Approval and Promulgation of Air Quality Implementation Plans; State of Delaware Transportation Conformity Regulations
[Federal Register: November 7, 2007 (Volume 72, Number 215)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Page 62807-62809]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr07no07-24]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 52
[EPA-R03-OAR-2007-1009; FRL-8492-7]
Approval and Promulgation of Air Quality Implementation Plans;
State of Delaware Transportation Conformity Regulations
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Proposed rule.
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SUMMARY: EPA is proposing to approve a State Implementation Plan (SIP)
revision submitted by the State of Delaware. This revision establishes
the State's transportation conformity requirements. After they have
been approved, the State regulations will govern transportation
conformity determinations in the State of Delaware. This action is
being taken under the Clean Air Act.
DATES: Written comments must be received on or before December 7, 2007.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID Number EPA-
R03-OAR-2007-1009 by one of the following methods:
A. http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the on-line instructions for
submitting comments.
. E-mail: febbo.carol@epa.gov.
C. Mail: EPA-R03-OAR-2007-1009, Carol Febbo, Chief, Energy,
Radiation and Indoor Environment Branch, Mailcode 3AP23, 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-
2007-1009. EPA's policy is that all comments received will be included
in the public docket without change, and may be made available online at
http://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 http://www.regulations.gov or e-mail.
The http://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 e-mail
comment directly to EPA without going through http://www.regulations.gov,
your e-mail 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
http://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,
[[Page 62808]]
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 http://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 Delaware Department of Natural Resources & Environmental
Control, 89 Kings Highway, P.O. Box 1401, Dover, Delaware 19903.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Martin Kotsch, (215) 814-3335, or by
e-mail at kotsch.martin@epa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Throughout this document whenever ``we'',
``us'', or ``our'' is used, we mean EPA.
Table of Contents
I. What Is Transportation Conformity?
II. What Is the Background for This Action?
III. What Did the State Submit and How Did We Evaluate It?
IV. What Action Is EPA Taking Today?
V. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews
I. What Is Transportation Conformity?
Transportation conformity is required under section 176(c) of the
Clean Air Act to ensure that Federally supported highway, transit
projects, and other activities are consistent with (conform to) the
purpose of the SIP. Conformity currently applies to areas that are
designated nonattainment, and those redesignated to attainment after
1990 (maintenance areas), with plans developed under section 175A of
the Clean Air Act for the following transportation related criteria
pollutants: ozone, particulate matter (PM2.5 and
PM10), carbon monoxide (CO), and nitrogen dioxide
(NO2). Conformity to the purpose of the SIP means that
transportation activities will not cause new air quality violations,
worsen existing violations, or delay timely attainment of the relevant
national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS). The transportation
conformity regulation is found in 40 CFR part 93 and provisions related
to conformity SIPs are found in 40 CFR 51.390.
II. What Is the Background for This Action?
On August 10, 2005, the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient
Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU) was signed
into law. SAFETEA-LU revised certain provisions of section 176(c) of
the Clean Air Act, related to transportation conformity. Prior to
SAFETEA-LU, states were required to address all of the Federal
conformity rule's provisions in their conformity SIPs. After SAFETEA-
LU, states' SIPs were required to contain all or portions of only the
following three sections of the Federal rule, modified as appropriate
to each state's circumstances: 40 CFR 93.105 (consultation procedures);
40 CFR 93.122(a)(4)(ii) (written commitments to implement certain kinds
of control measures); and 40 CFR 93.125(c) (written commitments to
implement certain kinds of mitigation measures). States are no longer
required to submit conformity SIP revisions that address the other
sections of the Federal conformity rule.
III. What Did the State Submit and How Did We Evaluate It?
On July 9, 2007, the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and
Environmental Control (DNREC) submitted a revision to its State
Implementation Plan (SIP) for Transportation Conformity purposes. The
SIP revision consists of the State Regulation 1132, Delaware
Transportation Conformity Regulation. This SIP revision addresses the
three provisions of the EPA Conformity Rule required under SAFETEA-LU:
40 CFR 93.105 (consultation procedures); 40 CFR 93.122(a)(4)(ii)
(control measures) and, 40 CFR 93.125(c) (mitigation measures).
