17130 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 70 / Tuesday, April 14, 2009 / Proposed Rules 

be submitted electronically or through 

hand delivery/courier by following the 

detailed instructions in the ADDRESSES

section of the direct final rule located in 

the rules section of this Federal 

Register. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Amy Bhesania at (913) 551–7147, or by 

e-mail at bhesania.amy@epa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In the 

final rules section of the Federal 

Register, EPA is approving the State’s 

revision as a direct final rule without 

prior proposal because the Agency 

views this is a noncontroversial revision 

amendment and anticipates no relevant 

adverse comments to this action. A 

detailed rationale for the approval is set 

forth in the direct final rule. If no 

relevant adverse comments are received 

in response to this action, no further 

activity is contemplated in relation to 

this action. If EPA receives relevant 

adverse comments, the direct final rule 

will be withdrawn and all public 

comments received will be addressed in 

a subsequent final rule based on this 

proposed action. EPA will not institute 

a second comment period on this action. 

Any parties interested in commenting 

on this action should do so at this time. 

Please note that if EPA receives adverse 

comment on part of this rule and if that 

part can be severed from the remainder 

of the rule, EPA may adopt as final 

those parts of the rule that are not the 

subject of an adverse comment. For 

additional information, see the direct 

final rule which is located in the rules 

section of this Federal Register. 

Dated: April 3, 2009. 

William Rice, 

Acting Regional Administrator, Region 7. 

[FR Doc. E9–8486 Filed 4–13–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

40 CFR Part 63 

[EPA–HQ–OAR–2008–0708, FRL–8791–5] 

RIN 2060–AP36 

National Emission Standards for 

Hazardous Air Pollutants for 

Reciprocating Internal Combustion 

Engines 

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA). 

ACTION: Extension of public comment 

period. 

SUMMARY: On March 5, 2009, EPA 

proposed national emission standards 

for existing stationary reciprocating 

internal combustion engines that either: 

are located at area sources of hazardous 

air pollutant emissions; or are located at 

major sources of hazardous air 

pollutants and are either non-emergency 

compression-ignition engines, or are 

other engines that have a site rating of 

less than or equal to 500 brake 

horsepower. In this notice, we are 

announcing a 30-day extension of the 

public comment period for the proposal. 

DATES: Comments must be received on 

or before June 3, 2009. 

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, 

identified by Docket ID No. EPA–HQ– 

OAR–2008–0708, by one of the 

following methods: 

• www.regulations.gov: Follow the 

on-line instructions for submitting 

comments. 

• E-mail: a-and-r-docket@epa.gov. 

• Fax: (202) 566–1741. 

• Mail: Air and Radiation Docket and 

Information Center, Environmental 

Protection Agency, Mailcode: 6102T, 

1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., 

Washington, DC 20460. Please include a 

total of two copies. EPA requests a 

separate copy also be sent to the contact 

person identified below (see FOR

FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT). In 

addition, please mail a copy of your 

comments on the information collection 

provisions to the Office of Information 

and Regulatory Affairs, Office of 

Management and Budget, Attn: Desk 

Officer for EPA, 725 17th St. NW., 

Washington, DC 20503. 

• Hand Delivery: Air and Radiation 

Docket and Information Center, U.S. 

EPA, Room B102, 1301 Constitution 

Avenue, NW., Washington, DC. Such 

deliveries are only accepted during the 

Docket’s normal hours of operation, and 

special arrangements should be made 

for deliveries of boxed information. 

Instructions: Direct your comments to 

Docket ID No. EPA–HQ–OAR–2008– 

0708. EPA’s policy is that all comments 

received will be included in the public 

docket without change and may be 

made available on-line at 

www.regulations.gov, including any 

personal information provided, unless 

the comment includes information 

claimed to be Confidential Business 

Information (CBI) or other information 

whose disclosure is restricted by statute. 

