Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 119 / Wednesday, June 20, 2001 / Rules and Regulations 33027

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[Docket No. AK–24–1712a; FRL–6993–7]

Approval and Promulgation of

Implementation Plans: Alaska

AGENCY: Environmental Protection

Agency.

ACTION: Direct final rule.

SUMMARY: Environmental Protection

Agency (EPA or we) approves the

following revisions to the Alaska State

Implementation Plan (SIP): a revision of

the visible emission limit for coal

burning boilers, during startup;

shutdown; soot-blowing; grate cleaning;

or other routine maintenance activities,

that began operation before August 17,

1971, and submitted the required

demonstration. Additionally, we are

approving a revision to the definitions

section that will add definitions of grate

cleaning and soot-blowing. The Alaska

Department of Environmental

Conservation (ADEC) forwarded this

submittal to EPA for inclusion in the

Alaska SIP on November 1, 1999. These

revisions were submitted for the

purposes of complying with section 110

of the Clean Air Act.

DATES: This direct final rule will be

effective August 20, 2001 without

further notice, unless EPA receives

adverse comment by July 20, 2001. If

adverse comments are received, EPA

will publish a timely withdrawal of the

direct final rule in the Federal Register

informing the public that the rule will

not take effect.

ADDRESSES: Written comments should

be addressed to: Roylene A.

Cunningham, EPA Region 10, Office of

Air Quality (OAQ–107), 1200 Sixth

Avenue, Seattle, Washington 98101.

Documents which are incorporated by

reference are available for public

inspection at the Air and Radiation

Docket and Information Center,

Environmental Protection Agency, 401

M Street, SW, Washington, D.C. 20460.

Copies of material submitted to EPA and

other information supporting this action

may be examined during normal

business hours at the following

locations: EPA Region 10, Office of Air

Quality (OAQ–107), 1200 Sixth Avenue,

Seattle, Washington 98101, and Alaska

Department of Environmental

Conservation, 410 Willoughby Avenue,

Suite 105, Juneau, Alaska 99801–1795.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Roylene A. Cunningham, EPA Region

10, Office of Air Quality (OAQ–107),

Seattle, Washington 98101, (206) 553–

0513.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Table of Contents

I. What revisions to the Alaska SIP are we

approving?

A. Industrial Processes and Fuel-Burning

Equipment [18 AAC 50.055(a)(9)]

B. Definitions [18 AAC 50.990]

II. What regulated pollutant(s) are affected by

this revision?

III. Who does this revision apply to?

IV. What is the background of the Alaska SIP

revision?

V. How has Alaska addressed maintenance of

the PM–10 NAAQS?

VI. Summary of Action

VII. Administrative Requirements

I. What Revisions to the Alaska SIP Are

We Approving?

A. Industrial Processes and FuelBurning Equipment (18 AAC

50.055(a)(9))

We are approving a revision of the

visible emission limit for coal burning

boilers, during startup; shutdown; sootblowing; grate cleaning; or other routine

maintenance activities, that began

operation before August 17, 1971, and

submitted the required demonstration.

18 AAC 50.055(a)(9) is being repealed

and readopted to read as follows:

18 AAC 50.055. Industrial Processes and

Fuel-Burning Equipment

(a) Visible emissions, excluding condensed

water vapor, from an industrial process or

fuel-burning equipment may not reduce

visibility through the exhaust effluent by

* * * * *

(9) More than 20 percent for more than

three minutes in any one hour, except for an

additional three minutes in any one hour for

a coal burning boiler that began operation

before August 17, 1971, if

(A) The visible emissions are caused by

startup, shutdown, soot-blowing, grate

cleaning, or other routine maintenance

specified in an operating permit issued under

this chapter;

(B) The owner or operator of the boiler

monitors visible emissions by continuous

opacity monitoring instrumentation that;

(i) Conforms to Performance Specification

1 in 40 CFR 60, Appendix B, adopted by

reference in 18 AAC 50.040; and

(ii) Completes one cycle of sampling and

analyzing for each successive 15-second

period;

(C) The owner or operator of the boiler

provides the department with a

demonstration that the particulate matter

emissions from the boiler allowed by this

opacity limit will not cause or contribute to

a violation of the ambient air quality

standards for PM–10 in 18 AAC 50.010, or

cause the maximum allowable increases for

PM–10 in 18 AAC 50.020 to be exceeded; and

(D) The Federal administrator approves a

facility-specific revision to the State

implementation plan, required under 42

U.S.C. 7410, authorizing the application of

this opacity limit instead of the opacity limit

otherwise applicable under this section.

B. Definitions (18 AAC 50.990)

We are approving revisions to this

section with the addition of the

definitions for grate cleaning and sootblowing.

