[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 246 (Friday, December 22, 2006)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 76918-76920]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-21864]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[EPA-R05-OAR-2006-0354; FRL-8259-5]


Approval and Promulgation of Air Quality Implementation Plans; 
Ohio; Revision to Ohio State Implementation Plan To Rescind Oxides of 
Nitrogen Rule

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: EPA is approving a revision to the Ohio State Implementation 
Plan (SIP) submitted by Ohio on April 11, 2005 to rescind a rule which 
affected stationary combustion sources located within Priority I 
regions of the State and new sources regardless of location. The rule 
revision we are approving here also applies to nitric acid manufacture. 
We are taking this action at the request of the Ohio Environmental 
Protection Agency (Ohio EPA) because this rule is no longer the 
limiting regulation for any oxides of nitrogen (NOX) 
emission units in the State. The rule was originally approved by EPA 
over 30 years ago and since then has been superseded by a number of 
more stringent State and Federal regulations. The Ohio NOX 
SIP call rules and Federal emission standards for utility and 
industrial units all have greater potential for reducing emissions of 
NOX and improving human health than does the State's 
rescinded rule.

DATES: This final rule is effective on January 22, 2007.

ADDRESSES: EPA has established a docket for this action under Docket ID 
No. EPA-R05-OAR-2006-0354. All documents in the docket are listed on 
the www.regulations.gov Web site. Although listed in the index, some 
information is not publicly available, i.e., Confidential Business 
Information (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 through www.regulations.gov or in hard copy at the 
Environmental Protection Agency, Region 5, Air and Radiation Division, 
77 West Jackson Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois 60604. This facility is 
open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding 
Federal holidays. We recommend that you telephone John Paskevicz, 
Engineer at (312) 886-6084 before visiting the Region 5 office.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: John Paskevicz, Engineer, Criteria 
Pollutant Section, Air Programs Branch (AR-18J), Environmental 
Protection Agency, Region 5, 77 West Jackson Boulevard, Chicago, 
Illinois 60604, (312) 886-6084, or e-mail at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Throughout this document whenever ``we,'' 
``us,'' or ``our'' is used, we mean EPA. This supplementary information 
section is arranged as follows:

I. What Action is EPA Taking?
II. What is the Background for the Action?
III. Final Action
IV. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

I. What Action is EPA Taking?

    EPA is approving the request from Ohio to rescind a rule, Ohio 
Administrative Code (OAC) 3745-23-06, which the State has determined no 
longer applies to any source in the State. The rule formerly applied to 
sources of oxides of nitrogen (NOX) including nitric acid 
plants and combustion sources greater than 250 million British Thermal 
Units (BTU) per hour. Ohio made this request on April 11, 2005, 
following public hearing. We reviewed the State's request and find that 
it meets the requirements for technical approvability and agreed that 
the rule is redundant with regard to control of large NOX 
combustion sources and nitric acid plants in the State. We agree that 
the rule has been superseded by recent State and Federal rules and is 
therefore no longer needed.

II. What is the Background for the Action?

    The Ohio EPA sent a letter and supporting materials to EPA 
requesting to revise the Ohio SIP by eliminating that portion of plan 
which approved rule 3745-23-06 of the Ohio Administrative Code. Ohio 
EPA had made the determination that this rule, originally promulgated 
in 1972, was no longer viable because it had been superseded by more 
recent and more stringent rules. We agreed with Ohio EPA and on June 1, 
2006, we published a proposal in the Federal Register (71 FR 31129) to 
approve the State's request. In that proposal we asked the public to 
comment on the State's request and noted that there are no sources in 
the State subject to rule OAC 3745-23-06. We gave the public thirty 
days to respond to our proposed action. We did not receive any comments 
on the proposal from the public either via the U.S. Postal Service or 
through the EPA public docket on the EPA Web site,

[[Page 76919]]

and conclude that the State's request is approvable.

III. Final Action

    EPA is approving the SIP revision request submitted by Ohio on 
April 11, 2005. We are publishing this action because it meets all of 
the technical requirements for a revision of the SIP. We received no 
comments from the public regarding this action.

VI. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

Executive Order 12866: Regulatory Planning and Review

    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.

Executive Order 13211: Actions Concerning Regulations That 
Significantly Affect Energy Supply, Distribution, or Use

    Because it is not a ``significant regulatory action'' under 
Executive Order 12866 or a ``significant regulatory action,'' 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).

Regulatory Flexibility Act

    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.).

Unfunded Mandates Reform Act

    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 (Public Law 104-4).

Executive Order 13175: Consultation and Coordination With Indian Tribal 
Governments

    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).

Executive Order 13132: Federalism

    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.

Executive Order 13045: Protection of Children From Environmental Health 
and Safety Risks

    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.

National Technology Transfer Advancement Act

    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.

Paperwork Reduction Act

    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.).

Congressional Review Act

    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 February 20, 2007. 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, Incorporation by 
reference, Intergovernmental relations, Nitrogen dioxide, Ozone, 
Particulate matter, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements.

    Dated: December 12, 2006.
Bharat Mathur,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region 5.

0
For the reasons stated in the preamble, part 52, chapter I, of 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 KK--Ohio

0
2. Section 52.1890 is amended by adding paragraph (c) to read as 
follows:


Sec.  52.1890  Removed control measures.

* * * * *
    (c) On April 11, 2005, the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency 
submitted a request to revise the State's plan controlling nitrogen 
oxide emissions from stationary sources in the State. The request 
included the results of the action taken by Ohio EPA to rescind OAC 
3745-23-06, which affected emissions of oxides of nitrogen from 
combustion sources and nitric acid plants. This action was preceded by 
a negative declaration regarding nitric acid plants dated April 11, 
1994, and

[[Page 76920]]

rule approvals (NOX SIP Call, NSPS, budget trading program, 
etc.) affecting large fossil-fueled utility and industrial boilers. OAC 
3745-23-06, Control of nitrogen oxide emissions from stationary 
sources, also known as AP-7-06 in its original form, is therefore 
removed from the Ohio SIP.

[FR Doc. E6-21864 Filed 12-21-06; 8:45 am]
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