[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 28 (Friday, February 9, 2001)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 9661-9663]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-3284]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[RI-01-043-6991a; A-1-FRL-6943-3]


Approval and Promulgation of Air Quality Implementation Plans; 
Rhode Island; Enhanced Motor Vehicle Inspection and Maintenance Program

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: EPA is approving a State Implementation Plan (SIP) revision 
submitted by the State of Rhode Island. This revision establishes and 
requires the implementation of an enhanced motor vehicle inspection and 
maintenance program. The intended effect of this action is to approve 
this program. This action is being taken in accordance with the Clean 
Air Act.

EFFECTIVE DATE: This rule will become effective on March 12, 2001.

ADDRESSES: Copies of the documents relevant to this action are 
available for public inspection during normal business hours, by 
appointment at the Office of Ecosystem Protection, U.S. Environmental 
Protection Agency, EPA-New England, One Congress Street, 11th floor, 
Boston, MA; Air and Radiation Docket and Information Center, U.S. 
Environmental Protection Agency, Room M-1500, 401 M Street, (Mail Code 
6102), SW., Washington, DC; and Department of Environmental Management, 
235 Promenade Street, Providence, RI 02908-5767.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Peter Hagerty, (617) 918-1049.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This Supplementary Information section is 
organized as follows:

I. What action is EPA taking today?
II. What deficiencies were identified in the notice of proposed 
rulemaking and how did Rhode Island address them?
III. What emission reduction credit may Rhode Island assume in the 
interim until the EPA has information available to assign 
appropriate credit?
IV. EPA Action.
V. Administrative Requirements.

I. What Action is EPA Taking Today?

    In this action we are approving the submittal of an enhanced motor 
vehicle inspection and maintenance (I/M) program submitted by Rhode 
Island as a formal SIP revision on January 19, 2001. We are also 
approving an interim level of emission reduction credit for Rhode 
Island to use for planning purposes. This action was proposed on 
December 18, 2000 in the Federal Register (65 FR79040) and no comments 
were received on the proposal.\1\
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    \1\ EPA proposed this SIP revision using a ``parallel process.'' 
EPA provided for the public to comment on this SIP revision by 
making available the rules and materials that Rhode Island was 
proposing for approval on the state level in parallel with EPA's 
action. Rhode Island promulgated those rules prior to submitting 
them to EPA for this approval. One set of rules implementing this I/
M program (Rhode Island Motor Vehicle Safety and Emissions Control 
Regulation No. 1) will not be finally effective until January 31, 
2001, because Rhode Island law requires 20 days to elapse after a 
regulation is filed with the Secretary of State. Therefore, 
Regulation No. 1 will be effective shortly after signature of this 
notice, but prior to publication of this action in the Federal 
Register and prior to this action taking effect under the Clean Air 
Act. EPA is signing this action now because the State has done 
everything necessary for Regulation No. 1 to take effect on January 
31, 2001, and we are simply awaiting passage of the 20 day filing 
period. See R.I. Gen. Laws section 42-35-4(b).
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II. What Deficiencies Were Identified in the Notice of Proposed 
Rulemaking and How Did Rhode Island Address Them?

    In order to meet certain requirements of EPA's I/M rule, Rhode 
Island was required to include in its final submittal: (1) a commitment 
to maintain a 96% compliance rate (or revise the SIP accordingly), (2) 
the appropriate enforcement oversight provisions for the Department of 
Motor Vehicles (DMV), and (3) a demonstration of the performance of its 
test-and-repair network. The final SIP submittal from Rhode Island 
address each of these requirements. Section 2 of the SIP narrative 
entitled ``I/M Performance Standard,'' now includes the appropriate 
commitment, as required by 40 CFR 51.361--Motorist Compliance 
Enforcement, to a 96% compliance rate.

