70676 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 228 / Monday, November 27, 2000 / Proposed Rules

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[MA–01–082–7212b; A–1–FRL–6905–9]

Approval and Promulgation of Air

Quality Implementation Plans;

Massachusetts; Amendment to the

Massachusetts Port Authority/Logan

Airport Parking Freeze and City of

Boston/East Boston Parking Freeze

AGENCY: Environmental Protection

Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Proposed rule.

SUMMARY: The EPA is proposing to

approve a State Implementation Plan

(SIP) revision submitted by the

Commonwealth of Massachusetts. This

SIP revision will establish a state

process to allow the transfer of parking

spaces from the East Boston Parking

Freeze to the Logan Parking Freeze

provided the total Logan Parking Freeze

inventory number remains at or below

21,790 parking spaces. The intended

effect of this action is to allow the

shifting of airport-related parking out of

the East Boston community and on to

airport property where it belongs. There

is no net change in parking spaces

allowed in the established parking

freezes by this action. This action is

being taken under the Clean Air Act.

Public comments on this document are

requested and will be considered before

taking final action on this SIP revision.

DATES: Written comments must be

received on or before December 27,

2000.

ADDRESSES: Comments may be mailed to

David Conroy, Unit Manager, Air

Quality Planning, Office of Ecosystem

Protection (mail code CAQ), U.S.

Environmental Protection Agency, EPANew England, One Congress Street,

Suite 1100, Boston, MA 02114–2023.

Copies of the Commonwealth’s

submittal are available for public

inspection during normal business

hours, by appointment at the Office of

Ecosystem Protection, U.S.

Environmental Protection Agency, EPANew England, One Congress Street, 11th

floor, Boston, MA and Consumer and

Transportation Division, Bureau of

Waste Prevention, Massachusetts

Department of Environmental

Protection, One Winter Street, 9th Floor,

Boston, MA 02108.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Donald O. Cooke, (617) 918–1668 or email COOKE.DONALD@EPA.GOV.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On

November 3, 2000, the Massachusetts

Department of Environmental Protection

(MA DEP) submitted a proposed

revision to its State Implementation

Plan (SIP). The proposed revisions are

amendments to the Massachusetts Port

Authority (Massport)/Logan Airport

Parking Freeze and City of Boston/East

Boston Parking Freeze. This proposed

revision allows the Commonwealth to

administratively approve the transfer of

parking spaces from the East Boston

Parking Freeze to the Logan Parking

Freeze provided the total parking space

inventory number for the Logan Parking

Freeze remains at or below 21,790

parking spaces. Once adopted, future

modifications in the parking freeze

inventories for the East Boston and

Logan Airport Parking Freezes will be

regulated by the Commonwealth’s

revisions to Massachusetts State

Regulations 310 CMR 7.30 and 310 CMR

7.31.

The amendments will not affect the

total number of airport-related parking

spaces allowed under the Logan Airport

and East Boston Parking Freezes and

will further the goal of transferring

airport-related parking spaces out of the

East Boston neighborhood to Logan

Airport.

MA DEP has requested that EPA

parallel process this proposed SIP

revision. Under this procedure, EPANew England Regional Office works

closely with the MA DEP, the state air

agency, while the Commonwealth is

developing new or revised regulations.

The state submits a copy of the

proposed regulation or other revisions

to EPA before conducting its public

hearing. EPA reviews this proposed

state action, and prepares a notice of

proposed rulemaking. EPA’s notice of

proposed rulemaking is published in the

Federal Register during the same time

frame that the Commonwealth is

holding its public hearing. The

Commonwealth and EPA then provide

for concurrent public comment periods

on both the state action and Federal

action. After the Commonwealth

submits the formal SIP revision request

(including a response to all public

comments raised during the state’s

public participation process, and the

approved amended Massachusetts State

Regulations 310 CMR 7.30 and 310 CMR

7.31,) EPA will prepare a final

rulemaking notice. If the

Commonwealth’s formal SIP submittal

contain changes which occur after

EPA’s notice of proposed rulemaking,

such changes must be described in

EPA’s final rulemaking action. If the

Commonwealth’s changes are

significant, then EPA must decide

whether it is appropriate to re-propose

the state’s action.

I. Background

Existing Logan Parking Freeze and East

Boston Parking Freeze

Since 1975, Logan Airport has been

subject to a freeze on the number of

commercial parking spaces available for

use by Logan air travelers and visitors.

