[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 181 (Friday, September 18, 1998)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 49852-49855]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-24735]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 271

[FRL-6161-5]


Georgia: Final Authorization of State Hazardous Waste Management 
Program Revisions

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Immediate final rule.

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SUMMARY: Georgia has applied for final authorization of revisions to 
its hazardous waste program under the Resource Conservation and 
Recovery Act (RCRA). Georgia's revisions consist of the provisions 
contained in the rules promulgated between July 1, 1995 and June 30, 
1996, RCRA Cluster VI and requirements promulgated August 26, 1996 and 
February 19, 1997. These requirements are listed in section B of this 
document. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has reviewed 
Georgia's application and has made a decision, subject to public review 
and comment, that Georgia's hazardous waste program revisions satisfy 
all of the requirements necessary to qualify for final authorization. 
Thus, EPA intends to approve Georgia's hazardous waste program 
revisions. Georgia's application for program revisions is available for 
public review and comment.

DATES: Final authorization for Georgia shall be effective without 
further notice, November 17, 1998 if EPA receives no adverse comment on 
this document by October 19, 1998. Should EPA receive such comments EPA 
will withdraw this rule before its effective date by publishing a 
notice of withdrawal in the Federal Register. Any comments on Georgia's 
program revision application must be filed by October 19, 1998.

ADDRESSES: Send comments to: Patricia Herbert, Chief, RCRA Programs 
Branch, Waste Management Division, EPA, 61 Forsyth Street, Atlanta, 
Georgia 30303. Copies of Georgia's program revision application and the 
materials which EPA used in evaluating the revision are available for 
inspection and copying during regular office hours of 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., 
Monday through Friday, at the following addresses:

Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Environmental Protection 
Division, Floyd Towers East, Room 1154, 205 Butler Street, SE, Atlanta, 
Georgia 30334
U.S. EPA Region 4, Library, 61 Forsyth Street, Atlanta, Georgia 30303


[[Page 49853]]


FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Patricia Herbert, Chief, RCRA Service 
Section, RCRA Programs Branch, Waste Management Division, U.S. 
Environmental Protection Agency, 61 Forsyth Street, Atlanta, Georgia 
30303; (404) 562-8449.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

A. Background

    States with final authorization under section 3006(b) of the 
Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (``RCRA or ``the Act''), 42 
U.S.C. 6929(b), have a continuing obligation to maintain a hazardous 
waste program that is equivalent to, consistent with, and no less 
stringent than the Federal hazardous waste program. As the Federal 
hazardous waste program changes, the States must revise their programs 
and apply for authorization of the revisions. Revisions to State 
hazardous waste programs may be necessary when Federal or State 
statutory or regulatory authority is modified or when certain other 
changes occur. Most commonly, States must revise their programs because 
of changes to EPA's regulations in 40 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 
parts 124, 260 through 266, 268, 270, 273 and 279.

B. Georgia

    Georgia initially received final authorization for its base RCRA 
program effective on August 21, 1984. Georgia was de-authorized for 
section 3004(t) of the RCRA on July 30, 1992. Between 1984 and 1998 
Georgia received authorization for revisions to its program for non-
HSWA Clusters I through VII; HSWA Clusters I and II, including 
corrective action; Radioactive Mixed Wastes; the Toxicity 
Characteristics Rule and RCRA Clusters I through V.
    On April 28, 1998, Georgia submitted a final, complete program 
revision application for RCRA Cluster VI, seeking authorization of its 
program revision in accordance with 40 CFR 271.21. The EPA reviewed 
Georgia's application, and now makes an immediate final decision, 
subject to receipt of adverse written comment, that Georgia's hazardous 
waste program revision satisfies all of the requirements necessary to 
qualify for final authorization. Consequently, EPA intends to grant 
Final Authorization for the program modifications contained in 
Georgia's program revision application.
    The public may submit written comments on EPA's final decision 
until October 19, 1998. Copies of Georgia's application for program 
revisions are available for inspection and copying at the locations 
indicated in the ADDRESSES section of this notice.
    If EPA does not receive adverse written comment pertaining to 
Georgia's program revision by the end of the comment period, the 
authorization of Georgia's revision will become effective in 60 days 
from the date this document is published. If the Agency does receive 
adverse written comment, it will publish a document withdrawing this 
immediate final rule before its effective date. EPA will then address 
the comments in a later final rule based on the companion document 
appearing in the Proposed Rules section of today's Federal Register. 
EPA may not provide additional opportunity for comment. Any parties 
interested in commenting should do so at this time.
    Today's rule will allow state statutes and regulations to: (1) 
provide that ECD 301B (Modified Sturm Test) may also be used to 
demonstrate that a sorbent is non-biodegradable (Checklist 145), (2) 
provide opportunities or earlier public involvement in the permitting 
process and expand public access to information throughout the 
permitting process and the operational lives of facilities (Checklist 
148), (3) correct the text of a regulatory exclusion from the 
regulatory definition of solid waste for recovered oil which is 
inserted into the petroleum refining process (Checklist 150), (4) 
contain treatment standards for hazardous wastes from the production of 
carbamate pesticides and from primary aluminum production, contain the 
treatment standards for hazardous wastes that exhibit the 
characteristic of reactivity, put back into place the LDR ``Third 
Third'' provisions for the treatment of certain wastewaters, codify the 
Federal policy that combustion of inorganic waste is an impermissible 
form of treatment (Checklist 151), (5) identify the wastes, under the 
RCRA, that are subject to a graduated system of procedural and 
substantive controls when they move across national borders within the 
OECD for recovery (Checklist 152).
    Georgia's program revisions are summarized in the table below:

