[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 176 (Wednesday, September 11, 2002)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 57517-57520]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-22977]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[MN69-7294a; FRL-7264-9]


Approval and Promulgation of State Implementation Plans; 
Minnesota

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Direct final rule.

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SUMMARY: The EPA is approving a site-specific revision to the Minnesota 
particulate matter (PM) State Implementation Plan (SIP) for 
Metropolitan Council Environmental Service's (MCES) Metropolitan 
Wastewater Treatment Plant located on Childs Road in St. Paul, Ramsey 
County, Minnesota. By its submittal dated June 1, 2001, the Minnesota 
Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) requested that EPA approve MCES's 
federally enforceable state operating permit (FESOP) into the Minnesota 
PM SIP and remove the MCES Administrative Order from the state PM SIP. 
The request is approvable because it satisfies the requirements of the 
Clean Air Act (Act). The rationale for the approval and other 
information are provided in this rulemaking action.

DATES: This ``direct final'' rule is effective November 12, 2002, 
unless

[[Page 57518]]

EPA receives written adverse comment by October 11, 2002. If written 
adverse comment is received, EPA will publish a timely withdrawal of 
the direct final rule in the Federal Register and inform the public 
that the rule will not take effect.

ADDRESSES: Written comments may be mailed to: Carlton T. Nash, Chief, 
Regulation Development Section, Air Programs Branch (AR-18J), United 
States Environmental Protection Agency, 77 West Jackson Boulevard, 
Chicago, Illinois 60604. Copies of the documents relevant to this 
action are available for inspection during normal business hours at the 
above address. (Please telephone Christos Panos at (312) 353-8328, 
before visiting the Region 5 office.)
    A copy of the SIP revision is available for inspection at the 
Office of Air and Radiation (OAR) Docket and Information Center (Air 
Docket 6102), United States Environmental Protection Agency, Ariel Rios 
Building, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20460, (202) 
260-7548.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Christos Panos, Environmental 
Engineer, Regulation Development Section, Air Programs Branch (AR-18J), 
Air and Radiation Division, United States Environmental Protection 
Agency, Region 5, 77 West Jackson Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois 60604, 
(312) 353-8328.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This supplemental information section is 
organized as follows:

I. General Information
    1. What Action Is EPA Taking Today?
    2. Why Is EPA Taking This Action?
II. Background on Minnesota Submittal
    1. What Is the Background for This Action?
    2. What Information Did Minnesota Submit, and What Were its 
Requests?
    3. What Is a ``Title I Condition?'
III. Final Rulemaking Action
IV. Administrative Requirements

I. General Information

1. What Action Is EPA Taking Today?

    In this action, EPA is approving into the Minnesota PM SIP certain 
portions of the FESOP for MCES's Metropolitan Wastewater Treatment 
Plant located on Childs Road in St. Paul, Ramsey County, Minnesota. 
Specifically, EPA is only approving into the SIP those portions of the 
permit cited as ``Title I Condition: State Implementation Plan for 
PM10.'' In this same action, EPA is removing the MCES 
Administrative Order from the state PM SIP.

2. Why Is EPA Taking This Action?

    EPA is taking this action because the state's request does not 
change any of the emission limitations currently in the SIP or their 
accompanying supportive documents, such as the PM air dispersion 
modeling. The revision to the SIP does not approve any new construction 
or allow an increase in emissions, thereby providing for attainment and 
maintenance of the PM National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) 
and satisfying the applicable PM requirements of the Act. The only 
change to the PM SIP is the enforceable document for MCES, from the 
Administrative Order to the FESOP.

II. Background on Minnesota Submittal

1. What Is the Background for This Action?

    MCES's Metropolitan Wastewater Treatment Plant is located on Childs 
Road in St. Paul, Ramsey County, Minnesota. A portion of the St. Paul 
area was designated nonattainment for PM upon enactment of the Clean 
Air Act Amendments of 1990, thus requiring the State to submit SIP 
revisions by November 15, 1991, satisfying the PM attainment 
demonstration requirements of the Act. The State submitted SIP 
revisions intended to meet these requirements in 1991, 1992, and 1993. 
An Administrative Order for MCES was included in these submittals. The 
EPA took final action on February 15, 1994 at 59 FR 7218, to approve 
Minnesota's submittals as satisfying the applicable requirements for 
the St. Paul PM nonattainment area.

2. What Information Did Minnesota Submit, and What Were Its Requests?

    The SIP revision submitted by MPCA on February 6, 2000, consists of 
a FESOP issued to MCES. The state has requested that EPA approve the 
following:
    (1) The inclusion into the Minnesota PM SIP only the portions of 
the MCES Wastewater Treatment Plant FESOP cited as ``Title I Condition: 
State Implementation Plan for PM10.''; and, (2) The removal 
from the Minnesota PM SIP of the Administrative Order for MCES 
previously approved into the SIP.

