[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 209 (Monday, October 29, 2012)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 65493-65495]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-26390]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[EPA-R03-OAR-2012-0608; FRL-9745-7]


Approval and Promulgation of Air Quality Implementation Plans; 
West Virginia; Amendments to West Virginia's Ambient Air Quality 
Standards

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 
West Virginia State Implementation Plan (SIP). The revision pertains to 
amendments of West Virginia's Legislative Rule, 45 CSR 8- Ambient Air 
Quality Standards. The amendments change the effective date of the 
incorporation by reference of the National Ambient Air Quality 
Standards (NAAQS) for sulfur oxides, nitrogen dioxide, lead, 
particulate matter and carbon monoxide as well as their monitoring 
reference and equivalent methods. EPA is approving these revisions in 
accordance with the requirements of the Clean Air Act (CAA).

DATES: This rule is effective on December 28, 2012 without further 
notice, unless EPA receives adverse written comment by November 28, 
2012. If EPA receives such comments, it will publish a timely 
withdrawal of the direct final rule in the Federal Register and inform 
the public that the rule will not take effect.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID Number EPA-
R03-OAR-2012-0608 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-2012-0608, Donna Mastro, Acting Associate 
Director, Office of Air Program 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-
2012-0608. 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 www.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. Copies of the State submittal 
are available at the West Virginia Department of Environmental 
Protection, Division of Air Quality, 601 57th Street SE., Charleston, 
West Virginia 25304.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Asrah Khadr, (215) 814-2071, or by 
email at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

    Throughout this document, whenever ``we,'' ``us,'' or ``our'' is 
used, we mean EPA. On June 6, 2012, the West Virginia Department of 
Environmental Protection (WVDEP) submitted a formal revision to its SIP 
pertaining to amendments of Legislative Rule, 45 CSR 8--Ambient Air 
Quality Standards. The SIP revision consists of a change in the 
effective date of the incorporation by reference of the NAAQS and their 
monitoring reference and equivalent methods. EPA had approved a 
previous revision of Legislative Rule 45 CSR 8 on September 12, 2012 
(77 FR 56125).

II. Summary of SIP Revision

    This SIP revision is part of an annual submission by WVDEP to 
update their incorporation by reference of the National Primary and 
Secondary Ambient Air Quality Standards which are found at 40 CFR Part 
50. The SIP revision also updates the incorporation by reference of the 
Ambient Air Monitoring Reference and Equivalent Methods which are found 
at 40 CFR Part 53. The amendments to the legislative rule include 
changes to section 45-8-1 (General) in which the filing and effective 
dates are changed to reflect the update of the legislative rule. They 
also include changes to section 45-8-3 (Adoption of Standards) in which 
the effective dates for the incorporation by reference of the National 
Primary and Secondary Ambient Air Quality Standards and the Ambient Air 
Monitoring Reference and Equivalent Methods are also changed to reflect 
the update of the legislative rule. The filing and effective dates of 
the legislative rule were updated and changed to May 1, 2012 and June 
1, 2012 respectively. The effective date of the incorporation by 
reference of 40 CFR Part 50 and 40 CFR Part 53 changed from June 16, 
2011 to June 1, 2012.

III. Final Action

    EPA is approving the amendments to Legislative Rule, 45 CSR 8--
Ambient Air Quality Standards, into the West Virginia SIP. EPA is 
publishing this rule without prior proposal because we view this as a 
noncontroversial amendment and anticipate no adverse comment. However, 
in the ``Proposed Rules'' section of today's Federal Register, EPA is 
publishing a separate document that will serve as the proposal to 
approve the SIP revision if adverse comments are filed. This rule will 
be effective on December 28, 2012 without further notice unless EPA 
receives adverse comment by November 28, 2012. If EPA receives adverse 
comment, EPA will

[[Page 65494]]

publish a timely withdrawal in the Federal Register informing the 
public that the rule will not take effect. EPA will address all public 
comments in a subsequent final rule based on the proposed rule. EPA 
will not institute a second comment period on this action. Any parties 
interested in commenting must do so at this time. 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.

IV. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

A. General Requirements

    Under the CAA, the Administrator is required to approve a SIP 
submission that complies with the provisions of the CAA 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 CAA. 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 CAA; 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.

B. Submission to Congress and the Comptroller General

    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).

C. Petitions for Judicial Review

    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 28, 2012. 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 pertaining to the amendments of Legislative Rule 45 CSR 
8 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, Lead, Nitrogen dioxide, Ozone, Particulate 
matter, Sulfur oxides.

    Dated: October 10, 2012.
W.C. Early,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region III.

    40 CFR Part 52 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 XX--West Virginia

0
2. In Sec.  52.2520, the table in paragraph (c) is amended by revising 
the entries for 45-8-1 through 45-8-4 to read as follows:


Sec.  52.2520  Identification of plan.

* * * * *
    (c) * * *

[[Page 65495]]



                                EPA-Approved Regulations in the West Virginia SIP
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                                                                                                 Additional
State citation [Chapter 16-20 or                            State                               explanation/
             45 CSR]                  Title/subject       effective     EPA approval date    citation at 40 CFR
                                                             date                                  52.2565
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                                 [45 CSR] Series 8 Ambient Air Quality Standards
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
45-8-1..........................  General..............       6/1/12  10/29/12............  Filing and effective
                                                                      [Insert page number    dates are revised.
                                                                       where the document
                                                                       begins].
45-8-2..........................  Definitions..........      6/1/12.  10/29/12.
                                                                      [Insert page number
                                                                       where the document
                                                                       begins].
45-8-3..........................  Adoption of Standards       6/1/12  10/29/12............  Effective date is
                                                                      [Insert page number    revised.
                                                                       where the document
                                                                       begins].
45-8-4..........................  Inconsistency Between       6/1/12  10/29/12.
                                   Rules.                             [Insert page number
                                                                       where the document
                                                                       begins].
 
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[FR Doc. 2012-26390 Filed 10-26-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P