[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 2 (Thursday, January 4, 2007)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 265-267]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-22478]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 52
[EPA-R04-OAR-2006-0577-200620(a); FRL-8265-4]
Approval and Promulgation of Implementation Plans; Tennessee:
Approval of Revisions to the Knox County Portion of the Tennessee State
Implementation Plan
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Direct final rule.
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SUMMARY: EPA is taking direct final action to approve revisions to the
Tennessee State Implementation Plan (SIP) submitted by the State of
Tennessee, through the Tennessee Department of Environment and
Conservation (TDEC), on January 20, 2006. The revisions pertain to the
Knox County portion of the Tennessee SIP, and include changes to the
Knox County Air Quality Regulations (KCAQR) Section 46.0--``Regulation
of Volatile Organic Compounds.'' The changes were made following EPA
action on the corresponding federal law. The changes add four compounds
to the list of compounds excluded from the definition of volatile
organic compounds (VOC) on the basis that they make a negligible
contribution to ozone formation. This action is being taken pursuant to
section 110 of the Clean Air Act (CAA).
DATES: This direct final rule is effective March 5, 2007 without
further notice, unless EPA receives adverse comment by February 5,
2007. 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 No. EPA-R04-
OAR-2006-0577 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-2006-0577,'' 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: Dr. Egide Louis, 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. 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 No. EPA-R04-OAR-
2006-0577. 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 federal holidays.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Egide Louis, 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) 562-9240. Dr. Louis can also be reached via electronic mail at
[email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Today's Action
On January 20, 2006, the State of Tennessee, through TDEC,
submitted revisions to the Knox County portion of the Tennessee SIP to
include changes to KCAQR Section 46.0--``Regulation of Volatile Organic
Compounds.'' The change adds four compounds to the list
[[Page 266]]
of those excluded from the definition of VOC on the basis that they
make a negligible contribution to ozone formation. The definition in
Section 46.0, now reads that 1,1,1,2,2,3,3-heptafluoro-3-methoxy-
propane (n-C3F7OCH3, HFE-7000), 3-
ethoxy-1,1,1,2,3,4,4,5,5,6,6,6-dodecafluoro-2-(trifluoromethy) hexane
(HFE-7500), 1,1,1,2,3,3,3-heptafluoropropane (HFC 227ea) and methyl
formate (HCOOCH3) will be considered to be negligibly
reactive. Notably, as part of the January 20, 2006, submittal, the
State of Tennessee requested that EPA approve changes to the Knox
County portion of the Tennessee SIP to reflect changes made to KCAQR
Section 26.0--``Permits,'' and Section 45.0--``Prevention of
Significant Deterioration.'' EPA is not taking action on these rules at
this time, but will address them in the future.
II. Background
Tropospheric ozone occurs when VOC and nitrogen oxides
(NOX) react in the atmosphere. Because of the harmful health
effects of ozone, EPA regulations limit the amount of VOC and
NOX that can be released into the atmosphere. VOC are those
compounds of carbon (excluding carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide,
carbonic acid, metallic carbides, or carbonates, and ammonium
carbonate) which, in addition to NOX, form ozone through
atmospheric photochemical reactions. Compounds of carbon (i.e., or
organic compounds) have different levels of reactivity. As a result,
they do not react at the same speed, and do not form ozone to the same
extent.
In accordance with EPA policy, compounds of carbon with a
negligible level of reactivity need not be regulated to reduce ozone
(see, 42 FR 35314, July 8, 1977). EPA determines whether a given carbon
compound has ``negligible'' reactivity by comparing the compound's
reactivity to the reactivity of ethane. EPA lists these negligibly
reactive compounds in its regulations at 40 CFR 51.100(s), and excludes
them from the definition of VOC. EPA may periodically revise the list
of negligibly reactive compounds to add or delete compounds from the
list.
On November 29, 2004 (69 FR 69298), EPA finalized a rule approving
the addition of the four compounds that were added to KCAQR Section
46.0., to the list of those excluded from the definition of VOC. The
instant SIP submittal is consistent with EPA's rule change in November
2004.
III. Final Action
EPA is taking direct final action to approve the January 20, 2006,
SIP revision submitted by TDEC regarding changes to KCAQR Section
46.0--``Regulation of Volatile Organic Compounds.'' These changes are
at least as stringent as the corresponding federal regulations. As a
result, the revision is approvable pursuant to section 110 of the CAA.
EPA is publishing this rule without prior proposal because the
Agency views this as a noncontroversial submittal and anticipates no
adverse 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 March 5, 2007
without further notice unless the Agency receives adverse comments by
February 5, 2007.
If EPA receives such comments, then EPA will publish a document
withdrawing the final rule and informing the public that the 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 March 5, 2007 and no
further action will be taken on the proposed rule. Please note that if
we receive adverse comment on an amendment, paragraph, or section of
this rule and if that provision may be severed from the remainder of
the rule, we may adopt as final those provisions of the rule that are
not the subject of an adverse comment.
IV. 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 (Public Law 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 state law as
meeting Federal requirements and imposes no additional requirements
beyond those imposed by state law. As a result, it 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, 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
[[Page 267]]
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 March 5, 2007. 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, Intergovernmental
relations, Ozone, Particulate matter, Reporting and recordkeeping
requirements, Volatile organic compounds.
Dated: December 20, 2006.
A. Stanley Meiburg,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region 4.
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40 CFR part 52 is amended as follows:
PART 52--[AMENDED]
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1. The authority citation for part 52 continues to read as follows:
Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.
Subpart (RR)--(Tennessee)
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2. Section 52.2220(c) is amended by revising entry in Table 3 of the
Knox County portion of the Tennessee State Implementation Plan, for
``Section 46.0'', to read as follows:
Sec. 52.2220 Identification of plan.
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(c) * * *
Table 3.--EPA-Approved Knox County, Regulations
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State
State citation Title/subject effective EPA approval date Explanation
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46.0............................... Regulation of 10/12/05 1/04/07 [Insert ..............
Volatile Organic citation of
Compounds. publication]
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[FR Doc. E6-22478 Filed 1-3-07; 8:45 am]
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