[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 65 (Wednesday, April 5, 2006)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 17047-17050]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 06-3310]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Parts 51 and 93
[EPA-HQ-OAR-2004-0491; FRL-8055-4]
RIN 2060-AN60
PM2.5 De Minimis Emission Levels for General Conformity
Applicability
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Proposed rule.
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SUMMARY: The EPA is proposing to amend its regulations relating to the
Clean Air Act (CAA) requirement that Federal actions conform to the
appropriate State, Tribal or Federal implementation plan for attaining
clean air (``general conformity'') to add de minimis emissions levels
for particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter equal to or less
than 2.5 microns (PM2.5) National Ambient Air Quality
Standards (NAAQS) and its precursors.
DATES: Comments must be received by May 5, 2006.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-
OAR-2004-0491, by one of the following methods:
http://www.regulations.gov: Follow the on-line
instructions for submitting comments.
E-mail: [email protected], attention Docket No. EPA-
HQ-OAR-2004-0491.
Fax: 202-566-1741.
Mail: PM2.5 De Minimis Emission Levels for
General Conformity Applicability, Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2004-0491,
Environmental Protection Agency Docket Center, Mail Code: 6102T, 1200
Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20460. Please include a total
of two copies, if possible. In addition, please mail a copy of your
comments on the information collection provisions to the Office of
Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget
(OMB), Attn: Desk Officer for EPA, 725 17th St., NW., Washington, DC
20503.
Hand Delivery: PM2.5 De Minimis Emission Levels
for General Conformity Applicability, Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2004-
0491, Environmental Protection Agency Docket Center, EPA West, Room B-
102, 1301 Constitution Avenue, 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.
Instructions: Direct comments to Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2004-
0491. The 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 to be 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. For additional information about EPA's public
docket visit the EPA Docket Center homepage at http://www.epa.gov/epahome/dockets.htm.
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.
Publicly available docket materials are available either electronically
in http://www.regulations.gov or in hard copy at the Docket, EPA/DC,
EPA West, Room B102, 1301 Constitution Ave., NW., Washington, DC. The
Public Reading Room is open from 8:30 a.m. 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
Docket is (202) 566-1742.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Thomas Coda, Office of Air Quality
Planning and Standards, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Mail
[[Page 17048]]
Code C539-02, Research Triangle Park, NC 27711, phone number (919) 541-
3037 or by e-mail at [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. General Information
A. Does This Action Apply to Me?
Today's action applies to all Federal agencies and Federal
activities.
B. What Should I Consider as I Prepare My Comments for EPA?
1. Submitting CBI. Do not submit this information to EPA through
http://www.regulations.gov or e-mail. Clearly mark the part or all of
the information that you claim to be CBI. For CBI information in a disk
or CD-ROM that you mail EPA, mark the outside of the disk or CD-ROM as
CBI and then identify electronically within the disk or CD-ROM the
specific information that is claimed as CBI. In addition to one
complete version of the comment that includes information claimed as
CBI, a copy of the comment that does not contain the information
claimed as CBI must be submitted for inclusion in the public docket.
Information so marked will not be disclosed except in accordance with
procedures set forth in 40 CFR part 2.
2. Tips for Preparing Your Comments. When submitting comments
remember to:
Identify the rulemaking by docket number and other
identifying information (subject heading, Federal Register date and
page number).
Follow directions--The agency may ask you to respond to
specific questions or organize comments by referencing a Code of
Federal Regulations (CFR) part or section number.
Explain why you agree or disagree; suggest alternatives
and substitute language for your requested changes.
Describe any assumptions and provide any technical
information and/or data that you used.
If you estimate potential costs or burdens, explain how
you arrived at your estimate in sufficient detail to allow for it to be
reproduced.
Provide specific examples to illustrate your concerns, and
suggest alternatives.
Explain your views as clearly as possible, avoiding the
use of profanity or personal threats.
Make sure to submit your comments by the comment period
deadline identified.
II. Today's Rule
This proposed rule and the accompanying direct final rule are
available electronically on the day of publication from EPA's Federal
Register Web site http://www.epa.gov/docs/fedrgstr/EPA-AIR/. For
further information, including the rationale, administrative
requirements, statutory authority, and regulatory text for these
amendments, please see the information provided in the direct final
action that is located in the ``Rules and Regulations'' section of this
Federal Register publication.
III. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews
A. Executive Order 12866: Regulatory Planning and Review
Under Executive Order 12866 (58 FR 51735, October 4, 1993), the
Agency must determine whether the regulatory action is ``significant''
and, therefore, subject to Office of Management and Budget (OMB) review
and the requirements of the Executive Order. The Order defines
``significant regulatory action'' as one that is likely to result in a
regulation that may:
1. Have an annual effect on the economy of $100 million or more or
adversely affect in a material way the economy, a sector of the
economy, productivity, competition, jobs, the environment, public
health or safety, or State, local, or Tribal governments or
communities;
2. Create a serious inconsistency or otherwise interfere with an
action taken or planned by another agency;
3. Materially alter the budgetary impact of entitlements, grants,
user fees, or loan programs or the rights and obligations of recipients
thereof; or
4. Raise novel legal or policy issues arising out of legal
mandates, the President's priorities, or the principles set forth in
the Executive Order.
