Document ID: EPA-R05-OAR-2013-0645-0002
Agency: epa
Document Type: Rule
Title: Direct Final Approval of the Wisconsin Transportation Conformity MOA
Posted Date: 2014-02-27T05:00Z

[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 39 (Thursday, February 27, 2014)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 10995-10998]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-04168]

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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[EPA-R05-OAR-2013-0645; FRL-9907-08-Region 5]

Approval and Promulgation of Air Quality Implementation Plans; 
Wisconsin; Transportation Conformity Procedures

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Direct final rule.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is approving a State 
Implementation Plan (SIP) revision submitted by the State of Wisconsin 
on August 1, 2013, for the purpose of establishing transportation 
conformity ``Conformity'' criteria and procedures related to 
interagency consultation, and enforceability of certain transportation 
related control and mitigation measures. This revision replaces 
Wisconsin's

[[Page 10996]]

Conformity SIP that was approved on August 27, 1996.

DATES: This direct final rule will be effective April 28, 2014, unless 
EPA receives adverse comments by March 31, 2014. If adverse comments 
are received, EPA will publish a timely withdrawal of the direct final 
rule in the Federal Register informing the public that the rule will 
not take effect.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-R05-
OAR-2013-0645, by one of the following methods:
    1. www.regulations.gov: Follow the on-line instructions for 
submitting comments.
    2. Email: blakley.pamela@epa.gov.
    3. Fax: (312) 692-2450.
    4. Mail: Pamela Blakley, Chief, Control Strategies Section, Air 
Programs Branch (AR-18J), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 77 West 
Jackson Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois 60604.
    5. Hand Delivery: Pamela Blakley, Chief, Control Strategies 
Section, Air Programs Branch (AR-18J), U.S. Environmental Protection 
Agency, 77 West Jackson Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois 60604. Such 
deliveries are only accepted during the Regional Office normal hours of 
operation, and special arrangements should be made for deliveries of 
boxed information. The Regional Office official hours of business are 
Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., excluding Federal 
holidays.
    Instructions: Direct your comments to Docket ID No. EPA-R05-OAR-
2013-0645. EPA's policy is that all comments received will be included 
in the public docket without change and may be made available online at 
www.regulations.gov, including any personal information provided, 
unless the comment includes information claimed to be Confidential 
Business Information (CBI) or other information whose disclosure is 
restricted by statute. Do not submit information that you consider to 
be CBI or otherwise protected through www.regulations.gov or email. The 
www.regulations.gov Web site is an ``anonymous access'' system, which 
means 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 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 and with any disk or CD-ROM you submit. 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, any form of 
encryption, and be free of any defects or viruses.
    Docket: All documents in the docket are listed in the 
www.regulations.gov index. Although listed in the index, some 
information is not publicly available, e.g., 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 
in www.regulations.gov or in hard copy at the Environmental Protection 
Agency, Region 5, Air and Radiation Division, 77 West Jackson 
Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois 60604. This facility is open from 8:30 
a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding Federal holidays. 
We recommend that you telephone Michael Leslie, Environmental Engineer, 
at (312) 353-6680 before visiting the Region 5 office.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Michael Leslie, Environmental 
Engineer, Control Strategies Section, Air Programs Branch (AR-18J), 
Environmental Protection Agency, Region 5, 77 West Jackson Boulevard, 
Chicago, Illinois 60604, (312) 353-6680, leslie.michael@epa.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Throughout this document whenever ``we,'' 
``us,'' or ``our'' is used, we mean EPA. This supplementary information 
section is arranged as follows:

I. What is the background for this action?
II. What is EPA's analysis of Wisconsin's SIP revision?
III. What action is EPA taking?
IV. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

I. What is the background for this action?

    Transportation conformity is required under section 176(c) of the 
Clean Air Act (Act) to ensure that transportation planning activities 
are consistent (``conform to'') with air quality planning goals in 
nonattainment/maintenance areas. The transportation conformity 
regulation is found in 40 CFR part 93 and provisions related to 
transportation conformity SIPs are found in 40 CFR 51.390. 
Transportation conformity applies to areas that are designated 
nonattainment or maintenance for the following transportation related 
criteria pollutants: Ozone, particulate matter (PM2.5 and 
PM10), carbon monoxide, and nitrogen dioxide.
    EPA originally promulgated the Federal transportation conformity 
criteria and procedures (``Transportation Conformity Rule'') on 
November 24, 1993 (58 FR 62188). On August 10, 2005, the ``Safe, 
Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy 
for Users'' (SAFETEA-LU) was signed into law. SAFETEA-LU revised 
section 176(c) of the Act which contains transportation conformity 
provisions. SAFETEA-LU streamlined the requirements for conformity 
SIPs. Under SAFETEA-LU, states are required to address and tailor only 
three sections of the rules in their conformity SIPs: 40 CFR 93.105, 40 
CFR 93.122(a)(4)(ii), and, 40 CFR 93.125(c). States are no longer 
required to submit conformity SIP revisions that address the other 
sections of the conformity rule. Wisconsin's SIP revision updates the 
state's transportation conformity provisions, to be consistent with the 
Act as amended by SAFETEA-LU and EPA regulations (40 CFR part 93 and 40 
CFR 51.390).

