05-15052. Approval and Promulgation of Air Quality Implementation Plans; Maryland; VOC RACT for Perdue Farms, Inc.

AGENCY:

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION:

Proposed rule.

SUMMARY:

EPA is proposing to approve a State Implementation Plan (SIP) revision submitted by the State of Maryland. This revision pertains to a Consent Order establishing volatile organic compound (VOC) reasonably available control technology (RACT) for Perdue Farms, Incorporated. This action is being taken under the Clean Air Act (CAA or the Act).

DATES:

Written comments must be received on or before August 29, 2005.

ADDRESSES:

Submit your comments, identified by Regional Material in EDocket (RME) ID Number R03-OAR-2005-MD-0009 by one of the following methods:

A. Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the on-line instructions for submitting comments.

B. Agency Web Site: http://www.docket.epa.gov/​rmepub/​ RME, EPA's electronic public docket and comment system, is EPA's preferred method for receiving comments. Follow the on-line instructions for submitting comments.

C. E-mail: campbell,[e-mail].

D. Mail: R03-OAR-2005-MD-0009, David Campbell, Chief, Air Quality Planning Branch, Mailcode 3AP21, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region III, 1650 Arch Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19103.

E. Hand Delivery: At the previously-listed EPA Region III address. 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 RME ID No. R03-OAR-2005-MD-0009. EPA's policy is that all comments received will be included in the public docket without change, and may be made available online at http://www.docket.epa.gov/​rmepub/​,, 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 RME, regulations.gov or e-mail. The EPA RME and the Federal regulations.gov Web sites are 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 RME or 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.

Docket: All documents in the electronic docket are listed in the RME index at http://www.docket.epa.gov/​rmepub/​. Although listed in the index, some information is not publicly available, i.e., CBI or other information whose disclosure is restricted by statute. Certain other material, such as copyrighted material, is not placed on the Internet and will be publicly available only in hard copy form. Publicly available docket materials are available either electronically in RME or in hard copy during normal business hours at the Air Protection Division, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region III, 1650 Arch Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19103. Copies of the State submittal are available at the Maryland Department of the Environment, 1800 Washington Boulevard, Suite 705, Baltimore, Maryland 21230.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Rose Quinto, [phone], or by e-mail at [e-mail].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

On May 31, 2005, the State of Maryland submitted a formal revision to its State Implementation Plan (SIP). The SIP revision consists of a Consent Order establishing VOC RACT for Perdue Farms, Incorporated (Perdue) located at 6906 Zion Church Road, Wicomico County, Maryland.

II. Summary of SIP Revision

Perdue operates a soybean oil extraction process that involves heating soybeans, pressing them into thin flakes, and extracting oil by rinsing the flakes with a hexane based solvent. The solvent is then evaporated from the solvent/oil mixture and the flakes, is condensed and reused. Hexane is a VOC and is discharged from the process in excess of the major source threshold.

Perdue has identified and implemented the following VOC RACT measures in order to reduce hexane emissions discharged from the process:

1. Installed and operates an automatic VOC leak monitoring system at Perdue. This system was installed and is operated in accordance with the manufacturer's specifications with appropriate set points to provide warning of leaks from the process;

2. Operates a mineral oil absorption system on the final VOC exhaust vent in accordance with the manufacturer's recommendations using groundwater as the cooling source that does not exceed 60 degrees F;

3. Installed screened sections in the desolventizing toaster to better provide product/steam contact to improve hexane recovery;

4. Installed a 10-inch diameter vapor line from the extractor to the distillation system to improve vacuum control in the extraction system; and

5. In order to minimize the loss of hexane in the soybean extraction process, prepared a standard operating procedures (SOP) document for the efficient operation of the soybean extraction process and a training manual which clearly and concisely identifies the operation of the process that is used for training new and existing operators. The manual includes good operating practices that will minimize VOC emissions and maximize hexane recovery. The SOP document and the training manual will be made available to the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) upon request.

In addition, Perdue has agreed to limit VOC emissions from the process to 0.3 gallons per ton of soybean processed in a calendar year to comply with RACT requirements. Perdue will prepare an annual hexane emissions report demonstrating compliance with the VOC emission standards and be made available to MDE upon request. Perdue will maintain the records required by this Consent Order for at least five years.

III. Proposed Action

EPA is proposing to approve a revision to the State of Maryland SIP to establish VOC RACT for Perdue Farms, Inc. located in Wicomico County, Maryland submitted on May 31, 2005. EPA is soliciting public comments on the issues discussed in this document. These comments will be considered before taking final action.

IV. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

Under Executive Order 12866 (58 FR 51735, October 4, 1993), this proposed action is not a “significant regulatory action” and therefore is not subject to review by the Office of Management and Budget. For this reason, this action is also not subject to Executive Order 13211, “Actions Concerning Regulations That Significantly Affect Energy Supply, Distribution, or Use” (66 FR 28355 (May 22, 2001)). This action merely proposes to approve state law as meeting Federal requirements and imposes no additional requirements beyond those imposed by state law. Accordingly, the Administrator certifies that this proposed rule will not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities under the Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 601 et seq.). Because this rule proposes to approve pre-existing requirements under state law and does not impose any additional enforceable duty beyond that required by state law, it does not contain any unfunded mandate or significantly or uniquely affect small governments, as described in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995 (Pub. L. 104-4). This proposed rule also does not have a substantial direct effect on one or more Indian tribes, on the relationship between the Federal Government and Indian tribes, or on the distribution of power and responsibilities between the Federal Government and Indian tribes, as specified by Executive Order 13175 (65 FR 67249, November 9, 2000), nor will it have substantial direct effects on the States, on the relationship between the national government and the States, or on the distribution of power and responsibilities among the various levels of government, as specified in Executive Order 13132 (64 FR 43255, August 10, 1999), because it merely proposes to approve a state rule implementing a Federal standard, and does not alter the relationship or the distribution of power and responsibilities established in the Clean Air Act. This proposed rule also is not subject to Executive Order 13045 (62 FR 19885, April 23, 1997), because it is not economically significant.

In reviewing SIP submissions, EPA's role is to approve state choices, provided that they meet the criteria of the Clean Air Act. In this context, in the absence of a prior existing requirement for the State to use voluntary consensus standards (VCS), EPA has no authority to disapprove a SIP submission for failure to use VCS. It would thus be inconsistent with applicable law for EPA, when it reviews a SIP submission, to use VCS in place of a SIP submission that otherwise satisfies the provisions of the Clean Air Act. Thus, the requirements of section 12(d) of the National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act of 1995 (15 U.S.C. 272 note) do not apply. As required by section 3 of Executive Order 12988 (61 FR 4729, February 7, 1996), in issuing this proposed rule, EPA has taken the necessary steps to eliminate drafting errors and ambiguity, minimize potential litigation, and provide a clear legal standard for affected conduct. EPA has complied with Executive Order 12630 (53 FR 8859, March 15, 1988) by examining the takings implications of the rule in accordance with the “Attorney General's Supplemental Guidelines for the Evaluation of Risk and Avoidance of Unanticipated Takings' issued under the executive order. This proposed rule pertaining to a Consent Order establishing VOC RACT for Perdue Farms, Inc. located in Wicomico County, Maryland, does not impose an information collection burden under the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.).

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 52

• Environmental protection
• Air pollution control
• Ozone
• Reporting and recordkeeping requirements
• Volatile organic compounds

Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.

Dated: July 22, 2005.

Donald S. Welsh,

Regional Administrator, Region III.