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Checklist           Description                  Federal Register date and page              State authority
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
145 *...........  Hazardous Waste         60 FR 35705, 07-11-95...............................      391-3-11-.10
                   Management Liquids in                                                                        
                   Landfills.                                                                                   
148.............  RCRA Expanded Public    60 FR 63431, 12-11-95...............................      391-3-11-.11
                   Participation.                                                                               
150 *...........  Identification and      61 FR 13106, 03-26-96...............................      391-3-11-.07
                   Listing of Hazardous                                                                         
                   Waste; Amendments to                                                                         
                   Definition of Solid                                                                          
                   Waste.                                                                                       
151.............  Land Disposal           61 FR 15597, 04-08-96...............................      391-3-11-.16
                   Restrictions Phase      61 FR 15662, 04-08-96                                                
                   III--Decharacterized   61 FR 19117, 04-30-96                                                 
                   Wastewaters,           61 FR 33682, 06-28-96                                                 
                   Carbamate Waste, and   61 FR 36419, 07-10-96                                                 
                   Spent Potliners.       61 FR 43927, 08-26-96                                                 
                                          62 FR 7504, 02-19-97                                                  
152.............  Imports and Exports of  61 FR 16309, 04-12-96...............................      391-3-11-.07
                   Hazardous Waste:                                                                 391-3-11-.08
                   Implementation of                                                                391-3-11-.09
                   OECD Council Decision.                                                           391-3-11-.10
                                                                                                   391-3-11-.18 
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* Denotes optional rule.                                                                                        

    EPA shall administer any RCRA hazardous waste permits, or portions 
of permits that contain conditions based upon the Federal program 
provisions for which the State is applying for authorization and which 
were issued by EPA prior to the effective date of this authorization. 
EPA will suspend issuance of any further permits under the provisions 
for which the State is being authorized on the effective date of this 
authorization.
    The State of Georgia's Hazardous Waste Management Program is not 
being authorized to operate in Indian Country.

C. Decision

    I conclude that Georgia's application for program revision 
authorization

[[Page 49854]]

meets all of the statutory and regulatory requirements established by 
RCRA. Accordingly, EPA grants Georgia Final Authorization to operate 
its hazardous waste program as revised. Georgia now has responsibility 
for permitting treatment, storage, and disposal facilities within its 
borders and for carrying out the aspects of the RCRA program described 
in its program application, and its previously approved authorities. 
Georgia also has primary enforcement responsibilities, although EPA 
retains the right to conduct inspections under section 3007 of RCRA and 
to take enforcement actions under sections 3008, 3013, and 7003 of 
RCRA.

Unfunded Mandates Reform Act

    Title II of the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995 (UMRA), Pub. 
L. 104-4, establishes requirements for Federal agencies to assess the 
effects of certain regulatory actions on State, local, and tribal 
governments and the private sector. Under sections 202 and 205 of the 
UMRA, EPA generally must prepare a written statement of economic and 
regulatory alternatives analyses for proposed and final rules with 
Federal mandates, as defined by the UMRA, that may result in 
expenditures to State, local, and tribal governments, in the aggregate, 
or to the private sector, of $100 million or more in any one year. EPA 
has determined that section 202 and 205 requirements do not apply to 
today's action because this rule does not contain a Federal mandate 
that may result in annual expenditures of $100 million or more for 
State, local, and/or tribal governments in the aggregate, or the 
private sector. Costs to State, local and/or tribal governments already 
exist under Georgia's program, and today's action does not impose any 
additional obligations on regulated entities. In fact, EPA's approval 
of State programs generally may reduce, not increase, compliance costs 
for the private sector. Further, as it applies to the State, this 
action does not impose a Federal intergovernmental mandate because UMRA 
does not include duties arising from participation in a voluntary 
federal program. The requirements of section 203 of UMRA also do not 
apply to today's action. Before EPA establishes any regulatory 
requirements that may significantly or uniquely affect small 
governments, including tribal governments, section 203 of the UMRA 
requires EPA to develop a small government agency plan. This rule 
contains no regulatory requirements that might significantly or 
uniquely affect small governments. Although small governments may be 
hazardous waste generators, transporters, or own and/or operate TSDFs, 
they are already subject to the regulatory requirements under the 
existing State laws that are being authorized by EPA, and, thus, are 
not subject to any additional significant or unique requirements by 
virtue of this program approval.

