[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 183 (Thursday, September 20, 2001)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 48355-48356]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-23479]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 62

[CA-035-MSWa; FRL-7058-5]


Approval and Promulgation of State Plans for Designated 
Facilities and Pollutants: CA

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Direct final rule.

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SUMMARY: EPA is approving a revision to the California State Plan for 
implementing the emissions guidelines applicable to existing municipal 
solid waste landfills. The Plan was submitted by the California Air 
Resources Board for the State of California to satisfy requirements of 
section 111(d) of the Clean Air Act.

DATES: This direct final rule is effective on November 19, 2001 without 
further notice, unless EPA receives relevant adverse comments by 
October 22, 2001. If EPA receives such comments, then it will publish a 
timely withdrawal in the Federal Register informing the public that 
this rule will not take effect.

ADDRESSES: Comments must be submitted to Andrew Steckel at the Region 
IX office listed below. Copies of the submitted revision and EPA's 
evaluation report are available for public inspection at EPA's Region 
IX office during normal business hours. Copies of the submitted 
revision are available for inspection at the following locations:

Rulemaking Office (AIR-4), Air Division, U.S. Environmental Protection 
Agency, Region IX, 75 Hawthorne Street, San Francisco, CA 94105-3901
California Air Resources Board, Stationary Source Division, Rule 
Evaluation Section, 1001 ``I'' Street, Sacramento, CA 95814

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mae Wang, (AIR-4), Air Division, U.S. 
Environmental Protection Agency, Region IX, 75 Hawthorne Street, San 
Francisco, CA 94105-3901, Telephone: (415) 744-1200.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

    Under section 111(d) of the Clean Air Act (CAA or the Act), EPA has 
established procedures whereby States submit plans to control certain 
existing sources of ``designated pollutants.'' Designated pollutants 
are defined as pollutants for which a standard of performance for new 
sources applies under section 111 but which are not ``criteria 
pollutants'' (i.e., pollutants for which National Ambient Air Quality 
Standards (NAAQS) are set pursuant to sections 108 and 109 of the Act) 
or hazardous air pollutants (HAPs) regulated under section 112 of the 
Act. As required by section 111(d) of the Act, EPA established a 
process at 40 CFR part 60, subpart B, which States must follow in 
adopting and submitting a section 111(d) plan. Whenever EPA promulgates 
new source performance standards (NSPS) that control a designated 
pollutant, EPA establishes emission guidelines (EG) in accordance with 
40 CFR 60.22 which contain information pertinent to the control of the 
designated pollutant from that NSPS source category (i.e., the 
``designated facility'' as defined at 40 CFR 60.21(b)). Thus, a State's 
section 111(d) plan for a designated facility must comply with the EG 
for that source category as well as 40 CFR part 60, subpart B (40 CFR 
60.23 through 60.26).
    On March 12, 1996, EPA promulgated NSPS for new municipal solid 
waste (MSW) landfills at 40 CFR part 60, subpart WWW (Standards of 
Performance for Municipal Solid Waste Landfills) and EG for existing 
MSW landfills at 40 CFR part 60, subpart Cc (Emission Guidelines and 
Compliance Times for Municipal Solid Waste Landfills) (see 61 FR 9905). 
The pollutants regulated by the NSPS and EG are MSW landfill emissions, 
which contain a mixture of volatile organic compounds (VOC), other 
organic compounds, methane, and HAPs.
    VOC emissions contribute to ozone formation which can result in 
adverse effects to human health and vegetation. The health effects of 
HAPs include cancer, respiratory irritation, and damage to the nervous 
system. Methane emissions contribute to global climate change and can 
result in fires or explosions when they accumulate in structures on or 
off the landfill site. To determine whether control is required, 
nonmethane organic compounds (NMOC) are measured as a surrogate for MSW 
landfill emissions. Thus, NMOC is considered the designated pollutant. 
The designated facility which is subject to the EG is each existing MSW 
landfill (as defined in 40 CFR 60.32c) for which construction, 
reconstruction or modification was commenced before May 30, 1991.
    On September 26, 1997, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) 
submitted to EPA the California State Plan for implementing 40 CFR part 
60, subpart Cc. CARB submitted amendments to the California State Plan 
on June 26, 1998; November 9, 1998; and July 14, 1999. The submitted 
Plan controls existing MSW landfills in sixteen (16) air districts. EPA 
approved the California State Plan on September 23, 1999 (see 64 FR 
51447).

