Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 158 / Thursday, August 17, 2017 / Rules and Regulations 39035 

EPA-APPROVED VIRGINIA REGULATIONS AND STATUTES—Continued 

State citation Title/subject State effective 

date EPA approval date Explanation [former SIP citation] 

*******

Part II General Provisions 

*******

5–151–20 ....... Applicability ...................... 11/16/16 8/17/17, [Insert Federal 

Register Citation].

Subdivision B. is amended to address revoked federal standards. 

Previous approval 11/20/09. 

* * * * * * * 

9 VAC 5, Chapter 160 General Conformity 

*******

Part II General Provisions 

*******

5–160–30 ....... Applicability ...................... 11/16/16 8/17/17, [Insert Federal 

Register Citation].

Subdivision A. is amended to address revoked federal standards. 

Previous approval 12/12/11. 

* * * * * * * 

* * * * * 

[FR Doc. 2017–17235 Filed 8–16–17; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

40 CFR Part 52 

[EPA–R04–OAR–2017–0174; FRL–9966–29– 

Region 4] 

Air Plan Approval: Alabama; 

Transportation Conformity 

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA). 

ACTION: Direct final rule. 

SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA) is approving a portion of 

a revision to the Alabama State 

Implementation plan (SIP) submitted by 

the State of Alabama on May 8, 2013, for 

the purpose of amending the 

transportation conformity rules to be 

consistent with Federal requirements. 

DATES: This direct final rule is effective 

October 16, 2017 without further notice, 

unless EPA receives adverse comment 

by September 18, 2017. 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: Submit your comments, 

identified by Docket ID No. EPA–R04– 

OAR–2017–0174 at http://

www.regulations.gov. Follow the online 

instructions for submitting comments. 

Once submitted, comments cannot be 

edited or removed from Regulations.gov. 

EPA may publish any comment received 

to its public docket. Do not submit 

electronically any information you 

consider to be Confidential Business 

Information (CBI) or other information 

whose disclosure is restricted by statute. 

Multimedia submissions (audio, video, 

etc.) must be accompanied by a written 

comment. The written comment is 

considered the official comment and 

should include discussion of all points 

you wish to make. EPA will generally 

not consider comments or comment 

contents located outside of the primary 

submission (i.e. on the web, cloud, or 

other file sharing system). For 

additional submission methods, the full 

EPA public comment policy, 

information about CBI or multimedia 

submissions, and general guidance on 

making effective comments, please visit 

http://www2.epa.gov/dockets/ 

commenting-epa-dockets. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Kelly Sheckler, Air Regulatory 

Management Section, Air Planning and 

Implementation Branch, Air, Pesticides 

and Toxics Management Division, U.S. 

Environmental Protection Agency, 

Region 4, 61 Forsyth Street SW., 

Atlanta, Georgia 30303–8960. The 

telephone number is (404) 562–9222. 

Ms. Sheckler can also be reached via 

electronic mail at sheckler.kelly@

epa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background and Purpose 

A. Call to States for Conformity SIP 

Revisions 

In the Clean Air Act (CAA or Act), 

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). Congress 

added section 176(c) (42 U.S.C. 7506) to 

the CAA to ensure federal agencies’ 

proposed actions conform to the 

applicable SIP, Tribal Implementation 

Plan (TIP) or Federal Implementation 

Plan (FIP) for attaining and maintaining 

the NAAQS. That section requires 

federal entities to find that the 

emissions from the federal action will 

conform with the purposes of the SIP, 

TIP or FIP or not otherwise interfere 

with the State’s or Tribe’s ability to 

attain and maintain the NAAQS. 

The CAA Amendments of 1990 

clarified and strengthened the 

provisions in section 176(c). Because 

certain provisions of section 176(c) 

apply only to highway and mass transit 

funding and approvals actions, EPA 

published two sets of regulations to 

implement section 176(c). The 

Transportation Conformity Regulations, 

(40 CFR part 51, subpart T, and 40 CFR 

part 93, subpart A) first published on 

November 24, 1993 (58 FR 62188), 


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39036 Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 158 / Thursday, August 17, 2017 / Rules and Regulations 

address federal actions related to 

highway and mass transit funding and 

approval actions. The conformity 

regulations have been revised numerous 

times since then. 

