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State of Alaska Petition for Exemption from Diesel Fuel Sulfur Requirement

 [Federal Register: August 19, 1996 (Volume 61, Number 161)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Page 42827]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]




ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 80
[FRL-5555-4]
 
State of Alaska Petition for Exemption from Diesel Fuel Sulfur 
Requirement

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency.
ACTION: Notice of proposed decision.




SUMMARY: On March 14, 1994, EPA granted the State of Alaska a waiver 
from the requirements of EPA's low sulfur diesel fuel program, 
permanently exempting Alaska's remote areas and providing a temporary 
exemption for areas of Alaska served by the Federal Aid Highway System 
(FAHS). The exemption applied to certain requirments in setion 211 (i) 
and (g) of the Clean Air Act, as implemented in EPA's regulations. 
These exemptions were based on EPA's determination that it would be 
unreasonable to require persons in these areas to comply with the low 
sulfur diesel fuel requirements due to unique geographical, 
meteorological and economic factors for Alaska, as well as other 
significant local factors.

    The temporary exemption for the areas of Alaska served by the FAHS 
will expire on October 1, 1996. On December 12, 1995, the Governor of 
Alaska petitioned EPA to permanently exempt the areas covered by the 
temporary exemption. In this action, EPA is proposing to extend the 
temporary exemption for an additional 24 months, but reserving a final 
decision on whether it should be permanent.
    Based on the factors and conditions identified in Alaska's December 
12, 1995 petition, a continuation of the exemption is warranted at 
least temporarily. However, EPA believes that recent comments submitted 
to the agency merit further investigation before making a final 
decision on a permanent exemption. EPA is therfore proposing to extend 
the temporary exemption unitl October 1, 1998, or until such time that 
a final decision is made on the permanent exemption, whichever is 
shorter.

    In the final rules section of this Federal Register, EPA is issuing 
this exemption as a direct final decision without prior proposal, 
because EPA views this as a noncontroversial action and anticipates no 
adverse comments. A detailed rationale for the proposed change is set 
forth in the direct final decision. If no adverse comments are received 
in response to the direct final decision, no further activity is 
contemplated in relation to this proposed decision. If EPA receives 
adverse comments, the direct final decision will be withdrawn and all 
public comments received will be addressed in a subsequent final 
decision based on this proposed decision. EPA will not institute a 
second comment period on this action. Any parties interested in 
commenting on this notice should do so at this time.

DATES: Comments on this proposed decision must be received by September 
18, 1996.

ADDRESSES: Written comments on this proposed action should be addressed 
to Public Docket No. A-96-26, Waterside Mall (Room M-1500), 
Environmental Protection Agency, Air Docket Section, 401 M Street, 
S.W., Washington, D.C. 20460. Documents related to this rule have been 
placed in the public docket and may be inspected between the hours of 
8:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., Monday through Friday. A reasonable fee may be 
charged for copying docket material. Those wishing to notify EPA of 
their intent to submit adverse comment or request an opportunity for a 
public hearing on this action should contact Paul N. Argyropoulos, U.S. 
Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Air and Radiation, (202) 
233-9004.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Paul N. Argyropoulos, Environmental Protection Specialist, U.S. 
Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Air and Radiation, (202) 
233-9004.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Regulated Entities

    Entities potentially regulated by this action are refiners, 
marketers, distributors, retailers and wholesale purchaser-consumers of 
diesel fuel. Regulated entities would include the following:



              Category                  Examples of regulated entities


Industry............................  Petroleum refiners, distributors, 
                                       marketers, retailers (service    
                                       station owners and operators),   
                                       wholesale purchaser-consumers    
                                       (fleet managers who operate a    
                                       refueling facility to refuel     
                                       motor vehicles).                 
                                       motor vehicle.                   
                                       military bases, who operate a    
                                       refueling facility to refuel     
                                       motor vehicles.

 
 

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