[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 32 (Wednesday, February 16, 2000)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 7736-7737]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-3828]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 59
[AD-FRL-6539-2]
RIN 2060-AE55
National Volatile Organic Compound Emission Standards for
Architectural Coatings
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Final rule; amendments.
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SUMMARY: On September 11, 1998, EPA published the ``National Volatile
Organic Compound Emission Standards for Architectural Coatings'' under
the authority of section 183(e) of the Clean Air Act. In this action,
we're changing the address to which exceedance fee payments must be
mailed and clarifying the entity to whom payments should be made
payable. This action won't change the volatile organic compound (VOC)
content limits for architectural coatings or the level of emission
reduction that the rule requires.
EFFECTIVE DATE: February 16, 2000.
ADDRESSES: Docket No. A-92-18 contains information considered by EPA in
developing the promulgated standards and this action. You can inspect
the docket and copy materials from 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., Monday through
Friday, excluding legal holidays. The docket is located at the EPA's
Air and Radiation Docket and Information Center, Waterside Mall, Room
M1500, 1st Floor, 401 M Street, SW, Washington, DC 20460; telephone
(202) 260-7548 or fax (202) 260-4400. A reasonable fee may be charged
for copying.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Linda Herring at (919) 541-5358,
Coatings and Consumer Products Group, Emission Standards Division (MD-
13), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park,
North Carolina 27711 ([email protected]). Any correspondence
related to compliance with this rule must be submitted to the
appropriate EPA Regional Office listed in Sec. 59.409(a) of 40 CFR part
59.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 553 of the Administrative Procedure
Act, 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(3)(B), provides that, when an agency for good
cause finds that notice and public procedure are impracticable,
unnecessary, or contrary to the public interest, the agency may issue a
rule without providing notice and an opportunity for public comment.
The EPA has determined that there is good cause for making today's rule
final without prior proposal and opportunity for comment because these
corrections and clarifications are not controversial and do not
substantively change the requirements of the architectural coatings
rule. Thus, notice and public procedure are unnecessary. The EPA finds
that this constitutes good cause under 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(3)(B).
Regulated Entities. You may be affected by these rule amendments if
you fall into one of the categories in the following table.
Architectural coatings are coatings that are recommended for field
application to stationary structures and their appurtenances, to
portable buildings, to pavements, or to curbs.
Use this table only as a guide because this action may also
regulate other
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Examples of
Category NAICS code SIC code regulated
entities
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Industry..................... 32551 2851 Manufacturers
325510 (which
includes
packagers and
repackagers)
and importers
of
architectural
coatings that
are
manufactured
for sale or
distribution
in the U.S.,
including all
U.S.
territories.
State/local/tribal State
governments. Departments of
Transportation
that
manufacture
their own
coatings.
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entities. To determine if it regulates your facility, business, or
organization, carefully examine the applicability criteria in
Sec. 59.400 of 40 CFR part 59. If you have questions about how it
applies, contact Linda Herring (see FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT
section of this preamble).
I. Technical Corrections
The EPA published in the Federal Register of September 11, 1998 (63
FR 48848), the final rule regulating VOC emissions from architectural
coatings. The address in the rule to which exceedance fee payments must
be submitted has changed and, therefore, needs to be updated. In
addition, the rule did not specify the entity to whom exceedance fee
payments should be made payable. Thus, we're correcting and clarifying
the rule as follows:
1. We are changing Sec. 59.403(d) to indicate that the address to
which exceedance fee payments must be mailed is located in
Sec. 59.409(b) of the rule. This change is necessary to implement the
exceedance fee receipt and processing procedures that EPA recently
established for this rule.
2. We are removing the word ``Regional'' from the title of
Sec. 59.409 to reflect that the section includes more than just the
addresses of the EPA Regional Offices.
3. We are amending Sec. 59.409 by designating the existing text as
paragraph (a) and modifying it so that exceedance fee payments are
deleted from the list of items that are sent to the EPA Regional
Offices. This change is necessary due to the change in the address for
exceedance fee payments.
4. We are amending Sec. 59.409 by adding paragraph (b) that
provides the correct address to which exceedance fee payments must be
submitted. This change is necessary to specify that exceedance fees
should be mailed to: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, AIM
Exceedance Fees, Post Office Box
[[Page 7737]]
371293M, Pittsburgh, PA 15251. In addition, paragraph (b) of
Sec. 59.409 contains a sentence specifying that the exceedance fee
payments should be by check or money order made payable to ``U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency'' or ``US EPA.''
