[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 209 (Monday, October 30, 2006)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 63247-63250]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-18050]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 52
[EPA-R06-OAR-2005-LA-0003; FRL-8234-8]
Approval and Promulgation of Implementation Plans; Louisiana;
Transportation Conformity
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Direct final rule.
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SUMMARY: EPA is taking direct final action approving a State
Implementation Plan (SIP) revision submitted by the State of Louisiana
on May 13, 2005. This revision serves to incorporate recent changes to
the Federal conformity rule into the State conformity SIP. We are
approving this SIP revision in accordance with section 176 and part D
of the Clean Air Act.
DATES: This rule is effective on December 29, 2006 without further
notice, unless EPA receives relevant adverse comment by November 29,
2006. If EPA receives such comment, EPA will publish a timely
withdrawal in the Federal Register informing the public that this rule
will not take effect.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket No. EPA-R06-OAR-
2005-LA-0003, by one of the following methods:
Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov.
Follow the on-line instructions for submitting comments.
EPA Region 6 ``Contact Us'' Web site: http://epa.gov/
region6/
[[Page 63248]]
r6coment.htm. Please click on ``6PD'' (Multimedia) and select ``Air''
before submitting comments.
E-mail: Mr. Thomas Diggs at [email protected]. Please
also send a copy by e-mail to the person listed in the FOR FURTHER
INFORMATION CONTACT section below.
Fax: Mr. Thomas Diggs, Chief, Air Planning
Section (6PD-L), at fax number 214-665-7263.
Mail: Mr. Thomas Diggs, Chief, Air Planning Section (6PD-
L), Environmental Protection Agency, 1445 Ross Avenue, Suite 1200,
Dallas, Texas 75202-2733.
Hand or Courier Delivery: Mr. Thomas Diggs, Chief, Air
Planning Section (6PD-L), Environmental Protection Agency, 1445 Ross
Avenue, Suite 1200, Dallas, Texas 75202-2733. Such deliveries are
accepted only between the hours of 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. weekdays except
for legal holidays. Special arrangements should be made for deliveries
of boxed information.
Instructions: Direct your comments to Dockt ID No. EPA-R06-OAR-
2005-LA-0003. EPA's policy is that all comments received will be
included in the public file 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 the
disclosure of which 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'' systems, 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 and any form of encryption, and should be
free of any defects or viruses.
Docket: All documents in the 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, will be publicly available only in hard copy.
Publicly available docket materials are available either electronically
in www.regulations.gov or in hard copy at the Air Planning Section
(6PD-L), Environmental Protection Agency, 1445 Ross Avenue, Suite 700,
Dallas, Texas 75202-2733. The file will be made available by
appointment for public inspection in the Region 6 FOIA Review Room
between the hours of 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. weekdays except for legal
holidays. Contact the person listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
CONTACT paragraph below or Mr. Bill Deese at 214-665-7253 to make an
appointment. If possible, please make the appointment at least two
working days in advance of your visit. There will be a 15-cent per page
fee for making photocopies of documents. On the day of the visit,
please check in at the EPA Region 6 reception area at 1445 Ross Avenue,
Suite 700, Dallas, Texas.
The State submittal is also available for public inspection at the
State Air Agency listed below during official business hours by
appointment:
Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality, Office of
Environmental Assessment, 602 N. Fifth Street, Baton Rouge, Louisiana
70802.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Peggy Wade, Air Planning Section (6PD-
L), Environmental Protection Agency, Region 6, 1445 Ross Avenue, Suite
700, Dallas, Texas 75202-2733, telephone (214) 665-7247; fax number
214-665-7263; e-mail address [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Throughout this document wherever ``we,''
``us,'' or ``our'' is used, we mean the EPA.
Outline
I. What Action Is EPA Taking?
II. What Is the Background for This Action?
III. What Did the State Submit and How Did We Evaluate It?
IV. Final Action
V. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews
I. What Action Is EPA Taking?
On May 13, 2005, the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality
(LDEQ) submitted revisions to its SIP addressing changes to the
transportation conformity rule [Louisiana Administrative Code (LAC)
33:III.1432] which were adopted by the State on March 20, 2005. This
submission incorporates recent changes in the Federal transportation
conformity rule into the Louisiana conformity SIP. They are described
in detail below. EPA is approving these revisions to the Louisiana
conformity SIP.
