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[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 41 (Tuesday, March 3, 2015)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 11321-11323]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-04269]

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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[EPA-R06-OAR-2014-0871; FRL-9923-80-Region 6]

Approval and Promulgation of Implementation Plans: Texas; 
Approval of Substitution for Transportation Control Measures

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Final rule; notice of administrative change.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is making an 
administrative change to update the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 
to reflect a change made to the Texas State Implementation Plan (SIP) 
on November 3, 2014, as a result of EPA's concurrence on a substitute 
transportation control measure (TCM) for the Dallas/Ft. Worth (DFW) 
portion of the Texas SIP. On November 24, 2014, the State of Texas, 
through the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ), submitted 
a revision to the Texas SIP

[[Page 11322]]

requesting that EPA update its SIP to reflect a substitution of a TCM. 
The substitution was made pursuant to the TCM substitution provisions 
contained in Clean Air Act (CAA). EPA concurred on this substitution on 
November 3, 2014. In this administrative action, EPA is updating the 
non-regulatory provisions of the Texas SIP to reflect the substitution. 
In summary, the substitution was a replacement of environmental speed 
limits (ESLs) within the DFW 8-hour ozone nonattainment area with 
traffic signalization projects. EPA has determined that this action 
falls under the ``good cause'' exemption in the Administrative 
Procedures Act (APA) which, upon finding ``good cause,'' authorizes an 
agency to make an action effective immediately, thereby avoiding the 
30-day delayed effective date otherwise provided for in the APA.

DATES: This action is effective March 3, 2015.

ADDRESSES: SIP materials which are incorporated by reference into 40 
Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) part 52 are available for inspection 
at the following location: Environmental Protection Agency, Region 6, 
1445 Ross Avenue, Suite 700, Dallas, TX 75202. Publicly available 
materials are available either electronically in www.regulations.gov or 
in hard copy at the Region 6 office. The Regional Office hours are 
Monday through Friday, 8:30 to 4:30, excluding Federal holidays.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Jeffrey Riley at (214) 665-8542 or 
via electronic mail at riley.jeffrey@epa.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On November 3, 2014, EPA issued a 
concurrence letter to TCEQ stating that the substitution of DFW area 
ESL TCMs with traffic signalization project TCMs met the CAA section 
176(c)(8) requirements for substituting TCMs in an area's approved SIP. 
See also EPA's Guidance for Implementing the CAA section 176(c)(8) 
Transportation Control Measure Substitution and Addition Provision 
contained in the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation 
Equity Act: A Legacy for Users which was signed into law on August 10, 
2005, dated January 2009. The DFW area ESLs were originally approved 
into the SIP as control measures on October 11, 2005 (70 FR 58978). On 
January 9, 2014, EPA approved re-categorization of the DFW area ESL 
control measures to TCMs, making the measures eligible for substitution 
under the provisions of CAA section 176(c)(8) (79 FR 1596).
    As a part of the concurrence process, the public was provided an 
opportunity to comment on the proposed TCM substitution. Public notice 
and comment was provided by the DFW metropolitan planning organization, 
the North Central Texas Council of Governments (NCTCOG), during 
Regional Transportation Council meetings held on July 14, 2014 and July 
17, 2014. Public notice for these meetings was published in 20 DFW area 
newspapers and circulars.
    Through this concurrence process, EPA determined that the 
requirements of CAA section 176(c)(8) were met, including the 
requirement that the substitute measures achieve equivalent or greater 
emission reductions than the control measure to be replaced. Upon EPA's 
concurrence, the ESL substitution took effect as a matter of federal 
law. A copy of EPA's concurrence letter is included in the Docket for 
this action. This letter can be accessed at www.regulations.gov using 
Docket ID No. EPA-R06-OAR-2014-0871. In accordance with the 
requirements for TCM substitution, on November 24, 2014, TCEQ submitted 
a request for EPA to update the DFW portion of the Texas SIP to reflect 
EPA's previous approval of the TCM substitution of the ESLs with the 
traffic signalization project TCMs in its SIP (the subject of this 
administrative change). Today, EPA is taking administrative action to 
update the non-regulatory provisions of the Texas SIP in 40 CFR 
52.2270(e) to reflect EPA's concurrence on the substitution of a TCM 
for the conversion of ESLs to traffic signalization projects:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                    Applicable
   Name of nonregulatory SIP      geographic or    State submittal date/
           provision              nonattainment        effective date
                                       area
------------------------------------------------------------------------
DFW nine-county area ESL TCMs   Dallas-Fort Worth              9/16/2010
 to traffic signalization
 TCMs. Affected counties are
 Dallas, Tarrant, Collin,
 Denton, Parker, Johnson,
 Ellis, Kaufman, Rockwall.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Under section 553 of the APA, an agency may find good cause where 
procedures are ``impractical, unnecessary, or contrary to the public 
interest.'' The substitution was made through the process included in 
CAA section 176(c)(8). Effective immediately, today's action codifies 
provisions which are already in effect. The public had an opportunity 
to comment on this substitution during the public comment period prior 
to approval of the substitution. Immediate notice of this action in the 
Federal Register benefits the public by providing the updated Texas SIP 
Compilation and ``Identification of Plan'' portion of the Federal 
Register.

Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

A. General Requirements

    Under Executive Order 12866 (58 FR 51735, October 4, 1993), this 
administrative action is not a ``significant regulatory action'' and is 
therefore not subject to review by the Office of Management and Budget. 
This action is not subject to Executive Order 13211, ``Actions 
Concerning Regulations That Significantly Affect Energy Supply, 
Distribution, or Use'' (66 FR 28355, May 22, 2001) because it is not a 
significant regulatory action under Executive Order 12866. Because the 
Agency has made a ``good cause'' finding that this action is not 
subject to notice-and-comment requirements under the APA or any other 
statute as indicated in the Supplementary Information section above, it 
is not subject to the regulatory flexibility provisions of the 
Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 601 et seq.), or to sections 202 
and 205 of the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA) of 1995 (Pub. L. 
104-4). In addition, this action does not significantly or uniquely 
affect small governments or impose a significant intergovernmental 
mandate, as described in sections 203 and 204 of UMRA.
    This administrative action also does not have a substantial direct 
effect on one or more Indian tribes, on the relationship between the 
federal government and Indian tribes, or on the distribution of power 
and responsibilities between the federal government and Indian tribes, 
as specified by Executive Order 13175 (65 FR 67249, November 9, 2000), 
nor will it have substantial direct effects on the states, on the 
relationship between the national government and the states, or on the 
distribution of power and responsibilities among the various levels of 
government, as specified in Executive Order 13132 (64 FR 43255, August 
10, 1999).

[[Page 11323]]

    This administrative action also is not subject to Executive Order 
13045 (62 FR19885, April 23, 1997), because it is not economically 
significant. This administrative action does not involve technical 
standards; thus the requirements of section 12(d) of the National 
Technology Transfer and Advancement Act of 1995 (15 U.S.C. 272 note) do 
not apply. The administrative action also does not involve special 
consideration of environmental justice related issues as required by 
Executive Order 12898 (59 FR 7629, February 16, 1994). This 
administrative action does not impose an information collection burden 
under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.).

B. Submission to Congress and the Comptroller General

    The Congressional Review Act (CRA) (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. Section 808 allows the issuing agency to 
make a rule effective sooner than otherwise provided by the CRA if the 
agency makes a good cause finding that notice and public procedure is 
impracticable, unnecessary or contrary to the public interest. Today's 
administrative action simply codifies a provision which is already in 
effect as a matter of law in Federal and approved state programs. 5 
U.S.C. 808(2). These announced actions were effective upon EPA's 
concurrence. 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 this action in the Federal Register. This update to 
Texas' SIP Compilation is not a ``major rule'' as defined by 5 U.S.C. 
804(2).

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 52

    Environmental protection, Air pollution control, Incorporation by 
reference, Nitrogen dioxide, Ozone, Volatile organic compounds.

    Dated: February 19, 2015.
Ron Curry,
Regional Administrator, Region 6.

    40 CFR part 52 is amended as follows:

PART 52--[AMENDED]

0
1. The authority citation for part 52 continues to read as follows:

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

Subpart SS--Texas

0
2. In Sec.  52.2270(e), the table titled ``EPA Approved Nonregulatory 
Provisions and Quasi-Regulatory Measures in the Texas SIP'' is amended 
by adding an entry at the end for ``DFW nine-county area ESL TCM to 
traffic signalization TCMs''.
    The addition reads as follows:

Sec.  52.2270  Identification of plan.

* * * * *
    (e) * * *

                                  EPA-Approved Nonregulatory Provisions and Quasi-Regulatory Measures in the Texas SIP
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                                                                        State
         Name of SIP provision           Applicable geographic or    submittal/                 EPA approval date                       Comments
                                            nonattainment area     effective date
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                                                                      * * * * * * *
DFW nine-county area ESL TCM to         Dallas-Fort Worth:              9/16/2010  1/9/2014, 79 FR 1596.......................  DFW ESLs recategorized
 traffic signalization TCMs.             Dallas, Tarrant, Collin,                                                                as TCM 1/9/2014,
                                         Denton, Parker, Johnson,                                                                substituted withtraffic
                                         Ellis, Kaufman and                                                                      signalization TCMs 11/3/
                                         Rockwall Counties.                                                                      2014.
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[FR Doc. 2015-04269 Filed 3-2-15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P
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