[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 63 (Tuesday, April 2, 2019)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 12508-12511]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-04779]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[EPA-R03-OAR-2018-0153; FRL-9990-86-Region 3]


Approval and Promulgation of Air Quality Implementation Plans; 
Maryland; Amendment To Control of Emissions of Volatile Organic 
Compounds From Consumer Products

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is approving a 
revision to the State of Maryland's state implementation plan (SIP). 
The State of Maryland's SIP revision pertains to Code of Maryland 
Regulations (COMAR) 26.11.32--Control of Emissions of Volatile Organic 
Compounds (VOCs) from Consumer Products. This action is being taken 
under the Clean Air Act (CAA).

DATES: This final rule is effective on May 2, 2019.

ADDRESSES: EPA has established a docket for this action under Docket ID 
Number EPA-R03-OAR-2018-0153. All documents in the docket are listed on 
the www.regulations.gov website. Although listed in the index, some 
information is not publicly available, e.g., confidential business 
information (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 through 
www.regulations.gov, or please contact the person identified in the For 
Further Information Contact section for additional availability 
information.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Gregory Becoat, Office of Air 
Program Planning (3AP30), Air Protection Division, U.S. Environmental 
Protection Agency, Region 3, 1650 Arch Street, Philadelphia, 
Pennsylvania 19103. The telephone number is (215) 814-2036. Mr. Becoat 
can also be reached via electronic mail at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On November 16, 2017, the Maryland 
Department of Environment (MDE) submitted a revision to its SIP for 
COMAR 26.11.32--Control of Emissions of Volatile Organic Compounds from 
Consumer Products. The amendment is part of Maryland's strategy to 
achieve and maintain the 8-hour ozone national ambient air quality 
standards (NAAQS) throughout the State.

I. Background

    EPA has designated certain areas within Maryland as nonattainment 
for the 2008 ozone NAAQS. See 40 CFR 81.321. Also, all of Maryland is 
included in the Ozone Transport Region (OTR) and is therefore treated 
as a moderate nonattainment area for ozone. See CAA section 184(a), 
(b)(2), 42 U.S.C. 7511c(a), (b)(2). Therefore, Maryland must continue 
to enact regulations to gain further reductions of the emissions of 
VOCs, a class of compounds that are precursors to ground-level ozone. 
Ozone is formed in the atmosphere by photochemical reactions between 
VOCs and oxides of nitrogen (NOX) in the presence of 
sunlight. In order to reduce ozone concentrations, the CAA requires 
control of VOC and NOX emission sources to achieve VOC and/
or NOX emission reductions in nonattainment areas.
    In December 1999, EPA identified emission reduction shortfalls in 
several severe 1-hour ozone nonattainment areas, including those 
located in the OTR. The Ozone Transport Commission (OTC) developed 
model rules for a number of source categories. One of the model rules 
was to reduce VOC emissions from consumer products. The OTC model rules 
are based on existing rules developed by the California Air Resources 
Board (CARB). The OTC

[[Page 12509]]

Model Rule for Consumer Products was first issued in March 28, 2001, 
revised November 29, 2001, and April 23, 2002. Additional amendments 
followed in 2006, 2010, and 2014. Maryland adopted the 2001 OTC model 
rule for consumer products under COMAR 26.11.32--Control of Emissions 
of Volatile Organic Compounds from Consumer Products, on August 18, 
2003. EPA approved Maryland's adopted regulation COMAR 26.11.32 as part 
of the SIP on December 8, 2004 (69 FR 70895). Maryland adopted the 
amended 2006 OTC model rule for consumer products under COMAR 
26.11.32--Control of Emissions of Volatile Organic Compounds from 
Consumer Products, on June 8, 2007. EPA approved Maryland's amended 
regulation into the SIP on December 10, 2007 (72 FR 69621). Maryland 
again amended its consumer products regulation and on October 18, 2010 
(75 FR 63717), EPA approved Maryland's SIP revision to COMAR 26.11.32--
Control of Emissions of Volatile Organic Compounds from Consumer 
Products.

