21440 Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 84 / Tuesday, May 2, 1995 / Rules and Regulations

(c) * * *

(6) Reviewing and, where the United

States Receiving Office is not the

competent Receiving Office under

§ 1.421(a) and PCT Rule 19.1 or 19.2,

transmitting the international

application to the International Bureau

for processing in its capacity as a

Receiving Office unless prescriptions

concerning national security prevent the

application from being so transmitted

(PCT Rule 19.4).

3. Section 1.421 is amended by

revising paragraph (a) to read as follows:

§ 1.421 Applicant for international

application.

(a) Only residents or nationals of the

United States of America may file

international applications in the United

States Receiving Office. If an

international application does not

include an applicant who is indicated as

being a resident or national of the

United States of America, and at least

one applicant:

(1) Has indicated a residence or

nationality in a PCT Contracting State,

or

(2) Has no residence or nationality

indicated; applicant will be so notified

and, if the international application

includes a fee amount equivalent to that

required by § 1.445(a)(5), the

international application will be

forwarded for processing to the

International Bureau acting as a

Receiving Office. (See also § 1.412(c)(6)).

* * * * *

4. Section 1.445 is amended by

adding new paragraph (a)(5) to read as

follows:

§ 1.445 International application filing,

processing and search fees.

(a) * * *

(5) A fee equivalent to the transmittal

fee in paragraph (a)(1) of this section for

transmittal of an international

application to the International Bureau

for processing in its capacity as a

Receiving Office (PCT Rule 19.4).

* * * * *

5. The authority citation for 37 CFR

part 10 would continue to read as

follows:

Authority: 5 U.S.C. 500; 15 U.S.C. 1123; 35

U.S.C. 6, 31, 32, 41.

6. Section 10.9 is amended by revising

paragraph (c) to read as follows:

§ 10.9 Limited recognition in patent cases.

* * * * *

(c) An individual not registered under

§ 10.6 may, if appointed by applicant to

do so, prosecute an international

application only before the U.S.

International Searching Authority and

the U.S. International Preliminary

Examining Authority, provided: The

individual has the right to practice

before the national office with which

the international application is filed

(PCT Art. 49, Rule 90 and § 1.455) or

before the International Bureau when

acting as Receiving Office pursuant to

PCT Rules 83.1bis and 90.1.

Dated: April 25, 1995.

Lawrence J. Goffney, Jr.,

Acting Assistant Secretary of Commerce and

Acting Commissioner of Patents and

Trademarks.

[FR Doc. 95–10743 Filed 5–1–95; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510–16–M

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[AZ 42–1–6916a; FRL–5186–7]

Approval and Promulgation of

Implementation Plans; Arizona State

Implementation Plan Revision, Pinal

County Air Quality Control District;

and Section 112(l) Approval of Pinal

County Air Quality Control District

Program for the Issuance of Permits

Containing Voluntarily Accepted

Federally Enforceable Conditions

AGENCY: Environmental Protection

Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Direct final rule.

SUMMARY: The EPA is taking direct final

action on revisions to the Arizona State

Implementation Plan. The revisions

concern synthetic minor permit rules

from the Pinal County Air Quality

Control District (Pinal or District). The

intended effect of approving these

synthetic minor regulations is to allow

facilities to voluntarily accept federally

enforceable limits on their potential

emissions. This approval action will

incorporate these rules into the federally

approved SIP. In order to extend the

federal enforceability of conditions in

permits to hazardous air pollutants

(HAP), EPA is also approving Pinal’s

synthetic minor regulations pursuant to

section 112 of the Act.

DATES: This final rule is effective on July

3, 1995 unless adverse or critical

comments are received by June 1, 1995.

If the effective date is delayed, a timely

notice will be published in the Federal

Register.

ADDRESSES: Copies of the rules and

EPA’s Technical Support Document for

the synthetic minor program are

available for public inspection at the

following location:

Operating Permits Section (A–5–2), Air

and Toxics Division, U.S.

Environmental Protection Agency,

Region IX, 75 Hawthorne Street, San

Francisco, CA 94105.

Air Docket (6102), U.S. Environmental

Protection Agency, 401 M Street, SW.,

Washington, DC 20460.

Copies of the submitted rules are also

available for inspection at the following

location:

Pinal County Air Quality Control

District, 457 South Central Avenue,

Florence, Arizona 85232.

