California State Motor Vehicle Pollution Control Standards; Request for Waiver of Federal Preemption; Opportunity for Public Hearing, 8726-8728 [E7-3313]

Agencies

• ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 38 (Tuesday, February 27, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 8726-8728]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-3313]


=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[AMS-FRL-8281-8]


California State Motor Vehicle Pollution Control Standards; 
Request for Waiver of Federal Preemption; Opportunity for Public 
Hearing

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of opportunity for public hearing and comment.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The California Air Resources Board (CARB) has notified EPA 
that it has adopted ``Malfunction and Diagnostic System Requirements 
for 2010 and Subsequent Model-Year Heavy-Duty Engines.'' By letter 
dated September 22, 2006, CARB submitted a request that EPA grant a 
waiver of preemption under section 209(b) of the Clean Air Act (CAA), 
42 U.S.C. 7543(b) for this regulation. This notice announces that EPA 
has tentatively scheduled a public hearing concerning California's 
request and that EPA is accepting written comment on the request.

DATES: EPA has tentatively scheduled a public hearing concerning CARB's 
request on March 29, 2007 beginning at 10 a.m. EPA will hold a hearing 
only if a party notifies EPA by March 19, 2007, expressing its interest 
in presenting oral testimony. By March 26, 2007, any

[[Page 8727]]

person who plans to attend the hearing should call David Dickinson at 
(202) 343-9256 to learn if a hearing will be held. If EPA does not 
receive a request for a public hearing, then EPA will not hold a 
hearing, and instead consider CARB's request based on written 
submissions to the docket. Any party may submit written comments by May 
8, 2007.

ADDRESSES: EPA will make available for public inspection at the Air and 
Radiation Docket and Information Center written comments received from 
interested parties, in addition to any testimony given at the public 
hearing. The official public docket is the collection of materials that 
is available for public viewing at the Air and Radiation Docket in the 
EPA Docket Center, (EPA/DC) EPA West, Room B102, 1301 Constitution 
Ave., NW, Washington, DC. The EPA Docket Center Public Reading Room is 
open from 8:30 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 Air and Radiation Docket is 
(202) 566-1743. We strongly encourage you to visit the EPA Docket Web 
site at https://www.epa.gov/epahome/dockets.htm in order to receive the 
last status concerning the Public Reading Room and public access to 
docket materials. The reference number for this docket is EPA-HQ-OAR-
2006-0844. Parties wishing to present oral testimony at the public 
hearing should provide written notice to David Dickinson at the address 
noted below. If EPA receives a request for a public hearing, EPA will 
hold the public hearing at 1310 L St., NW., Washington, DC 20005.
    For Obtaining and Submitting Electronic Copies of Documents, or For 
Further Information: David Dickinson, Compliance and Innovative 
Strategies Division (6405J), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 
Pennsylvania Ave, NW, Washington, DC 20460. Telephone: (202) 343-9256, 
Fax: (202) 343-2804, e-mail address: Dickinson.David@EPA.GOV. EPA will 
make available an electronic copy of this Notice on the Office of 
Transportation and Air Quality's (OTAQ's) homepage (https://www.epa.gov/
otaq/). Users can find this document by accessing the OTAQ homepage and 
looking at the path entitled ``Regulations.'' This service is free of 
charge, except any cost you already incur for Internet connectivity. 
Users can also get the official Federal Register version of the Notice 
on the day of publication on the primary Web site: (https://www.epa.gov/
docs/fedrgstr/EPA-AIR/).
    Please note that due to differences between the software used to 
develop the documents and the software into which the documents may be 
downloaded, changes in format, page length, etc., may occur. Parties 
wishing to present oral testimony at the public hearing should provide 
written notice to David Dickinson at: U.S. Environmental Protection 
Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., (6405J), Washington, DC 20460. 
Telephone: (202) 343-9256.
    Submit your written comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-
OAR-2006-0844, by one of the following methods:
     https://www.regulations.gov: Follow the on-line 
instructions for submitting comments. This serves as an electronic 
docket (edocket).
     E-mail: dickinson.david@epa.gov.
     Fax: (202) 343-2804.
     Hand Delivery: EPA Headquarters, Room 6146F, EPA West 
Building, 1301 Constitution Ave., NW., Washington, DC. Such deliveries 
are only accepted during the Docket's normal hours of operation, and 
special arrangements should be made for deliveries of boxed 
information. We strongly encourage you to visit the EPA Docket Web site 
at https://www.epa.gov/epahome/dockets.htm in order to receive the last 
status concerning the Public Reading Room and public access to docket 
materials. Instructions: Direct your comments to Docket ID No EPA-HQ-
OAR-2006-0844.
    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 
being CBI or otherwise protected through https://www.regulations.gov or 
e-mail.
    The https://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 https://
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 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 https://
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.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

