[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 79 (Tuesday, April 24, 2012)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 24403-24405]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-9712]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 62

[EPA-R05-OAR-2012-0087; FRL-9663-4]


Direct Final Approval of Hospital/Medical/Infectious Waste 
Incinerators State Plan for Designated Facilities and Pollutants: 
Illinois

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Direct final rule.

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SUMMARY: EPA is approving Illinois' revised State Plan to control air 
pollutants from ``Hazardous/Medical/Infectious Waste Incinerators'' 
(HMIWI). The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA) submitted 
the revised State Plan on November 8, 2011 and supplemented it on 
December 28, 2011. The revised State Plan is consistent with revised 
Emission Guidelines (EGs) promulgated by EPA on October 6, 2009. This 
approval means that EPA finds that the revised State Plan meets 
applicable Clean Air Act (Act) requirements for subject HMIWI units. 
Once effective, this approval also makes the revised State Plan 
Federally enforceable.

DATES: This direct final rule will be effective June 25, 2012, unless 
EPA receives adverse comments by May 24, 2012. 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-2012-0087, by one of the following methods:
    1. www.regulations.gov: Follow the on-line instructions for 
submitting comments.
    2. Email: [email protected].
    3. Fax: (312)886-6030.
    4. Mail: Carlton T. Nash, Chief, Toxics and Global Atmosphere 
Section, Air Toxics and Assessment Branch (AT-18J), U.S. Environmental 
Protection Agency, 77 West Jackson Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois 60604.
    5. Hand Delivery: Carlton T. Nash, Chief, Toxics and Global 
Atmosphere Section, Air Toxics and Assessment Branch (AT-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-
2012-0087. 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 email. 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 email comment 
directly to EPA without going through www.regulations.gov your email 
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 Federal holidays. 
We recommend that you telephone Margaret Sieffert, Environmental 
Engineer, at (312) 353-1151 before visiting the Region 5 office.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Margaret Sieffert, Environmental 
Engineer, Environmental Protection Agency, Region 5, 77 West Jackson 
Boulevard (AT-18J), Chicago, Illinois 60604, (312) 353-1151, 
[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. Background
II. What does the state plan contain?
III. Does the state plan meet the EPA requirements?
IV. What action is EPA taking?
V. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

I. Background

    On October 6, 2009, in accordance with sections 111 and 129 of the 
Act,

[[Page 24404]]

EPA promulgated revised HMIWI EGs and compliance schedules for the 
control of emissions from HMIWI units. See 74 FR 51368. EPA codified 
these revised regulations at 40 CFR part 60, subpart Ce. A HMIWI unit 
as defined in 40 CFR 60.51c is any device that combusts any amount of 
hospital waste and/or medical/infectious waste. Under section 129(b)(2) 
of the Act and the revised guidelines at subpart Ce, States with 
subject sources must submit to EPA plans that implement the revised 
EGs. The plans must be at least as protective as the revised EGs, which 
are not Federally enforceable until EPA approves a State Plan (or 
promulgates a Federal Plan for implementation and enforcement).
    On November 8, 2011 and supplemented on December 28, 2011, Illinois 
submitted its revised HMIWI State Plan to EPA. This submission followed 
public hearings for preliminary adoption of a revised State rule at 35 
Ill. Adm. Code Part 229 on June 8, 2011 and June 28, 2011, and for 
final adoption on September 22, 2011. The revised rule at 35 Ill. Adm. 
Code Part 229, which establishes emission standards for existing HMIWI, 
became effective on September 30, 2011. The revised Plan includes the 
revisions to 35 Ill. Adm. Code Part 229.

II. What does the State plan contain?

    The State submittal is based on the revised HMIWI EGs (40 CFR 
subpart Ce) and the revised New Source Performance Standards (NSPS) (40 
CFR part 60, subpart Ec) for HMIWI promulgated on October 6, 2009. The 
State's revised rule at 35 Ill. Adm. Code Part 229 incorporates 
significant portions of the HMIWI EG's. As set forth in CAA section 129 
and in 40 CFR part 60, subparts B and Ce, the revised State Plan 
address the thirteen minimum required elements, as follows:
    1. A demonstration of the State's legal authority to carry out the 
HMIWI State Plan and identification of the enforceable mechanisms. 
Illinois has provided a detailed list of its legal authorities to carry 
out its Plan and identified the enforceable mechanism.
    2. An inventory of affected HMIWI units, including language that 
states that sources subject to the standard ``include but are not 
limited to'' the inventory in the State Plan and an additional 
statement that says ``should another source be discovered subsequent to 
this notice, there will be no need to reopen the State Plan.'' Illinois 
has provided this.
    3. An inventory of the emissions from each of the HMIWI units. 
Illinois has provided this.
    4. Emission limits for HMIWI that are the same as those required by 
the EG. Illinois has provided this.
    5. Testing and monitoring requirements that are the same as those 
required by the EG. Illinois has provided this.
    6. Reporting and recordkeeping requirements that are the same as 
those required by the EG. Illinois has provided this.
    7. Operator training and qualification requirements that are the 
same as those required by the EG. Illinois has provided this.
    8. Inspections requirements that are the same as those required by 
the EG. Illinois has provided this.
    9. Waste management plan requirements that are the same as those in 
the EG. Illinois has provided this.
    10. A compliance schedule with increments. Illinois has provided 
this.
    11. A final compliance date of October 6, 2014. Illinois has 
provided this.
    12. A record of public hearings on the revised State rule and Plan. 
Illinois has provided this.
    13. A provision for State progress reports to EPA. Illinois will 
submit information pertaining to emissions, inspections, status of 
compliance, dates of performance testing, and enforcement actions to 
EPA's Emissions Inventory System and Air Facility System. Illinois has 
stated they will work with EPA regarding the format required for 
submission of performance test reports and correlation of State test 
data to emission limits.

