[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 69 (Tuesday, April 9, 1996)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 15717-15719]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-8432]



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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 52

[AZ 063-0001a; FRL-5443-7]


Clean Air Act Approval and Promulgation of Prevention of 
Significant Deterioration (PSD) and General Permitting Provisions 
Implementation Plan for Arizona State Pinal County Air Quality Control 
District

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Direct final rule.

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SUMMARY: EPA is promulgating direct final approval of portions of a 
requested State Implementation Plan (SIP) revision submitted by the 
State of Arizona on behalf of Pinal County for the purpose of meeting 
requirements of the Clean Air Act, as amended in 1990 (CAA or the Act) 
with regard to general permitting and prevention of significant 
deterioration (PSD) programs in areas of Pinal County that are in 
attainment of the national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS). The 
requested revision was submitted by the State to satisfy certain 
Federal requirements for an approvable SIP.
    EPA is taking this action to approve the portions of Pinal's rules 
identified below into the SIP for the purpose of meeting the PSD and 
preconstruction permitting requirements of 40 CFR 51.160 through 51.164 
and 51.166, under the authority granted by 40 CFR 51.105. Approval of 
Pinal's rules for the purposes of meeting the nonattainment 
preconstruction permitting requirements of 40 CFR 51.165 will take 
place under a separate action. This action does not in any way imply 
that Pinal's nonattainment permitting provisions meet the requirements 
of Sec. Sec. 171, 172, 173, 181, 182, 187, or 189 of the CAA. Failure 
on Pinal's part to submit rules which meet the requirements of 40 CFR 
51.165 may trigger sanctions as provided for under Sec. 179 of the 
Clean Air Act.

DATES: This direct final rule is effective on June 10, 1996 unless 
adverse or critical comments are received by May 9, 1996. If the 
effective date is delayed, a timely notice will be published in the 
Federal Register.

ADDRESSES: Copies of the State's submittal and other information are 
available for inspection during normal business hours at the following 
locations: (1) EPA Region 9, 75 Hawthorne Street, San Francisco, CA 
94105; (2) State of Arizona Department of Environmental Quality 3033 
North Central Avenue, Phoenix, AZ 85012.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jessica Gaylord (telephone: 415-744-
1290), or Steve Ringer (telephone: 415-744-1260), New Source Section, 
Air & Toxics Division (A-5-1), EPA Region 9, 75 Hawthorne Street, San 
Francisco, CA 94105.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The air quality planning requirements for 
attainment areas are set out in 40 CFR 51.166. The general air quality 
permitting requirements are set out in 40 CFR 51.160-51.164.

Procedural Background

    The Act requires States to observe certain procedural requirements 
in developing implementation plans and plan revisions for submission to 
EPA. Section 110(a)(2) and section 110(l) of the Act provide that each 
implementation plan or revision to an implementation plan submitted by 
a State must be adopted after reasonable notice and public hearing.
    ADEQ held a public hearing on August 9, 1994, to entertain public 
comment on the proposal to submit portions of Pinal County's Code of 
Regulations as a revision to the SIP. On August 16, 1994 the rules were 
submitted to EPA as a proposed revision to the Arizona SIP. On May 31, 
1995 and November 27, 1995, ADEQ submitted applicable portions of the 
original submittal which had subsequently been revised by Pinal County 
(the Pinal County portion of the August 16, 1994 submittal and its 
subsequent revisions will hereafter be referred to as ``the submitted 
rules'').
    The November 27, 1995 SIP revision was reviewed by EPA and 
determined to be complete on February 2, 1996. The submitted rules 
contain all of the general permitting and PSD requirements but lack 
certain nonattainment new source review (NSR) requirements that would 
make them

[[Page 15718]]
fully approvable. In this action, EPA is therefore promulgating 
approval of only those portions of the submitted rules which are 
necessary to meet the general permitting and PSD requirements contained 
in 40 CFR 51.160-51.164 and 51.166. The specific rules that EPA is 
promulgating approval of are listed below. EPA believes that these 
rules are separable and that their independent approval does not affect 
their stringency. EPA will therefore act at a later date on the 
portions of the submitted rules which are intended to satisfy the 
requirements contained in 40 CFR 51.165.
    EPA is publishing this action without prior proposal because the 
Agency views this as a noncontroversial action and anticipates no 
adverse comments. However, should adverse or critical comments be 
filed, EPA is proposing in a separate document in this Federal Register 
publication, approval of those portions of the submitted rules that are 
necessary to meet the general permitting and PSD requirements.
    If EPA receives adverse or critical 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 with this action serving 
as the proposed rule. The EPA will not institute a second comment 
period. 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 June 10, 1996.
    Pinal County is currently designated as attainment or 
unclassifiable for carbon monoxide, ozone, nitrogen dioxide, lead, and 
sulfur dioxide, and partial nonattainment for particulate matter 
(PM10). The specific PM10 nonattainment areas is the planning 
area Hayden/Miami, which is classified as moderate nonattainment for 
PM10. The preconstruction requirements for PSD permitting are 
found at section 165 of the Clean Air Act. The submitted rules satisfy 
these requirements. For a detailed description of how the submitted 
rules meet the applicable requirements, please refer to EPA's Technical 
Support Document (TSD).

