[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 86 (Friday, May 2, 2008)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 24174-24175]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-9749]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Parts 51, 52, 70, and 71

[EPA-HQ-OAR-2006-0089; FRL-8560-9]
RIN 2060-AN77


Treatment of Certain Ethanol Production Facilities Under the 
``Major Emitting Facility'' Definition; Notice of Action Denying 
Petition for Reconsideration and Denying Request for Stay

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of Action Denying Petition for Reconsideration and 
Request for a Stay.

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SUMMARY: The EPA is providing notice that it has responded to a 
petition for reconsideration of the final rule published May 1, 2007, 
entitled ``Prevention of Significant Deterioration, Nonattainment New 
Source Review and Title V: Treatment of Certain Ethanol Production 
Facilities Under the `Major Emitting Facility' Definition.'' (``ethanol 
rule'') The final ethanol rule changed the effect of the applicability 
provisions of two separate permitting programs

[[Page 24175]]

under the Clean Air Act (CAA): the major New Source Review (NSR) 
program and the Title V programs. The final rule changed the ``major 
stationary source'' and ``major source'' definitions by amending the 
definition of ``chemical process plants'' under the regulatory 
definition of ``major emitting facility'' to exclude ethanol 
manufacturing facilities that produce ethanol by natural fermentation 
processes. On July 2, 2007, EPA received a petition for reconsideration 
pursuant to 307(d)(7)(B) of the CAA from the Natural Resources Defense 
Council (``NRDC''). The NRDC petition also requested that EPA stay 
implementation of the final rule pending reconsideration of the rule.
    The NRDC petition for reconsideration can be found in the 
rulemaking docket under Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2006-0089. The EPA 
considered the petition and the information in the rulemaking docket in 
reaching a decision on the petition. The EPA Administrator Stephen L. 
Johnson denied the petition for reconsideration and the request for a 
stay of the rule in a letter to the petitioner dated March 27, 2008. 
The letter documents EPA's reasons for the denial and can be found in 
the rulemaking docket.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Joanna Swanson, Air Quality Policy 
Division, (C339-03), Environmental Protection Agency, Research Triangle 
Park, NC 27711, telephone number: (919) 541-5282; fax number: (919) 
541-5509; e-mail address: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. How Can I Obtain Copies of this Document and Other Related 
Information?

    This Federal Register notice, the petition for reconsideration, and 
the letter denying the petition for reconsideration and the request for 
a stay of the rule during the reconsideration are available in the 
docket that EPA established for the ``Prevention of Significant 
Deterioration, Nonattainment New Source Review, and Title V: Treatment 
of Certain Ethanol Production Facilities Under the `Major Emitting 
Facility' Definition'' rulemaking (Docket number EPA-HQ-OAR-2006-0089). 
The table below identifies the petitioner, the date EPA received the 
petition, the document identification number for the petition, the date 
of EPA's response, and the document identification number for EPA's 
response. Note that all the document numbers listed in the table are in 
the form of ``EPA-HQ-OAR-2006-0089-xxxx.'')

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                                                                                                         EPA
                                                             Date of      Petition:    Date of EPA    response:
                       Petitioner                          petition to  Document No.    response    Document No.
                                                               EPA        in docket                   in docket
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Natural Resources Defense Council.......................     7/2/2007       -0153.1     3/27/2008         -0155
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    The docket for EPA's denial of NRDC's petition for reconsideration 
is Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2006-0089. All documents in the docket are 
listed on the http://www.regulations.gov Web site. Although listed in 
the index, some information may not be publicly available, i.e., 
confidential business information 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 http://www.regulations.gov or 
in hard copy at the EPA Docket Center, Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2006-
0089, EPA West, Room 3334, 1301 Constitution Ave., NW., Washington, DC. 
The Public Reading Room is open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday 
through Friday, excluding legal holidays. The telephone number for the 
Public Reading Room is (202) 566-1744, and the telephone number for the 
EPA Docket Center is (202) 566-1742.
    In addition to being available in the docket, an electronic copy of 
today's notice of EPA's decision denying NRDC's petition for 
reconsideration and request for a stay of the rule pending 
reconsideration and of EPA's response letter to NRDC outlining the 
reasons for the denial will also be available on the World Wide Web. 
Following signature by the Principal Deputy Assistant Administrator, 
Office of Air and Radiation, a copy of this notice will be posted on 
EPA's New Source Review Web site, under Regulations & Standards, at 
http://www.epa.gov/nsr.

    Dated: April 24, 2008.
Robert J. Meyers,
Principal Deputy Assistant Administrator, Office of Air and Radiation.
[FR Doc. E8-9749 Filed 5-1-08; 8:45 am]
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