Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 248 / Tuesday, December 28, 2004 / Rules and Regulations 77639

House of the Congress and to the 

Comptroller General of the United 

States. CRA section 808 provides that 

the issuing agency may make a rule 

effective sooner than otherwise 

provided by the CRA if the agency 

makes a good cause finding that notice 

and public procedure are impracticable, 

unnecessary, or contrary to the public 

interest. EPA has made such a good 

cause finding, including the reasons 

therefor, and has established the date of 

publication as the effective date. As 

stated previously, 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. This action is not 

a ‘‘major rule’’ as defined by 5 U.S.C. 

804(2).

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 22 

Environmental protection, 

Administrative practice and procedure, 

Courts.

Dated: December 20, 2004. 

Richard McKeown, 

Chief of Staff.

■ 40 CFR Part 22 is amended as follows:

■ 1. The authority citation for part 22 

continues to read as follows:

Authority: 7 U.S.C. 136(l); 15 U.S.C. 2615; 

33 U.S.C. 1319, 1342, 1361, 1415 and 1418; 

42 U.S.C. 300g–3(g), 6912, 6925, 6928, 6991e 

and 6992d, 42 U.S.C. 7413(d), 7524(c), 

7545(d), 7547, 7601 and 7607(a), 9609, and 

11045.

■ 2. Section 22.5 is amended by adding 

a sentence after the second sentence in 

paragraph (a)(1) to read as follows:

§ 22.5 Filing, service, and form of all filed 

documents, business confidentiality claims. 

(a) * * * 

(1) * * * Documents filed in 

proceedings before the Environmental 

Appeals Board shall either be sent by 

U.S. mail (except by U.S. Express Mail) 

to the official mailing address of the 

Clerk of the Board set forth at § 22.3 or 

delivered by hand or courier (including 

deliveries by U.S. Postal Express or by 

a commercial delivery service) to Suite 

600, 1341 G Street, NW., Washington, 

DC 20005. * * *

* * * * *

■ 3. Section 22.30 is amended by 

removing the first two sentences of 

paragraph (a)(1) and adding three new 

sentences in their place to read as 

follows:

§ 22.30 Appeal from or review of initial 

decision. 

(a) * * * 

(1) Within 30 days after the initial 

decision is served, any party may appeal 

any adverse order or ruling of the 

Presiding Officer by filing an original 

and one copy of a notice of appeal and 

an accompanying appellate brief with 

the Environmental Appeals Board. 

Appeals sent by U.S. mail (except by 

U.S. Postal Express Mail) shall be 

addressed to the Environmental Appeals 

Board at its official mailing address: 

Clerk of the Board (Mail Code 1103B), 

United States Environmental Protection 

Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, 

NW., Washington, DC 20460. Appeals 

delivered by hand or courier (including 

deliveries by U.S. Postal Express Mail or 

by a commercial delivery service) shall 

be delivered to Suite 600, 1341 G Street, 

NW., Washington, DC 20005. * * *

* * * * *

[FR Doc. 04–28359 Filed 12–27–04; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

40 CFR Part 52 

[R03–OAR–2004–DC–0003; FRL–7853–9] 

Approval and Promulgation of Air 

Quality Implementation Plans; District 

of Columbia; Excess Volatile Organic 

Compound and Nitrogen Oxides 

Emissions Fee Rule

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Direct final rule.

SUMMARY: EPA is taking direct final 

action to approve revisions to the 

District of Columbia (District) State 

Implementation Plan (SIP) for ozone. 

The rule requires major stationary 

sources of volatile organic compounds 

(VOC) and nitrogen oxides (NOX) in the 

District, which is part of the 

Metropolitan Washington DC Severe 

Ozone Nonattainment Area, to pay a fee 

to the District if the area fails to attain 

the one-hour national ambient air 

quality standard for ozone by November 

15, 2005. The fee must be paid 

beginning in 2006, and in each calendar 

year thereafter, until the area is 

redesignated to attainment for the 

pollutant ozone. The District of 

Columbia submitted this rule on April 

16, 2004, pursuant to the requirements 

of Section 110 of the Clean Air Act.

