[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 142 (Friday, July 24, 2015)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 43964-43966]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-18098]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 52
[EPA-R06-OAR-2015-0172; FRL-9931-09-Region 6]
Approval and Promulgation of Implementation Plans; New Mexico;
Electronic Reporting Consistent With the Cross Media Electronic
Reporting Rule
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Direct final rule.
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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is approving a State
Implementation Plan (SIP) revision submitted by the State of New
Mexico. The revision pertains primarily to electronic reporting and
would require electronic reporting of documents submitted for
compliance with Clean Air Act (CAA) requirements. The revision also
includes other changes which are non-substantive and primarily address
updates to New Mexico Environment Department's (NMED) document viewing
locations.
DATES: This rule is effective on September 22, 2015 without further
notice, unless EPA receives relevant adverse comment by August 24,
2015. 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 No. EPA-R06-OAR-
2015-0172, by one of the following methods:
www.regulations.gov: Follow the on-line instructions.
Email: [email protected].
Mail or delivery: Mr. Guy Donaldson, Chief, Air Planning
Section (6PD-L), Environmental Protection Agency, 1445 Ross Avenue,
Suite 1200, Dallas, Texas 75202-2733.
Instructions: Direct your comments to Docket ID No. EPA-R06-OAR-
2015-0172. 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 the
disclosure of which is restricted by statute. Do not submit information
through http://www.regulations.gov or email, if you believe that it is
CBI or otherwise protected from disclosure. The http://www.regulations.gov Web site is an ``anonymous access'' system, which
means that 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 http://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 along with any disk or CD-ROM
submitted. 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 and any form of encryption and should be free of any
defects or viruses. For additional information
[[Page 43965]]
about EPA's public docket, visit the EPA Docket Center homepage at
http://www.epa.gov/epahome/dockets.htm.
Docket: The index to the docket for this action is available
electronically at www.regulations.gov and in hard copy at EPA Region 6,
1445 Ross Avenue, Suite 700, Dallas, Texas. While all documents in the
docket are listed in the index, some information may be publicly
available only at the hard copy location (e.g., copyrighted material),
and some may not be publicly available at either location (e.g., CBI).
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Sherry Fuerst, 214-665-6454,
[email protected]. To inspect the hard copy materials, please
schedule an appointment with Ms. Fuerst or Mr. Bill Deese at 214-665-
7253.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Throughout this document wherever ``we,''
``us,'' or ``our'' is used, we mean the EPA.
I. Background
On February 2, 2015, the Secretary of the NMED submitted rules for
inclusion into the SIP which amended regulations to include authorizing
and requiring the electronic submittal of data, reports and permit
applications in lieu of paper submittals. The revision to the SIP would
incorporate amendments to rule 20.2.1 of the New Mexico Administrative
Code (NMAC)--General Provisions. The amendments provide that, after
proper notification is given, submittals to NMED required under 20 NMAC
Chapter 2 (Air Quality) must be electronic, unless a waiver is granted
(20.2.1.117NMAC). Additionally, the revision amends 20 NMAC Chapter 2,
Part 1 to make non-substantive changes which primarily address updates
to NMED document viewing locations.
II. EPA's Evaluation
Our regulations assert that States that wish to receive electronic
documents must revise the SIP to satisfy the requirements of 40 CFR
part 3 (Electronic reporting) (40 CFR 51.286). EPA has evaluated the
State's submittal allowing electronic reporting and has determined that
it meets the applicable requirements of the EPA air quality regulations
because it is consistent with EPA's requirements for electronic
reporting.
Section 110(l) of the Federal CAA states that each revision to an
implementation plan submitted by a State under this chapter shall be
adopted by such State after reasonable notice and public hearing.
Additionally, we may not approve a revision of a plan if the revision
would interfere with any applicable requirement concerning attainment
and reasonable further progress, or any other applicable requirement of
the CAA. In its submittal, NMED provided documentation that reasonable
notice and a public hearing were provided. As the revision allows for
the electronic reporting of information and does not alter the
substance of the state monitoring submittals, it will not interfere
with any applicable requirement of the CAA.
III. Final Action
We are approving revisions to the New Mexico SIP that pertain to
electronic reporting, 20.2.1.117 A and B, as proposed in the SIP
revision proposal package submitted by the Secretary of NMED on
February 2, 2015.
We are also approving the amendments that were proposed to correct
typographical errors and to standardize formatting of rule language.
EPA is publishing this rule without prior proposal because we view
this as a non-controversial amendment and anticipate no adverse
comments. However, in the proposed rules section of this Federal
Register publication, we are publishing a separate document that will
serve as the proposal to approve the SIP revision if relevant adverse
comments are received. This rule will be effective on September 22,
2015 without further notice unless we receive relevant adverse comment
by August 24, 2015. If we receive relevant adverse comments, we will
publish a timely withdrawal in the Federal Register informing the
public that the rule will not take effect. We will address all public
comments in a subsequent final rule based on the proposed rule. We will
not institute a second comment period on this action. Any parties
interested in commenting must do so now. Please note that if we receive
relevant adverse comment on an amendment, paragraph, or section of this
rule and if that provision may be severed from the remainder of the
rule, we may adopt as final those provisions of the rule that are not
the subject of an adverse comment.
IV. Incorporation by Reference
In this rule, we are finalizing regulatory text that includes
incorporation by reference. In accordance with the requirements of 1
CFR 51.5, we are finalizing the incorporation by reference of the
revisions to the New Mexico regulations as described in the Final
Action section above. We have made, and will continue to make, these
documents generally available electronically through
www.regulations.gov and/or in hard copy at the EPA Region 6 office.
V. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews
Under the CAA, 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 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 Orders
12866 (58 FR 51735, October 4, 1993) and 13563 (76 FR 3821, January 21,
2011);
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) 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, the SIP is not approved to apply on any Indian
reservation land or in any other area where EPA or an Indian tribe has
demonstrated that a tribe has jurisdiction. In those areas of Indian
country, the rule does not have
[[Page 43966]]
tribal implications and will not impose substantial direct costs on
tribal governments or preempt tribal law as specified by Executive
Order 13175 (65 FR 67249, November 9, 2000).
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 rule 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 CAA, petitions for judicial review
of this action must be filed in the United States Court of Appeals for
the appropriate circuit by September 22, 2015. Filing a petition for
reconsideration by the Administrator of this final rule does not affect
the finality of this rule 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.
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, Incorporation by
reference, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements.
Dated: July 10, 2015.
Ron Curry,
Regional Administrator, Region 6.
40 CFR part 52 is amended as follows:
PART 52--APPROVAL AND PROMULGATION OF IMPLEMENTATION PLANS
0
1. The authority citation for part 52 continues to read as follows:
Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.
Subpart GG--New Mexico
0
2. In Sec. 52.1620(c), the table titled ``EPA Approved New Mexico
Regulations'' is amended by revising the entry for ``Part 1'' under
``New Mexico Administrative Code (NMAC) Title 20--Environment
Protection, Chapter 2--Air Quality'' to read as follows:
Sec. 52.1620 Identification of plan.
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(c) * * *
EPA Approved New Mexico Regulations
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State approval/
State citation Title/subject effective EPA approval date Comments
date
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New Mexico Administrative Code (NMAC) Title 20--Environment Protection Chapter 2--Air Quality
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Part 1......................... General Provisions..... 1/23/2015 7/24/2015 [Insert ...................
Federal Register
citation].
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[FR Doc. 2015-18098 Filed 7-23-15; 8:45 am]
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