Approval and Promulgation of Air Quality Implementation Plans: Oregon

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[OR65-7280; FRL-5700-8]

Approval and Promulgation of Air Quality Implementation Plans:

Oregon

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Proposed rule.

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SUMMARY: EPA is proposing to approve a revision to the State of Oregon

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Implementation Plan. This revision establishes and requires a source-

specific Reasonably Available Control Technology (RACT) volatile

organic compound (VOC) emissions standard for PCC Structurals, Inc.,

Large Parts Campus, at 4600 SE Harney Drive, Portland, Oregon. This

action is being taken under Part D of the Clean Air Act.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before April 7, 1997.

ADDRESSES: Written comments should be addressed to: Montel Livingston,

SIP Manager, Office of Air Quality (OAQ-107), U. S. Environmental

Protection Agency (EPA), Region 10, 1200 Sixth Avenue, Seattle,

Washington, 98101. Copies of the documents relevant to this action are

available for public inspection during normal business hours at EPA

Region 10, Office of Air Quality, 1200 Sixth Avenue, Seattle,

Washington, 98101, and the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality,

811 S.W. Sixth Avenue, Portland, Oregon 97204-1390.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Denise Baker, Office of Air Quality

(OAQ-107), EPA, Region 10, 1200 Sixth Avenue, Seattle, Washington,

98101, phone (206) 553-8087.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

Section 172 (a)(2) and (b)(3) of the Clean Air Act (CAA), as

amended in 1977 (1977 Act), required sources of VOC to install, at a

minimum, RACT in order to reduce emissions of this pollutant. EPA has

defined RACT as the lowest emission limit that a particular source is

capable of meeting by the application of control technology that is

reasonably available, considering technological and economic

feasibility (44 FR 53761, September 17, 1979). EPA has developed

Control Technology Guidelines (CTGs) for the purpose of informing State

and local air pollution control agencies of air pollution control

techniques available for reducing emissions of VOC from various

categories of sources. Each CTG contains recommendations to the States

of what EPA calls the ``presumptive norm'' for RACT. This general

statement of agency policy is based on EPA's evaluation of the

capabilities of, and problems associated with, control technologies

currently used by facilities within individual source categories. EPA

has recommended that the States adopt requirements consistent with the

presumptive norm level.

On March 3, 1978, the entire Portland-Vancouver Interstate Air

Quality Maintenance Area was designated by EPA as a non-attainment area

for ozone. The Portland-Vancouver Interstate Air Quality Maintenance

Area contains the urbanized portions of three counties in Oregon

(Clackamas, Multnomah, and Washington) and one county (Clark) in the

State of Washington.

The 1977 Act required States to submit plans to demonstrate how

they would attain and maintain compliance with national ambient air

standards for those areas designated non-attainment. The 1977 Act

further required these plans to demonstrate compliance with primary

standards no later than December 31, 1982. An extension up to December

31, 1987, was possible if the State could demonstrate that, despite

implementation of all reasonably available control measures, the

December 31, 1982, date could not be met.

On October 7, 1982, EPA approved the Portland-Vancouver area ozone

attainment plan, including an extension of the attainment date to

December 31, 1987 (47 FR 44262).

On June 15, 1988, pursuant to Section 110(a)(2)(H) of the pre-

amended CAA, former EPA Regional Administrator Robie Russell notified

the State of Oregon by letter that the State Implementation Plan (SIP)

for the Portland-Vancouver area was substantially inadequate to provide

for timely attainment of the National Ambient Air Quality Standards

(NAAQS). In that letter, EPA identified specific actions needed to

correct deficiencies in State regulations to require RACT for sources

of VOC. When the CAA was amended in 1990, it required States to correct

deficiencies. In amended Section 182(a)(2)(A), Congress statutorily

adopted the requirement that ozone non-attainment areas fix their

deficient RACT rules for ozone. Areas designated non-attainment before

the effective date of the amendments, and which retained that

designation and were classified as marginal or above as of the

effective date, are required to meet the RACT fix-up requirement. Under

Section 182(a)(2)(A), States with such non-attainment areas were

mandated to correct their RACT requirements by May 15, 1991. The

corrected requirements were to be in compliance with Section 172(b), as

it existed before the amendments, and as that section was interpreted

in the pre-amendment guidance. The Portland part of the Portland-

Vancouver non-attainment area is classified as marginal. Therefore,

this area is subject to the RACT fix-up requirement and the May 15,

1991, deadline.

