[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 45 (Thursday, March 8, 2007)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 10380-10382]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-4179]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 52
[EPA-R07-OAR-2006-1015; FRL-8285-1]
Approval and Promulgation of Implementation Plans; Iowa;
Interstate Transport of Pollution
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Direct final rule.
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SUMMARY: EPA is revising the Iowa State Implementation Plan (SIP) for
the purpose of approving the Iowa Department of Natural Resources'
(IDNR) actions to address the ``good neighbor'' provisions of the Clean
Air Act section 110(a)(2)(D)(i). These provisions require each state to
submit a SIP that prohibits emissions that adversely affect another
state's air quality through interstate transport. IDNR has adequately
addressed the four distinct elements related to the impact of
interstate transport of air pollutants. These include prohibiting
significant contribution to downwind nonattainment of the National
Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS), interference with maintenance of
the NAAQS, prevention of significant deterioration of air quality, and
protection of visibility. The requirements for public notification were
also met by IDNR.
DATES: This direct final rule will be effective May 7, 2007, without
further notice, unless EPA receives adverse comment by April 9, 2007.
If adverse comment is received, EPA will publish a timely withdrawal of
the direct final rule in the Federal Register informing the public that
the rule will not take effect.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-R07-
OAR-2006-1015, 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. Mail: Heather Hamilton, Environmental Protection Agency, Air
Planning and Development Branch, 901 North 5th Street, Kansas City,
Kansas 66101.
4. Hand Delivery or Courier. Deliver your comments to Heather
Hamilton, Environmental Protection Agency, Air Planning and Development
Branch, 901 North 5th Street, Kansas City, Kansas 66101.
Instructions: Direct your comments to Docket ID No. EPA-R07-OAR-
2006-1015. 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.
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 Environmental Protection
Agency, Air Planning and Development Branch, 901 North 5th Street,
Kansas City, Kansas 66101. The Regional Office's official hours of
business are Monday through Friday, 8 to 4:30 excluding Federal
holidays. The interested persons wanting to examine these documents
should make an appointment with the office at least 24 hours in
advance.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Heather Hamilton at (913) 551-7039, or
by e-mail at [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Throughout this document whenever
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``we,'' ``us,'' or ``our'' is used, we mean EPA. This section provides
additional information by addressing the following questions:
What is being addressed in this document?
What action is EPA taking?
What is being addressed in this document?
EPA is making a revision to the SIP for the purpose of approving
the IDNR's actions to address the requirements of the Clean Air Act
(CAA) section 110(a)(2)(D)(i). This CAA section requires each state to
submit a SIP that prohibits emissions that could adversely affect
another state. The SIP must prevent sources in the state from emitting
pollutants in amounts which will: (1) Contribute significantly to
nonattainment of the NAAQS, (2) interfere with maintenance of the NAAQS
in another state, (3) interfere with provisions to prevent significant
deterioration of air quality, and (4) interfere with efforts to protect
visibility.
EPA issued guidance on August 15, 2006, relating to SIP submissions
to meet the requirements of section 110(a)(2)(D)(i). As discussed
below, Iowa's analysis of its SIP with respect to the statutory
requirements is consistent with the guidance.
The IDNR has addressed the first two of these elements by the
adoption of the Clean Air Interstate Rule (CAIR) model rules that
require Iowa sources to participate in the EPA-administered cap and
trade program for nitrogen oxides (NOX) and sulfur dioxide.
Participation in this program will prohibit emissions from the state
that will contribute significantly to nonattainment or interfere with
the maintenance of the NAAQS in any downwind state. As previously
determined by EPA, submittal of a SIP revision to satisfy CAIR also
fulfills the state's obligations that pertain to ``significant
contribution'' and ``interference with maintenance'' (70 FR 25162). It
should be noted that EPA will act on Iowa's CAIR SIP in a separate
rulemaking, and this action makes no conclusion with respect to
approvability of that submittal.
The third element IDNR addressed was prevention of significant
deterioration (PSD). For 8-hour ozone, the state has met the obligation
by confirming that major sources in the state are currently subject to
PSD programs that implement the 8-hour ozone standard and that the
state is on track to meet the June 15, 2007, deadline for SIP
submissions adopting any relevant requirements of the Phase II ozone
implementation rule. For PM2.5, the state has confirmed that
the state's PSD program is being implemented in accordance with EPA's
interim guidance calling for the use of PM10 as a surrogate
for PM2.5 for the purposes of PSD review. Controlling
PM10 emissions and analyzing impacts on the environment
serves as a surrogate approach for reducing PM2.5 emissions
and minimizing impacts to air quality. Once PM2.5 guidance
is finalized by EPA, IDNR commits to transitioning from use of the
interim PM2.5 guidance to the final PM2.5
implementation guidance after approval of the PM2.5 SIP
revision (The submittal is due in April 2008).
It should be noted that Iowa is currently designated attainment/
unclassifiable for both the 8-hour ozone and PM2.5 NAAQS.
At this time, it is not possible for IDNR to accurately determine
whether there is interference with measures in another state's SIP
designed to protect visibility, which is the fourth element that was
addressed. Technical projects relating to visibility degradation
source-receptor relationships are under development. Iowa will be in a
more advantageous position to address the visibility projection
requirements once the initial regional haze SIP has been developed.
IDNR intends to meet the December 17, 2007, submittal deadline for the
regional haze SIP.
A public hearing with regard to this action was held by the state.
No comments were received.
With this action, the non-regulatory text in 40 CFR 52.820(e) is
revised to reflect that IDNR addressed the elements of the CAA section
110(a)(2)(D)(i) submittal.
What action is EPA taking?
EPA is approving this revision submitted by Iowa and is revising 40
CFR 52.820 to reflect that the IDNR has adequately addressed the
required elements of the CAA section 110(a)(2)(D)(i) SIP. Please note
that if EPA receives adverse comments on part of this rule, and if that
part can be severed from the remainder of the rule, EPA may adopt as
final those parts of the rule that are not the subject of an adverse
comment.
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 action 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 action 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 action 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 action 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 approves a state rule implementing a
Federal standard.
In reviewing state 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 state submission for failure to use VCS. It would thus be
inconsistent with applicable law for EPA, when it reviews a state
submission, to use VCS in place of a state 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 action does
[[Page 10382]]
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 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 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 May 7, 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, Incorporation by
reference, Intergovernmental relations, Nitrogen dioxide, Ozone,
Particulate matter, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, Sulfur
oxides, Volatile organic compounds.
Dated: February 27, 2007.
John B. Askew,
Regional Administrator, Region 7.
0
Chapter I, title 40 of the Code of Federal Regulations 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 Q--Iowa
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2. In Sec. 52.820(e) the table is amended by adding an entry in
numerical order to read as follows:
Sec. 52.820 Identification of plan.
* * * * *
(e) * * *
EPA-Approved Iowa Nonregulatory Provisions
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State
Name of nonregulatory SIP provision Applicable geographic submittal EPA approval date Explanation
or nonattainment area date
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* * * * * * *
(36) CAA 110(a)(2)(D)(i) SIP-- Statewide.............. 11/22/06 March 8, 2007 [insert
Interstate Transport. FR page number where
the document begins].
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[FR Doc. E7-4179 Filed 3-7-07; 8:45 am]
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