Do not submit information that you 

consider to be CBI or otherwise 

protected through www.regulations.gov 

or e-mail. The www.regulations.gov Web 

site is an ‘‘anonymous access’’ system, 

which means EPA will not know your 

identity or contact information unless 

you provide it in the body of your 

comment. If you send an e-mail 

comment directly to EPA without going 

through www.regulations.gov, your email address will be automatically 

captured and included as part of the 

comment that is placed in the public 

docket and made available on the 

Internet. If you submit an electronic 

comment, EPA recommends that you 

include your name and other contact 

information in the body of your 

comment and with any disk or CD–ROM 

you submit. If EPA cannot read your 

comment due to technical difficulties 

and cannot contact you for clarification, 

EPA may not be able to consider your 

comment. Electronic files should avoid 

the use of special characters, any form 

of encryption, and be free of any defects 

or viruses. For additional information 

about EPA’s public docket, visit the EPA 

Docket Center homepage at http:// 

www.epa.gov/epahome/dockets.htm. 

Docket: All documents in the docket 

are listed in the www.regulations.gov 

index. Although listed in the index, 

some information is not publicly 

available, e.g., CBI or other information 

whose disclosure is restricted by statute. 

Certain other material, such as 

copyrighted material, will be publicly 

available only in hard copy. Publicly 

available docket materials are available 

either electronically in 

www.regulations.gov or in hardcopy at 

the Air and Radiation Docket EPA/DC, 

EPA West, Room 3334, 1301 

Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, 

DC. The Public Reading Room is open 

from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday 

through Friday, excluding legal 

holidays. The telephone number for the 

Public Reading Room is (202) 566–1744, 

and the telephone number for the Air 

and Radiation Docket is (202) 566–1742. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mrs. 

Melanie King, Energy Strategies Group, 

Sector Policies and Programs Division 

(D243–01), Environmental Protection 

Agency, Research Triangle Park, North 

Carolina 27711; telephone number: 

(919) 541–2469; facsimile number: (919) 

541–5450; e-mail address: 

king.melanie@epa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This 

document extends the public comment 

period established in the notice of 

proposed rulemaking published in the 

Federal Register on March 5, 2009 (74 

FR 9698). That notice proposed national 

emission standards for hazardous air 

pollutants (NESHAP) for existing 

stationary reciprocating internal 

combustion engines (RICE) that either 

are located at area sources of hazardous 

air pollutant emissions or that have a 

site rating of less than or equal to 500 

brake horsepower and are located at 

major sources of hazardous air pollutant 

emissions. EPA also proposed NESHAP 

Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 70 / Tuesday, April 14, 2009 / Proposed Rules 17131 

for existing non-emergency stationary 

compression ignition engines greater 

than 500 brake horsepower that are 

located at major sources, based on a new 

review of these engines following the 

first RICE NESHAP rulemaking in 2004. 

In addition, EPA proposed to amend the 

previously promulgated regulations 

regarding operation of stationary RICE 

during periods of startup, shutdown and 

malfunction. 

Shortly after publication of the 

proposed rule, several industry groups 

formally requested that EPA extend the 

comment period of the proposed rule. 

They indicated that an extended 

comment period was necessary due to 

the complexities of the proposed 

regulation and the large number of 

existing sources that are potentially 

affected. Furthermore, the request letters 

mention that the proposed regulation 

has far-reaching impacts on industrial 

stakeholders and that those impacts 

cannot be properly evaluated in the 60- 

day comment period provided by the 

proposal. 

The letters requesting an extension to 

the comment period can be found in the 

docket. EPA is hereby extending the 

comment period, which was set to end 

on May 4, 2009, to June 3, 2009. 

List of Subjects 40 CFR Part 63 

Environmental protection, 

Administrative practice and procedure, 

Air pollution control, Hazardous 

substances, Incorporation by reference, 

Intergovernmental relations, Reporting 

and recordkeeping requirements. 

Dated: April 8, 2009. 

Elizabeth Craig, 

Acting Assistant Administrator. 

[FR Doc. E9–8483 Filed 4–13–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

50 CFR Part 226 

[Docket No. 090224232–9334–02] 

RIN 0648–AX50 

Endangered and Threatened Species: 

Advance Notice of Proposed 

Rulemaking to Designate Critical 

Habitat for Cook Inlet Beluga Whales 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Advance notice of proposed 

rulemaking; request for information. 

SUMMARY: We, the National Marine 

Fisheries Service (NMFS), will be 

designating critical habitat for the 

endangered Cook Inlet beluga whale 

(Delphinapterus leucas) under the 

Endangered Species Act (ESA). The 

designation will involve areas within 

Cook Inlet, Alaska. This advance notice 

of proposed rulemaking (ANPR) 

identifies issues for consideration and 

evaluation and solicits comments 

regarding these issues. 

