[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 197 (Thursday, October 13, 2005)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 59688-59690]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-20514]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 52
[R03-OAR-2005-MD-0012; FRL-7982-8]
Approval and Promulgation of Air Quality Implementation Plans;
Maryland; Ambient Air Quality Standard for Ozone and Fine Particulate
Matter
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Proposed rule.
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SUMMARY: EPA is proposing to approve a State Implementation Plan (SIP)
revision submitted by the Maryland Department of the Environment. The
revision consists of modifications to the ambient air quality standards
for ozone and fine particulate matter and the replacement of the
abbreviation ``ppm'' with parts per million in existing standards. This
action is being taken under the Clean Air Act (CAA or the Act).
DATES: Written comments must be received on or before November 14,
2005.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Regional Material in
EDocket (RME) ID Number R03-OAR-2005-MD-0012 by one of the following
methods:
Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the
on-line instructions for submitting comments.
Agency Web site: http://docket.epa.gov/rmepub/ RME, EPA's
electronic public docket and comment system, is EPA's preferred method
for receiving comments. Follow the on-line instructions for submitting
comments.
E-mail: [email protected].
Mail: R03-OAR-2005-MD-0012, David Campbell, Chief, Air Quality
Planning and Analysis Branch, Mailcode 3AP21, U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency, Region III, 1650 Arch Street, Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania 19103.
Hand Delivery: At the previously-listed EPA Region III address.
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 RME ID No. R03-OAR-2005-MD-
0012.
[[Page 59689]]
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://docket.epa.gov/rmepub/, 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 RME, regulations.gov
or e-mail. The EPA RME and the Federal regulations.gov Web sites are 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 RME or 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
RME index at http://docket.epa.gov/rmepub/. 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 RME
or in hard copy during normal business hours at the Air Protection
Division, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region III, 1650 Arch
Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19103. Copies of the State submittal
are available at the Maryland Department of the Environment, 1800
Washington Boulevard, Suite 705, Baltimore, Maryland, 21230.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Linda Miller, (215) 814-2068, or by e-
mail at [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
On March 15, 2005, the State of Maryland submitted a formal
revision to its SIP. The SIP revision consists of an amendment which
includes the revised ambient air quality standards for ozone and
particulate matter. EPA promulgated the new, more stringent, national
ambient quality standards (NAAQS) for ozone and fine particulate matter
on July 18, 1997, 62 FR 38894 and 62 FR 38711, respectively.
In 1997, EPA adopted an 8-hour ozone NAAQS with a level of 0.08
parts per million (ppm) to provide greater protection to public health
than the previous standard 0.12 ppm averaged over a 1-hour block of
time. At the same time, EPA established a new standard for fine
particulate matter (PM2.5) that applies to particles 2.5 microns in
diameter or less.
II. Summary of SIP Revision
Maryland's revision incorporates the 1997 Federal 8-hour ozone and
PM2.5 standards into Title 26, Subtitle 11, Chapter 4 of the Code of
Maryland Adminstrative Regulations (COMAR). The new ozone standard
incorporated in this SIP revision is the average of the fourth-highest
daily maximum 8-hour average ozone concentration that is less than or
equal to 0.08 ppm, averaged over three consecutive years. In addition,
the SIP revision adds a new PM2.5 ambient air quality standard. The
standards for PM2.5 incorporated in this SIP revision are 65 micrograms
per cubic meter based on a 24-hour concentration and 15.0 micrograms
per cubic meter annual arithmetic mean concentration. Compliance with
the new 8-hour standard and fine particulate matter standards are
determined in a manner identical to the NAAQS as defined at 40 CFR part
50. It should be noted that Maryland has not made any revisions to the
existing standards for ozone (1-hour standard) or particulate matter
(PM10).
The revision also includes a clarification of the unit of measure
for ambient air quality standards for sulfur oxides and nitrogen
dioxide. The abbreviation ``ppm'' has been replaced by the written form
``parts per million''.
III. Proposed Action
EPA is proposing to approve the Maryland SIP revision for addition
of new 8-hour ozone ambient air quality standards and fine particulate
matter ambient air quality standards and clarification of unit of
measure, which was submitted on March 15, 2005. EPA is soliciting
public comments on the issues discussed in this document. These
comments will be considered before taking final action.
IV. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews
Under Executive Order 12866 (58 FR 51735, October 4, 1993), this
proposed 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 Fed. Reg. 28355 (May 22,
2001)). This action merely proposes to approve state law as meeting
Federal requirements and imposes no additional requirements beyond
those imposed by state law. Accordingly, the Administrator certifies
that this proposed 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 proposes to approve 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 (Public Law 104-4). This proposed rule also does 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), nor will it 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 proposes to approve a state rule implementing a Federal
requirement, and does not alter the relationship or the distribution of
power and responsibilities established in the Clean Air Act. This
proposed rule also is not subject to Executive Order 13045 (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
[[Page 59690]]
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.
As required by section 3 of Executive Order 12988 (61 FR 4729, February
7, 1996), in issuing this proposed rule, EPA has taken the necessary
steps to eliminate drafting errors and ambiguity, minimize potential
litigation, and provide a clear legal standard for affected conduct.
EPA has complied with Executive Order 12630 (53 FR 8859, March 15,
1988) by examining the takings implications of the rule in accordance
with the ``Attorney General's Supplemental Guidelines for the
Evaluation of Risk and Avoidance of Unanticipated Takings'' issued
under the executive order. This proposed rule to approve addition of
ozone and fine particulate standards does not impose an information
collection burden under the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act
of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.).
List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 52
Environmental protection, Air pollution control, Nitrogen dioxide,
Ozone, Particulate matter, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements,
Sulfur oxides, Volatile organic compounds.
Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.
Dated: October 5, 2005.
Donald S. Welsh,
Regional Administrator, Region III.
[FR Doc. 05-20514 Filed 10-12-05; 8:45 am]
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