Federal Register / Vol. 61, No. 110 / Thursday, June 6, 1996 / Rules and Regulations 28761

Rule 71 Crude Oil and Reactive Organic

Compound Liquids (Adopted 12/13/94)

Rule 71.1 Crude Oil Production and

Separation (Adopted 6/16/92)

Rule 71.2 Storage of Reactive Organic

Compound Liquids (Adopted 9/26/89)

Rule 71.3 Transfer of Reactive Organic

Compound Liquids (Adopted 6/16/92)

Rule 71.4 Petroleum Sumps, Pits, Ponds,

and Well Cellars (Adopted 6/8/93)

Rule 71.5 Glycol Dehydrators (Adopted 12/

13/94)

Rule 72 New Source Performance Standards

(NSPS) (Adopted 6/28/94)

Rule 74 Specific Source Standards

(Adopted 7/6/76)

Rule 74.1 Abrasive Blasting (Adopted 11/

12/91)

Rule 74.2 Architectural Coatings (Adopted

08/11/92)

Rule 74.6 Surface Cleaning and Degreasing

(Adopted 5/8/90)

Rule 74.6.1 Cold Cleaning Operations

(Adopted 9/12/89)

Rule 74.6.2 Batch Loaded Vapor Degreasing

Operations (Adopted 9/12/89)

Rule 74.7 Fugitive Emissions of Reactive

Organic Compounds at Petroleum

Refineries and Chemical Plants (Adopted

1/10/89)

Rule 74.8 Refinery Vacuum Producing

Systems, Waste-water Separators and

Process Turnarounds (Adopted 7/5/83)

Rule 74.9 Stationary Internal Combustion

Engines (Adopted 12/21/93)

Rule 74.10 Components at Crude Oil

Production Facilities and Natural Gas

Production and Processing Facilities

(Adopted 6/16/92)

Rule 74.11 Natural Gas-Fired Residential

Water Heaters-Control of NOx (Adopted

4/9/85)

Rule 74.12 Surface Coating of Metal Parts

and Products (Adopted 12/13/94)

Rule 74.15 Boilers, Steam Generators and

Process Heaters (5MM BTUs and greater)

(Adopted 11/8/94)

Rule 74.15.1 Boilers, Steam Generators and

Process Heaters (1–5MM BTUs)(Adopted

6/13/95)

Rule 74.16 Oil Field Drilling Operations

(Adopted 1/8/91)

Rule 74.20 Adhesives and Sealants

(Adopted 6/8/93)

Rule 74.23 Stationary Gas Turbines

(Adopted 3/14/95)

Rule 74.24 Marine Coating Operations

(Adopted 3/8/94)

Rule 74.26 Crude Oil Storage Tank

Degassing Operations (Adopted 11/8/94)

Rule 74.27 Gasoline and ROC Liquid

Storage Tank Degassing Operations

(Adopted 11/8/94)

Rule 74.28 Asphalt Roofing Operations

(Adopted 5/10/94)

Rule 74.30 Wood Products Coatings

(Adopted 5/17/94)

Rule 75 Circumvention (Adopted 11/27/78)

Appendix IV–A Soap Bubble Tests

(Adopted 12/86)

Rule 100 Analytical Methods (Adopted 7/

18/72)

Rule 101 Sampling and Testing Facilities

(Adopted 5/23/72)

Rule 102 Source Tests (Adopted 11/21/78)

Rule 103 Stack Monitoring (Adopted 6/4/

91)

Rule 154 Stage 1 Episode Actions (Adopted

9/17/91)

Rule 155 Stage 2 Episode Actions (Adopted

9/17/91)

Rule 156 Stage 3 Episode Actions (Adopted

9/17/91)

Rule 158 Source Abatement Plans (Adopted

9/17/91)

Rule 159 Traffic Abatement Procedures

(Adopted 9/17/91)

Rule 220 General Conformity (Adopted 5/9/

95)

* * * * *

[FR Doc. 96–14116 Filed 6–5–96; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6050–50–P

40 CFR Part 73

RIN 2060–AG41

[FRL–5513–4]

Acid Rain Program; Elimination of

Direct Sale Program and IPP Written

Guarantee Program: Final Rule

AGENCY: Environmental Protection

Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Direct final rule.

