[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 112 (Monday, June 11, 2012)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 34300-34301]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-14138]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[EPA-R03-OAR-2012-0378; FRL-9685-4]


Approval and Promulgation of Air Quality Implementation Plans; 
Pennsylvania; Revision to Allegheny County Regulations for Prevention 
of Significant Deterioration

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 Pennsylvania Department of Environmental 
Protection (PADEP). This revision pertains to the Air Pollution Control 
portion of the Allegheny County Health Department (ACHD) Rules and 
Regulations, relating to ACHD's Prevention of Significant Deterioration 
(PSD) program. Additionally, EPA is proposing to make a determination 
that the proposed SIP revision will satisfy the Clean Air Act (CAA) 
infrastructure requirements relating to PSD for the 1997 ozone and 
particulate matter less than 2.5 micrometers (PM2.5) 
National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) and the 2006 
PM2.5 NAAQS. This Action is being taken under the section 
110(k) of the CAA.

DATES: Written comments must be received on or before July 11, 2012.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID Number EPA-
R03-OAR-2012-0378 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-2012-0378, Kathleen Cox, Associate Director, 
Office of Permits and Air Toxics, Mailcode 3AP10, 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-
2012-0378. 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 Pennsylvania Department of Environmental 
Protection, Bureau of Air Quality Control, P.O. Box 8468, 400 Market 
Street, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania 17105; and Allegheny County Health 
Department, Bureau of Environmental Quality, Division of Air Quality, 
301

[[Page 34301]]

39th Street, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15201.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Paul T. Wentworth, P.E. at: (215) 814-
2183, or by email at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Throughout this document, whenever ``we,'' 
``us,'' or ``our'' is used, we mean EPA. On July 1, 2008, PADEP 
submitted a revision to its SIP on behalf ACHD. The SIP submittal 
consists of changes to the ACHD Rules and Regulations, Article XXI, Air 
Pollution Control, relating to ACHD's PSD program.

I. Background

    On December 14, 1983, EPA delegated authority to ACHD to implement 
and enforce the provisions of Title 40 Code of Federal Regulations 
(CFR) Part 40 CFR 52.21 on behalf of EPA (see 48 FR 55625, December 14, 
1983).
    On February 13, 2003, ACHD requested EPA to update and affirm the 
existing delegation of authority agreement between Allegheny County and 
EPA based on the representations included in Allegheny County's 
February 13, 2003 letter to EPA (see 68 FR 14617). On March 18, 2003, 
EPA formally notified ACHD that as of the publication date of the 
information notice in the Federal Register (March 26, 2003), pursuant 
to 40 CFR 52.21(u), ACHD was delegated full authority to implement all 
portions of the federal PSD program in 40 CFR 52.21. Future additions, 
revisions, or deletions to 40 CFR 52.21 which are adopted by EPA are 
automatically incorporated into this delegation of authority agreement. 
EPA noted that authority is delegated to ACHD for all sources located 
in Allegheny County subject to review pursuant to the federal PSD 
program. This includes all source categories listed in 40 CFR 52.21 for 
each pollutant regulated by the CAA (see 68 FR 14617).

II. Summary of SIP Revision

    On July 1, 2008, PADEP submitted ACHD's proposed revision to their 
portion of the SIP. This SIP submission adds Allegheny County's 
Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD) regulations at Article 
XXI section 2102.07 entitled, ``Prevention of Significant 
Deterioration,'' by incorporating by reference, the federal PSD program 
at 40 CFR 52.21 in its entirety. In addition, ACHD requests that as 
their regulation automatically incorporates by reference all future 
changes to 40 CFR 52.21, that such future changes be automatically 
incorporated into the SIP.
    The SIP revision submitted by ACHD on July 1, 2008 contained a 
provision in section 2102.07(d) that would relieve a person of the duty 
to comply with the PSD requirements as promulgated by EPA and 
incorporated in section 2102.07 if such person was ``legally 
temporarily relieved of the duty to comply.'' On May 1, 2012 PADEP 
submitted a letter notifying EPA that they were withdrawing that 
portion of the SIP revision.

III. Proposed Action

    EPA is proposing to approve ACHD's PSD permitting program by 
proposing approval of this SIP submission with the exception of the 
language in section 2102.7 as described above. EPA has determined that 
this revision is approvable because it conforms to the CAA and 
implementing regulations. Additionally, EPA is proposing to determine 
that ACHD has met its obligations pursuant to the PSD portion of the 
CAA infrastructure requirements of sections 110(a)(2)(C), (D)(i)(II), 
and (J) for the 1997 ozone and PM2.5 NAAQS and the 2006 
PM2.5 NAAQS. Copies of the technical support document 
supporting EPA's decision to approve ACHD's PSD permitting program and 
EPA's determination that ACHD has met its obligations pursuant to the 
PSD portion of the infrastructure requirements of the CAA can be 
obtained from the docket as discussed in the ADDRESSES section above. 
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, 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 (Public Law 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 SIP revision, regarding Allegheny 
County's Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD) program, 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, Carbon monoxide, 
Intergovernmental relations, Lead, Nitrogen dioxide, Ozone, Particulate 
matter, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, Sulfur oxides, 
Volatile organic compounds.

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

    Dated: May 21, 2012.
W.C. Early,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region III.
[FR Doc. 2012-14138 Filed 6-8-12; 8:45 am]
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