[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 213 (Monday, November 5, 2007)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 62420-62422]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-21690]



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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[EPA-R01-OAR-2007-0452; A-1-FRL-8491-6]


Approval and Promulgation of Air Quality Implementation Plans; 
Connecticut; Interstate Transport of Pollution

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 Connecticut Department of Environmental 
Protection (CTDEP). This SIP revision addresses the provisions of the 
Clean Air Act that require each state to submit a SIP to address 
emissions that may adversely affect another state's air quality through 
interstate transport. CTDEP has adequately addressed the four distinct 
elements related to the impact of interstate transport of air 
pollutants. These include prohibiting significant contribution to 
downwind nonattainment of the National Ambient Air Quality Standards 
(NAAQS), interference with maintenance of the NAAQS, interference with 
plans in another state to prevent significant deterioration of air 
quality, and interference with efforts of other states to protect 
visibility. The intended effect of this action is to propose approval 
of this revision to the Connecticut SIP. This action is being taken 
under the Clean Air Act.

DATES: Written comments must be received on or before December 5, 2007.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID Number EPA-
R01-OAR-2007-0452 by one of the following methods:
    1. http://http://www.regulations.gov: Follow the on-line 
instructions for submitting comments.
    2. E-mail: [email protected].
    3. Fax: (617) 918-0047. Mail: ``Docket Identification Number EPA-
R01-OAR-2007-0452'', Anne Arnold, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 
EPA New England Regional Office, One Congress Street, Suite 1100 (mail 
code CAQ), Boston, MA 02114-2023. Hand Delivery or Courier. Deliver 
your comments to: Anne Arnold, Manager, Air Quality Planning Unit, 
Office of Ecosystem Protection, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 
EPA New England Regional Office, One Congress Street, 11th floor, 
(CAQ), Boston, MA 02114-2023. Such deliveries are only accepted during 
the Regional Office's normal hours of operation. The Regional Office's 
official hours of business are Monday through Friday, 8:30 to 4:30, 
excluding legal holidays.
    Instructions: Direct your comments to Docket ID No. EPA-R01-OAR-
2007-0452. 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://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 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 legal holidays.
    In addition to the publicly available docket materials available 
for inspection electronically in the Federal Docket Management System 
at http://www.regulations.gov, and the hard copy available at the 
Regional Office, which are identified in the ADDRESSES section of this 
Federal Register, copies of the state submittal 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: Richard P. Burkhart, Air Quality 
Planning Unit, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, EPA New England 
Regional Office, One Congress Street, Suite 1100 (CAQ), Boston, MA 
02114-2023, telephone number (617) 918-1664, fax number (617) 918-0664, 
e-mail [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Throughout this document whenever ``we,'' 
``us,'' or ``our'' is used, we mean EPA.
    Organization of this document. The following outline is provided to 
aid in locating information in this preamble.

I. Rulemaking Information
II. Proposed Action
III. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

I. Rulemaking Information

    EPA is proposing to approve a SIP revision submitted by the 
Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection (CTDEP). This SIP 
revision addresses the requirements of the Clean Air Act (CAA) section 
110(a)(2)(D)(i). This CAA section requires each state to submit a SIP 
that prohibits emissions that could adversely affect another state. The 
SIP must prevent sources in the state from emitting pollutants in 
amounts which will: (1) Contribute significantly to downwind 
nonattainment of the NAAQS; (2) interfere with maintenance of the 
NAAQS; (3) interfere with provisions to prevent significant 
deterioration of air quality; and (4) interfere with efforts to protect 
visibility. EPA issued guidance on August 15, 2006, relating to SIP 
submissions to meet the requirements of section 110(a)(2)(D)(i). 
\1\Connecticut

