[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 163 (Monday, August 24, 2015)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 51141-51144]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-20907]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 271

[EPA-R04-RCRA-2015-0294; FRL-9932-93-Region 4]


North Carolina: Final Authorization of State Hazardous Waste 
Management Program Revisions

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Direct final rule.

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SUMMARY: North Carolina has applied to the United States 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 direct 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 North Carolina'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 direct 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 October 23, 
2015 unless EPA receives adverse written comment by September 23, 2015. 
If EPA receives such comment, EPA will publish a timely withdrawal of 
this direct 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-2015-0294, 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 Gwendolyn Gleaton, RCRA 
Programs and Materials Management Section, Materials and Waste 
Management Branch, Resource Conservation and Restoration 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 
Gwendolyn Gleaton, RCRA Programs and Materials Management Section, 
Materials and Waste Management Branch, Resource Conservation and 
Restoration 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 September 23, 2015. 
Direct your comments to Docket ID No. EPA-R04-RCRA-2015-0294. 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

[[Page 51142]]

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 publicly 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 North Carolina's application and associated 
publicly available materials from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. at the 
following locations: EPA, Region 4, Resource Conservation and 
Restoration Division, Atlanta Federal Center, 61 Forsyth Street SW., 
Atlanta, Georgia 30303-8960; telephone number: (404) 562-8500; and the 
North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources, 217 
West Jones Street, Raleigh, North Carolina 27603; telephone number: 
(919) 707-8219. Interested persons wanting to examine these documents 
should make an appointment with the office at least a week in advance.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Gwendolyn Gleaton, RCRA Programs and 
Materials Management Section, Materials and Waste Management Branch, 
Resource Conservation and Restoration Division, U.S. Environmental 
Protection Agency, Atlanta Federal Center, 61 Forsyth Street SW., 
Atlanta, Georgia 30303-8960; telephone number: (404) 562-8500; 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 North Carolina, 
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 March 9, 2014, North Carolina submitted a final complete program 
revision application seeking authorization of changes to its hazardous 
waste program that correspond to certain Federal rules promulgated 
between July 1, 2008 and June 30, 2014 (also known as RCRA Clusters XIX 
through XXIII). EPA concludes that North Carolina's application to 
revise its authorized program meets 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 North 
Carolina final authorization to operate its hazardous waste program 
with the changes described in the authorization application, and as 
outlined below in Section G of this document.
    North Carolina 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 application, 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 North 
Carolina's authorization application will become part of the authorized 
State hazardous waste program, and will therefore be federally 
enforceable. North Carolina 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 North Carolina 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 direct 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 direct 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

[[Page 51143]]

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 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 direct 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 North Carolina previously been authorized for?

    North Carolina initially received final authorization on December 
14, 1984, effective December 31, 1984 (49 FR 48694), to implement a 
hazardous waste management program. EPA granted authorization for 
changes to North Carolina's program on the following dates: March 25, 
1986, effective April 8, 1986 (51 FR 10211); August 5, 1988, effective 
October 4, 1988 (53 FR 1988); February 9, 1989, effective April 10, 
1989 (54 FR 6290); September 22, 1989, effective November 21, 1989 (54 
FR 38993); January 18, 1991, effective March 19, 1991 (56 FR 1929); 
April 10, 1991, effective June 9, 1991 (56 FR 14474); July 19, 1991, 
effective September 17, 1991 (56 FR 33206); April 27, 1992, effective 
June 26, 1992 (57 FR 15254); December 12, 1992, effective February 16, 
1993 (57 FR 59825); January 27, 1994, effective March 28, 1994 (59 FR 
3792); April 4, 1994, effective June 3, 1994 (59 FR 15633); June 23, 
1994, effective August 22, 1994 (59 FR 32378); November 10, 1994, 
effective January 9, 1995 (59 FR 56000); September 27, 1995, effective 
November 27, 1995 (60 FR 49800); April 25, 1996, effective June 24, 
1996 (61 FR 18284); October 23, 1998, effective December 22, 1998 (63 
FR 56834); August 25, 1999, effective October 25, 1999 (64 FR 46298); 
February 28, 2002, effective April 29, 2002 (67 FR 9219); December 14, 
2004, effective February 14, 2005 (69 FR 74444); March 23, 2005, 
effective May 23, 2005 (70 FR 14556); February 7, 2011, effective April 
8, 2011 (76 FR 6561); and June 14, 2013, effective August 13, 2013 (78 
FR 35766).

