[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 206 (Wednesday, October 23, 1996)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 54948-54950]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-27130]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 52

[Region 2 Docket No. NJ12-3-157a, VI2-3-158a; FRL-5637-8]


Clean Air Act Approval and Promulgation of Title V, Section 507, 
Small Business Stationary Source Technical and Environmental Compliance 
Assistance Program; New Jersey and the U.S. Virgin Islands

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Direct final rule.

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SUMMARY: The EPA is fully approving the State Implementation Plan (SIP) 
revisions submitted by the States of New Jersey and the U.S. Virgin 
Islands for the establishment of Compliance Advisory Panels under their 
Small Business Stationary Source Technical and Environmental Compliance 
Assistance Programs. The SIP revisions were submitted by New Jersey and 
the Virgin Islands to satisfy the Federal mandate, found in the Clean 
Air Act (CAA), that states create a Compliance Advisory Panel which is 
authorized to determine the state's effectiveness in ensuring that 
small businesses have access to the technical assistance and regulatory 
information necessary to comply with the CAA. The rationale for the 
approval is set forth in this document; additional information is 
available at the address indicated in the Addresses section.

DATES: This rule is effective on December 23, 1996 unless adverse or 
critical comments are received by November 22, 1996. If the effective 
date is delayed, timely notice will be published in the Federal 
Register.

ADDRESSES: Copies of all of New Jersey's and the Virgin Islands' 
submittals are available for inspection during normal business hours at 
the EPA Region 2 Office, 290 Broadway, 25th Floor, New York, New York 
10007-1866. In addition, copies can be found at the New Jersey 
Department of Environmental Protection, Office of Permit Information 
and Assistance, 401 East State Street, Trenton, New Jersey, attention: 
Chuck McCarty; and the Virgin Islands Department of Planning and 
Natural Resources, Division of Environmental Protection, Wheatley 
Shopping Center #2, St. Thomas, VI 00802, attention: Marilyn Stapleton.

[[Page 54949]]

    All comments should be addressed to: Ronald J. Borsellino, Chief, 
Air Programs Branch, Environmental Protection Agency, Region 2 Office, 
290 Broadway, New York, New York 10007-1866.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Christine Fazio, Permitting Section, 
Air Programs Branch, at the above EPA address or at telephone number 
(212) 637-4015.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

    Implementation of the provisions of the Clean Air Act (CAA), as 
amended in 1990, will require regulation of many small businesses so 
that areas may attain and maintain the national ambient air quality 
standards (NAAQS) and reduce the emission of air toxics. Small 
businesses frequently lack the technical expertise and financial 
resources necessary to evaluate such regulations and to determine the 
appropriate mechanisms for compliance. In anticipation of the impact of 
these requirements on small businesses, the CAA requires that states 
adopt a Small Business Stationary Source Technical and Environmental 
Compliance Assistance Program (PROGRAM), and submit this PROGRAM as a 
revision to the Federally approved SIP. In addition, the CAA directs 
the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to oversee these small 
business assistance programs and report to Congress on their 
implementation. The requirements for establishing a PROGRAM are set out 
in section 507 of Title V of the CAA. In February 1992, EPA issued 
Guidelines for the Implementation of Section 507 of the 1990 Clean Air 
Act Amendments (Final Guidelines) in order to delineate the federal and 
state roles in meeting the new statutory provisions and as a tool to 
provide further guidance to the states on submitting acceptable SIP 
revisions.
    In order to gain full approval, the state submittal must provide 
for each of the following PROGRAM components: (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.
    EPA proposed to conditionally approve New Jersey's and the U.S. 
Virgin Islands' SIPs on December 21, 1993 (58 FR 67383) and finalized 
the conditional approval on July 5, 1994 (59 FR 34383). A detailed 
discussion of New Jersey's and the Virgin Islands' PROGRAM and EPA's 
evaluations of the PROGRAM is contained in the above cited Federal 
Registers. EPA found that New Jersey and the U.S. Virgin Islands lacked 
the requisite authority to establish a CAP. Therefore, EPA 
conditionally approved New Jersey's and the U.S. Virgin Islands' 
section 507 programs and stated that full approval will be granted once 
authority to establish a CAP has been enacted and submitted as a SIP 
revision.

II. Summary of Submittal

    Section 507(e) requires the State to establish a CAP that must 
include two members selected by the Governor who are not owners or 
representatives of owners of small businesses; four members selected by 
the State legislature who are owners, or represent owners, of small 
businesses; and one member selected by the head of the agency in charge 
of the Air Pollution Permit Program. The Governor of New Jersey signed 
Chapter 188 of the Laws of New Jersey on August 2, 1995. New Jersey's 
law specified the CAP's make-up, terms, and duties consistent with 
section 507 of the CAA. The Governor of the U.S. Virgin Islands signed 
Act No. 6011 on September 2, 1994 which authorizes the establishment of 
a CAP. Act No. 6011 specifies the CAP's make-up, terms, and duties 
consistent with the requirements in section 507 of the CAA.

III. Final Action

    EPA is fully approving the SIP revisions submitted by New Jersey 
and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The revisions satisfy the requirements of 
section 507 of the CAA.
    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, the EPA is proposing to approve the SIP revision 
should adverse or critical comments be filed. This action will be 
effective December 23, 1996 unless, by November 22, 1996, adverse or 
critical comments are received.
    If the EPA receives such comments, this action will be withdrawn 
before the effective date by publishing a subsequent notice that will 
withdraw the final action. All public comments received will be 
addressed in a subsequent final rule based on this action serving as a 
proposed rule. 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 December 23, 1996.
    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

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.

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.
    By today's action, EPA is fully approving State programs created 
for the purpose of assisting small businesses in complying with 
existing statutory and regulatory requirements. The programs being 
fully approved today do not impose any new regulatory burden on small 
businesses; they are programs under which small businesses may elect to 
take advantage of assistance provided by the State. Therefore, because 
the full approval does not impose any new regulatory requirements on 
small businesses, EPA certifies that this action does not have a 
significant economic impact on any small entities affected.

Unfunded Mandates

    Under section 202 of the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995 
(``Unfunded Mandates Act''), signed

[[Page 54950]]

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 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.

Submission to Congress and the General Accounting Office

    Under 5 U.S.C. 801(a)(1)(A) as 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. section 804(2).

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 
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, Small business 
assistance program.

    Dated: September 30, 1996.
William J. Muszynski,
Acting Regional Administrator.

    For the reasons set forth in the preamble, the State implementation 
Plan revisions which were conditionally approved and listed in 40 CFR 
52.1607 and 52.2782 (59 FR 34386, July 5, 1994) are fully approved.

[FR Doc. 96-27130 Filed 10-22-96; 8:45 am]
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