E9-8483. National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants for Reciprocating Internal Combustion Engines

AGENCY:

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION:

Extension of public comment period.

SUMMARY:

On March 5, 2009, EPA proposed national emission standards for existing stationary reciprocating internal combustion engines that either: are located at area sources of hazardous air pollutant emissions; or are located at major sources of hazardous air pollutants and are either non-emergency compression-ignition engines, or are other engines that have a site rating of less than or equal to 500 brake horsepower. In this notice, we are announcing a 30-day extension of the public comment period for the proposal.

DATES:

Comments must be received on or before June 3, 2009.

ADDRESSES:

Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2008-0708, by one of the following methods:

• 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 Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460. Please include a total of two copies. EPA requests a separate copy also be sent to the contact person identified below (see FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT). In addition, please mail a copy of your comments on the information collection provisions to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget, Attn: Desk Officer for EPA, 725 17th St. NW., Washington, DC 20503.
• Hand Delivery: Air and Radiation Docket and Information Center, U.S. EPA, Room B102, 1301 Constitution Avenue, NW., 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.

Instructions: Direct your comments to Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2008-0708. EPA's policy is that all comments received will be included in the public docket without change and may be made available on-line 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 information that you consider to be CBI or otherwise protected through www.regulations.gov or e-mail. 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 docket are listed in the www.regulations.gov index. Although listed in the index, some information is not publicly available, e.g., CBI or other information whose disclosure is restricted by statute. Certain other material, such as copyrighted material, will be publicly available only in hard copy. Publicly available docket materials are available either electronically in www.regulations.gov or in hardcopy at the Air and Radiation Docket EPA/DC, EPA West, Room 3334, 1301 Constitution Avenue, 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 and Radiation Docket is [phone].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Mrs. Melanie King, Energy Strategies Group, Sector Policies and Programs Division (D243-01), Environmental Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina 27711; telephone number: [phone]; facsimile number: [phone]; e-mail address: [e-mail].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

This document extends the public comment period established in the notice of proposed rulemaking published in the Federal Register on March 5, 2009 (74 FR 9698). That notice proposed national emission standards for hazardous air pollutants (NESHAP) for existing stationary reciprocating internal combustion engines (RICE) that either are located at area sources of hazardous air pollutant emissions or that have a site rating of less than or equal to 500 brake horsepower and are located at major sources of hazardous air pollutant emissions. EPA also proposed NESHAP for existing non-emergency stationary compression ignition engines greater than 500 brake horsepower that are located at major sources, based on a new review of these engines following the first RICE NESHAP rulemaking in 2004. In addition, EPA proposed to amend the previously promulgated regulations regarding operation of stationary RICE during periods of startup, shutdown and malfunction.

Shortly after publication of the proposed rule, several industry groups formally requested that EPA extend the comment period of the proposed rule. They indicated that an extended comment period was necessary due to the complexities of the proposed regulation and the large number of existing sources that are potentially affected. Furthermore, the request letters mention that the proposed regulation has far-reaching impacts on industrial stakeholders and that those impacts cannot be properly evaluated in the 60-day comment period provided by the proposal.

The letters requesting an extension to the comment period can be found in the docket. EPA is hereby extending the comment period, which was set to end on May 4, 2009, to June 3, 2009.

List of Subjects 40 CFR Part 63

• Environmental protection
• Administrative practice and procedure
• Air pollution control
• Hazardous substances
• Incorporation by reference
• Intergovernmental relations
• Reporting and recordkeeping requirements

Dated: April 8, 2009.

Elizabeth Craig,

Acting Assistant Administrator.