[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 119 (Friday, June 20, 1997)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 33548-33550]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-16114]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 52
[OR65-7280; FRL-5823-8]
Approval and Promulgation of State Implementation Plans: Oregon
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency.
ACTION: Final rule.
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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is approving a
revision to the State of Oregon Implementation Plan. This revision
establishes and requires a source-specific Reasonably Available Control
Technology (RACT) volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions standard
for PCC Structurals, Inc., Large Parts Campus, at 4600 SE Harney Drive,
Portland, Oregon. This action is being taken under Part D of the Clean
Air Act.
EFFECTIVE DATE: July 21, 1997.
ADDRESSES: Copies of the documents relevant to this action are
available for public inspection during normal business hours at EPA,
Region 10, Office of Air Quality, 1200 Sixth Avenue, Seattle,
Washington 98101, and the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality,
811 S.W. Sixth Avenue, Portland, Oregon 97204-1390.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Denise Baker, Office of Air Quality
(OAQ-107), EPA, Region 10, 1200 Sixth Avenue, Seattle, Washington
98101, phone (206) 553-8087.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
Section 172 (a)(2) and (b)(3) of the Clean Air Act (CAA), as
amended in 1977 (1977 Act), required sources of VOC to install, at a
minimum, RACT in order to reduce VOC emissions. EPA has defined RACT as
the lowest emission limit that a particular source is capable of
meeting by the application of control technology that is reasonably
available, considering technological and economic feasibility (44 FR
53761, September 17, 1979). EPA has developed Control Technology
Guidelines (CTGs) for the purpose of informing State and local air
pollution control agencies of air pollution control techniques
available for reducing emissions of VOC from various categories of
sources. Each CTG contains recommendations to the States of what EPA
calls the ``presumptive norm'' for RACT. This general statement of
agency policy is based on EPA's evaluation of the capabilities of, and
problems associated with, control technologies currently used by
facilities
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within individual source categories. EPA has recommended that the
States adopt requirements consistent with the presumptive norm level.
On March 3, 1978, the entire Portland-Vancouver Interstate Air
Quality Maintenance Area (AQMA) was designated by EPA as a non-
attainment area for ozone. The Portland-Vancouver Interstate AQMA
contains the urbanized portions of three counties in Oregon (Clackamas,
Multnomah, and Washington) and one county (Clark) in the State of
Washington.
The 1977 Act required States to submit plans to demonstrate how
they would attain and maintain compliance with national ambient air
standards for those areas designated non-attainment. The 1977 Act
further required these plans to demonstrate compliance with primary
standards no later than December 31, 1982. An extension of the
compliance deadline to December 31, 1987, was possible if the State
could demonstrate that, despite implementation of all Reasonably
Available Control Measures, the December 31, 1982, date could not be
met.
On October 7, 1982, EPA approved the Portland-Vancouver area ozone
attainment plan, including an extension of the attainment date to
December 31, 1987 (47 FR 44262).
On June 15, 1988, pursuant to section 110(a)(2)(H) of the pre-
amended CAA, former EPA Regional Administrator Robie Russell notified
the State of Oregon by letter that the State Implementation Plan (SIP)
for the Portland-Vancouver area was substantially inadequate to provide
for timely attainment of the National Ambient Air Quality Standards
(NAAQS). In that letter, EPA identified specific actions needed to
correct deficiencies in State regulations to require RACT for sources
of VOC. When the CAA was amended in 1990, it required States to correct
deficiencies. In amended section 182(a)(2)(A), Congress statutorily
adopted the requirement that ozone non-attainment areas fix their
deficient RACT rules for ozone. Areas designated non-attainment before
the effective date of the amendments, and which retained that
designation and were classified as marginal or above as of the
effective date, are required to meet the RACT fix-up requirement. Under
section 182(a)(2)(A), States with such non-attainment areas were
mandated to correct their RACT requirements by May 15, 1991. The
corrected requirements were to be in compliance with Section 172(b), as
it existed before the amendments, and as that section was interpreted
in the pre-amendment guidance. The Portland part of the Portland-
Vancouver non-attainment area is classified as marginal. Therefore,
this area is subject to the RACT fix-up requirement and the May 15,
1991 deadline.
