[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 142 (Wednesday, July 23, 2008)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 42727-42731]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-16836]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[EPA-R02-OAR-2008-0479; FRL-8696-2]


Determination of Attainment of the One-Hour Ozone Standard for 
the Southern New Jersey Portion of the Philadelphia Metropolitan 
Nonattainment Area

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Proposed rule.

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SUMMARY: EPA is proposing to determine that the one-hour ozone 
nonattainment area in Southern New Jersey, that is, the New Jersey 
portion of the Philadelphia-Wilmington-Trenton, PA-NJ-DE-MD area, 
attained the one-hour ozone standard, is not subject to the imposition 
of penalty fees under section 185 of the Clean Air Act and does not 
need to implement contingency measures. Areas that EPA classified as 
severe ozone nonattainment areas for the one-hour National Ambient Air 
Quality Standard and did not attain the Standard by the applicable 
attainment date of November 15, 2005 may be subject to these penalty 
fees. However, since the air quality in the Philadelphia-Wilmington-
Trenton area attained the ozone standard as of November 15, 2005, EPA 
is proposing not to implement these fees. This proposed determination 
of attainment is not a redesignation of attainment for this area, only 
a fulfillment of a Clean Air Act obligation to determine if an area 
attains the ozone standard by its applicable attainment date.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before August 22, 2008.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-R02-
OAR-2008-0479, by one of the following methods:
     www.regulations.gov: Follow the online instructions for 
submitting comments.
     E-mail: [email protected].
     Fax: 212-637-3901.
     Mail: Raymond Werner, Chief, Air Programs Branch, 
Environmental Protection Agency, Region 2 Office, 290 Broadway, 25th 
Floor, New York, New York 10007-1866.
     Hand Delivery: Raymond Werner, Chief, Air Programs Branch, 
Environmental Protection Agency, Region 2 Office, 290 Broadway, 25th 
Floor, New York, New York 10007-1866. Such deliveries are only accepted 
during the Regional Office's normal hours of operation. The Regional

[[Page 42728]]

Office's official hours of business are Monday through Friday, 8:30 to 
4:30 excluding Federal holidays.
    Instructions: Direct your comments to Docket ID No. EPA-R02-OAR-
2008-0479. 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. For additional 
information about EPA's public docket visit the EPA Docket Center 
homepage at http://www.epa.gov/epahome/dockets.htm.
    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 Environmental 
Protection Agency, Region 2 Office, Air Programs Branch, 290 Broadway, 
25th Floor, New York, New York 10007-1866.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Robert F. Kelly, Air Programs Branch, 
Environmental Protection Agency, Region 2, 290 Broadway, 25th Floor, 
New York, New York 10007-1866, 212-637-4249.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Table of Contents

I. What Are Today's Actions?
II. What Is the Background for These Actions?
    II.a. When Were These Areas Designated and Where Are They 
Located?
    II.b. What Effect Did the 1997 Eight-Hour Ozone Standard Have on 
Requirements for the One-Hour Ozone Nonattainment Areas, Including 
Section 185?
    II.c. How Does EPA Compute Whether an Area Complies with the 
One-Hour Ozone Standard?
    II.d. Does the Clean Air Act Require EPA to Determine Attainment 
of the One-Hour Ozone Standard?
    II.e. Did the Philadelphia Metropolitan Nonattainment Area 
Attain the One-Hour Ozone Standard by 2005?
    II.f. Do Areas That Attain the One-Hour Ozone Standard Need To 
Implement the Section 185 Fee Program?
IV. What Is EPA Proposing?
V. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

