41906 Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 138 / Friday, July 18, 2014 / Rules and Regulations 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

40 CFR Part 52 

[EPA–R06–OAR–2011–0919; FRL–9913–92– 

Region 6] 

Approval and Promulgation of 

Implementation Plans; Texas; 

Conformity of General Federal Actions 

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA). 

ACTION: Direct final rule. 

SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA) is approving State 

Implementation Plan (SIP) revisions 

submitted by the State of Texas on 

October 28, 2011. These revisions 

remove the State general conformity 

provisions from the SIP as allowed by 

the 2005 amendments to the Clean Air 

Act (Act or CAA). Upon the effective 

date of this final action, the EPA Federal 

rules will govern conformity of general 

Federal actions within the State of 

Texas. The revisions also update the 

narrative portion of the SIP. This action 

is being taken in accordance with 

sections 110 and 176 of the Act. 

DATES: This rule is effective on 

September 16, 2014 without further 

notice, unless EPA receives relevant 

adverse comment by August 18, 2014. If 

EPA receives such comment, EPA will 

publish a timely withdrawal in the 

Federal Register informing the public 

that this rule will not take effect. 

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, 

identified by Docket No. EPA–R06– 

OAR–2011–0919, by one of the 

following methods: 

• www.regulations.gov: Follow the 

on-line instructions. 

• Email: Jeffrey Riley at riley.jeffrey@

epa.gov. 

• Mail or delivery: Mr. Guy 

Donaldson, Chief, Air Planning Section 

(6PD–L), Environmental Protection 

Agency, 1445 Ross Avenue, Suite 1200, 

Dallas, Texas 75202–2733. 

Instructions: Direct your comments to 

Docket ID No. EPA–R06–OAR–2011– 

0919. EPA’s policy is that all comments 

received will be included in the public 

docket without change and may be 

made available online at http://

www.regulations.gov, including any 

personal information provided, unless 

the comment includes information 

claimed to be Confidential Business 

Information (CBI) or other information 

the disclosure of which is restricted by 

statute. Do not submit information 

through http://www.regulations.gov or 

email, if you believe that it is CBI or 

otherwise protected from disclosure. 

The http://www.regulations.gov Web 

site is an ‘‘anonymous access’’ system, 

which means that EPA will not know 

your identity or contact information 

unless you provide it in the body of 

your comment. If you send an email 

comment directly to EPA without going 

through http://www.regulations.gov, 

your email address will be 

automatically captured and included as 

part of the comment that is placed in the 

public docket and made available on the 

Internet. If you submit an electronic 

comment, EPA recommends that you 

include your name and other contact 

information in the body of your 

comment along with any disk or CD– 

ROM submitted. If EPA cannot read 

your comment due to technical 

difficulties and cannot contact you for 

clarification, EPA may not be able to 

consider your comment. Electronic files 

should avoid the use of special 

characters and any form of encryption 

and should be free of any defects or 

viruses. For additional information 

about EPA’s public docket, visit the EPA 

Docket Center homepage at http://www.

epa.gov/epahome/dockets.htm. 

Docket: The index to the docket for 

this action is available electronically at 

www.regulations.gov and in hard copy 

at EPA Region 6, 1445 Ross Avenue, 

Suite 700, Dallas, Texas. While all 

documents in the docket are listed in 

the index, some information may be 

publicly available only at the hard copy 

location (e.g., copyrighted material), and 

some may not be publicly available at 

either location (e.g., CBI). To inspect the 

hard copy materials, please schedule an 

appointment with the person listed in 

the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT

paragraph below or Mr. Bill Deese at 

214–665–7253. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Jeffrey Riley, (214) 665–8542, 

riley.jeffrey@epa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Throughout this document wherever 

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

the EPA. 

