[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 41 (Thursday, March 1, 2012)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 12495-12497]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-4974]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[EPA-R09-OAR-2011-0990; FRL-9626-4]


Revisions to the California State Implementation Plan, Antelope 
Valley Air Quality Management District and Mojave Desert Quality 
Management District

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 
Antelope Valley Air Quality Management District (AVAQMD) and Mojave 
Desert Air Quality Management District (MDAQMD) portion of the 
California State Implementation Plan (SIP). These revisions concern 
recordkeeping for rules governing volatile organic compound (VOC) 
emissions from coatings, solvents and adhesives and rules governing VOC 
emissions from graphic arts and paper, film, foil and fabric coatings. 
We are approving local rules that regulate these emission sources under 
the Clean Air Act as amended in 1990(CAA or the Act).

DATES: This rule is effective on April 30, 2012 without further notice, 
unless EPA receives adverse comments by April 2, 2012. If we receive 
such comments, we will publish a timely withdrawal in the Federal 
Register to notify the public that this direct final rule will not take 
effect.

ADDRESSES: Submit comments, identified by docket number EPA-R09-OAR-
2011-0990, by one of the following methods:
    1. Federal eRulemaking Portal: www.regulations.gov. Follow the on-
line instructions.
    2. Email: [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 email. 
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 email directly to EPA, your email 
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. Electronic files should avoid the use of 
special characters, any form of encryption, and be free of any defects 
or viruses.
    Docket: Generally, documents in the docket for this action are 
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 at www.regulations.gov, some 
information may be publicly available only at the hard copy location 
(e.g., copyrighted material, large maps), and some may not be publicly 
available in either location

[[Page 12496]]

(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: Adrianne Borgia, EPA Region IX, (415) 
972-3576, [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 rules?
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 we are approving with the dates that they 
were adopted by the local air agency and submitted by the California 
Air Resources Board (CARB).

                                            Table 1--Submitted Rules
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
             Local agency                  Rule No.            Rule title             Amended        Submitted
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
AVAQMD................................             109  Recordkeeping for                4/20/10         7/20/10
                                                         Volatile Organic
                                                         Compound Emissions.
MDAQMD................................            1117  Graphic Arts and Paper,          9/28/09         7/20/10
                                                         Film, Foil and Fabric
                                                         Coatings.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    On August 25, 2010, EPA determined that the two submittals met 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 an earlier version of AVAQMD Rule 109 into the SIP on 
September 2, 2008 (73 FR 51226). The AVAQMD amended the SIP-approved 
version on April 20, 2010. We approved an earlier version of MDAQMD 
Rule 1117 into the SIP on April 30, 1996 (61 FR 18962). The MDAQMD 
amended the SIP-approved version on September 28, 2009. CARB submitted 
both rules to us on July 20, 2010. While we can act on only the most 
recently submitted version, we have reviewed materials provided with 
previous submittals.

C. What is the purpose of the submitted rules?

    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. AVAQMD Rule 109 
prescribes recordkeeping for several rules that limit emissions of VOC 
from various solvents, coating, adhesive, graphic arts and polyester 
resin operations and MDAQMD Rule 1117 limits emissions of VOC from 
graphic art and paper, film, foil and fabric coatings. 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 
sections 182(a)(2) and (b)(2)), and must not relax existing 
requirements (see sections 110(l) and 193). AVAQMD and MDAQMD regulate 
ozone moderate nonattainment areas (see 40 CFR part 81). AVAQMD Rule 
109 does not, in itself, control VOC emissions and therefore is not 
subject to RACT requirements. However, MDAQMD Rule 1117 must fulfill 
RACT.
    Guidance and policy documents that we use to evaluate 
enforceability and RACT requirements consistently include the 
following:

1. ``Issues Relating to VOC Regulation Cutpoints, Deficiencies, and 
Deviations,'' EPA, May 25, 1988 (the Bluebook).
2. ``Guidance Document for Correcting Common VOC & Other Rule 
Deficiencies,'' EPA Region 9, August 21, 2001 (the Little Bluebook).
3. CARB's Consumer Products Regulation, Title 17, California Code of 
Regulations (CCR), Division 3, Chapter 1, Subchapter 8.5, Article 2, 
Sections 94507-94517.
4. EPA's model VOC rule guidance titled, ``Model Volatile Organic 
Compound Rules for Reasonably Available Control Technology'' (June 
1992).

B. Do the Rules Meet the Evaluation Criteria?

    We believe these rules are 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 Rules

    The TSDs describe additional rule revisions that we recommend for 
the next time the local agency modifies the rules.

D. Public Comment and Final Action

    As authorized in section 110(k)(3) of the Act, EPA is fully 
approving the submitted rules because we believe they fulfill all 
relevant requirements. We do not think anyone will object to this 
approval, so we are finalizing it without proposing it in advance. 
However, in the Proposed Rules section of this Federal Register, we are 
simultaneously proposing approval of the same submitted rules. If we 
receive adverse comments by April 2, 2012, we will publish a timely 
withdrawal in the Federal Register to notify the public that the direct 
final approval will not take effect and we will address the comments in 
a subsequent final action based on the proposal. If we do not receive 
timely adverse comments, the direct final approval will be effective 
without further notice on April 30, 2012. This will incorporate these 
rules into the federally enforceable SIP.
    Please note that if EPA receives adverse comments on an amendment, 
paragraph, or section of this rule and if that provision may be severed 
from the remainder of the rule, EPA may adopt as final those provisions 
of the rule that are not the subject of an adverse comment.

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);

[[Page 12497]]

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 disproportionate human health or environmental effects with 
practical, appropriate, 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 rules, 
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).
    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 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, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, Volatile organic 
compounds.

    Dated: January 13, 2012.
Jared Blumenfeld,
Regional Administrator, Region IX.
    Part 52, Chapter I, 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 F--California

0
2. Section 52.220, is amended by adding paragraphs (c)(381)(i)(G)(2) 
and (c)(381)(i)(H) to read as follows:


Sec.  52.220  Identification of plan.

* * * * *
    (c) * * *
    (381) * * *
    (i) * * *
    (G) * * *
    (2) Rule 109, ``Recordkeeping for Volatile Organic Compound 
Emissions,'' amended April 20, 2010.
    (H) Mojave Desert Air Quality Management District
    (1) Rule 1117, ``Graphic Arts and Paper, Film, Foil and Fabric 
Coatings,'' amended September 28, 2009.
* * * * *
[FR Doc. 2012-4974 Filed 2-29-12; 8:45 am]
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