In the mid-seventies, EPA developed the

Logan Parking Freeze as one strategy in

the Transportation Control Plan of its

federally promulgated plan for the

Boston Region in 1975 as part of a

comprehensive strategy to reduce air

pollution caused by automobile

emissions. The goal was to achieve the

ozone and carbon monoxide National

Ambient Air Quality Standards

(NAAQS) established by the Clean Air

Act.

The Logan Airport Parking Freeze was

reaffirmed and committed to as a

Reasonable Available Control Measure

(RACM) in the 1979 and 1982 State

Implementation Plan revisions required

by the Clean Air Act Amendments of

1977. Through the 1979 and 1982 SIP,

the Commonwealth incorporated the

Federal Implementations Plan’s parking

freeze provisions by reference

committing the Commonwealth to

implement and enforce the parking

freeze as a state regulation as well as a

Federal law.

In 1989, the Logan Airport Parking

Freeze was amended and the East

Boston Parking Freeze was adopted by

the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

Unlike the 1975 Logan Freeze, which

targeted only commercial parking, the

1989 state action limited and regulated

the management of all major airportrelated parking in the Logan Airport and

East Boston Parking Freeze areas. The

parking supply at Logan Airport was

capped at 19,315 parking spaces. In

addition, Logan-related park and fly and

rental car parking spaces in East Boston

were capped at existing levels. On April

26, 1991, MA DEP certified the parking

freeze numbers for the East Boston

Parking Freeze area at 4,012 rental

motor vehicle parking spaces and 2,475

park and fly parking spaces. EPA

approved the Logan Airport Parking

Freeze and East Boston Parking Freeze

amendments into the Massachusetts SIP

on March 16, 1993, Federal Register (58

FR 14153–14157).

The Logan Airport and East Boston

Parking Freezes were designed to meet

the following objectives: mitigating the

traffic related air quality impacts of

airport access on both the regional level

and on the neighborhood level; reducing

the number of vehicle trips (i.e.,

employee and air traveler drop-off/pick

up trips) by providing a mix of onairport parking and off-airport satellite

Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 228 / Monday, November 27, 2000 / Proposed Rules 70677

parking centers outside of the parking

freeze areas; managing the parking

supply for Logan to stabilize overall

ground access; and developing a unified

access management plan for Logan

Airport. One of the goals of the current

Logan Airport Parking Freeze and East

Boston Parking Freeze is to encourage

the relocation of park and fly parking

spaces from the East Boston

neighborhoods to Logan Airport to

reduce localized traffic and air quality

impacts.

Summary of Proposed Action

There are four provisions being

proposed in the amended Massachusetts

State Regulations 310 CMR 7.30

Massport/Logan Airport Parking Freeze

and 310 CMR 7.31 City of Boston, East

Boston Parking Freeze:

(1) Should Massport, or its nominee,

acquire in fee (or lease for a term in

excess of five years) property within the

East Boston Parking Freeze on which

park and fly parking spaces included in

the East Boston Parking Freeze area

inventory, are located, such spaces,

upon notification by Massport to the

MA DEP and the Boston Air Pollution

Control Commission, and approval by

MA DEP, may be automatically and

permanently converted to commercial

parking spaces within the Logan Airport

Parking Freeze area.

(2) Commercial and employee parking

spaces within the Logan Airport Parking

Freeze area shall be limited to 19,315

parking spaces of which there shall be

no more than 5,225 employee parking

spaces and no fewer than 14,090

commercial parking spaces. The total

19,315 parking spaces may be

administratively increased to 21,790

parking spaces by MA DEP, on a onefor-one basis, as allowed by the

permanent relocation of East Boston

Parking Freeze park and fly parking

spaces to the Logan Parking Freeze area

commercial parking spaces.

(3) In the event that any property

within the boundaries of the Logan

Airport Parking Freeze area is conveyed

in fee by Massport, such property shall

be removed from the Logan Parking

Freeze area and become part of the East

Boston Parking Freeze area at the time

of such conveyance.

(4) Upon the relocation of any rental

motor vehicle parking spaces from the

East Boston Freeze area to the Logan

Airport Parking Freeze area, the number

of rental motor vehicle parking spaces

certified by the MA DEP for the East

Boston Freeze area shall be permanently

reduced by the number of parking

spaces relocated to the Logan Airport

Parking Freeze area.

II. Proposed Action

EPA is proposing to approve the

Massachusetts SIP revision which will

allow MA DEP to administratively

approve future modifications to the

Logan Parking Freeze and the East

Boston Parking Freeze in accordance

with the proposed amendments to

Massachusetts State Regulations 310

CMR 7.30 Massport/Logan Airport

Parking Freeze and 310 CMR 7.31 City

of Boston/East Boston Parking Freeze,

which were submitted on November 3,

2000. EPA is soliciting public comments

on the issues discussed in this notice or

on other relevant matters. These

comments will be considered before

taking final action. Interested parties

may participate in the Federal

rulemaking procedure by submitting

written comments to the EPA-New

England office listed in the ADDRESSES

section of this document.

