[Federal Register: December 6, 2002 (Volume 67, Number 235)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Page 72574-72576]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr06de02-9]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 52
[NH-049-7174a; A-1-FRL-7418-5]
Approval and Promulgation of Air Quality Implementation Plans;
New Hampshire; One-hour Ozone Attainment Demonstration for the New
Hampshire Portion of the Boston-Lawrence-Worcester, MA-NH Ozone
Nonattainment Area
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Final rule.
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SUMMARY: EPA is approving a State Implementation Plan (SIP) revision
submitted by the State of New Hampshire. This action approves New
Hampshire's one-hour ozone attainment demonstration for the New
Hampshire portion of the Boston-Lawrence-Worcester, MA-NH serious ozone
nonattainment area, submitted by the New Hampshire Department of
Environmental Services on June 30, 1998. This action is based on the
requirements of the Clean Air Act (CAA) as amended in 1990, related to
one-hour ozone attainment demonstrations. EPA is establishing an
attainment date of November 15, 2007 for the entire multi-state
nonattainment area, and is approving the attainment-level motor vehicle
emissions budgets submitted by New Hampshire for the New Hampshire
portion of the nonattainment area. A notice of proposed rulemaking was
published on this action on October 21, 2002. EPA received no comments
on that proposal.
EFFECTIVE DATE: This rule will become effective on January 6, 2003.
ADDRESSES: Copies of the documents relevant to this action are
available for public inspection by appointment weekdays from 9 a.m. to
4 p.m., at the Office of Ecosystem Protection, U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency, EPA--New England, One Congress Street, 11th floor,
Boston, MA; and at the Air Resources Division, Department of
Environmental Services, 6 Hazen Drive, P.O. Box 95, Concord, NH 03302-
0095. Please telephone in advance before visiting.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Richard P. Burkhart, (617) 918-1664.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This supplementary information section is
organized as follows:
I. What New Hampshire SIP Revision is the Topic of This Action?
II. What Previous Action Has Been Taken on This SIP Revision?
III. What Motor Vehicle Emissions Budgets (MVEBs) Are We approving?
IV. EPA Action
V. Administrative Requirements
I. What New Hampshire SIP Revision Is the Topic of This Action?
A one-hour ozone attainment demonstration SIP was submitted on June
30, 1998 by the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Protection
for the New Hampshire portion of the Boston-Lawrence-Worcester, MA-NH
serious ozone nonattainment area. The SIP revision was subject to
public notice and comment by the state and a hearing was held in June
1998.
II. What Previous Action Has Been Taken on This SIP Revision?
EPA published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPR) for the New
Hampshire attainment demonstration SIP on October 21, 2002 (67 FR
64582). In that action, EPA proposed to approve the ozone attainment
demonstration and attainment-level motor vehicle emissions budgets
submitted by the state. The rationale for EPA's action is discussed in
full in the proposal, and readers are referred to the proposal for
further information. EPA received no comments on the proposal.
EPA proposed approval of the Massachusetts ozone attainment
demonstration for this nonattainment area on October 15, 2002 (67 FR
63586), and proposed an attainment date of November 15, 2007 for the
entire nonattainment area including the New Hampshire portion. Final
action on the Massachusetts ozone attainment demonstration for the
Massachusetts portion of the Boston-Lawrence-Worcester, MA-NH serious
ozone nonattainment area can be found in a document published elsewhere
in this issue of the Federal Register.
III. What Motor Vehicle Emissions Budgets (MVEBs) Are We Approving?
On June 30, 1998, New Hampshire submitted its ozone attainment
demonstration to EPA which establishes attainment-level motor vehicle
emissions budgets for both VOC and NOX. The VOC and
NOX budgets
[[Page 72575]]
established by the New Hampshire ozone attainment demonstration were
formally determined adequate by EPA on August 19, 1998. The motor
vehicle emissions budgets established by this plan that we are
approving today are 10.72 tons per day for VOC and 21.37 tons per day
for NOX for the New Hampshire portion of the Boston-
Lawrence-Worcester, MA-NH serious ozone nonattainment area. Because EPA
is establishing an attainment date of November 15, 2007 for the entire
nonattainment area, New Hampshire will be required to use 2007 as a
milestone year in future transportation conformity determinations.
IV. EPA Action
EPA is approving the ground-level one-hour ozone attainment
demonstration SIP for the New Hampshire portion of the Boston-Lawrence-
Worcester, MA-NH serious ozone nonattainment area. EPA is approving the
attainment date for this area as November 15, 2007. EPA also approves
the attainment-level volatile organic compound and nitrogen oxide motor
vehicle emissions budgets for the New Hampshire portion of the Boston-
Lawrence-Worcester, MA-NH serious ozone nonattainment area for use in
transportation conformity.
V. Administrative Requirements
Under Executive Order 12866 (58 FR 51735, October 4, 1993), this
action is not a ``significant regulatory action'' and therefore is not
subject to review by the Office of Management and Budget. For this
reason, this action is also not subject to Executive Order 13211,
``Actions Concerning Regulations That Significantly Affect Energy
Supply, Distribution, or Use'' (66 FR 28355, May 22, 2001). This action
merely approves state law as meeting Federal requirements and imposes
no additional requirements beyond those imposed by state law.
Accordingly, the Administrator certifies that this rule will not have a
significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities
under the Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 601 et seq.). Because
this rule approves pre-existing requirements under state law and does
not impose any additional enforceable duty beyond that required by
state law, it does not contain any unfunded mandate or significantly or
uniquely affect small governments, as described in the Unfunded
Mandates Reform Act of 1995 (Pub. L. 104-4).
