77376 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 238 / Monday, December 11, 2000 / Notices

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.

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 MemphisShelby 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:

powell.roger@epa.gov.

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

Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 238 / Monday, December 11, 2000 / Notices 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

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

AGENCY

[OPPTS–51958; FRL–6759–6]

Certain New Chemicals; Receipt and

Status Information

AGENCY: Environmental Protection

Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice.

SUMMARY: Section 5 of the Toxic

Substances Control Act (TSCA) requires

any person who intends to manufacture

(defined by statute to include import) a

new chemical (i.e., a chemical not on

the TSCA Inventory) to notify EPA and

comply with the statutory provisions

pertaining to the manufacture of new

chemicals. Under sections 5(d)(2) and

5(d)(3) of TSCA, EPA is required to

publish a notice of receipt of a

premanufacture notice (PMN) or an

application for a test marketing

exemption (TME), and to publish

periodic status reports on the chemicals

under review and the receipt of notices

of commencement to manufacture those

chemicals. This status report, which

covers the period from October 23, 2000

to October 27, 2000, consists of the

PMNs pending or expired, and the

notices of commencement to

manufacture a new chemical that the

Agency has received under TSCA

section 5 during this time period. The

‘‘S’’ and ‘‘G’’ that precede the chemical

names denote whether the chemical

idenity is specific or generic.

ADDRESSES: Comments may be

submitted by mail, electronically, or in

person. Please follow the detailed

instructions for each method as

provided in Unit I. of the

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION. To ensure

proper receipt by EPA, it is imperative

that you identify docket control number

OPPTS–51958 and the specific PMN

number in the subject line on the first

page of your response.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Barbara Cunningham, Director, Office of

Program Management and Evaluation,

Office of Pollution Prevention and

Toxics (7401), Environmental Protection

Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW.,

Washington, DC 20460; telephone

number: (202) 554–1404; e-mail address:

TSCA-Hotline@epa.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. General Information

A. Does this Action Apply to Me?

This action is directed to the public

in general. As such, the Agency has not

attempted to describe the specific

entities that this action may apply to.

Although others may be affected, this

action applies directly to the submitter

of the premanufacture notices addressed

in the action. If you have any questions

regarding the applicability of this action

to a particular entity, consult the person

listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION

CONTACT.

B. How Can I Get Additional

Information, Including Copies of this

Document and Other Related

Documents?

1. Electronically. You may obtain

copies of this document and certain

other available documents from the EPA

Internet Home Page at http://

www.epa.gov/. On the Home Page select

‘‘Laws and Regulations,’’ ‘‘Regulations

and Proposed Rules,’’ and then look up

the entry for this document under the

‘‘Federal Register—Environmental