[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 27 (Friday, February 8, 2013)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 9315-9317]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-02817]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[EPA-R03-OAR-2013-0013; FRL-9777-5]


Approval and Promulgation of Air Quality Implementation Plans; 
Maryland; Removal of the Mount Saint Mary's College 1979 Consent Order

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Direct final rule.

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SUMMARY: EPA is taking direct final action to approve a State 
Implementation Plan (SIP) revision submitted by the Maryland Department 
of the Environment (MDE) pertaining to the F. Keeler Company Boiler at 
Mount Saint Mary's College. This revision removes the Mount Saint 
Mary's College 1979 Consent Order (1979 Consent Order) from the 
Maryland SIP because the coal-fired F. Keeler Boiler has been modified 
by removing the coal-firing capability and converting the boiler to 
fire natural gas with No. 2 fuel oil as backup. EPA is approving this 
SIP revision because the 1979 Consent Order is no longer required as 
the modified gas-fired unit can comply with all visible emission and 
particulate requirements in the Maryland SIP, and this 1979 Consent 
Order is no longer required to satisfy any applicable Federal 
regulations or the Clean Air Act (CAA). This action is being taken 
under the CAA.

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DATES: This rule is effective on April 9, 2013 without further notice, 
unless EPA receives adverse written comment by March 11, 2013. If EPA 
receives such comments, it will publish a timely withdrawal of the 
direct final rule in the Federal Register and inform the public that 
the rule will not take effect.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID Number EPA-
R03-OAR-2013-0013 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-2013-0013, Donna Mastro, Acting Associate 
Director, (215) 814-2777, Air Protection Division, 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-
2013-0013. 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: Maria Pino, Air Protection Division, 
Project officer, (215) 814-2181, or by email at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

    The 1979 Consent Order provided an exception to Maryland's fuel 
burning regulations for Mount Saint Mary's College to allow the 
construction of a 25 million British Thermal Units (BTU) per hour coal-
fired boiler. The specific regulations of concern for the coal-fired 
boiler at Mount Saint Mary's College were: COMAR 10.18.03.02B 
(requirement for zero visible emissions); COMAR 10.18.03.03B(2)b 
(requirement that particulate matter (PM) not exceed 0.03 grains per 
dry standard cubic foot (gr/dscf)); COMAR 10.18.03.03B(2)c(2) 
(requirement for dust collectors); and COMAR 10.18.03.06D(2) 
(prohibition of small solid-fuel boilers). MDE approved the 
construction of the coal-fired boiler because the coal-fired boiler was 
in a rural area and minimal impact on air quality was expected from 
particulate emissions from the boiler. The boiler was required to meet 
COMAR 10.18.03.02A (requirement not to exceed 20% opacity) and COMAR 
10.18.03.03B(3) (requirement that PM emissions not exceed 0.10 gr/
dscf). The 1979 Consent Order between Mount Saint Mary's College and 
Maryland was approved by EPA into the Maryland SIP on March 18, 1980. 
45 FR 17144 (approving the 1979 Consent Order into Maryland SIP because 
no ambient air quality standards would be violated by operation of the 
boiler). Subsequently, in January 1983, Mount Saint Mary's College 
installed multicyclones on the boiler for additional control of PM.

II. Summary of the SIP Revision

    On November 19, 2012, MDE submitted a revision (12-05) to 
remove the 1979 Consent Order from Maryland's SIP because the coal-
fired F. Keeler Boiler has been converted to fire natural gas with No. 
2 fuel oil as backup. On July 18, 2000, MDE issued a permit to convert 
the boiler to natural gas with No. 2 oil as backup fuel. The converted 
gas-fired boiler is able to comply with all Maryland regulations, 
including visible emissions standards. Therefore, the 1979 Consent 
Order is no longer required and MDE has requested that it be removed 
from the Maryland SIP.

III. Final Action

    EPA's review of the SIP revision submitted by MDE on November 19, 
2012 indicates that the 1979 Consent Order is no longer required as the 
modified gas-fired boiler is able to comply with all applicable Federal 
regulations and the Maryland SIP. Therefore, EPA is approving the SIP 
revision submitted by MDE on November 19, 2012 to remove the 1979 
Consent Order. The 1979 Consent Order is no longer required to satisfy 
any applicable Federal regulations or the CAA. EPA is publishing this 
rule without prior proposal because EPA views this as a 
noncontroversial amendment and anticipates no adverse comment. However, 
in the ``Proposed Rules'' section of today's Federal Register, EPA is 
publishing a separate document that will serve as the proposal to 
approve the SIP revision if adverse comments are filed. This rule will 
be effective on April 9, 2013 without further notice unless EPA 
receives adverse comment by March 11, 2013. If EPA receives adverse 
comment, EPA will publish a timely withdrawal in the Federal Register 
informing the public that the rule will not take effect. EPA will 
address all public comments in a subsequent final rulemaking action 
based on the proposed rule. EPA will not institute a second comment 
period on this rulemaking action. Any parties interested in commenting 
must do so at this time.

IV. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

A. General Requirements

    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

[[Page 9317]]

the CAA. Accordingly, this action merely approves state law as meeting 
Federal requirements and does not impose additional requirements beyond 
those imposed by state law. For that reason, this 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 rule 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.

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. Section 804, however, exempts from section 801 the 
following types of rules: rules of particular applicability; rules 
relating to agency management or personnel; and rules of agency 
organization, procedure, or practice that do not substantially affect 
the rights or obligations of non-agency parties. 5 U.S.C. 804(3). 
Because this is a rule of particular applicability, EPA is not required 
to submit a rule report regarding this action under section 801.

C. Petitions for Judicial Review

    Under section 307(b)(1) of the CAA, petitions for judicial review 
of this action must be filed in the United States Court of Appeals for 
the appropriate circuit by April 9, 2013. Filing a petition for 
reconsideration by the Administrator of this final rule does not affect 
the finality of this action 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. Parties with objections to this direct final rule are 
encouraged to file a comment in response to the parallel notice of 
proposed rulemaking for this action published in the proposed rules 
section of today's Federal Register, rather than file an immediate 
petition for judicial review of this direct final rule, so that EPA can 
withdraw this direct final rule and address the comment in the proposed 
rulemaking.
    This action to approve a revision to the Maryland SIP to remove the 
Mount Saint Mary's College 1979 Consent Order from the SIP may not be 
challenged later in proceedings to enforce its requirements. (See 
section 307(b)(2).)

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 52

    Environmental protection, Air pollution control, Incorporation by 
reference, Particulate matter.

    Dated: January 25, 2013.
W.C. Early,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region III.

    40 CFR part 52 is amended as follows:

PART 52--[AMENDED]

0
1. The authority citation for part 52 continues to read as follows:

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

Subpart V--Maryland


Sec.  52.1070  [Amended]

0
2. In Sec.  52.1070, the table in paragraph (d) is amended by removing 
the entry for Mt. Saint Mary's College.

[FR Doc. 2013-02817 Filed 2-7-13; 8:45 am]
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