[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 128 (Wednesday, July 6, 2005)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 38774-38776]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-13281]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 52
[RME-OAR-2005-MD-0006; FRL-7933-6]
Approval and Promulgation of Air Quality Implementation Plans;
Maryland; Approval of Clarifications of Requirements for Fuel-Burning
Equipment
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Direct final rule.
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SUMMARY: The EPA is taking direct final action to approve revisions to
the Maryland State Implementation Plan (SIP). The revisions are
clarifications to the applicability and compliance methods for
particulate matter standards for fuel-burning equipment. The EPA is
approving these revisions to Maryland regulations in accordance with
the requirements of the Clean Air Act.
DATES: This rule is effective on September 6, 2005, without further
notice, unless EPA receives adverse written comment by August 5, 2005.
If EPA receives such comments, it will publish a timely withdrawal of
the direct final rule in the Federal Register and inform the public
that the rule will not take effect.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Regional Material in
EDocket (RME) ID Number RME-OAR-2005-MD-0006 by one of the following
methods:
A. Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. Follow
the on-line instructions for submitting comments.
B. Agency Web site: http://www.docket.epa.gov/rmepub/ RME, EPA's
electronic public docket and comment system, is EPA's preferred method
for receiving comments. Follow the on-line instructions for submitting
comments.
C. E-mail: [email protected].
D. Mail: RME-OAR-2005-MD-0006, David Campbell, Chief, Air Quality
Planning, Mailcode 3AP21, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region
III, 1650 Arch Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19103.
E. Hand Delivery: At the previously-listed EPA Region III address.
Such deliveries are only accepted during the Docket's normal hours of
operation, and special arrangements should be made for deliveries of
boxed information.
Instructions: Direct your comments to RME ID No. RME-OAR-2005-MD-
0006. EPA's policy is that all comments received will be included in
the public docket without change, and may be made available online at
http://www.docket.epa.gov/rmepub/, including any personal information
provided, unless the comment includes information claimed to be
Confidential Business Information (CBI) or other information whose
disclosure is restricted by statute. Do not submit information that you
consider to be CBI or otherwise protected through RME, regulations.gov
or e-mail. The EPA RME and the Federal regulations.gov Web sites are an
``anonymous access'' system, which means EPA will not know your
identity or contact information unless you provide it in the body of
your comment. If you send an e-mail comment directly to EPA without
going through RME or regulations.gov, your e-mail address will be
automatically captured and included as part of the comment that is
placed in the public docket and made available on the Internet. If you
submit an electronic comment, EPA recommends that you include your name
and other contact information in the body of your comment and with any
disk or CD-ROM you submit. If EPA cannot read your comment due to
technical difficulties and cannot contact you for clarification, EPA
may not be able to consider your comment. Electronic files should avoid
the use of special characters, any form of encryption, and be free of
any defects or viruses.
Docket: All documents in the electronic docket are listed in the
RME index at http://www.docket.epa.gov/rmepub/. Although listed in the
index, some information is not publicly available, i.e., CBI or other
information whose disclosure is restricted by statute. Certain other
material, such as copyrighted material, is not placed on the Internet
and will be publicly available only in hard copy form. Publicly
available docket materials are available either electronically in RME
or in hard copy during normal business hours at the Air Protection
Division, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region III, 1650 Arch
Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19103. Copies of the State submittal
are available at the Maryland Department of the Environment, 1800
Washington Boulevard, Suite 705, Baltimore, Maryland 21230.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Linda Miller, (215) 814-2068, or by e-
mail at [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
On July 12, 2004, the State of Maryland submitted a formal revision
to
[[Page 38775]]
its State Implementation Plan (SIP). The SIP revision consists of minor
changes which clarify the applicability and compliance methods for the
regulations governing fuel-burning equipment.
II. Summary of SIP Revision
Specifically, the changes in this revision are clarifications to
existing regulations. The applicability portion found in COMAR
26.11.09.01 has been revised to include a reference to wood used as
fuel. The existing regulation lacked a definition of ``fuel.'' The
Maryland Department of the Environment has stated that the intent of
the regulation has always been to include wood as a fuel regulated in
this section. An incorrect interpretation of the applicability would be
that only ``fossil fuel-fired'' equipment is regulated by the
regulations in COMAR 26.11.09. The addition of the definition for
``fuel'' clarifies the applicability to include equipment using ``wood
or wood products'' as fuel. The revision also clarifies the
calculations for particulate matter emissions found in COMAR
26.11.09.03. The clarification distinguishes the calculations used for
concentration emission limits from the calculations used for mass
emissions requirements. Concentration emission limits (grains per
standard cubic foot) require an adjustment for air flow, mass emission
limits (such as pounds per million BTU) do not require this adjustment.