I. What Are Today's Actions?

    EPA is proposing two actions for the Philadelphia-Wilmington-
Trenton, PA-NJ-DE-MD one-hour ozone nonattainment area (the 
``Philadelphia metropolitan'' nonattainment area). First, EPA is 
proposing to determine that this area attained the one-hour ozone 
National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) by its attainment date, 
November 15, 2005. Because EPA is proposing to find that this area has 
attained the one-hour ozone NAAQS by its applicable attainment date, 
EPA also proposes to find that this area is not subject to the 
imposition of the section 185 penalty fees and does not need to 
implement contingency measures. In a separate proposed rule at 73 FR 
22896, EPA's Region 3 office proposed to find that the Philadelphia 
metropolitan nonattainment area attained the one-hour ozone NAAQS by 
its applicable attainment date and is not subject to the imposition of 
section 185 penalty fees. Since EPA region 2 retains authority for 
addressing comments and making findings for the New Jersey portion of 
the area, we are issuing this separate notice.
    Under Section 181(b)(2) of the CAA, EPA must determine whether 
ozone nonattainment areas attained the ozone NAAQS by their attainment 
date. EPA uses an area's design value, calculated from three years of 
complete, quality assured air monitoring data as of the attainment 
date. For the Philadelphia area, attainment date is 2005; therefore EPA 
is using the 2005 design value, which includes air quality monitoring 
data for the 2003 through 2005 ozone seasons. The design value used for 
the one-hour ozone NAAQS is the fourth highest daily one-hour ozone 
concentration over the three-year period. Since this value is not 
greater than 0.12 parts per million (ppm) at any monitor in the 
nonattainment area, this area is attaining the one-hour ozone NAAQS\1\.
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    \1\ EPA remains obligated under section 181(b)(2) to determine 
whether an area attained the one-hour ozone NAAQS by its attainment 
date. However, after the revocation of the one-hour ozone NAAQS, EPA 
is no longer obligated to reclassify an area to a higher 
classification for the one-hour NAAQS based upon a determination 
that the area failed to attain the one-hour NAAQS by the area's 
attainment date for the one-hour NAAQS. (40 CFR 51.905(e)(2)(i)(B).) 
Thus even if we make a finding that an area has failed to attain the 
one-hour ozone NAAQS by its attainment date, the area would not be 
reclassified to a higher classification.
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II. What Is the Background for These Actions?

II.a. When Were These Areas Designated and Where Are They Located?

    When the CAA Amendments were enacted in 1990, each area of the 
country that was designated nonattainment for the one-hour ozone NAAQS, 
including the Philadelphia metropolitan area, was classified by 
operation of law as marginal, moderate, serious, severe, or extreme 
depending on the severity of the area's air quality problem. (See CAA 
sections 107(d)(1)(c) and 181(a).) The Philadelphia one-hour ozone 
nonattainment area was classified as ``severe-15'' with a statutory 
attainment date of November 15, 2005. See 56 FR 56694, November 6, 
1991. Section 185(a) of the CAA states that for a severe or extreme 
ozone nonattainment area a State must collect fees on certain 
stationary sources of air pollution if the area ``has failed to attain 
the national primary ambient air quality standard for ozone by the 
applicable attainment date.'' The Philadelphia area consists of the 
following counties: Cecil County, Maryland; Kent and New Castle 
Counties in Delaware; Burlington, Camden, Cumberland, Gloucester, 
Mercer, and Salem Counties in New Jersey; and, Bucks, Chester, 
Delaware, Montgomery, and Philadelphia Counties in Pennsylvania.

II.b. What Effect Did the 1997 Eight-Hour Ozone Standard Have on 
Requirements for the One-Hour Ozone Nonattainment Areas, Including 
Section 185?