Interested parties are also encouraged

to participate in the concurrent state

process by presenting oral or written

testimony at the Commonwealth’s

December 4, 2000 public hearing, and

submitting written comment on or

before 5:00 p.m. on Monday, December

4, 2000, to Christine Kirby,

Massachusetts Department of

Environmental Protection, Bureau of

Waste Prevention, One Winter Street,

9th Floor, Boston, MA 02108 during the

state’s comment period. Please contact

Ms. Christine Kirby, Massachusetts

Department of Environmental

Protection, Bureau of Waste Prevention,

Division of Consumer and

Transportation Programs at (617) 292–

5631 for additional information on the

Commonwealth’s public participation

process.

III. Administrative Requirements

Under Executive Order 12866 (58 FR

51735, October 4, 1993), this action is

not a ‘‘significant regulatory action’’ and

therefore is not subject to review by the

Office of Management and Budget. This

action merely approves state law as

meeting Federal requirements and

imposes no additional requirements

beyond those imposed by state law.

Accordingly, the Administrator certifies

that this rule will not have a significant

economic impact on a substantial

number of small entities under the

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

et seq.). Because this rule approves preexisting requirements under state law

and does not impose any additional

enforceable duty beyond that required

by state law, it does not contain any

unfunded mandate or significantly or

uniquely affect small governments, as

described in the Unfunded Mandates

Reform Act of 1995 (Public Law 104–4).

For the same reason, this rule also does

not significantly or uniquely affect the

communities of tribal governments, as

specified by Executive Order 13084 (63

FR 27655, May 10, 1998). This rule will

not 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), because it merely

approves a state rule implementing a

Federal standard, and does not alter the

relationship or the distribution of power

and responsibilities established in the

Clean Air Act. This rule also is not

subject to Executive Order 13045 (62 FR

19885, April 23, 1997), because it is not

economically significant.

In reviewing SIP submissions, EPA’s

role is to approve state choices,

provided that they meet the criteria of

the Clean Air Act. In this context, in the

absence of a prior existing requirement

for the State to use voluntary consensus

standards (VCS), EPA has no authority

to disapprove a SIP submission for

failure to use VCS. It would thus be

inconsistent with applicable law for

EPA, when it reviews a SIP submission,

to use VCS in place of a SIP submission

that otherwise satisfies the provisions of

the Clean Air Act. 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. As required by

section 3 of Executive Order 12988 (61

FR 4729, February 7, 1996), in issuing

this rule, EPA has taken the necessary

steps to eliminate drafting errors and

ambiguity, minimize potential litigation,

and provide a clear legal standard for

affected conduct. EPA has complied

with Executive Order 12630 (53 FR

8859, March 15, 1988) by examining the

takings implications of the rule in

accordance with the ‘‘Attorney

General’s Supplemental Guidelines for

the Evaluation of Risk and Avoidance of

Unanticipated Takings’ issued under the

executive order. This rule does not

impose an information collection

burden under the provisions of the

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44

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

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 52

Environmental protection, Air

pollution control, Carbon monoxide,

Hydrocarbons, Intergovernmental

relations, Nitrogen dioxide, Ozone,

Particulate matter, Reporting and

recordkeeping requirements, Sulfur

oxides.

70678 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 228 / Monday, November 27, 2000 / Proposed Rules

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

Dated: November 14, 2000.

Mindy S. Lubber,

Regional Administrator, EPA-New England.

[FR Doc. 00–30113 Filed 11–24–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

AGENCY

40 CFR Parts 258, 260, 261, 264, 265,

266, 270, and 279

[FRL–6908–4]

Waste Management System; Testing

and Monitoring Activities; Notice of

Availability of Draft Update IVB of SW–

846

AGENCY: Environmental Protection

Agency.

ACTION: Notice of availability and

request for comment.

SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection

Agency (EPA or Agency) is providing

notice of the availability of, and requests

comment on, ‘‘Draft Update IVB’’ to the

Third Edition of the methods manual,

‘‘Test Methods for Evaluating Solid

Waste, Physical/Chemical Methods,’’

EPA publication SW–846. SW–846

contains EPA-approved sampling and

analysis methods for use under the

Resource Conservation and Recovery

Act (RCRA) Program. Draft Update IVB

contains new and revised SW–846

methods. As part of Draft Update IVB,

we are also providing references in SW–

846 to four air methods that are, or may

be in the future, used in the RCRA

regulations.

