California State Nonroad Engine and Vehicle Pollution Control
Standards; Amendments to the California Small Offroad Emission
Standards; Opportunity for Public Hearing and Request for Written Comment
[Federal Register: June 2, 2006 (Volume 71, Number 106)]
[Notices]
[Page 32082-32084]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr02jn06-69]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[AMS-FRL-8178-7]
California State Nonroad Engine and Vehicle Pollution Control
Standards; Amendments to the California Small Offroad Emission
Standards; Opportunity for Public Hearing and Request for Written Comment
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice of opportunity for public hearing and comment.
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SUMMARY: The California Air Resources Board (CARB) has notified EPA
that it has adopted revised exhaust emissions standards and test
procedures and new evaporative emissions standards and test procedures
(and certification procedures) for small offroad engines. By letter
dated April 11, 2005, CARB requested that EPA confirm that its exhaust
emission standards and test procedures are within the scope of prior
authorizations issued by EPA, and requested a new authorization for the
evaporative emission standards, test procedures and certification
procedures. This notice announces that EPA has tentatively scheduled a
public hearing concerning California's requests and that EPA is
accepting written comment on the requests.
DATES: EPA has scheduled a public hearing concerning CARB's requests on
June 29, 2006 beginning at 10 a.m. Any party may submit written
comments by August 1, 2006.
ADDRESSES: EPA will make available for public inspection at the Air and
Radiation Docket and Information Center materials submitted by CARB,
written comments received from interested parties, in addition to any
testimony given at the public hearing. The official public docket is
the collection of materials that is available for public viewing at the
Air and Radiation Docket in the EPA Docket Center, (EPA/DC) EPA West,
Room B102, 1301 Constitution Ave., NW., Washington, DC. The EPA Docket
Center Public Reading Room is open from 8:30 to 4:30 p.m., Monday
through Friday, excluding legal holidays. The telephone number for the
Public Reading Room is (202) 566-1744, and the telephone number for the
Air and Radiation Docket is (202) 566-1743. The reference number for
this docket is EPA-HQ-OAR-2005-0133. Parties wishing to present oral
testimony at the public hearing should provide written notice to David
Dickinson at the address noted below. EPA will hold the public hearing
in room 1153 at EPA's ``East Building'' located at 1201 Constitution
Avenue, NW., Washington, DC.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: David Dickinson, Compliance and
Innovative Strategies Division (6405J), U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460. Telephone:
(202) 343-9256, Fax: (202) 343-2804, e-mail address:
Dickinson.David@EPA.GOV.
For Obtaining and Submitting Electronic Copies of Comments
Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-2005-0133,
by one of the following methods:
? http://www.regulations.gov:
Follow the on-line
instructions for submitting comments.
? E-mail: dickinson.david@epa.gov.
? Fax: (202) 343-2804.
[[Page 32083]]
? Mail: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, EPA West (Air
Docket), 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Room B108, Mail Code 6102T,
Washington, DC 20460, Attention Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2005-0133.
Please include a total of two copies.
? Hand Delivery: EPA Docket Center, EPA/DC, EPA West, Room
B102, 1301 Constitution Ave., NW., Washington, DC. Such deliveries are
only accepted during the Docket's normal hours of operation, and
special arrangements should be made for deliveries of boxed
information. Instructions: Direct your comments to Docket ID No EPA-HQ-
OAR-2005-0133.
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 information that you consider to be
CBI or otherwise protected through http://www.regulations.gov
or e-mail.
The http://www.regulations.gov
Web site is an "anonymous access"
system, 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. Docket: All documents in the docket are listed in the http://
www.regulations.gov
index. Although listed in the index, some
information is not publicly available, e.g., CBI or other information
whose disclosure is restricted by statute. Certain other material, such
as copyrighted material, will be publicly available only in hard copy.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
(A) Background and Discussion
Section 209(e)(1) of the Act addresses the permanent preemption of
any State, or political subdivision thereof, from adopting or
attempting to enforce any standard or other requirement relating to the
control of emissions for certain new nonroad engines or vehicles.\1\
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\1\ Section 209(e)(1) of the Act provides:
No State or any political subdivision thereof shall adopt or
attempt to enforce any standard or other requirement relating to the
control of emissions from either of the following new nonroad
engines or nonroad vehicles subject to regulation under this Act--
(A) New engines which are used in construction equipment or vehicles
or used in farm equipment or vehicles and which are smaller than 175
horsepower. (B) New locomotives or new engines used in locomotives.