(A) Background and Discussion

    Section 209(a) of the Clean Air Act, as amended (``Act''), 42 
U.S.C. 7543(a), provides:
    No State or any political subdivision thereof shall adopt or 
attempt to enforce any standard relating to the control of emissions 
from new motor vehicles or new motor vehicle engines subject to this 
part. No state shall require certification, inspection or any other 
approval relating to the control of emissions from any new motor 
vehicle or new motor vehicle engine as condition precedent to the 
initial retail sale, titling (if any), or registration of such motor 
vehicle, motor vehicle engine, or equipment.

    Section 209(b) of the Act requires the Administrator, after notice 
and opportunity for public hearing, to waive application of the 
prohibitions of section 209(a) for any state that has adopted standards 
(other than crankcase emission standards) for the control of emissions 
from new motor vehicles or new motor vehicle engines prior to March 30, 
1966, if the state determines that the state standards will be, in the 
aggregate, at least as protective of public health and welfare as 
applicable federal standards. California is the only state that is 
qualified to seek and receive a waiver under section 209(b). The 
Administrator must grant a waiver unless he finds that (A) the 
determination of the state is arbitrary and capricious, (B) the state 
does not need the standards to meet compelling and extraordinary 
conditions, or (C) the state standards and accompanying enforcement 
procedures are not consistent with section 202(a) of the Act.
    CARB's September 22, 2006, letter to the Administrator notified EPA 
that it had formally adopted Malfunction and Diagnostic System 
Requirements for 2010 and Subsequent Model-Year Heavy-Duty Engines 
(also known as On-

[[Page 8728]]

Board Diagnostics or OBD) on December 28, 2005. This regulation can be 
found at title 13, California Code of Regulations (CCR), section 
1971.1.
    Please provide comment as to whether (a) California's determination 
that its regulations as referenced in its September 22, 2006, request 
letter, are at least as protective of public health and welfare as 
applicable federal standards is arbitrary and capricious, (b) 
California needs separate standards to meet compelling and 
extraordinary conditions, and (c) California's standards and 
accompanying enforcement procedures are consistent with section 202(a) 
of the Clean Air Act.

Procedures for Public Participation:

    In recognition that public hearings are designed to give interested 
parties an opportunity to participate in this proceeding, there are no 
adverse parties as such. Statements by participants will not be subject 
to cross-examination by other participants without special approval by 
the presiding officer. The presiding officer is authorized to strike 
from the record statements that he or she deems irrelevant or 
repetitious and to impose reasonable time limits on the duration of the 
statement of any participant.
    If a hearing is held, the Agency will make a verbatim record of the 
proceedings. Interested parties may arrange with the reporter at the 
hearing(s) to obtain a copy of the transcript at their own expense. 
Regardless of whether a public hearing is held, EPA will keep the 
record open until May 8, 2007. Upon expiration of the comment period, 
the Administrator will render a decision on CARB's request based on the 
record of the public hearing(s), if any, relevant written submissions, 
and other information that he deems pertinent. All information will be 
available for inspection at EPA Air Docket. (EPA-HQ-OAR-2006-0844) and 
in the edocket as noted above.
    Persons with comments containing proprietary information must 
distinguish such information from other comments to the greatest 
possible extent and label it as ``Confidential Business Information'' 
(CBI). If a person making comments wants EPA to base its decision in 
part on a submission labeled CBI, then a nonconfidential version of the 
document that summarizes the key data or information should be 
submitted for the public docket. To ensure that proprietary information 
is not inadvertently placed in the docket, submissions containing such 
information should be sent directly to the contact person listed above 
and not to the public docket. Information covered by a claim of 
confidentiality will be disclosed by EPA only to the extent allowed and 
by the procedures set forth in 40 CFR Part 2. If no claim of 
confidentiality accompanies the submission when EPA receives it, EPA 
will make it available to the public without further notice to the 
person making comments.

    Dated: February 21, 2007.
William L. Wehrum,
Acting Assistant Administrator, Office of Air and Radiation.
 [FR Doc. E7-3313 Filed 2-26-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P