[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 139 (Wednesday, July 19, 2000)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 44686-44690]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-18110]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[SIPTRAX NO. MD097-3050a; FRL-6735-4]


Approval and Promulgation of Air Quality Implementation Plans; 
Maryland; Revised 15% Plan for the Metropolitan Washington, DC Ozone 
Nonattainment Area

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Direct final rule.

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SUMMARY: EPA is converting its conditional approval of a State 
Implementation Plan (SIP) revision submitted by the State of Maryland 
to a full approval. This revision satisfies the 15 percent reasonable 
further progress implementation plan (15% plan) requirements of the 
Clean Air Act (the Act) for Maryland's portion of the Metropolitan 
Washington, DC ozone nonattainment area (the Washington, DC area). EPA 
is converting its conditional approval to a full approval because the 
State has fulfilled the conditions listed in the conditional approval 
of the original 15% plan for the Maryland portion of the Washington, DC 
area. The intended effect of this action is to covert our conditional 
approval of the 15% plan submitted by the State of Maryland to a full 
approval.

DATES: This direct final rule is effective on September 18, 2000 
without further notice, unless EPA receives adverse comment by August 
18, 2000. If adverse comment is received, EPA will publish a timely 
withdrawal of the direct final rule in the Federal Register and inform 
the public that the rule will not take effect.

ADDRESSES: Comments may be mailed to David L. Arnold, Chief, Ozone and 
Mobile Sources Branch, Mailcode 3AP21, U.S. Environmental Protection 
Agency--Region III, 1650 Arch Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 
19103. Copies of the documents relevant to this action are available 
for public inspection during normal business hours at the Air 
Protection Division, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region III, 
1650 Arch Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19103; the Air and 
Radiation Docket and Information Center, U.S. Environmental Protection 
Agency, 401 M Street, SW, Washington, DC 20460; and the Maryland 
Department of the Environment, 2500 Broening Highway, Baltimore, 
Maryland, 21224. Persons interested in examining these documents should 
schedule an appointment with the contact person (listed below) at least 
24 hours before the visiting day. Copies of the documents relevant to 
this action are also available at the Maryland Department of the 
Environment, 2500 Broening Highway, Baltimore, Maryland 21224.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Christopher Cripps, (215) 814-2179, at 
the EPA Region III address above, or by e-mail at 
[email protected]. Please note that while questions may be 
submitted via e-mail, comments on the rulemaking action must be 
submitted, in writing, to the address listed above.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

    On May 5, 1998 the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) 
submitted a revision to its SIP for the Washington, DC area. The 
revision consists of an amended plan to achieve a 15% reduction from 
1990 base year levels in volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions. 
Maryland's original 15% plan for the Maryland portion of the 
Washington, DC area was conditionally approved on September 23, 1997 
(62 FR 49611). Maryland's revisions to its 15% plan were made to 
satisfy the conditions imposed in the September 23, 1997 conditional 
approval.
    The Washington, DC ozone nonattainment area consists of the 
District of Columbia, five counties in Northern Virginia and Calvert, 
Charles, Frederick, Montgomery, and Prince George's Counties in 
Maryland.
    Virginia, Maryland and the District all must demonstrate reasonable 
further progress for the Washington, DC nonattainment area. The 
Commonwealth of Virginia, State of Maryland and the District of 
Columbia in conjunction with municipal planning organizations 
collaborated on a coordinated 15% plan for the entire Washington, DC 
area (regional 15% plan). This was done under the auspices of the 
regional air quality planning committee, the Metropolitan Washington 
Air Quality Committee (MWAQC), and with the assistance of the local 
municipal planning organization, the Metropolitan Washington Council of 
Governments (MWCOG), to ensure coordination of air quality and 
transportation planning. Although the plan was developed by a regional 
approach, each jurisdiction is required to submit the 15% plan to EPA 
for approval as a revision to its SIP.
    Because the reasonable further progress requirements such as the 
15% plan affect transportation improvement plans, municipal planning 
organizations have historically been heavily involved in air quality 
planning in the Washington, DC area. As explained in further detail 
below, the regional 15% plan determined the regional target level, 
regional projections of growth and finally the total amount of 
creditable reductions required under the reasonable further progress 
requirement in the entire Washington, DC area. Maryland, Virginia and 
the District agreed to apportion this total amount of required 
creditable reductions among the three jurisdictions. EPA is taking 
action today only on Maryland's revised 15% plan submittal for the 
Washington, DC area. This rulemaking is being taken to convert the 
September 23, 1997 conditional approval of Maryland's 15% plan for the 
Washington, DC area to a full approval based upon EPA's determination 
that Maryland has fulfilled the conditions imposed in the conditional 
approval.

