02-16642. National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants From the Portland Cement Manufacturing Industry

AGENCY:

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION:

Partial withdrawal of direct final rule.

SUMMARY:

On April 5, 2002, the EPA promulgated amendments to the national emission standards for the portland cement manufacturing industry as a direct final rule with a parallel proposal if we received any adverse comments on the direct final amendments. Because adverse comments were received on some of the provisions in the direct final rule, we are withdrawing the corresponding parts of that direct final rule. We will address the adverse comments in a subsequent final rule based on the parallel proposal published on April 5, 2002.

DATES:

As of July 2, 2002, EPA withdraws amendments to §§ 63.1340(c), 63.1344(a)(3), 63.1349(e)(3), and 63.1350(a)(4), (c)(2)(i), (d)(2)(i), and (e) published at 67 FR 16614 on April 5, 2002. The remaining provisions published on April 5, 2002, will be effective July 5, 2002.

ADDRESSES:

Docket number A-92-53, containing supporting information used in the development of this notice is available for public inspection and copying between 8:00 a.m. and 5:30 p.m., Monday through Friday (except for Federal holidays) at the following address: U.S. EPA, Air and Radiation Docket and Information Center (6102), 401 M Street, SW., Washington, DC 20460, or by calling [phone]. A reasonable fee may be charged for copying docket materials.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Mr. Joseph Wood, P.E., Minerals and Inorganic Chemicals Group, Emission Standards Division (C504-05), Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards, U.S. EPA, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina 27711, telephone number [phone], facsimile number [phone], electronic mail address: [e-mail].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

On April 5, 2002, we published a direct final rule (67 FR 16614) and a parallel proposal (67 FR 16625) amending the national emission standards for the portland cement manufacturing industry (40 CFR part 63, subpart LLL). The amendments made improvements for implementation of the standards, primarily in the areas of applicability, testing, and monitoring, to resolve issues and questions raised since promulgation of the rule on June 14, 1999.

We stated in the preamble to the direct final rule and parallel proposal that if we received significant material adverse comment by May 6, 2002, on one or more distinct provisions of the direct final rule, we would publish a timely withdrawal of those distinct provisions in the Federal Register. We subsequently received adverse comments on seven of the amendments:

• § 63.1340(c), related to applicability of the rule to crushers at portland cement plants with on-site nonmetallic mineral processing facilities;
• § 63.1344(a)(3), related to the temperature operating limit for an in-line kiln/raw mill equipped with an alkali bypass;
• § 63.1349(e)(3), related to requirements associated with preparation for, and conduct of, a new performance test if a source anticipates making an operational change that may adversely affect compliance with an applicable dioxin/furan (D/F) emission standard;
• § 63.1350(a)(4)(v) through (vii), related to visible emission monitoring of a totally enclosed conveying system transfer point; and
• § 63.1350(c)(2)(i), (d)(2)(i), and (e), related to operating conditions during daily visual opacity observations by Method 9 (40 CFR part 60, appendix A) and daily visual emissions observations by Method 22 (40 CFR part 60, appendix A).

Accordingly, these seven amendments are withdrawn as of July 2, 2002. We will take final action on the proposed rule after considering the comments received. We will not institute a second comment period on this action. The seventeen provisions for which we did not receive adverse comment will become effective on July 5, 2002, as provided in the preamble to the direct final rule.

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 63

• Environmental protection
• Administrative practice and procedure
• Air pollution control
• Reporting and recordkeeping requirements

Dated: June 26, 2002.

Robert Brenner,

Acting Assistant Administrator for Air and Radiation.