[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 156 (Friday, August 13, 2004)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 50071-50073]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-18555]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[R01-OAR-2004-CT-0003; A-1-FRL-7801-2]


Approval and Promulgation of Air Quality ImplementationPlans; 
Connecticut; Carbon Monoxide Maintenance Plan Updates; Limited 
Maintenance Plans

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 Connecticut. This revision establishes 
limited maintenance plans for the Hartford-New Britain-Middletown, the 
New Haven-Meriden-Waterbury, and the Connecticut portion of the New 
York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island carbon monoxide attainment areas, 
and provides the ten-year update to these three carbon monoxide 
maintenance plans. EPA is taking this action under the Clean Air Act.

DATES: Effective Date: This rule will become effective on September 13, 
2004.

ADDRESSES: EPA has established a docket for this action under Regional 
Material in EDocket (RME) Docket ID Number R01-OAR-2004-CT-0003. All 
documents in the docket are listed in the Regional Material in EDocket 
(RME) index at http://docket.epa.gov/rmepub/, once in the system, 
select ``quick search,'' then key in the appropriate RME Docket 
identification number. Although listed in the electronic docket, some 
information is not publicly available, i.e., CBI or other information 
whose disclosure is restricted by statute. Certain other material, such 
as copyrighted material, is not placed on the Internet and will be 
publicly available only in hard copy form. Publicly available docket 
materials are available either electronically in Regional Material in 
EDocket or in hard copy at Office of Ecosystem Protection, U.S. 
Environmental Protection Agency, EPA New England Regional Office, One 
Congress Street, Suite 1100, Boston, MA. EPA requests that if at all 
possible, you contact the contact listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION 
CONTACT section to schedule your inspection. The Regional Office's 
official hours of business are Monday through Friday, 8:30 to 4:30 
excluding Federal holidays.
    Copies of the documents relevant to this action are also available 
for public inspection during normal business hours, by appointment at 
the Bureau of Air Management, Department of Environmental Protection, 
State Office Building, 79 Elm Street, Hartford, CT 06106-1630.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Donald O. Cooke, Air Quality Unit, 
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, EPA New England Regional Office, 
Office of Ecosystem Protection, One Congress Street, Suite 1100 (CAQ), 
Boston, MA 02114-2023, telephone number (617) 918-1668, fax number 
(617) 918-0668, e-mail [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

    On June 28, 2004, the Connecticut Department of Environmental 
Protection (CT DEP) submitted a revision to its State Implementation 
Plan (SIP) for ``Limited Maintenance Plans for the Hartford, the New 
Haven, and the Connecticut Portion of the New York/New Jersey/
Connecticut Carbon Monoxide Maintenance Areas.'' The revision consists 
of a second follow-on ten-year carbon monoxide maintenance plan for the 
Hartford-New Britain-Middletown carbon monoxide attainment area (period 
2006 to 2015) and a request for a limited carbon monoxide maintenance 
plan designation. The State of Connecticut also requested limited 
maintenance plan approval and early approval of the second follow-on 
ten-year maintenance plans for both the New Haven-Meriden-

[[Page 50072]]

Waterbury carbon monoxide attainment area (period 2009 to 2018), and 
the Connecticut portion of the New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island 
(period 2011 to 2020) carbon monoxide attainment area.
    In the case of the Hartford, New Haven and Southwest Connecticut 
carbon monoxide limited maintenance plan areas, EPA believes that it is 
unreasonable to expect so much growth during the period of the 
maintenance plan as to result in a violation of the carbon monoxide 
National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS). In other words, EPA 
concludes that emissions are not constraining and need not be capped 
for the maintenance period. Therefore, Federal actions that require 
conformity determinations under the transportation conformity rule are 
considered to satisfy the regional emissions analysis and ``budget 
test'' requirements in 40 CFR 93.118 of the rule. Other specific 
requirements of Connecticut's SIP revision and the rationale for EPA's 
approval action are explained in EPA's June 23, 2004 notice of proposed 
rulemaking (69 FR 34976) and will not be restated here.
    Under EPA's parallel process procedures, EPA-New England Regional 
Office worked closely with the CT DEP, the State air agency, while the 
State developed its SIP revision. The State submitted a copy of its 
proposed SIP revisions to EPA on May 11, 2004 before conducting its 
June 17, 2004 public hearing. EPA reviewed this proposed State action, 
and prepared a notice of proposed rulemaking which was published in the 
Federal Register on June 23, 2004 (69 FR 34976). The State and EPA then 
provided for concurrent public comment periods on both the State action 
and Federal action. No oral or written comments were submitted to the 
State or EPA. The State of Connecticut's formal SIP submittal dated 
June 28, 2004 was unchanged from the May 11, 2004 draft revision. EPA 
is now proceeding with its final action to approve Connecticut's SIP 
revisions.

