62624 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 203 / Thursday, October 19, 2000 / Rules and Regulations

TABLE 52.385—EPA-APPROVED REGULATIONS

Connecticut

State citation Title/subject

Dates

Federal Register

citation Section 52.370 Comments/description Date adopted by

State

Date approved by

EPA

*******

22a–174–1 ......... * * * 12/22/97 ............ 10/19/00 [insert FR citation from published date].(c)(84) ............... Changes to the definition of VOC

to exempt certain negligibly

photoreactive compounds.

*******

22a–174–20 ....... Loading gasoline and other

volatile organic compounds.

4/1/98 ................ 10/19/00 [insert FR citation from published date].(c)(84) ............... Changes to gasoline and volatile

organic loading regulations.

Metal cleaning .. 8/23/96 .............. 10/19/00 [insert FR citation from published date].(c)(84) ............... Changes to metal cleaning regulations.

Miscellaneous

metal parts

and products.

8/1/95 ................ 10/19/00 [insert FR citation from published date].(c)(84) ............... Changes to regulations to add

emission limit for architectural

aluminum panels.

*******

22a–174–32 ....... * * * 8/27/99 .............. 10/19/00 [insert FR citation from published date].(c)(84) ............... Changes to the non-CTG regulation.

*******

[FR Doc. 00–26613 Filed 10–18–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[CT–62–7221a; A–1–FRL–6877–5]

Approval and Promulgation of Air

Quality Implementation Plans;

Connecticut; Post-1996 Rate of

Progress Plans

AGENCY: Environmental Protection

Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Final rule.

SUMMARY: EPA is approving State

Implementation Plan (SIP) revisions

submitted by the State of Connecticut.

These revisions establish post-1996 rate

of progress (ROP) emission reduction

plans, including minor adjustments to

the Connecticut 1990 base year

inventory, for the Greater Hartford

serious ozone nonattainment area, and

for the Connecticut portion of the New

York, New Jersey, Connecticut (NY–NJ–

CT) severe ozone nonattainment area.

The intended effect of this action is to

approve these SIP revisions as meeting

the requirements of the Clean Air Act.

EFFECTIVE DATE: This rule will become

effective on November 20, 2000.

ADDRESSES: Copies of the documents

relevant to this action 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 the Bureau of Air

Management, Department of

Environmental Protection, State Office

Building, 79 Elm Street, Hartford, CT

06106–1630.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Robert McConnell, (617) 918–1046.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This

Supplementary Information section is

organized as follows:

A. What action is EPA taking today?

B. What changes were made to the

Connecticut base year inventory?

C. What are Connecticut’s target emission

levels for VOC and NOX?

D. What control strategy will Connecticut

use to meet its emission target levels?

E. How did Connecticut meet the

contingency measure requirement?

F. What are the State’s conformity budgets?

A. What Action is EPA Taking Today?

EPA is approving post-1996 ROP

emission reduction plans through 1999,

and minor revisions to the 1990 base

year inventory, submitted by the State of

Connecticut for the Greater Hartford

serious ozone nonattainment area, and

the Connecticut portion of the NY–NJ–

CT severe ozone nonattainment area,

which is a multi-state ozone

nonattainment area, as revisions to

Connecticut’s SIP. Connecticut did not

enter into an agreement with New York

and New Jersey to do a multi-state ROP

plan, and therefore submitted a plan to

reduce emissions only in the

Connecticut portion of this area. EPA is

taking action today only on the

Connecticut portion of the NY–NJ–CT

post-1996 plan.

The post-1996 ROP plans document

how Connecticut complied with the

provisions of section 182 (c)(2) of the

Federal Clean Air Act (the Act), through

1999. These sections of the Act require

states containing certain ozone

nonattainment areas develop strategies

to reduce emissions of the pollutants

that react to form ground level ozone.

On June 30, 2000 (65 FR 40560), EPA

published a proposed rulemaking for

the State of Connecticut. That document

proposed approval of the Connecticut

post-1996 ROP plans. The formal SIP

revision was submitted by Connecticut

on December 30, 1997 and January 7,

1998.

B. What Changes Were Made to the

Connecticut Base Year Inventory?

