Fuels and Fuel Additives: Removal of the Reformulated Gasoline
Program From the Phoenix, Arizona Serious Ozone Nonattainment Area
Related Material
[Federal Register: August 11, 1998 (Volume 63, Number 154)]
[Notices]
[Page 43043-43045]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr11au98-184]
[[Page 43043]]
_______________________________________________________________________
Part VI
Environmental Protection Agency
_______________________________________________________________________
40 CFR Part 80
Fuels and Fuel Additives: Removal of the Reformulated Gasoline Program
From the Phoenix, Arizona Serious Ozone Nonattainment Area; Notice and
Final Rule
[[Page 43044]]
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[FRL-6136-9]
RIN 2060-ZA04
Fuels and Fuel Additives: Removal of the Reformulated Gasoline
Program From the Phoenix, Arizona Serious Ozone Nonattainment Area
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: In today's final action, EPA is announcing its approval of the
petition by the Governor of Arizona to opt-out of the federal RFG
program and remove the requirement to sell federal RFG in the Phoenix
serious ozone nonattainment area as of June 10, 1998. EPA's regulations
establish the procedures and criteria for opting out of the RFG
program, and provide that if a state relies on the federal RFG program
as a control measure in its State Implementation Plan (SIP), the state
must revise the SIP to reflect the opt-out from RFG. EPA regulations
also provide that the effective date of the opt-out shall be no less
than 90 days from EPA's approval of such a SIP revision. Arizona
replaced federal RFG with a state cleaner burning gasoline program
which EPA approved into Arizona's SIP effective March 12, 1998. Under
40 CFR 80.72, the effective date of the opt out is 90 days after EPA
approves such a SIP revision, which in this case is June 10, 1998. As
of June 10, 1998, Arizona's clean fuel state regulations will go into
effect in the Phoenix area. Arizona developed a clean fuel program to
reduce emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOC) and particulates
(PM10). Thus, although opting out of the federal RFG program, the
Phoenix area will continue to enjoy the air quality benefits of a clean
burning gasoline. In accordance with the approval of the opt-out
petition and the determination of the opt-out effective date, EPA is,
in a separate action published elsewhere in this issue of the Federal
Register, amending Sec. 80.70(m) to reflect that Phoenix will not be a
covered area in the federal RFG program as of June 10, 1998.
DATES: The effective date for removal of the Phoenix, Arizona area from
the federal RFG program is June 10, 1998.
ADDRESSES: Materials relevant to this notice to remove the federal RFG
program from the Phoenix area may be found in Docket A-98-23, the
docket for the rulemaking to amend section 80.72 of the RFG
regulations. In addition, materials relevant to the rulemaking to opt-
in Phoenix to the federal RFG program may be found in Docket A-97-02.
The docket is located at the Air Docket Section, Mail Code 6102, U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency, 401 M Street, SW, Washington, DC
20460, in room M-1500 Waterside Mall. Documents may be inspected on
business days from 8:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. A reasonable fee may be
charged for copying docket material.
Materials relevant to the EPA Final Rule to approve the Arizona SIP
revision establishing state clean burning gasoline regulations are
available in the docket located at Region IX. The docket is located at
75 Hawthorne Street, AIR-2, 17th Floor, San Francisco, California
94105. Documents may be inspected from 9:00 a.m. to noon and from
1:00--4:00 p.m. A reasonable fee may be charged for copying docket
material. This approval action is not being addressed in this notice.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Janice Raburn, Attorney-Advisor, U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Air and Radiation, 401 M
Street, SW (6406J), Washington, DC 20460, (202) 564-9856.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Availability on the TTNBBS
Copies of this document are available electronically from the EPA
Internet Web site and via dial-up modem on the Technology Transfer
Network (TTN), which is an electronic bulletin board system (BBS)
operated by EPA's Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards. Both
services are free of charge, except for your existing cost of Internet
connectivity or the cost of the phone call to TTN. Users are able to
access and download files on their first call using a personal computer
per the following information. An electronic version is made available
on the day of publication on the primary Internet sites listed below.
The EPA Office of Mobile Sources also publishes these notices on the
secondary Web site listed below and on the TTN BBS.
