[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 164 (Monday, August 25, 1997)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 44931-44932]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-22371]



[[Page 44931]]

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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 60

[AD-FRL-5880-3]
RIN 2016-AD04


Emission Guidelines for Existing Sources and Standards of 
Performance for New Stationary Sources: Large Municipal Waste 
Combustion Units

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Proposed rule.

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SUMMARY: On December 19, 1995, pursuant to sections 111 and 129 of the 
Clean Air Act, EPA promulgated emission guidelines applicable to 
existing municipal waste combustor (MWC) units and new source 
performance standards applicable to new MWC units. The guidelines and 
standards are codified at 40 CFR Part 60, subparts Cb and Eb, 
respectively. See 60 FR 65387. On April 8, 1997, the United States 
Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit vacated subparts 
Cb and Eb as they apply to MWC units with the capacity to combust less 
than or equal to 250 tons per day of municipal solid waste (MSW), and 
all cement kilns combusting MSW, consistent with their opinion in Davis 
County Solid Waste Management and Recovery District v. EPA, 101 F.3d 
1395 (D.C. Cir. 1996), as amended, 108 F.3d 1454 (D.C. Cir. 1997). As a 
result, subparts Cb and Eb apply only to MWC units with the capacity to 
combust more than 250 tons per day of MSW per unit (large MWC units).
    This notice proposes to amend the guidelines and the standards for 
MWC units to make them consistent with the Davis  decision and 
subsequent court vacatur order. The guidelines and standards proposed 
for amendment have remained in effect for large MWC units since 
December 19, 1995 because the court did not vacate or stay the rules as 
they apply to these units. They will remain in effect during proposal 
and promulgation of these amendments.
    The amended guidelines and standards would result in the 1995 rule 
being applicable only to MWC units with the capacity to combust greater 
than 250 tons per day of MSW per unit. In this document, these units 
are referred to as large MWC units or large MWC's.
    The proposed amendments would affect the applicability of the 
guidelines and standards, and add supplemental emission limits for four 
pollutants (hydrogen chloride, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and 
lead) to the guidelines. The proposed amendments would not add any 
additional emission limits to the standards.
    The 1995 guidelines and standards applied to MWC units at plants 
greater than 35 megagrams per day combustion capacity (approximately 39 
tons per day). Because the proposed amendments would restrict coverage 
of the 1995 guidelines and standards to only MWC units with combustion 
capacities greater than 250 tons per day consistent with the  Davis  
decision, and because no petitions to review the 1995 rules as they 
applied to large MWC units were filed, the Agency does not anticipate 
receiving adverse comments. Consequently, in this issue of the Federal 
Register, a companion direct final rule is being published. If no 
significant material adverse comments are received on this proposal by 
the date specified below, no further action will be taken with respect 
to this proposal and the direct final rule will become final. The 
regulatory text for this proposal is the same as the regulatory text 
for the companion direct final rule which can be found in the final 
rules section of this Federal Register.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before September 24, 1997. 
Additionally, a hearing will be convened if requests to speak are 
received by September 9, 1997. If requests to speak are received, the 
hearing will take place on September 16, 1997 beginning at 10:00 a.m. A 
message regarding the status of the public hearing may be accessed by 
calling (919) 541-5264.

