[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 183 (Monday, September 22, 2014)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 56513-56515]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-22418]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 52
[EPA-R03-OAR-2014-0596; FRL-9916-82-Region 3]
Approval and Promulgation of Air Quality Implementation Plans;
West Virginia; 2014 Amendments to West Virginia's Ambient Air Quality
Standards
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Direct final rule.
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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is taking direct
final action to approve a revision to the West Virginia State
Implementation Plan (SIP). The revision pertains to amendments of West
Virginia's Legislative Rule on Ambient Air Quality Standards which
change the effective date of the incorporation by reference of the
National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) as well as their
monitoring reference and equivalent methods. EPA is approving these
revisions in accordance with the requirements of the Clean Air Act
(CAA).
DATES: This rule is effective on November 21, 2014 without further
notice, unless EPA receives adverse written comment by October 22,
2014. 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 Number EPA-
R03-OAR-2014-0596 by one of the following methods:
A. www.regulations.gov. Follow the on-line instructions for
submitting comments.
B. Email: [email protected].
C. Mail: EPA-R03-OAR-2014-0596, Cristina Fernandez, Associate
Director, Office of Air Program Planning, Air Protection Division,
Mailcode 3AP30, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region III, 1650
Arch Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19103.
D. Hand Delivery: At the previously-listed EPA Region III address.
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 your comments to Docket ID No. EPA-R03-OAR-
2014-0596. EPA's policy is that all comments received will be included
in the public docket without change, and may be made available online
at 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 www.regulations.gov or email. The
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 email comment
directly to EPA without going through www.regulations.gov, your email
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.
Docket: All documents in the electronic 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, 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 www.regulations.gov or
in hard copy during normal business hours at the Air Protection
Division, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region III, 1650 Arch
Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19103. Copies of the State submittal
are available at the West Virginia Department of Environmental
Protection, Division of Air Quality, 601 57th Street SE., Charleston,
West Virginia 25304.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ellen Schmitt, (215) 814-5787, or by
email at [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
On July 1, 2014, the West Virginia Department of Environmental
Protection (WVDEP) submitted a formal revision to its SIP pertaining to
amendments of Legislative Rule, 45 CSR 8--Ambient Air Quality
Standards. The SIP revision consists of revising the effective date of
the incorporation by reference of the NAAQS and the associated
monitoring reference and equivalent methods. This rulemaking action is
required because on January 15, 2013, EPA revised the NAAQS for fine
particulate matter (PM2.5). See 78 FR 3086. The annual
arithmetic mean concentration was set at 12 micrograms per cubic meter
([mu]g/m\3\), and the standard for the 24-hour concentration was
retained at 35 [mu]g/m\3\, (collectively, the 2013 PM2.5
NAAQS).
II. Summary of SIP Revision
This SIP revision is required by WVDEP in order to update the
State's incorporation by reference of the primary and secondary NAAQS
and the ambient air monitoring reference and equivalent methods, found
in 40 CFR parts 50 and 53, respectively. Currently, 45 CSR 8
incorporates by reference 40 CFR parts 50 and 53 as effective on June
1, 2011. Since that date, EPA revised the standards for
PM2.5; this SIP revision updates 45 CSR 8 to include the
2013 PM2.5 NAAQS.
The amendments to the legislative rule include the following
changes: To section 45-8-1 (General), the filing and effective dates
are changed to reflect the update of the legislative rule; to section
45-8-3 (Adoption of Standards), the effective dates for the
incorporation by reference of the primary and secondary NAAQS and the
ambient air monitoring reference and equivalent methods are changed.
The filing and effective dates of the legislative rule were updated to
April 4, 2014 and June 1, 2014 respectively. The effective date of the
incorporation by reference of 40 CFR Parts 50 and 53 changed from June
1, 2011 to June 1, 2013.
[[Page 56514]]
III. Final Action
EPA is approving the amendments to Legislative Rule, 45 CSR 8--
Ambient Air Quality Standards, into the West Virginia SIP. EPA is
publishing this rule without prior proposal because EPA views this as a
noncontroversial amendment and anticipates no adverse comment. However,
in the ``Proposed Rules'' section of this Federal Register, EPA is
publishing a separate document that will serve as the proposal to
approve the SIP revision if adverse comments are filed. This rule will
be effective on November 21, 2014 without further notice unless EPA
receives adverse comment by October 22, 2014. If EPA receives adverse
comment, EPA will publish a timely withdrawal in the Federal Register
informing the public that the rule will not take effect. EPA will
address all public comments in a subsequent final rule based on the
proposed rule. EPA will not institute a second comment period on this
action. Any parties interested in commenting must do so at this time.
IV. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews
A. General Requirements
Under the CAA, the Administrator is required to approve a SIP
submission that complies with the provisions of the CAA and applicable
Federal regulations. 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 Order
12866 (58 FR 51735, October 4, 1993);
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 (Public Law 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).
In addition, this rule does not have tribal implications as
specified by Executive Order 13175 (65 FR 67249, November 9, 2000),
because the SIP is not approved to apply in Indian country located in
the state, and EPA notes that it will not impose substantial direct
costs on tribal governments or preempt tribal law.
B. Submission to Congress and the Comptroller General
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).
C. Petitions for Judicial Review
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 November 21, 2014. 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 this 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 action. This action, revising 45 CSR 8, 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, Carbon monoxide,
Incorporation by reference, Lead, Nitrogen dioxide, Ozone, Particulate
matter, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, Sulfur oxides.
Dated: September 2, 2014.
William C. Early,
Acting, Regional Administrator, Region III.
Therefore, 40 CFR 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 XX--West Virginia
0
2. In Sec. 52.2520, the table in paragraph (c) is amended by revising
the entries for 45-8-1 through 45-8-4 to read as follows:
Sec. 52.2520 Identification of plan.
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(c) * * *
[[Page 56515]]
EPA-Approved Regulations in the West Virginia SIP
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State
State citation [Chapter 16-20 Title/subject effective EPA approval Additional explanation/ citation
or 45 CSR ] date date at 40 CFR 52.2565
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[45 CSR] Series 8 Ambient Air Quality Standards
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45-8-1....................... General......... 6/1/14 9/22/14 [Insert Filing and effective dates are
Federal revised.
Register
citation].
45-8-2....................... Definitions..... 6/1/14 9/22/14 [Insert
Federal
Register
citation].
45-8-3....................... Adoption of 6/1/14 9/22/14 [Insert Effective date is revised.
Standards. Federal
Register
citation].
45-8-4....................... Inconsistency 6/1/14 9/22/14 [Insert
Between Rules. Federal
Register
citation].
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[FR Doc. 2014-22418 Filed 9-19-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P