41046 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 147 / Thursday, July 31, 1997 / Notices

C1. Filing and Service of Responsive

Documents—Any filings must bear in

all capital letters the title

‘‘COMMENTS’’,

‘‘RECOMMENDATIONS FOR TERMS

AND CONDITIONS’’, ‘‘PROTEST’’, OR

‘‘MOTION TO INTERVENE’’, as

applicable, and the Project Number of

the particular application to which the

filing refers. Any of the above-named

documents must be filed by providing

the original and the number of copies

provided by the Commission’s

regulations to: The Secretary, Federal

Energy Regulatory Commission, 888

First Street, NE., Washington, DC 20426.

A copy of any motion to intervene must

also be served upon each representative

of the Applicant specified in the

particular application.

D2. Agency Comments—Federal,

State, and local agencies are invited to

file comments on the described

application. A copy of the application

may be obtained by agencies directly

from the Applicant. If an agency does

not file comments within the time

specified for filing comments, it will be

presumed to have no comments. One

copy of an agency’s comments must also

be sent to the Applicant’s

representatives.

Lois D. Cashell,

Secretary.

[FR Doc. 97–20123 Filed 7–30–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6717–01–M

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

AGENCY

[FRL–5866–4]

Agency Information Collection

Activities: Submission for OMB

Review; Comment Request for the

Prevention of Significant Deterioration

(PSD) and Nonattainment New Source

Review (NSR) Programs

AGENCY: Environmental Protection

Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice.

SUMMARY: In compliance with the

Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C.

3501 et seq.), this notice announces that

the following continuing Information

Collection Request (ICR) has been

forwarded to the Office of Management

and Budget (OMB) for review and

approval: Information Collection

Request for 40 CFR part 51 and 52

Prevention of Significant Deterioration

and Nonattainment New Source Review:

OMB No. 2060–0003, Exp. September

30, 1997. The ICR describes the nature

of the information collection and its

expected burden and cost.

DATES: Comments must be submitted on

or before September 2, 1997.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION OR A COPY

CALL: Sandy Farmer at EPA, (202) 260-

2740, and refer to EPA ICR No.1230.09.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Affected entities: Entities potentially

affected by this action are those which

must submit an application for a permit

to construct a new source or to modify

an existing source of air pollution,

permitting agencies which review the

permit applications, and members of the

public who are due the opportunity to

comment on permitting actions.

Title: Information Collection Request

for 40 CFR parts 51 and 52 Prevention

of Significant Deterioration and

Nonattainment New Source Review:

OMB No. 2060–0003, Exp. September

30, 1997. This is a request for extension

of a currently approved collection.

Abstract: Part C of the Clean Air Act

(Act)—‘‘Prevention of Significant

Deterioration,’’ and Part D—‘‘Plan

Requirements for Nonattainment

Areas,’’ require all States to adopt

preconstruction review programs for

new or modified stationary sources of

air pollution. Implementing regulations

for State adoption of these two New

Source Review (NSR) programs into a

State Implementation Plan (SIP) are

promulgated at 40 CFR 51.160 through

51.166 and appendix S to part 51.

Federal permitting regulations are

promulgated at 40 CFR 52.21 for PSD

areas that are not covered by a SIP

program.

In order to receive a construction

permit for a major new source or major

modification, the applicant must

conduct the necessary research, perform

the appropriate analyses and prepare

the permit application with

documentation to demonstrate that their

project meets all applicable statutory

and regulatory NSR requirements.

Specific activities and requirements are

listed and described in the Supporting

Statement for the ICR.

Permitting agencies, either State, local

or Federal, review the permit

application to affirm the proposed

source or modification will comply with

the Act and applicable regulations. The

permitting Agency then provides for

public review of the proposed project

and issues the permit based on its

consideration of all technical factors

and public input. The EPA, more

broadly, reviews a fraction of the total

applications and audits the State and

local programs for their effectiveness.

Consequently, information prepared and

submitted by the source is essential for

the source to receive a permit, and for

Federal, State and local environmental

agencies to adequately review the

permit application and thereby properly

administer and manage the NSR

programs.