18 AAC 50.990 is amended by adding

new paragraphs to read as follows:

18 AAC 50.990. Definitions

* * * * *

(106) ‘‘Grate cleaning’’ means removing ash

from fireboxes;

(107) ‘‘Soot-blowing’’ means using steam or

compressed air to remove carbon from a

furnace or from a boiler’s heat transfer

surfaces.

II. What Regulated Pollutant(s) Are

affected by This Revision?

The only regulated pollutant

potentially affected by the change is

particulate matter less than 10 microns

in size (PM–10).

III. Who Does This Revision Apply To?

The coal burning boilers, located at

the following facilities, that began

operation before August 17, 1971:

Golden Valley Electric Association

(GVEA), Healy (Unit #1); Eielson Air

Force Base, Fairbanks (6 units); Aurora

Energy, Fairbanks (4 units); and Clear

Air Force Base, Clear (3 units).

These four facilities provided ADEC

with a demonstration that the

particulate matter emissions from their

boilers allowed by this revised visible

emission limit will not cause a

deleterious effect on any NAAQS,

Prevention of Significant Deterioration

(PSD) increment or visibility in Class I

areas.

IV. What Is the Background of the

Alaska SIP Revision?

The SIP revision for the opacity limit

for coal burners was officially submitted

to EPA on November 1, 1999. The rule

was filed with the Lieutenant Governor

for the State of Alaska on October 5,

1999, and was effective on November 4,

1999.

The affected facilities are subject to

both 18 AAC 50.055(a)(1) and 18 AAC

50.055(b)(2)(A). Both of these provisions

are in the State Implementation Plan.

18 AAC 50.055(a)(1) currently states

that visible emissions shall not exceed

an opacity limit of 20% for a total of

more than three minutes in any one

hour. The revised regulation has a 20%

opacity limit, with a six minute

exception in any one hour instead of the

current three minute exception, for

approved site specific coal burning

boilers that began operation before

August 17, 1971, if the visible emissions

are caused by startup, shutdown, grate

cleaning, or routine maintenance

33028 Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 119 / Wednesday, June 20, 2001 / Rules and Regulations

specified in an operating permit issued

under 18 AAC 50.340.

18 AAC 50.055(b)(2)(A) states that

total particulate emissions from the

facility should not exceed 0.1 gr/dscf of

exhaust gas corrected to standard

conditions and averaged over three

hours. This rule will remain unchanged.

According to the testing performed by

the affected facilities, the particulate

emissions and opacity are related but

there is not a linear relationship

between the two. Since opacity is used

as a qualitative estimate of particulate

emissions, the revised opacity standards

during startup, shutdown, grate

cleaning, and routine maintenance

activities cannot be directly ‘‘input’’

into air quality models. However, the

affected sources are still required to

meet the State’s particulate matter

standard of 0.1 gr/dscf of exhaust gas,

averaged over three hours. Therefore,

the increase in allowable emissions due

to the opacity change is limited by the

particulate matter emission standard.

V. How Has Alaska Addressed

Maintenance of the PM–10 NAAQS?

ADEC submitted a demonstration

showing that the revised opacity limit

for the four facilities with the affected

coal burners would not result in

exceedances of the 24-hour or Annual

National Ambient Air Quality Standard

(NAAQS) for particulate matter less

than 10 microns in diameter (PM–10).

The rationale was established through

data collection and analysis from both

source testing and modeling.

The facilities submitted particulate

matter source test data that correlated to

the measured opacity recorded during

the tests. The ADEC calculated

particulate matter emissions using the

following formula contained in 18 ACC

50.220.

E=EM [(A+B)×S/(R×A)]+ENM[(R¥S)/R¥BS/

(R×A)]

Where:

E=the total particulate emissions of the

source in grains per dry standard cubic foot

(gr/dscf).

EM=the particulate emissions in gr/dscf

measured during the test that included the

routine maintenance activity.

ENM=the arithmetic average of particulate

emissions in gr/dscf measured by the test

runs that did not include routine

maintenance activity.

A=the period of routine maintenance

activity occurring during the test run that

included routine maintenance activity,

expressed to the nearest hundredth of an

hour.

B=the total period of the test run, less A.

R=the maximum period of source

operation per 24 hours, expressed to the

nearest hundredth of an hour.

S=the maximum period of routine

maintenance activity per 24 hours, expressed

to the nearest hundredth of an hour.

All calculated E, rounded to the

nearest hundredth of a grain, were all

within the 0.1 gr/dscf particulate matter

standard (18 AAC 50.055(b)(2)(A)). The

following assumptions were made: the

soot-blowing activities emit the highest

particulate emissions of the routine

maintenance activities, so the sootblowing demonstration was used to

show compliance with the particulate

standard for all routine maintenance

activities. Soot-blowing duration is

boiler dependent; however it lasts

anywhere from 5 to 22 minutes and

occurs every 6 hours; and startup and

shutdown cannot be source tested

because the operating conditions change

rapidly and air flow is irregular. The

ADEC does not require source testing

during startup and shutdown

operations.

