[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 45 (Friday, March 7, 1997)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 10498-10500]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-5873]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 52
[OR65-7280; FRL-5700-8]
Approval and Promulgation of Air Quality Implementation Plans:
Oregon
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Proposed rule.
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SUMMARY: EPA is proposing to approve a revision to the State of Oregon
[[Page 10499]]
Implementation Plan. This revision establishes and requires a source-
specific Reasonably Available Control Technology (RACT) volatile
organic compound (VOC) emissions standard for PCC Structurals, Inc.,
Large Parts Campus, at 4600 SE Harney Drive, Portland, Oregon. This
action is being taken under Part D of the Clean Air Act.
DATES: Comments must be received on or before April 7, 1997.
ADDRESSES: Written comments should be addressed to: Montel Livingston,
SIP Manager, Office of Air Quality (OAQ-107), U. S. Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA), Region 10, 1200 Sixth Avenue, Seattle,
Washington, 98101. Copies of the documents relevant to this action are
available for public inspection during normal business hours at EPA
Region 10, Office of Air Quality, 1200 Sixth Avenue, Seattle,
Washington, 98101, and the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality,
811 S.W. Sixth Avenue, Portland, Oregon 97204-1390.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Denise Baker, Office of Air Quality
(OAQ-107), EPA, Region 10, 1200 Sixth Avenue, Seattle, Washington,
98101, phone (206) 553-8087.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
Section 172 (a)(2) and (b)(3) of the Clean Air Act (CAA), as
amended in 1977 (1977 Act), required sources of VOC to install, at a
minimum, RACT in order to reduce emissions of this pollutant. EPA has
defined RACT as the lowest emission limit that a particular source is
capable of meeting by the application of control technology that is
reasonably available, considering technological and economic
feasibility (44 FR 53761, September 17, 1979). EPA has developed
Control Technology Guidelines (CTGs) for the purpose of informing State
and local air pollution control agencies of air pollution control
techniques available for reducing emissions of VOC from various
categories of sources. Each CTG contains recommendations to the States
of what EPA calls the ``presumptive norm'' for RACT. This general
statement of agency policy is based on EPA's evaluation of the
capabilities of, and problems associated with, control technologies
currently used by facilities within individual source categories. EPA
has recommended that the States adopt requirements consistent with the
presumptive norm level.
On March 3, 1978, the entire Portland-Vancouver Interstate Air
Quality Maintenance Area was designated by EPA as a non-attainment area
for ozone. The Portland-Vancouver Interstate Air Quality Maintenance
Area contains the urbanized portions of three counties in Oregon
(Clackamas, Multnomah, and Washington) and one county (Clark) in the
State of Washington.
The 1977 Act required States to submit plans to demonstrate how
they would attain and maintain compliance with national ambient air
standards for those areas designated non-attainment. The 1977 Act
further required these plans to demonstrate compliance with primary
standards no later than December 31, 1982. An extension up to December
31, 1987, was possible if the State could demonstrate that, despite
implementation of all reasonably available control measures, the
December 31, 1982, date could not be met.
On October 7, 1982, EPA approved the Portland-Vancouver area ozone
attainment plan, including an extension of the attainment date to
December 31, 1987 (47 FR 44262).
On June 15, 1988, pursuant to Section 110(a)(2)(H) of the pre-
amended CAA, former EPA Regional Administrator Robie Russell notified
the State of Oregon by letter that the State Implementation Plan (SIP)
for the Portland-Vancouver area was substantially inadequate to provide
for timely attainment of the National Ambient Air Quality Standards
(NAAQS). In that letter, EPA identified specific actions needed to
correct deficiencies in State regulations to require RACT for sources
of VOC. When the CAA was amended in 1990, it required States to correct
deficiencies. In amended Section 182(a)(2)(A), Congress statutorily
adopted the requirement that ozone non-attainment areas fix their
deficient RACT rules for ozone. Areas designated non-attainment before
the effective date of the amendments, and which retained that
designation and were classified as marginal or above as of the
effective date, are required to meet the RACT fix-up requirement. Under
Section 182(a)(2)(A), States with such non-attainment areas were
mandated to correct their RACT requirements by May 15, 1991. The
corrected requirements were to be in compliance with Section 172(b), as
it existed before the amendments, and as that section was interpreted
in the pre-amendment guidance. The Portland part of the Portland-
Vancouver non-attainment area is classified as marginal. Therefore,
this area is subject to the RACT fix-up requirement and the May 15,
1991, deadline.
