[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 189 (Thursday, September 28, 2000)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 58249-58252]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-24792]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[DC047-2021; FRL-6878-1]


Approval and Promulgation of Air Quality Implementation Plans; 
District of Columbia; Reasonably Available Control Technology for 
Oxides of Nitrogen

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Proposed rule.

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SUMMARY: EPA is proposing to approve a State Implementation Plan (SIP) 
revision submitted by the District of Columbia (the District). This 
revision requires major sources of nitrogen oxides (NOx) in the 
District to implement reasonably available control technology (RACT). 
This revision withdraws EPA's previously proposed conditional approval 
of the District's NOx RACT regulation, and, instead, proposes full 
approval of the SIP revision. This action is being taken in accordance 
with the Clean Air Act.

DATES: Written comments must be received on or before October 30, 2000.

ADDRESSES: Written comments should be mailed to David L. Arnold, Chief, 
Ozone and Mobile Sources Branch, Mailcode 3AP21, U.S. Environmental 
Protection Agency, Region III, 1650 Arch Street, Philadelphia, 
Pennsylvania 19103. 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; and the District of 
Columbia Department of Public Health, Air Quality Division, 51 N 
Street, NE., Washington, DC 20002.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kelly L. Bunker, (215) 814-2177 or by 
e-mail at [email protected]. While information may be 
requested via e-mail, any comments must be submitted in writing to the 
EPA Region III address above.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

    Pursuant to sections 182(b)(2) and 182(f) of the Clean Air Act 
(CAA), ozone nonattainment areas classified as moderate or above are 
required to implement RACT for all major sources of NOx by no later 
than May 31, 1995. The major source size is determined by the 
classification of the nonattainment area and whether it is located in 
the Ozone Transport Region which was established by the CAA. The 
District of Columbia is located within the Metropolitan Washington, DC 
ozone nonattainment area which is classified as a serious. Therefore, 
major stationary sources of NOX are defined as those that 
emit or have the potential to emit 50 tons or more per year.
    On January 13, 1994, the District of Columbia Department of 
Consumer and Regulatory Affairs (DCRA), now known as the District of 
Columbia Department of Health (DoH), submitted revisions to its State 
Implementation Plan (SIP) that included a new regulation, Section 805, 
entitled ``Reasonably Available Control Technology for Major Stationary 
Sources of Oxides of Nitrogen'', to Subtitle I (Air Quality) of Title 
20 of the District of Columbia Municipal Regulations (DCMR). Section 
805 requires sources which emit or have the potential to emit 50 tons 
or more of NOX per year to comply with RACT requirements by 
May 31, 1995.
    On February 25, 1999 (64 FR 9272), EPA published a direct final 
rulemaking (DFR) conditionally approving the District of Columbia's 
NOX RACT regulation found in section 805 of Title 20 of the 
DCMR. A companion notice of proposed rulemaking (NPR) proposing 
conditional approval the District of Columbia's NOX RACT 
regulation was published in the Proposed Rules section of the same 
February 25, 1999 Federal Register (64 FR 9289). In the February 25, 
1999 DFR, EPA stated that if adverse comments were received within 30 
days of its publication, EPA would publish a document announcing the 
withdrawal of that DFR before its effective date. Because EPA did 
receive adverse comments on the February 25, 1999 DFR within the 
prescribed time frame, we withdrew it. Under these circumstances the 
companion NPR remained in effect and interested parties submitted 
comments pursuant to that NPR. The withdrawal document appeared in the 
Federal Register on April 13, 1999 (70 FR 17982). On August 28, 2000, 
the District of Columbia submitted proposed revisions to Section 805 of 
Title 20 of the DCMR as supplement to its January 13, 1994 SIP 
submittal for parallel-processing by EPA. These proposed revisions 
correct the deficiencies identified in the February 25, 1999 notice. 
Therefore, by this rulemaking, EPA is withdrawing its February 25, 1999 
proposed conditional approval and is proposing full approval of the 
revised version the District of Columbia's NOX RACT 
regulation found in section 805 of Title 20 of the DCMR submitted on 
August 28, 2000.
    A summary of the District's submittal and EPA's rationale for 
approval are provided below. A more detailed description of the 
District's submittal and EPA's evaluation are included in the Technical 
Support Document (TSD) and the addendum to the TSD both prepared in 
support of this rulemaking action. A copy of the TSD and its addendum 
are available, upon request, from the EPA Regional Office listed in the 
ADDRESSES section of this document.

