[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 236 (Tuesday, December 9, 2003)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 68580-68581]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-30510]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[MD152-3105b ; FRL-7596-5]


Approval and Promulgation of Air Quality Implementation Plans; 
Maryland; Control of Emissions of Volatile Organic Compounds From 
Consumer Products

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Proposed rule.

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SUMMARY: EPA proposes to approve the State Implementation Plan (SIP) 
revision submitted by the State of Maryland for the purpose of 
establishing a regulation to control volatile organic compounds from 
consumer products. In the Final Rules section of this Federal Register, 
EPA is approving the State's SIP submittal as a direct final rule 
without prior proposal because the Agency views this as a 
noncontroversial submittal and anticipates no adverse comments. A more 
detailed description of the state submittal and EPA's evaluation are 
included in a Technical Support Document (TSD) prepared in support of 
this rulemaking action. A copy of the TSD is available, upon request, 
from the EPA Regional Office listed in the ADDRESSES section of this 
document. If no adverse comments are received in response to this 
action, no further activity is contemplated. If EPA receives adverse 
comments, the direct final rule will be withdrawn and all public 
comments received will be addressed in a subsequent final rule based on 
this proposed rule. EPA will not institute a second comment period. Any 
parties interested in commenting on this action should do so at this 
time.

DATES: Comments must be received in writing by January 8, 2004.

ADDRESSES: Comments may be submitted either by mail or electronically. 
Written comments should be mailed to Makeba Morris, Chief, Air Quality 
Branch, Mailcode 3AP21, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 
III, 1650 Arch Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19103. Electronic 
comments should be sent either to [email protected] or to http://www.regulations.gov, which is an alternative method for submitting 
electronic comments to EPA. To submit comments, please follow the 
detailed instructions described in the Supplementary Information 
section. Copies of the documents relevant to this action are available 
for public inspection during normal business hours at the Air 
Protection Division, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region III, 
1650 Arch Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19103; the Air and 
Radiation Docket and Information Center, U.S. Environmental Protection 
Agency, 1301 Constitution Avenue, NW., Room B108, Washington, DC 20460; 
and the Maryland Department of the Environment, 1800 Washington 
Boulevard, Suite 705, Baltimore, Maryland 21230.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Rose Quinto, (215) 814-2182, or by e-
mail at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: For further information, please see the 
information provided in the direct final action, Maryland's Control of 
Emissions of Volatile Organic Compounds from Consumer Products, that is 
located in the ``Rules and Regulations'' section of this Federal 
Register publication.
    You may submit comments either electronically or by mail. To ensure 
proper receipt by EPA, identify the appropriate rulemaking 
identification number MD152-3105 in the subject line on the first page 
of your comment. Please ensure that your comments are submitted within 
the specified comment period. Comments received after the close of the 
comment period will be marked ``late.'' EPA is not required to consider 
these late comments.
    1. Electronically. If you submit an electronic comment as 
prescribed below, EPA recommends that you include your name, mailing 
address, and an e-mail address or other contact information in the body 
of your comment. Also include this contact information on the outside 
of any disk or CD ROM you submit, and in any cover letter accompanying 
the disk or CD ROM. This ensures that you can be identified as the 
submitter of the comment and allows EPA to contact you in case EPA 
cannot read your comment due to technical difficulties or needs further 
information on the substance of your comment. EPA's policy is that EPA 
will not edit your comment, and any identifying or contact information 
provided in the body of a comment will be included as part of the 
comment that is placed in the official public docket. If EPA cannot 
read your comment due to technical difficulties and cannot contact you 
for clarification, EPA may not be able to consider your comment.
    i. E-mail. Comments may be sent by electronic mail (e-mail) to 
[email protected], attention: MD152-3105. EPA's e-mail system is 
not an ``anonymous access'' system. If you send an e-mail comment 
directly without going through Regulations.gov, EPA's e-mail system 
automatically captures your e-mail address. E-mail addresses that are 
automatically captured by EPA's e-mail system are included as part of 
the comment that is placed in the official public docket.
    ii. Regulations.gov. Your use of Regulation.gov is an alternative 
method of submitting electronic comments to EPA. Go directly to http://www.regulations.gov, then select ``Environmental Protection Agency'' at 
the top of the page and use the ``go'' button. The list of current EPA 
actions available for comment will be listed. Please follow the online 
instructions for submitting comments. The system is an ``anonymous 
access'' system, which means EPA will not know your identity, e-mail 
address, or other contact information unless you provide it in the body 
of your comment.
    iii. Disk or CD ROM. You may submit comments on a disk or CD ROM 
that you mail to the mailing address identified in the ADDRESSES 
section of this document. These electronic submissions will be accepted 
in WordPerfect, Word or ASCII file format. Avoid the use of special 
characters and any form of encryption.
    2. By Mail. Written comments should be addressed to the EPA 
Regional office listed in the ADDRESSES section of this document.
    For public commenters, it is important to note that EPA's policy is 
that public comments, whether submitted electronically or in paper, 
will be made available for public viewing at the EPA Regional Office, 
as EPA receives them and without change, unless the comment contains 
copyrighted material, confidential business information (CBI), or other 
information whose disclosure is restricted by statute. When EPA 
identifies a comment containing copyrighted material, EPA will provide 
a reference to that material in the

[[Page 68581]]

version of the comment that is placed in the official public rulemaking 
file. The entire printed comment, including the copyrighted material, 
will be available at the Regional Office for public inspection.

Submittal of CBI Comments

    Do not submit information that you consider to be CBI 
electronically to EPA. You may claim information that you submit to EPA 
as CBI by marking any part or all of that information as CBI (if you 
submit CBI on disk or CD ROM, mark the outside of the disk or CD ROM as 
CBI and then identify electronically within the disk or CD ROM the 
specific information that is CBI). Information so marked will not be 
disclosed except in accordance with procedures set forth in 40 CFR part 
2.
    In addition to one complete version of the comment that includes 
any information claimed as CBI, a copy of the comment that does not 
contain the information claimed as CBI must be submitted for inclusion 
in the official public regional rulemaking file. If you submit the copy 
that does not contain CBI on disk or CD ROM, mark the outside of the 
disk or CD ROM clearly that it does not contain CBI. Information not 
marked as CBI will be included in the public file and available for 
public inspection without prior notice. If you have any questions about 
CBI or the procedures for claiming CBI, please consult the person 
identified in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section.

Considerations When Preparing Comments to EPA

    You may find the following suggestions helpful for preparing your 
comments:

1. Explain your views as clearly as possible.
2. Describe any assumptions that you used.
3. Provide any technical information and/or data you used that support 
your views.
4. If you estimate potential burden or costs, explain how you arrived 
at your estimate.
5. Provide specific examples to illustrate your concerns.
6. Offer alternatives.
7. Make sure to submit your comments by the comment period deadline 
identified.
8. To ensure proper receipt by EPA, identify the appropriate regional 
file/rulemaking identification number in the subject line on the first 
page of your response. It would also be helpful if you provided the 
name, date, and Federal Register citation related to your comments.
    Please note that if EPA receives adverse comment on an amendment, 
paragraph, or section of this rule and if that provision may be severed 
from the remainder of the rule, EPA may adopt as final those provisions 
of the rule that are not the subject of an adverse comment.

    Dated: November 28, 2003.
Donald S. Welsh,
Regional Administrator, Region III.
[FR Doc. 03-30510 Filed 12-8-03; 8:45 am]
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