Table of Contents 

I. Background 

II. EPA’s Evaluation 

III. Final Action 

IV. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews 

I. Background 

A. What is general conformity? 

General Conformity is a requirement 

of section 176(c) of the CAA. Congress 

recognized that actions taken by Federal 

agencies could affect a State, Tribal, or 

local agency’s ability to attain and 

maintain the national ambient air 

quality standards (NAAQS). Under 

General Conformity, any action by the 

Federal government cannot: Cause or 

contribute to any new violation of any 

standard in any area; interfere with 

provisions in the applicable SIP for 

maintenance of any standard; increase 

the frequency or severity of any existing 

violation of any standard in any area; or 

delay timely attainment of any standard, 

any required interim emission 

reductions, or any other milestones, in 

any area. The CAA Amendments of 

1990 clarified and strengthened the 

provisions in section 176(c). EPA 

promulgated General Conformity SIP 

regulations on November 30, 1993 (58 

FR 63214) and required states to adopt 

and submit a General Conformity SIP for 

approval by EPA (See 40 CFR Part 51, 

subpart W (sections 850 to 860 (1993)). 

B. General Conformity Affected by the 

Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient 

Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for 

Users (SAFETEA–LU) 

On August 10, 2005, Congress passed 

the SAFETEA–LU Act that, among other 

things, amended the CAA to eliminate 

the requirement for States to adopt and 

submit General Conformity SIPs. On 

April 5, 2010 (75 FR 17254), EPA 

updated the General Conformity SIP 

Rules to, among other things, be 

consistent with the SAFETEA–LU by 

eliminating the Federal regulatory 

requirement for states to adopt and 

submit general conformity SIPs, instead 

making submission of a general 

conformity SIP a state option. See 40 

CFR 51.851. 

C. Prior Texas General Conformity SIP 

Revision Action 

On March 11, 1998 (63 FR 11833), 

EPA approved Title 30 Texas 

Administrative Code (TAC) section 

101.30, Conformity of General and State 

Actions to State Implementation Plans. 

Texas’ rule mirrored the federal 

requirements in 40 CFR Part 93, Subpart 

B and Part 51, Subpart W, and 

specifically referenced the 1993 Federal 

General Conformity SIP rule. On July 

23, 2010 (75 FR 43062), EPA made a 

ministerial correction to the table in 40 

CFR 52.2270(c) to reflect the correct title 

of the EPA approved regulation in the 

Texas SIP. The ministerial correction 

applied to the table entry for Section 

101.30, revising the title to ‘‘Conformity 

of General Federal Actions to State 

Implementation Plans’’. 

D. State Submittal 

On October 28, 2011, the State of 

Texas submitted SIP revisions 

consisting of a repeal of section 101.30, 

Conformity of General Federal Actions 

to State Implementation Plans, in 30 

TAC Chapter 101, General Air Quality 

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Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 138 / Friday, July 18, 2014 / Rules and Regulations 41907 

Rules, Subchapter A, General Rules, as 

well as corresponding revisions to the 

narrative portion of the SIP to eliminate 

references to repealed federal rules. The 

repeal of the state rule is also intended 

to eliminate the need for future state 

rule revisions as a result of amendments 

to federal regulations. 

II. EPA’s Evaluation 

We have reviewed Texas’ submittal to 

assure consistency with the current 

Clean Air Act, as amended by 

SAFETEA–LU, and EPA regulations 

governing state procedures for general 

conformity (40 CFR Part 93, Subpart B 

and 40 CFR 51.851). The October 28, 

2011 revisions, upon approval by EPA, 

removes § 101.30, ‘‘Determining 

Conformity of General Federal Actions 

to State or Federal Implementation 

Plans,’’ from the SIP and revises the SIP 

Narrative. With the removal of § 101.30 

from the SIP, the federal rules in 40 CFR 

Part 93, Subpart B will directly govern 

conformity of general federal actions in 

the State of Texas. 40 CFR Part 93, 

Subpart B continues to subject certain 

federal actions to general conformity 

requirements without the need for 

identical state rules and SIPs. Therefore, 

repealing the state rule will not impact 

continuity of the general conformity 

program in Texas, and consequently 

meets the requirements of section 110(l). 

Federal agencies will only need to 

comply with the EPA General 

Conformity Rule requirements in 40 

CFR Part 93, Subpart B. In addition, 

Texas’ October 28, 2011 SIP revision 

meets the requirements set forth in 

section 110 of the CAA with respect to 

adoption and submission of SIP 

revisions. 