Connecticut made two minor changes

to its 1990 base year inventory, as

described in the June 30, 2000 proposed

approval action. EPA approved the

Connecticut 1990 base year emission

inventory on October 24, 1997 (62 FR

Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 203 / Thursday, October 19, 2000 / Rules and Regulations 62625

55336). The revised base year emission

estimates shown in Table 1 are being

approved as a revision to the State’s SIP.

The emission values in Table 1

represent tons per summer day (tpsd)

emissions.

TABLE 1

Nonattainment area Source category Original estimate

(approved 10/24/97)

Revised estimate (approved in today’s action)

Greater Hartford .................................. Point .................................................. NOX = 87.31 tpsd ............................. NOX = 84.21 tpsd

Greater Hartford .................................. On-road mobile ................................. VOC = 127.12 ...................................

NOX = 175.56

VOC = 121.0

NOX = 172.4

NY–NJ–CT ........................................... On-road mobile ................................. VOC = 43.83 .....................................

NOX = 55.73

VOC = 40.4

NOX = 54.8

C. What Are Connecticut’s Target

Emission Levels for VOC and NOX?

Connecticut’s 1999 target emission

levels are as follows. For the Greater

Hartford area, the VOC target is 307.1

tpsd, and the NOX target is 297.9 tpsd.

For the Connecticut portion of the NY–

NJ–CT area, the VOC target is 93.0 tpsd,

and the NOX target is 104.0 tpsd. These

target emission levels represent the

maximum amount of emissions that

Connecticut can emit in 1999, given the

State’s post-1996 emission reduction

requirements. These target levels match the acetoneadjusted target levels EPA calculated in

its June 30, 2000 proposed approval

action. Connecticut confirmed in

writing by letter dated July 21, 2000 its

agreement with EPA’s adjustments to

the State’s original emission target

levels.

D. What Control Strategy Will

Connecticut use to Meet its Emission

Target Levels?

EPA’s June 30, 2000 proposed

approval action outlined the control

strategy that Connecticut used to meet

its emission target levels. In summary,

the State’s control strategy consists of

the emission reductions from the

continued enforcement of measures EPA

approved as part of the State’s 15

percent emission reduction plans (64 FR

12015) (March 10, 1999), coupled with

emission reductions from the State’s

NOX control strategy for large industrial

point sources, federal non-road engine

standards, and Connecticut’s Low

Emission Vehicle program. All these

control measures are approved as part of

Connecticut’s SIP or are otherwise

enforceable under the Act.

E. How Did Connecticut Meet the

Contingency Measure Requirement?

Connecticut met the contingency

requirements of sections 172(c)(9) and

182(c)(9) of the Act by using surplus

NOX emission reductions achieved by

the State’s NOX control strategy. As

explained in more detail in the EPA’s

June 30, 2000 proposed approval action,

Connecticut’s NOX control strategy

achieves sufficient surplus reductions

beyond those needed to meet the ROP

targets to cover the State’s 3 percent

contingency measure obligation. The

surplus reductions in the greater

Hartford area are not sufficient to cover

completely the area’s 3 percent

contingency obligation, but a significant

10.7 tpsd surplus remains in the NY–

NJ–CT area. This surplus in the NY–NJ–

CT area is sufficient to cover that area’s

3 percent contingency obligation, to

transfer 2.4 tpsd to the Greater Hartford

area to complete that area’s contingency

obligation, and to use 1.2 tpsd to cover

the VOC shortfall that occurred due to

the State’s failure to remove acetone

from its area source base year inventory.

F. What Are the State’s Conformity

Budgets?

Although the Connecticut post-1996

ROP plans contain motor vehicle

emission budgets for 1999, the current

conformity budgets are those contained

in the document, ‘‘Addenda to the

Ozone Attainment Demonstrations for

the Southwest Connecticut Severe

Ozone Nonattainment area and Greater

Connecticut Serious Ozone

Nonattainment area,’’ which was

submitted to EPA on February 15, 2000.

This document included the

transportation conformity budgets for

2007 shown below in Table 2.

TABLE 2

Nonattainment area VOC

(tpsd)

NOX

(tpsd)

Severe area .................. 9.7 23.7

Serious area ................. 30.0 79.6

Since these budgets are more

restrictive, cover a time frame longer

than the post-1996 ROP plans, and are

based on the attainment plan, the 2007

budgets take precedence over the 1999

budgets. Furthermore, EPA New

England published a document in the

Federal Register announcing that these

budgets are adequate for use in

transportation conformity

determinations on June 16, 2000 (65 FR

37778). Therefore, the 2007 budgets

supersede the 1999 budgets. As a result,

all new and revised State Transportation

Improvement Programs that require a

conformity determination must conform

to these 2007 budgets, not the 1999

budgets contained in the post-1996 rate

of progress plan.

