[Federal Register: June 26, 2006 (Volume 71, Number 122)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Page 36210-36213]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr26jn06-15]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 52
[EPA-R07-OAR-2006-0286; FRL-8188-6]
Approval and Promulgation of Implementation Plans; State of
Missouri
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Direct final rule.
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SUMMARY: We are taking final action to approve a revision to the
maintenance plan prepared by Missouri to maintain the national ambient
air quality standard for ozone in the Missouri portion of the Kansas
City maintenance area. This plan is applicable to Clay, Jackson and
Platte Counties. The effect of this approval is to ensure Federal
enforceability of the state air program plan and to maintain
consistency between the state-adopted plan and the approved SIP.
DATES: This direct final rule will be effective August 25, 2006,
without further notice, unless EPA receives adverse comment by July 26,
2006. If adverse comment is received, EPA will publish a timely
withdrawal of the direct final rule in the Federal Register informing
the public that the rule will not take effect.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-R07-
OAR-2006-0286, by one of the following methods:
1. http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the on-line instructions for
submitting comments.
2. E-mail: algoe-eakin.amy@epa.gov.
3. Mail: Amy Algoe-Eakin, Environmental Protection Agency, Air
Planning and Development Branch, 901 North 5th Street, Kansas City,
Kansas 66101.
4. Hand Delivery or Courier. Deliver your comments to Amy Algoe-
Eakin, Environmental Protection Agency, Air Planning and Development
Branch, 901 North 5th Street, Kansas City, Kansas 66101.
Instructions: Direct your comments to Docket ID No. EPA-R07-OAR-
2006-0286. 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 through http://www.regulations.gov
or e-mail information that you consider to be CBI
or otherwise protected. 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 electronic docket are listed in the
http://www.regulations.gov index. Although listed in the index, some
information is not publicly available, i.e., CBI or other information
whose disclosure is restricted by statute. Certain other material, such
as copyrighted material, is not placed on the Internet and will be
publicly available only in hard copy form. Publicly available docket
materials are available either electronically in http://www.regulations.gov
or in hard copy at the Environmental Protection
Agency, Air Planning and Development Branch, 901 North 5th Street,
Kansas City, Kansas 66101. The Regional Office's official hours of
business are Monday through Friday, 8 to 4:30 excluding Federal
holidays. The interested persons wanting to examine these documents
should make an appointment with the office at least 24 hours in
advance.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Amy Algoe-Eakin at (913) 551-7942, or
by e-mail at algoe-eakin.amy@epa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Throughout this document whenever ``we,''
``us,'' or ``our'' is used, we mean EPA. This section provides
additional information by addressing the following questions:
What Is a SIP?
What Is the Federal Approval Process for a SIP?
What Does Federal Approval of a State Regulation Mean to Me?
What Are the Criteria for Approval of a Maintenance Plan?
What Is Being Addressed in This Document?
What Is in the Contingency Measure Portion of the Mainentance Plan
and Is It Approvable?
Does the 8-Hour Ozone Implementation Rule Have Any Bearing on This
Revision?
Have the Requirements for Approval of a SIP Revision Been Met?
What Action Is EPA Taking?
What Is a SIP?
Section 110 of the Clean Air Act (CAA) requires states to develop
air pollution regulations and control strategies to ensure that state
air quality meets the national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS)
established by EPA. These ambient standards are established under
section 109 of the CAA, and they currently address six criteria
pollutants. These pollutants are: Carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide,
ozone, lead, particulate matter, and sulfur dioxide.
Each state must submit these regulations and control strategies to
us for approval and incorporation into the Federally-enforceable SIP.
[[Page 36211]]
Each Federally-approved SIP protects air quality primarily by
addressing air pollution at its point of origin. These SIPs can be
extensive, containing state regulations or other enforceable documents
and supporting information such as emission inventories, monitoring
networks, and modeling demonstrations.
What Is the Federal Approval Process for a SIP?
In order for state regulations to be incorporated into the
Federally-enforceable SIP, states must formally adopt the regulations
and control strategies consistent with state and Federal requirements.
This process generally includes a public notice, public hearing, public
comment period, and a formal adoption by a state-authorized rulemaking
body.
Once a state rule, regulation, or control strategy is adopted, the
state submits it to us for inclusion into the SIP. We must provide
public notice and seek additional public comment regarding the proposed
Federal action on the state submission. If adverse comments are
received, they must be addressed prior to any final Federal action by
us.
All state regulations and supporting information approved by EPA
under section 110 of the CAA are incorporated into the Federally-
approved SIP. Records of such SIP actions are maintained in the Code of
Federal Regulations (CFR) at title 40, part 52, entitled ``Approval and
Promulgation of Implementation Plans.'' The actual state regulations
which are approved are not reproduced in their entirety in the CFR
outright but are ``incorporated by reference,'' which means that we
have approved a given state regulation with a specific effective date.
What Does Federal Approval of a State Regulation Mean to Me?
Enforcement of the state regulation before and after it is
incorporated into the Federally-approved SIP is primarily a state
responsibility. However, after the regulation is Federally approved, we
are authorized to take enforcement action against violators. Citizens
are also offered legal recourse to address violations as described in
section 304 of the CAA.
What Are the Criteria for Approval of a Maintenance Plan?
