[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 154 (Tuesday, August 11, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 43044-43045]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-21213]



[[Page 43043]]

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Part VI





Environmental Protection Agency





_______________________________________________________________________



40 CFR Part 80



Fuels and Fuel Additives: Removal of the Reformulated Gasoline Program 
From the Phoenix, Arizona Serious Ozone Nonattainment Area; Notice and 
Final Rule

  Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 154 / Tuesday, August 11, 1998 / 
Notices  

[[Page 43044]]



ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-6136-9]
RIN 2060-ZA04


Fuels and Fuel Additives: Removal of the Reformulated Gasoline 
Program From the Phoenix, Arizona Serious Ozone Nonattainment Area

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: In today's final action, EPA is announcing its approval of the 
petition by the Governor of Arizona to opt-out of the federal RFG 
program and remove the requirement to sell federal RFG in the Phoenix 
serious ozone nonattainment area as of June 10, 1998. EPA's regulations 
establish the procedures and criteria for opting out of the RFG 
program, and provide that if a state relies on the federal RFG program 
as a control measure in its State Implementation Plan (SIP), the state 
must revise the SIP to reflect the opt-out from RFG. EPA regulations 
also provide that the effective date of the opt-out shall be no less 
than 90 days from EPA's approval of such a SIP revision. Arizona 
replaced federal RFG with a state cleaner burning gasoline program 
which EPA approved into Arizona's SIP effective March 12, 1998. Under 
40 CFR 80.72, the effective date of the opt out is 90 days after EPA 
approves such a SIP revision, which in this case is June 10, 1998. As 
of June 10, 1998, Arizona's clean fuel state regulations will go into 
effect in the Phoenix area. Arizona developed a clean fuel program to 
reduce emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOC) and particulates 
(PM10). Thus, although opting out of the federal RFG program, the 
Phoenix area will continue to enjoy the air quality benefits of a clean 
burning gasoline. In accordance with the approval of the opt-out 
petition and the determination of the opt-out effective date, EPA is, 
in a separate action published elsewhere in this issue of the Federal 
Register, amending Sec. 80.70(m) to reflect that Phoenix will not be a 
covered area in the federal RFG program as of June 10, 1998.

DATES: The effective date for removal of the Phoenix, Arizona area from 
the federal RFG program is June 10, 1998.

ADDRESSES: Materials relevant to this notice to remove the federal RFG 
program from the Phoenix area may be found in Docket A-98-23, the 
docket for the rulemaking to amend section 80.72 of the RFG 
regulations. In addition, materials relevant to the rulemaking to opt-
in Phoenix to the federal RFG program may be found in Docket A-97-02. 
The docket is located at the Air Docket Section, Mail Code 6102, U.S. 
Environmental Protection Agency, 401 M Street, SW, Washington, DC 
20460, in room M-1500 Waterside Mall. Documents may be inspected on 
business days from 8:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. A reasonable fee may be 
charged for copying docket material.
    Materials relevant to the EPA Final Rule to approve the Arizona SIP 
revision establishing state clean burning gasoline regulations are 
available in the docket located at Region IX. The docket is located at 
75 Hawthorne Street, AIR-2, 17th Floor, San Francisco, California 
94105. Documents may be inspected from 9:00 a.m. to noon and from 
1:00--4:00 p.m. A reasonable fee may be charged for copying docket 
material. This approval action is not being addressed in this notice.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Janice Raburn, Attorney-Advisor, U.S. 
Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Air and Radiation, 401 M 
Street, SW (6406J), Washington, DC 20460, (202) 564-9856.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Availability on the TTNBBS

    Copies of this document are available electronically from the EPA 
Internet Web site and via dial-up modem on the Technology Transfer 
Network (TTN), which is an electronic bulletin board system (BBS) 
operated by EPA's Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards. Both 
services are free of charge, except for your existing cost of Internet 
connectivity or the cost of the phone call to TTN. Users are able to 
access and download files on their first call using a personal computer 
per the following information. An electronic version is made available 
on the day of publication on the primary Internet sites listed below. 
The EPA Office of Mobile Sources also publishes these notices on the 
secondary Web site listed below and on the TTN BBS.

