[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 205 (Tuesday, October 22, 1996)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 54736-54737]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-27001]



[[Page 54736]]

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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 52

[PA097-4030; FRL-5635-4]


Approval and Promulgation of Air Quality Implementation Plans; 
Pennsylvania; Revised Visible Emissions Rules for Allegheny County 
Pertaining to Blast Furnace Slips

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Direct final rule.

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SUMMARY: Pursuant to Agency procedures for approving minor State 
Implementation Plan (SIP) revisions, this action identifies a plan 
revision submitted by Pennsylvania on behalf of Allegheny County which 
EPA approved and incorporates the relevant material into the Code of 
Federal Regulations. This revision deletes the exemption of blast 
furnace slips from Allegheny County's visible emissions regulations. 
This action lists the SIP revision that EPA has approved and 
incorporates the relevant material into the code of Federal 
Regulations. This action is being taken under section 110 of the Clean 
Air Act.

EFFECTIVE DATE: This action is effective October 22, 1996.
ADDRESSES: Comments may be mailed to Marcia L. Spink, Associate 
Director, Air Programs, Mailcode 3AT00, 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 the 
Allegheny County Health Department, Bureau of Air Pollution Control, 
301 39th Street, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15201.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Harold A. Frankford, (215) 566-2108 or 
by e-mail at [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: EPA has approved the following minor SIP 
request under section 110(a) of the Clean Air Act (CAA):

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               State                        Pollutant            Subject matter              Source             Submittal date         Approval date    
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Allegheny County...................  PM10..................  Blast furnace slips     USX Corporation;       September 25, 1989...  December 27, 1989.   
                                                              (Article XX, Sections   Shenango Steel                                                    
                                                              401.B.1 and 518).       Corporation.                                                      
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    EPA has determined that this SIP revision complies with all 
applicable requirements of the Clean Air Act and EPA requirements 
concerning such revisions. Due to the minor nature of this revision, 
EPA concluded that conducting notice-and-comment rulemaking prior to 
approving the revisions would have been ``unnecessary and contrary to 
the public interest,'' and hence, was not required by the 
Administrative Procedures Act, 5 U.S.C. 553(b). Each of these SIP 
approvals became final and effective on the date of EPA approval as 
listed in the chart above.
    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.

Administrative Requirements

A. Executive Order 12866

    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.

B. Regulatory Flexibility Act

    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 SIPs on such grounds. Union Electric Co. v. U.S. 
EPA, 427 U.S. 246, 255-66 (1976); 42 U.S.C. 7410(a)(2).

C. Unfunded Mandates

    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 rule that includes a Federal mandate that may result in estimated 
costs to State, local, or tribal governments in the aggregate; or to 
private sector, of $100 million or more. Under Section 205, EPA must 
select 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 proposed/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.

[[Page 54737]]

D. Submission to Congress and the General Accounting Office

    Under 5 U.S.C. 801(a)(1)(A) added by the Small Business Regulatory 
Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996, EPA submitted a report containing 
this rule and other required information to the U.S. Senate, the U.S. 
House of Representatives and the Comptroller General of the General 
Accounting Office prior to publication of the rule in today's Federal 
Register. This rule is not a ``major rule'' as defined by 5 U.S.C. 
804(2).

E. Petitions for Judicial 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 December 23, 1996. Filing a 
petition for reconsideration by the Administrator of this final rule 
pertaining to EPA's approval of Allegheny County's provisions for blast 
furnace slips 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 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, Intergovernmental relations, Particulate matter, Reporting 
and recordkeeping requirements.

    Dated: October 2, 1996.
Stanley L. Laskowski,
Acting 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)(100) to read 
as follows:


Sec. 52.2020  Identification of plan.

* * * * *
    (c) * * *
    (100) Revisions to Article XX (Air Pollution Control) of the 
Allegheny County Health Department Rules and Regulations submitted on 
September 25, 1989 by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental 
Resources:
(i) Incorporation by Reference
    (A) Letter of September 25, 1989 from the Pennsylvania Department 
of Environmental Resources transmitting revisions to Article XX (Air 
Pollution Control) of the Allegheny County Health Department Rules and 
Regulations governing visible emissions.
    (B) Revision to Article XX, Section 401.B (Visible Emissions-
Exclusion) and deletion of Article XX, Section 518 (Blast Furnace 
Slips), effective July 1, 1989.
(ii) Additional Material
    (A) Remainder of September 25, 1989 State submittal pertaining to 
Article XX, Sections 401 and 518.

[FR Doc. 96-27001 Filed 10-21-96; 8:45 am]
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