DATES: This rule is effective on February 

28, 2005, without further notice, unless 

EPA receives adverse written comment 

by January 27, 2005. If EPA receives 

such comments, it 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 Regional Material in 

EDocket (RME) ID Number R03–OAR–

2004–DC–0003 by one of the following 

methods: 

A. Federal eRulemaking Portal:

http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the 

on-line instructions for submitting 

comments. 

B. Agency Web site: http://

www.docket.epa.gov/rmepub/RME,

EPA’s electronic public docket and 

comment system, is EPA’s preferred 

method for receiving comments. Follow 

the on-line instructions for submitting 

comments. 

C. E-mail: morris.makeba@epa.gov.

D. Mail: R03–OAR–2004–DC–0003, 

Makeba Morris, Chief, Air Quality 

Planning Branch, Mailcode 3AP21, U.S. 

Environmental Protection Agency, 

Region III, 1650 Arch Street, 

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19103. 

E. Hand Delivery: At the previouslylisted 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 

RME ID No. R03–OAR–2004–DC–0003. 

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.docket.epa.gov/rmepub/,

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 RME, 

regulations.gov or e-mail. The EPA RME 

and the Federal regulations.gov Web 

sites are 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 RME or 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 

77640 Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 248 / Tuesday, December 28, 2004 / Rules and Regulations 

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 RME 

index at http://www.docket.epa.gov/

rmepub/. 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 RME 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 material to be incorporated by 

reference are available at the Air and 

Radiation Docket and Information 

Center, U.S. Environmental Protection 

Agency, 1301 Constitution Avenue, 

NW., Room B108, Washington, DC 

20460; and the District of Columbia 

Department of Public Health, Air 

Quality Division, 51 N Street, NE., 

Washington, DC 20002.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Catherine L. Magliocchetti, (215) 814–

2174, or by e-mail at 

magliocchetti.catherine@epa.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Throughout this document, ‘‘we,’’ ‘‘us,’’

and ‘‘our’’ refer to EPA. This 

supplementary information is organized 

as follows.

Table of Contents 

I. What Final Action Is EPA Taking? 

II. Who Has To Pay These Fees? 

III. How Are the Fees Calculated? 

IV. Is the District of Columbia Required to 

Adopt an Excess Emission Rule? 

V. What Are the Exceptions to This Rule? 

VI. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

I. What Final Action Is EPA Taking? 

EPA is approving a SIP revision that 

revises the District of Columbia’s ozone 

SIP. The SIP revision requires major 

stationary sources of VOC and NOX in 

the District of Columbia, which is part 

of the Metropolitan Washington DC 

Severe Ozone Nonattainment Area 

(Area), to pay a fee to the District if the 

Area fails to attain the national ambient 

air quality standard (NAAQS) for ozone 

by November 15, 2005. The fee must be 

paid beginning in 2006 and in each 

calendar year thereafter, until the Area 

is redesignated to attainment for the 

pollutant ozone. We are approving this 

rule because it is consistent with the 

requirements of the Clean Air Act (Act). 

EPA is publishing this rule without 

prior proposal because we view this as 

a noncontroversial amendment and we 

anticipate no adverse comment, since 

no comments were received during the 

District’s regulatory process. However, 

in the ‘‘Proposed Rules’’ section of 

today’s Federal Register, we are 

publishing a separate document that 

will serve as the proposal to approve the 

SIP revision if adverse comments are 

filed. This rule will be effective on 

February 28, 2005, without further 

notice unless EPA receives adverse 

comment by January 27, 2005. If EPA 

receives adverse comment, EPA will 

publish a timely withdrawal in the 

Federal Register informing the public 

that the rule will not take effect. EPA 

will address all public comments in a 

subsequent final rule based on the 

proposed rule. EPA will not institute a 

second comment period on this action. 

Any parties interested in commenting 

must do so at this time. 

II. Who Has To Pay These Fees? 

This rule applies to major stationary 

VOC and NOX sources located in the 

District of Columbia. The District of 

Columbia’s definition of a ‘‘major 

stationary source’’ is found at 20 DCMR 

section 199.1. In a separate action, EPA 

is approving this definition as part of 

the District of Columbia’s ozone SIP. 