To facilitate adequate public

participation, information that is

submitted by sources as a part of their

permit application, should generally be

a matter of public record. See sections

165(a)(2) and 110(a)(2) (C), (D), and (F)

of the Act. Notwithstanding, to the

extent that the information required for

the completeness of a permit is

proprietary, confidential, or of a nature

that it could impair the ability of the

source to compete in the marketplace,

that information is collected and

handled according to EPA’s policies set

forth in title 40, chapter 1, part 2,

subpart B—Confidentiality of Business

Information (see 40 CFR part 2). See also

section 114(c) of the Act.

An agency may not conduct or

sponsor, and a person is not required to

respond to, a collection of information

unless it displays a currently valid OMB

control number. The OMB control

numbers for EPA’s regulations are listed

in 40 CFR part 9 and 48 CFR Chapter

15. The Federal Register Notice

required under 5 CFR 1320.8(d),

soliciting comments on this collection

of information was published on

December 31, 1996 (61 FR 69090). The

comments received are summarized in

Appendix H to the Supporting

Statement for the ICR, and are

responded to in the appropriate sections

of the Supporting Statement for the ICR.

The Agency also notes that, in order to

respond effectively to the comments

received, the original expiration date for

the existing ICR was extended from

March 31, 1997 to September 30, 1997.

Burden Statement: The annual public

reporting and recordkeeping burden for

this collection of information is broken

down as follows:

Type of permit

action

Major

PSD

Major

part D Minor

Number of

sources .......... 320 590 56,500

Burden Hours

per Response:

Industry ...... 839 577 40

Permitting

agency .... 272 109 30

Burden means the total time, effort, or

financial resources expended by persons

to generate, maintain, retain, or disclose

or provide information to or for a

Federal agency. This includes the time

needed to review instructions; develop,

acquire, install, and utilize technology

and systems for the purposes of

collecting, validating, and verifying

information, processing and
Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 147 / Thursday, July 31, 1997 / Notices 41047

1Letter dated January 16, 1997 from Frank C.

Lenski, President, RFG Survey Association, to

Charles Freed, Director, Fuels and Energy Division,

EPA.

2Letter dated January 31, 1997 from Charles

Freed, EPA, to Frank Lenski, RFG Survey

Association. Also see Memorandum dated April 29,

1997 from Stuart Romanow, Mechanical Engineer,

Fuels and Energy Division to Charles Freed.

maintaining information, and disclosing

and providing information; adjust the

existing ways to comply with any

previously applicable instructions and

requirements; train personnel to be able

to respond to a collection of

information; search data sources;

complete and review the collection of

information; and transmit or otherwise

disclose the information.

Respondents/Affected Entities:

Industrial plants, State and Local

permitting agencies.

Estimated Number of Respondents:

(114,820).

Frequency of Response: (1 per

respondent).

Estimated Total Annual Hour Burden:

(4,715, 260) hours.

Estimated Total Annualized Cost

Burden: $(0).

Send comments on the Agency’s need

for this information, the accuracy of the

provided burden estimates, and any

suggested methods for minimizing

respondent burden, including through

the use of automated collection

techniques to the following addresses.

Please refer to EPA ICR No.1230.09

and OMB Control No. 2060–0003 in any

correspondence.

Ms. Sandy Farmer, U.S. Environmental

Protection Agency, OPPE Regulatory

Information Division (2137), 401 M

Street, SW., Washington, DC 20460

and

Office of Information and Regulatory

Affairs, Office of Management and

Budget, Attention: Desk Officer for

EPA, 725 17th Street, NW.,

Washington, DC 20503

Dated: July 25, 1997.

Joseph Retzer, Director,

Regulatory Information Division.

[FR Doc. 97–20176 Filed 7–30–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE: 6560–50–P

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

AGENCY

[FRL–5867–1]

Change in Minimum Oxygen Content

Requirement for Reformulated

Gasoline

AGENCY: Environmental Protection

Agency.