Arizona Department of Environmental

Quality, 3033 North Central Avenue,

Phoenix, Arizona 85012.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Regina Spindler, Operating Permits

Section (A–5–2), Air and Toxics

Division, U.S. Environmental Protection

Agency, Region IX, 75 Hawthorne

Street, San Francisco, CA 94105,

Telephone: (415) 744–1251.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Applicability

The rules being approved into the

Arizona SIP include: Pinal County Air

Quality Control District (Pinal) Code of

Regulations, Chapter 1, Article 3,

section 1–3–140, Definitions,

subsections 5, 15, 21, 32, 33, 35, 50, 51,

58, 59, 103, and 123; Chapter 3, Article

1, section 3–1–081, Permit conditions,

subsection (A)(8)(a); Chapter 3, Article

1, section 3–1–084, Voluntarily

Accepted Federally Enforceable

Emissions Limitations; Applicability;

Reopening; Effective Date; and Chapter

3, Article 1, section 3–1–107, Public

Notice and Participation. These rules

were submitted by the Arizona

Department of Environmental Quality to

EPA on August 15, 1994 for approval

into the State Implementation Plan.

Pinal submitted these provisions for

approval under section 112(l) on

October 25, 1994.

Background

On June 28, 1989 (54 FR 27274), EPA

published criteria for approving and

incorporating into the SIP regulatory

programs for the issuance of federally

enforceable state operating permits

(FESOP). Permits issued pursuant to an

operating permit program approved into

the SIP as meeting these criteria may be

considered federally enforceable. On

November 3, 1993, EPA announced in a

guidance document entitled,

‘‘Approaches to Creating Federally

Enforceable Emissions Limits,’’ signed

by John S. Seitz, Director, Office of Air

Quality Planning and Standards, that

this mechanism could be extended to

create federally enforceable limits for
Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 84 / Tuesday, May 2, 1995 / Rules and Regulations 21441

1The following are considered criteria pollutants:

oxides of nitrogen, lead, ozone precursors, sulfur

dioxide, carbon monoxide, and PM–10.

2See ‘‘Options for Limiting the Potential to Emit

of a Stationary Source Under Section 112 and Title

V of the Clean Air Act,’’ from John Seitz, dated

January 25, 1995. EPA intends to issue further

technical guidance on ensuring that the ‘‘effect’’ of

limiting HAP is enforceable as a practical matter.

emissions of hazardous air pollutants

(HAP) if the program were approved

pursuant to section 112(l) of the Act.

Approval under section 112(l) is

necessary because SIP approval extends

only to the control of criteria pollutants,

i.e., those for which primary and

secondary ambient air quality standards

have been established by EPA pursuant

to section 109 of the Act.1 Federally

enforceable limits on criteria pollutants

may have the incidental effect of

limiting certain HAP listed pursuant to

section 112(b).2 As a legal matter, no

additional program approval by EPA is

required in order for these criteria

pollutant limits to be recognized as

federally enforceable. However, section

112 of the Act provides the underlying

authority for controlling all HAP

emissions.

EPA Evaluation and Action

The Arizona Department of

Environmental Quality submitted

Pinal’s synthetic minor permit program

on August 15, 1994 for approval into the

SIP. The EPA found this submittal to be

complete on September 1, 1994. Pinal

submitted the program for approval

under section 112(l) on October 25,

1994. Pinal’s synthetic minor permit

program is based on provisions (adopted

August 11, 1994) that allow a source to

apply voluntarily for limits on

emissions, production or operation to be

placed in its permit to limit the source’s

total potential emissions. These

provisions are contained within District

permitting regulations (adopted

November 3, 1993) that apply to both

major and nonmajor sources and that

provide for the issuance of integrated

construction and operating permits.

These permit regulations require

sources that modify or construct to first

obtain a permit that contains both

preconstruction and operating

requirements. The regulations also

require all existing sources to apply for

an operating permit. Therefore, new,

modifying, and existing sources are

eligible to obtain voluntary limits under

Pinal’s synthetic minor provisions.

The voluntary limits established

pursuant to Pinal’s synthetic minor

provisions will be specifically

designated as federally enforceable in

the permit. When the permit is issued

pursuant to either the District’s EPAapproved Title V or New Source Review

program, the entire permit will be

federally enforceable, except for those

requirements that are enforceable only

by the District and/or State and that

Pinal specifically designates as not

being federally enforceable. When the

permit is issued to existing sources

pursuant to the District’s nonmajor

source operating permit program, only

federal applicable requirements and

voluntary limits that are designated as

such pursuant to section 3–1–084 will

be federally enforceable since the

District’s nonmajor source operating

permit program is not approved into the

SIP by EPA. Pinal is not seeking to

receive approval of its program such

that all permits issued under the

approved program are federally

enforceable. Rather, Pinal is seeking

approval of a rule that allows for

federally enforceable terms and

conditions, accepted voluntarily, to be

placed in source construction and

operating permits. The EPA interprets

the June 28, 1989 Federal Register

notice cited above to apply to approval

of synthetic minor rules that provide for

creating distinct federally enforceable

limits in permits, as well as to approval

of synthetic minor rules that provide for

the issuance of permits that are federally

enforceable in their entirety.