Other specific requirements of post1996 ROP plans and the rationale for

EPA’s proposed action are explained in

the NPR and will not be restated here.

The only public comment received on

the NPR was a July 21, 2000 letter from

the Connecticut Department of

Environmental Protection confirming

their agreement with the manner in

which EPA excluded acetone from the

State’s base year inventory.

Final Action

EPA is approving post-1996 ROP

plans for the Greater Hartford serious

area, and the Connecticut portion of the

NY–NJ–CT severe area through 1999,

and minor revisions to the Connecticut

1990 emission inventory for ozone, as a

revision to the Connecticut SIP.

Nothing in this action should be

construed as permitting or allowing or

establishing a precedent for any future

request for revision to any State

implementation plan. Each request for

revision to the State implementation

plan shall be considered separately in

light of specific technical, economic,

and environmental factors and in

relation to relevant statutory and

regulatory requirements.

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

62626 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 203 / Thursday, October 19, 2000 / Rules and Regulations

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.).

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 rule 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 Clean

Air Act, petitions for judicial review of

this action must be filed in the United

States Court of Appeals for the

appropriate circuit by December 18,

2000. Filing a petition for

reconsideration by the Administrator of

this final rule does not affect the finality

of this rule 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 in 40 CFR Part 52

Environmental protection, Air

pollution control, Hydrocarbons,

Nitrogen dioxide, Ozone.

Dated: September 15, 2000.

Mindy S. Lubber,

Regional Administrator, EPA-New England.

Part 52 of chapter I, title 40 of the

Code of Federal Regulations 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 H—Connecticut

2. Section 52.377 is added to subpart

H to read as follows:

§ 52.377 Control strategy: Ozone.

Revisions to the State Implementation

Plan submitted by the Connecticut

Department of Environmental Protection

on December 30, 1997 and January 7,

1998. These revisions are for the

purpose of satisfying the rate of progress

requirement of section 182(c)(2) through

1999, and the contingency measure

requirements of sections 172(c)(9) and

182(c)(9) of the Clean Air Act, for the

Greater Hartford serious ozone

nonattainment area, and the

Connecticut portion of the NY–NJ–CT

severe ozone nonattainment area.

3. Section 52.384 is amended by

revising paragraph (a) to read as follows:

§ 52.384 Emission inventories.

(a) The Governor’s designee for the

State of Connecticut submitted the 1990

base year emission inventories for the

Connecticut portion of the New YorkNew Jersey-Connecticut severe ozone

nonattainment area and the Greater

Hartford serious ozone nonattainment

area on January 13, 1994 as revisions to

the State’s SIP. Revisions to the

inventories were submitted on February

3, 1994, February 16, 1995, and

December 30, 1997. The 1990 base year

emission inventory requirement of

section 182(a)(1) of the Clean Air Act, as

amended in 1990, has been satisfied for

these areas.

* * * * *

[FR Doc. 00–26750 Filed 10–18–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[VA109–5050; FRL–6887–7]

Approval and Promulgation of Air

Quality Implementation Plans; Virginia;

Approval of Removal of TSP Ambient

Air Quality Standards

AGENCY: Environmental Protection

Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Direct final rule.

SUMMARY: EPA is approving revisions to

the Commonwealth of Virginia’s State

Implementation Plan (SIP). The

revisions consist of the removal of

references to total suspended

particulates (TSP) from sections of the

Commonwealth’s regulations regarding

ambient air quality standards and air

pollution episode prevention. These

revisions were submitted by the

Commonwealth of Virginia, Department

of Environmental Quality (VDEQ) as a

revision to its SIP on April 21, 2000.

DATES: This rule is effective on

December 18, 2000 without further

notice, unless EPA receives adverse

written comment by November 20,

2000. If EPA receives such comments, it

will publish a timely withdrawal of the

direct final rule in the Federal Register

and inform the public that the rule will

not take effect.

ADDRESSES: Written comments should

be mailed to Mr. Denis Lohman, Acting

Chief, Technical Assessment Branch,