[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 149 (Friday, August 3, 2007)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 43169-43172]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-15011]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[EPA-R05-OAR-2006-0541; FRL-8449-6]


Approval and Promulgation of Air Quality Implementation Plans; 
Michigan

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Direct final rule.

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SUMMARY: EPA is approving a request submitted by the Michigan 
Department of Environmental Management (MDEQ) on March 31, 2006, to 
revise the Michigan State Implementation Plan (SIP) to amend R336.1627 
and R336.2005, and adopt R336.2004. These changes take place within 
Part 6, Emission Limitations and Prohibitions--Existing Sources of 
Volatile Organic Compound Emissions; Delivery Vessels; Vapor Collection 
Systems; and Part 10, Intermittent Testing and Sampling, respectively.

DATES: This rule is effective on October 2, 2007, unless EPA receives 
adverse written comments by September 4, 2007. If EPA receives adverse 
comments, EPA will publish a timely withdrawal of the rule in the 
Federal Register and inform the public that the rule will not take 
effect.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-R05-
OAR-2006-0541 by one of the following methods:
    1. http://www.regulations.gov: Follow the on-line instructions for 
submitting comments.
    2. E-mail: [email protected].
    3. Fax: (312) 886-5824.
    4. Mail: John M. Mooney, Chief, Criteria Pollutant Section, Air 
Programs Branch (AR-18J), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 77 West 
Jackson Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois 60604.
    5. Hand Delivery: John M. Mooney, Chief, Criteria Pollutant 
Section, Air Programs Branch (AR-18J), U.S. Environmental Protection 
Agency, 77 West Jackson Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois 60604. Such 
deliveries are only accepted during the Regional Office normal hours of 
operation, and special arrangements should be made for deliveries of 
boxed information. The Regional Office official hours of business are 
Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. excluding Federal 
holidays.
    Instructions: Direct your comments to Docket ID No. EPA-R05-OAR-
2006-0541. 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

[[Page 43170]]

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. For additional instructions on submitting 
comments, go to Section I of the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of 
this document.
    Docket: All documents in the docket are listed in the http://www.regulations.gov index. Although listed in the index, some 
information is not publicly available, e.g., CBI or other information 
whose disclosure is restricted by statute. Certain other material, such 
as copyrighted material, will be publicly available only in hard copy. 
Publicly available docket materials are available either electronically 
in http://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 legal 
holidays. We recommend that you telephone Jonathan Nichols, Life 
Scientist, at (312) 353-7942 before visiting the Region 5 office.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jonathan Nichols, Life Scientist, 
Criteria Pollutant Section, Air Programs Branch (AR-18J), Environmental 
Protection Agency, Region 5, 77 West Jackson Boulevard, Chicago, 
Illinois 60604, (312) 353-7942, [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. Background
    A. When did the State submit the requested rule revisions to 
EPA?
    B. Did Michigan hold public hearings for each of these rule 
revisions?
II. What are the revisions that the State requests be incorporated 
into the SIP?
    A. Part 6--Emission Limitations for Existing Sources
    B. Part 10--Changes to Intermittent Testing and Sampling
III. What is EPA's evaluation of the rule?
IV. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

I. Background

A. When did the State submit the requested rule revisions to EPA?

    MDEQ submitted the requested rule revisions on March 31, 2006.

B. Did Michigan hold public hearings for each of these rule revisions?

    MDEQ held a public hearing for the rule revisions on October 31, 
2005, and did not receive any adverse comments.

II. What are the revisions that the State requests be incorporated into 
the SIP?

    The State has requested the following revisions: Changes to Part 6, 
Emission Limitations and Prohibitions--Existing Sources of Volatile 
Organic Compound Emissions; and changes to Part 10, Intermittent 
Testing and Sampling. The revisions are described in more detail below.

A. Part 6--Emission Limitations for Existing Sources

    MDEQ is requesting the amendment of Part 6, R336.1627, in order to 
replace the MDEQ Vapor Tightness Test (VTT) method with EPA Method 27. 
The MDEQ VTT method is not an acceptable substitution for the leak test 
required by the U.S. Department of Transportation (U.S. DOT). 
Therefore, tank trucks must undergo VTT using both state and federal 
test methods. As written, EPA Method 27 is more stringent than the leak 
test required by MDEQ, satisfying both U.S. DOT and MDEQ standards.
    In addition, MDEQ is requesting an amendment to test submittal 
requirements in order to provide consistency between U.S DOT and MDEQ 
requirements with regard to the time period within which tank trucks 
must be tested. The amendment would require delivery vessels to perform 
the VTT within one year of the date of the previous test, rather than 
the existing, narrow time period of April 1 to June 30. Under the 
amendment, the results of the test would be submitted to MDEQ within 30 
days of test completion. Upon successful completion of the required 
testing, the vessel would be deemed provisionally certified providing 
the department does not invalidate the certification by issuing 
disapproval within 45 days of receipt of the results.

B. Part 10--Changes to Intermittent Testing and Sampling

    MDEQ is requesting the amendment of Part 10, Intermittent Testing 
and Sampling, to incorporate Method 27 by reference at R336.2004, and 
to amend R336.2005, the reference test method used to detect gasoline 
vapor leaks by a combustible gas detector. The amendment to R336.2005 
removes the VTT component, but leaves the reference test method to 
detect gasoline vapor leaks by a combustible gas detector intact. 
Method 27, which is more stringent than the existing state VTT method, 
is incorporated in R336.2004.

