2011-24518. Approval and Promulgation of Air Quality Implementation Plans; Delaware; Adhesives and Sealants Rule

AGENCY:

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION:

Proposed rule.

SUMMARY:

EPA is proposing to approve State Implementation Plan (SIP) revision submitted by the State of Delaware. The SIP revision adds section 4.0, under Regulation 1141, relating to the control of emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOC) from the manufacture, sale, use, or application of adhesives, sealants, primers, and solvents. This action is being taken under the Clean Air Act (CAA).

DATES:

Written comments must be received on or before October 24, 2011.

ADDRESSES:

Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID Number EPA-R03-OAR-2011-0721 by one of the following methods:

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

B. E-mail: [e-mail].

C. Mail: EPA-R03-OAR-2011-0721, Cristina Fernandez, Associate Director, Office of Air Program Planning, Mailcode 3AP30, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region III, 1650 Arch Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19103.

D. 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 Docket ID Number EPA-R03-OAR-2011-0721. 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.regulations.gov,, 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 http://www.regulations.gov or e-mail. The http://www.regulations.gov Web site is 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 http://www.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 http://www.regulations.gov index. 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 http://www.regulations.gov 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 Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control, 89 Kings Highway, P.O. Box 1401, Dover, Delaware 19903.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Gregory Becoat, [phone], or by e-mail at [e-mail].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

On June 9, 2009, the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC) submitted a revision to the Delaware SIP. The SIP revision consists of Delaware's regulation for reducing VOCs from commercially-used adhesive and sealant products by adding section 4.0—Adhesives and Sealants under Regulation 1141—Limiting Emissions of Volatile Organic Compounds from Consumer and Commercial Products. The revisions are part of Delaware's strategy to achieve and maintain the 8-hour ozone national ambient air quality standard (NAAQS) throughout the State.

III. Summary of SIP Revision

The SIP revision consists of the following amendments:

New Regulation—Regulation 1141 Section 4.0—Adhesives and Sealants

Section 4.0 is a new regulation based on the Ozone Transport Commission (OTC) model rule that in turn was based on the California Air Resources Board (CARB) model rule. Section 4.0 addresses adhesive, sealants, adhesive primers, and sealant primers that are sold in larger containers and used primarily in commercial and industrial applications, which include residential applications of these products, such as carpet, flooring, and roofing installations.

The OTC states developed a model rule “OTC Model Rule For Adhesives and Sealants” dated 2006 which was based on the 1998 CARB reasonably available control technology (RACT) determination. This RACT determination applied to both the manufacture and use of adhesives, sealants, adhesive primers, or sealant primers, in both industrial and manufacturing facilities and in the field. California Air Districts used this determination to develop regulations for this category. EPA addressed this source category with a Control Techniques Guideline (CTG) document for Miscellaneous Industrial Adhesives, dated September 2008. This CTG was developed in response to section 183(e) of the CAA requirement for EPA to study and regulate consumer and commercial products, which is included in EPA's Report to Congress, “Study of Volatile Organic Compound Emissions from Consumer and Commercial Products—Comprehensive Emissions Inventory.” The miscellaneous industrial adhesives category was limited to adhesives and adhesive primers used in industrial and manufacturing operations and did not include products applied in the field. Therefore, the OTC model rule and state efforts in developing individual regulations preceded EPA's CTG for this source category and were broader in applicability.

The new section 4.0 adds regulations that: (a) Set standards for the application of adhesives, sealants, adhesive primers, and sealant primers by providing options for appliers either to use a product with a VOC content equal to or less than a specified limit or to use add-on controls; (b) add definitions and terms for new product categories; (c) establish that any person may not use or apply at the facility an adhesive, sealant, adhesive primer or sealant primer that exceeds the VOC content limits; (d) specify requirements for person of a facility that uses or applies a surface preparation solvent or cleanup solvent or removes an adhesive, sealant, adhesive primer, and sealant primer from the parts of spray application equipment; (e) provide for an alternative add-on control system requirement of at least 85 percent overall control efficiency (capture and destruction), by weight; (f) specify requirements for proper storage and disposal, work practices, surface preparation, and cleanup solvent composition; and (g) specify exemptions, as well as registration and product labeling requirements, recordkeeping requirements, and test methods and compliance procedures.

A detailed summary of EPA's review of and rationale for proposing to approve this SIP revision may be found in the Technical Support Document (TSD) for this action which is available on-line at http://www.regulations.gov,, Docket number EPA-R03-OAR-2011-0721.

III. Proposed Action

EPA is proposing to approve the Delaware SIP revision adding section 4.0—Adhesives and Sealants to Regulation 1141—Limiting Emissions of Volatile Organic Compounds from Consumer and Commercial Products. 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 the CAA, the Administrator is required to approve a SIP submission that complies with the provisions of the CAA and applicable Federal regulations. 42 U.S.C. 7410(k); 40 CFR 52.02(a). Thus, in reviewing SIP submissions, EPA's role is to approve state choices, provided that they meet the criteria of the CAA. Accordingly, this action merely proposes to approve state law as meeting Federal requirements and does not impose additional requirements beyond those imposed by State law. For that reason, this proposed action:

• Is not a “significant regulatory action” subject to review by the Office of Management and Budget under Executive Order 12866 (58 FR 51735, October 4, 1993);
• Does not impose an information collection burden under the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.);
• Is certified as not having a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities under the Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 601 et seq.);
• 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);
• Does not have Federalism implications as specified in Executive Order 13132 (64 FR 43255, August 10, 1999);
• Is not an economically significant regulatory action based on health or safety risks subject to Executive Order 13045 (62 FR 19885, April 23, 1997);
• Is not a significant regulatory action subject to Executive Order 13211 (66 FR 28355, May 22, 2001);
• Is not subject to requirements of Section 12(d) of the National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act of 1995 (15 U.S.C. 272 note) because application of those requirements would be inconsistent with the CAA; and
• Does not provide EPA with the discretionary authority to address, as appropriate, disproportionate human health or environmental effects, using practicable and legally permissible methods, under Executive Order 12898 (59 FR 7629, February 16, 1994).

In addition, this proposed rule, pertaining to Delaware's control of VOCs from adhesives and sealants, does not have Tribal implications as specified by Executive Order 13175 (65 FR 67249, November 9, 2000), because the SIP is not approved to apply in Indian country located in the state, and EPA notes that it will not impose substantial direct costs on Tribal governments or preempt Tribal law.

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: September 6, 2011.

James W. Newsom,

Acting, Regional Administrator, Region III.