    In an April 30, 2004 final rule (69 FR 23858), EPA designated and 
classified most areas of the country under the eight-hour ozone NAAQS 
promulgated in 40 CFR 50.10. On April 30, 2004, EPA also issued a final 
rule (69 FR

[[Page 42729]]

23951) entitled ``Final Rule To Implement the 8-Hour Ozone National 
Ambient Air Quality Standard--Phase 1'' (Phase 1 Rule). Among other 
matters, this rule revoked the one-hour ozone NAAQS in the Philadelphia 
area (as well as most other areas of the country), effective June 15, 
2005. (See, 40 CFR 50.9(b); 69 FR at 23996; and 70 FR 44470, August 3, 
2005.) This Phase 1 Rule also set forth how anti-backsliding principles 
will ensure continued progress toward attainment of the eight-hour 
ozone NAAQS by identifying which one-hour requirements remain 
applicable in an area after revocation of the one-hour ozone NAAQS.
    Among the requirements not retained were the section 185 
requirements for one-hour severe or extreme nonattainment areas that 
fail to attain the one-hour ozone NAAQS by the applicable one-hour 
attainment date and the requirement to implement contingency measures 
for failure to attain the one-hour ozone NAAQS by the applicable 
attainment date. (See, 69 FR 23951, April 30, 2004, and 70 FR 30592, 
May 26, 2005.)
    On December 22, 2006, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of 
Columbia Circuit (the Court) vacated EPA's Phase 1 Implementation Rule 
for the eight-hour Ozone Standard (69 FR 23951, April 30, 2004). South 
Coast Air Quality Management Dist. v. EPA, 472 F.3d 882 (DC Cir. 2006). 
Subsequently, in South Coast Air Quality Management Dist. v. EPA, 489 
F.3d 1295 (DC Cir. 2007), in response to several petitions for 
rehearing, the Court clarified that the Phase 1 Rule was vacated only 
with regard to those parts of the rule that had been successfully 
challenged. With respect to the challenges to the anti-backsliding 
provisions of the rule, the Court vacated three provisions that would 
have allowed States to remove from the SIP or to not adopt three one-
hour obligations once the one-hour ozone NAAQS was revoked: (1) 
Nonattainment area new source review (NSR) requirements based on an 
area's one-hour nonattainment classification; (2) section 185 
requirement for one-hour severe or extreme nonattainment areas that 
fail to attain the one-hour ozone NAAQS by the one-hour attainment 
date; and (3) measures to be implemented pursuant to section 172(c)(9) 
or 182(c)(9) of the CAA, on the contingency of an area not making 
reasonable further progress toward attainment of the one-hour NAAQS or 
for failure to attain that NAAQS. The Court clarified that one-hour 
conformity determinations are not required for anti-backsliding 
purposes.
    The provisions in 40 CFR 51.905(a)-(c) remain in effect and areas 
must continue to meet those anti-backsliding requirements. However, the 
three provisions noted previously, which are specified in 51.905(e), 
were vacated by the Court. As a result, States must continue to meet 
the obligations for one-hour NSR; one-hour contingency measures; and, 
for severe and extreme areas, the obligations related to the section 
185 requirement. Currently, EPA is developing two proposed rules to 
address the Court's vacatur and remand with respect to these three 
requirements. EPA will address in this proposed rule how the one-hour 
obligations that currently continue to apply under EPA's anti-
backsliding rule (as interpreted by the Court) apply where EPA has made 
a determination that the area attained the one-hour ozone NAAQS by its 
attainment date.

II.c. How Does EPA Compute Whether an Area Complies With the One-Hour 
Ozone Standard?

