[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 157 (Friday, August 14, 1998)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 43627-43629]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-21895]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[CA 037-0080; FRL-6142-1]


Approval and Promulgation of Implementation Plans; California 
State Implementation Plan Revision, South Coast Air Quality Management 
District

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).


[[Page 43628]]


ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: EPA is finalizing a limited approval and limited disapproval 
of revisions to the California State Implementation Plan (SIP) proposed 
in the Federal Register on April 30, 1998. This final action will 
incorporate this rule into the federally approved SIP. The intended 
effect of finalizing this action is to regulate emissions of volatile 
organic compounds (VOCs) and oxides of sulfur (SOX) in 
accordance with the requirements of the Clean Air Act, as amended in 
1990 (CAA or the Act). The rule controls VOC and SOX 
emissions from petroleum refinery vacuum-producing devices or systems. 
Thus, EPA is finalizing a simultaneous limited approval and limited 
disapproval under CAA provisions regarding EPA action on SIP submittals 
and general rulemaking authority because the rule, while strengthening 
the SIP, also does not fully meet the CAA provisions regarding plan 
submissions and requirements for nonattainment areas. As a result of 
this limited disapproval EPA will be required to impose highway funding 
or emission offset sanctions under the CAA unless the State submits and 
EPA approves corrections to the identified deficiencies within 18 
months of the effective date of this disapproval. Moreover, EPA will be 
required to promulgate a Federal implementation plan (FIP) unless the 
deficiencies are corrected within 24 months of the effective date of 
this disapproval.

EFFECTIVE DATE: This action is effective on September 14, 1998.

ADDRESSES: Copies of the rule and EPA's evaluation report for the rule 
are available for public inspection at EPA's Region IX office during 
normal business hours. Copies of the submitted rule are available for 
inspection at the following locations:

Rulemaking Office, (AIR-4), Air Division, U.S. Environmental Protection 
Agency, Region IX, 75 Hawthorne Street, San Francisco, CA 94105
Environmental Protection Agency, Air Docket (6102), 401 ``M'' Street, 
S.W., Washington, DC 20460
California Air Resources Board, Stationary Source Division, Rule 
Evaluation Section, 2020 ``L'' Street, Sacramento, CA 95812
South Coast Air Quality Management District, 21865 E. Copley Drive, 
Diamond Bar, CA 91765-4182.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Stanley Tong, Rulemaking Office, (AIR-
4), Air Division, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region IX, 75 
Hawthorne Street, San Francisco, CA 94105, Telephone: (415) 744-1191.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Applicability

    The rule being approved into the California SIP is: South Coast Air 
Quality Management District (SCAQMD), Rule 465, Vacuum-Producing 
Devices or Systems. This rule was submitted by the California Air 
Resources Board (CARB) to EPA on June 19, 1992.

II. Background

    On April 30, 1998 in 63 FR 23707, EPA proposed granting limited 
approval and limited disapproval of the following rule into the 
California SIP: SCAQMD, Rule 465, Vacuum-Producing Devices or Systems. 
Rule 465 was adopted by SCAQMD on November 1, 1991. This rule was 
submitted by the CARB, to EPA on June 19, 1992. This rule was submitted 
in response to EPA's 1988 SIP Call and the CAA section 182(a)(2)(A) 
requirement that nonattainment areas fix their reasonably available 
control technology (RACT) rules for ozone in accordance with EPA 
guidance that interpreted the requirements of the pre-amendment Act. A 
detailed discussion of the background for the above rule and 
nonattainment area is provided in the proposed rule (PR) cited above.
    EPA has evaluated the above rule for consistency with the 
requirements of the CAA and EPA regulations and EPA's interpretation of 
these requirements as expressed in the various EPA policy guidance 
documents referenced in the PR. EPA is finalizing the limited approval 
of this rule in order to strengthen the SIP and finalizing the limited 
disapproval requiring the correction of the remaining deficiencies. 
These deficiencies include updating a listing of compounds exempt from 
the definition of volatile organic compounds to remove carbon 
tetrachloride and the need to explicitly state recording, reporting and 
record retention requirements in the rule. These corrections are needed 
to ensure consistency with EPA's definition of exempt compounds and for 
enforceability of emission limits provided in the rule. A detailed 
discussion of the rule provisions and evaluations has been provided in 
the PR and in the technical support document (TSD) available at EPA's 
Region IX office (TSD dated 3/23/98 for SCAQMD Rule 465).

