Notice of Approval of Clean Air Act Outer Continental Shelf Minor Source/Title V Minor Permit Modification Issued to Shell Offshore, Inc. for the Kulluk Conical Drilling Unit, 1759-1760 [2012-31649]
Download as PDF
<![CDATA[
srobinson on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with
Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 6 / Wednesday, January 9, 2013 / Rules and Regulations
otherwise be entitled to a refund or
offset 6—but for the fact that it
calculated its royalty obligation using
the subscriber group method rather than
the system-wide method, and as a
result, underpaid the royalties due
under the system-wide method—then
the operator is not entitled to a refund
or offset under Section 111(d)(1)(D).
That is indeed the effect of the
regulation.
Cable operators presumably use the
subscriber group method, because it
lowers the amount of royalties owed
under the statutory license. Indeed, in
most of the refund requests at issue in
this proceeding, the amount owed on
the Statement of Account would be
higher if the cable operator used the
system-wide method instead of the
subscriber group method to calculate its
royalty obligation. In such cases, the
operators are not entitled to a refund or
offset, because the overpayments
purportedly shown on their Statements
of Account would not have occurred but
for the fact that they calculated their
royalty obligation using the subscriber
group method rather than the systemwide method, which was the
methodology in effect when the
Statements were filed.
The NCTA contended that the
proposed rule is inconsistent with the
legislative history for the amendment to
Section 111(d)(1)(D), but the quotes that
the NCTA cited from the congressional
debate do not support this view. At best,
these quotes merely indicate that
stakeholders disagreed over whether a
cable operator should be required to pay
for phantom signals and that the
legislation was intended to resolve that
longstanding dispute. The NCTA offered
no language from the congressional
debate indicating that Congress
intended to change the method that
should be used to calculate royalty
obligations on Statements filed before
the date of enactment. Nor is there any
indication that Congress intended to
overrule the Office’s longstanding
practice of declining to issue refunds or
offsets to cable operators who failed to
pay for phantom signals.
Finally, the NCTA contended that the
proposed rule will cause ‘‘confusion
and uncertainty’’ regarding the
treatment of phantom signals. NCTA
Reply at 2. However, the NCTA
acknowledged that the instances where
a cable operator used the subscriber
group methodology and subsequently
requested a refund ‘‘are relatively rare,’’
6 As the NCTA observed, an operator might be
entitled to a refund if it incorrectly reported a local
signal as distant or mistakenly paid royalties for a
signal that was not carried anywhere on the system.
See NCTA Reply at 3.
VerDate Mar<15>2010
16:13 Jan 08, 2013
Jkt 229001
NCTA Comment at 1 n.3, and in fact, it
provided only one example of alleged
‘‘confusion and delay’’ in its comments.
Specifically, the NCTA predicted that
the proposed rule would create
uncertainty for Statements of Account
filed for the second accounting period of
2010, because ‘‘those statements were
not due until after the effective date of
STELA, but in some cases were filed
before that date.’’ NCTA Reply at 2, n.1.
In fact, the Office did not receive any
Statements of Account for the 2010/2
accounting period before the effective
date of STELA, so the regulation will
not cause any delay in connection with
those Statements.7 Moreover, the
proposed rule draws a bright line that
eliminates any confusion. Refunds on
Statements of Account filed prior to the
2010/1 accounting period are based
upon calculations of royalty obligations
under the methodology that attributed
carriage of a signal throughout the cable
system rather than on the revised
methodology adopted under STELA that
requires calculations to be made based
on carriage of signals within discrete
communities.
List of Subjects in 37 CFR Part 201
Copyright, General provisions.
Final Regulations
In consideration of the foregoing, the
Copyright Office amends part 201 of 37
CFR as follows:
PART 201—GENERAL PROVISIONS
1. The authority citation for part 201
continues to read as follows:
■
Authority: 17 U.S.C. 702.
2. Amend § 201.17 by redesignating
paragraphs (m)(1) through (4) as
paragraphs (m)(2) through (5) and
adding a new paragraph (m)(1) to read
as follows:
■
§ 201.17 Statements of Account covering
compulsory licenses for secondary
transmissions by cable systems.
