[Federal Register: August 18, 2008 (Volume 73, Number 160)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Page 48127-48130]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr18au08-5]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 52
[EPA-R04-OAR-2008-0051-200805(a); FRL-8705-3]
Approval and Promulgation of Air Quality Implementation Plans;
Tennessee; Approval of Revisions to the Nashville/Davidson County
Portion
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Direct final rule.
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SUMMARY: EPA is taking direct final action to approve a revision to the
State Implementation Plan (SIP) submitted by the State of Tennessee on
October 19, 2007. The revision affects the Nashville/Davidson County
portion of the Tennessee SIP. Specifically, the revision pertains to
the Metropolitan Public Health Department, Pollution Control Division's
Regulation Number 8, ``Inspection and Maintenance of Light-Duty Motor
Vehicles.'' The revision is part of Nashville/Davidson County's
strategy to meet the requirements of EPA's 1997 8-hour ozone standard.
Regulation Number 8 is amended by reducing the vehicle emission
inspection fee to $9.00 and updating the definitions section. This
revision is considered by the Tennessee Department of Environment and
Conservation (TDEC), to be at least as stringent as the State of
Tennessee's
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preexisting requirements. This action is being taken pursuant to
section 110 of the Clean Air Act (CAA).
DATES: This direct final rule is effective October 17, 2008 without
further notice, unless EPA receives adverse comment by September 17,
2008. If EPA receives such comments, it will publish a timely
withdrawal of the direct final rule in the Federal Register and inform
the public that the rule will not take effect.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-R04-
OAR-2008-0051, by one of the following methods:
1. www.regulations.gov: Follow the on-line instructions for
submitting comments.
2. E-mail: hou.james@epa.gov.
3. Fax: (404) 562-9019.
4. Mail: ``EPA-R04-OAR-2008-0051,'' Regulatory Development Section,
Air Planning Branch, Air, Pesticides and Toxics Management Division,
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 4, 61 Forsyth Street, SW.,
Atlanta, Georgia 30303-8960.
5. Hand Delivery or Courier: Mr. James Hou, Regulatory Development
Section, Air Planning Branch, Air, Pesticides and Toxics Management
Division, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 4, 61 Forsyth
Street, SW., Atlanta, Georgia 30303-8960. Such deliveries are only
accepted during the Regional Office's normal hours of operation. The
Regional Office's official hours of business are Monday through Friday,
8:30 to 4:30, excluding federal holidays.
Instructions: Direct your comments to Docket ID No. ``EPA-R04-OAR-
2008-0051.'' EPA's policy is that all comments received will be
included in the public docket without change and may be made available
online at 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
www.regulations.gov or e-mail information that you consider to be CBI
or otherwise protected. The 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 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. For additional information about EPA's public
docket visit the EPA Docket Center home page at http://www.epa.gov/
epahome/dockets.htm.
Docket: All documents in the electronic docket are listed in the
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 www.regulations.gov or
in hard copy at the Regulatory Development Section, Air Planning
Branch, Air, Pesticides and Toxics Management Division, U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency, Region 4, 61 Forsyth Street, SW.,
Atlanta, Georgia 30303-8960. EPA requests that if at all possible, you
contact the person listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT
section to schedule your inspection. The Regional Office's official
hours of business are Monday through Friday, 8:30 to 4:30, excluding
federal holidays.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. James Hou, Regulatory Development
Section, Air Planning Branch, Air, Pesticides and Toxics Management
Division, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 4, 61 Forsyth
Street, SW., Atlanta, Georgia 30303-8960. The telephone number is (404)
562-8965. Mr. Hou can also be reached via electronic mail at
hou.james@epa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Analysis of Submittal
On October 19, 2007, the State of Tennessee submitted a revision to
the Nashville/Davidson County portion of the Tennessee SIP, which
included a revision to the Metropolitan Public Health Department,
Pollution Control Division's Regulation Number 8, ``Inspection and
Maintenance of Light-Duty Motor Vehicles.'' This revision was
promulgated by the Davidson County Metropolitan Health Department,
which is the local agency overseeing implementation of air pollution
control regulations for Davidson County, including Early Action Compact
(EAC) related obligations. The SIP revision currently at issue amends
Regulation Number 8 by reducing the emissions inspection fee for light-
duty motor vehicles from $10.00 to $9.00 per inspection. The revision
also updates the ``Definitions'' section by clarifying the definition
of `Carbon Monoxide,' adding the term `Catalytic Converter,' and
clarifying the definition of `Heavy-Duty Motor Vehicle.' Specifically,
the definitions will be changed to the following:
Carbon Monoxide--means a compound consisting of the chemical
formula (CO).
