[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 132 (Thursday, July 10, 2014)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 39334-39336]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-16034]
[[Page 39334]]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 62
[EPA-R03-OAR-2013-0475; FRL-9913-32-Region 3]
Approval and Promulgation of State Air Quality Plans for
Designated Facilities and Pollutants; Delaware, District of Columbia,
and West Virginia; Control of Emissions From Existing Sewage Sludge
Incinerator Units
AGENCY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Direct final rule.
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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is taking direct
final action to approve the Clean Air Act (CAA) negative declarations
for the State of Delaware, the District of Columbia, and the State of
West Virginia for existing sewage sludge incinerator (SSI) units. These
negative declarations certify that SSI units subject to the
requirements of sections 111(d) and 129 of the CAA do not exist within
the jurisdictional boundaries of the Delaware Department of Natural
Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC), the District Department of
the Environment (DDOE), and the West Virginia Department of
Environmental Protection (WVDEP). EPA is accepting the negative
declarations in accordance with the requirements of the CAA.
DATES: This rule is effective on September 8, 2014 without further
notice, unless EPA receives adverse written comment by August 11, 2014.
If EPA receives such comments, it 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 Number EPA-
R03-OAR-2013-0475 by one of the following methods:
A. www.regulations.gov. Follow the on-line instructions for
submitting comments.
B. Email: [email protected].
C. Mail: EPA-R03-OAR-2013-0475, Brian Rehn, Acting Associate
Director, Office of Permits and Air Toxics, Mailcode 3AP10, 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-
2013-0475. 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 submittals are
available at the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and
Environmental Control, 89 Kings Highway, P.O. Box 1401, Dover, Delaware
19903, the District of Columbia Department of the Environment, Air
Quality Division, 1200 1st Street NE., Fifth Floor, Washington, DC
20002, and the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection,
Division of Air Quality, 601 57th Street SE., Charleston, West Virginia
25304.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mike Gordon, (215) 814-2039, or by
email at [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
EPA's statutory authority for the regulation of new and existing
solid waste incineration units is outlined in CAA sections 129 and 111.
Section 129 of the CAA is specific to solid waste combustion, and
requires EPA to establish performance standards for each category of
solid waste incineration units. These standards include new source
performance standards (NSPS), applicable to new units, and emissions
guidelines for existing units. Under CAA section 129, an NSPS or
emissions guideline must contain numerical emissions limitations for
particulate matter, opacity (as appropriate), sulfur dioxide, hydrogen
chloride, oxides of nitrogen, carbon monoxide, lead, cadmium, mercury,
and dioxins and dibenzofurans. While the NSPS is directly applicable to
affected facilities, the emissions guidelines for existing units are
intended for states to use in order to develop a state plan to submit
to EPA. Once approved by EPA, the state plan becomes federally
enforceable. If a State does not submit an approvable state plan to
EPA, EPA is responsible for enforcing and implementing a federal plan.
While section 129 of the CAA is specific to the combustion of solid
waste, it also relies on CAA section 111 in promulgating the NSPS and
emissions guidelines. Section 111 of the CAA gives EPA the statutory
authority to promulgate an NSPS and/or emissions guideline for certain
categories of stationary sources, and describes the procedural
requirements for the development and implementation of these standards.
More specifically, CAA section 111(d) requires EPA to establish
procedures for States to submit a state plan to EPA for the regulation
of existing sources whenever emissions guidelines are promulgated. The
general provisions for the submittal and approval of state plans are
codified in 40 CFR part 60, subpart B and 40 CFR part 62, subpart A.
States have options other than submitting a state plan in order to
fulfill their obligations under CAA sections 111(d) and 129. If a State
does not have any existing solid waste incineration units for the
relevant emissions guidelines, 40 CFR 60.23(b) and 62.06
[[Page 39335]]
provide that a letter may be submitted certifying that no such units
exist within the State (i.e., negative declaration) in lieu of a state
plan. The negative declaration exempts the State from the requirements
of subpart B that would otherwise require the submittal of a CAA
section 111(d)/129 plan.
On March 21, 2011 (76 FR 15372), EPA promulgated new source
performance standards, 40 CFR part 60, subpart LLLL, and emission
guidelines, subpart MMMM, for new and existing SSI units, respectively.
Existing SSI units are units that commenced construction on or before
October 14, 2010. The DNREC, DDOE, and WVDEP have each determined that
there are no existing SSI units subject to CAA sections 111(d) and 129
requirements in their individual air pollution control jurisdictions.
In order to fulfill obligations under CAA sections 111(d) and 129,
DNREC, DDOE, and WVDEP submitted negative declaration letters to EPA on
February 7, 2012, July 26, 2012, and August 27, 2012, respectively. The
submittal of these declarations exempts DNREC, DDOE, and WVDEP from the
requirement to submit a state plan for existing SSI units.
II. Final EPA Action
In this direct final action, EPA is amending part 62 to reflect
receipt of the negative declaration letters from DNREC, DDOE, and
WVDEP. EPA is publishing this rule without prior proposal because EPA
views this as a noncontroversial amendment and anticipates no adverse
comment. However, in the ``Proposed Rules'' section of this Federal
Register, EPA is publishing a separate document that will serve as the
proposal to approve the negative declarations if adverse comments are
filed. This rule will be effective on September 8, 2014 without further
notice unless EPA receives adverse comment by August 11, 2014. If EPA
receives adverse comment, EPA will publish a timely withdrawal in the
Federal Register informing the public that the rule will not take
effect. EPA will address all public comments in a subsequent final rule
based on the proposed rule. EPA will not institute a second comment
period on this action. Any parties interested in commenting must do so
at this time.
III. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews
A. General Requirements
Under Executive Order 12866 (58 FR 51735, October 4, 1993), this
action is not a ``significant regulatory action'' and therefore is not
subject to review by the Office of Management and Budget. For this
reason, this action is also not subject to Executive Order 13211,
``Actions Concerning Regulations That Significantly Affect Energy
Supply, Distribution, or Use'' (66 FR 28355, May 22, 2001). This action
merely notifies the public of EPA receipt of negative declarations from
air pollution control agencies without any existing SSI units in their
jurisdiction. This action imposes no requirements. Accordingly, EPA
certifies that this rule will not have a significant economic impact on
a substantial number of small entities under the Regulatory Flexibility
Act (5 U.S.C. 601 et seq.). Because this action does not impose any
additional enforceable duty beyond that required by state law, it 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). This action also does not have tribal
implications because it will not have a substantial direct effect on
one or more Indian tribes, on the relationship between the Federal
Government and Indian tribes, or on the distribution of power and
responsibilities between the Federal Government and Indian tribes, as
specified by Executive Order 13175 (65 FR 67249, November 9, 2000).
This action also does not have Federalism implications because it does
not have substantial direct effects on the States, on the relationship
between the national government and the States, or on the distribution
of power and responsibilities among the various levels of government,
as specified in Executive Order 13132 (64 FR 43255, August 10, 1999).
This action merely approves negative declarations for existing SSI
units from DNREC, DDOE, and WVDEP and does not alter the relationship
or the distribution of power and responsibilities established in the
Clean Air Act. This action also is not subject to Executive Order 13045
``Protection of Children from Environmental Health Risks and Safety
Risks'' (62 FR 19885, April 23, 1997), because it is not economically
significant.
With regard to negative declarations for existing solid waste
incineration facilities received by EPA from states, EPA's role is to
notify the public of the receipt of such negative declarations and
revise 40 CFR part 62 accordingly. In this context, in the absence of a
prior existing requirement for the State to use voluntary consensus
standards (VCS), EPA has no authority to approve or disapprove a CAA
section 111(d)/129 plan negative declaration submission for failure to
use VCS. It would thus be inconsistent with applicable law for EPA,
when it reviews a CAA section 111(d)/129 negative declaration, to use
VCS in place of a section 111(d)/129 negative declaration that
otherwise satisfies the provisions of the Clean Air Act. Thus, the
requirements of section 12(d) of the National Technology Transfer and
Advancement Act of 1995 (15 U.S.C. 272 note) do not apply. This action
does not impose an information collection burden under the provisions
of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.).
B. Submission to Congress and the Comptroller General
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).
C. Petitions for Judicial Review
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 September 8, 2014. 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 a comment in response to the parallel notice of
proposed rulemaking for this action published in the proposed rules
section of this 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 approving negative declarations for SSI units
from DNREC, DDOE, and WVDEP may not be challenged later in proceedings
to enforce its requirements. (See section 307(b)(2).)
[[Page 39336]]
List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 62
Environmental protection, Administrative practice and procedure,
Air pollution control, Aluminum, Fertilizers, Fluoride,
Intergovernmental relations, Paper and paper products industry,
Phosphate, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, Sulfur oxides,
Sulfur acid plants, Waste treatment and disposal.
Dated: June 11, 2014.
W.C. Early,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region III.
40 CFR part 62 is amended as follows:
PART 62--APPROVAL AND PROMULGATION OF STATE PLANS FOR DESIGNATED
FACILITIES AND POLLUTANTS
0
1. The authority citation for part 62 continues to read as follows:
Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.
Subpart I--Delaware
0
2. Subpart I is amended by adding after Sec. 62.1990 an undesignated
center heading and Sec. 62.1995 to read as follows:
Emissions From Existing Sewage Sludge Incineration Units
Sec. 62.1995 Identification of plan--negative declaration.
Letter from the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and
Environmental Control, submitted to EPA on February 7, 2012, certifying
that there are no known existing sewage sludge incineration units in
the State of Delaware.
Subpart J--District of Columbia
0
3. Subpart J is amended by adding after Sec. 62.2155 an undesignated
center heading and Sec. 62.2160 to read as follows:
Emissions From Existing Sewage Sludge Incineration Units
Sec. 62.2160 Identification of plan--negative declaration.
Letter from the District Department of the Environment, submitted
to EPA on July 26, 2012, certifying that there are no known existing
sewage sludge incineration units in the District of Columbia.
Subpart XX--West Virginia
0
4. Subpart XX is amended by adding after Sec. 62.12165 an undesignated
center heading and Sec. 62.12170 to read as follows:
Emissions From Existing Sewage Sludge Incineration Units
Sec. 62.12170 Identification of plan--negative declaration.
Letter from the West Virginia Department of Environmental
Protection, submitted to EPA on August 27, 2012, certifying that there
are no known existing sewage sludge incineration units in the State of
West Virginia.
[FR Doc. 2014-16034 Filed 7-9-14; 8:45 am]
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