[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 93 (Monday, May 14, 2012)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 28338-28340]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-11639]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[EPA-R03-OAR-2012-0208; FRL-9672-2]


Approval and Promulgation of Air Quality Implementation Plans; 
Maryland; Reasonably Available Control Technology for the 1997 8-Hour 
Ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standard

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Proposed rule.

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SUMMARY: EPA is proposing to approve a State Implementation Plan (SIP) 
revision submitted by the State of Maryland. This revision pertains to 
the requirements for meeting reasonably available control technology 
(RACT) for the 1997 8-hour ozone national ambient air quality standard 
(NAAQS). These requirements are based on: A certification that 
previously adopted RACT controls in Maryland's SIP, that were approved 
by EPA under the 1-hour ozone NAAQS, are based on the currently 
available technically and economically feasible controls, and that they 
continue to represent RACT for the 1997 8-hour ozone NAAQS 
implementation purposes; a negative declaration demonstrating that no 
facilities exist in the State for the applicable control technique 
guideline (CTG) categories; and adoption of new or more stringent RACT 
determinations. This action is being taken in accordance with the 
requirements of the Clean Air Act (CAA).

DATES: Written comments must be received on or before June 13, 2012.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID Number EPA-
R03-OAR-2012-0208 by one of the following methods:
    A. www.regulations.gov. Follow the on-line instructions for 
submitting comments.
    B. Email: [email protected].
    C. Mail: EPA-R03-OAR-2012-0208, Cristina Fernandez, Associate 
Director, Office of 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-
2012-0208. 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 electronic docket are listed in the 
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 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 Maryland Department of the Environment, 1800 
Washington Boulevard, Suite 705, Baltimore, Maryland 21230.

[[Page 28339]]


FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jacqueline Lewis, (215) 814-2037, or 
by email at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Throughout this document, whenever ``we,'' 
``us,'' or ``our'' is used, we mean EPA. On October 17, 2011, the 
Maryland Department of the Environment submitted a revision to its SIP 
that addresses requirements of RACT for the 1997 8-hour ozone NAAQS set 
forth by the CAA.

I. Background

    Ozone is formed in the atmosphere by photochemical reactions 
between volatile organic compounds (VOC), oxides of nitrogen 
(NOX), and carbon monoxide (CO) in the presence of sunlight. 
In order to reduce ozone concentrations in the ambient air, the CAA 
requires all nonattainment areas to apply control on VOC and 
NOX emission sources to achieve emission reductions. Among 
effective control measures, RACT controls are a major group for 
reducing VOC and NOX emissions from stationary sources.
    Since the 1970's, EPA has consistently interpreted RACT to mean the 
lowest emission limit that a particular source is capable of meeting by 
the application of the control technology that is reasonably available 
considering technological and economic feasibility. See 44 FR 53761, 
September 17, 1979. Section 182 of the CAA sets forth two separate RACT 
requirements for ozone nonattainment areas. The first requirement, 
contained in section 182(a)(2)(A) of the CAA and referred to as RACT 
fix-up, requires the correction of RACT rules for which EPA identified 
deficiencies before the CAA was amended in 1990. EPA published final 
rulemaking notices approving the State of Maryland's SIP revisions in 
order to correct their VOC RACT regulations and establish and require 
the implementation for revised SIP regulations to control VOCs. See 58 
FR 63085, November 30, 1993; 59 FR 46180, September 7, 1994; 59 FR 
60908, November 29, 1994; and 60 FR 2018, January 6, 1995.
    The second requirement, set forth in section 182(b)(2) of the CAA 
and referred to as RACT catch-up, applies to moderate (or worse) ozone 
nonattainment areas as well as to marginal and attainment areas in the 
ozone transport region (OTR) established pursuant to section 184 of the 
CAA, and requires these areas to implement RACT controls on all major 
VOC and NOX emission sources and on all sources and source 
categories covered by a CTG issued by EPA. On January 6, 1995, EPA 
published one of many final rulemaking notices approving the State of 
Maryland's SIP revision as meeting the CTG RACT provisions of the CAA. 
See 60 FR 2018, January 6, 1995.
    All Maryland counties were subject to RACT requirements under the 
1-hour ozone standard. The Baltimore, Washington, DC, and Cecil County, 
Maryland nonattainment areas were designated as severe 1-hour ozone 
nonattainment areas. Kent and Queen Anne's counties were designated as 
a marginal 1-hour ozone nonattainment area. All remaining Maryland 
counties were identified as part of the OTR. As part of the planning 
process, section 182(b)(2) of the CAA required the State of Maryland to 
adopt all RACT regulations for all CTG sources and all major non-CTG 
VOC sources (VOC sources with the potential to emit greater than or 
equal to 25 tons per year (TPY) in Baltimore, Washington, DC, and Cecil 
County, Maryland nonattainment areas and greater than or equal to 50 
TPY in the remainder of the State) throughout the State.
    On July 18, 1997, EPA promulgated an 8-hour NAAQS for ozone. See 62 
FR 38856, July 18, 1997. Under the 1997 8-hour ozone NAAQS, four areas 
were designated nonattainment for the 1997 8-hour ozone standard in 
Maryland. Three areas were classified as moderate and one as marginal. 
Maryland also had an Early Action Compact area. All other remaining 
counties are part of the OTR. The three moderate 1997 8-hour ozone 
standard nonattainment areas are Baltimore, Washington, DC, and Cecil 
County (part of the Philadelphia nonattainment area). The one marginal 
1997 8-hour ozone NAAQS nonattainment area consists of Kent and Queen 
Anne's Counties. Washington County was part of the Early Action Compact 
program.
    EPA requires under the 1997 8-hour ozone NAAQS that states meet the 
CAA RACT requirements, either through a certification that previously 
adopted RACT controls in their SIP revisions be approved by EPA under 
the 1-hour ozone NAAQS represent adequate RACT control levels for 1997 
8-hour ozone NAAQS attainment purposes, or through the adoption of new 
or more stringent regulations that represent RACT control levels. A 
certification must be accompanied by appropriate supporting information 
such as consideration of information received during the public comment 
period and consideration of new data. This information may supplement 
existing RACT guidance documents that were developed for the 1-hour 
standard, such that the state's SIP accurately reflects RACT for the 
1997 8-hour ozone standard based on the current availability of 
technically and economically feasible controls. Adoption of new RACT 
regulations will occur when states have new stationary sources not 
covered by existing RACT regulations, or when new data or technical 
information indicates that a previously adopted RACT measure does not 
represent a newly available RACT control level. Another 1997 8-hour 
ozone NAAQS requirement for RACT is to submit a negative declaration 
that there are no CTG major sources of VOC and NOX emissions 
within Maryland.

