[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 197 (Thursday, October 13, 2005)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 59688-59690]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-20514]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[R03-OAR-2005-MD-0012; FRL-7982-8]


Approval and Promulgation of Air Quality Implementation Plans; 
Maryland; Ambient Air Quality Standard for Ozone and Fine Particulate 
Matter

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Proposed rule.

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SUMMARY: EPA is proposing to approve a State Implementation Plan (SIP) 
revision submitted by the Maryland Department of the Environment. The 
revision consists of modifications to the ambient air quality standards 
for ozone and fine particulate matter and the replacement of the 
abbreviation ``ppm'' with parts per million in existing standards. This 
action is being taken under the Clean Air Act (CAA or the Act).

DATES: Written comments must be received on or before November 14, 
2005.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Regional Material in 
EDocket (RME) ID Number R03-OAR-2005-MD-0012 by one of the following 
methods:
    Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the 
on-line instructions for submitting comments.
    Agency Web site: http://docket.epa.gov/rmepub/ RME, EPA's 
electronic public docket and comment system, is EPA's preferred method 
for receiving comments. Follow the on-line instructions for submitting 
comments.
    E-mail: [email protected].
    Mail: R03-OAR-2005-MD-0012, David Campbell, Chief, Air Quality 
Planning and Analysis Branch, Mailcode 3AP21, U.S. Environmental 
Protection Agency, Region III, 1650 Arch Street, Philadelphia, 
Pennsylvania 19103.
    Hand Delivery: At the previously-listed EPA Region III address. 
Such deliveries are only accepted during the Docket's normal hours of 
operation, and special arrangements should be made for deliveries of 
boxed information.
    Instructions: Direct your comments to RME ID No. R03-OAR-2005-MD-
0012.

[[Page 59689]]

EPA's policy is that all comments received will be included in the 
public docket without change, and may be made available online at 
http://docket.epa.gov/rmepub/, including any personal information 
provided, unless the comment includes information claimed to be 
Confidential Business Information (CBI) or other information whose 
disclosure is restricted by statute. Do not submit information that you 
consider to be CBI or otherwise protected through RME, regulations.gov 
or e-mail. The EPA RME and the Federal regulations.gov Web sites are an 
``anonymous access'' system, which means EPA will not know your 
identity or contact information unless you provide it in the body of 
your comment. If you send an e-mail comment directly to EPA without 
going through RME or regulations.gov, your e-mail address will be 
automatically captured and included as part of the comment that is 
placed in the public docket and made available on the Internet. If you 
submit an electronic comment, EPA recommends that you include your name 
and other contact information in the body of your comment and with any 
disk or CD-ROM you submit. If EPA cannot read your comment due to 
technical difficulties and cannot contact you for clarification, EPA 
may not be able to consider your comment. Electronic files should avoid 
the use of special characters, any form of encryption, and be free of 
any defects or viruses.
    Docket: All documents in the electronic docket are listed in the 
RME index at http://docket.epa.gov/rmepub/. Although listed in the 
index, 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 RME 
or in hard copy during normal business hours at the Air Protection 
Division, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region III, 1650 Arch 
Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19103. Copies of the State submittal 
are available at the Maryland Department of the Environment, 1800 
Washington Boulevard, Suite 705, Baltimore, Maryland, 21230.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Linda Miller, (215) 814-2068, or by e-
mail at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

    On March 15, 2005, the State of Maryland submitted a formal 
revision to its SIP. The SIP revision consists of an amendment which 
includes the revised ambient air quality standards for ozone and 
particulate matter. EPA promulgated the new, more stringent, national 
ambient quality standards (NAAQS) for ozone and fine particulate matter 
on July 18, 1997, 62 FR 38894 and 62 FR 38711, respectively.
    In 1997, EPA adopted an 8-hour ozone NAAQS with a level of 0.08 
parts per million (ppm) to provide greater protection to public health 
than the previous standard 0.12 ppm averaged over a 1-hour block of 
time. At the same time, EPA established a new standard for fine 
particulate matter (PM2.5) that applies to particles 2.5 microns in 
diameter or less.

II. Summary of SIP Revision

    Maryland's revision incorporates the 1997 Federal 8-hour ozone and 
PM2.5 standards into Title 26, Subtitle 11, Chapter 4 of the Code of 
Maryland Adminstrative Regulations (COMAR). The new ozone standard 
incorporated in this SIP revision is the average of the fourth-highest 
daily maximum 8-hour average ozone concentration that is less than or 
equal to 0.08 ppm, averaged over three consecutive years. In addition, 
the SIP revision adds a new PM2.5 ambient air quality standard. The 
standards for PM2.5 incorporated in this SIP revision are 65 micrograms 
per cubic meter based on a 24-hour concentration and 15.0 micrograms 
per cubic meter annual arithmetic mean concentration. Compliance with 
the new 8-hour standard and fine particulate matter standards are 
determined in a manner identical to the NAAQS as defined at 40 CFR part 
50. It should be noted that Maryland has not made any revisions to the 
existing standards for ozone (1-hour standard) or particulate matter 
(PM10).
    The revision also includes a clarification of the unit of measure 
for ambient air quality standards for sulfur oxides and nitrogen 
dioxide. The abbreviation ``ppm'' has been replaced by the written form 
``parts per million''.

III. Proposed Action

    EPA is proposing to approve the Maryland SIP revision for addition 
of new 8-hour ozone ambient air quality standards and fine particulate 
matter ambient air quality standards and clarification of unit of 
measure, which was submitted on March 15, 2005. EPA is soliciting 
public comments on the issues discussed in this document. These 
comments will be considered before taking final action.

IV. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

    Under Executive Order 12866 (58 FR 51735, October 4, 1993), this 
proposed 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 Fed. Reg. 28355 (May 22, 
2001)). This action merely proposes to approve state law as meeting 
Federal requirements and imposes no additional requirements beyond 
those imposed by state law. Accordingly, the Administrator certifies 
that this proposed 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 proposes to approve 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 proposed 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 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 proposes to approve a state rule implementing a Federal 
requirement, and does not alter the relationship or the distribution of 
power and responsibilities established in the Clean Air Act. This 
proposed rule also is not subject to Executive Order 13045 (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

[[Page 59690]]

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. 
As required by section 3 of Executive Order 12988 (61 FR 4729, February 
7, 1996), in issuing this proposed 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 proposed rule to approve addition of 
ozone and fine particulate standards does not impose an information 
collection burden under the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act 
of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.).

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 52

    Environmental protection, Air pollution control, Nitrogen dioxide, 
Ozone, Particulate matter, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, 
Sulfur oxides, Volatile organic compounds.

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

    Dated: October 5, 2005.
Donald S. Welsh,
Regional Administrator, Region III.
[FR Doc. 05-20514 Filed 10-12-05; 8:45 am]
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