

[Federal Register: December 29, 2006 (Volume 71, Number 250)]
[Proposed Rules]               
[Page 78392-78394]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr29de06-21]                         


[[Page 78392]]

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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 63

[EPA-HQ-OAR-2004-0357; FRL-8264-3]
RIN 2060-AO03

 
National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants: 
Shipbuilding and Ship Repair (Surface Coating) Operations

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Proposed rule.

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SUMMARY: On December 15, 1995, EPA issued national emission standards 
for hazardous air pollutants (NESHAP) under section 112 of the Clean 
Air Act for shipbuilding and ship repair (surface coating) operations 
(subpart II). The NESHAP requires existing and new major sources to 
control emissions of hazardous air pollutants to the extent achievable 
by the use of maximum achievable control technology. The proposal is 
intended to close an unintended gap in the scope of activities subject 
to the NESHAP by amending the definition of ``ship'' to include all 
marine or fresh-water vessels that are either (1) 20 meters or more in 
length regardless of the purpose for which the vessel is constructed or 
used, or (2) less than 20 meters in length and designed and built 
specifically for military or commercial purposes. All shipbuilding and 
ship repair coating operations performed on ``ships,'' as so defined, 
are subject to subpart II if they take place at an ``affected source,'' 
as defined in 40 CFR 63.782. The only exception is that this NESHAP 
shall not be construed to apply to coating activities that are subject 
to emission limitations or work practices under the NESHAP for boat 
manufacturing at 40 CFR part 63, subpart VVVV. We have also added a 
definition of ``commercial'' to clarify the types of nonmilitary 
vessels less than 20 meters that we consider to be ships. The amended 
definition of ``ship'' renders the term ``pleasure craft'' unnecessary 
and the amendments, therefore, eliminate the use of that term in 40 CFR 
part 63, subpart II.

DATES: Comments. Written comments must be received on or before January 
29, 2007 unless a public hearing is requested by January 8, 2007. If a 
public hearing is requested, written comments must be received on or 
before February 12, 2007.
    Public Hearing. If anyone contacts EPA requesting to speak at a 
public hearing, a public hearing will be held on January 16, 2007.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-
OAR-2002-0093, by one of the following methods:
     http://www.regulations.gov: Follow the online instructions 

for submitting comments.
     E-mail: 
a-and-r-docket@epa.gov and serageldin.mohamed@epa.gov.


     Fax: (202) 566-1741 and (919) 541-3470.
     Mail: U.S. Postal Service, send comments to: Air and 
Radiation Docket (6102T), 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 
20460. Please include a total of two copies.
     Hand Delivery: In person or by courier, deliver comments 
to: Air and Radiation Docket (6102T), EPA West, Room B-102, 1301 
Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20004. Such deliveries are 
only accepted during the Docket's normal hours of operation, and 
special arrangements should be made for deliveries of boxed 
information. Please include a total of two copies.
    We request that you also send a separate copy of each comment to 
the contact person listed below (see FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT).
    Instructions: Direct your comments to Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-
2004-0357, (Legacy No. A-92-11). EPA's policy is that all comments 
received will be included in the public docket without change and may 
be made available online at http://www.regulations.gov, including any 

personal information provided, unless the comment includes information 
claimed to be confidential business information (CBI) or other 
information whose disclosure is restricted by statute. Do not submit 
information that you consider to be CBI or otherwise protected through 
http://www.regulations.gov or e-mail. Send or deliver information identified 

as CBI only to the following address: Mr. Roberto Morales, OAQPS 
Document Control Officer, EPA (C404-02), Attention Docket ID No. EPA-
HQ-OAR-2004-0357, (Legacy No. A-92-11), Research Triangle Park, NC 
27711. Clearly mark the part or all of the information that you claim 
to be CBI.
    The http://www.regulations.gov Web site is an ``anonymous access'' system, 

which means EPA will not know your identity or contact information 
unless you provide it in the body of your comment. If you send an e-
mail comment directly to EPA without going through http://www.regulations.gov, 

your e-mail address will be automatically captured and included as part 
of the comment that is placed in the public docket and made available 
on the Internet. If you submit an electronic comment, EPA recommends 
that you include your name and other contact information in the body of 
your comment with any disk or CD-ROM you submit. If EPA cannot read 
your comment due to technical difficulties and cannot contact you for 
clarification, EPA may not be able to consider your comment. Electronic 
files should avoid the use of special characters, any form of 
encryption, and be free of any defects or viruses. For additional 
information about EPA's public docket, visit the EPA Docket Center 
homepage at http://www.epa.gov/epahome/dockets.htm.

