[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 67 (Thursday, April 7, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-8356]


[[Page Unknown]]

[Federal Register: April 7, 1994]


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NATIONAL ARCHIVES AND RECORDS ADMINISTRATION
 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[CA13-8-6119;FRL-4859-8]

Approval and Promulgation of Implementation Plans: California State 
Implementation Plan Revision, South Coast Air Quality Management 
District, Ventura County Air Pollution Control District

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking.

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SUMMARY: EPA is proposing to approve revisions to the California State 
Implementation Plan (SIP) which concern the control of volatile organic 
compound (VOC) emissions from barbecue charcoal ignition, municipal 
sewage plants, and municipal landfills.
    The intended effect of proposing approval of these revisions is to 
regulate emissions of VOCs in accordance with the requirements of the 
Clean Air Act, as amended in 1990 (CAA or the Act). EPA's final action 
on this notice of proposed rulemaking (NPR) will incorporate these 
revisions into the federally approved SIP. EPA has evaluated each of 
these revisions and is proposing to approve them under provisions of 
the CAA regarding EPA action on SIP submittals, SIPs for national 
primary and secondary ambient air quality standards and plan 
requirements for nonattainment areas.
DATES: Comments must be received on or before May 9, 1994.

ADDRESSES: Comments may be mailed to: Daniel A. Meer, Rulemaking 
Section (A-5-3), Air and Toxics Division, U.S. Environmental Protection 
Agency, Region IX, 75 Hawthorne Street, San Francisco, CA 94105-3901.
    Copies of the rule revisions and EPA's evaluation report of each 
rule are available for public inspection at EPA's Region 9 office 
during normal business hours. Copies of the submitted rule revisions 
are also available for inspection at the following locations:

    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.
    Ventura County Air Pollution Control District, 702 County Square 
Drive, Ventura, CA 93003.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Erik H. Beck, Rulemaking Section (A-5-
3), Air and Toxics Division, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 
Region IX, 75 Hawthorne Street, San Francisco, CA 94105-3901, (415) 
744-1190.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Applicability

    The rules being proposed for approval into the California SIP 
include: South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) Rule 
1174, ``Control of Volatile Organic Compound Emissions from the 
Ignition of Barbecue Charcoal;'' SCAQMD Rule 1179, ``Publicly Owned 
Treatment Works Operations;'' and Ventura County Air Pollution Control 
District (VCAPCD) Rule 74.17, ``Waste Disposal Sites.'' These rules 
were submitted by the California Air Resources Board (CARB) to EPA on 
May 13, 1991, September 14, 1992, and January 28, 1992 respectively.

