[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 195 (Wednesday, October 8, 2014)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 60756-60759]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-24006]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 271
[EPA-R04-RCRA-2012-0179; FRL-9917-53-Region-4]
Florida: Final Authorization of State Hazardous Waste Management
Program Revisions
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency.
ACTION: Immediate final rule.
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SUMMARY: Florida has applied to the Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA) for final authorization of changes to its hazardous waste program
under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA). EPA has
determined that these changes satisfy all requirements needed to
qualify for final authorization, and is authorizing the State's changes
through this immediate final rule. In the ``Proposed Rules'' section of
today's Federal Register, EPA is also publishing a separate document
that serves as the proposal to authorize these changes. EPA believes
this action is not controversial and does not expect comments that
oppose it. Unless EPA receives written comments that oppose this
authorization during the comment period, the decision to authorize
Florida's changes to its hazardous waste program will take effect. If
EPA receives comments that oppose this action, EPA will publish a
document in the Federal Register withdrawing today's immediate final
rule before it takes effect, and the separate document published in
today's ``Proposed Rules'' section of this Federal Register will serve
as the proposal to authorize the changes.
DATES: This final authorization will become effective on December 8,
2014 unless EPA receives adverse written comment by November 7, 2014.
If EPA receives such comment, EPA will publish a timely withdrawal of
this immediate final rule in the Federal Register and inform the public
that this authorization will not take effect.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-R04-
RCRA-2012-0179, by one of the following methods:
Federal eRulemaking Portal: www.regulations.gov. Follow
the on-line instructions for submitting comments.
Email: [email protected]
Fax: (404) 562-9964 (prior to faxing, please notify the
EPA contact listed below).
Mail: Send written comments to Anita K. Shipley, Permits
and State Programs Section, RCRA Programs and Materials Management
Branch, RCRA Division, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Atlanta
Federal Center, 61 Forsyth Street SW., Atlanta, Georgia 30303-8960.
Hand Delivery or Courier: Deliver your comments to Anita
K. Shipley, Permits and State Programs Section, RCRA Programs and
Materials Management Branch, RCRA Division, U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency, Atlanta Federal Center, 61 Forsyth Street SW.,
Atlanta, Georgia 30303-8960. Such deliveries are only accepted during
the Regional Office's normal hours of operation, and special
arrangements should be made for deliveries of boxed information.
Instructions: EPA must receive your comments by November 7, 2014.
Direct your comments to Docket ID No. EPA-R04-RCRA-2012-0179. 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
[[Page 60757]]
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. (For additional information about EPA's public
docket, visit the EPA Docket Center homepage at www.epa.gov/epahome/dockets.htm).
Docket: All documents in the docket are listed in the
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 www.regulations.gov, or in hard copy.
You may view and copy Florida's applications and associated
publicly available materials from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. at the
following locations: EPA, Region 4, RCRA Division, Atlanta Federal
Center, 61 Forsyth Street SW., Atlanta, Georgia 30303-8960; telephone
number: (404) 562-8466; and the Florida Department of Environmental
Protection, 2600 Blair Stone Road, Tallahassee, Florida 32399-2400;
telephone number: (850) 245-8713. Interested persons wanting to examine
these documents should make an appointment with the office at least a
week in advance.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Anita K. Shipley, Permits and State
Programs Section, RCRA Programs and Materials Management Branch, RCRA
Division, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Atlanta Federal Center,
61 Forsyth Street SW., Atlanta, Georgia 30303-8960; telephone number:
(404) 562-8466; fax number: (404) 562-9964; email address:
[email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
A. Why are revisions to state programs necessary?
States which have received final authorization from EPA under RCRA
section 3006(b), 42 U.S.C. 6926(b), must maintain a hazardous waste
program that is equivalent to, consistent with, and no less stringent
than the Federal program. As the Federal program changes, States must
change their programs and ask EPA to authorize the changes. Changes to
State programs may be necessary when Federal or State statutory or
regulatory authority is modified or when certain other changes occur.
Most commonly, States must change their programs because of changes to
EPA's regulations in 40 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) parts 124,
260 through 268, 270, 273, and 279.
New Federal requirements and prohibitions imposed by Federal
regulations that EPA promulgates pursuant to the Hazardous and Solid
Waste Amendments of 1984 (HSWA) take effect in authorized States at the
same time that they take effect in unauthorized States. Thus, EPA will
implement those requirements and prohibitions in Florida, including the
issuance of new permits implementing those requirements, until the
State is granted authorization to do so.
