[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 135 (Thursday, July 14, 2016)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 45421-45423]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-16458]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 52
[EPA-R04-OAR-2016-0106; FRL-9948-95-Region 4]
Air Plan Approval; NC; Fine Particulate Matter National Ambient
Air Quality Standards Revision
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency.
ACTION: Direct final rule.
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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is taking direct
final action to approve a revision to a State Implementation Plan (SIP)
submitted by the State of North Carolina, through the North Carolina
Department of Environmental Quality's (NCDEQ) Division of Air Quality
(DAQ) on December 11, 2015, that incorporates amendments to the state
rules reflecting the 2012 national ambient air quality standards
(NAAQS) for fine particulate matter (PM2.5). This action is
being taken pursuant to the Clean Air Act (CAA or Act).
DATES: This direct final rule is effective September 12, 2016 without
further notice, unless EPA receives adverse comment by August 15, 2016.
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-2016-0106 at http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the online
instructions for submitting comments. Once submitted, comments cannot
be edited or removed from Regulations.gov. EPA may publish any comment
received to its public docket. Do not submit electronically any
information you consider to be Confidential Business Information (CBI)
or other information whose disclosure is restricted by statute.
Multimedia submissions (audio, video, etc.) must be accompanied by a
written comment. The written comment is considered the official comment
and should include discussion of all points you wish to make. EPA will
generally not consider comments or comment contents located outside of
the primary submission (i.e. on the web, cloud, or other file sharing
system). For additional submission methods, the full EPA public comment
policy, information about CBI or multimedia submissions, and general
guidance on making effective comments, please visit http://www.epa.gov/dockets/commenting-epa-dockets.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Madolyn Sanchez, Air Regulatory
Management Section, Air Planning and Implementation Branch, Air,
Pesticides and Toxics Management Division, U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency, Region 4, 61 Forsyth Street SW., Atlanta, Georgia
30303-8960. Ms. Sanchez can be reached via telephone at (404) 562-9644
or via electronic mail at [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
Sections 108 and 109 of the CAA govern the establishment, review,
and revision, as appropriate, of the NAAQS to protect public health and
welfare. The CAA requires periodic review of the air quality criteria--
the science upon which the standards are based--and the standards
themselves. EPA's regulatory provisions that govern the NAAQS are found
at 40 CFR 50--National Primary and Secondary Ambient Air Quality
Standards. In this rulemaking, EPA is taking direct final action to
approve North Carolina's December 11, 2015, submission amending the
State's regulations to incorporate the NAAQS for PM2.5,
which are found at 15A North Carolina Administrative Code (NCAC) 02D
.0410. The SIP submittal amending North Carolina's rules to incorporate
the NAAQS can be found in the docket for this rulemaking at
www.regulations.gov and is summarized below.
II. Analysis of State's Submittal
On December 14, 2012, EPA promulgated a revised primary annual
PM2.5 NAAQS. See 78 FR 3086. In that action, EPA revised the
primary annual PM2.5 standard, strengthening it from 15.0
micrograms per cubic meter ([mu]g/m\3\) to 12.0 [mu]g/m\3\, and
retained the existing 24-hour PM2.5 standard at 35 [mu]g/
m\3\. Accordingly, in the December 11, 2015, SIP submittal, North
Carolina revised state rule 15A NCAC 02D .0410 PM2.5 Particulate Matter
to update the primary air quality standard for PM2.5 to be
consistent with the NAAQS that were promulgated by EPA in 2012. EPA has
reviewed this change to North Carolina's rule for PM2.5 and
has made the determination that this change is consistent with federal
regulations.
III. Incorporation by Reference
In this rule, EPA is finalizing regulatory text that includes
incorporation by reference. In accordance with requirements of 1 CFR
51.5, EPA is finalizing the incorporation by reference of North
Carolina regulation 15A NCAC 02D .0410 PM2.5 Particulate Matter
effective September 1, 2015, which was revised to be consistent with
the current NAAQS. Therefore, these materials have been approved by EPA
for inclusion in the State implementation plan, have been incorporated
by reference by EPA into that plan, are fully federally enforceable
under sections 110 and 113 of the CAA as of the effective date of the
final rulemaking of EPA's approval, and will be incorporated by
reference by the Director of the Federal Register in the
[[Page 45422]]
next update to the SIP compilation.\1\ EPA has made, and will continue
to make, these materials generally available through
www.regulations.gov and/or at the EPA Region 4 Office (please contact
the person identified in the ``For Further Information Contact''
section of this preamble for more information).
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\1\ 62 FR 27968 (May 22, 1997).
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IV. Final Action
EPA is approving the aforementioned change to the North Carolina
SIP because it is consistent with EPA's 2012 PM2.5
standards. 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 September 12,
2016September 12, 2016 without further notice unless the Agency
receives adverse comments by August 15, 2016.
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 September 12, 2016 and
no further action will be taken on the proposed rule.
V. 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. See 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 Orders 12866 (58
FR 51735, October 4, 1993) and 13563 (76 FR 3821, January 21, 2011);
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 those requirements 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).
The SIP is not approved to apply on any Indian reservation land or
in any other area where EPA or an Indian tribe has demonstrated that a
tribe has jurisdiction. In those areas of Indian country, the rule does
not have tribal implications as specified by Executive Order 13175 (65
FR 67249, November 9, 2000), nor will it 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 September 12, 2016. 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. Parties with objections to this direct final rule are
encouraged to file a comment in response to the parallel notice of
proposed rulemaking for this action published in the proposed rules
section of today's Federal Register, rather than file an immediate
petition for judicial review of this direct final rule, so that EPA can
withdraw this direct final rule and address the comment in the proposed
rulemaking. 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, Incorporation by
reference, Intergovernmental relations, Particulate matter.
Dated: June 30, 2016.
Heather McTeer Toney,
Regional Administrator, Region 4.
40 Part 52 is amended as follows:
PART 52--APPROVAL AND PROMULGATION OF IMPLEMENTATION PLANS
0
1. The authority citation for part 52 continues to read as follows:
Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.
Subpart II--North Carolina
0
2. Section 52.1770(c) is amended under Table 1, at ``Subchapter 2D--Air
Pollution Control Requirements'', ``Section .0400 Ambient Air Quality
Standards'' by revising the entry for ``Sect .0410'' to read as
follows:
Sec. 52.1770 Identification of plan.
* * * * *
(c) * * *
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Table 1--EPA Approved North Carolina Regulations
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State citation Title/Subject State effective date EPA Approval date Explanation
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Subchapter 2D Air Pollution Control Requirements
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Section .0400 Ambient Air Quality Standards
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Sect .0410............................ PM2.5 Particulate Matter...... 9/1/2015 7/14/16, [Insert citation of .......................
publication]
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[FR Doc. 2016-16458 Filed 7-13-16; 8:45 am]
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