ACTION: Notice.

SUMMARY: EPA’s reformulated gasoline

(RFG) program contains various

standards for RFG, including an oxygen

content standard. The current per-gallon

minimum standard for oxygen content

in RFG is 1.5% by weight. Pursuant to

the RFG regulations, EPA is increasing

this standard to 1.6% by weight for

several of the RFG covered areas,

because those areas failed a series of

compliance surveys for oxygen content

in 1996. This notice announces the

increased standard, and describes the

covered areas and parties that are

subject to the increased standard. The

increased standard will help ensure that

all covered areas receive the full benefit

of the oxygen content requirement in

the RFG program.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Stuart Romanow, Fuels and Energy

Division, Office of Mobile Sources,

Environmental Protection Agency,

Washington DC (6406J) 202–233–9296.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Regulatory Entities

Regulatory categories and entities

potentially affected by this action

include:

Category Examples of affected

entities

Industry ...................... Refiners, importers,

oxygenate blenders

of reformulated

gasoline.

This table is not intended to be

exhaustive, but rather provides a guide

for readers regarding entities likely to be

affected by this action. This table lists

the types of entities that EPA is now

aware could be potentially affected by

this action. Other types of entities not

listed in the table could also be affected.

To determine whether your entity is

affected by this action, you should

carefully examine the existing

provisions at 40 CFR 80.41. If you have

questions regarding the applicability of

this action to a particular entity, consult

the person listed in the preceding FOR

FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section.

II. Background

Section 211(k) of the Clean Air Act

requires that EPA establish standards for

reformulated gasoline ( RFG) to be used

in specified ozone nonattainment areas

(covered areas). The RFG requirements

contain performance standards for

reductions of emissions from motor

vehicles of ozone forming volatile

organic compounds and toxic

pollutants.

Standards for RFG are contained in 40

CFR 80.41. Refiners and other parties

subject to the standards can choose to

comply on either a per-gallon basis or to

comply on average. The standards for

compliance on average (‘‘averaged

standards’’) are numerically more

stringent than the per-gallon standards.

The averaged standards for RFG that

apply in 1996 are contained in

§ 80.41(b). These averaged standards

include a per-gallon minimum

requirement of 1.5 weight percent

oxygen. This per-gallon minimum

requirement is in addition to the

requirement for 2.1 weight percent

oxygen, on average. The average

standard for oxygen must be met by a

refiner or oxygenate blender for all of

the RFG it produced at a refinery or

blending facility, or for RFG imported

by an importer, but these parties are not

required to meet this standard for the

RFG supplied to each covered area

separately.

Any refiner, importer or oxygenate

blender has the option of meeting the

RFG standards on average or per gallon.

If a party is subject to the averaged

standards, then the requirement to

conduct surveys, as specified in § 80.68,

must be satisfied. In these surveys, RFG

samples are collected at retail gasoline

stations within covered areas and

analyzed to determine if the RFG

supplied to each covered area meets

certain survey pass/fail criteria specified

in § 80.68. An oxygen survey series

failure occurs in a covered area if the

annual average oxygen content for all of

the samples is less than 2.00 weight

percent. The purpose of the surveys and

the tightened standards which result if

a survey is failed is to ensure that

averaging over a refiner’s entire

production as compared to separate

averaging for each covered area does not

lead to the reduced quality of RFG in

any covered area.

Since the implementation of the RFG

program in 1995, these surveys have

been conducted by the RFG Survey

Association, a not-for-profit association

of refiners, importers and blenders,

using an EPA-approved survey design

plan as required in the regulations. By

letter dated January 16, 1997, the RFG

Survey Association reported to EPA the

results of its surveys for 1996, indicating

that several survey areas failed to meet

the annual average requirements of

2.00% oxygen by weight.1 After

reviewing the data EPA determined that

8 areas did fail the survey series for

oxygen content.2

The following covered areas failed the

oxygen survey series:

1. Philadelphia-Wilmington-Trenton

area [§ 80.70(e)]

2. Baltimore, MD area [§ 80.70(g)]