[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 186 (Tuesday, September 24, 1996)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 49974-49976]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-24283]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 60
[FRL-5614-3]
Standards of Performance for New Stationary Sources Rescission of
Alternate Opacity Standard for Omaha Public Power District--Nebraska
City Power Station, Nebraska City, NE
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Direct final rule.
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SUMMARY: The EPA is rescinding the alternate opacity emission limit
established for the Nebraska City Power Station in Nebraska City,
Nebraska, owned and operated by Omaha Public Power District (OPPD).
Performance testing showed the power plant can now meet both the
particulate and opacity limits set forth in the regulation; thus, an
alternate opacity limit is no longer necessary. Under this rule, the
opacity limit for the Nebraska City Power Station would be changed from
30 percent (with a maximum of 37 percent for not more than six minutes
in any hour) to 20 percent (with a maximum of 27 percent for one six-
minute period per hour).
The EPA is publishing this action without prior proposal because
the Agency views this as a noncontroversial amendment and anticipates
no adverse comments. However, in a separate document in the Federal
Register publication, the EPA is proposing to approve the rule should
adverse or critical comments be filed.
If the EPA receives such comments, this action will be withdrawn
before the effective date by publishing a subsequent document that will
withdraw the final action. All public comments received will then be
addressed in a subsequent final rule based on this action serving as a
proposed rule. The EPA will not institute a second comment period on
this action. Any parties interested in commenting on this action should
do so at this time.
Commenters should also indicate whether they wish to request a
public hearing on this action, including the reasons for the request
and the nature of the comments which would be presented at any public
hearing. If a hearing is requested, the EPA will determine whether to
hold a public hearing, and will announce the time and location of any
hearing in a subsequent Federal Register notice.
DATES: This action will be effective November 25, 1996 unless by
October 24, 1996 adverse or critical comments are received. Comments
should be submitted to Angela Ludwig at the address below.
ADDRESSES: Written comments and requests for public hearing on this
action should be addressed to Angela Ludwig, Air Permits and Compliance
Branch, Environmental Protection Agency, Region VII, 726 Minnesota
Avenue, Kansas City, Kansas 66101. Comments should be strictly limited
to the subject matter of this proposal, the scope of which is discussed
below.
Docket: Pursuant to sections 307(d)(1) (C) and (N) of the Clean Air
Act (CAA), 42 U.S.C. 7607(d)(1) (C) and (N), this action is subject to
the procedural requirements of section 307(d). Therefore, the EPA has
established a public docket for this action, Docket # A-96-31. Copies
of the documents relevant to this action are available for public
inspection during normal business hours at the: Environmental
[[Page 49975]]
Protection Agency, Air, Permits and Compliance Branch, 726 Minnesota
Avenue, Kansas City, Kansas 66101; and EPA Air & Radiation Docket and
Information Center, 401 M Street, SW., Washington, DC 10460.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Angela Ludwig, Air Permits and
Compliance Branch, Environmental Protection Agency, Region VII, 726
Minnesota Avenue, Kansas City, Kansas 66101, (913) 551-7411.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On December 23, 1971 (36 FR 24875), the EPA
promulgated Standards of Performance for Fossil-Fuel-Fired Steam
Generators for Which Construction Is Commenced after August 17, 1971,
as Subpart D of 40 CFR Part 60, pursuant to section 111 of the CAA, 42
U.S.C. 57411. Under these provisions, the affected facility was
required to conduct performance tests during its initial startup period
to demonstrate compliance with opacity and other applicable standards
(40 CFR 60.8). Pursuant to 40 CFR 60.11(e)(6), a source may petition
the EPA for an alternate opacity limit if all other emission limits in
an applicable New Source Performance Standard (NSPS) are met, and the
source cannot meet the applicable opacity limit. Pursuant to 40 CFR
60.11(e)(7), the EPA will grant such a petition if the source or
operator demonstrates that the affected facility and associated air
pollution control equipment were operated and maintained in a manner to
minimize the opacity of emissions during the performance tests; that
the performance tests were performed under the conditions established
by the EPA; and that the affected facility and associated air pollution
control equipment were incapable of being adjusted or operated to meet
the applicable opacity standard. OPPD conducted performance tests and
opacity/mass correlation tests in 1981. These tests were the basis for
the EPA rule, published in the Federal Register on November 24, 1981
(46 FR 57497), codified at 40 CFR 60.42(b)(3) and 60.45(g)(1)(iii),
which changed the 20 percent (with a maximum of 27 percent for one six-
minute period per hour) opacity limit to 30 percent (with a maximum of
37 percent for not more than six minutes in any hour) for the Nebraska
City Power Station pursuant to the procedures and standards set forth
at 40 CFR 60.11(e).
The Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality requested that
OPPD perform tests at the Nebraska City Power Plant in June 1989,
pursuant to its delegated authority to enforce the NSPS. After
replacing its hot side electrostatic precipitator with a cold side
electrostatic precipitator, OPPD conducted tests on June 13 and 14,
1989, to measure emissions. These tests demonstrated that the new
control device was able to control the opacity of emissions below the
20 percent limit and particulate emissions below the particulate limit.
On August 15, 1989, the state agency issued a revised operating permit
to the OPPD facility, establishing an opacity limit of 20 percent (with
a maximum of 27 percent for not more than six minutes in any hour).
Nebraska has also requested that the EPA rescind the alternate limit to
be consistent with the 20 percent NSPS and state operating permit
limit.
Since the Nebraska City Power Station can now meet the 20 percent
opacity limit (additional monitoring data collected since the 1989
performance test show that the facility continues to be capable of
meeting the lower limit), the 30 percent alternate opacity limit is no
longer appropriate. In addition, the preconditions for allowing the
alternate opacity limits in Sec. 60.11(e)(7) are no longer met.
Therefore, the EPA is rescinding the alternate limit, and, after the
effective date of this rule, the source will be required to meet the 20
percent NSPS opacity limit. The source continues to be subject to the
20 percent opacity limit in the state permit without regard to this
rulemaking.
Under section 307(b)(1) of the CAA, petitions for judicial review
of this action must be filed in the United States Court of Appeals for
the appropriate circuit by November 25, 1996. 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).)
Under the Regulatory Flexibility Act, 5 U.S.C. 600 et. seq., the
EPA must prepare a regulatory flexibility analysis assessing the impact
of any proposed or final rule on small entities (U.S.C. 603 and 604).
Alternatively, the 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.
This action affects only one source--Omaha Public Power District,
Nebraska City Power Station, Nebraska City Nebraska. OPPD is not a
small entity. Therefore, the EPA certifies that this action does not
have a significant impact on a substantial number of small entities.
Under Executive Order 12866, the EPA is required to submit to the
Office of Management and Budget for review proposed rules which are
classified as ``significant regulatory action.'' Because this rule
would require the source to meet requirements which are already
applicable, by rule, to sources in this source category, and because it
obligates the source to meet requirements which it must already meet
under state law, the EPA has determined that the proposed rule would
not be a ``significant regulatory action'' under the Executive Order.
Unfunded Mandates
Under sections 202, 203, and 205 of the Unfunded Mandates Reform
Act of 1995 (``Unfunded Mandates Act''), signed into law on March 22,
1995, the EPA must undertake various actions in association with
proposed or final rules that include a Federal mandate that may result
in estimated costs of $100 million or more to the private sector, or to
state, local, or tribal governments in the aggregate.
To the extent that the proposed rule will impose new requirements,
the source is already subject to the requirements under State law.
Accordingly, no additional cost to State or local governments, or to
the private sector, result from this action. The EPA has also
determined that this proposed action does not include a mandate that
may result in estimated cost of $100 million or more to state or local
governments in the aggregate or to the private sector. The EPA has
determined that this proposed rule results in no additional cost to
tribal governments.
List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 60
Environmental protection, Air pollution control, Fossil-fuel-fired
steam generating units, Intergovernmental relations.
Authority: Sections 111 and 301(a) of the CAA, 42 U.S.C. 7411
and 7601(a).
Dated: September 16, 1996.
Carol Browner,
Administrator.
For the reasons set forth in the preamble, subpart D of part 60 of
chapter I of Title 40 of the Code of Federal Regulations is amended as
follows:
PART 60--[AMENDED]
1. The authority citation for part 60 continues to read as follows:
[[Page 49976]]
Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7401, 7411, 7414, 7416, and 7601
Subpart D--[Amended]
Sec. 60.42 [Amended]
2. Section 60.42 is amended by removing paragraph (b)(3).
Sec. 60.45 [Amended]
3. Section 60.45 is amended by removing paragraph (g)(1)(iii).
[FR Doc. 96-24283 Filed 9-23-96; 8:45 am]
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