[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 20 (Tuesday, January 31, 2006)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 5033-5034]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-1205]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[EPA-R03-OAR-2005-MD-0013; FRL-8026-6]


Approval and Promulgation of Air Quality Implementation Plans; 
Maryland; Amendments to the Control of Incinerators

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Proposed rule.

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SUMMARY: EPA is proposing to approve a State Implementation Plan (SIP) 
revision submitted by Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE). 
This revision pertains to amendments to the regulations for the control 
of incinerators. This action is being taken under the Clean Air Act 
(CAA or the Act).

DATES: Written comments must be received on or before March 2, 2006.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID Number EPA-
R03-OAR-2005-MD-0013 by one of the following methods:
    A. www.regulations.gov. Follow the on-line instructions for 
submitting comments.
    B. E-mail: [email protected].
    C. Mail: EPA-R03-OAR-2005-MD-0013, Makeba Morris, Chief, Air 
Quality and Planning Branch, Mailcode 3AP21, U.S. Environmental 
Protection Agency, Region III, 1650 Arch Street, Philadelphia, 
Pennsylvania 19103.
    D. Hand Delivery: At the previously-listed EPA Region III address. 
Such deliveries are only accepted during the Docket's normal hours of 
operation, and special arrangements should be made for deliveries of 
boxed information.
    Instructions: Direct your comments to Docket ID No. EPA-R03-OAR-
2005-MD-0013. EPA's policy is that all comments received will be 
included in the public docket without change, and may be made available 
online at www.regulations.gov, 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 www.regulations.gov 
or e-mail. The www.regulations.gov website is an ``anonymous access'' 
system, 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 
www.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 
www.regulations.gov index. 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 www.regulations.gov or 
in hard copy during normal business hours at the Air Protection 
Division, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region III, 1650 Arch 
Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19103. Copies of the State submittal 
are available at the Maryland Department of the Environment, 1800 
Washington Boulevard, Suite 705, Baltimore, Maryland 21230.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: LaKeshia N. Robertson (215) 814-2113, 
or by e-mail at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On October 31, 2005, Maryland submitted a 
revision to its SIP. The revision (05-06) pertains to 
amendments to regulations .01 and .05 under COMAR 26.11.08 Control of 
Incinerators.

[[Page 5034]]

I. Background

    COMAR 26.11.08 sets forth emission standards and requirements for 
incinerators that burn ``infectious'' or special medical waste 
generated by health care and research facilities. These incinerators, 
which are used by health care and research facilities, must meet 
particulate matter and toxic air pollutants emission limits and other 
requirements. Two years ago, following federal guidelines MDE adopted 
more stringent federal requirements for certain hospital/ medical waste 
incinerators. Those requirements applied to various sizes of hospital 
incinerators but did not apply to units burning pathological waste or 
crematories.
    Special medical waste incinerators that were not subject to the 
more restrictive federal requirements are subject to the MDE's 
particulate matter and toxic air pollutant requirements. The special 
medical waste incinerators subject to Maryland's regulations are 
required to meet a particulate matter standard of 0.1 grains per 
standard cubic foot dry (SCFD). Other incinerators and hazardous waste 
incinerators are subject to a more restrictive 0.03 grain loading 
requirement.
    Although the MDE's intent was to treat crematories as special 
medical waste incinerators and subject them to the 0.1 grain loading 
requirement, the current regulations are not clear as to which 
particulate matter requirement applies to crematories. The October 31, 
2005 revision clarifies this discrepancy.

II. Summary of SIP Revision

    The revision defines the term ``crematory'' and clarifies the 
particulate matter requirements to indicate that crematories are 
subject to the 0.1 grain loading requirement. Special medical waste 
incinerators that are not subject to the more restrictive federal 
requirements are subject to the 0.1 grain loading requirement and 
crematories are treated as special medical waste incinerators. The 
amendments address COMAR 26.11.08, sections .01 and .05. The referenced 
changes are listed below.
    Revision 1. Section .01B(9-1): The term ``crematory'' is defined as 
a furnace where a human or animal corpse is burned with: (a) The 
container or bag in which the human or animal corpse is placed or 
transported; and (b) The animal bedding, if applicable.
    Revision 2. Particulate Matter Section .05A(3) Requirements for 
Areas I, II, V, and VI: Crematories have been incorporated into the 
rule with stipulations on the particulate matter emissions into the 
atmosphere. The rule states that a person may not cause or permit the 
discharge of particulate matter into the outdoor atmosphere that exceed 
0.10 grains per standard cubic foot dry 0.10 gr/SCFD (229 mg/dscm).
    Section .05B(2)(a) Requirements for Areas III and IV: Crematories 
have been incorporated into the rule with stipulations on the 
particulate matter emissions into the atmosphere. The rule clearly 
states that a person may not cause or permit the discharge of 
particulate matter into the outdoor atmosphere to exceed 0.10 grains 
per standard cubic foot dry 0.10gr/SCFD (229mg/dscm).

III. Proposed Action

    EPA is approving Maryland's SIP revisions submitted on October 31, 
2005 to incorporate crematory provisions into rule COMAR 26.11.08, 
which amends sections .01 and .05. EPA is soliciting public comments on 
the issues discussed in this document. These comments will be 
considered before taking final action.

IV. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

    Under Executive Order 12866 (58 FR 51735, October 4, 1993), this 
proposed 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 Fed. Reg. 28355 (May 22, 
2001)). This action merely proposes to approve state law as meeting 
Federal requirements and imposes no additional requirements beyond 
those imposed by state law. Accordingly, the Administrator certifies 
that this proposed 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 proposes to approve 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 (Public Law 104-4). This proposed rule also does 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), nor will it 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 proposes to approve a state rule implementing a Federal 
requirement, and does not alter the relationship or the distribution of 
power and responsibilities established in the Clean Air Act. This 
proposed rule also is not subject to Executive Order 13045 (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. As required by section 3 
of Executive Order 12988 (61 FR 4729, February 7, 1996), in issuing 
this proposed rule, EPA has taken the necessary steps to eliminate 
drafting errors and ambiguity, minimize potential litigation, and 
provide a clear legal standard for affected conduct. EPA has complied 
with Executive Order 12630 (53 FR 8859, March 15, 1988) by examining 
the takings implications of the rule in accordance with the ``Attorney 
General's Supplemental Guidelines for the Evaluation of Risk and 
Avoidance of Unanticipated Takings'' issued under the executive order. 
This proposed rule, to amend Maryland's incinerator regulation, does 
not impose an information collection burden under the provisions of the 
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.).

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 52

    Environmental protection, Air pollution control, Particulate 
matter.

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

    Dated: January 24, 2006.
Donald S. Welsh,
Regional Administrator, Region III.
[FR Doc. E6-1205 Filed 1-30-06; 8:45 am]
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