ADDRESSES: Comments. Comments should be submitted (in duplicate, if 
possible) to: Air and Radiation Docket and Information Center (MC-
6102), Attention Docket Number A-90-45/Section VIII-D, U.S. 
Environmental Protection Agency, 401 M Street, SW, Washington, DC 
20460. Note that this is a different docket section number than that 
specified for comments on the technical amendments included elsewhere 
in a notice in today's Federal Register. Refer to SUPPLEMENTARY 
INFORMATION  for information regarding electronic submittal of 
comments.
    Public Hearing. If a public hearing is held, it will be held at 
EPA's Office of Administration Auditorium, Research Triangle Park, 
North Carolina, or at an alternate site nearby. Persons interested in 
presenting oral testimony should notify Ms. Donna Collins, Combustion 
Group, Emission Standards Division (MD-13), U.S. Environmental 
Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina 27711, 
telephone (919) 541-5578. The final meeting status and location can be 
determined by calling (919) 541-5264.
    Docket. Docket Nos. A-90-45 and A-89-08, containing supporting 
information for this rulemaking, are available for public inspection 
and copying between 8:00 a.m. and 5:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, at 
EPA's Air and Radiation Docket and Information Center (Mail Code 6102), 
401 M Street, SW, Washington, DC 20460, or by calling (202) 260-7548. 
The docket is located at the above address in Room M-1500, Waterside 
Mall (ground floor, central mall). A reasonable fee may be charged for 
copying.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Walter Stevenson at (919) 541-
5264, Combustion Group, Emission Standards Division (MD-13), U.S. 
Environmental Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina 
27711.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: If no significant material adverse comments 
are received on these proposed amendments by the specified date, no 
further activity is contemplated in relation to this proposal, and the 
companion direct final rule (see the final rules section of this 
Federal Register) will automatically become effective on the date 
specified therein. If significant material adverse comments are 
received on this proposal, the companion direct final rule will be 
withdrawn and all public comments received will be addressed in a 
subsequent final rule based on this proposal. Any parties interested in 
commenting should do so during this comment period.
    The regulatory text for this proposal is being published with the 
companion direct final rule and is incorporated by reference herein. In 
the regulatory text, the effective dates and the compliance dates are 
keyed to the promulgation date for both the guidelines and the 
standards. In the regulatory text of the guidelines, the State plan 
submittal dates and required final compliance dates are also dependent 
upon the promulgation date of these amendments. Therefore, if EPA were 
to withdraw the direct final rule as a result of comments on this 
proposal, the aforementioned dates would be revised to reflect the 
subsequent final promulgation date.
    For further supplementary information, the detailed rationale, and 
the specific amendments being proposed, see the information provided in 
the companion direct final rule in the

[[Page 44932]]

direct final rules section of this issue of the Federal Register.

Electronic Submittal of Comments

    Comments and data may be submitted in hard copy or electronically. 
Electronic submittals should be sent to A-and-R-D<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#97f8f4fcf2e3d7f2e7f6faf6fefbb9f2e7f6b9f0f8e1"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="137c70787667537663727e727a7f3d7663723d747c65">[email protected]</span></a>. 
No Confidential Business Information (CBI) should be submitted through 
e-mail. Electronic comments must be submitted as an ASCII file avoiding 
the use of special characters and any form of encryption. Electronic 
comments on this proposed rule may be filed online at many Federal 
Depository Libraries.
    Comments and data will also be accepted on disks in WordPerfect 5.1 
or 6.1 file format or ASCII file format. All comments and data for this 
proposal, whether in paper form or in electronic forms such as through 
e-mail or on disk, must be identified by the docket number A-90-45/
Section VIII-D.

Executive Order 12866 Review

    Under Executive Order 12866 (58 FR 51735, October 4, 1993), EPA 
must determine whether the regulatory action is ``significant'' and, 
therefore, subject to OMB review and the requirements of the Executive 
Order. The EPA considered the 1995 guidelines and standards to be 
significant and the rules were reviewed by OMB in 1995 (see 60 FR 
65405). The amendments proposed today would not result in any 
additional control requirements and this regulatory action is 
considered ``not significant'' under Executive Order 12866.

Unfunded Mandates Act

    Under section 202 of the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995 
(``Unfunded Mandates Act''), signed into law on March 22, 1995, EPA 
must prepare a statement to accompany any rule where the estimated 
costs to State, local, or tribal governments, or to the private sector 
will be $100 million or more in any 1 year. Section 203 requires EPA to 
establish a plan for informing and advising any small governments that 
may be significantly impacted by the rule. An unfunded mandates 
statement was prepared and published in the 1995 promulgation notice 
(see 60 FR 65405 to 65412).
    The EPA has determined that the proposed amendments do not include 
any new Federal mandates. Therefore, the requirements of the Unfunded 
Mandates Act do not apply to this proposed rule.

Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA)

    Section 605 of the RFA requires Federal agencies to give special 
consideration to the impacts of regulations on small entities, which 
are small businesses, small organizations, and small governments. 
During the 1995 rulemaking, EPA estimated that few, if any, small 
entities would be affected by the promulgated guidelines and standards 
and, therefore, a regulatory flexibility analysis was not required (see 
60 FR 65413). The rules as amended today would not establish any new 
requirements; therefore, pursuant to the provisions of 5 U.S.C. 605(b), 
EPA certifies that the amendments to the guidelines and standards will 
not have a significant impact on a substantial number of small 
entities, and a regulatory flexibility analysis is not required.

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 60

    Environmental protection, Air pollution control, Reporting and 
recordkeeping requirements.

    Dated: August 15, 1997.
Carol M. Browner,
Administrator.
[FR Doc. 97-22371 Filed 8-22-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P


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