    Although the one-hour ozone NAAQS as promulgated in 40 CFR 50.9 
includes no discussion of specific data handling conventions, EPA's 
publicly articulated position and the approach long since universally 
adopted by the air quality management community is that the 
interpretation of the one-hour ozone standard requires rounding ambient 
air quality data consistent with the stated level of the standard, 
which is 0.12 ppm. 40 CFR 50.9(a) states that: ``The level of the 
national one-hour primary and secondary ambient air quality standards 
for ozone * * * is 0.12 parts per million. * * * The standard is 
attained when the expected number of days per calendar year with 
maximum hourly average concentrations of 0.12 parts per million * * * 
is equal to or less than 1, as determined by appendix H to this part.''
    EPA has clearly communicated the data handling conventions for the 
one-hour ozone NAAQS in guidance documents. As early as 1979, EPA 
issued guidance that the level of our NAAQS dictates the number of 
significant figures to be used in determining whether the standard was 
exceeded. The stated level of the standard is taken as defining the 
number of significant figures to be used in comparisons with the 
standard. For example, a standard level of 0.12 ppm means that 
measurements are to be rounded to two decimal places (0.005 rounds up), 
and, therefore, 0.125 ppm is the smallest concentration value in excess 
of the level of the standard. (See, ``Guideline for the Interpretation 
of Ozone Air Quality Standards,'' EPA-450/4-79-003, OAQPS No. 1.2-108, 
January 1979.) EPA has consistently applied the rounding convention in 
this 1979 guideline. For example, see, 68 FR 19106 at 19111, April 17, 
2003; 68 FR 62041 at 62043, October 31, 2003; and, 69 FR 21717 at 
21719, April 22, 2004.

II.d. Does the Clean Air Act Require EPA To Determine Attainment of the 
One-Hour Ozone Standard?

    Section 181(b)(2)(A) requires the Administrator to determine after 
the attainment date whether ozone nonattainment areas have attained the 
NAAQS. This provision states: ``Within 6 months following the 
applicable attainment date (including any extension thereof) for an 
ozone nonattainment area, the Administrator shall determine, based on 
the area's design value (as of the attainment date), whether the area 
attained the standard by the date.'' Although section 181(b)(2)(A) 
states that the determination of attainment status be based on the 
area's ``design value,'' EPA interprets this provision generally to 
refer to EPA's methodology for determining attainment status. That is, 
EPA determines attainment status under the one-hour ozone NAAQS on the 
basis of the annual average number of expected exceedances of the NAAQS 
over the three-year period up to, and including, the attainment date. 
(See, 60 FR 3349, January 17, 1995 and see, also, ``General Preamble 
for the Implementation of Title I of the Clean Air Act Amendments of 
1990,'' 57 FR 13498 at 13506, April 16, 1992 (the ``General 
Preamble'').
    EPA will determine whether an area's air quality is meeting the 
NAAQS for purposes of sections 181(b)(2) based upon data that has been 
collected and quality-assured in accordance with 40 CFR part 58, and 
recorded in EPA's Air Quality System (AQS) database, (formerly known as 
the Aerometric Information Retrieval System (AIRS)). The one-hour ozone 
NAAQS is 0.12 ppm, not to be exceeded on average more than 1 day per 
year averaged over any 3-year period. (See 40 CFR 50.9 and appendix H 
to 40 CFR part 50.) To account for missing data, the procedures found 
in appendix H to 40 CFR part 50 are used to adjust the actual number of 
monitored exceedances of the standard to yield the annual number of 
expected exceedances (``expected exceedance days'') at an air quality 
monitoring site. Under EPA's policies, we determine if an area has 
attained the one-hour ozone NAAQS by calculating, at each monitor, the 
average expected number of days over the standard per year (i.e., 
``average number of expected exceedance days'')

[[Page 42730]]

during the applicable 3-year period. See, generally the General 
Preamble, 57 FR at 13506, April 16, 1992 and Memorandum from D. Kent 
Berry, Acting Director, Air Quality Management Division, EPA, to 
Regional Air Office Directors; ``Procedures for Processing Bump Ups and 
Extensions for Marginal Ozone Nonattainment Areas,'' February 3, 1994. 
While the latter is explicitly applicable only to marginal areas, the 
general procedures for evaluating attainment in terms of the average 
number of expected exceedance days during the applicable 3-year period 
in this memorandum apply regardless of the initial classification of an 
area because all findings of attainment are made pursuant to the same 
CAA requirements in section 181(b)(2).
    As noted previously, the applicable attainment date under the one-
hour ozone NAAQS for the Philadelphia metropolitan area was November 
15, 2005. Under these requirements for severe ozone nonattainment areas 
with a statutory attainment date of November 15, 2005, EPA bases its 
proposed determination of attainment of the one-hour ozone NAAQS by the 
applicable attainment date on the average number of expected exceedance 
days per year for the period 2003 though 2005 to determine whether the 
area met its applicable attainment date under section 181 of the CAA. 
EPA has reviewed this data to determine the area's air quality status 
in accordance with 40 CFR 50.9, and EPA policy guidance as discussed in 
the preceding paragraphs and in the previous discussion on rounding 
conventions elsewhere in this document.

