[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 76 (Tuesday, April 21, 1998)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 19661-19662]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-10397]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[CA--189--0059; FRL-5996-5]


Approval and Promulgation of State Implementation Plans; 
California--South Coast Air Quality Management District

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Final rule.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: EPA is taking final action to approve a state implementation 
plan (SIP) revision submitted by the State of California to provide for 
attainment of the carbon monoxide (CO) national ambient air quality 
standards (NAAQS) in the Los Angeles-South Coast Air Basin Area (South 
Coast). EPA is approving the SIP revision under provisions of the Clean 
Air Act (CAA) regarding EPA action on SIP submittals, SIPs for national 
primary and secondary ambient air quality standards, and plan 
requirements for nonattainment areas. The demonstration of attainment 
in the SIP depends, in part, upon reductions from an enhanced 
inspection and maintenance (I/M) program for motor vehicles. Since EPA 
has previously granted interim approval to the California I/M program, 
the Agency is granting interim approval to the reasonable further 
progress and attainment demonstration portions of the plan.

EFFECTIVE DATE: This action is effective on May 21, 1998.

ADDRESSES: The rulemaking docket for this document, Docket No. 97-17, 
may be inspected and copied at the following location during normal 
business hours. A reasonable fee may be charged for copying parts of 
the docket.

Environmental Protection Agency, Region 9, Air Division, Air Planning 
Office, 75 Hawthorne Street, San Francisco, CA 94105-3901.
Air and Radiation Docket and Information Center (6102), Environmental 
Protection Agency, 401 M Street, SW., Washington, DC 20460.

    Copies of the SIP materials are also available for inspection at 
the addresses listed below:

California Air Resources Board, 2020 L Street, Sacramento, California;
South Coast Air Quality Management District, 21865 E. Copley Drive, 
Diamond Bar, California.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dave Jesson (415) 744-1288, Air 
Planning Office (AIR-2), Air Division, U.S. EPA, Region 9, 75 Hawthorne 
Street, San Francisco, California, 94105-3901.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

    EPA is finalizing approval and interim approval of the 1997 CO plan 
for the South Coast,<SUP>1</SUP> which was adopted on November 15, 
1996, by the South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD), 
submitted as a SIP revision by the California Air Resources Board 
(CARB) on February 5, 1997. EPA determined this submission to be 
complete on April 1, 1997.<SUP>2</SUP>
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \1\ For a description of the boundaries of the Los Angeles-South 
Coast Air Basin, see 40 CFR 81.305.
    \2\ EPA adopted the completeness criteria on February 16, 1990 
(55 FR 5830) and, pursuant to section 110(k)(1)(A) of the CAA, 
revised the criteria on August 26, 1991 (56 FR 42216).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The 1997 CO plan addresses applicable CAA requirements for the 
South Coast, which is classified as a serious nonattainment area for 
CO, including the requirement to demonstrate expeditious attainment of 
the CO NAAQS no later than December 31, 2000. The demonstration must 
provide enforceable measures to achieve emission reductions each year 
leading to emissions at or below the level predicted to result in 
attainment of the NAAQS throughout the nonattainment area.
    Specifically, EPA is finalizing approval of procedural 
requirements, baseline and projected emission inventories, and vehicle 
miles traveled (VMT) forecasts and commitments, and interim approval of 
the attainment demonstration and quantitative milestones and reasonable 
further progress.
    EPA is also finalizing action to rescind EPA's February 14, 1995 
partial approval and partial disapproval of the 1994 South Coast CO SIP 
submittal. These actions on the 1994 CO SIP submittal have not been in 
effect, since EPA's final rulemaking was never published in the Federal 
Register. The 1997 CO plan updates and supersedes the 1994 CO SIP 
submittal and corrects the deficiencies in the 1994 submittal that were 
the subject of the partial disapproval actions.
    These actions were proposed on December 5, 1997 (62 FR 64329-
64334). The reader is referred to that notice for additional detail on 
the affected area and the SIP submittal, as well as a summary of 
relevant CAA provisions and EPA interpretations of those provisions.

II. Public Comments

    EPA received no comments on the proposal.

III. EPA Final Action

    In this document, EPA is taking the following actions on elements 
of the 1997 South Coast Air Quality Management Plan, as adopted on 
November 15, 1996, and submitted on February 5, 1997:
    (1) Approval of procedural requirements, under section 110(a)(1) of 
the CAA;
    (2) Approval of the baseline and projected emission inventories, 
under sections 172(c)(3) and 187(a)(1) of the CAA;
    (3) Interim approval of the attainment demonstration, under section 
187(a)(7) of the CAA and section 348(c) of the National Highway System 
Designation Act (``Highway Act,'' Public Law 104-59, enacted on 
November 28, 1995);
    (4) Interim approval of quantitative milestones and reasonable 
further progress, under sections 171(1), 172(c)(2), and 187(a)(7) of 
the CAA and section 348(c) of the Highway Act; and
    (5) Approval of VMT forecasts and the responsible agencies' 
commitments to revise and replace the VMT projections as needed and 
monitor actual VMT levels in the future, under section 187(a)(2)(A) of 
the CAA.
    EPA also takes final action to rescind EPA's prior partial approval 
and partial disapproval of the 1994 South Coast CO SIP submittal, taken 
on February 14, 1995. As discussed in the proposal (62 FR 64330), these 
actions have not been in effect, since the final rule was never 
published in the Federal Register.
    Along with EPA's prior interim approval of California's enhanced 
motor

[[Page 19662]]

vehicle inspection and maintenance (I/M) program under section 
187(a)(6) of the CAA and section 348(c) of the Highway Act, these 
interim approvals expire on August 7, 1998, or earlier if by such date 
California submits the required demonstration that the CO credits are 
appropriate. 61 FR 10920, March 18, 1996.