A. Base Year Emission Inventory

    The baseline from which states must determine the required 
reductions for 15% planning is the 1990 base year emission inventory. 
The inventory is broken down into several emissions source categories: 
stationary point, area, on-road mobile sources, and off-road mobile 
sources. The base year inventory includes emissions of all sources 
within the nonattainment area and certain large point sources within 
twenty-five miles of the boundary. A subset of the 1990 base year 
inventory is the 1990 rate-of-progress (ROP) inventory which includes 
only anthropogenic (man-made) emissions actually within the 
nonattainment area boundaries. EPA approved this base year inventory 
SIP revision for the entire Washington, DC area on July 8, 1998 (63 FR 
36854).

B. Growth in Emissions Between 1990 and 1996

    EPA has interpreted the Act to require that reasonable further 
progress towards attainment of the ozone standard must be obtained 
after offsetting any growth expected to occur over that period. 
Therefore, to meet the 15% reasonable further progress requirement, a 
state must enact measures achieving sufficient emissions reductions to 
offset projected growth in VOC emissions, in addition to a 15% 
reduction of VOC emissions. For a detailed description of the growth 
methodologies used by the State, please refer to EPA's conditional

[[Page 44687]]

approval of Maryland's 15% plan (62 FR 49611, September 23, 1997) and 
the Technical Support Document (TSD) for that action.
    The one area of concern relating to growth projections in the 
original 15% plan was that of the point source inventory. Condition 1 
of the September 23, 1997 (62 FR 49611) conditional approval required 
that Maryland revise its plan to properly account for growth in point 
sources between 1990 and 1996. EPA's analysis of the revised 15% plan 
supports removal of this condition, since Maryland used the appropriate 
methodology in reappraising its point source inventory growth between 
1990 and 1996.
    EPA here notes that the revised 15% plan has a point source 
inventory number that differs from Maryland's SIP approved inventory--
5.3 tons per day (tpd) in the revised 15% plan submittal versus 5.5 tpd 
in the approved inventory. EPA is not revising the SIP approved 
inventory by this action. The 5.3 tpd number is acceptable for use in 
the revised 15% plan, since the discrepancy serves to lower the 15% 
plan's target level, thus making the plan's VOC reductions more 
restrictive than required if one were to use the approved inventory 
numbers. EPA is approving the State of Maryland's 1990-1996 emissions 
growth projections in this revised 15% plan.

C. Enhanced Vehicle Inspection and Maintenance (I/M) Program

    Condition 2 of EPA's conditional approval of the original 15% plan 
required Maryland to meet the conditions EPA imposed in its October 31, 
1996 conditional approval of Maryland's enhanced motor vehicle 
inspection and maintenance (I/M) program. Maryland was also required to 
remodel the I/M benefits claimed in the 15% plan using the following 
two EPA guidance memoranda: ``Date by which States Need to Achieve all 
the Reductions Needed for the 15 Percent Plan from I/M and Guidance for 
Recalculation,'' from John Seitz and Margo Oge dated August 13, 1996, 
and ``Modeling 15% VOC Reductions from     I/M in 1999--Supplemental 
Guidance,'' from Gay MacGregor and Sally Shaver dated December 23, 
1996.
    Maryland has remedied condition 2 imposed on its original 15% plan. 
On October 29, 1999 (64 FR 58340), EPA published a direct final rule 
converting its October 31, 1996 conditional approval of the Maryland 
Enhanced I/M SIP revision to a full approval. This was done because EPA 
determined that all of the conditions of the October 31, 1996 
conditional approval of the enhanced   I/M SIP had been satisfied by 
the State of Maryland. Further, EPA has determined that Maryland has 
appropriately remodeled the I/M benefits of the program, and that there 
are no adverse affects on the 15% plan due to this remodeling.

