Approval and Promulgation of Air Quality Implementation Plans;
Texas; Revisions to Reid Vapor Pressure Requirements for Gasoline
[Federal Register: November 27, 2006 (Volume 71, Number 227)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Page 68480-68483]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr27no06-11]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 52
[EPA-R06-OAR-2006-0016; FRL-8248-3]
Approval and Promulgation of Air Quality Implementation Plans;
Texas; Revisions to Reid Vapor Pressure Requirements for Gasoline
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Direct final rule.
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SUMMARY: EPA is taking direct final action approving Texas State
Implementation Plan (SIP) revisions. The revisions pertain to Reid
Vapor Pressure (RVP) requirements for gasoline. The revisions add
exemptions to RVP requirements for research laboratories and academic
institutions, competition racing, and gasoline that is being stored or
transferred that is not used in the affected counties. The revisions
also reduce recordkeeping requirements for retail gasoline dispensing
outlets in the affected counties, and correct a typographical error. We
are approving the revisions pursuant to section 110 and part D of the
Federal Clean Air Act (CAA).
DATES: This rule is effective on January 26, 2007 without further
notice, unless EPA receives adverse comment by December 27, 2006. If
EPA receives such comment, EPA will publish a timely withdrawal in the
Federal Register informing the public that this rule will not take effect.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket No. EPA-R06-OAR-
2006-0016, by one of the following methods:
? Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov.
Follow the on-line instructions for submitting comments.
? EPA Region 6 ``Contact Us'' Web site: http://epa.gov/region6/
r6coment.htm. Please click on ``6PD'' (Multimedia) and select
``Air'' before submitting comments.
? E-mail: Mr. Thomas Diggs at diggs.thomas@epa.gov. Please
also send a copy by e-mail to the person listed in the FOR FURTHER
INFORMATION CONTACT section below.
? Fax: Mr. Thomas Diggs, Chief, Air Planning Section (6PD-
L), at fax number 214-665-7263.
? Mail: Mr. Thomas Diggs, Chief, Air Planning Section (6PD-
L), Environmental Protection Agency, 1445 Ross Avenue, Suite 1200,
Dallas, Texas 75202-2733.
? Hand or Courier Delivery: Mr. Thomas Diggs, Chief, Air
Planning Section (6PD-L), Environmental Protection Agency, 1445 Ross
Avenue, Suite 1200, Dallas, Texas 75202-2733. Such deliveries are
accepted only between the hours of 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. weekdays except
for legal holidays. Special arrangements should be made for deliveries
of boxed information.
Instructions: Direct your comments to Docket ID No. EPA-R06-OAR-
2006-0016. 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
[[Page 68481]]
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.
Publicly available docket materials are available either electronically
in http://www.regulations.gov or in hard copy at the Air Planning Section
(6PD-L), Environmental Protection Agency, 1445 Ross Avenue, Suite 700,
Dallas, Texas 75202-2733. The file will be made available by
appointment for public inspection in the Region 6 FOIA Review Room
between the hours of 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. weekdays except for legal
holidays. Contact the person listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
CONTACT paragraph below or Mr. Bill Deese at 214-665-7253 to make an
appointment. If possible, please make the appointment at least two
working days in advance of your visit. There will be a 15 cent per page
fee for making photocopies of documents. On the day of the visit,
please check in at the EPA Region 6 reception area at 1445 Ross Avenue,
Suite 700, Dallas, Texas.
The State submittal is also available for public inspection at the
State Air Agency listed below during official business hours by
appointment:
Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, Office of Air Quality,
12124 Park 35 Circle, Austin, Texas 78753.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Alima Patterson, State/Oversight
Section (6PD-O), Environmental Protection Agency, Region 6, 1445 Ross
Avenue, Suite 700, Dallas, Texas 75202-2733, telephone (214) 665-7247;
fax number 214-665-7263; e-mail address patterson.alima@epa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Throughout this document, whenever ``we'',
``us'', or ``our'' is used, we mean the EPA.
Outline
I. What Is a SIP?
II. What Action Is EPA Taking?
III. Final Action
IV. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews
I. What Is a SIP?
Section 110 of the CAA requires states to develop air pollution
regulations and control strategies to ensure that state air quality
meets the NAAQS established by EPA. These ambient standards are
established under section 109 of the CAA, and they currently address
six criteria pollutants. These pollutants are: Carbon monoxide,
nitrogen dioxide, ozone, lead, particulate matter, and sulfur dioxide.
Each state which contains areas that are not attaining the NAAQS
must submit these regulations and control strategies to us for approval
and incorporation into the federally-enforceable SIP.
Each federally-approved SIP protects air quality primarily by
addressing air pollution at its point of origin. These SIPs can be
extensive, containing state regulations or other enforceable documents
and supporting information such as emission inventories, monitoring
networks, and modeling demonstrations.
