Source: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2003/08/26/03-21779/approval-of-section-112l-authority-for-hazardous-air-pollutants-equivalency-by-permit-provisions
Timestamp: 2020-01-21 09:20:14
Document Index: 206612564

Matched Legal Cases: ['art 2', 'art 63', 'art 63', '§\u200963', '§\u200963', '§\u200963']

Federal Register :: Approval of Section 112(l) Authority for Hazardous Air Pollutants; Equivalency by Permit Provisions; National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants from the Pulp and Paper Industry; State of North Carolina
Approval of Section 112(l) Authority for Hazardous Air Pollutants; Equivalency by Permit Provisions; National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants from the Pulp and Paper Industry; State of North Carolina
This direct final rule is effective October 27, 2003 without further notice, unless EPA receives adverse comment by September 25, 2003. If adverse comment is received, EPA will publish a timely withdrawal of the direct final rule in the Federal Register and inform the public that the rule will not take effect.
68 FR 51190
51190-51194 (5 pages)
NC-112L-2003-1-FRL-7549-6
03-21779
https://www.federalregister.gov/d/03-21779 https://www.federalregister.gov/d/03-21779
Pursuant to section 112(l) of the Clean Air Act (CAA), North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources (NC DENR) requested approval to implement and enforce State permit terms and conditions that substitute for the National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants from the Pulp and Paper Industry and the National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants for Chemical Recovery Combustion Sources at Kraft, Soda, Sulfite and Stand-alone Semi-chemical Pulp Mills. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) had reviewed this request and had found that it satisfies all of the requirements necessary to qualify for approval. Thus, the EPA is hereby granting NC DENR the authority to implement and enforce alternative requirements in the form of title V permit terms and conditions after EPA has approved the state's alternative requirements.
Written Comments must be submitted to Lee Page, Air Toxics Assessment and Implementation Section; Air Toxics and Monitoring Branch; Air, Pesticides and Toxics Management Division; U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region 4; 61 Forsyth Street, SW., Atlanta, Georgia 30303-8960. Comments may also be submitted electronically, or through hand delivery/courier by following the detailed instructions described in (part (I)(B)(1)(i) through (iii)) of the Supplementary Information.
Lee Page, Air Toxics Assessment and Start Printed Page 51191Implementation Section, Air Toxics and Monitoring Branch, Air, Pesticides and Toxics Management Division, Region 4, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 61 Forsyth Street, SW., Atlanta, Georgia 30303-8960. The telephone number is (404) 562-9131. Mr. Page can also be reached via electronic mail at page.lee@epa.gov.
1. The Regional Office has established an official public rulemaking file for this action under NC-112L-2003-1 that is available for inspection at the Regional Office. The official public file consists of the documents specifically referenced in this action, any public comments received, and other information related to this action. Although a part of the official docket, the public rulemaking file does not include Confidential Business Information (CBI) or other information whose disclosure is restricted by statute. The official public rulemaking file is the collection of materials that is available for public viewing at the Air Toxics Assessment and Implementation Section, Air Toxics and Monitoring Branch, Air, Pesticides and Toxics Management Division, Region 4, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 61 Forsyth Street, SW., Atlanta, Georgia 30303-8960. EPA requests that if at all possible, you contact the contact listed in the For Further Information Contact section to schedule your inspection. The Regional Office's official hours of business are Monday through Friday, 9 to 3:30 excluding Federal Holidays.
2. Copies of the State submittal and supporting documents are also available for public inspection during normal business hours, by appointment at the North Carolina Department of Environmental and Natural Resources, Division of Air Quality, 1641 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, North Carolina 27699-1641.
