Approval and Promulgation of Air Quality Implementation Plans; Maryland; Amendments to VOC Regulations for Dry Cleaning and Stage I Vapor Recovery

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[MD 061-3028a, MD 065-3028a; FRL-6148-1]

Approval and Promulgation of Air Quality Implementation Plans;

Maryland; Amendments to VOC Regulations for Dry Cleaning and Stage I

Vapor Recovery

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Direct final rule.

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SUMMARY: EPA is approving two State Implementation Plan (SIP) revisions

submitted by the State of Maryland. The first revision amends

Maryland's dry cleaning regulation such that its volatile organic

compound (VOC) requirements no longer apply to dry cleaning operations

using perchloroethylene. The second revision amends Maryland's Stage I

Vapor Recovery regulation such that it is no longer applicable to

gasoline storage tanks with a capacity of less than 2000 gallons. The

intended effect of this action is to approve these revisions to

Maryland's SIP in accordance with the Clean Air Act (the Act).

DATES: This final rule is effective November 2, 1998 unless within

October 2, 1998, adverse or critical comments are received. If EPA

receives such comment, EPA will publish a timely withdrawal in the

Federal Register informing the public that this rule will not take

effect.

ADDRESSES: Comments may be mailed to David L. Arnold, Chief, Ozone and

Mobile Sources Branch, Mailcode 3AP21, U.S. Environmental Protection

Agency, Region III, 1650 Arch Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19103.

Copies of the documents relevant to this action are available for

public inspection during normal business hours at the Air Protection

Division, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region III, 1650 Arch

Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19103; the Air and Radiation Docket

and Information Center, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 401 M

Street, SW, Washington, DC 20460; and the Maryland Department of the

Environment, 2500 Broening Highway, Baltimore, Maryland 21224.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Carolyn M. Donahue, (215) 814-2095, or

by e-mail at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

On February 6, 1998, the Maryland Department of the Environment

(MDE) submitted two formal revisions to its State Implementation Plan

(SIP). The first SIP revision amends COMAR 26.11.19.12: Control of VOCs

from Dry Cleaning Installations such that its VOC control requirements

no longer apply to dry cleaning operations using perchloroethylene. EPA

has determined that the compound perchloroethylene has minimal

photochemical reactivity and, therefore, does not contribute

significantly to the formation of ground level ozone. The second SIP

revision amends COMAR 26.11.13.04: Control of VOCs from Gasoline

Storage/Loading Operations such that it no longer applies to gasoline

storage tanks with a capacity of less than 2000 gallons.

II. Summary of the SIP Revisions

COMAR 26.11.19.12: Control of VOCs From Dry Cleaning Installations

In revising this regulation, Maryland removed the VOC requirements

for dry cleaning operations using perchloroethylene. EPA has determined

that perchloroethylene is not a compound which significantly

contributes to the formation of ground level ozone (61 FR 4588,

February 7, 1996). This revision removes sections B(1), C, D from COMAR

26.11.19.12 and renumbers the remaining sections accordingly. Dry

cleaners that use perchloroethylene are still subject to state and

federal toxic and hazardous air pollutant requirements.

COMAR 26.11.13.04: Control of VOCs From Gasoline Storage/Loading

Operations

Maryland amended this regulation to eliminate the Stage I Vapor

Recovery requirements for gasoline storage tanks with a capacity of

less than 2000 gallons. Through a survey conducted in August 1995 of

Maryland service stations, MDE concluded that less than 2% of the total

gasoline throughput was from tanks with a capacity between 250 and 2000

gallons. This revision removes sections C(1)(b), C(2), and C(4) and

renumbers the remaining sections accordingly.

EPA is approving this rule without prior proposal because the

Agency views these as noncontroversial amendments and anticipates no

adverse comments. However, in the proposed rules section of this

Federal Register publication, EPA is publishing a separate document

that will serve as the proposal to approve the SIP revisions should

adverse or critical comments be filed. This rule will be effective

November 2, 1998 without further notice unless the Agency receives

relevant adverse comments by October 2, 1998.

If EPA receives such comments, then EPA will publish a document

withdrawing the final rule and informing the public that the rule will

not take effect. All public comments received will then be addressed in

a subsequent final rule based on the proposed rule. EPA will not

institute a second comment period on this rule. 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 rule will be

effective on November 2, 1998 and no further action will be taken on

the proposed rule. If adverse comments are received that do not pertain

to both approval actions taken in this rule, the action not affected by

the adverse comments will be finalized in the manner described here.

Only those actions which receive adverse comments will be withdrawn in

the manner described here.

