Approval and Promulgation of Implementation Plans; California State Implementation Plan Revision, South Coast Air Quality Management District

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[CA 207-156; FRL-6409-4]

Approval and Promulgation of Implementation Plans; California

State Implementation Plan Revision, South Coast Air Quality Management

District

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: EPA is finalizing the approval of revisions to the California

State Implementation Plan (SIP) proposed in the Federal Register on May

4, 1999. The revisions concern rules from the South Coast Air Quality

Management District (SCAQMD). This approval action will incorporate

these rules into the federally approved SIP. The intended effect of

approving these rules 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 rules control VOC

emissions from solvent cleaning and motor vehicle refinish coating

operations. Thus, EPA is finalizing the approval of these revisions

into the California SIP under provisions of the CAA regarding EPA

action on SIP submittals, SIPs for national primary and secondary

ambient air quality standards and plan requirements for nonattainment

areas.

EFFECTIVE DATE: This action is effective on September 13, 1999.

ADDRESSES: Copies of the revised rules and EPA's evaluation report for

each rule are available for public inspection at EPA's Region IX office

during normal business hours. Copies of the submitted revised rules 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

California Air Resources Board, Stationary Source Division, Rule

Evaluation Section, 2020 ``L'' Street, Sacramento, CA 95812

South Coast Air Quality Management District, 21865 Copley Drive,

Diamond Bar, CA 91765

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Andrew Steckel, Rulemaking Office,

(AIR-4), Air Division, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region IX,

75 Hawthorne Street, San Francisco, CA 94105, Telephone: (415) 744-

1185.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Applicability

The rules being approved into the California SIP include: SCAQMD

Rules 1151--Motor Vehicle and Mobile Equipment Non-Assembly Line

Coating Operations, and Rule 1171--Solvent Cleaning Operations. These

rules were submitted by the California Air Resources Board (CARB) to

EPA on March 10, 1998.

II. Background

On May 4, 1999 in 64 FR 23813, EPA proposed to approve the

following rules into the California SIP: SCAQMD's Rule 1151--Motor

Vehicle and Mobile Equipment Non-Assembly Line Coating Operations and

SCAQMD's Rule 1171--Solvent Cleaning Operations. Rule 1151 and 1171

were amended by SCAQMD on June 13, 1997. Both rules were submitted by

CARB to EPA on March 10, 1998. These rules were submitted in response

to EPA's 1988 SIP-Call and the CAA section 182(a)(2)(A) requirement

that nonattainment areas fix their reasonably available control

technology (RACT) rules for ozone in accordance with EPA guidance that

interpreted the requirements of the pre-amendment Act. A detailed

discussion of the background for each of the above rules and

nonattainment areas is provided in the NPRM cited above.

EPA has evaluated the above rules 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 NPRM(s) cited above. EPA has found that the

rules meet the applicable EPA requirements. A detailed discussion of

the rule provisions and evaluations has been provided in 64 FR 23774

and in technical support documents (TSDs) available at EPA's Region IX

office (TSDs dated July 1998, SCAQMD's Rules 1171 and 1151).

III. Response to Public Comments

A 30-day public comment period was provided in 64 FR 23774. EPA

received a comment from EPI Research (EPIR) regarding Rule 1171. EPIR

commented that they did not have accurate information from SCAQMD

during the rule making process and that lowered VOC and/or vapor

pressure limits of cleaning solvents would be difficult, if not

impossible to meet, or were not commercially available. For this reason

EPIR requested that EPA withhold approval of SCAQMD's Rule 1171 into

the California SIP. EPA has evaluated the information submitted by

California regarding Rule 1171 and determined that it fulfills the

procedural requirements of 40 CFR 51, Appendix V, including the

requirements of 2.1(f) public notice, (g) public hearing, and (h)

compilation of public comments and responses. Furthermore, under CAA

section 110(a)(2), EPA may not consider the economic or technological

feasibility of the provisions of the SCAQMD rule in approval of the SIP

revision. Union Electric v. EPA, 427 U.S. 246, 265-266 (1976). As noted

by the Supreme Court, it is the province of the State or local

authorities to determine whether or not to impose more stringent limits

that may require technology forcing. EPA must assess the SIP revision

on the basis of factors set forth in CAA section 110(a)(2) which

include reasonable notice and public hearings in the adoption process,

but does not provide for the disapproval of a rule in a SIP based upon

economic or technological infeasibility. For these reasons the comments

submitted do not affect the incorporation of SCAQMD's Rule 1171 into

the California SIP.

IV. EPA Action

EPA is finalizing action to approve the above rules for inclusion

into the California SIP. EPA is approving the submittal under section

110(k)(3) as meeting the requirements of section 110(a) and Part D of

the CAA. This approval action will incorporate these rules into the

federally approved SIP. The intended effect of approving these rules is

to regulate emissions of VOCs in

[[Page 44135]]

accordance with the requirements of the CAA.

V. Administrative Requirements

A. Executive Orders 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

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

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

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).

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 October 12, 1999. 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.

Dated: July 19, 1999.

David P. Howekamp,

Acting 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) (254)(i)(D)(2)

to read as follows:

Sec. 52.220 Identification of plan.

* * * * *

(c) * * *

(254) * * *

(i) * * *

(D) * * *

(2) Rule 1151, adopted on July 8, 1988 and amended on June 13,

1997, and Rule 1171, adopted on August 2, 1991 and amended on June 13,

1997.

* * * * *

[FR Doc. 99-21011 Filed 8-12-99; 8:45 am]

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