Findings of Significant Contribution and Rulemakings on Section 126 Petitions and Federal Implementation Plans for Purposes of Reducing Interstate Ozone Transport

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Parts 52, 97 and 98

[FRL-6170-4]

Findings of Significant Contribution and Rulemakings on Section

126 Petitions and Federal Implementation Plans for Purposes of Reducing

Interstate Ozone Transport

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking (NPR); availability of proposed

rule text, request for comment, and public hearing.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with section 126 of the Clean Air Act (CAA), EPA

is proposing action on eight petitions filed individually by eight

Northeastern States seeking to mitigate what they describe as

significant transport of one of the main precursors of ground-level

ozone, nitrogen oxides (NOX), across State boundaries. Each

petition specifically requests that EPA make a finding that

NOX emissions from certain stationary sources significantly

contribute to ozone nonattainment problems in the petitioning State.

As described in a longer, more detailed section 126 proposed

rulemaking entitled, ``Findings of Significant Contribution and

Rulemaking on Section 126 Petitions for Purposes of Reducing Interstate

Ozone Transport'' (hereafter referred to as the longer section 126

NPR), which was signed at the same time as this NPR, EPA is proposing

to find that portions of certain petitions are technically meritorious

under the test applicable under section 126. The EPA is proposing that

the technically meritorious portions of the petitions be deemed granted

or denied at certain later dates pending certain actions by the States

and EPA regarding State submittals in response to the final

NOX State implementation plan call (NOX SIP call)

that EPA is issuing. The longer section 126 NPR describes the schedule

and conditions under which applicable final findings on the petitions

would be automatically triggered and proposes the control requirements

that would apply to sources in the source categories for which a final

finding is ultimately granted. The EPA is also proposing to deny

certain petitions, in whole or in part. The longer section 126 NPR,

which includes the statement of basis and purpose for the section 126

rulemaking proposal, is included in the rulemaking docket and will be

published shortly in the Federal Register.

In accordance with section 110(c) of the CAA, EPA is also proposing

Federal implementation plans (FIPs) that may be needed if any State

fails to revise its SIP to comply with the final NOX SIP

call. The final NOX SIP call includes emissions budgets

which reflect elimination of specified amounts of NOX

emissions for the purposes of reducing NOX and ozone

transport in the eastern half of the Nation.

As described in a longer, more detailed FIP NPR entitled, ``Federal

Implementation Plans to Reduce Regional Transport of Ozone'' (hereafter

referred to as the longer FIP NPR), which was signed at the same time

as this NPR, if a State fails to respond to the NOX SIP call

by not adopting and submitting to EPA a complete SIP revision by

September 24, 1999, EPA intends to take final rulemaking action on the

FIP immediately thereafter. In addition, if a State submits a SIP that

EPA does not find approvable, EPA intends to promulgate a FIP

concurrently with finalization of its disapproval of the SIP. The

longer FIP NPR, which includes the statement of basis and purpose for

the FIP rulemaking action, is included in the rulemaking docket and

will be published shortly in the Federal Register.

This short proposal on the section 126 petitions and FIPs announces

the availability of the longer section 126 and FIP NPRs, which include

regulatory text, requests comments on the short and long proposals, and

announces the public hearing dates.

DATES: The EPA is establishing a 60-day comment period for the section

126 and the FIP NPRs, ending on November 30, 1998. Comments must be

postmarked by the last day of the comment period and sent directly to

the Docket Office listed in ADDRESSES (in duplicate form if possible).

The public hearings for the section 126 and FIP proposals will be held

on October 28 and 29, 1998 in Washington, DC. Please refer to

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION for additional information on the comment

period and public hearing.

ADDRESSES: Comments may be submitted to the Air and Radiation Docket

and Information Center (6102), Attention: Docket No. A-97-43 for the

section 126 proposal and Docket No. A-98-12 for the FIP proposal, U.S.

Environmental Protection Agency, 401 M Street SW, room M-1500,

Washington, DC 20460, telephone (202) 260-7548. Comments and data may

also be submitted electronically by following the instructions under

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION of this document. No confidential business

information (CBI) should be submitted through e-mail.

The public hearings will be held at the EPA Auditorium, 401 M St.,

SW., Washington, DC.

Documents relevant to this action are available for inspection at

the Docket Office, at the above address, between 8:00 a.m. and 4:00

p.m., Monday though Friday, excluding legal holidays. A reasonable

copying fee may be charged for copying.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: General questions concerning the

section 126 proposal should be addressed to Carla Oldham, Office of Air

Quality Planning and Standards, Air Quality Strategies and Standards

Division, MD-15, Research Triangle Park, NC, 27711, telephone (919)

541-3347.

