[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 126 (Thursday, July 1, 2004)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 39860-39862]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-14822]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Parts 52 and 81

[PA215-4229; FRL-7777-5]


Approval and Promulgation of Air Quality Implementation Plans; 
Pennsylvania; Redesignation of the Warren County SO2 
Nonattainment Areas and the Mead and Clarendon Unclassifiable Areas to 
Attainment and Approval of the Maintenance Plan

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: EPA is approving a request by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania 
to redesignate the sulfur dioxide (SO2) nonattainment areas 
of Conewango Township, Pleasant Township, Glade Township, and the City 
of Warren in Warren County from nonattainment to attainment of the 
national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS) for SO2. In 
addition, EPA is approving the Commonwealth's request to change the 
status of Mead Township and Clarendon Borough in Warren County from 
unclassifiable to attainment of the NAAQS for SO2. EPA is 
also approving the maintenance plan for these areas submitted by the 
Commonwealth as a revision to the Pennsylvania State Implementation 
Plan (SIP). This plan provides for the maintenance of the NAAQS for 
SO2 for the next ten years. These actions are being taken in 
accordance with the Clean Air Act (CAA).

DATES: Effective Date: This final rule is effective on August 2, 2004.

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, the Air and 
Radiation Docket and Information Center, U.S. Environmental Protection 
Agency, 1301 Constitution Avenue, NW., Room B108, Washington, DC 20460, 
and the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, Bureau of 
Air Quality, P.O. Box 8468, 400 Market Street, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania 
17105.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ellen Wentworth, (215) 814-2034, or by 
e-mail at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

    On April 9, 2004 (69 FR 18853), EPA proposed to approve the 
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania's (the Commonwealth's) request to 
redesignate the areas of Conewango Township, Pleasant Township, Glade 
Township, and the City of Warren in Warren County, Pennsylvania, from 
nonattainment to attainment of the NAAQS for SO2. EPA's 
April 9, 2004 notice of proposed rulemaking (NPR) also proposed 
approval of the Commonwealth's request to change the status of Mead 
Township and Clarendon Borough in Warren County from unclassifiable to 
attainment of the NAAQS for SO2. Finally, EPA's NPR 
published on April 9, 2004 proposed to approve the maintenance plan for 
these areas submitted by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental 
Protection (PADEP) as a SIP revision.
    EPA proposed approval of these requests on April 9, 2004 under a 
procedure called parallel processing, whereby EPA proposes its 
rulemaking action on a SIP revision concurrently with a state's 
procedures for amending its SIP. The PADEP submitted its redesignation 
requests and proposed SIP revision to EPA on March 15, 2004 for 
parallel processing. No comments were submitted to EPA on the NPR it 
published on April 9, 2004 proposing to approve the Commonwealth's 
March 15, 2004 submittal. The Commonwealth concluded its SIP revision 
procedures, and the PADEP submitted the formal SIP revision along with 
the redesignation requests to EPA on May 7, 2004. That final version of 
the submittal had no substantive changes from the proposed version 
submitted to EPA on March 15, 2004. A detailed description of 
Pennsylvania's submittal and EPA's rationale for its proposed approval 
of the redesignation requests and maintenance plan were presented in 
the NPR published on April 9, 2004, and will not be restated here.

II. Final Action

    EPA is redesignating the areas of Conewango Township, Pleasant 
Township, Glade Township, and the City of Warren, in Warren County, 
Pennsylvania from nonattainment to attainment of the NAAQS for 
SO2, and is changing the status of Mead Township and 
Clarendon Borough in Warren County, Pennsylvania, from unclassifiable 
to attainment of the NAAQS for SO2. EPA is also approving a 
maintenance plan for these areas submitted by the PADEP on May 7, 2004 
as a revision to the Pennsylvania SIP.

III. 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

[[Page 39861]]

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).

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 August 30, 2004. Filing a 
petition for reconsideration by the Administrator of this final rule, 
which redesignates Conewango Township, Pleasant Township, Glade 
Township, and the City of Warren, in Warren County, Pennsylvania, to 
attainment of the NAAQS for SO2, changes the status of 
Clarendon Borough and Mead Township in Warren County from 
unclassifiable to attainment for SO2, and approves a 
maintenance plan for these areas as a SIP revision, 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

40 CFR Part 52

    Environmental protection, Air pollution control, Incorporation by 
reference, Intergovernmental relations, Reporting and recordkeeping 
requirements, Sulfur oxides.

40 CFR Part 81

    Air pollution control, National parks, Wilderness areas.

    Dated: June 14, 2004.
Thomas C. Voltaggio,
Acting 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)(224) to read as 
follows:


Sec.  52.2020  Identification of plan.

* * * * *
    (c) * * *
    (224) The SO2 Redesignation Request and Maintenance Plan 
for Conewango Township, Pleasant Township, Glade Township, and the City 
of Warren in Warren County, Pennsylvania, submitted on May 7, 2004, by 
the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection:
    (i) Incorporation by reference.
    (A) Letter of May 7, 2004 from the Pennsylvania Department of 
Environmental Protection transmitting the redesignation request and the 
maintenance plan for the SO2 nonattainment areas of 
Conewango Township, Pleasant Township, Glade Township, and the City of 
Warren, in Warren County, Pennsylvania.
    (B) The Conewango Township, Pleasant Township, Glade Township, and 
City of Warren, Warren County Sulfur Dioxide Maintenance Plan, dated 
May, 2004.
    (ii) Additional Material.
    (A) Remainder of the State submittal pertaining to the revisions 
listed in paragraph (c)(224)(i) of this section.
    (B) Letter of March 15, 2004 from the Pennsylvania Department of 
Environmental Protection, transmitting the redesignation request and 
maintenance plan for the Conewango Township, Pleasant Township, Glade 
Township, and the City of Warren, and the request to change the status 
of Mead Township and Clarendon Borough.

PART 81--[AMENDED]

0
1. The authority citation for part 81 continues to read as follows:

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

Subpart C--Section 107 Attainment Status Designations

0
2. Section 81.339, the table for ``Pennsylvania--SO2'' is 
amended by revising the entry for Warren County to read as follows:


Sec.  81.339  Pennsylvania

* * * * *

[[Page 39862]]



                                                Pennsylvania-SO2
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                                               Does not meet    Does not meet                      Better than
               Designated area                    primary         secondary        Cannot be         national
                                                 standards        standards        classified       standards
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                                                  * * * * * * *
VI. Northwest Pennsylvania Intrastate AQCR:
    (A) WarrenCounty:
        Conewango Twp.......................  ...............  ...............  ...............               X
        Mead Twp............................  ...............  ...............  ...............               X
        Clarendon Boro......................  ...............  ...............  ...............               X
        Warren Boro.........................  ...............  ...............  ...............               X
        Pleasant Township...................  ...............  ...............  ...............               X
        Glade Township......................  ...............  ...............  ...............               X
 
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[FR Doc. 04-14822 Filed 6-30-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P