[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 48 (Wednesday, March 12, 1997)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 11405-11407]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-6216]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 80
[FRL-5708-9]
Regulations of Fuels and Fuel Additives: Extension of the
Reformulated Gasoline Program to the Phoenix, Arizona Moderate Ozone
Nonattainment Area
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice of public hearing.
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SUMMARY: This document announces the time and place for a public
hearing regarding EPA's proposed rule to set an implementation date for
the Phoenix ozone nonattainment area to be a covered area for all
purposes in the federal reformulated gasoline (RFG) program. By letter
dated January 17, 1997, the Governor of the State of Arizona applied to
EPA to include the Phoenix moderate ozone nonattainment area in the
federal reformulated gasoline program (RFG). Pursuant to the Governor's
letter and the provisions of section 211(k)(6) of the Clean Air Act, on
February 18, 1997 EPA published in the Federal Register a Notice of
Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM ) (62 FR 7197). In the NPRM, EPA proposed to
apply the prohibitions of subsection 211(k)(5) to the Phoenix, Arizona
nonattainment area.
DATES: EPA will conduct a public hearing on the proposed rule from 8:00
a.m. until noon on March 18, 1997, in Phoenix, Arizona. Written
comments on this proposed rule will be accepted for 30 days following
the hearing, until April 17, 1997.
ADDRESSES: The public hearing will be held from 8:00 a.m. until noon at
the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality Public Hearing Room,
3033 North Central Avenue, Phoenix, Arizona 85012. If additional time
is needed to hear testimony, the hearing will continue from 1:00 until
5:00 p.m. in
[[Page 11406]]
the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality Public Meeting Room,
3033 North Central Avenue, Phoenix, Arizona 85012. Materials relevant
to this document have been placed in Docket A-97-02. The docket is
located at the Air Docket Section, Mail Code 6102, U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency, 401 M Street, SW, Washington, DC 20460, in room M-
1500 Waterside Mall. Documents may be inspected from 8:00 a.m. to 5:30
p.m. A reasonable fee may be charged for copying docket material. An
identical docket is also located in EPA's Region IX office in Docket A-
AZ-97. The docket is located at 75 Hawthorne Street, AIR-2, 17th Floor,
San Francisco, California 94105. Documents may be inspected from 9:00
a.m. to noon and from 1:00-4:00 p.m. A reasonable fee may be charged
for copying docket material.
Written comments should be submitted (in duplicate, if possible) to
Air Docket Section, Mail Code 6102, U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency, 401 M Street, SW, Washington, DC 20460. A copy should also be
sent to Janice Raburn at U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office
of Air and Radiation, 401 M Street, SW (6406J), Washington, DC 20460. A
copy should also be sent to EPA Region IX, 75 Hawthorne Street, AIR-2,
17th Floor, San Francisco, CA 94105.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Janice Raburn at U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency Office of Air and Radiation, 401 M Street, SW
(6406J), Washington, DC 20460, (202) 233-9000.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: A copy of this notice is available on the
OAQPS Technology Transfer Network Bulletin Board System (TTNBBS) and on
the Office of Mobile Sources'' World Wide Web cite, http://www.epa.gov/
OMSWWW. The TTNBBS can be accessed with a dial-in phone line and a
high-speed modem (PH# 919-541-5742). The parity of your modem should be
set to none, the data bits to 8, and the stop bits to 1. Either a 1200,
2400, or 9600 baud modem should be used. When first signing on, the
user will be required to answer some basic informational questions for
registration purposes. After completing the registration process,
proceed through the following series of menus:
(M) OMS
(K) Rulemaking and Reporting
(3) Fuels
(9) Reformulated gasoline
A list of ZIP files will be shown, all of which are related to the
reformulated gasoline rulemaking process. Today's action will be in the
form of a ZIP file and can be identified by the following title:
OPTOUT.ZIP. To download this file, type the instructions below and
transfer according to the appropriate software on your computer:
ownload, rotocol, xamine, ew, ist, or elp
Selection or to exit: D filename.zip
You will be given a list of transfer protocols from which you must
choose one that matches with the terminal software on your own
computer. The software should then be opened and directed to receive
the file using the same protocol. Programs and instructions for de-
archiving compressed files can be found via ystems Utilities from
the top menu, under rchivers/de-archivers. Please note that due to
differences between the software used to develop the document and the
software into which the document may be downloaded, changes in format,
page length, etc. may occur.
