Clean Air Act Final Full Approval of Operating Permits Program and Approval of Delegation of Section 112(l); State of Iowa

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 70

[FRL-5855-1]

Clean Air Act Final Full Approval of Operating Permits Program

and Approval of Delegation of Section 112(l); State of Iowa

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Direct final full approval.

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SUMMARY: By this action the EPA grants final full approval to Iowa's

Title V operating permit program for the purpose of meeting the

requirements of 40 CFR Part 70. This fulfills the conditions of the

interim approval granted on September 1, 1995, which became effective

October 2, 1995.

DATES: This action is effective September 12, 1997 unless by August 13,

1997 adverse or critical comments are received. If the effective date

is delayed timely notice will be published in the Federal Register.

ADDRESSES: Copies of the documents relevant to this action are

available for

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public inspection during normal business hours at the: Environmental

Protection Agency, Air Planning and Development Branch, 726 Minnesota

Avenue, Kansas City, Kansas 66101; and the EPA Air & Radiation Docket

and Information Center, 401 M Street, SW., Washington, DC 20460.

Comments may be submitted to Christopher Hess, EPA, Air Planning and

Development Branch, 726 Minnesota Avenue, Kansas City, Kansas 66101.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Christopher D. Hess at (913) 551-7213.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

In a rulemaking dated September 1, 1995 (60 FR 45671-45673), the

EPA granted interim approval to Iowa's Title V program. This interim

approval was necessary because the state needed to submit a revised

workload analysis describing how the operating permits program would be

implemented at the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (IDNR). Based

on the proposed rulemaking dated April 26, 1995 (60 FR 20465-20469),

the state made four rule revisions and finalized its operating permit

fee with only the revised workload analysis still to be completed. This

analysis was submitted to the EPA in a letter dated April 3, 1997.

Thus, the state has now completed each of the requirements for final

full approval.

II. Analysis of State Submission

According to the conditions of the interim approval, the state of

Iowa had the option to either hire the originally forecasted amount of

personnel or revise its workload analysis to demonstrate how the Title

V program could be implemented with fewer personnel.

The IDNR's original program submittal forecasted approximately 520

Title V sources in Iowa. Due to creation of a Federally Enforceable

State Operating Permit Program that enables sources to limit their

potential to emit and thus be excused from Title V requirements, the

IDNR has reduced the number of Title V sources to approximately 290.

The IDNR has a total of 75.5 personnel available for implementation

of the program (including ``augmented'' personnel from the small

business assistance and local agency programs). Additionally, the IDNR

has six more authorized positions to fill and has requested five new

positions for FY-98. This results in a total of 86.5 FTE for the

program which is almost identical to the IDNR's original forecast.

Thus, the EPA concludes that the state has an adequate amount of

personnel to implement a Title V program and considers the state to

have fulfilled the conditions necessary for final full approval.

In terms of program design, the IDNR has created five sections to

include: General (includes monitoring and technical assistance);

Planning and Compliance (includes modeling, permit reporting,

enforcement, stack testing); Compliance and Enforcement (includes

inspections of Title V sources as well as those who have permit

restrictions and must be verified as not subject to Title V);

Construction Permits (including preconstruction permitting,

applicability determinations, and emission control reviews); and the

Operating Permits Section (including Title V review and general

permits).

This design and the number of personnel assigned to the various

activities mirrors that of other state programs successfully

implementing Title V programs.

III. Final Action

The EPA grants final full approval to Iowa's Title V program since

the state has fulfilled the conditions of the interim approval

effective October 2, 1995. This meets the Federal requirements set

forth in 40 CFR Part 70.

The EPA is publishing this action without prior proposal because

the Agency views this as a noncontroversial amendment and anticipates

no adverse comments. However, in a separate document in this Federal

Register publication, the EPA is proposing to grant final full approval

should adverse or critical comments be filed. This action is effective

September 12, 1997 unless, by August 13, 1997, adverse or critical

comments are received.

If the EPA receives such 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 based on this action serving as a

proposed rule. The EPA will not institute a second comment period on

this action. 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 is effective September 12, 1997.

IV. Administrative Requirements

A. Executive Order 12866

This action has been classified as a Table 3 action for signature

by the Regional Administrator under the procedures published in the

Federal Register on January 19, 1989 (54 FR 2214-2225), as revised by a

July 10, 1995, memorandum from Mary Nichols, Assistant Administrator

for Air and Radiation. The Office of Management and Budget has exempted

this regulatory action from Executive Order 12866 review.

B. Unfunded Mandates

Under section 202 of the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995

(``Unfunded Mandates Act''), signed into law on March 22, 1995, the 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

private sector, of $100 million or more. Under section 205, the EPA

must select the most cost effective and least burdensome alternative

that achieves the objectives of the rule and is consistent with

statutory requirements. Section 203 requires the EPA to establish a

plan for informing and advising any small governments that may be

significantly or uniquely impacted by the rule.

The EPA has determined that the approval action promulgated does

not include a Federal mandate that may result in estimated costs of

$100 million or more to either state, local, or tribal governments in

the aggregate, or to the private sector. This Federal action approves

preexisting requirements under state or local law, and imposes no new

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

tribal governments, or to the private sector, result from this action.

C. Regulatory Flexibility Act

The EPA's actions under section 502 of the Act do not create any

new requirements, but simply address operating permits programs

submitted to satisfy the requirements of 40 CFR Part 70. Because this

action does not impose any new requirements, it does not have a

significant impact on a substantial number of small entities. Moreover,

due to the nature of the Federal-state relationship under the Clean Air

Act (CAA), preparation of a regulatory flexibility analysis would

constitute Federal inquiry into the economic reasonableness of state

action. The CAA forbids the EPA to base its actions 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)).

D. Submission to Congress and the General Accounting Office

Under 5 U.S.C. 801(a)(1)(A) as added by the Small Business

Regulatory

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Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996, the EPA submitted 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 General

Accounting Office prior to publication of this rule in today's Federal

Register. This rule is not a ``major rule'' as defined by 5 U.S.C.

804(2).

E. Petitions for Judicial Review

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 September 12, 1997. 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 70

Environmental protection, Administrative practice and procedure,

Air pollution control, Intergovernmental relations, Operating permits,

Reporting and recordkeeping requirements.

Dated: June 24, 1997.

U. Gale Hutton,

Acting Regional Administrator.

Part 70 chapter I, title 40 of the Code of Federal Regulations is

amended as follows:

PART 70--[AMENDED]

1. The authority citation for part 70 continues to read as follows:

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

2. Appendix A to part 70 is amended by adding paragraph (b) to the

entry for Iowa to read as follows:

Appendix A to Part 70--Approval Status of State and Local Operating

Permits Programs

* * * * *

Iowa

* * * * *

(b) The Iowa Department of Natural Resources submitted a revised

workload analysis dated April 3, 1997. This fulfills the final

condition of the interim approval effective on October 2, 1995, and

which would expire on October 1, 1997. The state is hereby granted

final full approval effective September 12, 1997.

* * * * *

[FR Doc. 97-18250 Filed 7-11-97; 8:45 am]

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