National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants for Source Categories: Early Reductions Program High Risk List Amendment

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 63

[AD-FRL-5002-4]

National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants for

Source Categories: Early Reductions Program High Risk List Amendment

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

ACTION: Proposed rule and notice of public hearing.

SUMMARY: On December 29, 1992, the EPA promulgated final regulations

implementing the Early Reductions Program under section 112(i)(5) of

the Clean Air Act, as amended (CAA). As part of that rulemaking, EPA

designated a list of high risk hazardous air pollutants and limited the

use of offsetting reductions in other hazardous air pollutants as

counting towards the required reductions in high-risk pollutants. The

proposed standards would delete acrylic acid (CAS No. 79107) from the

list of high-risk pollutants. This action would be in accordance with

the terms of a settlement agreement reached in the following case:

Basic Acrylic Monomer Manufacturers v EPA, No. 93-1179 (D.C. Cir.).

DATES: Comments. Comments must be received on or before August 8, 1994.

Public Hearing. If anyone contacts EPA requesting to speak at a

public hearing by July 13, 1994, a public hearing will be held on July

22, 1994, beginning at 9 a.m. Persons interested in attending a hearing

should call Ms. Linda Tilley at (919) 541-5648 to verify that a hearing

will be held.

Request to Speak at Hearing. Persons wishing to present oral

testimony must contact EPA by July 13, 1994. (Contact Ms. Linda Tilley

at (919) 541-5648.)

ADDRESSES: Comments. Interested parties may submit written comments (in

duplicate if possible) to Public Docket No. A-94-29, at the following

address: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Air and Radiation Docket

and Information Center, Mail Code: 6102, 401 M Street, SW, Washington,

DC 20460. The Agency requests that a separate copy also be sent to the

contact person listed below.

Public Hearing. If anyone contacts EPA requesting a public hearing,

it will be held at the North Carolina Mutual Life Insurance Building,

411 West Chapel Hill Street, Durham, North Carolina. Persons interested

in attending the hearing or wishing to present oral testimony should

contact Linda Tilley, Pollutant Assessment Branch (MD-13), U.S.

Environmental Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina

27711, telephone number (919) 541-5648.

Docket. Docket No. A-94-29, containing supporting information used

in developing the proposed standards is available for public inspection

and copying between 8:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, at

EPA's Air Docket Section, Waterside Mall, Room 1500, 1st floor, 401 M

Street, S.W., Washington D.C. 20460. A reasonable fee may be charged

for copying.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Martha H. Keating, Emission

Standards Division (MD-13), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency,

Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, 27711, (919) 541-5340.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The information presented in this preamble

is organized as follows:

I. Background

II. Summary of and Rationale for Proposed Rule

III. Administrative Requirements

1. Background

On December 29, 1992, the EPA promulgated final regulations

implementing the Early Reductions Program under section 112(i)(5) of

the Clean Air Act, as amended (CAA), 42 U.S.C. 7412 (i)(5), 57 FR 61970

(December 29, 1992). As part of that rulemaking, EPA designated a list

of 47 high risk hazardous air pollutants and limited the use of

offsetting reductions in other hazardous air pollutants as counting

towards the required reductions in high-risk pollutants by assigning

these pollutants various weighting factors. Acrylic acid (CAS No.

79107) was designated as a high-risk pollutant and was assigned a

weighting factor of 10.

The methodology for selecting the high-risk pollutants is

documented in the Federal Register notices for the proposed Early

Reduction Program rule (56 FR 27338) and the final regulations (as

cited above). Additional detailed information on the selection criteria

is also available in the Early Reduction Program docket (Docket No. A-

90-47). In general, certain criteria were established to screen

hazardous air pollutants for their potential for high risk of adverse

public health effects associated with exposure to small quantities of

emissions. The screening analysis considered health effects and

potential exposure.

Based on EPA's analysis of data available in 1992, acrylic acid was

included on the list of high-risk pollutants based in part on the

inhalation reference concentration (RfC) for acrylic acid in EPA's

Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS). A reference concentration is

an estimate (with uncertainty spanning perhaps an order of magnitude or

more) of the daily exposure to the human population (including

sensitive subpopulations) that is likely to be without deleterious

effects during a lifetime. On February 26, 1993, Basic Acrylic Monomer

Manufacturers (BAMM) filed a petition for review of the final Early

Reductions Program regulation in the United States Court of Appeals for

the District of Columbia Circuit, BAMM v. EPA, No. 93-1179 (D.C. Cir.).

On April 13, 1993, BAMM submitted an administrative petition to EPA to

revise the RfC for acrylic acid and to delete acrylic acid from the

list of high-risk pollutants. BAMM submitted to EPA a new two-

generation reproductive study of acrylic acid.

A review of the new data led EPA to revise the RfC for acrylic

acid. As a result, acrylic acid no longer meets the criteria for

inclusion on the high risk list.

II. Summary of and Rationale for the Proposed Rule

Noncarcinogens meet the criteria for the high risk list if they

have a verified RfC less than 0.5 micrograms per cubic meter. The RfC

for acrylic acid that was originally verified in August 1990 was 0.33

micrograms per cubic meter, based on lesions of the nasal epithelium in

a subchronic mouse inhalation study (Miller et al., 1981).1 One of

the uncertainty factors applied to the RfC for acrylic acid was a

factor of three to account for the lack of a two-generation

reproductive study.

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\1\Miller, R.R., J.A. Ayres, G.C. Jersey and M.J. McKenna. 1981.

