[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 217 (Wednesday, November 9, 2016)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 78722-78724]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-27057]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 52
[EPA-R06-OAR-2016-0329; FRL-9954-36-Region 6]
Approval and Promulgation of Implementation Plans: Texas;
Approval of Substitution for Transportation Control Measures
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Final rule; notice of administrative change.
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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is making an
administrative change to update the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR)
to reflect a change made to the Texas State Implementation Plan (SIP)
on May 31, 2016, as a result of EPA's concurrence on a substitute
transportation control measure (TCM) for the Dallas/Ft. Worth (DFW)
portion of the Texas SIP. On August 16, 2016, the State of Texas,
through the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ), submitted
a revision to the Texas SIP requesting that EPA update its SIP to
reflect a substitution of a TCM. The substitution was made pursuant to
the TCM substitution provisions contained in the Clean Air Act (CAA).
EPA concurred on this substitution on May 31, 2016. In this
administrative action, EPA is updating the non-regulatory provisions of
the Texas SIP to reflect the substitution. In summary, the substitution
was a replacement of a High-Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) Lane TCM within the
DFW 8-hour ozone nonattainment area with traffic signalization
projects. EPA has determined that this action falls under the ``good
cause'' exemption in the Administrative Procedures Act (APA) which,
upon finding ``good cause,'' authorizes an agency to make an action
effective immediately, thereby avoiding the 30-day delayed effective
date otherwise provided for in the APA.
DATES: This action is effective November 9, 2016.
ADDRESSES: The EPA has established a docket for this action under
Docket ID No. EPA-R06-OAR-2016-0329. All documents in the docket are
listed on the http://www.regulations.gov Web site. Although listed in
the index, some information is not publicly available, e.g.,
Confidential Business Information 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 through http://www.regulations.gov or
in hard copy at the EPA Region 6, 1445 Ross Avenue, Suite 700, Dallas,
Texas 75202-2733.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jeffrey Riley, 214-665-8542,
[email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On May 31, 2016, EPA issued a concurrence
letter to TCEQ stating that the substitution of the DFW area US67/IH-
35E HOV Lane TCM with traffic signalization project TCMs met the CAA
section 176(c)(8) requirements for substituting TCMs in an area's
approved SIP. See also EPA's Guidance for Implementing the CAA section
176(c)(8) Transportation Control Measure Substitution and Addition
Provision contained in the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient
Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users which was signed into law
on August 10, 2005, dated January 2009. The DFW area US67/IH-35E HOV
Lane TCM was originally approved into the SIP on September 27, 2005 (70
FR 56374).\1\ The
[[Page 78723]]
TCM was also included for applicable NOX and VOC benefits in
the May 2007 DFW 1997 8-hour Ozone Attainment Demonstration SIP
Revision, which was conditionally approved by EPA on January 14, 2009
(74 FR 1903).
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\1\ EPA's May 31, 2016 concurrence letter to TCEQ provided an
incorrect SIP citation for EPA approval of the US67/IH-35E HOV Lane
TCM. September 27, 2005 (70 FR 56374) is the correct SIP citation.
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As a part of the concurrence process, the public was provided an
opportunity to comment on the proposed TCM substitution. Public notice
and comment was provided by the DFW metropolitan planning organization,
the North Central Texas Council of Governments (NCTCOG), during a
Regional Transportation Council meeting held on May 12, 2016. Public
notice for this meeting was published in 20 DFW area newspapers and
circulars.
Through this concurrence process, EPA determined that the
requirements of CAA section 176(c)(8) were met, including the
requirement that the substitute measures achieve equivalent or greater
emission reductions than the control measure to be replaced. Upon EPA's
concurrence, the HOV Lane substitution took effect as a matter of
federal law. A copy of EPA's concurrence letter is included in the
Docket for this action. This letter can be accessed at
www.regulations.gov using Docket ID No. EPA-R06-OAR-2014-0871. In
accordance with the requirements for TCM substitution, on August 16,
2016, TCEQ submitted a request for EPA to update the DFW portion of the
Texas SIP to reflect EPA's previous approval of the TCM substitution of
the HOV Lane with the traffic signalization project TCMs in its SIP
(the subject of this administrative change). Today, EPA is taking
administrative action to update the non-regulatory provisions of the
Texas SIP in 40 CFR 52.2270(e) to reflect EPA's concurrence on the
substitution of a TCM for the conversion of the US67/IH-35E HOV Lane to
traffic signalization projects:
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Applicable State submittal
Name of nonregulatory SIP geographic or date/effective
provision nonattainment area date
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DFW nine-county area US67/IH-35E Dallas-Fort Worth... 8/16/2016
HOV Lane TCM to traffic
signalization TCMs. Affected
counties are Dallas, Tarrant,
Collin, Denton, Parker, Johnson,
Ellis, Kaufman, Rockwall.