II. Summary of SIP Revision and EPA Analysis

    On November 16, 2017, Maryland submitted a SIP revision to amend 
COMAR 26.11.32--Control of Emissions of Volatile Organic Compounds from 
Consumer Products, in order to institute the requirements of the 2010 
and 2014 OTC model rules for consumer products. The 2010 and 2014 model 
rules were developed as part of a regional effort to attain and 
maintain the 8-hour ozone NAAQS and reduce 8-hour ozone levels. The 
2010 OTC model rule reflected changes made by the 2006 CARB rule. The 
2014 OTC model rule reflected changes made by the 2009 CARB rule. The 
OTC model rules further enhance VOC standards for specific consumer 
products and introduces VOC standards for new products. Generally, the 
amendments to COMAR 26.11.32--Control of Emissions of Volatile Organic 
Compounds from Consumer Products regulations, established or amended 
VOC content limits and standards for a variety of consumer product 
categories, including personal care products, household products, 
automotive cleaners, and adhesives, in order to be consistent with the 
CARB and OTC model rules. More detailed information on these 
provisions, as well as a detailed summary of EPA's review and rationale 
for approving these SIP revisions, can be found in the notice of 
proposed rulemaking (NPR) for this action which is available on line at 
www.regulations.gov, Docket number EPA-R03-OAR-2018-0153.
    After evaluating the SIP revision submittal, EPA concluded that the 
revisions made to COMAR 26.11.32--Control of Emissions of VOCs from 
Consumer Products, meet the SIP revision requirements of the CAA. The 
revision will continue to help Maryland attain and maintain the eight-
hour ozone standard for the 2008 NAAQS. On August 8, 2018 (83 FR 
39009), EPA published a NPR for the State of Maryland SIP revision. EPA 
received two comments, one which was a relevant adverse comment on the 
NPR, noting that the CARB and the OTC model rules referenced in the NPR 
were not in the docket on www.regulations.gov. As a result, EPA placed 
the missing CARB and OTC model rules into the docket for this action on 
August 16, 2018, and then published a supplemental NPR on November 26, 
2018 (83 FR 57704), reopening the comment period for this action for 
thirty days. EPA received two additional comments during the 
supplemental NPR comment period. All comments received during the 
initial public comment period and the supplemental NPR comment period 
are addressed in Section III. Response to Comments of this rulemaking 
action.

III. Response to Comments

    During the two comment periods, EPA received four anonymous 
comments on the proposed rulemaking action. One comment generally 
discussed air quality in China and India. EPA believes this comment is 
not germane to this rulemaking and therefore no further response is 
provided. Two comments were supportive of EPA's approval of the State 
of Maryland's SIP revision and noted the air quality benefits of 
approving the CARB and OTC model rules into Maryland's SIP. EPA thanks 
those commenters and agrees that this SIP revision will have air 
quality benefits in Maryland. The fourth comment, received during the 
first public comment period, pointed out that the CARB and OTC 
regulations were not in the docket for the rule, which EPA corrected by 
issuing the supplemental NPR and, also, raised the comment discussed 
below.
    Comment #1: The anonymous commenter stated: ``Are you or are you 
not proposing to approve the hair styling gel category? The ``Proposed 
Action'' section makes it sound like you are approving everything 
except the hair styling gel category.''
    Response #1: EPA is approving the ``hair styling product--all other 
forms'' category--which includes ``hair styling gel''--into the 
Maryland SIP. As noted in the NPR published on August 8, 2018 (83 FR 
39009), the 2006 CARB rule eliminated the ``hair styling gel'' category 
and now considers gels to fall under ``hair styling product--all other 
forms'' category. Considering hair styling gels to be part of the 
``hair styling product--all other forms'' category resulted in a 
reduction of the hair styling gels VOC limit from 6 to 2 percent VOC by 
weight. The 2014 OTC model rule did not address the 2006 CARB rule 
amendment for hair styling gels. However, MDE rectified this omission 
in the 2014 OTC model rules when amending COMAR 26.11.32--Control of 
Emissions of VOCs from Consumer Products, by moving the ``hair styling 
gel'' category into the ``hair styling product--all other forms'' 
category. Placing hair styling gels into the ``hair styling product--
all other forms'' category reduces the VOC content to 2 percent VOC by 
weight and makes the Maryland regulations consistent with the 2006 CARB 
rules.