Inhalation toxicity of acrylic acid. Fund. Appl. Toxicol. 1(3):271-

7.

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In January, 1994, BAMM submitted additional data to EPA including a

new two-generation reproductive study in rats, a developmental study in

rabbits, and a bioavailability study in rats and mice. On February 15

and 16, 1994, the IRIS RfC/ RfD Work Group met and considered, among

other things, the new two-generation reproductive study (BASF,

1993).2 The Work Group found that the new study met the criteria

for an adequate reproductive study and accordingly increased the RfC

for acrylic acid by a factor of three. The increase in the RfC for

acrylic acid by a factor of three resulted in a revised RfC of 1

microgram per cubic meter which was made publicly available on IRIS on

April 1, 1994. The revised RfC is sufficiently high to exclude acrylic

acid from the Early Reductions Program high-risk list. Consequently,

today's action proposes to delete acrylic acid from the list of high-

risk pollutants.

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\2\BASF. 1993. Reproduction toxicity study with acrylic acid in

rats: continuous administration in the drinking water over 2

generation (1 litter in the first and 1 litter in the second

generation). Project No. 71R0114/92011. BASF Aktiengesellschaft,

Dept. of Toxicology, Rhein, FRG.

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III. Administrative Requirements

A. Written Comments

EPA seeks full public participation in arriving at its final

decisions, and strongly encourages comments on all aspects of this

proposal from all interested parties. Whenever applicable, full

supporting data and detailed analysis should be submitted to allow EPA

to make maximum use of the comments. All comments should be directed to

the EPA Air Docket, Docket No. A-94-29 (see ADDRESSES). Comments on

this notice will be accepted until the date specified in DATES.

Commentors wishing to submit proprietary information for

consideration should clearly distinguish such information from other

comments, and clearly label it ``Confidential Business Information''.

Submissions containing such proprietary information should be sent

directly to the contact person listed above, and not to the public

docket, to ensure that proprietary information is not inadvertently

placed in the docket. Information covered by such 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 it is received by EPA,

it may be made available to the public without further notice to the

commentor.

B. Public Hearing

A public hearing will be held, if requested, to discuss the

proposed rulemaking in accordance with section 307(d)(5) of the Act.

Persons wishing to make an oral presentation on the proposed rule for

deleting acrylic acid from the Early Reductions Program list of high-

risk pollutants should contact the EPA (see ADDRESSES). Oral

presentations will be limited to 15 minutes each. Any member of the

public may file a written statement before, during, or within 30 days

after the hearing. Written statements should be addressed to the Air

Docket Section (see ADDRESSES), and refer to Docket No. A-94-29. A

verbatim transcript of the hearing and written statements will be

available for public inspection and copying, or mailed upon request,

during normal working hours at the EPA's Air Docket Section (see

ADDRESSES).

C. Docket

The docket is an organized and complete file of all the information

submitted to or otherwise considered by EPA in the development of this

proposed rulemaking. The principal purposes of the docket are: (1) to

allow interested parties to readily identify and locate documents so

they can intelligently and effectively participate in the rulemaking

process and (2) to serve as the record in case of judicial review

(except for interagency review materials [section 307(d)(7)(A)]).

D. Paperwork Reduction Act

There are no information collection requirements associated with

this proposed rule. Therefore, an Information Collection Request

document has not been prepared.

E. Executive Order 12866 Review

Under Executive Order 12866 (FR 51735 (October 4, 1993)), EPA must

determine whether a regulation is ``significant'' and therefore subject

to review by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), and the

requirements of the Executive Order. The order defines ``significant

regulatory action'' as one that is likely to result in a rule that may:

(1) Have an annual effect on the economy of $100 million or more or

adversely affect in a material way the economy, a sector of the

economy, productivity, competition, jobs, the environment, public

health or safety, or State, local, or tribal governments or

communities,

(2) Create a serious inconsistency or otherwise interfere with an

action taken or planned by another agency,

(3) Materially alter the budgetary impact of entitlement, grants,

user fees, or loan programs, or the rights and obligations of

recipients thereof; or

(4) Raise novel legal or policy issues arising out of legal

mandates, the President's priorities, or the principles set forth in

the Executive Order.

Pursuant to the terms of Executive Order 12866, it has been

determined that this rule is a ``non significant regulatory action''.

Accordingly, a regulatory impact analysis has not been prepared and EPA

has not submitted the action to OMB for review.

F. Compliance with Regulatory Flexibility Act

Under Section 605 of the Regulatory Flexibility Act of 1980, 5

U.S.C. 601 et seq., federal agencies are required to assess the

economic impact of federal regulations on small entities. Pursuant to

the provisions of 5 U.S.C. 605(b), I hereby certify that this rule, if

promulgated, will not have a significant economic impact on a

substantial number of small business entities because the impact of the

proposed rule is not significant.

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 63

Air pollution control, Early emission reductions, Hazardous air

pollutants, Compliance extensions, Sources.

Dated: June 15, 1994.

Carol M. Browner,

Administrator.

For the reasons set out in the preamble, 40 CFR part 63 is amended

as follows:

PART 63--[AMENDED]

1. The authority citation for part 63 continues to read as follows:

Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.

Sec. 63.74 [Amended]

2. In Sec. 63.74 Table 1 entitled ``List of High Risk Pollutants'',

the entry for ``acrylic acid'' (CAS No. 79107) is removed.

[FR Doc. 94-15176 Filed 6-21-94; 8:45 am]

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