[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 48 (Wednesday, March 12, 1997)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 11405-11407]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-6216]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 80

[FRL-5708-9]


Regulations of Fuels and Fuel Additives: Extension of the 
Reformulated Gasoline Program to the Phoenix, Arizona Moderate Ozone 
Nonattainment Area

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of public hearing.

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SUMMARY: This document announces the time and place for a public 
hearing regarding EPA's proposed rule to set an implementation date for 
the Phoenix ozone nonattainment area to be a covered area for all 
purposes in the federal reformulated gasoline (RFG) program. By letter 
dated January 17, 1997, the Governor of the State of Arizona applied to 
EPA to include the Phoenix moderate ozone nonattainment area in the 
federal reformulated gasoline program (RFG). Pursuant to the Governor's 
letter and the provisions of section 211(k)(6) of the Clean Air Act, on 
February 18, 1997 EPA published in the Federal Register a Notice of 
Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM ) (62 FR 7197). In the NPRM, EPA proposed to 
apply the prohibitions of subsection 211(k)(5) to the Phoenix, Arizona 
nonattainment area.

DATES: EPA will conduct a public hearing on the proposed rule from 8:00 
a.m. until noon on March 18, 1997, in Phoenix, Arizona. Written 
comments on this proposed rule will be accepted for 30 days following 
the hearing, until April 17, 1997.

ADDRESSES: The public hearing will be held from 8:00 a.m. until noon at 
the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality Public Hearing Room, 
3033 North Central Avenue, Phoenix, Arizona 85012. If additional time 
is needed to hear testimony, the hearing will continue from 1:00 until 
5:00 p.m. in

[[Page 11406]]

the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality Public Meeting Room, 
3033 North Central Avenue, Phoenix, Arizona 85012. Materials relevant 
to this document have been placed in Docket A-97-02. The docket is 
located at the Air Docket Section, Mail Code 6102, U.S. Environmental 
Protection Agency, 401 M Street, SW, Washington, DC 20460, in room M-
1500 Waterside Mall. Documents may be inspected from 8:00 a.m. to 5:30 
p.m. A reasonable fee may be charged for copying docket material. An 
identical docket is also located in EPA's Region IX office in Docket A-
AZ-97. The docket is located at 75 Hawthorne Street, AIR-2, 17th Floor, 
San Francisco, California 94105. Documents may be inspected from 9:00 
a.m. to noon and from 1:00-4:00 p.m. A reasonable fee may be charged 
for copying docket material.
    Written comments should be submitted (in duplicate, if possible) to 
Air Docket Section, Mail Code 6102, U.S. Environmental Protection 
Agency, 401 M Street, SW, Washington, DC 20460. A copy should also be 
sent to Janice Raburn at U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office 
of Air and Radiation, 401 M Street, SW (6406J), Washington, DC 20460. A 
copy should also be sent to EPA Region IX, 75 Hawthorne Street, AIR-2, 
17th Floor, San Francisco, CA 94105.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Janice Raburn at U.S. Environmental 
Protection Agency Office of Air and Radiation, 401 M Street, SW 
(6406J), Washington, DC 20460, (202) 233-9000.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: A copy of this notice is available on the 
OAQPS Technology Transfer Network Bulletin Board System (TTNBBS) and on 
the Office of Mobile Sources'' World Wide Web cite, <a href="http://www.epa.gov/
OMSWWW">http://www.epa.gov/
OMSWWW</a>. The TTNBBS can be accessed with a dial-in phone line and a 
high-speed modem (PH# 919-541-5742). The parity of your modem should be 
set to none, the data bits to 8, and the stop bits to 1. Either a 1200, 
2400, or 9600 baud modem should be used. When first signing on, the 
user will be required to answer some basic informational questions for 
registration purposes. After completing the registration process, 
proceed through the following series of menus:

(M) OMS
(K) Rulemaking and Reporting
(3) Fuels
(9) Reformulated gasoline

A list of ZIP files will be shown, all of which are related to the 
reformulated gasoline rulemaking process. Today's action will be in the 
form of a ZIP file and can be identified by the following title: 
OPTOUT.ZIP. To download this file, type the instructions below and 
transfer according to the appropriate software on your computer:

