[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 114 (Tuesday, June 16, 2009)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 28467-28468]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-14020]



[[Page 28467]]

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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[EPA-R09-OAR-2009-0350; FRL-8918-3]


Revisions to the California State Implementation Plan, San 
Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Proposed rule.

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SUMMARY: EPA is proposing to approve revisions to the San Joaquin 
Valley Air Pollution Control District portion of the California State 
Implementation Plan (SIP). These revisions concern volatile organic 
compound (VOC) emissions from coating of metal parts, large appliances, 
metal furniture, motor vehicles, mobile equipment, cans, coils, and 
organic solvent cleaning, storage, and disposal related to such 
operations. We are approving three local rules that regulate these 
emission sources under the Clean Air Act as amended in 1990 (CAA or the 
Act). We are taking comments on this proposal and plan to follow with a 
final action.

DATES: Any comments must arrive by July 16, 2009.

ADDRESSES: Submit comments, identified by docket number [EPA-R09-OAR-
2009-0350], by one of the following methods:
    1. Federal eRulemaking Portal: www.regulations.gov. Follow the on-
line instructions.
    2. E-mail: [email protected].
    3. Mail or deliver: Andrew Steckel (Air-4), U.S. Environmental 
Protection Agency Region IX, 75 Hawthorne Street, San Francisco, CA 
94105-3901.
    Instructions: All comments 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 Confidential Business Information (CBI) or other information 
whose disclosure is restricted by statute. Information that you 
consider CBI or otherwise protected should be clearly identified as 
such and should not be submitted through www.regulations.gov or e-mail. 
www.regulations.gov is an ``anonymous access'' system, and EPA will not 
know your identity or contact information unless you provide it in the 
body of your comment. If you send e-mail directly to EPA, your e-mail 
address will be automatically captured and included as part of the 
public comment. 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.
    Docket: The index to the docket for this action is available 
electronically at www.regulations.gov and in hard copy at EPA Region 
IX, 75 Hawthorne Street, San Francisco, California. While all documents 
in the docket are listed in the index, some information may be publicly 
available only at the hard copy location (e.g., copyrighted material), 
and some may not be publicly available in either location (e.g., CBI). 
To inspect the hard copy materials, please schedule an appointment 
during normal business hours with the contact listed in the FOR FURTHER 
INFORMATION CONTACT section.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Nicole Law, EPA Region IX, (415) 947-
4126, [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Throughout this document, ``we,'' ``us'' and 
``our'' refer to EPA.

Table of Contents

I. The State's Submittal
    A. What rules did the State submit?
    B. Are there other versions of these rules?
    C. What is the purpose of the submitted rule revisions?
II. EPA's Evaluation and Action
    A. How is EPA evaluating the rules?
    B. Do the rules meet the evaluation criteria?
    C. EPA recommendations to further improve the rules.
    D. Public comment and final action.
III. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

I. The State's Submittal

A. What rules did the State submit?

    Table 1 lists the rules addressed by this proposal with the dates 
that they were adopted by the local air agency and submitted by the 
California Air Resources Board.

                                            Table 1--Submitted Rules
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
           Local agency             Rule            Rule title               Adopted        Submitted
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SJVAPCD...........................            4603  Surface Coating of Metal            10/16/08        12/23/08
                                                     Parts and Products.
SJVAPCD...........................            4604  Can and Coil Coating                09/20/07        03/07/08
                                                     Operations.
SJVAPCD...........................            4612  Motor Vehicle and Mobile            09/20/07        03/07/08
                                                     Equipment Coating
                                                     Operations.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    On April 20, 2009 and April 17, 2008, these rule submittals were 
found to meet the completeness criteria in 40 CFR Part 51, Appendix V, 
which must be met before formal EPA review.

B. Are there other versions of these rules?

    We approved versions of Rules 4603 and 4604 into the SIP on June 
25, 2002 and May 19, 2002. Rule 4612 is replacing Rule 4602 which was 
approved into the SIP on June 26, 2002. The San Joaquin Valley Air 
Pollution Control District adopted revisions to the SIP-approved 
version of Rule 4603 on May 18, 2006, September 20, 2007, and October 
16, 2008 and CARB submitted them to us on October 5, 2006, March 7, 
2008, and December 23, 2008. While we can act on only the most recently 
submitted version, we have reviewed materials provided with previous 
submittals. No other versions of Rule 4604 and 4602/4612 have been 
adopted by the district after 2002.