Subsection (b) shall not apply for purposes of this paragraph.
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Section 209(e)(2) of the Act requires the Administrator to grant
California authorization to enforce state standards for new nonroad
engines or vehicles which are not listed under section 209(e)(1),
subject to certain restrictions. On July 20, 1994, EPA promulgated a
regulation that sets forth, among other things, the criteria, as found
in section 209(e)(2), by which EPA must consider any California
authorization requests for new nonroad engines or vehicle emission
standards (section 209(e) rules).\2\
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\2\ See 59 FR 36969 (July 20, 1994), and regulations set forth
therein, 40 CFR part 85, subpart Q, Sec. Sec. 85.1601-85.1606.
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Section 209(e)(2) requires the Administrator, after notice and
opportunity for public hearing, to authorize California to enforce
standards and other requirements relating to emissions control of new
engines not listed under section 209(e)(1).\3\ The section 209(e) rule
and its codified regulations \4\ formally set forth the criteria,
located in section 209(e)(2) of the Act, by which EPA must grant
California authorization to enforce its new nonroad emission standards
and they are as follows:
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\3\ As discussed above, states are permanently preempted from
adopting or enforcing standards relating to the control of emissions
from new engines listed in section 209(e)(1).
\4\ See 40 CFR part 85, subpart Q, Sec. 85.1605.
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(a) The Administrator shall grant the authorization if California
determines that its standards will be, in the aggregate, at least as
protective of public health and welfare as applicable Federal standards.
(b) The authorization shall not be granted if the Administrator
finds that:
(1) The determination of California is arbitrary and capricious;
(2) California does not need such California standards to meet
compelling and extraordinary conditions; or
(3) California standards and accompanying enforcement procedures
are not consistent with section 209.
As stated in the preamble to the section 209(e) rule, EPA has
interpreted the requirement ``California standards and accompanying
enforcement procedures are not consistent with section 209'' to mean
that California standards and accompanying enforcement procedures must
be consistent with section 209(a), section 209(e)(1), and section
209(b)(1)(C), as EPA has interpreted that subsection in the context of
motor vehicle waivers.\5\ In order to be consistent with section
209(a), California's nonroad standards and enforcement procedures must
not apply to new motor vehicles or new motor vehicle engines. Secondly,
California's nonroad standards and enforcement procedures must be
consistent with section 209(e)(1), which identifies the categories
permanently preempted from state regulation.\6\ California's nonroad
standards and enforcement procedures would be considered inconsistent
with section 209 if they applied to the categories of engines or
vehicles identified and preempted from State regulation in section
209(e)(1).
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\5\ See 59 FR 36969, 36983 (July 20, 1994).
\6\ Section 209(e)(1) of the Act has been implemented, see 40
CFR part 85, subpart Q Sec. Sec. 85.1602, 85.1603.
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Finally, because California's nonroad standards and enforcement
procedures must be consistent with section 209(b)(1)(C), EPA reviews
nonroad authorization requests under the same ``consistency'' criteria
that are applied to motor vehicle waiver requests. Under section
209(b)(1)(C), the Administrator shall not grant California a motor
vehicle waiver if he finds that California ``standards and accompanying
enforcement procedures are not consistent with section 202(a)'' of the
Act. As previous decisions granting waivers of Federal preemption for
motor vehicles have explained, State standards are inconsistent with
section 202(a) if there is inadequate lead time to permit the
development of the necessary technology giving appropriate
consideration to the cost of compliance within that time period or if
the Federal and State test procedures impose inconsistent certification
procedures.\7\
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\7\ To be consistent, the California certification procedures
need not be identical to the Federal certification procedures.
California procedures would be inconsistent, however, if
manufacturers would be unable to meet both the state and the Federal
requirement with the same test vehicle in the course of the same
test. See, e.g., 43 FR 32182 (July 25, 1978).
