11080 Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 40 / Tuesday, March 1, 2011 / Rules and Regulations 

1See 58 FR 412, January 5, 1993. The circular, as 

amended, is codified at 31 CFR part 356. The UOC, 

together with the offering announcement for each 

auction, sets out the terms and conditions for the 

sale and issuance by the Treasury to the public of 

marketable book-entry Treasury bills, notes, and 

bonds. 

2The term reopening is defined at 31 CFR 356.2 

as the auction of an additional amount of an 

outstanding security. 

3For example, the two-year note auction 

conducted on December 29, 2005, resulted in a 

yield of 4.404 percent. The interest rate was set at 

43⁄8 percent with a price of 99.944505. See 

http://www.treasurydirect.gov/instit/annceresult/ 

press/preanre/2005/ofk1229051.pdf. 

4See Appendix B to part 356—Formulas and 

Tables. 

5We use the term ‘‘fixed-principal’’ to distinguish 

such securities from ‘‘inflation-protected’’ securities. 

We refer to fixed-principal notes and fixedprincipal bonds as ‘‘notes’’ and ‘‘bonds’’ in official 

Treasury publications, such as auction 

announcements and auction results press releases, 

as well as in the auction system. 

Government Securities Regulations 

Staff, (202) 504–3632. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

Department of the Treasury (‘‘Treasury’’ 

or ‘‘We’’) is issuing an amendment to 31 

CFR 356.20(b) of the Uniform Offering 

Circular for the Sale and Issue of 

Marketable Book-Entry Treasury Bills, 

Notes, and Bonds 1 (‘‘UOC’’ or ‘‘Auction 

Rules’’) to establish a minimum interest 

rate of 1⁄8 of one percent (i.e., 0.125 

percent) for all new marketable Treasury 

note and bond issues. This amendment 

is not applicable to reopenings.2 In this 

rule we discuss how Treasury 

determines the interest rate for new note 

and bond issues, the reason for 

establishing a minimum interest rate, 

and the final amendment to the UOC. 

I. Determining the Interest Rate for New 

Treasury Note and Bond Issues 

In determining the interest rate for 

new note and bond issues, Treasury sets 

the interest rate at a 1⁄8 of one percent 

increment. The interest rate we establish 

produces the price closest to, but not 

above, par that corresponds to the yield 

awarded to successful competitive 

bidders.3 The interest rate in turn is 

used to establish the amount of the 

semi-annual interest payment that note 

and bond investors receive.4

II. Establishing a Minimum Interest 

Rate 

In an extremely low interest rate 

environment, a note or bond auction 

could result in an interest rate lower 

than Treasury’s 1⁄8 of one percent 

interest rate increment. If that were to 

happen, under the current methodology 

the new security would be issued with 

a zero percent interest rate and would 

have no semi-annual interest payments. 

Treasury is amending the UOC because 

we believe it is preferable that Treasury 

notes and bonds pay regular, semiannual interest payments. 

III. Amendment to the Rule 

Accordingly, Treasury is amending 

paragraph (b) of 31 CFR 356.20 to state 

that if a Treasury note or bond auction 

results in a yield lower than 0.125 

percent, the interest rate will be set at 

1⁄8 of one percent with the price 

adjusted accordingly (i.e., at a 

premium). This change applies to all 

new marketable Treasury note and bond 

issues: Treasury fixed-principal 5 (also 

referred to as nominal) notes and bonds 

as well as Treasury inflation-protected 

notes and bonds. 

Procedural Requirements 

Executive Order 12866. This final rule 

is not a ‘‘significant regulatory action’’ 

pursuant to Executive Order 12866. 

Administrative Procedure Act (APA). 

Because this rule relates to public 

contracts and procedures for United 

States securities, the notice, public 

comment, and delayed effective date 

provisions of the Administrative 

Procedure Act are inapplicable, 

pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553(a)(2). 

Regulatory Flexibility Act. As no 

notice of proposed rulemaking is 

required, the provisions of the 

Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 601, 

et seq.) do not apply. 

Paperwork Reduction Act. There is no 

new collection of information contained 

in this final rule, and, therefore, the 

Paperwork Reduction Act does not 

apply. The Office of Management and 

Budget has approved the collections of 

information already contained in 31 

CFR part 356, under control number 

1535–0112. Under the Paperwork 

Reduction Act, an agency may not 

conduct or sponsor, and a person is not 

required to respond to, a collection of 

information unless it displays a valid 

OMB control number. 

List of Subjects in 31 CFR Part 356 

Bonds, Federal Reserve System, 

Government Securities, Securities. 

