[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 115 (Friday, June 14, 2002)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Page 41138]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-14628]
[[Page 41138]]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 63
[FRL-7225-4]
RIN 2060-AJ09 and 2060-AJ11
National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants for
Secondary Aluminum Production
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Withdrawal of proposed rule.
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SUMMARY: This document withdraws a previously published proposed rule
to stay the national emission standards for hazardous air pollutants
(NESHAP) for secondary aluminum production, as applied to aluminum die
casters and aluminum foundries. This document also announces that we do
not intend to take any further action with respect to an advance notice
of proposed rulemaking in which we announced our intention to remove
aluminum die casters and aluminum foundries from the secondary aluminum
NESHAP and to promulgate a separate NESHAP for these facilities. We
published these actions pursuant to a settlement agreement with the
petitioners in American Foundrymen's Society et al. v. EPA, Civ. No.
00-1208 (D.C. Cir.), a case seeking judicial review of the secondary
aluminum NESHAP. That settlement agreement has now been entirely
supplanted by a new agreement to propose certain amendments to the
existing standards.
DATES: The proposed rule to stay the applicability of 40 CFR part 63,
subpart RRR, is withdrawn as of June 14, 2002.
ADDRESSEES: Docket. Docket No. A-2000-31, containing information
pertaining to the advance notice of proposed rulemaking, and Docket No.
A-2000-35, containing information pertaining to the proposed rule to
stay the applicability of subpart RRR, are available for public
inspection between 8:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., Monday through Friday,
except Federal holidays, at the following address: U.S. EPA, Air and
Radiation Docket and Information Center (6102), 401 M Street, SW.,
Washington, DC 20460, telephone (202) 260-7548. The dockets are located
at the above address in room M-1500, Waterside Mall (ground floor). A
reasonable fee may be charged for copying docket materials.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. John Schaefer, U.S. EPA, Minerals
and Inorganic Chemicals Group, Emission Standards Division (Mail Code
C504-05), Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards, Research
Triangle Park, NC 27711, telephone number (919) 541-0296, electronic
mail address, [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On March 23, 2000 (65 FR 15690), we
promulgated the NESHAP for secondary aluminum production (40 CFR part
63, subpart RRR) under the authority of section 112(d) of the Clean Air
Act (CAA).
After promulgation of the NESHAP for secondary aluminum production,
a petition for judicial review of the standards was filed in the D.C.
Circuit Court of Appeals by the American Foundrymen's Society, the
North American Die Casting Association, and the Non-Ferrous Founders'
Society (American Foundrymen's Society et al. v. U.S. EPA, Civ. No 00-
1208 (D.C. Cir.)).
The Foundrymen's case presented issues concerning the applicability
of subpart RRR to aluminum die casters and aluminum foundries which
were considered during the initial rulemaking development. Because
aluminum die casters and foundries sometimes conduct the same type of
operations as other secondary aluminum producers, we originally
intended to apply the standards to these facilities, but only in those
instances where they conduct such operations. However, representatives
of the affected facilities argued that they should not be considered to
be secondary aluminum producers and should be wholly exempt from the
rule. During the rulemaking development, we decided to permit die
casters and foundries to melt contaminated internal scrap without being
considered to be secondary aluminum producers, but their
representatives insisted that too many facilities would still be
subject to the NESHAP. After promulgation, we announced that we would
withdraw the standards as applied to die casters and foundries and
develop separate MACT (maximum achievable control technology) standards
for these facilities.
After the Foundrymen's case was filed, we negotiated an initial
settlement agreement which established a process to effectuate our
commitment to develop new MACT standards. In that first settlement, EPA
agreed that it would stay the current standards for these facilities,
collect comprehensive data to support alternate standards, and
promulgate alternate standards. We then published a proposed rule to
stay the applicability of the standards for aluminum die casters and
aluminum foundries (65 FR 55491, September 14, 2000) and an advance
notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPR) announcing our intent to develop
new standards for these facilities (65 FR 55489, September 14, 2000).
During the subsequent process of preparing for information
collection, the petitioners concluded that the present rule was not as
sweeping in applicability as they had feared, and the parties then
agreed to explore an alternate approach to settlement based on
clarifications of the current standards. We subsequently reached
agreement with the Foundrymen's petitioners on a new settlement which
entirely supplants the prior settlement. The current settlement
requires us to propose certain amendments clarifying and modifying the
existing secondary aluminum standards, rather than developing and
promulgating new standards for aluminum die casters and aluminum
foundries.
As required by section 113(g) of the CAA, we provided notice and an
opportunity for comment concerning the Foundrymen's settlement (67 FR
9972, March 5, 2002). We received three adverse comments on the
settlement. After reviewing these comments, we decided to proceed with
settlement. A copy of these comments and of our responses to them is
available in Docket No. A-2002-06 for proposed rule amendments to the
existing standards, and in Docket No. A-2002-05 for a direct final rule
and parallel proposal to effectuate the new settlement, all of which
are being publishing elsewhere in today's Federal Register.
Pursuant to the new settlement agreement, we are today withdrawing
the proposed rule to stay the applicability of 40 CFR part 63, subpart
RRR, for aluminum die casting facilities and aluminum foundries which
we published on September 14, 2000. In addition, we are announcing that
we will take no further action with respect to the ANPR announcing our
intention to develop separate NESHAP for aluminum die casters and
foundries, which we also published on September 14, 2000.
Dated: May 31, 2002.
Christine Todd Whitman,
Administrator.
[FR Doc. 02-14628 Filed 6-13-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P