[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 107 (Tuesday, June 3, 2008)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 31614-31616]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-12240]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[EPA-R05-OAR-2007-1097; FRL-8572-6]


Approval and Promulgation of Air Quality Implementation Plans; 
MN; Maintenance Plan Update for Dakota County Lead Area

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Direct final rule.

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SUMMARY: EPA is approving an update to the lead maintenance plan for 
Dakota County, Minnesota. This plan update demonstrates that Dakota 
County will maintain attainment of the lead National Ambient Air 
Quality Standard (NAAQS) through 2014. Minnesota has verified that the 
emission limits adopted to demonstrate modeled attainment continue to 
be met, that there are no new significant sources of lead or increases 
in background emissions, and that the state has in place a 
comprehensive program to identify sources of violations and address any 
violation through enforcement and implementation of a contingency plan.

DATES: This direct final rule will be effective August 4, 2008, unless 
EPA receives adverse comments by July 3, 2008. If adverse comments are 
received, EPA will publish a timely withdrawal of the direct final rule 
in the Federal Register informing the public that the rule will not 
take effect.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-R05-
OAR-2007-1097, by one of the following methods:
    1. www.regulations.gov: Follow the on-line instructions for 
submitting comments.
    2. E-mail: [email protected].
    3. Fax: (312) 886-5824.
    4. Mail: Doug Aburano, Acting Chief, Criteria Pollutant Section, 
Air Programs Branch (AR-18J), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 77 
West Jackson Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois 60604.
    5. Hand Delivery: Doug Aburano, Acting 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-
2007-1097. 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 docket are listed in the 
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 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 Kathleen D'Agostino, Environmental 
Engineer, at (312) 886-1767 before visiting the Region 5 office.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kathleen D'Agostino, Environmental 
Engineer, Criteria Pollutant Section, Air Programs Branch (AR-18J), 
Environmental Protection Agency, Region 5, 77 West Jackson Boulevard, 
Chicago, Illinois 60604, (312) 886-1767, [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 Is the Background of This Action?
II. What Has Minnesota Submitted?
III. What Is EPA's Analysis of the Submittal?
IV. What Action Is EPA Taking?
V. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

I. What Is the Background of This Action?

    On January 6, 1992, EPA designated Dakota County, Minnesota as 
nonattainment for the National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) for 
lead. On June 22, 1993, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) 
submitted a State Implementation Plan (SIP) revision containing an 
administrative order for the Gopher Smelting and Refining Company (now 
known as Gopher Resources Corporation) as well as air modeling and 
monitoring data demonstrating attainment of the NAAQS in the area. The 
State also requested that EPA redesignate the area to attainment and 
included a maintenance plan, as required by section 175A of the Clean 
Air Act (CAA), which demonstrated maintenance of the standard for a ten 
year period. As part of this maintenance plan, Minnesota included 
contingency measures to be implemented by the

[[Page 31615]]

Gopher facility within 30 days should a violation of the lead NAAQS 
occur. EPA approved the redesignation of Dakota County to attainment 
for lead on October 18, 1994 (59 FR 52431).
    Under section 175A(b) of the CAA, 8 years after an area is 
redesignated to attainment, the state is required to submit a revision 
to the SIP demonstrating maintenance of the NAAQS for ten years after 
the expiration of the initial ten year period.

II. What Has Minnesota Submitted?

    On November 18, 2002, the MPCA submitted a SIP revision for the 
Gopher Resources Corporation facility and an update to the lead 
maintenance plan for Dakota County. The maintenance plan revision was 
intended to meet the requirement of section 175A(b) of the CAA. 
However, among other things, the revisions to the SIP for Gopher 
Resources Corporation removed contingency measures from the maintenance 
plan.
    On November 19, 2007, MPCA withdrew the SIP revision for the Gopher 
Resources Corporation facility, clarified that the contingency measures 
contained in the administrative order currently in the SIP remain in 
the maintenance plan, and requested that EPA act on the maintenance 
plan update.