SUMMARY: Title IV of the Clean Air Act,

as amended by the Clean Air Act

Amendments of 1990, (the Act)

authorized the U.S. Environmental

Protection Agency to establish the Acid

Rain Program to reduce the adverse

health and ecological effects of acidic

deposition. Under the Acid Rain

Program, electric utilities must have an

allowance for each ton of sulfur dioxide

(SO2) that their generating facilities

emit. Title IV mandates that EPA hold

or sponsor yearly auctions and direct

sales of allowances for a small portion

of the total allowances allocated each

year. EPA is also required to make

available to new independent power

producers (IPPs) guarantees ensuring

priority in purchasing allowances in the

direct sales.

Section 416(c)(7) of the Act directs the

Administrator to terminate the direct

sale program if, during any two-year

period, less than 20 percent of the

allowances available for direct sales

have been purchased. The direct sale

and IPP provisions were designed to

help ensure that units, including new

IPPs, have a public source of allowances

beyond those already allocated initially.

Because no allowances have been sold

through the direct sale program since it

began in June 1993, EPA is revising its

regulations to terminate the direct sales.

The allowances available previously in

the direct sale program will now be

available in the annual allowance

auctions, the proceeds of which will

continue to be returned to the utilities

from which the allowances were

withheld. In addition, because the IPP

written guarantee program is

implemented through the direct sales

and no applications for such guarantees

have been received, EPA is revising its

regulations to terminate the guarantee

program.

The rule revision is being issued as a

direct final rule because the Act

mandates this action and no adverse

comment is expected.

DATES: This direct final rule will be

effective on August 5, 1996, unless

significant, adverse comments are

received by July 8, 1996. If significant

adverse comments are received on any

portion of this direct final rule, that

portion of the direct final rule will be

withdrawn through a notice in the

Federal Register.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Kenon Smith, U.S. Environmental

Protection Agency, Acid Rain Division

(6204J), 401 M Street, SW, Washington,

D.C. 20460, (202) 233–9164, call the

Acid Rain Hotline at (202) 233–9620, or

visit the Acid Rain Program web page at

http://www.epa.gov/docs/acidrain/

ardhome.html. All material supporting

this notice is available for viewing and

copying under Docket A–96–19, EPA

Air Docket (6102), U.S. Environmental

Protection Agency, 401 M Street, SW.,

Washington, DC 20460, Telephone (202)

260–7548.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Any

significant adverse comments received

on any portion of this direct final rule,

by the date listed above, will be

addressed in a subsequent final rule.

That final rule will be based on the

relevant portion of the rule revision that

is noticed as a proposed rule in the

Proposed Rule Section of this Federal

Register and that is identical to this

direct final rule.

EPA’s Acid Rain Program established

an innovative, market-based allowance

trading system to reduce S02 emissions,

one of the primary precursors of acid

rain. Under this system, fossil fuel-fired

power plants, the principal emitters of

S02, were allotted tradeable allowances

based on their past fuel usage and

emissions. Each allowance entitles a

boiler unit in a plant to emit 1 ton of

S02 during or after the year specified in

the allowance serial number. At the end

of the year, the number of allowances a

unit holds must equal or exceed the

total emissions at that unit; otherwise,

stringent penalties will apply. After the

year 2000, the total number of

allowances allocated each year will be

about half of what the utility industry

emitted in 1980.
28762 Federal Register / Vol. 61, No. 110 / Thursday, June 6, 1996 / Rules and Regulations

Allowances may be bought, sold, or

banked like any other commodity. If a

unit has surplus allowances, it may sell

them to units whose emissions levels

exceed their allowance supply, or it may

bank the allowances for future years.

Because the availability of allowances

is crucial to ensure the economic

efficiency of the emissions limitation

program and facilitate the addition of

new electric-generating capacity, title IV

mandates that EPA hold or sponsor

yearly auctions and direct sales of

allowances for a small portion of the

total allowances allocated each year.

