[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 120 (Friday, June 22, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 34460-34462]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-12165]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-8330-3]


Proposed Settlement Agreement, Clean Air Act Citizen Suit

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of proposed settlement agreement; request for public 
comment.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with section 113(g) of the Clean Air Act, as 
amended (``Act''), 42 U.S.C. 7413(g), notice is hereby given of a 
proposed settlement agreement, to address a lawsuit filed by 
Environmental Defense, Natural Resources Defense Council, and Sierra 
Club (hereinafter ``Petitioners''): Environmental Defense et al. v. 
Environmental Protection Agency, No. 06-1164 (DC Cir.). On or about May 
9, 2006, Petitioners filed a complaint challenging EPA's Transportation 
Conformity Hot-Spot Final Rule, alleging that the rule failed to 
satisfy the Clean Air Act's transportation conformity criteria, that it 
permitted EPA to issue particulate matter (PM) hot-spot guidance 
without following required procedures, and that it withdrew a motor 
vehicle emissions factor model for use in PM hot-spot analysis without 
following required procedures. Under the terms of the proposed 
settlement agreement, Petitioners agree to dismiss the claim relating 
to issuance of PM hot-spot guidance once EPA provides public notice of 
and an opportunity to comment on such guidance.

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DATES: Written comments on the proposed settlement agreement must be 
received by July 23, 2007.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID number EPA-HQ-
OGC-2007-0505, online at www.regulations.gov (EPA's preferred method); 
by e-mail to [email protected]; mailed to EPA Docket Center, 
Environmental Protection Agency, Mailcode: 2822T, 1200 Pennsylvania 
Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460-0001; or by hand delivery or courier to 
EPA Docket Center, EPA West, Room 3334, 1301 Constitution Ave., NW., 
Washington, DC, between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, 
excluding legal holidays. Comments on a disk or CD-ROM should be 
formatted in Word or ASCII file, avoiding the use of special characters 
and any form of encryption, and may be mailed to the mailing address 
above.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Susmita Dubey, Air and Radiation Law 
Office (2344A), Office of General Counsel, U.S. Environmental 
Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460; 
telephone: (202) 564-5577; fax number (202) 564-5603; e-mail address: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Additional Information About the Proposed Settlement Agreement

    EPA first issued regulations in 1993 to implement the 
transportation conformity requirement in Section 176(c) of the Clean 
Air Act. The regulations included a specific requirement that 
transportation projects be analyzed for local emissions impacts (the 
``hot-spot'' analysis) in addition to required regional emissions 
analyses. At that time, the hot-spot requirements applied to carbon 
monoxide and particulate matter less than ten micrometers in diameter 
(PM10). 58 FR 62188 (November 24, 1993).
    In March 2006, EPA amended the conformity regulations to apply the 
hot-spot analysis requirements to fine particulate matter 
(PM2.5). 71 FR 12468 (March 10, 2006) (the ``2006 hot-spot 
rule''). That regulation extended to PM2.5 the pre-existing 
provisions that required quantitative PM hot-spot analyses for certain 
transportation projects only after EPA issues guidance for such 
analyses and then announces that the quantitative analysis requirement 
is in effect. 40 CFR 93.123(b)(1) and (b)(4). Until such time, 
PM10 and PM2.5 hot-spot analyses are to be done 
for such projects through a qualitative analysis. 40 CFR 93.123(b)(2). 
EPA stated in the preamble to the 2006 hot-spot rule that appropriate 
tools and guidance are needed to ensure credible and meaningful 
quantitative PM2.5 and PM10 hot-spot analyses. 71 
FR 12498. Guidance for PM quantitative hot-spot analyses would be 
available in the future. 71 FR 12502.
    Several environmental organizations challenged the 2006 hot-spot 
rule. Petitioners alleged that: (1) The regulation does not require 
that hot-spot analyses satisfy all of the requirements in Section 
176(c) of the Act for demonstrating conformity, (2) the regulation 
allows EPA to issue quantitative PM modeling guidance without notice-
and-comment rulemaking, in violation of the Administrative Procedure 
Act, and (3) EPA had previously approved its current motor vehicle 
emissions factor model (MOBILE6.2) for use in PM hot-spot analyses and 
improperly withdrew that approval in the 2006 hot-spot rule.
    Petitioners and EPA negotiated a settlement of the second claim 
described above. The settlement agreement would require EPA to provide 
public notice and an opportunity for public comment on its draft 
guidance for quantitative hot-spot modeling for PM2.5 and 
PM10. EPA would publish a notice in the Federal Register 
announcing the availability of the draft guidance, provide the EPA web 
page at which the guidance will be available, and allow at least 30 
days for the public to comment on the draft guidance. EPA would also 
agree to make available to the public any information it relied on in 
developing the draft guidance. Finally, EPA would publish a notice in 
the Federal Register announcing the final guidance and explaining when 
the quantitative PM hot-spot modeling requirement will be in effect. 
Following execution of the settlement agreement, the second claim 
described above would be severed from the rest of the litigation, 
placed in a separate docket, and held in abeyance until such time as 
EPA has completed its obligations under the agreement. At such time, 
the new docket would be dismissed.
    For a period of thirty (30) days following the date of publication 
of this notice, the Agency will receive written comments relating to 
the proposed settlement agreement from persons who were not named as 
parties or intervenors to the litigation in question. EPA or the 
Department of Justice may withdraw or withhold consent to the proposed 
settlement agreement if the comments disclose facts or considerations 
that indicate that such consent is inappropriate, improper, inadequate, 
or inconsistent with the requirements of the Act. Unless EPA or the 
Department of Justice determines, based on any comment which may be 
submitted, that consent to the settlement agreement should be 
withdrawn, the terms of the agreement will be affirmed.

