Clean Air Act Proposed Approval of Title V Operating Permits Program Revisions; Santa Barbara County Air Pollution Control District, California

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Parts 52 and 70

[CA-001-PP; FRL-5885-7]

Clean Air Act Proposed Approval of Title V Operating Permits

Program Revisions; Santa Barbara County Air Pollution Control District,

California

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Proposed rule.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The EPA proposes to approve a revision to Rule 1301 of

Regulation XIII, both as a revision to the federally-approved State

Implementation Plan (SIP) and as a revision to the title V operating

permit program to be adopted by the Santa Barbara County Air Pollution

Control District (Santa Barbara, SBCAPCD, or District). The District

submitted this rule to EPA on August 11, 1997, and is scheduled to

adopt this rule on September 18, 1997, for the purpose of allowing

Department of Defense facilities to become exempt from title V of the

Clean Air Act permit requirements, if the source implements an emission

reduction plan that achieves a minimum reduction of 10 tons per year of

ozone precursors. Amended Rule 1301 also identifies 9 stationary source

designations for title V purposes that will apply to a DoD facility

that implements an approved emission reduction plan. It also allows the

exclusion of emissions from tactical support equipment and

infrastructure building maintenance equipment from the emissions used

to determine if an operating permit is required under District

Regulation XIII and title V of the Clean Air Act.

This proposed rule will create federally-enforceable requirements

for the emission reduction plan with specific project milestones for

DoD facilities to meet. The actual emission reduction plan will also be

submitted for incorporation into the SIP in a future rulemaking.

DATES: Comments on this proposed action must be received in writing by

October 3, 1997.

ADDRESSES: Comments must be submitted to John Walser at EPA, AIR-3, 75

Hawthorne Street, San Francisco, CA 94105. Copies of the rules and

EPA's Technical Support Document for the amended title V program and

prohibitory rule are available for public inspection during normal

business hours at the following locations:

Permits Office (AIR-3), Air Division, U.S. Environmental Protection

Agency, Region IX, 75 Hawthorne Street, San Francisco, CA 94105

Santa Barbara County Air Pollution Control District, 26 Castilian Drive

B-23, Goleta, CA 93117

California Air Resources Board, 2020 L Street, Sacramento, CA 95814

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: John Walser (telephone 415/744-1257),

Permits Office (AIR-3), Air Division, U.S. Environmental Protection

Agency, Region IX, 75 Hawthorne Street, San Francisco, CA 94105.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

On November 1, 1995, EPA published in the Federal Register a final

action of interim approval for Santa Barbara's title V operating

permits program (60 FR 55460) in accordance with title V of the Act (as

amended in 1990) and 40 CFR

[[Page 46452]]

part 70 (the title V implementing regulations). The District rules for

title V are contained in Regulation XIII of the District Rules and

Regulations. On August 15, 1996, Santa Barbara adopted revisions to

Rule 1301, ``Part 70 Operating Permits--General Information'' portion

of Regulation XIII. Rule 1301 is part of Regulation XIII. These

revisions apply to any source that qualifies as a Part 70 source and

meets the requirements for exclusion of military tactical support and/

or infrastructure building maintenance equipment at a Department of

Defense facility. In Santa Barbara County, only Vandenberg Air Force

Base (VAFB) meets these requirements. The revision enables VAFB to

comply with Rule 370, the District's prohibitory rule, which limits the

Base's potential to emit to below the title V applicability thresholds

and requires VAFB to reduce its annual emissions rate of ozone

precursors by at least 10 tons through the ENVVEST initiative. The rule

revision also includes emission reduction plan requirements and

milestones to be approved by the District and made federally-

enforceable by the EPA by incorporating the rule revisions into the SIP

for California, if EPA finds that the planned emission reductions are

real, quantifiable, surplus and enforceable.

ENVVEST is a pilot project pursuant to the 1995 Memorandum of

Agreement between the DoD and EPA on Regulatory Reinvention Projects

testing innovative approaches to environmental protection. ENVVEST

allows EPA and the DoD to develop new ways to achieve better overall

environmental performance at lower costs than expected under existing

regulatory approaches.

The emission reductions will be achieved through retrofits of

equipment (mostly boilers rated between 2 and 5 MMBtu/hr) currently

exempt from the permitting process. In lieu of obtaining a Part 70

permit, VAFB will commit to use its title V permitting funds to

implement an emission reduction plan to reduce ozone precursors at the

base by at least 10 tons per year by November 15, 2002.

The District is enabling VAFB to reprogram funds currently targeted

toward title V compliance to this pollution prevention project by

modifying the definition of stationary source to enable Department of

Defense (DoD) facilities (i.e., VAFB) to comply with Rule 370. This

proposed rule change also includes the project milestones as outlined

in the Vandenberg ENVVEST Final Project Agreement (FPA). The proposed

changes are consistent with EPA's August 2, 1996 Guidance Memorandum

entitled ``Major Source Determinations for Military Installations under

the Air Toxics, New Source Review, and Title V Operating Permit

Programs of the Clean Air Act (Act)'', signed by John S. Seitz,

Director, Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards (``Military

Guidance'').

