[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 23 (Friday, February 2, 1996)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 3821-3824]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-1926]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 52
[GA-21-2-5930a; FRL-5321-6]
Approval and Promulgation of Implementation Plans; Georgia: Title
V, Section 507, Small Business Stationary Source Technical and
Environmental Compliance Assistance Program
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Direct final rule.
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SUMMARY: EPA is approving revisions to the State Implementation Plan
(SIP) submitted by the State of Georgia through the Georgia
Environmental Protection Division for the purpose of establishing a
Small Business Stationary Source Technical and Environmental Compliance
Assistance Program (PROGRAM). This implementation plan was originally
submitted by the State on November 13, 1992. On September 27, 1995, the
State of Georgia resubmitted the SIP establishing the PROGRAM and
formally requested to withdraw the November 13, 1992, submittal. This
PROGRAM satisfies the federal mandate to ensure that small businesses
have access to the technical assistance and regulatory information
necessary to comply with the Clean Air Act as amended in 1990 (CAA).
DATES: This action is effective April 2, 1996, unless notice is
received March 4, 1996 that someone wishes to submit adverse or
critical comments. If the effective date is delayed, timely notice will
be published in the Federal Register.
ADDRESSES: Written comments should be addressed to: Ms. Kimberly
Bingham, Regulatory Planning and Development Section, Air Programs
Branch, Air, Pesticides & Toxics Management Division, Region 4
Environmental Protection Agency, 345 Courtland Street NE., Atlanta,
Georgia 30365.
Copies of the material submitted by the State of Georgia may be
examined during normal business hours at the following locations:
Air and Radiation Docket and Information Center (Air Docket 6102), U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency, 401 M Street SW., Washington, DC 20460
Environmental Protection Agency, Region 4, Air Programs Branch, 345
Courtland Street NE., Atlanta, Georgia 30365
Environmental Protection Division, Air Protection Branch, 4244
International Parkway, Suite 120, Atlanta, Georgia 30354.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Kimberly Bingham, Regulatory
Planning and Development Section, Air Programs Branch, Air, Pesticides
& Toxics Management Division, Region 4 Environmental Protection Agency,
345 Courtland Street NE., Atlanta, Georgia 30365. The telephone number
is 404/347-3555 x4195.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Implementation of the CAA will require small
businesses to comply with specific regulations in order for areas to
attain and maintain the national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS)
and reduce the emission of air toxics. In anticipation of the impact of
these requirements on small businesses, the CAA requires that states
adopt a PROGRAM, and submit this PROGRAM as a revision to the federally
approved SIP. In addition, the CAA directs the EPA to oversee the small
business assistance program and report to Congress on their
implementation. The requirements for establishing a PROGRAM are set out
in section 507 of
[[Page 3822]]
title V of the CAA and the EPA guidance document Guidelines for the
Implementation of Section 507 of the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments. In
order to gain full approval, the state submittal must provide for each
of the following PROGRAM elements: (1) The establishment of a Small
Business Assistance Program (SBAP) to provide technical and compliance
assistance to small businesses; (2) the establishment of a state Small
Business Ombudsman to represent the interests of small businesses in
the regulatory process; and (3) the creation of a Compliance Advisory
Panel (CAP) to determine and report on the overall effectiveness of the
SBAP. The plan must also determine the eligibility of small business
stationary sources for assistance in the PROGRAM. The plan includes the
duties, funding and schedule of implementation for the three PROGRAM
components.
Section 507(a) and (e) of the CAA set forth requirements the State
must meet to have an approvable PROGRAM. The State of Georgia has
addressed these requirements and established a PROGRAM as described
below.