IV. Administrative Requirements

A. Executive Order 12866

    The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has exempted this 
regulatory action from E.O. 12866 review.

B. Regulatory Flexibility Act

    Under the Regulatory Flexibility Act, 5 U.S.C. 600 et seq., EPA 
must prepare a regulatory flexibility analysis assessing the impact of 
any proposed or final rule on small entities. 5 U.S.C. 603 and 604. 
Alternatively, EPA may certify that the rule will not have a 
significant impact on a substantial number of small entities. Small 
entities include small business, small not-for-profit enterprises and 
government entities with jurisdiction over populations of less than 
50,000.
    SIP approvals under sections 110 and subchapter I, part D of the 
CAA, do not create any new requirements, but simply approve 
requirements that the State is already imposing. Therefore, because the 
Federal SIP approval does not impose any new requirements, the 
Administrator certifies that it does not have a significant impact on 
any small entities affected. Moreover, due to the nature of the 
Federal-State relationship under the CAA, preparation of a regulatory 
flexibility analysis would constitute Federal inquiry into the economic 
reasonableness of state action. The CAA forbids EPA to base its actions 
concerning SIP's on such grounds. Union Electric Co. v. U.S.E.P.A., 427 
U.S. 246, 256-66 (S.Ct. 1976); 42 U.S.C. 7410(a)(2).

C. Unfunded Mandates

    Under sections 202 of the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995 
(``Unfunded Mandates Act'') signed into law on March 22, 1995, EPA must 
prepare a budgetary impact statement to accompany any proposed or final 
rule that includes a Federal mandate that may result in estimated costs 
to State, local, or tribal governments in the aggregate; or to the 
private sector, of $100 million or more. Under Section 205, EPA must 
select the most cost-effective and least burdensome alternative that 
achieves the objectives of the rule and is consistent with statutory 
requirements. Section 203 requires EPA to establish a plan for 
informing and advising any small governments that may be significantly 
or uniquely impacted by the rule.
    EPA has also determined that this final action does not include a 
mandate that may result in estimated costs of $100 million or more to 
State, local, or tribal governments in the aggregate or to the private 
sector. This Federal action approves pre-existing requirements under 
State or local law, and imposes no new Federal requirements. 
Accordingly, no additional costs to State, local, or tribal 
governments, or to the private sector, result from this action.

D. Submission to Congress and the General Accounting Office

    Under 5 U.S.C. 801(a)(1)(A) as added by the Small Business 
Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996, EPA submitted 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 
General Accounting Office prior to publication of the rule in today's 
Federal Register. This rule is not a ``major'' rule as defined by 5 
U.S.C. 804(2).

E. Petitions for Judicial Review

    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 June 22, 1998. 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, Intergovernmental relations, Reporting and 
recordkeeping requirements.

    Note: Incorporation by reference of the State Implementation 
Plan for the State of California was approved by the Director of the 
Federal Register on July 1, 1982.

    Dated: April 2, 1998.
Felicia Marcus,
Regional Administrator, Region IX.

    Part 52, 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 F--California

    2. Section 52.220 is amended by adding paragraph (c)(247) to read 
as follows:


Sec. 52.220  Identification of plan.

* * * * *
    (c) * * *
    (247) New and amended plans for the following agency were submitted 
on February 5, 1997, by the Governor's designee.
    (i) Incorporation by reference.
    (A) South Coast Air Quality Management District.
    (1) Carbon monoxide emissions inventory, VMT forecasts and 
commitments to monitor actual VMT levels and revise and replace the VMT 
projections as needed in the future, as contained in the South Coast 
1997 Air Quality Management Plan.
    3. Section 52.243 is added to subpart F to read as follows:


Sec. 52.243  Interim approval of the Carbon Monoxide plan for the South 
Coast.

    The Carbon Monoxide plan for the Los Angeles-South Coast Air Basin 
is approved as meeting the provisions of sections 171(1), 172(c)(2), 
and 187(a)(7) for quantitative milestones and reasonable further 
progress, and the provisions of section 187(a)(7) for attainment 
demonstration. This approval expires on August 7, 1998, or earlier if 
by such earlier date the State has submitted as a SIP revision a 
demonstration that the carbon monoxide emission reduction credits for 
the enhanced motor vehicle inspection and maintenance program are 
appropriate and that the program is otherwise in compliance with the 
Clean Air Act and EPA takes final action approving that revision, as 
provided by section 348(c) of the National Highway System Designation 
Act (Public Law 104-59).

[FR Doc. 98-10397 Filed 4-20-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P