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Approval and Promulgation of Air Quality Implementation Plans; Ohio; Particulate Matter Standards
[March 29, 2013]

Approval and Promulgation of Air Quality Implementation Plans; Ohio; Particulate Matter Standards


Mar 29, 2013 (Environmental Protection Agency Documents and Publications/ContentWorks via COMTEX) -- SUMMARY: EPA is taking direct final action to convert a conditional approval of specified provisions of the Ohio state implementation plan (SIP) to a full approval. Ohio submitted a request to approve revised particulate matter (PM) rules on February 23, 2012. The PM rule revisions being approved establish work practices for coating operations, add a section clarifying that sources can be subject to both stationary source and fugitive source PM restrictions, and add a PM emission limitation exemption for jet engine testing. Pursuant to a state commitment underlying a previous conditional approval of this rule, the revised rule provides that any exemption from the work practice requirements that the state grants to large coating sources must be submitted to EPA for approval.



DATES: This direct final rule will be effective May 28, 2013, unless EPA receives adverse comments by April 29, 2013. If adverse comments are received, EPA will publish a timely withdrawal of the direct final rule in the Federal Register informing the public that the rule will not take effect.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-R05-OAR-2012-0088, by one of the following methods: 1. www.regulations.gov: Follow the on-line instructions for submitting comments.


2. Email: [email protected].

3. Fax: (312) 692-2450.

4. Mail: Pamela Blakely, Chief, Control Strategies Section, Air Programs Branch (AR-18J), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 77 West Jackson Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois 60604.

5. Hand Delivery: Pamela Blakely, Chief, Control Strategies Section, Air Programs Branch (AR-18J), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 77 West Jackson Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois 60604. Such deliveries are only accepted during the Regional Office normal hours of operation, and special arrangements should be made for deliveries of boxed information. The Regional Office official hours of business are Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., excluding Federal holidays.

Instructions: Direct your comments to Docket ID No. EPA-R05-OAR-2012-0088. EPA's policy is that all comments received will be included in the public docket without change and may be made available online at 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 www.regulations.gov or email. The 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 email comment directly to EPA without going through www.regulations.gov your email 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 and 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.

Docket: All documents in the docket are listed in the 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 www.regulations.gov or in hard copy at the Environmental Protection Agency, Region 5, Air and Radiation Division, 77 West Jackson Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois 60604. This facility is open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding Federal holidays. We recommend that you telephone Matt Rau, Environmental Engineer, at (312) 886-6524 before visiting the Region 5 office.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Matt Rau, Environmental Engineer, Control Strategies Section, Air Programs Branch (AR-18J), Environmental Protection Agency, Region 5, 77 West Jackson Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois 60604, (312) 886-6524, [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Throughout this document whenever "we," "us," or "our" is used, we mean EPA. This SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section is arranged as follows: I. What is the background for this action II. What is EPA's analysis of the revision III. What action is EPA taking IV. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews I. What is the background for this action Ohio sought SIP approval of its revision of Ohio Administrative Code (OAC) Chapter 3745-17 to clarify and amend its PM rules in an August 22, 2008, submission. EPA approved nine sections, partially approved another section, and approved the rescission of another section of the OAC 3745-17 PM rules in an October 26, 2010, direct final rule (75 FR 65567). EPA conditionally approved OAC 3745-17-11 in the October 26, 2010, rule, conditioned on Ohio making specified revisions to the rule. The rule that EPA conditionally approved established work practice requirements for coating sources in lieu of PM emission limits. As written when submitted on August 22, 2008, OAC 3745-17-11 would have authorized Ohio to exempt coating sources that are too large to meet the work practice requirements of the rule from complying with those requirements. No EPA approval of the exemption was required, thus the state could have unilaterally exempted coating sources from the work practice requirements. EPA conditionally approved OAC 3745-17-11 based on a commitment by Ohio to revise the rule to require that any exemption of large coating sources from the work practice requirements be submitted to EPA as a request for revision to the SIP.

Pursuant to its commitment, Ohio revised OAC 3475-17-11, Restrictions on Particulate Emissions from Industrial Sources, on December 13, 2011. The revised rule was effective on December 23, 2011. Ohio revised OAC 3745-17-11 (A)(1)(l) to provide that any exemption from the surface coating PM work practice requirements for sources coating large size items, which the state may grant when emission control would be technically infeasible, economically unreasonable, or both, must be submitted to EPA for SIP approval. The added language makes clear that state action to grant such an exemption does not exempt the source from Federal enforcement of the work practice requirements in the SIP unless and until EPA approves the exemption.

The version of OAC 3745-17-11 that EPA conditionally approved included other revisions from the PM rules EPA approved into the Ohio SIP on November 8, 2006 (71 FR 65417). Section (A)(5) states that sources can be subject to both fugitive dust and stationary source PM restrictions if that facility emits PM through its stacks as well as emits fugitive dust. Section (A)(1)(m) exempts jet engine test stands from the PM emission limits.

II. What is EPA's analysis of the revision EPA finds the revisions to OAC 3745-17-11 submitted on February 23, 2012, to be approvable.

Although the primary emissions of concern from surface coating are the volatile organic compound emissions that arise from solvent evaporation, OAC 3745-17-11 establishes a particulate emission limit for coating operations simply because OAC 3745-17-11 establishes generic emission limits for any process handling material such as coatings and objects being coated. However, testing of particulate emissions from coating operations is difficult, making it difficult to determine whether particular control measures provide for compliance. Therefore, Ohio exempted surface coating operations from the generic emission limits in OAC 3745-17-11 and subjected these sources instead to a set of rules requiring a specific set of work practices that will limit the emissions as well as an emission limit. The exemptions for surface coaters are provided in OAC 3745-17-11 (A)(1)(h) to (l).

As noted in Section I., Ohio revised OAC 3745-17-11 (A)(1)(l) to require EPA approval, as a SIP revision, for all large item exemptions. This satisfies EPA's concerns with director's discretion previously expressed to Ohio regarding the August 22, 2008, submission. Therefore, EPA is now approving OAC 3745-17-11 (A)(1)(l), as submitted on February 23, 2012, into the Ohio SIP.

OAC 3745-17-11 (A)(1)(m) grants an exemption from the rule's PM emission limits for jet engine testing. PM emissions resulting from this exemption are expected to be small given that a small number of engines will be tested at once and only for a limited time. Ohio stated that the maximum PM emissions rate resulting from this exemption will be 10 pounds per hour. EPA finds that this exemption will have de minimis impact and thus finds OAC 3745-17-11 (A)(1)(m) approvable.

Another addition to OAC 3745-17-11 is section (A)(5), which states that source can be subject to both OAC 3745-17-08 and OAC 3745-17-11. This section applies to a source that is a fugitive dust source, as defined by OAC 3745-17-01 (B)(7), and emits PM through one or more stacks. Restrictions on emissions of fugitive dust are given in OAC 3745-17-08. It is logical that a source emitting PM as fugitive dust and also through stack emissions would be subject to the PM emission restrictions for both fugitive sources and for stationary sources. Thus, EPA is approving this addition to the Ohio SIP.

--This is a summary of a Federal Register article originally published on the page number listed below-- Direct final rule.

CFR Part: "40 CFR Part 52" Citation: "78 FR 19128" Document Number: "EPA-R05-OAR-2012-0088; FRL-9783-5" Federal Register Page Number: "19128" "Rules and Regulations"

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