III. Does the state plan meet the EPA requirements?

    EPA evaluated the revised HMIWI State Plan submitted by Illinois 
for consistency with the Act, EPA regulations and policy. For the 
reasons discussed above, EPA has determined that the revised State Plan 
meets all applicable requirements and, therefore, is approving it.

IV. What action is EPA taking?

    EPA is approving the revised State Plan which Illinois submitted on 
November 8, 2011 and December 28, 2011, for the control of emissions 
from existing HMIWI sources in the State. EPA is publishing this 
approval notice without prior proposal because the Agency views this as 
a non-controversial action and anticipates no adverse comments. 
However, in the proposed rules section of this Federal Register 
publication, EPA is publishing a separate document that will serve as 
the proposal to approve the State Plan in the event adverse comments 
are filed. This rule will be effective June 25, 2012 without further 
notice unless we receive relevant adverse written comments by May 24, 
2012. 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. 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 25, 2012.

V. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

A. General Requirements

    Under Executive Order 12866 (58 FR 51735, October 4, 1993), this 
action is not a ``significant regulatory action'' and therefore is not 
subject to review by the Office of Management and Budget. For this 
reason, this action is also not subject to Executive Order 13211, 
``Actions Concerning Regulations That Significantly Affect Energy 
Supply, Distribution, or Use'' (66 FR 28355, May 22, 2001). This action 
merely approves state law as meeting Federal requirements and imposes 
no additional requirements beyond those imposed by state law. 
Accordingly, the Administrator certifies that this rule will not have a 
significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities 
under the Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 601 et seq.). Because 
this rule approves pre-existing requirements under state law and does 
not impose any additional enforceable duty beyond that required by 
state law, it 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). This rule also does not 
have tribal implications because it will not have a substantial direct 
effect on one or more Indian tribes, on the relationship between the 
Federal Government and Indian tribes, or on the distribution of power 
and responsibilities between the Federal Government and Indian tribes, 
as specified by Executive Order 13175 (65 FR 67249, November 9, 2000). 
This action also does not have Federalism implications because it does 
not have substantial direct effects on the States, on the relationship 
between the national government and the States, or on the distribution 
of power and responsibilities among the various levels of government, 
as specified in Executive Order 13132 (64 FR 43255,

[[Page 24405]]

August 10, 1999). This action merely approves a state rule implementing 
a Federal requirement, and does not alter the relationship or the 
distribution of power and responsibilities established in the Act. This 
rule also is not subject to Executive Order 13045 (62 FR 19885, April 
23, 1997), because it approves a state rule implementing a Federal 
standard.
    In reviewing Section 111(d)/129 plan submissions, EPA's role is to 
approve state choices, provided that they meet the criteria of the Act. 
In this context, in the absence of a prior existing requirement for the 
State to use voluntary consensus standards (VCS), EPA has no authority 
to disapprove a Section 111(d)/129 plan submission for failure to use 
VCS. It would thus be inconsistent with applicable law for EPA, when it 
reviews a Section 111(d)/129 plan submission, to use VCS in place of a 
Section 111(d)/129 plan submission that otherwise satisfies the 
provisions of the Act. Thus, the requirements of section 12(d) of the 
National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act of 1995 (15 U.S.C. 272 
note) do not apply. This rule does not impose an information collection 
burden under the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 
U.S.C. 3501 et seq.).

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 rule 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. This rule 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 Act, petitions for judicial review 
of this action must be filed in the United States Court of Appeals for 
the appropriate circuit by June 25, 2012. Filing a petition for 
reconsideration by the Administrator of this final rule does not affect 
the finality of this rule 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 approving Illinois' Section 111(d)/129 plan revision for 
HMIWI sources may not be challenged later in proceedings to enforce its 
requirements. (See section 307(b)(2).)

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 62

    Environmental protection, Air pollution control, Administrative 
practice and procedure, Hospital medical infectious waste incinerators, 
Intergovernmental relations, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements.

    Dated: April 9, 2012.
Susan Hedman,
Regional Administrator, Region 5.

    40 CFR part 62 is amended as follows:

PART 62--[AMENDED]

0
1. The authority citation for part 62 continues to read as follows:

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

Subpart O--Illinois

0
2. Sections 62.3340, 62.3341, and 62.3342 are revised to read as 
follows:


Sec.  62.3340  Identification of plan.

    Illinois submitted, on November 8, 2011 and supplemented on 
December 28, 2011, a revised State Plan for implementing the Emission 
Guidelines affecting Hospital/Medical Infectious Waste Incinerators 
(HMIWI). The enforceable mechanism for this revised State plan is 35 
Ill. Adm. Code Part 229. This rule was adopted by the Illinois 
Pollution Control Board on September 22, 2011 and became effective on 
September 30, 2011.


Sec.  62.3341  Identification of sources.

    The Illinois State Plan for existing Hospital/Medical/Infectious 
Waste Incinerators (HMIWI) applies to all HMIWIs for which:
    (a) Construction commenced either on or before June 20, 1996 or 
modification was commenced either on or before March 16, 1998; or
    (b) Construction commenced either after June 20, 1996, but no later 
than December 1, 2008, or for which modification is commenced after 
March 16, 1998, but no later than April 6, 2010.


Sec.  62.3342  Effective date.

    The Federal effective date of the Illinois State Plan for existing 
Hospital/Medical/Infectious Waste Incinerators is June 25, 2012.

[FR Doc. 2012-9712 Filed 4-23-12; 8:45 am]
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