[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 145 (Friday, July 27, 2012)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 44204-44205]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-18099]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[EPA-R03-OAR-2012-0272; FRL-9702-5]


Approval and Promulgation of Air Quality Implementation Plans; 
Maryland; Control of Iron and Steel Production Installations; Sintering 
Plants

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Proposed rule.

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SUMMARY: EPA proposes to approve revisions to the Maryland State 
Implementation Plan (SIP) submitted by the Maryland Department of the 
Environment (MDE) on June 30, 2009. The revisions amend the visible 
emissions requirements of the Maryland SIP's regulation for the Control 
of Iron and Steel Production Installations as they apply to sintering 
plants. The sintering plant located at the Sparrows Point steelmaking 
facility (Sparrows Point) is the only sintering plant located in the 
State of Maryland, and therefore the only source affected by these SIP 
revisions. The revisions exempt the sintering plant from the visible 
emissions section of the regulation for the Control of Iron and Steel 
Production Installations contingent upon the source's two wet 
scrubbers, used to control emissions of particulate matter, 
continuously monitoring compliance with specified pressure drop and 
flow rate operating parameters. EPA is approving these revisions 
because they provide for a continuous means of determining compliance 
with the applicable SIP emission rate for particulate matter from the 
sintering plant located at Sparrows Point, and because that emission 
rate has been demonstrated to protect and maintain the National Ambient 
Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for PM10 (particulate matter 
consisting of particles with an aerodynamic diameter less than or equal 
to 10 micrometers). EPA is proposing to approve these revisions in 
accordance with the requirements of the Clean Air Act (CAA). In the 
Final Rules section of this Federal Register, EPA is approving the 
State's SIP submittal as a direct final rule without prior proposal 
because the Agency views this as a noncontroversial submittal and 
anticipates no adverse comments. A detailed rationale for the approval 
is set forth in the direct final rule. If no adverse comments are 
received in response to this action, no further activity is 
contemplated. If EPA receives adverse comments, the direct final rule 
will be withdrawn and all public comments received will be addressed in 
a subsequent final rule based on this proposed rule. EPA will not 
institute a second comment period. Any parties interested in commenting 
on this action should do so at this time.

DATES: Comments must be received in writing by August 27, 2012.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID Number EPA-
R03-OAR-2012-0272 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-2012-0272, Marcia L. Spink, Associate Director 
for Policy & Science, Air Protection Division, 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-
2012-0272. 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

[[Page 44205]]

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: Marcia L. Spink, Associate Director 
for Policy & Science, Air Protection Division (215) 814-2104, or by 
email at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: For further information, please see the 
information provided in the direct final action, with the same title, 
that is located in the ``Rules and Regulations'' section of this 
Federal Register publication.

    Dated: July 10, 2012.
W.C. Early
Acting Regional Administrator, Region III.
[FR Doc. 2012-18099 Filed 7-26-12; 8:45 am]
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