[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 231 (Monday, December 3, 2007)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 67878-67880]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-23384]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[EPA-R03-OAR-2007-1000; FRL-8500-7]


Approval and Promulgation of Air Quality Implementation Plans; 
Maryland; Amendments to the Control of Volatile Organic Compound 
Emissions From Portable Fuel Containers

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 Maryland. This SIP revision pertains 
to the control of emissions of volatile organic compounds from portable 
fuel containers. This action is being taken under the Clean Air Act 
(CAA).

DATES: Written comments must be received on or before January 2, 2008.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID Number EPA-
R03-OAR-2007-1000 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-2007-1000, Cristina Fernandez, Acting Chief, 
Air Quality Planning Branch, Mailcode 3AP21, U.S. Environmental 
Protection Agency, Region III, 1650 Arch Street, Philadelphia, 
Pennsylvania 19103.

[[Page 67879]]

    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-
2007-1000. 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.
    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 Maryland Department of the 
Environment, 1800 Washington Boulevard, Suite 705, Baltimore, Maryland 
21230.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Gobeail McKinley, (215) 814-2033, or 
by e-mail at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On June 18, 2007, the Maryland Department of 
Environment (MDE) submitted a revision to its State implementation Plan 
(SIP). The SIP revision (07-12) consists of amendments to the 
control of volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions from portable fuel 
containers (COMAR 26.11.13.07).

I. Background

    A portable fuel container is defined as a container or vessel with 
a nominal capacity of 10 gallons or less intended for reuse, that is 
designed or used primarily for receiving, transporting, storing, and 
dispensing fuel. Portable fuel containers are used to refuel a wide 
range of small off-road equipment and engines. Refueling these pieces 
of equipment may result in VOC emissions from gasoline spillage from 
either improper handling or overfilling of the receiving tank. VOC 
emissions also result from poor transportation, poor storage 
procedures, and permeation of vapors through the portable fuel 
container itself. Portable fuel containers incorrectly sealed will emit 
evaporative emissions. This amounts to a significant amount of VOC 
emissions per day in Maryland.
    In 2001, Maryland adopted the portable fuel container regulation 
based on the 2001 Ozone Transport Commission (OTC) Model Rule that was 
based on the California Air Resources Board (CARB) rule. The OTC 
Portable Fuel Container Model Rule required that spill-proof containers 
be made available for sale within the state meet certain performance 
standards that reduce VOC emissions. The standards, which are based 
upon a similar regulation by CARB, require that nearly all portable 
fuel containers or spouts or both portable fuel containers and spouts 
manufactured, sold or made available for use after January 1, 2003 be 
spill-proof, have an automatic shut-off feature to prevent overfilling, 
an automatic closing feature so that the container will be sealed when 
not in use, and meet certain permeation standards. On June 29, 2004, 
EPA published in the Federal Register (69 CFR 38848), its approval of a 
revision to the Maryland SIP revision that added regulation .07 under 
COMAR 26.11.13 to establish VOC emission standards for portable fuel 
containers.

II. Summary of SIP Revision

    Maryland's amendments to the portable fuel containers rule 
incorporate the changes to the 2007 OTC Model Rule for portable fuel 
containers that was based on the changes adopted by CARB in July 2006. 
The amendments address the fact that the original rule did not apply to 
kerosene containers which were offered for sale in place of compliant 
portable fuel containers. Other amended incorporations include: 
Modifying the existing spout regulations in order to improve spillage 
control; elimination of the fuel flow rate and fill level performance 
standards; elimination of the automatic shutoff performance standard; 
new containers must be certified for use and sale by the manufacturer 
through CARB; and, new portable fuel container testing procedures to 
streamline testing. The amendments, which include a one-year sell-
through period, apply to any person who sells, supplies, advertises or 
offers for sale, or manufactures for sale portable fuel containers and/
or spouts. Owners of portable fuel containers and/or spouts purchased 
prior to the July 1, 2007 implementation date are not required to 
purchase or replace the containers and/or spouts with newer compliant 
fuel containers. There are no manufacturers of portable fuel containers 
in Maryland.

III. Proposed Action

    Maryland has adopted the amended version of the 2006 OTC Model Rule 
to assure that the regulation achieves the estimated emissions 
reductions. EPA is proposing to approve the Maryland SIP revision for 
the control of VOC emissions from portable fuel containers (COMAR 
26.11.13.07) submitted on June 18, 2007. 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

[[Page 67880]]

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 
CAA. 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 CAA. 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 CAA. 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 approve Maryland's amendments to the portable 
fuel containers rule (COMAR 26.11.13.07) 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: November 20, 2007.
Donald S. Welsh,
Regional Administrator, Region III.
[FR Doc. E7-23384 Filed 11-30-07; 8:45 am]
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