Jump to main content.

California State Motor Vehicle Pollution Control Standards; Greenhouse Gas Regulations; Reconsideration of Previous Denial of a Waiver of Preemption

Note: EPA no longer updates this information, but it may be useful as a reference or resource.

PDF Version (3 pp, 94K, About PDF)

[Federal Register: February 12, 2009 (Volume 74, Number 28)]
[Notices]
[Page 7040-7042]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr12fe09-40]

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

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[AMS-FRL-8772-7]

California State Motor Vehicle Pollution Control Standards;
Greenhouse Gas Regulations; Reconsideration of Previous Denial of a
Waiver of Preemption

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice for public hearing and comment.

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

SUMMARY: The Clean Air Act preempts States from adopting emission
standards for new motor vehicles and motor vehicle engines but requires
EPA to waive this preemption for California unless EPA makes certain
findings. Acting at the direction of the California legislature, the
California Air Resources Board (CARB) adopted greenhouse gas emission
regulations for passenger cars, light-duty trucks and medium-duty
passenger vehicles beginning with the 2009 model year. By letter dated
December 21, 2005, CARB submitted a request that EPA grant a waiver for
these regulations. EPA denied this request on March 6, 2008. EPA
believes that there are significant issues regarding the

[[Page 7041]]

Agency's denial of the waiver. The denial was a substantial departure
from EPA's longstanding interpretation of the Clean Air Act's waiver
provisions and the history of granting waivers to California for its
new motor vehicle emission program. Many different parties--including
California, States that have adopted or are interested in adopting
California's standards, members of Congress, scientists, and other
stakeholders--have expressed similar concerns about the denial of the
waiver. EPA believes there is merit to reconsidering its decision
denying California's waiver. Therefore, this Federal Register notice
initiates such reconsideration, and announces a public hearing concerning
California's request and a re-opening of the written comment period.

DATES: A public hearing concerning this reconsideration will be held on
March 5, 2009, beginning at 9:30 a.m. Any party planning to present
oral testimony should notify EPA by March 2, 2009, expressing its
interest. Any party may submit written comments by April 6, 2009.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-
OAR-2006-0173, by one of the following methods:
    • http://www.regulations.gov: Follow the on-line instructions
for submitting comments.
    • E-mail: a-and-r-docket@epa.gov.
    • Fax: (202) 566-9744.
    • Mail: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, EPA West (Air
Docket), 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Room B108, Mail Code 6102T,
Washington, DC 20460, Attention Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2006-0173.
Please include a total of two copies.
    • Hand Delivery: EPA Docket Center, EPA/DC, EPA West, Room
B102, 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.
    Instructions: Direct your comments to Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-
2006-0173.
    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 to
be CBI or otherwise protected through http://www.regulations.gov or e-
mail. 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 e-mail comment directly to EPA without going through http://
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 http://
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.
    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 non-confidential 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 below
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.
    Parties wishing to present oral testimony at the public hearing
should provide notice to the contact person listed below. EPA will hold
the public hearing at the EPA Potomac Yard Conference Center, 2777
Crystal Drive, Room S-1204, Arlington, VA 22202.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 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.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 209(a) of the Clean Air Act, as
amended (``Act''), 42 U.S.C. 7543(a), generally preempts State
standards relating to the control of emissions from new motor vehicles
and new motor vehicle engines. As an exception to this general
preemption, section 209(b) of the Act requires the Administrator of EPA
to waive application of the section 209(a) preemption to California
provided certain criteria, as noted below, are met. Other States may
adopt California's standards if they meet certain statutory criteria in
doing so. 42 U.S.C. 7507.
    Section 209(b) of the Act requires the Administrator, after notice
and opportunity for public hearing, to grant a waiver to California 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.'' 42 U.S.C. 7543(b)(1). The Administrator
must grant a waiver unless she finds that (1) California's
determination regarding the protectiveness of its standards is
arbitrary and capricious, (2) California does not need the state
standards to meet ``compelling and extraordinary conditions,'' or (3)
California's standards and accompanying enforcement procedures are not
consistent with section 202(a) of the Act. 42 U.S.C. 7543(b)(A)-(C).
    The March 6, 2008 waiver denial (73 FR 12156) significantly
departed from EPA's longstanding interpretation of the Clean Air Act's
waiver provisions and from the Agency's history, after appropriate
review, of granting waivers to California for its new motor vehicle
emission program. Moreover, since the denial was issued, California,
States interested in implementing CA's standards, members of Congress,
scientists, and other stakeholders have identified a number of concerns
regarding EPA's decision. Most recently, on January 21, 2009, EPA
received a letter from CARB outlining several significant issues for
the Administrator to review in reconsidering the March 6, 2008 waiver
denial. Based on all of the above, EPA believes it is important to
fully review and reconsider the decision

[[Page 7042]]

denying a waiver for California's standards.
    Included in CARB's letter is a request that EPA return to its
traditional review of California's standards under section 209(b)(1)(B)
by considering whether California continues to need its own motor
vehicle emission program, rather than evaluating greenhouse gas
standards separately. As part of this review, CARB suggests that EPA
should base its decision on whether California continues to need to
have its own motor vehicle program to address various factors in
California, such as climate, large human and vehicle population,
topography and meteorology, and should not apply this test separately
to the greenhouse gas emission standards. In addition, CARB requests
that EPA reconsider (and reject) the alternative grounds for the
denial, namely, EPA's determination that the impacts from climate
change in California were not sufficiently different from the nation as
a whole. In addition to arguing that this is not an appropriate
interpretation of section 209(b)(1), CARB states that EPA improperly
weighed the evidence of impacts in California (including evidence that
greenhouse gas standard will help reduce smog-related emissions) and
that the record supports granting the waiver even under EPA's new
interpretation of section 209(b)(1).
    Prior to the March 6, 2008 denial, the Agency provided notice and
an opportunity to comment on whether (a) California's determination
that its motor vehicle emission standards are, in the aggregate, at
least as protective of public health and welfare as applicable Federal
standards is arbitrary and capricious, (b) California needs such
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. We now seek any
new or additional information or comments regarding these criteria. We
also seek comment on: (1) whether EPA's interpretation and application
of section 209(b)(1) in EPA's March 6, 2008 waiver denial was
appropriate, and (2) the effect of the March 6, 2008 denial on whether
California's GHG standards are consistent with section 202(a) of the
Act, including lead time.

    Dated: February 6, 2009.
Lisa P. Jackson,
Administrator.
[FR Doc. E9-2913 Filed 2-11-09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P

 
 

Local Navigation

Jump to main content.