[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 33 (Tuesday, February 19, 2013)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 11619-11620]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-03468]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 98

[EPA-HQ-OAR-2011-0417; FRL-9780-4]
RIN 2060-AR74


Greenhouse Gas Reporting Rule: Revision to Best Available 
Monitoring Method Request Submission Deadline for Petroleum and Natural 
Gas Systems Source Category

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Proposed rule.

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SUMMARY: The EPA is proposing to revise the deadline by which owners or 
operators of facilities subject to the petroleum and natural gas 
systems source category of the Greenhouse Gas Reporting Rule must 
submit requests for use of best available monitoring methods to the 
Administrator. This proposed revision does not change any other 
requirements for owners or operators as outlined in the best available 
monitoring method rule provisions.

DATES: Written comments must be received on or before March 21, 2013.
    Public Hearing. A public hearing will be held if requested. To 
request a hearing, please contact the person listed in the FOR FURTHER 
INFORMATION CONTACT section by February 26, 2013. If requested, the 
hearing will be conducted on March 6, 2013, in the Washington, DC area. 
EPA will publish a notice in the Federal Register with further 
information about the public hearing if a public hearing is requested.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by docket ID No. EPA-HQ-
OAR-2011-0417 by one of the following methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. 
Follow the online instructions for submitting comments.
     Email: [email protected].
     Fax: (202) 566-9744.
     Mail: Environmental Protection Agency, EPA Docket Center 
(EPA/DC), Mailcode 6102T, Attention Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2011-0417, 
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20460.
     Hand/Courier Delivery: EPA Docket Center, Public Reading 
Room, EPA West Building, Room 3334, 1301 Constitution Avenue NW., 
Washington, DC 20004. 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-HQ-OAR-
2011-0417. EPA's policy is that all comments received will be included 
in the public docket without change and may be made available online at 
http://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 http://www.regulations.gov or email. Send or deliver information identified as 
CBI to only the mail or hand/courier delivery address listed above, 
attention: Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2011-0417. The http://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 http://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 docket are listed in the http://www.regulations.gov index. Although listed in the index, some 
information is not publicly available, e.g., CBI or other information 
whose disclosure is restricted by statute. Certain other material, such 
as copyrighted material, will be publicly available only in hard copy. 
Publicly available docket materials are available either electronically 
in http://www.regulations.gov or in hard copy at the Air Docket, EPA/
DC, EPA West Building, Room B102, 1301 Constitution Ave., NW., 
Washington, DC. This Docket Facility is open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 
p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding legal holidays. The telephone 
number for the Public Reading Room is (202) 566-1744, and the telephone 
number for the Air Docket is (202) 566-1742.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Carole Cook, Climate Change Division, 
Office of Atmospheric Programs (MC-6207J), Environmental Protection 
Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW., Washington, DC 20460; telephone 
number: (202) 343-9263; fax number: (202) 343-2342; email address: 
[email protected]. For technical information, contact the 
Greenhouse Gas Reporting Rule Hotline at: http://www.epa.gov/ghgreporting/reporters/index.html. To submit a question, select Rule 
Help center, then select Contact us.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Why is the EPA issuing this proposed rule?

    EPA is proposing to revise the deadline in 40 CFR 98.234(f)(8)(i) 
by which owners or operators of facilities subject to the petroleum and 
natural gas systems source category, subpart W, of the Greenhouse Gas 
Reporting Rule must submit a request to use best available monitoring 
methods to the Administrator. We have published a direct final rule 
making this revision in the ``Rules and Regulations'' section of this 
Federal Register because the EPA views this as a noncontroversial 
action and no adverse comments are anticipated. A further explanation 
for the reasons for this action is in the preamble to the direct final 
rule.
    If we receive no adverse comment, we will not take further action 
on this proposed rule. If the EPA receives relevant adverse comment, we 
will publish a timely withdrawal notice in the Federal Register to 
inform the public that the direct final rule, or the relevant portion 
of the direct final rule, will not take effect. The rule provisions

[[Page 11620]]

that are not withdrawn will become effective on the date set out in the 
direct final rule, notwithstanding relevant adverse comment on any 
other provision, unless we determine that it would not be appropriate 
to promulgate those provisions due to their being affected by the 
provision for which we receive relevant adverse comment. If the EPA 
does receive relevant adverse comment on the direct final rule and 
withdraws the direct final rule, we will address all public comments in 
any subsequent final rule based on this proposal. We will not institute 
a second comment period on this action. Any parties interested in 
commenting on the specific changes being made must do so by the comment 
deadline listed in the DATES section of this document. The EPA will not 
consider a comment to be adverse if a comment pertains to an aspect of 
part 98 or 40 CFR part 98, subpart W that is not addressed in the 
direct final rule. For further information about commenting on this 
action, please see the information provided in the ADDRESSES section of 
this document.

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 98

    Environmental protection, Administrative practice and procedures, 
Air pollution control, Greenhouse gases, Monitoring, Reporting and 
recordkeeping requirements.

    Dated: February 6, 2013.
Lisa P. Jackson,
Administrator.
[FR Doc. 2013-03468 Filed 2-15-13; 8:45 am]
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