[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 109 (Friday, June 6, 2003)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 33873-33875]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-12024]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[NC 97-200319b; FRL-7498-1]


Approval and Promulgation of Implementation Plans; North 
Carolina: Approval of Revisions to the Visible Emissions Regulation 
Within the North Carolina State Implementation Plan

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Direct final rule.

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SUMMARY: On April 16, 2001, the North Carolina Department of 
Environment and Natural Resources submitted revisions to the North 
Carolina State Implementation Plan (SIP). Addressed in this rulemaking 
is a revision to rule 15 NCAC 2D .0521. The purpose of this revision is 
to make the revised regulations consistent with the requirements of the 
Clean Air Act as amended in 1990. The EPA is approving the revision.

DATES: This direct final rule is effective August 5, 2003, without 
further notice, unless EPA receives adverse comment by July 7, 2003. If 
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: All comments should be addressed to: Randy Terry at the EPA, 
Region 4 Air Planning Branch, 61 Forsyth Street, SW., Atlanta, Georgia 
30303-8960.
    Copies of the State submittal(s) are available at the following 
addresses for inspection during normal business hours:
Environmental Protection Agency, Region 4, Air Planning Branch, 61 
Forsyth Street, SW., Atlanta, Georgia 30303-8960. Randy Terry, 404/562-
9032.

[[Page 33874]]

North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources, 512 
North Salisbury Street, Raleigh, North Carolina 27604.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Randy B. Terry at 404/562-9032, or by 
electronic mail at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

    On April 16, 2001, the North Carolina Department of Environment and 
Natural Resources submitted a revision to the North Carolina State 
Implementation Plan (SIP) modifying rule 15A NCAC 2D .0521 Visible 
Emissions. These revisions include an exemption to this rule for engine 
maintenance and testing controls where visible emissions controls are 
infeasible.
    Additionally, rule .0521 is being amended to establish an equitable 
reasonable procedure for sources using continuous opacity monitors 
(COM) to show compliance with the visible emission standard. This 
amendment is designed to provide sources using COMs the same 
opportunity to comply with the visible emissions rule as sources that 
do not use COM devices. Under the previous rule, the opacity is 
violated if two six minute averages exceed the standard in one hour or 
if five six-minute averages exceed the standard in 24 hours. Under the 
new amendment, sources with COMs are allowed to exceed the current 
opacity limit for up to .8 percent of the total operating hours without 
violating the visible emissions rule. Exceedances of the opacity limit 
greater than .8 percent of the total operating hours will be considered 
a violation of this rule.
    In a letter dated March 29, 2002, EPA provided comments to North 
Carolina explaining the additional requirements that must be met in 
order for EPA to approve this rule. These requirements included the 
submittal of a worst case demonstration proving that such an exemption 
would not violate the National Ambient Air Quality Standards. On July 
10, 2002, North Carolina submitted this demonstration to EPA. After a 
detailed review of this demonstration, EPA finds that North Carolina's 
amendments to rule .0521 Visible Emissions are approveable.
    In addition to the revision being addressed within this notice, 
several other revisions were contained in this submittal and approved 
in 67 FR 51527. The additional revisions included the adoption of rules 
15 NCAC 2Q .0316 and .0317, and the amending of rules .0109, .0803 and 
.0805 through .0808.

II. Final Action

    EPA is approving the aforementioned changes to the SIP because the 
revisions are consistent with Clean Air Act and EPA regulatory 
requirements. The EPA is publishing this rule without prior proposal 
because the Agency views this as a noncontroversial submittal and 
anticipates no adverse comments. However, in the proposed rules section 
of this Federal Register publication, EPA is publishing a separate 
document that will serve as the proposal to approve the SIP revision 
should adverse comments be filed. This rule will be effective August 5, 
2003, without further notice unless the Agency receives adverse 
comments by July 7, 2003.
    If the EPA receives such comments, then EPA will publish a document 
withdrawing the final rule and informing the public that the rule will 
not take effect. All public comments received will then be addressed in 
a subsequent final rule based on the proposed rule. The EPA will not 
institute a second comment period. Parties interested in commenting 
should do so at this time. If no such comments are received, the public 
is advised that this rule will be effective on August 5, 2003, and no 
further action will be taken on the proposed rule. Please note that if 
we receive adverse comment on an amendment, paragraph, or section of 
this rule and if that provision may be severed from the remainder of 
the rule, we may adopt as final those provisions of the rule that are 
not the subject of an adverse comment.

III. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

    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,

[[Page 33875]]

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 August 5, 2003. 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, Carbon monoxide, 
Intergovernmental relations, Nitrogen dioxide, Ozone, Reporting and 
recordkeeping requirements.

    Dated: April 30, 2003.
A. Stanley Meiburg,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region 4.

0
Part 52 of chapter I, title 40, Code of Federal Regulations, is amended 
as follows:

PART 52--[AMENDED]

0
1. The authority for citation for part 52 continues to read as follows:

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

Subpart II--North Carolina

0
2. In the table in Sec.  52.1770(c), table 1 is amended under 
subchapter 2D by revising the entry for ``.0521 Cotrol of Visible 
Emissions'' to read as follows:


Sec.  52.1770  Identification of plan.

* * * * *
    (c) * * *

                                Table 1.--EPA Approved North Carolina Regulations
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                                                             State
          State citation                Title/subject      effective     EPA approval date       Explanation
                                                              date
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           Subchapter 2D                                 Air Pollution Control Requirements
 
                                                  * * * * * * *
Section .0500.....................  Emission Control
                                     Standards.
 
                                                  * * * * * * *
Sect. .0521.......................  Control of Visible        4/01/01  6/06/03 [Insert
                                     Emissions.                         citation of
                                                                        publication].
 
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[FR Doc. 03-12024 Filed 6-5-03; 8:45 am]
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