[Federal Register: April 12, 2007 (Volume 72, Number 70)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Page 18389-18391]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr12ap07-14]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 52
[EPA-R04-OAR-2006-0787-200621(a); FRL-8297-4]
Approval and Promulgation of Implementation Plans; Tennessee:
Approval of Revisions to the Knox County Portion of the Tennessee State
Implementation Plan
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Direct final rule.
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SUMMARY: EPA is approving revisions to the State Implementation Plan
(SIP) submitted by the State of Tennessee, through Tennessee Department
of Environment and Conservation (TDEC), on August 18, 1999 and July 16,
2001. The revisions pertain to the Knox County portion of the Tennessee
SIP and include changes to the Knox County Air Quality Regulations
(KCAQR) Section 51.0--Standards for Cement Kilns. These standards set
nitrogen oxides (NOX) emissions control, compliance
demonstration, certification, record keeping, and reporting
requirements for Portland cement kilns in the County. The revisions
were initially reviewed by TDEC, which found them to be as stringent as
the State's requirements. The proposed changes are part of the Knox
County strategy to meet the national ambient air quality standards
(NAAQS) by reducing the emissions of NOX, a precursor of
ozone formation. Because of the harmful health effects of ozone, EPA
limits the amount of volatile organic compounds and NOX that
can be released into the atmosphere. This action is being taken
pursuant to section 110 of the Clean Air Act (CAA).
DATES: This direct final rule is effective June 11, 2007 without
further notice, unless EPA receives adverse comment by May 14, 2007. 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.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-R04-
OAR-2006-0787 by one of the following methods:
1. http://www.regulations.gov: Follow the online instructions for
submitting comments.
2. E-mail: louis.egide@epa.gov.
3. Fax: (404) 562-9019.
4. Mail: ``EPA-R04-OAR-2006-0787,'' Regulatory Development Section,
Air Planning Branch, Air, Pesticides and Toxics Management Division,
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 4, 61 Forsyth Street, SW,
Atlanta, Georgia 30303-8960.
5. Hand Delivery or Courier: Dr. Egide Louis, Regulatory
Development Section, Air Planning Branch, Air, Pesticides and Toxics
Management Division 12 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, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., excluding Federal
holidays.
Instructions: Direct your comments to Docket ID No. EPA-R04-OAR-
2006-0787. EPA's policy is that all comments received 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 information claimed to be Confidential
Business Information (CBI) or other information whose disclosure is
restricted by statute. Do not submit through http://www.regulations.gov or e-
mail, information that you consider to be CBI or otherwise protected.
The http://www.regulations.gov Web site is an ``anonymous access'' systems,
which means EPA will not know your identity or contact information
unless you provide it in the body of your comment. If you send an e-
mail comment directly to EPA without going through http://www.regulations.gov,
your e-mail address will be automatically captured and included as part
of the comment that is placed in the public docket and made available
on the Internet. If you submit an electronic comment, EPA recommends
that you include your name and other contact information in the body of
your comment and with any disk or CD-ROM you submit. 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. Electronic
files should avoid the use of special characters, any form of
encryption, and be free of any defects or viruses. For additional
information about EPA's public docket visit the EPA Docket Center
homepage at http://www.epa.gov/epahome/dockets.htm.
Docket: All documents in the electronic docket are listed in the
http://www.regulations.gov index. Although listed in the index, some
information is not publicly available, i.e., CBI or other information
whose disclosure is restricted by statute. Certain other material, such
as copyrighted material, is not placed on the Internet and will be
publicly available only in hard copy form. Publicly available docket
materials are available either electronically in http://www.regulations.gov or
in hard copy at the Regulatory Development Section, Air Planning
Branch, Air, Pesticides and Toxics Management Division, U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency, Region 4, 61 Forsyth Street, SW.,
Atlanta, Georgia 30303-8960. EPA requests that if at all possible, you
contact the person listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT
section to schedule your inspection. The Regional Office's official
hours of business are Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
excluding Federal holidays.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Egide Louis, Regulatory
Development Section, Air Planning Branch, Air, Pesticides and Toxics
Management Division, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 4, 61
Forsyth Street, SW., Atlanta, Georgia 30303-8960. The telephone number
is (404) 562-9240. Dr. Louis can also be reached via electronic mail at
louis.egide@epa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
[[Page 18390]]
I. Background
On October 27, 1998, EPA published a final rule known as
``NOX SIP Call.'' (see 63 FR 57356). The NOX SIP
Call requires 22 states, including the State of Tennessee, and the
District of Columbia to meet statewide NOX emission budgets
during the ozone season in order to reduce the amount of ground-level
ozone that is transported across the eastern United States. The amounts
of required reductions in NOX emissions were set to equal
the amounts that would be achieved by applying highly cost-effective
control measures to source categories available in each state. The
source categories identified and regulated in the NOX SIP
Call are electric generating units, non-electric generating units,
internal combustion engines, and cement kilns.
In order to meet NOX SIP Call requirements, the State of
Tennessee submitted SIP revisions to EPA for approval on November 7,
2000, and additional materials on January 11, 2001 and October 04,
2001. These revisions established a NOX allowance trading
program for large electrical generating and industrial units, and
NOX reductions for cement kilns. To reduce NOX
emissions from cement kilns, the State proposed the addition of State
Rule 1200-3-27-.04--Standards for Cement Kilns. EPA approved these
revisions to Tennessee SIP on January 22, 2004. (See 69 FR 3015). This
document addresses Knox County request to add a rule in the Knox County
portion of the Tennessee SIP that is similar to the State's.
