On November 25, 1992,
EPA published a NPRM entitled, ``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) which describes the requirements of section 182(f). The
November 25, 1992, notice should be referred to for further information
on the NOX requirements and is incorporated into this proposal by
reference.
Section 182(f) of the Clean Air Act requires States to apply the
same requirements to major stationary sources of NOX (``major'' as
defined in section 302 and section 182(c), (d), and (e)) as are applied
to major stationary sources of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), in
moderate or above ozone nonattainment areas. The Ventura County Area is
classified as severe;1 therefore this area was subject to the RACT
requirements of section 182(b)(2), cited above, and the November 15,
1992 deadline.
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\1\The Ventura County Area retained its designation of
nonattainment and was classified by operation of law pursuant to
sections 107(d) and 181(a) upon the date of enactment of the CAA.
See 55 FR 56694 (November 6, 1991).
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Section 182(b)(2) requires submittal of RACT rules for major
stationary sources of VOC emissions (not covered by a pre-enactment
control technologies guidelines (CTG) document or a post-enactment CTG
document) by November 15, 1992. There were no NOX CTGs issued
before enactment and EPA has not issued a CTG document for any NOX
sources since enactment of the CAA. The RACT rules covering NOX
sources and submitted as SIP revisions, are expected to require final
installation of the actual NOX controls by May 31, 1995, for those
sources where installation by that date is practicable.
The State of California submitted the rule being acted on in this
document on November 18, 1993. This document addresses EPA's proposed
action for VCAPCD's Rule 74.15.1, ``Boilers, Steam Generators, and
Process Heaters.'' VCAPCD adopted Rule 74.15.1 on May 11, 1993. The
submitted rule was found to be complete on December 23, 1993, pursuant
of EPA's completeness criteria that are set forth in 40 CFR part 51,
appendix V,2 and is being proposed for approval into the SIP.
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\2\EPA adopted the completeness criteria on February 16, 1990
(55 FR 5830) and, pursuant to section 110(k)(1)(A) of the CAA,
revised the criteria on August 26, 1991 (56 FR 42216).
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NOX emissions contribute to the production of ground level
ozone and smog. The rule was adopted as part of VCAPCD's efforts to
achieve the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for ozone
and in response to the CAA requirements cited above. The following is
EPA's evaluation and proposed action for this rule.
EPA Evaluation and Proposed Action
In determining the approvability of a NOX rule, EPA must
evaluate the rule for consistency with the requirements of the CAA and
EPA regulations, as found in section 110, and part D of the CAA and 40
CFR part 51 (Requirements for Preparation, Adoption and Submittal of
Implementation Plans). The EPA interpretation of these requirements,
which forms the basis for this action, appears in various EPA policy
guidance documents.3 Among these provisions is the requirement
that a NOX rule must, at a minimum, provide for the implementation
of RACT for stationary sources of NOX emissions.
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\3\Among other things, the pre-amendment guidance consists of
those portions of the proposed Post-1987 ozone and carbon monoxide
policy that concern RACT, 52 FR 45044 (November 24, 1987); ``Issues
Relating to VOC Regulation Cutpoints, Deficiencies, and Deviations,
Clarification to Appendix D of November 24, 1987 Federal Register
Notice'' (Blue Book) (notice of availability was published in the
Federal Register on May 25, 1988).
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For the purposes of assisting state and local agencies in
developing NOX RACT rules, EPA prepared the NOX supplement to
the General Preamble, cited above (57 FR 55620). In the NOX
supplement, EPA provides guidance on how RACT will be determined for
stationary sources of NOX emissions. While most of the guidance
issued by EPA on what constitutes RACT for stationary sources has been
directed towards application for VOC sources, much of the guidance is
also applicable to RACT for stationary sources of NOX (see section
4.5 of the NOX Supplement). In addition, pursuant to section
183(c), EPA is issuing alternative control technique documents (ACTs),
that identify alternative controls for all categories of stationary
sources of NOX. The ACT documents will provide information on
control technology for stationary sources that emit or have the
potential to emit 25 tons per year or more of NOX. However, the
ACTs will not establish a presumptive norm for what is considered RACT
for stationary sources of NOX. In general, the guidance documents
cited above, as well as other relevant and applicable guidance
documents, have been set forth to ensure that submitted NOX RACT
rules meet federal RACT requirements and are fully enforceable and
strengthen or maintain the SIP.
Rule 74.15.1 limits the discharge of NOX from boilers, steam
generators, and process heaters (ICIs) to 30 parts per million volume
(ppmv) or 0.036 pounds per million Btu (lb/MMBtu). Rule 74.15.1
effectively increases the stringency of California RACT for ICIs by
lowering the de minimis from 5 MMBtu/hr to 1 MMBtu/hr and decreasing
the emission standard from 70 ppmv to 30 ppmv. The rule's compliance
date of May 31, 1995, satisfies the CAA's NOX RACT implementation
date requirement of May 31, 1995 (section 182(b)(2)). The District
expects this rule to provide a 71% reduction in NOX emissions from
the units subject to this rule. This reduction corresponds to 0.189
tons per day based on the District's inventory. A more detailed
discussion of the sources controlled, the controls required, and the
justification for why these controls represent RACT can be found in the
Technical Support Document (TSD), dated March 3, 1994.
EPA has evaluated the submitted rule and has determined that it is
consistent with the CAA, EPA regulations and EPA policy. Therefore,
VCAPCD's Rule 74.15.1, ``Boilers, Steam Generators, and Process
Heaters,'' is being proposed for approval under section 110(k)(3) of
the CAA as meeting the requirements of section 110(a), section
182(b)(2), section 182(f) and the NOX Supplement to the General
Preamble.
Nothing in this action should be construed as permitting or
allowing or establishing a precedent for any future request for
revision to any state implementation plan. Each request for revision to
the state implementation plan shall be considered separately in light
of specific technical, economic and environmental factors and in
relation to relevant statutory and regulatory requirements.
Regulatory Flexibility
Under the Regulatory Flexibility Act, 5 U.S.C. 600 et seq., EPA
must prepare a regulatory flexibility analysis assessing the impact of
any proposed or final rule on small entities. 5 U.S.C. 603 and 604.
Alternatively, EPA may certify that the rule will not have a
significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities.
Small entities include small businesses, small not-for-profit
enterprises, and government entities with jurisdiction over populations
of less than 50,000.
SIP approvals under section 110 and subchapter I, part D of the CAA
do not create any new requirements, but simply approve requirements
that the State is already imposing. Therefore, because the Federal SIP-
approval does not impose any new requirements, I certify that it does
not have a significant impact on affected small entities. Moreover, due
to the nature of the federal-state relationship under the CAA,
preparation of a regulatory flexibility analysis would constitute
federal inquiry into the economic reasonableness of state action. The
CAA forbids EPA to base its actions concerning SIPs on such grounds.
Union Electric Co. v. U.S. E.P.A., 427 U.S. 246, 256-66 (S.Ct. 1976);
42 U.S.C. 7410 (a)(2).
The Office of Management and Budget has exempted this regulatory
action from Executive Order 12866 review.
List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 52
Environmental protection, Air pollution control, Hydrocarbons,
Intergovernmental relations, Ozone, Reporting and recordkeeping
requirements, Volatile organic compounds.
Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7401-7671q.
Dated: November 14, 1994.
John Wise,
Acting Regional Administrator.
[FR Doc. 94-29155 Filed 11-25-94; 8:45 am]
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