Pursuant to the terms of Executive Order 12866, it has been
determined that these revisions to the regulations are considered a
``significant regulatory action'' because they may interfere with
actions taken or planned by other Federal agencies. As such, this
action was submitted to OMB for review. Changes made in response to OMB
suggestions or recommendations can be found in the public docket.
B. Paperwork Reduction Act
This action does not directly impose an information collection
burden under the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act, 44 U.S.C.
3501 et seq., on non-Federal entities. The General Conformity
Regulations require Federal agencies to determine that their actions
conform to the SIPs or TIPs. However, depending upon how Federal
agencies implement the regulations, non-Federal entities seeking
funding or approval from those Federal agencies may be required to
submit information to that agency.
Burden means the total time, effort, or financial resources
expended by persons to generate, maintain, retain, or disclose or
provide information to or for a Federal agency. This includes the time
needed to review instructions; develop, acquire, install, and utilize
technology and systems for the purposes of collecting, validating, and
verifying information, processing and maintaining information, and
disclosing and providing information; adjust the existing ways to
comply with any previously applicable instructions and requirements;
train personnel to be able to respond to a collection of information;
search data sources; complete and review the collection of information;
and transmit or otherwise disclose the information. An agency may not
conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to a
collection of information unless it displays a currently valid OMB
control number. The OMB control numbers for EPA's regulations in 40 CFR
are listed in 40 CFR part 9.
C. Regulatory Flexibility Act
The Regulatory Flexibility Act generally requires an Agency to
prepare a regulatory flexibility analysis of any regulation subject to
notice and comment rulemaking requirements under the Administrative
Procedures Act or any other statute unless the Agency certifies the
rule will not have a significant economic impact on a substantial
number of small entities. Small entities include small businesses,
small organizations, and small governmental jurisdictions.
For purposes of assessing the impacts of today's proposed revisions
to the regulations on small entities, small entity is defined as:
1. A small business that is a small industrial entity as defined in
the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) size standards. (See 13
CFR 121.201);
2. A governmental jurisdiction that is a government of a city,
county, town, school district or special district with a population of
less than 50,000; and
3. A small organization that is any not-for-profit enterprise which
is independently owned and operated and is not dominant in its field.
Today's proposed revisions to the regulations, if promulgated will
not impose any requirements on small entities and therefore, will not
have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small
entities. The General Conformity Regulations
[[Page 17049]]
require Federal agencies to conform to the appropriate State, Tribal or
Federal implementation plan for attaining clean air. We continue to be
interested in the potential impacts of the regulations on small
entities and welcome comments on issues related to such impacts.
D. Unfunded Mandates Reform Act
Title II of the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995 (UMRA), Public
Law 104-4, establishes requirements for Federal agencies to assess the
effects of their regulatory actions on State, local, and Tribal
governments and the private sector. Under section 202 of the UMRA, EPA
generally must prepare a written statement, including a cost-benefit
analysis, for proposed and final regulations with ``Federal mandates''
that may result in expenditures to State, local, and Tribal
governments, in the aggregate, or to the private sector, of $100
million or more in any 1 year. Before promulgating an EPA regulation
for which a written statement is needed, section 205 of the UMRA
generally requires EPA to identify and consider a reasonable number of
regulatory alternatives and to adopt the least costly, most cost-
effective or least burdensome alternative that achieves the objectives
of the regulation. The provisions of section 205 do not apply when they
are inconsistent with applicable law. Moreover, section 205 allows EPA
to adopt an alternative other than the least costly, most cost-
effective or least burdensome alternative if the Administrator
publishes with the final regulations an explanation why that
alternative was not adopted. Before EPA establishes any regulatory
requirements that may significantly or uniquely affect small
governments, including Tribal governments, it must have developed under
section 203 of the UMRA a small government agency plan. The plan must
provide for notifying potentially affected small governments, enabling
officials of affected small governments to have meaningful and timely
input in the development of EPA regulatory proposals with significant
Federal intergovernmental mandates, and informing, educating, and
advising small governments on compliance with the regulatory
requirements.
The EPA has determined that these revisions to the regulations do
not contain a Federal mandate that may result in expenditures of $100
million or more for State, local, and Tribal governments, in the
aggregate, or the private sector in any 1 year. Thus, today's proposed
regulation revisions are not subject to the requirements of sections
202 and 205 of the UMRA.
The EPA has determined that these proposed regulation revisions
contain no regulatory requirements that may significantly or uniquely
affect small governments, including Tribal governments.
E. Executive Order 13132: Federalism
Executive Order 13132, entitled ``Federalism'' (64 FR 43255; August
10, 1999), requires EPA to develop an accountable process to ensure
``meaningful and timely input by State and local officials in the
development of regulatory policies that have Federalism implications.''
``Policies that have Federalism implications'' is defined in the
Executive Order to include regulations that 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.''
This action does not have Federalism implications. The regulations
will 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. Previously, EPA
determined the costs to States to implement the General Conformity
Regulations to be less than $100,000 per year. Thus, Executive Order
13132 does not apply to these proposed regulation revisions.