On May 15, 1991, the State of Oregon submitted Oregon
Administrative Rules (OAR) 340-22-100 through 340-22-220, General
Emission Standards for Volatile Organic Compounds, as an amendment to
the Oregon SIP. On September 29, 1993, EPA approved these revisions to
the Oregon SIP (58 FR 50848). Part of these amended rules included a
requirement for RACT for non-CTG sources.
On February 3, 1997, the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality
(ODEQ) submitted to EPA a proposed revision to its SIP. This proposed
revision was a draft source-specific revision to the State of Oregon
Clean Air Act Implementation Plan, OAR 340-020-0047, and was submitted
pursuant to 40 CFR 51.103. The proposed revision consisted of a RACT
determination for PCC Structurals, Inc., Large Parts Campus, at 4600 SE
Harney Drive, Portland, Oregon.
On March 7, 1997 (62 FR 10498), EPA proposed to approve ODEQ's
revision to the SIP, establishing and requiring a source-specific RACT
VOC emissions standard for PCC Structurals, Inc. In its notice of
proposed approval, EPA reviewed in detail the basis for its proposed
actions. The March 7, 1997, revision was proposed under a procedure
called parallel processing, whereby EPA proposed rule-making action
concurrently with the State's procedures for amending its regulations.
Since no substantial changes were made to the proposed rule-making
action, other than those areas cited in the notice, ODEQ published a
Final Rule-making Notice on the revisions. The SIP revision was adopted
by ODEQ and, on April 7, 1997, submitted formally to EPA for
incorporation into the SIP.
II. Response to Comments
The following comments were received during the public comment
period ending April 7, 1997. EPA's response follows each comment.
(1) Comment: The commenter asserted that only conditions 19, 20,
and 21 in PCC Structurals' proposed Addendum No. 2 should be
incorporated into the SIP. These conditions are specifically identified
in the addendum as RACT conditions, and only those conditions are
relevant to the RACT determination. Conditions 12, 13, and 22 were
included in PCC Structurals' proposed Addendum No. 2, but are unrelated
to the RACT determination. Therefore, conditions 12, 13, and 22 do not
belong in the SIP.
Response: The commenter is correct. The conditions cited in EPA's
March 7, 1997, notice of proposed approval were based on an earlier
draft of PCC Structurals' Air Permit, constituting ODEQ's RACT
determination. EPA agrees that conditions 12, 13, and 22 are not part
of the ODEQ RACT determination and should therefore not be part of the
SIP amendment.
III. Final Action
EPA is approving a revision to the SIP, establishing and requiring
a source-specific RACT VOC emissions standard for PCC Structurals,
Inc., Large Parts Campus, at 4600 SE Harney Drive, Portland, Oregon.
Only conditions 19, 20, and 21 in PCC Structurals' proposed Addendum
No. 2 are incorporated into the SIP.
Nothing in this action should be construed as permitting or
allowing or establishing a precedent for any future request for
revision to any SIP. Each request for revision to the SIP shall be
considered separately in light of specific technical, economic, and
environmental factors, and in relation to relevant statutory and
regulatory requirements.
IV. Administrative Requirements
A. Executive Order 12866
This action has been classified as a Table 3 action for signature
by the Regional Administrator under the procedures published in the
Federal Register on January 19, 1989 (54 FR 2214-2225), as revised by a
July 10, 1995, memorandum from Mary Nichols, Assistant Administrator
for Air and Radiation. The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has
exempted this regulatory action from E.O. 12866 review.
B. Regulatory Flexibility Act
The EPA's actions under section 502 of the Act do not create any
new requirements, but simply address operating permits programs
submitted to satisfy the requirements of 40 CFR Part 70. Because this
action does not impose any new requirements, it does not have a
significant impact on a substantial number of small entities.
Under the Regulatory Flexibility Act, 5 U.S.C. 600 et seq., EPA
must prepare a regulatory flexibility analysis assessing the impact of
any proposed or final rule on small entities. 5 U.S.C. 603 and 604.
