[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 196 (Wednesday, October 10, 2001)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 51572-51574]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-25259]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[WI85-02-7316; FRL-7076-6]


Approval and Promulgation of Air Quality Plans; Wisconsin; Post-
1996 Rate of Progress Plan for the Milwaukee-Racine Ozone Nonattainment 
Area

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: The EPA is approving the post-1996 Rate-Of-Progress (ROP) plan 
submitted by the State of Wisconsin for the Milwaukee-Racine ozone 
nonattainment area, as a requested revision of the State Implementation 
Plan (SIP) for ozone. A post-1996 ROP plan is required for the 
Milwaukee-Racine ozone nonattainment area under the Clean Air Act 
(Act). The purpose of the post-1996 ROP plan is to incrementally 
provide for progress toward attainment of the 1-hour ozone standard in 
the Milwaukee-Racine ozone nonattainment area by reducing ground-level 
ozone precursor emissions. The submitted plan, which covers the period 
of 1996 through 1999 and

[[Page 51573]]

emission reductions occurring by November 15, 1999, shows that 
Wisconsin reduced emissions of volatile organic (VOC), ozone-forming 
pollutants, by the amounts required by the Act. We proposed approval of 
this SIP revision submittal on June 22, 2001.

DATES: This final rule is effective November 9, 2001.

ADDRESSES: You can access copies of the SIP revision request and the 
Technical Support Document (TSD) for the proposed rulemaking on the SIP 
revision request at the following address: U.S. Environmental 
Protection Agency, Region 5, Air and Radiation Division, 77 West 
Jackson Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois 60604. (We recommend that you 
telephone Jacqueline Nwia at (312) 886-6081 before visiting the Region 
5 Office).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jacqueline Nwia, Environmental 
Scientist, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Air and Radiation 
Division (AR-18J), 77 West Jackson Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois 60604, 
(312) 886-6081, [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Throughout this document, wherever ``we,'' 
``us,'' or ``our'' are used, we mean EPA.
    The supplemental information is organized in the following order:

I. What is EPA Approving In This Action?
II. Are All Of The Control Strategies In The Post-1996 ROP Plan 
Federally Approved or Promulgated?
III. Were Public Comments Submitted During the Public Comment Period 
For The Proposed Approval of Wisconsin's Post-1996 ROP Plan For The 
Milwaukee-Racine Ozone Nonattainment Area?
IV. Final Rulemaking Action.
V. Administrative Requirements.

I. What is EPA Approving in This Action?

    We are approving the post-1996 ROP plan for the Milwaukee-Racine 
ozone nonattainment area because the plan identifies control measures 
to achieve a projected 9 percent VOC emission reduction by November 15, 
1999. Section 182(c)(2) of the Act required serious and above ozone 
nonattainment areas to submit plans that would achieve reductions in 
VOC emissions by at least 3 percent per year, net of growth, averaged 
over each consecutive 3 year period beginning in 1996 until the area's 
attainment date. These plans are referred to as rate-of-progress (ROP) 
plans. Section 182(c)(2) also required such areas to submit a plan that 
demonstrates attainment of the ozone standard based on photochemical 
grid modeling or an equally effective method. The attainment 
demonstration and ROP plans were due to EPA by November 15, 1994.
    Many states, however, found it difficult to meet the date for 
submittal of an attainment demonstration and post-1996 ROP plan due 
primarily to an inability to address or control transport of ozone. We 
consequently recognized the efforts made by the states and the 
challenges in developing technical information and control measures 
with respect to these submittals in a memorandum entitled ``Ozone 
Attainment Demonstrations,'' dated March 2, 1995, from Mary D. Nichols, 
Assistant Administrator for Air and Radiation. The memorandum then 
allowed new time frames for these SIP submittals and divided the 
required SIP submittals into two phases. Generally, Phase I consists 
of: SIP measures providing for ROP reductions due by the end of 1999, 
an enforceable SIP commitment to submit any remaining required ROP 
reductions on a specified schedule after 1999, and an enforceable SIP 
commitment to submit the additional SIP measures needed for attainment. 
Phase II consists of the remaining ROP SIP measures, the attainment 
demonstration and additional local rules needed to attain, and any 
regional controls needed for attainment by all areas in the region.
    This action finalizes approval of Wisconsin's post-1996 ROP plan.

