[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 213 (Friday, November 3, 2006)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 64647-64649]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-18501]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[EPA-R03-OAR-2006-0629; FRL-8238-9]


Approval and Promulgation of Air Quality Implementation Plans; 
Maryland; Nitrogen Oxides Allowance Allocations for 2008

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Direct final rule.

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SUMMARY: EPA is taking direct final action to approve a revision to the 
Maryland State Implementation Plan (SIP). The revision consists of the

[[Page 64648]]

Nitrogen Oxides (NOX) allowance allocations for the 2008 
ozone season, in accordance with Maryland's approved NOX SIP 
Call trading program. EPA is approving this revision to Maryland's 
NOX Reduction and Trading Program in accordance with the 
requirements of the Clean Air Act.

DATES: This rule is effective on January 2, 2007 without further 
notice, unless EPA receives adverse written comment by December 4, 
2006. If EPA receives such comments, it 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: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID Number EPA-
R03-OAR-2006-0629 by one of the following methods:
    A. www.regulations.gov. Follow the on-line instructions for 
submitting comments.
    B. E-mail: [email protected]
    C. Mail: EPA-R03-OAR-2006-0629, Makeba Morris, Chief, Air Quality 
Planning Branch, Mailcode 3AP21, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 
Region III, 1650 Arch Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19103.
    D. 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 Docket ID No. EPA-R03-OAR-
2006-0629. EPA's policy is that all comments received will be included 
in the public docket without change, and may be made available online 
at www.regulations.gov, 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 www.regulations.gov or e-mail. 
The www.regulations.gov Web site is 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 www.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 
www.regulations.gov index. 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 www.regulations.gov or 
in hard copy during normal business hours at the Air Protection 
Division, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region III, and 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: Marilyn Powers (215) 814-2308, or by 
e-mail at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

    On June 21, 2006, the State of Maryland submitted a formal revision 
to its State Implementation Plan (SIP). Maryland's NOX 
Reduction and Trading Program under COMAR 26.11.29 and 26.11.30 was 
approved by EPA as meeting the requirements of the NOX SIP 
Call on January 10, 2001 (66 FR 1866). The approved program contains 
NOX reduction requirements beginning on May 1, 2003 and 
establishes allowance allocations for affected trading sources for the 
2003 through 2005 ozone seasons. Thereafter, Maryland's approved rule 
requires that allocations be updated, three years in advance, for each 
subsequent two year period. The allocations for 2006 and 2007 were 
approved into Maryland's SIP on March 22, 2004 (55 FR 13236). This SIP 
revision consists of Maryland's allocation update for 2008. Allocations 
for 2009 are not included in this SIP revision to ensure that 
Maryland's NOX Reduction and Trading program does not 
conflict with Clean Air Interstate Rule (70 FR 25162 of May 12, 2005) 
requirements that will apply to electric generating units (EGUs) 
greater than 25 MW starting in 2009.

II. Summary of SIP Revision

    The revision consists of allocations for the ozone season in 2008 
for each of the affected sources for which allocations were provided in 
the initial control period (2003 through 2005 ozone seasons). The 
allocations for EGUs were derived using each source's average actual 
heat input from the 2002 and 2003 ozone seasons multiplied by an 
emission rate of 0.15 pounds NOX/MMBTU. The allocations for 
non-electric generating units (non-EGUs) are unchanged from the initial 
control period. For most sources the 2008 allocations do not differ 
significantly from the initial 3-year allocations. The total number of 
2008 allocations established for the sources in Maryland that are 
subject to its NOX Budget Trading Program are consistent 
with the State's budget under the NOX SIP Call.

III. Final Action

    EPA is approving the SIP revision submitted by MDE on June 21, 2006 
consisting of NOX allowance allocations for the 2008 ozone 
season. .
    EPA is publishing this rule without prior proposal because the 
Agency views this as a noncontroversial amendment and anticipates no 
adverse comment. However, in the ``Proposed Rules'' section of today's 
Federal Register, EPA is publishing a separate document that will serve 
as the proposal to approve the SIP revision if adverse comments are 
filed. This rule will be effective on January 2, 2007 without further 
notice unless EPA receives adverse comment by December 4, 2006. If EPA 
receives adverse comment, EPA will publish a timely withdrawal in the 
Federal Register informing the public that the rule will not take 
effect. EPA will address all public comments in a subsequent final rule 
based on the proposed rule. EPA will not institute a second comment 
period on this action. Any parties interested in commenting must do so 
at this time.

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

[[Page 64649]]

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). 
This action merely approves 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 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 January 2, 2007. 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 to approve Maryland's NOX SIP Call 
allocations for 2008 may not be challenged later in proceedings to 
enforce its requirements. (See section 307(b)(2).)

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Parts 52

    Environmental protection, Air pollution control, Nitrogen dioxide, 
Ozone.

    Dated: October 26, 2006.
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 V--Maryland

0
2. In Sec.  52.1070, the table in paragraph (c) is amended by revising 
the entry for COMAR 26.11.30.09 to read as follows:


Sec.  52.1070  Identification of plan.

* * * * *
    (c) * * *

                                  EPA-Approved Regulations in the Maryland SIP
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                                                                                                  Additional
 Code of Maryland administrative                        State effective                          explanation/
  regulations (COMAR) citation       Title/subject           date          EPA approval date  citation at 40 CFR
                                                                                                    52.1100
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                                                  * * * * * * *
COMAR 26.11.30..................  Policies and
                                   Procedures
                                   Relating to
                                   Maryland's NOX
                                   Reduction and
                                   Trading Program.
 
                                                  * * * * * * *
COMAR 26.11.30.09...............  Allocation of       6/19/06...........  November 3, 2006    New column for
                                   Allowances.                             [Insert page        2008 allocations
                                                                           number where the
                                                                           document begins].
 
                                                  * * * * * * *
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 [FR Doc. E6-18501 Filed 11-2-06; 8:45 am]
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