[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 107 (Tuesday, June 4, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 38495-38496]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-13978]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-7222-7]


Fuels and Fuel Additives: Removal of the Reformulated Gasoline 
Program From Seven Counties in Maine

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: Today's notice announces and describes EPA's earlier approval 
of Maine's petition to opt-out of the federal reformulated gasoline 
(RFG) program. EPA's regulations, promulgated under the Clean Air Act 
(the Act), establish the procedures and criteria for opting out of the 
RFG program. In accordance with these procedures and criteria, Maine's 
withdrawal from the RFG program became effective as of March 10, 1999. 
Therefore, as of March 10, 1999, EPA no longer requires federal RFG to 
be sold in the seven southern counties in Maine.

DATES: The effective date for removal of Androscoggin; Cumberland; 
Kennebec; Knox; Lincoln; Sagadahoc; and York Counties in the State of 
Maine from the federal RFG program is March 10, 1999.

ADDRESSES: Materials relevant to Maine's withdrawal from the federal 
RFG program may be found in Docket A-2001-32. The docket is located at 
the Air Docket Section, Mail Code 6102, U.S. Environmental Protection 
Agency, 401 M Street, SW., Washington, DC 20460, in room M-1500 
Waterside Mall. Documents may be inspected on business days from 8:00 
a.m. to 5:30 p.m. A reasonable fee may be charged for copying docket 
material.
    Materials are also available for public inspection during normal 
business hours, by appointment at the Office of Ecosystem Protection, 
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, EPA-New England, One Congress 
Street, 11th floor, Boston, MA and the Bureau of Air Quality Control, 
Department of Environmental Protection, 71 Hospital Street, Augusta, ME 
04333. For further information, contact Robert C. Judge at (617) 918-
1045.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: John Brophy, U.S. Environmental 
Protection Agency, Office of Air and Radiation, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., 
NW (Mail Code 6406J), Washington, DC 20460, (202) 564-9068, e-mail: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Availability on the Internet

    Copies of this final rule are available electronically from the EPA 
Internet Web site. This service is free of charge, except for your 
existing cost of Internet connectivity. An electronic version is made 
available on the day of publication on the primary Internet site listed 
below. The EPA Office of Transportation and Air Quality will also 
publish this final rule on the secondary Web site listed below. http://www.epa.gov/docs/fedrgstr/EPA-AIR/ either select desired date or use 
Search feature) http://www.epa.gov/otaq/ (look in What's New or under 
the specific rulemaking topic).
    Please note that due to differences between the software used to 
develop the document and the software into which the document may be 
downloaded, changes in format, page length, etc. may occur.

I. Background

A. Opt-out Procedures

    The process of withdrawing from the RFG program, pursuant to the 
regulatory provisions of 40 CFR 80.72 (the Opt-out Rule), does not 
require notice and comment rulemaking either under section 307(d) of 
the Act or under the Administrative Procedure Act. See 61 FR 35673 at 
35675 (July 8, 1996). EPA established a petition process to allow case-
by-case consideration of individual state requests to opt-out of the 
federal RFG program.\1\ The Opt-out Rule establishes specific 
requirements regarding what information a State must submit in 
connection with an opt-out petition. These regulatory provisions also 
address when a state's petition is complete and the appropriate 
transition time for opting out. EPA has applied these criteria, and has 
approved Maine's petition for withdrawal from the RFG program, 
effective as of March 10, 1999.
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    \1\ Pursuant to authority under sections 211(c) and (k) and 
301(a) of the Clean Air Act, EPA promulgated regulations to provide 
criteria and general procedures for states to opt-out of the RFG 
program where the state had previously voluntarily opted into the 
program. The regulations were initially adopted on July 8, 1996 (61 
FR 35673); and were revised on October 20, 1997 (62 FR 54552).
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    The Opt-out Rule requires the Governor of the state to submit a 
petition to the Administrator requesting to withdraw from the RFG 
program, along with certain information necessary for EPA to grant the 
petition. Finally, if the Administrator approves the petition, the Opt-
out Rule requires EPA to notify the state in writing, and set an 
effective date for the opt-out that is no less than 90 days from the 
date of the written notification. The Opt-out Rule also directs EPA to 
publish a notice in the Federal Register announcing the approval of any 
opt-out petition and the effective date for removal of the state from 
the RFG program.