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Under section 553 of the APA, an agency may find good cause where
procedures are ``impractical, unnecessary, or contrary to the public
interest.'' The substitution was made through the process included in
CAA section 176(c)(8). Effective immediately, today's action codifies
provisions which are already in effect. The public had an opportunity
to comment on this substitution during the public comment period prior
to approval of the substitution. Immediate notice of this action in the
Federal Register benefits the public by providing the updated Texas SIP
Compilation and ``Identification of Plan'' portion of the Federal
Register.
Statutory and Executive Order Reviews
A. General Requirements
Under Executive Orders 12866 (58 FR 51735, October 4, 1993) and
13563 (76 FR 3821, January 21, 2011), this administrative action is not
a ``significant regulatory action'' and is therefore not subject to
review by the Office of Management and Budget. This action is not
subject to Executive Order 13211, ``Actions Concerning Regulations That
Significantly Affect Energy Supply, Distribution, or Use'' (66 FR
28355, May 22, 2001) because it is not a significant regulatory action
under Executive Order 12866. Because the Agency has made a ``good
cause'' finding that this action is not subject to notice-and-comment
requirements under the APA or any other statute as indicated in the
Supplementary Information section above, it is not subject to the
regulatory flexibility provisions of the Regulatory Flexibility Act (5
U.S.C. 601 et seq.), or to sections 202 and 205 of the Unfunded
Mandates Reform Act (UMRA) of 1995 (Pub. L. 104-4). In addition, this
action does not significantly or uniquely affect small governments or
impose a significant intergovernmental mandate, as described in
sections 203 and 204 of UMRA.
This administrative action 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).
This administrative action also is not subject to Executive Order
13045 (62 FR 19885, April 23, 1997), because it is not economically
significant. This administrative action does not involve technical
standards; 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. The administrative action also does not involve special
consideration of environmental justice related issues as required by
Executive Order 12898 (59 FR 7629, February 16, 1994). This
administrative action does not impose an information collection burden
under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.).
B. Submission to Congress and the Comptroller General
The Congressional Review Act (CRA) (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. Section 808 allows the issuing agency to
make a rule effective sooner than otherwise provided by the CRA if the
agency makes a good cause finding that notice and public procedure is
impracticable, unnecessary or contrary to the public interest. Today's
administrative action simply codifies a provision which is already in
effect as a matter of law in Federal and approved state programs. 5
U.S.C. 808(2). These announced actions were effective upon EPA's
concurrence. 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 this action in the Federal Register. This update to
Texas' SIP Compilation is not a ``major rule'' as defined by 5 U.S.C.
804(2).
List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 52
Environmental protection, Air pollution control, Incorporation by
[[Page 78724]]
reference, Nitrogen dioxide, Ozone, Volatile organic compounds.
Dated: October 27, 2016.
Samuel Coleman,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region 6.
40 CFR part 52 is amended as follows:
PART 52--[APPROVAL AND PROMULGATION OF IMPLEMENTATION PLANS]
0
1. The authority for citation for part 52 continues to read as follows:
Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.
Subpart SS--Texas
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2. In Sec. 52.2270(e), the table titled ``EPA Approved Nonregulatory
Provisions and Quasi-Regulatory Measures in the Texas SIP'' is amended
by adding an entry at the end of the table to read as follows:
Sec. 52.2270 Identification of plan.
* * * * *
(e) * * *
EPA Approved Nonregulatory Provisions and Quasi-Regulatory Measures in the Texas SIP
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Applicable geographic State
Name of SIP provision or nonattainment submittal/ EPA approval date Comments
area effective date
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* * * * * * *
DFW nine-county area US67/IH-35E Dallas-Fort Worth: 8/16/2016 11/9/2016 [Insert Federal Register .....................................
HOV Lane TCM to traffic Dallas, Tarrant, citation].
signalization TCMs. Collin, Denton,
Parker, Johnson,
Ellis, Kaufman and
Rockwall Counties.
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[FR Doc. 2016-27057 Filed 11-8-16; 8:45 am]
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