1. Small Business Assistance Program (SBAP)
The State of Georgia has established a mechanism to implement the
following six requirements set forth in section 507 of title V of the
CAA:
A. The establishment of adequate mechanisms for developing,
collecting and coordinating information concerning compliance methods
and technologies for small business stationary sources, and programs to
encourage lawful cooperation among such sources and other persons to
further comply with the CAA;
B. The establishment of adequate mechanisms for assisting small
business stationary sources with pollution prevention and accidental
release detection and prevention, including providing information
concerning alternative technologies, process changes, products and
methods of operation that help reduce air pollution;
C. The development of a compliance and technical assistance program
for small business stationary sources which assist small businesses in
determining applicable permit requirements and in receiving permits
under the CAA in a timely and efficient manner;
D. The development of adequate mechanisms to assure that small
business stationary sources receive notice of their rights under the
CAA in such manner and form as to assure reasonably adequate time for
such sources to evaluate compliance methods and any relevant or
applicable proposed or final regulation or standards issued under the
CAA;
E. The development of adequate mechanisms for informing small
business stationary sources of their obligations under the CAA,
including mechanisms for referring such sources to qualified auditors,
or at the option of the State, for providing audits of the operations
of such sources to determine compliance with the CAA; and
F. The development of procedures for consideration of requests from
a small business stationary source for modification of (A) any work
practice or technological method of compliance, or (B) the schedule of
milestones for implementing such work practice or method of compliance
preceding any applicable compliance date, based on the technological
and financial capability of any such small business stationary source.
The State of Georgia acknowledges the heart of the PROGRAM is the
Small Business Assistance Program (SBAP), which resides in the Air
Protection Branch within the Environmental Protection Division. The
SBAP will provide an information clearinghouse and refer small
businesses to State technical experts within the Branch who are trained
to handle specific questions relevant to achieving compliance with the
CAA. In addition, the SBAP will provide for the collection and
dissemination of information to small businesses on determining
applicable requirements under the CAA, permit issuance, small
businesses' rights and obligations, compliance methods, acceptable
control technologies, pollution prevention, accidental release
prevention and detection, audit programs and procedures, and other
matters deemed useful or necessary by the Division. The specific
mechanisms for collection and dissemination of information will be
developed by the Ombudsman. The SBAP also will consider requests from
small business stationary sources for modifications of work practices,
technological methods of compliance, or compliance procedures and
provide guidance as necessary. The SBAP will utilize, on an as needed
basis, the services of other in-state entities with expertise in
various aspects related to the PROGRAM.
The dissemination of information to small businesses in Georgia
through the SBAP involves both a proactive and a reactive component.
The SBAP will actively advertise the PROGRAM to ensure the regulated
communities are aware of their obligations under the CAA. The reactive
component takes place after the regulated community recognizes that
there is or could be some obligation on their part to comply with the
CAA. The Division is committed to supporting the proactive component of
the program which includes, but is not limited to the following:
utilizing the Georgia Department of Industry and Trade manufacturing
directory; providing informational packets which describe in layman
terms compliance and technical information relevant to small businesses
as required by the Act; and holding meetings throughout the State with
interested parties. Reactive components of the SBAP include: the
designation of a trained technical specialist to handle inquiries from
small businesses; a technical specialist to interface with the Air
Protection Branch's engineering, permitting, and compliance programs
for needed information; and an information clearinghouse of information
from EPA's technical support services, other state ombudsman offices,
and professional organizations.
The SBAP will assist small businesses in determining applicable
requirements and will provide information on permit issuance,
compliance methods, acceptable control technologies, pollution
prevention, accidental release prevention and detection, and audit
programs. The SBAP will inform small businesses about their rights
under the CAA; assist in the preparation of guidance documents and
ensure that technical and compliance information is available to the
small business community and the general public; answer regulatory
questions raised by small businesses and provide them with clean air
compliance information; obtain information and counsel from other
appropriate state agencies; and participate and sponsor meetings on air
quality requirements, pollution prevention, and other regulatory
issues.
A small business may petition the Division to modify work
practices, compliance methods or implementation schedules in accordance
with established procedures as described in the SIP.
2. Ombudsman
Section 507(a)(3) of the CAA requires the designation of a state
office to serve as the Ombudsman for small business stationary sources.
