Regulations of Fuels and Fuel Additives: Extension of the Reformulated Gasoline Program to the Phoenix, Arizona Moderate Ozone Nonattainment Area

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 80

[FRL-5708-9]

Regulations of Fuels and Fuel Additives: Extension of the

Reformulated Gasoline Program to the Phoenix, Arizona Moderate Ozone

Nonattainment Area

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of public hearing.

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SUMMARY: This document announces the time and place for a public

hearing regarding EPA's proposed rule to set an implementation date for

the Phoenix ozone nonattainment area to be a covered area for all

purposes in the federal reformulated gasoline (RFG) program. By letter

dated January 17, 1997, the Governor of the State of Arizona applied to

EPA to include the Phoenix moderate ozone nonattainment area in the

federal reformulated gasoline program (RFG). Pursuant to the Governor's

letter and the provisions of section 211(k)(6) of the Clean Air Act, on

February 18, 1997 EPA published in the Federal Register a Notice of

Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM ) (62 FR 7197). In the NPRM, EPA proposed to

apply the prohibitions of subsection 211(k)(5) to the Phoenix, Arizona

nonattainment area.

DATES: EPA will conduct a public hearing on the proposed rule from 8:00

a.m. until noon on March 18, 1997, in Phoenix, Arizona. Written

comments on this proposed rule will be accepted for 30 days following

the hearing, until April 17, 1997.

ADDRESSES: The public hearing will be held from 8:00 a.m. until noon at

the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality Public Hearing Room,

3033 North Central Avenue, Phoenix, Arizona 85012. If additional time

is needed to hear testimony, the hearing will continue from 1:00 until

5:00 p.m. in

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the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality Public Meeting Room,

3033 North Central Avenue, Phoenix, Arizona 85012. Materials relevant

to this document have been placed in Docket A-97-02. The docket is

located at the Air Docket Section, Mail Code 6102, U.S. Environmental

Protection Agency, 401 M Street, SW, Washington, DC 20460, in room M-

1500 Waterside Mall. Documents may be inspected from 8:00 a.m. to 5:30

p.m. A reasonable fee may be charged for copying docket material. An

identical docket is also located in EPA's Region IX office in Docket A-

AZ-97. The docket is located at 75 Hawthorne Street, AIR-2, 17th Floor,

San Francisco, California 94105. Documents may be inspected from 9:00

a.m. to noon and from 1:00-4:00 p.m. A reasonable fee may be charged

for copying docket material.

Written comments should be submitted (in duplicate, if possible) to

Air Docket Section, Mail Code 6102, U.S. Environmental Protection

Agency, 401 M Street, SW, Washington, DC 20460. A copy should also be

sent to Janice Raburn at U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office

of Air and Radiation, 401 M Street, SW (6406J), Washington, DC 20460. A

copy should also be sent to EPA Region IX, 75 Hawthorne Street, AIR-2,

17th Floor, San Francisco, CA 94105.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Janice Raburn at U.S. Environmental

Protection Agency Office of Air and Radiation, 401 M Street, SW

(6406J), Washington, DC 20460, (202) 233-9000.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: A copy of this notice is available on the

OAQPS Technology Transfer Network Bulletin Board System (TTNBBS) and on

the Office of Mobile Sources'' World Wide Web cite, http://www.epa.gov/

OMSWWW. The TTNBBS can be accessed with a dial-in phone line and a

high-speed modem (PH# 919-541-5742). The parity of your modem should be

set to none, the data bits to 8, and the stop bits to 1. Either a 1200,

2400, or 9600 baud modem should be used. When first signing on, the

user will be required to answer some basic informational questions for

registration purposes. After completing the registration process,

proceed through the following series of menus:

(M) OMS

(K) Rulemaking and Reporting

(3) Fuels

(9) Reformulated gasoline

A list of ZIP files will be shown, all of which are related to the

reformulated gasoline rulemaking process. Today's action will be in the

form of a ZIP file and can be identified by the following title:

OPTOUT.ZIP. To download this file, type the instructions below and

transfer according to the appropriate software on your computer:

ownload, rotocol, xamine, ew, ist, or elp

Selection or to exit: D filename.zip

You will be given a list of transfer protocols from which you must

choose one that matches with the terminal software on your own

computer. The software should then be opened and directed to receive

the file using the same protocol. Programs and instructions for de-

archiving compressed files can be found via ystems Utilities from

the top menu, under rchivers/de-archivers. Please note that due to

differences between the software used to develop the document and the

software into which the document may be downloaded, changes in format,

page length, etc. may occur.

