Compliance Assurance Monitoring

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Parts 64, 70 and 71

[FRL-5552-9]

Compliance Assurance Monitoring

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of public meeting; notice of document availability.

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SUMMARY: The EPA is planning to promulgate regulations concerning

enhanced monitoring and compliance certification provisions under

section 114(a)(3) and Title V of the Clean Air Act by July 1997. EPA

originally proposed an enhanced monitoring rule on October 22, 1993 (58

FR 54648). In response to comments on that proposal, EPA is considering

adopting a revised approach--known as Compliance Assurance Monitoring

(CAM)--to the enhanced monitoring and compliance certification

requirements. EPA sought comment on the CAM approach in September 1995.

In response to comment on the CAM approach, EPA is now making available

a revised version of the CAM approach for comment. Notice is hereby

given that the EPA will hold a public meeting on September 10, 1996 to

provide the persons potentially affected by these regulations with an

opportunity to present their views regarding the issues raised by the

regulations. This notice also announces the public availability of a

draft regulatory package for review in advance of the public meeting.

In addition, the Agency will accept written comments on the draft

package provided that comments are received by October 15, 1996.

DATES: Meeting: The public meeting will be held September 10, 1996 from

8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the address provided below.

Comments: Written comments may be submitted to the docket at the

address provided below until October 15, 1996.

Document Availability: The draft regulations and accompanying

summary and discussion document will be available on or before August

2, 1996 at the addresses provided below. Draft documents concerning

required impact analyses will also be available at the same locations

no later than August 30, 1996.

ADDRESSES: Meeting: The public meeting will be held at the Sheraton

Imperial Hotel and Convention Center, Research Triangle Park, NC, 27709

(919) 941-5050. Participants wishing to arrange for overnight

accommodations should advise the hotel that they are attending the EPA

meeting. To assist EPA in planning the public meeting, persons

interested in attending should contact: Public Meeting Coordinator, at

(804) 979-3700, telefax (804) 296-2860, Perrin Quarles Associates,

Inc., 501 Faulconer Drive, Suite 2-D, Charlottesville, Virginia 22903,

to give their name and affiliation. Please register by September 6,

1996.

Docket: Supporting information related to this rulemaking,

including the draft rule, and the summary and discussion document, is

contained in Docket No. A-91-52 (the draft rule and accompanying

summary and discussion document are included as Item VI-C-13). This

docket is available for public inspection and copying between 8:00 a.m.

and 5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, excluding government holidays, and

is located at: EPA Air Docket (LE-131), Room M-1500, Waterside Mall,

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

charged for copying. Pursuant to section 307(d)(1)(V) of the Clean Air

Act, this rulemaking is subject to the docketing and other procedural

provisions of section 307(d) of the Act.

Comments: Comments must be mailed (in duplicate) to the docket at

the address provided above. All comments should be marked to the

attention of Docket No. A-91-52.

Document Availability: By the dates noted above, a copy of the

draft regulations, the accompanying summary and discussion document,

and the draft impact analysis materials will be located in the docket

at the address provided above, and the draft regulations and summary

and discussion document will also be available via the Emission

Measurement Technical Information Center Computer Bulletin Board of the

EPA's Technology Transfer Network at (919) 541-5742, 24 hours a day, 7

days a week (except Monday, 8-12 a.m. EST). Contact the system operator

at (919) 541-5384 if you have any questions concerning access to the

Technology Transfer Network.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Peter Westlin, Office of Air Quality

Planning and Standards, (919) 541-1058.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Procedural Background

Section 114(a)(3) of the Clean Air Act mandates that EPA require,

by regulation, that enhanced monitoring be conducted and compliance

certification be made for major sources. EPA first proposed an enhanced

monitoring rule on October 22, 1993. (See 58 FR 54648). EPA sought

additional comment on this proposal on December 24, 1994 (59 FR 66844).

Following review of comments, EPA decided to consider alternative

approaches to the enhanced monitoring requirements.

In September, 1995, EPA made available for comment a revised

approach to enhanced monitoring and compliance certification. This

revised approach was called Compliance Assurance Monitoring (CAM). EPA

published a Federal Register notice (60 FR 48679) announcing the

availability of the draft regulatory package (preamble and rule text)

and solicited public comment. Additionally, on September 13, 1995, the

EPA posted a copy of the draft CAM rule for public comment on the

Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards (OAQPS) Technology

Transfer Network electronic bulletin board system. The release of this

document was followed by a national meeting held on September 22, 1995

in Durham, North Carolina. Written comments were submitted to OAQPS by

industrial, environmental, and regulatory parties. All comments

received have been filed in the docket (A-91-52) and are available for

additional review by calling the docket office at (202-260-7548).

II. Request For Comment

EPA has now modified the proposed CAM approach in response to the

comments received on the September 1995 regulatory package. The Agency

has prepared a regulatory package for CAM and will make it available to

the public on or before August 2, 1996, (see ``Document Availability''

above). Following release of this draft, the Agency will hold a public

meeting, as described above, to review the major elements of the draft

regulatory package and to solicit opinions and suggestions on the draft

document. The meeting will include a number of representative parties

that will sit at the main meeting table by invitation; they will

include industry, State and local agencies, and environmental

organizations. Additional seating is available by contacting the Public

Meeting Coordinator listed in the ADDRESSES section above. It is

important to note that the Agency will be seeking the

[[Page 41992]]

opinions of the individuals/organizations present and will not be

seeking consensus.

The September 1995, Federal Register notice indicated that EPA

intended to seek comment on the CAM approach through a formal proposal;

however, EPA believes that notice and opportunity for comment it has

provided through the September 1995 notice and the current notice

fulfill EPA's procedural obligations under the Clean Air Act.

Therefore, EPA intends to issue a final rule addressing the enhanced

monitoring and compliance certification requirements of the Clean Air

Act by July 1997 without seeking any additional comment beyond that

solicited by this notice.

III. The CAM Approach

The CAM approach would impose monitoring and compliance

certification requirements on sources subject to the Title V operating

permits program. The CAM approach has been developed in consideration

of the President's regulatory reform efforts to design performance-

based environmental programs that provide industry with the flexibility

to comply in cost-effective ways, while requiring accountability for

achieving results. It focuses on enhancing and supplementing current

operation and maintenance (O&M) monitoring requirements. The compliance

assurance monitoring approach would require that a source owner

document operation and maintenance of a control device or process

operation in accordance with established, reliable operating and

maintenance practices and implement any necessary corrective action to

ensure that emissions have been reduced. The Agency has combined the

enhanced and periodic monitoring requirements of Titles V and VII of

the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 in the draft CAM approach so that

all compliance-related monitoring requirements would be integrated in

one set of requirements.

The CAM approach also addresses the requirements for compliance

certifications under Titles V and VII of the Clean Air Act Amendments

of 1990. As such, the CAM approach, which EPA first gave notice of in

September 1995, would amend the current compliance certification

provisions in Part 70. To make the Part 71 consistent with the CAM

approach, the CAM approach also would amend Part 71. Under the draft

CAM proposal, the owner or operator would certify compliance with (1)

The emission limitation or standard based on the results of CAM

monitoring; and (2) the associated monitoring, reporting, and record

keeping requirements in the permit that provide an assurance of ongoing

compliance with the emission limitation or standard.

IV. Rulemaking on the Credible Evidence Provisions

The October 22, 1993 original proposed enhanced monitoring rule

included revisions to 40 CFR parts 51, 52, 60 and 61. The Agency

received full comment on those provisions during the initial and

reopened public comment period on that proposal. The Agency received

additional comment on those proposed revisions during and after a

public meeting held on April 2, 1996. The Agency is considering the

promulgation of revisions similar to those originally proposed, with

minor changes.

The provisions that were proposed in 1993 would have amended 40 CFR

parts 51, 52, 60, and 61 to allow data gathered using enhanced

monitoring to be used as ``presumptively credible evidence'' in

enforcement actions. The rule also would have modified parts 51, 52, 60

and 61, to specifically provide for the use of ``credible evidence''

(CE) other than compliance test method data to prove noncompliance in

an enforcement action, and would have had the effect of eliminating any

potential ambiguity regarding the use of data other than compliance or

reference test method data as a basis for Title V compliance

certifications. EPA is considering eliminating the ``presumptively

credible evidence'' categories, but promulgating the remaining portions

of the original October 22, 1993 revisions separately from CAM.

EPA expects to issue a final rule on the proposed changes to 40 CFR

parts 51, 52, 60, and 61 in December 1996, prior to completion of the

CAM rulemaking. For the purposes of commenting on the CAM approach,

interested parties should keep in mind that proposed changes to 40 CFR

parts 51, 52, 60 and 61 may be promulgated (and that EPA may do so with

the change regarding ``presumptively credible evidence'' noted above)

prior to final action on the CAM approach (i.e. enhanced monitoring and

compliance certification).

V. Impact on Small Entities

In the October 22, 1993, original enhanced monitoring proposal, EPA

determined that approach to enhanced monitoring would not have a

significant impact on a substantial number of small entities. EPA has

reexamined that issue taking into account the CAM approach to the

enhanced monitoring and compliance certification requirements and

reached a similar conclusion. As noted above, EPA will make its

analysis on this issue available for public comment shortly.

VI. Deadline Litigation

EPA is currently under a court-ordered deadline to issue a final

rule regarding enhanced monitoring and compliance certification by July

31, 1996. On July 31, 1996, EPA filed an unopposed motion for extension

of that deadline until December 13, 1996 regarding credible evidence

provisions, and until July 7, 1997 with respect to the remaining

obligations under section 114(a)(3). EPA expects that these deadlines

will be adopted by the court.

Dated: August 6, 1996.

John S. Seitz,

Director, Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards.

[FR Doc. 96-20699 Filed 8-9-96; 12:50 pm]

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