[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 203 (Tuesday, October 21, 1997)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 54587-54588]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-27857]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[CA 193-054; FRL-5907-9]


Approval and Promulgation of Implementation Plans; California 
State Implementation Plan Revision, Bay Area Air Quality Management 
District

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Direct final rule.

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SUMMARY: EPA is finalizing the approval of revisions to the California 
State Implementation Plan (SIP) proposed in the Federal Register on 
July 11, 1997. The revisions concern rules from the following District: 
Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD). This approval action 
will incorporate these rules into the federally approved SIP. The 
intended effect of approving these rules is to implement the 
transportation conformity provisions of the Clean Air Act, as amended 
in 1990 (CAA or the Act). The rules define the criteria and procedures 
for transportation conformity actions and consultation for the Bay 
Area. EPA is finalizing the approval of these revisions into the 
California SIP under provisions of the CAA regarding EPA action on SIP 
submittals.

DATES: This action is effective on November 20, 1997.

ADDRESSES: Copies of the rule revisions and EPA's evaluation report for 
each rule are available for public inspection at EPA's Region IX office 
during normal business hours. Copies of the submitted rule revisions 
are available for inspection at the following locations:

Air Planning Office (AIR-2), Air Division, U.S. Environmental 
Protection Agency, Region IX, 75 Hawthorne Street, San Francisco, CA 
94105; Ruth Verlar, 415-744-1208.
Environmental Protection Agency, Air Docket (6102), 401 ``M'' Street, 
SW., Washington, DC 20460.
California Air Resources Board, Transportation Strategies Group, 2020 
``L'' Street, Sacramento, CA 92123-1095; Eric Simon, 916-322-2700.
Bay Area Air Quality Management District , 939 Ellis St., San 
Francisco, CA 94109, David Marshall, 415-749-4678.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mark Brucker, Air Planning Office, 
AIR-2, Air Division, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region IX, 
75 Hawthorne Street, San Francisco, CA 94105, Telephone: 415-744-1231, 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Applicability

    The rules being approved into the California SIP include: BAAQMD, 
``The San Francisco Bay Area Transportation Air Quality Conformity 
Procedures,'' which include sections 93.100-93.104 and sections 93.106-
93.136 and ``The San Francisco Bay Area Transportation Air Quality 
Conformity Interagency Consultation Procedures''. These rules were 
submitted by the California Air Resources Board to EPA on December 16, 
1996.

II. Background

    On July 11, 1997 in 62 FR 37172, EPA proposed to approve the 
following rules into the California SIP: BAAQMD: ``The San Francisco 
Bay Area Transportation Air Quality Conformity Procedures,'' which 
includes sections 93.100-93.104 and sections 93.106-93.136 and ``The 
San Francisco Bay Area Transportation Air Quality Conformity 
Interagency Consultation Procedures''. The rules were adopted by BAAQMD 
on November 6, 1996. The California Air Resources Board (CARB) 
submitted these revisions to EPA on December 16, 1996. These rules were 
adopted as part of BAAQMD's efforts to achieve the National Ambient Air 
Quality Standards (NAAQS) and in response to section 176(c) 
transportation conformity requirements of the Clean Air Act (CAA). A 
detailed discussion of the background for each of the above rules is 
provided in the proposed rule cited above.
    EPA has evaluated the above rule(s) for consistency with the 
requirements of the CAA and EPA regulations and EPA interpretation of 
these requirements as expressed in the various EPA policy guidance 
documents referenced in the proposed rule cited above. EPA has found 
that the rules meet the applicable EPA requirements. A detailed 
discussion of the rule provisions and evaluations has been provided in 
the proposed rule and in the technical support document (TSD), dated 
June, 1997, which is available at EPA's Region IX office.

III. Response to Public Comments

    A 30-day public comment period was provided in 62 FR 37172. No 
comments were received, so no response has been prepared.

[[Page 54588]]

IV. EPA Action

    EPA is finalizing this action to approve the above rules for 
inclusion into the California SIP. EPA is approving the submittal under 
section 110(k)(3) as meeting the requirements of sections 110(a) and 
176(c)(4) of the CAA. This approval action will incorporate these 
rule(s) into the Federally approved SIP. The intended effect of 
approving these rule(s) is to regulate actions of agencies which affect 
emissions from on-road mobile sources in accordance with the 
requirements of the CAA.
    Nothing in this action should be construed as permitting or 
allowing or establishing a precedent for any future request for 
revision to any State implementation plan. Each request for revision to 
the State implementation plan shall be considered separately in light 
of specific technical, economic, and environmental factors and in 
relation to relevant statutory and regulatory requirements.

V. 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 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 
Clean Air 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 Clean Air Act forbids EPA to base 
its actions concerning SIPs on such grounds. Union Electric Co. v. U.S. 
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, 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 
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 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 
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 
section 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 December 22, 1997. 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, 
Hydrocarbons, Incorporation by reference, Intergovernmental relations, 
Oxides of Nitrogen, Ozone, Particulate matter, Reporting and 
recordkeeping requirements, Volatile organic compounds.

    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: September 26, 1997.
Felicia Marcus,
Regional Administrator.
    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. 7401-7671q.

Subpart F--California

    2. Section 52.220 is amended by adding paragraph (c)(243) to read 
as follows:


Sec. 52.220  Identification of plan.

* * * * *
    (c) * * *
* * * * *
    (243) Transportation Air Quality Conformity Procedures and 
Transportation Conformity Consultation Procedures for the following 
AQMD were submitted on December 16, 1996, by the Governor's designee.
    (i) Incorporation by reference.
    (A) Bay Area Air Quality Management District.
    (1) ``The San Francisco Bay Area Transportation Air Quality 
Conformity Procedures,'' which includes sections 93.100-93.104 and 
sections 93.106-93.136, adopted on November 6, 1996.
    (2) ``The San Francisco Bay Area Transportation Air Quality 
Conformity Interagency Consultation Procedures,'' adopted on November 
6, 1996.
* * * * *
[FR Doc. 97-27857 Filed 10-20-97; 8:45 am]
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