[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 201 (Thursday, October 18, 2007)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 59014-59017]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-20375]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[EPA-R07-OAR-2007-0912; FRL-8483-3]


Approval and Promulgation of Implementation Plans; State of 
Missouri; Transportation Conformity

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 
Kansas City and St. Louis portions of the Missouri State Implementation 
Plan (SIP). This revision consists of transportation conformity 
criteria and procedures related to interagency consultation and 
enforceability of certain transportation-related control measures and 
mitigation measures.

DATES: This direct final rule will be effective December 17, 2007, 
without further notice, unless EPA receives adverse comment by November 
19, 2007. If adverse comment is received, EPA will publish a timely 
withdrawal of the direct final rule in the Federal Register informing 
the public that the rule will not take effect.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-R07-
OAR-2007-0912, by one of the following methods:
    1. http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the online instructions for 
submitting comments.
    2. E-mail: [email protected].
    3. Mail: Heather Hamilton, Environmental Protection Agency, Air 
Planning and Development Branch, 901 North 5th Street, Kansas City, 
Kansas 66101.
    4. Hand Delivery or Courier: Deliver your comments to Heather 
Hamilton, Environmental Protection Agency, Air Planning and Development 
Branch, 901 North 5th Street, Kansas City, Kansas 66101.
    Instructions: Direct your comments to Docket ID No. EPA-R07-OAR-
2007-0912. 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://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 through http://www.regulations.gov or e-mail information that you consider to be CBI 
or otherwise protected. The http://

[[Page 59015]]

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 http://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 
http://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 http://www.regulations.gov or in hard copy at the Environmental Protection 
Agency, Air Planning and Development Branch, 901 North 5th Street, 
Kansas City, Kansas 66101. The Regional Office's official hours of 
business are Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. excluding 
Federal holidays. The interested persons wanting to examine these 
documents should make an appointment with the office at least 24 hours 
in advance.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Heather Hamilton at (913) 551-7039, or 
by e-mail at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Throughout this document whenever ``we,'' 
``us,'' or ``our'' is used, we mean EPA. This supplementary information 
section is arranged as follows:

I. Transportation Conformity
II. Background for This Action
III. State Submittal and EPA Evaluation
IV. Public Comment and Final Action
V. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

I. Transportation Conformity

    Transportation conformity is required under section 176(c) of the 
Clean Air Act (CAA or Act) to ensure that Federally supported highway, 
transit projects, and other activities are consistent with (``conform 
to'') the purpose of the SIP. Conformity currently applies to areas 
that are designated nonattainment and to areas that have been 
redesignated to attainment after 1990 (maintenance areas) with plans 
developed under section 175A of the CAA for the following 
transportation related criteria pollutants: Ozone, particulate matter 
(PM2.5 and PM10), carbon monoxide (CO), and 
nitrogen dioxide (NO2).
    Conformity to the purpose of the SIP means that transportation 
activities will not cause new air quality violations, worsen existing 
violations, or delay timely attainment of the relevant national ambient 
air quality standards (NAAQS). The transportation conformity regulation 
is found in 40 CFR part 93 and provisions related to conformity SIPs 
are found in 40 CFR 51.390.

II. Background for This Action

    EPA promulgated the Federal transportation conformity criteria and 
procedures (the conformity rule) on November 24, 1993. Among other 
things, the rule required states to address all provisions of the 
conformity rule in their SIPs (conformity SIPs). Under 40 CFR 51.390, 
most sections of the conformity rule were required to be copied 
verbatim. States were also required to tailor all or portions of the 
following three sections of the conformity rule to meet their state's 
individual circumstances: 40 CFR 93.105, which addresses consultation 
procedures; 40 CFR 93.122(a)(4)(ii), which addresses written 
commitments to control measures that are not included in a metropolitan 
planning organization's (MPO's) transportation plan and transportation 
improvement program that must be obtained prior to a conformity 
determination, and the requirement that such commitments, when they 
exist, must be fulfilled; and 40 CFR 93.125(c), which addresses written 
commitments to mitigation measures that must be obtained prior to a 
project-level conformity determination, and the requirement that 
project sponsors must comply with such commitments, when they exist.
    On August 10, 2005, the ``Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient 
Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users'' (SAFETEA-LU) was signed 
into law. SAFETEA-LU revised section 176(c) of the Clean Air Act's 
transportation conformity provisions. One of the changes streamlines 
the requirements for conformity SIPs. Under SAFETEA-LU, states are 
required to address and tailor only three sections of the conformity 
rule in their conformity SIPs: 40 CFR 93.105, 40 CFR 93.122(a)(4)(ii), 
and, 40 CFR 93.125(c), described above. In general, states are no 
longer required to submit conformity SIP revisions that address the 
other sections of the conformity rule. These changes took effect on 
August 10, 2005, when SAFETEA-LU was signed into law.

