[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 127 (Friday, July 2, 2004)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 40321-40323]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-14993]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[Region 2 Docket No. NJ66-273, FRL-7776-2]


Approval and Promulgation of Implementation Plans; New Jersey 1-
hour Ozone Control Programs

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency.

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is approving a 
request from New Jersey to revise its State Implementation Plan to 
incorporate revisions to Subchapter 16 ``Control and Prohibition of Air 
Pollution by Volatile Organic Compounds.'' These revisions relate to 
the control of volatile organic compounds from mobile equipment repair 
and refinishing operations, solvent cleaning operations and refueling 
of motor vehicles at gasoline service stations. The intended effect is 
to reduce the emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOC) and thereby 
reduce ozone concentrations in the lower atmosphere.

DATES: Effective Date: This rule will be effective August 2, 2004.

[[Page 40322]]


ADDRESSES: Copies of the State submittals are available at the 
following addresses for inspection during normal business hours:
    Environmental Protection Agency, Region 2 Office, Air Programs 
Branch, 290 Broadway, 25th Floor, New York, New York 10007-1866.
    New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection and Energy, 
Office of Air Quality Management, Bureau of Air Quality Planning, 401 
East State Street, CN418, Trenton, New Jersey 08625.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Paul Truchan, Air Programs Branch, 
Environmental Protection Agency, Region 2 Office, 290 Broadway, 25th 
Floor, New York, New York 10007-1866, (212) 637-3711 or 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. What Action Is EPA Taking Today?

    EPA is approving a revision to New Jersey's ozone State 
Implementation Plan (SIP) submitted on June 4, 2003. This SIP 
incorporates amendments to Title 7, Chapter 27, ``Subchapter 16 Control 
and Prohibition of Air Pollution from Volatile Organic Compounds'' 
which was adopted on April 30, 2003. This adoption was published in the 
New Jersey Register on June 2, 2003 and became effective on June 29, 
2003. New Jersey amended Subchapter 16 to include revisions to three 
control programs: Solvent cleaning operations, mobile equipment repair 
and refinishing operations, and gasoline transfer operations. The 
Subchapter 16 amendments are applicable to the entire State of New 
Jersey. The reader is referred to the proposed rulemaking (November 21, 
2003, 68 FR 65646) for additional details.

II. What Comments Were Received and How Has EPA Responded to Them?

    EPA received one comment on the proposal. The commenter stressed 
the importance of the training provisions for the mobile equipment 
repair and refinishing operations. The commenter further stated that 
enforcement of the training requirement is necessary and that the 
trainees should learn the course material and not just sit in a 
classroom.
    Both EPA and the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection 
recognize the importance and benefit of having a trained workforce. A 
trained workforce can minimize the emissions VOCs and maintain peak 
efficiency by operating and servicing equipment according to equipment 
manufacturers instructions. Accordingly, New Jersey specifically 
included the requirement (Subchapter 16, 16.12(i)) in the amendments to 
the rule. The provision requires the owner or operator of the facility 
to ensure that ``any one who applies coatings at the mobile equipment 
repair and refinishing facility has completed training in the proper 
use and handling of the following [equipment] in order to minimize the 
emission of air contaminants.* * *'' Since this will also become a 
requirement of the SIP, both the State and EPA will have enforcement 
authority. When New Jersey enforcement personnel inspect an affected 
facility they will check training records to insure workers operating 
the equipment and using solvents have been properly trained. Failure of 
equipment operators to comply with proper techniques would provide a 
basis for an enforcement citation. Failure to have a trained work force 
or keep accurate training records would be grounds for a facility and/
or its owner to be issued a citation and be put on a compliance plan to 
insure the provisions have been carried out. Therefore, EPA is 
confident that New Jersey intends to enforce this provision as it would 
any other provision in its adopted regulations. In addition, by 
approving this regulations into the SIP, EPA can also enforce these 
provisions.

III. What Role Does This Rule Play in the Ozone SIP?

    When EPA evaluated New Jersey's 1-hour ozone attainment 
demonstrations, EPA determined that additional emission reductions were 
needed for the State's two severe nonattainment areas in order for the 
State to attain the 1-hour ozone standard with sufficient surety 
(December 16, 1999, 64 FR 70380). EPA provided that the States in the 
Ozone Transport Region could achieve these emission reductions through 
regional control programs. New Jersey decided to participate with the 
other States in the Northeast in an Ozone Transport Commission (OTC) 
regulatory development effort which developed six model control 
measures. This rulemaking incorporates two of the OTC model control 
measures into the SIP: solvent cleaning operations, and mobile 
equipment repair and refinishing operations. The third control measure 
included in this rulemaking tightens controls on gasoline transfer 
operations. The emission reductions from these control measures will 
provide a portion of the additional emission reductions needed to 
attain the 1-hour ozone standard. The emission reductions from these 
measures will most certainly be necessary to provide for attainment of 
the 8-hour ozone standard.

IV. What Are EPA's Conclusions?

    EPA has evaluated the submitted amendments for consistency with EPA 
regulations, EPA policy and guidance. The proposed control measures 
exceed the reasonably available control technology (RACT) level 
controls that were previously approved for these source categories. 
These new control programs will strengthen the SIP by providing for 
additional VOC emission reductions. Accordingly, EPA is approving the 
Subchapter 16 revisions as adopted on April 30, 2003.

V. 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

[[Page 40323]]

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 August 31, 2004. 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, Ozone, Reporting 
and recordkeeping requirements, Volatile organic compounds.

    Dated: June 8, 2004.
Jane M. Kenny,
Regional Administrator, Region 2.

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

PART 52--[AMENDED]

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

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

Subpart FF--New Jersey

0
2. Section 52.1570 is amended by adding new paragraph (c)(74) to read 
as follows:


Sec.  52.1570  Identification of plan.

* * * * *
    (c) * * *
* * * * *
    (74) Revisions to the State Implementation Plan submitted on June 
4, 2003 and January 6, 2004 by the State of New Jersey Department of 
Environmental Protection that establishes control programs for mobile 
equipment repair and refinishing operations, solvent cleaning 
operations and refueling of motor vehicles at gasoline service 
stations.
    (i) Incorporation by reference:
    (A) Regulation Subchapter 16 of Title 7, Chapter 27 of the New 
Jersey Administrative Code, entitled ``Control and Prohibition of Air 
Pollution from Volatile Organic Compounds,'' adopted on April 30, 2003 
and effective on June 29, 2003.
    (ii) Additional material:
    (A) Letter from State of New Jersey Department of Environmental 
Protection dated June 4, 2003, requesting EPA approval of a revision to 
the Ozone SIP which contains amendments to the Subchapter 16 ``Control 
and Prohibition of Air Pollution from Volatile Organic Compounds.''
    (B) Letter from State of New Jersey Department of Environmental 
Protection dated January 6, 2004 providing a compiled version of 
Subchapter 16 which include the amendments.
0
3. Section 52.1605 is amended by revising the entry under Title 7, 
Chapter 27 for Subchapter 16 in the table to read as follows:


Sec.  52.1605  EPA-approved New Jersey regulations.

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      State regulation           State effective date          EPA approved date               Comments
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                                                  * * * * * * *
Title 7, Chapter 27
 
                                                  * * * * * * *
Subchapter 16, Control and    June 29, 2003.............  July 2, 2004 [Insert FR
 Prohibition of Air                                        page citation.]
 Pollution from Volatile
 Organic Compounds.
 
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[FR Doc. 04-14993 Filed 7-1-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-U