

[Federal Register: June 9, 2006 (Volume 71, Number 111)]
[Proposed Rules]               
[Page 33413-33416]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr09jn06-8]                         

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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[EPA-R09-OAR-2006-0464; FRL-8182-1]

 
Revisions to the Nevada State Implementation Plan

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Proposed rule.

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SUMMARY: EPA is proposing to approve revisions to the Nevada State 
Implementation Plan (SIP). These revisions concern the Air Pollution 
sections of the Nevada Revised Statutes (NRS). We are proposing to 
approve the

[[Page 33414]]

submitted statutes in order to bring the Nevada SIP up to date. These 
statutes are being approved under the Clean Air Act as amended in 1990 
(CAA or the Act). We are taking comments on this proposal and plan to 
follow with a final action.

DATES: Any comments must arrive by July 10, 2006.

ADDRESSES: Submit comments, identified by docket number EPA-R09-OAR-
2006-0464, by one of the following methods:
    1. Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. Follow 

the on-line instructions.
    2. E-mail: steckel.andrew@epa.gov.
    3. Mail or deliver: Andrew Steckel (Air-4), U.S. Environmental 
Protection Agency Region IX, 75 Hawthorne Street, San Francisco, CA 
94105-3901.
    Instructions: All comments 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 Confidential Business Information (CBI) or 
other information whose disclosure is restricted by statute. 
Information that you consider CBI or otherwise protected should be 
clearly identified as such and should not be submitted through http://www.regulations.gov or e-mail. http://www.regulations.gov is an 

``anonymous access'' system, and EPA will not know your identity or 
contact information unless you provide it in the body of your comment. 
If you send e-mail directly to EPA, your e-mail address will be 
automatically captured and included as part of the public comment. 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.
    Docket: The index to the docket for this action is available 
electronically at http://www.regulations.gov and in hard copy at EPA 

Region IX, 75 Hawthorne Street, San Francisco, California. While all 
documents in the docket are listed in the index, some information may 
be publicly available only at the hard copy location (e.g., copyrighted 
material), and some may not be publicly available in either location 
(e.g., CBI). To inspect the hard copy materials, please schedule an 
appointment during normal business hours with the contact listed in the 
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Julie Rose, EPA Region IX, (415) 947-
4126, rose.julie@epa.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Throughout this document, ``we,'' ``us'' and 
``our'' refer to EPA.

Table of Contents

I. The State's Submittal
    A. What statutes did the state submit for approval?
    B. What is the regulatory history of the Nevada SIP?
    C. What is the purpose of this proposed rule?
II. EPA's Evaluation and Action
    A. How is EPA evaluating the statutes submitted for approval?
    B. Do the statutes meet the evaluation criteria?
    C. Public comment and final action.
III. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

I. The State's Submittal

A. What statutes did the state submit for approval?

    The Governor's designee, the Nevada Department of Conservation and 
Natural Resources, Division of Environmental Protection (NDEP), 
submitted a large revision to the applicable SIP on January 12, 2006. 
On March 23, 2006, the Nevada SIP submittal dated January 12, 2006 was 
found to meet the completeness criteria in 40 CFR part 51 Appendix V, 
which must be met before formal EPA review. On March 24, 2006, the NDEP 
submitted an additional revision consisting of a definition found in 
Title 0, Preliminary Chapter of the General Provisions of the NRS. On 
May 17, 2006, the submittal dated March 24, 2006 was found to meet the 
completeness criteria in 40 CFR part 51 Appendix V. The primary purpose 
of these revisions is to clarify and harmonize State and federally 
enforceable requirements. Because these revisions incorporate so many 
changes from the 1970s and 1980s vintage SIP regulations, EPA has 
decided to review and act on the submittal in a series of separate 
actions. The first such action was finalized in the Federal Register on 
March 27, 2006, (71 FR 15040). The remaining portions of the submittal 
will be acted on in future Federal Register actions.
    The following table lists the Nevada Revised Statutes (NRS) 
addressed by this proposal with the dates they were submitted by NDEP.

