[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 238 (Monday, December 11, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 77376-77377]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-31483]



[[Page 77376]]

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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-6915-1]


Operating Permits Program; Notice of Comment Period on Program 
Deficiencies

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of comment period.

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SUMMARY: The EPA is announcing a 90-day comment period for members of 
the public to identify deficiencies they perceive exist in State and 
local agency operating permits programs required by title V of the 
Clean Air Act (Act). The deficiencies the public claims exist can be 
either deficiencies in the substance of the approved program or 
deficiencies in how a permitting authority is implementing its program. 
The Agency will consider information received from the public and 
determine whether it agrees or disagrees with the purported 
deficiencies and will then publish notices of those findings. Where the 
Agency agrees there is a deficiency, it will publish a notice of 
deficiency and establish a timeframe for the permitting authority to 
take action to correct the deficiency.

DATES: Comments identifying possible deficiencies in State and local 
operating permits programs must be received by March 12, 2001.

ADDRESSES: Comments on possible operating permits program or 
implementation deficiencies must be mailed to the appropriate EPA 
Regional Office. Addresses for the EPA Regional Offices to which 
comments should be sent and the permitting agencies covered by each 
Region are as follows:
    Region I: Susan E. T. Studlien, Deputy Director, Office of 
Ecosystem Protection, EPA Region I (WAA), #1 Congress Street, Box 1100, 
Boston, Massachusetts 92114 for Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New 
Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont.
    Region II: Kathleen C. Callahan, Director, Division of 
Environmental Planning and Protection, EPA Region II, 290 Broadway, New 
York, New York 10007-1866 for New Jersey, New York, Puerto Rico, and 
Virgin Islands.
    Region III: Judith M. Katz, Director, Air Protection Division, EPA 
Region III (3AP00), 1650 Arch Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19103-
2029 for Delaware, District of Columbia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, 
Virginia, and West Virginia.
    Region IV: Winston A. Smith, Director, Air, Pesticides, and Toxics 
Management Division, EPA Region IV, 12th Floor, 61 Forsyth Street, SW, 
Atlanta, Georgia 30303 for Alabama; Huntsville, Alabama; Jefferson 
County, Alabama; Florida; Georgia; Kentucky; Louisville-Jefferson 
County, Kentucky; Mississippi; North Carolina; Forsyth County, North 
Carolina; Western North Carolina; Mecklenburg County, North Carolina; 
South Carolina; Tennessee; Nashville-Davidson County, Tennessee; 
Hamilton County, Tennessee; Knox County, Tennessee; and Memphis-Shelby 
County, Tennessee.
    Region V: Bharat Mathur, Director, Air and Radiation Division, EPA 
Region V (5A-18J), 77 W. Jackson Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois 60604 for 
Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, and Wisconsin.
    Region VI: Carl Edlund, Director, Multimedia Planning and 
Permitting Division, EPA Region VI (6T), 1445 Ross Avenue Dallas, Texas 
75202-2733 for Arkansas; Louisiana; New Mexico; Albuquerque, New 
Mexico; Oklahoma; and Texas.
    Region VII: William A. Spratlin, Director, Air, RCRA, and Toxics 
Division, EPA Region VII, 901 N. 5th Street, Kansas City, Kansas 66101-
2907 for Iowa; Kansas; Missouri; Nebraska; Lincoln-Lancaster County, 
Nebraska; and Omaha-Douglas County, Nebraska.
    Region VIII: Richard R. Long, Director, Air and Radiation Program, 
EPA Region VIII (8P-AR), 999 18th Street, Suite 500, Denver, Colorado 
80202-2466 for Colorado; Montana; North Dakota; South Dakota; Utah; and 
Wyoming.
    Region IX: Amy Zimpfer, Acting Director, Air Division EPA Region IX 
(A-1), 75 Hawthorne Street, San Francisco, California 94105 for 
Arizona; Maricopa County, Arizona; Pima County, Arizona; Pinal County, 
Arizona; all 34 local districts in California; Nevada; Washoe County, 
Nevada; Clark County Nevada; and Hawaii.
    Region X: Barbara McAllister, Director, Office of Air EPA Region X 
(AT-081), 1200 Sixth Avenue, Seattle, Washington 98101 for Alaska; 
Idaho; Oregon; Lane Regional, Oregon; Washington; and all seven local 
agencies in Washington.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Roger Powell (telephone 919-541-5331), 
Mail Drop 12, EPA, Information Transfer and Program Integration 
Division, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, 27711. Internet 
address is: <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#ef9f80988a8383c19d80888a9daf8a9f8ec1888099"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="c7b7a8b0a2ababe9b5a8a0a2b587a2b7a6e9a0a8b1">[email protected]</span></a>.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    Pursuant to section 502(b) of the Act, EPA has promulgated 
regulations establishing the minimum requirements for State and local 
air agency operating permits programs. We promulgated these regulations 
on July 21, 1992 (57 FR 32250), in part 70 of title 40, chapter I, of 
the Code of Federal Regulations. Section 502(d) of the Act requires 
each State to develop and submit to EPA an operating permits program 
meeting the requirements of the part 70 regulations and requires us to 
approve or disapprove the submitted program. In some cases, States have 
delegated authority to local county or city air agencies to administer 
operating permits programs in their jurisdictions. These operating 
permits programs must meet the same requirements as the State programs. 
For 99 operating permits programs, we granted ``interim'' rather than 
full approval because the programs substantially met, but did not fully 
meet, the provisions of part 70. For interim approved programs, we 
identified in the notice of interim approval those program deficiencies 
that will have to be corrected before we will grant the program full 
approval. Some of those 99 programs have since been granted full 
approval and the remainder still have interim approval status.
    After a State or local permitting program is granted full or 
interim approval, EPA has oversight of the program to insure that the 
program is implemented correctly and is not changed in an unacceptable 
manner. Section 70.4(i) of the part 70 regulations requires permitting 
authorities to keep us apprised of any proposed program modifications 
and also to submit any program modifications to us for approval. 
Section 70.10(b) requires any approved operating permits program to be 
implemented `` * * * in accordance with the requirements of this part 
and of any agreement between the State and the Administrator concerning 
operation of the program.'' That section goes on to specify actions, as 
described more fully below, we will take if the permitting authority 
does not adequately implement the program.