II. What is EPA's analysis of Wisconsin's SIP revision?

    A conformity SIP can be adopted as a state rule, as a memorandum of 
understanding (MOU), or memorandum of agreement (MOA). The appropriate 
form of the state conformity procedures depends upon the requirements 
of local or state law, as long as the selected form complies with all 
Act requirements for adoption, submission to EPA, and implementation of 
SIPs. EPA will accept state conformity SIPs in any form provided the 
state can demonstrate to EPA's satisfaction that, as a matter of state 
law, the state has adequate authority to compel compliance with the 
requirements of the conformity SIP.
    Wisconsin concluded that this SIP revision in the form of a MOA 
will be enforceable through a number of Wisconsin Statutes, as with 
their original conformity SIP. These statutes authorize state agencies 
to enter into legally binding cooperative contracts for the receipt or 
furnishing of services. Wisconsin collaborated with the Wisconsin 
Department of Transportation (WisDOT), EPA, Federal Highway 
Administration (FHWA), Federal Transit Administration, the Southeast 
Regional Planning Commission (SEWRPC), Bay-Lake Regional Planning 
Commission (BLRPC), to develop the Transportation Conformity MOA. This 
MOA was agreed upon and signed by all of the above consultation 
parties.

[[Page 10997]]

    EPA has evaluated this SIP submission and finds that the state has 
addressed the requirements of the Federal transportation conformity 
rule as described in 40 CFR part 51, subpart T and 40 CFR part 93, 
subpart A. The transportation conformity rule requires the states to 
develop their own processes and procedures for interagency consultation 
and resolution of conflicts meeting the criteria in 40 CFR 93.105. The 
SIP revision did include processes and procedures to be followed by the 
MPO, state DOT, and U.S. DOT in consulting with the state and local air 
quality agencies and EPA before making transportation conformity 
determinations. Their transportation conformity SIP also included 
processes and procedures for the state and local air quality agencies 
and EPA to coordinate the development of applicable SIPs with MPOs, 
state DOTs, and U.S. DOT, and requires written commitments to control 
measures and mitigation measures (40 CFR 93.122(a)(4)(ii) and 
93.125(c)).
    EPA's review of the Wisconsin SIP revision indicates that is 
consistent with the Act as amended by SAFETEA-LU and EPA regulations 
(40 CFR part 93 and 40 CFR 51.390) governing state procedures for 
transportation conformity and interagency consultation and has 
concluded that the submittal is approvable.

III. What action is EPA taking?

    EPA is approving a SIP revision submitted by the State of 
Wisconsin, for the purpose of establishing transportation conformity 
criteria and procedures related to interagency consultation, and 
enforceability of certain transportation related control and mitigation 
measures.
    We are publishing this action without prior proposal because we 
view this as a noncontroversial 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 state plan if relevant adverse 
written comments are filed. This rule will be effective April 28, 2014 
without further notice unless we receive relevant adverse written 
comments by March 31, 2014. If we receive such comments, we will 
withdraw this action before the effective date by publishing a 
subsequent document that will withdraw the final action. All public 
comments received will then be addressed in a subsequent final rule 
based on the proposed action. EPA will not institute a second comment 
period. Any parties interested in commenting on this action should do 
so at this time. Please note that if EPA receives adverse comment on an 
amendment, paragraph, or section of this rule and if that provision may 
be severed from the remainder of the rule, EPA may adopt as final those 
provisions of the rule that are not the subject of an adverse comment. 
If we do not receive any comments, this action will be effective April 
28, 2014.

IV. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

    Under the Act, 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 Act. 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 Act; 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. 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 Act, petitions for judicial review 
of this action must be filed in the United States Court of Appeals for 
the appropriate circuit by April 28, 2014. 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, Ozone, Particulate matter, 
Volatile organic compounds.

[[Page 10998]]

    Dated: February 10, 2014.
Susan Hedman,
Regional Administrator, Region 5.

    40 CFR part 52 is amended as follows:

PART 52--APPROVAL AND PROMULGATION OF IMPLEMENTATION PLANS

0
1. The authority citation for part 52 continues to read as follows:

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

0
2. Section 52.2584 is amended by adding paragraph (c) to read as 
follows:

Sec.  52.2584  Control strategy; Particulate matter.

* * * * *
    (c) Approval--On August 1, 2013, the State of Wisconsin submitted a 
revision to their Particulate Matter State Implementation Plan. The 
submittal established transportation conformity ``Conformity'' criteria 
and procedures related to interagency consultation, and enforceability 
of certain transportation related control and mitigation measures.

0
3. Section 52.2585 is amended by adding paragraph (bb) to read as 
follows:

Sec.  52.2585  Control strategy; Ozone.

* * * * *
    (bb) Approval--On August 1, 2013, the State of Wisconsin submitted 
a revision to their Ozone State Implementation Plan. The submittal 
established transportation conformity ``Conformity'' criteria and 
procedures related to interagency consultation, and enforceability of 
certain transportation related control and mitigation measures.

[FR Doc. 2014-04168 Filed 2-26-14; 8:45 am]
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