III. What is EPA's evaluation of the rule?

    We are approving revisions to the Michigan SIP in two areas: (1) To 
amend R336.1627 of Part 6, Emission Limitations and Prohibitions--
Existing Sources of Volatile Organic Compound Emissions; Delivery 
Vessels; Vapor Collection Systems, by replacing the MDEQ VTT method 
with EPA Method 27, and to adopt the U.S. DOT annual VTT requirement 
and test submittal requirements; and, (2) to amend Part 10, 
Intermittent Testing and Sampling, through incorporating Method 27 by 
reference at R336.2004, and to amend R336.2005, the reference test 
method used to detect gasoline vapor leaks by a combustible gas 
detector.
    The main revisions to R336.1627 are the replacement of its VTT test 
with Method 27 and the requirement to test the delivery vessel within 
one year of the previous test. Both of these revisions are consistent 
with EPA guidance. In addition, the following factors add to the 
effectiveness of this rule: (1) the testing stations are certified by 
the Michigan Department of Transportation and the tests that are 
performed at these stations are spot checked by the MDEQ; (2) the MDEQ 
has a history of reviewing all test results, and rejects those that are 
inadequate, within 30 days; and, (3) the Michigan gasoline terminals do 
not accept any tank trucks that are not certified to be in compliance 
with R336.1627, and are prohibited from accepting uncertified trucks 
due to the emission limitations found in 40 CFR part 60, subpart XX, 
which cover the same sources through limits on loading racks at bulk 
liquid gasoline terminals constructed or modified after December 17, 
1980, that deliver liquid product into gasoline tank trucks. These 
regulations require that a gasoline terminal owner or operator not 
reload gasoline delivery vessels without documentation indicating that 
a VTT has been performed.
    Michigan rule R336.1627 provides that the vessel is deemed to have 
passed the gasoline vapor leak detection test if Michigan does not 
notify the owner or operator of the vessel of the vessel's failure to 
pass the test within 45 days. EPA strongly discourages the use of 
default approvals. However, we find this rule to be approvable due to 
the special circumstances described above and also because 
recertification is required within a year. Nevertheless, should 
Michigan revise its rules to remove the safeguards described above,

[[Page 43171]]

EPA will require the State to revise this section of the SIP.
    We are publishing this action without prior proposal because we 
view this as a noncontroversial amendment and anticipate no adverse 
comments. However, in the proposed rules section of this Federal 
Register publication, we are publishing a separate document that will 
serve as the proposal to approve the state plan if relevant adverse 
written comments are filed. This rule will be effective October 2, 2007 
without further notice unless we receive relevant adverse written 
comments by September 4, 2007. If we receive such comments, we will 
withdraw this action before the effective date by publishing a 
subsequent document that will withdraw the final action. All public 
comments received will then be addressed in a subsequent final rule 
based on the proposed action. The EPA will not institute a second 
comment period. Any parties interested in commenting on this action 
should do so at this time. If we do not receive any comments, this 
action will be effective October 2, 2007.

IV. 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 That Significantly Affect Energy Supply, 
Distribution, or Use

    Because it is not a ``significant regulatory action'' under 
Executive Order 12866 or a ``significant energy 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 (Pub. L. 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 (59 
FR 22951, 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 approves a state rule implementing a 
Federal Standard.

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 October 2, 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, Carbon monoxide, 
Incorporation by reference, Intergovernmental relations, Lead, Nitrogen 
dioxide, Ozone, Particulate matter, Reporting and recordkeeping 
requirements, Sulfur oxides, Volatile organic compounds.

    Dated: July 24, 2007.
Walter W. Kovalick Jr.,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region 5.

0
40 CFR part 52 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.

[[Page 43172]]

Subpart X--Michigan

0
2. In Sec.  52.1170(c) the table is amended as follows:
0
a. Under Part 6 by revising entry ``R336.1627''.
0
b. Under Part 10 by revising entries ``R336.2004'' and ``R336.2005''.


Sec.  52.1170  Identification of plan.

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    (c) * * *

                                                            EPA-Approved Michigan Regulations
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                                                                       State
         Michigan citation                       Title               effective            EPA approval date                        Comments
                                                                        date
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                                                                      * * * * * * *
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                         Part 6. Emission Limitations and Prohibitions--Existing Sources of Volatile Organic Compound Emissions
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                                                                      * * * * * * *
R336.1627..........................  Delivery Vessels; Vapor            2/22/06  8/3/07, [Insert page number where
                                      Collection Systems.                         the document begins].
 
                                                                      * * * * * * *
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                                                       Part 10. Intermittent Testing and Sampling
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                                                                      * * * * * * *
R336.2004..........................  Appendix A; reference test         2/22/06  8/3/07, [Insert page number where
                                      methods; adoption of federal                the document begins].
                                      reference test methods.
R336.2005..........................  Reference test methods for         2/22/06  8/3/07, [Insert page number where
                                      state-requested tests of                    the document begins].
                                      delivery vessels.
 
                                                                      * * * * * * *
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[FR Doc. E7-15011 Filed 8-2-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P