[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 76 (Wednesday, April 21, 2010)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 20783-20785]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-8935]



[[Page 20783]]

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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[EPA-R04-OAR-2010-0150-201009(a); FRL-9138-9]


Approval and Promulgation of Implementation Plans: Tennessee; 
Visibility Impairment Prevention for Federal Class I Areas; Removal of 
Federally Promulgated Provisions

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Direct final rule.

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SUMMARY: EPA is taking direct final action to rescind the Federally 
promulgated provisions regarding visibility in 40 CFR 52.2234 of the 
Tennessee State Implementation Plan (SIP). EPA approved Tennessee's 
visibility rules addressing new source review (NSR) on July 18, 1996, 
and a plan addressing monitoring and reporting of visibility on July 2, 
1997. EPA's approval of these rules neglected to remove the previous 
Federally promulgated provisions from the Federal Implementation Plan 
(FIP) contained in 40 CFR 52.2234. EPA is correcting this omission in 
this rulemaking. This action is being taken pursuant to section 110 of 
the Clean Air Act (CAA).

DATES: This rule is effective on June 21, 2010 without further notice, 
unless EPA receives relevant adverse comment by May 21, 2010. If EPA 
receives such comment, EPA will publish a timely withdrawal in the 
Federal Register informing the public that this rule will not take 
effect.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-R04-
OAR-2010-0150, by one of the following methods:
    1. http://www.regulations.gov: Follow the on-line instructions for 
submitting comments.
    2. E-mail: [email protected].
    3. Fax: (404) 562-9019.
    4. Mail: ``EPA-R04-OAR-2010-0150,'' Regulatory Development Section, 
Air Planning Branch, Air, Pesticides and Toxics Management Division, 
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 4, 61 Forsyth Street, SW., 
Atlanta, Georgia 30303-8960.
    5. Hand Delivery or Courier: Lynorae Benjamin, Chief, Regulatory 
Development Section, Air Planning Branch, Air, Pesticides and Toxics 
Management Division, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 4, 61 
Forsyth Street, SW., Atlanta, Georgia 30303-8960. 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 Federal holidays.
    Instructions: Direct your comments to Docket ID No. ``EPA-R04-OAR-
2010-0150.'' 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. 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 
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 Regulatory 
Development Section, Air Planning Branch, Air, Pesticides and Toxics 
Management Division, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 4, 61 
Forsyth Street, SW., Atlanta, Georgia 30303-8960. EPA requests that if 
at all possible, you contact the person 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 Federal holidays.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Nacosta C. Ward, Regulatory 
Development Section, Air Planning Branch, Air, Pesticides and Toxics 
Management Division, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 4, 61 
Forsyth Street, SW., Atlanta, Georgia 30303-8960. Ms. Ward may be 
reached by phone at (404) 562-9140 or by electronic mail address 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Table of Contents

I. Background for Today's Action
II. Final Action
III. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

I. Background for Today's Action

    On February 9, 1993, and December 19, 1994, the State of Tennessee 
submitted provisions constituting its plan to address visibility 
impairment in Federal Class I areas. EPA approved these submittals on 
July 2, 1997 (62 FR 35681). On January 17, 1995, the State of Tennessee 
also submitted rules for addressing visibility in its NSR program. EPA 
fully approved this submittal on July 18, 1996 (61 FR 35387).
    The aforementioned submittals provide the necessary revisions to 
Tennessee's plan for visibility impairment prevention for Class I 
areas, and satisfied EPA's requirements as set forth in 40 CFR 51.300 
through 51.304 and 51.306. These visibility provisions were submitted 
to EPA in order to satisfy the second part of the Settlement Agreement 
with the Environmental Defense Fund, et al., Environmental Defense Fund 
v. Thomas, number C826850 RPA, and are described at 49 FR 20647 on May 
16, 1984. The schedule for submittal and promulgation of these 
visibility provisions was renegotiated and subsequently extended by a 
court order on September 9, 1986.
    The second part of the Settlement Agreement required EPA to propose 
and promulgate Federal Visibility SIPs, addressing the general 
visibility plan provisions including implementation control strategies 
(40 CFR 51.302), integral vista protection (40 CFR 51.302 through 
51.307), and long-term strategies (40 CFR 51.306) for those States 
whose SIPs EPA had determined to be inadequate with respect to the 
above provisions (see January 23, 1986,

[[Page 20784]]

notice of deficiency (51 FR 3046) and March 12, 1987, notice proposing 
FIPs for deficient State SIPs (52 FR 7803)). However, as provided in 
the renegotiated Settlement Agreement, a State could avoid the 
promulgation of said provisions if they submitted a visibility SIP by 
August 31, 1987. The State of Tennessee did not submit a plan by August 
31, 1987, and as a result EPA promulgated Part 2 provisions for 
Tennessee in a FIP to satisfy the Settlement Agreement on November 24, 
1987.
    Subsequently, the State of Tennessee provided SIP revisions on 
February 9, 1993, December 19, 1994, and January 17, 1995, with the 
intent to replace the EPA-promulgated provisions (or FIP) that was put 
in place. The EPA actions on July 18, 1996 and July 2, 1997, fully 
approved these Tennessee SIP revisions but inadvertently did not remove 
the Federally-promulgated provisions in 40 CFR 52.2234. Today's action 
corrects that oversight.