II. Summary of SIP Revision

    Maryland's SIP revision contains the requirements of RACT set forth 
by the CAA under the 1997 8-hour ozone NAAQS. Maryland's SIP revision 
satisfies the 1997 8-hour ozone standard RACT requirements through (1) 
certification that previously adopted RACT controls in Maryland's SIP 
that were approved by EPA under the 1-hour ozone NAAQS are based on the 
currently available technically and economically feasible controls and 
that they continue to represent RACT for the 8-hour implementation 
purpose; (2) a negative declaration demonstrating that no facilities 
exist in Maryland for the applicable CTG categories; and (3) adoption 
of new or more stringent RACT determinations. A detailed summary of 
EPA's review and rationale for proposing to approve this SIP revision 
may be found in the Technical Support Document (TSD) for this action 
which is available on line at www.regulations.gov. Docket number EPA-
R03-OAR-2012-0208.

III. Proposed Action

    EPA's review of this material indicates that Maryland has met the 
requirements of RACT for NOX and VOCs set forth by the CAA 
with respect to the 1997 8-hour ozone standard. EPA is proposing to 
approve the Maryland SIP revision for the requirements of RACT set 
forth by the CAA under the 1997 8-hour ozone NAAQS, which was submitted 
on October 17, 2011. EPA is soliciting public comments on the issues 
discussed in this document. These comments will be considered before 
taking final action.

IV. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

    Under the CAA, the Administrator is required to approve a SIP 
submission that complies with the provisions of the CAA and applicable 
Federal regulations. 42 U.S.C. 7410(k); 40 CFR 52.02(a). Thus, in 
reviewing SIP submissions,

[[Page 28340]]

EPA's role is to approve state choices, provided that they meet the 
criteria of the CAA. Accordingly, this action merely proposes to 
approve state law as meeting Federal requirements and does not impose 
additional requirements beyond those imposed by state law. For that 
reason, this proposed 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 CAA; 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 proposed rule pertaining to Maryland RACT for the 
1997 8-hour ozone NAAQS, 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, Nitrogen dioxide, 
Ozone, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, Volatile organic 
compounds.

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

    Dated: May 2, 2012.
W.C. Early,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region III.
[FR Doc. 2012-11639 Filed 5-11-12; 8:45 am]
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