II. Administrative Requirements
Under Executive Order 12866 (58 FR 51735, October 4, 1993), this
action is not a ``significant regulatory action'' and is therefore not
subject to review by the Office of Management and Budget. Because EPA
has made a ``good cause'' finding that this action is not subject to
notice-and-comment requirements under the Administrative Procedure Act
or any other statute (see section I.A of this preamble), it is not
subject to the regulatory flexibility provisions of the Regulatory
Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 601, et seq.), or to sections 202 and 205 of
the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995 (UMRA) (Pub. L. 104-4). In
addition, this action does not significantly or uniquely affect small
governments or impose a significant intergovernmental mandate, as
described in sections 203 and 204 of UMRA. This rule also does not
significantly or uniquely affect the communities of tribal governments,
as specified by Executive Order 13084 (63 FR 27655, May 10, 1998). This
rule will 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 rule also is not subject to Executive Order 13045 (62
FR 19885, April 23, 1997), because it is not economically significant.
This technical correction action does not involve technical
standards; 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. The rule also does not involve special consideration of
environmental justice related issues as required by Executive Order
12898 (59 FR 7629, February 16, 1994). In issuing this rule, EPA has
taken the necessary steps to eliminate drafting errors and ambiguity,
minimize potential litigation, and provide a clear legal standard for
affected conduct, as required by section 3 of Executive Order 12988 (61
FR 4729, February 7, 1996). The EPA has complied with Executive Order
12630 (53 FR 8859, March 15, 1988) by examining the takings
implications of the rule in accordance with the ``Attorney General's
Supplemental Guidelines for the Evaluation of Risk and Avoidance of
Unanticipated Takings'' issued under the Executive Order. This rule
does not impose an information collection burden under the provisions
of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501, et seq.). The
EPA's compliance with these statutes and executive orders for the
underlying rule is discussed in the September 11, 1998 (63 FR 48848)
Federal Register document.
The Congressional Review Act (CRA) (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. Section 808 allows the issuing agency to
make a rule effective sooner than otherwise provided by the CRA if the
agency makes a good cause finding that notice and public procedure is
impracticable, unnecessary, or contrary to the public interest. This
determination must be supported by a brief statement (5 U.S.C. 808(2)).
As stated in section I.A of this preamble, EPA has made such a good
cause finding, including the reasons therefor, and established an
effective date of February 16, 2000. The EPA will submit 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
United States prior to publication of the rule in the Federal Register.
This action is not a ``major rule'' as defined by 5 U.S.C. 804(2).
List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 59
Environmental protection, Air pollution control, Architectural
coatings, Consumer and commercial products, Ozone, Reporting and
recordkeeping requirements, Volatile organic compounds.
Dated: February 10, 2000.
Robert Perciasepe,
Assistant Administrator for Air and Radiation.
For the reasons set out in the preamble, subpart D of part 59 of
title 40 of the Code of Federal Regulations is amended as follows:
PART 59--[AMENDED]
1. The authority citation for part 59 continues to read as follows:
Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7401, et seq.
Subpart D--National Volatile Organic Compound Emission Standards
for Architectural Coatings
2. Amend Sec. 59.403 by revising paragraph (d) to read as follows:
Sec. 59.403 Exceedance fees.
(d) The exceedance fee shall be submitted to EPA by March 1
following the calendar year in which the coatings are manufactured or
imported and shall be sent to the address provided in Sec. 59.409(b).
3. Amend Sec. 59.409 by revising the section heading; designating
the existing paragraph as paragraph (a) and revising the first sentence
of the paragraph; and adding a new paragraph (b) to read as follows:
Sec. 59.409 Addresses of EPA Offices.
(a) Except for exceedance fee payments, each manufacturer and
importer of any architectural coating subject to the provisions of this
subpart shall submit all requests, reports, submittals, and other
communications to the Administrator pursuant to this regulation to the
Regional Office of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency that serves
the State or Territory in which the corporate headquarters of the
manufacturer or importer resides. * * *
(b) Each manufacturer and importer who uses the exceedance fee
provisions of Sec. 59.403 shall submit the exceedance fee payment
required by Sec. 59.408(d) to the following address: Environmental
Protection Agency, AIM Exceedance Fees, Post Office Box 371293M,
Pittsburgh, PA 15251. This address is for the fee payment only; the
exceedance fee report required by Sec. 59.408(d) is to be submitted to
the appropriate EPA Regional Office listed in paragraph (a) of this
section. The exceedance fee payment in the form of a check or money
order must be made payable to ``U.S. Environmental Protection Agency''
or ``US EPA.''
[FR Doc. 00-3828 Filed 2-15-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-U