III. Final Action 

We are taking direct final action to 

approve revisions to the Texas SIP 

submitted on October 28, 2011, that 

pertain to removal of § 101.30, 

‘‘Determining Conformity of General 

Federal Actions to State or Federal 

Implementation Plans,’’ from the SIP 

and update the narrative portion of the 

SIP. The approval of Texas’ conformity 

SIP revisions will align the Texas SIP 

with the current Clean Air Act, as 

amended by SAFETEA–LU, and the 

most recent EPA regulations governing 

state procedures for general conformity. 

EPA is publishing this rule without 

prior proposal because we view this as 

a non-controversial amendment and 

anticipate no adverse comments. 

However, in the proposed rules section 

of this Federal Register publication, we 

are publishing a separate document that 

will serve as the proposal to approve the 

SIP revision if relevant adverse 

comments are received. This rule will 

be effective on September 16, 2014 

without further notice unless we receive 

relevant adverse comment by August 18, 

2014. If we receive relevant adverse 

comments, we will publish a timely 

withdrawal in the Federal Register 

informing the public that the rule will 

not take effect. We will address all 

public comments in a subsequent final 

rule based on the proposed rule. We 

will not institute a second comment 

period on this action. Any parties 

interested in commenting must do so 

now. Please note that if we receive 

relevant adverse comment on an 

amendment, paragraph, or section of 

this rule and if that provision may be 

severed from the remainder of the rule, 

we may adopt as final those provisions 

of the rule that are not the subject of an 

adverse comment. 

IV. Statutory and Executive Order 

Reviews 

Under the CAA, the Administrator is 

required to approve a SIP submission 

that complies with the provisions of the 

Act 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. Accordingly, this action 

merely approves state law as meeting 

Federal requirements and does not 

impose additional requirements beyond 

those imposed by state law. For that 

reason, this action: 

• Is not a ‘‘significant regulatory 

action’’ subject to review by the Office 

of Management and Budget under 

Executive Order 12866 (58 FR 51735, 

October 4, 1993); 

• Does not impose an information 

collection burden under the provisions 

of the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 

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

• Is 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.); 

• Does 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); 

• Does not have Federalism 

implications as specified in Executive 

Order 13132 (64 FR 43255, August 10, 

1999); 

• Is not an economically significant 

regulatory action based on health or 

safety risks subject to Executive Order 

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

• Is not a significant regulatory action 

subject to Executive Order 13211 (66 FR 

28355, May 22, 2001); 

• Is 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 

• Does 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 the SIP is 

not approved to apply in Indian country 

located in the state, and EPA notes that 

it will not impose substantial direct 

costs on tribal governments or preempt 

tribal law. 

The Congressional Review Act, 5 

U.S.C. section 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. section 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 September 16, 2014. 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, Carbon monoxide, 

Incorporation by reference, Lead, 

Nitrogen dioxide, Ozone, Particulate 

matter, Reporting and recordkeeping 

requirements, Sulfur oxides, Volatile 

organic compounds. 

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41908 Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 138 / Friday, July 18, 2014 / Rules and Regulations 

1The effective date of the rule in Missouri was 

May 30, 2010. 

Dated: July 7, 2014. 

Ron Curry, 

Regional Administrator, Region 6. 

40 CFR part 52 is amended as follows: 

PART 52—APPROVAL AND 

PROMULGATION OF 

IMPLEMENTATION PLANS 

■ 1. The authority citation for part 52 

continues to read as follows: 

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

Subpart SS—Texas 

■ 2. In § 52.2270 is amended by: 

■ a. In paragraph (c), the table titled 

‘‘EPA Approved Regulations in the 

Texas SIP’’ is amended by removing the 

entry for ‘‘Section 101.30, Conformity of 

General Federal Actions to State 

Implementation Plans’’; and 

■ b. In paragraph (e) the second table 

titled ‘‘EPA Approved Nonregulatory 

Provisions and Quasi-Regulatory 

Measures in the Texas SIP’’ is amended 

by adding an entry at the end for 

‘‘Conformity with the National Ambient 

Air Quality Standards’’. 

The addition reads as follows: 

§ 52.2270 Identification of plan. 

