[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 160 (Friday, August 19, 2005)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 48654-48656]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-16484]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 62

[R01-OAR-2005-ME-0005; FRL-7956-4]


Approval and Promulgation of State Plans for Designated 
Facilities and Pollutants: Maine; Negative Declaration

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Direct final rule.

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SUMMARY: EPA is approving the Sections 111(d)/129 negative declaration 
submitted by the Maine Department of Environmental Protection (MEDEP) 
on May 2, 2005. This negative declaration adequately certifies that 
there are no existing hospital/medical/infectious waste incinerators 
(HMIWIs) located within the boundaries of the state of Maine. EPA 
publishes regulations under Sections 111(d) and 129 of the Clean Air 
Act requiring states to submit control plans to EPA. These state 
control plans show how states intend to control the emissions of 
designated pollutants from designated facilities (e.g., HMIWIs). The 
state of Maine submitted this negative declaration in lieu of a state 
control plan.

DATES: This direct final rule is effective on October 18, 2005 without 
further notice unless EPA receives significant adverse comment by 
September 19, 2005. If EPA receives adverse comment, we 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: Submit your comments, identified by Regional Material in 
EDocket (RME) ID Number R01-OAR-2005-ME-0005 by one of the following 
methods:
    A. Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. Follow 
the on-line instructions for submitting comments.
    B. Agency Web site: http://docket.epa.gov/rmepub/ Regional Material 
in EDocket (RME), EPA's electronic public docket and comment system, is 
EPA's preferred method for

[[Page 48655]]

receiving comments. Once in the system, select ``quick search,'' then 
key in the appropriate RME Docket identification number. Follow the on-
line instructions for submitting comments.
    C. E-mail: [email protected].
    D. Fax: (617) 918-0048.
    E. Mail: ``RME ID Number R01-OAR-2005-ME-0005'', Daniel Brown, 
Chief, Air Permits, Toxics & Indoor Programs Unit, Office of Ecosystem 
Protection, U.S. EPA, One Congress Street, Suite 1100 (CAP), Boston, 
Massachusetts 02114-2023.
    F. Hand Delivery or Courier. Deliver your comments to: Daniel 
Brown, Chief, Air Permits, Toxics & Indoor Programs Unit, Office of 
Ecosystem Protection, U.S. EPA, One Congress Street, Suite 1100 (CAP), 
Boston, Massachusetts 02114-2023. Such deliveries are only accepted 
during the Regional Office's normal hours of operation. The Regional 
Office's official hours of business are Monday through Friday, 8:30 to 
4:30 excluding federal holidays.
    Instructions: Direct your comments to Regional Material in EDocket 
(RME) ID Number R01-OAR-2005-ME-0005. EPA's policy is that all comments 
received will be included in the public docket without change and may 
be made available online at http://docket.epa.gov/rmepub/, including 
any personal information provided, unless the comment includes 
information claimed to be Confidential Business Information (CBI) or 
other information whose disclosure is restricted by statute. Do not 
submit information that you consider to be CBI or otherwise protected 
through Regional Material in EDocket (RME), regulations.gov, or e-mail. 
The EPA RME Web site and the federal regulations.gov website are 
``anonymous access'' systems, which means EPA will not know your 
identity or contact information unless you provide it in the body of 
your comment. If you send an e-mail comment directly to EPA without 
going through RME or regulations.gov, your e-mail address will be 
automatically captured and included as part of the comment that is 
placed in the public docket and made available on the Internet. If you 
submit an electronic comment, EPA recommends that you include your name 
and other contact information in the body of your comment and with any 
disk or CD-ROM you submit. 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. Electronic files should avoid 
the use of special characters, any form of encryption, and be free of 
any defects or viruses.
    Docket: All documents in the electronic docket are listed in the 
Regional Material in EDocket (RME) index at http://docket.epa.gov/rmepub/. Although listed in the index, some information is not publicly 
available, i.e., CBI or other information whose disclosure is 
restricted by statute. Certain other material, such as copyrighted 
material, is not placed on the Internet and will be publicly available 
only in hard copy form. Publicly available docket materials are 
available either electronically in RME or in hard copy at the Office of 
Ecosystem Protection, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, EPA New 
England Regional Office, One Congress Street, Suite 1100, Boston, MA. 
EPA requests that if at all possible, you contact the person listed in 
the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section below to schedule your 
review. The Regional Office's official hours of business are Monday 
through Friday, 8:30 to 4:30 excluding federal holidays.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: John J. Courcier, Office of Ecosystem 
Protection (CAP), EPA-New England, Region 1, Boston, Massachusetts 
02203, telephone number (617) 918-1659, fax number (617) 918-0659, 
email [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Table of Contents

