California State Nonroad Engine Pollution Control Standards; Evaporative Emission Standards and Test Procedures for Off-Highway Recreational Vehicles (OHRVs); Request for Authorization; Opportunity for Public Hearing and Comment

Christopher Grundler
Environmental Protection Agency
9 August 2016

[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 153 (Tuesday, August 9, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 52684-52686]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-18873]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-OAR-2015-0224; FRL-9950-43-OAR]


California State Nonroad Engine Pollution Control Standards; 
Evaporative Emission Standards and Test Procedures for Off-Highway 
Recreational Vehicles (OHRVs); Request for Authorization; Opportunity 
for Public Hearing and Comment

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of opportunity for public hearing and comment.

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SUMMARY: The California Air Resources Board (CARB) has notified EPA 
that it has adopted amendments to its off-highway recreational vehicles 
(ORVR) regulation that establish new evaporative emission standards and 
associated test procedures for 2018 and subsequent model year OHRVs 
(OHRV Evaporative Emission Amendments). By letter dated February 26, 
2016, CARB asked that EPA authorize these amendments pursuant to 
section 209(e) of the Clean Air Act. This notice announces that EPA has 
tentatively scheduled a public hearing to consider California's 
authorization request and that EPA is now accepting written comment on 
the request.

DATES: EPA has tentatively scheduled a public hearing concerning CARB's 
request on September 28, 2016. at 10 a.m. EPA will hold a hearing only 
if any party notifies EPA by September 21, 2016 to express interest in 
presenting the Agency with oral testimony. Parties wishing to present 
oral testimony at the public hearing should provide written notice to 
David Dickinson at the email address noted below. If EPA receives a 
request for a public hearing, that hearing will be held at the William 
Jefferson Clinton Building (North), Room 5528 at 1200 Pennsylvania Ave. 
NW., Washington, DC 20460. If EPA does not receive a request for a 
public hearing, then EPA will not hold a hearing, and instead will 
consider CARB's request based on written submissions to the docket. Any 
party may submit written comments until November 1, 2016.
    Any person who wishes to know whether a hearing will be held may 
call David Dickinson at (202) 343-9256 on or after September 21, 2016.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-
OAR-2016-0181, by one of the following methods:
     Online at: http://www.regulations.gov: Follow the Online 
Instructions for Submitting Comments.
     Email: a-and-r-docket@epa.gov.
     Fax: (202) 566-9744.
     Mail: Air and Radiation Docket, Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-
2016-0181, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Mail code: 6102T, 1200 
Pennsylvania Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20460. Please include a total 
of two copies.
     Hand Delivery: EPA Docket Center, Public Reading Room, EPA 
West Building, Room 3334, 1301 Constitution Avenue NW., Washington, DC 
20460. Such deliveries are only accepted during the Docket's normal 
hours of operation, and special arrangements should be made for 
deliveries of boxed information.
    Online Instructions for Submitting Comments: Direct your comments 
to Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2016-0181. EPA's policy is that all 
comments we receive 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 to be CBI or otherwise 
protected through http://www.regulations.gov or email. The http://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 http://www.regulations.gov, your 
email address will automatically be 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. For additional 
information about EPA's public docket visit the EPA Docket Center 
homepage at http://www.epa.gov/epahome/dockets.htm.
    EPA will make available for public inspection materials submitted 
by CARB, written comments received from any interested parties, and any 
testimony given at the public hearing. Materials relevant to this 
proceeding are contained in the Air and Radiation Docket and 
Information Center, maintained in Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2016-0181. 
Publicly available docket materials are available either electronically 
through http://www.regulations.gov or in hard copy at the Air and 
Radiation Docket in the EPA Headquarters Library, EPA West Building, 
Room 3334, located at 1301 Constitution Avenue NW., Washington, DC. The 
Public Reading Room is open to the public on all federal government 
work days from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.; generally, it is open Monday 
through Friday, excluding holidays. The telephone number for the 
Reading Room is (202) 566-1744. The Air and Radiation Docket and 
Information Center's Web site is http://www.epa.gov/oar/docket.html. 
The electronic mail (email) address for the Air and Radiation Docket 
is: a-and-r-Docket@epa.gov, the telephone number is (202) 566-1742, and 
the fax number is (202) 566-9744. An electronic version of the public 
docket is available through the federal government's electronic public 
docket and comment system. You may access EPA dockets at http://www.regulations.gov. After opening the http://www.regulations.gov Web 
site, enter, in the ``Enter Keyword or ID'' fill-in box to view 
documents in the record. Although a part of the official docket, the 
public docket does not include Confidential Business Information 
(``CBI'') or other information whose disclosure is restricted by 
statute.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: David Dickinson (6405J), Office of 
Transportation and Air Quality, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 
1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW., Washington, DC 20460. Telephone: (202) 343-
9256. Fax: (202) 343-2804. Email: dickinson.david@epa.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

