[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 120 (Thursday, June 22, 2006)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 35801-35804]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 06-5598]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 52
[EPA-R04-OAR-2006-0376-200611a; FRL-8187-1]
Approval and Promulgation of Implementation Plans Alabama: Open
Burning Revision
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
[[Page 35802]]
ACTION: Direct final rule.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: EPA is approving revisions to the Alabama State Implementation
Plan (SIP), submitted by the Alabama Department of Environmental
Management (ADEM) on March 9, 2006. The revisions include modifications
to Alabama's open burning rules found at Alabama Administrative Code
(AAC) Chapter 335-3-3-.01. These revisions are part of Alabama's
strategy to meet the national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS) for
fine particulates (PM2.5) and ozone. Open burning creates smoke that
contains fine particles, volatile organic compounds and nitrogen
oxides, precursors to ozone. ADEM has found that elevated levels of
PM2.5 mirror the months when ozone levels are highest (May-September),
and that PM2.5 levels remain elevated into October. These rules are
intended to help control levels of PM2.5 and ozone precursors that
contribute to high ozone and PM2.5 levels. This action is being taken
pursuant to section 110 of the Clean Air Act (CAA).
DATES: This direct final rule is effective August 21, 2006 without
further notice, unless EPA receives adverse comment by July 24, 2006.
If adverse comment is received, EPA 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 Docket ID Number, ``EPA-
R04-OAR-2006-0376,'' by one of the following methods:
1. http://www.regulations.gov: Follow the on-line instructions for
submitting comments.
2. E-mail: [email protected].
3. Fax: 404-562-9019.
4. Mail: ``EPA-R04-OAR-2006-0376,'' Regulatory Development Section,
Air Planning Branch, Air, Pesticides and Toxics Management Division,
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 4, 61 Forsyth Street, SW.,
Atlanta, Georgia 30303-8960.
5. Hand Delivery or Courier: Stacy DiFrank, Regulatory Development
Section, Air Planning Branch, Air, Pesticides and Toxics Management
Division 12th floor, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 4, 61
Forsyth Street, SW., Atlanta, Georgia 30303-8960. Such deliveries are
only accepted during the Regional Office's normal hours of operation.
The Regional Office's official hours of business are Monday through
Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., excluding Federal holidays.
Instructions: Direct your comments to Docket ID Number, ``EPA-R04-
OAR-2006-0376.'' 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 through http://www.regulations.gov or e-mail, information that you consider to be CBI
or otherwise protected. 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 information about EPA's public
docket visit the EPA Docket Center homepage at http://www.epa.gov/epahome/dockets.htm.
Docket: All documents in the electronic docket are listed in the
http://www.regulations.gov index. 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 http://www.regulations.gov or in hard copy at the Regulatory Development
Section, Air Planning Branch, Air, Pesticides and Toxics Management
Division, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 4, 61 Forsyth
Street, SW., Atlanta, Georgia 30303-8960. EPA requests that if at all
possible, you contact the person listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
CONTACT section to schedule your inspection. The Regional Office's
official hours of business are Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30
p.m. excluding legal holidays.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Stacy DiFrank, Regulatory Development
Section, Air Planning Branch, Air, Pesticides and Toxics Management
Division, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 4, 61 Forsyth
Street, SW., Atlanta, Georgia 30303-8960. The telephone number is (404)
562-9042. Ms. DiFrank can also be reached via electronic mail at
[email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Today's Action
On March 9, 2006, ADEM submitted to EPA proposed SIP revisions for
review and approval into the Alabama SIP. The proposed revisions
include changes made by the State of Alabama to its open burning
regulations, found at AAC Chapter 335-3-3-.01. These rules became state
effective on April 4, 2006.
In summary, the revisions submitted by ADEM include changes to the
duration and location of open burning, and add other specific
requirements for open burning for 2006 only. The original provisions
that were part of Chapter 335-3-3-.01(2) still exist, with the
exception of subpart (d), which was modified to include the month of
October and four additional counties. These requirements include
expansion of the seasonal May, June, July, August and September ban on
open burning to now include the month of October, and the additional
counties of DeKalb, Etowah, Russell, and Talladega. In addition, a new
provision, 335-3-3-.01(2)(e) was added. The new provision also
describes additional requirements for open burning during 2006 only,
which allows open burning during the months of May, June, July, August,
September and October in DeKalb, Etowah, Russell, and Talladega
Counties, provided an air curtain incinerator is used to conduct the
open burning. The proposed revisions summarized above are approvable
pursuant to section 110 of the CAA.
II. Final Action
EPA is now taking direct final action to approve the proposed
revisions, specifically, AAC Chapter 335-3-3-.01, into the Alabama SIP.
This revision was submitted by ADEM on March 9, 2006. These revisions
include the entirety of Alabama's open burning rules and are part of
the State's strategy to meet the NAAQS by reducing emissions of
volatile organic compounds, fine particulates and nitrogen oxides.
EPA is publishing this rule without prior proposal because the
Agency views this as a noncontroversial submittal and anticipates no
adverse
[[Page 35803]]
comments. However, in the proposed rules section of this Federal
Register publication, EPA is publishing a separate document that will
serve as the proposal to approve the SIP revision should adverse
comments be filed. This rule will be effective August 21, 2006 without
further notice unless the Agency receives adverse comments by July 24,
2006.
If EPA receives such comments, EPA will then publish a document
withdrawing the direct final rule and informing the public that such
rule will not take effect. All public comments received will then be
addressed in a subsequent final rule based on the proposed rule. EPA
will not institute a second comment period. Parties interested in
commenting should do so at this time. If no such comments are received,
the public is advised that this rule will be effective on August 21,
2006 and no further action will be taken on the proposed rule.
III. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews
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 CAA.
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 CAA. 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 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. 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, U.S.C. section 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. A major rule
cannot take effect until 60 days after it is published in the Federal
Register. This action is not a ``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 August 21, 2006. 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 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 12, 2006.
A. Stanley Meiburg,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region 4.
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 B--Alabama
0
2. Section 52.50(c) is amended by revising the entry for ``Section 335-
3-3.01'' to read as follows:
Sec. 52.50 Identification of plan.
* * * * *
(c) * * *
EPA Approved Alabama Regulations
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
State EPA approval
State citation Title/subject effective date date Explanation
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chapter 335-3-3 Control of Open Burning and Incineration
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[[Page 35804]]
* * * * * * *
Section 335-3-3-.01........ Open Burning.... 04/04/2006 06/22/2006
[Insert
citation of
publication]
* * * * * * *
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* * * * *
[FR Doc. 06-5598 Filed 6-21-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P