[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 162 (Wednesday, August 22, 2007)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 46903-46905]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-16316]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 52
[EPA-R04-OAR-2004-SC-0004-200706 (a); FRL-8457-2]
Approval and Promulgation of Implementation Plans South Carolina:
Revisions to Ambient Air Quality Standards
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Direct final rule.
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SUMMARY: EPA is approving revisions to the State Implementation Plan
(SIP) submitted by the South Carolina Department of Health and
Environmental Control (SC DHEC) on November 19, 2004, for the purpose
of incorporating EPA's July 18, 1997, revisions to the National Ambient
Air Quality Standards and to ensure consistency between state and
Federal regulations. The revisions consist of the amendments published
in the South Carolina State Register on September 24, 2004, revising
Regulation 61-62.5, Standard Number 2, Ambient Air Quality Standards.
DATES: This direct final rule is effective October 22, 2007 without
further notice, unless EPA receives adverse comment by September 21,
2007. If adverse comment is received, EPA 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-2004-SC-200706, by one of the following methods:
1. http://www.regulations.gov: Follow the on-line instructions for
submitting comments.
2. E-mail: [email protected].
3. Fax: 404-562-9019.
4. Mail: ``EPA-R04-OAR-2004-SC-0004'', 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: Deliver your comments to: Nacosta C.
Ward, 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 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.,
excluding federal holidays.
Instructions: Direct your comments to Docket ID No. EPA-R04-OAR-
2004-SC-0004. 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 website 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 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 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 a.m. to 4:30
p.m., excluding federal holidays.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Nacosta C. Ward, 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) 562-9140. Ms. Ward can also be reached via electronic mail at
[email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
[[Page 46904]]
I. Analysis of State's Submittal
On November 19, 2004, SC DHEC submitted revisions to the South
Carolina SIP. These revisions were published in the South Carolina
State Register on September 24, 2004, revising Regulation 61-62.5,
Standard Number 2, Ambient Air Quality Standards. The changes to the
South Carolina SIP incorporate Federal revisions to the ozone and
particulate matter standards and add applicable appendices from the
Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) referencing the Reference Methods.
The analytical methods to be used in Regulation 61-62.5, Standard
2, will be those applicable Reference Methods, located in 40 CFR 50,
Appendices A through H and K with the addition of Appendices I through
N, as revised on July 18, 1997. Appendices I and N have been added in
footnote (3) following the table, which reference the two revisions to
the table regarding 8-hour ozone and PM2.5. The appendices
located in 40 CFR 50 are those that attainment determinations are based
upon. The 8-hour ozone and PM2.5 (primary and secondary)
standards have been added to South Carolina's ambient air quality
standards table. The portion of the table containing these additions is
reflected below:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Micrograms per
Pollutant Measuring interval cubic meter
------------------------------------------------------------------------
PM2.5 (Primary and Secondary 24 hours........... 65\(3)\
Standards). Annual............. 15\(3)\
Ozone.......................... 8 hours............ 0.08 ppm\(3)\
------------------------------------------------------------------------
\(3)\ Attainment determinations will be made based on the criteria
contained in 40 CFR 50 Appendices H, I, K, and N.
II. Final Action
EPA is approving the aforementioned changes to the South Carolina
SIP because they are consistent with the Clean Air Act and EPA policy.
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 22, 2007 without
further notice unless the Agency receives adverse comments by September
21, 2007.
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 received, the public
is advised that this rule will be effective on October 22, 2007 and no
further action will be taken on the proposed rule.
III. 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 Clean
Air Act. 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 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 (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. section 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.
section 804(2).
[[Page 46905]]
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 October 22, 2007. 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, Particulate matter, Reporting and
recordkeeping requirements, Volatile organic compounds.
Dated: July 31, 2007.
J.I. Palmer, Jr.,
Regional Administrator, Region 4.
0
Chapter I, title 40, 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 PP--South Carolina
0
2. Section 52.2120(c) is amended under Regulation No. 62.5, by revising
the entry for ``Standard No. 2'' to read as follows:
Sec. 52.2120 Identification of plan.
* * * * *
(c) * * *
Air Pollution Control Regulations for South Carolina
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State EPA approval
State citation Title/subject effective date date Federal Register notice
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* * * * * * *
Regulation No. 62.5 Air Pollution Control Standards
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* * * * * * *
Standard No. 2 Ambient Air Quality Standards
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......................... 09/24/04 08/22/07 [Insert citation of
publication].
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[FR Doc. E7-16316 Filed 8-21-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P