You may submit comments electronically, by mail, or through hand delivery/courier. To ensure proper receipt by EPA, identify the appropriate rulemaking identification number by including the text “Public comment on proposed rulemaking NC-112L-2003-1” in the subject line on the first page of your comment. Please ensure that your comments are submitted within the specified comment period. Comments received after the close of the comment period will be marked “late.” EPA is not required to consider these late comments.
i. E-mail. Comments may be sent by electronic mail (e-mail) to page.lee@epa.gov. Please include the text “Public comment on proposed rulemaking NC-112L-2003-1” in the subject line. EPA's e-mail system is not an “anonymous access” system. If you send an e-mail comment directly without going through Regulation.gov, EPA's e-mail system automatically captures your e-mail address. E-mail addresses that are automatically captured by EPA's e-mail system are included as part of the comment that is placed in the official public docket.
2. By Mail. Send your comments to: Lee Page, Air Toxics Assessment and Implementation Section, Air Toxics and Monitoring Branch, Air, Pesticides and Toxics Management Division, Region 4, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 61 Forsyth Street, SW, Atlanta, Georgia 30303-8960. Please include the text “Public comment on proposed rulemaking NC-112L-2003-1” in the subject line on the first page of your comment.
3. By Hand Delivery or Courier. Deliver your comments to: Lee Page; Air Toxics Assessment and Implementation Section; Air Toxics and Monitoring Branch; Air, Pesticides and Toxics Management Division 12th floor; U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region 4; 61 Forsyth Street, SW., Atlanta, Georgia 30303-8960. Such deliveries are only accepted during the Regional Office's normal hours of operation. The Regional Office's official hours of business are Monday through Friday, 9 to 3:30 excluding Federal Holidays.
Do not submit information that you consider to be CBI electronically to EPA. You may claim information that you submit to EPA as CBI by marking any part or all of that information as CBI (if you submit CBI on disk or CD ROM, mark the outside of the disk or CD ROM as CBI and then identify electronically within the disk or CD ROM the specific Start Printed Page 51192information that is CBI). Information so marked will not be disclosed except in accordance with procedures set forth in 40 CFR part 2.
On April 15, 1998, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) promulgated the National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants from the Pulp and Paper Industry (see 63 FR 18504) which was codified in 40 CFR part 63, subpart S, “National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants from the Pulp and Paper Industry” (Pulp and Paper MACT I). Subsequently, on January 12, 2001, EPA promulgated the National Emission Standard for Hazardous Air Pollutants from the Pulp and Paper Industry (see 66 FR 3180) which has been codified in 40 CFR part 63, subpart MM, “National Emission Standards for Chemical Recovery Combustion Sources at Kraft, Soda, Sulfite and Stand-alone Semi-chemical Pulp Mills” (Pulp and Paper MACT II). The International Paper Riegelwood Mill in Riegelwood, North Carolina, is one of five pulp and paper mills operating in the State and subject to subpart S and subpart MM.
On March 4, 2003, North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources (NC DENR) requested delegation of subpart S and subpart MM under § 63.94 for the International Paper Riegelwood Mill. EPA received the request on March 11, 2003. NC DENR requested to implement and enforce approved alternative title V permit terms and conditions in place of the otherwise applicable requirements of subpart S and subpart MM under the process outlined in 40 CFR 63.94. As part of its request to implement and enforce alternative terms and conditions in place of the otherwise applicable Federal section 112 standards, NC DENR also requested approval of its demonstration that NC DENR has adequate authorities and resources to implement and enforce all Clean Air Act (CAA) section 112 programs and rules. The purpose of this demonstration is to streamline the approval process for future CAA section 112(l) applications.
The purpose of step one, the “up-front approval” of the EBP program, is three fold: (1) It ensures that NC DENR meets the § 63.91(b) criteria for up-front approval common to all approval options; (2) it provides a legal foundation for NC DENR to replace the otherwise applicable Federal section 112 requirements with alternative, federally enforceable requirements that will be reflected in final title V permit terms and conditions; and (3) it delineates the specific sources and Federal emission standards for which NC DENR will be accepting delegation under the EBP option.
Under §§ 63.94(b) and 63.91, NC's request for approval is required to include the identification of the sources and the source categories for which the state is seeking authority to implement and enforce alternative requirements, as well as a one time demonstration that the State has an approved title V operating permit program that permits the affected sources.