                     Statutes Submitted for Approval
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                              Submittal
 Nevada revised  statutes  (NRS)            Title                date
------------------------------------------------------------------------
445B.105........................  Definitions..............     01/12/06
445B.110........................  Air contaminant..........     01/12/06
445B.115........................  Air pollution............     01/12/06
445B.120........................  Commission...............     01/12/06
445B.125........................  Department...............     01/12/06
445B.130........................  Director.................     01/12/06
445B.135........................  Federal Act..............     01/12/06
445B.140........................  Hazardous air pollutant..     01/12/06
445B.145........................  Operating permit.........     01/12/06
445B.150........................  Person...................     01/12/06
0.039...........................  Person...................     03/24/06
445B.155........................  Source and indirect           01/12/06
                                   source.
445B.210........................  Powers of Commission.....     01/12/06
445B.220........................  Additional powers of          01/12/06
                                   Commission.
445B.225........................  Power of Commission to        01/12/06
                                   require testing of
                                   sources.
445B.235........................  Additional powers of the      01/12/06
                                   Department.
445B.245........................  Power of Department to        01/12/06
                                   perform or require test
                                   of emissions from stacks.
445B.275........................  Creation; members; terms.     01/12/06
445B.280........................  Attendance of witnesses       01/12/06
                                   at hearing; contempt;
                                   compensation.
445B.300........................  Operating permit for          01/12/06
                                   source of air
                                   contaminant; notice and
                                   approval of proposed
                                   construction;
                                   administrative fees;
                                   failure of Commission or
                                   Department to act.
445B.320........................  Approval of plans and         01/12/06
                                   specifications required
                                   before construction or
                                   alteration of structure.

[[Page 33415]]


445B.500........................  Establishment and             01/12/06
                                   administration of
                                   program; contents of
                                   program; designation of
                                   air pollution control
                                   agency of county for
                                   purposes of federal act;
                                   powers and duties of
                                   local air pollution
                                   control board; notice of
                                   public hearings;
                                   delegation of authority
                                   to determine violations
                                   and levy administrative
                                   penalties; cities and
                                   smaller counties;
                                   regulation of certain
                                   electric plants
                                   prohibited.
445B.510........................  Commission may require        01/12/06
                                   program for designated
                                   area.
445B.520........................  Commission may establish      01/12/06
                                   or supersede county
                                   program.
445B.530........................  Commission may assume         01/12/06
                                   jurisdiction over
                                   specific classes of air
                                   contaminants.
445B.540........................  Restoration of superseded     01/12/06
                                   local program;
                                   continuation of existing
                                   local program.
445B.560........................  Plan or procedure for         01/12/06
                                   emergency.
445B.595........................  Governmental sources of       01/12/06
                                   air contaminants to
                                   comply with state and
                                   local provisions
                                   regarding air pollution;
                                   permit to set fire for
                                   training purposes;
                                   planning and zoning
                                   agencies to consider
                                   effects on quality of
                                   air.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

B. What is the regulatory history of the Nevada SIP?

    Pursuant to the Clean Air Amendments of 1970, the Governor of 
Nevada submitted the original SIP to EPA in January 1972. EPA approved 
certain portions of the original SIP and disapproved others under CAA 
section 110(a). See 37 FR 10842 (May 31, 1972). For some of the 
disapproved portions, EPA promulgated substitute provisions, referred 
to as Federal implementation plan (FIP) provisions, under CAA section 
110(c).
    The original SIP included various rules, codified as articles 
within the Nevada Air Quality Regulations (NAQR), and various statutory 
provisions codified in title 40, chapter 445 of the Nevada Revised 
Statutes (NRS). In the early 1980's, Nevada reorganized and re-codified 
its air quality rules as sections within chapter 445 of the Nevada 
Administrative Code (NAC). Today, Nevada codifies its air quality 
regulations in chapter 445B of the NAC and codifies air quality 
statutes in chapter 445B of title 40 of the NRS.
    Nevada adopted and submitted many revisions to the original set of 
regulations and statutes in the SIP, some of which EPA approved on 
February 6, 1975 at 40 FR 5511; on March 26, 1975 at 40 FR 13306; on 
January 9, 1978 at 43 FR 1341; on January 24, 1978 at 43 FR 3278; on 
August 21, 1978 at 43 FR 36932; on July 10, 1980 at 45 FR 46384; on 
April 14, 1981 at 46 FR 21758; on August 27, 1981 at 46 FR 43141; on 
March 3, 1982 at 47 FR 9833; on April 13, 1982 at 47 FR 15790; on June 
18, 1982 at 47 FR 26386; on June 23, 1982 at 47 FR 27070; on March 27, 
1984 at 49 FR 11626. Since 1984, EPA has approved very few revisions to 
Nevada's applicable SIP despite numerous changes that have been adopted 
locally. As a result, the version of the rules enforceable by NDEP is 
often quite different from the SIP version enforceable by EPA.