Regulated entities. Entities potentially regulated by EPA's
proposal are those which produce, supply or distribute motor gasoline.
Regulated categories and entities include:
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Examples of regulated
Category entities
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Industry.................................. Petroleum refiners, motor
gasoline distributors and
retailers.
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This table is not intended to be exhaustive, but rather provides a
guide for readers regarding entities likely to be regulated by this
action. This table lists the types of entities that EPA is now aware
could potentially be regulated by this action. Other types of entities
not listed in the table could also be regulated. To determine whether
your business would be regulated under the proposed rule, you should
carefully examine the list of areas covered by the reformulated
gasoline program in Sec. 80.70 of title 40 of the Code of Federal
Regulations. If you have questions regarding the applicability of this
action to a particular entity, consult the person listed in the
preceding FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section.
I. Background and Discussion of Proposal
Under section 211(k)(6) of the Clean Air Act, as amended (Act), the
Administrator of EPA shall require the sale of reformulated gasoline in
an ozone nonattainment area classified as Marginal, Moderate, Serious,
or Severe upon the application of the governor of the state in which
the nonattainment area is located. The application of the prohibition
of section 211(k)(5) to the Phoenix ozone nonattainment area could take
effect no later than January 17, 1998 under section 211(k)(6)(A), which
stipulates that the effective program date must be no ``later than
January 1, 1995 or 1 year after [the Governor's] application is
received, whichever is later.'' For the Phoenix nonattainment area, EPA
could establish an effective date for the start of the RFG program
anytime up to this date. EPA considers that January 17, 1998 would be
the latest possible effective date, since EPA expects there to be
sufficient domestic capacity to produce RFG and therefore has no
current reason to extend the effective date beyond one year after
January 17, 1998. EPA stated in the proposal that it believes there is
adequate domestic capability to support the current demand for RFG
nationwide as well as the addition of the Phoenix area.
Although Sec. 211(k)(6) provides the Administrator discretion to
establish the effective date as she deems appropriate and allows EPA to
consider whether there is sufficient domestic capacity to produce RFG
in establishing the effective date, EPA does not have discretion to
deny a Governor's request. Therefore, the scope of EPA's proposal is
limited to setting an effective date for Phoenix's opt-in to the RFG
program and not to decide whether Phoenix should in fact opt in. For
this reason, EPA is only soliciting comments addressing the appropriate
implementation date and whether there is sufficient capacity to produce
RFG, and is not soliciting comments that support or oppose Phoenix
participating in the program. EPA also notes that comments regarding
Arizona's request for an RVP waiver under section 211(c)(4), EPA opt-
out procedures, or federal enforcement issues would not be relevant to
the limited scope of this rulemaking.
The Governor's request seeks an implementation date of June 1 for
the RFG program in the Phoenix area. However, pursuant to its
discretion to set an effective date under Sec. 211(k)(6), EPA proposed
two implementation dates. EPA proposed to apply the prohibitions of
subsection 211(k)(5) to the Phoenix, Arizona ozone nonattainment area
as of the effective date of the rule, or June 1, 1997 whichever is
later, for all persons other than retailers and wholesale purchaser-
consumers. This date applies to the refinery level and all other points
in the distribution system other than the retail level (i.e., refiners,
importers, and distributors). For retailers and wholesale purchaser-
consumers, EPA proposed to apply the prohibitions of subsection
211(k)(5) to the Phoenix, Arizona ozone
[[Page 11407]]
nonattainment area 30 days after the effective date for the rule, or
July 1, 1997, whichever is later. As of the implementation date for the
various parties, this area will be treated as a covered area for all
purposes of the federal RFG program for the relevant parties. EPA asks
for comment on whether retailers and wholesale purchaser-consumers
believe they could comply with federal RFG in less than 30 days from
the effective date set for persons other than retailers and wholesale
purchaser-consumers.