Though Pinal has submitted a number

of regulations relating to the issuance of

permits as a revision to its portion of the

Arizona State Implementation Plan,

today’s action extends only to those

provisions that pertain to the creation of

voluntarily accepted federally

enforceable emission limits. These

provisions include section 3–1–084

which provides for establishing the

federally enforceable emission,

production, and operational limits in

the source permit along with associated

federally enforceable compliance

requirements such as monitoring,

recordkeeping, and reporting

requirements. This provision also

requires review of each permit by EPA

as well as an opportunity for public

comment pursuant to the public

participation procedures in section 3–1–

107. This action also extends to these

public participation procedures as well

as to a number of definitions in section

1–3–140 and to the requirement of

section 3–1–081(A)(8)(a) that sources

comply with the terms and conditions

of the permit that contains the

voluntarily accepted federally

enforceable conditions. The EPA will

take action on the remainder of the

District’s August 15, 1994 submittal at a

future date.

The June 28, 1989 Federal Register

notice specifies the following five

approval criteria for approving FESOP

programs into the SIP: (1) The program

must be submitted to and approved by

EPA; (2) the program must impose a

legal obligation on the operating permit

holders to comply with the terms and

conditions of the permit, and permits

that do not conform with the June 28,

1989 criteria or EPA’s underlying

regulations shall be deemed not

federally enforceable; (3) the program

must contain terms and conditions that

are at least as stringent as any

requirements contained in the SIP,

enforceable under the SIP, or any

section 112 or other CAA requirement,

and may not allow for the waiver of any

CAA requirement; (4) permits issued

under the program must contain

conditions that are permanent,

quantifiable, and enforceable as a

practical matter; and (5) permits that are

intended to be federally enforceable

must be issued subject to public

participation and must be provided to

EPA in proposed form on a timely basis.

The June 28, 1989 notice does not

address HAP because it was written

prior to the 1990 amendments to section

112, not because it establishes

requirements unique to criteria

pollutants. Hence, EPA believes that

these five criteria are also appropriate

for evaluating and approving synthetic

minor permit programs under section

112(l).

In addition to meeting the criteria in

the June 28, 1989 notice, a synthetic

minor permit program that addresses

HAP must meet the statutory criteria for

approval under section 112(l)(5).

Section 112(l) allows EPA to approve a

program only if it: (1) Contains adequate

authority to assure compliance with any

section 112 standards or requirements;

(2) provides for adequate resources; (3)

provides for an expeditious schedule for

assuring compliance with section 112

requirements; and (4) is otherwise likely

to satisfy the objectives of the Act.

The EPA plans to codify the approval

criteria for programs limiting potential

to emit of HAP, such as FESOP

programs, through amendments to

Subpart E of Part 63, the regulations

promulgated to implement section

112(l) of the Act. (See 58 FR 62262,

November 26, 1993.) The EPA currently

anticipates that these regulatory criteria,

as they apply to FESOP programs, will

mirror those set forth in the June 28,

1989 notice. The EPA also anticipates

that since FESOP programs approved

pursuant to section 112(l) prior to the

planned Subpart E revisions will have

been approved as meeting these criteria,

further approval actions for those

programs will not be necessary. The

EPA believes it has authority under
21442 Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 84 / Tuesday, May 2, 1995 / Rules and Regulations

section 112(l) to approve programs to

limit potential to emit of HAP directly

under section 112(l) prior to this

revision to Subpart E. The EPA is

therefore approving Pinal’s synthetic

minor program now so that Pinal may

begin to issue federally enforceable

synthetic minor permits as soon as

possible.

The EPA believes that Pinal’s

synthetic minor program meets the

approval criteria specified in the June

28, 1989 Federal Register notice and in

section 112(l)(5) of the Act. Please refer

to the Technical Support Document for

a thorough analysis of the June 28, 1989

criteria and the statutory criteria of

section 112(l)(5) as applied to Pinal’s

synthetic minor program.

The EPA has evaluated the submitted

rules and has determined that they are

consistent with the CAA, EPA

regulations, and EPA policy. Therefore,

Pinal County Air Quality Control

District Code of Regulations Chapter 1,

Article 3, section 1–3–140, Definitions,

subsections 5, 15, 21, 32, 33, 35, 50, 51,

58, 59, 103, and 123; Chapter 3, Article

1, section 3–1–081, Permit conditions,

subsection (A)(8)(a); Chapter 3, Article

1, section 3–1–084, Voluntarily

Accepted Federally Enforceable

Emissions Limitations; Applicability;

Reopening; Effective Date; and Chapter

3, Article 1, section 3–1–107, Public

Participation, are being approved under

section 110(k)(3) of the CAA as meeting

the requirements of section 110(a) and

Part D and under section 112(l) of the

CAA as meeting the requirements of

section 112(l)(5).

