[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 128 (Wednesday, July 3, 2013)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 40015-40017]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-15874]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 62

[EPA-R03-OAR-2013-0434; FRL-9829-6]


Approval and Promulgation of State Air Quality Plans for 
Designated Facilities and Pollutants; District of Columbia; Control of 
Emissions From Existing Hospital/Medical/Infectious Waste Incinerator 
Units

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Direct final rule.

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SUMMARY: EPA is taking direct final action to approve a negative 
declaration for hospital/medical/infectious waste incinerator (HMIWI) 
units within the District of Columbia. This negative declaration 
certifies that HMIWI units subject to the requirements of sections 
111(d) and 129 of the Clean Air Act (CAA) do not exist within the 
jurisdictional boundaries of the District Department of the Environment 
(DDOE). EPA is accepting the negative declaration in accordance with 
the requirements of the Clean Air Act (CAA).

DATES: This rule is effective on September 3, 2013 without further 
notice, unless EPA receives adverse written comment by August 2, 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-2013-0434 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-2013-0434, 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-
2013-0434. 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.

[[Page 40016]]

    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 submittal are 
available at the District of Columbia Department of the Environment, 
Air Quality Division, 1200 1st Street NE., Fifth Floor, Washington, DC 
20002.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mike Gordon, (215) 814-2039, or by 
email at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

    Sections 111(d) and 129 of the CAA require states to submit plans 
to control certain pollutants (designated pollutants) at existing solid 
waste combustor facilities (designated facilities) whenever standards 
of performance have been established under section 111(b) for new 
sources of the same type, and EPA has established emission guidelines 
(EG) for such existing sources. A designated pollutant is any pollutant 
for which no air quality criteria have been issued, and which is not 
included on a list published under section 108(a) or section 
112(b)(1)(A) of the CAA, but emissions of which are subject to a 
standard of performance for new stationary sources.
    On October 6, 2009 (74 FR 51368), EPA promulgated HMIWI unit new 
source performance standards, 40 CFR part 60, subpart Ec, and emission 
guidelines, subpart Ce. These regulations were amended in an April 4, 
2011 final rule (76 FR 18407).
    The designated facilities to which the EG apply are existing HMIWI 
units that: (1) Commenced construction on or before June 20, 1996, or 
for which modification was commenced on or before March 16, 1998; or 
(2) commenced construction after June 20, 1996 but no later than 
December 1, 2008, or for which modification commenced after March 16, 
1998 but no later than April 6, 2010, with limited exceptions as 
provided in paragraphs 40 CFR 60.32e(b) through (h).
    Subpart B of 40 CFR part 60 establishes procedures to be followed 
and requirements to be met in the development and submission of state 
plans for controlling designated pollutants. Also, 40 CFR part 62 
provides the procedural framework for the submission of these plans. 
When designated facilities are located in a state, the state must then 
develop and submit a plan for the control of the designated pollutant. 
However, 40 CFR 60.23(b) and 62.06 provide that if there are no 
existing sources of the designated pollutant in the state, the state 
may submit a letter of certification to that effect (i.e., negative 
declaration) in lieu of a plan. The negative declaration exempts the 
state from the requirements of subpart B that require the submittal of 
a 111(d)/129 plan.

II. Final EPA Action

    The DDOE has determined that there are no HMIWI units subject to 
CAA 111(d)/129 requirements in their respective air pollution control 
jurisdiction. Accordingly, DDOE submitted a negative declaration letter 
to EPA on July 26, 2012.
    In this direct final action, EPA is amending part 62 to reflect 
receipt of the negative declaration letter from DDOE. 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 September 3, 2013 without further notice unless EPA 
receives adverse comment by August 2, 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 rule based on the 
proposed rule. EPA will not institute a second comment period on this 
action. Any parties interested in commenting must do so at this time.

III. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

A. General Requirements

    Under Executive Order 12866 (58 FR 51735, October 4, 1993), this 
action is not a ``significant regulatory action'' and therefore is not 
subject to review by the Office of Management and Budget. For this 
reason, this action is also not subject to Executive Order 13211, 
``Actions Concerning Regulations That Significantly Affect Energy 
Supply, Distribution, or Use'' (66 FR 28355, May 22, 2001). This action 
merely notifies the public of EPA receipt of a negative declaration 
from an air pollution control agency without any existing HMIWI units 
in their jurisdiction. This action imposes no requirements. 
Accordingly, EPA certifies that this rule will not have a significant 
economic impact on a substantial number of small entities under the 
Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 601 et seq.). Because this action 
does not impose any additional enforceable duty beyond that required by 
state law, it 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). This action also does not 
have tribal implications because it will not have a substantial direct 
effect on one or more Indian tribes, on the relationship between the 
Federal Government and Indian tribes, or on the distribution of power 
and responsibilities between the Federal Government and Indian tribes, 
as specified by Executive Order 13175 (65 FR 67249, November 9, 2000). 
This action also does not have Federalism implications because it does 
not have substantial direct effects on the States, on the relationship 
between the national government and the States, or on the distribution 
of power and responsibilities among the various levels of government, 
as specified in Executive Order 13132 (64 FR 43255, August 10, 1999). 
This action merely approves the negative declaration for existing HMIWI 
units from the DDOE and does not alter the relationship or the 
distribution of power and responsibilities established in the Clean Air 
Act. This action also is not subject to Executive Order 13045 
``Protection of Children from Environmental Health Risks and Safety 
Risks'' (62 FR 19885, April 23, 1997), because it is not economically 
significant.
    With regard to negative declarations for designated facilities 
received by EPA from states, EPA's role is to notify the public of the 
receipt of such negative declarations and revise 40 CFR part 62 
accordingly. In this context, in the absence of a prior existing 
requirement for the State to use voluntary consensus standards (VCS), 
EPA has no authority to approve or disapprove a CAA section 111(d)/129 
plan negative declaration submission for failure to use VCS. It would 
thus be inconsistent with applicable law for EPA, when it reviews a CAA 
section 111(d)/129 negative declaration, to use VCS in place of a 
section 111(d)/129 negative declaration that otherwise satisfies the 
provisions of the Clean Air Act. Thus, the

[[Page 40017]]

requirements of section 12(d) of the National Technology Transfer and 
Advancement Act of 1995 (15 U.S.C. 272 note) do not apply. This action 
does not impose an information collection burden under the provisions 
of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.).

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. EPA will submit a report containing this action and 
other required information to the U.S. Senate, the U.S. House of 
Representatives, and the Comptroller General of the United States prior 
to publication of the rule in the Federal Register. A major rule cannot 
take effect until 60 days after it is published in the Federal 
Register. This action is not a ``major rule'' as defined by 5 U.S.C. 
804(2).

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 September 3, 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 approving the DDOE's negative declaration for HMIWI 
units may not be challenged later in proceedings to enforce its 
requirements. (See section 307(b)(2).)

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 62

    Environmental protection, Administrative practice and procedure, 
Air pollution control, Aluminum, Fertilizers, Fluoride, 
Intergovernmental relations, Paper and paper products industry, 
Phosphate, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, Sulfur oxides, 
Sulfur acid plants, Waste treatment and disposal.

    Dated: June 13, 2013.
W.C. Early,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region III.

    40 CFR part 62 is amended as follows:

PART 62--APPROVAL AND PROMULGATION OF STATE PLANS FOR DESIGNATED 
FACILITIES AND POLLUTANTS

0
1. The authority citation for part 62 continues to read as follows:

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

Subpart J--District of Columbia

0
2. Section 62.2150 is amended by designating the existing paragraph as 
(a) and adding paragraph (b) to read as follows:


Sec.  62.2150  Identification of plan--negative declaration.

* * * * *
    (b) Letter from the District Department of the Environment, 
submitted to EPA on July 26, 2012, certifying that there are no known 
existing HMIWI units in the District of Columbia.
[FR Doc. 2013-15874 Filed 7-2-13; 8:45 am]
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