II. Additional Information About Commenting on the Proposed Settlement 
Agreement

A. How Can I Get A Copy of the Settlement Agreement?

    Direct your comments to the official public docket for this action 
under Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OGC-2007-0505, which contains a copy of the 
settlement agreement. The official public docket is available for 
public viewing at the Office of Environmental Information (OEI) Docket 
in the EPA Docket Center, EPA West, Room 3334, 1301 Constitution Ave., 
NW., Washington, DC. The EPA Docket Center Public Reading Room is open 
from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding legal 
holidays. The telephone number for the Public Reading Room is (202) 
566-1744, and the telephone number for the OEI Docket is (202) 566-
1752.
    An electronic version of the public docket is available through 
www.regulations.gov. You may use the www.regulations.gov to submit or 
view public comments, access the index listing of the contents of the 
official public docket, and to access those documents in the public 
docket that are available electronically. Once in the system, select 
``search,'' then key in the appropriate docket identification number.
    It is important to note that EPA's policy is that public comments, 
whether submitted electronically or in paper, will be made available 
for public viewing online at www.regulations.gov without change, unless 
the comment contains copyrighted material, CBI, or other information 
whose disclosure is restricted by statute. Information claimed as CBI 
and other information whose disclosure is restricted by statute is not 
included in the official public docket or in the electronic public 
docket. EPA's policy is that copyrighted material, including 
copyrighted material contained in a public comment, will not be placed 
in EPA's electronic public docket but will be available only in 
printed, paper form in the official public docket. Although not all 
docket materials may be available electronically, you may still access 
any of the publicly available docket

[[Page 34462]]

materials through the EPA Docket Center.

B. How and to Whom Do I Submit Comments?

    You may submit comments as provided in the ADDRESSES section. 
Please ensure that your comments are submitted within the specified 
comment period. Comments received after the close of the comment period 
will be marked ``late.'' EPA is not required to consider these late 
comments.
    If you submit an electronic comment, EPA recommends that you 
include your name, mailing address, and an e-mail address or other 
contact information in the body of your comment and with any disk or CD 
ROM you submit. This ensures that you can be identified as the 
submitter of the comment and allows EPA to contact you in case EPA 
cannot read your comment due to technical difficulties or needs further 
information on the substance of your comment. Any identifying or 
contact information provided in the body of a comment will be included 
as part of the comment that is placed in the official public docket, 
and made available in EPA's electronic public docket. 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.
    Use of the www.regulations.gov Web site to submit comments to EPA 
electronically is EPA's preferred method for receiving comments. The 
electronic public docket system is an ``anonymous access'' system, 
which means EPA will not know your identity, e-mail address, or other 
contact information unless you provide it in the body of your comment. 
In contrast to EPA's electronic public docket, EPA's electronic mail 
(e-mail) system is not an ``anonymous access'' system. If you send an 
e-mail comment directly to the Docket without going through 
www.regulations.gov, your e-mail address is automatically captured and 
included as part of the comment that is placed in the official public 
docket, and made available in EPA's electronic public docket.

    Dated: June 15, 2007.
Richard B. Ossias,
Associate General Counsel.
[FR Doc. E7-12165 Filed 6-21-07; 8:45 am]
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