[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 20 (Tuesday, January 31, 2006)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 5033-5034]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-1205]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 52
[EPA-R03-OAR-2005-MD-0013; FRL-8026-6]
Approval and Promulgation of Air Quality Implementation Plans;
Maryland; Amendments to the Control of Incinerators
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Proposed rule.
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SUMMARY: EPA is proposing to approve a State Implementation Plan (SIP)
revision submitted by Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE).
This revision pertains to amendments to the regulations for the control
of incinerators. This action is being taken under the Clean Air Act
(CAA or the Act).
DATES: Written comments must be received on or before March 2, 2006.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID Number EPA-
R03-OAR-2005-MD-0013 by one of the following methods:
A. www.regulations.gov. Follow the on-line instructions for
submitting comments.
B. E-mail: [email protected].
C. Mail: EPA-R03-OAR-2005-MD-0013, Makeba Morris, Chief, Air
Quality and Planning Branch, Mailcode 3AP21, U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency, Region III, 1650 Arch Street, Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania 19103.
D. 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 Docket ID No. EPA-R03-OAR-
2005-MD-0013. EPA's policy is that all comments received will be
included in the public docket without change, and may be made available
online at 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 www.regulations.gov
or e-mail. The www.regulations.gov website 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
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.
Docket: All documents in the electronic docket are listed in the
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 www.regulations.gov 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: LaKeshia N. Robertson (215) 814-2113,
or by e-mail at [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On October 31, 2005, Maryland submitted a
revision to its SIP. The revision (05-06) pertains to
amendments to regulations .01 and .05 under COMAR 26.11.08 Control of
Incinerators.
[[Page 5034]]
I. Background
COMAR 26.11.08 sets forth emission standards and requirements for
incinerators that burn ``infectious'' or special medical waste
generated by health care and research facilities. These incinerators,
which are used by health care and research facilities, must meet
particulate matter and toxic air pollutants emission limits and other
requirements. Two years ago, following federal guidelines MDE adopted
more stringent federal requirements for certain hospital/ medical waste
incinerators. Those requirements applied to various sizes of hospital
incinerators but did not apply to units burning pathological waste or
crematories.
Special medical waste incinerators that were not subject to the
more restrictive federal requirements are subject to the MDE's
particulate matter and toxic air pollutant requirements. The special
medical waste incinerators subject to Maryland's regulations are
required to meet a particulate matter standard of 0.1 grains per
standard cubic foot dry (SCFD). Other incinerators and hazardous waste
incinerators are subject to a more restrictive 0.03 grain loading
requirement.
Although the MDE's intent was to treat crematories as special
medical waste incinerators and subject them to the 0.1 grain loading
requirement, the current regulations are not clear as to which
particulate matter requirement applies to crematories. The October 31,
2005 revision clarifies this discrepancy.
II. Summary of SIP Revision
The revision defines the term ``crematory'' and clarifies the
particulate matter requirements to indicate that crematories are
subject to the 0.1 grain loading requirement. Special medical waste
incinerators that are not subject to the more restrictive federal
requirements are subject to the 0.1 grain loading requirement and
crematories are treated as special medical waste incinerators. The
amendments address COMAR 26.11.08, sections .01 and .05. The referenced
changes are listed below.
Revision 1. Section .01B(9-1): The term ``crematory'' is defined as
a furnace where a human or animal corpse is burned with: (a) The
container or bag in which the human or animal corpse is placed or
transported; and (b) The animal bedding, if applicable.
Revision 2. Particulate Matter Section .05A(3) Requirements for
Areas I, II, V, and VI: Crematories have been incorporated into the
rule with stipulations on the particulate matter emissions into the
atmosphere. The rule states that a person may not cause or permit the
discharge of particulate matter into the outdoor atmosphere that exceed
0.10 grains per standard cubic foot dry 0.10 gr/SCFD (229 mg/dscm).
Section .05B(2)(a) Requirements for Areas III and IV: Crematories
have been incorporated into the rule with stipulations on the
particulate matter emissions into the atmosphere. The rule clearly
states that a person may not cause or permit the discharge of
particulate matter into the outdoor atmosphere to exceed 0.10 grains
per standard cubic foot dry 0.10gr/SCFD (229mg/dscm).
III. Proposed Action
EPA is approving Maryland's SIP revisions submitted on October 31,
2005 to incorporate crematory provisions into rule COMAR 26.11.08,
which amends sections .01 and .05. EPA is soliciting public comments on
the issues discussed in this document. These comments will be
considered before taking final action.
IV. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews
Under Executive Order 12866 (58 FR 51735, October 4, 1993), this
proposed 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 Fed. Reg. 28355 (May 22,
2001)). This 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.). 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 (Public Law 104-4). This proposed rule also does 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), nor will it 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 proposes to approve a state rule implementing a Federal
requirement, and does not alter the relationship or the distribution of
power and responsibilities established in the Clean Air Act. This
proposed rule also is not subject to Executive Order 13045 (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. As required by section 3
of Executive Order 12988 (61 FR 4729, February 7, 1996), in issuing
this proposed rule, EPA has 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 proposed rule, to amend Maryland's incinerator regulation, does
not impose an information collection burden under the provisions of the
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.).
List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 52
Environmental protection, Air pollution control, Particulate
matter.
Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.
Dated: January 24, 2006.
Donald S. Welsh,
Regional Administrator, Region III.
[FR Doc. E6-1205 Filed 1-30-06; 8:45 am]
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