* * * * * 

(e) * * * 

EPA-APPROVED NONREGULATORY PROVISIONS AND QUASI-REGULATORY MEASURES IN THE TEXAS SIP 

Name of SIP provision Applicable geographic 

or nonattainment area 

State 

submittal/ 

effective 

date 

EPA 

approval date Comments 

*******

Conformity with the National Ambient 

Air Quality Standards.

Statewide ...................... 10/28/2011 7/18/2014 [Insert FEDERAL REGISTER citation].The General Conformity SIP is removed from the Texas SIP; the 

federal rules at 40 CFR Part 93, 

subpart B apply now. 

[FR Doc. 2014–16826 Filed 7–17–14; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

40 CFR Part 52 

[EPA–R07–OAR–2013–0674; FRL–9913–79– 

Region–7] 

Approval and Promulgation of 

Implementation Plans; State of 

Missouri; Control of Nitrogen Oxide 

Emissions From Large Stationary 

Internal Combustion Engines 

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA). 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA) is taking final action to 

approve a State Implementation Plan 

(SIP) revision submitted by the State of 

Missouri to EPA on September 21, 2010, 

with a supplemental revision submitted 

on July 3, 2013. The purpose of the SIP 

revision is to incorporate revisions to a 

Missouri regulation to control Nitrogen 

Oxide (NOX) emissions from large 

stationary internal combustion engines. 

This revision includes an emission rate 

limitation for both large stationary 

diesel and dual fuel internal combustion 

engines and adds an exemption for 

compression ignited stationary internal 

combustion engines that emit 25 tons or 

less of NOX between May 1 and 

September 30. EPA has determined that 

the SIP revision submitted by the State 

of Missouri satisfies the applicable 

requirements of the Clean Air Act (CAA 

or Act), and in particular, the April 21, 

2004, final Federal Phase II NOX SIP 

Call. 

DATES: This rule is effective on August 

18, 2014. 

ADDRESSES: EPA has established docket 

number EPA–R07–OAR–2013–0674 for 

this action. All documents in the 

electronic docket are listed in the 

http://www.regulations.gov index. 

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, will be publicly 

available only in hard copy. Publicly 

available docket materials are available 

either electronically at http://

www.regulations.gov or in hard copy at 

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 

Region 7, 11201 Renner Boulevard, 

Lenexa, Kansas 66219 from 8 a.m. to 

4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, 

excluding legal holidays. The interested 

persons wanting to examine these 

documents should make an 

appointment with the office at least 24 

hours in advance. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. 

Lachala Kemp, Air Planning and 

Development Branch, U.S. 

Environmental Protection Agency, 

Region 7, 11201 Renner Boulevard, 

Lenexa, KS 66219; telephone number: 

(913) 551–7214; fax number: (913) 551– 

7065; email address: kemp.lachala@

epa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Throughout this document, ‘‘we,’’ ‘‘us,’’ 

or ‘‘our’’ refer to EPA. This section 

provides additional information by 

addressing the following questions: 

Table of Contents 

I. What action is EPA taking in this final 

rule? 

II. What is the background for the approvals 

by EPA in this final rule? 

III. EPA’s Response to Comment 

IV. EPA’s Final Action 

I. What action is EPA taking in this 

final rule? 

EPA is taking final action to approve 

a State Implementation Plan (SIP) 

revision submitted by the State of 

Missouri to EPA on September 21, 2010, 

with a supplemental revision submitted 

on July 3, 2013. The purpose of the SIP 

revision is to incorporate changes to a 

Missouri regulation (Title 10 of the Code 

of State Regulations (CSR) 10–6.390) to 

control Nitrogen Oxide (NOX) emissions 

from large stationary internal 

combustion (IC) engines to ensure 

compliance with the federal NOX

control plan to reduce the transport of 

air pollutants.1 EPA finalized the 

second phase (Phase II) of its rule 

known as the NOX SIP Call Rule on 

April 21, 2004 (69 FR 21604). Phase II 

required the eastern one-third of 

Missouri to participate in the NOX SIP 

Call and included a provision related to 

source categories of IC engines. The IC 

provision established a requirement to 

decrease emissions from diesel and dual 

fuel stationary IC engines by ninety 

percent. Phase II of the NOX SIP Call 

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