III. Final Actions

EPA is approving revisions to COMAR 26.11.19.12: Control of VOCs

from Dry Cleaning Installations. EPA is also approving the revisions to

COMAR 26.11.13.04: Control of VOCs from Gasoline Storage/Loading

Operations.

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.

[[Page 46663]]

IV. Administrative Requirements

A. Executive Order 12866 and 13045

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has exempted this

regulatory action from E.O. 12866 review. The final rule is not subject

to E.O. 13045, entitled ``Protection of Children from Environmental

Health Risks and Safety Risks,'' because it is not an ``economically

significant'' action under E.O. 12866.

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 EPA

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 Act, 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

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 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.

D. Submission to Congress and the General Accounting Office

The Congressional Review Act, 5 U.S.C. 801 et seq., as added by the

Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996, generally

provides that before a rule may take effect, the agency promulgating

the rule must submit a rule report, which includes a copy of the rule,

to each House of the Congress and to the Comptroller General of the

United States. EPA will submit 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 United States prior

to publication of the rule in the Federal Register. This rule is not a

``major rule'' as defined by 5 U.S.C. 804(2).

Petitions for Judicial Review

Under section 307(b)(1) of the Clean Air Act, petitions for

judicial review of this action must be filed in the United States Court

of Appeals for the appropriate circuit by November 2, 1998. Filing a

petition for reconsideration by the Administrator of this final rule

approving revisions to two of Maryland's VOC revisions 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 52

Environmental protection, Air pollution control, Incorporation by

reference, Intergovernmental relations, Ozone, Reporting and record

keeping requirements.

Dated: August 11, 1998.

W. Michael McCabe,

Regional Administrator, Region III.

40 CFR part 52 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 et seq.

Subpart V--Maryland

2. Section 52.1070 is amended by adding paragraphs (c)(131) and

(132) to read as follows:

Sec. 52.1070 Identification of plan.

* * * * *

(c) * * *

(131) Revisions to the Maryland State Implementation Plan submitted

on February 6, 1998 by the Maryland Department of the Environment:

(i) Incorporation by reference.

(A) Letter of February 6, 1998 from the Maryland Department of the

Environment transmitting revisions to Maryland's State Implementation

Plan, pertaining to volatile organic compounds in Maryland's air

quality regulations, Code of Maryland Administrative Regulations

(COMAR) 26.11.

(B) Revision to COMAR 26.11.19.12: Control of Volatile Organic

Compound Emissions from Dry Cleaning Installations, adopted by the

Secretary of the Environment on August 18, 1997, and effective on

September 22, 1997, including the following:

(1) Deletion of COMAR 26.11.19.12.B(1), pertaining to

perchloroethylene dry cleaner installations applicability.

(2) Deletion of COMAR 26.11.19.12.C, Equipment Specifications and

Emission Standards--Perchloroethylene Dry Cleaning Installations.

(3) Deletion of COMAR 26.11.19.12.D, Determination of Compliance--

Perchloroethylene Dry Cleaning Installations.

(ii) Additional Material--Remainder of February 6, 1998 State

submittal pertaining to COMAR 26.11.19.12 Control of Volatile Organic

Compound Emissions from Dry Cleaning Installations

(132) Revisions to the Maryland State Implementation Plan submitted

on February 6, 1998 by the Maryland Department of the Environment:

(i) Incorporation by reference.

(A) Letter of February 6, 1998 from the Maryland Department of the

Environment transmitting revisions to Maryland's State Implementation

Plan, pertaining to volatile organic

[[Page 46664]]

compounds in Maryland's air quality regulations, Code of Maryland

Administrative Regulations (COMAR) 26.11.

(B) Revision to COMAR 26.11.13.04: Control of Gasoline and Volatile

Organic Compound Storage and Handling from Loading Operations, adopted

by the Secretary of the Environment on July 18, 1997, and effective on

August 11, 1997, including the following:

(1) Deletion of COMAR 26.11.13.04.C(1)(b), pertaining to the

applicability of this regulation to gasoline storage tanks with a

capacity greater than 250 gallons and less than 2000 gallons.

(2) Deletion of COMAR 26.11.13.04.C(2), Exemptions.

(3) Deletion of COMAR 26.11.13.04.C(4), Effective Date of Stage I

Requirement for Certain Sources.

(ii) Additional material--Remainder of February 6, 1998 State

submittal pertaining to COMAR 26.11.13.04 Control of Gasoline and

Volatile Organic Compound Storage and Handling from Loading Operations.

[FR Doc. 98-23326 Filed 9-1-98; 8:45 am]

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