B. What decisions has EPA made in this rule?
On August 10, 2009, July 1, 2010, and August 30, 2012, Florida
submitted final complete program revision applications, seeking
authorization of changes to its hazardous waste program that correspond
to certain Federal rules promulgated between July 1, 2007 and June 30,
2009, and July 1, 2010 and June 30, 2011 (also known as RCRA Clusters
XVIII, XIX, and XXI). EPA concludes that Florida's applications to
revise its authorized program meet all of the statutory and regulatory
requirements established by RCRA, as set forth in RCRA section 3006(b),
42 U.S.C. 6926(b), and 40 CFR Part 271. Therefore, EPA grants Florida
final authorization to operate its hazardous waste program with the
changes described in the authorization applications, and as outlined
below in Section G of this document.
Florida has responsibility for permitting treatment, storage, and
disposal facilities within its borders (except in Indian Country) and
for carrying out the aspects of the RCRA program described in its
revised program applications, subject to the limitations of HSWA, as
discussed above.
C. What is the effect of this authorization decision?
The effect of this decision is that the changes described in
Florida's authorization applications will become part of the authorized
State hazardous waste program, and will therefore be federally
enforceable. Florida will continue to have primary enforcement
authority and responsibility for its State hazardous waste program. EPA
retains its authorities under RCRA sections 3007, 3008, 3013, and 7003,
including its authority to:
Conduct inspections, and require monitoring, tests,
analyses, or reports;
Enforce RCRA requirements, including authorized State
program requirements, and suspend or revoke permits; and
Take enforcement actions regardless of whether the State
has taken its own actions.
This action does not impose additional requirements on the
regulated community because the regulations for which Florida is being
authorized by today's action are already effective, and enforceable
requirements under State law, and are not changed by today's action.
D. Why wasn't there a proposed rule before today's rule?
Along with this immediate final rule, EPA is publishing a separate
document in the ``Proposed Rules'' section of today's Federal Register
that serves as the proposal to authorize these State program changes.
EPA did not publish a proposed rule before today because EPA views this
as a routine program change and does not expect comments that oppose
this approval. EPA is providing an opportunity for public comment now,
as described in Section E of this document.
E. What happens if EPA receives comments that oppose this action?
If EPA receives comments that oppose this authorization, EPA will
withdraw today's immediate final rule by publishing a document in the
Federal Register before the rule becomes effective. EPA will base any
further decision on the authorization of the State program changes on
the proposed rule mentioned in the previous section, after considering
all comments received during the comment period, and will address all
such comments in a later final rule. You may not have another
opportunity to comment on these State program changes. If you want to
[[Page 60758]]
comment on this authorization, you must do so at this time.
If EPA receives comments that oppose only the authorization of a
particular change to the State hazardous waste program, EPA will
withdraw that part of today's immediate final rule but the
authorization of the program changes that the comments do not oppose
will become effective on the date specified above. The Federal Register
withdrawal document will specify which part of the authorization will
become effective, and which part is being withdrawn.
F. What has Florida previously been authorized for?
Florida initially received Final authorization on January 29, 1985,
effective February 12, 1985 (50 FR 3908), to implement a RCRA hazardous
waste management program. EPA granted authorization for changes to
Florida's program on December 1, 1987, effective March 3, 1988 (52 FR
45634); December 16, 1988, effective January 3, 1989 (53 FR 50529);
December 14, 1990, effective February 12, 1991 (55 FR 51416); February
5, 1992, effective April 6, 1992 (57 FR 4371); February 7, 1992,
effective April 7, 1992 (57 FR 4738); May 20, 1992, effective July 20,
1992 (57 FR 21351); November 9, 1993, effective January 10, 1994 (58 FR
59367); July 11, 1994, effective September 9, 1994 (59 FR 35266); April
16, 1994, effective October 17, 1994 (59 FR 41979); October 26, 1994,
effective December 27, 1994 (59 FR 53753); April 1, 1997, effective
June 2, 1997 (62 FR 15407); September 18, 2000, effective November 18,
2000 (65 FR 56256); August 23, 2001, effective October 22, 2001 (66 FR
44307); August 20, 2002, effective October 21, 2002 (67 FR 53886 and 67
FR 53889); October 14, 2004, effective December 13, 2004 (69 FR 60964);
August 10, 2007, effective October 9, 2007 (72 FR 44973); and February
7, 2011, effective April 8, 2011 (76 FR 6564). The authorized Florida
program, through RCRA Cluster IV, was incorporated by reference into
the CFR on January 20, 1998, effective March 23, 1998 (63 FR 2896).
