[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 124 (Wednesday, June 27, 2012)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 38246-38248]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-15731]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 52
[EPA-R09-OAR-2012-0470; FRL-9692-4]
Revisions to the Arizona State Implementation Plan, Arizona
Department of Environmental Quality, Maricopa County Air Quality
Department, and Pima County Department of Environmental Quality
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Proposed rule.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: EPA is proposing to approve revisions to the Arizona
Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ), Maricopa County Air Quality
Department (MCAQD), and Pima County Department of Environmental Quality
(PCDEQ) portions of the Arizona State Implementation Plan (SIP) that
EPA expects to be submitted by ADEQ. These revisions concern
regulations that require monitoring and reporting of volatile organic
compounds (VOC), oxides of nitrogen (NOX), and particulate
matter (PM) emissions from stationary sources. This proposed approval
is based upon proposed regulations submitted by ADEQ and an
accompanying request that EPA proceed with SIP review while the State
and local agencies complete their public review and agency adoption
processes. EPA will not take final action on these regulations until
ADEQ submits the final adopted versions to EPA as a revision to the
Arizona SIP. Final EPA approval of the regulations and incorporation of
them into the Arizona SIP would make them federally enforceable under
the Clean Air Act (CAA). We are taking comments on this proposal and
plan to follow with a final action.
DATES: Any comments must arrive by July 27, 2012.
ADDRESSES: Submit comments, identified by docket number EPA-R09-OAR-
2012-0470, by one of the following methods:
1. Federal eRulemaking Portal: www.regulations.gov. Follow the on-
line instructions.
2. Email: [email protected].
3. Mail or deliver: Andrew Steckel (Air-4), U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency Region IX, 75 Hawthorne Street, San Francisco, CA
94105-3901.
Instructions: All comments 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 Confidential Business Information (CBI) or other information
whose disclosure is restricted by statute. Information that you
consider CBI or otherwise protected should be clearly identified as
such and should not be submitted through www.regulations.gov or email.
www.regulations.gov is an ``anonymous access'' system, and EPA will not
know your identity or contact information unless you provide it in the
body of your comment. If you send email directly to EPA, your email
address will be automatically captured and included as part of the
public comment. 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.
Docket: Generally, documents in the docket for this action are
available electronically at www.regulations.gov and in hard copy at EPA
Region IX, 75 Hawthorne Street, San Francisco, California. While all
documents in the docket are listed at www.regulations.gov, some
information may be publicly available only at the hard copy location
(e.g., copyrighted material, large maps), and some may not be publicly
available in either location (e.g., CBI). To inspect the hard copy
materials, please schedule an appointment during normal business hours
with the contact listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Rynda Kay, EPA Region IX, (415) 947-
4118, [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Throughout this document, ``we,'' ``us'' and
``our'' refer to 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 rules?
II. EPA's Evaluation and Proposed Action
A. How is EPA evaluating the rules?
B. Do the rules meet the evaluation criteria?
C. Public Comment and Proposed Action
III. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews
I. The State's Submittal
A. What rules did the State submit?
By letter dated June 1, 2012, ADEQ submitted to EPA on behalf of
ADEQ, MCAQD, and PCDEQ, unofficial copies of several rules and
statutes, with a request for approval of these provisions into the SIP
by parallel processing.\1\ See
[[Page 38247]]
June 1, 2012 letter to Jared Blumenfeld, Regional Administrator, EPA
Region 9, from Eric Massey, Director, Air Quality, ADEQ. Table 1 lists
the five rules addressed by this proposal.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Under EPA's ``parallel processing'' procedure, EPA proposes
rulemaking action concurrently with the State's proposed rulemaking.
If the State's proposed rule is changed, EPA will evaluate that
subsequent change and may publish another notice of proposed
rulemaking. If no significant change is made, EPA will publish a
final rulemaking on the rule after responding to any submitted
comments. Final rulemaking action by EPA will occur only after the
rule has been fully adopted by Arizona and submitted formally to EPA
for incorporation into the SIP. See 40 CFR part 51, appendix V.
Table 1--Rules Submitted by Arizona for Parallel Processing
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Local agency Rule No. Rule title
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ADEQ............................ 18-2-313........... Existing Source Emission Monitoring.
ADEQ............................ 18-2-327........... Annual Emissions Inventory Questionnaire.
MCAQD........................... 100, Section 500... Monitoring and Records.
PCDEQ........................... 17.12.040.......... Reporting Requirements.