III. State Submittal and EPA Evaluation

    The SIP revisions submitted to EPA on July 27, 2007, consist of the 
Kansas City and St. Louis Transportation Conformity Requirements (10 
Code of State Regulations (CSR) 10-2.390, and 10 CSR 10-5.480, 
respectively). These rules replace the previous revision effective on 
December 30, 2005.
    The Kansas City conformity rule will apply only if the area is 
designated or redesignated to nonattainment. The Kansas City area was 
previously a maintenance area for the 1-hour ozone standard. When the 
1-hour ozone standard was revoked, conformity was no longer required. 
The area is currently designated attainment for the 8-hour ozone 
standard.
    The revisions to the Kansas City and St. Louis conformity rules 
were updated to be consistent with the transportation conformity-
related provisions of SAFETEA-LU as previously described in this 
document. Revisions were made to definitions, interagency consultation 
procedures (including processes, roles and responsibilities, 
consultation opportunities, recordkeeping and conflict resolution), and 
the requirements to fulfill commitments to control measures and 
mitigation measures.
    The submittal documents public notice and hearing for this SIP 
revision in compliance with CAA section 110(l) and 40 CFR 51.102.
    We have reviewed the submittal to assure consistency with the 
current Clean Air Act, as amended by SAFETEA-LU, and EPA regulations 
(40 CFR part 93 and 40 CFR 51.390) governing state procedures for 
transportation conformity and interagency consultation and have 
concluded that the submittal is approvable. Details of our review are 
set forth in a technical support document, which has been included in 
the docket for this action.

IV. Public Comment and Final Action

    Under section 110(k) of the Act, and for the reasons set forth 
above, EPA is taking action to approve the Kansas City area and St. 
Louis area transportation

[[Page 59016]]

conformity requirements as revisions to the Missouri SIP.
    We do not expect objection to this approval, so we are finalizing 
it without proposing it in advance. However, in the Proposed Rules 
section of this Federal Register, we are simultaneously proposing 
approval of the same submittal. If we receive adverse comments by 
November 19, 2007, we will publish a timely withdrawal in the Federal 
Register to notify the public that the direct final approval will not 
take effect and we will address the comments in a subsequent final 
action based on the proposal. If we do not receive timely adverse 
comments, the direct final approval will be effective without further 
notice on December 17, 2007. This will incorporate these transportation 
conformity procedures into the federally-enforceable SIP and thereby 
replace the previous versions. Please note that if EPA receives adverse 
comment on an amendment, paragraph, or section of this rule and if that 
provision may be severed from the remainder of the rule, EPA may adopt 
as final those provisions of the rule that are not the subject of an 
adverse comment.

V. 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 (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 state law 
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 approves a state rule 
implementing a Federal standard.
    In reviewing SIP submissions, EPA's role is to approve state 
choices, provided that they meet the criteria of the CAA. 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 CAA. 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. 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. 
804(2).
    Under section 307(b)(1) of the CAA, petitions for judicial review 
of this action must be filed in the United States Court of Appeals for 
the appropriate circuit by December 17, 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 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, 
Incorporation by reference, Intergovernmental relations, Nitrogen 
dioxide, Ozone, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, Volatile 
organic compounds.

    Dated: October 5, 2007.
William Rice,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region 7.

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.

Subpart AA--Missouri

0
2. In Sec.  52.1320 the table in paragraph (c) is amended by revising 
the entries for 10-2.390 under Chapter 2 and 10-5.480 under Chapter 5 
to read as follows:


Sec.  52.1320  Identification of plan.

* * * * *
    (c) * * *

[[Page 59017]]



                                        EPA-Approved Missouri Regulations
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                                                                 State
         Missouri  citation                    Title           effective     EPA approval date      Explanation
                                                                 date
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 Missouri Department of Natural Resources Chapter 2--Air Quality Standards and Air Pollution Control Regulations
                                      for the Kansas City Metropolitan Area
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                                                  * * * * * * *
10-2.390............................  Kansas City Area           7/30/07  10/18/07 [insert FR     ..............
                                       Transportation                      page number where the
                                       Conformity                          document begins].
                                       Requirements.
 
                                                  * * * * * * *
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  Chapter 5--Air Quality Standards and Air Pollution Control Regulations for the St. Louis Metropolitan Area 10
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
                                                  * * * * * * *
10-5.480............................  St. Louis Area             7/30/07  10/18/07 [insert FR     ..............
                                       Transportation                      page number where the
                                       Conformity                          document begins].
                                       Requirements.
 
                                                  * * * * * * *
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[FR Doc. E7-20375 Filed 10-17-07; 8:45 am]
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