C. What is the purpose of the submitted rule revisions?

    VOCs help produce ground-level ozone and smog, which harm human 
health and the environment. Section 110(a) of the CAA requires States 
to submit regulations that control VOC emissions. The rules control VOC 
emissions by limiting VOC content in the coatings used for metal parts, 
large appliances, metal furniture, motor vehicles, mobile equipment, 
cans, and coils. In addition, the rules also limit emission of VOCs by 
regulating organic solvent cleaning, storage, and disposal relating to 
the coating operations. The most significant changes in the rules are 
reductions of the VOC limits on organic solvents to 25 grams of VOC per 
liter solvent. EPA's technical support documents (TSDs) have more 
information about these rules.

II. EPA's Evaluation and Action

A. How is EPA evaluating the rules?

    Generally, SIP rules must be enforceable (see section 110(a) of the 
Act), must require Reasonably Available Control Technology (RACT) for 
each category of sources covered by a Control Techniques Guidelines 
(CTG) document as well as each major source in nonattainment areas (see 
section

[[Page 28468]]

182(a)(2)), and must not relax existing requirements (see sections 
110(l) and 193). The San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District 
regulates an ozone nonattainment area (see 40 CFR part 81), so Rules 
4603, 4604, and 4612 must fulfill RACT.
    Guidance and policy documents that we use to help evaluate specific 
enforceability and RACT requirements consistently include the 
following:
    1. Portions of the proposed post-1987 ozone and carbon monoxide 
policy that concern RACT, 52 FR 45044, November 24, 1987.
    2. ``Issues Relating to VOC Regulation Cutpoints, Deficiencies, and 
Deviations,'' EPA, May 25, 1988 (the Bluebook).
    3. ``Guidance Document for Correcting Common VOC & Other Rule 
Deficiencies,'' EPA Region 9, August 21, 2001 (the Little Bluebook).
    4. ``Control Techniques Guidelines for Miscellaneous Metal and 
Plastic Parts Coatings,'' EPA-453/R-08-003, September 2008.
    5. ``Control Techniques Guidelines for Large Appliance Coatings,'' 
EPA-453/R-07-004, September 2007.
    6. ``Control Techniques Guidelines for Metal Furniture Coatings,'' 
EPA-453/R-07-005, September 2007.
    7. ``Control of Volatile Organic Emissions From Existing Stationary 
Sources Volume II: Surface Coating of Cans, Coils, Paper, Fabrics, 
Automobiles, and Light-Duty Trucks,'' EPA-450/2-77-008, May 1977.
    8. ``Reasonably Available Control Technology (RACT) Demonstration 
for Ozone State Implementation Plans (SIP)'' SJVAPCD, April 16, 2009.
    9. ``Suggested Control Measure for Automotive Coatings,'' CARB, 
October 2005.
    10. Portions of the proposed post-1987 ozone and carbon monoxide 
policy that concern RACT, 52 FR 45044, November 24, 1987.
    11. ``State Implementation Plans, General Preamble for the 
Implementation of Title I of the Clean Air Amendments of 1990'' 57 FR 
13498, April 16, 1992.
    12. ``Preamble, Final Rule to Implement the 8-hour Ozone National 
Ambient Air Quality Standard'' 70 FR 71612; Nov. 29, 2005.
    13. Letter from William T. Hartnett to Regional Air Division 
Directors, ``RACT Qs & As--Reasonable Available Control Technology 
(RACT) Questions and Answers,'' May 18, 2006.

B. Do the rules meet the evaluation criteria?

    We believe these rules are generally consistent with the relevant 
policy and guidance regarding enforceability, RACT, and SIP 
relaxations. The TSDs have more information on our evaluation.

C. EPA recommendations to further improve the rule

    The TSDs describe additional rule revisions that do not affect 
EPA's current action but are recommended for the next time the local 
agency modifies the rule.

D. Public comment and final action

    Because EPA believes the submitted rules fulfill all relevant 
requirements, we are proposing to fully approve them as described in 
section 110(k)(3) of the Act. We will accept comments from the public 
on this proposal for the next 30 days. Unless we receive convincing new 
information during the comment period, we intend to publish a final 
approval action that will incorporate these rules into the federally 
enforceable SIP.

III. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

    Under the Clean Air 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 Clean Air 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 Clean Air 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.

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 52

    Environmental protection, Air pollution control, Intergovernmental 
relations, Ozone, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, Volatile 
organic compounds.

    Authority:  42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.

    Dated: June 2, 2009.
Keith Takata,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region IX.
[FR Doc. E9-14020 Filed 6-15-09; 8:45 am]
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