II. Analysis of State Submittals
On August 18, 1999, and July 16, 2001, the State of Tennessee,
through TDEC, submitted revisions to the Tennessee SIP. The revisions
pertain to the Knox County portion of the Tennessee SIP and include
changes to KCAQR Section 51.0--Standards for Cement Kilns. These
revisions were initially submitted by Knox County for review by TDEC,
which found them to be as or more stringent than State's requirements.
After conducting its own review of these revisions, EPA concurs with
TDEC's finding. The rule changes became State effective on August 12,
1999 and July 11, 2001, respectively and are part of the Knox County's
strategy to attain and maintain the NAAQS. They are approvable into the
Knox County portion of the Tennessee SIP pursuant to section 110 of the
CAA.
The August 18, 1999 SIP revisions proposed the addition of a new
section to KCAQR, Section 51.0--Standards for Cement Kilns. The rules
in this section were designed to reduce NOX emissions by
setting emissions control, compliance demonstration, certification,
record keeping, and reporting requirements for Portland cement kilns in
the County. In the July 16, 2001 SIP Submittal, Knox County proposed
changes to KCAQR, Section 51.0 by adopting the same language used in
the State's air regulations. For example, the County eliminated the
definitions for the terms ``shutdown'' and ``startup'' as related
Portland cement kilns in the original rule because they were not found
in the State's rule on ``Standards for Cement Kilns''.
III. Final Action
EPA is approving the aforementioned changes to the Knox County
portion of the Tennessee SIP. EPA has reviewed the Knox County's
justification concerning the addition of the standards for cement kilns
into the Knox County portion of the Tennessee SIP and concurs with the
changes.
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 proposal to approve the SIP revision should
adverse comments be filed. This rule will be effective June 11, 2007
without further notice, unless the Agency receives adverse comments by
May 14, 2007.
If EPA receives such comments, then EPA will publish a notice
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 June 11, 2007 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.
III. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews:
Under Executive Order 12866 (58 FR 51735, October 4, 1993), this
action is not a ``significant regulatory action'' and therefore is not
subject to review by the Office of Management and Budget. For this
reason, this action is also not subject to Executive Order 13211,
``Actions Concerning Regulations That Significantly Affect Energy
Supply, Distribution, or Use'' (66 FR 28355, May 22, 2001). This action
merely approves state law as meeting Federal requirements and imposes
no additional requirements beyond those imposed by state law.
Accordingly, the Administrator certifies that this rule will not have a
significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities
under the Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 601 et seq.). Because
this rule approves pre-existing requirements under state law and does
not impose any additional enforceable duty beyond that required by
state law, it 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).
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). This action also does not have Federalism
implications because it does not have substantial direct effects on the
states, on the relationship between the national government and the
states, or on the distribution of power and responsibilities among the
various levels of government, as specified in Executive Order 13132 (64
FR 43255, August 10, 1999). This action merely approves a state rule
implementing a Federal standard, and does not alter the relationship or
the distribution of power and responsibilities established in the CAA.
This rule also is not subject to Executive Order 13045 ``Protection of
Children from Environmental Health Risks and Safety Risks'' (62 FR
19885, April 23, 1997), because it is not economically significant.
In reviewing SIP submissions, EPA's role is to approve state
choices, provided that they meet the criteria of the CAA. In this
context, in the absence of a prior existing requirement for the State
to use voluntary consensus standards (VCS), EPA has no authority to
disapprove a SIP submission for failure to use VCS. It would thus be
inconsistent with applicable law for EPA, when it reviews a SIP
submission, to use VCS in place of a SIP submission that otherwise
satisfies the provisions of the CAA. Thus, the requirements of
[[Page 18391]]
section 12(d) of the National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act
of 1995 (15 U.S.C. 272 note) do not apply. This rule does not impose an
information collection burden under the provisions of the Paperwork
Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.).
The Congressional Review Act, 5 U.S.C. section 801 et seq., as
added by the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of
1996, generally provides that before a rule may take effect, the agency
promulgating the rule must submit a rule report, which includes a copy
of the rule, to each House of the Congress and to the Comptroller
General of the United States. EPA will submit a report containing this
rule and other required information to the U.S. Senate, the U.S. House
of Representatives, and the Comptroller General of the United States
prior to publication of the rule in the Federal Register. A major rule
cannot take effect until 60 days after it is published in the Federal
Register. This action is not a ``major rule'' as defined by 5 U.S.C.
section 804(2).
Under section 307(b)(1) of the CAA, petitions for judicial review
of this action must be filed in the United States Court of Appeals for
the appropriate circuit by June 11, 2007. Filing 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)).
List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 52
Environmental protection, Air pollution control, Nitrogen dioxide,
Ozone, Particulate matter, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements,
Volatile organic compounds.
Dated: March 29, 2007.
J.I. Palmer,
Regional Administrator, Region 4.
0
40 CFR part 52 is amended as follows:
PART 52--[AMENDED]
0
1. The authority citation for part 52 continues to read as follows:
Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.
Subpart RR Tennessee
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2. Section 52.2220(c) is amended by adding the entry ``Section 51.0''
in Table 3 of the Knox County portion of the Tennessee State
Implementation Plan to read as follows:
Sec. 52.2220 Identification of plan.
* * * * *
(c) * * *
Table 3.--EPA Approved Knox County, Regulations
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State
State citation Title/subject effective EPA approval date Explanation
date
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* * * * * * *
51.0............................. Standards for Cement 07/11/01 04/12/2007 [Insert ....................
Kilns. citation of
publication].
* * * * * * *
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[FR Doc. E7-6717 Filed 4-11-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P