[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 88 (Monday, May 6, 1996)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 20136-20139]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-11205]



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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[CA 162-2-0002a FRL-5466-1]


Approval and Promulgation of Implementation Plans; California 
State Implementation Plan Revision, San Joaquin Valley Unified Air 
Pollution Control District, Santa Barbara County Air Pollution Control 
District, South Coast Air Quality Management District

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Direct final rule.

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SUMMARY: EPA is taking direct final action on revisions to the 
California State Implementation Plan. The revisions concern rules from 
the following districts: San Joaquin Valley Unified Air Pollution 
Control District (SJVUAPCD), Santa Barbara County Air Pollution Control 
District (SBCAPCD), and South Coast Air Quality Management District 
(SCAQMD). This approval action will incorporate these rules into the 
federally approved SIP. The intended effect of approving these rules is 
to regulate emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in 
accordance with the requirements of the Clean Air Act, as amended in 
1990

[[Page 20137]]

(CAA or the Act). The revised rules control VOC emissions from 
aerospace assembly and component manufacturing operations, motor 
vehicle and mobile equipment coating operations, crude oil production 
and separation, and storage of reactive organic compound liquids (ROC). 
Thus, EPA is finalizing the approval of these revisions into the 
California SIP under provisions of the CAA regarding EPA action on SIP 
submittals for national primary and secondary ambient air quality 
standards and plan requirements for nonattainment areas.

DATES: This action is effective on July 5, 1996 unless adverse or 
critical comments are received by June 5, 1996. If the effective date 
is delayed, a timely notice will be published in the Federal Register.

ADDRESSES: Copies of the rule revisions and EPA's evaluation report for 
each rule are available for public inspection at EPA's Region IX office 
during normal business hours. Copies of the submitted rule revisions 
are available for inspection at the following locations:

Rulemaking Section (A-5-3), Air and Toxics Division, U.S. Environmental 
Protection Agency, Region IX, 75 Hawthorne Street, San Francisco, CA 
94105.
Environmental Protection Agency, Air Docket (6102), 401 ``M'' Street, 
S.W., Washington, D.C. 20460.
California Air Resources Board, Stationary Source Division, Rule 
Evaluation Section, 2020 ``L'' Street, Sacramento, CA 92123-1095.
San Joaquin Valley Unified Air Pollution Control District, 1999 
Tuolumne Street, Suite #200, Fresno, CA 93721.
Santa Barbara County Air Pollution Control District, 26 Castilian 
Drive, B-23, Goleta, CA 93117.
South Coast Air Quality Management District, 21865 E. Copley Drive, 
Diamond Bar, CA 91765-4182.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Helen Liu, Rulemaking Section (A-5-3), 
Air and Toxics Division, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 
IX, 75 Hawthorne Street, San Francisco, CA 94105, Telephone: (415) 744-
1199.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Applicability

    The rules being approved into the California SIP include: SJVUAPCD 
Rule 4602--Motor Vehicle and Mobile Equipment Coating Operations, 
SBCAPCD Rule 325--Crude Oil Production and Separation, SBCAPCD Rule 
326--Storage of Reactive Organic Compound Liquids, and SCAQMD Rule 
1124--Aerospace Assembly and Component Manufacturing Operations.

Background

    On March 3, 1978, EPA promulgated a list of ozone nonattainment 
areas under the provisions of the Clean Air Act, as amended in 1977 
(1977 Act or pre-amended Act), that included the San Joaquin Valley 
Area, the Santa Barbara Area, and the South Coast Air Basin. 43 FR 
8964, 40 CFR 81.305. On May 26, 1988, EPA notified the Governor of 
California, pursuant to section 110(a)(2)(H) of the 1977 Act, that the 
above districts' portions of the California SIP were inadequate to 
attain and maintain the ozone standard and requested that deficiencies 
in the existing SIP be corrected (EPA's SIP-Call). On November 15, 
1990, the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 were enacted. Pub. L. 101-
549, 104 Stat. 2399, codified at 42 U.S.C. 7401-7671q. In amended 
section 182(a)(2)(A) of the CAA, Congress statutorily adopted the 
requirement that nonattainment areas fix their deficient reasonably 
available control technology (RACT) rules for ozone and established a 
deadline of May 15, 1991 for states to submit corrections of those 
deficiencies.
    Section 182(a)(2)(A) applies to areas designated as nonattainment 
prior to enactment of the amendments and classified as marginal or 
above as of the date of enactment. It requires such areas to adopt and 
correct RACT rules pursuant to pre-amended section 172(b) as 
interpreted in pre-amendment guidance.<SUP>1 EPA's SIP-Call used that 
guidance to indicate the necessary corrections for specific 
nonattainment areas. The San Joaquin Area is classified as severe, 
Santa Barbara Area as moderate, and the South Coast Air Basin as 
extreme; <SUP>2 therefore, these areas were subject to the RACT fix-up 
requirement and the May 15, 1991 deadline.
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    \1\ Among other things, the pre-amendment guidance consists of 
those portions of the proposed post-1987 ozone and carbon monoxide 
policy that concern RACT, 52 FR 45044 (November 24, 1987); ``Issues 
Relating to VOC Regulation Cutpoints, Deficiencies, and Deviations, 
Clarification to Appendix D of November 24, 1987 Federal Register 
Notice'' (Blue Book) (notice of availability was published in the 
Federal Register on May 25, 1988); and the existing control 
technique guidelines (CTGs).
    \2\ San Joaquin Valley, Santa Barbara, and South Coast retained 
their designation of nonattainment and were classified by operation 
of law pursuant to sections 107(d) and 181(a) upon the date of 
enactment of the CAA. See 55 FR 56694 (November 6, 1991).
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    The State of California submitted many revised RACT rules for 
incorporation into its SIP. The following table includes the dates of 
when the districts adopted the rules, the dates that California 
submitted them to EPA, and the dates that they were found to be 
complete pursuant to EPA's completeness criteria that are set forth in 
40 CFR part 51 Appendix V: <SUP>3
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    \3\ EPA adopted the completeness criteria on February 16, 1990 
(55 FR 5830) and, pursuant to section 110(k)(1)(A) of the CAA, 
revised the criteria on August 26, 1991 (56 FR 42216).