Catalytic Converter--means a pollution control device containing a
catalyst for converting automobile exhaust into mostly harmless
products.
Heavy-Duty Motor Vehicle--means any motor vehicle having a combined
manufacturer vehicle and maximum loading rate (GVWR) to be carried
thereon in excess of 10,500 pounds (4773 kilograms or more).
The above revision is consistent with the EAC Protocol \1\ and is
considered by the State of Tennessee to be at least as stringent as
preexisting requirements under the SIP.
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\1\ The EAC Protocol can be found at http://www.epa.gov/air/eac/
.
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II. Final Action
EPA has reviewed the submittal and determined that is consistent
with the requirements of the CAA and EPA's Policy. Therefore, EPA is
approving the aforementioned change to the SIP. EPA is publishing this
rule without prior proposal because the Agency views this as a
noncontroversial submittal and anticipates no adverse comments.
However, in the proposed rules section of this Federal Register
publication, EPA is publishing a separate document that will serve as
the proposal to approve the SIP revision should adverse comments be
filed. This rule will be effective October 17, 2008 without further
notice unless the Agency receives adverse comments by September 17,
2008.
If EPA receives such comments, then EPA will publish a document
withdrawing the final rule and informing the public that the rule will
not take effect. All public comments received will then be addressed in
a subsequent final rule based on the proposed rule. EPA will not
institute a second comment period. Parties interested in commenting
should do so at this time. If no such comments are
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received, the public is advised that this rule will be effective on
October 17, 2008 and no further action will be taken on the proposed
rule.
III. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews
Under the CAA, the Administrator is required to approve a SIP
submission that complies with the provisions of the Act and applicable
Federal regulations. 42 U.S.C. 7410(k); 40 CFR 52.02(a). Thus, in
reviewing SIP submissions, EPA's role is to approve state choices,
provided that they meet the criteria of the CAA. Accordingly, this
action merely approves state law as meeting Federal requirements and
does not impose additional requirements beyond those imposed by state
law. For that reason, this action:
Is not a ``significant regulatory action'' subject to
review by the Office of Management and Budget under Executive Order
12866 (58 FR 51735, October 4, 1993);
Does not impose an information collection burden under the
provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.);
Is certified as not having a significant economic impact
on a substantial number of small entities under the Regulatory
Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 601 et seq.);
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);
Does not have Federalism implications as specified in
Executive Order 13132 (64 FR 43255, August 10, 1999);
Is not an economically significant regulatory action based
on health or safety risks subject to Executive Order 13045 (62 FR
19885, April 23, 1997);
Is not a significant regulatory action subject to
Executive Order 13211 (66 FR 28355, May 22, 2001);
Is not subject to requirements of Section 12(d) of the
National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act of 1995 (15 U.S.C. 272
note) because application of voluntary consensus standards would be
inconsistent with the CAA; and
Does not provide EPA with the discretionary authority to
address, as appropriate, disproportionate human health or environmental
effects, using practicable and legally permissible methods, under
Executive Order 12898 (59 FR 7629, February 16, 1994).
In addition, this rule does not have tribal implications as
specified by Executive Order 13175 (65 FR 67249, November 9, 2000),
because the SIP is not approved to apply in Indian country located in
the state, and EPA notes that it will not impose substantial direct
costs on tribal governments or preempt tribal law.
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 action 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 CAA, petitions for judicial review
of this action must be filed in the United States Court of Appeals for
the appropriate circuit by October 17, 2008. Filing a petition for
reconsideration by the Administrator of this final rule does not affect
the finality of this action 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, Carbon monoxide,
Catalytic converter, Heavy-duty motor vehicles, Incorporation by
reference, Motor vehicle inspection fee, Ozone.
Dated: July 30, 2008.
Russell L. Wright, Jr.,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region 4.
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40 CFR part 52 is amended as follows:
PART 52--[AMENDED]
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1. The authority citation for part 52 continues to read as follows:
Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.
Subpart (RR)--(Tennessee)
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2. Section 52.2220(c) Table 5 is amended by revising the entry for
``Regulation No. 8'' to read as follows:
Sec. 52.2220 Identification of plan.
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(c) * * *
Table 5--EPA Approved Nashville-Davidson, Regulations
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State
State citation Title/subject effective date EPA approval date Explanation
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Regulation No. 8............... Regulation of Emissions 10/10/2007 8/18/08 [Insert ..................
from Light-Duty Motor citation of
Vehicles Through publication].
Mandatory Vehicle
Inspection and
Maintenance Program.
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[FR Doc. E8-18968 Filed 8-15-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P