[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 111 (Monday, June 10, 2019)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 26804-26806]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-12177]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[EPA-R09-OAR-2019-0105; FRL-994-97-Region 9]


Air Plan Approval; Arizona; Maricopa County Air Quality 
Department

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Proposed rule.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to 
approve revisions to the Maricopa County Air Quality Department (MCAQD) 
portion of the Arizona State Implementation Plan (SIP). These revisions 
concern emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from graphic 
arts and from coating of wood furniture and fixtures. We are proposing 
to approve two local rules to regulate these emission sources under the 
Clean Air Act (CAA or the Act). We are taking comments on this proposal 
and plan to follow with a final action.

DATES: Any comments must arrive by July 10, 2019.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-R09-
OAR-2019-0105 at https://www.regulations.gov. For comments submitted at 
Regulations.gov, follow the online instructions for submitting 
comments. Once submitted, comments cannot be edited or removed from 
Regulations.gov. The EPA may publish any comment received to its public 
docket. Do not submit electronically any information you consider to be 
Confidential Business Information (CBI) or other information whose 
disclosure is restricted by statute. Multimedia submissions (audio, 
video, etc.) must be accompanied by a written comment. The written 
comment is considered the official comment and should include 
discussion of all points you wish to make. The EPA will generally not 
consider comments or comment contents located outside of the primary 
submission (i.e., on the web, cloud, or other file sharing system). For 
additional submission methods, please contact the person identified in 
the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section. For the full EPA public 
comment policy, information about CBI or multimedia submissions, and 
general guidance on making effective comments, please visit https://www.epa.gov/dockets/commenting-epa-dockets.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Nicole Law or Robert Schwartz, EPA 
Region IX, 75 Hawthorne Street, San Francisco, CA 94105, (415) 947-4126 
or (415) 972-3286, [email protected] or [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Throughout this document, ``we,'' ``us'' and 
``our'' refer to the EPA.

Table of Contents

I. The State's Submittal
    A. What rules did the State submit?
    B. Are there other versions of these rules?
    C. What is the purpose of the submitted rule revisions?
II. The EPA's Evaluation and Action
    A. How is the EPA evaluating the rules?
    B. Do the rules meet the evaluation criteria?
    C. The EPA's Recommendations To Further Improve the Rules
    D. Public Comment and Proposed Action
III. Incorporation by Reference
IV. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

I. The State's Submittal

A. What rules did the State submit?

    Table 1 lists the rules addressed by this proposal with the dates 
that they were adopted by the local air agency and submitted by the 
Arizona Department of Environmental Quality.

                                            Table 1--Submitted Rules
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                     Adopted/
         Local agency                    Rule No.                 Rule title         amended/        Submitted
                                                                                      revised
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
MCAQD........................  337.........................  Graphic Arts.......      08/17/2011      01/15/2014
MCAQD........................  342.........................  Coating Wood             11/02/2016      06/22/2017
                                                              Furniture and
                                                              Fixtures.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    On March 5, 2014, the EPA determined that the submittal for MCAQD 
Rule 337 met the completeness criteria in 40 CFR part 51 Appendix V, 
which must be met before formal EPA review.
    On December 22, 2017, the submittal for MCAQD Rule 342 was deemed 
by operation of law to meet the completeness criteria in 40 CFR part 51 
Appendix V, which must be met before formal EPA review.

B. Are there other versions of these rules?

    We approved earlier versions of Rule 337 and Rule 342 into the SIP 
on February 9, 1998 (63 FR 6489). The MCAQD adopted revisions to the 
SIP-approved version of Rule 337 on August

[[Page 26805]]

17, 2011, and the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) 
submitted them to us on January 15, 2014. The MCAQD adopted revisions 
to the SIP-approved version of Rule 342 on November 2, 2016, and the 
ADEQ submitted them to us on June 22, 2017.

C. What is the purpose of the submitted rule revisions?

    Emissions of VOCs contribute to ground-level ozone (``smog'') and 
particulate matter, which harm human health and the environment. 
Section 110(a) of the CAA requires states to submit regulations that 
control VOC emissions. The current SIP-approved Rule 337 contains VOC 
limits for various graphic arts materials and cleaning solutions 
associated with lithographic printing. It also contains requirements 
pertaining to labeling, operation and maintenance plans, monitoring, 
recordkeeping, reporting, and test methods. The submitted revisions 
expand requirements for specific types of graphic arts operations such 
as lithographic and letter press operations, rotogravure and 
flexographic operations, and screen-printing operations. A work 
practice section was also added describing VOC material use, storage 
and disposal, and minimization of spills.
    The current SIP-approved Rule 342 establishes VOC content limits 
and workplace standards for all persons involved in the surface 
preparation and coating of wood furniture and fixtures. Revisions to 
the SIP-approved rule include the addition of leak detection and repair 
requirements, annual operator training requirements, and more 
comprehensive recordkeeping requirements; updates to definitions; 
revised test methods; and removal of outdated compliance dates and 
spray gun tagging requirements. The EPA's technical support documents 
(TSDs) have more information about these rules.

