[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 221 (Wednesday, November 15, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 68999-69000]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-29226]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[FRL-6901-8]
Notice of Availability of Annex to the Report of the Grand Canyon
Visibility Transport Commission
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice of availability.
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SUMMARY: The purpose of this notice is to inform the public that the
Western Regional Air Partnership (WRAP) has submitted an Annex to the
1996 report of the Grand Canyon Visibility Transport Commission (GCVTC)
to EPA on September 29, 2000. This submittal was required under 40 CFR
51.309 of the regional haze rule in order for nine Western States to
have the option of submitting State plans implementing the GCVTC
recommendations by December 31, 2003. The Annex contains a number of
recommendations addressing sulfur dioxide emissions (a key precursor to
the formation of fine particles and regional haze) in the region,
including a set of emissions milestones for the 2003-2018 period across
the 9-State region. In the coming months, we will review the Annex to
determine whether it meets the requirements of the regional haze rule
and applicable requirements under the Clean Air Act (CAA). At the end
of this review, we will propose changes to the regional haze rule to
incorporate recommendations from the Annex if we find, after a formal
60-day public notice and comment period, that the Annex meets the
requirements of the regional haze rule and the CAA.
Regarding today's notice of availability, we are not having a
formal comment period on the Annex at this time. However, should
members of the general public wish to provide any informal comments to
us on the documents making up the Annex, we will consider these
comments during the upcoming review of the Annex. We request that these
informal comments be submitted to docket number A-2000-51 within 30
days of the date of publication of this notice.
ADDRESSES: Comments. We are not actively soliciting comments at this
time, given that we will hold a formal comment period on any future
regulatory proposal related to the Annex. We will, however, consider
any written comments that you may wish to provide as we review the
Annex. We request that any such written comments be submitted within 30
days of the date of publication of this notice.
Written comments should be submitted (in duplicate if possible) to:
Air and Radiation Docket and Information Center (6102), Attention:
Docket No. A-2000-51, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 1200
Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20460. We request that you
also send a separate copy to the contact persons listed below (see FOR
FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT).
Comments may also be submitted to the EPA docket by electronic mail
at
[email protected], or by fax at (202) 260-4400. Electronic
comments must be submitted as an ASCII file avoiding the use of special
characters and any form of encryption. Comments and data also will be
accepted on computer disk in WordPerfect 5.1 (or higher) format, or in
ASCII file format.
All comments and data provided in electronic form or by fax must be
identified by the docket number A-2000-51. Electronic comments on this
notice also may be filed online at many Federal Depository Libraries.
Docket. Docket No. A-2000-51 contains information related to this
notice of availability, including the Annex documents received by EPA
from the WRAP. Information at the Air and
[[Page 69000]]
Radiation Docket Office may be inspected from 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.,
Monday through Friday, excluding legal holidays, at the following
address: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 401 M Street, SW.,
Washington, DC 20460 in room M-1500, Waterside Mall (ground floor). You
may contact the docket office by phone at (202) 260-7548. A reasonable
fee may be charged for copying.
World Wide Web. The Annex documents may also be retrieved from
EPA's website at: http://www.epa.gov/ttn/oarpg/gener.html.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Tim Smith (telephone (919) 541-4718;
[email protected]) or Rich Damberg (telephone (919) 541-5592;
[email protected]), Mail Drop 15, EPA, Air Quality Strategies and
Standards Division, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, 27711.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The purpose of this notice is to inform the
public that the WRAP has submitted an Annex to the 1996 report of the
GCVTC to EPA on September 29, 2000. We have published the Annex on our
website at the following address: http://www.epa.gov/ttn/oarpg/gener.html. The EPA is not providing a formal public comment period on
the Annex, but should members of the general public wish to provide EPA
any comments on the WRAP's Annex documents, EPA will consider these
comments during its upcoming review of the Annex. The EPA would like to
receive these informal comments in docket number A-2000-51 within 30
days of the date of publication of this notice.