II. Are all of the Control Strategies in the Post-1996 ROP Plan 
Federally Approved or Promulgated?

    Our June 22, 2001, proposal identifies all of the control 
strategies, the emission reduction credits claimed for each control 
strategy and the status of each control strategy with respect to 
federal approval or promulgation. Wisconsin's post-1996 ROP plan claims 
emission reduction credits for 21 control strategies. Our June 22, 
2001, proposal stated that 20 of the control strategies had been either 
federally approved into the SIP or promulgated. Wisconsin's motor 
vehicle inspection and maintenance (I/M) program SIP was conditionally 
approved into the SIP on January 12, 1995 (60 FR 2881) with a 
subsequent revision submitted on December 30, 1998. The proposed rule 
noted that Wisconsin's motor vehicle 
I/M program must be fully and finally approved into the SIP before we 
could finally approve Wisconsin's post-1996 ROP plan. We published a 
direct final approval of Wisconsin's I/M SIP on August 16, 2001 (66 FR 
42949 and 42974), which will become effective on October 15, 2001. 
Thus, all of the control strategies identified in Wisconsin's post-1996 
ROP plan are federally approved into the SIP or promulgated.

III. Were Public Comments Submitted During the Public Comment 
Period for the Proposed Approval of Wisconsin's Post-1996 ROP Plan 
for the Milwaukee-Racine Ozone Nonattainment Area?

    We published a proposed approval of Wisconsin's post-1996 ROP plan 
on June 22, 2001 (66 FR 33495), the date the public comment period 
began. The public comment period concluded on July 23, 2001. We did not 
receive any public comments on the proposed approval.

IV. Final Rulemaking Action

    In this rulemaking action, we are approving Wisconsin's SIP 
revisions, submitted on December 11, 1997, and supplements submitted on 
August 5, 1999, January 31, 2000, March 3, 2000, and February 21, 2001, 
establishing the post-1996 ROP plan for the Milwaukee-Racine ozone 
nonattainment area.

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. 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 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 (Pub. L. 104-4). This rule also does not 
have a substantial direct effect on one or 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 (65 
FR 67249, November 9, 2000), nor will it have substantial direct 
effects on the states, on the relationship between the national 
government and the states, or

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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.
    Section 12 of the National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act 
(NTTAA) of 1995, 15 U.S.C. 272 note, requires federal agencies to 
evaluate existing technical standards when developing a new regulation. 
To comply with NTTAA, EPA must consider and use ``voluntary consensus 
standards'' (VCS) if available and applicable when developing programs 
and policies unless doing so would be inconsistent with applicable law 
or otherwise impractical. The VCS are inapplicable to this action, 
because this action does not require the public to perform activities 
conducive to the use of VCS.
    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). This rule will be effective November 9, 2001.
    Under section 307(b)(1) of the Act, petitions for judicial review 
of this action must be filed in the United States Court of Appeals for 
the appropriate circuit by December 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, Nitrogen Oxides, 
Ozone, Volatile Organic Compounds.

    Dated: September 26, 2001.
Jerri Anne Garl,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region 5.

    For the reasons stated in the preamble, 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 et seq.

Subpart YY--Wisconsin

    2. Section 52.2585 is amended by adding paragraph (o) to read as 
follows:


Sec. 52.2585  Control Strategy: Ozone.

* * * * *
    (o) Approval--On December 11, 1997, Wisconsin submitted a post-1996 
Rate Of Progress plan for the Milwaukee-Racine ozone nonattainment area 
as a requested revision to the Wisconsin State Implementation Plan. 
Supplements to the December 11, 1997 plan were submitted on August 5, 
1999, January 31, 2000, March 3, 2000, and February 21, 2001 
establishing the post-1996 ROP plan for the Milwaukee-Racine ozone 
nonattainment area. This plan reduces ozone precursor emissions by 9 
percent from 1990 baseline emissions by November 15, 1999.

[FR Doc. 01-25259 Filed 10-9-01; 8:45 am]
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