II. Final Action

    EPA is approving the State Implementation Plan (SIP) revision 
submitted on June 28, 2004 by the State of Connecticut. This SIP 
revision establishes limited maintenance plans for the Hartford-New 
Britain-Middletown, the New Haven-Meriden-Waterbury, and the 
Connecticut portion of the New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island 
carbon monoxide attainment areas, and approves the ten-year update to 
these three carbon monoxide maintenance plans. As a result of approving 
the limited maintenance plan revisions, the three carbon monoxide (CO) 
attainment areas with maintenance plans will satisfy their obligation 
to submit sequential second ten-year maintenance plans, and eliminate 
the need to prepare regional carbon monoxide emissions analysis for 
transportation conformity.

III. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

    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 (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), 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 
``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. section 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 appropriate circuit by October 12, 2004. 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, 
Intergovernmental relations.


[[Page 50073]]


    Dated: August 6, 2004.
Ira W. Leighton,
Acting Regional Administrator, EPA New England.

0
Chapter I, title 40 of the Code of Federal Regulations 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.


0
2. Section 52.376 is amended by revising paragraphs (b), (d) and (f) 
and adding paragraph (h) to read as follows:


Sec.  52.376  Control strategy: Carbon monoxide.

* * * * *
    (b) Approval--On September 30, 1994, the Connecticut Department of 
Environmental Protection submitted a request to redesignate the 
Hartford/New Britain/Middletown Area carbon monoxide nonattainment area 
to attainment for carbon monoxide. The redesignation request and the 
1995-2005 initial ten-year maintenance plan meet the redesignation 
requirements in sections 107(d)(3)(E) and 175A of the Act as amended in 
1990, respectively.
* * * * *
    (d) Approval--On January 17, 1997, the Connecticut Department of 
Environmental Protection submitted a request to redesignate the New 
Haven/Meriden/Waterbury carbon monoxide nonattainment area to 
attainment for carbon monoxide. The redesignation request and the 1998-
2008 initial ten-year maintenance plan meet the redesignation 
requirements in sections 107(d)(3)(E) and 175A of the Act as amended in 
1990, respectively.
* * * * *
    (f) Approval--On May 29, 1998, the Connecticut Department of 
Environmental Protection submitted a request to redesignate the 
Connecticut portion of the New York-N. New Jersey-Long Island carbon 
monoxide nonattainment area to attainment for carbon monoxide. The 
redesignation request and the 2000-2010 initial ten-year maintenance 
plan meet the redesignation requirements in sections 107(d)(3)(E) and 
175A of the Act as amended in 1990, respectively.
* * * * *
    (h) Approval--On June 28, 2004, the Connecticut Department of 
Environmental Protection (CT DEP) submitted a request to establish 
limited maintenance plans for the Hartford-New Britain-Middletown 
Connecticut carbon monoxide attainment area, the New Haven-Meriden-
Waterbury Connecticut carbon monoxide attainment area, and the 
Connecticut portion of the New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island 
carbon monoxide attainment area for the remainder of the individual 
area's initial ten-year maintenance plan. As part of the maintenance 
plan request, CT DEP also requested approval of a second follow-on ten-
year carbon monoxide maintenance plan for the Hartford-New Britain-
Middletown carbon monoxide attainment area (period 2006 to 2015), for 
the New Haven-Meriden-Waterbury carbon monoxide attainment area (period 
2009 to 2018), and for the Connecticut portion of the New York-Northern 
New Jersey-Long Island carbon monoxide attainment area (period 2011 to 
2020). The State of Connecticut has committed to: maintain a continuous 
carbon monoxide monitoring network in each carbon monoxide maintenance 
area; implement contingency measures in the event of an exceedance of 
the carbon monoxide National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) in 
any of the three maintenance areas; coordinate with EPA in the event 
the carbon monoxide design value(s) in any maintenance area(s) exceed 
7.65 ppm, to verify the validity of the data and, if warranted based on 
the data review, develop a full maintenance plan(s) for the affected 
maintenance area(s); and, ensure that project-level carbon monoxide 
evaluations of transportation projects in each area are carried out as 
part of environmental reviews or Connecticut's indirect source 
permitting program. The limited maintenance plans satisfy all 
applicable requirements of section 175A of the Clean Air Act. Approval 
of a Limited Maintenance Plan is conditioned on maintaining levels of 
ambient carbon monoxide levels below the required limited maintenance 
plan 8-hour carbon monoxide design value criterion of 7.65 parts per 
million. If the Limited Maintenance Plan criterion is no longer 
satisfied, Connecticut must develop a full maintenance plan to meet 
Clean Air Act requirements.

[FR Doc. 04-18555 Filed 8-12-04; 8:45 am]
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