[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 108 (Wednesday, June 5, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 38652-38653]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-14041]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[AMS-FRL-7224-5]


California State Motor Vehicle Pollution Control Standards; 2001 
Zero-Emission Vehicle (ZEV) Amendments; Within the Scope Request; 
Opportunity for Public Hearing; Correction Notice

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of opportunity for public hearing and comment.

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SUMMARY: The California Air Resources Board (CARB) has notified EPA 
that it has adopted amendments to the California ZEV regulations (2001 
ZEV amendments) after its January 25, 2001 hearing. By letter dated May 
21, 2002, California requested that EPA confirm CARB's determination 
that the 2001 ZEV amendments are within-the-scope of a previously 
issued waiver granted by EPA. On May 21, 2002, EPA published in the 
Federal Register (67 FR 35809) (May 21, 2002 notice) a Notice of 
Opportunity for public hearing and comment on CARB's request for a 
waiver of federal preemption for its Low-Emission Vehicle (LEV) 
regulatory amendments (LEVII) and for CARB's request that EPA confirm 
CARB's determination that its 1999 ZEV amendments are within-the-scope 
of previously issued waivers granted by EPA. This notice announces that 
EPA has tentatively scheduled a public hearing concerning CARB's May 
21, 2002 request (this hearing is tentatively scheduled to take place 
in conjunction with the June 20, 2002 tentative hearing for the 1999 
ZEV amendments announced in the May 21, 2002 notice) and that EPA is 
accepting comment on this request. EPA invites comments on all relevant 
aspects of California's requests, in particular, (1) Whether EPA should 
now consider both the 1999 and 2001 ZEV amendments, and (2) whether the 
1999 and 2001 ZEV amendments are within the scope of previous waivers 
and, if not, whether EPA should waive preemption for the 1999 and 2001 
ZEV amendments. Through today's notice EPA also provides a correction 
to the May 21, 2002 notice which incorrectly listed the applicable Air 
Docket number as ``A-99-26'' whereas the correct Air Docket number for 
the 1999 and 2001 ZEV Amendment requests as well as the LEVII 
amendments is ``A-2002-11.'' By today's notice EPA also provides a 
correction to the location of the hearing(s) tentatively scheduled to 
take place on June 20, 2002; the new location is the EPA Auditorium, 
401 M St., SW, Washington, DC.

DATES: EPA has tentatively scheduled a public hearing concerning the 
1999 and 2001 ZEV amendments on June 20, 2002, beginning at 10:00 a.m. 
EPA has also tentatively scheduled a public hearing concerning the 
LEVII amendments to commence immediately following the hearing for the 
1999 and 2001 ZEV amendments and may carry over until the following 
day. EPA will hold hearings only if a party notifies EPA by June 10, 
2002 expressing its interest in presenting oral testimony regarding the 
1999 ZEV amendments and/or the LEVII amendments. In addition, EPA will 
hold a hearing regarding the 2001 ZEV amendments only if a party 
notifies EPA by June 14, 2002 expressing its interest in presenting 
oral testimony. By June 17, 2002, any person who plans to attend the 
hearing(s) should call David Dickinson at (202)564-9256 to learn any of 
the hearings will be held. If EPA does not receive a request for any 
public hearing, then EPA will not hold hearings, and instead consider 
CARB's requests based on written submissions to the docket. Any party 
may submit written comments by July 22, 2002.

ADDRESSES: EPA will make available for public inspection at the Air and 
Radiation Docket and Information Center written comments received from 
interested parties, in addition to any testimony given at the public 
hearing. The Air Docket is open during working hours from 8 a.m. to 4 
p.m. at EPA, Air Docket (6102), Room M-1500, Waterside Mall, 401 M St., 
SW, Washington, DC 20460. The reference number for this docket is A-
2002-11. Parties wishing to present oral testimony at the public 
hearing(s) should provide written notice to David Dickinson at the 
address noted below; parties should submit any written comments to 
David Dickinson. If EPA receives a request for a public hearing, EPA 
will hold the public hearing in the main EPA Auditorium, 401 M Street, 
SW, Washington, DC.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Obtaining Electronic Copies of 
Documents: David Dickinson, Certification and Compliance Division 
(6405J), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave, 
NW, Washington, DC 20460. Telephone: (202) 564-9256, Fax: (202) 565-
2057, e-mail address: [email protected]. EPA makes available an 
electronic copy of this Notice on the Office of Transportation and Air 
Quality's (OTAQ's) home page (http://www.epa.gov/otaq/). Users can find 
this document by accessing the OTAQ home page and looking at the path 
entitled ``Regulations.'' This service is free of charge, except any 
cost you already incur for Internet connectivity. Users can also get 
the official Federal Register version of the Notice on the day of 
publication on the primary Web site: (http://www.epa.gov/docs/fedrgstr/EPA-AIR/).
    Please note that due to differences between the software used to 
develop the documents and the software into which the documents may be 
downloaded, changes in format, page length, etc., may occur.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:   

(A) Procedural History

    Please see the May 21, 2002 notice noted above for a discussion of 
the procedural history of CARB's LEV program including its ZEV

[[Page 38653]]

requirements. As noted above, CARB has submitted a letter to EPA on May 
21, 2002 which requests that EPA confirm that its 2001 ZEV amendments 
are within the scope of waivers previously granted by EPA.