When promulgated in 1993, the 

Federal Transportation Conformity Rule 

at 40 CFR 51.395 mandated that the 

transportation conformity SIP revisions 

incorporate several provisions of the 

rule in verbatim form, except insofar as 

needed to give effect to a stated intent 

in the revision to establish criteria and 

procedures more stringent than the 

requirements stated in these sections. 

B. What is transportation conformity? 

Transportation conformity is required 

under section 176(c) of the CAA to 

ensure that federally-supported highway 

projects, transit projects, and other 

activities are consistent with (‘‘conform 

to’’) the purpose of the SIP. 

Transportation conformity currently 

applies to areas that are designated 

nonattainment, as well as those areas 

redesignated to attainment after 1990 

(maintenance areas), with plans 

developed under section 175A of the 

Act for the following transportation 

related pollutants: Ozone, particulate 

matter (PM2.5 and PM10), carbon 

monoxide, and nitrogen dioxide. 

Conformity to the purpose of the SIP 

means that transportation activities will 

not cause new air quality violations, 

worsen existing violations, or delay 

timely attainment of the relevant 

NAAQS. The transportation conformity 

regulation is found in 40 CFR part 93, 

subpart A and provisions related to 

conformity SIPs are found in 40 CFR 

51.390. 

C. Transportation Conformity Provisions 

Affected by the Safe, Accountable, 

Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity 

Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA–LU) 

On August 10, 2005, the SAFETEA– 

LU was signed into law and provided 

changes to the CAA that streamlined the 

requirements for conformity SIPs at 

section 176(c). Prior to SAFETEA–LU, 

states were required to address all of the 

Federal conformity rule’s provisions in 

their conformity SIPs. After SAFETEA– 

LU amended CAA section 176(c)(4)(E) 

and EPA revised 40 CFR 51.390 to be 

consistent with those amendments, 

states are required to address and tailor 

only three sections of the conformity 

rule in their transportation conformity 

SIPs. (The requirement that states adopt 

the Federal conformity rule verbatim 

results in the need for states to submit 

a SIP revision within one year of EPA’s 

adoption of any changes, including 

minor changes, to the rule.) The three 

sections of the federal rule which must 

meet a state’s individual circumstances 

are: 40 CFR 93.105, which addresses 

consultation procedures; 40 CFR 

93.122(a)(4)(ii), which requires that 

written commitments be obtained for 

control measures that are not included 

in a Metropolitan Planning 

Organization’s transportation plan and 

transportation improvement program 

prior to a conformity determination, and 

that such commitments be fulfilled; and, 

40 CFR 93.125(c) which requires that 

written commitments be obtained for 

mitigation measures prior to a project 

level conformity determination, and that 

project sponsors must comply with such 

commitments. In general, states are no 

longer required to submit conformity 

SIP revisions that address the other 

sections of the conformity rule, and they 

are able to streamline their SIPapproved conformity requirements 

consistent with changes made through 

SAFETEA–LU. 

D. Prior Approval of Alabama 

Conformity SIP Revisions 

EPA has approved several revisions to 

the Alabama SIP to incorporate 

transportation conformity requirements 

consistent with the Federal regulations. 

Initially, on May 11, 2000, EPA 

approved Alabama’s SIP revision to 

address consultation requirements for 

transportation conformity. See 65 FR 

30358. On March 26, 2009, EPA 

approved revisions to the transportation 

conformity requirements in the Alabama 

SIP to cover the specific applicable 

areas and address new requirements 

related to both the 8-hour ozone and 

PM2.5 NAAQS. See FR 74 13118. EPA 

also approved a subsequent revision to 

Alabama’s transportation conformity 

requirements on September 26, 2012. 

See 77 FR 59100. 

II. Analysis of State’s Submittal 

On May 8, 2013, the Alabama 

Department of Environmental 

Management submitted a SIP revision to 

EPA to make two changes to its 

transportation conformity requirements. 

