[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 108 (Monday, June 8, 2009)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 27084-27085]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-13331]


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Proposed Rules
                                                Federal Register
________________________________________________________________________

This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains notices to the public of 
the proposed issuance of rules and regulations. The purpose of these 
notices is to give interested persons an opportunity to participate in 
the rule making prior to the adoption of the final rules.

========================================================================


Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 108 / Monday, June 8, 2009 / Proposed 
Rules

[[Page 27084]]



ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[EPA-R09-OAR-2009-0296; FRL-8914-3]


Revisions to the California State Implementation Plan, San 
Joaquin Valley Unified Air Pollution Control District

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Proposed rule.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: EPA is proposing to approve revisions to the San Joaquin 
Valley Unified Air Pollution Control District (SJVUAPCD) portion of the 
California State Implementation Plan (SIP). These revisions concern 
volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions from organic solvent cleaning 
and degreasing operations. We are approving local rules that regulate 
these emission sources under the Clean Air Act as amended in 1990 (CAA 
or the Act). We are taking comments on this proposal and plan to follow 
with a final action.

DATES: Any comments must arrive by July 8, 2009.

ADDRESSES: Submit comments, identified by docket number EPA-R09-OAR-
2009-0296, by one of the following methods:
    1. Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. Follow 
the on-line instructions.
    2. E-mail: <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#4d3e39282e262821632c23293f283a0d283d2c632a223b"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="b4c7c0d1d7dfd1d89ad5dad0c6d1c3f4d1c4d59ad3dbc2">[email protected]</span></a>.
    3. Mail or Deliver: Andrew Steckel (Air-4), U.S. Environmental 
Protection Agency Region IX, 75 Hawthorne Street, San Francisco, CA 
94105-3901.

Instructions: All comments will be included in the public docket 
without change and may be made available online at http://www.regulations.gov, including any personal information provided, 
unless the comment includes Confidential Business Information (CBI) or 
other information whose disclosure is restricted by statute. 
Information that you consider CBI or otherwise protected should be 
clearly identified as such and should not be submitted through http://www.regulations.gov or e-mail. http://www.regulations.gov is an 
``anonymous access'' system, and EPA will not know your identity or 
contact information unless you provide it in the body of your comment. 
If you send e-mail directly to EPA, your e-mail address will be 
automatically captured and included as part of the public comment. 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.
    Docket: The index to the docket for this action is available 
electronically at http://www.regulations.gov and in hard copy at EPA 
Region IX, 75 Hawthorne Street, San Francisco, California. While all 
documents in the docket are listed in the index, some information may 
be publicly available only at the hard copy location (e.g., copyrighted 
material), and some may not be publicly available in either location 
(e.g., CBI). To inspect the hard copy materials, please schedule an 
appointment during normal business hours with the contact listed in the 
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Nicole Law, EPA Region IX, (415) 947-
4126, <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#a4e8c5d38aeacdc7cbc8c1e4c1d4c58ac3cbd2"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="9cd0fdebb2d2f5fff3f0f9dcf9ecfdb2fbf3ea">[email protected]</span></a>.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Throughout this document, ``we,'' ``us'' and 
``our'' refer to EPA.

Table of Contents

I. The State's Submittal
    A. What Rules Did the State Submit?
    B. Are There Other Versions of These Rules?
    C. What Is the Purpose of the Rule Revisions?
II. EPA's Evaluation and Action
    A. How Is EPA Evaluating the Rules?
    B. Do the Rules Meet the Evaluation Criteria?
    C. EPA Recommendations To Further Improve the Rules
    D. Public Comment and Final Action
III. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

I. The State's Submittal

A. What Rules Did the State Submit?

    Table 1 lists the rules addressed by this proposal with the dates 
that they were adopted by the local air agency and submitted by the 
California Air Resources Board.

                                            Table 1--Submitted Rules
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
               Local agency                   Rule No.             Rule title             Adopted     Submitted
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SJVUAPCD..................................         4662  Organic Solvent Degreasing        09/20/07     03/07/08
                                                          Operations.
SJVUAPCD..................................         4663  Organic Solvent Cleaning,         09/20/07     03/07/08
                                                          Storage, and Disposal.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    On April 17, 2008, EPA determined that these rule submittals met 
the completeness criteria in 40 CFR part 51, appendix V, which must be 
met before formal EPA review.

B. Are There Other Versions of These Rules?

    We approved versions of Rules 4662 and 4663 into the SIP on July 
27, 2002. The San Joaquin Valley Unified Air Pollution Control District 
adopted revisions to the SIP-approved rules on September 20, 2007 and 
CARB submitted these to us on March 7, 2008. CARB has not submitted any 
other revisions to these rules since 2002.

C. What Is the Purpose of the Rule Revisions?

    VOCs help produce ground-level ozone and smog, which harm human 
health and the environment. Section 110(a) of the CAA requires States 
to submit regulations that control VOC emissions. The revised rules 
limit VOC emissions from organic solvent degreasing operations, organic 
solvent cleaning and from the storage and disposal of solvents and 
waste solvent materials. The most significant changes in the rules are 
reductions of the VOC limits on organic solvents to 25 grams of VOC per 
liter solvent. EPA's technical support documents (TSDs) have more 
information about these rules.