Internet (Web)

http://www.epa.gov/docs/fedrgstr/EPA-AIR/
(either select desired date or use Search feature)
http://www.epa.gov/OMSWWW/
(look in What's New or under the specific rulemaking topic)

TTN BBS: The TTN BBS can be accessed with a dial-in phone line and a 
high-speed modem (PH# 919-541-5742). The parity of your modem should be 
set to none, the data bits to 8, and the stop bits to 1. Either a 1200, 
2400, 9600, or 14400 baud modem should be used. When first signing on, 
the user will be required to answer some basic informational questions 
for registration purposes. After completing the registration process, 
proceed through the following series of menus:

 GATEWAY TO TTN TECHNICAL AREAS (Bulletin Boards)
 OMS--Mobile Sources Information
(Alerts display a chronological list of recent documents)
 Rulemaking & Reporting

At this point, choose the topic (e.g., Fuels) and subtopic (e.g., 
Reformulated Gasoline) of the rulemaking, and the system will list all 
available files in the chosen category in date order with brief 
descriptions. To download a file, type the letter ``D'' and hit your 
Enter key. Then select a transfer protocol that is supported by the 
terminal software on your own computer, and pick the appropriate 
command in your own software to receive the file using that same 
protocol. After getting the files you want onto your computer, you can 
quit the TTN BBS with the oodbye command.
    Please note that due to differences between the software used to 
develop the document and the software into which the document may be 
downloaded, changes in format, page length, etc. may occur.

I. Background

A. Opt-Out Procedures

    Section 80.72 of the RFG regulations (Opt-out Rule) provides the 
process and criteria for a reasonable transition out of the RFG program 
if a state decides to opt-out.1 The procedures for opting 
out are geared towards achieving a reasonable transition out of the RFG 
program for industry and states. The Opt-out Rule provides that the 
Governor of the state must submit a petition to the Administrator 
requesting to opt out of the RFG program. The petition must include 
specific information on how, if at all, the state has relied on RFG in 
a pending or approved SIP and, if RFG is in an approved SIP, how the 
SIP will be revised to reflect the state's opt-out from RFG. The Opt-
out Rule also provides that EPA will notify the state in writing of the 
Agency's action on the petition and the date the opt-out becomes 
effective when the petition is approved.

[[Page 43045]]

The regulations also provide that EPA will publish an FR notice 
announcing the approval of any opt-out petition and the effective date 
of such opt-out.
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    \1\ Pursuant to authority under sections 211(c) and (k) and 
301(a) of the Clean Air Act, EPA promulgated regulations to provide 
criteria and general procedures for states to opt-out of the RFG 
program where the state had previously voluntarily opted into the 
program. The regulations were initially adopted on July 8, 1996 (61 
FR 35673); and were revised on October 20, 1997 (62 FR 54552).
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    The effective date of the opt-out is dependent on how the RFG 
program is used by a state in its SIP. Opt-out petitions received prior 
to December 31, 1997 become effective 90 days (or later if requested) 
from the date EPA provides written notification to the state that the 
petition has been approved. If, however, the state included RFG as a 
control measure in an approved SIP, the state must revise the SIP to 
remove federal RFG as a control measure before the opt-out can be 
effective. For the latter case, the opt-out becomes effective no less 
than 90 days (or later if requested) after the Agency approves a 
revision to the state plan replacing RFG with another control. Opt-out 
petitions received after December 31, 1997 are treated differently. See 
62 FR 54552 (October 20, 1997).
    EPA determined in the Opt-out Rule that it would not be necessary 
to conduct a separate rulemaking for each future opt-out request. 61 FR 
35673 at 35675 (July 8, 1996). EPA established a petition process to 
address, on a case-by-case basis, future individual state requests to 
opt-out of the federal RFG program. These regulations establish clear 
and objective criteria for EPA to apply. These regulatory criteria 
address when a state's petition is complete and the appropriate 
transition time for opting out. As EPA stated in the preamble to the 
Opt-out Rule, this application of regulatory criteria on a case-by-case 
basis to individual opt-out requests does not require notice and 
comment rulemaking, either under section 307(d) of the Act or the 
Administrative Procedure Act. Thus, in this action, EPA is applying the 
criteria provided in the Opt-out Rule to approve the Arizona petition.

