[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 8 (Thursday, January 12, 2006)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 1994-1996]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-227]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 52
[EPA-R05-OAR-2005-0563, FRL-8020-9]
Approval and Promulgation of Implementation Plans; Wisconsin;
Wisconsin Construction Permit Permanency SIP Revision
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Proposed rule.
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SUMMARY: EPA is proposing to approve revisions to the Wisconsin State
Implementation Plan (SIP) submitted by the State of Wisconsin on
December 8, 2005. Wisconsin has submitted for approval into its SIP a
statutory provision designed to ensure the permanency of construction
permit conditions. EPA is proposing to approve this revision because it
is consistent with Federal regulations governing State permit programs.
This revision also addresses one of the deficiencies identified in
EPA's Notice of Deficiency (NOD), published in the Federal Register on
March 4, 2004. (69 FR 10167.)
DATES: Written comments must be received on or before February 13,
2006.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-R05-
OAR-2005-0563, by one of the following methods:
http://www.regulations.gov: Follow the on-line
instructions for submitting comments.
E-mail: [email protected].
Fax: (312) 886-5824.
Mail: Pamela Blakley, Chief, Air Permit Section, (AR-18J),
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 77 West Jackson Boulevard,
Chicago, Illinois 60604.
Hand Delivery: Pamela Blakley, Chief, Air Permit Section,
(AR-18J), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 77 West Jackson
Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois 60604. Such deliveries are only accepted
during the Regional Office normal hours of operation, and special
arrangements should be made for deliveries of boxed information. The
Regional Office official hours of business are Monday through Friday,
8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. excluding Federal holidays.
Instructions: Direct your comments to Docket ID No. EPA-R05-OAR-
2005-0563. 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.regulations.gov, 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 http://www.regulations.gov or e-mail. The http://www.regulations.gov Web site
is 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 http://www.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. For additional instructions on submitting
comments, go to Section I of the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of
this document.
Docket: All documents in the docket are listed in the http://
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www.regulations.gov index. Although listed in the index, some
information is not publicly available, e.g., CBI or other information
whose disclosure is restricted by statute. Certain other material, such
as copyrighted material, will be publicly available only in hard copy.
Publicly available docket materials are available either electronically
in http://www.regulations.gov or in hard copy at the Environmental
Protection Agency, Region 5, Air and Radiation Division, 77 West
Jackson Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois 60604. This facility is open from
8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding legal
holidays. We recommend that you telephone Susan Siepkowski,
Environmental Engineer, at (312) 353-2654, before visiting the Region 5
office.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Susan Siepkowski, Environmental
Engineer, Air Permit Section, Air Programs Branch (AR-18J), U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency, Region 5, 77 West Jackson Boulevard,
Chicago, Illinois 60604, (312) 353-2654, [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Throughout this document, whenever ``we,''
``us,'' or ``our'' is used, we mean EPA. This supplementary information
section is arranged as follows:
I. What Should I Consider as I Prepare My Comments for EPA?
II. Background Information for This Action
III. What Has Wisconsin Submitted?
IV. Does This Submittal Comply With Federal Requirements?
V. What Action is EPA Taking Today?
VI. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews
I. What Should I Consider as I Prepare My Comments for EPA?
A. Submitting CBI. Do not submit this information to EPA through
http://www.regulations.gov or e-mail. Clearly mark the part or all of
the information that you claim to be CBI. For CBI information in a disk
or CD ROM that you mail to EPA, mark the outside of the disk or CD ROM
as CBI and then identify electronically within the disk or CD ROM the
specific information that is claimed as CBI). In addition to one
complete version of the comment that includes information claimed as
CBI, a copy of the comment that does not contain the information
claimed as CBI must be submitted for inclusion in the public docket.
Information so marked will not be disclosed except in accordance with
procedures set forth in 40 CFR part 2.
B. Tips for Preparing Your Comments. When submitting comments,
remember to:
1. Identify the rulemaking by docket number and other identifying
information (subject heading, Federal Register date and page number).
2. Follow directions--The EPA may ask you to respond to specific
questions or organize comments by referencing a Code of Federal
Regulations (CFR) part or section number.
3. Explain why you agree or disagree; suggest alternatives and
substitute language for your requested changes.
4. Describe any assumptions and provide any technical information
and/or data that you used.
5. If you estimate potential costs or burdens, explain how you
arrived at your estimate in sufficient detail to allow for it to be
reproduced.
6. Provide specific examples to illustrate your concerns, and
suggest alternatives.
7. Explain your views as clearly as possible, avoiding the use of
profanity or personal threats.
8. Make sure to submit your comments by the comment period deadline
identified.
II. Background Information for This Action
On March 4, 2004, EPA published a Notice of Deficiency for the
Clean Air Act (Act) Operating Permit Program in Wisconsin. (69 FR
10167). The NOD was based upon EPA's findings that the State's title V
program did not comply with the requirements of the Act or with the
implementing regulations at 40 CFR part 70.
One of the deficiencies raised in the NOD was related to the
expiration of Wisconsin's construction permits. 40 CFR 70.1 requires
that each title V source has a permit that assures compliance with all
applicable requirements, including any term or condition of any
preconstruction permit issued pursuant to programs approved or
promulgated under title I, including parts C or D of the Act. Title I
of the Act authorizes permitting authorities to establish in permits
source specific terms and conditions necessary for sources to comply
with the requirements of the Prevention of Significant Deterioration
(PSD) and New Source Review (NSR) programs. These permits must remain
in effect because they are the legal mechanism through which underlying
NSR or PSD requirements become applicable, and remain applicable, to
individual sources. (May 20, 1999, EPA Memorandum from John Seitz). If
the underlying construction permit expires, then the construction
permit terms would no longer be applicable requirements to the source.