Regulated entities. Entities potentially regulated by EPA's

proposal are those which produce, supply or distribute motor gasoline.

Regulated categories and entities include:

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Examples of regulated

Category entities

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Industry.................................. Petroleum refiners, motor

gasoline distributors and

retailers.

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This table is not intended to be exhaustive, but rather provides a

guide for readers regarding entities likely to be regulated by this

action. This table lists the types of entities that EPA is now aware

could potentially be regulated by this action. Other types of entities

not listed in the table could also be regulated. To determine whether

your business would be regulated under the proposed rule, you should

carefully examine the list of areas covered by the reformulated

gasoline program in Sec. 80.70 of title 40 of the Code of Federal

Regulations. If you have questions regarding the applicability of this

action to a particular entity, consult the person listed in the

preceding FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section.

I. Background and Discussion of Proposal

Under section 211(k)(6) of the Clean Air Act, as amended (Act), the

Administrator of EPA shall require the sale of reformulated gasoline in

an ozone nonattainment area classified as Marginal, Moderate, Serious,

or Severe upon the application of the governor of the state in which

the nonattainment area is located. The application of the prohibition

of section 211(k)(5) to the Phoenix ozone nonattainment area could take

effect no later than January 17, 1998 under section 211(k)(6)(A), which

stipulates that the effective program date must be no ``later than

January 1, 1995 or 1 year after [the Governor's] application is

received, whichever is later.'' For the Phoenix nonattainment area, EPA

could establish an effective date for the start of the RFG program

anytime up to this date. EPA considers that January 17, 1998 would be

the latest possible effective date, since EPA expects there to be

sufficient domestic capacity to produce RFG and therefore has no

current reason to extend the effective date beyond one year after

January 17, 1998. EPA stated in the proposal that it believes there is

adequate domestic capability to support the current demand for RFG

nationwide as well as the addition of the Phoenix area.

Although Sec. 211(k)(6) provides the Administrator discretion to

establish the effective date as she deems appropriate and allows EPA to

consider whether there is sufficient domestic capacity to produce RFG

in establishing the effective date, EPA does not have discretion to

deny a Governor's request. Therefore, the scope of EPA's proposal is

limited to setting an effective date for Phoenix's opt-in to the RFG

program and not to decide whether Phoenix should in fact opt in. For

this reason, EPA is only soliciting comments addressing the appropriate

implementation date and whether there is sufficient capacity to produce

RFG, and is not soliciting comments that support or oppose Phoenix

participating in the program. EPA also notes that comments regarding

Arizona's request for an RVP waiver under section 211(c)(4), EPA opt-

out procedures, or federal enforcement issues would not be relevant to

the limited scope of this rulemaking.

The Governor's request seeks an implementation date of June 1 for

the RFG program in the Phoenix area. However, pursuant to its

discretion to set an effective date under Sec. 211(k)(6), EPA proposed

two implementation dates. EPA proposed to apply the prohibitions of

subsection 211(k)(5) to the Phoenix, Arizona ozone nonattainment area

as of the effective date of the rule, or June 1, 1997 whichever is

later, for all persons other than retailers and wholesale purchaser-

consumers. This date applies to the refinery level and all other points

in the distribution system other than the retail level (i.e., refiners,

importers, and distributors). For retailers and wholesale purchaser-

consumers, EPA proposed to apply the prohibitions of subsection

211(k)(5) to the Phoenix, Arizona ozone

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nonattainment area 30 days after the effective date for the rule, or

July 1, 1997, whichever is later. As of the implementation date for the

various parties, this area will be treated as a covered area for all

purposes of the federal RFG program for the relevant parties. EPA asks

for comment on whether retailers and wholesale purchaser-consumers

believe they could comply with federal RFG in less than 30 days from

the effective date set for persons other than retailers and wholesale

purchaser-consumers.

