[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 24 (Monday, February 8, 2021)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 8564-8566]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-02538]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[EPA-R01-OAR-2020-0712; FRL-10019-50-Region 1]


Air Plan Approval; Rhode Island; Control of Volatile Organic 
Compound Emissions

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Proposed rule.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to 
approve State Implementation Plan (SIP) revisions submitted by the 
State of Rhode Island. These revisions update Rhode Island air 
pollution control regulations for volatile organic compound (VOC) 
emissions from consumer products and architectural and industrial 
maintenance coatings. The intended effect of this action is to propose 
approval of the revised regulations. This action is being taken under 
the Clean Air Act.

DATES: Written comments must be received on or before March 10, 2021.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-R01-
OAR-2020-0712 at http://www.regulations.gov, or via email to 
[email protected]. For comments submitted at Regulations.gov, 
follow the online instructions for submitting comments. Once submitted, 
comments cannot be edited or removed from Regulations.gov. For either 
manner of submission, 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. Publicly 
available docket materials are available at https://www.regulations.gov 
or at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, EPA Region 1, Air and 
Radiation Division, 5 Post Office Square--Suite 100, Boston, MA. EPA 
requests that if at all possible, you contact the contact listed in the 
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section to schedule your inspection. 
The Regional Office's official hours of business are Monday through 
Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., excluding legal holidays and facility 
closures due to COVID-19.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: David L. Mackintosh, Air Quality 
Planning Branch, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, EPA Region 1, 
Air and Radiation Division, 5 Post Office Square--Suite 100, Boston, 
MA, tel. 617-918-1584, email [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Throughout this document whenever ``we,'' 
``us,'' or ``our'' is used, we mean EPA.

 Table of Contents

I. Background and Purpose
II. EPA's Evaluation of the Submittal
III. Proposed Action
IV. Incorporation by Reference
V. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

I. Background and Purpose

    On January 24, 2020, the Rhode Island Department of Environmental 
Management submitted to EPA a State Implementation Plan (SIP) revision 
containing three revised air pollution control regulations: 250-RICR-
120- 05-0, ``General Definitions''; 250-RICR-120-05-31, ``Control of 
Volatile Organic Compounds from Consumer Products''; and 250-RICR-120-
05-33, ``Control of Volatile Organic Compounds from Architectural 
Coatings and Industrial Maintenance Coatings.'' These revised 
regulations became effective in Rhode Island on January 9, 2017. In 
each regulation Rhode Island has submitted to EPA for incorporation 
into the SIP, its subsection 2 ``Application'' has been stricken from 
the rule. Rhode Island notes that this language is only relevant in 
Rhode Island and not intended to be incorporated into the Rhode Island 
SIP.
    On April 1, 2020, Rhode Island modified its January 24, 2020, SIP 
revision request by withdrawing 250-RICR-120-05-33, ``Control of 
Volatile Organic Compounds from Architectural Coatings and Industrial 
Maintenance Coatings.'' On July 22, 2020, Rhode Island submitted to EPA 
a SIP revision containing a more recently amended version of 250-RICR-
120-05-33, ``Control of Volatile Organic Compounds from Architectural 
Coatings and Industrial Maintenance Coatings.'' Again, its subsection 2 
``Application''

[[Page 8565]]

has been stricken from the rule and will not be incorporated into the 
Rhode Island SIP. The amended regulation became effective in Rhode 
Island on July 21, 2020.
    On December 28, 2020, Rhode Island modified its January 24, 2020, 
SIP revision request by withdrawing 250-RICR-120-05-0, ``General 
Definitions'' from the SIP revision, because EPA had since approved a 
more recent version of Rhode Island's regulation 0, ``General 
Definitions'' effective in the State of Rhode Island on February 9, 
2018, in a final rulemaking published September 3, 2020 (85 FR 54924).
    Thus, this proposed action addresses two revised regulations: 
``Control of Volatile Organic Compounds from Consumer Products'' and 
``Control of Volatile Organic Compounds from Architectural Coatings and 
Industrial Maintenance Coatings'', submitted by Rhode Island on January 
24, 2020 and July 22, 2020, respectively. EPA previously approved 
earlier versions of these regulations into the Rhode Island SIP on 
March 13, 2012 (77 FR 14691).
    Rhode Island is a member state of the Ozone Transport Commission 
(OTC), an organization established by Congress under the CAA which is 
composed of 12 states, and the District of Columbia, throughout the 
Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions. The OTC develops model rules for 
the member states to use to reduce the emissions of ground level ozone 
precursors. In 2011, OTC authored a model rule limiting VOC content in 
architectural and industrial maintenance coatings, which was the second 
version of this model rule. Then in 2012, the OTC issued a model rule 
to limit the VOC content of consumer products, which was the fourth 
version of this model rule. In 2013, the OTC again revised its consumer 
products rule to include dual purpose air freshener/disinfectants.