I. What Action Is EPA Taking Today?
II. What Is the Origin of the Requirements?
III. When Did the Requirements First Become Known?
IV. When Did Maine Submit Its Negative Declaration?
V. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

I. What Action Is EPA Taking Today?

    EPA is approving the negative declaration of air emissions from 
HMIWI units submitted by the state of Maine.
    EPA is publishing this negative declaration without prior proposal 
because the Agency views this as a noncontroversial amendment and 
anticipates no adverse comments. However, in the proposed rules section 
of this Federal Register, EPA is publishing a separate document that 
will serve as the proposal to approve this negative declaration should 
relevant adverse comments be filed. If EPA receives no significant 
adverse comment by September 19, 2005, this action will be effective 
October 18, 2005.
    If EPA receives significant adverse comments by the above date, we 
will withdraw this action before the effective date by publishing a 
subsequent document in the Federal Register that will withdraw this 
final action. EPA will address all public comments received in a 
subsequent final rule based on the parallel proposed rule published in 
today's Federal Register. EPA will not institute a second comment 
period on this action. Any parties interested in commenting on this 
action should do so at this time. If EPA receives no comments, this 
action will be effective October 18, 2005.

II. What Is the Origin of the Requirements?

    Under section 111(d) of the Clean Air Act, EPA published 
regulations at 40 CFR part 60, Subpart B which require states to submit 
plans to control emissions of designated pollutants from designated 
facilities. In the event that a state does not have a particular 
designated facility located within its boundaries, EPA requires that a 
negative declaration be submitted in lieu of a control plan.

III. When Did the Requirements First Become Known?

    On June 20, 1996 (61 FR 31736), EPA proposed emission guidelines 
for HMIWI units. This action enabled EPA to list HMIWI units as 
designated facilities. EPA specified particulate matter, opacity, 
sulfur dioxide, hydrogen chloride, oxides of nitrogen, carbon monoxide, 
lead, cadmium, mercury, and dioxins/furans as designated pollutants by 
proposing emission guidelines for existing HMIWI units. These 
guidelines were published in final form on September 15, 1997 (62 FR 
48348).

IV. When Did Maine Submit Its Negative Declaration?

    On May 2, 2005, the Maine Department of Environmental Protection 
(DEP) submitted a letter certifying that there are no existing HMIWI 
units subject to 40 CFR part 60, subpart B. Section 111(d) and 40 CFR 
62.06 provide that when no such designated facilities exist within a 
state's boundaries, the affected state may submit a letter of 
``negative declaration'' instead of a control plan. EPA is publishing 
this negative declaration at 40 CFR 62.4985.

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

[[Page 48656]]

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), because it 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 section 111(d) submissions, EPA's role is to approve 
state plans, 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 state plan submission for failure to use VCS. It would 
thus be inconsistent with applicable law for EPA, when it reviews a 
state plan submission, to use VCS in place of a state plan 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. section 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 October 18, 2005. Interested 
parties should comment in response to the proposed rule rather than 
petition for judicial review, unless the objection arises after the 
comment period allowed for in the proposal. 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 62

    Environmental protection, Administrative practice and procedure, 
Air pollution control, Intergovernmental relations, Reporting and 
recordkeeping requirements, Sulfur oxides, Waste treatment and 
disposal.

    Dated: August 11, 2005.
Ira W. Leighton,
Acting Regional Administrator, EPA New England.

Identification of Action: Approval and Promulgation of Maine State Plan 
for Hospital/Medical/Infectious Waste Incinerators; Negative 
Declaration

0
40 CFR Part 62 is amended as follows:

PART 62--[AMENDED]

0
1. The authority citation for Part 62 continues to read as follows:

    Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7401-7642

Subpart U--Maine

0
2. Subpart U is amended by adding a new Sec.  62.4985 and a new 
undesignated center heading to read as follows:
Air Emissions From Existing Hospital/Medical/Infectious Waste 
Incinerators


Sec.  62.4985  Identification of Plan-negative declaration.

    On May 2, 2005, the Maine Department of Environmental Protection 
submitted a letter certifying that there are no existing hospital/
medical/infectious waste incinerators in the state subject to the 
emission guidelines under part 60, subpart Ce of this chapter.

[FR Doc. 05-16484 Filed 8-18-05; 8:45 am]
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