PCDEQ........................... 17.24.040.......... Reporting for Compliance Evaluations.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The above rules have been adopted locally but have not been adopted
specifically for purposes of approval into the federally enforceable
SIP under CAA section 110. ADEQ has requested that MCAQD and PCDEQ
adopt these regulations following public process for purposes of SIP
approval and thereafter submit the rules to ADEQ for transmittal to EPA
as SIP revisions. Concurrent with these county processes, ADEQ
anticipates that it will schedule a public hearing in July 2012 on its
proposal to submit these rules to EPA for incorporation into the SIP,
and intends to submit the final SIP revision to EPA by late August
2012. We note that because the state and county rulemaking processes
here are solely for purposes of adopting these regulations as SIP
revisions under CAA section 110 and not for purposes of revising any of
the regulations, we do not expect any substantive changes between the
proposed and final submittals. Final approval of these rules, however,
is contingent upon EPA's receipt of fully adopted rules that satisfy
state and local procedural requirements for SIP submittals.
B. Are there other versions of these rules?
There are no SIP-approved versions of ADEQ Rule 18-2-327 or PCDEQ
Rule 17.24.040. We approved an earlier version of ADEQ Rule 9-3-313
into the SIP on April 23, 1982 (47 FR 17483). The submitted rule ADEQ
Rule 18-2-313 will replace the SIP rule ADEQ Rule 9-3-313. We approved
an earlier version of MCAQD Rule 100, Section 504 into the SIP on
February 10, 2005 (70 FR 7038). The submitted rule MCAQD Rule 100,
Section 500 will replace SIP rule MCAQD Rule 100, Section 504. We
approved an earlier version of PCDEQ Rule 622 into the SIP on April 16,
1982 (47 FR 16328). The submitted rule PCDEQ Rule 17.12.040 will
replace the SIP rule PCDEQ Rule 622.
C. What is the purpose of the submitted rules?
VOCs help produce ground-level ozone and smog, which harm human
health and the environment. NOX helps produce ground-level
ozone, smog and particulate matter, which harm human health and the
environment. PM contributes to effects that are harmful to human health
and the environment, including premature mortality, aggravation of
respiratory and cardiovascular disease, decreased lung function,
visibility impairment, and damage to vegetation and ecosystems. Section
110(a) of the CAA requires States to submit regulations that control
VOC, NOX, and PM emissions.
ADEQ Rule 18-2-313 establishes requirements for continuous
emissions monitoring systems at certain fossil-fuel fired steam
generators, sulfuric acid plants, nitric acid plants, and fluid bed
catalytic cracking unit catalysts regenerators at petroleum refineries,
if subject to an emission standard. ADEQ Rule 18-2-327 requires that
every source subject to a permit complete and submit an annual
emissions inventory questionnaire. PCDEQ Rule 17.12.040 establishes
reporting requirements for emissions that exceed levels allowed under
applicable regulations. PCDEQ Rule 17.24.040 requires a source to
provide to the Control Officer all records and documentation needed to
determine compliance or noncompliance with a regulation. The purpose of
revising MCAQD Rule 100, Section 500 was to add recordkeeping and add/
revise emission reporting requirements. EPA's technical support
documents (TSDs) have more information about these rules.
II. EPA's Evaluation and Proposed Action
A. How is EPA evaluating the rules?
Generally, SIP rules must be enforceable (see section 110(a) of the
Act) and must not relax existing requirements (see sections 110(l) and
193). Guidance and policy documents that we use to evaluate
enforceability requirements consistently include the following:
1. ``Issues Relating to VOC Regulation Cutpoints, Deficiencies, and
Deviations,'' EPA, May 25, 1988 (the Bluebook).
2. ``Guidance Document for Correcting Common VOC & Other Rule
Deficiencies,'' EPA Region 9, August 21, 2001 (the Little Bluebook).
3. ``Requirements for Preparation, Adoption, and Submittal of
Implementation Plans'', U.S. EPA, 40 CFR part 51.
4. 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) (``General Preamble'').
B. Do the rules meet the evaluation criteria?
We believe these rules are consistent with the applicable
requirements and guidance regarding enforceability and SIP relaxations.
The TSDs have more information on our evaluation.
C. Public Comment and Proposed Action
Because EPA believes the submitted rules fulfill all applicable CAA
requirements, we are proposing to fully approve them under section
110(k)(3) of the Act. We will accept comments from the public on this
proposal for the next 30 days. Unless we receive convincing new
information during the comment period or ADEQ does not submit the
[[Page 38248]]
adopted SIP revisions as expected, we intend to publish a final
approval action that will incorporate these rules into the federally
enforceable SIP.
III. 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 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 Clean Air Act; and
Does not provide 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, this proposed action 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, Intergovernmental
relations, Nitrogen dioxide, Ozone, Particulate matter, Reporting and
recordkeeping requirements, Volatile organic compounds.
Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.
Dated: June 15, 2012.
Jared Blumenfeld,
Regional Administrator, Region IX.
[FR Doc. 2012-15731 Filed 6-26-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P