[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 188 (Friday, September 27, 2002)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 60869-60871]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-24490]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[GA-200228(a); FRL-7382-2 ]


Approval and Promulgation; Georgia Transportation Conformity 
State Implementation Plan Memorandum of Agreement for the Atlanta 
Metropolitan Area

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Direct final rule.

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SUMMARY: EPA is promulgating a minor correction to its previous 
approval of the transportation conformity State Implementation Plan 
(SIP) for Atlanta, Georgia promulgated on April 7, 2000 (65 FR 18249). 
This direct final rulemaking will amend EPA's approval of the Georgia 
Transportation Conformity SIP, so that the current SIP is consistent 
with the March 2, 1999, decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 
District of Columbia Circuit Court that affected the transportation 
conformity regulations pertaining to triggers and the frequency of 
conformity determinations. As a consequence of this correction, Georgia 
will no longer be required to make a new conformity determination 
within eighteen months of the submission date of an initial SIP. 
Alternatively, EPA's August 6, 2002, rulemaking revision (67 FR 50808) 
will now govern the establishment of the eighteen-month conformity 
clock for initial SIP submissions. The eighteen-month clock for initial 
SIPs will begin upon the effective date of EPA's adequacy finding for 
the motor vehicle emissions budgets in such submitted SIPs.

DATES: This direct final rule is effective November 26, 2002, without 
further notice, unless EPA receives adverse comment by October 28, 
2002. 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: Written comments on this action should be addressed to Kelly 
A. Sheckler at the Environmental Protection Agency, Region 4 Air 
Planning Branch, 61 Forsyth Street, SW, Atlanta, Georgia 30303. Copies 
of documents relative to this action are available for public 
inspection during normal business hours at the following locations. The 
interested persons wanting to examine these documents should make an 
appointment with the appropriate office at least 24 hours before the 
visiting day. References file GA 20228. The EPA Region 4 office may 
have additional background documents not available at the other 
locations.
    Air and Radiation Docket and Information Center (Air Docket 6102), 
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 401 M Street, SW, Washington, DC 
20460.
    Environmental Protection Agency, Region 4 Air Planning Branch, 61 
Forsyth Street, SW, Atlanta, Georgia 30303. Attn.: Kelly Sheckler, 404/
562-9042, [email protected].
    Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Environmental Protection 
Division, Air Protection Division, 4244 International Parkway, Suite 
136, Atlanta, Georgia 30354.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kelly Sheckler, Air Quality Modeling 
and Transportation Section, US. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 
4, 61 Forsyth Street, SW, Atlanta, Georgia 30303, 
[email protected], (404) 562-9042.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background

    Transportation conformity is required under section 176(c) of the 
Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7506(c) to ensure that federally supported 
highway and transit project activities are consistent with (``conform 
to'') the purpose of a state air quality implementation plan. EPA's 
transportation conformity rule established the criteria and procedures 
for determining whether transportation activities conform to the state 
air quality plan.
    EPA first published the transportation conformity rule on November 
24, 1993 (58 FR 62188), and made subsequent revisions to the rule in 
1995 (60 FR 40098, August 7, 1995, and 60 FR 57179, November 14, 1995). 
On August 15, 1997, however, EPA published a comprehensive set of 
amendments that clarified and streamlined language from the 1993 
transportation conformity rule and 1995 amendments (62 FR 43780). Since 
the publication of the 1997 rule, EPA has made two additional revisions 
to the conformity rule in 2000 and 2002 ( 65 FR 18911, April 10, 2000, 
and 67 FR 50808, August 6, 2002).
    The August 2002 amendment to the conformity rule addressed, in 
part, the decision made on March 2, 1999, by the U.S. Court of Appeals 
for the District of Columbia Court that affected several provisions of 
the 1997 rulemaking (Environmental Defense Fund v. EPA, et al., 167 F. 
3d 641, D.C. Cir 1999). Specifically, the August amendment addressed 
the impact of this Court decision on one provision of the conformity 
rule, Section 93.104 (e). With this rule change, conformity must now be 
determined within eighteen months of the effective date of the Federal 
Register notice announcing EPA's finding that the motor vehicle 
emission budgets in an initial SIP submission are adequate rather than 
within eighteen months of initial SIP submission.
    We made this minor change to the conformity rule to respond to the 
Court decision that EPA must find motor vehicle emissions budgets in 
submitted SIPs adequate before they can be used in a conformity 
determination. The August 2002, rulemaking also changes the starting 
point for eighteen month clocks that are currently running for areas 
with initial SIP submissions, so that these areas are given the full 
eighteen months after EPA's adequacy finding to determine conformity to 
their SIPs. In other words, in areas where a SIP has been submitted and 
EPA is currently reviewing it for adequacy, the eighteen-month clock 
required by section 93.104(e) (2) will now not start until the 
effective date of our adequacy finding. For areas that have submitted 
initial SIPs that EPA has already found adequate and to which 
conformity has not yet been determined, the August rule restarts the 
eighteen-month clock from the effective date of EPA's positive adequacy 
finding. For more information on the eighteen-month conformity 
requirement for initial SIP submissions see the August 6, 2002 final 
rule (67 FR 50808).