(A) CARB's Authorization Request for Its OHRV Evaporative Emission 
Amendments

    The California OHRV category encompasses a wide variety of 
vehicles, including off-road motorcycles, all-terrain vehicles (ATVs), 
off-road sport and utility vehicles, sand cars, and golf carts. CARB's 
OHRV Evaporative

[[Page 52685]]

Emission Amendments establish a new test procedure and evaporative 
emission standard of 1.0 gram per day (g/day) of total organic gas 
(TOG) for a 3-day diurnal period, which may be achieved utilizing the 
available evaporative emissions technology currently used in the on-
road sector.
    By letter dated February 26, 2016, CARB submitted a request to EPA 
pursuant to section 209(e) of the Clean Air Act (CAA or the Act) for 
authorization for the OHRV Evaporative Emission Amendments.

(B) Clean Air Act Nonroad Engine and Vehicle Authorizations

    Section 209(e)(1) of the CAA prohibits states and local governments 
from adopting or attempting to enforce any standard or requirement 
relating to the control of emissions from certain types of new nonroad 
vehicles or engines. The Act also preempts states from adopting and 
enforcing standards and other requirements related to the control of 
emissions from other types of new nonroad vehicles or engines as well 
as non-new nonroad engines or vehicles. Section 209(e)(2), however, 
requires the Administrator, after notice and opportunity for public 
hearing, to authorize California to adopt and enforce standards and 
other requirements relating to the control of emissions from such 
preempted vehicles or engines if California determines that California 
standards will be, in the aggregate, at least as protective of public 
health and welfare as applicable Federal standards. However, EPA shall 
not grant such authorization if it finds that (1) the determination of 
California is arbitrary and capricious; (2) California does not need 
such California standards to meet compelling and extraordinary 
conditions; or (3) California standards and accompanying enforcement 
procedures are not consistent with [CAA section 209]. In addition, 
other states with air quality attainment plans may adopt and enforce 
such regulations if the standards and the implementation and 
enforcement procedures are identical to California's standards. On July 
20, 1994, EPA promulgated a rule that sets forth, among other things, 
regulations providing the criteria, as found in section 209(e)(2), 
which EPA must consider before granting any California authorization 
request for new nonroad engine or vehicle emission standards.\1\ EPA 
revised these regulations in 1997.\2\ As stated in the preamble to the 
1994 rule, EPA has historically interpreted the section 
209(e)(2)(A)(iii) ``consistency'' inquiry to require, at minimum, that 
California standards and enforcement procedures be consistent with 
section 209(a), section 209(e)(1), and section 209(b)(1)(C) (as EPA has 
interpreted that subsection in the context of section 209(b) motor 
vehicle waivers).\3\
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    \1\ 59 FR 36969 (July 20, 1994).
    \2\ 62 FR 67733 (December 30, 1997). The applicable regulations, 
now in 40 CFR part 1074, subpart B, Sec.  1074.105, provide:
    (a) The Administrator will grant the authorization if California 
determines that its standards will be, in the aggregate, at least as 
protective of public health and welfare as otherwise applicable 
federal standards.
    (b) The authorization will not be granted if the Administrator 
finds that any of the following are true:
    (1) California's determination is arbitrary and capricious.
    (2) California does not need such standards to meet compelling 
and extraordinary conditions.
    (3) The California standards and accompanying enforcement 
procedures are not consistent with section 209 of the Act.
    (c) In considering any request to authorize California to adopt 
or enforce standards or other requirements relating to the control 
of emissions from new nonroad spark-ignition engines smaller than 50 
horsepower, the Administrator will give appropriate consideration to 
safety factors (including the potential increased risk of burn or 