DATES: We are opening a comment

period for the limited purpose of

obtaining information and views on the

methods and chapters of Draft Update

IVB. Send your comments to reach us

on or before February 26, 2001.

ADDRESSES: If you wish to comment on

this notice, submit an original and two

copies of your comments referencing

docket number F–2000–4BTA–FFFFF

to: The RCRA Docket Information

Center, Office of Solid Waste (5305G),

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Headquarters (EPA, HQ), 1200

Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.,

Washington, DC 20460. You may also

hand deliver comments to the

Arlington, VA, address listed below.

You may also submit comments

electronically by sending electronic

mail through the Internet to: rcradocket@epamail.epa.gov. You should

identify comments in electronic format

with the docket number F–2000–4BTA–

FFFFF. Submit electronic comments as

an ASCII (text) file and avoid the use of

special characters and any form of

encryption. If you do not submit

comments electronically, we ask

prospective commenters to voluntarily

submit one additional copy of their

comments on labeled personal computer

diskettes in ASCII (text) format or a

word processing format that can be

converted to ASCII (text). It is essential

that you specify on the disk label the

word processing software and version/

edition as well as your name. This will

allow EPA to convert the comments into

one of the word processing formats

utilized by the Agency. Please use

mailing envelopes designed to

physically protect the submitted

diskettes. We emphasize that

submission of comments on diskettes is

not mandatory, nor will it result in any

advantage or disadvantage to any

commenter.

You should not submit electronically

any confidential business information

(CBI). You should instead submit an

original and two copies of the CBI under

separate cover to: RCRA CBI Document

Control Officer, Office of Solid Waste

(5305W), U.S. EPA, 1200 Pennsylvania

Avenue, N.W., Washington, DC 20460.

You may view the official record of

public comments and supporting

materials in the RCRA Information

Center (RIC), located at Crystal Gateway

I, First Floor, 1235 Jefferson Davis

Highway, Arlington, VA. The RIC is

open from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.,

Monday through Friday, excluding

federal holidays. To review docket

materials, you should make an

appointment by calling (703) 603–9230.

You may copy a maximum of 100 pages

from any regulatory docket at no charge.

Additional copies cost $0.15 per page.

You may also view an electronic copy

of the docket index and notice. See the

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of

this notice for information on accessing

it.

You can download a complete copy of

Draft Update IVB (pdf format) from the

Internet at http://www.epa.gov/SW–

846. A paper copy of Draft Update IVB

is also located in the docket for this

notice (see ADDRESSES above). The table

below provides sources for both paper

and electronic copies of the Third

Edition of SW–846 and all of its

updates.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For

general information, contact the RCRA

Hotline, Monday through Friday

between 9:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. EST, at

(800) 424–9346 or TDD (800) 553–7672

(hearing impaired). In the Washington,

DC, metropolitan area, call (703) 412–

9810.

For information on specific aspects of

this notice or the Draft Update IVB

methods, contact the Methods

Information Communication Exchange

(MICE) Service at (703) 676–4690, email address: mice@cpmx.saic.com; or

contact Barry Lesnik, Office of Solid

Waste (5307W), U.S. Environmental

Protection Agency, Ariel Rios Building,

1200 Pennsylvania Avenue,

Washington, DC 20460, (703) 308–8855,

e-mail address:

lesnik.barry@epamail.epa.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

SOURCES FOR SW–846, THIRD EDITION, AND ITS UPDATES

Source Available portions of SW–846

Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO),

Washington, DC 20402, (202) 512–1800.

—Paper copies of the SW–846, Thrid Edition, basic manual and of certain updates, including Final Updates, I, II, IIA, IIB, and III, and Draft

Update IVA. Subscriber must integrate the updates.

National Technical Information Service (NTIS), 5285 Port Royal Road,

Springfield, VA 22161, (703) 605–6000 or (800) 553–6847.

—Paper copy of an integrated version of SW–846, Third Edition, as

amended by Final Updates I, II, IIA, IIB, and III.

—Individual paper copies of the SW–846, Third Edition, basic manual

and of certain updates, including Updates I, II, IIA, IIB, III, IIIA, and

Draft Update IVA.

—CD–ROM of integrated version of SW–846, Third Edition, as amended by Final Updates I, II, IIA, IIB, and III (pdf and WordPerfect electronic copies).

—CD–ROM of Draft Update IVA (pdf and WordPerfect electronic copies).