[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 2 (Thursday, January 3, 2002)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 271-273]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-104]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 62
[R4-200212(a), FRL-7124-7]
Approval and Promulgation of State Plans for Designated
Facilities and Pollutants; States of Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, and
South Carolina
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Direct final rule.
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SUMMARY: EPA is approving the small Municipal Waste Combustion (MWC)
units section 111(d) negative declarations submitted by the states of
Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, and South Carolina. These negative
declarations certify that small MWC units subject to the requirements
of sections 111(d) and
[[Page 272]]
129 of the Clean Air Act (CAA) do not exist in these states.
DATES: This direct final rule will be effective March 4, 2002 unless
EPA receives adverse comments by February 4, 2002. If adverse comments
are received, EPA will publish a timely withdrawal of the direct final
rule in the Federal Register informing the public that the rule will
not take effect.
ADDRESSES: Comments may be mailed to Scott Davis, EPA Region 4, Air
Planning Branch, Sam Nunn Atlanta Federal Center, 61 Forsyth Street,
SW, Atlanta, Georgia 30303-8960.
Copies of documents relative to this action are available for
public inspection during normal business hours at the above-listed
Region 4 location. The interested persons wanting to examine these
documents should make an appointment with the office at least 24 hours
in advance.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Scott Davis at (404) 562-9127 or Sean
Lakeman at (404) 562-9043.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 111(d) of the CAA requires states to
submit plans to control certain pollutants (designated pollutants) at
existing facilities (designated facilities) whenever standards of
performance have been established under section 111(b) for new sources
of the same type, and EPA has established emission guidelines for such
existing sources. A designated pollutant is any pollutant for which no
air quality criteria have been issued, and which is not included on a
list published under section 108(a) or section 112(b)(1)(A) of the CAA,
but emissions of which are subject to a standard of performance for new
stationary sources.
Emission guidelines for small MWC units were originally promulgated
in December 1995 but were vacated by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the
District of Columbia Circuit in March 1997. In response to the 1997
vacature, on August 30, 1999, EPA proposed to reestablish emission
guidelines for small MWC units. On December 6, 2000 (65 FR 76378), EPA
finalized the section 111(d) emission guidelines for existing small MWC
units. The emission guidelines contained in this final rule are
equivalent to the 1995 emission guidelines for small MWC units. The
emission guidelines are codified at 40 CFR part 60, subpart BBBB.
Subpart B of 40 CFR part 60 establishes procedures to be followed
and requirements to be met in the development and submission of state
plans for controlling designated pollutants. Part 62 of the CFR
provides the procedural framework for the submission of these plans.
When designated facilities are located in a state, a state must develop
and submit a plan for the control of the designated pollutant. However,
40 CFR 62.06 provides that if there are no existing sources of the
designated pollutant in the state, the state may submit a letter of
certification to that effect, or negative declaration, in lieu of a
plan. The negative declaration exempts the state from the requirements
of subpart B for that designated pollutant. Please note that if EPA
receives adverse comment on an amendment, paragraph, or section of this
rule and if that provision may be severed from the remainder of the
rule, EPA may adopt as final those provisions of the rule that are not
the subject of an adverse comment.
Final Action
The states of Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, and South Carolina have
determined there are no existing sources in their states subject to the
small MWC units emission guidelines. Consequently, each state has
submitted a letter of negative declaration certifying this fact. We are
taking final action to approve these negative declarations.
Administrative 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 approves state negative declarations as meeting Federal
requirements and imposes no additional requirements. Accordingly, the
Administrator 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 rule
approves state negative declarations and does not impose any additional
enforceable duty, it does not contain any unfunded mandate or
significantly or uniquely affect small governments, as described in the
Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995 (Public Law 104-4). For the same
reason, 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), because it
merely approves state negative declarations relating to a Federal
standard, and does not alter the relationship or the distribution of
power and responsibilities established in the CAA. This rule also is
not subject to Executive Order 13045 (62 FR 19885, April 23, 1997),
because it is not economically significant.
In reviewing state plan submissions, our role is to approve state
choices, provided that they meet the criteria of the CAA. In this
context, in the absence of a prior existing requirement for the state
to use voluntary consensus standards (VCS), we have no authority to
disapprove state submissions for failure to use VCS. It would thus be
inconsistent with applicable law for EPA, when it reviews state
submissions, to use VCS in place of state submissions that otherwise
satisfy the provisions of the CAA. 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. As required by section 3 of
Executive Order 12988 (61 FR 4729, February 7, 1996), in issuing this
rule, we have taken the necessary steps to eliminate drafting errors
and ambiguity, minimize potential litigation, and provide a clear legal
standard for affected conduct. 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 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. We will submit a report containing this rule and other
required information to the United States Senate, the United States
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
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``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 March 4, 2002. 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 62
Environmental protection, Air pollution control, Municipal waste
combustion units, Nitrogen dioxide, Particulate matter, Sulfur oxides.
Dated: December 21, 2001.
A. Stanley Meiburg,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region 4.
Chapter I, title 40 of the Code of Federal Regulations is amended
as follows:
PART 62--[AMENDED]
1. The authority citation for part 62 continues to read as follows:
Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.
Subpart B--Alabama
2. Subpart B is amended by adding an undesignated center heading
and Sec. 62.106 to read as follows:
Air Emissions From Small Existing Municipal Waste Combustion Units
Sec. 62.106 Identification of plan--negative declaration.
Letter from the Alabama Department of Environmental Management
submitted January 11, 2001, certifying that there are no small
municipal waste combustion units subject to 40 CFR part 60, subpart
BBBB.
Subpart L--Georgia
3. Subpart L is amended by adding an undesignated center heading
and Sec. 62.2609 to read as follows:
Air Emissions From Small Existing Municipal Waste Combustion Units
Sec. 62.2609 Identification of plan--negative declaration.
Letter from the Georgia Department of Natural Resources submitted
December 13, 2001, certifying that there are no small municipal waste
combustion units subject to 40 CFR part 60, subpart BBBB.
Subpart S--Kentucky
4. Subpart S is amended by adding an undesignated center heading
and Sec. 62.4371 to read as follows:
Air Emissions From Small Existing Municipal Waste Combustion Units
Sec. 62.4371 Identification of plan--negative declaration.
Letter from the Kentucky Department for Environmental Protection
submitted March 5, 2001, certifying that there are no small municipal
waste combustion units subject to 40 CFR part 60, subpart BBBB.
Subpart PP--South Carolina
5. Subpart PP is amended by adding an undesignated center heading
and Sec. 62.10180 to read as follows:
Air Emissions From Small Existing Municipal Waste Combustion Units
Sec. 62.10180 Identification of plan--negative declaration.
Letter from the South Carolina Department of Health and
Environmental Control submitted November 6, 2001, certifying that there
are no small municipal waste combustion units subject to 40 CFR part
60, subpart BBBB.
[FR Doc. 02-104 Filed 1-2-02; 8:45 am]
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