[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 207 (Wednesday, October 27, 2004)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 62583-62585]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-23951]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[PA208-4231; FRL-7822-5]


Approval and Promulgation of Air Quality Implementation Plans; 
Pennsylvania VOC and NOX RACT Determinations for National Fuel Gas 
Supply Corporation

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: EPA is approving a State Implementation Plan (SIP) revision 
submitted by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The revision was 
submitted by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection 
(DEP) to establish and require reasonably available control technology 
(RACT) for the National Fuel Gas Supply Corporation located in 
Pennsylvania. EPA is approving these revisions to establish RACT 
requirements in the SIP in accordance with the Clean Air Act (CAA).

EFFECTIVE DATE: This final rule is effective on November 26, 2004.

ADDRESSES: 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; 
Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, Bureau of Air 
Quality, P.O. Box 8468, 400 Market Street, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania 
17105.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Betty Harris, (215) 814-2168, or by e-
mail at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background

    On July 2, 2003, the Pennsylvania DEP submitted formal SIP 
revisions to establish RACT for two sources of VOC and NOX 
located in Pennsylvania. On May 24, 2004 (69 FR 29444), EPA published a 
direct final rule (DFR) approving revisions to DEP-issued operating 
permits which establish and require RACT for the National Fuel Gas 
Supply Corporation's Roystone Compressor Station located in Sheffield, 
Warren County, Pennsylvania (OP 62-141F) and the Crompton Corporation's 
facility located in Fairview Township, Butler County, Pennsylvania (OP 
10-037). A description of the RACT determinations and EPA's rationale 
for approving them were provided in the May 24, 2004 DFR and will not 
be restated herein. In accordance with direct final rulemaking 
procedures, on May 24, 2004 (69 FR 29480), EPA also published a 
companion notice of proposed rulemaking on these SIP revisions inviting 
interested parties to comment on the DFR. On May 26, 2004, EPA received 
adverse comment on its approval of the RACT determination for National 
Fuel Gas and Supply Corporation's Roystone Compressor Station 
(National). EPA received no adverse comments on its approval of the 
RACT determination for the Crompton Corporation's facility, and, 
therefore, EPA's May 24, 2004 DFR approving DEP's RACT determination 
for the Crompton facility became effective on July 23, 2004. On July 2, 
2004 (69 FR 40324), due to receipt of the adverse comment on its 
approval of the DEP's RACT determination for National, EPA published a 
partial withdrawal of the DFR, specifically withdrawing its final rule 
approving DEP's RACT determination for National. A summary of the 
adverse comment and EPA's responses to the comment are provided in 
Section II of this document.

II. Public Comment and EPA Responses

    Comment: On May 26, 2004, a citizen submitted adverse comment on 
EPA's approval of the DEP's RACT determination for National. The 
commenter states that the allowable NOX limitation imposed 
by the DEP on National's Units 1, 2 and 3 should be decreased from 5.3 
lbs per hour to 1.3 lbs per hour and that all the other NOX 
rates set in the DEP's permit should be cut in half. The commenter 
contends that rather than simply re-stating state law which is too low, 
Federal officials should impose higher standards.
    Response: EPA disagrees with the commenter. The EPA has no 
authority to modify the submitted RACT rules as requested by the 
commenter. The CAA requires that a state determine and impose RACT for 
existing major sources of NOX and VOCs located in ozone 
nonattainment areas and the Ozone Transport Region. Those RACT 
requirements are then to be submitted to

[[Page 62584]]