DATES: Comments and information 

regarding the suggested designation 

process and areas being considered for 

designation may be sent to NMFS (See 

ADDRESSES) by May 14, 2009. 

ADDRESSES: Comments may be sent to 

Chief, Protected Resources Division, 

NMFS, P.O. Box 21668, Juneau, AK, 

99802–1668. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Brad 

Smith, (907–271–3023) or Kaja Brix 

(907–586–7235). 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Rulemaking Background 

We are responsible for determining 

whether species, subspecies, or distinct 

population segments (DPSs) are 

threatened or endangered and for 

designating critical habitat for them 

under the ESA (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.). 

To be considered for listing under the 

ESA, a group of organisms must 

constitute a ‘‘species’’ which is defined 

in section 3 to include ‘‘any subspecies 

of fish or wildlife or plants, and any 

distinct population segment of any 

species of vertebrate fish or wildlife 

which interbreeds when mature.’’ We 

consider a group of organisms to be a 

DPS for purposes of ESA listing when 

it is both discrete from other 

populations and significant to the 

species to which it belongs (61 FR 4722; 

February 7, 1996). We found the Cook 

Inlet beluga whale population segment 

to be reproductively, genetically, and 

physically discrete from the four other 

known beluga populations in Alaska, 

and significant because it is in a unique 

ecological setting for the taxon, and its 

loss would result in a significant gap in 

the taxon’s range. Following completion 

of a Status Review of the Cook Inlet 

beluga whale under the ESA, we 

published a proposed rule to list this 

DPS as an endangered species on April 

20, 2007. We subsequently extended the 

date for final determination on the 

proposed action by 6 months, until 

October 20, 2008, as provided for by the 

ESA (section 4(b)(6)(B)(i)). A Final Rule 

to list the Cook Inlet beluga whale as an 

endangered species was published on 

October 22, 2008. 

Critical Habitat 

Section 4(b)(2) of the ESA requires us 

to designate critical habitat for 

threatened and endangered species ‘‘on 

the basis of the best scientific data 

available and after taking into 

consideration the economic impact, the 

impact on national security, and any 

other relevant impact, of specifying any 

particular area as critical habitat.’’ This 

section grants the Secretary of 

Commerce (Secretary) discretion to 

exclude any area from critical habitat if 

he determines ‘‘the benefits of such 

exclusion outweigh the benefits of 

specifying such area as part of the 

critical habitat.’’ The Secretary’s 

discretion is limited, as he may not 

exclude areas that ‘‘will result in the 

extinction of the species.’’ 

The ESA defines critical habitat under 

section 3(5)(A) as: ‘‘(i) the specific areas 

within the geographical area occupied 

by the species, at the time it is listed . 

. ., on which are found those physical 

or biological features (I) essential to the 

conservation of the species and (II) 

which may require special management 

considerations or protection; and (ii) 

specific areas outside the geographical 

area occupied by the species at the time 

it is listed . . . upon a determination by 

the Secretary that such areas are 

essential for the conservation of the 

species.’’ 

Once critical habitat is designated, 

section 7 of the ESA requires Federal 

agencies to ensure they do not fund, 

authorize, or carry out any actions that 

will destroy or adversely modify that 

habitat. This requirement is in addition 

to the section 7 requirement that Federal 

agencies ensure their actions do not 

jeopardize the continued existence of 

listed species. 

Issues for Consideration and Evaluation 

Section 4(a)(3) of the ESA requires us 

to designate critical habitat for 

threatened and endangered species. We 

are currently in the informationgathering phase, compiling information 

to propose critical habitat for the Cook 

Inlet beluga whale. Sections 3, 4(a), and 

4(b) of the ESA suggest a number of 

questions the agency should consider 

when designating critical habitat: 

• What areas were occupied by the 

species at the time of listing? 

• What physical and biological 

features are essential to the species’ 

conservation? 

• Are those essential features ones 

that may require special management 

considerations or protection? 

• Are there any areas outside those 

currently occupied that are ‘‘essential 

for conservation?’’