[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 204 (Friday, October 21, 2016)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 72729-72730]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-25512]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 60
[EPA-HQ-OAR-2009-0734; FRL-9954-38-OAR]
Reconsideration of Standards of Performance for New Residential
Wood Heaters, New Residential Hydronic Heaters and Forced-Air Furnaces
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice of final action denying petition for reconsideration.
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SUMMARY: This action provides notice that the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator, Gina McCarthy, denied a petition
for reconsideration of the final Standards of Performance for New
Residential Wood Heaters, New Residential Hydronic Heaters and Forced-
Air Furnaces published in the Federal Register on March 16, 2015.
DATES: This action is effective on October 21, 2016.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Amanda Aldridge, Outreach and
Information Division (C304-05), Office of Air Quality Planning and
Standards, Environmental Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park,
North Carolina 27711; telephone number: (919) 541-5268; fax number
(919) 541-2664; email address: [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. General Information
A. How can I get copies of this document and other related information?
This Federal Register notice, the petition for reconsideration and
the EPA's letter addressing the petition for reconsideration are
available in the docket under Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2009-0734.
Docket. The EPA has established a docket for this action under
Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2009-0734. Publicly available docket materials
are available either electronically through http://www.regulations.gov
or in hard copy at the EPA Docket Center (EPA/DC), EPA WJC West, Room
3334, 1301 Constitution Ave. NW., Washington, DC. The EPA Docket Center
Public Reading Room 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. This action, the petition for reconsideration
and the EPA's letter addressing the petition can also be found on the
EPA's Web site at http://www.epa.gov/ttn/oarpg.
Electronic access. You may access this Federal Register document
electronically from the Government Printing Office under the ``Federal
Register'' listings at FDSys (http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/browse/collection.action?collectionCode=FR).
II. Judicial Review
Section 307(b)(1) of the Clean Air Act (CAA) indicates which
Federal Court of Appeals have venue over petitions for review of final
EPA actions. This section provides, in part, that the petitions for
review must be filed in the Court of Appeals for the District of
Columbia Circuit if: (i) The agency action consists of ``nationally
applicable regulations promulgated, or final action taken, by the
Administrator;'' or (ii) such actions are locally or regionally
applicable, if ``such action is based on a determination of nationwide
scope or effect and if in taking such action the Administrator finds
and publishes that such action is based on such a determination.''
The EPA has determined that its action denying the petition for
reconsideration is nationally applicable for purposes of CAA section
307(b)(1) because the action directly affects the final Standards of
Performance for New Residential Wood Heaters, new Residential Hydronic
Heaters and Forced-Air Furnaces published on March 16, 2015, (``2015
New Source Performance Standards (NSPS)''), which are nationally
applicable regulations. Thus, any petitions for review of the EPA's
decision to deny the petition for reconsideration described in this
document must be filed in the United States Court of Appeals for the
District of Columbia Circuit by December 20, 2016.
III. Description of Action
The 2015 NSPS finalizes amendments to the 1988 Standards of
Performance for New Residential Wood Heaters (40 CFR part 60, subpart
AAA), i.e., the 1988 NSPS, and adds one new subpart: Standards of
Performance for the New Residential Hydronic Heaters and Forced-Air
Furnaces (40 CFR part 60, subpart QQQQ). The 2015 NSPS was developed
following a CAA section 111(b)(1)(B) review of the 1988 NSPS (53 FR
5860, February 26, 1988). This information is contained in the docket,
which is available at http://www.regulations.gov. On February 3, 2014,
the EPA proposed Standards of Performance for New Residential Wood
Heaters, New Residential Hydronic Heaters and Forced-Air Furnaces (79
FR 6373). The EPA received additional data and comments during the
public comment period. These data and comments were considered and
analyzed and, where appropriate, the EPA revised the proposed rule. The
final rule was published on March 16, 2015 (80 FR 13671).
On June 2, 2015, Richard S. Burns & Company, Inc. (``Burns'')
submitted a petition for reconsideration of the 2015 NSPS (80 FR 13671,
March 16, 2015). In its petition, Burns asks the EPA to reconsider
aspects of the final rule's pellet fuel requirements in 40 CFR
[[Page 72730]]
60.532(f). Specifically, Burns asked that the EPA reconsider the ban on
pellet fuels made from construction and demolition waste and the ban on
pellet fuels made from ``prohibited fuels'' which includes construction
or demotion debris and allow certain wood that has been sorted from
construction or demolition waste to be used in the manufacture of
pellet fuels for residential wood heaters.
Burns' reconsideration petition was submitted under Section
307(d)(7)(B) of the CAA, which sets forth the criteria for
reconsideration. That section states that ``(o)nly an objection to a
rule or procedure which was raised with reasonable specificity during
the period for public comment (including any public hearing) may be
raised during judicial review. If the person raising an objection can
demonstrate to the Administrator that it was impractical to raise such
objection within such time or if the grounds for such objection arose
after the period for public comment (but within the time specified for
judicial review) and if such objection is of central relevance to the
outcome of the rule, the Administrator shall convene a proceeding for
reconsideration of the rule and provide the same procedural rights as
would have been afforded had the information been available at the time
the rule was proposed.''
The EPA has carefully considered the petition and supporting
information and evaluated whether the petition meets the CAA section
307(d)(7)(B) criteria for reconsideration. The EPA has concluded that
the petition does not meet the criteria for reconsideration. Thus, in a
letter to the petitioner, the EPA Administrator, Gina McCarthy, denied
the Richard S. Burns & Company, Inc.'s petition, and explained the
reasons for the denial. This letter is available in the docket for this
action.
IV. Conclusion
For the reasons discussed in the letter to the petitioner, their
petition to reconsider the final Standards of Performance for New
Residential Wood Heaters, New Residential Hydronic Heaters and Forced-
Air Furnaces is denied.
List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 60
Environmental protection, Administrative practices and procedures,
Air pollution control, Intergovernmental relations, Reporting and
recordkeeping requirements.
Dated: October 14, 2016.
Gina McCarthy,
Administrator.
[FR Doc. 2016-25512 Filed 10-20-16; 8:45 am]
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