[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 24 (Monday, February 6, 2006)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 6028-6030]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-1596]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[EPA-R03-OAR-2005-MD-0014; FRL-8028-3]


Approval and Promulgation of Air Quality Implementation Plans; 
Maryland; Amendments to the Control of VOC Emissions From Yeast 
Manufacturing

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. This revision pertains to the amendment 
of a regulation that controls volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions 
from yeast manufacturing facilities. This action is being taken under 
the Clean Air Act (CAA or the Act).

DATES: Written comments must be received on or before March 8, 2006.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID Number EPA-
R03-OAR-2005-MD-0014 by one of the following methods:
    A. Http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the on-line instructions for 
submitting comments.
    B. E-mail: [email protected].
    C. Mail: EPA-R03-OAR-2005-MD-0014, Makeba Morris, Chief, Air 
Quality 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-0014. 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://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 http://
www.regulations.gov or e-mail. The http://www.regulations.gov Web site 
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 http://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.

[[Page 6029]]

    Docket: All documents in the electronic docket are listed in the 
http://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 http://
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: Rose Quinto, (215) 814-2182, or by e-
mail at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On October 31, 2005, the Maryland Department 
of the Environment (MDE) submitted a revision to the Maryland SIP. The 
SIP revision consists of amendments to COMAR 26.11.19.17--Control of 
VOC Emissions from Yeast Manufacturing.

I. Background

    COMAR 26.11.19.17 contains requirements for the control of VOC 
emissions from sources that manufacture yeast. In 2004, the regulation 
was amended to clarify requirements for sources that manufacture both 
nutritional yeast and specialty yeast. The amendment provided more 
flexibility for sources that could manufacture specialty yeast and meet 
VOC standards that were developed for the lower emitting nutritional 
yeast. The amendment also included changes that made Maryland's 
regulation consistent with EPA's maximum achievable control technology 
(MACT) standards for nutritional yeast. In addition, the amendment 
required sources to demonstrate that the standards were met at least 98 
percent of the time for each 12-month period.

II. Summary of SIP Revision

    The amendments submitted on October 31, 2005 to COMAR 26.11.19.17 
are: (1) To reinstate the requirements for non-nutritional and 
specialty yeast installations to meet certain operational requirements 
to minimize VOC emissions, and (2) to clarify the 98 percent compliance 
demonstration is a 12-month rolling average.
    The amendment requires pure culture and yeasting installations 
(non-nutritional and specialty yeast installations) to monitor 
temperature, pH, and sugar content of the batch to minimize the 
formation and emission of VOC. The amendment also requires batch 
production information be collected each month and that the semi-annual 
reports submitted to MDE include this monthly data. The semi-annual 
report shall include: (1) A summary of the number of batches for each 
month and calculations showing the percent of batches that met the VOC 
standards for each month, and (2) calculations showing the percent of 
batches that met the VOC standards during the previous six 12-month 
rolling average periods. Affected sources are required to meet the VOC 
standards for at least 98 percent of the batches produced during each 
rolling 12-month period, beginning July 1, 2004.

III. Proposed Action

    EPA is proposing to approve the Maryland SIP revision for the 
amendments to the regulation regarding the control of VOC emissions 
from yeast manufacturing facilities, which was submitted on October 31, 
2005. Implementation of these amendments will result in the reduction 
of VOC emissions from yeast manufacturing facilities. 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 FR 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 pertaining to Maryland's amendments to the 
regulations pertaining to the control of VOC emissions from yeast

[[Page 6030]]

manufacturing facilities, 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, Ozone, Reporting 
and recordkeeping requirements, Volatile organic compounds.

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

    Dated: January 26, 2006.
Donald S. Welsh,
Regional Administrator, Region III.
[FR Doc. E6-1596 Filed 2-3-06; 8:45 am]
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