[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 76 (Tuesday, April 21, 1998)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 19661-19662]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-10397]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 52
[CA--189--0059; FRL-5996-5]
Approval and Promulgation of State Implementation Plans;
California--South Coast Air Quality Management District
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Final rule.
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SUMMARY: EPA is taking final action to approve a state implementation
plan (SIP) revision submitted by the State of California to provide for
attainment of the carbon monoxide (CO) national ambient air quality
standards (NAAQS) in the Los Angeles-South Coast Air Basin Area (South
Coast). EPA is approving the SIP revision under provisions of the Clean
Air Act (CAA) regarding EPA action on SIP submittals, SIPs for national
primary and secondary ambient air quality standards, and plan
requirements for nonattainment areas. The demonstration of attainment
in the SIP depends, in part, upon reductions from an enhanced
inspection and maintenance (I/M) program for motor vehicles. Since EPA
has previously granted interim approval to the California I/M program,
the Agency is granting interim approval to the reasonable further
progress and attainment demonstration portions of the plan.
EFFECTIVE DATE: This action is effective on May 21, 1998.
ADDRESSES: The rulemaking docket for this document, Docket No. 97-17,
may be inspected and copied at the following location during normal
business hours. A reasonable fee may be charged for copying parts of
the docket.
Environmental Protection Agency, Region 9, Air Division, Air Planning
Office, 75 Hawthorne Street, San Francisco, CA 94105-3901.
Air and Radiation Docket and Information Center (6102), Environmental
Protection Agency, 401 M Street, SW., Washington, DC 20460.
Copies of the SIP materials are also available for inspection at
the addresses listed below:
California Air Resources Board, 2020 L Street, Sacramento, California;
South Coast Air Quality Management District, 21865 E. Copley Drive,
Diamond Bar, California.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dave Jesson (415) 744-1288, Air
Planning Office (AIR-2), Air Division, U.S. EPA, Region 9, 75 Hawthorne
Street, San Francisco, California, 94105-3901.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
EPA is finalizing approval and interim approval of the 1997 CO plan
for the South Coast,1 which was adopted on November 15,
1996, by the South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD),
submitted as a SIP revision by the California Air Resources Board
(CARB) on February 5, 1997. EPA determined this submission to be
complete on April 1, 1997.2
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\1\ For a description of the boundaries of the Los Angeles-South
Coast Air Basin, see 40 CFR 81.305.
\2\ EPA adopted the completeness criteria on February 16, 1990
(55 FR 5830) and, pursuant to section 110(k)(1)(A) of the CAA,
revised the criteria on August 26, 1991 (56 FR 42216).
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The 1997 CO plan addresses applicable CAA requirements for the
South Coast, which is classified as a serious nonattainment area for
CO, including the requirement to demonstrate expeditious attainment of
the CO NAAQS no later than December 31, 2000. The demonstration must
provide enforceable measures to achieve emission reductions each year
leading to emissions at or below the level predicted to result in
attainment of the NAAQS throughout the nonattainment area.
Specifically, EPA is finalizing approval of procedural
requirements, baseline and projected emission inventories, and vehicle
miles traveled (VMT) forecasts and commitments, and interim approval of
the attainment demonstration and quantitative milestones and reasonable
further progress.
EPA is also finalizing action to rescind EPA's February 14, 1995
partial approval and partial disapproval of the 1994 South Coast CO SIP
submittal. These actions on the 1994 CO SIP submittal have not been in
effect, since EPA's final rulemaking was never published in the Federal
Register. The 1997 CO plan updates and supersedes the 1994 CO SIP
submittal and corrects the deficiencies in the 1994 submittal that were
the subject of the partial disapproval actions.
These actions were proposed on December 5, 1997 (62 FR 64329-
64334). The reader is referred to that notice for additional detail on
the affected area and the SIP submittal, as well as a summary of
relevant CAA provisions and EPA interpretations of those provisions.
II. Public Comments
EPA received no comments on the proposal.
III. EPA Final Action
In this document, EPA is taking the following actions on elements
of the 1997 South Coast Air Quality Management Plan, as adopted on
November 15, 1996, and submitted on February 5, 1997:
(1) Approval of procedural requirements, under section 110(a)(1) of
the CAA;
(2) Approval of the baseline and projected emission inventories,
under sections 172(c)(3) and 187(a)(1) of the CAA;
(3) Interim approval of the attainment demonstration, under section
187(a)(7) of the CAA and section 348(c) of the National Highway System
Designation Act (``Highway Act,'' Public Law 104-59, enacted on
November 28, 1995);
(4) Interim approval of quantitative milestones and reasonable
further progress, under sections 171(1), 172(c)(2), and 187(a)(7) of
the CAA and section 348(c) of the Highway Act; and
(5) Approval of VMT forecasts and the responsible agencies'
commitments to revise and replace the VMT projections as needed and
monitor actual VMT levels in the future, under section 187(a)(2)(A) of
the CAA.
EPA also takes final action to rescind EPA's prior partial approval
and partial disapproval of the 1994 South Coast CO SIP submittal, taken
on February 14, 1995. As discussed in the proposal (62 FR 64330), these
actions have not been in effect, since the final rule was never
published in the Federal Register.