3. What Is a ``Title I Condition?''

    SIP control measures were contained in permits issued to culpable 
sources in Minnesota until 1990 when EPA determined that limits in 
state-issued permits are not federally enforceable because the permits 
expire. The state then issued permanent Administrative Orders to 
culpable sources in nonattainment areas from 1991 to February of 1996.
    Minnesota's operating permitting program, approved into the state 
SIP on May 2, 1995 (60 FR 21447), includes the term ``Title I 
condition'' which was written, in part, to satisfy EPA requirements 
that SIP control measures remain permanent and requires all state 
permits, not only Title V permits, to contain all applicable 
requirements. A ``Title I condition'' is defined as ``any condition 
based on source-specific determination of ambient impacts imposed for 
the purposes of achieving or maintaining attainment with the national 
ambient air quality standard and which was part of the state 
implementation plan approved by EPA or submitted to the EPA pending 
approval under section 110 of the act * * *.'' The rule also states 
that ``Title I conditions and the permittee's obligation to comply with 
them, shall not expire, regardless of the expiration of the other 
conditions of the permit.'' Further, ``any title I condition shall 
remain in effect without regard to permit expiration or reissuance, and 
shall be restated in the reissued permit.''
    Minnesota has since resumed using permits as the enforceable 
document for imposing emission limitations and compliance requirements 
in SIPs. The SIP requirements in the permit submitted by MPCA are cited 
as ``Title I Condition: State Implementation Plan for 
PM10,'' therefore assuring that the SIP requirements will 
remain permanent and enforceable. In addition, EPA reviewed the state's 
procedure for using permits to implement site-specific SIP requirements 
and found it to be acceptable under both Titles I and V of the Act 
(July 3, 1997 letter from EPA to MPCA). The MPCA has committed to using 
this procedure if the Title I SIP conditions in the permit issued to 
MCES and included in the SIP submittal need to be revised in the 
future.

III. Final Rulemaking Action

    EPA is approving the site-specific SIP revision for MCES's 
Metropolitan Wastewater Treatment Plant located on Childs Road in St. 
Paul, Ramsey County, Minnesota. Specifically, EPA is approving into the 
SIP only those portions of MCES's FESOP cited as ``Title I Condition: 
State Implementation Plan for PM10.'' In this same action, 
EPA is also removing from the state PM SIP the MCES Wastewater 
Treatment Plant Administrative Order which had previously been approved 
into the SIP on February 15, 1994.
    The EPA is publishing this action without prior proposal because we 
view this as a noncontroversial amendment

[[Page 57519]]

and anticipate no adverse comments. However, in the proposed rules 
section of this Federal Register publication, we are publishing a 
separate document that will serve as the proposal to approve the state 
plan if relevant adverse comments are filed. This rule will be 
effective November 12, 2002 without further notice unless we receive 
relevant adverse written comments by October 11, 2002. If we receive 
such comments, we will withdraw this action before the effective date 
by publishing a subsequent document that will withdraw the final 
action. All public comments received will then be addressed in a 
subsequent final rule based on the proposed action. The EPA will not 
institute a second comment period. Any parties interested in commenting 
on this action should do so at this time. If we do not receive any 
comments, this action will be effective November 12, 2002.

IV. Administrative Requirements

    Under Executive Order 12866, ``Regulatory Planning and Review'' (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 nor does it 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, 
``Consultation and Coordination with Indian Tribal Governments'' (65 FR 
67249, November 9, 2000). This action also does not have federalism 
implications because it 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, 
``Federalism'' (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 a significant regulatory action under 
Executive Order 12866.
    Section 12(d) of the National Technology Transfer and Advancement 
Act of 1995 (NTTA), 15 U.S.C. 272, requires federal agencies to use 
technical standards that are developed or adopted by voluntary 
consensus to carry out policy objectives, so long as such standards are 
not inconsistent with applicable law or otherwise impracticable. In 
reviewing SIP submissions, EPA's role is to approve state choices, 
provided that they meet the criteria of the Act. Absent a prior 
existing requirement for the state to use voluntary consensus 
standards, EPA has no authority to disapprove a SIP submission for 
failure to use such standards, and it would thus be inconsistent with 
applicable law for EPA to use voluntary consensus standards in place of 
a SIP submission that otherwise satisfies the provisions of the Act. 
Therefore, the requirements of section 12(d) of the NTTA do not apply.
    As required by section 3 of Executive Order 12988 (61 FR 4729, 
February 7, 1996), in issuing this rule, EPA has 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, and has determined that the rule's requirements do 
not constitute a taking. 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 12, 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, Particulate matter, Reporting 
and recordkeeping requirements.

    Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7401 et. seq.

    Dated: August 13, 2002.
Bharat Mathur,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region 5.

    Title 40 of the Code of Federal Regulations, chapter I, part 52, is 
amended as follows:

PART 52--[AMENDED]

    1. The authority citation for part 52 continues to read as follows:

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

    2. Section 52.1220 is amended by adding paragraph (c)(61) to read 
as follows:


Sec.  52.1220  Identification of plan.

* * * * *
    (c) * * *
    (61) On June 1, 2001, the State of Minnesota submitted a site-
specific revision to the Minnesota particulate matter (PM) State 
Implementation Plan (SIP) for Metropolitan Council Environmental 
Service's (MCES) Metropolitan Wastewater Treatment

[[Page 57520]]

Plant located on Childs Road in St. Paul, Ramsey County, Minnesota. 
Specifically, EPA is only approving into the SIP those portions of the 
MCES federally enforceable state operating permit cited as ``Title I 
Condition: State Implementation Plan for PM10.'' In this same action, 
EPA is removing from the state PM SIP the MCES Administrative Order 
previously approved in paragraph (c)(29) of this section.
    (i) Incorporation by reference.
    (A) Air Emission Permit No. 12300053-001, issued by the Minnesota 
Pollution Control Agency to MCES's Metropolitan Wastewater Treatment 
Plant at 2400 Childs Road on March 13, 2001, Title I conditions only.

[FR Doc. 02-22977 Filed 9-10-02; 8:45 am]
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