For the reasons set forth in the 

preamble, 31 CFR part 356 is amended 

as follows: 

PART 356—SALE AND ISSUE OF 

MARKETABLE BOOK-ENTRY 

TREASURY BILLS, NOTES, AND 

BONDS (DEPARTMENT OF THE 

TREASURY CIRCULAR, PUBLIC DEBT 

SERIES NO. 1–93) 

■ 1. The authority citation for part 356 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 5 U.S.C. 301; 31 U.S.C. 3102, 

et seq.; 12 U.S.C. 391. 

■ 2. Section 356.20 is amended by 

revising the introductory text of 

paragraph (b) to read as follows: 

§ 356.20 How does the Treasury determine 

auction awards? 

* * * * * 

(b) Determining the interest rate for 

new note and bond issues. We set the 

interest rate at a 1⁄8 of one percent 

increment. If a Treasury note or bond 

auction results in a yield lower than 

0.125 percent, the interest rate will be 

set at 1⁄8 of one percent, and successful 

bidders’ award prices will be calculated 

accordingly (see appendix B to this part 

for formulas). 

* * * * * 

Richard L. Gregg, 

Fiscal Assistant Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 2011–4455 Filed 2–28–11; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4810–39–P 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

40 CFR Part 52 

[EPA–R05–OAR–2010–0850; FRL–9271–9] 

Approval and Promulgation of Air 

Quality Implementation Plans; 

Wisconsin; The Milwaukee-Racine and 

Sheboygan Areas; Determination of 

Attainment of the 1997 8-Hour Ozone 

Standard 

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA). 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: EPA is making determinations 

under the Clean Air Act (CAA) that the 

Milwaukee-Racine and Sheboygan, 

Wisconsin areas have attained the 1997 

8-hour ozone National Ambient Air 

Quality Standard (NAAQS). The 

Milwaukee-Racine area includes 

Milwaukee, Ozaukee, Racine, 

Washington, Waukesha, and Kenosha 

Counties. The Sheboygan area includes 

Sheboygan County. The determinations 

are based on complete, quality-assured 

and certified ambient air monitoring 

data that show that the areas have 

monitored attainment of the 1997 8- 

hour ozone standard for the 2006–2008 

and 2007–2009 monitoring periods. 

Quality assured data available for 2010 

indicate that the areas continue to 

monitor attainment. As a result of these 

determinations, the requirements for 

these areas to submit attainment 

demonstrations and associated 

reasonably available control measures 

(RACM), reasonable further progress 

plans (RFP), contingency measures, and 

other State Implementation Plan (SIP) 

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Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 40 / Tuesday, March 1, 2011 / Rules and Regulations 11081 

revisions related to attainment of the 

standard are suspended for as long as 

the areas continue to attain the 1997 8- 

hour ozone standard. These 

determinations also suspend the 

requirement for EPA to promulgate 

attainment demonstration, RFP, and any 

other attainment-related Federal 

Implementation Plans (FIPs) for these 

areas. EPA published proposed and 

direct final approvals of this request on 

December 15, 2010. We received an 

adverse comment on our proposed 

rulemaking, which is addressed below. 

As a result, EPA withdrew the direct 

final approval on January 28, 2011. 

DATES: This final rule is effective on 

March 31, 2011. 

ADDRESSES: EPA has established a 

docket for this action under Docket ID 

No. EPA–R05–OAR–2010–0850. All 

documents in the docket are listed in 

the http://www.regulations.gov index. 

Although listed in the index, some 

information is not publicly available, 

e.g., CBI or other information whose 

disclosure is restricted by statute. 

Certain other material, such as 

copyrighted material, will be publicly 

available only in hard copy. Publicly 

available docket materials are available 

either electronically in 

www.regulations.gov or in hard copy at 

the Environmental Protection Agency, 

Region 5, Air and Radiation Division, 77 

West Jackson Boulevard, Chicago, 

Illinois 60604. This facility is open from 

8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through 

Friday, excluding Federal holidays. We 

recommend that you telephone 

Kathleen D’Agostino, Environmental 

Engineer, at (312) 886–1767 before 

visiting the Region 5 office. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Kathleen D’Agostino, Environmental 

Engineer, Attainment Planning and 

Maintenance Section, Air Programs 

Branch (AR–18J), Environmental 

Protection Agency, Region 5, 77 West 

Jackson Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois 

60604, (312) 886–1767, 

dagostino.kathleen@epa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Throughout this document whenever 

‘‘we,’’ ‘‘us,’’ or ‘‘our’’ is used, we mean 

EPA. This supplementary information 

section is arranged as follows: 

I. What did EPA propose? 

II. What comments did we receive on the 

proposed action? 

