[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 194 (Monday, October 7, 2002)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 62385-62387]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-25297]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[CA 272-0369a; FRL-7387-1]


Revisions to the California State Implementation Plan, Bay Area 
Air Quality Management District

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Direct final rule.

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SUMMARY: EPA is taking direct final action to approve revisions to the 
Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD) portion of the 
California State Implementation Plan (SIP). These revisions concern 
Oxides of Nitrogen (NOX) and Carbon Monoxide (CO) emissions 
from boilers, steam generators, and process heaters in petroleum 
refineries. In accordance with the Clean Air Act as amended in 1990 
(CAA or the Act), we are approving a local rule that regulates these 
emission sources.

DATES: This rule is effective on December 6, 2002, without further 
notice, unless EPA receives adverse comments by November 6, 2002. If we 
receive such comments, we will publish a timely withdrawal in the 
Federal Register to notify the public that this rule will not take 
effect.

ADDRESSES: Mail comments to Andy Steckel, Rulemaking Office Chief (AIR-
4), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region IX, 75 Hawthorne 
Street, San Francisco, CA 94105-3901.
    You can inspect copies of the submitted SIP revisions and EPA's 
technical support document (TSD) at our Region IX office during normal 
business hours. You may also see copies of the submitted SIP revisions 
at the following locations:

Air and Radiation Docket and Information Center, U.S. Environmental 
Protection Agency, Room B-102, 1301 Constitution Avenue, NW., (Mail 
Code 6102T), Washington, DC 20460
California Air Resources Board, Stationary Source Division, Rule 
Evaluation Section, 1001 ``I'' Street, Sacramento, CA 95814
Bay Area Air Quality Management District, 939 Ellis Street, San 
Francisco, CA 94109

    A copy of the rule may also be available via the Internet at http://www.arb.ca.gov/drdb/drdbltxt.htm. Please be advised that this is not 
an EPA website and may not contain the same version of the rule that 
was submitted to EPA.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Charnjit Bhullar, EPA Region IX, (415) 
972-3960.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Throughout this document, ``we,'' ``us'' and 
``our'' refer to EPA.

Table of Contents

I. The State's Submittal
    A. What Rule Did the State Submit?
    B. Are There Other Versions of This Rule?
    C. What Is the Purpose of the Submitted Rule Revisions?
II. EPA's Evaluation and Action.
    A. How is EPA Evaluating this Rule?
    B. Does This Rule Meet the Evaluation Criteria?
    C. Public Comment and Final Action.
III. Background Information
    A. Why Was This Rule Submitted?
IV. Administrative Requirements

[[Page 62386]]

I. The State's Submittal

A. What Rule Did the State Submit?

    Table 1 lists the rule we are approving with the dates that it was 
adopted by the local air agency and submitted by the California Air 
Resources Board (CARB).

                                            Table 1--Submitted Rules
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
        Local Agency            Rule No.                    Rule Title                    Adopted     Submitted
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
BAAQMD......................         9-10  Nitrogen Oxides and Carbon Monoxide from         7/17/02      8/12/02
                                            Boilers, Steam Generators, and Process
                                            Heaters in Petroleum Refineries.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    On September 11, 2002, this rule submittal was found to meet the 
completeness criteria in 40 CFR part 51, appendix V, which must be met 
before formal EPA review.

B. Are There Other Versions of This Rule?

    BAAQMD adopted an earlier version of this rule on January 5, 1994, 
and CARB submitted it to us on July 23, 1996. We published a limited 
approval and limited disapproval of this previous version of Rule 9-10 
into the SIP on March 29, 2001.

C. What Is the Purpose of the Submitted Rule Revisions?

    Rule 9-10 limits the emissions of nitrogen oxides and carbon 
monoxide from boilers, steam generators, and process heaters in 
petroleum refineries. On March 29, 2001, the EPA published a limited 
approval and limited disapproval of a previous version of this rule, 
because the rule improved the State Implementation Plan (SIP) overall, 
but some rule provisions failed to satisfy the requirements of section 
110 of the Clean Air Act. Specifically, the district did not include 
adequate monitoring, source test, and recordkeeping requirements in the 
rule that was submitted to EPA.
    On August 12, 2002, the district submitted a revised version of 
rule 9-10 for approval into the SIP. Rule 9-10, as revised, includes 
sections pertaining to monitoring, source test, and record keeping 
requirements to address the deficiencies identified by EPA in 2001. The 
TSD has more information about this rule.

