[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 75 (Tuesday, April 21, 2009)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 18138-18141]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-9040]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

 [EPA-R05-OAR-2007-1045; FRL-8894-1]


Approval and Promulgation of Air Quality Implementation Plans; 
Minnesota

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Direct final rule.

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SUMMARY: EPA is approving a site-specific revision to the Minnesota 
sulfur dioxide (SO2) State Implementation Plan (SIP) for the Olmsted 
Waste to Energy Facility (OWEF), located in Rochester, Olmsted County, 
Minnesota. In its September 28, 2007, submittal, the Minnesota 
Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) requested that EPA approve certain 
conditions contained in OWEF's revised Federally enforceable Title V 
operating permit into the Minnesota SO2 SIP. The request is approvable 
because it satisfies the requirements of the Clean Air Act (Act). The 
rationale for the approval and other information are provided in this 
rulemaking action.

DATES: This direct final rule will be effective June 22, 2009, unless 
EPA receives adverse comments by May 21, 2009. 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-2007-1045, 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: 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-
2007-1045. 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 Christos Panos, Environmental Engineer, at 
(312) 353-8328 before visiting the Region 5 office.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Christos Panos, Environmental 
Engineer, Criteria Pollutant Section, Air Programs Branch (AR-18J), 
Environmental Protection Agency, Region 5, 77 West Jackson Boulevard, 
Chicago, Illinois 60604, (312) 353-8328, [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. General Information
    1. What is the Background for this Action?
    2. What information did Minnesota submit, and what were its 
requests?
    3. Why is EPA Taking this Action?
    4. What is a ``Title I Condition?''
II. What Action is EPA Taking?
III. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

I. General Information

1. What is the Background for this Action?

    OWEF, a municipal waste combustor facility owned by Olmsted County, 
is located at 301 Silver Creek Road Northeast, in Rochester, Olmsted 
County, Minnesota. The facility is a district heating and cooling plant 
as well as an electric power generating station. Energy is produced 
mainly through combustion of municipal solid waste in two mass burn 
combustion units. The other emission units are a diesel generator that 
provides emergency electrical power and occasional peaking capacity and 
an auxiliary boiler used when the waste combustor is going through 
maintenance. Minnesota originally submitted a Title V permit for OWEF 
as part of the Minnesota SO2 SIP for Olmsted County on November 4, 
1998. This Title V permit contains the SO2 emission limits and 
operating restrictions imposed on the facility to provide for 
attainment and maintenance of the SO2 National Ambient Air Quality 
Standards (NAAQS).

2. What information did Minnesota submit, and what were its requests?

    The SIP revision submitted by MPCA on September 28, 2007, consists 
of Minnesota Air Emission Permit No. 10900005-002, issued to OWEF on 
August 23, 2007, which serves as a joint Title I/Title V document. The 
state has requested that EPA approve only the portions of the permit 
cited as ``Title I

[[Page 18139]]

condition: State Implementation Plan for SO2'' into the Minnesota SO2 
SIP.
    Minnesota held a public hearing regarding the SIP revision and the 
joint Title I/Title V document on August 2, 2007. No comments were 
received at the public meeting nor during the 30-day public comment 
period.

3. Why is EPA Taking this Action?

    EPA is taking this action because the state's submittal for OWEF is 
fully approvable. The SIP revision provides for attainment and 
maintenance of the SO2 NAAQS and satisfies the applicable SO2 
requirements of the Act.
    Under current SIP conditions, waste combustor units (EU 001 and EU 
002) are equipped with Continuous Emission Monitors (CEMs) to monitor 
SO2 and are collectively limited to 67 pounds per hour (lbs/hr) SO2 on 
a 24-hour block average and 154 lbs/hr on a 3-hour block average. Their 
combined SO2 emissions are also limited to 22.6 lbs/hr using a 365 day 
rolling average through a non-SIP Title I condition which is necessary 
to keep the source at non-major levels for SO2. The emergency diesel 
generator (EU 003) is limited to 48,000 gallons per year of 0.05 
percent sulfur content fuel oil using a 12-month rolling sum. The 
auxiliary boiler (EU 004) is subject to operating restrictions when 
burning fuel oil and is limited to 286,000 gallons of 0.05 percent 
sulfur content fuel oil per year. The facility is required to retain 
fuel oil receipts or test for the sulfur content. The SIP also contains 
provisions relating to recordkeeping and the reporting of deviations 
from sulfur content requirements.
    Requested changes to the facility include: (1) The addition of a 
new municipal waste combustor unit (EU 007) with a capacity of 200 tons 
per day, doubling the facility's total capacity; (2) the replacement of 
the existing 1200 kilowatt (kW) emergency diesel generator (EU 003) 
with a larger, 1750 kW emergency generator (EU 008); (3) the addition 
of a stack for the new emergency generator, raising the stack height 
from near ground level to about 50 feet; and, (4) the removal of the 
operating restriction that prevents the operation of the auxiliary 
boiler (EU 004) when more than one waste combustor is in operation, 
allowing the facility the flexibility to simultaneously operate all 
three combustor units and the auxiliary boiler.
    The current SIP emission limits will be maintained for the existing 
waste combustor units (EU 001 and EU 002), but there will be additional 
emissions limits added to the SIP based on Federal standards in 40 CFR 
part 62, which will result in limited emissions of 77 parts per million 
(ppm) or 16.3 lbs/hour, based on a 24-hour average. The new waste 
combustor (EU 007) will have limited SO2 emissions in the SIP of 30 ppm 
by dry volume, using a 24-hour geometric average based on Federal 
standards found in 40 CFR part 62. The new emergency diesel generator 
(EU 008), primarily used for backup and shutdown purposes, will 
continue to be limited to 48,000 gallons per year of fuel oil using a 
12-month rolling sum, and under most situations would not be used while 
all of the waste combustor units are in continuous operation. Finally, 
the auxiliary boiler (EU 004) can be fired on fuel oil or natural gas, 
with a limit of 286,000 gallons per year of fuel oil.
    Further, since the last SIP revision to the facility, the existing 
waste combustor units (EU 001 and EU 002) have undergone an air 
pollution control retrofit project including installation of spray-
dryer absorbers (SDAs) for control of SO2 emissions. The emission rates 
from the auxiliary boiler (EU 004) and the new emergency diesel 
generator (EU 008), when in operation, will decrease based on a 
reduction in the allowable sulfur content of the fuel to 0.0015% by 
weight from the current limit of 0.05% by weight. The emergency diesel 
generator will also now exhaust through a 50 foot stack, rather than a 
ground-level grate, improving pollutant dispersion.
    The previous air quality dispersion modeling for the SIP, conducted 
in 1998, was done prior to the installation of SO2 controls on the 
existing waste combustor units (EU 001 and EU 002). The existing 
emergency diesel generator (EU 003) was modeled using ``very low 
sulfur'' (500 ppm) distillate oil, and exhausting through a ground-
level grate. The auxiliary boiler (EU 004) was also modeled using very 
low sulfur distillate oil, resulting in various permit restrictions on 
the amount of distillate oil that could be fired relative to the 
operating state of Units 1 and 2.
    Revised air dispersion modeling was conducted using the AERMOD 
model with Rochester meteorological data to ensure continued attainment 
of the SO2 NAAQS in the area. Based on the modeling results, the 
requested changes to the SIP for OWEF described above have 
significantly less impacts than currently allowed under the existing 
SIP. The impacts of the desired future SIP scenario, when compared to 
the current operating scenarios in the SIP, were approximately 50% 
lower for average annual emissions, between 2-7% lower for 24-hour 
emissions and 2-12% lower for 3-hour emissions, thereby demonstrating 
that emissions at OWEF will remain below the applicable SO2 NAAQS.