The final change in the revision is a clarification of the compliance
test method for particulate matter emissions in COMAR 26.11.06. EPA
test method 5 requires three runs of approximately one hour each. This
amendment clarifies that the average of the three test runs is used to
determine compliance with particulate matter standards in a manner
consistent with EPA test method 5.
III. Final Action
EPA is approving revisions to three sections of regulations for the
control of fuel-burning equipment. EPA is publishing this rule without
prior proposal because the Agency views this as a noncontroversial
amendment and anticipates no adverse comment. These changes are
considered clarifications to existing requirements. The State of
Maryland provided public notice and hearing. There were no comments
received during the public participation process. However, in the
``Proposed Rules'' section of today's Federal Register, EPA is
publishing a separate document that will serve as the proposal to
approve the SIP revision if adverse comments are filed. This rule will
be effective on September 6, 2005, without further notice unless EPA
receives adverse comment by August 5, 2005. If EPA receives adverse
comment, EPA will publish a timely withdrawal in the Federal Register
informing the public that the rule will not take effect. EPA will
address all public comments in a subsequent final rule based on the
proposed rule. EPA will not institute a second comment period on this
action. Any parties interested in commenting must do so at this time.
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.
IV. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews
A. General 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 law as meeting Federal requirements and imposes
no additional requirements beyond those imposed by state law.
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 pre-existing requirements under state law and does
not impose any additional enforceable duty beyond that required by
state law, it does not contain any unfunded mandate or significantly or
uniquely affect small governments, as described in the Unfunded
Mandates Reform Act of 1995 (Pub. L. 104-4). This rule also does not
have tribal implications because it will not have a substantial direct
effect on one or more Indian tribes, on the relationship between the
Federal Government and Indian tribes, or on the distribution of power
and responsibilities between the Federal Government and Indian tribes,
as specified by Executive Order 13175 (65 FR 67249, November 9, 2000).
This action also does not have federalism implications because it does
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 action merely approves a state rule implementing a Federal
standard, and does not alter the relationship or the distribution of
power and responsibilities established in the Clean Air Act. This rule
also is not subject to Executive Order 13045 ``Protection of Children
from Environmental Health Risks and Safety Risks'' (62 FR 19885, April
23, 1997), because it is not economically significant.
In reviewing SIP submissions, EPA's role is to approve state
choices, provided that they meet the criteria of the Clean Air Act. In
this context, in the absence of a prior existing requirement for the
State to use voluntary consensus standards (VCS), EPA has no authority
to disapprove a SIP submission for failure to use VCS. It would thus be
inconsistent with applicable law for EPA, when it reviews a SIP
submission, to use VCS in place of a SIP submission that otherwise
satisfies the provisions of the Clean Air Act. 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. 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.).
B. Submission to Congress and the Comptroller General
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. 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 rule is not a
``major rule'' as defined by 5 U.S.C. 804(2).
C. 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 September 6, 2005. 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
[[Page 38776]]
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 to approve clarifications to the
applicability and compliance methods for particulate matter standards
for fuel-burning equipment 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, Carbon monoxide,
Intergovernmental relations, Nitrogen dioxide, Ozone, Particulate
matter, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, Sulfur oxides,
Volatile organic compounds.
Dated: June 15, 2005.
Donald S. Welsh,
Regional Administrator, Region III.
0
40 CFR part 52 is amended as follows:
PART 52--[AMENDED]
0
1. The authority citation for part 52 continues to read as follows:
Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.
Subpart V--Maryland
0
2. In Section 52.1070, the table in paragraph (c) is amended by
revising the entries for COMAR 26.11.09.01, 26.11.09.03 and 26.11.09.06
to read as follows:
Sec. 52.1070 Identification of plan.
* * * * *
(c) * * * [EPA approved regulations.]
EPA-Approved Regulations in the Maryland SIP
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Code of Maryland
administrative regulations Title/subject State EPA approval Additional explanation/citation
(COMAR) effective date date at 40 CFR 52.1100
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* * * * * * *
COMAR 26.11.09.01 Control of Fuel-burning Equipment, Stationary Internal Combustion Engines, and Certain Fuel-
Burning Installations
26.11.09.01................ Definitions..... 6/21/04 7/6/05.......... Revised Definition of ``fuel''
[Insert page in 26.11.09.01.B.2-1.a.
number where
the document
begins].
* * * * * * *
26.11.09.03................ General 6/21/04 7/6/05.......... Revised paragraphs
Conditions for [Insert page 26.11.09.03.C.1 and 2.
Fuel-Burning number where
Equipment. the document
beings].
* * * * * * *
26.11.09.06................ Control of 6/21/04 7/6/05.......... Addition of paragraph
Particulate [Insert page 26.11.09.06C.
Matter. number where
the document
begins].
* * * * * * *
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[FR Doc. 05-13281 Filed 7-5-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P