Clean Air Act Approval and Promulgation of Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD) and General Permitting Provisions Implementation Plan for Arizona State Pinal County Air Quality Control District

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[AZ 063-0001a; FRL-5443-7]

Clean Air Act Approval and Promulgation of Prevention of

Significant Deterioration (PSD) and General Permitting Provisions

Implementation Plan for Arizona State Pinal County Air Quality Control

District

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Direct final rule.

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SUMMARY: EPA is promulgating direct final approval of portions of a

requested State Implementation Plan (SIP) revision submitted by the

State of Arizona on behalf of Pinal County for the purpose of meeting

requirements of the Clean Air Act, as amended in 1990 (CAA or the Act)

with regard to general permitting and prevention of significant

deterioration (PSD) programs in areas of Pinal County that are in

attainment of the national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS). The

requested revision was submitted by the State to satisfy certain

Federal requirements for an approvable SIP.

EPA is taking this action to approve the portions of Pinal's rules

identified below into the SIP for the purpose of meeting the PSD and

preconstruction permitting requirements of 40 CFR 51.160 through 51.164

and 51.166, under the authority granted by 40 CFR 51.105. Approval of

Pinal's rules for the purposes of meeting the nonattainment

preconstruction permitting requirements of 40 CFR 51.165 will take

place under a separate action. This action does not in any way imply

that Pinal's nonattainment permitting provisions meet the requirements

of Sec. Sec. 171, 172, 173, 181, 182, 187, or 189 of the CAA. Failure

on Pinal's part to submit rules which meet the requirements of 40 CFR

51.165 may trigger sanctions as provided for under Sec. 179 of the

Clean Air Act.

DATES: This direct final rule is effective on June 10, 1996 unless

adverse or critical comments are received by May 9, 1996. If the

effective date is delayed, a timely notice will be published in the

Federal Register.

ADDRESSES: Copies of the State's submittal and other information are

available for inspection during normal business hours at the following

locations: (1) EPA Region 9, 75 Hawthorne Street, San Francisco, CA

94105; (2) State of Arizona Department of Environmental Quality 3033

North Central Avenue, Phoenix, AZ 85012.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jessica Gaylord (telephone: 415-744-

1290), or Steve Ringer (telephone: 415-744-1260), New Source Section,

Air & Toxics Division (A-5-1), EPA Region 9, 75 Hawthorne Street, San

Francisco, CA 94105.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The air quality planning requirements for

attainment areas are set out in 40 CFR 51.166. The general air quality

permitting requirements are set out in 40 CFR 51.160-51.164.

Procedural Background

The Act requires States to observe certain procedural requirements

in developing implementation plans and plan revisions for submission to

EPA. Section 110(a)(2) and section 110(l) of the Act provide that each

implementation plan or revision to an implementation plan submitted by

a State must be adopted after reasonable notice and public hearing.

ADEQ held a public hearing on August 9, 1994, to entertain public

comment on the proposal to submit portions of Pinal County's Code of

Regulations as a revision to the SIP. On August 16, 1994 the rules were

submitted to EPA as a proposed revision to the Arizona SIP. On May 31,

1995 and November 27, 1995, ADEQ submitted applicable portions of the

original submittal which had subsequently been revised by Pinal County

(the Pinal County portion of the August 16, 1994 submittal and its

subsequent revisions will hereafter be referred to as ``the submitted

rules'').

The November 27, 1995 SIP revision was reviewed by EPA and

determined to be complete on February 2, 1996. The submitted rules

contain all of the general permitting and PSD requirements but lack

certain nonattainment new source review (NSR) requirements that would

make them

[[Page 15718]]

fully approvable. In this action, EPA is therefore promulgating

approval of only those portions of the submitted rules which are

necessary to meet the general permitting and PSD requirements contained

in 40 CFR 51.160-51.164 and 51.166. The specific rules that EPA is

promulgating approval of are listed below. EPA believes that these

rules are separable and that their independent approval does not affect

their stringency. EPA will therefore act at a later date on the

portions of the submitted rules which are intended to satisfy the

requirements contained in 40 CFR 51.165.

EPA is publishing this action without prior proposal because the

Agency views this as a noncontroversial action and anticipates no

adverse comments. However, should adverse or critical comments be

filed, EPA is proposing in a separate document in this Federal Register

publication, approval of those portions of the submitted rules that are

necessary to meet the general permitting and PSD requirements.

If EPA receives adverse or critical comments, this action will be

withdrawn before the effective date by publishing a subsequent document

that will withdraw the final action. All public comments received will

then be addressed in a subsequent final rule with this action serving

as the proposed rule. The EPA will not institute a second comment

period. Any parties interested in commenting on this action should do

so at this time. If no such comments are received, the public is

advised that this action will be effective on June 10, 1996.

Pinal County is currently designated as attainment or

unclassifiable for carbon monoxide, ozone, nitrogen dioxide, lead, and

sulfur dioxide, and partial nonattainment for particulate matter

(PM10). The specific PM10 nonattainment areas is the planning

area Hayden/Miami, which is classified as moderate nonattainment for

PM10. The preconstruction requirements for PSD permitting are

found at section 165 of the Clean Air Act. The submitted rules satisfy

these requirements. For a detailed description of how the submitted

rules meet the applicable requirements, please refer to EPA's Technical

Support Document (TSD).