Alternatively, EPA may certify that the rule will not have a
significant impact on a substantial number of small
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entities. Small entities include small businesses, small not-for-profit
enterprises, and government entities with jurisdiction over populations
of less than 50,000.
SIP approvals under section 110 and subchapter I, part D, of the
Clean Air Act do not create any new requirements but simply approve
requirements that the State is already imposing. Therefore, because the
Federal SIP approval does not impose any new requirements, the
Administrator certifies that it does not have a significant impact on
any small entities affected. Moreover, due to the nature of the
Federal-State relationship under the CAA, preparation of a flexibility
analysis would constitute Federal inquiry into the economic
reasonableness of State action. The Clean Air Act forbids EPA to base
its actions concerning SIPs on such grounds. Union Electric Co. v. U.S.
EPA, 427 U.S. 246, 255-66 (1976); 42 U.S.C. 7410(a)(2).
C. Unfunded Mandates
Under section 202 of the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995
(``Unfunded Mandates Act''), signed into law on March 22, 1995, EPA
must prepare a budgetary impact statement to accompany any proposed or
final rule that includes a Federal mandate that may result in estimated
costs to State, local, or tribal governments in the aggregate, or to
the private sector, of $100 million or more. Under section 205, EPA
must select the most cost-effective and least burdensome alternative
that achieves the objectives of the rule and is consistent with
statutory requirements. Section 203 requires EPA to establish a plan
for informing and advising any small governments that may be
significantly or uniquely impacted on by the rule.
EPA has determined that the approval action promulgated does not
include a Federal mandate that may result in estimated costs of $100
million or more to either State, local, or tribal governments in the
aggregate, or to the private sector. This Federal action approves pre-
existing requirements under State or local law, and imposes no new
requirements. Accordingly, no additional costs to State, local, or
tribal governments, or to the private sector, result from this action.
D. Submission to Congress and the General Accounting Office
Under 5 U.S.C. 801(a)(1)(A), as added by the Small Business
Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996, EPA submitted a report
containing this rule and other required information to the U.S. Senate,
the U.S. House of Representatives, and the Comptroller General of the
General Accounting Office prior to publication of the rule in today's
Federal Register. This rule is not a ``major rule'' as defined by 5
U.S.C. 804(2).
E. Petitions for Judicial Review
Under section 307(b)(1) of the Clean Air Act, petitions for
judicial review of this action must be filed in the United States Court
of Appeals for the appropriate circuit by August 19, 1997. Filing a
petition for reconsideration by the Administrator of this final rule
does not affect the finality of this rule 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. This action may not be challenged later in proceedings
to enforce its requirements. (See section 307(b)(2).)
List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 52
Environmental protection, Air pollution control, Incorporation by
reference, Ozone, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, Volatile
organic compounds.
Dated: April 30, 1997.
Philip G. Millam,
Acting Regional Administrator.
Part 52, chapter I, title 40 of the Code of Federal Regulations is
amended as follows:
PART 52--[AMENDED]
1. The authority citation for part 52 continues to read as follows:
Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7401-7671q.
Subpart MM--Oregon
2. Section 52.1970 is amended by adding paragraph (c)(121) to read
as follows:
Sec. 52.1970 Identification of plan.
* * * * *
(c) * * *
(121) On April 7, 1997, the Director of the Oregon Department of
Environmental Quality (ODEQ) submitted a Reasonably Available Control
Technology (RACT) determination for VOC emissions from PCC Structurals,
Inc., Large Parts Campus, at 4600 SE Harney Drive, Portland, Oregon.
(i) Incorporation by reference.
(A) The letter dated April 7, 1997, from the Director of ODEQ
submitting a SIP revision for a RACT determination contained in PCC
Structurals, Inc.'s Oregon Title V Operating Permit for VOC emissions,
consisting of permit #26-1867, expiration date 4-1-2000, effective date
April 4, 1997. Only conditions 19, 20, and 21 in PCC Structurals'
Addendum No. 2 to permit #26-1867 are incorporated into the SIP.
[FR Doc. 97-16114 Filed 6-19-97; 8:45 am]
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