[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 145 (Wednesday, July 29, 1998)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 40370-40371]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-20006]
[[Page 40370]]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 52
[MI67-01-7275; FRL-6128-6]
Approval and Promulgation of Implementation Plans; Michigan:
Withdrawal of Direct Final Rule
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency.
ACTION: Removal of direct final rule amendment.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: On May 19, 1998, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
published a proposed rule (63 FR 27541) and a direct final rule (63 FR
27492) approving a correction to the State Implementation Plan (SIP)
for the State of Michigan regarding the State's emission limitations
and prohibitions for air contaminant or water vapor. The EPA determined
that Michigan's air quality Administrative Rule, R336.1901 (Rule 901),
was erroneously incorporated into the SIP and approved removal of Rule
901 from the approved Michigan SIP because Rule 901 does not have a
reasonable connection to the national ambient air quality standards
(NAAQS) and related air quality goals of the Clean Air Act. The EPA is
removing the final rule amendment due to adverse comments and will
summarize and address all relevant public comments in a subsequent
final rule (based upon the proposed rule cited above).
EFFECTIVE DATE: This removal is effective July 29, 1998.
ADDRESSES: Copies of the documents relevant to this action are
available for public inspection during normal business hours at the
following location: United States Environmental Protection Agency,
Region 5, 77 West Jackson Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois 60604. (Please
telephone Victoria Hayden at (312) 886-4023 before visiting the Region
5 Office.)
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Victoria Hayden, Regulation
Development Section (AR-18J), Air Programs Branch, Air and Radiation
Division, United States Environmental Protection Agency, Region 5, 77
West Jackson Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois 60604, telephone number (312)
886-4023.
I. Administrative Requirements
A. Executive Order (E.O.) 12866
The Office of Management and Budget has exempted this regulatory
action from E.O. 12866 review.
B. Regulatory Flexibility
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 economic impact on a substantial number of small entities.
Small entities include small businesses, small not-for-profit
enterprises, and government entities with jurisdiction over populations
of less than 50,000.
SIP approvals under section 110 and subchapter I, part D of the Act
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 flexibility analysis would
constitute Federal inquiry into the economic reasonableness of state
action. The Act forbids EPA to base its actions concerning SIPs on such
grounds. Union Electric Co. v. EPA, 427 U.S. 246, 255-66 (1976); 42
U.S.C. 7410(a)(2).
C. Unfunded Mandates
Under section 202 of the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995
(``Unfunded Mandates Act''), signed into law on March 22, 1995, the 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, the 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 the EPA to establish a
plan for informing and advising any small governments that may be
significantly or uniquely impacted by the rule.
EPA has determined that the approval action promulgated does not
include a Federal mandate that may result in estimated costs of $100
million or more to either 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
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
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 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. This action is not
a ``major rule'' as defined by 5 U.S.C. 804(2). This rule will be
effective.
E. Petitions for Judicial Review
Under section 307(b)(1) of the Act, petitions for judicial review
of this action must be filed in the United States Court of Appeals for
the appropriate circuit by September 28, 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)).
F. Protection of Children From Environmental Health Risks and Safety
Risks
This direct final rule is not subject to E.O. 13045, entitled
``Protection of Children from Environmental Health Risks and Safety
Risks (62 FR 19885, April 23, 1997), because it is not an economically
significant regulatory action as defined by E.O. 12866.''
List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 52
Environmental protection, Air pollution control, Reporting and
recordkeeping.
Accordingly, 40 CFR part 52 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.
[[Page 40371]]
Subpart X--Michigan
Sec. 52.1174 Amended
2. Section 52.1174 is amended by removing paragraph (q).
Dated: July 9, 1998.
David A. Ullrich,
Acting Regional Administrator.
[FR Doc. 98-20006 Filed 7-28-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P