First, the State changed its regulations at 

Alabama Administrative Code section 

335–3–17–.01, Transportation 

Conformity, to reflect the January 24, 

2008 (73 FR 4420) amendments to 40 

CFR part 93, subpart A that address the 

2005 SAFETEA–LU. That change in 

Alabama’s regulation streamlines the 

State’s transportation conformity SIP to 

include only §§ 93.105, 93.122(a)(4)(ii) 

and 93.125(c), consistent with Federal 

requirements, and not the provisions of 

40 CFR 93 in entirety. 

On March 14, 2012, EPA finalized the 

rule entitled ‘‘Transportation 

Conformity Rule Restructuring 

Amendments.’’ See 77 FR 14979. 

Through that final action, EPA 

restructured several sections of the 

transportation conformity rule so that 

they apply to any new or revised 

NAAQS. Specifically, EPA amended 

§§ 93.101, 93.105, 93.109, 93.116, 

93.118, 93.119, and 93.121 of the 

Transportation Conformity Rule. In its 

May 8, 2013, SIP revision, Alabama 

requests that EPA incorporates by 

reference subsequent Federal changes 

EPA promulgated in the Transportation 

Conformity Rule Restructuring 

Amendments. Although Alabama’s 

submission mentions that it is 

incorporating by reference provisions in 

EPA’s Transportation Conformity Rule 

Restructuring Amendments, the only 

relevant portion for incorporation by 

reference is the change that EPA made 

to section 93.105 because, in this same 

submission, Alabama changed the State 

regulations and transportation 

conformity requirements in its SIP to 

address only §§ 93.105, 93.122(a)(4)(ii) 

and 93.125(c), in accordance with EPA’s 

regulations. The changes EPA made to 

§ 93.105 were administrative in nature 

and involved updates to citations, 

revision of introductory paragraphs, and 

redesignating paragraphs. 

EPA has reviewed Alabama’s 

submittal to ensure consistency with the 

current CAA, as amended by 

SAFETEA–LU, and EPA regulations 

governing state procedures for 

transportation and general conformity 

(40 CFR part 93, subparts A and B). The 

May 8, 2013, SIP revision, upon final 

approval by EPA, removes specific 

provisions of Alabama Administrative 

Code section 335–3–17–.01, 

‘‘Transportation Conformity,’’ from the 

SIP that are no longer required in light 

of the SAFETEA–LU amendments. With 

the removal of these specific provisions 

of 335–3–17–.01 from the SIP, the 

federal rules in 40 CFR part 93, subpart 

A will directly govern transportation 

conformity of federal actions in the 

State of Alabama. This revision 

complies with the requirements of CAA 

section 176(c)(4)(e) and 40 CFR 

51.390(b). 40 CFR part 93, subpart A 

continues to subject certain Federal 

actions to transportation conformity 

requirements without the need for 

identical state rules and SIPs. Therefore, 

repealing the State rule will not impact 

continuity of the transportation 

conformity program in Alabama. 

III. Incorporation by Reference 

In this rule, EPA is proposing to 

include in a final EPA rule regulatory 

text that includes incorporation by 

reference. In accordance with 

requirements of 1 CFR 51.5, EPA is 


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Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 158 / Thursday, August 17, 2017 / Rules and Regulations 39037 

proposing to incorporate by reference 

the ADEM. Regulation chapter 335–3– 

17.01 entitled ‘‘Transportation 

Conformity,’’ effective May 28, 2013, 

which incorporates by reference the 

Federal Transportation Conformity Rule 

that was restructured and amended on 

March 14, 2012 (77 FR 14979). EPA has 

made, and will continue to make, these 

materials generally available through 

www.regulations.gov and/or at the EPA 

Region 4 office (please contact the 

person identified in the FOR FURTHER

INFORMATION CONTACT section of this 

preamble for more information). 

IV. Final Action 

Pursuant to section 110 of the CAA, 

EPA is approving the revision to the 

Alabama SIP regarding the State’s 

transportation conformity requirements. 

The approval of Alabama’s conformity 

SIP revisions will align the Alabama SIP 

with the current federal conformity 

requirements, as amended by 

SAFETEA–LU, and the most recent EPA 

regulations governing state procedures 

for transportation conformity. 