*
*
*
*
*
(m) * * *
(1) Royalty fee obligations under 17
U.S.C. 111 prior to the effective date of
the Satellite Television Extension and
Localism Act of 2010, Public Law 111–
175, are determined based on carriage of
each distant signal on a system-wide
basis. Refunds for an overpayment of
royalty fees for an accounting period
prior to January 1, 2010, shall be made
only when all outstanding royalty fee
obligations have been met, including
7 As discussed above, STELA is effective as of
February 27, 2010. The 2010/2 accounting period
ended on December 31, 2010, and Statements of
Account for that period were due on March 1, 2011.
PO 00000
Frm 00047
Fmt 4700
Sfmt 4700
1759
those for carriage of each distant signal
on a system-wide basis.
*
*
*
*
*
Dated: September 21, 2012.
Maria A. Pallante,
Register of Copyrights.
Approved by:
James H. Billington,
The Librarian of Congress.
[FR Doc. 2013–00171 Filed 1–8–13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 1410–30–P
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
AGENCY
40 CFR PART 52
[FRL–9767–5]
Notice of Approval of Clean Air Act
Outer Continental Shelf Minor Source/
Title V Minor Permit Modification
Issued to Shell Offshore, Inc. for the
Kulluk Conical Drilling Unit
United States Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice of final action.
AGENCY:
This notice announces that
EPA Region 10 has issued a final
decision granting Shell Offshore Inc.’s
(‘‘Shell’’) request for minor
modifications of Clean Air Act Outer
Continental Shelf (‘‘OCS’’) Minor
Source/Title V Permit No.
R10OCS03000 (‘‘permits’’). The permits
authorize air emissions associated with
Shell’s operation of the Kulluk Conical
Drilling Unit (‘‘Kulluk’’) in the Beaufort
Sea to conduct exploratory oil and gas
drilling.
DATES: January 9, 2013.
ADDRESSES: The documents relevant to
the above-referenced permits are
available for public inspection during
normal business hours at the following
address: U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency, Region 10, 1200 Sixth Avenue,
Suite 900, AWT–107, Seattle, WA
98101. To arrange for viewing of these
documents, call Natasha Greaves at
(206) 553–7079.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Natasha Greaves, Office of Air Waste
and Toxics, U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency, Region 10, 1200 6th
Avenue, Suite 900, AWT–107, Seattle,
WA 98101.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: EPA
Region 10 issued a final decision on the
minor modifications of the permits on
September 28, 2012. The modified
permits also became effective on that
date, and the 30-day period provided by
40 CFR 71.11(l) to file with the
Environmental Appeals Board (‘‘EAB’’)
SUMMARY:
E:\FR\FM\09JAR1.SGM
09JAR1
1760
Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 6 / Wednesday, January 9, 2013 / Rules and Regulations
a petition to review the minor
modifications of the permits ended on
October 29, 2012. Pursuant to section
307(b)(1) of the Clean Air Act, 42 U.S.C.
7607(b)(1), judicial review of these final
permit decisions, to the extent it is
available, may be sought by filing a
petition for review in the United States
Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
within 60 days of January 9, 2013.
On April 12, 2012, EPA issued a final
decision on the permits which authorize
air emissions from Shell’s operation of
the Kulluk in the Beaufort Sea to
conduct exploratory drilling. Shell
submitted an application to EPA Region
10 requesting minor modifications of
the permits on July 5, 2012. EPA Region
10 reviewed and issued the requested
minor modifications of the permits on
September 28, 2012.
All conditions of the Kulluk permit,
issued by EPA on September 28, 2012,
are final and effective.
Dated: November 6, 2012.
Kate Kelly,
Director, Office of Air, Waste & Toxics, Region
10.