<D>ownload, <P>rotocol, <E>xamine, <N>ew, <L>ist, or <H>elp
Selection or <CR> to exit: D filename.zip

    You will be given a list of transfer protocols from which you must 
choose one that matches with the terminal software on your own 
computer. The software should then be opened and directed to receive 
the file using the same protocol. Programs and instructions for de-
archiving compressed files can be found via <S>ystems Utilities from 
the top menu, under <A>rchivers/de-archivers. Please note that due to 
differences between the software used to develop the document and the 
software into which the document may be downloaded, changes in format, 
page length, etc. may occur.
    Regulated entities. Entities potentially regulated by EPA's 
proposal are those which produce, supply or distribute motor gasoline. 
Regulated categories and entities include:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                Examples of regulated   
                 Category                             entities          
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Industry..................................  Petroleum refiners, motor   
                                             gasoline distributors and  
                                             retailers.                 
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    This table is not intended to be exhaustive, but rather provides a 
guide for readers regarding entities likely to be regulated by this 
action. This table lists the types of entities that EPA is now aware 
could potentially be regulated by this action. Other types of entities 
not listed in the table could also be regulated. To determine whether 
your business would be regulated under the proposed rule, you should 
carefully examine the list of areas covered by the reformulated 
gasoline program in Sec. 80.70 of title 40 of the Code of Federal 
Regulations. 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.

I. Background and Discussion of Proposal

    Under section 211(k)(6) of the Clean Air Act, as amended (Act), the 
Administrator of EPA shall require the sale of reformulated gasoline in 
an ozone nonattainment area classified as Marginal, Moderate, Serious, 
or Severe upon the application of the governor of the state in which 
the nonattainment area is located. The application of the prohibition 
of section 211(k)(5) to the Phoenix ozone nonattainment area could take 
effect no later than January 17, 1998 under section 211(k)(6)(A), which 
stipulates that the effective program date must be no ``later than 
January 1, 1995 or 1 year after [the Governor's] application is 
received, whichever is later.'' For the Phoenix nonattainment area, EPA 
could establish an effective date for the start of the RFG program 
anytime up to this date. EPA considers that January 17, 1998 would be 
the latest possible effective date, since EPA expects there to be 
sufficient domestic capacity to produce RFG and therefore has no 
current reason to extend the effective date beyond one year after 
January 17, 1998. EPA stated in the proposal that it believes there is 
adequate domestic capability to support the current demand for RFG 
nationwide as well as the addition of the Phoenix area.
    Although Sec. 211(k)(6) provides the Administrator discretion to 
establish the effective date as she deems appropriate and allows EPA to 
consider whether there is sufficient domestic capacity to produce RFG 
in establishing the effective date, EPA does not have discretion to 
deny a Governor's request. Therefore, the scope of EPA's proposal is 
limited to setting an effective date for Phoenix's opt-in to the RFG 
program and not to decide whether Phoenix should in fact opt in. For 
this reason, EPA is only soliciting comments addressing the appropriate 
implementation date and whether there is sufficient capacity to produce 
RFG, and is not soliciting comments that support or oppose Phoenix 
participating in the program. EPA also notes that comments regarding 
Arizona's request for an RVP waiver under section 211(c)(4), EPA opt-
out procedures, or federal enforcement issues would not be relevant to 
the limited scope of this rulemaking.
    The Governor's request seeks an implementation date of June 1 for 
the RFG program in the Phoenix area. However, pursuant to its 
discretion to set an effective date under Sec. 211(k)(6), EPA proposed 
two implementation dates. EPA proposed to apply the prohibitions of 
subsection 211(k)(5) to the Phoenix, Arizona ozone nonattainment area 
as of the effective date of the rule, or June 1, 1997 whichever is 
later, for all persons other than retailers and wholesale purchaser-
consumers. This date applies to the refinery level and all other points 
in the distribution system other than the retail level (i.e., refiners, 
importers, and distributors). For retailers and wholesale purchaser-
consumers, EPA proposed to apply the prohibitions of subsection 
211(k)(5) to the Phoenix, Arizona ozone

[[Page 11407]]

nonattainment area 30 days after the effective date for the rule, or 
July 1, 1997, whichever is later. As of the implementation date for the 
various parties, this area will be treated as a covered area for all 
purposes of the federal RFG program for the relevant parties. EPA asks 
for comment on whether retailers and wholesale purchaser-consumers 
believe they could comply with federal RFG in less than 30 days from 
the effective date set for persons other than retailers and wholesale 
purchaser-consumers.
    On February 18, 1997, EPA also published a Direct Final Rule (62 FR 
7164) setting an effective date for the Phoenix ozone nonattainment 
area to be a covered area in the federal RFG program. Subsequent to 
publication, EPA received several requests for a hearing from 
interested parties. Thus, EPA will soon publish in the Federal Register 
a notice to indicate the withdrawal of the Direct Final Rule.