The auction and the direct sales include

both spot sales (allowances first usable

in the year of sale) and advance sales

(allowances first usable in the 7th year

after the year of sale). In addition, title

IV requires that EPA provide a written

guarantee ensuring priority for certain

new independent power producers in

purchasing allowances in the direct

sales. The auctions, sales, and IPP

guarantee provisions of title IV were

designed to help ensure that units,

including new IPPs, would have a

public source of allowances beyond

those allocated initially.

To supply the sales and auctions with

allowances, EPA, as directed by the Act,

has set aside in a Special Allowance

Reserve 2.8 percent of the total annual

allowances allocated to all units. During

Phase I, when the allowances allocated

total 5.7 million allowances annually,

150,000 allowances are available every

year for auctions. During Phase II, when

allowance allocations total 8.95 million

allowances yearly, 200,000 allowances

are earmarked annually for auctions and

50,000 designated for the direct sales.

The Act set the direct sale price for

allowances to be $1,500 per allowance,

adjusted by the Consumer Price Index.

Section 416(c)(7) of the Act directs the

Administrator to terminate the direct

sale subaccount and transfer such

allowances to the auction subaccount

‘‘[i]f the Administrator determines that,

during any period of 2 consecutive

calendar years, less than 20 percent of

the allowances available in the

subaccount for direct sales established

under this subsection have been

purchased.’’ 42 U.S.C. 76510(c)(7); see

also 4O CFR 73.73(b). Since no

allowances have ever been sold through

the direct sale program since it began in

1993, EPA is terminating the direct sale

program, beginning with the 1996 direct

sale, and removing the regulations that

established the program.

EPA is also revising part 73 to provide

that the allowances available previously

in the direct sale program will now be

available in the annual allowance

auctions, the proceeds of which will

continue to be returned to the utilities

from which the allowances were

originally withheld. As done in the

previous three auctions, unsold advance

allowances from the 1996 direct sale

will be sold in the 6-year advance

auction in the 1997 EPA auctions as

allowances first usable in the 6th year

after the year of sale. Allowances

originally set aside for the advance

direct sale in 1997, and each year

thereafter, will be included in the

advance auction of that respective year.

Allowances originally set aside for the

direct spot sales beginning in 2000, and

each year thereafter, will be included in

the spot auction of each respective year.

In addition, EPA is eliminating the

IPP written guarantee program (and the

relevant regulations) under which IPPs

can apply for and receive priority for

purchasing allowances in direct sales.

Under section 417(c), the guarantee

program is implemented exclusively

through the direct sale program, which

is being terminated. Further, since the

publication of the regulations

establishing the guarantee program in

December 1991 (56 FR 65592 (December

17, 1991)), no applications have been

submitted to obtain guaranteed

allowances. Because the Act set the

price of guaranteed allowances to be

$1,500.00 per allowance, adjusted by

the Consumer Price Index (CPI), EPA

does not expect there to be any

applications. Sufficient quantities of

allowances are readily available in the

private market at prices well below the

guaranteed price.

Administrative Requirements

A. Executive Order 12866

Under Executive Order 12866, 58 FR

51735 (October 4, 1993), the

Administrator must determine whether

the regulatory action is ‘‘significant’’

and therefore subject to Office of

Management and Budget (OMB) review

and the requirements of the Executive

Order. The Order defines ‘‘significant

regulatory action’’ as one that is likely

to result in a rule that may:

(1) have an annual effect on the

economy of § 100 million or more or

adversely affect in a material way the

economy, a sector of the economy,

productivity, competition, jobs, the

environment, public health or safety, or

State, local or tribal governments or

communities;

(2) create a serious inconsistency or

otherwise interfere with an action taken

or planned by another agency;

(3) materially alter the budgetary

impact of entitlements, grants, user fees,

or loan programs or the rights and

obligations of recipients thereof; or

(4) raise novel legal or policy issues

arising out of legal mandates, the

President’s priorities, or the principles

set forth in the Executive Order.