EPA is publishing this rule without 

prior proposal because the Agency 

views this as a noncontroversial 

submittal and anticipates no adverse 

comments. However, in the proposed 

rules section of this Federal Register 

publication, EPA is publishing a 

separate document that will serve as the 

proposal to approve the SIP revision 

should adverse comments be filed. This 

rule will be effective October 16, 2017 

without further notice unless the 

Agency receives adverse comments by 

September 18, 2017. 

If EPA receives such comments, then 

EPA will publish a document 

withdrawing the final rule and 

informing the public that the rule will 

not take effect. All public comments 

received will then be addressed in a 

subsequent final rule based on the 

proposed rule. EPA will not institute a 

second comment period. Parties 

interested in commenting should do so 

at this time. If no such comments are 

received, the public is advised that this 

rule will be effective on October 16, 

2017 and no further action will be taken 

on the proposed rule. 

V. 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. 

See 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 Orders 12866 (58 FR 51735, 

October 4, 1993) and 13563 (76 FR 3821, 

January 21, 2011); 

• 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). 

The SIP is not approved to apply on any 

Indian reservation land or in any other 

area where EPA or an Indian tribe has 

demonstrated that a tribe has 

jurisdiction. In those areas of Indian 

country, the rule does not have tribal 

implications as specified by Executive 

Order 13175 (65 FR 67249, November 9, 

2000), nor will it impose substantial 

direct costs on tribal governments or 

preempt tribal law. 

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 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 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 CAA, 

petitions for judicial review of this 

action must be filed in the United States 

Court of Appeals for the appropriate 

circuit by October 16, 2017. Filing a 

petition for reconsideration by the 

Administrator of this final rule does not 

affect the finality of this action 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. Parties with 

objections to this direct final rule are 

encouraged to file a comment in 

response to the parallel notice of 

proposed rulemaking for this action 

published in the proposed rules section 

of today’s Federal Register, rather than 

file an immediate petition for judicial 

review of this direct final rule, so that 

EPA can withdraw this direct final rule 

and address the comment in the 

proposed rulemaking. 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, Incorporation by 

reference, Intergovernmental relations, 

Nitrogen dioxide, Ozone, Particulate 

matter, Reporting and recordkeeping 

requirements, Volatile organic 

compounds. 

Dated: August 4, 2017. 

V. Anne Heard, 

Acting Regional Administrator, Region 4. 

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 B—Alabama 

■ 2. Section 52.50(c) is amended by 

revising the entry for ‘‘Section 335–3– 

17-.01’’ to read as follows: 

§ 52.50 Identification of plan. 

* * * * * 

(c) * * * 


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39038 Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 158 / Thursday, August 17, 2017 / Rules and Regulations 

EPA APPROVED ALABAMA REGULATIONS

State citation Title/subject State effective 

date EPA approval date Explanation 

*******

Chapter No. 335–3–17 Conformity of Federal Actions to State Implementation Plans 

Section 335–3–17–.01 ................. Transportation Conformity ........... 5/28/2013 8/17/2017 [Insert citation 

of publication].

* * * * * * * 

* * * * * 

[FR Doc. 2017–17241 Filed 8–16–17; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

40 CFR Part 372 

[EPA–HQ–OPPT–2017–0197; FRL–9964–77] 

RIN 2070–AK32 

Community Right-To-Know; Adopting 

2017 North American Industry 

Classification System (NAICS) Codes 

for Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) 

Reporting 

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA). 

ACTION: Direct final rule. 

SUMMARY: EPA is updating the list of 

North American Industry Classification 

System (NAICS) codes subject to 

reporting under the Toxics Release 

Inventory (TRI) to reflect the Office of 

Management and Budget (OMB) 2017 

NAICS code revision. As a result of this 

action, facilities would be required to 

use 2017 NAICS codes when reporting 

to TRI beginning with TRI reporting 

forms that are due on July 1, 2018, 

covering releases and other waste 

management quantities for the 2017 

calendar year. EPA is also modifying the 

list of exceptions and limitations 

associated with NAICS codes in the CFR 

for TRI reporting purposes by deleting 

the descriptive text. EPA believes that 

these amendments are non-controversial 

and does not expect to receive any 

adverse comments. However, in 

addition to this direct final rule, 

elsewhere in this issue of the Federal 

Register, EPA is issuing the same 

amendment as a Notice of Proposed 

Rulemaking that will be used in the 

event that adverse comment is received. 

