[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 119 (Wednesday, June 22, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-15176]


[[Page Unknown]]

[Federal Register: June 22, 1994]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 63

[AD-FRL-5002-4]

 

National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants for 
Source Categories: Early Reductions Program High Risk List Amendment

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

ACTION: Proposed rule and notice of public hearing.

SUMMARY: On December 29, 1992, the EPA promulgated final regulations 
implementing the Early Reductions Program under section 112(i)(5) of 
the Clean Air Act, as amended (CAA). As part of that rulemaking, EPA 
designated a list of high risk hazardous air pollutants and limited the 
use of offsetting reductions in other hazardous air pollutants as 
counting towards the required reductions in high-risk pollutants. The 
proposed standards would delete acrylic acid (CAS No. 79107) from the 
list of high-risk pollutants. This action would be in accordance with 
the terms of a settlement agreement reached in the following case: 
Basic Acrylic Monomer Manufacturers v EPA, No. 93-1179 (D.C. Cir.).

DATES: Comments. Comments must be received on or before August 8, 1994.
    Public Hearing. If anyone contacts EPA requesting to speak at a 
public hearing by July 13, 1994, a public hearing will be held on July 
22, 1994, beginning at 9 a.m. Persons interested in attending a hearing 
should call Ms. Linda Tilley at (919) 541-5648 to verify that a hearing 
will be held.
    Request to Speak at Hearing. Persons wishing to present oral 
testimony must contact EPA by July 13, 1994. (Contact Ms. Linda Tilley 
at (919) 541-5648.)

ADDRESSES: Comments. Interested parties may submit written comments (in 
duplicate if possible) to Public Docket No. A-94-29, at the following 
address: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Air and Radiation Docket 
and Information Center, Mail Code: 6102, 401 M Street, SW, Washington, 
DC 20460. The Agency requests that a separate copy also be sent to the 
contact person listed below.
    Public Hearing. If anyone contacts EPA requesting a public hearing, 
it will be held at the North Carolina Mutual Life Insurance Building, 
411 West Chapel Hill Street, Durham, North Carolina. Persons interested 
in attending the hearing or wishing to present oral testimony should 
contact Linda Tilley, Pollutant Assessment Branch (MD-13), U.S. 
Environmental Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina 
27711, telephone number (919) 541-5648.
    Docket. Docket No. A-94-29, containing supporting information used 
in developing the proposed standards is available for public inspection 
and copying between 8:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, at 
EPA's Air Docket Section, Waterside Mall, Room 1500, 1st floor, 401 M 
Street, S.W., Washington D.C. 20460. A reasonable fee may be charged 
for copying.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Martha H. Keating, Emission 
Standards Division (MD-13), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 
Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, 27711, (919) 541-5340.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The information presented in this preamble 
is organized as follows:

