[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 33 (Tuesday, February 19, 2013)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 11583-11585]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-03606]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 52
[EPA-R04-OAR-2012-0888; FRL-9780-8]
Approval and Promulgation of Implementation Plans Tennessee:
Revisions to Volatile Organic Compound Definition
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Direct final rule.
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SUMMARY: EPA is taking direct final action to approve changes to the
Tennessee State Implementation Plan (SIP), submitted by the State of
Tennessee, through the Tennessee Department of Environment and
Conservation (TDEC) on September 3, 1999. Tennessee's September 3,
1999, SIP adds 17 compounds to the list of compounds excluded from the
definition of ``Volatile Organic Compound'' (VOC). EPA is approving
this SIP revision because the State has demonstrated that it is
consistent with the Clean Air Act (CAA or Act).
DATES: This direct final rule is effective April 22, 2013 without
further notice, unless EPA receives adverse comment by March 21, 2013.
If adverse comment is received, EPA will publish a timely withdrawal of
the direct final rule in the Federal Register and inform the public
that the rule will not take effect.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-R04-
OAR-2012-0888, by one of the following methods:
1. www.regulations.gov: Follow the on-line instructions for
submitting comments.
2. Email: [email protected].
3. Fax: (404) 562-9019.
4. Mail: ``EPA-R04-OAR-2012-0888,'' Regulatory Development Section,
Air Planning Branch, Air, Pesticides and Toxics Management Division,
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 4, 61 Forsyth Street SW.,
Atlanta, Georgia 30303-8960.
5. Hand Delivery or Courier: Lynorae Benjamin, Chief, Regulatory
Development Section, Air Planning Branch, Air, Pesticides and Toxics
Management Division, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 4, 61
Forsyth Street SW., Atlanta, Georgia 30303-8960. Such deliveries are
only accepted during the Regional Office's normal hours of operation.
The Regional Office's official hours of business are Monday through
Friday, 8:30 to 4:30, excluding federal holidays.
Instructions: Direct your comments to Docket ID No. EPA-R04-OAR-
2012-0888. 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 through www.regulations.gov or
email, information that you consider to be CBI or otherwise protected.
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. For additional
information about EPA's public docket visit the EPA Docket Center
homepage at http://www.epa.gov/epahome/dockets.htm.
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 at the Regulatory Development Section, Air Planning
Branch, Air, Pesticides and Toxics Management Division, U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency, Region 4, 61 Forsyth Street SW.,
Atlanta, Georgia 30303-8960. EPA requests that if at all possible, you
contact the person 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 to 4:30, excluding
federal holidays.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Sean Lakeman, Regulatory Development
Section, Air Planning Branch, Air, Pesticides and Toxics Management
Division, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 4, 61 Forsyth
Street SW., Atlanta, Georgia 30303-8960. The telephone number is (404)
562-9043. Mr. Lakeman can be reached via electronic mail at
[email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Table of Contents
I. Analysis of the State's Submittal
II. Final Action
III. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews
I. Analysis of the State's Submittal
Tennessee's September 3, 1999, SIP submission changes rule 1200-3-
9-.01 to add a total of 17 compounds to the list of compounds excluded
from the definition of VOC to be consistent with EPA's definition of
VOC at 40 CFR 51.100(s). The SIP submittal is in response to EPA's
revision to the definition of VOC, (at 40 CFR 51.100(s)) published in
the Federal Register on August 25, 1997 (62 FR 44900) and April 9, 1998
(63 FR 17331) adding the 16 compounds listed below in Table 1 and the
compound methyl acetate respectively. These compounds were added to the
exclusion list for VOC on the basis that they have a negligible effect
on tropospheric ozone formation.
Tropospheric ozone, commonly known as smog, occurs when VOC and
nitrogen oxide (NOX) react in the atmosphere. Because of the
harmful health effects of ozone, EPA limits the amount of VOC and
NOX that can be released into the atmosphere. VOCs are those
compounds of carbon (excluding carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide,
carbonic acid, metallic carbides, or carbonates, and ammonium
carbonate) which form ozone through atmospheric photochemical
reactions. Compounds of carbon (or organic compounds) have different
levels of reactivity; they do not react at the same speed, or do not
form ozone to the same extent. It has been EPA's policy that compounds
of carbon with a negligible level of reactivity need not be regulated
to reduce ozone (42 FR 35314, July 8, 1977). EPA determines whether a
given carbon compound has ``negligible'' reactivity by comparing the
compound's reactivity to the reactivity of ethane. EPA lists these
compounds in
[[Page 11584]]
its regulations at 40 CFR 51.100(s), and excludes them from the
definition of VOC. The chemicals on this list are often called
``negligibly reactive.'' EPA may periodically revise the list of
negligibly reactive compounds to add compounds to or delete them from
the list.
TDEC's September 3, 1999, SIP revision changes rule 1200-3-9-.01 to
add a total of 17 compounds to the list of compounds excluded from the
definition of VOC in accordance with the federal list of compounds
designated as having negligible photochemical reactivity at 40 CFR
51.100(s).