II. Final Action

    EPA is taking direct final action to correct an omission related to 
the visibility requirements for Tennessee. Specifically, EPA is 
removing the previous Federally promulgated provisions in 40 CFR 
52.2234 for visibility for Tennessee because the State later submitted, 
and EPA approved, revisions covering visibility requirements for 
Tennessee. EPA is approving the aforementioned changes to the Tennessee 
SIP because they are consistent with the CAA and Agency requirements. 
EPA is publishing this rule without prior proposal because the Agency 
views this as a noncontroversial submittal and anticipates no adverse 
comments. However, in the proposed rules section of this Federal 
Register publication, EPA is publishing a separate document that will 
serve as the proposal to approve the SIP revision should adverse 
comments be filed. This rule will be effective June 21, 2010 without 
further notice unless the Agency receives adverse comments by May 21, 
2010.
    If EPA receives such comments, then EPA will publish a document 
withdrawing the final rule and informing the public that the rule will 
not take effect. All public comments received will then be addressed in 
a subsequent final rule based on the proposed rule. EPA will not 
institute a second comment period. Parties interested in commenting 
should do so at this time. If no such comments are received, the public 
is advised that this rule will be effective on June 21, 2010 and no 
further action will be taken on the proposed rule.

III. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

    Under the Clean Air Act, the Administrator is required to approve a 
SIP submission that complies with the provisions of the Act and 
applicable Federal regulations. 42 U.S.C. 7410(k); 40 CFR 52.02(a). 
Thus, in reviewing SIP submissions, EPA's role is to approve State 
choices, provided that they meet the criteria of the Clean Air Act. 
Accordingly, this action merely approves State law as meeting Federal 
requirements and does not impose additional requirements beyond those 
imposed by State law. For that reason, this action:
     Is not a ``significant regulatory action'' subject to 
review by the Office of Management and Budget under Executive Order 
12866 (58 FR 51735, October 4, 1993);
     Does not impose an information collection burden under the 
provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.);
     Is certified as not having a significant economic impact 
on a substantial number of small entities under the Regulatory 
Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 601 et seq.);
     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);
     Does not have Federalism implications as specified in 
Executive Order 13132 (64 FR 43255, August 10, 1999);
     Is not an economically significant regulatory action based 
on health or safety risks subject to Executive Order 13045 (62 FR 
19885, April 23, 1997);
     Is not a significant regulatory action subject to 
Executive Order 13211 (66 FR 28355, May 22, 2001);
     Is not subject to requirements of Section 12(d) of the 
National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act of 1995 (15 U.S.C. 272 
note) because application of those requirements would be inconsistent 
with the Clean Air Act; and
     Does not provide EPA with the discretionary authority to 
address, as appropriate, disproportionate human health or environmental 
effects, using practicable and legally permissible methods, under 
Executive Order 12898 (59 FR 7629, February 16, 1994).

In addition, this rule does not have Tribal implications as specified 
by Executive Order 13175 (65 FR 67249, November 9, 2000), because the 
SIP is not approved to apply in Indian country located in the State, 
and EPA notes that it will not impose substantial direct costs on 
Tribal governments or preempt Tribal law.
    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 action 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 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 June 21, 2010. Filing a 
petition for reconsideration by the Administrator of this final rule 
does not affect the finality of this action 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. Parties with objections to this direct final 
rule are encouraged to file a comment in response to the parallel 
notice of proposed rulemaking for this action published in the proposed 
rules section of today's Federal Register, rather than file an 
immediate petition for judicial review of this direct final rule, so 
that EPA can withdraw this direct final rule and address the comment in 
the proposed rulemaking. 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, Intergovernmental 
relations, Incorporation by reference, Particulate matter, Reporting 
and recordkeeping requirements, Volatile organic compounds, Sulfur 
dioxide.

    Dated: April 1, 2010.
Beverly H. Banister,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region 4.

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40 CFR part 52 is amended as follows:

PART 52--[AMENDED]

0
1. The authority citation for part 52 continues to read as follows:


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

Subpart RR--Tennessee


Sec.  52.2234  [Removed and Reserved]

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2. Section 52.2234 is removed and reserved.

[FR Doc. 2010-8935 Filed 4-20-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P