EPA as revisions to the SIP. EPA can only take action on a SIP revision 
as it submitted by a state, and cannot, through rulemaking action on a 
SIP revision, alter the state's submission to make its requirements 
more (or less) stringent. Therefore, even if EPA agreed that the 
commenter submitted convincing evidence that the state-submitted limits 
are not RACT for this facility (which, as explained below, we do not), 
EPA could not modify the limits as requested by the commenter, but 
instead could only disapprove the SIP revision submitted by the State.
    With regard to the criteria EPA uses to determine whether to 
approve or disapprove RACT SIP revisions submitted by the Pennsylvania 
DEP pursuant to 25 Pa Code Chapter 129.91-129.95, we look to the 
provisions of those SIP-approved generic RACT regulations (see May 3, 
2001 Federal Register, 66 FR 22123) and to the requirements of the 
Clean Air Act and relevant EPA guidance. In approving Pennsylvania's 
generic RACT regulations, 25 Pa Code Chapters 121 and 129, EPA, 
thereby, approved the definitions, provisions and procedures contained 
within those regulations under which the Commonwealth would require and 
impose RACT. Subsection 129.91, Control of major sources of 
NOX and VOCs, requires subject facilities to submit a RACT 
plan proposal to the DEP in accordance with subsection 129.92, 
entitled, RACT proposal requirements. Under subsection 129.91, the DEP 
will approve, deny or modify each RACT proposal, impose the resulting 
RACT determination in an operating permit or plan approval, and submit 
each RACT determination to EPA for approval as a SIP revision. EPA 
reviews the case-by-case RACT plan approvals and/or permits submitted 
as individual SIP revisions by the Commonwealth to verify and determine 
if they are consistent with the RACT requirements of the Act and any 
relevant EPA guidance. EPA first reviews a SIP submission to ensure 
that the source and the Commonwealth followed the SIP-approved generic 
rule when applying for and imposing RACT, respectively. Then EPA 
reviews the technical and economic analyses conducted by the source and 
the state. If EPA believes additional information may further support 
or would undercut the RACT analyses submitted by the state, then we may 
add additional EPA-generated analyses to the record of our rule to 
approve or disapprove the SIP revision. EPA's review of the 
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania's submission of its RACT determination for 
National imposed in DEP operating permit (OP 62-141F) indicates that 
the requirements of its SIP-approved generic RACT regulation 25 Pa Code 
Chapter 129.91-129.95 have been met. See preamble of the Direct Final 
Rule, May 24, 2004, (69 FR 29444). The commenter did not submit any 
supporting technical information to support that the suggested 
alternative emission limitations for National's Roystone Compressor 
Station are RACT. Additionally, the commenter did not submit any 
justification or analysis to suggest that the RACT limits submitted by 
the State are inconsistent with the State's RACT regulations, the CAA 
or EPA guidance. Because the commenter has submitted no new information 
that would cause us to reconsider our analysis that accompanied the 
proposed rule, we continue to believe that analysis supports our 
approval of the RACT limit for National.

III. Final Action

    EPA is approving the Pennsylvania DEP's RACT requirements for the 
National Fuel Gas Supply Corporation's Roystone Compressor Station, 
located in Sheffield, Warren County, Pennsylvania. EPA is approving 
this RACT SIP submittal because DEP established and imposed these RACT 
requirements in accordance with the criteria set forth in the SIP-
approved RACT regulations applicable to these sources. The DEP has also 
imposed record keeping, monitoring, and testing requirements on 
National Fuel Gas Supply Corporation's Roystone Compressor Station 
sufficient to determine compliance with the applicable RACT 
determinations.

IV. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

A. General 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.).

B. Submission to Congress and the Comptroller General

    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

[[Page 62585]]

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. Section 804 exempts from 
section 801 the following types of rules: (1) Rules of particular 
applicability; (2) rules relating to agency management or personnel; 
and (3) rules of agency organization, procedure, or practice that do 
not substantially affect the rights or obligations of non-agency 
parties. 5 U.S.C. 804(3). EPA is not required to submit a rule report 
regarding today's action under section 801 because this is a rule of 
particular applicability establishing source-specific requirements for 
one named source.

C. Petitions for Judicial Review

    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 27, 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 pertaining to RACT for National Fuel Gas 
Supply Corporation's Roystone Compressor Station, located in Sheffield, 
Warren County, Pennsylvania, 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, Nitrogen dioxide, Ozone, Reporting and recordkeeping 
requirements, Volatile organic compounds.

    Dated: September 23, 2004.
Donald S. Welsh,
Regional Administrator, Region III.

0
40 CFR part 52 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 NN--Pennsylvania

0
2. Section 52.2020 is amended by adding paragraph (c)(213)(i)(B)(1) to 
read as follows:


Sec.  52.2020  Identification of plan.

* * * * *
    (c) * * *
    (213) * * *
    (i) * * *
    (A) * * *
    (B) * * *
    (1) National Fuel Gas Supply Corp., Roystone Compressor Station, 
Sheffield, Warren County, OP 62-141F, effective date April 1, 2003.
* * * * *
[FR Doc. 04-23951 Filed 10-26-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P