II. Revision to the California State Plan

    On December 20, 2000, CARB submitted a revision to the approved 
California State Plan. The revision adds landfill regulations for 
Mojave Desert Air Quality Management District (MDAQMD) and Bay Area Air 
Quality Management District (BAAQMD), and amends landfill regulations 
for South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) and Ventura 
County Air Pollution Control District (VCAPCD). The submitted revision 
to the EPA-approved State Plan contains the following landfill 
regulations:

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                                                                                                       Adoption
                  District                                    Rule Number and Name                       date
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BAAQMD.....................................  8-34 Solid Waste Disposal Sites.......................      10/6/99
MDAQMD.....................................  1126 Municipal Solid Waste Landfills..................      8/28/00
SCAQMD.....................................  1150.1 Control of Gaseous Emissions from Municipal          3/17/00
                                              Solid Waste Landfills.
VCAPCD.....................................  74.17.1 Municipal Solid Waste Landfills...............       2/9/99
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    EPA has evaluated each of these regulations and has determined that 
they meet the federal guidelines for controlling existing MSW 
landfills, as set forth in 40 CFR part 60, subpart Cc. The submitted 
revision to the California 111(d) Plan for controlling MSW landfill gas 
emissions meets all applicable requirements for approval.

[[Page 48356]]

III. Final Action

    EPA is approving the revision to the State of California section 
111(d) plan for the control of landfill gas emissions from existing MSW 
landfills.\1\ As provided by 40 CFR 60.28(c), any revisions to the 
California State Plan or associated regulations will not be considered 
part of the applicable plan until submitted by CARB in accordance with 
40 CFR 60.28 (a) or (b), as applicable, and until approved by EPA in 
accordance with 40 CFR part 60, subpart B. Upon the effective date of 
this approval, the submitted revision will update the State Plan with 
the current versions of SCAQMD and VCAPCD regulations and add 
regulations for BAAQMD and MDAQMD. Moreover, MSW landfills located in 
BAAQMD and MDAQMD will no longer be subject to the Federal Plan (40 CFR 
part 62, subpart GGG) upon the effective date of this approval.
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    \1\ The State did not submit evidence of authority to regulate 
existing MSW landfills in Indian Country; therefore, EPA is not 
approving this Plan as it relates to those sources.
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    The EPA is publishing this rule without prior proposal because the 
Agency views this as a noncontroversial action and anticipates no 
adverse comments. However, in the Proposed Rules section of this 
Federal Register publication, EPA is publishing a separate document 
that will serve as the proposal to approve the 111(d) plan revision 
should relevant adverse or critical comments be filed. This rule will 
be effective November 19, 2001 without further notice unless the Agency 
receives relevant adverse comments by October 22, 2001.
    If EPA receives such comments, then EPA will publish a document 
withdrawing the final rule and informing the public that the rule will 
not take effect. All public comments received will be addressed in a 
subsequent final rule based on the proposed rule. EPA will not 
institute a second comment period on this action. Any parties 
interested in commenting on this action should do so at this time. If 
no such comments are received, the public is advised that this action 
will be effective on November 19, 2001 and no further action will be 
taken on the proposed rule.
    Nothing in this action should be construed as permitting or 
allowing or establishing a precedent for any future request for 
revision to any section 111(d) plan. Each request for revision to the 
section 111(d) plan shall be considered separately in light of specific 
technical, economic, and environmental factors and in relation to 
relevant statutory and regulatory requirements.

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). This rule also does not 
have a substantial direct effect on one or more Indian tribes, on the 
relationship between the Federal Government and Indian tribes, or on 
the distribution of power and responsibilities between the Federal 
Government and Indian tribes, as specified by Executive Order 13175 (65 
FR 67249, November 9, 2000), nor will it 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 State Plan submissions under section 111(d) of the 
Clean Air Act, EPA's role is to approve state choices, provided that 
they meet the criteria of the Clean Air Act. 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 November 19, 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 62

    Environmental protection, Administrative practice and procedure, 
Air pollution control, Intergovernmental relations, Reporting and 
recordkeeping requirements.

    Dated: August 2, 2001.
Jane Diamond,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region IX.

    Title 40, chapter I, part 62 of the Code of Federal Regulations is 
amended as follows:

PART 62--[AMENDED]

    1. The authority citation for part 62 continues to read as follows:

    Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7401-7671q.

Subpart F--California

    2. Section 62.1100 is amended by adding paragraph (b)(5)(i) to read 
as follows:


Sec. 62.1100  Identification of plan.

* * * * *
    (b) * * *
    (5) * * *
    (i) Revision to the State of California's Section 111(d) Plan for 
Existing Municipal Solid Waste Landfills, submitted by the California 
Air Resources Board on December 20, 2000.

[FR Doc. 01-23479 Filed 9-19-01; 8:45 am]
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