[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 157 (Friday, August 14, 1998)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 43627-43629]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-21895]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 52
[CA 037-0080; FRL-6142-1]
Approval and Promulgation of Implementation Plans; California
State Implementation Plan Revision, South Coast Air Quality Management
District
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
[[Page 43628]]
ACTION: Final rule.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: EPA is finalizing a limited approval and limited disapproval
of revisions to the California State Implementation Plan (SIP) proposed
in the Federal Register on April 30, 1998. This final action will
incorporate this rule into the federally approved SIP. The intended
effect of finalizing this action is to regulate emissions of volatile
organic compounds (VOCs) and oxides of sulfur (SOX) in
accordance with the requirements of the Clean Air Act, as amended in
1990 (CAA or the Act). The rule controls VOC and SOX
emissions from petroleum refinery vacuum-producing devices or systems.
Thus, EPA is finalizing a simultaneous limited approval and limited
disapproval under CAA provisions regarding EPA action on SIP submittals
and general rulemaking authority because the rule, while strengthening
the SIP, also does not fully meet the CAA provisions regarding plan
submissions and requirements for nonattainment areas. As a result of
this limited disapproval EPA will be required to impose highway funding
or emission offset sanctions under the CAA unless the State submits and
EPA approves corrections to the identified deficiencies within 18
months of the effective date of this disapproval. Moreover, EPA will be
required to promulgate a Federal implementation plan (FIP) unless the
deficiencies are corrected within 24 months of the effective date of
this disapproval.
EFFECTIVE DATE: This action is effective on September 14, 1998.
ADDRESSES: Copies of the rule and EPA's evaluation report for the rule
are available for public inspection at EPA's Region IX office during
normal business hours. Copies of the submitted rule are available for
inspection at the following locations:
Rulemaking Office, (AIR-4), Air Division, U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency, Region IX, 75 Hawthorne Street, San Francisco, CA 94105
Environmental Protection Agency, Air Docket (6102), 401 ``M'' Street,
S.W., Washington, DC 20460
California Air Resources Board, Stationary Source Division, Rule
Evaluation Section, 2020 ``L'' Street, Sacramento, CA 95812
South Coast Air Quality Management District, 21865 E. Copley Drive,
Diamond Bar, CA 91765-4182.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Stanley Tong, Rulemaking Office, (AIR-
4), Air Division, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region IX, 75
Hawthorne Street, San Francisco, CA 94105, Telephone: (415) 744-1191.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Applicability
The rule being approved into the California SIP is: South Coast Air
Quality Management District (SCAQMD), Rule 465, Vacuum-Producing
Devices or Systems. This rule was submitted by the California Air
Resources Board (CARB) to EPA on June 19, 1992.
II. Background
On April 30, 1998 in 63 FR 23707, EPA proposed granting limited
approval and limited disapproval of the following rule into the
California SIP: SCAQMD, Rule 465, Vacuum-Producing Devices or Systems.
Rule 465 was adopted by SCAQMD on November 1, 1991. This rule was
submitted by the CARB, to EPA on June 19, 1992. This rule was submitted
in response to EPA's 1988 SIP Call and the CAA section 182(a)(2)(A)
requirement that nonattainment areas fix their reasonably available
control technology (RACT) rules for ozone in accordance with EPA
guidance that interpreted the requirements of the pre-amendment Act. A
detailed discussion of the background for the above rule and
nonattainment area is provided in the proposed rule (PR) cited above.
EPA has evaluated the above rule for consistency with the
requirements of the CAA and EPA regulations and EPA's interpretation of
these requirements as expressed in the various EPA policy guidance
documents referenced in the PR. EPA is finalizing the limited approval
of this rule in order to strengthen the SIP and finalizing the limited
disapproval requiring the correction of the remaining deficiencies.