II.e. Did the Philadelphia Metropolitan Nonattainment Area Attain the 
One-Hour Ozone Standard by 2005?

    As noted previously, the applicable attainment date for the 
Philadelphia metropolitan nonattainment area was November 15, 2005. EPA 
is evaluating attainment based on the data from 2003 through 2005. 
During the entire 2003 to 2005 period, state and local air pollution 
control agencies operated eighteen ozone monitoring stations in the 
Philadelphia area. One other monitor discontinued operations in 
2003.\2\
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    \2\ This was the monitor located at West Chester University in 
West Chester, Chester County, Pennsylvania (AQS ID 
420290050). The monitor had averaged 0.3 exceedances per year over 
this 3-year period from 2001 to 2003. Therefore, EPA concludes that 
this monitor was attaining the one-hour ozone NAAQS at the time 
monitoring ceased at this site.
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    Table 1 summarizes the ozone data collected at the eighteen ozone 
monitoring stations during the 2003 to 2005 period and included in AQS 
for the Philadelphia area. These data have been quality assured and are 
recorded in AQS. The Philadelphia area States use the AQS as the 
permanent database to maintain its data and quality assure the data 
transfers and content for accuracy. EPA has used the established 
rounding conventions set forth in our guidance documents and 
regulations.

Table 1.--Average Number of Ozone Expected Exceedance Days per Year by Monitors in the Philadelphia Area 2003 to
                                                      2005
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                         Monitor information                               Number of expected         Average
----------------------------------------------------------------------      exceedance days          number of
                                                                      ---------------------------    expected
                                                                                                    exceedance
         State                     Monitor                 AQS ID        2003     2004     2005    days per year
                                                                                                      2003-05
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DE....................  Killens Pond Rd, Kent Co.....       100010002      1.0      0.0      0.0             0.3
DE....................  Lums Pond State Park, New           100031007      1.0      0.0      2.0             1.0
                         Castle Co.
DE....................  Brandywine Creek State Park,        100031010      0.0      0.0      0.0             0.0
                         New Castle Co.
DE....................  Bellevue State Park, New            100031013      0.0      0.0      0.0             0.0
                         Castle Co.
MD....................  Fairhill, Cecil Co...........       240150003      0.0      0.0      2.0             0.7
NJ....................  Copewood E. Davis Sts, Camden       340070003      0.0      0.0      0.0             0.0
NJ....................  Ancora State Hospital, Camden       340071001      2.0      0.0      0.0             0.7
                         Co.
NJ....................  Lincoln Ave. & Highway 55,          340110007      1.0      0.0      1.0             0.7
                         Vineland, Cumberland Co.
NJ....................  Shady Lane Rest Home,               340150002      2.0      0.0      0.0             0.7
                         Clarksboro, Gloucester Co.
NJ....................  Rider College, Mercer Co.....       340210005      0.0      0.0      0.0             0.0
PA....................  Rockview Lane, Bristol, Bucks       420170012      0.0      0.0      1.0             0.3
                         Co.
PA....................  New Garden Airport--                420290100      0.0      0.0      1.0             0.3
                         Toughkenamon, Chester Co.
PA....................  Front St & Norris St,               420450002      0.0      0.0      1.1             0.4
                         Chester, Delaware Co.
PA....................  State Armory, Norristown,           420910013      0.0      0.0      0.0             0.0
                         Montgomery Co.
PA....................  1501 E Lycoming Ave AMS Lab,        421010004      0.0      0.0      0.0             0.0
                         Philadelphia.
PA....................  Roxy Water Pump Sta,                421010014      0.0      0.0      0.0             0.0
                         Philadelphia.
PA....................  Grant-Ashton Roads, NE              421010024      0.0      0.0      2.0             0.7
                         Airport, Philadelphia.
PA....................  Amtrak, 5917 Elmwood Avenue,        421010136      0.0      0.0      0.0             0.0
                         Philadelphia.
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Source: EPA Air Quality System (AQS) Database.