Pinal has already begun to issue

permits containing voluntarily accepted

limits pursuant to the regulations listed

above. If the District followed its own

procedures, each of these permits was

subject to public notice and prior EPA

review. Therefore, EPA will consider all

voluntarily accepted limits in District

permits that were processed in a manner

consistent with the District regulations

being acted upon today and the five

June 28, 1989 criteria to be federally

enforceable with the promulgation of

this rule provided that any such permits

containing the voluntarily accepted

limits that the District wishes to make

federally enforceable are submitted to

EPA and accompanied by

documentation that the procedures

approved today have been followed.

The EPA will expeditiously review any

individual permits so submitted to

ensure their conformity to the program

requirements.

Nothing in this action should be

construed as permitting or allowing or

establishing a precedent for any future

implementation plan. Each request for

revision to the state implementation

plan shall be considered separately in

light of specific technical, economic,

and environmental factors and in

relation to relevant statutory and

regulatory requirements.

The EPA is publishing this notice

without prior proposal because the

Agency views this as a noncontroversial

amendment and anticipates no adverse

comments. However, in a separate

document in this Federal Register

publication, EPA is proposing to

approve the SIP revision and section

112(l) submittal should adverse or

critical comments be filed. This action

will be effective July 3, 1995, unless by

June 1, 1995, adverse or critical

comments are received.

If EPA receives such comments, this

action will be withdrawn before the

effective date by publishing a

subsequent notice that will withdraw

the final action. All public comments

received will then be addressed in a

subsequent final rule based on this

action serving as a proposed rule. The

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. If no

such comments are received, the public

is advised that this action will be

effective July 3, 1995.

Regulatory Process

Under the Regulatory Flexibility Act,

5 U.S.C. 600 et seq., EPA must prepare

a regulatory flexibility analysis

assessing the impact of any proposed or

final rule on small entities. 5 U.S.C. 603

and 604. Alternatively, EPA may certify

that the rule will not have a significant

impact on a substantial number of small

entities. Small entities include small

businesses, small not-for-profit

enterprises and government entities

with jurisdiction over population of less

than 50,000.

Application for limits under Pinal’s

synthetic minor provisions is voluntary

and therefore this approval under

sections 110 and 112 of the Act does not

create any new requirements. Therefore,

because the federal SIP-approval and

section 112(l) approval does not impose

any new requirements, I certify that it

does not have a significant impact on

any small entities affected. Moreover,

due to the nature of the federal-state

relationship under the CAA, preparation

of a regulatory flexibility analysis would

constitute federal inquiry into the

economic reasonableness of state action.

The CAA forbids EPA to base its actions

concerning SIPs on such grounds.

Union Electric Co. v. U.S. E.P.A., 427

U.S. 246, 256–66 (S. Ct. 1976); 42 U.S.C.

7410 (a)(2).

The OMB has exempted this action

from review under Executive Order

12866.

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 52

Environmental protection, Air

pollution control, Incorporation by

reference, Intergovernmental relations,

Reporting and recordkeeping

requirements.

Note: Incorporation by reference of the

State Implementation Plan for the State of

Arizona was approved by the Director of the

Federal Register on July 1, 1982.

Dated: March 28, 1995.

Felicia Marcus,

Regional Administrator.

Part 52, chapter I, title 40 of the Code

of Federal Regulations is amended as

follows:

PART 52—[AMENDED]

1. The authority citation for part 52

continues to read as follows:

Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7401–7671q.

Subpart D—Arizona

2. Section 52.120 is amended by

adding paragraphs (c)(71) to read as

follows:

§ 52.120 Identification of plan.

* * * * *

(c) * * *

(71) New and amended regulations for

the following agencies were submitted

on August 15, 1994 by the Governor’s

designee.

(i) Incorporation by reference.

(A) Pinal County Air Quality Control

District.

(1) Chapter 1, Article 3, section 1–3–

140, subsections 5, 15, 21, 32, 33, 35, 50,

51, 58, 59, 103, and 123, adopted on

November 3, 1993; Chapter 3, Article 1,

section 3–1–081(A)(8)(a), adopted on

November 3, 1993; Chapter 3, Article 1,

section 3–1–084, adopted on August 11,

1994; and Chapter 3, Article 1, section

3–1–107, adopted on November 3, 1993.

* * * * *

[FR Doc. 95–10698 Filed 5–1–95; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6560–50–W

40 CFR Part 52

[MS–20–1–6562a; FRL–5173–9]

Approval and Promulgation of

Implementation Plans; Mississippi:

Approval of Revisions to Construction

and Operation Permit Regulations

AGENCY: Environmental Protection

Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Direct final rule.