[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 160 (Friday, August 18, 1995)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 43012-43015]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-20484]



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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 52

PA62-1-7023a; FRL-5272-4]


Approval and Promulgation of Air Quality Implementation Plans; 
Pennsylvania; Allegheny County: USX Clairton Works

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Direct final rule.

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SUMMARY: EPA is approving a State implementation plan (SIP) revision 
submitted by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. This revision requires 
the availability and maintenance of certain air pollution control 
equipment at the USX Corporation's Clairton Works in Allegheny County, 
Pennsylvania. The intended effect of this action is to 

[[Page 43013]]
approve relevant portions of an enforcement order and agreement entered 
into between the Allegheny County Health Department and the USX 
Corporation. This action is being taken under section 110 of the Clean 
Air Act.

DATES: This final rule is effective October 17, 1995 unless notice is 
received on or before September 18, 1995 that adverse or critical 
comments will be submitted. If the effective date is delayed, timely 
notice will be published in the Federal Register.

ADDRESSES: Comments may be mailed to Marcia L. Spink, Associate 
Director, Air Programs, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 
III, 841 Chestnut Building, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19107. Copies of 
the documents relevant to this action are available for public 
inspection during normal business hours at the Air, Radiation, and 
Toxics Division, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region III, 841 
Chestnut Building, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19107; the Air and 
Radiation Docket and Information Center, U.S. Environmental Protection 
Agency, 401 M Street, SW, Washington, DC 20460; and, Allegheny County 
Health Department, Bureau of Environmental Quality, Division of Air 
Quality, 301 39th Street, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15201.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: David J. Campbell, Technical 
Assessment Section (3AT22), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 
Region III, 841 Chestnut Building, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19107, 
phone: 215 597-9781.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On April 26, 1995, the Commonwealth of 
Pennsylvania submitted a revision to its State implementation plan 
(SIP) for Allegheny County pertaining to the USX Corporation's Clairton 
Works. The intended result of the revision is to minimize air pollution 
control equipment unavailability. This action will significantly reduce 
the potential for excessive sulfur dioxide (SO2) emissions from 
the facility.

Background

    On January 30, 1991, EPA notified Pennsylvania of EPA's intention 
to start the process of redesignating the ``Clairton Area'' in 
Allegheny County as nonattainment for SO2 pursuant to section 
107(d)(3) of the Clean Air Act. The Clairton Area is defined as the 
area inclusive of Lincoln, Liberty, Glassport and Port Vue Boroughs and 
the City of Clairton in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. In response to 
EPA's letter, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania requested on March 3, 
1991 that the Clairton Area be redesignated as nonattainment. As a 
result, the Clairton Area was proposed to be redesignated as 
nonattainment for SO2 on September 22, 1992 (57 FR 43846).
    The basis of EPA's determination to redesignate the Clairton Area 
as nonattainment for SO2 was the recording of monitored violations 
of the 24-hour national ambient air quality standard (NAAQS) for 
SO2 in 1986 and 1988 and of the 3-hour NAAQS in 1985, 1986, and 
1988. The SO2 monitor that recorded these violations is located in 
the Borough of Glassport.
    Upon investigation into the cause of the monitored violations, it 
was determined that the exceedances were primarily attributable to the 
USX Corporation's Clairton Works coking facility located in the City of 
Clairton. After discussions with the Allegheny County Health Department 
Bureau of Environmental Quality Division of Air Quality and USX, each 
of the monitored exceedances correlated with specific sulfur-removal 
equipment failures and outages at the Clairton Works. Further, USX 
detailed the significant pollution abatement equipment modification and 
enhancement program it was implementing at the time to address the 
equipment failures and outages. USX was adding redundant pollution 
control devices at its coke oven gas desulfurization facility to 
greatly reduce SO2 emissions from the facility. Since the 
improvement program was initiated, there was a documented reduction in 
monitored SO2 concentrations and no monitored exceedances of the 
NAAQS recorded since 1990.
    Based on this information, EPA deferred the redesignation of this 
area to nonattainment on December 21, 1993 (58 FR 67334). The deferral 
was contingent upon the codification of the pollution equipment 
improvements at the USX Clairton Works into the Pennsylvania State 
implementation plan (SIP) revision for Allegheny County. On April 26, 
1995, Pennsylvania submitted a request that EPA approve an official 
State implementation plan (SIP) revision request for Allegheny County 
pertaining to the USX Clairton Works.
Summary of SIP Revision