After reviewing the request for approval of NC DENR's EBP program for Subpart S and Subpart MM, EPA has determined that this request meets all the requirements necessary to qualify for approval under CAA section 112(l) and 40 CFR 63.91 and 63.94. Accordingly, EPA approves NC DENR's request to implement and enforce alternative requirements in the form of title V permit terms and conditions for International Paper Riegelwood Mill for subpart S and subpart MM. This action is contingent upon NC DENR including, in title V permits, terms and conditions that are no less stringent than the Federal standard. In addition, the requirement applicable to the sources and the “applicable requirement” for title V purposes remains the Federal section 112 requirement until EPA has approved the alternative permit terms and conditions and the final title V permit is issued.
The 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 Start Printed Page 51193proposal to approve the section 112(l) provisions should adverse comments be filed. This rule will be effective October 27, 2003 without further notice unless the Agency receives adverse comments by September 25, 2003.
If the EPA receives such comments, then EPA will publish a document 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 October 27, 2003 and no further action will be taken on the proposed rule. Please note that if we receive adverse comment on an amendment, paragraph, or section of this rule and if that provision may be severed from the remainder of the rule, we may adopt as final those provisions of the rule that are not the subject of an adverse comment.
This rule also does not have tribal implications because it will 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). Thus, Executive Order 13175 does not apply to this rule
The Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA), as amended by the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996 (SBREFA), 5 U.S.C. 601 et seq., generally requires an agency to prepare a regulatory flexibility analysis of any rule subject to notice and comment rulemaking requirements under the Administrative Procedure Act or any other statute unless the agency certifies that the rule will not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities. Small entities include small businesses, small not-for-profit enterprises, and small governmental entities with jurisdiction over populations of less than 50,000. This rule will not have a significant impact on a substantial number of small entities because approvals under 40 CFR 63.94 do not create any new requirements but simply allows the state to implement and enforce permit terms in place of federal requirements that the EPA is already imposing. Therefore, because this approval does not create any new requirements, I certify that this action will not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities.
Under section 202 of the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995 (Unfunded Mandates Act), signed into law on March 22, 1995, EPA must prepare a budgetary impact statement to accompany any proposed or final rule that includes a Federal mandate that may result in estimated annual costs to state, local, or tribal governments in the aggregate, or to the private sector, of $100 million or more. Under section 205, EPA must select the most cost-effective and least burdensome alternative that achieves the objectives of the rule and is consistent with statutory requirements. Section 203 requires EPA to establish a plan for informing and advising any small governments that may be significantly or uniquely impacted by the rule.
EPA has determined that the approval action promulgated does not include a Federal mandate that may result in estimated annual costs of $100 million or more to either state, local, or tribal governments in the aggregate, or to the private sector. This Federal action allows North Carolina to implement equivalent alternative requirements to replace pre-existing requirements under Federal law, and imposes no new requirements. Accordingly, no additional costs to state, local, or tribal governments, or to the private sector, result from this action.
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 October 27, 2003. Start Printed Page 51194Filing 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).)
2. Section 63.99 is amended by adding paragraph (a)(33) to read as follows:
(33) North Carolina.
(ii) North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources (NC DENR) may implement and enforce alternative requirements in the form of title V permit terms and conditions for International Paper Riegelwood Mill, Riegelwood, North Carolina, for subpart S of this part—National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants from the Pulp and Paper Industry and subpart MM of this part—National Emissions Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants for Chemical Recovery Combustion Sources at Kraft, Soda, Sulfite and Stand-alone Semi-chemical Pulp Mills. This action is contingent upon NC DENR including, in title V permits, terms and conditions that are no less stringent than the Federal standard. In addition, the requirement applicable to the source remains the Federal section 112 requirement until EPA has approved the alternative permit terms and conditions and the final title V permit is issued.
[FR Doc. 03-21779 Filed 8-25-03; 8:45 am]