D. Target Level Emissions/Emission Reductions Needs

    As part of the conditional approval of its original 15% plan, 
Maryland was required to remodel to determine affirmatively the 
creditable reductions from reformulated gasoline (RFG) and the Tier 1 
FMVCP in accordance with EPA guidance. Maryland was required to remodel 
the benefits of enhanced     I/M, RFG and Tier 1 under the revised 
plan. This remodeling demonstration was to compare the mobile source 
target level in 1999 versus the target level for mobile sources which 
was created for the original plan.
    EPA concurs with the remodeling demonstration submitted as part of 
the revised 15% plan, and with the revised mobile source target level 
calculation. Maryland's portion of the corrected target level is 178.6 
tpd.
    The regional 15% plan calculates a target level of emissions to 
meet the 15% reasonable further progress requirement over the entire 
nonattainment area. The regional 15% plan contains a projection of 
emissions growth from 1990 to 1996 and, in effect, apportions among 
Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia (the three 
jurisdictions) the amount of creditable emission reductions that each 
jurisdiction must achieve in order for the entire nonattainment area to 
achieve a 15% reduction in VOC emissions net of growth. Each 
jurisdiction then adopted the regional plan, which identified the 
amount of creditable emission reductions which that jurisdiction must 
achieve for the regional plan to get a 15% reduction accounting for any 
growth. The regional plan calculated the ``target level'' of 1996 VOC 
emissions, in accordance with applicable EPA guidance.
    EPA has interpreted section 182(b) of the Act to require that the 
base year VOC emission inventory be adjusted to account for reductions 
in VOC emissions that would have occurred from the pre-1990 FMVCP and 
RVP programs. To meet EPA's applicable guidance on this requirement, 
the regional plan contains a calculation of the reductions occurring 
between 1990 and 1996 from the pre-1990 Tier 0 FMVCP and RVP programs 
and the result of subtracting these reductions from the 1990 ROP 
inventory. The net result of this calculation yielded the ``1990 base 
year inventory adjusted to 1996''.
    Maryland's 15% plan relies upon reductions from Maryland's revised, 
enhanced I/M program to achieve the required 15% level as soon after 
November 15, 1996 as practicable, but not later than 1999. Under EPA's 
applicable guidance for 15% plans that rely upon reductions from 
enhanced I/M after 1996, the target level must also take into account 
the effects of the pre-1990 Tier 0 FMVCP on 1990 emissions due to 
turnover in vehicles between 1996 and 1999. Therefore, to meet EPA's 
applicable guidance for this requirement, Maryland's 15% plan contains 
a calculation of the non-creditable reductions from the pre-1990 Tier 0 
FMVCP and RVP programs between 1990 and 1999 and the result of 
subtracting these reductions from the 1990 ROP inventory. The result of 
this calculation yielded the ``1990 base year inventory adjusted to 
1999.'' Maryland's 15% plan clearly identifies the difference between 
the ``1990 base year inventory adjusted to 1996'' and ``1990 base year 
inventory adjusted to 1999'' as the ``fleet turnover correction'' (FTC) 
necessary to meet EPA's guidance.
    In its plan, Maryland calculates a ``base'' 1996 VOC target level 
as 85% of the ``1990 adjusted base year inventory for 1996.'' In 
accordance with EPA's guidance discussed in the preceding paragraph, 
Maryland subtracts the FTC from the ``base'' 1996 VOC target level to 
yield a ``final'' 1996 VOC target level for the 15% plan. In Table 1 
below, we have provided a summary of the calculations for the 1996 VOC 
target level for the entire Washington, DC area.

[[Page 44688]]

Metropolitan Washington, DC Nonattainment Area Target Level 
Calculation

          Table 1.--Required Reductions for the Metropolitan Washington, DC Nonattainment Area 15% Plan
                                                   [Tons/day]
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                                                                                                      Washington
                                          Item                District of    Maryland     Virginia     DC area
                                                                Columbia                                totals
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1........................  1990 ROP Inventory...............         60.3        241.7        226.5        528.5
2........................  1990 Adjusted Base Year Inventory         51.2        215.1        196.8        463.1
                            adjusted to 1996.
3........................  1990 Adjusted Base Year Inventory         49.9        210.9        193.3        454.1
                            adjusted to 1999.
4........................  FTC Adjustment (Line 2 minus Line          1.3          4.2          3.5          9.0
                            3).
5........................  Base 1996 target Level = 85% of           43.5        182.8        167.3        393.6
                            Line 2 (0.85  x  Line 2).
6........................  Final 1996 Regional Target Level          42.2        178.6        163.8        384.6
                            (Line 5 minus Line 4).
7........................  Projected 1996 Uncontrolled               48.5        234.7        219.4        502.4
                            Emissions.
8........................  Required Regional Emission         ...........  ...........  ...........        117.8
                            Reductions (Line 8 minus Line
                            7)\*\.
9........................  Apportioned State Emission                 8.5         57.5         51.7        117.7
                            Reductions\*\.
10.......................  Total Reductions Claimed in        ...........         61.9  ...........  ...........
                            Maryland's15% Plan.
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\*\ The small discrepancy between values is due to rounding the apportioned emission reductions to the nearest
  tenth.