II. What Action Is EPA Taking?
We are taking direct final action to approve revisions to the Texas
SIP that pertain to regulations on gasoline RVP submitted by the State
on October 4, 2001. The Texas RVP regulations were originally approved
into the SIP by EPA on April 26, 2001 (66 FR 20927). The regulations
are part of the State strategy to achieve the NAAQS for ozone in the
Houston/Galveston and Dallas/Fort Worth nonattainment areas. The
regulations reduce volatile organic compound emissions by requiring
conventional gasoline in a 95-county area of central and eastern Texas
to be limited to maximum RVP of 7.8 pounds per square inch from May 1
through October 1 of each year. The 95 Texas counties are: Anderson,
Angelina, Aransas, Atascosa, Austin, Bastrop, Bee, Bell, Bexar, Bosque,
Bowie, Brazos, Burleson, Caldwell, Calhoun, Camp, Cass, Cherokee,
Colorado, Comal, Cooke, Coryell, De Witt, Delta, Ellis, Falls, Fannin,
Fayette, Franklin, Freestone, Goliad, Gonzales, Grayson, Gregg, Grimes,
Guadalupe, Harrison, Hays, Henderson, Hill, Hood, Hopkins, Houston,
Hunt, Jackson, Jasper, Johnson, Karnes, Kaufman, Lamar, Lavaca, Lee,
Leon, Limestone, Live Oak, Madison, Marion, Matagorda, McLennan, Milam,
Morris, Nacogdoches, Navarro, Newton, Nueces, Panola, Parker, Polk,
Rains, Red River, Refugio, Robertson, Rockwall, Rusk, Sabine, San
Jacinto, San Patricio, San Augustine, Shelby, Smith, Somervell, Titus,
Travis, Trinity, Tyler, Upshur, Van Zandt, Victoria, Walker,
Washington, Wharton, Williamson, Wilson, Wise, and Wood. Texas
developed this fuel requirement as part of a strategy to reduce
emissions of volatile organic compounds and achieve the NAAQS for ozone
in the Houston-Galveston and Dallas-Fort Worth nonattainment areas.
The revised regulations being approved are Sections 114.307 and
114.309 of Title 30 of the Texas Administrative Code, Chapter 114. The
revisions add exemptions to RVP requirements for research laboratories
and academic institutions, competition racing, and gasoline that is
being stored or transferred that is not used in the affected counties.
The exemptions are similar to those in place for Texas low emission
diesel fuel approved by EPA on November 14, 2001 (66 FR 57196). It is
expected that the emissions that would occur from the exempted sources
would be insignificant in comparison with emissions from sources
covered by the regulation. Because of this the revisions are not
expected to have a significant impact on air quality. The revisions
also reduce record keeping requirements for retail gasoline dispensing
outlets in the affected counties, and correct a typographical error
relating to the name of Smith County. Retail gasoline dispensing
outlets in the affected counties no longer have to keep records of the
RVP of all the gasoline they store or sell. These records will be
maintained by the provider of the gasoline to the retail outlet. The
retail outlets will have to keep records documenting that the gasoline
they sell is certified as meeting the Texas RVP regulations.
III. Final Action
We are approving the revisions to the Texas SIP that pertain to
regulations on gasoline RVP submitted by the State on October 4, 2001
pursuant to section 110 and part D of the CAA. The revisions add
exemptions to RVP requirements for research laboratories, competitive
racing, and gasoline that is being stored or transferred that is not
used in the affected counties. The revisions to RVP requirements are
not expected to have a significant impact on air quality. The State's
revisions will not interfere with any applicable requirement concerning
attainment or any other applicable requirement of the CAA. As such,
EPA's approval of the revisions complies with the requirements of
section 110(l) of the CAA. Under section 110(l) EPA may not approve a
SIP revision if the revision would interfere with any applicable
requirement concerning attainment or any other applicable requirement
of the CAA. This approval will make the revised regulations federally
enforceable.
EPA is publishing this rule without prior proposal because we view
this as a noncontroversial amendment and anticipate no relevant adverse
comments. However, in the proposed rules section of this Federal Register
[[Page 68482]]
publication, we are publishing a separate document that will serve as
the proposal to approve the SIP revision if relevant adverse comments
are received. This rule will be effective on January 26, 2007 without
further notice unless we receive relevant adverse comment by December
27, 2006. If we receive relevant adverse comments, we will publish a
timely withdrawal in the Federal Register informing the public that the
rule will not take effect. We will address all public comments in a
subsequent final rule based on the proposed rule. We will not institute
a second comment period on this action. Any parties interested in
commenting must do so now. 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.
IV. 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
(59 FR 22951, 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 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. 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. 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 January 26, 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, Intergovernmental
Relations, Ozone, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, Volatile
organic compounds.
Dated: November 9, 2006.
Lawrence E. Starfield,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region 6.
? 40 CFR part 52 is amended as follows:
PART 52--[AMENDED]
? 1. The authority citation for part 52 continues to read as follows:
Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.
Subpart SS--Texas
? 2. In Sec. 52.2270 (c), the table entitled ``EPA APPROVED REGULATIONS
IN THE TEXAS SIP'' is amended under Chapter 114 (Reg 4)--Control of Air
Pollution from Motor Vehicles by revising the entries for sections
114.307 and 114.309 to read as follows:
Sec. 52.2270 Identification of plan.
* * * * *
(c) * * *
[[Page 68483]]
EPA Approved Regulations in the Texas SIP
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State
approval/
State citation Title/subject submittal EPA approval date Explanation
date
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* * * * * * *
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Chapter 114 (Reg 4)--Control of Air Pollution From Motor Vehicles
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* * * * * * *
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Subchapter H--Low Emission Fuels
Division 1: Gasoline Volatility
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* * * * * * *
Section 114.307................. Exemptions......... 10/04/01 11/27/06 [Insert FR
page number where
document begins].
Section 114.309................. Affected Counties.. 10/04/01 11/27/06 [Insert FR
page number where
document begins].
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* * * * *
[FR Doc. E6-19991 Filed 11-24-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P
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