IV. Final Action

    EPA is approving the State of Maryland's November 16, 2017 SIP 
revision submittal that adopts the VOC limits established in the 2010 
and 2014 OTC model rules for consumer products.

V. Incorporation by Reference

    In this document, EPA is finalizing regulatory text that includes 
incorporation by reference. In accordance with requirements of 1 CFR 
51.5, EPA is finalizing the incorporation by reference of the Maryland 
rule discussed in section II of this preamble. EPA has made, and will 
continue to make, these materials generally available through http://www.regulations.gov and at the EPA Region III Office (please contact 
the person identified in the For Further Information Contact section of 
this preamble for more information). Therefore, these materials have 
been approved by EPA for inclusion in the SIP, have been incorporated 
by reference by EPA into that plan, are fully Federally enforceable 
under sections 110 and 113 of the CAA as of the effective date of the 
final rulemaking of EPA's approval, and will be incorporated by 
reference in the next update to the SIP compilation.\1\
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    \1\ 62 FR 27968 (May 22, 1997).

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[[Page 12510]]

VI. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

A. General Requirements

    Under the CAA, the Administrator is required to approve a SIP 
submission that complies with the provisions of the CAA and applicable 
Federal regulations. 42 U.S.C. 7410(k); 40 CFR 52.02(a). Thus, in 
reviewing SIP submissions, EPA's role is to approve state choices, 
provided that they meet the criteria of the CAA. Accordingly, this 
action merely approves state law as meeting Federal requirements and 
does not impose additional requirements beyond those imposed by state 
law. For that reason, this action:
     Is not a ``significant regulatory action'' subject to 
review by the Office of Management and Budget under Executive Orders 
12866 (58 FR 51735, October 4, 1993) and 13563 (76 FR 3821, January 21, 
2011);
     Is not an Executive Order 13771 (82 FR 9339, February 2, 
2017) regulatory action because it is not a significant action under 
Executive Order 12866.
     Does not impose an information collection burden under the 
provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.);
     Is certified as not having a significant economic impact 
on a substantial number of small entities under the Regulatory 
Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 601 et seq.);
     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);
     Does not have federalism implications as specified in 
Executive Order 13132 (64 FR 43255, August 10, 1999);
     Is not an economically significant regulatory action based 
on health or safety risks subject to Executive Order 13045 (62 FR 
19885, April 23, 1997);
     Is not a significant regulatory action subject to 
Executive Order 13211 (66 FR 28355, May 22, 2001);
     Is not subject to requirements of Section 12(d) of the 
National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act of 1995 (15 U.S.C. 272 
note) because application of those requirements would be inconsistent 
with the CAA; and
     Does not provide EPA with the discretionary authority to 
address, as appropriate, disproportionate human health or environmental 
effects, using practicable and legally permissible methods, under 
Executive Order 12898 (59 FR 7629, February 16, 1994).
    In addition, this rule does not have tribal implications as 
specified by Executive Order 13175 (65 FR 67249, November 9, 2000), 
because the SIP is not approved to apply in Indian country located in 
the state, and EPA notes that it will not impose substantial direct 
costs on tribal governments or preempt tribal law.

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 June 3, 2019. 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. This action, which approves the State of Maryland's COMAR 
26.11.32--Control of Emissions of Volatile Organic Compounds from 
Consumer Products, may not be challenged later in proceedings to 
enforce its requirements (See section 307(b)(2)).