A modeling protocol was developed

and submitted to ADEC and EPA on

September 11, 1997. The protocol

discussed screening and refined

modeling methodologies, procedures for

calculating source emission parameters,

meteorological and receptor data

requirements and building downwash

procedures.

The objective of the modeling was to

demonstrate that revising the opacity

standard would not result in

exceedances of the 24-hour or Annual

NAAQS for PM–10. Since all of the

affected coal fired boilers were baseline

units for PM–10 (i.e., in operation before

the November 13, 1978) and the new

allowable emissions are less than

baseline actual emissions, a Prevention

of Significant Deterioration increment

analysis was not required.

The following general model

assumptions were made: all four

facilities used data from their

particulate matter sources test taken

during maximum allowed operating

conditions; at least one run contained a

routine maintenance activity (i.e., sootblowing); and the maximum emission

rate was 0.1 gr/dscf.

The modeling results showed that the

affected facilities can demonstrate

compliance with both the 24-hour and

Annual NAAQS for PM–10 with the

new revised opacity limit, as long as

they also demonstrate compliance with

the current grain loading standard of 0.1

gr/dscf.

In order to ensure continual

compliance, ADEC will do the

following. ADEC will include the

startup, shutdown, grate cleaning and

routine maintenance activities in the

facility’s operating permit issued under

18 AAC 50.340. Routine source testing

and visible emission monitoring will be

required. The frequency of monitoring

and testing will be determined in each

facility’s operating permit on a case-bycase basis, depending on the specifics of

the individual source.

VI. Summary of Action

While Alaska’s SIP revision for the

visible emission limit for coal burners is

less stringent than the current visible

emission limit, ADEC has demonstrated

that there will be no deleterious effect

on any NAAQS, Prevention of

Significant Deterioration increment, or

visibility in Class I areas. Therefore, we

are approving a revision of the

Industrial Processes and Fuel-Burning

Equipment rule [18 AAC 50.055(a)(9)]

for the visible emission limit of the

affected coal burning boilers, located at

the following facilities, that began

operation before August 17, 1971 and

submitted the required demonstration:

Golden Valley Electric Association

(GVEA), Healy (Unit #1); Eielson Air

Force Base, Fairbanks (6 units); Aurora

Energy, Fairbanks (4 units); and Clear

Air Force Base, Clear (3 units).

Additionally, we are approving a

revision to the Definitions section [18

AAC 50.990] that will add definitions of

grate cleaning and soot-blowing.

EPA is publishing this rule without

prior proposal because the Agency

views this as a noncontroversial

submittal and anticipates no adverse

comments. However, in the proposed

rules section of this Federal Register

publication, EPA is publishing a

separate document that will serve as the

proposal to approve the SIP revision

should adverse comments be filed. This

rule will be effective August 20, 2001

without further notice unless the

Agency receives adverse comments by

July 20, 2001.

If the EPA receives such comments,

then EPA will publish a notice

withdrawing the final rule and

informing the public that the rule will

not take effect. All public comments

received will then be addressed in a

subsequent final rule based on the

proposed rule. The EPA will not

institute a second comment period.

Parties interested in commenting should

do so at this time. If no such comments

are received, the public is advised that

this rule will be effective on August 20,

2001 and no further action will be taken

on the proposed rule.

VII. Administrative Requirements

Under Executive Order 12866 (58 FR

51735, October 4, 1993), this action is

not a ‘‘significant regulatory action’’ and

therefore is not subject to review by the

Office of Management and Budget. This

Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 119 / Wednesday, June 20, 2001 / Rules and Regulations 33029

action merely approves state law as

meeting Federal requirements and

imposes no additional requirements

beyond those imposed by state law.

Accordingly, the Administrator certifies

that this rule will not have a significant

economic impact on a substantial

number of small entities under the

Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 601

et seq.). Because this rule approves preexisting requirements under State law

and does not impose any additional

enforceable duty beyond that required

by State law, it does not contain any

unfunded mandate or significantly or

uniquely affect small governments, as

described in the Unfunded Mandates

Reform Act of 1995 (Public Law 104–4).

This rule also does not have a

substantial direct effect on one or more

Indian Tribes, on the relationship

between the Federal Government and

Indian Tribes, or on the distribution of

power and responsibilities between the

Federal Government and Indian Tribes,

as specified by Executive Order 13175

(65 FR 67249, November 9, 2000), nor

will it have substantial direct effects on

the States, on the relationship between

the national government and the States,

or on the distribution of power and

responsibilities among the various

levels of government, as specified in

Executive Order 13132 (64 FR 43255,

August 10, 1999), because it merely

approves a State rule implementing a

Federal standard, and does not alter the

relationship or the distribution of power

and responsibilities established in the

Clean Air Act. This rule also is not

subject to Executive Order 13045 (62 FR

19885, April 23, 1997), because it is not

economically significant.

