[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 238 (Monday, December 11, 2000)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 77307-77308]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-31330]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[CA 224-0268; FRL-6908-1]


Revisions to the California State Implementation Plan, Ventura 
County Air Pollution Control District

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: EPA is finalizing a limited approval and limited disapproval 
of a revision to the Ventura County Air Pollution Control District's 
(VCAPCD) portion of the California State Implementation Plan (SIP). 
This action was proposed in the Federal Register on August 9, 2000 and 
concerns volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions from surface 
cleaning and degreasing. Under authority of the Clean Air Act as 
amended in 1990 (CAA or the Act), this action simultaneously approves a 
local rule that regulates this emission source and directs California 
to correct rule deficiencies.

EFFECTIVE DATE: This rule is effective on January 10, 2001.

ADDRESSES: You can inspect copies of the administrative record for this 
action at EPA's Region IX office during normal business hours. You can 
inspect copies of the submitted SIP revisions at the following 
locations:
    Environmental Protection Agency, Region IX, 75 Hawthorne Street, 
San Francisco, CA 94105-3901.
    Environmental Protection Agency, Air Docket (6102), Ariel Rios 
Building, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington D.C. 20460.
    California Air Resources Board, Stationary Source Division, Rule 
Evaluation Section, 2020 ``L'' Street, Sacramento, CA 95812.
    Ventura County Air Pollution Control District, 669 County Square 
Dr., 2nd Fl., Ventura, CA 93003-5417.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Yvonne Fong, Rulemaking Office (AIR-
4), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region IX, (415) 744-1199.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Throughout this document, ``we,'' ``us'' and 
``our'' refer to EPA.

I. Proposed Action

    On August 9, 2000 (65 FR 48652), EPA proposed a limited approval 
and limited disapproval of the following rule that was submitted for 
incorporation into the California SIP.

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         Local agency             Rule No.                   Rule title                   Adopted     Submitted
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VCAPCD........................         74.6  Surface Cleaning and Degreasing..........     11/10/98     02/16/99
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    We proposed a limited approval because we determined that this rule 
improves the SIP and is largely consistent with the relevant CAA 
requirements. We simultaneously proposed a limited disapproval because 
some rule provisions conflict with section 110 and part D of the Act. 
These provisions are described below.
     Rule 74.6 contains two director's discretion clauses in 
Sections C and C2a which are unapprovable because they allow the APCO 
to change SIP requirements without going through the rulemaking 
process.
     Section C1f contains a reference to Rule 74.32, Electronic 
Manufacturing Operations, which has never been submitted for approval 
into the SIP. The reference creates confusion over the rule's 
applicability.
     Section D requires that records of a solvent's intended 
uses, content, mix ratio be recorded. Although the types of records 
that must be maintained are specified, the frequency with which records 
should be kept is not specified.

II. Public Comments and EPA Responses

    EPA's proposed action provided a 30-day public comment period. 
During this period, we did not receive any comments.

III. EPA Action

    Because no comments were submitted, our assessment of the rule as 
described in our proposed action is not changed. Therefore, as 
authorized in sections 110(k)(3) and 301(a) of the Act, EPA is 
finalizing a limited approval of the submitted rule. This action 
incorporates the submitted rule into the California SIP, including 
those provisions identified as deficient. As authorized under section 
110(k)(3), EPA is simultaneously finalizing a limited disapproval of 
the rule. As a result, sanctions will be imposed unless EPA approves 
subsequent SIP revisions that correct the rule deficiencies within 18 
months of the effective date of this action. These sanctions will be 
imposed under section 179 of the Act according to 40 CFR 52.31. In 
addition, EPA must promulgate a federal implementation plan (FIP) under 
section 110(c) unless we approve subsequent SIP revisions that correct 
the rule deficiencies within 24 months. Note that the submitted rules 
have been adopted by the VCAPCD, and EPA's final limited disapproval 
does not prevent the local agency from enforcing them.

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 (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 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.

[[Page 77308]]

    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 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. 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. 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. 
804(2).
    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 February 9, 2001. 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, Incorporation by 
reference, Intergovernmental relations, Ozone, Reporting and 
recordkeeping requirements, Volatile organic compounds.

    Dated: November 1, 2000
Felicia Marcus,
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 paragraphs (c)(262)(i)(B)(3) 
to read as follows:


Sec. 52.220  Identification of plan.

* * * * *
    (c) * * *
    (262) * * *
    (i) * * *
    (B) * * *
    (3) Rule 74.6, revised on November 10, 1998.
* * * * *
[FR Doc. 00-31330 Filed 12-8-00; 8:45 am]
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