III. What actions is EPA taking? 

IV. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews 

I. What did EPA propose? 

On December 15, 2010, EPA 

published proposed (75 FR 78197) and 

direct final (75 FR 78164) 

determinations under the CAA that the 

Milwaukee-Racine and Sheboygan, 

Wisconsin areas have attained the 1997 

8-hour ozone NAAQS. EPA received an 

adverse comment on this action and 

withdrew the direct final approval on 

January 28, 2011 (76 FR 5078). 

II. What comments did we receive on 

the proposed action? 

EPA received an adverse comment 

from Midwest Environmental Defense 

Center, Inc. 

Comment: The commenter asserts that 

section 107(d)(3)(E) of the CAA 

prohibits redesignation of a 

nonattainment area to attainment unless 

five requirements are met. The 

commenter contends that EPA’s Federal 

Register document describes air quality 

monitoring data in the MilwaukeeRacine and Sheboygan areas, but does 

not discuss the other requirements for 

redesignation. The commenter argues 

that unless all five criteria for 

redesignation are met, the Administrator 

cannot grant the redesignation. 

Response: The commenter’s concerns 

are misplaced; the actions that are the 

subject of these rulemakings are 

determinations of attainment, and not 

redesignations to attainment. As EPA 

stated in its December 15, 2010, direct 

final rule, the determinations of 

attainment in this notice are not 

equivalent to redesignations to 

attainment under section 107(d)(3) of 

the CAA. While the commenter is 

correct that rulemakings redesignating 

an area to attainment would need to 

satisfy the criteria of section 

107(d)(3)(E), EPA’s actions here are not 

redesignations. EPA is not purporting 

here to redesignate the MilwaukeeRacine and Sheboygan areas, and thus 

we acknowledged in the direct final 

rulemaking that we were not attempting 

to approve maintenance plans for the 

areas as required under section 175A of 

the CAA, nor have we found that the 

areas have met the other statutory 

requirements for redesignation. The 

designation status of each of the areas 

remains nonattainment for the 1997 

8-hour ozone NAAQS until such time as 

EPA determines, through notice and 

comment rulemaking, that it meets the 

CAA requirements for redesignation to 

attainment. Thus, EPA’s rulemaking 

here addresses only the air quality issue 

of whether the areas are attaining the 

1997 8-hour ozone standard. The 

commenter offered no objection to 

EPA’s proposed determinations that the 

Milwaukee-Racine and Sheboygan 

nonattainment areas are attaining that 

standard. 

III. What actions is EPA taking? 

EPA is making final determinations 

that the Milwaukee-Racine and 

Sheboygan, Wisconsin areas have 

attained the 1997 8-hour ozone NAAQS. 

The determinations are based upon 

complete, quality-assured and certified 

ambient air monitoring data, which 

show that the areas have monitored 

attainment of the 1997 8-hour ozone 

standard for the 2006–2008 and 2007– 

2009 monitoring periods. Quality 

assured data for 2010 available to date 

indicate that the areas continue to 

monitor attainment. 

As provided in 40 CFR 51.918, the 

determinations of attainment for the 

Milwaukee-Racine and Sheboygan areas 

suspend the requirements for the State 

of Wisconsin to submit for these areas: 

An attainment demonstration, 

associated RACM, RFP plan, 

contingency measures, and any other 

planning SIPs related to attainment of 

the 1997 8-hour ozone NAAQS. These 

determinations also suspend any 

requirement for EPA to promulgate FIPs 

for these areas deriving from the 

concomitant SIP obligations. 

The attainment-related SIP and FIP 

obligations remain suspended for each 

area for so long as it continues to attain 

the 1997 8-hour ozone NAAQS or until 

it is redesignated for that NAAQS, at 

which time the obligations end. 40 CFR 

51.918. 

IV. Statutory and Executive Order 

Reviews 

These actions make determinations 

based on air quality data, and would, if 

finalized, result in the suspension of 

certain Federal requirements. For that 

reason, these actions: 

• Are not ‘‘significant regulatory 

actions’’ subject to review by the Office 

of Management and Budget under 

Executive Order 12866 (58 FR 51735, 

October 4, 1993); 

• Do not impose an information 

collection burden under the provisions 

of the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 

U.S.C. 3501 et seq.); 

• Are 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.); 

• Do 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); 

• Do not have Federalism 

implications as specified in Executive 

Order 13132 (64 FR 43255, August 10, 

1999); 

• Are not economically significant 

regulatory actions based on health or 

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11082 Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 40 / Tuesday, March 1, 2011 / Rules and Regulations 

safety risks subject to Executive Order 

13045 (62 FR 19885, April 23, 1997); 

• Are not significant regulatory 

actions subject to Executive Order 

13211 (66 FR 28355, May 22, 2001); 

• Are 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 

• Do 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 a 

determinations of attainment is an 

action that affects the status of a 

geographical area and does not impose 

any new regulatory requirements on 

tribes, impact any existing sources of air 

pollution on tribal lands, nor impair the 

maintenance of ozone national ambient 

air quality standards in tribal lands. 