Pursuant to the terms of Executive

Order 12866, it has been determined

that this rule is a ‘‘significant regulatory

action’’ because the rule seems to raise

novel legal or policy issues. As such,

this action was submitted to OMB for

review. Any written comments from

OMB to EPA, any written EPA

responses to those comments, and any

changes made in response to OMB

suggestions or recommendations are

included in the docket. The docket is

available for public inspection at the

EPA’s Air Docket Section, which is

listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION

section of this preamble.

B. Unfunded Mandates Act

Section 202 of the Unfunded

Mandates Reform Act of 1995

(‘‘Unfunded Mandates Act’’) requires

that the Agency prepare a budgetary

impact statement before promulgating a

rule that includes a Federal mandate

that may result in expenditure by State,

local, and tribal governments, in

aggregate, or by the private sector, of

§ 100 million or more in any one year.

Section 203 requires the Agency to

establish a plan for obtaining input from

and informing, educating, and advising

any small governments that may be

significantly or uniquely affected by the

rule.

Under section 205 of the Unfunded

Mandates Act, the Agency must identify

and consider a reasonable number of

regulatory alternatives before

promulgating a rule for which a

budgetary impact statement must be

prepared. The Agency must select from

those alternatives the least costly, most

cost-effective, or least burdensome

alternative that achieves the objectives

of the rule, unless the Agency explains

why this alternative is not selected or

the selection of this alternative is

inconsistent with law.

Because this direct final rule is

estimated to result in the expenditure by

State, local, and tribal governments or

the private sector of less than $100

million in any one year, the Agency has

not prepared a budgetary impact

statement or specifically addressed the

selection of the least costly, most costeffective, or least burdensome

alternative. Because small governments

will not be significantly or uniquely

affected by this rule, the Agency is not

required to develop a plan with regard

to small governments. However, as

discussed in this preamble, the rule

reduces the potential burden on

regulated entities (which may include
Federal Register / Vol. 61, No. 110 / Thursday, June 6, 1996 / Rules and Regulations 28763

some investor-owned or municipal

utilities) of participating in direct sales

or applying for written guarantees.

C. Paperwork Reduction Act

This rule does not provide for any

new collection of information and, in

fact, removes some information

requirements of the current regulations.

The removal of these requirements

reduces the estimated burden, as

compared to the burden under the

current regulations, by an average of

48.5 hours per IPP guarantee application

and 1.5 hours per direct sale application

for an overall burden reduction from the

original estimation of 4,850 hours.

These estimates include time for

reviewing instructions, searching

existing data sources, gathering and

maintaining the data needed, and

completing and reviewing the collection

of information. An Information

Collection Request document and

estimates of the public reporting burden

were prepared in connection with the

current regulations establishing the

direct sale and guarantee programs. 56

FR 65601.

Send comments regarding this

collection of analysis or any other

aspect of this collection of information,

including suggestions for reducing the

burden, to Chief, Information Policy

Branch, EPA, 401 M Street, SW. (Mail

Code 2136), Washington, DC 20460; and

to the Office of Information and

Regulatory Affairs, Office of

Management and Budget, Washington,

DC 20503, marked ‘‘Attention: Desk

Officer for EPA.’’

D. Regulatory Flexibility Act

The Regulatory Flexibility Act, 5

U.S.C. 601, et seq., requires each federal

agency to consider potential impacts of

its regulations on small business

‘‘entities.’’ Under 5 U.S.C. 604(a), an

agency issuing a notice of proposed

rulemaking must prepare and make

available for public comment a

regulatory flexibility analysis. Such an

analysis is not required if the head of an

agency certifies that a rule will not have

a significant economic impact on a

substantial number of small entities,

pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 605(b).

In the preamble of the current

regulations establishing the direct sale

and guarantee programs, the

Administrator certified that those

regulations, including the provisions

revised by today’s final rule, would not

have a significant impact. 56 FR 65601.