[[Page 9662]]

In section 14 of the SIP narrative entitled ``Motorist Compliance 
Enforcement,'' information on training, auditing, and oversight of 
enforcement personnel which meets the requirements of 40 CFR 51.362--
Motorist Compliance Enforcement Oversight has been added. Lastly, as 
required in the notice of proposed rulemaking, Rhode Island has 
submitted information on failure rate by model year, number of waivers 
issued by month for the first six months of the program, and station 
audit sheets for a typical month of the program. The failure rates are 
almost identical to a nearby state utilizing the same equipment and 
test method. The waiver rate is 2.8% which is below the 3% in the plan, 
and the station audits show a very high rate of compliance. See 
supplemental technical support document dated January 24, 2001 for more 
specific information on this evaluation. EPA has concluded that Rhode 
Island's I/M program performance is sufficiently effective to meet the 
low enhanced performance standard. Rhode Island has met the 
requirements of section 40 CFR 51.353. (See III. below for information 
on interim credit.)

III. What Emission Reduction Credit May Rhode Island Assume in the 
Interim Until the EPA has Information Available to Assign 
Appropriate Credit?

    As discussed in detail in the proposed rulemaking notice, we are 
approving the use of 75% of I/M 240 credit for future air quality 
planning in Rhode Island. Once the comparison study results are 
available from the Massachusetts study on this same test type which 
Rhode Island will be relying on to verify its credit, EPA will 
establish appropriate credit for the BAR31 test done on NYTEST 
equipment. If the emission reduction credits assigned do not meet or 
exceed the credit assumed by Rhode Island, Rhode Island and EPA will 
take appropriate action to correct any SIP shortfall in any SIP 
demonstrations that may rely on credit from the I/M program.
    Other specific requirements of the EPA I/M rule and the rationale 
for EPA's proposed action are explained in the NPR and will not be 
restated here. No public comments were received on the NPR.

IV. EPA Action

    EPA is approving the Rhode Island enhanced motor vehicle inspection 
and maintenance program as a revision to the Rhode Island SIP.
    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

    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 addressing 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.).
    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. A major rule cannot 
take effect until 60 days after it is published in the Federal 
Register. This action is not a ``major rule'' as defined by 5 U.S.C. 
804(2).
    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 April 10, 2001. 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, Intergovernmental relations, Nitrogen dioxide, Ozone, 
Reporting and recordkeeping requirements.


[[Page 9663]]


    Dated: January 31, 2001.
Stephen Perkins,
Acting Regional Administrator, EPA-New England.
    Part 52 of 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 et seq.

Subpart OO--Rhode Island

    2. In Sec. 52.2070 the table in paragraph (c) is amended by adding 
a new entry in numerical order under ``Air Pollution Control 
Regulation'' and by adding a new State citation to the end of the table 
for ``Rhode Island Motor Vehicle Safety and Emissions Control 
Regulation'' to read as follows:


Sec. 52.2070  Identification of plan.

* * * * *
    (c) * * *

                                                          EPA Approved Rhode Island Regulations
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          State citation                Title/subject             State effective date                  EPA approval date               Explanations
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                   *                  *                  *                  *                  *                  *                  *
Air Pollution Control Regulation    Rhode Island Motor     March 30, 2000....................  February 9, 2001..................  Department of
 No. 34.                             Vehicle Inspection/                                                                            Environmental
                                     Maintenance Program.                                                                           Management
                                                                                                                                    regulation
                                                                                                                                    containing I/M
                                                                                                                                    standards.
 
                   *                  *                  *                  *                  *                  *                  *
Rhode Island Motor Vehicle Safety   Rhode Island Motor     January 31, 2001..................  [Insert FR citation from published  Department of
 and Emissions Control Regulation    Vehicle Inspection/                                        date].                              Administration
 No. 1.                              Maintenance Program.                                                                           regulation for the I/
                                                                                                                                    M program.
 
                   *                  *                  *                  *                  *                  *                  *
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[FR Doc. 01-3284 Filed 2-8-01; 8:45 am]
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