    Docket. All documents in the docket are listed in the 
http://www.regulations.gov index. Although listed in the index, some 

information is not publicly available, e.g., CBI or other information 
whose disclosure is restricted by statute. Certain other material, such 
as copyrighted material, will be publicly available only in hard copy. 
Publicly available docket materials are available either electronically 
in http://www.regulations.gov or in hard copy at the Air and Radiation Docket, 

Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2002-0093, EPA West, Room B-102, 1301 
Constitution Ave., NW., Washington, DC. The Public Reading Room is open 
from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding legal 
holidays. The telephone number for the Public Reading Room is (202) 
566-1744, and the telephone number for the EPA Docket Center is (202) 
566-1742.

    NOTE: The EPA Docket Center suffered damage due to flooding 
during the last week of June 2006. The Docket Center is continuing 
to operate. However, during the cleanup, there will be temporary 
changes to Docket Center telephone numbers, addresses, and hours of 
operation for people who wish to make hand deliveries or visit the 
Public Reading Room to view documents. Consult EPA's Federal 
Register notice at 71 FR 38147 (July 5, 2006) or the EPA Web site at 
http://www.epa.gov/epahome/dockets.htm for current information on 

docket operations, locations, and telephone numbers. The Docket 
Center's mailing address for U.S. mail and the procedure for 
submitting comments to http://www.regulations.gov are not affected by the 

flooding and will remain the same.

    Public Hearing. If a public hearing is held, it will be held at 10 
a.m. at the EPA's Environmental Research Center Auditorium, Research 
Triangle Park, NC, or at an alternate site nearby.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For further information contact Dr. 
Mohamed Serageldin, EPA, Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards, 
Sector Policies and Programs Division, Natural Resources and Commerce 
Group (E143-03), Research Triangle Park, NC 27711; telephone number 
(919) 541-2379; fax

[[Page 78393]]

number (919) 541-3470; e-mail address: serageldin.mohamed@epa.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Regulated Entities. The regulated category 
and entities affected by this action include:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
            Category                  Examples of regulated entities
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Industry........................  Facilities that are engaged in
                                   shipbuilding and ship repair
                                   operations. The term ship means all
                                   marine or fresh-water vessels that
                                   are either (1) 20 meters or more in
                                   length regardless of the purpose for
                                   which the vessel is constructed or
                                   used, or (2) that are less than 20
                                   meters in length and are designed and
                                   built specifically for military or
                                   commercial purposes. This includes,
                                   but is not limited to, all military
                                   and Coast Guard vessels, commercial
                                   cargo and passenger (cruise) ships,
                                   ferries, tankers, container ships,
                                   patrol and pilot boats, yachts, and
                                   dredges.
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Note: An offshore oil and gas drilling platform is not considered a ship
                    for purposes of this regulation.
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Federal government..............  Federal Agencies which undertake
                                   shipbuilding or repair operations see
                                   above) such as the Navy and Coast
                                   Guard.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    This table is not intended to be exhaustive, but rather provides a 
guide for readers regarding entities likely to be regulated by this 
rule.
    To determine whether your facility, company, business, 
organization, etc., is regulated by this action, you should carefully 
examine all of the applicability criteria in 40 CFR 63.781 of the rule, 
as well as in the direct final rule. If you have any questions 
regarding the applicability of this rule to a particular activity, 
consult the person listed in the preceding FOR FURTHER INFORMATION 
CONTACT section.
    Submitting CBI. Do not submit information which you claim to be CBI 
to EPA through http://www.regulations.gov or e-mail. Clearly mark the part or 