Background

    On March 3, 1978, EPA promulgated a list of ozone nonattainment 
areas under the provisions of the Clean Air Act, as amended in 1977 
(1977 CAA or pre-amended Act), that included the Los Angeles Area and 
the Ventura County Area. 43 FR 8964; 40 CFR 81.305. Because these areas 
were unable to meet the statutory attainment date of December 31, 1982, 
California requested under section 172(a)(2), and EPA approved, an 
extension of the attainment date to December 31, 1987. 40 CFR 52.222. 
On May 26, 1988, EPA notified the Governor of California, pursuant to 
section 110(a)(2)(H) of the pre-amended Act, that the above districts' 
portions of the California SIP were inadequate to attain and maintain 
the ozone standard and requested that deficiencies in the existing SIP 
be corrected (EPA's SIP-Call). On November 15, 1990, the Clean Air Act 
Amendments of 1990 were enacted. Public Law 101-549, 104 Stat. 2399, 
codified at 42 U.S.C. 7401-7671q. In amended section 182(a)(2)(A) of 
the CAA, Congress statutorily adopted the requirement that 
nonattainment areas fix their deficient reasonably available control 
technology (RACT) rules for ozone and established a deadline of May 15, 
1991 for states to submit corrections of those deficiencies.
    Section 182(a)(2)(A) applies to areas designated as nonattainment 
prior to enactment of the amendments and classified as marginal or 
above as of the date of enactment. It requires such areas to adopt and 
correct RACT rules pursuant to pre-amended section 172(b) as 
interpreted in pre-amendment guidance.1 EPA's SIP-Call used that 
guidance to indicate the necessary corrections for specific 
nonattainment areas. The Los Angeles Area is classified as extreme, and 
the Ventura County Area is classified as severe;2 therefore, these 
areas were subject to the RACT fix-up requirement and the May 15, 1991 
deadline.
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    \1\Among other things, the pre-amendment guidance consists of 
those portions of the proposed post-1987 ozone and carbon monoxide 
policy that concern RACT, 52 FR 45044 (November 24, 1987); ``Issues 
Relating to VOC Regulation Cutpoints, Deficiencies, and Deviations, 
Clarification to Appendix D of November 24, 1987 Federal Register 
Notice'' (Blue Book) (notice of availability was published in the 
Federal Register on May 25, 1988); and the existing control 
technique guidelines (CTGs).
    \2\The Los Angeles Area and the Ventura County Area retained 
their designations of nonattainment and were classified by operation 
of law pursuant to sections 107(d) and 181(a) upon the date of 
enactment of the CAA. See 55 FR 56694 (November 6, 1991).
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    The State of California submitted many revised RACT rules for 
incorporation into its SIP on May 13, 1991, September 14, 1992, and 
January 28, 1992, including the rules being acted on in this document. 
This document addresses EPA's proposed action for SCAQMD Rule 1174, 
``Control of Volatile Organic Compound Emissions from the Ignition of 
Barbecue Charcoal;'' SCAQMD Rule 1179 ``Publicly Owned Treatment Works 
Operations;'' and VCAPCD Rule 74.17 ``Waste Disposal Sites.'' These 
submitted rules were found to be complete on July 10, 1991, April 3, 
1992, and November 20, 1992 pursuant to EPA's completeness criteria 
that are set forth in 40 CFR part 51, appendix V3 and are being 
proposed for approval into the SIP.
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    \3\EPA adopted the completeness criteria on February 16, 1990 
(55 FR 5830) and, pursuant to section 110(k)(1)(A) of the CAA, 
revised the criteria on August 26, 1991 (56 FR 42216).
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    SCAQMD Rule 1174, ``Control of Volatile Organic Compound Emissions 
from the Ignition of Barbecue Charcoal,'' is intended to reduce the 
emission of VOCs from the ignition of charcoal in residential barbecue 
grills. SCAQMD Rule 1179, ``Publicly Owned Treatment Works 
Operations,'' is designed to inventory the sources of VOCs and 
odoriferous compounds from municipal wastewater treatment facilities. 
VCAPCD Rule 74.17, ``Waste Disposal Sites,'' is designed to control 
emissions of non-methane organic compounds, including VOCs, from solid 
waste landfills through the use of flares and other control technology. 
VOCs contribute to the production of ground level ozone and smog. These 
rules were adopted as part of each district's efforts to achieve the 
National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) for ozone and in response 
to EPA's SIP-Call and the section 182(a)(2)(A) CAA requirement. The 
following is EPA's evaluation and proposed action for these rules.