II. Summary of the SIP Revision and EPA Evaluation

General Provisions

    Subtitle I of 20 DCMR was amended to add a new section 805 that 
applies to all sources in the District having the potential to emit 
(PTE) 50 tons or more of NOX per year. Exemptions from the 
requirements of section 805 are provided for sources that have a permit 
from the District limiting the potential to emit to less than 50 tons 
per year (TPY) and for emergency stand-by engines operated less than 
500 hours per 12 month period. Section 805 contains presumptive 
emission limits for certain source categories of NOX 
including: Stationary combustion turbines, fossil-fuel-fired steam-
generating units and asphalt concrete plants. Individual sources in 
these categories with presumptive RACT emission limits may also apply 
for alternative emission limits which reflect the application of 
source-specific RACT. Any such applications for alternative RACT 
determinations are subject to approval by both the District and EPA as 
SIP revisions. All other major source categories of NOX must 
have a RACT emission limit approved by the District and EPA in an 
emissions control plan. All major sources of NOX must submit 
an emissions control plan to the District that describes the source and 
demonstrates how RACT will be implemented. The District will conduct a 
public hearing for those sources that apply for alternative emission 
limits and those not subject to specific source category emission 
limits before final approval is issued.

[[Page 58250]]

EPA's Evaluation

    EPA defines PTE in 40 CFR 51.165(a)(1)(iii) as the maximum capacity 
of a source to emit unless federally enforceable restrictions are 
imposed that would limit emissions. Subsection 805.1(c) in the 
District's rule exempts sources with a District permit limiting PTE to 
less than 50 TPY. Because the District of Columbia does not have a 
Federally Enforceable State Operating Permit (FESOP) program, 
subsection 805.1(c)(1) requires that any permit which limits the PTE to 
less than 50 TPY of NOX must be transmitted and approved by 
the EPA as a revision to the District's SIP.

Source Category RACT

    RACT for specific categories of NOX sources is 
established in subsections 805.4, 805.5, 805.6 and 805.8. of DCMR No. 
20, Subtitle 1 as listed in the table below, entitled ``RACT for 
NOX Sources'':

                                              RACT for NOX Sources
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                          Rated heat
         Source category               Fuel type           capacity       NOX emission limit   Averaging period
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Simple Cycle Turbine............  Oil...............   100     75 ppmvd @ 15%      Not specified***
                                                       MMBTU/hr*.          O2**.
Combustion Turbine (not           Not specified.....   100     Exempt if operated  N/A
 otherwise classified).                                MMBTU/hr.           less than 500
                                                                           hours/year.
Utility Boiler (not otherwise     Fossil Fuel.......   20      No limit, RACT is   N/A
 specified).                                           MMBTU/hr.           defined as an
                                                       50       annual combustion
                                                       MMBTU/hr.           adjustment.
Utility Boiler--tangential or     Oil...............   50      0.3 lbs./MMBTU....  Calendar day
 face-fired.                                           MMBTU/hr.
                                                       100
                                                       MMBTU/hr.
Utility Boiler--dry bottom......  Coal..............   100     0.43 lbs./MMBTU...  Calendar day
                                                       MMBTU/hr.
    -tangential.................
    -face-fired.................
    -stoker.....................
Utility Boiler--tangential or     Oil...............   100     0.25 lbs./MMBTU...  Calendar Day
 face-fired.                                           MMBTU/hr.
Utility Boiler--tangential or     Oil and Natural      100     0.25 lbs./MMBTU...  Calendar Day
 face-fired.                       Gas combined.       MMBTU/hr.
Utility Boiler--tangential......  Natural Gas only..   100     0.20 lbs./MMBTU...  Calendar Day
                                                       MMBTU/hr.
Asphalt Concrete Plants.........  N/A...............  N/A...............  150 ppmvd NOX and   Not specified ***
                                                                           500 ppmvd CO @ 7%
                                                                           O2.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* Million British Thermal Units (MMBTU) per hour (hr).
** Parts per million dry volume (ppmvd)
*** Where an averaging time is not specified, compliance is to be continuous.