However, because there are tribal lands 

located in Milwaukee County, we 

provided the affected tribe with the 

opportunity to consult with EPA on the 

attainment determination. The 

consultation occurred on November 15, 

2010. The affected tribe raised no 

concerns. 

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. 

These actions are not ‘‘major rules’’ 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 May 2, 2011. Filing a petition 

for reconsideration by the Administrator 

of this final rule does not affect the 

finality of these actions 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. These actions may not be 

challenged later in proceedings to 

enforce their requirements. (See section 

307(b)(2).) 

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 52 

Environmental protection, Air 

pollution control, Incorporation by 

reference, Intergovernmental relations, 

Ozone, Reporting and recordkeeping 

requirements, Volatile organic 

compounds. 

Dated: February 14, 2011. 

Susan Hedman, 

Regional Administrator, Region 5. 

40 CFR part 52 is amended as follows: 

PART 52—[AMENDED] 

■ 1. The authority citation for part 52 

continues to read as follows: 

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

Subpart YY—Wisconsin 

■ 2. Section 52.2585 is amended by 

adding paragraph (y) to read as follows: 

§ 52.2585 Control strategy: Ozone. 

* * * * * 

(y) Determination of attainment. EPA 

has determined, as of March 1, 2011 that 

the Milwaukee-Racine, WI and 

Sheboygan, WI areas have attained the 

1997 8-hour ozone standard. These 

determinations suspend the 

requirements for these areas to submit 

attainment demonstrations and 

associated reasonably available control 

measures (RACM), reasonable further 

progress plans (RFP), contingency 

measures, and other State 

Implementation Plan (SIP) revisions 

related to attainment of the standard for 

as long as the areas continue to attain 

the 1997 8-hour ozone standard. These 

determinations also stay the 

requirement for EPA to promulgate 

attainment demonstration and RFP 

Federal Implementation Plans (FIPs) for 

these areas. 

[FR Doc. 2011–4380 Filed 2–28–11; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

40 CFR Part 52 

[EPA–R05–OAR–2006–0976; FRL–9272–1] 

Approval and Promulgation of Air 

Quality Implementation Plans; Ohio; 

Oxides of Nitrogen Budget Trading 

Program; Technical Amendment 

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA). 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: EPA is taking final action to 

remove codification of a State 

Implementation Plan (SIP) approval 

vacated by the U.S. Court of Appeals for 

the Sixth Circuit in a decision dated 

June 5, 2009. This relates to Ohio rule 

revisions concerning 240 allowances 

under the Nitrogen Oxides Budget 

Trading Program added to the SIP by 

EPA rulemaking dated February 13, 

2008. This final rule conforms the 

codification of the SIP to the decision by 

the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth 

Circuit in Buckeye Power, Inc. v. EPA 

(6th Cir., No. 08–3399, June 5, 2009). 

DATES: This final rule is effective on 

March 1, 2011. 

ADDRESSES: EPA has established a 

docket for this action under Docket ID 

No. EPA–R05–OAR–2006–0976. All 

documents in the docket are listed on 

the http://www.regulations.gov Web 

site. Although listed in the index, some 

information is not publicly available, 

i.e., 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 either electronically through 

www.regulations.gov or in hard copy at 

the Environmental Protection Agency, 

Region 5, Air and Radiation Division, 77 

West Jackson Boulevard, Chicago, 

Illinois 60604. This facility is open from 

8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through 

Friday, excluding Federal holidays. We 

recommend that you telephone Anthony 

Maietta, Environmental Protection 

Specialist, at (312) 353–8777 before 

visiting the Region 5 office. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Anthony Maietta, Environmental 

Protection Specialist, Control Strategies 

Section, Air Programs Branch (AR–18J), 

Environmental Protection Agency, 

Region 5, 77 West Jackson Boulevard, 

Chicago, Illinois 60604, (312) 353–8777, 

Maietta.anthony@epa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Throughout this document whenever 

‘‘we,’’ ‘‘us,’’ or ‘‘our’’ is used, we mean 

EPA. This supplementary information 

section is arranged as follows: 

I. Background Information 

II. What action is EPA taking? 

III. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews 

I. Background information 

On October 11, 2006, the Ohio 

Environmental Protection Agency sent 

EPA a letter requesting, among other 

actions, that EPA approve rule revisions 

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