F. Executive Order 13175: Consultation and Coordination With Indian
Tribal Governments
Executive Order 13175, entitled ``Consultation and Coordination
with Indian Tribal Governments'' (65 FR 67249, November 9, 2000),
requires EPA to develop an accountable process to ensure ``meaningful
and timely input by Tribal officials in the development of regulatory
policies that have Tribal implications.'' This determination is stated
below.
These proposed regulation revisions do not have Tribal implications
as defined by Executive Order 13175. They do not have a substantial
direct effect on one or more Indian Tribes, since no Tribe has to
demonstrate conformity for their actions. Furthermore, these proposed
regulation revisions do not affect the relationship or distribution of
power and responsibilities between the Federal government and Indian
Tribes. The CAA and the Tribal Air Rule establish the relationship of
the Federal government and Tribes in developing plans to attain the
NAAQS, and these revisions to the regulations do nothing to modify that
relationship. Because these proposed regulation revisions do not have
Tribal implications, Executive Order 13175 does not apply.
Although Executive Order 13175 does not apply to these regulations,
EPA encourages Tribal input and specifically solicits comment on this
regulation from Tribal officials.
G. Executive Order 13045: Protection of Children From Environmental
Health and Safety Risks
Executive Order 13045: ``Protection of Children from Environmental
Health and Safety Risks'' (62 FR 19885, April 23, 1997) applies to any
rule that (1) is determined to be ``economically significant'' as
defined under Executive Order 12866, and (2) concerns an environmental
health or safety risk that EPA has reason to believe may have
disproportionate effect on children. If the regulatory action meets
both criteria, the Agency must evaluate the environmental health or
safety effects of the planned rule on children, and explain why the
planned regulation is preferable to other potentially effective and
reasonably feasible alternatives considered by the Agency.
These proposed revisions to the regulations are not subject to
Executive Order 13045 because they are not economically significant as
defined in Executive Order 12866 and because EPA does not have reason
to believe the environmental health or safety risk addressed by the
General Conformity Regulations present a disproportionate risk to
children. The General Conformity Regulations ensure that Federal
agencies comply with the SIP, TIP or FIP for attaining and maintaining
the NAAQS. The NAAQS are promulgated to protect the health and welfare
of sensitive populations, including children.
H. Executive Order 13211: Actions That Significantly Affect Energy
Supply, Distribution, or Use
These revisions to the regulations are not considered a
``significant energy action'' as defined in Executive Order 13211,
``Actions That Significantly Affect Energy Supply, Distribution, or
Use,'' (66 FR 28355, May 22, 2001) because it is not likely to have a
significant adverse effect on the supply, distribution, or use of
energy.
I. National Technology Transfer Advancement Act
Section 12(d) of the National Technology Transfer Advancement Act
of 1995 (NTTAA), Public Law 104-113, section 12(d) (15 U.S.C. 272 note)
directs EPA to use voluntary consensus
[[Page 17050]]
standards (VCS) in its regulatory activities unless to do so would be
inconsistent with applicable law or otherwise impractical. The VCS are
technical standards (e.g., materials specifications, test methods,
sampling procedures, and business practices) that are developed or
adopted by VCS bodies. The NTTAA directs EPA to provide Congress,
through OMB, explanations when the Agency decides not to use available
and applicable VCS.
This revision to the regulations does not involve technical
standards. Therefore, EPA is not considering the use of any VCS.
However, EPA will encourage the Federal agencies to consider the
use of such standards, where appropriate, in the implementation of the
General Conformity Regulations.
J. Executive Order 12898: Federal Actions To Address Environmental
Justice in Minority Populations and Low-Income Populations
Executive Order 12898 requires that each Federal agency make
achieving environmental justice part of its mission by identifying and
addressing, as appropriate, disproportionately high and adverse human
health environmental effects of its programs, policies, and activities
on minorities and low-income populations.
The EPA believes that these proposed revisions to the regulations
should not raise any environmental justice issues. The proposed
revisions to the regulations would, if promulgated, revise procedures
for other Federal agencies to follow. They do not disproportionately
affect the health or safety of minority or low income populations. The
EPA encourages other agencies to carefully consider and address
environmental justice in their implementation of their evaluations and
conformity determinations.
List of Subjects
40 CFR Part 51
Environmental protection, Administrative practice and procedures,
Air pollution control, Carbon monoxide, Intergovernmental relations,
Lead, Nitrogen dioxide, Ozone, Particulate matter, Reporting and
recordkeeping requirements, Sulfur dioxide, Volatile organic compounds.
40 CFR Part 93
Environmental protection, Administrative practice and procedures,
Air pollution control, Carbon monoxide, Intergovernmental relations,
Lead, Nitrogen dioxide, Ozone, Particulate matter, Reporting and
recordkeeping requirements, Sulfur dioxide, Volatile organic compounds.
Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7401-7671q.
Dated: March 31, 2006.
Stephen L. Johnson,
Administrator.
[FR Doc. 06-3310 Filed 4-4-06; 8:45 am]
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