In reviewing SIP submissions, EPA’s

role is to approve State choices,

provided that they meet the criteria of

the Clean Air Act. In this context, in the

absence of a prior existing requirement

for the State to use voluntary consensus

standards (VCS), EPA has no authority

to disapprove a SIP submission for

failure to use VCS. It would thus be

inconsistent with applicable law for

EPA, when it reviews a SIP submission,

to use VCS in place of a SIP submission

that otherwise satisfies the provisions of

the Clean Air Act. Thus, the

requirements of section 12(d) of the

National Technology Transfer and

Advancement Act of 1995 (15 U.S.C.

272 note) do not apply. As required by

section 3 of Executive Order 12988 (61

FR 4729, February 7, 1996), in issuing

this rule, EPA has taken the necessary

steps to eliminate drafting errors and

ambiguity, minimize potential litigation,

and provide a clear legal standard for

affected conduct. EPA has complied

with Executive Order 12630 (53 FR

8859, March 15, 1988) by examining the

takings implications of the rule in

accordance with the ‘‘Attorney

General’s Supplemental Guidelines for

the Evaluation of Risk and Avoidance of

Unanticipated Takings’’ issued under

the executive order. This rule does not

impose an information collection

burden under the provisions of the

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44

U.S.C. 3501 et seq.).

The Congressional Review Act, 5

U.S.C. section 801 et seq., as added by

the Small Business Regulatory

Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996,

generally provides that before a rule

may take effect, the agency

promulgating the rule must submit a

rule report, which includes a copy of

the rule, to each House of the Congress

and to the Comptroller General of the

United States. EPA will submit a report

containing this rule and other required

information to the U.S. Senate, the U.S.

House of Representatives, and the

Comptroller General of the United

States prior to publication of the rule in

the Federal Register. A major rule

cannot take effect until 60 days after it

is published in the Federal Register.

This action is not a ‘‘major rule’’ as

defined by 5 U.S.C. section 804(2). This

rule will be effective August 20, 2001

unless EPA receives adverse written

comments by July 20, 2001.

Under section 307(b)(1) of the Clean

Air Act, petitions for judicial review of

this action must be filed in the United

States Court of Appeals for the

appropriate circuit by August 20, 2001.

Filing a petition for reconsideration by

the Administrator of this final rule does

not affect the finality of this rule for the

purposes of judicial review nor does it

extend the time within which a petition

for judicial review may be filed, and

shall not postpone the effectiveness of

such rule or action. This action may not

be challenged later in proceedings to

enforce its requirements. (See section

307(b)(2))

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 52

Environmental protection, Air

pollution control, Incorporation by

reference, Intergovernmental relations,

Particulate matter, Reporting and

recordkeeping requirements.

Note: Incorporation by reference of the

Implementation Plan for the State of Alaska

was approved by the Director of the Office of

Federal Register on July 1, 1982.

Dated: May 30, 2001.

Michael A. Bussell,

Acting Regional Administrator, Region 10.

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 et seq.

Subpart C—Alaska

2. Section 52.70 is amended by

adding paragraph (c)(30) to read as

follows:

§ 52.70 Identification of plan.

(c) * * *

(30) On November 1, 1999, the Alaska

Department of Environmental

Conservation (ADEC) submitted a SIP

revision to revise the visible emission

limit for coal burning boilers, during

startup; shutdown; soot-blowing; grate

cleaning; or other routine maintenance

activities, that began operation before

August 17, 1971, and submitted the

required demonstration. This SIP

revision is approved for the following

facilities that submitted the required

demonstration: Golden Valley Electric

Association (GVEA), Healy (Unit #1);

Eielson Air Force Base, Fairbanks (6

units); Aurora Energy, Fairbanks (4

units); and Clear Air Force Base, Clear

(3 units). Additionally, we are

approving a revision to the definitions

section that will add definitions of grate

cleaning and soot-blowing.

(i) Incorporation by reference.

(A) 18 Alaska Administrative Code

(AAC) 50.055(a)(9), Industrial Processes

and Fuel-Burning Equipment; as State

effective on November 4, 1999. 18 AAC

50.990, subsections (106) and (107),

Definitions; as State effective on January

1, 2000.

[FR Doc. 01–15416 Filed 6–19–01; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[AZ 099–0038; FRL–7000–1]

Withdrawal of Direct Final Rule

Revising the Arizona State

Implementation Plan, Pinal-Gila

Counties Air Quality Control District

and Pinal County Air Quality Control

District

AGENCY: Environmental Protection

Agency (EPA).