Proposed Action

    EPA is promulgating direct final approval of the portions of the 
submitted rules that contain the general and PSD permitting provisions. 
Specifically, EPA is proposing to approve the following sections of the 
submitted rules into the Arizona SIP:
    Chapter 1, General Provisions & Definitions, Articles 1 
(Provisions), 2 (Incorporated Materials), and 3 (Definitions).
    Chapter 2, Ambient Air Quality Standards, Articles 1 (Air Quality 
Standards), 2 (Ambient Air Quality Monitoring Methods & Procedures), 3 
(Interpretation of Ambient Air Quality Standards & Evaluation of Air 
Quality Data), 4 (Attainment Area Classification), 5 (Limitation of 
Pollutants in Attainment Areas), 6 (Violations), and 7 (Air Pollution 
Emergency Episodes).
    Chapter 3, Permits and Permit Revisions, Articles 1 (General 
Provisions Relating to Permits & Permit Revisions), 2 (Permit 
Amendments and Revisions), and the following sections of Article 3, 
section 200 (Purpose), section 203 (Definitions), section 205 
(Application Requirements), section 210 (Application Review Process), 
section 250 (Permit and Permit Revision Requirements For Sources 
Located In Attainment and Unclassifiable Areas), section 260 (Air 
Quality Impact Analysis and Monitoring Requirements), section 270 
(Innovative Control technology), section 275 (Air Quality Models), and 
section 280 (Visibility Protections).
    It should be noted here that approval of these sections does not 
indicate that portions of the rule intended to meet requirements of 
Title V of the CAA are now federally-enforceable. Approval of a Title V 
program is a separate action.
    EPA is requesting comments on all aspects of the requested SIP 
revision and EPA's proposed rulemaking action. Comments received by the 
date indicated above will be considered in the development of EPA's 
final rule.

Administrative Review

    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 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, 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 Act, 
preparation of a regulatory flexibility analysis would constitute 
Federal inquiry into the economic reasonableness of State action. The 
Act 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).
    The Office of Management and Budget has exempted this action from 
review under Executive Order 12866.

Unfunded Mandates

    Under Section 202 of the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995, EPA 
must prepare a budgetary impact statement to accompany any proposed or 
final rule 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. EPA has determined that 
the approval proposed in this document does not include such a federal 
mandate, as this proposed federal action would approve pre-existing 
requirements under state or local law, and would impose no new federal 
requirements. Accordingly, no additional costs to state, local, or 
tribal governments, or to the private sector, will result from this 
action.

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 52

    Air pollution control, Hydrocarbons, Incorporation by reference, 
Intergovernmental relations, New source review, Nitrogen dioxide, 
Particulate matter, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, Sulfur 
dioxide, Volatile organic compounds.

    Dated: March 3, 1996.
Felicia Marcus,
Regional Administrator.

    Subpart D of part 52, chapter I, title 40 of the 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.
    
[[Page 15719]]


Subpart D--Arizona

    2. Section 52.120 is amended by adding paragraph (c)(84) to read as 
follows:


Sec. 52.120  Identification of plan.

* * * * *
    (c) * * *
    (84) Amended regulations for the Pinal County Air Quality Control 
District were submitted on November 27, 1995, by the Governor's 
designee.
    (i) Incorporation by reference.
    (A) Pinal County Air Quality Control District Code of Regulations: 
Chapter 1, Articles 1 through 3; Chapter 2, Articles 1 through 7; 
Chapter 3, Articles 1, 2, and the following sections of Article 3, 
Section 200, Section 203, Section 205, Section 210, Section 250, 
Section 260, Section 270, Section 275, and Section 280. Adopted on 
October 12, 1995.
* * * * *
[FR Doc. 96-8432 Filed 4-8-96; 8:45 am]
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