II. Procedures for Public Participation

A. Comments and the Public Docket

    The scope of EPA's proposal is limited to setting an effective date 
for Phoenix's opt-in to the RFG program and not to decide whether 
Phoenix should in fact opt in. For this reason, EPA is only soliciting 
comments addressing the appropriate implementation date and whether 
there is sufficient capacity to produce RFG, and is not soliciting 
comments that support or oppose Phoenix participating in the program. 
EPA also asks for comment on whether retailers and wholesale purchaser-
consumers believe they could comply with federal RFG in less than 30 
days from the effective date set for persons other than retailers and 
wholesale purchaser-consumers. EPA also notes that comments regarding 
Arizona's request for an RVP waiver under section 211(c)(4), EPA opt-
out procedures, or federal enforcement issues would not be relevant to 
the limited scope of this rulemaking.
    Persons with comments containing proprietary information must 
distinguish such information from other comments to the greatest extent 
and label it as ``Confidential Business Information.'' If a person 
making comments wants EPA to base the final rule in part on a 
submission labeled as confidential business information, then a non-
confidential version of the document which summarizes the key data or 
information should be placed in the public docket. Information covered 
by a claim of confidentiality will be disclosed by EPA only to the 
extent allowed by the procedures set forth in 40 CFR part 2. If no 
claim of confidentiality accompanies the submission when it is received 
by EPA, it may be made available to the public without further notice 
to the person making comments.

B. Public Participation

    Any person desiring to present testimony regarding this proposed 
rule at the public hearing (see DATES) should notify the contact person 
listed above of such intent as soon as possible. A sign-up sheet will 
be available at the registration table the morning of the hearing for 
scheduling testimony for those who have not notified the contact 
person. This testimony will be scheduled on a first come, first serve 
basis to follow the previously scheduled testimony.
    EPA suggests that approximately 50 copies of the statement or 
material to be presented be brought to the hearing for distribution to 
the audience. In addition, EPA would find it helpful to receive an 
advance copy of any statement or material to be presented at the 
hearing in order to give EPA staff adequate time to review such 
material before the hearing. Such advance copies should be submitted to 
the contact person listed previously.
    The official records of the hearing will be kept open for 30 days 
following the hearing to allow submission of rebuttal and supplementary 
testimony. All such submittals should be directed to the Air Docket, 
Docket No. A-97-02 (see ADDRESSES).
    Ms. Lori Stewart, Fuels Implementation Group Leader, Fuels and 
Energy Division, Office of Mobile Sources, is hereby designated 
Presiding Officer of the hearing. The hearing will be conducted 
informally and technical rules of evidence will not apply. Because a 
public hearing is designed to give interested parties an opportunity to 
participate in the proceeding, there are no adversary parties as such. 
Statements by participants will not be subject to cross examination by 
other participants. A written transcript of the hearing will be placed 
in the above docket for review. Anyone desiring to purchase a copy of 
the transcript should make individual arrangements with the court 
reporter recording the proceeding. The Presiding Officer is authorized 
to strike from the record statements which she deems irrelevant or 
repetitious and to impose reasonable limits on the duration of the 
statement of any witness. EPA asks that persons who testify attempt to 
limit their testimony to ten minutes, if possible. The Administrator 
will base her decision with regard to Arizona's request on the record 
of the public hearing and on any other relevant written submissions and 
other pertinent information. This information will be available for 
public inspection at the EPA Air Docket, Docket No. A-97-02 (see 
ADDRESSES).

    Dated: March 5, 1997.
Mary D. Nichols,
Assistant Administrator for Air and Radiation.
[FR Doc. 97-6216 Filed 3-11-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P