Discussion of Action

    On May 22, 2000, EPA issued a final action in the Federal Register 
extending the interim approval period for 86 operating permits programs 
until December 1, 2001. The Sierra Club and New York Public Interest 
Research Group (NYPIRG) challenged our final action in the Court of 
Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. In the context of 
discussing settlement of that litigation, Sierra Club and NYPIRG raised 
concerns that many programs with interim approval, as well as those 
with full approval, have program and or

[[Page 77377]]

implementation deficiencies. Sierra Club and NYPIRG recognized that 
sections 70.4(i) and 70.10(b) provide authority for us to require 
permitting authorities to correct program or implementation 
deficiencies, but were concerned that we had not responded timely to 
petitions they had filed requesting us to require such corrections. To 
address the concerns raised by Sierra Club and NYPIRG, we are 
announcing in this notice that the public may submit comments within 
the 90-day comment period being provided requesting us to take action 
consistent with the procedures in sections 70.4(i) and 70.10(b). We are 
further announcing that we will respond by specific dates to those 
comments and any petitions that have previously been submitted and will 
take action under sections 70.4(i) and 70.10(b), requiring permitting 
authorities to correct any program or implementation deficiencies.
    This action applies to all approved part 70 operating permits 
programs, regardless of whether they have been granted full or interim 
approval. Within the timeframes specified below, we will take action to 
respond to any claims of deficiency.
    Do not include in your comments any program deficiencies that were 
identified as such by us when we granted the program interim approval. 
Those program deficiencies are already identified and permitting 
authorities are already taking action to correct them in order to avoid 
imposition of the Federal permitting program on December 1, 2001. We 
will not consider comments that generically assert deficiencies for 
multiple programs. Be specific in your comments both as to the State or 
local permitting program and the deficiencies being raised. With 
respect to program deficiencies, please note the specific provisions of 
concern in the permitting authority's regulations or the State statute 
and identify the provision or provisions in part 70 or title V with 
which the program conflicts. For implementation deficiencies, identify 
the relevant regulatory or statutory provision that is not being 
properly implemented and provide the bases for the claim that the 
permitting authority is not properly implementing that portion of the 
program. For example, if you assert that permits are being issued in a 
manner inconsistent with an element of the program, identify specific 
permits that you believe were incorrectly issued and the ways in which 
you believe those permits to be deficient.
    Send comments concerning potential deficiencies to the appropriate 
EPA Regional Office, the addresses for which are provided above under 
ADDRESSES.
    After reviewing comments received within the comment period, we 
will issue a notice of deficiency (NOD) for any claimed shortcoming in 
an operating permits program that we agree constitutes a ``deficiency'' 
within the meaning of part 70. For those alleged deficiencies with 
which we disagree, we will publish a notice explaining our reasons for 
not making a finding of deficiency. We will substantively consider all 
specific claims of deficiency, including claims that could have been 
raised during the initial approval process. For any NOD, a timeframe 
for correction of the deficiencies consistent with sections 70.4(i) or 
70.10(b) will be specified in the notice. Consistent with section 
70.4(i), in no event will a permitting authority be allowed more than 2 
years to correct a program deficiency.
    By December 1, 2001, we will publish NOD's for deficiencies 
identified for programs that have not been granted full approval as of 
December 11, 2000. We will at the same time also publish a notice 
identifying any alleged problems that we do not agree are deficiencies. 
For programs that have been granted full approval as of December 11, 
2000, we will publish any NOD's by April 1, 2002, along with any 
notices of disagreement. We believe these time periods provide adequate 
time for us to respond to comments raised during the aforementioned 
comment period.

    Dated: December 5, 2000
Elizabeth Craig,
Acting Assistant Administrator for Air and Radiation.
[FR Doc. 00-31483 Filed 12-8-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P


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