[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 93 (Monday, May 14, 2012)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 28336-28338]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-11650]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 52
[EPA-R03-OAR-2012-0042; FRL-9672-1]
Approval and Promulgation of Air Quality Implementation Plans;
Maryland; Offset Lithographic Printing and Letterpress Printing
Regulations
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Proposed rule.
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SUMMARY: EPA is proposing to approve a State Implementation Plan (SIP)
revision submitted by the State of Maryland (Maryland). This revision
pertains to amendments to the Code of Maryland (COMAR) 26.11.19.11,
Lithographic and Letterpress Printing. Maryland's SIP revision meets
the requirement to adopt Reasonably Available Control Technology (RACT)
for sources covered by EPA's Control Techniques Guidelines (CTG) for
offset lithographic printing and letterpress printing. This will help
Maryland attain and maintain the National Ambient Air Quality Standard
(NAAQS) for ozone. This action is being taken under the Clean Air Act
(CAA).
DATES: Written comments must be received on or before June 13, 2012.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID Number EPA-
R03-OAR-2012-0042 by one of the following methods:
[[Page 28337]]
A. www.regulations.gov. Follow the on-line instructions for
submitting comments.
B. Email: [email protected].
C. Mail: EPA-R03-OAR-2012-0042, Cristina Fernandez, Associate
Director, Office of Air Program Planning, Mailcode 3AP30, U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency, Region III, 1650 Arch Street,
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19103.
D. Hand Delivery: At the previously-listed EPA Region III address.
Such deliveries are only accepted during the Docket's normal hours of
operation, and special arrangements should be made for deliveries of
boxed information.
Instructions: Direct your comments to Docket ID No. EPA-R03-OAR-
2012-0042. 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
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 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.
Docket: All documents in the electronic docket are listed in the
www.regulations.gov index. Although listed in the index, some
information is not publicly available, i.e., 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 either electronically in www.regulations.gov or
in hard copy during normal business hours at the Air Protection
Division, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region III, 1650 Arch
Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19103. Copies of the State submittal
are available at the Maryland Department of the Environment, 1800
Washington Boulevard, Suite 705, Baltimore, Maryland 21230.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Asrah Khadr, (215) 814-2071, or by
email at [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Throughout this document, whenever ``we,''
``us,'' or ``our'' is used, we mean EPA. On December 15, 2011, the
Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) submitted a revision to
its SIP for the adoption of EPA's CTG for offset lithographic printing
and letterpress printing into the Code of Maryland.
I. Background
Section 172(c)(1) of the CAA provides that SIPs for nonattainment
areas must include reasonably available control measures (RACM),
including RACT for sources of emissions. Section 182(b)(2)(A) provides
that for certain nonattainment areas, states must revise their SIPs to
include RACT for sources of volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions
covered by a CTG document issued after November 15, 1990 and prior to
the area's date of attainment.
CTGs are intended to provide state and local air pollution control
authorities information that should assist them in determining RACT for
VOCs from various sources, which include offset lithographic and
letterpress printers. In developing these CTGs, EPA, among other
things, evaluated the sources of VOC emissions from this industry and
the available control approaches for addressing these emissions,
including the costs of such approaches. Based on available information
and data, EPA provided recommendations for RACT for offset lithographic
printers and letterpress printers.
In November 1993, EPA published a draft CTG for offset lithographic
printing. This CTG discusses the nature of VOC emissions from this
industry, available control technologies for addressing such emissions,
the costs of available control options, and other items. In June 1994,
EPA published an alternative control techniques (ACT) document for
states to use in developing rules based on RACT for offset lithographic
printing. In 2006, after conducting a review of currently existing
state and local VOC emission reduction approaches for this industry,
reviewing the 1993 draft CTG and the 1994 ACT, and taking into account
the information that has become available since then, EPA developed a
new CTG for offset lithographic printers and letterpress printers,
entitled Control Techniques Guidelines for Offset Lithographic Printing
and Letterpress Printing (see EPA 453/R-06-002). The CTG for offset
lithographic printing and letterpress printing provides VOC control
recommendations for the following components involved in offset
lithographic and letterpress printing: Heatset inks, fountain solutions
and cleaning materials. A detailed description of this CTG may be found
in the technical support document (TSD).
II. Summary of SIP Revision
On December 15, 2011, the MDE submitted to EPA a SIP revision
(11-09) concerning the adoption of EPA's CTG for offset
lithographic printing and letterpress printing. EPA develops CTGs as
guidance on control requirements for source categories. States can
follow the CTGs or adopt more restrictive standards. Maryland has
adopted EPA's CTG standards for offset lithographic printing and
letterpress printing. These regulations are in COMAR 26.11.19, Volatile
Organic Compounds from Specific Processes. Specifically, this revision
amends the existing regulation in Section 26.11.19.11 to include the
recommendations from the aforementioned CTG. A detailed summary of
EPA's review of and rationale for proposing to approve this SIP
revision may be found in the TSD for this action which is available on
line at http://www.regulations.gov, Docket number EPA-R03-OAR-2012-
0042.
III. Proposed Action
EPA's review of this material indicates that the proposed SIP
revision will reduce VOC emissions which will help maintain
environmental protection and public health. EPA is proposing to approve
the Maryland SIP revision for adoption of the CTG standards for offset
lithographic printing and letterpress printing into the Code of
Maryland. EPA is soliciting public comments on the issues discussed in
this document. These comments will be considered before taking final
action.
IV. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews
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).
[[Page 28338]]
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 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 Order
12866 (58 FR 51735, October 4, 1993);
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 proposed rule concerning Maryland's adoption of
the CTG for offset lithographic printing and letterpress printing 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.
List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 52
Environmental protection, Air pollution control, Ozone, Reporting
and recordkeeping requirements, Volatile organic compounds.
Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.
Dated: May 2, 2012.
W.C. Early,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region III.
[FR Doc. 2012-11650 Filed 5-11-12; 8:45 am]
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