[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 158 (Friday, August 15, 2003)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 48803-48805]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-20895]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[PA 207-4213; FRL-7544-7]


Approval and Promulgation of Air Quality Implementation Plans; 
Pennsylvania; Motor Vehicle Inspection and Maintenance Program--Revised 
Final Standards for the Acceleration Simulation Mode Exhaust Emissions 
Test

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 Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. This revision amends 
Pennsylvania's SIP-approved Enhanced Vehicle Inspection and Maintenance 
Program (or I/M program) to implement final tailpipe test standards for 
the Acceleration Simulation Mode (ASM) tailpipe emissions test. This is 
being done through the substitution of revised ASM test standards in 
place of the previously adopted and SIP-approved final ASM test 
standards. Under Pennsylvania's SIP-approved I/M program, ASM testing 
is conducted only in the Philadelphia I/M program area comprised of 
Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery, and Philadelphia Counties. 
Therefore, this action affects only motorists in those counties subject 
to the ASM test as part of the I/M program for the Philadelphia area. 
The intended effect of this action is to approve Pennsylvania's SIP 
revision request. This action is being taken under authority of the 
Clean Air Act.

EFFECTIVE DATE: This final rule is effective on September 15, 2003.

[[Page 48804]]


ADDRESSES: 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; and at the Air and 
Radiation Docket and Information Center, U.S. Environmental Protection 
Agency, 1301 Constitution Avenue, NW., Room B108, Washington, DC 20460. 
Copies are also available for public inspection at the Pennsylvania 
Department of Environmental Protection, Bureau of Air Quality, PO Box 
8468, 400 Market Street, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania 17105.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Brian Rehn, (215) 814-2176, or by e-
mail at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

    On June 27, 2003 (68 FR 38266), EPA published a notice of proposed 
rulemaking (NPR) for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. EPA's NPR 
proposed to approve a revision to Pennsylvania's SIP-approved enhanced 
I/M program SIP to revise final exhaust emission standards for 
Pennsylvania's ASM exhaust emissions test. The Commonwealth submitted a 
request for parallel processing of the state-proposed version of this 
SIP revision on June 5, 2003. Parallel processing is a means by which 
EPA proposes rulemaking action concurrently with the state's procedures 
for adoption of regulations. Upon completion of the state adoption 
process, EPA can then take final rulemaking action. Pennsylvania 
formally submitted its final, adopted SIP revision (amending the final 
test cutpoints for the ASM test) to EPA on July 23, 2003.

II. Summary of SIP Revision

    The Commonwealth's SIP revision substitutes a set of revised final 
ASM test cutpoints (recently released by EPA as a compliance 
alternative) for the cutpoints previously approved in Pennsylvania's I/
M program SIP.
    The ASM test is a test method used to measure tailpipe emissions 
from cars. In Pennsylvania, the test is performed on a portion of the 
I/M-subject fleet in five counties in the Philadelphia severe ozone 
nonattainment area (Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery, and 
Philadelphia counties). The ASM tailpipe emissions test employs 
tailpipe emissions sensing equipment that measures emissions while the 
vehicle is driven, under load, at a steady speed on a chassis 
dynamometer. This SIP revision serves to substitute a different set of 
final test cutpoints than was previously SIP-approved--that utilize a 
different methodology and which are expressed in different units of 
measurement, and which are different than the prior approved phase-in 
or final ASM cutpoints. Since the Commonwealth is utilizing a set of 
alternative final ASM cutpoints that were developed by EPA for the 
purpose of providing a compliance alternative in implementing an ASM-
based I/M program, EPA proposed approval of the Commonwealth's proposed 
SIP revision.
    A more detailed explanation of the Commonwealth's SIP revision or 
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.

III. Final Action

    EPA is approving Pennsylvania's July 23, 2003 formal SIP revision 
to substitute an alternative set of final ASM test cutpoints to the I/M 
program as a revision to the Pennsylvania SIP.

IV. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

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. 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 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 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.).

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).

[[Page 48805]]

C. Petitions for Judicial Review

    Under section 307(b)(1) of the Clean Air Act, petitions for 
judicial review of this approval of an alternative set of final ASM 
test cutpoints to Pennsylvania's I/M program SIP must be filed in the 
United States Court of Appeals for the appropriate circuit by October 
14, 2003. 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, 
Incorporation by reference, Intergovernmental relations, Ozone, 
Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, Volatile organic compounds.

    Dated: August 6, 2003.
Donald S. Welsh,
Regional Administrator, Region III.


0
40 CFR part 52 is amended as follows:

PART 52--[AMENDED]

0
1. The authority citation for part 52 continues to read as follows:

    Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.

Subpart NN--Pennsylvania

0
2. Section 52.2020 is amended by adding paragraph (c)(211) to read as 
follows:


Sec.  52.2020  Identification of plan.

* * * * *
    (c) * * *
    (211) Revisions to the Pennsylvania Emission Inspection Program 
Regulations to adopt revised alternative final ASM test cutpoints 
submitted on July 23, 2003 by the Department of Environmental 
Protection:
    (i) Incorporation by reference.
    (A) Letter of July 23, 2003 from the Secretary of the Department of 
Environmental Protection transmitting a regulatory amendment to the 
motor vehicle emissions testing program to adopt an alternative set of 
final ASM test cutpoints developed by EPA.
    (B) Revisions to Chapter 177, Appendix A, Section 1 of the 
Pennsylvania motor vehicle emission inspection program regulations 
(codified in the Pennsylvania Code at Title 67, Part I, Subpart A, 
Article VII), effective on May 24, 2003.
    (ii) Additional Material.--Remainder of the State submittal 
pertaining to the revisions listed in paragraph (c)(211)(i) of this 
section.

[FR Doc. 03-20895 Filed 8-14-03; 8:45 am]
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