    Subsection 805.4 establishes emission limits for stationary 
combustion turbines. Subsection 805.4(b)(1) exempts combustion turbines 
operated less than 500 hours per calendar year from meeting the 
NOX RACT limits in subsection 805.4. Subsection 805.5 
establishes presumptive RACT for fossil-fueled steam-generating units. 
Utility boilers with a rated heat capacity of 100 MMBTU or greater must 
demonstrate compliance with the applicable emission limit using 
approved continuous emissions monitoring (CEM) technology pursuant to 
40 CFR Part 60, Appendix B. All other utility boilers and turbines 
subject to these source category requirements may choose between CEM 
technology or alternative test methods approved by the District and 
EPA.
    Subsection 805.5(a) requires that any fossil fuel fired steam-
generating units with an energy input capacity greater than or equal to 
20 MMBTU per hour must perform an annual adjustment of the combustion 
process. The minimal requirements of the annual combustion adjustment 
are specified in subsection 805.8. Although sources subject to this 
requirement must record the results of the combustion process 
adjustments, this requirement will not result in an additional emission 
limitation. The combustion process adjustment is the only RACT 
requirement for sources with a rated heat capacity equal to or greater 
than 20 MMBTU but less than 50 MMBTU.
    Subsection 805.6 specifies an emission limit of 150 ppmvd 
NOX and 500 ppmvd CO corrected to 7% oxygen for asphalt 
concrete plants that emit 50 TPY or greater of NOX. Sources 
may choose between CEM or test methods approved by the District and EPA 
to demonstrate compliance.
    However, if a source chooses to use testing, subsection 805.6(d)(2) 
requires that testing be conducted at least annually and demonstrate 
that the NOX emission rate does not exceed the rate 
specified in subsection 805.5.

EPA's Evaluation

    The emission limits for large utility boilers are supported by data 
gathered by the State and Territorial Air Pollution Program 
Administrators (STAPPA) and the Association of Local Air Pollution 
Control Officials (ALAPCO). EPA has published RACT-level NOX 
emission rates for selected types of utility boilers that are to be 
applied to groups of boilers on an area wide, BTU-weighted basis 
(November 25, 1992, 57 FR 55620, 55625). The District's emission limits 
for individual source units are very similar to EPA's area wide 
averages and should provide the same level of control recommended by 
EPA. The emission limit for oil-fired combustion turbines is supported 
by data gathered for existing turbines by the Northeast States for 
Coordinated Air Use Management (NESCAUM) and is acceptable. EPA has not 
issued guidance on reducing NOX emissions from asphalt 
concrete plants. EPA finds that the emission limit established for 
asphalt concrete plants in section 805.6 of the District's rule 
constitutes an acceptable level of RACT.
    The District has defined RACT for combustion sources equal to or 
greater than 20 MMBTU/hour but less than 50 MMBTU/hour as annual 
combustion adjustments. The regulation details the minimal requirements 
for the adjustment and specifies recordkeeping requirements for each 
combustion adjustment. EPA finds that the annual combustion adjustment 
constitutes RACT for combustion sources equal to or greater than 20 
MMBTU/hour but less than 50 MMBTU/hour and is approvable.