On May 15, 1991, the State of Oregon submitted Oregon

Administrative Rules (OAR) 340-22-100 through 340-22-220, General

Emission Standards for Volatile Organic Compounds, as an amendment to

the Oregon SIP. On September 29, 1993, EPA approved these revisions to

the Oregon SIP (58 FR 50848). Part of these amended rules included a

requirement for RACT for non-CTG sources.

On February 3, 1997, the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality

(ODEQ) submitted to EPA a proposed revision to its SIP. This proposed

revision was a draft source-specific revision to the State of Oregon

Clean Air Act Implementation Plan, OAR 340-020-0047, and was submitted

pursuant to 40 CFR 51.103.

The proposed revision consists of a RACT determination for PCC

Structurals, Inc., Large Parts Campus, at 4600 SE Harney Drive,

Portland, Oregon. This RACT determination establishes requirements that

are part of the Portland-Vancouver Air Quality Maintenance Plan which

EPA is proposing to approve in a separate action. As this RACT

determination is still in draft, ODEQ has requested that it be approved

through the parallel processing procedures contained in 40 CFR Part 51,

Appendix V.

The proposed RACT determination for PCC Structurals, Inc., would

modify existing operating permit #26-1867 by: 1) requiring (within one

year of approval of RACT determination by EPA) that PCC Structurals,

Inc., provide controls to reduce the VOC emissions from the Large Parts

Campus Steel and Titanium (LPC-S and LPC-T) investment casting

operations by a minimum of 90 percent; 2) requiring PCC Structurals,

Inc., to submit (within 90 days of EPA approval) to ODEQ a final

control strategy concerning the VOC emissions from the investment

casting operations. [This plan would include a schedule and dates of

the project interim steps leading up to compliance with 1, above.]; and

3) stipulating the method by which PCC Structurals, Inc., may

demonstrate compliance with 1, above. (For more information, see

conditions 12, 13, and 19 through 22, of addendum #2 to operating

permit #26-1867, issued by ODEQ.)

This Federal Register document proposes to approve these permit

conditions as amendments to the SIP. EPA is soliciting public comments

on the issues discussed in this notice or on other relevant matters.

These comments will be considered before taking final action.

Interested parties may participate in the Federal rule-making

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procedure by submitting written comments to the EPA Regional Office

listed in the ADDRESSES section of this notice.

This revision is being proposed under a procedure called parallel

processing, whereby EPA proposes rule-making action concurrently with

the State's procedures for amending its regulations. If the proposed

revision is substantially changed in areas other than those identified

in this notice, EPA will evaluate those changes and may publish another

notice of proposed rule-making. If no substantial changes are made

other than those areas cited in this notice, ODEQ will publish a Final

Rule-making Notice on the revisions. The final rule-making action by

EPA will occur only after the SIP revision has been adopted by ODEQ and

submitted formally to EPA for incorporation into the SIP.

Proposed Action

EPA is proposing to approve the revisions to the State of Oregon

Implementation Plan submitted on February 3, 1997, that establish RACT

requirements for PCC Structurals, Inc. EPA is proposing this rule-

making action concurrently with the State's procedures for amending its

regulations. EPA will take final action on this proposal after ODEQ

submits its RACT determination to EPA for approval.

Nothing in this action should be construed as permitting or

allowing or establishing a precedent for any future request for

revision to any SIP. Each request for revision to the SIP shall be

considered separately in light of specific technical, economic, and

environmental factors and in relation to relevant statutory and

regulatory requirements.

III. 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, EPA Assistant

Administrator for Air and Radiation. The Office of Management and

Budget (OMB) has exempted this regulatory action from E.O. 12866

review.

B. 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.

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

Clean Air 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, the

Administrator certifies 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 CAA, preparation of a flexibility

analysis would constitute Federal inquiry into the economic

reasonableness of State action. The Clean Air Act forbids EPA to base

its actions concerning SIPs on such grounds. Union Electric Co. v. U.S.

EPA, 427 U.S. 246, 255-66 (1976); 42 U.S.C. 7410(a)(2).

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 on by the rule.

EPA has determined that the approval action proposed 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

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

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

The Administrator's decision to approve the SIP revision will be

based on whether it meets the requirements of section 110(a)(2) (A)-(K)

and part D of the Clean Air Act, as amended, and EPA regulations in 40

CFR Part 51.

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 52

Environmental protection, Air pollution control, Ozone, Reporting

and recordkeeping requirements.

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

Dated: February 27, 1997.

Charles E. Findley,

Acting Regional Administrator.

[FR Doc. 97-5873 Filed 3-6-97; 8:45 am]

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