Additionally, 40 CFR 52.21, the federal regulation governing the PSD
program, provides at 52.21(w)(1), ``[a]ny permit issued under this
section or a prior version of this section shall remain in effect,
unless and until it expires under paragraph (s) of this section or is
rescinded.''
Wisconsin statutes, Wis. Stat. 285.66(1), had provided that
construction permits expire after 18 months. Consequently, EPA
identified this as an issue in the NOD. Wis. Stat. 285.66 was
previously numbered Wis. Stat 144.396 and had been approved into
Wisconsin's SIP on June 25, 1986 (51 FR 23056), prior to EPA's approval
of Wisconsin's Nonattainment NSR program (January 18, 1995, 60 FR 3538)
and Wisconsin's PSD program (64 FR 28745, May 27, 1999).
III. What Has Wisconsin Submitted?
On December 8, 2005, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources
(WDNR) submitted to EPA for approval, the SIP revision ``Request to the
EPA to Revise Wisconsin's SIP Pertaining to the Permanency of
Construction Permit Conditions.'' Wisconsin has revised its statutes to
make permanent all conditions in construction permits. Wisconsin has
revised Statute 285.66(1) to provide that, ``[n]otwithstanding the fact
that authorization to construct, reconstruct, replace, or modify a
source expires under this subsection, all conditions in a construction
permit are permanent unless the conditions are revised through a
revision of the construction permit or through the issuance of a new
construction permit.'' This revision was adopted as part of the
Wisconsin 2005-07 biennial budget bill enacted into law as 2005
Wisconsin Act 25. (Published July 26, 2005.)
IV. Does This Submittal Comply With Federal Requirements?
EPA reviewed Wisconsin's December 8, 2005, SIP revision submittal
to determine completeness, in accordance with the completeness criteria
set out at 40 CFR part 51, appendix V, and found the submittal to be
complete. The next step in the review process was EPA's analysis of the
State's submittal for compliance with Federal program requirements.
Wisconsin's SIP revision is necessary to correct a deficiency
identified in the March 4, 2004 NOD. As noted in the March 4, 2004 NOD,
title V generally does not impose new substantive air quality control
requirements. Therefore, to be included in a title V permit, applicable
requirements, such as terms in previously issued construction permits,
must exist independent of the
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title V permit. EPA's approval of this SIP revision will ensure that
construction permit terms are included as applicable requirements in
Wisconsin's title V permits, and will satisfy the deficiency identified
in the NOD. Therefore, EPA has determined that this revision is
approvable.
V. What Action Is EPA Taking Today?
EPA is proposing to approve revisions to the Wisconsin SIP which
will make permanent all terms of Wisconsin's permits to construct,
reconstruct, replace or modify sources unless the terms are revised
through a revision of the construction permit or issuance of a new
construction permit. EPA is also soliciting comment on this proposed
approval.
VI. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews. Executive Order 12866;
Regulatory Planning and Review
Under Executive Order 12866 (58 FR 51735, September 30, 1993), this
action is not a ``significant regulatory action'' and therefore is not
subject to review by the Office of Management and Budget.
Paperwork Reduction Act
This proposed 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.).
Regulatory Flexibility Act
This proposed action merely proposes to approve state law as
meeting Federal requirements and imposes no additional requirements
beyond those imposed by state law. Accordingly, the Administrator
certifies that this proposed 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.).
Unfunded Mandates Reform Act
Because this rule proposes to approve 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).
Executive Order 13132--Federalism
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 proposes to approve 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.
Executive Order 13175--Consultation and Coordination With Indian Tribal
Governments
This proposed 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).
Executive Order 13045--Protection of Children From Environmental Health
and Safety Risks
This proposed 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.
Executive Order 13211--Actions That Significantly Affect Energy Supply,
Distribution, or Use
Because it is not a ``significant regulatory action'' under
Executive Order 12866 or a ``significant energy action,'' 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).
National Technology Transfer Advancement Act
Section 12(d) of the National Technology Transfer and Advancement
Act of 1995 (NTTAA), 15 U.S.C. 272, requires Federal agencies to use
technical standards that are developed or adopted by voluntary
consensus to carry out policy objectives, so long as such standards are
not inconsistent with applicable law or otherwise impractical. In
reviewing SIP submissions, EPA's role is to approve state choices,
provided that they meet the criteria of the Clean Air Act. Absent a
prior existing requirement for the state to use voluntary consensus
standards, EPA has no authority to disapprove a SIP submission for
failure to use such standards, and it would thus be inconsistent with
applicable law for EPA to use voluntary consensus standards in place of
a program submission that otherwise satisfies the provisions of the
Clean Air Act. Therefore, the requirements of section 12(d) of the NTTA
do not apply.
List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 52
Environmental protection, Air pollution control, Carbon monoxide,
Incorporation by Reference, Intergovernmental relations, Lead, Nitrogen
dioxide, Ozone, Particulate matter, Reporting and recordkeeping
requirements, Sulfur oxides, Volatile organic compounds.
Date: January 4, 2006.
Gary Gulezian,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region 5.
[FR Doc. E6-227 Filed 1-11-06; 8:45 am]
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