G. What changes is EPA authorizing with this action?
On August 10, 2009, July 1, 2010, and August 30, 2012, Florida
submitted final complete program revision applications seeking
authorization of its changes in accordance with 40 CFR 271.21. EPA now
makes an immediate final decision, subject to receipt of written
comments that oppose this action, that Florida's hazardous waste
program revisions are equivalent to, consistent with, and no less
stringent than the Federal program, and therefore satisfy all of the
requirements necessary to qualify for final authorization. Therefore,
EPA grants Florida final authorization for the following program
changes:
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Description of federal requirement Federal register date and page Analogous state authority \1\
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216--Exclusion of Oil-Bearing 73 FR 57, 01/02/08................... F.A.C. 62-730.020(1) and F.A.C. 62-730.030(1).
Secondary Materials Processed in
a Gasification System to Produce
Synthesis Gas.
217--NESHAP: Final Standards for 73 FR 18970, 04/08/08................ F.A.C. 62-730.180(1) and F.A.C. 62-730.181(1).
Hazardous Waste Combusters (Phase
I Final Replacement Standards and
Phase II) Amendments.
220--Academic Laboratories 73 FR 72912, 12/01/08................ F.A.C. 62-730.030(1) and F.A.C. 62-730.160(1).
Generator Standards.
225--Removal of Saccharin and its 75 FR 78918, 12/17/10................ F.A.C. 62-730.030(1) and F.A.C. 62-183.
Salts from the Lists of Hazardous
Wastes.
226--Corrections to the Academic 75 FR 79304, 10/20/10................ F.A.C. 62-730.160(1).
Laboratories Generator Standards.
227--Revision of the Land Disposal 76 FR 34147, 06/13/11................ F.A.C. 62-730.183.
Treatment Standards for Carbamate
Wastes.
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\1\ The Florida provisions for RCRA Cluster XVIII (Checklists 216-217) are from Florida Administrative Code (F.A.C.) Chapter 62-730, effective May 8,
2009. The Florida provisions for RCRA Cluster XIX (Checklist 220) are from F.A.C. Chapter 62-730, effective June 8, 2010. The Florida provisions for
RCRA Cluster XXI (Checklists 225-227) are from F.A.C. Chapter 62-730, effective June 29, 2012.
H. Where are the revised State rules different from the Federal rules?
There are no State requirements in the authorized program revisions
listed above that are considered to be more stringent or broader in
scope than the Federal requirements. However, Florida has made several
State-initiated changes to its regulations that the EPA considers to be
beyond the scope of the Federal program. These broader-in-scope
requirements include the following:
Form 8700-12F, to the extent that it requires notification
for used oil filter transporters, transfer facilities, processors, and
end users.
F.A.C. 62-730.171(3)(a)(1), which requires that a transfer
facility's initial notification include a certification that the
proposed location of the transfer facility satisfies the criteria of
F.S. 403.7211(2).
F.A.C. 62-730.182, which adds criteria to determine
whether changes at a hazardous waste facility constitute a
``substantial modification'' for purposes of the location standards of
F.S. 403.7211.
Broader-in-scope requirements are not part of the State's
authorized program and EPA cannot enforce them. Although these
requirements must be complied with in accordance with State law, they
are not RCRA requirements.
With this immediate final rule, EPA is also correcting an error
that appeared in the February 7, 2011, Federal Register document
authorizing certain other changes to Florida's hazardous waste program.
At that time, EPA concluded that Florida's universal pharmaceutical
waste rule, F.A.C. 62-730.186, was broader in scope than the Federal
program. This determination was in error. Florida was previously
authorized on April 1, 1997, 62 FR 15407, for its universal waste
rules, F.A.C. 62-730.185, which allow the State to add additional
wastes to its list of universal wastes. As a result, Florida's addition
of hazardous pharmaceutical waste to its universal waste rules is
appropriate and consistent with 40 CFR part 273, subpart G. Therefore,
at this time, EPA is authorizing the specific management requirements
for universal pharmaceutical waste as set forth at F.A.C. 62-730.186,
as revised on April 23, 2013. These requirements are different, but
equivalent to, the Federal program.
