[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 119 (Thursday, June 21, 2007)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 34207-34209]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-12051]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[EPA-R03-OAR-2007-0450; FRL-8329-6]


Approval and Promulgation of Air Quality Implementation Plans; 
Delaware; Open Burning

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 the State of Delaware. This SIP revision pertains 
to the amendments of Delaware's open burning regulation. This action is 
being taken under the Clean Air Act (CAA).

DATES: Written comments must be received on or before July 23, 2007.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID Number EPA-
R03-OAR-2007-0450 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-2007-0450, Christopher Cripps, Acting 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-
2007-0450. 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 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 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

[[Page 34208]]

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 
Delaware Department of Natural Resources & Environmental Control, 89 
Kings Highway, P.O. Box 1401, Dover, Delaware 19901.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Rose Quinto, (215) 814-2182, or by e-
mail at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background

    On May 2, 2007, the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and 
Environmental Control (DNREC) submitted a revision to its SIP for 
Regulation No. 1113--Open Burning. The SIP revision includes (1) 
Expanding the open burning ban from New Castle and Kent Counties to 
statewide; (2) expanding the open burning ban from June 1 through 
August 31 in the current regulation to May 1 through September 30; and 
(3) to clarify the prohibitions in the existing regulation and their 
interaction with other applicable laws and regulations.

II. Summary of SIP Revision

    Delaware's Open Burning Regulation, Regulation No. 1113, applies to 
all open burning activities in the State of Delaware which includes the 
counties of New Castle, Kent and Sussex. The following are the 
prohibitions and provisions of open burning activities in the State of 
Delaware during May 1 through September 30:
    (1) The regulation prohibits leaf and refuse burning statewide.
    (2) The regulation allows the following without permission from 
DNREC: domestic burning of branches and limbs from trees and shrubs 
statewide; and agricultural burning statewide to cultivate and/or 
prepare soil for the production of crops or the support of livestock.
    (3) The regulation requires permission from DNREC for the following 
types of open burning: prescribed burning for conservation practices, 
wildlife habitat management, or plant, pest or disease control; and 
burning of wooden buildings for fire fighting instruction conducted by 
authorized fire companies.
    (4) Commercial operations are not permitted to burn for disposal, 
e.g. burning of tree limbs, stumps as a result of land clearing, and 
construction debris.
    (5) All allowable types of burning can be conducted between the 
hours of 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Approval can be obtained from DNREC to burn 
outside of those hours for reasons of safety, smoke reduction or a more 
efficient or complete burn.
    (6) The following types of burning are exempt from the regulation, 
and can be conducted at any time: cooking fires; recreational fires; 
ceremonial fires; emergency signaling flares; backburning to suppress 
wildfires; and fire fighting instruction conducted by the Delaware 
State Fire School.

III. Proposed Action

    EPA is proposing to approve the Delaware SIP revision for 
Regulation No. 1113--Open Burning submitted on May 2, 2007. This 
regulation will result in the control of volatile organic compound 
(VOC) and nitrogen oxides (NOX) emissions by establishing 
rules for open burning activities in the State of Delaware during the 
ozone season. 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 (Pub. L. 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 approves a state rule implementing a 
Federal standard.
    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 Delaware's Open Burning 
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, Nitrogen dioxide, 
Ozone, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, Volatile organic 
compounds.


[[Page 34209]]


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

    Dated: June 12, 2007.
Donald S. Welsh,
Regional Administrator, Region III.
 [FR Doc. E7-12051 Filed 6-20-07; 8:45 am]
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