This rule also does not have tribal implications because it will
not have a substantial direct effect on one or more Indian tribes, on
the relationship between the Federal Government and Indian tribes, or
on the distribution of power and responsibilities between the Federal
Government and Indian tribes, as specified by Executive Order 13175 (65
FR 67249, November 9, 2000). This action also does not have Federalism
implications because it does not have substantial direct effects on the
States, on the relationship between the national government and the
States, or on the distribution of power and responsibilities among the
various levels of government, as specified in Executive Order 13132 (64
FR 43255, August 10, 1999), because it merely approves a state rule
implementing a federal standard, and does not alter the relationship or
the distribution of power and responsibilities established in the Clean
Air Act. This rule also is not subject to Executive Order 13045
``Protection of Children from Environmental Health Risks and Safety
Risks'' (62 FR 19885, April 23, 1997), because it is not economically
significant.
In reviewing SIP submissions, EPA's role is to approve state
choices, provided that they meet the criteria of the Clean Air Act. In
this context, in the absence of a prior existing requirement for the
State to use voluntary consensus standards (VCS), EPA has no authority
to disapprove a SIP submission for failure to use VCS. It would thus be
inconsistent with applicable law for EPA, when it reviews a SIP
submission, to use VCS in place of a SIP submission that otherwise
satisfies the provisions of the Clean Air Act. Thus, the requirements
of section 12(d) of the National Technology Transfer and Advancement
Act of 1995 (15 U.S.C. 272 note) do not apply. This rule does not
impose an information collection burden under the provisions of the
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.)
The Congressional Review Act, 5 U.S.C. 801 et seq., as added by the
Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996, generally
provides that before a rule may take effect, the agency promulgating
the rule must submit a rule report, which includes a copy of the rule,
to each House of the Congress and to the Comptroller General of the
United States. EPA will submit a report containing this rule and other
required information to the U.S. Senate, the U.S. House of
Representatives, and the Comptroller General of the United States prior
to publication of the rule in the Federal Register. A major rule cannot
take effect until 60 days after it is published in the Federal
Register. This action is not a ``major rule'' as defined by 5 U.S.C.
804(2).
Under section 307(b)(1) of the Clean Air Act, petitions for
judicial review of this action must be filed in the United States Court
of Appeals for the appropriate circuit by February 4, 2003. Filing a
petition for reconsideration by the Administrator of this final rule
does not affect the finality of this rule for the purposes of judicial
review nor does it extend the time within which a petition for judicial
review may be filed, and shall not postpone the effectiveness of such
rule or action. This action may not be challenged later in proceedings
to enforce its requirements. (See section 307(b)(2).)
List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 52
Environmental protection, Air pollution control, Intergovernmental
relations, Nitrogen dioxide, Ozone, Reporting and recordkeeping
requirements, Volatile organic compounds.
Dated: November 26, 2002.
Robert W. Varney,
Regional Administrator, EPA--New England.
Part 52 of chapter I, title 40 of the Code of Federal Regulations
is amended as follows:
PART 52--[AMENDED]
1. The authority citation for part 52 continues to read as follows:
Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.
Subpart EE--New Hampshire
2. Section 52.1523 is amended by revising the table to read as
follows:
Sec. 52.1523 Attainment dates for national standards.
* * * * *
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SO 2
Air quality control region ---------------------- PM 10 NO 2 CO O 3
Primary Secondary
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NH portion Andoscoggin Valley Interstate AQCR a b a a a a
107..........................................
Central NH Intrastate AQCR 149................ a b a a a a
[[Page 72576]]
NH portion Merrimack Valley-Southern NH
Interstate 121:
Belknap County............................ a b a a a a
Sullivan County........................... a b a a a a
Cheshire County........................... a b a a a d
Portmouth-Dover-Rochester area (See 40 CFR a b a a a e
81.330)..................................
NH portion Boston-Lawrence-Worcester area a b a a a f
(See 40 CFR 81.330)......................
Manchester area (See 40 CFR 81.330)....... a b a a a c
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a. Air quality levels presently below primary standards or area is unclassifiable.
b. Air quality levels presently below secondary standards or area is unclassifiable.
c. November 15, 1993.
d. November 15, 1995.
e. November 15, 1999.
f. November 15, 2007.
3. Section 52.1534 of subpart EE is amended by adding paragraph (b)
to read as follows:
Sec. 52.1534 Control strategy: Ozone
* * * * *
(b) Approval--Revisions to the State Implementation Plan submitted
by the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Protection on June 1,
1998. The revisions are for the purpose of satisfying the one-hour
ozone attainment demonstration requirements of section 182(c)(2)(A) of
the Clean Air Act, for the Boston-Lawrence-Worcester, MA-NH serious
ozone nonattainment area. The revision establishes a one-hour
attainment date of November 15, 2007 for the Boston-Lawrence-Worcester,
MA-NH serious ozone nonattainment area. This revision establishes motor
vehicle emissions budgets of 10.72 tons per day of volatile organic
compounds (VOC) and 21.37 tons per day of nitrogen oxides
(NOX) to be used in transportation conformity in the New
Hampshire portion of the Boston-Lawrence-Worcester, MA-NH serious ozone
nonattainment area.
[FR Doc. 02-30840 Filed 12-5-02; 8:45 am]
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