[FR Doc. 2012–31649 Filed 1–8–13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560–50–P
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
AGENCY
Table of Contents
40 CFR Part 52
[EPA–R09–OAR–2012–0782; FRL–9766–7]
Determination of Attainment for the
San Francisco Bay Area
Nonattainment Area for the 2006 Fine
Particle Standard; California;
Determination Regarding Applicability
of Clean Air Act Requirements
Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Final rule.
AGENCY:
EPA is taking final action to
determine that the San Francisco Bay
Area nonattainment area in California
has attained the 2006 24-hour fine
particle (PM2.5) National Ambient Air
Quality Standard (NAAQS). This
determination is based upon complete,
quality-assured, and certified ambient
air monitoring data showing that this
area has monitored attainment of the
2006 24-hour PM2.5 NAAQS based on
the 2009–2011 monitoring period. Based
on the above determination, the
requirements for this area to submit an
attainment demonstration, together with
reasonably available control measures
(RACM), a reasonable further progress
(RFP) plan, and contingency measures
for failure to meet RFP and attainment
deadlines are suspended for so long as
srobinson on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with
SUMMARY:
VerDate Mar<15>2010
16:13 Jan 08, 2013
Jkt 229001
the area continues to attain the 2006 24hour PM2.5 NAAQS.
DATES: This rule is effective on February
8, 2013.
ADDRESSES: EPA has established docket
number EPA–R09–OAR–2012–0782 for
this action. Generally, documents in the
docket for this action are available
electronically at 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 at
www.regulations.gov, some information
may be publicly available only at the
hard copy location (e.g., copyrighted
material, large maps, multi-volume
reports), and some may not be publicly
available in either location (e.g.,
Confidential Business Information). 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: John
Ungvarsky, (415) 972–3963, or by email
at ungvarsky.john@epa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Throughout this document, wherever
‘‘we’’, ‘‘us’’ or ‘‘our’’ are used, we mean
EPA.
I. Summary of Proposed Action
II. Public Comments and EPA Responses
III. EPA’s Final Action
IV. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews
I. Summary of Proposed Action
On October 29, 2012 (77 FR 65521),
EPA proposed to determine that the San
Francisco Bay Area nonattainment area1
has attained the 2006 24-hour NAAQS 2
for fine particles (generally referring to
particles less than or equal to 2.5
micrometers in diameter, PM2.5).
In our proposed rule, we explained
how EPA makes an attainment
determination for the 2006 24-hour
PM2.5 NAAQS by reference to complete,
quality-assured data gathered at State
and Local Air Monitoring Stations
(SLAMS) and entered into EPA’s Air
Quality System (AQS) database and by
reference to 40 CFR 50.13 (‘‘National
primary and secondary ambient air
quality standards for PM2.5’’) and
appendix N to [40 CFR] part 50
1 The San Francisco Bay Area PM
2.5
nonattainment area includes southern Sonoma,
Napa, Marin, Contra Costa, San Francisco,
Alameda, San Mateo, Santa Clara and the western
part of Solano counties.
2 The 2006 24-hour PM
2.5 NAAQS is 35
micrograms per cubic meter (mg/m3), based on a 3year average of the 98th percentile of 24-hour
concentrations.
PO 00000
Frm 00048
Fmt 4700
Sfmt 4700
(‘‘Interpretation of the National Ambient
Air Quality Standards for PM2.5’’). EPA
proposed the determination of
attainment for the San Francisco Bay
Area based upon a review of the
monitoring network operated by the Bay
Area Air Quality Management District
(BAAQMD) and the data collected at the
10 monitoring sites operating during the
most recent complete three-year period
(i.e., 2009 to 2011). Based on this
review, EPA found that complete,
quality-assured and certified data for the
San Francisco Bay Area showed that the
24-hour design value for the 2009–2011
period was equal to or less than 35
m/m3 at all of the monitor sites. See the
data summary table on page 65523 of
the October 29, 2012 proposed rule. We
also noted that preliminary data
available in AQS for 2012 indicates that
the San Francisco Bay Area continues to
attain the NAAQS.
