Environmental Protection Agency March 13, 2008 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

On January 2, 2008 (73 FR 48), EPA published a direct final approval of revisions to the California State Implementation Plan (SIP). These revisions concerned local rules that address circumvention, reduction of animal matter, and volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions from gasoline bulk storage tanks, gasoline filling stations, petroleum refinery equipment, and petroleum solvent dry cleaning. The direct final action was published without prior proposal because EPA anticipated no adverse comment. The direct final rule stated that if adverse comments were received by February 1, 2008, EPA would publish a timely removal in the Federal Register. EPA received a timely adverse comment. Consequently, with this revision we are removing the direct final approval of SJVAPCD Rules 4104, 4402, 4404, 4453, 4454, 4625, 4641, and 4672. EPA will either address the comments in a subsequent final action based on the parallel proposal also published on January 2, 2008 (73 FR 48) or repropose an alternative action. As stated in the parallel proposal, EPA will not institute a second comment period on a subsequent final action. The other rules, MBUAPCD Rules 415, 418, and 1002, approved in the January 2, 2008 direct final action, are not affected by this removal and are incorporated into the SIP as of the original effective date of March 3, 2008.

In a rule published on June 14, 2005, EPA established a manufacturer-run, in-use testing program for heavy-duty diesel vehicles. The program requires engine manufacturers to measure exhaust emissions from their diesel engines using portable emissions measurement systems during real-world operation. At the time the rule was promulgated, EPA established interim emission measurement ``accuracy'' margins for the requisite portable emission measurement devices pending the development of final accuracy margins through a comprehensive research program. This notice proposes to adopt the resulting final accuracy margins for gaseous pollutants. Also, this rule proposes to make several changes to the program in the early years of in-use testing. First, we are proposing to eliminate the first calendar year, i.e., 2006, of the two-year pilot program for particulate emissions (PM) in response to engine manufacturers' concerns, which primarily relate to the availability and efficacy of the requisite portable measurement systems (PEMS) for that pollutant. Second, due to a delay in developing the final accuracy margin for PM under the aforementioned comprehensive research program, we are proposing to delay the first year of the fully enforceable PM test program from the 2008 calendar year to the 2009 calendar year. During the 2008 calendar year, there will be another year of pilot program testing for that pollutant. Third, and finally, we are proposing to extend the normal period for reporting in-use test results and allowing certain short-term changes in how vehicles are recruited and tested. These proposed revisions are primarily intended to address delays in initiating the gaseous emission and PM pilot programs, manufacturers' concerns regarding the schedule for initial purchases of PM measurement systems, and manufacturers' concerns regarding potential difficulties of initially instrumenting vehicles with these units.