[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 93 (Monday, May 14, 2012)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 28336-28338]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-11650]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[EPA-R03-OAR-2012-0042; FRL-9672-1]


Approval and Promulgation of Air Quality Implementation Plans; 
Maryland; Offset Lithographic Printing and Letterpress Printing 
Regulations

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 (Maryland). This revision 
pertains to amendments to the Code of Maryland (COMAR) 26.11.19.11, 
Lithographic and Letterpress Printing. Maryland's SIP revision meets 
the requirement to adopt Reasonably Available Control Technology (RACT) 
for sources covered by EPA's Control Techniques Guidelines (CTG) for 
offset lithographic printing and letterpress printing. This will help 
Maryland attain and maintain the National Ambient Air Quality Standard 
(NAAQS) for ozone. This action is being taken under 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-2012-0042 by one of the following methods:

[[Page 28337]]

    A. www.regulations.gov. Follow the on-line instructions for 
submitting comments.
    B. Email: [email protected].
    C. Mail: EPA-R03-OAR-2012-0042, 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-
2012-0042. 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 the Maryland Department of the Environment, 1800 
Washington Boulevard, Suite 705, Baltimore, Maryland 21230.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Asrah Khadr, (215) 814-2071, or by 
email at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Throughout this document, whenever ``we,'' 
``us,'' or ``our'' is used, we mean EPA. On December 15, 2011, the 
Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) submitted a revision to 
its SIP for the adoption of EPA's CTG for offset lithographic printing 
and letterpress printing into the Code of Maryland.

I. Background

    Section 172(c)(1) of the CAA provides that SIPs for nonattainment 
areas must include reasonably available control measures (RACM), 
including RACT for sources of emissions. Section 182(b)(2)(A) provides 
that for certain nonattainment areas, states must revise their SIPs to 
include RACT for sources of volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions 
covered by a CTG document issued after November 15, 1990 and prior to 
the area's date of attainment.
    CTGs are intended to provide state and local air pollution control 
authorities information that should assist them in determining RACT for 
VOCs from various sources, which include offset lithographic and 
letterpress printers. In developing these CTGs, EPA, among other 
things, evaluated the sources of VOC emissions from this industry and 
the available control approaches for addressing these emissions, 
including the costs of such approaches. Based on available information 
and data, EPA provided recommendations for RACT for offset lithographic 
printers and letterpress printers.
    In November 1993, EPA published a draft CTG for offset lithographic 
printing. This CTG discusses the nature of VOC emissions from this 
industry, available control technologies for addressing such emissions, 
the costs of available control options, and other items. In June 1994, 
EPA published an alternative control techniques (ACT) document for 
states to use in developing rules based on RACT for offset lithographic 
printing. In 2006, after conducting a review of currently existing 
state and local VOC emission reduction approaches for this industry, 
reviewing the 1993 draft CTG and the 1994 ACT, and taking into account 
the information that has become available since then, EPA developed a 
new CTG for offset lithographic printers and letterpress printers, 
entitled Control Techniques Guidelines for Offset Lithographic Printing 
and Letterpress Printing (see EPA 453/R-06-002). The CTG for offset 
lithographic printing and letterpress printing provides VOC control 
recommendations for the following components involved in offset 
lithographic and letterpress printing: Heatset inks, fountain solutions 
and cleaning materials. A detailed description of this CTG may be found 
in the technical support document (TSD).

II. Summary of SIP Revision

    On December 15, 2011, the MDE submitted to EPA a SIP revision 
(11-09) concerning the adoption of EPA's CTG for offset 
lithographic printing and letterpress printing. EPA develops CTGs as 
guidance on control requirements for source categories. States can 
follow the CTGs or adopt more restrictive standards. Maryland has 
adopted EPA's CTG standards for offset lithographic printing and 
letterpress printing. These regulations are in COMAR 26.11.19, Volatile 
Organic Compounds from Specific Processes. Specifically, this revision 
amends the existing regulation in Section 26.11.19.11 to include the 
recommendations from the aforementioned CTG. A detailed summary of 
EPA's review of and rationale for proposing to approve this SIP 
revision may be found in the TSD for this action which is available on 
line at http://www.regulations.gov, Docket number EPA-R03-OAR-2012-
0042.

III. Proposed Action

    EPA's review of this material indicates that the proposed SIP 
revision will reduce VOC emissions which will help maintain 
environmental protection and public health. EPA is proposing to approve 
the Maryland SIP revision for adoption of the CTG standards for offset 
lithographic printing and letterpress printing into the Code of 
Maryland. 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).

[[Page 28338]]

Thus, in reviewing SIP submissions, 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 concerning Maryland's adoption of 
the CTG for offset lithographic printing and letterpress printing 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, 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. 2012-11650 Filed 5-11-12; 8:45 am]
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