The requirements for the approval and revision of a maintenance
plan are found in section 175A of the CAA. In general, a maintenance
plan must provide a demonstration of continued attainment including the
control measures relied upon, provide contingency measures for the
prompt correction of any violation of the standard, provide for
continued operation of the ambient air quality monitoring network,
provide a means of tracking the progress of the plan, and include the
attainment emissions inventory and new budgets for motor vehicle
emissions. The requirement for a motor vehicle emissions budget is no
longer applicable to the Kansas City area as explained below.
What Is Being Addressed in this Document?
By letter dated September 6, 2005, Missouri submitted a SIP
revision that revised the prior plan for maintaining the 1-hour ozone
standard in Kansas City. The maintenance plan includes Clay, Jackson
and Platte Counties in Missouri. The Kansas City area is designated
attainment for the 8-hour ozone standard and is a ``maintenance'' area
for the 1-hour standard (an area which has been redesignated from
nonattainment to attainment with an approved maintenance plan). The
revision makes five changes to the maintenance plan. The plan was
revised to provide information about the 8-hour ozone standard, provide
updated information about the scope of the monitoring network, and
provide 8-hour ozone air quality data. A statement is included that
transportation conformity ended when the 1-hour standard was revoked on
June 15, 2005. It is appropriate to remove all language relating to
transportation conformity as the 1-hour ozone standard was revoked and
the area was designated as an attainment area for the 8-hour standard.
The only substantive revision made was the addition of contingency
measure triggers relating to the 8-hour ozone standard. The contingency
measures and schedule for implementing them were not changed.
Thus, four of the five principal components of the maintenance
plan, noted above, have not changed; and, therefore, the approvability
of those sections is not addressed here. EPA took final action on these
components on January 13, 2004 (69 FR 1921). The changes made to the
contingency measures portion of the plan are addressed below.
What Is in the Contingency Measure Portion of the Maintenance Plan and
Is It Approvable?
The contingency measures listed have not changed, and the schedule
for implementing measures has not changed (adoption of measures within
18 months and full implementation within 24 months). Revision to the
maintenance plan also retains triggers previously approved and adds
triggers for the 8-hour ozone standard.
We believe it is appropriate to include a trigger relating to the
8-hour ozone standard, since that is the relevant standard which
applies to Kansas City. However, because Missouri has not yet adopted,
and EPA has not yet approved a maintenance plan for the area as
required by section 110(a) of the CAA (the submission is due in June
2007), Missouri must also retain the 1-hour ozone standard triggers
previously approved in the maintenance plan. (See, 40 CFR
51.905(e)(2)). Therefore, Missouri has included both 1-hour and 8-hour
contingency measure triggers in its SIP.
Does the 8-Hour Ozone Implementation Rule Have Any Bearing on This
Revision?
The Phase-1 Implementation Rule for the 8-hour ozone standard
promulgated in April 2004 requires that former 1-hour maintenance
areas, areas such as Kansas City, prepare and submit no later than June
15, 2007, a plan under section 110 of the CAA to maintain the 8-hour
ozone standard for a ten-year period from the date of designation. The
revisions submitted by Missouri are revisions to the existing 1-hour
maintenance plan to provide interim protection for violations of the 8-
hour standard. These revisions do not address requirements in the
implementation rule for the 8-hour ozone standard. We anticipate that
Missouri will address the latter requirements in a subsequent
submittal.
Have the Requirements for Approval of a SIP Revision Been Met?
The state submittal has met the public notice requirements for SIP
submissions in accordance with 40 CFR 51.102. The submittal also
satisfied the completeness criteria of 40 CFR part 51, appendix V. In
addition, as explained above and in more detail in the technical
support document which is part of this document, the revision meets the
substantive SIP requirements of the CAA.
The requirements for maintenance plans are established in section
175A of the CAA. With the maintenance plan revisions identified above,
the plan continues to meet these requirements.
What Action Is EPA Taking?
Our review of the material submitted indicates that the state has
revised the maintenance plan in accordance with the requirements of the
CAA. We are fully approving Missouri's revised
[[Page 36212]]
maintenance plan for the Missouri portion of the Kansas City
maintenance area.
We are processing this action as a direct final action because the
revisions make routine changes to the existing SIP which are
noncontroversial. Therefore, we do not anticipate any adverse comments.
Please note that if EPA receives adverse comment on part of this rule
and if that part can be severed from the remainder of the rule, EPA may
adopt as final those parts of the rule that are not the subject of an
adverse comment.
Statutory and Executive Order Reviews
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). This action 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 CAA.
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 CAA. 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 CAA. 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 August 25, 2006. 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: June 15, 2006.
James B. Gulliford,
Regional Administrator, Region 7.
0
Chapter I, title 40 of the Code of Federal Regulations is amended as
follows:
PART 52--[AMENDED]
0
1. The authority citation for part 52 continues to read as follows:
Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.
Subpart AA--Missouri
0
2. In Sec. 52.1320(e) the table is amended by adding an entry in
numerical order to read as follows:
Sec. 52.1320 Identification of Plan.
* * * * *
(e) * * *
EPA-Approved Missouri Nonregulatory SIP Provisions
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Applicable
Name of nonregulatory SIP geographic or State
provision nonattainment submittal date EPA approval date Explanation
area
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* * * * * * *
(50) Revision to Maintenance Kansas City..... 10/28/05 6/26/06 [insert FR page .....................
Plan for the 1-hour ozone number where the docu-
standard in the Missouri ment begins].
portion of the Kansas City
maintenance area for the
second the ten-year period.
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[[Page 36213]]
[FR Doc. 06-5625 Filed 6-23-06; 8:45 am]
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