On May 15, 1991, the State of Oregon submitted Oregon
Administrative Rules (OAR) 340-22-100 through 340-22-220, General
Emission Standards for Volatile Organic Compounds, as an amendment to
the Oregon SIP. On September 29, 1993, EPA approved these revisions to
the Oregon SIP (58 FR 50848). Part of these amended rules included a
requirement for RACT for non-CTG sources.
On February 3, 1997, the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality
(ODEQ) submitted to EPA a proposed revision to its SIP. This proposed
revision was a draft source-specific revision to the State of Oregon
Clean Air Act Implementation Plan, OAR 340-020-0047, and was submitted
pursuant to 40 CFR 51.103.
The proposed revision consists of a RACT determination for PCC
Structurals, Inc., Large Parts Campus, at 4600 SE Harney Drive,
Portland, Oregon. This RACT determination establishes requirements that
are part of the Portland-Vancouver Air Quality Maintenance Plan which
EPA is proposing to approve in a separate action. As this RACT
determination is still in draft, ODEQ has requested that it be approved
through the parallel processing procedures contained in 40 CFR Part 51,
Appendix V.
The proposed RACT determination for PCC Structurals, Inc., would
modify existing operating permit #26-1867 by: 1) requiring (within one
year of approval of RACT determination by EPA) that PCC Structurals,
Inc., provide controls to reduce the VOC emissions from the Large Parts
Campus Steel and Titanium (LPC-S and LPC-T) investment casting
operations by a minimum of 90 percent; 2) requiring PCC Structurals,
Inc., to submit (within 90 days of EPA approval) to ODEQ a final
control strategy concerning the VOC emissions from the investment
casting operations. [This plan would include a schedule and dates of
the project interim steps leading up to compliance with 1, above.]; and
3) stipulating the method by which PCC Structurals, Inc., may
demonstrate compliance with 1, above. (For more information, see
conditions 12, 13, and 19 through 22, of addendum #2 to operating
permit #26-1867, issued by ODEQ.)
This Federal Register document proposes to approve these permit
conditions as amendments to the SIP. EPA is soliciting public comments
on the issues discussed in this notice or on other relevant matters.
These comments will be considered before taking final action.
Interested parties may participate in the Federal rule-making
[[Page 10500]]
procedure by submitting written comments to the EPA Regional Office
listed in the ADDRESSES section of this notice.
This revision is being proposed under a procedure called parallel
processing, whereby EPA proposes rule-making action concurrently with
the State's procedures for amending its regulations. If the proposed
revision is substantially changed in areas other than those identified
in this notice, EPA will evaluate those changes and may publish another
notice of proposed rule-making. If no substantial changes are made
other than those areas cited in this notice, ODEQ will publish a Final
Rule-making Notice on the revisions. The final rule-making action by
EPA will occur only after the SIP revision has been adopted by ODEQ and
submitted formally to EPA for incorporation into the SIP.
Proposed Action
EPA is proposing to approve the revisions to the State of Oregon
Implementation Plan submitted on February 3, 1997, that establish RACT
requirements for PCC Structurals, Inc. EPA is proposing this rule-
making action concurrently with the State's procedures for amending its
regulations. EPA will take final action on this proposal after ODEQ
submits its RACT determination to EPA for approval.
Nothing in this action should be construed as permitting or
allowing or establishing a precedent for any future request for
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.
III. 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, EPA 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
The EPA's actions under section 502 of the Act do not create any
new requirements, but simply address operating permits programs
submitted to satisfy the requirements of 40 CFR Part 70. Because this
action does not impose any new requirements, it does not have a
significant impact on a substantial number of small entities.
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
the 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 on by the rule.
EPA has determined that the approval action proposed 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
requirements. Accordingly, no additional costs to State, local, or
tribal governments, or to the private sector, result from this action.
The Administrator's decision to approve the SIP revision will be
based on whether it meets the requirements of section 110(a)(2) (A)-(K)
and part D of the Clean Air Act, as amended, and EPA regulations in 40
CFR Part 51.
List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 52
Environmental protection, Air pollution control, Ozone, Reporting
and recordkeeping requirements.
Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7401-7671q.
Dated: February 27, 1997.
Charles E. Findley,
Acting Regional Administrator.
[FR Doc. 97-5873 Filed 3-6-97; 8:45 am]
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