[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 109 (Monday, June 8, 1998)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 31121-31123]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-15018]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 52
[TX95-1-7379a FRL-6104-2]
Approval and Promulgation of Implementation Plan; Texas;
Revisions to 30 TAC Chapter 115 for Control of Volatile Organic
Emissions From Perchloroethylene Dry Cleaning Systems
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
[[Page 31122]]
ACTION: Direct final rule.
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SUMMARY: The EPA is approving revisions to the State Implementation
Plan (SIP) in order to repeal rules which are no longer required. The
requirements of 30 TAC Chapter 115, sections 115.521-115.527 and
115.529 for controlling emissions from perchloroethylene (perc) dry
cleaners are being repealed. In a February 7, 1996, Federal Register
action, for purposes of preparing SIP's to attain the national ambient
air quality standards (NAAQS) for ozone under title I of the Clean Air
Act (Act), EPA excluded perc from the Federal definition of Volatile
Organic Compound (VOC) due to perc's negligible photochemical
reactivity. Emissions from perc dry cleaners will continue to be
regulated by the perc dry cleaning National Emission Standards for
Hazardous Air Pollutants which EPA promulgated on September 22, 1993.
EFFECTIVE DATE: This direct final rule is effective on August 7, 1998
without further notice, unless EPA receives adverse comment by July 8,
1998. If adverse comment is received, EPA will publish a timely
withdrawal of the direct final rule in the Federal Register and inform
the public that the rule did not take effect.
ADDRESSES: Written comments should be addressed to Mr. Thomas H. Diggs,
Chief, Air Planning Section (6PD-L), at the EPA Regional Office listed
below. Copies of the documents relevant to this final action are
available for public inspection during normal business hours at the
following locations. Interested persons wanting to examine these
documents should make an appointment with the appropriate office at
least two working days in advance.
Environmental Protection Agency, Region 6, Multimedia Planning and
Permitting Division, 1445 Ross Avenue, Suite 700, Dallas, TX 75202-
2733.
Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission (TNRCC), Office of
Air Quality, 12100 Park 35 Circle, Austin, Texas 78753.
Documents which are incorporated by reference are available for
public inspection at the Air and Radiation Docket and Information
Center, Environmental Protection Agency, 401 M Street SW., Washington,
D.C. 20460.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Ken Boyce, Air Planning Section
(6PD-L), Environmental Protection Agency, 1445 Ross Avenue, Suite 700,
Dallas, Texas 75202, telephone: (214) 665-7259.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
The EPA's purpose in promulgation of the general definition of VOC
(40 CFR 51.100(s)) is for use in the preparation of SIP's designed to
achieve and maintain the NAAQS for ozone. That definition of VOC lists
several compounds which are considered to have negligible photochemical
reactivity and, therefore, are exempt from the VOC definition. Based on
the criteria used to judge the reactivity of compounds for this list,
EPA determined that perc should be added to the list of compounds as
not contributing substantially to the formation of ground level ozone.
On February 7, 1996, in 61 FR 4588, EPA excluded perc as a VOC. The
result of this action is that States are not allowed to continue to
take credit for perc reductions in ozone non-attainment planning.
EPA will not enforce measures controlling perc as part of a
federally-approved ozone SIP. The recently promulgated NESHAP increases
public health protection above levels achieved by the formerly
applicable Control Techniques Guideline (CTG). The exclusion of perc
from the definition of VOC means that for purposes of ozone control,
the perc dry cleaning CTG no longer has the legal status of a CTG. As a
result of the change in status of the perc CTG, states are no longer
required to have rules based upon the CTG. The State's Chapter 115 rule
for perc was based on the CTG and is therefore no longer required.
States may still use the CTG as a source of technical information for
developing rules to control toxic materials. While the rules are no
longer necessary for ozone control, EPA is regulating perc as a
hazardous air pollutant under section 112 of the 1990 amendments to the
Federal Clean Air Act. Maintaining the SIP rules for perc would be
largely duplicative of these requirements. In addition, any existing
dry cleaners currently complying with the Chapter 115 perc dry cleaning
rules are likely to continue using their add-on controls due to the
value of the recovered perc. Therefore, the Chapter 115 perc dry
cleaning rules can be repealed.
II. Final action
This action approves a revision to TNRCC Regulation V (30 TAC
Chapter 115) which removes regulations concerning perc dry cleaning
systems from the Texas SIP submitted by the Governor of Texas on
November 12, 1997.
The EPA is publishing this rule without a prior proposal because
the Agency views this as a noncontroversial amendment and anticipates
no adverse comments. However, in the proposed rules section of this
Federal Register publication, EPA is publishing a separate document
that will serve as the proposal to approve the SIP revision should
relevant adverse comments be filed. This direct final rule is effective
on August 7, 1998 without further notice, unless EPA receives adverse
comment by July 8, 1998. If adverse comment is received, EPA will
publish a timely withdrawal of the direct final rule in the Federal
Register and inform the public that the rule did not take effect.