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 52

    Environmental protection, Air pollution control, Incorporation by 
reference, Nitrogen dioxide, Ozone, Reporting and recordkeeping 
requirements, Volatile organic compounds.

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

    Dated: March 4, 2019.
Cecil Rodrigues,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region III.

    40 CFR part 52 is amended as follows:

PART 52--APPROVAL AND PROMULGATION OF IMPLEMENTATION PLANS

0
1. The authority citation for part 52 continues to read as follows:

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

Subpart V--Maryland

0
2. In Sec.  52.1070, the table in paragraph (c) is amended by:
0
a. Revising entries for ``26.11.32.01'', ``26.11.32.02'', 
``26.11.32.03'', ``26.11.32.04'', and ``26.11.32.05'';
0
b. Adding an entry in numerical order for ``26.11.32.05-1''; and
0
c. Revising entries for ``26.11.32.06'', ``26.11.32.08'', 
``26.11.32.12'', ``26.11.32.14'', and ``26.11.32.16''.
    The revisions and addition read as follows:


Sec.  52.1070  Identification of plan.

* * * * *
    (c) * * *

                 EPA-Approved Regulations, Technical Memoranda, and Statutes in the Maryland SIP
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     Code of  Maryland                                   State                                   Additional
Administrative  Regulations      Title/subject         effective      EPA approval date    explanation/ citation
      (COMAR)  citation                                  date                                at 40 CFR 52.1100
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               26.11.32 Control of Emissions of Volatile Organic Compounds From Consumer Products
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26.11.32.01................  Applicability and          10/09/2017  4/2/2019, Insert       Revised.
                              Exemptions.                            Federal Register
                                                                     citation].

[[Page 12511]]

 
26.11.32.02................  Incorporation by           10/09/2017  4/2/2019, Insert       Revised.
                              Reference.                             Federal Register
                                                                     citation].
26.11.32.03................  Definitions..........      10/09/2017  4/2/2019, Insert       Revised. Previous
                                                                     Federal Register       Approval dated 12/10/
                                                                     citation].             2007.
26.11.32.04................  Standards--General...      10/09/2017  4/2/2019, Insert       Revised.
                                                                     Federal Register
                                                                     citation].
26.11.32.05................  Standards--Requiremen      10/09/2017  4/2/2019, Insert       Revised.
                              ts for Charcoal                        Federal Register
                              Lighter Materials.                     citation].
26.11.32.05-1..............  Requirements for           10/09/2017  4/2/2019, Insert       New Regulation.
                              Flammable and                          Federal Register
                              Extremely Flammable                    citation].
                              Multi-Purpose
                              Solvent and Paint
                              Thinner.
26.11.32.06................  Standards--Requiremen      10/09/2017  4/2/2019, Insert       Revised.
                              ts for Aerosol                         Federal Register
                              Adhesives.                             citation].
 
                                                  * * * * * * *
26.11.32.08................  Requirements for           10/09/2017  4/2/2019, Insert       Revised.
                              Contact Adhesives,                     Federal Register
                              Electronic Cleaners,                   citation].
                              Footwear, or Leather
                              Care Products, and
                              General Purpose
                              Cleaners.
 
                                                  * * * * * * *
26.11.32.12................  Innovative Products--      10/09/2017  4/2/2019, Insert       Revised.
                              Department Exemption.                  Federal Register
                                                                     citation].
 
                                                  * * * * * * *
26.11.32.14................  Reporting                  10/09/2017  4/2/2019, Insert       Revised.
                              Requirements.                          Federal Register
                                                                     citation].
 
                                                  * * * * * * *
26.11.32.16................  Test Methods.........      10/09/2017  4/2/2019, Insert       Revised.
                                                                     Federal Register
                                                                     citation].
 
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[FR Doc. 2019-04779 Filed 4-1-19; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P