Internet (Web)
http://www.epa.gov/fedrgstr/EPA-AIR/
(either select desired date or use Search feature)
http://www.epa.gov/OMSWWW/
(look in What's New or under the specific rulemaking topic)
TTN BBS: The TTN BBS can be accessed with a dial-in phone line and a
high-speed modem (PH# 919-541-5742). The parity of your modem should be
set to none, the data bits to 8, and the stop bits to 1. Either a 1200,
2400, 9600, or 14400 baud modem should be used. When first signing on,
the user will be required to answer some basic informational questions
for registration purposes. After completing the registration process,
proceed through the following series of menus:
GATEWAY TO TTN TECHNICAL AREAS (Bulletin Boards)
OMS--Mobile Sources Information
(Alerts display a chronological list of recent documents)
Rulemaking & Reporting
At this point, choose the topic (e.g., Fuels) and subtopic (e.g.,
Reformulated Gasoline) of the rulemaking, and the system will list all
available files in the chosen category in date order with brief
descriptions. To download a file, type the letter ``D'' and hit your
Enter key. Then select a transfer protocol that is supported by the
terminal software on your own computer, and pick the appropriate
command in your own software to receive the file using that same
protocol. After getting the files you want onto your computer, you can
quit the TTN BBS with the oodbye command.
Please note that due to differences between the software used to
develop the document and the software into which the document may be
downloaded, changes in format, page length, etc. may occur.
I. Background
A. Opt-Out Procedures
Section 80.72 of the RFG regulations (Opt-out Rule) provides the
process and criteria for a reasonable transition out of the RFG program
if a state decides to opt-out.1 The procedures for opting
out are geared towards achieving a reasonable transition out of the RFG
program for industry and states. The Opt-out Rule provides that the
Governor of the state must submit a petition to the Administrator
requesting to opt out of the RFG program. The petition must include
specific information on how, if at all, the state has relied on RFG in
a pending or approved SIP and, if RFG is in an approved SIP, how the
SIP will be revised to reflect the state's opt-out from RFG. The Opt-
out Rule also provides that EPA will notify the state in writing of the
Agency's action on the petition and the date the opt-out becomes
effective when the petition is approved.
[[Page 43045]]
The regulations also provide that EPA will publish an FR notice
announcing the approval of any opt-out petition and the effective date
of such opt-out.
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\1\ Pursuant to authority under sections 211(c) and (k) and
301(a) of the Clean Air Act, EPA promulgated regulations to provide
criteria and general procedures for states to opt-out of the RFG
program where the state had previously voluntarily opted into the
program. The regulations were initially adopted on July 8, 1996 (61
FR 35673); and were revised on October 20, 1997 (62 FR 54552).
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The effective date of the opt-out is dependent on how the RFG
program is used by a state in its SIP. Opt-out petitions received prior
to December 31, 1997 become effective 90 days (or later if requested)
from the date EPA provides written notification to the state that the
petition has been approved. If, however, the state included RFG as a
control measure in an approved SIP, the state must revise the SIP to
remove federal RFG as a control measure before the opt-out can be
effective. For the latter case, the opt-out becomes effective no less
than 90 days (or later if requested) after the Agency approves a
revision to the state plan replacing RFG with another control. Opt-out
petitions received after December 31, 1997 are treated differently. See
62 FR 54552 (October 20, 1997).
EPA determined in the Opt-out Rule that it would not be necessary
to conduct a separate rulemaking for each future opt-out request. 61 FR
35673 at 35675 (July 8, 1996). EPA established a petition process to
address, on a case-by-case basis, future individual state requests to
opt-out of the federal RFG program. These regulations establish clear
and objective criteria for EPA to apply. These regulatory criteria
address when a state's petition is complete and the appropriate
transition time for opting out. As EPA stated in the preamble to the
Opt-out Rule, this application of regulatory criteria on a case-by-case
basis to individual opt-out requests does not require notice and
comment rulemaking, either under section 307(d) of the Act or the
Administrative Procedure Act. Thus, in this action, EPA is applying the
criteria provided in the Opt-out Rule to approve the Arizona petition.
