[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 26 (Tuesday, February 9, 2010)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 6307-6309]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-2678]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[EPA-R03-OAR-2010-0010; FRL-9111-7]


Approval and Promulgation of Air Quality Implementation Plans; 
Maryland; Control of Carbon Monoxide Emissions From Basic Oxygen 
Furnaces

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Direct final rule.

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SUMMARY: EPA is taking direct final action to approve revisions to the 
Maryland State Implementation Plan (SIP). The revision, State of 
Maryland SIP Revision 05-08, replaces the current SIP 
requirements for the control of carbon monoxide (CO) emissions from 
basic oxygen furnaces (BOFs) at steel mills in the State of Maryland 
with a new, equivalent CO standard. EPA is approving this revision to 
the Maryland SIP in accordance with the requirements of the Clean Air 
Act (CAA).

DATES: This rule is effective on April 12, 2010 without further notice, 
unless EPA receives adverse written comment by March 11, 2010. If EPA 
receives such comments, it will publish a timely withdrawal of the 
direct final rule in the Federal Register and inform the public that 
the rule will not take effect.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID Number EPA-
R03-OAR-2010-0010 by one of the following methods:
    A. http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the online instructions for 
submitting comments.
    B. E-mail: [email protected].
    C. Mail: EPA-R03-OAR-2010-0010, Cristina Fernandez, Associate 
Director, Office of Air Program Planning, Mailcode 3AP30, U.S. 
Environmental Protection Agency, Region III, 1650 Arch Street, 
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19103.
    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-
2010-0010. 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 the Maryland Department of the 
Environment, 1800 Washington Boulevard, Suite 705, Baltimore, Maryland 
21230.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Maria A. Pino, (215) 814-2181, or by 
e-mail at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Throughout this document, whenever ``we,'' 
``us,'' or ``our'' is used, we mean EPA.

I. Background

    On October 31, 2005, the State of Maryland submitted a formal 
revision to its SIP. The SIP revision consists of establishment of a 
new standard for CO emissions from BOFs at steel mills. This SIP 
revision replaces the current SIP requirements for the control of CO 
emissions from BOFs, which Maryland had previously withdrawn from the 
Code of Maryland Administrative Regulations (COMAR). However, those 
requirements were not withdrawn from Maryland's SIP.
    CO is generated in large quantities in BOFs at steel mills. BOFs 
contain hot metal from the blast furnace and scrap metal which is 
heated with oxygen to produce molten metal. The molten metal is 
ultimately cast into steel slabs. The BOFs are equipped with a gas 
collection system or hoods that exhaust the gases into a water scrubber 
system that is used primarily for control of particulate matter.

II. Summary of SIP Revision

    This SIP revision establishes a new CO standard for BOFs at steel 
mills by adding new regulation COMAR 26.11.10.05-1 to the Maryland SIP. 
This new regulation requires affected sources to demonstrate that the 
CO concentration in its gas stream does not exceed 1 percent by volume 
and to demonstrate compliance by conducting an initial stack test and 
additional stack tests every 2.5 years. COMAR 26.11.10.05-1 replaces 
the CO emission requirements currently in the Maryland SIP, COMAR 
26.11.10.06[2].
    COMAR 26.11.10.06[2] required a person who operated a blast 
furnace, grey iron cupola or BOF to burn the gas with excess oxygen at 
not less than 1300 [deg]F for at least 0.3 seconds in a direct flame 
afterburner. In addition, COMAR 26.11.10.06[2] allowed an equivalent 
control method which reduces the concentration of CO in the effluent to 
1.0 percent by volume or less. Maryland withdrew that regulation 
because: (1) Blast furnace gas is not controlled but is used as fuel in 
on site fuel burning equipment; (2) there are no grey iron cupolas 
located at steel mills and cupolas not located at steel mills are