II. What Is the Background for This Action?
The Federal Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 (CAA) required each
State to submit a revision to its SIP by November 25, 1994,
establishing enforceable criteria and procedures for making conformity
determinations for metropolitan transportation plans (MTP),
transportation improvement programs (TIP), and projects funded by the
Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) or the Federal Transit
Administration (FTA). The conformity rule assures that in air quality
nonattainment or maintenance areas, projected emissions from
transportation plans and programs stay within the motor vehicle
emissions ceiling in the applicable attainment demonstration or
maintenance SIP. The transportation conformity SIP enables the State to
implement and enforce the Federal transportation conformity
requirements at the State level per 40 CFR part 51 subpart T and 40 CFR
part 93 subpart A.
EPA published final rules regarding conformity requirements on
November 24, 1993 (58 FR 62188). Since then, EPA has made several
amendments to the transportation conformity rules: August 7, 1995 (60
FR 40098), November 14, 1995 (60 FR 57179), August 15, 1997 (62 FR
43780), April 10, 2000 (65 FR 18911), August 6, 2002 (67 FR 50808), and
July 1, 2004 (69 FR 40004). A minor correction to the July 1, 2004,
rulemaking was published on July 20, 2004 (69 FR 43325). The State of
Louisiana submitted an initial conformity SIP to EPA on November 23,
1994. This SIP was withdrawn, revised and re-submitted to EPA in
October of 1998. We approved this SIP on December 29, 1999 (64 FR
72934), thus addressing the Federal rule amendments promulgated up to
and including 1997, with the exception of certain provisions of the
Federal rule that were deemed unlawful by the U.S. Court of Appeals for
the District of Columbia Circuit (Environmental Defense Fund v. EPA, et
al., 167 F. 3d 641, DC Cir. 1999). These exceptions are addressed in
the current SIP submission and are explained below. With the current
revisions submitted by LDEQ, the State is aligning its rule to the
Federal conformity rule for all amendments up to and including those
promulgated on July 20, 2004.
Specifically, these revisions address the March 2, 1999, ruling,
mentioned
[[Page 63249]]
above, by the United States Court of Appeals for the District of
Columbia. The court's ruling affected provisions of the rule pertaining
to the funding of MTPs and TIPs; use of motor vehicle emissions budgets
(MVEB) prior to SIP approval; Federal transportation projects in areas
without a conforming MTP and TIP; timing of conformity consequences
following an EPA SIP disapproval; and use of submitted safety margins
in areas with approved SIPs submitted prior to November 24, 1993.
More recent changes to the rule are inclusion of criteria and
procedures for implementing conformity in accordance with the new
National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) addressing eight-hour
ozone and particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter less than or
equal to 2.5 micrometers (PM2.5). Changes relating to the
implementation of these new standards are summarized below.
Changes to 40 CFR 93.101 add new definitions for one-hour ozone
NAAQS; eight-hour ozone NAAQS; donut areas; isolated rural
nonattainment and maintenance areas; and limited maintenance plans.
Other Federal changes in the rule include provision of a one-year grace
period before conformity is required in newly designated nonattainment
areas and the addition of PM2.5 to the list of criteria
pollutants (40 CFR 93.102). Changes to 40 CFR 93.104 were made to amend
the point by which a conformity determination must be made following a
State's submission of a control strategy SIP or maintenance SIP for the
first time. This new provision requires conformity to be determined
within 18 months of EPA's affirmative finding that the SIP's MVEBs are
adequate. Changes to the grace period for transportation plan
requirements in certain ozone and carbon monoxide nonattainment areas
are made in 40 CFR 93.106. 40 CFR 93.109 has been changed to include
the applicability of conformity for one-hour ozone nonattainment or
maintenance areas until EPA revokes the one-hour ozone NAAQS and
additional language related to conformity requirements for the new
NAAQS for eight-hour ozone and PM2.5. Changes to 40 CFR
93.110 clarify that conformity determinations must be based on the
latest planning assumptions in place at the time a conformity analysis
begins, rather than at the time of Department of Transportation's
conformity finding. Some changes to the methodology of hot-spot
analyses were made at 40 CFR 93.116. The rule revisions also made
several changes with respect to the MVEB at 40 CFR 93.118 where the
adequacy process is discussed. Changes to 40 CFR 93.119 concern use of
interim emissions tests in areas without adequate or approved MVEBs. In
40 CFR 93.120, the 120-day grace period previously allowed prior to a
conformity freeze has been deleted so that a freeze will occur
immediately upon the effective date of a SIP disapproval. EPA amended
the rule at 40 CFR 93.121 so that regionally significant, non-Federal
projects may no longer advance during a conformity lapse unless they
have received all necessary State and local approvals prior to the
lapse. EPA also made minor revisions to 40 CFR 93.117 and 40 CFR
93.124-93.126. For a comprehensive guide to all changes in the Federal
rule, please see the reference document at http://www.epa.gov/otaq/transp/conform/420b04013.pdf or the transportation conformity final
rule at 69 FR 40004.