B. Arizona Opt-in and Opt-out of RFG for the Phoenix Area

    By letter dated January 17, 1997, the Governor of the State of 
Arizona applied to EPA to include the Phoenix moderate ozone 
nonattainment area in the federal RFG program.2 The Governor 
requested an implementation date of June 1, 1997. Pursuant to the 
Governor's letter and the provisions of section 211(k)(6) of the Clean 
Air Act, and after holding a public hearing in Phoenix on March 18, 
1997, EPA adopted regulations on May 28, 1997, that applied the 
requirement to sell RFG to the Phoenix area. 62 FR 30260 (June 3, 1997) 
3
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    \2\ EPA reclassified the Phoenix area from moderate to serious 
nonattainment for ozone on November 6, 1997 (62 FR 60001).
    \3\ See Notice of Proposed Rulemaking at 62 FR 7197 (February 
18, 1997); and Notice of public hearing at 62 FR 11405 (March 12, 
1997).
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    Arizona subsequently enacted legislation which authorized the 
establishment of a State cleaner burning gasoline program which would 
become effective June 1, 1998. By letter dated September 12, 1997, the 
Governor of the State of Arizona applied to EPA to opt-out of the 
federal RFG program for the Phoenix area. The Governor requested the 
specific opt-out effective date of June 1, 1998, to ensure that the 
federal RFG program would be maintained in the Phoenix area until the 
State RFG regulations became effective. Thus, the Governor requested 
that EPA approve the State's opt-out petition and set the opt-out 
effective date only upon EPA approval of the SIP revision containing 
the Arizona RFG regulations and the waiver request.
    EPA's Office of Air and Radiation (OAR) responded to the Governor's 
petition by letter dated October 3, 1997. EPA stated in the letter that 
the Governor's petition provided the information required by the Opt-
out Rule and that OAR would work with EPA Region IX to process the SIP 
revision as quickly as possible in order to provide the opt-out 
effective date requested.

II. Action

    In this document, EPA is notifying the public that it has applied 
the criteria provided in the Opt-out Rule (40 CFR 80.72) and is 
approving the petition submitted by the Governor of Arizona to 
determine that June 10, 1998 is the effective date for opt-out of the 
federal RFG program for the Phoenix area. EPA is, in a separate action 
published elsewhere in this issue of the Federal Register, amending 
Sec. 80.70(m) to reflect that Phoenix will not be a covered area in the 
federal RFG program as of June 10, 1998.
    First, EPA is approving the Governor's petition because it provided 
the information required by the Opt-out Rule. Second, EPA is 
determining the opt-out effective date by applying the criteria in 40 
CFR 80.72. As discussed in section I.A.above, the Opt-Out Rule requires 
that if a state included RFG as a control measure in an approved SIP, 
the state must revise the SIP, reflecting the removal of federal RFG as 
a control measure before an opt-out can be effective. The Governor's 
petition stated that Arizona adopted an interim rule for a State clean 
fuel program which would replace the federal RFG program as a control 
measure in its SIP. In September 1997, the State submitted to EPA's 
Region IX office a SIP revision that included its clean fuel program 
and a request for a waiver of federal preemption of state fuel 
standards under section 211(c)(4)(C) of the Act. Arizona's SIP revision 
provided data to show that its clean fuel program would provide the 
same or more VOC and PM reductions that it realized from federal RFG.
    EPA's Region IX office published a proposed approval of the SIP 
revision on November 20, 1997 (62 FR 61942) and a final approval of the 
SIP revision on February 10, 1998. (63 FR 6653) The effective date for 
the final approval of the SIP revision was March 12, 1998. The Opt-out 
Rule provides that the opt-out effective date shall be no less than 90 
days from the EPA SIP approval effective date. Thus, the opt-out 
effective date for the Phoenix area will be June 10, 1998, 90 days from 
March 12, 1998.
    Thus, EPA is today notifying the public that it has applied its 
regulatory criteria to make the following determinations. EPA is 
approving the petition by the Governor of Arizona to opt-out of the 
federal reformulated gasoline (RFG) program for the Phoenix area and 
removing the requirement to sell federal RFG in the Phoenix serious 
ozone nonattainment area as of June 10, 1998. This opt-out effective 
date applies to retailers, wholesale purchaser-consumers, refiners, 
importers, and distributors. Pursuant to these determinations, EPA is 
also, in a separate action published elsewhere in this issue of the 
Federal Register, amending Sec. 80.70(m) to reflect that Phoenix will 
not be a covered area in the federal RFG program as of June 10, 1998.

    Dated: July 31, 1998.
Carol M. Browner,
Administrator.
[FR Doc. 98-21213 Filed 8-10-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P