[[Page 52214]]

General questions concerning the FIP proposal should be addressed

to Doug Grano, Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards, Air

Quality Strategies and Standards Division, MD-15, Research Triangle

Park, NC, 27711, telephone (919) 541-3292.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Public Hearing

The EPA will conduct public hearings on the section 126 and FIP

proposals on October 28-29, 1998 beginning at 9:00 am. The public

hearings will be held at the EPA Auditorium at 401 M Street SW,

Washington, DC, 20460. The metro stop is Waterfront which is on the

green line. Persons planning to present oral testimony at the hearings

should notify JoAnn Allman, Office of Air Quality Planning and

Standards, Air Quality Strategies and Standards Division, MD-15,

Research Triangle Park, NC 27711, telephone (919) 541-1815 no later

than October 21, 1998. Oral testimony will be limited to 5 minutes

each. Any member of the public may file a written statement before,

during, or by the close of the comment period. Written statements

(duplicate copies preferred) should be submitted to the relevant docket

at the above address. The hearing schedules, including lists of

speakers, will be posted on EPA's webpage at http://www.epa.gov/

airlinks prior to the hearing. Verbatim transcripts of the hearings and

written statements will be made available for copying during normal

working hours at the Air and Radiation Docket and Information Center at

the above address.

Availability of Related Information

The official records for the section 126 and FIP rulemakings, as

well as the public versions (including comments and data submitted

electronically as described below), have been established under Docket

No. A-97-43 for the section 126 action and Docket No. A-98-12 for the

FIP action. The public versions of these records, including printed,

paper versions of electronic comments, which do not include any

information claimed as CBI, are available for inspection from 8 a.m. to

4 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding legal holidays. The official

rulemaking records are located at the address in ADDRESSES at the

beginning of this document. Electronic comments can be sent directly to

EPA at: A-and-R-D[email protected]. Electronic comments must be

submitted as an ASCII file avoiding the use of special characters and

any form of encryption. Comments and data will also be accepted on

disks in WordPerfect in 5.1 file format or ASCII file format. All

comments and data in electronic form must be identified by the

appropriate docket number. Electronic comments on the proposals may be

filed online at many Federal Depository Libraries.

The longer section 126 NPR and longer FIP NPR are contained in

their respective rulemaking dockets, are currently available on EPA's

Website at http://www.epa.gov/ttn/oarpg under ``recent actions'' and

``actions sorted by CAA title'' (under title I) and will be published

shortly in the Federal Register.

Documents related to the NOX SIP call rulemaking,

formally entitled ``Finding of Significant Contribution and Rulemaking

for Certain States in the Ozone Transport Assessment Group Region for

Purposes of Reducing Regional Transport of Ozone,'' are available for

inspection in Docket No. A-96-56 at the address and times given above.

In addition, associated documents are located at http://www.epa.gov/

ttn/oarpg/otagsip.html. The NOX SIP call docket contains

information and analyses that are relied upon in the proposals on the

section 126 petitions and FIP. Therefore, EPA is including by reference

the entire NOX SIP call docket for purposes of both the

section 126 and FIP rulemakings. Although EPA is including by reference

the entire NOX SIP call docket, the only portions that form

the basis for the FIP rulemaking are the portions that address

feasibility and cost effectiveness of control measures and the

projection of emissions reductions that various control measures would

achieve.

Relationship Between Short and Long Proposals

In order to meet the publication deadline for the proposal on the

section 126 petitions, as set forth in a proposed consent decree, EPA

is publishing this short section 126 NPR at this time. A longer, more

detailed version of the proposal was signed by the Administrator at the

same time as this short NPR. The longer section 126 NPR includes a

detailed preamble describing the proposed requirements, addresses the

administrative requirements, and provides the proposed regulatory text.

The longer section 126 NPR will take more time to process for

publication. However, it is currently publicly available in the

rulemaking docket and on EPA's web site at the address given above.

The EPA is publishing this short proposal for the FIP in order to

meet timing requirements that will allow EPA to hold the FIP public

hearing in conjunction with the section 126 public hearing. The EPA

believes this is important because both actions rely on the same

proposed Federal NOX Budget Trading Program as a control

remedy. A longer, more detailed version of the FIP proposal was signed

by the Administrator at the same time as the short FIP NPR. The longer

FIP NPR includes a detailed preamble describing the proposed

requirements, addresses the administrative requirements, and provides

the proposed regulatory text. It is also currently publicly available

in its docket and on EPA's website given above.

List of Subjects

40 CFR Part 52

Environmental protection, Air pollution control, Emissions trading,

Nitrogen oxides, Ozone transport, Reporting and recordkeeping

requirements.

40 CFR Part 97

Environmental protection, Air pollution control, Emissions trading,

Nitrogen oxides, Ozone transport, Reporting and recordkeeping

requirements.

40 CFR Part 98

Environmental protection, Air pollution control, Emissions trading,

Nitrogen oxides, Ozone transport, Reporting and recordkeeping

requirements.

Dated: September 24, 1998.

Carol M. Browner,

Administrator.

[FR Doc. 98-26161 Filed 9-29-98; 8:45 am]

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