In our proposed rule, based on the
proposed determination of attainment,
we also proposed to apply EPA’s Clean
Data Policy to the 2006 PM2.5 NAAQS
and thereby suspend the requirements
for this area to submit an attainment
demonstration, associated reasonably
available control measures (RACM), a
reasonable further progress (RFP) plan,
and contingency measures for so long as
the area continues to attain the 2006 24hour PM2.5 NAAQS. See pages 65524–
65525 of our October 29, 2012 proposed
rule. In proposing to apply the Clean
Data Policy to the 2006 PM2.5 NAAQS,
we explained how we are applying the
same statutory interpretation with
respect to the implications of clean data
determinations that the Agency has long
applied in regulations for the 1997 8hour ozone and PM2.5 NAAQS and in
individual rulemakings for the 1-hour
ozone, PM10 and lead NAAQS.
Please see the October 29, 2012
proposed rule for more detailed
information concerning the PM2.5
NAAQS, designations of PM2.5
nonattainment areas, the regulatory
basis for determining attainment of the
NAAQS, BAAQMD’s PM2.5 monitoring
network, EPA’s review and evaluation
of the data, and the rationale and
implications for application of the Clean
Data Policy to the 2006 PM2.5 NAAQS.
II. Public Comments and EPA
Responses
EPA’s proposed rule provided a 30day public comment period. During this
period, we received no comments.
III. EPA’s Final Action
For the reasons provided in the
proposed rule and summarized herein,
EPA is taking final action to determine
that the San Francisco Bay Area
E:\FR\FM\09JAR1.SGM
09JAR1
]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 6 (Wednesday, January 9, 2013)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 1759-1760]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-31649]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR PART 52
[FRL-9767-5]
Notice of Approval of Clean Air Act Outer Continental Shelf Minor
Source/Title V Minor Permit Modification Issued to Shell Offshore, Inc.
for the Kulluk Conical Drilling Unit
AGENCY: United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice of final action.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: This notice announces that EPA Region 10 has issued a final
decision granting Shell Offshore Inc.'s (``Shell'') request for minor
modifications of Clean Air Act Outer Continental Shelf (``OCS'') Minor
Source/Title V Permit No. R10OCS03000 (``permits''). The permits
authorize air emissions associated with Shell's operation of the Kulluk
Conical Drilling Unit (``Kulluk'') in the Beaufort Sea to conduct
exploratory oil and gas drilling.
DATES: January 9, 2013.
ADDRESSES: The documents relevant to the above-referenced permits are
available for public inspection during normal business hours at the
following address: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 10,
1200 Sixth Avenue, Suite 900, AWT-107, Seattle, WA 98101. To arrange
for viewing of these documents, call Natasha Greaves at (206) 553-7079.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Natasha Greaves, Office of Air Waste
and Toxics, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 10, 1200 6th
Avenue, Suite 900, AWT-107, Seattle, WA 98101.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: EPA Region 10 issued a final decision on the
minor modifications of the permits on September 28, 2012. The modified
permits also became effective on that date, and the 30-day period
provided by 40 CFR 71.11(l) to file with the Environmental Appeals
Board (``EAB'')
[[Page 1760]]
a petition to review the minor modifications of the permits ended on
October 29, 2012. Pursuant to section 307(b)(1) of the Clean Air Act,
42 U.S.C. 7607(b)(1), judicial review of these final permit decisions,
to the extent it is available, may be sought by filing a petition for
review in the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
within 60 days of January 9, 2013.
On April 12, 2012, EPA issued a final decision on the permits which
authorize air emissions from Shell's operation of the Kulluk in the
Beaufort Sea to conduct exploratory drilling. Shell submitted an
application to EPA Region 10 requesting minor modifications of the
permits on July 5, 2012. EPA Region 10 reviewed and issued the
requested minor modifications of the permits on September 28, 2012.
All conditions of the Kulluk permit, issued by EPA on September 28,
2012, are final and effective.
Dated: November 6, 2012.
Kate Kelly,
Director, Office of Air, Waste & Toxics, Region 10.
[FR Doc. 2012-31649 Filed 1-8-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P
