[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 97 (Thursday, May 18, 2000)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 31482-31485]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-12387]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[Region 7 Tracking No. MO 102-1102; FRL-6701-5]


Approval and Promulgation of Implementation Plans; State of 
Missouri

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: EPA is taking final action to approve a nitrogen oxides 
(NOX) reasonably available control technology (RACT) rule 
which is applicable to the St. Louis, Missouri, ozone nonattainment 
area. This rule reduces NOX emissions in the St. Louis area 
by requiring major sources to install or comply with RACT as required 
by the Clean Air Act (CAA).

DATES: This rule is effective on June 19, 2000.

ADDRESSES: Copies of the state submittal are available at the following 
address for inspection during normal business hours: Environmental 
Protection Agency, Air Planning and Development Branch, 901 North 5th 
Street, Kansas City, Kansas 66101.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kim Johnson at (913) 551-7975.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Throughout this document whenever ``we, us, 
or our'' is used, we mean EPA. This section provides additional 
information by addressing the following questions:

    What is a SIP?
    What is the Federal approval process for a SIP?

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    What does Federal approval of a state regulation mean to me?
    What is being addressed in this action?
    Have the requirements for approval of a SIP revision been met?
    What action is EPA taking?

What is a SIP?

    Section 110 of the CAA requires states to develop air pollution 
regulations and control strategies to ensure that state air quality 
meets the national ambient air quality standards established by EPA. 
These ambient standards are established under section 109 of the CAA, 
and they currently address six criteria pollutants. These pollutants 
are: carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, ozone, lead, particulate 
matter, and sulfur dioxide.
    Each state must submit these regulations and control strategies to 
EPA for approval and incorporation into the Federally enforceable SIP.
    Each Federally approved SIP protects air quality primarily by 
addressing air pollution at its point of origin. These SIPs can be 
extensive, containing state regulations or other enforceable documents 
and supporting information such as emission inventories, monitoring 
networks, and modeling demonstrations.

What is the Federal approval process for a SIP?

    In order for state regulations to be incorporated into the 
Federally enforceable SIP, states must formally adopt the regulations 
and control strategies consistent with state and Federal requirements. 
This process generally includes a public notice, public hearing, public 
comment period, and a formal adoption by a state-authorized rulemaking 
body.
    Once a state rule, regulation, or control strategy is adopted, the 
state submits it to us for inclusion into the SIP. We must provide 
public notice and seek additional public comment regarding the proposed 
Federal action on the state submission. If adverse comments are 
received, they must be addressed prior to any final Federal action by 
us.
    All state regulations and supporting information approved by EPA 
under section 110 of the CAA are incorporated into the Federally 
approved SIP. Records of such SIP actions are maintained in the Code of 
Federal Regulations (CFR) at Title 40, Part 52, entitled ``Approval and 
Promulgation of Implementation Plans.'' The actual state regulations 
which are approved are not reproduced in their entirety in the CFR 
outright but are ``incorporated by reference,'' which means that we 
have approved a given state regulation with a specific effective date.

What does Federal approval of a state regulation mean to me?

    Enforcement of the state regulation before and after it is 
incorporated into the Federally approved SIP is primarily a state 
responsibility. However, after the regulation is Federally approved, we 
are authorized to take enforcement action against violators. Citizens 
are also offered legal recourse to address violations as described in 
section 304 of the CAA.

What is being addressed in this document?

    NOX emissions combine with volatile organic compound 
emissions on hot, sunny days to form ground level ozone, commonly known 
as smog. The purpose of the following rule is to establish RACT 
requirements in Missouri for major sources of NOX emissions. 
These requirements will result in reductions of NOX 
emissions which will help achieve reductions in ozone levels in the St. 
Louis ozone nonattainment area. The St. Louis ozone nonattainment area 
includes Franklin, Jefferson, St. Charles, and St. Louis counties, and 
St. Louis City in Missouri and Madison, St. Clair and Monroe counties 
in Illinois.
    We are taking final action to approve as an amendment to the 
Missouri SIP, rule 10 CSR 10-5.510, ``Control of Emissions of Nitrogen 
Oxides,'' submitted to us on November 12, 1999. This NOX 
RACT rule is applicable to all sources with the potential to emit 100 
tons per year or more of nitrogen oxides in the Missouri portion of the 
St. Louis nonattainment area. The rule establishes emission limits, 
work practices, monitoring, testing, and recordkeeping and reporting 
requirements for boilers, stationary internal combustion (IC) turbines, 
stationary IC engines, incinerators, regenerative container melting 
glass furnaces, and portland cement kilns.
    The rule also requires any other stationary source, which has the 
potential to emit NOX in amounts greater than the major 
stationary source threshold, to undertake a ``case-by-case'' RACT study 
to evaluate controls to minimize NOX emissions. This ``case-
by-case'' analysis establishes a procedure for identifying all 
available control technologies and selecting the technology that 
provides the most effective, cost reasonable reduction technique.
    For those units subject to a NOX emission limitation, 
the final compliance deadline is May 1, 2002. An extension of the 
compliance deadline may be granted by the director, if the affected 
installation submits a plan no later than January 1, 2001. This plan, 
which is subject to approval by the Missouri Department of Natural 
Resources, must include a detailed analysis of the air quality benefit 
that will occur if the compliance date is extended, a detailed 
explanation of why the compliance date should be extended, and a 
proposed schedule for meeting compliance.
    As required by 40 CFR 51.261(a)(2), no extension of the compliance 
date can be approved if it extends final compliance beyond the 
attainment date in the approved SIP.
    We have reviewed the NOX controls and averaging 
provisions in this rule and have determined that they are consistent 
with relevant EPA guidance and with NOX controls approved as 
RACT for other states.
    No comments were received in response to the public comment period 
regarding this rule action.
    For more background information, the reader is referred to the 
proposal for this rulemaking published on February 17, 2000, at 65 FR 
8092.

