[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 148 (Thursday, August 1, 2024)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 62663-62665]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-16899]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 81

[EPA-R03-OAR-2024-0352; FRL-12131-01-R3]


Designations of Areas for Air Quality Planning Purposes; 
Maryland; Baltimore, MD 2015 8-Hour Ozone Nonattainment Area; 
Reclassification to Serious

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: Under the Clean Air Act (CAA or the ``Act''), the 
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is granting a request from the 
State of Maryland to reclassify the Baltimore, Maryland ozone 
nonattainment area from ``Moderate'' to ``Serious'' for the 2015 8-hour 
ozone national ambient air quality standards (2015 ozone NAAQS).

DATES: This final rule is effective on August 1, 2024.

ADDRESSES: EPA has established a docket for this action under Docket ID 
Number EPA-R03-OAR-2024-0352. All documents in the docket are listed on 
the www.regulations.gov website. Although listed in the index, some 
information is not publicly available, e.g., confidential business 
information (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 through 
www.regulations.gov, or please contact the person identified in the FOR 
FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section for additional availability 
information.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ian Neiswinter, Planning and 
Implementation Branch (3AD30), Air & Radiation Division, U.S. 
Environmental Protection Agency, Region III, 1600 John F Kennedy 
Boulevard, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19103. The telephone number is 
(215) 814-2011. Mr. Neiswinter can also be reached via electronic mail 
at [email protected].

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

Table of Contents

I. Reclassification of the Baltimore, Maryland Area to Serious Ozone 
Nonattainment
II. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

[[Page 62664]]

I. Reclassification of the Baltimore, Maryland Area to Serious Ozone 
Nonattainment

    Effective August 3, 2018 (83 FR 25776), the EPA classified the 
Baltimore, Maryland area (the Baltimore Area \1\) under the CAA as 
``Marginal'' for the 2015 8-hour ozone NAAQS. Classification of this 
area as a Marginal ozone nonattainment area established a requirement 
that the area attain the 2015 ozone NAAQS as expeditiously as 
practicable, but no later than three years from designation, i.e., 
August 3, 2021. Effective November 7, 2022 (87 FR 60897), the EPA 
determined that the Baltimore Area failed to attain by the applicable 
Marginal attainment date. In that action, the EPA reclassified the 
Baltimore Area as Moderate nonattainment for the 2015 ozone NAAQS and 
established the Moderate attainment date as August 3, 2024. On July 18, 
2024, the State of Maryland requested that the EPA reclassify the 
Baltimore Area from Moderate to Serious. The request letter from the 
State of Maryland is also provided in the docket of this rulemaking.
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    \1\ The Baltimore Area consists of the following counties/
cities: Anne Arundel County, Baltimore County, Carroll County, 
Harford County, Howard County, and the City of Baltimore in 
Maryland. See 40 Code of Federal Regulation (CFR) 81.321.
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    We are approving this State's reclassification request under 
section 181(b)(3) of the Act, which provides for ``voluntary 
reclassification.'' Because the plain language of section 181(b)(3) 
mandates that we approve such a request, the EPA is granting the 
State's request for voluntary reclassification under section 181(b)(3) 
for the Baltimore Area for the 2015 ozone NAAQS, and the EPA is 
reclassifying the area from Moderate to Serious. Because of this 
action, the Baltimore Area must now attain the 2015 ozone NAAQS as 
expeditiously as practicable, but no later than nine years from the 
date of the initial designation as nonattainment, i.e., August 3, 2027. 
Applicable SIP requirements and deadlines associated with the 
reclassification will be addressed in a separate notification.
    The EPA has determined that this action falls under the ``good 
cause'' exemption in section 553(b)(B) of the Administrative Procedure 
Act (APA) which, upon finding ``good cause,'' authorizes agencies to 
dispense with public participation where public notice and comment 
procedures are ``impracticable, unnecessary or contrary to the public 
interest.'' The EPA has determined that public notice and comment for 
this action is unnecessary because our action to approve voluntary 
reclassification requests under CAA section 181(b)(3) is 
nondiscretionary both in its issuance and in its content. As such, 
notice and comment rulemaking procedures would serve no useful purpose.
    The EPA also finds that there is good cause under APA section 
553(d)(3) for this reclassification to become effective on the date of 
publication. Section 553(d)(3) of the APA allows an effective date of 
less than 30 days after publication ``as otherwise provided by the 
agency for good cause found and published with the rule.'' See 5 U.S.C. 
553(d)(3). The purpose of the 30-day waiting period prescribed in APA 
section 553(d)(3) is to give affected parties a reasonable time to 
adjust their behavior and prepare before the final rule takes effect. 
This rule, however, does not create any new regulatory requirements 
such that affected parties would need time to prepare before the rule 
takes effect. The schedule for required plan submittals for the 
Baltimore Area under the new classification will be proposed in a 
separate action. For this reason, the EPA finds good cause under APA 
section 553(d)(3) for this reclassification to become effective on the 
date of publication.

II. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

A. General Requirements

    Under the Clean Air Act 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); and
     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;
    In addition, this action 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).
    Executive Order 12898 (59 FR 7629, February 16, 1994) establishes 
Federal executive policy on environmental justice. Its main provision 
directs Federal agencies, to the greatest extent practicable and 
permitted by law, to make environmental justice part of their mission 
by identifying and addressing, as appropriate, disproportionately high 
and adverse human health or environmental effects of their programs, 
policies, and activities on minority populations and low-income 
populations in the United States. This reclassification action relates 
to ozone, a pollutant that is regional in nature, and is not the type 
of action that could result in the types of local impacts addressed in 
Executive Order 12898.

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 September 30, 2024. 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

[[Page 62665]]

for judicial review may be filed, and shall not postpone the 
effectiveness of such rule or action. This action reclassifying the 
Baltimore Area from Moderate to Serious for the 2015 ozone NAAQS may 
not be challenged later in proceedings to enforce its requirements. 
(See section 307(b)(2).)

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 81

    Air pollution control, National parks, Wilderness areas.

Adam Ortiz,
Regional Administrator, Region III.

    Part 81 of chapter I, title 40 of the Code of Federal Regulations 
is amended as follows:

PART 81--DESIGNATION OF AREAS FOR AIR QUALITY PLANNING PURPOSES

0
1. The authority citation for part 81 continues to read as follows:

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


0
2. In Sec.  81.321 the table titled ``Maryland--2015 8-Hour Ozone 
NAAQS'' is amended by revising the entry for ``Baltimore, MD'' to read 
as follows:
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    \2\ Includes any Indian country in each county or area, unless 
otherwise specified. EPA is not determining the boundaries of any 
area of Indian country in this table, including any area of Indian 
country located in the larger designation area. The inclusion of any 
Indian country in the designation area is not a determination that 
the state has regulatory authority under the Clean Air Act for such 
Indian country.
    \3\ This date is August 3, 2018, unless otherwise noted.
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Sec.  81.321  Maryland.

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                                        Maryland--2015 8-Hour Ozone NAAQS
                                             [Primary and secondary]
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                                                Designation                             Classification
     Designated area \2\      ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                     Date \3\                 Type               Date \2\            Type
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Baltimore, MD................  ...................  Nonattainment...........        8/1/2024  Serious.
    Anne Arundel County.
    Baltimore County.
    Carroll County.
    Harford County.
    Howard County.
    City of Baltimore.
 
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[FR Doc. 2024-16899 Filed 7-31-24; 8:45 am]
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