[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 132 (Monday, July 13, 2009)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 33397-33399]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-16496]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 52
[EPA-R09-OAR-2009-0371, FRL-8929-7]
Revisions to the California State Implementation Plan, Northern
Sierra Air Quality Management District and San Joaquin Valley Unified
Air Pollution Control District
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Proposed rule.
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SUMMARY: EPA is proposing to approve revisions to the Northern Sierra
Air Quality Management District (NSAQMD) and San Joaquin Valley Unified
Air Pollution Control District (SJVUAPCD) portions of the California
State Implementation Plan (SIP). Under authority of the Clean Air Act
as amended in 1990 (CAA or the Act), we are proposing to approve local
rules that address volatile organic compound emissions from asphalt
paving, gasoline bulk storage tanks, and gasoline dispensing stations.
DATES: Any comments must arrive by August 12, 2009.
ADDRESSES: Submit comments, identified by docket number EPA-R09-OAR-
2009-0371, by one of the following methods:
1. Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. Follow
the on-line instructions.
2. E-mail: [email protected].
3. Mail or deliver: Andrew Steckel (Air-4), U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency Region IX, 75 Hawthorne Street, San Francisco, CA
94105-3901.
Instructions: All comments 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 Confidential Business Information (CBI) or
other information whose disclosure is restricted by statute.
Information that you consider CBI or otherwise protected should be
clearly identified as such and should not be submitted through http://www.regulations.gov or e-mail. http://www.regulations.gov is an
``anonymous access'' system, and EPA will not know your identity or
contact information unless you provide it in the body of your comment.
If you send e-mail directly to EPA, your e-mail address will be
automatically captured and included as part of the public comment. 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.
Docket: The index to the docket for this action is available
electronically at http://www.regulations.gov and in hard copy at EPA
Region IX, 75 Hawthorne Street, San Francisco, California. While all
documents in the docket are listed in the index, some information may
be publicly available only at the hard copy location (e.g., copyrighted
material), and some may not be publicly available in either location
(e.g., CBI). To inspect the hard copy materials, please schedule an
appointment during normal business hours with the contact listed in the
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mae Wang, EPA Region IX, (415) 947-
4124, [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Throughout this document, ``we,'' ``us'' and
``our'' refer to EPA.
Table of Contents
I. The State's Submittal
A. What Rules Did the State Submit?
B. Are There Other Versions of These Rules?
C. What Is the Purpose of the Submitted Rules and Rule
Amendments?
II. EPA's Evaluation and Action
A. How Is EPA Evaluating the Rules?
B. Do the Rules Meet the Evaluation Criteria?
C. Public Comment and Final Action
III. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews
I. The State's Submittal
A. What Rules Did the State Submit?
Table 1 lists the rules we are proposing to approve with the dates
that they were adopted, amended, or revised by the local air agencies
and submitted by the California Air Resources Board (CARB).
[[Page 33398]]
Table 1--Submitted Rules
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Adopted or
District Rule No. Rule title amended Submitted
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NSAQMD............................ 227 Cutback and Emulsified 11/27/06 03/07/08
Asphalt Paving Materials.
SJVUAPCD.......................... 4621 Gasoline Transfer into 12/20/07 03/07/08
Stationary Storage
Containers, Delivery
Vessels, and Bulk Plants.
SJVUAPCD.......................... 4622 Gasoline Transfer into Motor 12/20/07 03/07/08
Vehicle Fuel Tanks.
SJVUAPCD.......................... 4651 Soil Decontamination 09/20/07 03/07/08
Operations.
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On April 17, 2008, CARB's submittal of March 7, 2008, was found to
meet the completeness criteria in 40 CFR part 51, appendix V, which
must be met before formal EPA review.
B. Are There Other Versions of These Rules?
There is no previous version of NSAQMD Rule 227 in the SIP. We
approved previous versions of SJVUAPCD Rules 4621 and 4622 into the SIP
on April 19, 2000 (65 FR 20912) and March 24, 2003 (68 FR 14156),
respectively. We approved a previous version of SJVUAPCD Rule 4651 into
the SIP on July 24, 1996 (61 FR 38571).