4. What is a ``Title I Condition?''

    SIP control measures were contained in permits issued to culpable 
sources in Minnesota until 1990 when EPA determined that limits in 
state-issued permits are not Federally enforceable because the permits 
expire. The state then issued permanent Administrative Orders to 
culpable sources in nonattainment areas from 1991 to February of 1996.
    Minnesota's consolidated permitting regulations, approved into the 
Minnesota SIP on May 2, 1995 (60 FR 21447), include the term ``Title I 
condition'' which was written, in part, to satisfy EPA requirements 
that SIP control measures remain permanent. A ``Title I condition'' is 
defined as ``any condition based on source-specific determination of 
ambient impacts imposed for the purposes of achieving or maintaining 
attainment with the national ambient air quality standard and which was 
part of the state implementation plan approved by EPA or submitted to 
the EPA pending approval under section 110 of the act * * *.'' The rule 
also states that ``Title I conditions and the permittee's obligation to 
comply with them, shall not expire, regardless of the expiration of the 
other conditions of the permit.'' Further, ``any title I condition 
shall remain in effect without regard to permit expiration or 
reissuance, and shall be restated in the reissued permit.''
    Minnesota has also initiated using joint Title I/Title V documents 
as the enforceable document for imposing emission limitations and 
compliance requirements in SIPs. The SIP requirements in joint Title I/
Title V documents submitted by MPCA are cited as ``Title I 
conditions,'' therefore ensuring that SIP requirements remain permanent 
and enforceable. EPA reviewed the state's procedure for using joint 
Title I/Title V documents to implement site-specific SIP requirements 
and found it to be acceptable under both titles I and V of the Act 
(July 3, 1997 letter from David Kee, EPA, to Michael J. Sandusky, 
MPCA). Further, a June 15, 2006, letter from EPA to MPCA clarifies 
procedures to transfer requirements from Administrative Orders to joint 
Title I/Title V documents.

II. What Action Is EPA Taking?

    EPA is approving into the Minnesota SO2 SIP certain portions of 
Minnesota Air Emission Permit No. 10900005-002, issued to OWEF on 
August 23, 2007.

[[Page 18140]]

Specifically, EPA is only approving into the SIP those portions of the 
joint Title I/Title V document cited as ``Title I condition: State 
Implementation Plan for SO2.'' In addition, EPA is removing from the 
Minnesota SO2 SIP all other references to Title I conditions for OWEF 
that are not relevant to attainment of the NAAQS.
    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 June 22, 2009 
without further notice unless we receive relevant adverse written 
comments by May 21, 2009. 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 June 22, 2009.

III. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

    Under the Act, 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 Act. 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 Act; 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.
    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 Act, petitions for judicial review 
of this action must be filed in the United States Court of Appeals for 
the appropriate circuit by June 22, 2009. 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, Reporting and recordkeeping 
requirements, Sulfur dioxide.

    Dated: March 30, 2009.
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.

Subpart Y--Minnesota

0
2. In Sec.  52.1220 the table in paragraph (d) is amended by revising 
the entry for ``Olmsted County, Olmsted Waste-to-Energy Facility'' to 
read as follows:


Sec.  52.1220  Identification of plan.

* * * * *
    (d) * * *

                                 EPA-Approved Minnesota Source-Specific Permits
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                                                    State
        Name of source            Permit No.      effective     EPA approval                Comments
                                                     date           date
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                                                  * * * * * * *
Olmsted County, Olmsted Waste-     10900005-002     08/23/07  04/21/09,        Only conditions cited as ``Title
 to-Energy Facility.                                           [Insert page     I condition: SIP for SO2.''
                                                               number where
                                                               the document
                                                               begins].
 

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[FR Doc. E9-9040 Filed 4-20-09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P