# Approval and Promulgation of Implementation Plans; California State Implementation Plan Revision, Bay Area Air Quality Management District > Briefs, arguments, decisions, and more. URL: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/documents/fr%3A98-4011 ## Record - **Collection:** Federal Register - **Document type:** Rule - **Published:** February 18, 1998 - **Citation:** 63 FR 8126 ## Text ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY 40 CFR Part 52 [CA 179-0066; FRL-5963-1] Approval and Promulgation of Implementation Plans; California State Implementation Plan Revision, Bay Area Air Quality Management District AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). ACTION: Final rule. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- SUMMARY: EPA is finalizing the approval of a revision to the California State Implementation Plan (SIP) proposed in the Federal Register on December 8, 1997. The revision concerns a rule from the Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD). This approval action will incorporate this rule into the federally approved SIP. The intended effect of approving this rule is to regulate emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in accordance with the requirements of the Clean Air Act, as amended in 1990 (CAA or the Act). The revised rule controls VOC emissions from architectural coatings. Thus, EPA is finalizing the approval of this revision into the California SIP under provisions of the CAA regarding EPA action on SIP submittals, EPA's general rulemaking authority, plan submissions, and enforceability guidelines. EFFECTIVE DATE: This action is effective on March 20, 1998. ADDRESSES: Copies of the rule revisions and EPA's evaluation report for this rule is available for public inspection at EPA's Region IX office during normal business hours. Copies of the submitted rule revisions are available for inspection at the following locations: Rulemaking Office (AIR-4), Air Division, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region IX, 75 Hawthorne Street, San Francisco, CA 94105. Environmental Protection Agency, Air Docket (6102), 401 ``M'' Street, SW., Washington, DC 20460. [[Page 8127]] California Air Resources Board, Stationary Source Division, Rule Evaluation Section, 2020 ``L'' Street, Sacramento, CA 95812. Bay Area Air Quality Management District, 939 Ellis Street, San Francisco, 94109. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Yvonne Fong, Rulemaking Office, (AIR- 4), Air Division, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region IX, 75 Hawthorne Street, San Francisco, CA 94105, Telephone: (415) 744-1199. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: I. Applicability The rule being approved into the California SIP is BAAQMD Rule 8-3, Architectural Coatings. This rule was submitted by the California Air Resources Board to EPA on July 23, 1996. II. Background On December 8, 1997 in 62 FR 64543, EPA proposed to approve the BAAQMD's Rule 8-3, Architectural Coatings into the California SIP. Rule 8-3 was adopted by the BAAQMD on December 20, 1995 and was submitted by the California Air Resources Board to EPA on July 23, 1996. A detailed discussion of the background for this rule is provided in the proposed rulemaking cited above. EPA has evaluated the above rule for consistency with the requirements of the CAA and EPA regulations and EPA interpretation of these requirements as expressed in the various EPA policy guidance documents referenced in the proposed rulemaking cited above. EPA has found that the rule meets the applicable EPA requirements. A detailed discussion of the rule provisions and evaluation has been provided in 62 FR 64543 and in a technical support document (TSD) available at EPA's Region IX office (TSD dated November 10, 1997). III. Response to Public Comments A 30-day public comment period was provided in 62 FR 64543. EPA received no comments on the proposed rulemaking prior to the closing of the comment period on January 7, 1998. IV. EPA Action EPA is finalizing action to approve the above rule for inclusion into the California SIP. EPA is approving the submittal under section 110(k)(3) as meeting the requirements of section 110(a) of the CAA. This approval action will incorporate this rule into the federally approved SIP. The intended effect of approving this rule is to regulate emissions of VOCs in accordance with the requirements of the CAA. 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. V. Administrative Requirements A. Executive Order 12866 The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has exempted this regulatory action from E.O. 12866 review. B. Regulatory Flexibility Act 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 sections 110 and 301 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 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 Federal 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 Under 5 U.S.C. 801(a)(1)(A) as added by the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996, EPA submitted 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 General Accounting Office prior to publication of the rule in today's Federal Register. This rule is not a ``major rule'' as defined by 5 U.S.C. 804(2). E. 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 April 20, 1998. Filing a petition for reconsideration by the Administrator of this final rule 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, Hydrocarbons, Incorporation by reference, Intergovernmental relations, Ozone, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, Volatile organic compounds. Note: Incorporation by reference of the State Implementation Plan for the State of California was approved by the Director of the Federal Register on July 1, 1982. [[Page 8128]] Dated: January 23, 1998. Felicia Marcus, Regional Administrator, Region IX. Part 52, chapter I, title 40 of the Code of Federal Regulations 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 F--California 2. Section 52.220 is amended by adding paragraph (c)(239)(i)(E)(3) to read as follows: Sec. 52.220 Identification of plan. * * * * * (c) * * * (239) * * * (i) * * * (E) * * * (3) Rule 8-3, adopted on March 1, 1978, revised on December 20, 1995. * * * * * [FR Doc. 98-4011 Filed 2-17-98; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 6560-50-P --- Source: Frix Law Library, https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/documents/fr%3A98-4011. Public record. Not legal advice.