B. Arizona Opt-in and Opt-out of RFG for the Phoenix Area
By letter dated January 17, 1997, the Governor of the State of
Arizona applied to EPA to include the Phoenix moderate ozone
nonattainment area in the federal RFG program.2 The Governor
requested an implementation date of June 1, 1997. Pursuant to the
Governor's letter and the provisions of section 211(k)(6) of the Clean
Air Act, and after holding a public hearing in Phoenix on March 18,
1997, EPA adopted regulations on May 28, 1997, that applied the
requirement to sell RFG to the Phoenix area. 62 FR 30260 (June 3, 1997)
3
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\2\ EPA reclassified the Phoenix area from moderate to serious
nonattainment for ozone on November 6, 1997 (62 FR 60001).
\3\ See Notice of Proposed Rulemaking at 62 FR 7197 (February
18, 1997); and Notice of public hearing at 62 FR 11405 (March 12,
1997).
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Arizona subsequently enacted legislation which authorized the
establishment of a State cleaner burning gasoline program which would
become effective June 1, 1998. By letter dated September 12, 1997, the
Governor of the State of Arizona applied to EPA to opt-out of the
federal RFG program for the Phoenix area. The Governor requested the
specific opt-out effective date of June 1, 1998, to ensure that the
federal RFG program would be maintained in the Phoenix area until the
State RFG regulations became effective. Thus, the Governor requested
that EPA approve the State's opt-out petition and set the opt-out
effective date only upon EPA approval of the SIP revision containing
the Arizona RFG regulations and the waiver request.
EPA's Office of Air and Radiation (OAR) responded to the Governor's
petition by letter dated October 3, 1997. EPA stated in the letter that
the Governor's petition provided the information required by the Opt-
out Rule and that OAR would work with EPA Region IX to process the SIP
revision as quickly as possible in order to provide the opt-out
effective date requested.
II. Action
In this document, EPA is notifying the public that it has applied
the criteria provided in the Opt-out Rule (40 CFR 80.72) and is
approving the petition submitted by the Governor of Arizona to
determine that June 10, 1998 is the effective date for opt-out of the
federal RFG program for the Phoenix area. EPA is, in a separate action
published elsewhere in this issue of the Federal Register, amending
Sec. 80.70(m) to reflect that Phoenix will not be a covered area in the
federal RFG program as of June 10, 1998.
First, EPA is approving the Governor's petition because it provided
the information required by the Opt-out Rule. Second, EPA is
determining the opt-out effective date by applying the criteria in 40
CFR 80.72. As discussed in section I.A.above, the Opt-Out Rule requires
that if a state included RFG as a control measure in an approved SIP,
the state must revise the SIP, reflecting the removal of federal RFG as
a control measure before an opt-out can be effective. The Governor's
petition stated that Arizona adopted an interim rule for a State clean
fuel program which would replace the federal RFG program as a control
measure in its SIP. In September 1997, the State submitted to EPA's
Region IX office a SIP revision that included its clean fuel program
and a request for a waiver of federal preemption of state fuel
standards under section 211(c)(4)(C) of the Act. Arizona's SIP revision
provided data to show that its clean fuel program would provide the
same or more VOC and PM reductions that it realized from federal RFG.
EPA's Region IX office published a proposed approval of the SIP
revision on November 20, 1997 (62 FR 61942) and a final approval of the
SIP revision on February 10, 1998. (63 FR 6653) The effective date for
the final approval of the SIP revision was March 12, 1998. The Opt-out
Rule provides that the opt-out effective date shall be no less than 90
days from the EPA SIP approval effective date. Thus, the opt-out
effective date for the Phoenix area will be June 10, 1998, 90 days from
March 12, 1998.
Thus, EPA is today notifying the public that it has applied its
regulatory criteria to make the following determinations. EPA is
approving the petition by the Governor of Arizona to opt-out of the
federal reformulated gasoline (RFG) program for the Phoenix area and
removing the requirement to sell federal RFG in the Phoenix serious
ozone nonattainment area as of June 10, 1998. This opt-out effective
date applies to retailers, wholesale purchaser-consumers, refiners,
importers, and distributors. Pursuant to these determinations, EPA is
also, in a separate action published elsewhere in this issue of the
Federal Register, amending Sec. 80.70(m) to reflect that Phoenix will
not be a covered area in the federal RFG program as of June 10, 1998.
Dated: July 31, 1998.
Carol M. Browner,
Administrator.
[FR Doc. 98-21213 Filed 8-10-98; 8:45 am]
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