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                Rule                   Adoption  Submittal  Completeness
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SJVUAPCD 4602.......................    6/15/95   10/13/95     11/28/95 
SBAPCD 325..........................    1/25/94    3/29/94       6/3/94 
SBAPCD 326..........................   12/14/93    3/29/94       6/3/94 
SCAQMD 1124.........................    1/13/95    2/24/95      3/10/95 
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This notice addresses EPA's direct-final approval action for the above-
mentioned rules.
    All of these rules control VOC emissions from the operations listed 
above. VOCs contribute to the production of ground level ozone and 
smog. These rules were originally adopted by SJVUAPCD, SBAPCD, and 
SCAQMD as part of an effort to achieve the National Ambient Air Quality 
Standard (NAAQS) for ozone and in response to EPA's SIP-Call and the 
section 182(a)(2)(A) CAA requirement. The following is EPA's evaluation 
and final action for these rules.

EPA Evaluation and Action

    In determining the approvability of a VOC rule, EPA must evaluate 
the rule for consistency with the requirements of the CAA and EPA 
regulations, as found in section 110 and part D of the CAA and 40 CFR 
part 51 (Requirements for Preparation, Adoption, and Submittal of 
Implementation Plans). The EPA interpretation of these requirements, 
which forms the basis for today's action, appears in the various EPA 
policy guidance documents listed in footnote 1. Among those provisions 
is the requirement that a VOC rule must, at a minimum, provide for the 
implementation of RACT for stationary sources of VOC emissions. This 
requirement was carried forth from the pre-amended Act.
    For the purpose of assisting state and local agencies in developing 
RACT rules, EPA prepared a series of Control Technique Guideline (CTG) 
documents. The CTGs are based on the underlying requirements of the Act 
and specify the presumptive norms for what is RACT for specific source 
categories. Under the CAA, Congress ratified EPA's use of these 
documents, as well as other Agency policy, for requiring States to

[[Page 20138]]

``fix-up'' their RACT rules. See section 182(a)(2)(A). The CTGs 
applicable to some of these rules are as follows: EPA-450/2-83-007, 
``Control of Volatile Organic Compound Equipment Leaks from Natural 
Gas/Gasoline Processing Plants,'' EPA-450/2-78-047, ``Control of 
Volatile Organic Emissions From Petroleum Liquid Storage in External 
Floating Roof Tanks,'' and EPA-450/2-77-036, ``Control of Volatile 
Organic Emissions From Storage of Petroleum Liquid in Fixed-Roof 
Tanks.'' Rules 4602 and 1124 control emissions from source categories 
for which EPA has not yet finalized CTGs. Accordingly, these rules were 
evaluated against the interpretations of EPA policy found in the Blue 
Book, referred to in footnote 1, and against other EPA policy. In 
general, these guidance documents have been set forth to ensure that 
VOC rules are fully enforceable and strengthen or maintain the SIP.
    SJVUAPCD's submitted Rule 4602--Motor Vehicle and Mobile Equipment 
Coating Operations includes the following major provisions:

<bullet> Exempts operations involved with touch-up coating, graphic 
art, and radiator coating,
<bullet> Includes the maximum allowable VOC contents for Group I and II 
vehicle and equipment coatings,
<bullet> Specifies the requirements for using add-on control equipment,
<bullet> Includes a list of acceptable methods to apply coatings,
<bullet> Limits the VOC content and usage of specialty coatings.

    SBCAPCD's submitted Rule 325--Crude Oil Production and Separation 
includes the following major provisions:

<bullet> The conditions under which a tank would be exempt from the 
standards portion of this rule,
<bullet> The control measures required for storage tanks and any 
produced gas,
<bullet> The test methods that are to be used to determine compliance. 
This includes an alternative test method that is to be used to measure 
vapor pressure of an oil whose API gravity is less than 20 degrees,
<bullet> Details as to how an inspection will be conducted.

