[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 2 (Thursday, January 3, 2002)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 271-273]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-104]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 62

[R4-200212(a), FRL-7124-7]


Approval and Promulgation of State Plans for Designated 
Facilities and Pollutants; States of Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, and 
South Carolina

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Direct final rule.

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SUMMARY: EPA is approving the small Municipal Waste Combustion (MWC) 
units section 111(d) negative declarations submitted by the states of 
Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, and South Carolina. These negative 
declarations certify that small MWC units subject to the requirements 
of sections 111(d) and

[[Page 272]]

129 of the Clean Air Act (CAA) do not exist in these states.

DATES: This direct final rule will be effective March 4, 2002 unless 
EPA receives adverse comments by February 4, 2002. If adverse comments 
are received, EPA will publish a timely withdrawal of the direct final 
rule in the Federal Register informing the public that the rule will 
not take effect.

ADDRESSES: Comments may be mailed to Scott Davis, EPA Region 4, Air 
Planning Branch, Sam Nunn Atlanta Federal Center, 61 Forsyth Street, 
SW, Atlanta, Georgia 30303-8960.
    Copies of documents relative to this action are available for 
public inspection during normal business hours at the above-listed 
Region 4 location. The interested persons wanting to examine these 
documents should make an appointment with the office at least 24 hours 
in advance.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Scott Davis at (404) 562-9127 or Sean 
Lakeman at (404) 562-9043.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 111(d) of the CAA requires states to 
submit plans to control certain pollutants (designated pollutants) at 
existing facilities (designated facilities) whenever standards of 
performance have been established under section 111(b) for new sources 
of the same type, and EPA has established emission guidelines for such 
existing sources. A designated pollutant is any pollutant for which no 
air quality criteria have been issued, and which is not included on a 
list published under section 108(a) or section 112(b)(1)(A) of the CAA, 
but emissions of which are subject to a standard of performance for new 
stationary sources.
    Emission guidelines for small MWC units were originally promulgated 
in December 1995 but were vacated by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 
District of Columbia Circuit in March 1997. In response to the 1997 
vacature, on August 30, 1999, EPA proposed to reestablish emission 
guidelines for small MWC units. On December 6, 2000 (65 FR 76378), EPA 
finalized the section 111(d) emission guidelines for existing small MWC 
units. The emission guidelines contained in this final rule are 
equivalent to the 1995 emission guidelines for small MWC units. The 
emission guidelines are codified at 40 CFR part 60, subpart BBBB.
    Subpart B of 40 CFR part 60 establishes procedures to be followed 
and requirements to be met in the development and submission of state 
plans for controlling designated pollutants. Part 62 of the CFR 
provides the procedural framework for the submission of these plans. 
When designated facilities are located in a state, a state must develop 
and submit a plan for the control of the designated pollutant. However, 
40 CFR 62.06 provides that if there are no existing sources of the 
designated pollutant in the state, the state may submit a letter of 
certification to that effect, or negative declaration, in lieu of a 
plan. The negative declaration exempts the state from the requirements 
of subpart B for that designated pollutant. Please note that if EPA 
receives adverse comment on an amendment, paragraph, or section of this 
rule and if that provision may be severed from the remainder of the 
rule, EPA may adopt as final those provisions of the rule that are not 
the subject of an adverse comment.

Final Action

    The states of Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, and South Carolina have 
determined there are no existing sources in their states subject to the 
small MWC units emission guidelines. Consequently, each state has 
submitted a letter of negative declaration certifying this fact. We are 
taking final action to approve these negative declarations.

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. For this 
reason, this action is also not subject to Executive Order 13211, 
``Actions Concerning Regulations That Significantly Affect Energy 
Supply, Distribution, or Use'' (66 FR 28355, May 22, 2001). This action 
merely approves state negative declarations as meeting Federal 
requirements and imposes no additional requirements. 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 state negative declarations and does not impose any additional 
enforceable duty, 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 state negative declarations relating to 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 state plan 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 state submissions for failure to use VCS. It would thus be 
inconsistent with applicable law for EPA, when it reviews state 
submissions, to use VCS in place of state submissions that otherwise 
satisfy 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. 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

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``major rule'' as defined by 5 U.S.C. 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 March 4, 2002. 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, Air pollution control, Municipal waste 
combustion units, Nitrogen dioxide, Particulate matter, Sulfur oxides.

    Dated: December 21, 2001.
A. Stanley Meiburg,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region 4.

    Chapter I, title 40 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 et seq.

Subpart B--Alabama

    2. Subpart B is amended by adding an undesignated center heading 
and Sec. 62.106 to read as follows:
Air Emissions From Small Existing Municipal Waste Combustion Units


Sec. 62.106  Identification of plan--negative declaration.

    Letter from the Alabama Department of Environmental Management 
submitted January 11, 2001, certifying that there are no small 
municipal waste combustion units subject to 40 CFR part 60, subpart 
BBBB.

Subpart L--Georgia

    3. Subpart L is amended by adding an undesignated center heading 
and Sec. 62.2609 to read as follows:

Air Emissions From Small Existing Municipal Waste Combustion Units


Sec. 62.2609  Identification of plan--negative declaration.

    Letter from the Georgia Department of Natural Resources submitted 
December 13, 2001, certifying that there are no small municipal waste 
combustion units subject to 40 CFR part 60, subpart BBBB.

Subpart S--Kentucky

    4. Subpart S is amended by adding an undesignated center heading 
and Sec. 62.4371 to read as follows:

Air Emissions From Small Existing Municipal Waste Combustion Units


Sec. 62.4371  Identification of plan--negative declaration.

    Letter from the Kentucky Department for Environmental Protection 
submitted March 5, 2001, certifying that there are no small municipal 
waste combustion units subject to 40 CFR part 60, subpart BBBB.

Subpart PP--South Carolina

    5. Subpart PP is amended by adding an undesignated center heading 
and Sec. 62.10180 to read as follows:

Air Emissions From Small Existing Municipal Waste Combustion Units


Sec. 62.10180  Identification of plan--negative declaration.

    Letter from the South Carolina Department of Health and 
Environmental Control submitted November 6, 2001, certifying that there 
are no small municipal waste combustion units subject to 40 CFR part 
60, subpart BBBB.

[FR Doc. 02-104 Filed 1-2-02; 8:45 am]
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