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[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 21 (Thursday, January 31, 2013)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 6741-6743]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-00182]

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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Parts 52 and 81

[EPA-R01-OAR-2012-0290; FRL-9768-7]

Approval and Promulgation of Implementation Plans and Designation 
of Areas for Air Quality Planning Purposes; New Hampshire; 
Redesignation of the Southern New Hampshire 1997 8-Hour Ozone 
Nonattainment Area

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: EPA is approving: the State of New Hampshire's request to 
redesignate the Boston-Manchester-Portsmouth (SE), New Hampshire 
moderate 8-hour ozone nonattainment area to attainment for the 1997 8-
hour ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS); a State 
Implementation Plan (SIP) revision containing a 10-year ozone 
maintenance plan for this area; a 2008 comprehensive emissions 
inventory for the area; and new motor vehicle emissions budgets (MVEBs) 
for the years 2008 and 2022 that are contained in the 10-year ozone 
maintenance plan for this area.

DATES: Effective Date: This rule is effective on March 4, 2013.

ADDRESSES: EPA has established a docket for this action under Docket 
Identification No. EPA-R01-OAR-2012-0290. All documents in the docket 
are listed on the www.regulations.gov Web site. 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 through 
www.regulations.gov or in hard copy at the Office of Ecosystem 
Protection, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, EPA New England 
Regional Office, One Congress Street, Suite 1100, 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 to 4:30, excluding legal holidays. Copies of the documents 
relevant to this action are also available for public inspection during 
normal business hours, by appointment at the State Air Agency: Air 
Resources Division, Department of Environmental Services, 6 Hazen 
Drive, Concord, NH.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Richard P. Burkhart, Air Quality 
Planning Unit, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, EPA New England 
Regional Office, One Congress Street, Suite 1100 (CAQ), Boston, MA 
02114-2023, telephone number (617) 918-1664, fax number (617) 918-0664, 
email Burkhart.Richard@epa.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Table of Contents

I. Background
II. Final Action
III. Statutory and Executive Orders

I. Background

    On October 25, 2012 (77 FR 65151), EPA published a notice of 
proposed rulemaking (NPR) for the State of New Hampshire. The NPR 
proposed approval of New Hampshire's request to redesignate the Boston-
Manchester-Portsmouth (SE), New Hampshire 1997 8-hour ozone 
nonattainment area (hereafter, the ``Southern NH'' area) and a SIP 
revision that establishes a maintenance plan for this area. The 
maintenance plan sets forth how the area will maintain attainment of 
the 1997 8-hour ozone NAAQS for the next 10 years in accordance with 
Section 175A of the Clean Air Act (CAA). The NPR also proposed approval 
of the motor vehicle emission budgets (MVEBs) associated with the 
maintenance plan, as well as a 2008 comprehensive emission inventory 
for the area. The New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services 
(NH DES) submitted the request to redesignate the Southern NH area to 
attainment of the 1997 8-hour ozone standard on March 2, 2012, with a 
supplement submitted on September 21, 2012. The specific details of New 
Hampshire's redesignation request, 175A maintenance plan, and MVEBs, 
and the rationale for EPA's proposed

[[Page 6742]]

approval are explained in the NPR and will not be restated here. No 
public comments were received on the NPR.
    The NPR stated that EPA would act on several outstanding issues 
before we finalized approval of the redesignation request and the 
associated maintenance plan. All outstanding actions have been 
completed. The final rulemaking notice on the determinations of 
attainment for the New Hampshire areas for the one-hour ozone standard 
was published on October 30, 2012 (77 FR 65625). The approval of New 
Hampshire's Reasonably Available Control Technology (RACT) 
Certification SIP for the 1997 8-hour ozone standard was published on 
November 5, 2012 (77 FR 66388). The approval of New Hampshire's SIP 
addressing EPA's 2006, 2007, and 2008 Control Technique Guidelines 
(CTGs) was published on November 8, 2012 (77 FR 66921). Finally, the 
approval of New Hampshire's Vehicle Inspection and Maintenance (I/M) 
SIP was signed by the Regional Administrator on November 14, 2012 and 
forwarded for publication in the Federal Register. A copy of the signed 
approval of New Hampshire's I/M SIP is available in the docket for this 
action. In addition, preliminary 2012 ozone data available for the area 
is well below the 1997 ozone NAAQS.

II. Final Action

    EPA is approving the State of New Hampshire's March 2, 2012 
(supplemented on September 21, 2012) redesignation request and 
maintenance plan for the Southern NH area, because the requirements for 
approval have been satisfied. EPA has evaluated New Hampshire's 
redesignation request, and determined that it meets the redesignation 
criteria set forth in section 107(d)(3)(E) of the Clean Air Act. EPA 
believes that the redesignation request and monitoring data demonstrate 
that the area has attained the 1997 8-hour ozone standard. The final 
approval of this redesignation request will change the designation of 
the Southern NH area from nonattainment to attainment for the 1997 8-
hour ozone standard. EPA is also approving the associated ozone 
maintenance plan for this area, submitted on March 2, 2012, and 
supplemented on September 21, 2012, as a revision to the New Hampshire 
SIP. EPA is approving the ozone maintenance plan for the area because 
it meets the requirements of section 175A of the CAA. In addition, EPA 
is also withdrawing the previously SIP-approved 2009 MVEBs prepared 
with the MOBILE6.2 model and approving the 2008 and 2022 MVEBs prepared 
with the MOVES model that are associated with the ozone maintenance 
plan. Finally, EPA is approving the 2008 comprehensive emission 
inventory for the Southern NH area under CAA section 182(a)(1).

III. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

    Under the CAA, redesignation of an area to attainment and the 
accompanying approval of a maintenance plan under section 107(d)(3)(E) 
are actions that affect the status of a geographical area and do not 
impose any additional regulatory requirements on sources beyond those 
imposed by state law. A redesignation to attainment does not in and of 
itself create any new requirements, but rather results in the 
applicability of requirements contained in the CAA for areas that have 
been redesignated to attainment. Moreover, 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. 
These actions do not impose additional requirements beyond those 
imposed by state law and the CAA. 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 an economically significant regulatory action 
based on health or safety risks subject to Executive Order 13045 (62 FR 
19885, April 23, 1997);
     Are not a significant regulatory action 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 Clean Air Act; 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 redesignation 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.
    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 CAA, petitions for judicial review 
of this action must be filed in the United States Court of Appeals for 
the appropriate circuit by April 1, 2013. 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

40 CFR Part 52

    Environmental protection, Air pollution control, Incorporation by 
reference, Intergovernmental relations, Nitrogen dioxide, Ozone, 
Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, Volatile organic compounds.

[[Page 6743]]

40 CFR Part 81

    Environmental protection, Air pollution control, National parks, 
Wilderness areas.

    Dated: December 27, 2012.
H. Curtis Spalding,
Regional Administrator, EPA New England.

    40 CFR parts 52 and 81 are 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 EE--New Hampshire

0
2. Section 52.1534 is amended by adding paragraph (i) to read as 
follows:

Sec.  52.1534  Control strategy: Ozone.

* * * * *
    (i) Approval--EPA is approving a redesignation request for the 
Boston-Manchester-Portsmouth (SE), New Hampshire moderate 1997 8-hour 
ozone nonattainment area. New Hampshire submitted this request on March 
2, 2012, and supplemented this submittal on September 21, 2012. As part 
of the redesignation request, the State submitted a maintenance plan as 
required by section 175A of the Clean Air Act. Elements of the section 
175 maintenance plan include a contingency plan and an obligation to 
submit a subsequent maintenance plan revision as required by the Clean 
Air Act. The ozone maintenance plan also establishes 2008 and 2022 
Motor Vehicle Emission Budgets (MVEBs) for the area. New Hampshire is 
establishing 2008 MVEBs of 17.8 tons per summer weekday (tpswd) of VOC 
and 37.2 tpswd of NOX, for the Boston-Manchester-Portsmouth 
(SE), New Hampshire 1997 8-hour ozone maintenance area. In addition, 
New Hampshire is establishing MVEBs for 2022 at 9.2 tpswd of VOC and 
11.8 tpswd of NOX, for the same area. The 2008 and 2022 
MVEBs were prepared with the MOVES model. Previously SIP-approved 2009 
MVEBs prepared with MOBILE6.2 are being withdrawn. Finally, EPA is also 
approving a comprehensive 2008 emission inventory for this area.

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

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

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

0
4. Section 81.330 is amended by revising the entry for the Boston-
Manchester-Portsmouth (SE), in the New Hampshire 1997 8-hour Ozone 
NAAQS (Primary and Secondary) table to read as follows:

Sec.  81.330  New Hampshire

* * * * *

                         New Hampshire--1997 8-Hour Ozone NAAQS (Primary and Secondary)
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                                                       Designation \a\               Category/Classification
               Designated area               -------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                Date \1\           Type           Date \1\           Type
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Boston-Manchester-Portsmouth (SE), NH:
    Hillsborough County (part) Amherst Town,     3/4/2013  Attainment
     Bedford Town, Brookline Town, Goffstown
     Town, Hollis Town, Hudson Town,
     Litchfield Town, Manchester City,
     Merrimack Town, Milford Town, Nashua
     City, Pelham Town.
    Merrimack County (part) Hooksett Town...     3/4/2013  Attainment
    Rockingham County (part) Atkinson Town,      3/4/2013  Attainment
     Auburn Town, Brentwood Town, Candia
     Town, Chester Town, Danville Town,
     Derry Town, E. Kingston Town, Epping
     Town, Exeter Town, Fremont Town,
     Greenland Town, Hampstead Town, Hampton
     Town, Hampton Falls Town, Kensington
     Town, Kingston Town, Londonderry Town,
     New Castle Town, Newfields Town,
     Newington Town, Newmarket Town, Newton
     Town, North Hampton Town, Plaistow
     Town, Portsmouth City, Raymond Town,
     Rye Town, Salem Town, Sandown Town,
     Seabrook Town, South Hampton Town,
     Stratham Town, Windham Town.
    Strafford County (part) Dover City,          3/4/2013  Attainment
     Durham Town, Rochester City,
     Rollinsford Town, and Somersworth City.
 
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\a\ Includes Indian country located in each county or area, except otherwise specified.
\1\ This date is June 15, 2004, unless otherwise noted.

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[FR Doc. 2013-00182 Filed 1-30-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P
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