fire) associated with compliance with the California standard.
    \3\ 59 FR 36969 (July 20, 1994).
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    In order to be consistent with section 209(a), California's nonroad 
standards and enforcement procedures must not apply to new motor 
vehicles or new motor vehicle engines. To be consistent with section 
209(e)(1), California's nonroad standards and enforcement procedures 
must not attempt to regulate engine categories that are permanently 
preempted from state regulation. To determine consistency with section 
209(b)(1)(C), EPA typically reviews nonroad authorization requests 
under the same ``consistency'' criteria that are applied to motor 
vehicle waiver requests. Pursuant to section 209(b)(1)(C), the 
Administrator shall not grant California a motor vehicle waiver if she 
finds that California ``standards and accompanying enforcement 
procedures are not consistent with [section 202(a)]'' of the Act. 
Previous decisions granting waivers and authorizations have noted that 
state standards and enforcement procedures are inconsistent with 
section 202(a) if: (1) There is inadequate lead time to permit the 
development of the necessary technology giving appropriate 
consideration to the cost of compliance within that time, or (2) the 
federal and state testing procedures impose inconsistent certification 
requirements.\4\
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    \4\ Id. See also 78 FR 58090, 58092 (September 20, 2013).
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    In considering whether to grant authorizations for accompanying 
enforcement procedures tied to standards for which an authorization has 
already been granted, EPA addresses questions as to whether the 
enforcement procedures undermine California's determination that its 
standards are as protective of public health and welfare as applicable 
federal standards, and whether the enforcement procedures are 
consistent with section 202(a).\5\
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    \5\ See CAA section 209(e)(2)(A)(i) and (iii), 42 U.S.C. 
7543(e)(2)(A) (i) and (iii).
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(C) EPA's Request for Comments

    EPA requests comment on whether the OHRV Evaporative Emission 
Amendments meet the criteria for an authorization. Specifically, we 
request comment on: (a) Whether CARB's determination that its 
standards, in the aggregate, are at least as protective of public 
health and welfare as applicable federal standards is arbitrary and 
capricious; (b) whether California needs such standards to meet 
compelling and extraordinary conditions; and (c) whether California's 
standards and accompanying enforcement procedures are consistent with 
section 209 of the Act.

Procedures for Public Participation

    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 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 November 1, 2016. Upon expiration of the comment 
period, the Administrator will render a decision on CARB's request 
based on the record from the public hearing, if any, all relevant 
written submissions, and other information that she deems pertinent. 
All information will be available for inspection at the EPA Air Docket 
No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2016-0181.
    Persons with comments containing proprietary information must 
distinguish such information from other comments to the greatest extent 
possible and label it as ``Confidential Business Information'' (CBI). 
If a person making comments wants EPA to base its decision on a 
submission labeled as CBI, then a non-confidential version of the 
document that summarizes the key data or information should be 
submitted to the public docket. To ensure that proprietary information 
is not

[[Page 52686]]

inadvertently placed in the public 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 according to 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: August 3, 2016.
Christopher Grundler,
Director, Office of Transportation and Air Quality, Office of Air and 
Radiation.
[FR Doc. 2016-18873 Filed 8-8-16; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P