II. EPA's Evaluation and Action

A. How Is EPA Evaluating This Rule?

    Generally, SIP rule must be enforceable (see section 110(a) of the 
Act), must require Reasonably Available Control Technology (RACT) for 
major sources in nonattainment areas (see sections 182(a)(2)(A) and 
182(f)), must not relax existing requirements approved into the SIP 
prior to 1990 (see section 193) and must not interfere with any 
applicable requirement or reasonable further progress (see section 
110(l)). The BAAQMD regulates an ozone nonattainment area (see 40 CFR 
part 81), so Rule 9-10 must fulfill RACT.
    Guidance and policy documents that we used to help evaluate 
enforceability and RACT requirements consistently include the 
following:
    1. ``Issues Relating to VOC Regulation Cutpoints, Deficiencies, and 
Deviations,'' EPA, May 25, 1988 (the Bluebook).
    2. ``Guidance Document for Correcting Common VOC & Other Rule 
Deficiencies,'' EPA Region 9, August 21, 2001 (the Little Bluebook).
    3. ``State Implementation Plans; Nitrogen Oxides Supplement to the 
General Preamble; Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 Implementation of 
Title I; Proposed Rule,'' (the NOX Supplement), 57 FR 55620, 
November 25, 1992.
    4. Requirement for Preparation, Adoption, and Submittal of 
Implementation Plans, U.S. EPA, 40 CFR part 51.
    5. Determination of Reasonably Available Control Technology and 
Best Available Retrofit Control Technology for Industrial, 
Institutional, and Commercial Boilers, Steam Generators, and Process 
Heaters, State of California Air Resources Board, July 18, 1991.

B. Does This Rule Meet the Evaluation Criteria?

    We believe this rule is consistent with the relevant policy and 
guidance regarding enforceability, RACT, and SIP relaxations, and 
adequately addresses the deficiencies identified in our 2001 limited 
disapproval. The TSD has more information on our evaluation.

C. Public Comment and Final Action

    As authorized in section 110(k)(3) of the Act, EPA is fully 
approving the submitted rule because we believe it fulfills all 
relevant requirements. We do not think anyone will object to this 
approval, so we are finalizing it without proposing it in advance. 
However, in the Proposed Rules section of this Federal Register, we are 
simultaneously proposing approval of the same submitted rule. If we 
receive adverse comments by November 6, 2002, we will publish a timely 
withdrawal in the Federal Register to notify the public that the direct 
final approval will not take effect and we will address the comments in 
a subsequent final action based on the proposal. If we do not receive 
timely adverse comments, the direct final approval will be effective 
without further notice on December 6, 2002. This will incorporate this 
rule into the federally enforceable SIP and will permanently terminate 
all sanctions and FIP clocks associated with our March 2001 limited 
disapproval.

III. Background Information

Why Was This Rule Submitted?

    NOX helps produce ground-level ozone, smog and 
particulate matter, which harm human health and the environment. EPA 
has established a National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) for 
ozone. Section 110(a) of the CAA requires states to submit regulations 
to achieve and maintain NAAQS. Table 2 lists some of the national 
milestones leading to the submittal of this local agency NOX 
rule.

                                    Table 2.--Ozone Nonattainment Milestones
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                          Date                                                    Event
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
March 3, 1978..........................................  EPA promulgated a list of ozone nonattainment areas
                                                          under the Clean Air Act as amended in 1977. 43 FR
                                                          8964; 40 CFR 81.305.

[[Page 62387]]

 
May 26, 1988...........................................  EPA notified Governors that parts of their SIPs were
                                                          inadequate to attain and maintain the ozone standard
                                                          and requested that they correct the deficiencies
                                                          (EPA's SIP-Call). See section 110(a)(2)(H) of the pre-
                                                          amended Act.
November 15, 1990......................................  Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 were enacted. Pub. L.
                                                          101-549, 104 Stat. 2399, codified at 42 U.S.C. 7401-
                                                          7671q.
May 15, 1991...........................................  Section 182(a)(2)(A) requires that ozone nonattainment
                                                          areas correct deficient RACT rules by this date.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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 (Pub. L. 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 
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 December 6, 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 dioxide, Ozone, 
Reporting and recordkeeping requirements.

    Dated: September 13, 2002.
Keith Takata,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region IX.

    Part 52, 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 F--California

    2. Section 52.220 is amended by adding paragraph (c)(300) to read 
as follows:


Sec.  52.220  Identification of plan.

* * * * *
    (c) * * *
    (300) Amended regulation for the following AQMD was submitted on 
August 12, 2002, by the Governor's designee.
    (i) Incorporation by reference.
    (A) Bay Area Air Quality Management District.
    (1) Rule 9-10 adopted on January 5, 1994 and amended on July 17, 
2002.
* * * * *
[FR Doc. 02-25297 Filed 10-4-02; 8:45 am]
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