(B) Background and Discussion

    Section 209(a) of the Clean Air Act, as amended (``Act''), 42 
U.S.C. 7543(a), provides:

    No State or any political subdivision thereof shall adopt or 
attempt to enforce any standard relating to the control of emissions 
from new motor vehicles or new motor vehicle engines subject to this 
part. No state shall require certification, inspection or any other 
approval relating to the control of emission from any new motor 
vehicle or new motor vehicle engine as condition precedent to the 
initial retail sale, titling (if any), or registration of such motor 
vehicle, motor vehicle engine, or equipment.

    Section 209(b)(1) of the Act requires the Administrator, after 
notice and opportunity for public hearing, to waive application of the 
prohibitions of section 209(a) for any state that has adopted standards 
(other than crankcase emission standards) for the control of emissions 
from new motor vehicles or new motor vehicle engines prior to March 30, 
1966, if the state determines that the state standards will be, in the 
aggregate, at least as protective of public health and welfare as 
applicable federal standards. California is the only state that is 
qualified to seek and receive a waiver under section 209(b). The 
Administrator must grant a waiver unless she finds that (A) the 
determination of the state is arbitrary and capricious, (B) the state 
does not need the state standards to meet compelling and extraordinary 
conditions, or (C) the state standards and accompanying enforcement 
procedures are not consistent with section 202(a) of the Act.
    CARB's May 21, 2002 letter to the Administrator notified EPA that 
it had adopted amendments to its ZEV program. The regulatory amendments 
covered by CARB's request are amendments to title 13, California Code 
of Regulations (CCR), section 1962 and the incorporated ``California 
Exhaust Emission Standards and Test Procedures for 2003 and Subsequent 
Model Zero-Emission Vehicles, and 2001 and Subsequent Model Hybrid-
Electric vehicles, in the Passenger Car, Light-Duty Truck, and Medium-
Duty Vehicle Classes,'' and amendments to section 1900(b)(19)-(21), 
section 1960.1(k) and section 1961(a)(8)(A) and (d), title 13 CCR.
    When EPA receives new waiver requests from CARB, EPA traditionally 
publishes a notice of opportunity for public hearing and comment and 
then publishes a decision in the Federal Register following the public 
comment period. In contrast, when EPA receives within the scope waiver 
requests from CARB, EPA traditionally publishes a decision in the 
Federal Register and concurrently invites public comment if an 
interested part is opposed to EPA's decision.
    Because EPA has already received written comment on CARB's within 
the scope request for its 1999 ZEV amendments and because EPA 
anticipates a similar level of interest in CARB's 2001 ZEV amendments, 
EPA invites comment on the following issues: (1) Whether California's 
1999 and 2001 ZEV amendments should be considered together or 
separately; (2) whether California's 2001 ZEV amendments (a) undermine 
California's previous determination that its standards, in the 
aggregate, are at least as protective of public health and welfare as 
comparable Federal standards, (b) affect the consistency of 
California's requirements with section 202(a) of the Act, and (c) raise 
new issues affecting EPA's previous waiver determinations; and (3) 
whether (a) California's determination that its 2001 ZEV amendments, to 
the extent they are not within the scope of previous waivers, are at 
least as protective of public health and welfare as applicable federal 
standards is arbitrary and capricious, (b) California needs separate 
standards to meet compelling and extraordinary conditions, and (c) 
California's standards and accompanying enforcement procedures are 
consistent with section 202(a) of the Act?

Procedures for Public Participation

    In recognition that public hearings are designed to give interested 
parties an opportunity to participate in this proceeding, there are no 
adverse parties as such. Statements by participants will not be subject 
to cross-examination by other participants without special approval by 
the presiding officer. The presiding officer is authorized to strike 
from the record statements that he or she deems irrelevant or 
repetitious and to impose reasonable time limits on the duration of the 
statement of any participant.
    If hearing(s) are held, the Agency will make a verbatim record of 
the proceedings. Interested parties may arrange with the reporter at 
the hearing(s) to obtain a copy of the transcript at their own expense. 
Regardless of whether public hearing(s) are held, EPA will keep the 
record open until July 22, 2002. Upon expiration of the comment period, 
the Administrator will render a decision on CARB's request based on the 
record of the public hearing(s), if any, relevant written submissions, 
and other information that she deems pertinent. All information will be 
available for inspection at EPA Air Docket. (Docket No. A-2002-11).
    EPA requests that parties wishing to submit comments specify which 
issue, noted above, they are addressing. Commenters may submit one 
document which addresses several issues but they should separate, to 
the extent possible, those comments that relate to the 1999 ZEV 
amendments, those that relate to the 2001 ZEV amendments, and those 
that relate to the LEVII amendments.
    Persons with comments containing proprietary information must 
distinguish such information from other comments to the greatest 
possible extent and label it as ``Confidential Business Information'' 
(CBI). If a person making comments wants EPA to base its decision in 
part on a submission labeled CBI, then a nonconfidential version of the 
document that summarizes the key data or information should be 
submitted for the public docket. To ensure that proprietary information 
is not inadvertently placed in the docket, submissions containing such 
information should be sent directly to the contact person listed above 
and not to the public docket. Information covered by a claim of 
confidentiality will be disclosed by EPA only to the extent allowed and 
by the procedures set forth in 40 CFR part 2. If no claim of 
confidentiality accompanies the submission when EPA receives it, EPA 
will make it available to the public without further notice to the 
person making comments.

    Dated: May 30, 2002.
Jeffrey R. Holmstead,
Assistant Administrator for Air and Radiation.
[FR Doc. 02-14041 Filed 6-4-02; 8:45 am]
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