If EPA receives no adverse comment, 

the Agency will not take further action 

on the proposed rule and the direct final 

rule will become effective as provided 

in this action. If EPA receives relevant 

adverse comment, the Agency will 

publish a timely withdrawal in the 

Federal Register informing the public 

that this direct final action will not take 

effect and directing them to the Notice 

of Proposed Rulemaking. EPA would 

then address all relevant adverse public 

comments in a subsequent final rule. 

DATES: This final rule is effective on 

November 15, 2017 without further 

notice, unless EPA receives adverse 

comment by September 18, 2017. If EPA 

receives adverse comment, we will 

publish a timely withdrawal in the 

Federal Register informing the public 

that the rule will not take effect and 

directing them to the Notice of Proposed 

Rulemaking that appears elsewhere in 

this issue of the Federal Register. 

ADDRESSES: The docket for this action, 

identified by docket identification (ID) 

number EPA–HQ–OPPT–2007–0197, is 

available at http://www.regulations.gov 

or at the Office of Pollution Prevention 

and Toxics Docket (OPPT Docket), 

Environmental Protection Agency 

Docket Center (EPA/DC), West William 

Jefferson Clinton Bldg., Rm. 3334, 1301 

Constitution Ave. NW., Washington, 

DC. The Public Reading Room is open 

from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday 

through Friday, excluding legal 

holidays. The telephone number for the 

Public Reading Room is (202) 566–1744, 

and the telephone number for the OPPT 

Docket is (202) 566–0280. Please review 

the visitor instructions and additional 

information about the docket available 

at http://www.epa.gov/dockets. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

For technical information contact: 

Stephanie Griffin, Toxics Release 

Inventory Program Division, Mailcode 

7410M, Office of Pollution Prevention 

and Toxics, Environmental Protection 

Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW., 

Washington, DC 20460–0001; telephone 

number: (202) 564–1463; email address: 

griffin.stephanie@epa.gov. 

For general information contact: The 

Emergency Planning and Community 

Right-to-Know Information Center; 

telephone number: (800) 424–9346, TDD 

(800) 553–7672; Web site: https://

www.epa.gov/home/epa-hotlines. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Executive Summary 

A. Does this action apply to me? 

You may be potentially affected by 

this action if you own or operate 

facilities that have 10 or more full-time 

employees or the equivalent of 20,000 

employee hours per year that 

manufacture, process, or otherwise use 

toxic chemicals listed on the TRI, and 

that are required under section 313 of 

the Emergency Planning and 

Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA) 

or section 6607 of the Pollution 

Prevention Act (PPA) to report annually 

to EPA and States or Tribes their 

environmental releases or other waste 

management quantities of covered 

chemicals. (A rule was published on 

April 19, 2012 (77 FR 23409), requiring 

facilities located in Indian country to 

report to the appropriate tribal 

government official and EPA instead of 

to the state and EPA.) 

The following list of North American 

Industrial Classification System 

(NAICS) codes is not intended to be 

exhaustive, but rather provides a guide 

to help readers determine whether this 

document applies to them. Potentially 

affected entities may include: 

• Facilities included in the following 

NAICS manufacturing codes 

(corresponding to Standard Industrial 

Classification (SIC) codes 20 through 

39): 311*, 312*, 313*, 314*, 315*, 316, 

321, 322, 323*, 324, 325*, 326*, 327, 

331, 332, 333, 334*, 335*, 336, 337*, 

339*, 111998*, 211112*, 212324*, 

212325*, 212393*, 212399*, 488390*, 

511110, 511120, 511130, 511140*, 

511191, 511199, 512220, 512230*, 

519130*, 541712*, or 811490*. 

(*Exceptions and/or limitations exist for 

these NAICS codes.) 

• Facilities included in the following 

NAICS codes (corresponding to SIC 

codes other than SIC codes 20 through 

39): 212111, 212112, 212113 

(corresponds to SIC code 12, Coal 


sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with RULES