III. Response to Public Comments

    A 30-day public comment period was provided in 63 FR 23707 dated 
April 30, 1998. EPA received no comment letters on the proposed rule.

IV. EPA Action

    EPA is finalizing a limited approval and a limited disapproval of 
the above-referenced rule. The limited approval of this rule is being 
finalized under section 110(k)(3) in light of EPA's authority pursuant 
to section 301(a) to adopt regulations necessary to further air quality 
by strengthening the SIP. The approval is limited in the sense that the 
rule strengthens the SIP. However, the rule does not meet the section 
182(a)(2)(A) CAA requirement because of the rule deficiencies which 
were discussed in the PR. Thus, in order to strengthen the SIP, EPA is 
granting limited approval of this rule under sections 110(k)(3) and 
301(a) of the CAA. This action approves the rule into the SIP as 
federally enforceable rule.
    At the same time, EPA is finalizing the limited disapproval of this 
rule because it contains deficiencies that have not been corrected as 
required by section 182(a)(2)(A) of the CAA, and, as such, the rule 
does not fully meet the requirements of Part D of the Act. As stated in 
the Proposed Rule (PR), upon the effective date of this Final Rule 
(FR), the 18 month clock for sanctions and the 24 month FIP clock will 
begin. Sections 179(a) and 110(c). If the State does not submit the 
required corrections and EPA does not approve the submittal within 18 
months of the effective date of the FR, either the highway sanction or 
the offset sanction will be imposed at the 18 month mark. It should be 
noted that the rule covered by this FR has been adopted by the SCAQMD 
and is currently in effect in the SCAQMD. EPA's limited disapproval 
action will not prevent SCAQMD or EPA from enforcing this rule.
    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.

V. Administrative Requirements

A. Executive Orders 12866 and 13045

    The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has exempted this 
regulatory action from E.O. 12866 review.
    The final rule is not subject to E.O. 13045, entitled ``Protection 
of Children from Environmental Health Risks and Safety Risks,'' because 
it is not an

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``economically significant'' action under E.O. 12866.

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 sections 110 and 301, and subchapter I, part D 
of the CAA 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, I certify 
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 action 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 
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.

D. Submission to Congress and the General Accounting Office

    The Congressional Review Act, 5 U.S.C. 801 et seq., as added by the 
Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996, generally 
provides that before a rule may take effect, the agency promulgating 
the rule must submit a rule report, which includes a copy of the rule, 
to each House of the Congress and to the Comptroller General of the 
United States. EPA will submit 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 United States prior 
to publication of the rule in the 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 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 October 13, 1998. 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, Hydrocarbons, 
Incorporation by reference, Intergovernmental relations, Ozone, 
Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, Volatile organic compounds, 
Sulfur oxides.

    Note: Incorporation by reference of the State Implementation 
Plan for the State of California was approved by the Director of the 
Federal Register on July 1, 1982.

    Dated: July 29, 1998.
Nora L. McGee,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region IX.

    Part 52, chapter I, title 40 of the Code of Federal Regulations is 
amended as follows:

PART 52--[AMENDED]

    1. The authority citation for part 52 continues to read as follows:

    Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.

Subpart F--California

    2. Section 52.220 is amended by adding paragraph (c)(188)(i)(C)(2) 
to read as follows:


Sec. 52.220  Identification of plan.

* * * * *
    (c) * * *
    (188) * * *
    (i) * * *
    (C) * * *
    (2) Rule 465, amended on November 1, 1991.
* * * * *
[FR Doc. 98-21895 Filed 8-13-98; 8:45 am]
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