II. The EPA's Evaluation and Action

A. How is the EPA evaluating the rules?

    Rules in the SIP must be enforceable (see CAA section 110(a)(2)), 
must not interfere with applicable requirements concerning attainment 
and reasonable further progress or other CAA requirements (see CAA 
section 110(l)), and must not modify certain SIP control requirements 
in nonattainment areas without ensuring equivalent or greater emissions 
reductions (see CAA section 193).
    Generally, SIP rules must require Reasonably Available Control 
Technology (RACT) for each category of sources covered by a Control 
Techniques Guidelines (CTG) document as well as each major source of 
VOCs in ozone nonattainment areas classified as Moderate or above (see 
CAA section 182(b)(2)). The MCAQD regulates an ozone nonattainment area 
classified as Moderate for the 2008 8-hour ozone NAAQS (40 CFR 81.303). 
Therefore, these rules must implement RACT.
    Guidance and policy documents that we used to evaluate 
enforceability, revision/relaxation and rule stringency requirements 
for the applicable criteria pollutants include the following:

    1. ``State Implementation Plans; General Preamble for the 
Implementation of Title I of the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990,'' 
57 FR 13498 (April 16, 1992); 57 FR 18070 (April 28, 1992).
    2. ``Issues Relating to VOC Regulation Cutpoints, Deficiencies, 
and Deviations,'' EPA, May 25, 1988 (the Bluebook, revised January 
11, 1990).
    3. ``Guidance Document for Correcting Common VOC & Other Rule 
Deficiencies,'' EPA Region 9, August 21, 2001 (the Little Bluebook).
    4. ``Control of Volatile Organic Compound Emissions from Wood 
Furniture Manufacturing Operations,'' EPA-453/R-96-007, April 1996.
    5. ``Control of Volatile Organic Emissions from Existing 
Stationary Sources--Volume VIII: Graphic Arts--Rotogravure and 
Flexography,'' EPA-450/2-78-033, December 1978.
    6. ``Control Techniques Guidelines for Offset Lithographic 
Printing and Letterpress Printing,'' EPA 453/R-06-002, September 
2006.

B. Do the rules meet the evaluation criteria?

    These rules are consistent with CAA requirements and relevant 
guidance regarding enforceability, RACT and SIP revisions. The TSDs 
have more information on our evaluation.

C. The EPA's Recommendations To Further Improve the Rules

    The TSDs include recommendations for the next time the local agency 
modifies the rules.

D. Public Comment and Proposed Action

    As authorized in section 110(k)(3) of the Act, the EPA proposes to 
fully approve the submitted rules because they fulfill all relevant 
requirements. We will accept comments from the public on this proposal 
until July 10, 2019. If we take final action to approve the submitted 
rules, our final action will incorporate these rules into the federally 
enforceable SIP.

III. Incorporation by Reference

    In this rule, the EPA is proposing to include in a final EPA rule 
regulatory text that includes incorporation by reference. In accordance 
with requirements of 1 CFR 51.5, the EPA is proposing to incorporate by 
reference the MCAQD rules described in Table 1 of this preamble. The 
EPA has made, and will continue to make, these materials available 
through www.regulations.gov and at the EPA Region IX Office (please 
contact the persons identified in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT 
section of this preamble for more information).

IV. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

    Under the Clean Air Act, the Administrator is required to approve a 
SIP submission that complies with the provisions of the Act and 
applicable federal regulations. 42 U.S.C. 7410(k); 40 CFR 52.02(a). 
Thus, in reviewing SIP submissions, the EPA's role is to approve state 
choices, provided that they meet the criteria of the Clean Air Act. 
Accordingly, this proposed action merely proposes to approve state law 
as meeting federal requirements and does not impose additional 
requirements beyond those imposed by state law. For that reason, this 
proposed 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 SIP approvals are exempted 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

[[Page 26806]]

Act of 1995 (15 U.S.C. 272 note) because application of those 
requirements would be inconsistent with the Clean Air Act; and
     does not provide the EPA with the discretionary authority 
to address disproportionate human health or environmental effects with 
practical, appropriate, and legally permissible methods under Executive 
Order 12898 (59 FR 7629, February 16, 1994).
    In addition, the SIP is not approved to apply on any Indian 
reservation land or in any other area where the EPA or an Indian tribe 
has demonstrated that a tribe has jurisdiction. In those areas of 
Indian country, the rule does not have tribal implications and will not 
impose substantial direct costs on tribal governments or preempt tribal 
law as specified by Executive Order 13175 (65 FR 67249, November 9, 
2000).

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 52

    Environmental protection, Air pollution control, Incorporation by 
reference, Intergovernmental relations, Ozone, Particulate matter, 
Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, Volatile organic compounds.

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

    Dated: May 29, 2019.
Deborah Jordan,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region IX.
[FR Doc. 2019-12177 Filed 6-7-19; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P