[[Page 58251]]

Source-specific (Generic) RACT Provisions

    The District's regulation requires that all other NOX 
sources having the potential to emit 50 tons of NOX per year 
not listed on the table above must submit an emission control plan to 
the District specifying a RACT emission limit that will be met by May 
31, 1995 (subsection 805.7). The emission control plan must be approved 
by the District and approved as a SIP revision by EPA. Sources must 
demonstrate compliance using either CEM technology or testing approved 
by the District and EPA. Testing, if chosen, must be conducted annually 
and must demonstrate that the NOX emission rate does not 
exceed the emission rate specified in subsection 805.5 for the 
applicable fossil fuel steam-generating unit. Daily records must be 
maintained and kept for three years to demonstrate compliance with the 
applicable emission rate. Emissions that are subject to any other 
regulation in subtitle I of 20 DCMR or those that have emission limits 
approved in a federally enforceable regulation as meeting Best 
Available Control Technology (BACT) or Lowest Achievable Emission Rate 
(LAER) since January 1, 1990, are exempt from these requirements.

EPA's Evaluation

    Under subsection 805.7, major NOX sources that are not 
otherwise covered by presumptive emission limits under section 805 are 
subject to a process to develop and submit individual source RACT 
determinations for the District's approval and submission to EPA as SIP 
revisions. For all other major NOX sources or those 
NOX sources electing not to comply with presumptive emission 
requirements, the District provides the option of a source-specific 
RACT determination through subsections 805.2(b) and 805.7. Subsections 
805.2(b) and 805.7 specifically allow sources to have RACT approved via 
the SIP revision process. EPA refers to this type of provision as a 
``generic RACT'' provision in a state regulation. Specifically, 
``generic RACT rules'' are defined as rules that merely require sources 
to identify RACT-level controls which the state will later submit 
through the SIP process.
    EPA has long interpreted the RACT requirements of the Clean Air Act 
to mean that states must adopt and submit regulations that include 
emission limits as applicable to the subject sources. In other words, a 
state would not fully meet the RACT requirement until it establishes 
emission limits on all major sources. In a November 7, 1996 EPA policy 
memorandum from Sally Shaver, Director, Air Quality Strategies and 
Standards Division, to all Regional Air Division Directors, EPA 
outlined the necessary prerequisites for approving a state's (or in 
this case the District's) generic RACT regulation. In this memorandum, 
EPA recognized that in most instances a generic RACT rule strengthens 
the SIP to the extent that it sets dates by which sources must submit 
RACT and comply with requirements. The November 7, 1996 memorandum 
recommends that approval should be granted to a state's generic rule as 
long as EPA believes that the state has submitted all the source-
specific RACT determinations and has submitted a declaration that to 
the best of its knowledge, there are no remaining unregulated sources. 
Full approval, however, should not be granted until EPA has also 
determined through rulemaking that the source-specific determinations 
also meet the RACT requirements.
    In a letter dated December 16, 1998, the District of Columbia 
Department of Health notified EPA that all major stationary sources of 
NOX emissions in the District are subject to the presumptive 
source category RACT limits of subsections 805.4, 805.5 or 805.6. In 
other words, no major sources in the District have elected to apply for 
alternative RACT determinations through the source-specific process. 
Furthermore, the December 16, 1998 letter included a ``negative 
declaration'' pertaining to the entire universe of all other categories 
of major sources of NOX. In other words, the District has no 
other major sources of NOX, such as incinerators, 
reciprocating internal combustion engines, glass manufacturing, nitric/
adipic acid production, cement manufacturing and iron/steel 
manufacturing plants, etc. The District has not and will not be 
submitting any source-specific RACT determinations because the entire 
of universe of major sources of NOX in the District are 
subject to RACT emission limits under section 805. Because all major 
sources of NOX in the District are subject to RACT, as 
established in section 805, EPA finds that the requirements of sections 
182 and 184 of the Clean Air Act have been met regardless of the 
generic provisions of section 805.