Pertaining to the application of this 

excess emissions fee for entities in the 

District of Columbia, a major stationary 

source is defined as ‘‘any stationary 

source of air pollutants that emits, or 

has the potential to emit, twenty five 

(25) tons per year or more of oxide of 

nitrogen or volatile organic compounds 

***’’ These sources are subject to this 

emissions fee rule.

III. How Are the Fees Calculated? 

The fee is initially set at $5,000 per 

ton of VOC or NOX emitted by the 

source during the previous calendar 

year in excess of 80% of the baseline 

amount. The fee is to be adjusted 

annually, beginning in 1991, by the 

percentage by which the consumer price 

index has been adjusted. The baseline is 

the lower of the source’s actual or 

allowable VOC or NOX emissions during 

calendar year 2005. 

IV. Is the District of Columbia Required 

To Adopt an Excess Emission Fee Rule? 

Under sections 182(d)(3), (e), and 185 

of the Clean Air Act (the Act), states are 

required to adopt an excess emissions 

fee regulation for ozone nonattainment 

areas classified as severe or extreme. 

This regulation requires major 

stationary sources of VOC in the 

nonattainment area to pay a fee to the 

state if the area fails to attain the 

standard by the attainment date set forth 

in the Act. The District of Columbia is 

classified as severe nonattainment area 

for ozone. Section 182(f) of the Act 

requires states to apply the same 

requirements to major stationary sources 

of oxides of nitrogen (NOX) as are 

applied to major stationary sources of 

VOC. 

V. What Are the Exceptions to this 

Rule? 

As per section 185 of the Clean Air 

Act, the District of Columbia’s 

regulation provides for an exception of 

the fee during any year that is treated as 

an extension year under section 

181(a)(5) of the Clean Air Act. 

VI. What Administrative Requirements 

Must EPA Consider? 

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 

Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 248 / Tuesday, December 28, 2004 / Rules and Regulations 77641

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 Clean 

Air Act. 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 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. 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.). 

VII. What Congressional Review Act 

Requirements Must EPA Consider? 

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. This rule is not a 

‘‘major rule’’ as defined by 5 U.S.C. 

804(2). 

VIII. What Are the Requirements for 

Judicial Review of This Action? 

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 February 28, 

2005. 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 approval of the District of 

Columbia’s Severe Ozone 

Nonattainment Area Fee SIP revision, as 

required under section 185 and 182(f) of 

the Clean Air Act, 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, Nitrogen dioxide, Ozone, 

Reporting and recordkeeping 

requirements, Volatile organic 

compounds.

Dated: December 14, 2004. 

Donald S. Welsh, 

Regional Administrator, Region III.

■ 40 CFR part 52 is amended as follows:

PART 52—[AMENDED]

■ 1. The authority citation for part 52 

continues to read as follows:

Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.

Subpart J—District of Columbia

■ 2. In § 52.470, the table in paragraph (c) 

is amended by adding the entry for 

Chapter 3, Section 307, after existing 

entry Section 8–2:720(c) to read as 

follows:

§ 52.470 Identification of plan.

* * * * *

(c) * * *

EPA-APPROVED DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA REGULATIONS

State citation Title/subject State effective date EPA approval date Additional explanation 

District of Columbia (DCMR), Title 20—Environment

* * * * * * * 

Chapter 3 Operating Permits

Section 307 ............ Enforcement for Severe Ozone 

Nonattainment Areas.

4/01/04 12/28/04 [Insert page 

number where the 

document begins] 

Provision allowing for the District to collect penalty fees from major stationary sources if the 

nonattainment area does not attain the ozone 

standard by the statutory attainment date. 

* * * * * * * 

77642 Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 248 / Tuesday, December 28, 2004 / Rules and Regulations 

* * * * *

[FR Doc. 04–28191 Filed 12–27–04; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

40 CFR Part 52 

[R03–OAR–2004–DC–0006; FRL–7854–7] 

Approval and Promulgation of Air 

Quality Implementation Plans; District 

of Columbia; VOC Emission Standards 

for Consumer Products

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Direct final rule.