G. What changes is EPA authorizing with this action?

    On March 9, 2014, North Carolina submitted a final complete program 
revision application 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 North 
Carolina'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 North Carolina final 
authorization for the following program changes:

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                                                                                      Analogous state authority
  Description of Federal requirement          Federal Register date and page                     \1\
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220--Academic Laboratories Generator   73 FR 72912, 12/01/2008....................  15A NCAC 13A .0106(a); and
 Standards.                                                                          15A NCAC 13A .0107(a) &
                                                                                     (i).
223--Hazardous Waste Technical         75 FR 12989, 03/18/2010....................  15A NCAC 13A .0102(b); 15A
 Corrections and Clarifications.       75 FR 31716, 06/04/2010....................   NCAC 13A .0106(a), (c), (d)
                                                                                     & (f); 15A NCAC 13A
                                                                                     .0107(a)-(d) & (f); 15A
                                                                                     NCAC 13A .0108(a); 15A NCAC
                                                                                     13A .0109(e), (f), (o) &
                                                                                     (s); 15A NCAC 13A .0110(d),
                                                                                     (e) & (n); 15A NCAC 13A
                                                                                     .0111(a)-(d); 15A NCAC 13A
                                                                                     .0112(c); and 15A NCAC 13A
                                                                                     .0113(a).
225--Removal of Saccharin and Its      75 FR 78918, 12/17/2010....................  15A NCAC 13A .0106(d) & (f);
 Salts from the Lists of Hazardous                                                   and 15A NCAC 13A .0112(c) &
 Wastes.                                                                             (e).
226--Academic Laboratories Generator   75 FR 79304, 12/20/2010....................  15A NCAC 13A .0107(i).
 Standards Technical Corrections.
227--Revision of the Land Disposal     76 FR 34147, 06/13/2011....................  15A NCAC 13A .0112(c).
 Treatment Standards for Carbamate
 Wastes.
228--Hazardous Waste Technical         77 FR 22229, 04/13/2012....................  15A NCAC 13A .0106(d); and
 Corrections and Clarifications Rule.                                                15A NCAC 13A .0111(a).
229--Conditional Exclusions for        78 FR 46448, 07/31/2013....................  15A NCAC 13A .0102(b); and
 Solvent Contaminated Wipes.                                                         15A NCAC 13A .0106(a).
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\1\ The North Carolina provisions are from the North Carolina Hazardous Waste Management Rules, 15A NCAC 13A,
  effective as of May 17, 2011.

H. Where are the revised State rules different from the Federal rules?

    There are no State requirements in this program revision considered 
to be more stringent or broader in scope than the Federal requirements.

I. Who handles permits after the authorization takes effect?

    North Carolina will issue permits for all the provisions for which 
it is authorized and will administer the permits it issues. EPA will 
continue to administer 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 North Carolina is not authorized.

J. How does today's action affect Indian Country (18 U.S.C. 1151) in 
North Carolina?

    North Carolina is not authorized to carry out its hazardous waste 
program in Indian Country within the State, which includes the Eastern 
Band of Cherokee Indians. EPA will continue to implement and administer 
the RCRA program in these lands.

K. What is codification and is EPA codifying North Carolina'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

[[Page 51144]]

40 CFR part 272. EPA is not codifying the authorization of North 
Carolina's changes at this time. However, EPA reserves the amendment of 
40 CFR part 272, subpart II, for the authorization of North Carolina's 
program changes at a later date.

L. Administrative Requirements

    The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) 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 section 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 October 23, 2015, 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: June 26, 2015.
Heather McTeer Toney,
Regional Administrator, Region 4.
[FR Doc. 2015-20907 Filed 8-21-15; 8:45 am]
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