II. EPA's Evaluation of the Submittal

    Rhode Island's revised 250-RICR-120-05-31, ``Control of Volatile 
Organic Compounds from Consumer Products'' is based on the 2013 OTC 
model rule for consumer products. The regulation generally applies to 
``any person who sells, supplies, offers for sale, distributes for sale 
or manufactures for sale within Rhode Island any consumer products on 
or after the applicable date.'' The regulation limits the VOC content, 
expressed in percent of VOC by weight, for certain consumer product 
categories, and content limits are restricted based on the product date 
of manufacture. Compared to the previously approved EPA version of the 
regulation, the revision to the regulation lowers VOC content limits 
for 13 consumer product categories and adds nine new consumer product 
categories. The revised and new limits apply to the relevant products 
manufactured on or after January 1, 2019. Additionally, the revised 
regulation incorporates the new product category definitions and 
modifies several existing definitions for clarity and consistency with 
the 2013 OTC model rule. The regulation has also been updated to 
current Rhode Island code of regulations format.
    Rhode Island's revised consumer product regulation continues to 
contain limits for more categories of consumer products than EPA's 
National Volatile Organic Compound Emission Standards for Consumer 
Products rule at 40 CFR part 59 Subpart C (63 FR 48831; September 11, 
1998). The revised regulation limits are also equal to, or more 
stringent than, those found in EPA's consumer products rule.
    Rhode Island's 250-RICR-120-05-33, ``Control of Volatile Organic 
Compounds from Architectural Coatings and Industrial Maintenance 
Coatings'' is based on the 2011 OTC model rule for adhesives and 
sealants. The revised regulation includes all the approaches to 
controlling VOC emissions found in EPA's CTG for Miscellaneous 
Industrial Adhesives (EPA 453/R-08-005, September 2008): VOC content 
limits for adhesives and cleaning solvents; work practices; record 
keeping; air pollution control equipment options; surface preparation 
requirements; and spray gun cleaning requirements. However, Rhode 
Island's rule is more comprehensive than the CTG, since it contains VOC 
content limits for sealants and sealant primers (in addition to 
adhesives as covered by the CTG) and regulates sellers and 
manufacturers (not just appliers of regulated adhesives, adhesive 
primers and sealants). While there are minor differences in the named 
adhesive categories included in the CTG, those differences are 
inconsequential compared to the broader applicability of 250-RICR-120-
05-33 as noted above. The regulation has also been updated to current 
Rhode Island code of regulations format.
    In summary, as noted above, EPA has reviewed Rhode Island's revised 
VOC regulations and found that they are no less stringent than the 
applicable EPA guidance and generally consistent with the OTC 
recommendations. EPA is proposing to approve the Rhode Island SIP 
revision for these two regulations (excluding those provisions 
indicated above that were not submitted by the state), which were 
submitted to EPA on January 24, 2020 and July 22, 2020. EPA is 
soliciting public comments on the issues discussed in this notice or on 
other relevant matters. These comments will be considered before taking 
final action. Interested parties may participate in the Federal 
rulemaking procedure by submitting written comments to this proposed 
rule by following the instructions listed in the ADDRESSES section of 
this Federal Register.

III. Proposed Action

    EPA is proposing to approve the Rhode Island SIP revisions 
consisting of two revised regulations 250-RICR-120-05-31, ``Control of 
Volatile Organic Compounds from Consumer Products'' and 250-RICR-120-
05-33, ``Control of Volatile Organic Compounds from Architectural 
Coatings and Industrial Maintenance Coatings,'' excluding the 
Application subsections 31.2 and 33.2 respectively.

IV. Incorporation by Reference

    In this document, EPA is proposing to amend regulatory text that 
includes incorporation by reference. In accordance with requirements of 
1 CFR 51.5, EPA is proposing changes to the Rhode Island SIP as 
described in the Proposed Action section above. The EPA has made, and 
will continue to make, these documents generally available through 
https://www.regulations.gov and at the EPA Region 1 Office (please 
contact the person identified in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT 
section of this preamble for more information).

V. 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, EPA's role is to approve state 
choices, provided that they meet the criteria of the Clean Air Act. 
Accordingly, this proposed 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 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 expected to be an Executive Order 13771 regulatory 
action because this action is not significant under Executive Order 
12866;

[[Page 8566]]

     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 Clean Air Act; 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, the SIP is not approved to apply on any Indian 
reservation land or in any other area where 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, Reporting and 
recordkeeping requirements, Volatile organic compounds.

    Dated: February 3, 2021.
Deborah Szaro,
Acting Regional Administrator, EPA Region 1.
[FR Doc. 2021-02538 Filed 2-5-21; 8:45 am]
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