    The April 26, 1995 SIP revision consists of an enforcement order 
and agreement (EOA) entered into between the Allegheny County Health 
Department and USX Corporation. EPA is specifically approving the 
introductory portion of the EOA, the section entitled ``I. Order'' in 
its entirety, and two attachments to the EOA. The remainder of the EOA 
pertains to certain enforcement provisions agreed to between Allegheny 
County and USX. These provisions are not relevant to the SIP revision.
    The EOA, entered into between the County and USX on November 17, 
1994, establishes general operating procedures at the Clairton Works 
regarding certain air pollution control devices. Specifically, the EOA 
requires USX to maintain and operate the following control devices: two 
Claus Plants at the Clairton Works coke oven gas desulfurization 
facility; a hydrogen cyanide (HCN) destruct unit with two catalytic 
reactors; a vacuum carbonate unit with two absorber columns, two axi 
compressors, and two strippers; and, spare heat exchangers. The goal of 
the EOA is to require redundancy of control devices in order to 
minimize unavailability of such devices during normal plant operations.
    The result of the EOA will be minimized equipment outages and 
breakdowns. This action will foster the continued maintenance of the 
NAAQS for SO2 in the area surrounding the facility. Because the 
area of concern has been monitoring attainment for a number of years 
and the previously monitored violations were directly attributable to 
pollution control equipment malfunctions and breakdowns, the existing 
federally-approved SO2 emission limit for the Clairton Works 
continues to be adequate.

Evaluation of State Submittal

    In order to evaluate the approvability as a SIP revision of 
Pennsylvania's April 26, 1995 submittal, the critical factors to be 
considered are (A) whether the revised implementation plan demonstrates 
attainment and maintenance of the national ambient air quality 
standards (NAAQS) and (B) whether issues of enforceability arise. The 
following is an discussion of each of these factors; a more detailed 
evaluation is provided in a Technical Support Document available upon 
request from the Regional EPA office listed in the ADDRESSES section of 
this notice.

A. Impacts on Attainment/Maintenance on the NAAQS

    As mentioned earlier, the Clairton Area is currently designated as 
attainment for SO2. The EOA promotes continued maintenance of the 
NAAQS for SO2 in the area of concern. Since USX began its 
pollution control device modification and enhancement program at the 
Clairton Works in the early 1990's, the ambient air quality monitors in 
the Clairton Area have indicated a 

[[Page 43014]]
significant improvement in air quality with regards to SO2. For 
the last four years, the three monitoring stations most impacted by the 
Clairton Works have recorded maximum annual arithmetic means that are 
less than 60 percent of the annual NAAQS (80 g/m3) and 
maximum 24-hour averages that are 75 percent of the 24-hour standard 
(365 g/m\3\). This provides a strong indication that the 
improvements at Clairton Works has had a direct benefit on ambient air 
quality in terms of SO2 and that the NAAQS for SO2 should 
continue to be maintained.

B. Enforceability Issues

    The EOA requires USX to properly maintain and operate a number of 
pollution control devices to ensure maximum availability of those 
devices during plant operation. The EOA fully articulates the 
expectations of USX in terms of the type of equipment that is to be 
maintained, the capacity of that equipment, and the required 
availability of the equipment. The EOA also indicates the level of 
diligence that is to be applied to the operation and maintenance of the 
control devices. The EOA requires USX to report any event that causes 
the breakdown or unavailability of any of the equipment specified in 
the EOA.
    EPA is approving this SIP revision without prior proposal because 
the Agency views this as a noncontroversial amendment and anticipates 
no adverse comments. However, in a separate document in this Federal 
Register publication, EPA is proposing to approve the SIP revision 
should adverse or critical comments be filed. This action will be 
effective October 17, 1995 unless, by September 18, 1995, adverse or 
critical comments are received.
    If EPA receives such comments, this action will be withdrawn before 
the effective date by publishing a subsequent document that will 
withdraw the final action. All public comments received will then be 
addressed in a subsequent final rule based on this action serving as a 
proposed rule. EPA will not institute a second comment period on this 
action. Any parties interested in commenting on this action should do 
so at this time. If no such comments are received, the public is 
advised that this action will be effective on October 17, 1995.
Final Action

