[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 154 (Thursday, August 11, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-19643]


[[Page Unknown]]

[Federal Register: August 11, 1994]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[CA 43-3-6270; FRL 5029-8]

 

Approval and Promulgation of Implementation Plans; California 
State Implementation Plan Revision, Santa Barbara County Air Pollution 
Control District (SBCAPCD)

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM).

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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 organic liquid loading facilities.
    The intended effect of proposing approval of this rule 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 (NPRM) will incorporate this rule 
into the federally approved SIP. EPA has evaluated the rule and is 
proposing to approve it 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 September 12, 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. 
Please refer to document number CA 37-10-6201 in all correspondence.
    Copies of the rule revisions and EPA's evaluation report of the 
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 95814.
Santa Barbara County Air Pollution Control District, 26 Castilian 
Drive, Suite B-23, Goleta, CA 93117.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Duane F. James, Rulemaking Section (A-
5-3), Air and Toxics Division, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 
Region IX 75 Hawthorne Street, San Francisco, CA 94105 Telephone: (415) 
744-1191.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Applicability

    The rule being proposed for approval into the California SIP is 
Santa Barbara County Air Pollution Control District's (SBCAPCD) Rule 
346, ``Loading of Organic Cargo Vessels.'' This rule was submitted by 
the California Air Resources Board (ARB) to EPA on January 11, 1993.

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 SBCAPCD. 43 FR 8964, 40 
CFR 81.305. Because this area was 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 52.238, 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 district's portions of the 
California SIP was 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 Santa Barbara County Area is classified as 
moderate;2 therefore, this area was 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\SBCAPCD retained its designation of nonattainment and was 
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 January 11, 1993, including the rule 
being acted on in this document. This document addresses EPA's proposed 
action for SBCAPCD's Rule 346, ``Loading of Organic Cargo Vessels.'' 
SBCAPCD adopted Rule 346 on October 13, 1992. The submitted rule was 
found to be complete on March 26, 1993, pursuant to EPA's completeness 
criteria that are set forth in 40 CFR part 51, appendix V3 and is 
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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    Rule 346 requires bottom loading and vapor recovery systems for the 
transfer of non-gasoline organic liquids from facilities into cargo 
tanks. VOCs contribute to the production of ground level ozone and 
smog. The rule was adopted as part of the 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 
this rule.

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. The CTGs 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). There is no CTG 
applicable to Rule 346. However, the following CTG entitled, ``Control 
of Hydrocarbons from Tank Truck Gasoline Loading Terminals (EPA-450/2-
77-026),'' was used only as guidance in evaluating Rule 346. Further 
interpretations of EPA policy are found in the Blue Book, referred to 
in footnote 1. In general, these guidance documents have been set forth 
to ensure that VOC rules are fully enforceable and strengthen or 
maintain the SIP.
    SBCAPCD's Rule 346, ``Loading of Organic Cargo Vessels,'' is a new 
rule which was adopted to require bottom loading and vapor recovery 
systems during the transfer of non-gasoline organic liquids from 
loading facilities into cargo tanks. In bottom loading, the organic 
liquid is transferred to the tank through a fill pipe that is attached 
to the bottom of the tank. This arrangement reduces the amount of 
organic liquid that is splashed in the tank, which reduces the 
formation of organic liquid vapors.
    EPA has evaluated the submitted rule and has determined that it is 
consistent with the CAA, EPA regulations, and EPA policy. Therefore, 
SBCAPCD's Rule 346 is 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 2 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. The OMB has exempted this regulatory action from 
Executive Order 12866 review.

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 52

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

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

    Dated: August 1, 1994.
Nora L. McGee,
Acting Regional Administrator.
[FR Doc. 94-19643 Filed 8-10-94; 8:45 am]
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