III. What Did the State Submit and How Did We Evaluate It?
With this SIP submission, the State is incorporating by reference
the changes made to the Federal conformity rule up to and including the
final rule issued on July 1, 2004 (69 FR 40004), as corrected on July
20, 2004 (69 FR 43325), with the exception of the requirements of 40
CFR 93.105. The Federal requirements in 40 CFR 93.105 are addressed in
the State rule at LAC 33:III.1434 and are not being changed with this
revision.
IV. Final Action
EPA is approving the revisions to the Louisiana conformity SIP and
corresponding amendments to LAC 33:III.14.B, Conformity to State or
Federal Implementation Plans of Transportation Plans, Programs, and
Projects Developed, Funded or Approved under Title 23 U.S.C or the
Federal Transit Act. The EPA is publishing this rule without prior
proposal because we view this as a noncontroversial amendment and
anticipate no adverse comments. However, in the proposed rules section
of this Federal Register publication, we are publishing a separate
document that will serve as the proposal to approve the SIP revisions
if relevant adverse comments are received. The rule will be effective
on December 29, 2006 without further notice unless we receive adverse
comment by November 29, 2006. If we receive adverse comment we will
publish a timely withdrawal in the Federal Register informing the
public this rule will not take effect. We will address public comments
in a subsequent final rule based on the proposed rule. We will not
institute a second comment period on this action. Any parties
interested in commenting must do so at this time. Please note that if
we receive adverse comment on an amendment, paragraph, or section of
this rule and if that provision may be severed from the remainder of
the rule, we may adopt as final those provisions of the rule that are
not the subject of adverse comment.
V. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews
The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has exempted this
regulatory action from Executive Order 12866, entitled ``Regulatory
Planning and Review.'' This rule is not a ``significant energy action''
as defined in Executive Order 13211, ``Actions Concerning Regulations
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. 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 Clean
Air Act.
This rule also is not subject to Executive Order 13045 ``Protection
of
[[Page 63250]]
Children from Environmental Health Risks and Safety Risks'' (62 FR
19885, April 23, 1997). EPA interprets Executive Order 13045 as
applying only to those regulatory actions that are based on health or
safety risks, such that the analysis required under section 5-501 of
the Order has the potential to influence the regulation. This rule is
not subject to Executive Order 13045 because it approves a State
program.
In reviewing SIP submissions under the National Technology Transfer
and Advancement Act of 1995 (15 U.S.C. 272 note), 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 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 December 29, 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, Ozone, Particulate matter, Reporting and recordkeeping
requirements, Volatile organic compounds.
Dated: October 5, 2006.
Lawrence E. Starfield,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region 6.
0
40 CFR part 52 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 T--Louisiana
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2. In Sec. 52.970, the table in paragraph (c) entitled ``EPA approved
Louisiana regulations in the Louisiana SIP'' under Chapter 14--
Conformity, Subchapter B, section 1432 is revised to read as follows:
Sec. 52.970 Identification of plan.
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(c) * * *
EPA Approved Louisiana Regulations in the Louisiana SIP
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State approval
State citation Title/subject date EPA approval date Explanation
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Chapter 14 Conformity
Subchapter B--Conformity to State or Federal Implementation Plans of Transportation Plans, Programs, and
Projects Developed, Funded, or Approved under Title 23 U.S.C. or the Federal Transit Act
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Section 1432................... Incorporation by March 20, 2005, October 30, 2006
Reference. LR31:640. [Insert FR page
number where
document begins].
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[FR Doc. E6-18050 Filed 10-27-06; 8:45 am]
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