Public Hearing for Findings of Significant Contribution and Rulemaking on Section 126 Petitions for Purposes of Reducing Interstate Ozone Transport, Technical Correction, and Notice of Availability of Additional Technical Documents

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[FRL-6306-7]

Public Hearing for Findings of Significant Contribution and

Rulemaking on Section 126 Petitions for Purposes of Reducing Interstate

Ozone Transport, Technical Correction, and Notice of Availability of

Additional Technical Documents

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Supplemental notice of proposed rulemaking; announcement of

public hearing.

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SUMMARY: The EPA is announcing that it will hold a public hearing on

March 12, 1999, if a hearing is requested, on a supplemental notice of

proposed rulemaking (SNPR) on petitions submitted under section 126 of

the Clean Air Act. The EPA will not hold a public hearing if one is not

requested by March 9, 1999. The SNPR was signed on the same day as this

notice, made immediately available to the public on EPA's website at

http://www.epa.gov/airlinks, and will be published shortly in the

Federal Register.

In the SNPR, EPA is proposing action on recent requests from Maine

and New Hampshire which ask EPA to now make findings of significant

contribution under the 8-hour ozone standard regarding sources named in

their August 1997 section 126 petitions. The EPA has previously

proposed action on the petitions from these States with respect to the

1-hour ozone standard as part of a proposal on eight petitions that

were submitted individually by eight Northeastern States (63 FR 52213,

September 30, 1998; and 63 FR 56292, October 21, 1998). The SNPR

supplements that proposal.

DATES: A public hearing on the section 126 SNPR will be held on March

12, 1999 in Washington, DC, if requested by March 9. The comment period

on the SNPR ends on April 11, 1999. 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). Please refer to

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION for additional information on the comment

period and public hearing.

ADDRESSES: The public hearing, if there is one, will be held at the EPA

Auditorium at 401 M Street SW, Washington, DC, 20460.

Comments may be submitted to the Air and Radiation Docket and

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

Documents relevant to this action are available for inspection at

the Docket Office, at the above address, between 8:00 a.m. and 5:30

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

copying fee may be charged for copying.

[[Page 10266]]

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Questions concerning the public

hearing should be directed to JoAnn Allman at the address given below

under SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION. Questions concerning the SNPR 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, email at

[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Public Hearing

The EPA will conduct a public hearing on the section 126 SNPR on

March 12, 1999 beginning at 10:00 a.m., if requested by March 9, 1999.

The EPA will not hold a hearing if one is not requested. Please check

EPA's webpage at http://www.epa.gov/airlinks on March 10, 1999 for the

announcement of whether the hearing will be held. If there is a

hearing, it 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, email

[email protected] no later than March 9, 1999. 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 Docket No. A-97-43 at the above address. The hearing

schedule, including lists of speakers, will also be posted on EPA's

webpage at http://www.epa.gov/airlinks prior to the hearing. A verbatim

transcript of the hearing, if held, 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 record for this rulemaking, as well as the public

version, has been established under docket number A-97-43 (including

comments and data submitted electronically as described below). A

public version of this record, including printed, paper versions of

electronic comments, which does not include any information claimed as

CBI, is available for inspection from 8:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., Monday

through Friday, excluding legal holidays. The official rulemaking

record is 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 5.1/6.1 file format or ASCII file format. All comments

and data in electronic form must be identified by the docket number A-

97-43. Electronic comments on the SNPR may be filed online at many

Federal Depository Libraries.

Dated: February 25, 1999.

John Seitz,

Director, Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards.

[FR Doc. 99-5232 Filed 3-2-99; 8:45 am]

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