Georgia has appointed a Small Business Ombudsman and established the
Office of the Ombudsman within the Environmental Protection Division.
Through that office, the Ombudsman will have access to the Governor,
the Director of the Environmental Protection Division, the Chief of the
Air Protection Branch, and other state and Federal agencies. The
Ombudsman will
[[Page 3823]]
have the necessary autonomy to function independently of the air
program.
3. Compliance Advisory Panel
Section 507(e) of the CAA requires the State to establish a
Compliance Advisory Panel (CAP) that must include two members selected
by the Governor who are not owners or representatives of owners of
small businesses. Four members will be selected by the state
legislature who are owners, or represent owners, of small businesses.
The majority and minority leadership in both the house and the senate
shall each appoint one member of the panel. One member will be selected
by the Chief of the Air Protection Branch. The State of Georgia has
established a CAP with a membership consistent with the aforementioned
CAA requirements.
The duties of the CAP include: providing advisory opinions to the
EPA regarding the effectiveness of the state PROGRAM, the difficulties
encountered by small businesses, and the severity of enforcement;
reviewing information for small business stationary air pollution
sources to assure such information is understandable to the lay person;
and to make periodic reports to the Administrator of the Environmental
Protection Agency in accordance with the requirements of the Paperwork
Reduction Act, the Regulatory Flexibility Act, and the Equal Access to
Justice Act. The SBAP will serve as the secretariat to the CAP in the
development and dissemination of reports, advisory opinions, and other
information.
4. Source Eligibility
Georgia has incorporated section 507(c)(1) of the CAA and defined a
Small Business Stationary Source as a source that:
(1) Is owned or operated by a person who employs 100 or fewer
individuals;
(2) is a small business concern as defined in the Small Business
Act;
(3) is not a major stationary source; and
(4) does not emit 50 tons per year (tpy) of any regulated pollutant
and emits less than 75 tpy of all regulated pollutants.
Georgia has established the following mechanisms as required by
section 507: (1) A process for ascertaining the eligibility of a source
to receive assistance under the PROGRAM, including an evaluation of a
source's eligibility using the criteria in section 507(c)(1) of the
CAA; (2) A process for public notice and comment on grants of
eligibility to sources that do not meet the provisions of sections
507(c)(1) (C), (D), and (E) of the CAA, but do not emit more than 100
tpy of all regulated pollutants; and (3) a process for exclusion from
the small business stationary source definition, after consultation
with the EPA and the Small Business Administration Administrator and
after providing notice and opportunity for public comment, of any
category or subcategory of sources that the Division determines to have
sufficient technical and financial capabilities to meet the
requirements of the CAA.
Final Action
In this action, EPA is approving the SIP revision establishing a
Small Business Stationary Source Technical and Environmental Compliance
Assistance program submitted by the State of Georgia through the
Environmental Protection Division. The EPA is publishing this action
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 April 2, 1996 unless,
by March 4, 1996, 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 the proposed rule
published with this action. The 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 April 2, 1996.
Under section 307(b)(1) of the CAA, 42 U.S.C. 7607(b)(1), petitions
for judicial review of this action must be filed in the United States
Court of Appeals for the appropriate circuit by April 2, 1996. Filing a
petition for reconsideration by the Administrator of this final rule
does not affect the finality of this rule for 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 may not be challenged later in proceedings
to enforce its requirements. (See section 307(b)(2) of the CAA, 42
U.S.C. 7607(b)(2).)
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 a
July 10, 1995 memorandum from Mary Nichols, Assistant Administrator for
Air and Radiation. The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has
exempted this regulatory action from E.O. 12866 review.
By today's action, the USEPA is approving a State program created
for the purpose of assisting small business stationary sources in
complying with existing statutory and regulatory requirements. The
program being approved today does not impose any new regulatory burden
on small business stationary sources; it is a program under which small
business stationary sources may elect to take advantage of assistance
provided by the State. Therefore, because the USEPA's approval of this
program does not impose any new regulatory requirements on small
businesses, I certify that it does not have a significant economic
impact on any small entities affected.