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submitted their SIP revision on March 13, 2007.
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    \1\ ``Guidance for State Implementation Plan (SIP) Submissions 
to Meet Current Outstanding Obligations Under Section 
110(a)(2)(D)(i) for the 8-Hour Ozone and PM2.5 National 
Ambient Air Quality Standards,'' Memorandum from William T. Harnett, 
EPA OAQPS, to EPA Regional Air Division Directors, August 15, 2006.
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    On May 12, 2005, EPA promulgated the Clean Air Interstate Rule 
(CAIR). (See 70 FR 25162.) CAIR requires States to reduce emissions of 
sulfur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen oxides (NOX) 
that significantly contribute to, and interfere with maintenance of, 
the national ambient air quality standards for fine particulates and/or 
ozone in any downwind state. CAIR establishes State budgets for 
SO2 and NOX and requires States to submit SIP 
revisions that implement these budgets in States that EPA concluded did 
contribute to nonattainment in downwind states.
    Connecticut is a CAIR state for ozone only (70 FR 25162; May 12, 
2005). Since Connecticut is in CAIR, EPA has already concluded that 
Connecticut can meet its 110(a)(2)(D)(i) obligations to address the 
significant contribution and interference with maintenance requirements 
by complying with the CAIR requirements. Connecticut has proposed its 
CAIR SIP and submitted it to EPA for parallel processing on April 26, 
2007. EPA proposed approval of Connecticut's CAIR SIP on August 31, 
2007 (72 FR 50305). Connecticut submitted its final adopted CAIR SIP on 
September 12, 2007. Assuming EPA ultimately approves Connecticut's CAIR 
SIP, EPA will have determined that Connecticut has addressed section 
110(a)(2)(D)(i) for ozone.
    For fine particles (PM2.5), the EPA CAIR modeling 
determined that the Connecticut emissions do not meet or exceed the 0.2 
[mu]g/m3 average annual threshold that EPA established to 
determine significant PM2.5 impact on another state in the 
projection year 2010. This shows that emissions from Connecticut do not 
contribute significantly to downwind nonattainment of the annual 
PM2.5 standard. In addition, air quality modeling conducted 
by Connecticut also concluded that emissions of PM2.5 do not 
significantly contribute to downwind PM2.5 nonattainment.\2\ 
Connecticut, however, does contain a nonattainment area for the annual 
PM2.5 standard and is required to prepare a PM2.5 
attainment demonstration. Connecticut is on track to meet the April 
2008 submittal deadline for the attainment demonstration SIP for the 
annual PM2.5 standard.\3\ EPA has no evidence that emissions 
of other pollutants in Connecticut contribute to downwind 
nonattainment. Therefore, EPA has determined that through the above 
actions, Connecticut has adequately addressed the first two elements of 
the CAA section 110(a)(2)(D)(i) requirements (i.e., to prevent 
emissions that contribute significantly to downwind nonattainment of, 
or interfere with maintenance of, the NAAQS).
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    \2\ Connecticut performed industrial source complex air quality 
modeling for PM2.5. The details of this modeling can be 
found in the Connecticut technical support document, ``CT DEP, 
Bureau of Air Management--Recommendation for PM2.5 
Designation Technical Support Document,'' available in the docket 
for this action.
    \3\ On December 17, 2006, EPA revised the 24-hour 
PM2.5 standard. Nonattainment areas for the new standard 
have not yet been determined.
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    The third element CTDEP addressed was prevention of significant 
deterioration (PSD). For ozone and particulate matter, the state has 
met the obligation by confirming that major sources in the state are 
currently subject to PSD and/or New Source Review (NSR) programs that 
implement the 8-hour ozone standard and the PM2.5 standard.
    CTDEP is addressing the fourth element of visibility through its 
participation in MANE-VU, which is the regional planning organization 
for addressing visibility in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic States. 
MANE-VU has undertaken extensive modeling in support of Regional Haze 
SIP development. Although it is not possible at this time to make a 
final assessment whether there is any interference with measures in the 
applicable SIP for another State designed to ``protect visibility'' for 
the 8-hour ozone and PM2.5 NAAQS until the Connecticut 
regional haze SIP is developed and approved, preliminary results 
indicate that Connecticut has a minimal contribution to the 
``visibility impact'' on any Class 1 area.\4\ Connecticut will be in a 
more advantageous position to address the visibility projection 
requirements once the final regional haze SIP has been developed. 
Regional haze SIPs are due December 17, 2007.
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    \4\ ``Contributions to Regional Haze in the Northeast and Mid-
Atlantic States: MANE-VU Contribution Assessment,'' Northeast States 
for Coordinated Air Use Management (NESCAUM), August 2006.
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    A public hearing on Connecticut's section 110(a)(2)(D)(i) SIP was 
held by the state on January 30, 2007. No adverse comments were 
received.

II. Proposed Action

    EPA is proposing to approve the CAA section 110(a)(2)(D)(i) SIP 
revision submitted by Connecticut on March 13, 2007. EPA has reviewed 
Connecticut's 110(a)(2)(D)(i) SIP and has found that it is consistent 
with EPA's guidance and the relevant CAA requirements as discussed 
above. EPA is soliciting public comments on the issues discussed in 
this document. These comments will be considered before taking final 
action.

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 (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), 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 approves a state rule 
implementing a Federal standard.

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    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.)

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 52

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

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

     Dated: October 23, 2007.
Robert W. Varney,
Regional Administrator, EPA New England.
[FR Doc. E7-21690 Filed 11-2-07; 8:45 am]
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