    EPA is approving the Pennsylvania SIP revision for the USX Clairton 
Works in Allegheny County.
    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.
    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 section 110 and subchapter I, part D of the 
Clean Air Act 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, the 
Administrator certifies that 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 flexibility 
analysis would constitute Federal inquiry into the economic 
reasonableness of State action. The Clean Air Act forbids EPA to base 
its actions concerning SIP's on such grounds. Union Electric Co. v. 
U.S. EPA, 427 U.S. 246, 255-66 (1976); 42 U.S.C. 7410(a)(2).
    Under Section 202 of the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995 
(``Unfunded Mandates Act''), signed into law on March 22, 1995, EPA 
must prepare a budgetary impact statement to accompany any proposed or 
final that includes a Federal mandate that may result in estimated 
costs to State, local, or tribal governments in the aggregate; or to 
the private sector, of $100 million or more. Under section 205, EPA the 
most cost-effective and least burdensome alternative that achieves the 
objectives of the rule and is consistent with statutory requirements. 
Section 203 requires EPA to establish a plan for informing and advising 
any small governments that may be significantly or uniquely impacted by 
the rule.
    EPA has determined that the approval action promulgated does not 
include a Federal mandate that may result in estimated costs of $100 
million or more to either State, local, or tribal governments in the 
aggregate, or to the private sector. This Federal action approves pre-
existing requirements under State or local law, and imposes no new 
Federal requirements. Accordingly, no additional costs to State, local, 
or tribal governments, or to the private sector, result from this 
action.
    Through submission of this State implementation plan or plan 
revision, the State and any affected local or tribal governments have 
elected to adopt the program provided for under section 110 of the 
Clean Air Act. These rules may bind State, local and tribal governments 
to perform certain actions and also require the private sector to 
perform certain duties. To the extent that the rules being approved by 
this action will impose no new requirements; such sources are already 
subject to these regulations under State law. Accordingly, no 
additional costs to State, local, or tribal governments, or to the 
private sector, result from this action. EPA has also determined that 
this final action does not include a mandate that may result in 
estimated costs of $100 million or more to State, local, or tribal 
governments in the aggregate or to the private sector.
    This action has been classified as a Table 3 action for signature 
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 E.O. 12866 review.
    Under section 307(b)(1) of the Clean Air Act, petitions for 
judicial review of this action must be filed in the United States Court 
of Appeals for the appropriate circuit by October 17, 1995. Filing a 
petition for reconsideration by the Administrator of this final rule 
does not affect the finality of this rule for the purposes of judicial 
review nor does it extend the time within which a petition for judicial 
review may be filed, and shall not postpone the effectiveness of such 
rule or action. This action to approve a revision to Pennsylvania's SIP 
for Allegheny County pertaining to the USX Clairton Works may not be 
challenged later in proceedings to enforce its requirements. (See 
section 307(b)(2).)

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 52

    Environmental protection, Air pollution control, Incorporation by 
reference, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, Sulfur Oxides.


[[Page 43015]]

    Dated: July 25, 1995.
W. Michael McCabe,
Regional Administrator, Region III.

    40 CFR part 52 is amended as follows:

PART 52--[AMENDED]

    1. The authority citation for part 52 continues to read as follows:

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

Subpart NN--Pennsylvania

    2. Section 52.2020 is amended by adding paragraph (c)(99) to read 
as follows:


Sec. 52.2020  Identification of plan.

* * * * *
    (c) * * *
    (99) Revisions to the Pennsylvania implementation plan for 
Allegheny County pertaining to the operation and maintenance of certain 
air pollution control devices at USX Corporation's Clairton Works 
submitted on April 26, 1995 by the Pennsylvania Department of 
Environmental Resources:
    (i) Incorporation by reference.
    (A) Letter of April 26, 1995 from Mr. James M. Seif, Secretary, 
Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Resources transmitting a SIP 
revision for Allegheny County regarding USX Corporation's Clairton 
Works.
    (B) Portions of an enforcement order and agreement entered into by 
and between the Allegheny County Health Department and USX Corporation 
on November 17, 1994 (Enforcement Order No. 200 Upon Consent). 
Specifically, the introductory section (pages 1-2), the section 
entitled, ``I. Order'' (pages 2-6), and attachments C and D to the 
enforcement order and agreement which list the relevant pollution 
control equipment. The Agreement was effective on November 17, 1994.
    (ii) Additional material.
    (A) Remainder of Pennsylvania's December 9, 1993 submittal.

[FR Doc. 95-20484 Filed 8-17-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P