B. Maine Opt-out of RFG

    Maine had participated voluntarily in the federal RFG program since 
it began in January 1995. By letter dated May 21, 1998, the Governor of 
Maine announced the state's intent to opt-out, but requested that EPA 
not act on the petition until the state completed certain testing and 
made a decision about how it would replace the emission reductions that 
it was relying on from reformulated gasoline.
    The Opt-out Rule required states with voluntary RFG programs to 
decide by December 31, 1997 whether they wanted to remain in the RFG 
program; otherwise, these procedures require them to stay in the 
program through 2003.\2\ EPA did not receive any petitions by December 
31, 1997. However, EPA's procedures allowed a state to request an 
extension to the December 31 deadline if the state had legislation 
pending to opt-out of the program. In a letter to EPA dated December 1, 
1997, the Governor of Maine stated that the Maine legislature was 
considering such legislation. Thus, EPA granted Maine an

[[Page 38496]]

extension until May 31, 1998. By letter dated May 21, 1998, the 
Governor requested to withdraw from the RFG program, and met the 
deadline set by the Administrator. However, the Governor requested that 
EPA not act on the request until the state had finished certain 
testing.
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    \2\ 40 CFR 80.72(c).
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    At the time of the opt out request, Maine did not rely on RFG as an 
element of any State Implementation Plan (SIP) or SIP revision that had 
been approved by the EPA. However, Maine did rely on RFG in a SIP 
submission that was pending before the Agency. Therefore, EPA's opt-out 
regulations required the State to indicate whether it would revise its 
pending SIP submission, and, if so, to describe the air quality 
measures, if any, that the State would use to replace RFG.
    The Governor's May 21, 1998 petition did not identify any 
replacement measures for the Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC) 
reductions benefits of the RFG program that the state relied upon in 
its pending 15% SIP. However, by letter dated October 13, 1998, the 
Governor requested that EPA approve the petition to opt-out of the RFG 
program and identified two possible state fuel alternatives to replace 
the VOC benefits associated with RFG. The letter also noted that Maine 
intended to initiate rulemaking to adopt an alternative fuel before the 
next ozone season. EPA responded by letter dated October 30, 1998, 
conditionally approving the opt-out request and setting an opt-out 
effective date of January 28, 1999, ninety days from the date of the 
conditional approval. EPA made the opt-out contingent on Maine and EPA 
agreeing on (1) identification of the replacement fuel measure or other 
measure which Maine would implement in order to provide VOC reductions 
equivalent to RFG, (2) a projected schedule for implementing the 
replacement measure, and (3) an explanation of how this action affects 
the state implementation plan. EPA stated that it may extend the opt-
out effective date in order to allow EPA and Maine to reach agreement.
    Maine scheduled a hearing for January 20, 1999 to consider the two 
alternative fuels proposals described in the October 13, 1998 letter. 
EPA offered comments on the two measures at this hearing and suggested 
another alternative that would provide the long-term VOC reductions 
that Maine needed to replace RFG. By letter dated January 22, 1999, EPA 
gave notice to the Governor that it had extended the effective date for 
Maine's withdrawal from the RFG program until March 10, 1999, in order 
to provide time for EPA and the state to reach agreement on the 
conditions of the opt-out. On February 24, 1999, Maine's Board of 
Environmental Protection adopted the measure suggested by EPA.\3\ By 
letter dated March 5, 1999, EPA notified the Governor that all of the 
conditions of the opt-out had been satisfied, and that EPA would not 
extend the opt-out effective date any further.
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    \3\ In a final rulemaking, EPA recently approved Maine's SIP 
revision request, including a state fuel control, which demonstrates 
how the State will achieve attainment in these seven counties 
without RFG [67 FR 10099, March 6, 2002]. As described in EPA's 
approval of Maine's SIP, the revision Maine ultimately submitted to 
EPA includes a State fuel control that is different from, and less 
restrictive than, the one adopted by the State on February 24, 1999.
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II. Action

    In today's notice, EPA is announcing that it has approved the 
petition submitted by the Governor of Maine to withdraw the Maine 
counties of Androscoggin, Cumberland, Kennebec, Knox, Lincoln, 
Sagadahoc, and York from the RFG program. This notice is not itself a 
final agency action, but a public announcement of EPA's earlier 
approval of Maine's request to opt out of the RFG program. EPA's 
approval of Maine's petition was based on the May 21, 1998 and October 
13, 1998 letters to the Administrator from the Governor of Maine, and 
on the regulatory provisions of 40 CFR 80.72. In accordance with the 
procedures set forth in Sec. 80.72, the effective date for Maine's 
withdrawal is March 10, 1999. This opt-out effective date applies to 
retailers, wholesale purchaser-consumers, refiners, importers, and 
distributors. In a final rule published elsewhere in today's Federal 
Register, EPA is amending Sec. 80.70(j)(5) of the RFG regulations to 
reflect that these seven counties in Maine are no longer covered areas 
in the federal RFG program.

    Dated: May 23, 2002.
Christine Todd Whitman,
Administrator.
[FR Doc. 02-13978 Filed 6-3-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P