C. What Is the Purpose of the Submitted Rules and Rule Amendments?
Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) help produce ground-level ozone
and smog, which harm human health and the environment. Section 110(a)
of the CAA requires States to submit regulations that control VOC
emissions. NSAQMD Rule 227 provides standards to control VOC emissions
during the use or manufacture of cutback asphalt and emulsified asphalt
paving materials. SJVUAPCD Rule 4621 limits VOC emissions from gasoline
storage containers and delivery vessels, and gasoline transfer
operations at bulk plants. SJVUAPCD Rule 4622 limits VOC emissions from
the transfer of gasoline into motor vehicle fuel tanks. SJVUAPCD Rule
4651 regulates VOC emissions from excavation, transportation, handling,
decontamination, and disposal of soil that has been contaminated with a
VOC-containing liquid. EPA's technical support documents (TSDs) have
more information about these rules.
II. EPA's Evaluation and Action
A. How Is EPA Evaluating the Rules?
Generally, SIP rules must be enforceable (see section 110(a) of the
CAA) and must not relax existing requirements (see sections 110(l) and
193 of the CAA).
CAA subpart 1 VOC rules must require Reasonably Available Control
Measures (RACM), including Reasonably Available Control Technology
(RACT), for each major VOC source in ozone nonattainment areas (see
section 172(c)(1) of the CAA). The NSAQMD regulates a subpart 1 8-hr
ozone nonattainment area in Western Nevada County (see 40 CFR part 81)
and must fulfill the requirements of RACM/RACT in that area.
CAA subpart 2 VOC rules must require RACT for each significant
source category covered by a Control Technique Guideline (CTG) document
and for each major source in ozone nonattainment areas (see sections
182(a)(2) and (b)(2) of the CAA). The SJVUAPCD regulates a subpart 2 8-
hr ozone nonattainment area which was classified under the 1-hr
standard as an extreme nonattainment area (see 40 CFR part 81).
Additionally, gasoline storage, transfer, and dispensing rules must
fulfill the special requirements for gasoline vapor recovery in ozone
nonattainment areas (see section 182(b)(3)(A) of the CAA) and special
requirements for vehicle fleets (see section 202(a)(6) of the CAA).
Guidance and policy documents that we use to help evaluate specific
enforceability and RACT requirements consistently include the
following:
1. Portions of the proposed post-1987 ozone and carbon monoxide
policy that concern RACT, 52 FR 45044 (November 24, 1987).
2. Issues Relating to VOC Regulation Cutpoints, Deficiencies, and
Deviations, EPA (May 25, 1988) [The Bluebook].
3. Guidance Document for Correcting Common VOC & Other Rule
Deficiencies, EPA Region 9 (August 21, 2001) [The Little Bluebook].
4. Control of VOC from the Use of Cutback Asphalt, EPA-450/2-77-037
(December 1977).
5. SJVUAPCD 2004 Extreme Ozone Attainment Demonstration Plan.
6. SJVUAPCD 2007 Ozone Plan, http://www.arb.ca.gov/planning/sip/2007sip/sjv8hr/sjvozone.htm.
7. SJVUAPCD Final Staff Report, Proposed Amendments to Rule 4651
(September 20, 2007).
B. Do the Rules Meet the Evaluation Criteria?
We believe that NSAQMD Rule 227 and SJVUAPCD Rules 4621, 4622, and
4651 are consistent with the relevant policy and guidance regarding
enforceability, RACT, and SIP relaxations. The TSDs have more
information on our evaluation.
C. Public Comment and Final Action
Because EPA believes the submitted rules fulfill all relevant
requirements, we are proposing to fully approve them as described in
section 110(k)(3) of the Act. We will accept comments from the public
on this proposal for the next 30 days. Unless we receive convincing new
information during the comment period, we intend to publish a final
approval action that will incorporate these rules into the Federally
enforceable SIP.
III. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews
Under the Clean Air Act, the Administrator is required to approve a
SIP submission that complies with the provisions of the Act 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 Clean Air Act.
Accordingly, this action merely approves State law as meeting Federal
requirements and does not impose additional requirements beyond those
imposed by State law. For that reason, this 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
[[Page 33399]]
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 Clean Air Act; 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 rule 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, Incorporation by
reference, Intergovernmental relations, Ozone, Reporting and
recordkeeping requirements, Volatile organic compounds.
Dated: June 22, 2009.
Jane Diamond,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region IX.
[FR Doc. E9-16496 Filed 7-10-09; 8:45 am]
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