[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 85 (Wednesday, May 3, 1995)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 21706-21707]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-10819]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 52
[IL107-1-6708a; FRL-5190-4]
Approval and Promulgation of Implementation Plans; Illinois
AGENCY: United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA).
ACTION: Direct final rule.
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SUMMARY: The USEPA approves the Illinois, September 26, 1994, State
Implementation Plan (SIP) revision request which grants a variance to
J.M. Sweeney Co. (Sweeney) from Stage II vapor recovery requirements
from November 1, 1993, until March 31, 1995. This variance has been
granted because Sweeney has demonstrated that immediate compliance with
the requirements at issue would impose an arbitrary and unreasonable
hardship. USEPA made a finding of completeness on the SIP submittal on
October 28, 1994. In the proposed rules section of this Federal
Register, USEPA is proposing approval of and soliciting public comment
on this requested SIP revision. If adverse comments are received on
this action, USEPA will withdraw this final rule and address the
comments received in response to this action in a final rule on the
related proposed rule which is being published in the proposed rules
section of this Federal Register. Please be aware that USEPA will
institute another rulemaking notice on this action only if warranted by
significant revision to the rulemaking based on any comments received
in response to today's action. Parties interested in commenting on this
action should do so at this time.
DATES: This action will be effective July 3, 1995 unless an adverse
comment is received by June 2, 1995. If the effective date of this
action is delayed due to adverse comments, timely notice will be
published in the Federal Register.
ADDRESSES: Written comments should be sent to: J. Elmer Bortzer, Chief,
Regulation Development Section, Regulation Development Branch (AR-18J),
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 77 West Jackson Boulevard,
Chicago, Illinois 60604.
Copies of the Illinois submittal are available for public review
during normal business hours, between 8:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., at the
above address. A copy of this SIP revision is also available for
inspection at: Office of Air and Radiation (OAR), Docket and
Information Center (Air Docket 6102), Room 1500, U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency, 401 M Street, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20460.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mark J. Palermo, Regulation
Development Section, Regulation Development Branch (AR-18J), U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency, 77 West Jackson Boulevard, Chicago,
Illinois 60604. Telephone: (312) 886-6082.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On January 12, 1993, USEPA approved
Illinois's Stage II vapor recovery rules (35 Ill. Adm. Code 218) as a
revision to the Illinois SIP for ozone, applicable to the Chicago ozone
nonattainment area (Cook, DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry, Will Counties
and Aux Sable and Goose Lake Townships in Grundy County and Oswego
Township in Kendall County). These regulations satisfy section
182(b)(3) of the Clean Air Act as amended in 1990, which requires
certain ozone nonattainment areas to require specified gasoline
dispensing facilities to install and operate Stage II vapor recovery
equipment. Stage II vapor recovery systems are designed to control and
capture at least 95 percent of the Volatile Organic Compound (VOC)
vapors emitted during the refueling of motor vehicles. Among these
Stage II requirements is the provision that certain gasoline dispensing
facilities, such as Sweeney's facility in Cicero, Illinois, must
install Stage II vapor recovery equipment no later than November 1,
1993.
Sweeney contends that it had initiated efforts to achieve
compliance by the November 1, 1993 compliance date. Among these efforts
was a site evaluation conducted by a geophysical consulting firm. On
August 30, 1993, the consulting firm informed Sweeney that petroleum
contamination likely occurred at the site. On August 31, 1993, Sweeney
notified the Illinois Emergency Management Agency (IEMA) of the
suspected contamination and of the likely need for remediation.
Subsequent on-site sampling confirmed that remediation is necessary and
that it will require removal of both soil and some of the tanks.
Installing Stage II equipment before the completion of the remediation
would require that some of the Stage II equipment would have to be
dismantled and removed during the remediation, which, according to
Sweeney and the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, would cost
Sweeney an additional $50,000 to $60,000. As of July 14, 1994, the full
areal extent of the contamination was yet to be identified, pending
Sweeney's ability to gain access to off-site sampling locations.
On December 17, 1993, Sweeney filed a petition with the Illinois
Pollution Control Board (IPCB) requesting a variance from meeting the
November 1, 1993, compliance date on the grounds that requiring
installation of the Stage II vapor recovery equipment prior to
remediation would cause an unreasonable financial hardship. The IPCB is
charged under the Illinois Environmental Protection Act with the
responsibility of granting variance from regulations issued by the
Board whenever it is found that compliance with the regulations would
impose an arbitrary or unreasonable hardship upon the petitioner for
the variance.
