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

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

  [Federal Register: February 27, 2007 (Volume 72, Number 38)]
[Notices]
[Page 8726-8728]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr27fe07-70]

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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.

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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 http://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 (http://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:
(http://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:
    ? http://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 http://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 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.

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

 
 

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