Proposed Action

EPA is promulgating direct final approval of the portions of the

submitted rules that contain the general and PSD permitting provisions.

Specifically, EPA is proposing to approve the following sections of the

submitted rules into the Arizona SIP:

Chapter 1, General Provisions & Definitions, Articles 1

(Provisions), 2 (Incorporated Materials), and 3 (Definitions).

Chapter 2, Ambient Air Quality Standards, Articles 1 (Air Quality

Standards), 2 (Ambient Air Quality Monitoring Methods & Procedures), 3

(Interpretation of Ambient Air Quality Standards & Evaluation of Air

Quality Data), 4 (Attainment Area Classification), 5 (Limitation of

Pollutants in Attainment Areas), 6 (Violations), and 7 (Air Pollution

Emergency Episodes).

Chapter 3, Permits and Permit Revisions, Articles 1 (General

Provisions Relating to Permits & Permit Revisions), 2 (Permit

Amendments and Revisions), and the following sections of Article 3,

section 200 (Purpose), section 203 (Definitions), section 205

(Application Requirements), section 210 (Application Review Process),

section 250 (Permit and Permit Revision Requirements For Sources

Located In Attainment and Unclassifiable Areas), section 260 (Air

Quality Impact Analysis and Monitoring Requirements), section 270

(Innovative Control technology), section 275 (Air Quality Models), and

section 280 (Visibility Protections).

It should be noted here that approval of these sections does not

indicate that portions of the rule intended to meet requirements of

Title V of the CAA are now federally-enforceable. Approval of a Title V

program is a separate action.

EPA is requesting comments on all aspects of the requested SIP

revision and EPA's proposed rulemaking action. Comments received by the

date indicated above will be considered in the development of EPA's

final rule.

Administrative Review

Nothing in this action should be construed as permitting or

allowing or establishing a precedent for any future request for

revision to any state implementation plan. Each request for revision to

the state implementation plan shall be considered separately in light

of specific technical, economic, and environmental factors and in

relation to relevant statutory and regulatory requirements.

Under the Regulatory Flexibility Act, 5 U.S.C. 600 et seq., EPA

must prepare a regulatory flexibility analysis assessing the impact of

any proposed or final rule on small entities. 5 U.S.C. 603 and 604.

Alternatively, EPA may certify that the rule will not have a

significant impact on a substantial number of small entities. Small

entities include small businesses, small not-for-profit enterprises,

and government entities with jurisdiction over populations of less than

50,000.

SIP approvals under section 110 and subchapter I, part D of the Act

do not create any new requirements, but simply approve requirements

that the State is already imposing. Therefore, because the Federal SIP-

approval does not impose any new requirements, I certify that it does

not have a significant impact on any small entities affected. Moreover,

due to the nature of the Federal-State relationship under the Act,

preparation of a regulatory flexibility analysis would constitute

Federal inquiry into the economic reasonableness of State action. The

Act forbids EPA to base its actions concerning SIPs on such grounds.

Union Electric Co. v. U.S. E.P.A., 427 U.S. 246, 256-66 (S.Ct 1976); 42

U.S.C. 7410(a)(2).

The Office of Management and Budget has exempted this action from

review under Executive Order 12866.

Unfunded Mandates

Under Section 202 of the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995, EPA

must prepare a budgetary impact statement to accompany any proposed or

final rule that includes a federal mandate that may result in estimated

costs to state, local, or tribal governments in the aggregate; or to

the private sector, of $100 million or more. EPA has determined that

the approval proposed in this document does not include such a federal

mandate, as this proposed federal action would approve pre-existing

requirements under state or local law, and would impose no new federal

requirements. Accordingly, no additional costs to state, local, or

tribal governments, or to the private sector, will result from this

action.

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 52

Air pollution control, Hydrocarbons, Incorporation by reference,

Intergovernmental relations, New source review, Nitrogen dioxide,

Particulate matter, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, Sulfur

dioxide, Volatile organic compounds.

Dated: March 3, 1996.

Felicia Marcus,

Regional Administrator.

Subpart D of part 52, chapter I, title 40 of the Code of Federal

Regulations is amended as follows:

PART 52--[AMENDED]

1. The authority citation for part 52 continues to read as follows:

Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7401-7671q.

[[Page 15719]]

Subpart D--Arizona

2. Section 52.120 is amended by adding paragraph (c)(84) to read as

follows:

Sec. 52.120 Identification of plan.

* * * * *

(c) * * *

(84) Amended regulations for the Pinal County Air Quality Control

District were submitted on November 27, 1995, by the Governor's

designee.

(i) Incorporation by reference.

(A) Pinal County Air Quality Control District Code of Regulations:

Chapter 1, Articles 1 through 3; Chapter 2, Articles 1 through 7;

Chapter 3, Articles 1, 2, and the following sections of Article 3,

Section 200, Section 203, Section 205, Section 210, Section 250,

Section 260, Section 270, Section 275, and Section 280. Adopted on

October 12, 1995.

* * * * *

[FR Doc. 96-8432 Filed 4-8-96; 8:45 am]

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