[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 54 (Wednesday, March 20, 2019)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 10264-10266]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-04874]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[EPA-R01-OAR-2018-0790; FRL-9990-94-Region 1]


Air Plan Approval; Massachusetts; High Occupancy Vehicle Lanes

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is approving a State 
Implementation Plan (SIP) revision submitted by the Commonwealth of 
Massachusetts. This revision provides for the Massachusetts Department 
of Transportation (MassDOT) to construct and operate specified transit 
facilities and high occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes established therein. 
Implementation and continued monitoring of these projects will help 
reduce the use of automobiles and improve traffic operations on the 
region's roadways, resulting in improved air quality. This action will 
have a beneficial effect on air quality because it is intended to 
reduce vehicle miles traveled (VMT) and traffic congestion in the 
Boston Metropolitan Area. Massachusetts has adopted these revisions to 
reduce emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOC), particulate 
matter (PM), and nitrogen oxides (NOX). This action is being 
taken under the Clean Air Act.

DATES: This rule is effective on April 19, 2019.

ADDRESSES: EPA has established a docket for this action under Docket 
Identification No. EPA-R01-OAR-2018-0790. All documents in the docket 
are listed on the https://www.regulations.gov website. 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 at https://www.regulations.gov or at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, EPA 
Region 1 Regional Office, Office of Ecosystem Protection, Air Quality 
Planning Unit, 5 Post Office Square--Suite 100, Boston, MA. EPA 
requests that if at all possible, you contact the contact 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 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., excluding legal holidays.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Eric Rackauskas, Air Quality Unit, 
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, EPA Region 1, 5 Post Office 
Square--Suite 100, (Mail code OEP05-2), Boston, MA 02109-3912, tel. 
(617) 918-1628, email [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Throughout this document whenever ``we,'' 
``us,'' or ``our'' is used, we mean EPA.

Table of Contents

I. Background and Purpose
II. Final Action
III. Incorporation by Reference
IV. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

I. Background and Purpose

    On December 17, 2018 (83 FR 64495), EPA published a notice of 
proposed rulemaking (NPRM) for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The 
NPRM proposed approval of amendments to Massachusetts' 310 CMR 7.37: 
High Occupancy Vehicle Lanes. The amended 310 CMR 7.37 contains added 
definitions, revised due dates for certain requirements, minor 
technical amendments, and clarifying language. The regulation is 
designed to reduce the use of automobiles in the Metropolitan Boston 
Area, and to improve traffic operations on the region's roadways. 
Reducing the number of vehicles on the road and easing traffic 
conditions on major highways will result in a reduction of vehicle 
miles traveled (VMT) which eases traffic congestion and will lead to 
improved air quality by lowering mobile source emissions.
    A detailed discussion of Massachusetts' SIP revision and the 
rationale for EPA's proposed action are explained in the NPRM and will 
not be restated here. EPA received several comments supportive of HOV 
lanes and encouraging Massachusetts to add even more HOV lanes outside 
of the Greater Boston Area. One commenter questioned whether the 
regulation contained requirements for only HOV studies rather than the 
construction and implementation of HOV lanes. The rulemaking does 
contain language requiring the implementation of several HOV lanes, 
which have been constructed and are currently in use by MassDOT. EPA 
received no adverse comments.

II. Final Action

    EPA is approving, and incorporating into the Massachusetts SIP, the 
revised regulation 310 CMR 7.37, High Occupancy Vehicle Lanes. This

[[Page 10265]]

regulation was submitted to EPA on July 9, 1996. This updated 
regulation includes technical amendments and date clarifications to the 
previous SIP-approved version of 310 CMR 7.37, which was originally 
approved on October 4, 1994 (59 FR 50495). EPA is approving 310 CMR 
7.37 into the Massachusetts SIP because EPA has found that the 
requirements are consistent with the CAA.

III. Incorporation by Reference

    In this rule, the EPA is finalizing regulatory text that includes 
incorporation by reference. In accordance with requirements of 1 CFR 
51.5, the EPA is finalizing the incorporation by reference of the 
Massachusetts regulations described in the amendments to 40 CFR part 52 
set forth below. The EPA has made, and will continue to make, these 
documents generally available through https://www.regulations.gov and 
at the EPA Region 1 Office (please contact the person identified in the 
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section of this preamble for more 
information). Therefore, these materials have been approved by EPA for 
inclusion in the State implementation plan, have been incorporated by 
reference by EPA into that plan, are fully federally enforceable under 
sections 110 and 113 of the CAA as of the effective date of the final 
rulemaking of EPA's approval, and will be incorporated by reference in 
the next update to the SIP compilation.\1\
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    \1\ 62 FR 27968 (May 22, 1997).
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IV. 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 Orders 12866 (58 
FR 51735, October 4, 1993) and 13563 (76 FR 3821, January 21, 2011);
     This action is not an Executive Order 13771 regulatory 
action because this action is not significant under Executive Order 
12866;
     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, 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 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 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 May 20, 2019. 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. 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, Carbon monoxide, 
Incorporation by reference, Intergovernmental relations, Lead, Nitrogen 
dioxide, Ozone, Particulate matter, Reporting and recordkeeping 
requirements, Sulfur oxides, Volatile organic compounds.

    Dated: March 11, 2019.
Deborah Szaro,
Acting Regional Administrator, EPA Region 1.

    Part 52 of chapter I, title 40 of the Code of Federal Regulations 
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 W--Massachusetts

0
2. In Sec.  52.1120(c), amend the table by revising the entry ``310 CMR 
7.37'' to read as follows:


Sec.  52.1120  Identification of plan.

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    (c) * * *

[[Page 10266]]



                                     EPA-Approved Massachusetts Regulations
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                                                         State
       State citation            Title/subject         effective    EPA approval date \1\       Explanations
                                                         date
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                                                  * * * * * * *
310 CMR 7.37...............  High Occupancy               4/5/1996  3/20/2019, [Insert     Technical revisions
                              Vehicle Lanes.                         Federal Register       to SIP approved
                                                                     citation].             regulation.
 
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\1\ To determine the EPA effective date for a specific provision listed in this table, consult the Federal
  Register notice cited in this column for the particular provision.

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[FR Doc. 2019-04874 Filed 3-19-19; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6560-50-P