[[Page 60870]]

    Section 51.390 (b) of the conformity rule specifies that after EPA 
approves a conformity SIP revision, the federal rule no longer governs 
conformity determinations with respect to the provisions covered by the 
state rule. Therefore, areas that have approved SIPs governing 
eighteen-month triggers (i.e., SIPs that include 93.104(e)(a) from the 
1997 transportation conformity rule), the actions of the August 6, 2002 
rule will normally only be effective when EPA approves a conformity SIP 
revision that includes the amendment to the state rules to align the 
eighteen-month clock for initial SIP submissions with EPA's adequacy 
provisions. In the case of Atlanta, EPA has approved conformity SIP 
that included section 93.104(e)(2) from the 1997 version of the 
transportation conformity rule. However, EPA believes that its initial 
approval of Atlanta's SIP was in error. Specifically, EPA should not 
have approved section 105(e) of the State Interagency Transportation 
Conformity Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) since this provision mirrors 
section 93.104(e)(2) that was indirectly affected by the March 2, 1999 
court decisions.
    Therefore, in today's action, EPA is correcting its earlier 
approval of the Atlanta, Georgia transportation conformity SIP to 
remove approval of section 105(e) of the Interagency Transportation 
Conformity MOA. EPA believes that its approval of that provision was in 
error, because it was made after the March 2, 1999, court ruling that 
conformity could not be shown to the motor vehicle emissions budgets in 
submitted SIPs until EPA finds such submitted budgets adequate for 
transportation conformity purposes. Since section 105(e) would require 
a determination of conformity within eighteen-months of submittal of an 
initial SIP, even if EPA had not found the budget to be adequate, EPA 
concludes that it should not have approved that section of the Atlanta 
SIP.

Final Action

    Therefore, pursuant to section 110(k)(6) of the Clean Air Act, EPA 
is now correcting its approval of the Atlanta SIP to remove its 
approval of section 105(e). In the absence of EPA approval of this 
provision, the state of Georgia will revert back to reliance of the 
Federal transportation conformity rule and its requirement for the 
eighteen-month conformity requirement for initial SIPs. That is, the 
eighteen-month conformity requirement will now be triggered in Atlanta 
only from the effective data of EPA's adequacy finding for such initial 
SIPs.
    The EPA is publishing this rule without a prior proposal because 
the Agency views this as a noncontroversial submittal 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 approve the SIP revision should 
adverse comments are filed. This rule will be effective November 26, 
2002, without further notice unless the Agency receives adverse 
comments by October 28, 2002.
    If the 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. The EPA will not 
institute a second comment period. Parties interested in commenting 
should do so at this time. If no such comments are received, the public 
is advised that this rule will be effective on November 26, 2002, and 
no further action will be taken on the proposed rule.

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 Effect Energy 
Supply, Distribution, or Use'' (66 FR 28355, May 22, 2001). This action 
merely corrects our action that 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 corrects our action that 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). This rule also does not have tribal 
implications because it will 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). 
This action also does not have Federalism implications because it does 
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). 
This action merely corrects our action that 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 
``Protection of Children from Environmental Health Risks and Safety 
Risks'' (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. 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. 
section 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

[[Page 60871]]

appropriate circuit by November 26, 2002. 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 will 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, 
Intergovernmental relations, Nitrogen dioxide, Ozone, Particulate 
matter, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, Sulfur oxides, 
Volatile organic compounds.

    Dated: September 11, 2002.
A. Stanley Meiburg,
Regional Administrator, Region 4.

    Part 52 of chapter I, title 40, 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 L--Georgia

    2. Section 52.570(e), is amended by revising entry 12 in the table-
EPA Approved Georgia Non-Regulatory Provisions to read as follows:


Sec.  52.570  Identification of plan.

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                                  EPA Approved Georgia Non-Regulatory Provision
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    Name of nonregulatory SIP       Applicable geographic or    State submittal date/
            provision                  nonattainment area          effective date           EPA approval date
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                                                  * * * * * * *
12. Georgia Interagency            Atlanta Metropolitan Area  February 16, 1999.......  November 26, 2002.
 Transportation Conformity
 Memorandum of Agreement, except
 for the following sections:
 Section 103(4)(d); Section
 105(e); Section 106(c); Section
 110(c)(1)(ii); Section
 110(c)(2)(ii); Section
 110(d)(2)(i); Section
 110(d)(3)(i); Section
 110(e)(2)(i); Section
 110(e)(3)(i); Section 119(e)(1);
 Section 119b(a)(2); Section
 130(1); and Section 133..
 
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[FR Doc. 02-24490 Filed 9-26-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P