EPA Evaluation and Proposed Action

    In determining the approvability of a VOC rule, EPA must evaluate 
the rule for consistency with the requirements of the CAA and EPA 
regulations, as found in section 110 and part D of the CAA and 40 CFR 
part 51 (Requirements for Preparation, Adoption, and Submittal of 
Implementation Plans). The EPA interpretation of these requirements, 
which forms the basis for today's action, appears in the various EPA 
policy guidance documents listed in footnote 1. Among those provisions 
is the requirement that a VOC rule must, at a minimum, provide for the 
implementation of RACT for stationary sources of VOC emissions. This 
requirement was carried forth from the pre-amended Act.
    For the purpose of assisting state and local agencies in developing 
RACT rules, EPA prepared a series of Control Technique Guideline (CTG) 
documents which specify the minimum requirements that a rule must 
contain in order to be approved into the SIP. The CTG's are based on 
the underlying requirements of the Act and specify the presumptive 
norms for what is RACT for specific source categories. Under the CAA, 
Congress ratified EPA's use of these documents, as well as other Agency 
policy, for requiring States to ``fix-up'' their RACT rules. See 
section 182 (a) (2) (A).
    SCAQMD Rules 1174 and 1179, and VCAPCD Rule 74.17 control emissions 
from source categories for which EPA has not issued a CTG. Accordingly 
these rules were evaluated against the general RACT requirements of the 
Clean Air Act (section 110 and part D), 40 CFR part 51, EPA's ``Blue 
Book'' referred to in footnote 1, and against other EPA policy 
including the EPA Region 9--CARB document entitled ``Guidance Document 
for Correcting VOC Rule Deficiencies'' (published April, 1991). In 
general, these guidance documents have been set forth to ensure that 
VOC rules are fully enforceable and strengthen or maintain the SIP.
    SCAQMD Rule 1174, ``Control of Volatile Organic Compound Emissions 
from the Ignition of Barbecue Charcoal,'' is a new rule which was 
adopted to reduce the emission of VOCs from the use of flammable 
materials to ignite barbecue charcoal. SCAQMD Rule 1179, ``Publicly 
Owned Treatment Works Operations,'' is a new rule which was adopted to 
inventory VOC and odoriferous compound emissions from municipal 
wastewater treatment facilities. VCAPCD Rule 74.17, ``Solid Waste 
Disposal Sites,'' is a new rule which was adopted to control emissions 
of VOCs from solid waste landfills.
    EPA has evaluated the submitted rules and has determined that they 
are consistent with the CAA, EPA regulations, and EPA policy. 
Therefore, SCAQMD Rule 1174, ``Control of Volatile Organic Compound 
Emissions from the Ignition of Barbecue Charcoal'', Rule 1179 
``Publicly Owned Treatment Works Operations'', and Ventura County Air 
Pollution Control District Rule 74.17 ``Solid Waste Disposal Sites'' 
are being proposed for approval under section 110(k)(3) of the CAA as 
meeting the requirements of section 110(a) and part D.
    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.

Regulatory Process

    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, 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 regulatory flexibility analysis would constitute 
Federal inquiry into the economic reasonableness of state action. The 
CAA forbids EPA to base its actions concerning SIPs on such grounds. 
Union Electric Co. v. U.S. E.P.A., 427 U.S. 246, 256-66 (S.Ct. 1976); 
42 U.S.C. 7410(a)(2).
    This action has been classified as a Table 3 action by the Regional 
Administrator under the procedures published in the Federal Register on 
January 19, 1989 (54 FR 2214-2225), as revised by an October 4, 1993, 
memorandum from Michael H. Shapiro, Acting Assistant Administrator for 
Air and Radiation. A future document will inform the general public of 
these tables. On January 6, 1989, the Office of Management and Budget 
(OMB) waived Table 2 and Table 3 SIP revisions (54 FR 222) from the 
requirements of section 3 of Executive Order 12291 for 2 years. The EPA 
has submitted a request for a permanent waiver for Table 2 and Table 3 
SIP revisions. The OMB has agreed to continue the waiver until such 
time as it rules on EPA's request. This request continues in effect 
under Executive Order 12866 which superseded Executive Order 12291 on 
September 30, 1993.

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 52

    Environmental protection, Air pollution control, Hydrocarbons, 
Intergovernmental relations, Ozone, Reporting and recordkeeping 
requirements.

    Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7401-7671q.

    Dated: March 24, 1994.
Jeff Zelikson,
Acting Deputy Regional Administrator.
[FR Doc. 94-8356 Filed 4-6-94; 8:45 am]
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