[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 14 (Monday, January 23, 2012)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Page 3223]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-1088]



[[Page 3223]]

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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[EPA-R03-OAR-2011-0714; FRL-9620-4]


Approval and Promulgation of Air Quality Implementation Plans; 
Delaware, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania; Determinations of Attainment of 
the 1997 Annual Fine Particulate Standard for the Philadelphia-
Wilmington Nonattainment Area

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Proposed rule.

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SUMMARY: EPA is proposing to make two determinations regarding the 
Philadelphia-Wilmington fine particle (PM2.5) nonattainment 
area (the Philadelphia Area). EPA is proposing to make a determination 
that the Philadelphia Area has attained the 1997 annual 
PM2.5 national ambient air quality standard (NAAQS) by its 
attainment date of April 5, 2010. EPA is also proposing to make a clean 
data determination, finding that the Philadelphia Area has attained the 
1997 PM2.5 NAAQS, based on ambient air monitoring data for 
the 2007-2009 and 2008-2010 monitoring periods. In the Final Rules 
section of this Federal Register, EPA is making these determinations as 
a direct final rule without prior proposal because the Agency views 
this as a noncontroversial action and anticipates no adverse comments. 
A detailed rationale for the approval is set forth in the direct final 
rule and in the Technical Support Document (TSD) prepared in support of 
this rulemaking action. A copy of the TSD is available, upon request, 
from the EPA Regional Office listed in the ADDRESSES section of this 
document. If no adverse comments are received in response to this 
action, no further activity is contemplated. If EPA receives adverse 
comments, the direct final rule will be withdrawn and all public 
comments received will be addressed in a subsequent final rule based on 
this proposed rule. EPA will not institute a second comment period. Any 
parties interested in commenting on this action should do so at this 
time.

DATES: Comments must be received in writing by February 22, 2012.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID Number EPA-
R03-OAR-2011-0714 by one of the following methods:
    A. www.regulations.gov. Follow the on-line instructions for 
submitting comments.
    B. Email: [email protected].
    C. Mail: EPA-R03-OAR-2011-0714, Cristina Fernandez, Associate 
Director, Office of Air Quality Planning, Mailcode 3AP30, U.S. 
Environmental Protection Agency, Region III, 1650 Arch Street, 
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19103.
    D. Hand Delivery: At the previously-listed EPA Region III address. 
Such deliveries are only accepted during the Docket's normal hours of 
operation, and special arrangements should be made for deliveries of 
boxed information.
    Instructions: Direct your comments to Docket ID No. EPA-R03-OAR-
2011-0714. 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 email. 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 email comment 
directly to EPA without going through ww.regulations.gov, your email 
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 
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 Air Protection 
Division, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region III, 1650 Arch 
Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19103.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: If you have questions concerning EPA's 
proposed action related to Delaware or Pennsylvania, please contact 
Maria A. Pino (215) 814-2181, or by email at [email protected]. If you 
have questions concerning EPA's proposed action related to New Jersey, 
please contact Henry Feingersh, (212) 637-3382, or by email at 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: For further information, please see the 
information provided in the direct final action, with the same title, 
``Determinations of Attainment of the 1997 Annual Fine Particulate 
Standard for the Philadelphia-Wilmington Nonattainment Area,'' that is 
located in the ``Rules and Regulations'' section of this Federal 
Register publication.

     Dated: December 8, 2011.
W.C. Early,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region III.
    Dated: January 3, 2012.
Judith A. Enck,
Regional Administrator, Region II.
[FR Doc. 2012-1088 Filed 1-20-12; 8:45 am]
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