If EPA receives such comments, then EPA will publish a document
withdrawing the final rule and informing the public that the rule did
not take effect. All public comments received will then be addressed in
a subsequent final rule based on the proposed rule. The EPA will not
institute a second comment period on the proposed rule. Only parties
interested in commenting on the proposed rule should do so at this
time. If no such comments are received, the public is advised that this
rule will be effective on August 7, 1998 and no further action will be
taken on the proposed rule.
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 the SIP will be
considered separately in light of specific technical, economic, and
environmental factors and in relation to relevant statutory and
regulatory requirements.
III. Administrative Requirements
A. Executive Order (E.O.) 12866
The Office of Management and Budget has exempted this regulatory
action from E.O. 12866 review.
B. Regulatory Flexibility Act
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. See 5 U.S.C. 603 and 604.
Alternatively, EPA may certify that the rule will not have a
significant 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,
[[Page 31123]]
because the Federal SIP approval does not impose any new requirements,
I certify that it does not have a significant impact on any small
entities affected. Moreover, due to the nature of the Federal-State
relationship under the Act, preparation of a flexibility analysis would
constitute Federal inquiry into the economic reasonableness of State
action. The Act forbids EPA to base its actions concerning SIPs on such
grounds. See Union Electric Co. v. U.S. EPA, 427 U.S. 246, 255-66
(1976); 42 U.S.C. 7410(a)(2).
C. Unfunded Mandates
Under section 202 of the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995,
signed into law on March 22, 1995, EPA must prepare a budgetary impact
statement to accompany any proposed or final rule that includes a
Federal mandate that may result in estimated costs to State, local, or
tribal governments in the aggregate; or to the private sector, of $100
million or more. Under section 205, EPA must select the most cost-
effective and least burdensome alternative that achieves the objectives
of the rule and is consistent with statutory requirements. Section 203
requires EPA to establish a plan for informing and advising any small
governments that may be significantly or uniquely impacted by the rule.
The EPA has determined that the approval action promulgated does
not include a Federal mandate that may result in estimated costs of
$100 million or more to either State, local, or tribal governments in
the aggregate, or to the private sector. This Federal action approves
preexisting requirements under State or local law, and imposes no new
requirements. Accordingly, no additional costs to State, local, or
tribal governments, or to the private sector, result from this action.
D. Submission to Congress and the Comptroller General
The Congressional Review Act, 5 U.S.C. 801 et seq., as added by the
Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996, generally
provides that before a rule may take effect, the agency promulgating
the rule must submit a rule report, which includes a copy of the rule,
to each House of the Congress and to the Comptroller General of the
United States. The EPA will submit a report containing this rule and
other required information to the U.S. Senate, the U.S. House of
Representatives, and the Comptroller General of the United States prior
to publication of the rule in the Federal Register. This rule is not a
``major rule'' as defined by 5 U.S.C. 804(2).
E. Executive Order 13045: Protection of Children From Environmental
Health Risks and Safety Risks
This final rule is not subject to E.O. 13045, entitled ``Protection
of Children from Environmental Health Risks and Safety Risks'' (62 FR
19885, April 23, 1997), because this is not an economically significant
regulatory action as defined by E.O. 12866. The environmental risks or
safety risks addressed by this action do not have a disproportionate
effect on children.
F. Petitions for Judicial Review
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 August 7, 1998. Filing a petition for
reconsideration by the Administrator of this final rule does not affect
the finality of this rule for the purposes of judicial review nor does
it extend the time within which a petition for judicial review may be
filed, and will not postpone the effectiveness of such rule 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, Reporting and recordkeeping
requirements, and Volatile organic compounds.
Dated: May 12, 1998.
Jerry Clifford,
Deputy Regional Administrator, Region 6.
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 et seq.
Subpart SS--Texas
2. Section 52.2270 is amended by adding paragraph (c)(110) to read
as follows:
Sec. 52.2270 Identification of plan.
* * * * *
(c) * * *
(110) Revision to the Texas State Implementation Plan adopted by
the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission (TNRCC) on October
15, 1997, and submitted by the Governor on November 12, 1997, repealing
the Perchloroethylene Dry Cleaning Systems regulations from the Texas
SIP.
(i) Incorporation by reference.
TNRCC Order Docket No. 97-0534-RUL issued October 21, 1997,
repealing Perchloroethylene Dry Cleaning Systems regulations (Sections
115.521 to 115.529) from 30 TAC Chapter 115.
(ii) Additional materials.
(A) letter from the Governor of Texas dated November 12, 1997,
submitting amendments to 30 TAC Chapter 115 for approval as a revision
to the SIP.
[FR Doc. 98-15018 Filed 6-5-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P