We reviewed the submittal to assure consistency with the February
14, 2006 ``Interim Guidance for Implementing the Transportation
Conformity provisions in the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient
Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU).'' The
guidance document can be found at http://epa.gov/otaq/stateresources/
transconf/policy.htm. The guidance document states that each state is
only required to address and tailor the afore-mentioned three sections of
the Federal Conformity Rule to be included in their state conformity SIPs.
EPA's review of Delaware's proposed SIP indicates that it is
consistent with EPA's guidance in that it includes the three elements
specified by SAFETEA-LU. Consistent with the EPA Conformity Rule at 40
CFR 93.105 (consultation procedures), Regulation 1132(3) identifies the
appropriate agencies, procedures and allocation of responsibilities as
required under 40 CFR 93.105 for consultation procedures. In addition,
Regulation 1132(3) provides for appropriate public consultation/public
involvement consistent with 40 CFR 93.105. With respect to the
requirements of 40 CFR 93.122(a)(4)(ii) and 40 CFR 93.125(c),
Regulation 1132(4) specifies that written commitments for control
measures and mitigation measures for meeting these requirements will be
provided as needed.
IV. What Action Is EPA Taking Today?
EPA is proposing to approve the Delaware SIP revision for
Transportation Conformity, which was submitted on July 9, 2007. This
revision is being proposed under a procedure called parallel
processing, whereby EPA proposes rulemaking action concurrently with
the state's procedures for amending its regulations. If the proposed
revision is changed in areas other than those identified in this
action, EPA will evaluate those changes and may publish another notice
of proposed rulemaking. If no changes are made, EPA will publish a
Final Rulemaking Notice on the revisions. The final rulemaking action
by EPA will occur only after the SIP revision has been adopted by the
State of Delaware and submitted formally to EPA for incorporation into
the SIP. EPA is soliciting public comments on the issues discussed in this
document. These comments will be considered before taking final action.
V. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews
Under Executive Order 12866 (58 FR 51735, October 4, 1993), this
proposed action is not a ``significant regulatory action'' and
therefore is not subject to review by the Office of Management and
Budget. For this reason, this action is also not subject to Executive
Order 13211, ``Actions Concerning Regulations That Significantly Affect
Energy Supply, Distribution, or Use'' (66 FR 28355, May 22, 2001). This
proposed action merely proposes to approve state law as meeting Federal
requirements and imposes no additional requirements beyond those
imposed by state law. Accordingly, the Administrator certifies that
this proposed rule will not have a significant economic impact on a
substantial number of small entities under the Regulatory Flexibility
Act (5 U.S.C. 601 et seq.).
Because this rule proposes to approve pre-existing requirements
under state law and does not impose any additional enforceable duty
beyond that required by state law, it 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). This proposed rule also does not have tribal implications because
it will not have a substantial direct effect on one or
[[Page 62809]]
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 (59 FR 22951, November 9, 2000). This action also
does not have Federalism implications because it does not 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
action merely proposes to approve a state rule implementing a Federal
requirement, and does not alter the relationship or the distribution of
power and responsibilities established in the Clean Air Act. This
proposed rule also is not subject to Executive Order 13045 ``Protection
of Children from Environmental Health Risks and Safety Risks''
(62 FR 19885, April 23, 1997), because it approves a state rule
implementing a Federal standard.
In reviewing SIP submissions, EPA's role is to approve state
choices, provided that they meet the criteria of the Clean Air Act. In
this context, in the absence of a prior existing requirement for the
State to use voluntary consensus standards (VCS), EPA has no authority
to disapprove a SIP submission for failure to use VCS. It would thus be
inconsistent with applicable law for EPA, when it reviews a SIP
submission to use VCS in place of a SIP submission that otherwise
satisfies the provisions of the Clean Air Act. 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. This proposed rule to
approve Delaware's transportation conformity regulation does not impose
an information collection burden under the provisions of the Paperwork
Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.).
List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 52
Environmental protection, Air pollution control, Carbon monoxide,
Intergovernmental relations, Nitrogen dioxide, Ozone, Particulate
matter, Volatile organic compounds.
Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.
Dated: October 29, 2007.
Donald S. Welsh,
Regional Administrator, Region III.
[FR Doc. E7-21853 Filed 11-6-07; 8:45 am]
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