[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 85 (Monday, May 4, 1998)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 24434-24435]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-11759]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[AZ059-0005; FRL-6004-5]


Approval and Promulgation of Implementation Plans; Arizona State 
Implementation Plan Revision, Maricopa County Environmental Services 
Department

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: EPA is taking final action to approve a revision to the 
Arizona State Implementation Plan (SIP). The revision concerns Maricopa 
County's Ordinance P-7, Maricopa County Trip Reduction Ordinance. This 
approval action will incorporate this ordinance into the federally-
approved SIP. The intended effect of approving this ordinance is to 
reduce emissions of volatile organic compounds, nitrogen oxides, carbon 
monoxide, and particulate matter by reducing the number of single-
occupant-vehicle commute trips in the Phoenix, Arizona, metropolitan 
area. EPA is finalizing the approval of this revision into the Arizona 
SIP under provisions of the CAA regarding EPA action on SIP submittals, 
SIPs for national primary and secondary ambient air quality standards 
and plan requirements for nonattainment areas.

EFFECTIVE DATE: June 3, 1998.

ADDRESSES: Copies of the SIP revision and supporting information 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 location: Office of Air Planning (AIR-
2), Air Division, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region IX, 75 
Hawthorne Street, San Francisco, CA 94105

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Frances Wicker, Office of Air 
Planning, AIR-2, Air Division, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 
Region IX, 75 Hawthorne Street, San Francisco, CA 94105, Telephone: 
(415) 744-1248.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

    On December 9, 1997 at 62 FR 64794, EPA proposed to approve 
Maricopa County's Ordinance P-7, Maricopa County Trip Reduction 
Ordinance which was revised by the Maricopa County, Arizona, Board of 
Supervisors on May 26, 1994 and submitted as a SIP revision to EPA by 
the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality on August 31, 1995. A 
discussion of the ordinance and EPA's proposed approval action can be 
found in the notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) cited above.
    EPA has evaluated this ordinance for consistency with the 
requirements of the CAA and EPA regulations and EPA's interpretation of 
these requirements as expressed in the various Agency policy guidance 
documents referenced in the NPRM. EPA has found that the ordinance 
meets the applicable EPA requirements.

II. Public Comments

    No comments were received on the proposed approval during the 30-
day public comment period that was provided in 62 FR 64794.

III. EPA Action

    EPA is approving the above submitted ordinance for inclusion into 
the federally-approved Arizona SIP. EPA is approving the submittal 
under section 110(k)(3) as meeting the requirements of section 110(a) 
and Part D 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.

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 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

[[Page 24435]]

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

    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 rule is not a 
``major'' rule as defined by 5 U.S.C. Sec. 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 July 6, 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, Hydrocarbons, 
Carbon monoxide, Particulate matter, Incorporation by reference, 
Intergovernmental relations, Ozone, Reporting and recordkeeping 
requirements, Volatile organic compounds.

    Note: Incorporation by reference of the State Implementation 
Plan for the State of Arizona was approved by the Director of the 
Federal Register on July 1, 1982.

    Dated: March 20, 1998.
Felicia Marcus,
Regional Administrator, Region IX.

    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.

Subpart D--Arizona

    2. Section 52.120 by adding paragraph (c)(82)(i)(E) to read as 
follows:


Sec. 52.120  Identification of plan.

* * * * *
    (c) * * *
    (82) * * *
    (i) * * *
    (E) Maricopa County.
    (1) Ordinance P-7, Maricopa County Trip Reduction Ordinance, 
adopted May 26, 1994.
* * * * *
[FR Doc. 98-11759 Filed 5-1-98; 8:45 am]
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