I. Background
II. Summary of and Rationale for Proposed Rule
III. Administrative Requirements

1. Background

    On December 29, 1992, the EPA promulgated final regulations 
implementing the Early Reductions Program under section 112(i)(5) of 
the Clean Air Act, as amended (CAA), 42 U.S.C. 7412 (i)(5), 57 FR 61970 
(December 29, 1992). As part of that rulemaking, EPA designated a list 
of 47 high risk hazardous air pollutants and limited the use of 
offsetting reductions in other hazardous air pollutants as counting 
towards the required reductions in high-risk pollutants by assigning 
these pollutants various weighting factors. Acrylic acid (CAS No. 
79107) was designated as a high-risk pollutant and was assigned a 
weighting factor of 10.
    The methodology for selecting the high-risk pollutants is 
documented in the Federal Register notices for the proposed Early 
Reduction Program rule (56 FR 27338) and the final regulations (as 
cited above). Additional detailed information on the selection criteria 
is also available in the Early Reduction Program docket (Docket No. A-
90-47). In general, certain criteria were established to screen 
hazardous air pollutants for their potential for high risk of adverse 
public health effects associated with exposure to small quantities of 
emissions. The screening analysis considered health effects and 
potential exposure.
    Based on EPA's analysis of data available in 1992, acrylic acid was 
included on the list of high-risk pollutants based in part on the 
inhalation reference concentration (RfC) for acrylic acid in EPA's 
Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS). A reference concentration is 
an estimate (with uncertainty spanning perhaps an order of magnitude or 
more) of the daily exposure to the human population (including 
sensitive subpopulations) that is likely to be without deleterious 
effects during a lifetime. On February 26, 1993, Basic Acrylic Monomer 
Manufacturers (BAMM) filed a petition for review of the final Early 
Reductions Program regulation in the United States Court of Appeals for 
the District of Columbia Circuit, BAMM v. EPA, No. 93-1179 (D.C. Cir.). 
On April 13, 1993, BAMM submitted an administrative petition to EPA to 
revise the RfC for acrylic acid and to delete acrylic acid from the 
list of high-risk pollutants. BAMM submitted to EPA a new two-
generation reproductive study of acrylic acid.
    A review of the new data led EPA to revise the RfC for acrylic 
acid. As a result, acrylic acid no longer meets the criteria for 
inclusion on the high risk list.

II. Summary of and Rationale for the Proposed Rule

    Noncarcinogens meet the criteria for the high risk list if they 
have a verified RfC less than 0.5 micrograms per cubic meter. The RfC 
for acrylic acid that was originally verified in August 1990 was 0.33 
micrograms per cubic meter, based on lesions of the nasal epithelium in 
a subchronic mouse inhalation study (Miller et al., 1981).1 One of 
the uncertainty factors applied to the RfC for acrylic acid was a 
factor of three to account for the lack of a two-generation 
reproductive study.
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    \1\Miller, R.R., J.A. Ayres, G.C. Jersey and M.J. McKenna. 1981. 
Inhalation toxicity of acrylic acid. Fund. Appl. Toxicol. 1(3):271-
7.
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    In January, 1994, BAMM submitted additional data to EPA including a 
new two-generation reproductive study in rats, a developmental study in 
rabbits, and a bioavailability study in rats and mice. On February 15 
and 16, 1994, the IRIS RfC/ RfD Work Group met and considered, among 
other things, the new two-generation reproductive study (BASF, 
1993).2 The Work Group found that the new study met the criteria 
for an adequate reproductive study and accordingly increased the RfC 
for acrylic acid by a factor of three. The increase in the RfC for 
acrylic acid by a factor of three resulted in a revised RfC of 1 
microgram per cubic meter which was made publicly available on IRIS on 
April 1, 1994. The revised RfC is sufficiently high to exclude acrylic 
acid from the Early Reductions Program high-risk list. Consequently, 
today's action proposes to delete acrylic acid from the list of high-
risk pollutants.
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    \2\BASF. 1993. Reproduction toxicity study with acrylic acid in 
rats: continuous administration in the drinking water over 2 
generation (1 litter in the first and 1 litter in the second 
generation). Project No. 71R0114/92011. BASF Aktiengesellschaft, 
Dept. of Toxicology, Rhein, FRG.
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III. Administrative Requirements

A. Written Comments

    EPA seeks full public participation in arriving at its final 
decisions, and strongly encourages comments on all aspects of this 
proposal from all interested parties. Whenever applicable, full 
supporting data and detailed analysis should be submitted to allow EPA 
to make maximum use of the comments. All comments should be directed to 
the EPA Air Docket, Docket No. A-94-29 (see ADDRESSES). Comments on 
this notice will be accepted until the date specified in DATES.
    Commentors wishing to submit proprietary information for 
consideration should clearly distinguish such information from other 
comments, and clearly label it ``Confidential Business Information''. 
Submissions containing such proprietary information should be sent 
directly to the contact person listed above, and not to the public 
docket, to ensure that proprietary information is not inadvertently 
placed in the docket. Information covered by such a claim of 
confidentiality will be disclosed by EPA only to the extent allowed and 
by the procedures set forth in 40 CFR Part 2. If no claim of 
confidentiality accompanies the submission when it is received by EPA, 
it may be made available to the public without further notice to the 
commentor.