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Congress further directed EPA to ``give appropriate consideration to
[[Page 32084]]
safety factors (including the potential increased risk of burn or fire)
associated with compliance with the California standard'' when
considering any request from California to authorize the state to adopt
or enforce standards or other requirements relating to the control of
emission from new non-road spark-ignition engines smaller than 50
horsepower.\8\
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\8\ See Fiscal Year 2004 Omnibus Appropriations Act (Pub. L.
108-199 Division G Section 428).
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When EPA receives new waiver or authorization requests from CARB,
EPA traditionally publishes a notice of opportunity for public hearing
and comment and then publishes a decision in the Federal Register
following the public comment period. In contrast, when EPA receives
within the scope waiver requests from CARB, EPA usually publishes a
decision in the Federal Register and concurrently invites public
comment if an interested part is opposed to EPA's decision.
Although CARB in its April 11, 2005 letter to EPA seeks
confirmation that it exhaust emission amendments are within the scope
of previous authorizations, EPA invites comment on whether California's
exhaust emission standards and test procedures amendments, within the
context of a within the scope analysis (a) Undermine California's
previous determination that its standards, in the aggregate, are at
least as protective of public health and welfare as comparable Federal
standards, (b) affect the consistency of California's requirements with
section 209 of the Act, and (c) raise new issues affecting EPA's
previous authorization determinations. EPA also asks comment on how
safety factors, including the potential increased risk of burn or fire,
are affected by the California standards. Please also provide comment
that if CARB's exhaust emission standards and test procedures
amendments were not found to be within the scope of previous
authorizations and instead required a full authorization analysis,
whether (a) CARB's determination that its standards, in the aggregate,
are at least as protective of public health and welfare as applicable
Federal standards is arbitrary and capricious, (b) California needs
separate standards to meet compelling and extraordinary conditions, and
(c) California's standards and accompanying enforcement procedures are
consistent with section 209 of the Act. EPA also asks comment on how
safety factors, including the potential increased risk of burn or fire,
are affected by the California standards.
EPA also invites comment on CARB's evaporative emission standards
and test procedures (for which CARB seeks a full authorization) and
whether (a) CARB's determination that its standards, in the aggregate,
are at least as protective of public health and welfare as applicable
federal standards is arbitrary and capricious, (b) California needs
separate standards to meet compelling and extraordinary conditions, and
(c) California's standards and accompanying enforcement procedures are
consistent with section 209 of the Act. EPA also asks comment on how
safety factors, including the potential increased risk of burn or fire,
are affected by the California standards.
Procedures for Public Participation
In recognition that public hearings are designed to give interested
parties an opportunity to participate in this proceeding, there are no
adverse parties as such. Statements by participants will not be subject
to cross-examination by other participants without special approval by
the presiding officer. The presiding officer is authorized to strike
from the record statements that he or she deems irrelevant or
repetitious and to impose reasonable time limits on the duration of the
statement of any participant.
The Agency will make a verbatim record of the proceedings.
Interested parties may arrange with the reporter at the hearing to
obtain a copy of the transcript at their own expense. EPA will keep the
record open until August 1, 2006. Upon expiration of the comment
period, the Administrator will render a decision on CARB's request
based on the record of the public hearing, relevant written
submissions, and other information that he deems pertinent. All
information will be available for inspection at EPA Air Docket. (EPA-
HQ-OAR-2005-0133).
Persons with comments containing proprietary information must
distinguish such information from other comments to the greatest
possible extent and label it as ``Confidential Business Information''
(CBI). If a person making comments wants EPA to base its decision in
part on a submission labeled CBI, then a nonconfidential version of the
document that summarizes the key data or information should be
submitted for the public docket. To ensure that proprietary information
is not inadvertently placed in the docket, submissions containing such
information should be sent directly to the contact person listed above
and not to the public docket. Information covered by a claim of
confidentiality will be disclosed by EPA only to the extent allowed and
by the procedures set forth in 40 CFR part 2. If no claim of
confidentiality accompanies the submission when EPA receives it, EPA
will make it available to the public without further notice to the
person making comments.
Dated: May 26, 2006.
William L. Wehrum,
Acting Assistant Administrator, Office of Air and Radiation.
[FR Doc. E6-8611 Filed 6-1-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P