Table 1--16 Compounds Added to the List of Negligibly Reactive Compounds
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Compound Chemical name
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HFC-32................................... Difluoromethane
HFC-161.................................. Ethylfluoride
HFC-236fa................................ 1,1,1,3,3,3-hexafluoropropane
HFC-245ca................................ 1,1,2,2,3-pentafluoropropane
HFC-245ea................................ 1,1,2,3,3-pentafluoropropane
HFC-245eb................................ 1,1,1,2,3-pentafluoropropane
HFC-245fa................................ 1,1,1,3,3-pentafluoropropane
HFC-236ea................................ 1,1,1,2,3,3-hexafluoropropane
HFC-365mfc............................... 1,1,1,3,3-pentafluorobutane
HCFC-31.................................. Chlorofluoromethane
HCFC-123a................................ 1,2-dichloro-1,1,2-
trifluoroethane
HCFC-151a................................ 1-chloro-1-fluoroethane
C4F9OCH3................................. 1,1,1,2,2,3,3,4,4-nonafluoro-
4-methoxybutane
(CF3)2CFCF2OCH3.......................... 2-(difluoromethoxymethyl)-
1,1,1,2,3,3,3-
heptafluoropropane
C4F9OC2H5................................ 1-ethoxy-1,1,2,2,3,3,4,4,4-
nonafluorobutane
(CF3)CFCF2OC2H5.......................... 2-(ethoxydifluoromethyl)-
1,1,1,2,3,3,3-
heptafluoropropane
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II. Final Action
EPA is approving the aforementioned changes to the State of
Tennessee SIP, because it is consistent with EPA's definition of VOC
and the CAA. EPA is publishing this rule without prior proposal because
the Agency views this as a noncontroversial submittal and anticipates
no adverse comments. However, in the proposed rules section of this
Federal Register publication, EPA is publishing a separate document
that will serve as the proposal to approve the SIP revision should
adverse comments be filed. This rule will be effective April 22, 2013
without further notice unless the Agency receives adverse comments by
March 21, 2013.
If EPA receives such comments, then EPA will publish a document
withdrawing the final rule and informing the public that the rule will
not take effect. All public comments received will then be addressed in
a subsequent final rule based on the proposed rule. EPA will not
institute a second comment period. Parties interested in commenting
should do so at this time. If no such comments are received, the public
is advised that this rule will be effective on April 22, 2013 and no
further action will be taken on the proposed rule.
III. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews
Under the CAA, 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 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 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 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, and EPA
notes that it will not impose substantial direct costs on tribal
governments or preempt tribal law.
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).
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 April 22, 2013. 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. Parties with objections to this direct final rule are
encouraged to file any comment in response to the parallel notice of
proposed rulemaking for this action published in the proposed rules
section of today's Federal Register, rather than file an immediate
petition for judicial review of this direct final rule, so that EPA can
withdraw this direct final rule and address the comment in the proposed
rulemaking. This action may not be challenged later in proceedings to
enforce its requirements. See section 307(b)(2).
[[Page 11585]]
List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 52
Environmental protection, Air pollution control, Incorporation by
reference, Intergovernmental relations, Reporting and recordkeeping
requirements, Volatile organic compounds.
Dated: February 5, 2013.
A. Stanley Meiburg,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region 4.
40 CFR part 52 is amended as follows:
PART 52--[AMENDED]
0
1. The authority citation for part 52 continues to read as follows:
Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.
Subpart RR--Tennessee
0
2. Section 52.2220(c) is amended by revising the entry in Table 1 for
``Section 1200-3-9.01'' to read as follows:
Sec. 52.2220(c). Identification of plan.
* * * * *
(c) * * *
Table 1--EPA Approved Tennessee Regulations
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State
State citation Title/subject effective EPA approval Explanation
date date
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* * * * * * *
CHAPTER 1200-3-9 CONSTRUCTION AND OPERATING PERMITS
1200-3-9-.01.................. Definitions..... 6/27/2011 2/19/2013 On 2/19/2013 EPA revised this
[Insert first section to add 17 compounds to
page of the list of compounds excluded
publication]. from the definition of VOC
that was state effective on 9/
3/1999.
EPA is approving Tennessee's
July 29, 2011, SIP revisions
to Chapter 1200-3-9-.01 with
the exception of the term
``particulate matter
emissions'' at 1200-03-09-
.01(4)(b)47(vi) as part of the
definition for ``regulated NSR
pollutant'' regarding the
inclusion of condensable
emissions in applicability
determinations and in
establishing emissions
limitations.
EPA approved Tennessee's May
28, 2009 SIP revisions to
Chapter 1200-3-9-.01 with the
exception of the ``baseline
actual emissions'' calculation
revision found at 1200-3-9-.01
(4)(b)45(i)(III),
(4)(b)45(ii)(IV),
(5)(b)1(xlvii)(I)(III) and
(5)(b)1(xlvii)(II)(IV) of the
submittal.
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[FR Doc. 2013-03606 Filed 2-15-13; 8:45 am]
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