On February 18, 1997, EPA also published a Direct Final Rule (62 FR

7164) setting an effective date for the Phoenix ozone nonattainment

area to be a covered area in the federal RFG program. Subsequent to

publication, EPA received several requests for a hearing from

interested parties. Thus, EPA will soon publish in the Federal Register

a notice to indicate the withdrawal of the Direct Final Rule.

II. Procedures for Public Participation

A. Comments and the Public Docket

The scope of EPA's proposal is limited to setting an effective date

for Phoenix's opt-in to the RFG program and not to decide whether

Phoenix should in fact opt in. For this reason, EPA is only soliciting

comments addressing the appropriate implementation date and whether

there is sufficient capacity to produce RFG, and is not soliciting

comments that support or oppose Phoenix participating in the program.

EPA also asks for comment on whether retailers and wholesale purchaser-

consumers believe they could comply with federal RFG in less than 30

days from the effective date set for persons other than retailers and

wholesale purchaser-consumers. EPA also notes that comments regarding

Arizona's request for an RVP waiver under section 211(c)(4), EPA opt-

out procedures, or federal enforcement issues would not be relevant to

the limited scope of this rulemaking.

Persons with comments containing proprietary information must

distinguish such information from other comments to the greatest extent

and label it as ``Confidential Business Information.'' If a person

making comments wants EPA to base the final rule in part on a

submission labeled as confidential business information, then a non-

confidential version of the document which summarizes the key data or

information should be placed in the public docket. Information covered

by a claim of confidentiality will be disclosed by EPA only to the

extent allowed by the procedures set forth in 40 CFR part 2. If no

claim of confidentiality accompanies the submission when it is received

by EPA, it may be made available to the public without further notice

to the person making comments.

B. Public Participation

Any person desiring to present testimony regarding this proposed

rule at the public hearing (see DATES) should notify the contact person

listed above of such intent as soon as possible. A sign-up sheet will

be available at the registration table the morning of the hearing for

scheduling testimony for those who have not notified the contact

person. This testimony will be scheduled on a first come, first serve

basis to follow the previously scheduled testimony.

EPA suggests that approximately 50 copies of the statement or

material to be presented be brought to the hearing for distribution to

the audience. In addition, EPA would find it helpful to receive an

advance copy of any statement or material to be presented at the

hearing in order to give EPA staff adequate time to review such

material before the hearing. Such advance copies should be submitted to

the contact person listed previously.

The official records of the hearing will be kept open for 30 days

following the hearing to allow submission of rebuttal and supplementary

testimony. All such submittals should be directed to the Air Docket,

Docket No. A-97-02 (see ADDRESSES).

Ms. Lori Stewart, Fuels Implementation Group Leader, Fuels and

Energy Division, Office of Mobile Sources, is hereby designated

Presiding Officer of the hearing. The hearing will be conducted

informally and technical rules of evidence will not apply. Because a

public hearing is designed to give interested parties an opportunity to

participate in the proceeding, there are no adversary parties as such.

Statements by participants will not be subject to cross examination by

other participants. A written transcript of the hearing will be placed

in the above docket for review. Anyone desiring to purchase a copy of

the transcript should make individual arrangements with the court

reporter recording the proceeding. The Presiding Officer is authorized

to strike from the record statements which she deems irrelevant or

repetitious and to impose reasonable limits on the duration of the

statement of any witness. EPA asks that persons who testify attempt to

limit their testimony to ten minutes, if possible. The Administrator

will base her decision with regard to Arizona's request on the record

of the public hearing and on any other relevant written submissions and

other pertinent information. This information will be available for

public inspection at the EPA Air Docket, Docket No. A-97-02 (see

ADDRESSES).

Dated: March 5, 1997.

Mary D. Nichols,

Assistant Administrator for Air and Radiation.

[FR Doc. 97-6216 Filed 3-11-97; 8:45 am]

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