all of the information that you claim to be CBI. For CBI information in 
a disk or CD-ROM that you mail to EPA, mark the outside of the disk or 
CD-ROM as CBI and then identify electronically within the disk or CD-
ROM the specific information that is claimed as CBI. Information so 
marked will not be disclosed except in accordance with procedures set 
forth in 40 CFR part 2. In addition to one complete version of the 
comment that includes information claimed as CBI, a copy of the comment 
that does not contain the information claimed as CBI must be submitted 
for inclusion in the public docket.
    Public Hearing. Persons interested in presenting oral testimony or 
inquiring as to whether a hearing is to be held should contact Dr. 
Mohamed Serageldin, EPA, Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards, 
Sector Policies and Programs Division, Natural Resources and Commerce 
Group (E143-03), Research Triangle Park, NC 27711, telephone number 
(919) 541-2379, e-mail address: serageldin.mohamed@epa.gov, at least 2 
days in advance of the potential date of the public hearing. Persons 
interested in attending the public hearing must also call Dr. 
Serageldin to verify the time, date, and location of the hearing. The 
public hearing will provide interested parties the opportunity to 
present data, views, or arguments concerning these proposed emission 
standards.
    World Wide Web (WWW). In addition to being available in the docket, 
an electronic copy of this proposal will also be available through the 
http://WWW. Following the Administrator's signature, a copy of this action 

will be posted on EPA's Technology Transfer Network (TTN) policy and 
guidance page for newly proposed or promulgated rules at http://www.epa.gov/ttn/oarpg/.
 The TTN at EPA's Web site provides information 

and technology exchange in various areas of air pollution control.
    Direct Final Rule. The proposed amendments appear in the Rules and 
Regulations Section of this Federal Register as a direct final rule. 
For further supplementary information, the detailed rationale for the 
proposal and the regulatory revisions, see the direct final rule.
    We are taking direct final action because we view the amendments as 
noncontroversial and anticipate no adverse comments. We have explained 
our reasons for the amendments in the preamble to the direct final 
rule. If we receive no material adverse comment, we will take no 
further action on the proposed rule. If we receive material adverse 
comment or a public hearing is requested, we will withdraw only the 
amendments, sections, or paragraphs of the direct final rule on which 
we received material adverse comment. We will publish a timely 
withdrawal in the Federal Register indicating which will become 
effective and which are being withdrawn. If part or all of the direct 
final rule in the Rules and Regulations section of this Federal 
Register is withdrawn, all comments pertaining to the amendments will 
be addressed in a subsequent final rule based on the proposed rule. We 
will not institute a second comment period on this proposed rule. Any 
parties interested in commenting must do so at this time.

Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

    For a complete discussion of all of the administrative requirements 
applicable to this action, see the direct final rule in the Rules and 
Regulations section of this Federal Register.

Regulatory Flexibility Act

    The Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA) generally requires an agency 
to prepare a regulatory flexibility analysis of any rule subject to 
notice and comment rulemaking requirements under the Administrative 
Procedure Act or any other statute unless the agency certifies that the 
rule will not have a significant economic impact on a substantial 
number of small entities. Small entities include small businesses, 
small organizations, and small governmental jurisdictions.
    For purposes of assessing the impact of today's proposed rule on 
small entities, a small entity is defined as: (1) A small business 
according to Small Business Administration size standards for companies 
mainly identified by NAICS codes 336611 (shipbuilding and repairing) 
with 1,000 or fewer employees; (2) a small governmental jurisdiction 
that is a government or a city, county, town, school district or 
special district with a population of less than 50,000; and (3) a small 
organization that is any not-for-profit enterprise which is 
independently owned and operated and is not dominant in its field.
    EPA has determined that it is not necessary to prepare a regulatory 
flexibility analysis in connection with the proposed rule. This action 
broadens the scope of the category through revision of the definition 
of ship which may impact facilities currently complying with subpart 
II, none of which are small entities. The direct final rule will not 
impose any new requirements on small entities. We continue to be 
interested in the potential impacts of the proposed rule on small 
entities and welcome

[[Page 78394]]

comments on issues related to such impacts.

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 63

    Environmental protection, Air pollution control, Hazardous 
substances, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements.

    Dated: December 22, 2006.
Stephen L. Johnson,
Administrator.
[FR Doc. E6-22428 Filed 12-28-06; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6560-50-P