On September 1, 1994, the IPCB granted the variance extending Stage
II compliance for Sweeney until March 31, 1995. Given both the high
additional [[Page 21707]] cost associated with installing and
dismantling Stage II equipment before the remediation is completed and
the low environmental impact occasioned by temporary noncompliance
before March 31, 1995, the IPCB found that requiring Sweeney to have
installed Stage II equipment by November 1, 1993, does constitute an
unreasonable hardship. Illinois submitted this variance as a revision
to the Illinois ozone SIP on September 26, 1994.
Final Rulemaking Action
The USEPA is approving this SIP revision on the basis that the
uncontrolled emissions generated by Sweeney as a result of the variance
will not contribute significantly to ozone formation, given that the
variance will expire on March 31, 1995, before the onset of the ozone
season which is April 1.
The USEPA is publishing this action without prior proposal because
USEPA views this as a noncontroversial amendment and anticipates no
adverse comments. However, USEPA is publishing a separate document in
this Federal Register publication, which constitutes a ``proposed
approval'' of the requested SIP revision and clarifies that the
rulemaking will not be deemed final if timely adverse or critical
comments are filed. The ``direct final'' approval shall be effective on
July 3, 1995, unless adverse or critical comments are received by June
2, 1995.
If USEPA receives comments adverse to or critical of the approval
discussed above, USEPA will withdraw the approval before its effective
date by publishing a subsequent rule that withdraws this final action.
All public comments received will then be addressed in a subsequent
rulemaking notice. Please be aware that USEPA will institute another
rulemaking notice on this action only if warranted by significant
revision to the rulemaking based on any comments receives in response
to today's action.
Any parties interested in commenting on this action should do so at
this time. If no such comments are received, USEPA hereby advises that
this action will be effective July 3, 1995.
This action has been classified as a Table 3 action by the Regional
Administrator under the procedures published in the Federal Register on
January 19, 1989 (54 FR 2214-2225), as revised by an October 4, 1993
memorandum from Michael H. Shapiro, Acting Assistant Administrator for
Air and Radiation. The Office of Management and Budget has exempted
this regulatory action from Executive Order 12866 review.
Nothing in this action should be construed as permitting or
allowing or establishing a precedent for any future request for
revision to any SIP. Each request for revision to any SIP shall be
considered separately in light of specific technical, economic, and
environmental factors and in relation to relevant statutory and
regulatory requirements.
Under the Regulatory Flexibility Act, 5 U.S.C. 600 et seq., USEPA
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, USEPA 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.
The SIP approvals under section 110 and subchapter I, part D, of
the Act 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 small entities. Moreover,
due to the nature of the Federal-State relationship under the Act,
preparation of a regulatory flexibility analysis would constitute
Federal inquiry into the economic reasonableness of State action. The
Act forbids the USEPA to base its actions concerning SIPs on such
grounds. Union Electric Co. v. U.S. E.P.A., 427 U.S. 246, 256-66
(1976).
Under section 307(b)(1)of the Act, petitions for judicial review of
this action must be filed in the United States Court of Appeals for the
appropriate circuit by July 3, 1995. Filing a petition for
reconsideration by the Administrator of this final rule does not affect
the finality of this rule for the purpose of judicial review nor does
it extend the time within which a petition for judicial review may be
filed, and shall not postpone the effectiveness of such rule or action.
This action may not be challenged later in proceedings to enforce its
requirements (see section 307(b)(2)).
List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 52
Environmental protection, Air pollution control, Hydrocarbons,
Incorporation by reference, Ozone, Volatile organic compounds.
Dated: March 29, 1995.
Valdas V. Adamkus,
Regional Administrator.
Part 52, chapter I, title 40 of the Code of Federal Regulations is
amended as follows:
PART 52--[AMENDED]
1. The authority citation for part 52 continues to read as follows:
Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7401-7671q.
Subpart O--Illinois
2. Section 52.720 is amended by adding paragraph (c)(110) to read
as follows:
Sec. 52.720 Identification of plan.
(c) * * *
(110) On September 26, 1994, the State of Illinois submitted a
revision to its ozone State Implementation Plan for the J. M. Sweeney
Company located in Cicero, Cook County, Illinois. It grants a
compliance date extension from Stage II vapor control requirements (35
Ill. Adm. Code 218.586) from November 1, 1993, to March 31, 1995.
(i) Incorporation by reference.
(A) Illinois Pollution Control Board Final Opinion and Order, PCB
93-257, adopted on September 1, 1994, and effective on September 1,
1994. Certification dated 9/23/94 of Acceptance by J. M. Sweeney.
[FR Doc. 95-10819 Filed 5-2-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P