SIP approvals under section 110 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, I certify 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 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. Environmental Protection Agency, 427 U.S. 246,
256-66 (S.Ct. 1976); 42 U.S.C. sections 7410(a)(2) and 7410(k).
Nothing in this action shall be construed as permitting or allowing
or establishing a precedent for any future request for a revision to
any SIP. Each request for revision to the SIP shall be considered
separately in light of specific technical, economic, and environmental
factors and in relation to relevant statutory and regulatory
requirements.
Title II of the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995 (``UMRA''),
P.L. 104-4, establishes requirements for the Federal agencies to assess
the effects of their regulatory actions on State, local, and tribal
governments and the private sector. Under section 202 of the UMRA, EPA
generally must prepare a written
[[Page 3824]]
statement, including a cost-benefit analysis, for proposed and final
rules with ``Federal mandates'' that may result in expenditures to
State, local and tribal governments, in the aggregate, or to the
private sector, of $100 million or more in any one year. When a written
statement is needed for an EPA rule, section 205 of the UMRA generally
requires EPA to identify and consider a reasonable number of regulatory
alternatives and adopt the least costly, most cost-effective or least
burdensome alternative that achieves the objectives of the rule. The
provisions of section 205 do not apply when they are inconsistent with
applicable law. Moreover, section 205 allows EPA to adopt an
alternative other than the least costly, most cost-effective or least
burdensome alternative if the Administrator publishes with the final
rule an explanation why that alternative was not adopted. Before EPA
establishes any regulatory requirements that may significantly or
uniquely affect small governments, including tribal governments, it
must have developed under section 203 of the UMRA a small government
agency plan. The plan must provide for notifying potentially affected
small governments, giving them meaningful and timely input in the
development of EPA regulatory proposals with significant federal
intergovernmental mandates, and informing, educating, and advising them
on compliance with the regulatory requirements.
Through submission of the SIP or plan revisions approved in this
action, the State and any affected local or tribal governments have
elected to adopt the program provided for under section 175A of the
Clean Air Act. The submission approved in this action may bind State,
local and tribal governments to perform certain actions and also may
ultimately lead to the private sector being required to perform certain
duties. To the extent that the submission being approved by this action
will impose or lead to the imposition of any mandate upon the State,
local or tribal governments either as the owner or operator of a source
or as a regulator, or would impose or lead to the imposition of any
mandate upon the private sector, EPA's action will impose no new
requirements; such sources are already subject to these requirements
under State law. Accordingly, no additional costs to State, local, or
tribal governments, or to the private sector, result from this action.
The EPA has determined that this rule does not contain a Federal
mandate that may result in expenditures of $100 million or more for
State, local, or tribal governments in the aggregate, or on the private
sector, in any one year. Thus, today's rule is not subject to the
requirements of sections 202 and 205 of the UMRA EPA has determined
that this rule contains no regulatory requirements that might
significantly or uniquely affect small governments.
List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 52
Environmental protection, Air pollution control, Incorporation by
reference, Intergovernmental relations, Reporting and recordkeeping
requirements.
Dated: October 17, 1995.
Patrick M. Tobin,
Acting Regional Administrator.
Chapter I, title 40, Code of Federal Regulations, 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 L--Georgia
2. Section 52.570 is amended by adding paragraph (c)(43) read as
follows:
Sec. 52.570 Identification of plan.
* * * * *
(c) * * *
(43) The Georgia Environmental Protection Division has submitted
revisions to the Georgia State Implementation Plan on September 27,
1995. These revisions address the requirements of section 507 of Title
V of the Clean Air Act and establish the Small Business Stationary
Source Technical and Environmental Program.
(i) Incorporation by reference.
(A) The submittal of the state of Georgia's Small Business
Stationary Source Technical and Environmental Compliance Assistance
Program which was adopted on July 20, 1995.
(ii) Additional Material. None.
* * * * *
[FR Doc. 96-1926 Filed 2-1-96; 8:45 am]
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