[[Page 27085]]

II. EPA's Evaluation and Action

A. How Is EPA Evaluating the Rules?

    Generally, SIP rules must be enforceable (see section 110(a) of the 
Act), must require Reasonably Available Control Technology (RACT) for 
each category of sources covered by a Control Techniques Guidelines 
(CTG) document as well as each major source in nonattainment areas (see 
sections 182(a)(2) and (b)(2)), and must not relax existing 
requirements (see sections 110(l) and 193). The San Joaquin Valley 
Unified Air Pollution Control District regulates an ozone nonattainment 
area for both the 1-hr and the 8-hr ozone standard (see 40 CFR part 
81), so Rules 4662 and 4663 must fulfill RACT.
    Guidance and policy documents that we use to evaluate 
enforceability and RACT requirements consistently include the 
following:
    1. Portions of the proposed post-1987 ozone and carbon monoxide 
policy that concern RACT, 52 FR 45044, November 24, 1987.
    2. ``Issues Relating to VOC Regulation Cutpoints, Deficiencies, and 
Deviations,'' EPA, May 25, 1988 (the Bluebook).
    3. ``Guidance Document for Correcting Common VOC & Other Rule 
Deficiencies,'' EPA Region 9, August 21, 2001 (the Little Bluebook).
    4. ``Control of Volatile Organic Emissions from Solvent Metal 
Cleaning,'' EPA-450/2-77-022, November 1977.
    5. ``Control Techniques Guidelines for Industrial Cleaning 
Solvents,'' EPA-453/R-06-001, September 2006.
    6. ``Organic Solvent Cleaning and Degreasing Operations,'' CARB, 
July 18, 1991.
    7. ``Reasonably Available Control Technology (RACT) Demonstration 
for Ozone State Implementation Plans (SIP)'' SJVAPCD, April 16, 2009.
    8. ``State Implementation Plans, General Preamble for the 
Implementation of Title I of the Clean Air Amendments of 1990,'' 57 FR 
13498 (April 16, 1992).
    9. ``Preamble, Final Rule to Implement the 8-hour Ozone National 
Ambient Air Quality Standard'' 70 FR 71612 (November 29, 2005).
    10. Letter from William T. Hartnett to Regional Air Division 
Directors, ``RACT Qs & As--Reasonable Available Control Technology 
(RACT) Questions and Answers,'' May 18, 2006.

B. Do the Rules Meet the Evaluation Criteria?

    We believe these rules are consistent with the relevant policy and 
guidance regarding enforceability, RACT, and SIP relaxations. The TSDs 
have more information on our evaluation.

C. EPA Recommendations To Further Improve the Rules

    The TSDs describe additional rule revisions that do not affect 
EPA's current action but are recommended for the next time the local 
agency modifies the Rules.

D. Public Comment and Final Action

    Because EPA believes the submitted rules fulfill all relevant 
requirements, we are proposing to fully approve them as described in 
section 110(k)(3) of the Act. We will accept comments from the public 
on this proposal for the next 30 days. Unless we receive convincing new 
information during the comment period, we intend to publish a final 
approval action that will incorporate these rules into the Federally 
enforceable SIP.

III. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

    Under the Clean Air Act, the Administrator is required to approve a 
SIP submission that complies with the provisions of the Act and 
applicable Federal regulations. 42 U.S.C. 7410(k); 40 CFR 52.02(a). 
Thus, in reviewing SIP submissions, EPA's role is to approve State 
choices, provided that they meet the criteria of the Clean Air Act. 
Accordingly, this action merely approves State law as meeting Federal 
requirements and does not impose additional requirements beyond those 
imposed by State law. For that reason, this action:
    <bullet> Is not a ``significant regulatory action'' subject to 
review by the Office of Management and Budget under Executive Order 
12866 (58 FR 51735, October 4, 1993);
    <bullet> Does not impose an information collection burden under the 
provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.);
    <bullet> Is certified as not having a significant economic impact 
on a substantial number of small entities under the Regulatory 
Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 601 et seq.);
    <bullet> Does not contain any unfunded mandate or significantly or 
uniquely affect small governments, as described in the Unfunded 
Mandates Reform Act of 1995 (Pub. L. 104-4);
    <bullet> Does not have Federalism implications as specified in 
Executive Order 13132 (64 FR 43255, August 10, 1999);
    <bullet> Is not an economically significant regulatory action based 
on health or safety risks subject to Executive Order 13045 (62 FR 
19885, April 23, 1997);
    <bullet> Is not a significant regulatory action subject to 
Executive Order 13211 (66 FR 28355, May 22, 2001);
    <bullet> Is not subject to requirements of Section 12(d) of the 
National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act of 1995 (15 U.S.C. 272 
note) because application of those requirements would be inconsistent 
with the Clean Air Act; and
    <bullet> Does not provide EPA with the discretionary authority to 
address, as appropriate, disproportionate human health or environmental 
effects, using practicable and legally permissible methods, under 
Executive Order 12898 (59 FR 7629, February 16, 1994).

In addition, this rule does not have Tribal implications as specified 
by Executive Order 13175 (65 FR 67249, November 9, 2000), because the 
SIP is not approved to apply in Indian country located in the State, 
and EPA notes that it will not impose substantial direct costs on 
Tribal governments or preempt Tribal law.

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 52

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

    Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.

    Dated: May 21, 2009.
Jane Diamond,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region IX.
[FR Doc. E9-13331 Filed 6-5-09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P


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