The proposed changes also enable the source to exclude emissions

from equipment meeting the EPA definition of nonroad engines (see 59 FR

31310 dated June 17, 1994) for Department of Defense (DoD) facilities

that are participating in the EPA/DoD Environmental Investment

(ENVVEST) pilot project.

Also, the District, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) and

EPA are working together to ``parallel process'' this rule revision

consistent with the procedures outlined in 46 FR 44477 on September 4,

1981. EPA Region IX will work closely with CARB and the District as

they develop this regulation and proceed through the rulemaking

process. CARB, the District, and EPA will process this rule revision at

the same time and jointly review the comments. EPA will commence its

official 30-day public review of the proposed SIP approval of Rule 1301

through this document, which is nearly concurrent with the District's

30-day public notice for adoption of the rule. This parallel processing

approach will involve much earlier involvement of the EPA in the SIP

revision process and thereby reduce the amount of time for processing

significantly.

II. Proposed Action

The EPA is proposing to approve the submitted revisions to the

District's operating permits program and incorporate the submitted

revisions into the SIP for California. The District amended the August

15, 1996 adopted version of Rule 1301 and resubmitted it on August 11,

1997. The most recent revisions, scheduled for adoption on September

18, 1997 by Santa Barbara, are being made in order to allow VAFB

participation in the EPA/DoD proposed ENVVEST pilot project and are not

adopted in response to the program deficiencies identified by EPA in

the final interim approval action (60 FR 55460).

A. Analysis of Submission

The EPA has evaluated the submitted rule revision and has

determined that it is consistent with 40 CFR part 70, and the August 2,

1996 Military Guidance Memorandum. The following is a brief analysis of

the key regulatory revisions being acted on in today's proposed action.

(Please refer to the Technical Support Document for a more detailed and

complete analysis of the submission.)

1. Definition of Major Stationary Source

As defined in 40 CFR part 70.2, major source means any stationary

source (or any group of stationary sources that are located on one or

more contiguous or adjacent properties, and are under common control of

the same person (or persons under common control)) belonging to a

single major industrial grouping. A stationary source or group of

stationary sources shall be considered part of a single industrial

grouping if all of the pollutant emitting activities at such source or

group of sources on contiguous or adjacent properties belong to the

same Major Group (i.e., all have the same two-digit code) as described

in the Standard Industrial Classification Manual, 1987.

VAFB is the only DoD facility in Santa Barbara County that is

subject to the revisions of the stationary source definition in

District Rule 1301. At present the installation is defined as one major

stationary source. In accordance with EPA's Military Guidance

Memorandum and as part of the ENVVEST pilot project, the proposed

changes allow VAFB to be considered nine stationary sources and to

demonstrate that actual emissions for each source (each under separate

common control, not determined to be support facilities and have

different two-digit SIC codes) are less than 50 percent of the existing

major source threshold. For the purposes of the ENVVEST pilot project,

EPA has assumed worst case analysis for threshold levels and that Santa

Barbara County would be bumped-up from moderate to serious ozone

nonattaniment status, and therefore the major source threshold level

would drop from 100 tons/year (moderate) to 50 tons/year (serious).

EPA is proposing approval of the title V operating permit program

revisions submitted to EPA on August 11, 1997, both as part of the

District's title V program and into the SIP. These revisions do not

correct the deficiencies identified in the November 1, 1995 final

interim approval, and hence, do not impact Santa Barbara's interim

approval status.

Nothing in this action should be construed as permitting or

allowing or establishing a precedent for any future 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

[[Page 46453]]

relation to relevant statutory and regulatory requirements.

III. Administrative Requirements

A. Docket

Copies of Santa Barbara's submittal and other information relied

upon for the direct final actions are contained in docket number CA-

001-PP OPS maintained at the EPA Regional Office. The docket is an

organized and complete file of all the information submitted to, or

otherwise considered by, EPA in the development of this direct final

rulemaking. The docket is available for public inspection at the

location listed under the ADDRESSES section of this document.

B. Regulatory Flexibility Act

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

new requirements, but simply address revisions to Santa Barbara's

existing operating permits program that was 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.

C. Unfunded Mandates

Under Section 202 of the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995

(``Unfunded Mandates Act''), signed into law on March 22, 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. Under Section 205, 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 EPA to establish a plan

for informing and advising any small governments that may be

significantly or uniquely impacted by the rule.

EPA has determined that the approval action promulgated today 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

pre-existing requirements under state or local law, and imposes no new

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

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

action.

D. Executive Order 12866

The Office of Management and Budget has exempted this action from

review under Executive Order 12866.

List of Subjects

40 CFR Part 52

Environmental protection, air pollution control, Carbon monoxide,

Hydrocarbons, Incorporation by reference, Intergovernmental relations,

Lead, Nitrogen dioxide, Ozone, Particulate matter, Sulfur oxides,

Volatile organic compounds.

40 CFR Part 70

Environmental protection, Administrative practice and procedure,

Air pollution control, Hazardous substances, Intergovernmental

relations, Operating permits, and Reporting and recordkeeping

requirements.

Dated: August 22, 1997.

John Wise,

Regional Administrator.

[FR Doc. 97-23362 Filed 9-2-97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6560-50-P