SUMMARY: EPA is taking direct final 

action to approve revisions to the 

District of Columbia State 

Implementation Plan (SIP). The 

revisions pertain to the volatile organic 

compound (VOC) emission standards 

for consumer products used or sold in 

the District of Columbia. EPA is 

approving these revisions in accordance 

with the requirements of the Clean Air 

Act (CAA or the Act).

DATES: This rule is effective on February 

28, 2005 without further notice, unless 

EPA receives adverse written comment 

by January 27, 2005. If EPA receives 

such comments, it 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 Regional Material in 

EDocket (RME) ID Number R03–OAR–

2004–DC–0006 by one of the following 

methods: 

A. Federal eRulemaking Portal:

http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the 

on-line instructions for submitting 

comments. 

B. Agency Web site: http://

www.docket.epa.gov/rmepub/ RME, 

EPA’s electronic public docket and 

comment system, is EPA’s preferred 

method for receiving comments. Follow 

the on-line instructions for submitting 

comments. 

C. E-mail: morris.makeba@epa.gov.

D. Mail: R03–OAR–2004–DC–0006, 

Makeba Morris, Chief, Air Quality 

Planning Branch, Mailcode 3AP21, U.S. 

Environmental Protection Agency, 

Region III, 1650 Arch Street, 

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19103. 

E. Hand Delivery: At the previouslylisted 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 

RME ID No. R03–OAR–2004–DC–0006. 

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.docket.epa.gov/rmepub/, 

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 RME, 

regulations.gov or e-mail. The EPA RME 

and the Federal regulations.gov Web 

sites are 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 RME or 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 RME 

index at http://www.docket.epa.gov/

rmepub/. 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 RME 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 District of Columbia 

Department of Public Health, Air 

Quality Division, 51 N Street, NE., 

Washington, DC 20002.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Rose 

Quinto, (215) 814–2182, or by e-mail at 

quinto.rose@epa.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On April 

16, 2004, the District of Columbia (the 

District) submitted several revisions to 

its SIP. The SIP revisions include both 

new regulations and amendments to 

Title 20 of the District of Columbia 

Municipal Regulations (20 DCMR). The 

new regulations in Title 20 DCMR 

(Environment), Subtitle A: Air Quality, 

Chapter 7, Volatile Organic Compounds 

are:

(1) New Section 718—‘‘Mobile 

Equipment Repair and Refinishing’’. 

(2) New Sections 719 through 734—

‘‘Consumer Products’’. 

(3) New Sections 735 through 741—

‘‘Portable Fuel Containers and Spouts’’. 

(4) New Sections 742 through 748—

‘‘Solvent Cleaning’’. 

(5) New Sections 749 through 754—

‘‘Architectural and Industrial 

Maintenance Coating’’. 

The April 16, 2004 submittal also 

includes new definitions that were 

added in section 799, a new section 307 

to Chapter 3—to provide for a fee 

penalty pursuant to section 185 of the 

Act, and amendments to Chapters 1, 2, 

6, 7, and 8 to satisfy the Act’s 

requirements for severe ozone 

nonattainment areas pursuant to the 

Metropolitan Washington DC 1-hour 

ozone nonattainment area’s 

reclassification on January 24, 2003 

from serious to severe nonattainment. 

On September 20, 2004, the District 

supplemented its April 16, 2004 

submittal. This supplemental submittal 

provides copies of standards that are 

incorporated by reference in the 

District’s new and amended regulations 

and a copy of the District’s responses to 

comments it received during its rule 

adoption process. On November 26, 

2004, the District submitted another 

supplemental revision to its April 16, 

2004 submittal. This supplemental 

submittal consists of revised versions of 

the new VOC regulations. These are 

minor revisions to the regulations which 

clarify the standards that are 

incorporated by reference and correct 

cross-referencing and typographical 

errors. This action concerns only 

sections 719 through 734 (Consumer 

Products) and revised section 799 

containing the associated definitions for 

the District’s consumer products rule. 

The remaining SIP revisions submitted 

on April 16, 2004 and supplemented on 

September 20, 2004 and November 26, 

2004 are the subjects of separate 

rulemaking actions. 

I. Background 

As stated previously, this approval 

pertains only to the District’s 

regulations for consumer products. The 

standards and requirements contained