These deficiencies include updating a listing of compounds exempt from
the definition of volatile organic compounds to remove carbon
tetrachloride and the need to explicitly state recording, reporting and
record retention requirements in the rule. These corrections are needed
to ensure consistency with EPA's definition of exempt compounds and for
enforceability of emission limits provided in the rule. A detailed
discussion of the rule provisions and evaluations has been provided in
the PR and in the technical support document (TSD) available at EPA's
Region IX office (TSD dated 3/23/98 for SCAQMD Rule 465).
III. Response to Public Comments
A 30-day public comment period was provided in 63 FR 23707 dated
April 30, 1998. EPA received no comment letters on the proposed rule.
IV. EPA Action
EPA is finalizing a limited approval and a limited disapproval of
the above-referenced rule. The limited approval of this rule is being
finalized under section 110(k)(3) in light of EPA's authority pursuant
to section 301(a) to adopt regulations necessary to further air quality
by strengthening the SIP. The approval is limited in the sense that the
rule strengthens the SIP. However, the rule does not meet the section
182(a)(2)(A) CAA requirement because of the rule deficiencies which
were discussed in the PR. Thus, in order to strengthen the SIP, EPA is
granting limited approval of this rule under sections 110(k)(3) and
301(a) of the CAA. This action approves the rule into the SIP as
federally enforceable rule.
At the same time, EPA is finalizing the limited disapproval of this
rule because it contains deficiencies that have not been corrected as
required by section 182(a)(2)(A) of the CAA, and, as such, the rule
does not fully meet the requirements of Part D of the Act. As stated in
the Proposed Rule (PR), upon the effective date of this Final Rule
(FR), the 18 month clock for sanctions and the 24 month FIP clock will
begin. Sections 179(a) and 110(c). If the State does not submit the
required corrections and EPA does not approve the submittal within 18
months of the effective date of the FR, either the highway sanction or
the offset sanction will be imposed at the 18 month mark. It should be
noted that the rule covered by this FR has been adopted by the SCAQMD
and is currently in effect in the SCAQMD. EPA's limited disapproval
action will not prevent SCAQMD or EPA from enforcing this rule.
Nothing in this action should be construed as permitting or
allowing or establishing a precedent for any future request for
revision to any state implementation plan. Each request for revision to
the state implementation plan shall be considered separately in light
of specific technical, economic, and environmental factors and in
relation to relevant statutory and regulatory requirements.
V. Administrative Requirements
A. Executive Orders 12866 and 13045
The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has exempted this
regulatory action from E.O. 12866 review.
The final rule is not subject to E.O. 13045, entitled ``Protection
of Children from Environmental Health Risks and Safety Risks,'' because
it is not an
[[Page 43629]]
``economically significant'' action under E.O. 12866.
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. 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.
SIP approvals under sections 110 and 301, and subchapter I, part D
of the CAA 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 any small entities
affected. Moreover, due to the nature of the Federal-State relationship
under the CAA, preparation of a flexibility analysis would constitute
Federal inquiry into the economic reasonableness of state action. The
Clean Air Act forbids EPA to base its action concerning SIPS on such
grounds. 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
(``Unfunded Mandates Act''), 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
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.
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 pre-
existing requirements under State or local law, and imposes no new
Federal 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 General Accounting Office
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. 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. Petitions for Judicial Review
Under section 307(b)(1) of the Clean Air Act, petitions for
judicial review of this action must be filed in the United States Court
of Appeals for the appropriate circuit by October 13, 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 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, Intergovernmental relations, Ozone,
Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, Volatile organic compounds,
Sulfur oxides.
Note: Incorporation by reference of the State Implementation
Plan for the State of California was approved by the Director of the
Federal Register on July 1, 1982.
Dated: July 29, 1998.
Nora L. McGee,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region IX.
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 F--California
2. Section 52.220 is amended by adding paragraph (c)(188)(i)(C)(2)
to read as follows:
Sec. 52.220 Identification of plan.
* * * * *
(c) * * *
(188) * * *
(i) * * *
(C) * * *
(2) Rule 465, amended on November 1, 1991.
* * * * *
[FR Doc. 98-21895 Filed 8-13-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P