    As shown in Table 1, the average number of expected exceedance days 
per year is less than or equal to 1.0 at all of the sites. Therefore, 
EPA proposes to find that the Philadelphia area attained the one-hour 
ozone NAAQS by November 15, 2005, which was the applicable attainment 
date under the one-hour ozone NAAQS for this nonattainment area.

II.f. Do Areas That Attain the One-Hour Ozone Standard Need To 
Implement the Section 185 Fee Program?

    If a severe or extreme one-hour ozone nonattainment area attains by 
its one-hour ozone attainment date, it is not required to implement the 
section 185 penalty fees program. Section 185(a) of the CAA states that 
a severe or extreme ozone nonattainment area must implement a program 
to impose fees on certain stationary sources of air pollution if the 
area ``has failed to attain the national primary ambient air quality 
standard for ozone by the applicable attainment date.'' Consequently, 
if such an area has attained the standard as of its applicable 
attainment date, even if it subsequently lapses into nonattainment, the 
area would not be required to

[[Page 42731]]

implement the section 185 penalty fees program.
    In addition, because the area has attained the one-hour ozone NAAQS 
by the applicable attainment date, the area is not subject to the 
requirement to implement contingency measures for failure to attain the 
one-hour ozone NAAQS by its attainment date. Since the area has met its 
attainment deadline, even if the area subsequently lapses into 
nonattainment, it would not be required to implement the contingency 
measures for failure to attain the one-hour ozone NAAQS by its 
attainment date.

IV. What Is EPA Proposing?

    Based upon EPA's review of the air quality data for the 3-year 
period 2003 to 2005, EPA is proposing to determine that the New Jersey 
portion of the Philadelphia severe one-hour ozone nonattainment area 
attained the one-hour ozone NAAQS by the applicable attainment date of 
November 15, 2005. EPA also proposes to find that this area is not 
subject to the imposition of the section 185 penalty fees and will not 
need to implement contingency measures, which were required to be 
implemented only if the area did not attain the one-hour standard by 
the attainment date.

V. 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 FR 28355, May 22, 2001). This 
action proposes to make a determination based on air quality data, and 
would, if finalized, result in the suspension of certain Federal 
requirements. 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 proposes to make a determination based on air 
quality data, and would, if finalized, result in the suspension of 
certain Federal requirements, 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 proposed 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 proposed 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 proposes to make a determination based on air quality 
data and would, if finalized, result in the suspension of certain 
Federal requirements, 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 
``Protection of Children from Environmental Health Risks and Safety 
Risks'' (62 FR 19885, April 23, 1997), because it proposes to determine 
that air quality in the affected area is meeting Federal standards.
    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 
because it would be inconsistent with applicable law for EPA, when 
determining the attainment status of an area, to use voluntary 
consensus standards in place of promulgated air quality standards and 
monitoring procedures that otherwise satisfy the provisions of the 
Clean Air Act.
    This proposed 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.) Under Executive Order 12898, EPA finds that this rule 
involves a proposed determination of attainment based on air quality 
data and will not have disproportionately high and adverse human health 
or environmental effects on any communities in the area, including 
minority and low-income communities.

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 52

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

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

    Dated: July 8, 2008.
Alan J. Steinberg,
Regional Administrator, Region 2.
[FR Doc. E8-16836 Filed 7-22-08; 8:45 am]
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