[[Page 6308]]

subject to the CO emissions requirements in COMAR 26.11.06 and (3) CO 
emissions from BOFs are not controlled in that manner. When the 
furnaces are operating, the flames extend into the hood and incinerate 
the CO before it is exhausted through the scrubbers.
    The 1 percent by volume CO emissions limit in the new regulation, 
COMAR 26.11.10.05-1, is equivalent to the limit allowed by COMAR 
26.11.10.06[2]. In addition, replacing COMAR 26.11.10.06[2] with COMAR 
26.11.10.05-1 strengthens the Maryland SIP by clarifying the standard 
for CO emissions from BOFs and removing extraneous requirements. 
Therefore, EPA is approving COMAR 26.11.10.05-1 in the Maryland SIP, 
and removing COMAR 26.11.10.06[2].

III. Final Action

    EPA is approving Maryland's SIP Revision 05-08, which 
revises the Maryland SIP by adding a new regulation, COMAR 26.11.10.05-
1. This new regulation establishes standards for CO emissions from BOFs 
at steel mills in Maryland. EPA is approving this revision to the 
Maryland SIP in accordance with the requirements of the CAA. EPA is 
also removing the existing requirements for the control of CO emissions 
from BOFs, COMAR 26.11.10.06[2], from the Maryland SIP. COMAR 
26.11.10.05-1 replaces COMAR 26.11.10.06[2] and requires an equivalent 
level of control.
    EPA is publishing this rule without prior proposal because the 
Agency views this as a noncontroversial amendment and anticipates no 
adverse comment. However, in the ``Proposed Rules'' section of today's 
Federal Register, EPA is publishing a separate document that will serve 
as the proposal to approve the SIP revision if adverse comments are 
filed. This rule will be effective on April 12, 2010 without further 
notice unless EPA receives adverse comment by March 11, 2010. If EPA 
receives adverse comment, EPA will publish a timely withdrawal in the 
Federal Register informing the public that the rule will not take 
effect. EPA will address all public comments in a subsequent final rule 
based on the proposed rule. EPA will not institute a second comment 
period on this action. Any parties interested in commenting must do so 
at this time.

IV. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

A. General Requirements

    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.

B. Submission to Congress and the Comptroller General

    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).

C. Petitions for Judicial Review

    Under section 307(b)(1) of the Clean Air Act, petitions for 
judicial review of this action must be filed in the United States Court 
of Appeals for the appropriate circuit by April 12, 2010. 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. Parties with objections to this direct final 
rule are encouraged to file a comment in response to the parallel 
notice of proposed rulemaking for this action published in the proposed 
rules section of today's Federal Register, rather than file an 
immediate petition for judicial review of this direct final rule, so 
that EPA can withdraw this direct final rule and address the comment in 
the proposed rulemaking. This action, which replaces existing 
requirements for the control of CO emissions from BOFs at steel mills 
in Maryland with a new, equivalent standard for CO emissions from steel 
mill BOFs, 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, Carbon monoxide, 
Incorporation by reference.

    Dated: January 22, 2010.
W.C. Early,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region III.

0
40 CFR part 52 is amended as follows:

[[Page 6309]]

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 V--Maryland

0
2. In Sec.  52.1070, the table in paragraph (c) is amended by removing 
the entry for COMAR 26.11.10.06[2] and by adding new COMAR 26.11.10.05-
1 to read as follows:


Sec.  52.1070  Identification of plan.

* * * * *
    (c) * * *

                                  EPA-Approved Regulations in the Maryland SIP
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                                                                                         Additional explanation/
Code of Maryland Administrative     Title/subject         State       EPA approval date     citation at 40 CFR
  Regulations (COMAR) citation                       effective date                              52.1100
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                           26.11.10 Control of Iron and Steel Production Installations
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                                                  * * * * * * *
26.11.10.05-1..................  Control of Carbon          9/12/05  2/9/10 [Insert
                                  Monoxide                            page number where
                                  Emissions from                      the document
                                  Basic Oxygen                        begins].
                                  Furnaces.
 
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[FR Doc. 2010-2678 Filed 2-8-10; 8:45 am]
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