    The emission reductions required to meet the 15% reasonable further 
progress requirement equals the difference between the projected 1996 
emissions under the current control strategy (the 1996 uncontrolled 
emissions) and the target level. This amount of emission reductions 
reflects a 15% reduction from the adjusted base year inventory and any 
reductions necessary to offset emissions growth projected to occur 
between 1990 and 1996. The Washington, DC area's regional VOC target 
level is 384.8 tpd. EPA has determined that this regional target level 
and emission reduction needed for the Washington, DC area have been 
properly calculated in accordance with EPA guidance.
    The three Washington, DC area jurisdictions have agreed to 
apportion the amount of emisson reductions needed for the entire area 
to achieve the 15% reduction among themselves. This apportionment is 
also shown in Table 1 above. Maryland's share is 57.5 tpd.

E. Reasonable Further Progress

    The final condition for full approval of the 15 % plan was for 
Maryland to demonstrate, using appropriate documentation methodologies 
and credit calculations, that it had satisfied the 15 % plan 
requirement for the Washington, DC area. As part of the revised 15% 
plan, recalculations to the inventory, target level and 15 % reduction 
amounts were adjusted. Under the new plan, Maryland's portion of the 
15% plan requirement increased from 56.4 tpd to 57.5 tpd.
    EPA agrees with the credit calculation methodology used in the 
revised plan to justify this number. As demonstrated in Chapter 5 of 
the revised plan SIP submittal, appropriate assumptions and calculation 
methodologies were employed, as per EPA guidance, in calculating the 
new figures. EPA therefore concurs that Maryland must achieve at least 
57.5 tpd in creditable emission reductions to demonstrate that Maryland 
has met its 15% VOC reduction requirement for the Washington, DC area.
    EPA believes that Maryland's revised plan has made all the 
necessary corrections to establish the creditability of sufficient 
control measures to met the 15% VOC reduction requirement. Maryland has 
demonstrated there are sufficient creditable measures in the revised 
15% plan to achieve at least 60.1 tpd of reductions. This 60.1 tpd 
reduction results from either rules promulgated by EPA or measures 
contained in the approved Maryland SIP.
    Table 2 below summarizes the creditable measures from Maryland's 
15% plan for the Washington, DC area.

     Table 2.--Creditable Reductions in Maryland's 15% Plan for the
             Metropolitan Washington, DC Nonattainment Area
                           [Tons VOC per day]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                      Creditable reductions
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Enhanced Inspection and Maintenance.............................    19.0
Tier 1 FMVCP....................................................     6.3
Phase II Gasoline Volatility Controls...........................     0.1
Stage II Recovery Nozzles.......................................     7.9
Reformulated Gasoline:
  On-Road.......................................................     4.1
  Off-Road......................................................     1.0
Auto Refinishing................................................     3.8
AIM--Reformulated Surface Coating...............................     7.6
Reformulated Consumer/Commercial Products.......................     2.1
Stage I Enhancement.............................................     0.9
Surface Cleaning and Degreasing.................................     2.6
Graphic Arts....................................................     1.0
Seasonal Open Burning Ban.......................................     3.7
                                                                 -------
    Total Fully Creditable Reductions...........................    60.1
------------------------------------------------------------------------

F. Transportation Conformity Budgets

    As is the case with any 15% plan, Maryland's 15% plan for the 
Washington, DC area contains a budget for VOC emissions from on-road 
mobile sources. By approving Maryland's 15% plan, EPA is granting a de 
facto approval of the budget in this plan. However, EPA wishes to 
clarify that the budget in Maryland's 15% plan will not be the 
applicable budget for any future conformity determinations because 
there are budgets for the Washington, DC area that apply in 1999 and 
all subsequent years. To verify which budgets apply in the Washington, 
DC area, please contact the EPA Regional office listed in the ADDRESSES 
section above or consult EPA's ``Adequacy Review of SIP Submissions for 
Conformity'' web page at http://www.epa.gov/oms/transp/conform/adequacy.htm.
    EPA's review of this material indicates that Maryland's revised 15% 
plan SIP revision meets the requirements of the Act and applicable EPA 
guidance. EPA is therefore converting its conditional approval of 
Maryland's 15% plan to a full approval.
    EPA is converting its conditional approval of Maryland 15% plan to 
a full approval by this rule without prior proposal because the Agency 
views this