On February 18, 1997, EPA also published a Direct Final Rule (62 FR
7164) setting an effective date for the Phoenix ozone nonattainment
area to be a covered area in the federal RFG program. Subsequent to
publication, EPA received several requests for a hearing from
interested parties. Thus, EPA will soon publish in the Federal Register
a notice to indicate the withdrawal of the Direct Final Rule.
II. Procedures for Public Participation
A. Comments and the Public Docket
The scope of EPA's proposal is limited to setting an effective date
for Phoenix's opt-in to the RFG program and not to decide whether
Phoenix should in fact opt in. For this reason, EPA is only soliciting
comments addressing the appropriate implementation date and whether
there is sufficient capacity to produce RFG, and is not soliciting
comments that support or oppose Phoenix participating in the program.
EPA also asks for comment on whether retailers and wholesale purchaser-
consumers believe they could comply with federal RFG in less than 30
days from the effective date set for persons other than retailers and
wholesale purchaser-consumers. EPA also notes that comments regarding
Arizona's request for an RVP waiver under section 211(c)(4), EPA opt-
out procedures, or federal enforcement issues would not be relevant to
the limited scope of this rulemaking.
Persons with comments containing proprietary information must
distinguish such information from other comments to the greatest extent
and label it as ``Confidential Business Information.'' If a person
making comments wants EPA to base the final rule in part on a
submission labeled as confidential business information, then a non-
confidential version of the document which summarizes the key data or
information should be placed in the public docket. Information covered
by a claim of confidentiality will be disclosed by EPA only to the
extent allowed by the procedures set forth in 40 CFR part 2. If no
claim of confidentiality accompanies the submission when it is received
by EPA, it may be made available to the public without further notice
to the person making comments.
B. Public Participation
Any person desiring to present testimony regarding this proposed
rule at the public hearing (see DATES) should notify the contact person
listed above of such intent as soon as possible. A sign-up sheet will
be available at the registration table the morning of the hearing for
scheduling testimony for those who have not notified the contact
person. This testimony will be scheduled on a first come, first serve
basis to follow the previously scheduled testimony.
EPA suggests that approximately 50 copies of the statement or
material to be presented be brought to the hearing for distribution to
the audience. In addition, EPA would find it helpful to receive an
advance copy of any statement or material to be presented at the
hearing in order to give EPA staff adequate time to review such
material before the hearing. Such advance copies should be submitted to
the contact person listed previously.
The official records of the hearing will be kept open for 30 days
following the hearing to allow submission of rebuttal and supplementary
testimony. All such submittals should be directed to the Air Docket,
Docket No. A-97-02 (see ADDRESSES).
Ms. Lori Stewart, Fuels Implementation Group Leader, Fuels and
Energy Division, Office of Mobile Sources, is hereby designated
Presiding Officer of the hearing. The hearing will be conducted
informally and technical rules of evidence will not apply. Because a
public hearing is designed to give interested parties an opportunity to
participate in the proceeding, there are no adversary parties as such.
Statements by participants will not be subject to cross examination by
other participants. A written transcript of the hearing will be placed
in the above docket for review. Anyone desiring to purchase a copy of
the transcript should make individual arrangements with the court
reporter recording the proceeding. The Presiding Officer is authorized
to strike from the record statements which she deems irrelevant or
repetitious and to impose reasonable limits on the duration of the
statement of any witness. EPA asks that persons who testify attempt to
limit their testimony to ten minutes, if possible. The Administrator
will base her decision with regard to Arizona's request on the record
of the public hearing and on any other relevant written submissions and
other pertinent information. This information will be available for
public inspection at the EPA Air Docket, Docket No. A-97-02 (see
ADDRESSES).
Dated: March 5, 1997.
Mary D. Nichols,
Assistant Administrator for Air and Radiation.
[FR Doc. 97-6216 Filed 3-11-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P