The final rule revisions adopted today

are not significant enough to change the

economic impact addressed in that

preamble. Pursuant to the provisions of

5 U. S.C. 605(b), I hereby certify that the

revised rule will not have a significant,

adverse impact on a substantial number

of small entities.

E. Miscellaneous

In accordance with section 117 of the

Act, issuance of this rule was preceded

by consultation with any appropriate

advisory committees, independent

experts, and federal departments and

agencies.

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 73

Environmental protection, Acid rain,

Air pollution control, Electric utilities,

Reporting and recordkeeping

requirements, and Sulfur dioxide.

Dated: May 24, 1996.

Carol M. Browner,

Administrator, U.S. Environmental Protection

Agency.

For the reasons set forth in the

preamble, chapter I of title 40 of the

Code of Federal Regulations is amended

as follows:

PART 73—[AMENDED]

1. The authority citation for part 73

continues to read as follows:

Authority: 42 U. S.C. 7601 and 7651, et

seq.

2. Section 73.70 is amended by

revising table I of paragraph (a) as

follows: § 73.70 Auctions.

(a) * * *

TABLE I.—ALLOWANCE SCHEDULE FOR

AUCTIONS

Year of purchaseSpot

auction

Advance

auction

Advance

auction*

1993 .......... 50,000 a 100,000 b

1994 .......... 50,000 a 100,000 b 25,000 c

1995 .......... 50,000 a 100,000 b 25,000 c

1996 .......... 150,000 100,000 b 25,000 c

1997 .......... 150,000 125,000 b 25,000 c

1998 .......... 150,000 125,000 b

1999 .......... 150,000 125,000 b

2000 and

after ........ 125,000 125,000 b

a Not usable until 1995.

b Not usable until 7 years after purchase.

c Not usable until 6 years after purchase.

*These are unsold advance allowances from

the direct sale program for 1993, 1994, 1995,

and 1996 respectively.

* * * *

3. Section 73.72 is revised to read as

follows:

§ 73.72 Direct sales.

Allowances that were formerly part of

the direct sale program, which has been

terminated under § 73.73(b), will be

included in the annual allowance

auctions in accordance with § 73.70(a).

4. Sections 73.74, 73.75, 73.76, and

73.77 are removed from subpart E.

[FR Doc. 96–14114 Filed 6–5–96; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P

40 CFR Part 80

[FRL–5513–3]

RIN 2060–AD55

Prohibition on Gasoline Containing

Lead or Lead Additives for Highway

Use

AGENCY: Environmental Protection

Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Final rule.

SUMMARY: EPA published a direct final

rule and an associated notice of

proposed rulemaking of the same title

on February 2, 1996 (61 FR 3832 and 61

FR 3894, respectively). Both actions

were to revise EPA regulations to reflect

the Clean Air Act’s statutory prohibition

of the introduction into commerce of

gasoline containing lead or lead

additives for use as a motor vehicle fuel

after December 31, 1995. EPA received

adverse comment on 40 CFR 80.24(b) as

published in both the direct final rule

and associated notice of proposed

rulemaking. In response to that

comment, EPA withdrew 40 CFR

80.24(b) from the direct final rule on

March 4, 1996 (61 FR 8221). All other

actions of the direct final rule became

effective on March 4, 1996. In today’s

action, EPA is finalizing the revised 40

CFR 80.24(b) based on the February 2,

1996 notice of proposed rulemaking.

EFFECTIVE DATE: This action will become

effective on July 8, 1996.

ADDRESSES: Materials relevant to this

rulemaking and written comments on

the direct final rule and notice of

proposed rulemaking have been placed

in Public Docket No. A–95–13,

Waterside Mall (Room M–1500),

Environmental Protection Agency, Air

Docket Section, 401 M Street, SW.,

Washington, DC 20460. Documents may

be inspected between the hours of 8

a.m. to 5:30 p.m., Monday through

Friday. A reasonable fee may be charged

for copying docket material.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Richard Babst, U.S. Environmental

Protection Agency, Office of Air and

Radiation, (202) 233–9473.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Regulated Entities

Regulated categories and entities

potentially affected by this action

include: