[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 94 (Wednesday, May 15, 2002)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 34614-34616]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-12006]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[IL214-1a; FRL-7164-4]


Approval and Promulgation of Implementation Plans; Illinois 
Emission Reporting

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Direct final rule.

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SUMMARY: EPA is approving revisions to Illinois rules for emission 
reporting. Illinois requested these revisions on November 6, 2001. The 
revisions address two purposes. First, these revisions restructure 
previously approved regulations, eliminating a category with 
intermediate reporting requirements and thus requiring further 
reporting by a modest number of sources. Second, these revisions add 
requirements for reporting emissions of hazardous air pollutants by 
sources in the Chicago area volatile organic compound emissions trading 
program. This information on hazardous air pollutant emissions will 
help Illinois assess whether its emission trading program has adverse 
effects on the magnitude and distribution of hazardous air pollutant 
emissions. EPA concludes that the revised regulations continue to 
satisfy emissions reporting requirements and provide for reporting of 
emissions information needed to assess the impact of the emissions 
trading program on the distribution and overall magnitude of hazardous 
air pollutant emissions.

DATES: This rule is effective on July 15, 2002, unless EPA receives 
written adverse comments by June 14, 2002. If the effective date is 
delayed, timely notice will be published in the Federal Register.

ADDRESSES: Send comments to: J. Elmer Bortzer, Chief, Regulation 
Development Section, Air Programs Branch (AR-18J), United States 
Environmental Protection Agency, 77 West Jackson Boulevard, Chicago, 
Illinois 60604. Copies of the State's submittal are available for 
inspection at the following address: (We recommend that you telephone 
John Summerhays at (312) 886-6067, before visiting the Region 5 
Office.) U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 5, Air and 
Radiation Division (AR-18J), 77 West Jackson Boulevard, Chicago, 
Illinois 60604.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: John Summerhays, Environmental 
Scientist, Regulation Development Section, Air Programs Branch (AR-
18J), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 5, Chicago, Illinois 
60604-3590, (312) 886-6067.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This document is organized according to the 
following table of contents:

I. What changes did Illinois make?
II. What is EPA's view of these changes?
III. EPA Action.
IV. Administrative Requirements.

I. What Changes Did Illinois Make?

    On November 6, 2001, Illinois submitted revised rules for emission 
reporting. These changes amend rules that USEPA approved on September 
9, 1993, at 58 FR 47379. These rules include two types of revisions. 
The first type of revision is a restructuring and simplification of the 
requirements for annual emission reporting. The second type of revision 
affects ozone season emission reporting for sources subject to the 
Illinois trading program, most notably adding requirements for 
reporting emissions of hazardous air pollutants (HAPs).
    The restructuring and simplification of the rule has a modest 
substantive effect on requirements for annual emission reporting. The 
first change affects the categories of emission reports, eliminating an 
intermediate reporting category and subjecting the small number of 
sources in this category to greater reporting requirements. 
Specifically, the previously approved rules had three categories of 
reporting, known as (1) the long report, (2) the medium report, and (3) 
the short report. These reports were to be submitted respectively by 
(1) sources permitted to emit a total emissions (summed across all 
regulated pollutants, such as particulate matter and nitrogen oxides) 
of at least 25 tons per year, (2) ozone nonattainment area sources not 
included in the first category that nevertheless had potential 
emissions of more than 25 tons per year of volatile organic compounds 
(VOC), nitrogen oxides (NOX), or both, and (3) smaller 
sources required to have a state operating permit. Under the revised 
rules, the first two of these categories must submit the long report. 
The long report requires reporting for all pollutants rather than just 
for VOC or NOX, so the rule revision requires slight 
additional reporting for a small number of sources of VOC and 
NOX.
    Illinois also made several other less significant changes to annual 
emissions reporting requirements. The list of required information, 
previously specified in standard forms, is now specified in the rule. 
Illinois has exempted operations defined as insignificant activities 
from emission reporting requirements. Illinois has consolidated its 
definitions into one rule and deleted obsolete rules concerning initial 
reporting schedules.
    The second major element of Illinois' revised emission reporting 
rule concerns reporting of ozone season emissions by sources subject to 
the Illinois trading program. ``Ozone season'' is defined here as May 
to September, which is the seasonal allotment period for the trading 
program. This portion of the emission reporting rule is very similar to 
the corresponding portion of Part 205 of Title 35 of the Illinois 
Administrative Code, which codifies what Illinois calls the Emissions 
Reduction Market System. Both rules set deadlines by which sources in 
that program must report VOC emissions during the ozone season as well 
as information on how emissions were determined. The emission reporting 
rule reiterates,

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sometimes with somewhat greater specificity, all of the emission 
reporting requirements given in the emission trading rules. These 
emission data satisfy a critical need of the trading program, allowing 
Illinois to assess whether each company has complied with the 
requirement to emit no more than the tonnage value of the allowances 
the company holds.
    More significantly, the emission reporting rule establishes new 
requirements for sources in the Illinois trading program to report 
emissions of HAPs. This information is intended to address a public 
concern about the trading program, that the flexibility offered by the 
trading program may result in an inequitable geographic distribution of 
the reductions of VOC emissions and the hazardous components of these 
VOC emissions. This information is to allow Illinois to analyze any 
impacts of the trading program on HAP emissions.
    The emission reporting rule requires sources subject to the trading 
program to report ozone season emissions of HAPs meeting any of three 
criteria: (1) HAPs that are regulated by a national emission standard 
(typically a maximum achievable control technology standard), (2) HAPs 
emitted in sufficient quantity to make the source a major source, and 
(3) HAPs reported to the federal Toxic Release Inventory. (Sources are 
exempt from reporting if they certify that information already reported 
to the Toxic Release Inventory suffices to indicate ozone season HAP 
emissions.) All sources subject to the trading program, including 
sources meeting none of the three criteria for HAP reporting, must 
answer questions that address whether the trading program might have 
affected HAPs emissions. Illinois is then authorized to request further 
information on HAP emissions when needed.

II. What Is EPA's View of These Changes?

    Clean Air Act section 182(a)(3)(b) requires states with ozone 
nonattainment areas to require VOC and NOX sources in such 
areas to report emissions of these pollutants. In July 1992, EPA 
established guidance on this requirement.
    Illinois submitted its previous version of annual emission 
reporting rules on October 12, 1992, and June 2, 1993. EPA approved 
those rules on September 9, 1993, at 58 FR 47379. The more recent rules 
make the state's requirements for annual emission reporting slightly 
more stringent by requiring a modest amount of additional information 
from a small number of sources. EPA concludes that Illinois continues 
to satisfy the requirements for emission reporting.
    EPA's criteria for evaluating the rules on ozone season emission 
reporting are based on criteria for emission trading programs. In 
January 2001, EPA published an extensive guidance document on economic 
incentive programs such as trading programs. An important element of 
this guidance required states to address public concerns about the 
potential impacts of trading programs on the distribution and magnitude 
of HAP emissions. Illinois convened a workgroup of industry and 
environmental group representatives to seek consensus on the HAP 
emission reporting needed to evaluate whether the feared impacts in 
fact occur. The trading program and Illinois' efforts to address 
citizen concerns are described more extensively in EPA's rulemaking on 
the Illinois trading program, published on October 15, 2001, at 66 FR 
52343. EPA concludes that Illinois' revised emission reporting rule 
provides an appropriate set of information on potential impacts of the 
trading program on HAPs emissions, allowing Illinois to provide 
analyses and public information to satisfy relevant portions of the 
criteria for emission trading programs.

III. EPA Action

    EPA is approving the revisions to Illinois' rules for emissions 
reporting that Illinois submitted on November 6, 2001. These revisions 
repeal several previously approved rules, amend several other 
previously approved rules, add four new rules, and retain unchanged 
only one previously approved rule. EPA is publishing this action 
without prior proposal because EPA views these as noncontroversial 
revisions and anticipates no adverse comments. However, in a separate 
document in this Federal Register publication, the EPA is proposing the 
action taken in this final rule. This final rule will be effective on 
July 15, 2002, unless, by June 14, 2002, EPA receives adverse written 
comments.
    If the EPA receives such comments, EPA will withdraw this final 
action before the effective date by publishing a subsequent notice in 
the Federal Register. All public comments received will be addressed in 
a subsequent final rule based on the associated proposed rule. The EPA 
does not intend to provide 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 July 15, 2002.

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. 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 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 tribal implications because it will 
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). This action also does not have Federalism 
implications because it does 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). This action 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 
``Protection of Children from Environmental Health Risks and Safety 
Risks'' (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

[[Page 34616]]

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. 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 July 15, 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 52

    Environmental protection, Air pollution control, Incorporation by 
reference, Intergovernmental relations, Nitrogen oxides, Reporting and 
recordkeeping requirements, Volatile organic compounds.

    Dated: March 19, 2002.
Gary Gulezian,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region 5.

    For the reasons set out in the preamble, 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 O--Illinois

    2. Section 52.720 is amended by adding paragraph (c)(166) to read 
as follows:


Sec. 52.720  Identification of plan.

* * * * *
    (c) * * *
    (166) On November 6, 2001, the State of Illinois submitted 
revisions to its emission reporting rules, restructuring these rules 
and adding hazardous air pollutant emission reporting for sources in 
Illinois' Emission Reduction Market System.
    (i) Incorporation by reference.
    (A) Revised rules of 35 Ill. Admin. Code Part 254, including new or 
amended sections 254.101, 254.102, 254.103, 254.120, 254.132, 254.134, 
254.135, 254.136, 254.137, 254.138, 254.203, 254.204, 254.303, 254.306, 
and 254.501, effective July 17, 2001, retention of section 254.133, and 
the repeal of other previously approved sections of 35 Ill. Admin. Code 
254. Amended or adopted at 25 Ill. Reg. 9856. Effective July 17, 2001.

[FR Doc. 02-12006 Filed 5-14-02; 8:45 am]
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