[[Page 44689]]

as a noncontroversial amendment and anticipates no adverse comments. 
However, in the proposed rules section of this Federal Register 
publication, EPA is publishing a separate document that will serve as 
the proposal to convert the conditional approval to a full approval 
should adverse or critical comments be filed. This rule will be 
effective September 18, 2000 without further notice unless the Agency 
receives adverse comments by August 18, 2000. If EPA receives such 
comments, then EPA will publish a document withdrawing the final rule 
and informing the public that the rule will not take effect. All public 
comments received will then be addressed in a subsequent final rule 
based on the proposed rule. EPA will not institute a second comment 
period on the proposed rule. Only parties interested in commenting on 
this action should do so at this time. If no such comments are 
received, the public is advised that this rule will be effective on 
September 18, 2000 and no further action will be taken on the proposed 
rule.

II. Final Action

    EPA is converting its conditional approval of Maryland's 15% plan 
for its portion of the Metropolitan Washington, DC ozone nonattainment 
area to a full approval based upon the evaluation of the SIP revision 
submittal made by Maryland on May 5, 1998 consisting of its revised 15% 
plan.

III. Administrative Requirements

A. General Requirements

    Under Executive Order 12866 (58 FR 51735, October 4, 1993), this 
action is not a ``significant regulatory action'' and therefore is not 
subject to review by the Office of Management and Budget. This action 
merely approves state law as meeting federal requirements and imposes 
no additional requirements beyond those imposed by state law. 
Accordingly, the Administrator certifies that this 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 approves 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). For the same reason, 
this rule also does not significantly or uniquely affect the 
communities of tribal governments, as specified by Executive Order 
13084 (63 FR 27655, May 10, 1998). This rule will 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), because it 
merely approves a state rule implementing a federal standard, and does 
not alter the relationship or the distribution of power and 
responsibilities established in the Clean Air Act. This rule also is 
not subject to Executive Order 13045 (62 FR 19885, April 23, 1997), 
because it is not economically significant. 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. As required by section 3 of Executive Order 12988 
(61 FR 4729, February 7, 1996), in issuing this rule, EPA has taken the 
necessary steps to eliminate drafting errors and ambiguity, minimize 
potential litigation, and provide a clear legal standard for affected 
conduct. EPA has complied with Executive Order 12630 (53 FR 8859, March 
15, 1988) by examining the takings implications of the rule in 
accordance with the ``Attorney General's Supplemental Guidelines for 
the Evaluation of Risk and Avoidance of Unanticipated Takings'' issued 
under the executive order. This rule does not impose an information 
collection burden under the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act 
of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.).

B. Submission to Congress and the Comptroller General

    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. 804(2).

C. 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 September 18, 2000. 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 converting EPA's conditional approval of 
Maryland's 15% plan for Metropolitan Washington, DC ozone nonattainment 
area to a full approval 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, 
Intergovernmental relations, Ozone, Reporting and recordkeeping 
requirements.

    Dated: June 30, 2000.
Bradley M. Campbell,
Regional Administrator, Region III.

    40 CFR part 52 of chapter I, title 40 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 V--Maryland

    2. Section 52.1072(b) is removed and reserved.


Sec. 52.1072  Conditional approval.

    (a) * * *
    (b) [Reserved.]

    3. Section 52.1076 is amended by revising the title and adding 
paragraph (d) to read as follows:


Sec. 52.1076  Control strategy and rate-of-progress plans: ozone.

* * * * *
    (d) EPA approves the Maryland's 15 Percent Rate of Progress Plan 
for the Maryland portion of the Metropolitan Washington, D.C. ozone 
nonattainment area, submitted by the Secretary of the

[[Page 44690]]

Maryland Department of the Environment on May 5, 1998.

[FR Doc. 00-18110 Filed 7-18-00; 8:45 am]
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