[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 235 (Monday, December 8, 1997)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 64543-64544]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-32043]
[[Page 64543]]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 52
[CA 179-0060; FRL-5932-7]
Approval and Promulgation of Implementation Plans; California
State Implementation Plan Revision, Bay Area Air Quality Management
District
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Proposed rule.
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SUMMARY: EPA is proposing to approve a revision to the California State
Implementation Plan (SIP) which concerns the control of volatile
organic compound (VOC) emissions from architectural coatings.
The intended effect of proposing approval of this rule is to
regulate emissions of VOCs in accordance with the requirements of the
Clean Air Act, as amended in 1990 (CAA or the Act). EPA's final action
on this proposed rulemaking will incorporate this rule into the
federally approved SIP. EPA has evaluated this rule and is proposing to
approve it under provisions of the CAA regarding EPA action on SIP
submittals, EPA's general rulemaking authority, plan submissions, and
enforceability guidelines.
DATES: Comments must be received on or before January 7, 1998.
ADDRESSES: Comments may be mailed to: Andrew Steckel, Rulemaking Office
(AIR-4), Air Division, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region IX,
75 Hawthorne Street, San Francisco, CA 94105-3901.
Comments must be submitted to Andrew Steckel at the Region IX
office listed above. Copies of the rule revisions and EPA's evaluation
report of this rule are available for public inspection at EPA's Region
9 office during normal business hours. Copies of the submitted rule
revisions are also available for inspection at the following locations:
California Air Resources Board, Stationary Source Division, Rule
Evaluation Section, 2020 ``L'' Street, Sacramento, CA 95812.
Bay Area Air Quality Management District, 939 Ellis Street, San
Francisco, CA 94109.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Yvonne Fong, Rulemaking Office (AIR-
4), Air Division, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region IX, 75
Hawthorne Street, San Francisco, CA 94105-3901, (415) 744-1199.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Applicability
The rule being proposed for approval into the California SIP is Bay
Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD) Rule 8-3, Architectural
Coatings. This rule was submitted by the California Air Resources Board
to EPA on July 23, 1996.
II. Background
On March 3, 1978, EPA promulgated a list of ozone nonattainment
areas under the provisions of the Clean Air Act, as amended in 1977
(1977 CAA or preamended Act), that included the San Francisco Bay Area.
43 FR 8964; 40 CFR 81.305. On May 26, 1988, EPA notified the Governor
of California, pursuant to section 110(a)(2)(H) of the pre-amended Act,
that the above district's portions of the California SIP were
inadequate to attain and maintain the ozone standard and requested that
deficiencies in the existing SIP be corrected (EPA's SIP-Call). On
November 15, 1990, the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 were enacted.
Pub. L. 101-549, 104 Stat. 2399, codified at 42 U.S.C. 7401-7671q.
On November 12, 1993, BAAQMD submitted a request for redesignation
to attainment of the ozone standard. Subsequently, EPA evaluated and
approved BAAQMD's request and the San Francisco Bay Area was
reclassified as an attainment area.1
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\1\ The San Francisco Bay Area was redesignated to attainment
and was classified by operation of law pursuant to Sections 107(d)
upon the date of enactment of the CAA. See 60 FR 98 (May 22, 1995).
The EPA is proposing to redesignate the San Francisco Bay Area back
to nonattainment for ozone based on a number of violations of the
National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS).
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The State of California submitted many rules for incorporation into
its SIP on July 23, 1996, including the rule being acted on in this
document. This document addresses EPA's proposed action for Bay Area
Air Quality Management District Rule 8-3, Architectural Coatings. The
Bay Area Air Quality Management District adopted Rule 8-3 on December
20, 1995. This submitted rule was found to be complete on October 30,
1996 pursuant to EPA's completeness criteria that are set forth in 40
CFR part 51, appendix V 2 and is being proposed for approval
into the SIP.
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\2\ EPA adopted the completeness criteria on February 16, 1990
(55 FR 5830) and, pursuant to section 110(k)(1)(A) of the CAA,
revised the criteria on August 26, 1991 (56 FR 42216).
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The Bay Area Air Quality Management District Rule 8-3 controls
volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions from architectural coatings.
VOCs contribute to the production of ground-level ozone and smog. This
rule was originally adopted as part of the district's efforts to
achieve the National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) for ozone and
in response to EPA's SIP-Call and the section 110(a)(2)(A) CAA
requirement. The following is EPA's evaluation and proposed action for
this rule.
III. EPA Evaluation and Proposed Action
In determining the approvability of a VOC rule, EPA must evaluate
the rule for consistency with the requirements of the CAA and EPA
regulations, as found in section 110 of the CAA and 40 CFR part 51
(Requirements for Preparation, Adoption, and Submittal of
Implementation Plans).
In addition, this rule was evaluated against the SIP enforceability
guidelines found in ``Issues Relating to VOC Regulation Cutpoints,
Deficiencies, and Deviations--Clarification to Appendix D of November
24, 1987 Federal Register'' (EPA's ``Blue Book'') and the EPA Region
IX--California Air Resources Board document entitled ``Guidance
Document for Correcting VOC Rule Deficiencies'' (April 1991). In
general, these guidance documents have been set forth to ensure that
VOC rules are fully enforceable and strengthen or maintain the SIP.
On January 24, 1985, EPA approved into the SIP a version of Rule 8-
3, Architectural Coatings that had been adopted by the BAAQMD on May
18, 1983. The BAAQMD Rule 8-3 submitted on July 23, 1996 includes the
following significant changes from the current SIP:
Section 8-3-112, 8-3-227, 8-3-305, 8-3-402, and 8-3-403
remove the small business exemption, definition, and all references to
it;
Sections 8-3-212 and 8-3-213 consolidate the industrial
maintenance finishes (topcoats) and industrial maintenance primers
definitions;
Section 8-3-233 revises the varnish definition;
Section 8-3-236 through 8-3-245 define volatile organic
compounds (VOCs) and nine subcategories of industrial maintenance
coatings;
Section 8-3-304 changes the effective date of VOC limits
from September 1, 1989 to September 1, 1987;
Section 8-3-306 provides that the most restrictive VOC
limit shall apply; and
Section 8-3-403 removes labeling requirements for coatings
subject to interim VOC limits which have now expired.
[[Page 64544]]
The BAAQMD staff report for Rule 8-3 states that the rule
amendments will not change any existing VOC limits. EPA has evaluated
the submitted rule and has determined that it is enforceable and
strengthens the applicable SIP. Therefore, Bay Area Air Quality
Management District Rule 8-3, Architectural Coatings is being proposed
for approval under section 110(k)(3) of the CAA as meeting the
requirements of section 110(a) and pursuant to EPA's authority under
section 301(a) to adopt regulations necessary to further air quality by
strengthening the SIP.
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.
IV. Administrative Requirements
A. Executive Order 12866
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 301 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 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
Federal requirements. Accordingly, no additional costs to State, local,
or tribal governments, or to the private sector, result from this
action.
List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 52
Environmental protection, Air pollution control, Hydrocarbons,
Intergovernmental relations, Ozone, Reporting and recordkeeping
requirements, Volatile organic compound.
Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7401-7671q.
Dated: November 23, 1997.
Felicia Marcus,
Regional Administrator.
[FR Doc. 97-32043 Filed 12-5-97; 8:45 am]
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