C. What is the purpose of this proposed rule?

    The purpose of this proposal is to bring the applicable SIP up to 
date. We are proposing to approve the statutes contained in Nevada's 
January 12, 2006 and March 24, 2006 submittals.

II. EPA's Evaluation and Action

A. How is EPA evaluating the statutes submitted for approval?

    We have reviewed the statutes submitted by NDEP on January 12, 2006 
and March 24, 2006 for compliance with the CAA requirements for SIPs in 
general set forth in CAA section 110(a)(2) and 40 CFR part 51 and also 
for compliance with CAA requirements for SIP revisions in CAA section 
110(l) and 193.

B. Do the statutes meet the evaluation criteria?

    We believe the NRS statutes listed in the table are consistent with 
the relevant policy and guidance regarding enforceability and SIP 
relaxations. The TSD has more information on our evaluation.

C. Public Comment and Final Action

    Because EPA believes the Nevada SIP will continue to fulfill all 
relevant requirements, we are proposing to fully approve the submitted 
revisions in accordance with section 110(k)(3) of the Act. We will 
accept comments from the public on this proposal for the next 30 days. 
Unless we receive convincing new information during the comment period, 
we intend to publish a final approval action that will approve these 
statutes into the federally enforceable SIP.

III. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

    Under Executive Order 12866 (58 FR 51735, October 4, 1993), this 
proposed action is not a ``significant regulatory action'' and 
therefore is not subject to review by the Office of Management and 
Budget. For this reason, this action is also not subject to Executive 
Order 13211, ``Actions Concerning Regulations That Significantly Affect 
Energy Supply, Distribution, or Use'' (66 FR 28355, May 22, 2001). This 
proposed action merely proposes to approve state law as meeting Federal 
requirements and imposes no additional requirements beyond those 
imposed by state law. Accordingly, the Administrator certifies that 
this proposed rule will not have a significant economic impact on a 
substantial number of small entities under the Regulatory Flexibility 
Act (5 U.S.C. 601 et seq.). Because this rule proposes to approve pre-
existing requirements under state law and does not impose any 
additional enforceable duty beyond that required by state law, it does 
not contain any unfunded mandate or significantly or uniquely affect 
small governments, as described in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 
1995 (Pub. L. 104-4).
    This proposed rule also does not have tribal implications because 
it will not have a substantial direct effect on one or more Indian 
tribes, on the relationship between the Federal Government and Indian 
tribes, or on the distribution of power and responsibilities between 
the Federal Government and Indian tribes, as specified by Executive 
Order 13175 (65 FR 67249, November 9, 2000). This action also does not 
have Federalism implications because it does not have substantial 
direct effects on the States, on the relationship between the national 
government and the States, or on the distribution of power and 
responsibilities among the various

[[Page 33416]]

levels of government, as specified in Executive Order 13132 (64 FR 
43255, August 10, 1999). This action merely proposes to approve a state 
rule implementing a Federal standard, and does not alter the 
relationship or the distribution of power and responsibilities 
established in the Clean Air Act. This proposed rule also is not 
subject to Executive Order 13045 ``Protection of Children from 
Environmental Health Risks and Safety Risks'' (62 FR 19885, April 23, 
1997), because it is not economically significant.
    In reviewing SIP submissions, EPA's role is to approve state 
choices, provided that they meet the criteria of the Clean Air Act. In 
this context, in the absence of a prior existing requirement for the 
State to use voluntary consensus standards (VCS), EPA has no authority 
to disapprove a SIP submission for failure to use VCS. It would thus be 
inconsistent with applicable law for EPA, when it reviews a SIP 
submission, to use VCS in place of a SIP submission that otherwise 
satisfies the provisions of the Clean Air Act. Thus, the requirements 
of section 12(d) of the National Technology Transfer and Advancement 
Act of 1995 (15 U.S.C. 272 note) do not apply. This proposed rule does 
not impose an information collection burden under the provisions of the 
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.).

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 52

    Environmental protection, Air pollution control, Intergovernmental 
relations, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements.

    Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.

    Dated: May 25, 2006.
Laura Yoshii,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region IX.
[FR Doc. E6-9000 Filed 6-8-06; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6560-50-P