Along with EPA's prior interim approval of California's enhanced
motor
[[Page 19662]]
vehicle inspection and maintenance (I/M) program under section
187(a)(6) of the CAA and section 348(c) of the Highway Act, these
interim approvals expire on August 7, 1998, or earlier if by such date
California submits the required demonstration that the CO credits are
appropriate. 61 FR 10920, March 18, 1996.
IV. Administrative Requirements
A. Executive Order 12866
The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has exempted this
regulatory action from E.O. 12866 review.
B. Regulatory Flexibility Act
Under the Regulatory Flexibility Act, 5 U.S.C. 600 et seq., EPA
must prepare a regulatory flexibility analysis assessing the impact of
any proposed or final rule on small entities. 5 U.S.C. 603 and 604.
Alternatively, EPA may certify that the rule will not have a
significant impact on a substantial number of small entities. Small
entities include small business, small not-for-profit enterprises and
government entities with jurisdiction over populations of less than
50,000.
SIP approvals under sections 110 and subchapter I, part D of the
CAA, do not create any new requirements, but simply approve
requirements that the State is already imposing. Therefore, because the
Federal SIP approval does not impose any new requirements, the
Administrator certifies that it does not have a significant impact on
any small entities affected. Moreover, due to the nature of the
Federal-State relationship under the CAA, preparation of a regulatory
flexibility analysis would constitute Federal inquiry into the economic
reasonableness of state action. The CAA forbids EPA to base its actions
concerning SIP's on such grounds. Union Electric Co. v. U.S.E.P.A., 427
U.S. 246, 256-66 (S.Ct. 1976); 42 U.S.C. 7410(a)(2).
C. Unfunded Mandates
Under sections 202 of the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995
(``Unfunded Mandates Act'') signed into law on March 22, 1995, EPA must
prepare a budgetary impact statement to accompany any proposed or final
rule that includes a Federal mandate that may result in estimated costs
to State, local, or tribal governments in the aggregate; or to the
private sector, of $100 million or more. Under Section 205, EPA must
select the most cost-effective and least burdensome alternative that
achieves the objectives of the rule and is consistent with statutory
requirements. Section 203 requires EPA to establish a plan for
informing and advising any small governments that may be significantly
or uniquely impacted by the rule.
EPA has also determined that this final action does not include a
mandate that may result in estimated costs of $100 million or more to
State, local, or tribal governments in the aggregate or to the private
sector. This Federal action approves pre-existing requirements under
State or local law, and imposes no new Federal requirements.
Accordingly, no additional costs to State, local, or tribal
governments, or to the private sector, result from this action.
D. Submission to Congress and the General Accounting Office
Under 5 U.S.C. 801(a)(1)(A) as added by the Small Business
Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996, EPA submitted 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
General Accounting Office prior to publication of the rule in today's
Federal Register. This rule is not a ``major'' rule as defined by 5
U.S.C. 804(2).
E. Petitions for Judicial Review
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 June 22, 1998. 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, Carbon monoxide,
Incorporation by reference, Intergovernmental relations, Reporting and
recordkeeping requirements.
Note: Incorporation by reference of the State Implementation
Plan for the State of California was approved by the Director of the
Federal Register on July 1, 1982.
Dated: April 2, 1998.
Felicia Marcus,
Regional Administrator, Region IX.
Part 52, chapter I, title 40 of the Code of Federal Regulations is
amended as follows:
PART 52--[AMENDED]
1. The authority citation for part 52 continues to read as follows:
Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.
Subpart F--California
2. Section 52.220 is amended by adding paragraph (c)(247) to read
as follows:
Sec. 52.220 Identification of plan.
* * * * *
(c) * * *
(247) New and amended plans for the following agency were submitted
on February 5, 1997, by the Governor's designee.
(i) Incorporation by reference.
(A) South Coast Air Quality Management District.
(1) Carbon monoxide emissions inventory, VMT forecasts and
commitments to monitor actual VMT levels and revise and replace the VMT
projections as needed in the future, as contained in the South Coast
1997 Air Quality Management Plan.
3. Section 52.243 is added to subpart F to read as follows:
Sec. 52.243 Interim approval of the Carbon Monoxide plan for the South
Coast.
The Carbon Monoxide plan for the Los Angeles-South Coast Air Basin
is approved as meeting the provisions of sections 171(1), 172(c)(2),
and 187(a)(7) for quantitative milestones and reasonable further
progress, and the provisions of section 187(a)(7) for attainment
demonstration. This approval expires on August 7, 1998, or earlier if
by such earlier date the State has submitted as a SIP revision a
demonstration that the carbon monoxide emission reduction credits for
the enhanced motor vehicle inspection and maintenance program are
appropriate and that the program is otherwise in compliance with the
Clean Air Act and EPA takes final action approving that revision, as
provided by section 348(c) of the National Highway System Designation
Act (Public Law 104-59).
[FR Doc. 98-10397 Filed 4-20-98; 8:45 am]
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