    SBCAPCD's submitted Rule 326--Storage of Reactive Organic Compound 
Liquids includes the following major provisions:

<bullet> Exempts storange tanks with a capacity of less than 5,000 
gallons and storage tanks containing an ROC liquid having a vapor 
pressure less than 0.5 psia from requirements of this rule,
<bullet> Specifies that certain control measures must be in place on 
the tank in order to control emissions or that vapor loss control 
devices may be installed,
<bullet> Lists the allowable vapor loss control devices,
<bullet> Lists the criteria for the closure device on any external or 
internal floating roof tank,
<bullet> Lists the requirements for inspection and reporting.

    SCAQMD's submitted Rule 1124--Aerospace Assembly and Component 
Manufacturing Operations includes the following major provisions:

<bullet> Includes a comprehensive list of coatings, their corresponding 
VOC limits, and the phase-in compliance schedule of when facilities 
must use coatings that meet certain VOC content limits,
<bullet> Includes solvent use, clean-up, and stripping requirements,
<bullet> Includes a list of the different acceptable methods to apply 
coatings that ensure a certain level of transfer efficiency,
<bullet> If control equipment is used, it must have a destruction 
efficiency of at least 95% and a capture efficiency of at least 90%,
<bullet> Prohibits a person from requiring the use of any non-compliant 
coating,
<bullet> Requires a person who performs qualification acceptance 
testing on coatings to submit a status report describing the progress 
toward the development of coatings that satisfy future compliance 
dates,
<bullet> Lists which facilities and what coatings are exempt from this 
rule.

    EPA has evaluated the submitted rules and has determined that they 
are consistent with the CAA, EPA regulations, and EPA policy. 
Therefore, SJVUAPCD 4602--Motor Vehicle and Mobile Equipment Coating 
Operations, SBCAPCD 326--Storage of Reactive Organic Compound Liquids, 
and SCAQMD 1124--Aerospace Assembly and Component Manufacturing 
Operations are being approved under section 110(k)(3) of the CAA as 
meeting the requirements of section 110(a) and part D.
    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.
    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, the EPA is proposing to approve the SIP revision 
should adverse or critical comments be filed. This action will be 
effective July 5, 1996, unless, by June 5, 1996, adverse or critical 
comments are received.
    If the EPA receives such comments, this action will be withdrawn 
before the effective date by publishing a subsequent document 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 5, 1996.

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. Secs. 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.
    SIP approvals under sections 110 and 301(a) and subchapter I, Part 
D of the CAA do not create any new requirements, but simply approve 
requirements that the State is already imposing. Therefore, because the 
Federal SIP-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).

Unfunded Mandates

    Under Sections 202, 203, and 205 of the Unfunded Mandates Reform 
Act of 1995 (``Unfunded Mandates Act''), signed into law on March 22, 
1995, EPA must undertake various actions in association with proposed 
or final rules that include a Federal mandate that may result in 
estimated costs of $100 million or more to the private sector or to 
State,

[[Page 20139]]

local, or tribal governments in the aggregate.
    Through submission of this state implementation plan or plan 
revision, the State and any affected local or tribal governments have 
elected to adopt the program provided for under Part D of the Clean Air 
Act. These rules may bind State, local, and tribal governments to 
perform certain actions and also require the private sector to perform 
certain duties. The rules being approved by this action will impose no 
new requirements because affected sources are already subject to these 
regulations under State law. Therefore, no additional costs to State, 
local, or tribal governments or to the private sector result from this 
action. EPA has also determined that this direct-final action does not 
include a mandate that may result in estimated costs of $100 million or 
more to State, local, or tribal governments in the aggregate or to the 
private sector.
    This action has been classified as a Table 3 action for signature 
by the Regional Administrator under the procedures published in the 
Federal Register on January 19, 1989 (54 FR 2214-2225), as revised by a 
July 10, 1995 memorandum from Mary Nichols, Assistant Administrator for 
Air and Radiation. The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has 
exempted this regulatory action from Executive Order 12866 review.

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 52

    Environmental protection, Air pollution control, Hydrocarbons, 
Incorporation by reference, Intergovernmental relations, Ozone, 
Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, Volatile organic compounds.

    Note: Incorporation by reference of the State Implementation 
Plan for the State of California was approved by the Director of the 
Federal Register on July 1, 1982.

    Dated: April 18, 1996.
Felicia Marcus,
Regional Administrator.

    Subpart F of 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 F--California

    2. Section 52.220 is amended by adding paragraphs 
(c)(196)(i)(C)(2), (215)(i)(A)(5), and (225)(i)(D) to read as follows:


Sec. 52.220  Identification of Plan.

* * * * *
    (c) * * *
    (196) * * *
    (i) * * *
    (C) * * *
    (2) Rules 325 & 326, adopted on January 25, 1994 and December 14, 
1993, respectively.
* * * * *
    (215) * * *
    (i) * * *
    (A) * * *
    (5) Rule 1124, adopted January 13, 1995.
* * * * *
    (225) * * *
    (i) * * *
    (D) San Joaquin Valley Unified Air Pollution Control District.
    (1) Rule 4602, adopted June 15, 1995.
* * * * *
[FR Doc. 96-11205 Filed 5-3-96; 8:45 am]
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