[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 173 (Tuesday, September 8, 1998)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 47434-47436]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-24040]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 52
[PA039/067-4077; FRL-6149-1]
Approval and Promulgation of Air Quality Implementation Plans;
Pennsylvania: Attainment Demonstration and Contingency Measures for the
Liberty Borough PM-10 Nonattainment Area
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Final rule.
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SUMMARY: EPA is approving State Implementation Plan (SIP) revisions
submitted by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection
(PADEP) consisting of an attainment demonstration and contingency
measures for Allegheny County, Pennsylvania's Liberty Borough
particulate matter moderate nonattainment area. EPA is approving the
attainment demonstration because the Allegheny County Healthy
Department's (ACHD) modeling analysis (submitted as a SIP revision by
PADEP) adequately demonstrates that the regulatory portion of the
attainment plan is sufficient to attain and maintain the National
Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for particulate matter that were
in effect at the time of the submittal, and because its analyses have
been corroborated by monitored air quality data. EPA is approving the
contingency measures for the area because they satisfy the requirements
of the Clean Air Act (the Act). EPA approved the regulatory portion of
the attainment plan for the Liberty Borough area as a SIP revision in
an earlier rulemaking action. Elsewhere in today's Federal Register,
EPA has published its determination that the Liberty Borough area has
attained the NAAQS for particulate matter. In an earlier action, EPA
approved source-specific control requirements for the USX Clairton Coke
Works which further strengthen the SIP for the Liberty Borough area.
EFFECTIVE DATE: This final rule is effective on October 8, 1998.
ADDRESSES: Copies of the documents relevant to this action are
available for public inspection during normal business hours at the Air
Protection Division, U. S. Environmental Protection Agency , Region
III, 1650 Arch Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19103: the Air and
Radiation Docket and Information Center, U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency, 401 M Street, SW, Washington, DC 20460; the Allegheny County
Health Department, Department of Air Quality, 301 39th Street,
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15201; and Pennsylvania Department of
Environmental Protection, Bureau of Air Quality, P.O. Box 8468, 400
Market Street, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania 17105.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ruth E. Knapp (215) 814-2191, or by e-
mail at [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On January 6, 1994, the Pennsylvania
Department of Environmental Protection (PADEP) submitted an attainment
plan
[[Page 47435]]
to EPA on behalf of the Allegheny County Health Department (ACHD) for
the Liberty Borough PM-10 nonattainment area.1 PM-10 is
particulate matter smaller than 10 microns in diameter. On July 12,
1995, PADEP submitted contingency measures to EPA on behalf of the ACHD
for the Liberty Borough PM-10 nonattainment area. These two revisions
to the Pennsylvania SIP were submitted to fulfill the Act's
requirements for an attainment plan consisting of regulatory control
measures, an attainment demonstration (including air quality modeling)
that the regulations are sufficient to attain the PM-10 NAAQS, and
contingency measures. These ``Part D'' requirements are described in
more detail in the technical support document (TSD) prepared by EPA to
support this rulemaking. Copies of the TSD are available, upon request,
from the EPA Regional office listed in the ADDRESSES section of this
notice.
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\1\ The Liberty Borough PM-10 nonattainment area is comprised of
the City of Clairton and the Boroughs of Glassport, Liberty,
Lincoln, and Port Vue.
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As stated above, EPA previously took final action 2 to
approve the regulatory portion of the attainment plan which included
control measures for a variety of industrial sources. That action made
those measures part of the SIP and federally enforceable. On June 12,
1998 (63 FR 32173), EPA published a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPR)
proposing approval of the attainment demonstration and contingency
measures portions of the attainment plan for the Liberty Borough PM-10
nonattainment area. The rationale for EPA's action was explained in the
NPR and will not be restated here. No public comments were received on
the NPR.
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\2\ See 61 FR 29664.
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Please note that while EPA revised the NAAQS for particulate matter
3 on July 18, 1997, in this notice the terms ``NAAQS'' and
``PM-10 NAAQS'' refer to the previously existing NAAQS that were in
effect at the time that the attainment plan was required and submitted.
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\3\ See 62 FR 38652.
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Final Action
EPA is approving the attainment demonstration and the contingency
measures as a revision to the Pennsylvania 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 a 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.
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 ``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 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, EPA
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
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 being 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 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 to approve the Liberty Borough PM-10
attainment demonstration and contingency measures must be filed in the
United States Court of Appeals for the appropriate circuit by November
9, 1998. Filing a petition for reconsideration of this final rule does
not affect the finality of this rule for the purposed 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, Incorporation by
reference, Intergovernmental relations, Particulate matter.
[[Page 47436]]
Dated: August 13, 1998.
W. Michael McCabe,
Regional Administrator, Region III.
40 CFR Part 52 is amended as follows:
PART 52--[AMENDED]
1. The authority citation for part 52 continues to read as follows:
Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7401et seq.
Subpart NN--Pennsylvania
2. Section 52.2020 is amended by adding paragraphs (c)(135) to read
as follows:
Sec. 52.2020 Identification of plan.
* * * * *
(c) * * *
(135) Revisions to the Pennsylvania State Implementation Plan
consisting of contingency measures for USX Clairton in the Liberty
Borough PM-10 Nonattainment Area, submitted on July 12, 1995 by the
Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection:
(i) Incorporation by reference.
(A) Letter of July 12, 1995 from the Pennsylvania Department of
Environmental Protection transmitting a SIP revision for contingency
control measures for USX Clairton Works located in Liberty Borough PM-
10 nonattainment area of Allegheny County.
(B) Revision to Allegheny County's Article XXI applicable to USX's
Clairton Coke Works, effective July 11, 1995 specifically:
(1) Revisions to section 2105.21.e included in Appendix 34 which
require improved procedures to capture pushing emissions for all USX-
Clairton batteries except Battery B.
(ii) Additional Material--Remainder of the July 12, 1995 submittal.
3. Section 52.2059 is amended by adding paragraph (b) to read as
follows:
Sec. 52.2059 Control strategy: particulate matter.
* * * * *
(b) EPA approves the PM-10 attainment demonstration for the Liberty
Borough Area of Allegheny County submitted by the Pennsylvania
Department of Environmental Protection on January 6, 1994.
[FR Doc. 98-24040 Filed 9-4-98; 8:45 am]
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