[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 134 (Monday, July 14, 1997)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 37514-37516]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-18250]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 70
[FRL-5855-1]
Clean Air Act Final Full Approval of Operating Permits Program
and Approval of Delegation of Section 112(l); State of Iowa
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Direct final full approval.
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SUMMARY: By this action the EPA grants final full approval to Iowa's
Title V operating permit program for the purpose of meeting the
requirements of 40 CFR Part 70. This fulfills the conditions of the
interim approval granted on September 1, 1995, which became effective
October 2, 1995.
DATES: This action is effective September 12, 1997 unless by August 13,
1997 adverse or critical comments are received. If the effective date
is delayed timely notice will be published in the Federal Register.
ADDRESSES: Copies of the documents relevant to this action are
available for
[[Page 37515]]
public inspection during normal business hours at the: Environmental
Protection Agency, Air Planning and Development Branch, 726 Minnesota
Avenue, Kansas City, Kansas 66101; and the EPA Air & Radiation Docket
and Information Center, 401 M Street, SW., Washington, DC 20460.
Comments may be submitted to Christopher Hess, EPA, Air Planning and
Development Branch, 726 Minnesota Avenue, Kansas City, Kansas 66101.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Christopher D. Hess at (913) 551-7213.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
In a rulemaking dated September 1, 1995 (60 FR 45671-45673), the
EPA granted interim approval to Iowa's Title V program. This interim
approval was necessary because the state needed to submit a revised
workload analysis describing how the operating permits program would be
implemented at the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (IDNR). Based
on the proposed rulemaking dated April 26, 1995 (60 FR 20465-20469),
the state made four rule revisions and finalized its operating permit
fee with only the revised workload analysis still to be completed. This
analysis was submitted to the EPA in a letter dated April 3, 1997.
Thus, the state has now completed each of the requirements for final
full approval.
II. Analysis of State Submission
According to the conditions of the interim approval, the state of
Iowa had the option to either hire the originally forecasted amount of
personnel or revise its workload analysis to demonstrate how the Title
V program could be implemented with fewer personnel.
The IDNR's original program submittal forecasted approximately 520
Title V sources in Iowa. Due to creation of a Federally Enforceable
State Operating Permit Program that enables sources to limit their
potential to emit and thus be excused from Title V requirements, the
IDNR has reduced the number of Title V sources to approximately 290.
The IDNR has a total of 75.5 personnel available for implementation
of the program (including ``augmented'' personnel from the small
business assistance and local agency programs). Additionally, the IDNR
has six more authorized positions to fill and has requested five new
positions for FY-98. This results in a total of 86.5 FTE for the
program which is almost identical to the IDNR's original forecast.
Thus, the EPA concludes that the state has an adequate amount of
personnel to implement a Title V program and considers the state to
have fulfilled the conditions necessary for final full approval.
In terms of program design, the IDNR has created five sections to
include: General (includes monitoring and technical assistance);
Planning and Compliance (includes modeling, permit reporting,
enforcement, stack testing); Compliance and Enforcement (includes
inspections of Title V sources as well as those who have permit
restrictions and must be verified as not subject to Title V);
Construction Permits (including preconstruction permitting,
applicability determinations, and emission control reviews); and the
Operating Permits Section (including Title V review and general
permits).
This design and the number of personnel assigned to the various
activities mirrors that of other state programs successfully
implementing Title V programs.
III. Final Action
The EPA grants final full approval to Iowa's Title V program since
the state has fulfilled the conditions of the interim approval
effective October 2, 1995. This meets the Federal requirements set
forth in 40 CFR Part 70.
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 grant final full approval
should adverse or critical comments be filed. This action is effective
September 12, 1997 unless, by August 13, 1997, 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 document that will
withdraw the final action. All public comments received will then 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 is effective September 12, 1997.
IV. 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 has exempted
this regulatory action from Executive Order 12866 review.
B. Unfunded Mandates
Under section 202 of the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995
(``Unfunded Mandates Act''), signed into law on March 22, 1995, the 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, the 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 the EPA to establish a
plan for informing and advising any small governments that may be
significantly or uniquely impacted by the rule.
The 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
preexisting 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.
C. 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. Moreover,
due to the nature of the Federal-state relationship under the Clean Air
Act (CAA), preparation of a regulatory flexibility analysis would
constitute Federal inquiry into the economic reasonableness of state
action. The CAA forbids the EPA to base its actions 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)).
D. Submission to Congress and the General Accounting Office
Under 5 U.S.C. 801(a)(1)(A) as added by the Small Business
Regulatory
[[Page 37516]]
Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996, the 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 this 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 CAA, petitions for judicial review
of this action must be filed in the United States Court of Appeals for
the appropriate circuit by September 12, 1997. 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 70
Environmental protection, Administrative practice and procedure,
Air pollution control, Intergovernmental relations, Operating permits,
Reporting and recordkeeping requirements.
Dated: June 24, 1997.
U. Gale Hutton,
Acting Regional Administrator.
Part 70 chapter I, title 40 of the Code of Federal Regulations is
amended as follows:
PART 70--[AMENDED]
1. The authority citation for part 70 continues to read as follows:
Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7401, et seq.
2. Appendix A to part 70 is amended by adding paragraph (b) to the
entry for Iowa to read as follows:
Appendix A to Part 70--Approval Status of State and Local Operating
Permits Programs
* * * * *
Iowa
* * * * *
(b) The Iowa Department of Natural Resources submitted a revised
workload analysis dated April 3, 1997. This fulfills the final
condition of the interim approval effective on October 2, 1995, and
which would expire on October 1, 1997. The state is hereby granted
final full approval effective September 12, 1997.
* * * * *
[FR Doc. 97-18250 Filed 7-11-97; 8:45 am]
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