On July 1, 1999, EPA published regulations in 40 CFR 51.300-309 to
address regional haze in mandatory Federal Class I areas (156 national
parks and wilderness areas) (64 FR 35714; July 1, 1999). Regional haze
is a type of visibility impairment that is caused by the emissions of
air pollutants from numerous sources across a broad region.
In the final regional haze rule, we included optional provisions
that allow nine Western States to implement the specific
recommendations of the GCVTC for improving visibility across the
Colorado Plateau within the framework of the national regional haze
program. These optional provisions are contained in section 40 CFR
51.309 of the regional haze rule. When EPA published the final regional
haze rule, we recognized that the optional approach would be contingent
on the submittal of an Annex to the GCVTC report by October 1, 2000
that contains acceptable stationary source sulfur dioxide emissions
milestones for the nine-State region for the 2003-2018 period, as well
as a backstop market trading program that would be implemented if any
interim milestone is not achieved.
Specifically, section 51.309(f) of the regional haze rule required
that the GCVTC (or a regional planning body formed to implement the
Commission recommendations) submit to EPA an Annex to the GCVTC report
no later than October 1, 2000 that provides for stationary source
sulfur dioxide emissions milestones for the years 2003, 2008, 2013, and
2018. These milestones must provide for steady and continuing emissions
reductions for the 2003-2018 time period consistent with the GCVTC's
definition of reasonable progress, its goal of 50 to 70 percent
reduction in sulfur dioxide emissions from 1990 actual emission levels
by 2040, the applicable requirements under the CAA, and the timing of
implementation plan assessments of progress and identification of
deficiencies which will be due in the years 2008, 2013, and 2018. The
emission reduction milestones must be shown to provide for greater
reasonable progress than would be achieved by application of best
available retrofit technology (BART) pursuant to section 51.308(e)(2)
of the regional haze rule.
In addition to the emission milestones, the Annex was required by
section 51.309 to contain documentation of a market trading program or
other programs that would be implemented if current programs and
voluntary measures fail to meet the emission milestones. This
documentation must include model rules, memoranda of understanding, and
other provisions describing in detail how emission reduction progress
will be monitored, what conditions will require the market trading
program to be activated, how allocations will be made, and how the
program will operate.
This notice fulfills EPA's commitment under section 51.309(f)(3) of
the regional haze rule to publish the Annex upon receipt. It does not
contain EPA comments on the Annex or constitute any formal action on
the Annex package at this time. The EPA stated in the regional haze
rule that if we find, after public notice and opportunity for comment,
that the Annex meets the requirements of the regional haze rule and
applicable requirements under the CAA, EPA would incorporate
recommendations from the Annex into the regional haze rule. The EPA
would then review State implementation plans (SIPs) submitted in 2003
to determine whether they meet all of the requirements in the revised
section 309 and provide for ``reasonable progress'' under the regional
haze rule. However, if we find that the Annex does not meet the
requirements in section 309(f), then each of the affected Western
States must meet the requirements of section 51.308, the same regional
haze requirements that apply to other States.
Based on discussions with WRAP participants, EPA anticipates that
the WRAP will submit supplemental information to clarify certain issues
discussed in the Annex. For example, the WRAP has committed to
providing a protocol as part of the Annex that accounts for possible
changes in emissions monitoring techniques at certain facilities that
use continuous emissions monitors. The EPA will also provide a notice
of availability indicating the receipt of any supplemental information
related to the Annex and make it available on the EPA website.
In the coming months, the EPA will consider any supplemental
information and any public comments received in its review of the Annex
for consistency with the regional haze rule and the CAA. If EPA finds
that the Annex meets the requirements in the regional haze rule and
CAA, EPA will propose appropriate revisions to the regional haze rule.
Dated: November 6, 2000.
Robert Perciasepe,
Assistant Administrator for Air and Radiation.
[FR Doc. 00-29226 Filed 11-14-00; 8:45 am]
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