B. Public Hearing

    A public hearing will be held, if requested, to discuss the 
proposed rulemaking in accordance with section 307(d)(5) of the Act. 
Persons wishing to make an oral presentation on the proposed rule for 
deleting acrylic acid from the Early Reductions Program list of high-
risk pollutants should contact the EPA (see ADDRESSES). Oral 
presentations will be limited to 15 minutes each. Any member of the 
public may file a written statement before, during, or within 30 days 
after the hearing. Written statements should be addressed to the Air 
Docket Section (see ADDRESSES), and refer to Docket No. A-94-29. A 
verbatim transcript of the hearing and written statements will be 
available for public inspection and copying, or mailed upon request, 
during normal working hours at the EPA's Air Docket Section (see 
ADDRESSES).

C. Docket

    The docket is an organized and complete file of all the information 
submitted to or otherwise considered by EPA in the development of this 
proposed rulemaking. The principal purposes of the docket are: (1) to 
allow interested parties to readily identify and locate documents so 
they can intelligently and effectively participate in the rulemaking 
process and (2) to serve as the record in case of judicial review 
(except for interagency review materials [section 307(d)(7)(A)]).

D. Paperwork Reduction Act

    There are no information collection requirements associated with 
this proposed rule. Therefore, an Information Collection Request 
document has not been prepared.

E. Executive Order 12866 Review

    Under Executive Order 12866 (FR 51735 (October 4, 1993)), EPA must 
determine whether a regulation is ``significant'' and therefore subject 
to review by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), and the 
requirements of the Executive Order. The order defines ``significant 
regulatory action'' as one that is likely to result in a rule that may:
    (1) Have an annual effect on the economy of $100 million or more or 
adversely affect in a material way the economy, a sector of the 
economy, productivity, competition, jobs, the environment, public 
health or safety, or State, local, or tribal governments or 
communities,
    (2) Create a serious inconsistency or otherwise interfere with an 
action taken or planned by another agency,
    (3) Materially alter the budgetary impact of entitlement, grants, 
user fees, or loan programs, or the rights and obligations of 
recipients thereof; or
    (4) Raise novel legal or policy issues arising out of legal 
mandates, the President's priorities, or the principles set forth in 
the Executive Order.
    Pursuant to the terms of Executive Order 12866, it has been 
determined that this rule is a ``non significant regulatory action''. 
Accordingly, a regulatory impact analysis has not been prepared and EPA 
has not submitted the action to OMB for review.

F. Compliance with Regulatory Flexibility Act

    Under Section 605 of the Regulatory Flexibility Act of 1980, 5 
U.S.C. 601 et seq., federal agencies are required to assess the 
economic impact of federal regulations on small entities. Pursuant to 
the provisions of 5 U.S.C. 605(b), I hereby certify that this rule, if 
promulgated, will not have a significant economic impact on a 
substantial number of small business entities because the impact of the 
proposed rule is not significant.

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 63

    Air pollution control, Early emission reductions, Hazardous air 
pollutants, Compliance extensions, Sources.

    Dated: June 15, 1994.
Carol M. Browner,
Administrator.

    For the reasons set out in the preamble, 40 CFR part 63 is amended 
as follows:

PART 63--[AMENDED]

    1. The authority citation for part 63 continues to read as follows:

    Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.


Sec. 63.74  [Amended]

    2. In Sec. 63.74 Table 1 entitled ``List of High Risk Pollutants'', 
the entry for ``acrylic acid'' (CAS No. 79107) is removed.

[FR Doc. 94-15176 Filed 6-21-94; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P