Monitoring, Recordkeeping and Reporting

    For sources subject to the presumptive limits found in section 805, 
subsection 805.2(a) requires such sources to demonstrate compliance 
with the applicable emission limits using continuous emission monitors 
according to 40 CFR part 60 Appendix B, or through other test methods 
approved by the District and EPA. For combustion turbines and utility 
boilers, compliance will be determined using an emission monitoring 
system to continuously monitor and record the NOX emission 
rate and demonstrate that the NOX emission rate does not 
exceed the applicable allowable NOX emission rate 
(subsections 805.4(d) and 805.5(e)). For sources electing alternative 
emission limits as RACT, subsections 805.2(c) and 805.7(d) require all 
sources to maintain continuous compliance through installation of a 
continuous emissions monitoring system or other methods consistent with 
the operational parameters and limits set forth in any permit or 
certificate approved by the District and EPA.

EPA's Evaluation

    Specific recordkeeping requirements necessary to determine 
compliance are not contained in the regulation. Subsection 805.3(c)(4) 
requires all emission control plans to include recordkeeping procedures 
for air pollution control equipment used to reduce NOX 
emissions. However, because the emission control plans for sources 
subject to source category limits in subsections 805.4 through 805.6 
are not required to be submitted as SIP revisions they are not made 
federally enforceable through this regulation. EPA believes that this 
deficiency is resolved through Chapter 5 of subtitle I of the 
District's regulations. This SIP-approved Chapter requires stationary 
sources with emissions greater than 25 TPY to conduct testing and 
maintain adequate records for compliance with applicable requirements.
    EPA's review of this material indicates approval of this SIP 
revision. EPA is proposing to approve the District of Columbia's SIP 
revision for NOX RACT, which was submitted on January 13, 
1994 and supplemented on August 28, 2000. EPA is soliciting public 
comments on the issues discussed in this notice or on other relevant 
matters. These comments will be considered before taking final action. 
Interested parties may participate in the Federal rulemaking procedure 
by submitting written comments to the EPA Regional office listed in the 
Addresses section of this notice.
    This revision is being proposed under a procedure called parallel 
processing, whereby EPA proposes rulemaking action concurrently with 
the state's procedures for amending its regulations. If the proposed 
revision is substantially changed in areas other than those

[[Page 58252]]

identified in this notice, EPA will evaluate those changes and may 
publish another notice of proposed rulemaking. If no substantial 
changes are made other than those areas cited in this notice, EPA will 
publish a Final Rulemaking Notice on the revisions. The final 
rulemaking action by EPA will occur only after the SIP revision has 
been adopted by the District of Columbia and submitted formally to EPA 
for incorporation into the SIP.

III. Proposed Action

    EPA is withdrawing the proposed conditional approval published in 
the Federal Register on February 25, 1999, and is, instead, proposing 
full approval of the District of Columbia's NOX RACT 
regulation found in section 805 of Title 20 of the DCMR which was 
submitted as a SIP revision by the District of Columbia on January 13, 
1994 and supplemented on August 28, 2000.

IV. 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 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 pre-existing 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 (Pub. L. 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 Clean 
Air Act. 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, EPA's role is to approve state choices, 
provided that they meet the criteria of the Clean Air Act. In this 
context, in the absence of a prior existing requirement for the State 
to use voluntary consensus standards (VCS), EPA has 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 Clean Air Act. 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, EPA has 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, which proposes approval of the District of Columbia's 
NOX RACT regulation, does not impose an information 
collection burden under the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act 
of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.).

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 52

    Environmental protection, Air pollution control, Intergovernmental 
relations, Nitrogen dioxide, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements.

    Dated: September 15, 2000.
Bradley M. Campbell,
Regional Administrator, Region III.
[FR Doc. 00-24792 Filed 9-27-00; 8:45 am]
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