III. What Is EPA's Analysis of the Submittal?

    The SIP for the Dakota County lead area identified only one major 
source of lead emissions, the facility now known as Gopher Resources 
Corporation. There are no new sources of lead in or near the area which 
could be anticipated to jeopardize attainment in the area.
    The administrative order issued to the facility now known as Gopher 
Resources remains in effect. This administrative order contains 
emissions limits and procedures which have been demonstrated, through 
modeling, to result in attainment of the NAAQS. In addition, since 
December 23, 1997, the facility has been complying with the 
requirements of the National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air 
Pollutants (NESHAP) for secondary lead smelting (40 CFR 63, subpart X). 
To the extent that the NESHAP requirements are more stringent than the 
requirements contained in the SIP, the area would be expected to 
experience improvements in air quality.
    Because there are no new major sources of lead emissions in the 
area and Gopher Resources Corporation now must also comply with the 
NESHAP for secondary lead smelting, the modeling originally submitted 
with the attainment SIP for Dakota County could be considered to 
provide a conservative representation of the current air quality status 
of the area.
    In the event of future growth in the area, any new lead source will 
be subject to MPCA permitting requirements. New facilities with the 
potential to emit lead of more than 0.5 tons per year must go through 
the MPCA's permitting process before construction can begin. In 
addition, MPCA has the authority to require any source, even one with a 
potential to emit less than 0.5 tons per year, to obtain a permit in 
order to ensure compliance with the lead NAAQS.
    To verify the attainment status of the area, MPCA has committed to 
continue ambient lead monitoring for the area, in accordance with 40 
CFR part 58. Should a violation of the lead NAAQS be monitored in the 
area, the administrative order requires the Gopher Resource Corporation 
facility to implement the specified contingency measures within 30 
days, without further action from Minnesota or EPA.
    EPA believes that the MPCA has adequately demonstrated that the 
lead NAAQS will continue to be maintained in Dakota County through the 
additional 10 year maintenance period, as required under section 
175A(b) of the CAA.

IV. What Action Is EPA Taking?

    EPA is approving Minnesota's plan for maintaining the lead NAAQS in 
the Dakota County area through 2012. 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 August 4, 2008 without further notice unless we receive 
relevant adverse written comments by July 3, 2008. 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 August 4, 2008.

V. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

    Under the CAA, the Administrator is required to approve a SIP 
submission that complies with the provisions of the Act and applicable 
Federal regulations. 42 U.S.C. 7410(k); 40 CFR 52.02(a). Thus, in 
reviewing SIP submissions, EPA's role is to approve state choices, 
provided that they meet the criteria of the CAA. Accordingly, this 
action merely approves state law as meeting Federal requirements and 
does not impose additional requirements beyond those imposed by state 
law. For that reason, this action:
     Is not a ``significant regulatory action'' subject to 
review by the Office of Management and Budget under Executive Order 
12866 (58 FR 51735, October 4, 1993);
     Does not impose an information collection burden under the 
provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.);
     Is certified as not having a significant economic impact 
on a substantial number of small entities under the Regulatory 
Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 601 et seq.);
     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);
     Does not have Federalism implications as specified in 
Executive Order 13132 (64 FR 43255, August 10, 1999);
     Is not an economically significant regulatory action based 
on health or safety risks subject to Executive Order 13045 (62 FR 
19885, April 23, 1997);
     Is not a significant regulatory action subject to 
Executive Order 13211 (66 FR 28355, May 22, 2001);
     Is not subject to requirements of Section 12(d) of the 
National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act of 1995 (15 U.S.C. 272 
note) because application of those requirements would be inconsistent 
with the CAA; and
     Does not provide EPA with the discretionary authority to 
address, as appropriate, disproportionate human health or environmental 
effects, using practicable and legally permissible methods, under 
Executive Order 12898 (59 FR 7629, February 16, 1994).
    In addition, this rule does not have tribal implications as 
specified by Executive Order 13175 (65 FR 67249, November 9, 2000), 
because the SIP is not approved to apply in Indian country located in 
the state, and EPA notes that it will not impose substantial direct 
costs on tribal governments or preempt tribal law.

[[Page 31616]]

    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 action 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 CAA, petitions for judicial review 
of this action must be filed in the United States Court of Appeals for 
the appropriate circuit by August 4, 2008. Filing a petition for 
reconsideration by the Administrator of this final rule does not affect 
the finality of this action 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, Lead.

    Dated: May 12, 2008.
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 Y--Minnesota

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2. In Sec.  52.1220 the table in paragraph (e) is amended by adding an 
entry for ``Lead Maintenance Plan'' to read as follows:


Sec.  52.1220  Identification of plan.

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    (e) * * *

                                 EPA-Approved Minnesota Nonregulatory Provisions
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                                                          State submittal
   Name of nonregulatory SIP      Applicable geographic    date/effective   EPA approved date       Comments
           provision               nonattainment area           date
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                                                  * * * * * * *
Lead Maintenance Plan..........  Dakota County.........  11/18/2002 and 11/ 8/4/2008, [Insert  Maintenance plan
                                                          19/2007.           page number        update.
                                                                             where the
                                                                             document begins].
 
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[FR Doc. E8-12240 Filed 6-2-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P