I. Who handles permits after the authorization takes effect?
Florida will issue permits for all the provisions for which it is
authorized and will administer the permits it issues. EPA will continue
to administer
[[Page 60759]]
any RCRA hazardous waste permits or portions of permits which EPA
issued prior to the effective date of this authorization until they
expire or are terminated. EPA will not issue any more permits or new
portions of permits for the provisions listed in the Table above after
the effective date of this authorization. EPA will continue to
implement and issue permits for HSWA requirements for which Florida is
not authorized.
J. How does today's action affect Indian Country (18 U.S.C. 1151) in
Florida?
Florida is not authorized to carry out its hazardous waste program
in Indian Country within the State, which includes the Seminole Tribe
of Florida and the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida. EPA will
continue to implement and administer the RCRA program in these lands.
K. What is codification and is EPA codifying Florida's hazardous waste
program as authorized in this rule?
Codification is the process of placing the State's statutes and
regulations that comprise the State's authorized hazardous waste
program into the Code of Federal Regulations. EPA does this by
referencing the authorized State rules in 40 CFR part 272. EPA is not
codifying the authorization of Florida's changes at this time. However,
EPA reserves the amendment of 40 CFR part 272, subpart K, for the
authorization of Florida's program changes at a later date.
L. Administrative Requirements
The Office of Management and Budget has exempted this action from
the requirements of Executive Order 12866 (58 FR 51735, October 4,
1993), and therefore this action is not subject to review by OMB. This
action authorizes State requirements for the purpose of RCRA 3006 and
imposes no additional requirements beyond those imposed by State law.
Accordingly, I certify that this action 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
authorizes pre-existing requirements under State law and 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). For the same reason, this
action also does not significantly or uniquely affect the communities
of Tribal governments, as specified by Executive Order 13175 (65 FR
67249, November 9, 2000). This action will 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), because it
merely authorizes State requirements as part of the State RCRA
hazardous waste program without altering the relationship or the
distribution of power and responsibilities established by RCRA. This
action also is not subject to Executive Order 13045 (62 FR 19885, April
23, 1997), because it is not economically significant and it does not
make decisions based on environmental health or safety risks. This rule
is not subject to Executive Order 13211, ``Actions Concerning
Regulations That Significantly Affect Energy Supply, Distribution, or
Use'' (66 FR 28355, May 22, 2001), because it is not a significant
regulatory action under Executive Order 12866.
Under RCRA 3006(b), EPA grants a State's application for
authorization as long as the State meets the criteria required by RCRA.
It would thus be inconsistent with applicable law for EPA, when it
reviews a State authorization application, to require the use of any
particular voluntary consensus standard in place of another standard
that otherwise satisfies the requirements of RCRA. Thus, the
requirements of section 12(d) of the National Technology Transfer and
Advancement Act of 1995 (15 U.S.C. 272 note) do not apply. As required
by section 3 of Executive Order 12988 (61 FR 4729, February 7, 1996),
in issuing this rule, EPA has taken the necessary steps to eliminate
drafting errors and ambiguity, minimize potential litigation, and
provide a clear legal standard for affected conduct. EPA has complied
with Executive Order 12630 (53 FR 8859, March 15, 1988) by examining
the takings implications of the rule in accordance with the ``Attorney
General's Supplemental Guidelines for the Evaluation of Risk and
Avoidance of Unanticipated Takings'' issued under the executive order.
This rule does not impose an information collection burden under the
provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et
seq.).
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 document 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 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). This
action will be effective December 8, 2014, unless objections to this
authorization are received.
List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 271
Environmental protection, Administrative practice and procedure,
Confidential business information, Hazardous waste, Hazardous waste
transportation, Indian lands, Intergovernmental relations, Penalties,
Reporting and recordkeeping requirements.
Authority: This action is issued under the authority of
sections 2002(a), 3006, and 7004(b), of the Solid Waste Disposal
Act, as amended, 42 U.S.C. 6912(a), 6926, and 6974(b).
Dated: August 27, 2014.
Heather McTeer Toney,
Regional Administrator, Region 4.
[FR Doc. 2014-24006 Filed 10-7-14; 8:45 am]
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