Have the requirements for approval of a SIP revision been met?

    The state submittal has met the public notice requirements for SIP 
submissions in accordance with 40 CFR 51.102. The submittal also 
satisfied the completeness criteria of 40 CFR Part 51, Appendix V. In 
addition, as explained above and in more detail in the technical 
support document which is part of this document, the revision meets the 
substantive SIP requirements of the CAA, including section 110 and 
implementing regulations and part D of Title I of the CAA.

What action is EPA taking?

    We are taking final action to approve as an amendment to the 
Missouri SIP rule 10 CSR 10-5.510, ``Control of Emissions of Nitrogen 
Oxides,'' as meeting the requirement for NOX RACT which is 
applicable to the Missouri portions of the St. Louis ozone 
nonattainment area.

Administrative Requirements

    Under Executive Order 12866 (58 FR 51735, October 4, 1993), this 
action is not a ``significant regulatory action'' and therefore is not 
subject to review by the Office of Management and Budget. This action 
merely approves state law as meeting Federal requirements and imposes 
no additional requirements beyond those imposed by state law. 
Accordingly, the Administrator certifies that this rule will not have a 
significant

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economic impact on a substantial number of small entities under the 
Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 601 et seq.). Because this rule 
approves preexisting requirements under state law and does not impose 
any additional enforceable duty beyond that required by state law, it 
does not contain any unfunded mandate or significantly or uniquely 
affect small governments, as described in the Unfunded Mandates Reform 
Act of 1995 (Public Law 104-4). For the same reason, this rule also 
does not significantly or uniquely affect the communities of tribal 
governments, as specified by Executive Order 13084 (63 FR 27655, May 
10, 1998). This rule will not have substantial direct effects on the 
states, on the relationship between the national government and the 
states, or on the distribution of power and responsibilities among the 
various levels of government, as specified in Executive Order 13132 (64 
FR 43255, August 10, 1999), because it merely approves a state rule 
implementing a Federal standard, and does not alter the relationship or 
the distribution of power and responsibilities established in the CAA. 
This rule also is not subject to Executive Order 13045 (62 FR 19885, 
April 23, 1997), because it is not economically significant.
    In reviewing SIP submissions, our role is to approve state choices, 
provided that they meet the criteria of the CAA. In this context, in 
the absence of a prior existing requirement for the state to use 
voluntary consensus standards (VCS), we have no authority to disapprove 
a SIP submission for failure to use VCS. It would thus be inconsistent 
with applicable law for EPA, when it reviews a SIP submission, to use 
VCS in place of a SIP submission that otherwise satisfies the 
provisions of the CAA. Thus, the requirements of section 12(d) of the 
National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act of 1995 (15 U.S.C. 272 
note) do not apply. As required by section 3 of Executive Order 12988 
(61 FR 4729, February 7, 1996), in issuing this rule, we have taken the 
necessary steps to eliminate drafting errors and ambiguity, minimize 
potential litigation, and provide a clear legal standard for affected 
conduct. EPA has complied with Executive Order 12630 (53 FR 8859, March 
15, 1988) by examining the takings implications of the rule in 
accordance with the ``Attorney General's Supplemental Guidelines for 
the Evaluation of Risk and Avoidance of Unanticipated Takings' issued 
under the Executive Order. This rule does not impose an information 
collection burden under the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act 
of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.).
    The Congressional Review Act, 5 U.S.C. section 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. We will submit a report containing this 
rule and other required information to the United States Senate, the 
United States House of Representatives, and the Comptroller General of 
the United States prior to publication of the rule in the Federal 
Register. A major rule cannot take effect until 60 days after it is 
published in the Federal Register. This action is not a ``major rule'' 
as defined by 5 U.S.C. section 804(2).
    Under section 307(b)(1) of the CAA, petitions for judicial review 
of this action must be filed in the United States Court of Appeals for 
the appropriate circuit by July 17, 2000. 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, Carbon monoxide, 
Hydrocarbons, Incorporation by reference, Intergovernmental relations, 
Lead, Nitrogen dioxide, Ozone, Particulate matter, Reporting and 
recordkeeping requirements, Sulfur oxides.

    Dated: May 4, 2000
Dennis Grams,
Regional Administrator, Region 7.

    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 AA--Missouri

    2. Sec. 52.1320 is amended by:
    a. In the table to paragraph (c), Chapter 5, adding in numerical 
order entry ``10-5.510.''
    The addition reads as follows:


Sec. 52.1320  Identification of plan.

* * * * *
    (c) * * *

                                       EPA--Approved Missouri Regulations
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                                                State effective    EPA approval
      Missouri citation             Title             date             date         Explanation
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                            Missouri Department of Natural Resources
 
*                  *                  *                  *                  *                  *
                                                        *
     Chapter 5--Air Quality Standards and Air Pollution Control Regulations for the St. Louis
                                        Metropolitan Area
 
*                  *                  *                  *                  *                  *
                                                        *
10-5.510.....................  Control of       February 29,     [insert FR cite
                                Emissions of     2000.            and May 18,
                                Nitrogen                          2000].
                                Oxides.
 
*                  *                  *                  *                  *                  *
                                                        *
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[FR Doc. 00-12387 Filed 5-17-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P