Certification Under the Regulatory Flexibility Act

    Pursuant to the Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 601 et seq., 
as amended by the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 
1996), whenever an agency is required to publish a notice of rulemaking 
for any proposed or final rule, it must prepare and make available for 
public comment a regulatory flexibility analysis that describes the 
effect of the rule on small entities (i.e., small businesses, small 
organizations, and small governmental jurisdictions). This analysis is 
unnecessary, however, if the agency's Administrator certifies that the 
rule will not have a significant economic impact on a substantial 
number of small entities. The EPA has determined that this 
authorization will not have a significant economic impact on a 
substantial number of small entities. Such small entities which are 
hazardous waste generators, transporters, or which own and/or operate 
TSDFs are already subject to the regulatory requirements under the 
existing State laws that are now being authorized by EPA. The EPA's 
authorization does not impose any significant additional burdens on 
these small entities. This is because EPA's authorization would simply 
result in an administrative change, rather than a change in the 
substantive requirements imposed on these small entities. Pursuant to 
the provision at 5 U.S.C. 605(b), the Agency hereby certifies that this 
authorization will not have a significant economic impact on a 
substantial number of small entities. This authorization approves 
regulatory requirements under existing State law to which small 
entities are already subject. It does not impose any new burdens on 
small entities. This rule, therefore, does not require a regulatory 
flexibility analysis.

Submission to Congress and the Comptroller General

    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. 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 United States prior 
to publication of the rule in today's Federal Register. This rule is 
not a ``major rule'' as defined by 5 U.S.C. 804(2).

Compliance With Executive Order 12866

    The Office of Management and Budget has exempted this rule from the 
requirements of Executive Order 12866.

Compliance With Executive Order 13045

    Executive Order 13045 applies to any rule that the Office of 
Management and Budget determines is ``economically significant'' as 
defined under Executive Order 12866, and that EPA determines that the 
environmental health or safety risk addressed by the rule has a 
disproportionate effect on children. If the regulatory action meets 
both criteria, the Agency must evaluate the environmental health or 
safety effects of the planned rule on children and explain why the 
planned regulation is preferable to other potentially effective and 
reasonably feasible alternatives considered by the Agency.
    The Agency has determined that the final rule is not a covered 
regulatory action as defined in the Executive Order because it is not 
economically significant and does not address environmental health and 
safety risks. As such, the final rule is not subject to the 
requirements of Executive Order 13045.

Paperwork Reduction Act

    Under the Paperwork Reduction Act, 44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq., Federal 
agencies must consider the paperwork burden imposed by any information 
request contained in a proposed rule or a final rule. This rule will 
not impose any information requirements upon the regulated community.

National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act

    Section 12(d) of the National Technology Transfer and Advancement 
Act of 1995 (``NTTAA''), Pub L. No. 104-113, section 12(d) (15 U.S.C. 
272 note) directs EPA to use voluntary consensus standards in its 
regulatory activities unless to do so would be inconsistent with 
applicable law or otherwise impractical. Voluntary consensus standards 
are technical standards (e.g., materials specifications, test methods, 
sampling procedures, and business practices) that are developed or 
adopted by voluntary consensus

[[Page 49855]]

standards bodies. The NTTAA directs EPA to provide Congress, through 
OMB, explanations when the Agency decides not to use available and 
applicable voluntary consensus standards.
    This action does not involve technical standards. Therefore, EPA 
did not consider the use of any voluntary consensus standards.

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 271

    Environmental protection, Administrative practice and procedure, 
Confidential business information, Excessive paperwork, Hazardous 
waste, Hazardous waste transportation, Indian Country, 
Intergovernmental relations, Penalties, Reporting and record keeping 
requirements, Water pollution control, Water supply.

    Authority: This document is issued under the authority of 
Sections 2002(a), 3006 and 7004(b) of the Solid Waste Disposal Act 
as amended 42 U.S.C. 6912(a), 6926, 6974(b).

    Dated: August 10, 1998.
A. Stanley Meiburg,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region 4.
[FR Doc. 98-24735 Filed 9-17-98; 8:45 am]
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