Document ID: EPA-R03-OAR-2013-0033-0004
Agency: epa
Document Type: Rule
Title: State Air Quality Implementation Plans; Approval and Promulgation: Maryland; Revisions to the State Implementation Plan Approved by EPA through Letter Notice Actions
Posted Date: 2013-06-11T04:00Z

[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 112 (Tuesday, June 11, 2013)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 34910-34911]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-13718]

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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

 40 CFR Part 52

[EPA-R03-OAR-2013-0033; FRL-9822-5]

Approval and Promulgation of Implementation Plans; Maryland; 
Revisions to the State Implementation Plan Approved by EPA Through 
Letter Notice Actions

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Final rule; administrative change.

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SUMMARY: EPA is taking final action on administrative changes to the 
Maryland State Implementation Plan (SIP) which EPA had previously 
approved through a Letter Notice action. The revision removes an 
obsolete Consent Decree for the Allegany County Board of Education, 
Beall Jr./Sr. High School. EPA has determined that this action falls 
under the ``good cause'' exemption in the Administrative Procedure Act 
(APA), which authorizes agencies to dispense with public participation 
and which allows an agency to make an action effective immediately 
(thereby avoiding the 30-day delayed effective date otherwise provided 
for in the APA).

DATES: This action is effective June 11, 2013.

ADDRESSES: EPA has established a docket for this action under Docket ID 
Number EPA-R03-OAR-2013-0033. All documents in the docket are listed in 
the www.regulations.gov Web site. Although listed in the electronic 
docket, some information is not publicly available, i.e., confidential 
business information (CBI) or other information whose disclosure is 
restricted by statute. Certain other material, such as copyrighted 
material, is not placed on the Internet and will be publicly available 
only in hard copy form. Publicly available docket materials are 
available either electronically through www.regulations.gov or in hard 
copy for public inspection during normal business hours at the Air 
Protection Division, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region III, 
1650 Arch Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19103. Copies of the State 
submittal are available at the Maryland Department of the Environment, 
1800 Washington Boulevard, Suite 705, Baltimore, Maryland 21230.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Harold A. Frankford at (215) 814-2108, 
or by email at frankford.harold@epa.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background

    EPA is taking final action on administrative changes to the 
Maryland SIP. On November 15, 2012, Maryland submitted a SIP revision 
requesting removal of an obsolete Consent Decree for the Allegany 
County Board of Education, Beall Jr./Sr. High School since the school's 
coal-fired boiler was demolished in 2007. EPA determined that the 
revision was a minor SIP revision without any substantive changes and 
complied with all applicable requirements of the CAA and EPA 
regulations concerning such SIP revisions. EPA approved this revision 
through Letter Notice to Maryland dated February 6, 2013 consistent 
with the procedures outlined in EPA's Notice of Procedural Changes on 
SIP processing published on January 19, 1989 at 54 FR 2214 and 
consistent with the procedures outlined in an April 6, 2011 memo from 
Janet McCabe, Deputy Assistant Administrator for the Office of Air and 
Radiation, regarding Regional Consistency for the Administrative 
Requirements of State Implementation. Today's action completes the 
February 6, 2013 administrative amendment to the SIP by removing the 
Consent Order entry for Beall Jr./Sr. High School from the 40 CFR 
52.1070(d) table.

II. EPA Action

    EPA is taking final action on administrative changes to the 
Maryland SIP. EPA has determined that today's action falls under the 
``good cause'' exemption in the section 553(b)(3)(B) of the 
Administrative Procedure Act (APA)

[[Page 34911]]

which, upon finding ``good cause,'' authorizes agencies to dispense 
with public participation and section 553(d)(3) which allows an agency 
to make an action effective immediately (thereby avoiding the 30-day 
delayed effective date otherwise provided for in the APA). With respect 
to the SIP revision described above, today's administrative action 
simply codifies provisions which are already in effect as a matter of 
law in Federal and approved state programs. Under section 553 of the 
APA, an agency may find good cause where procedures are ``impractical, 
unnecessary, or contrary to the public interest.'' Public comment for 
this administrative action is ``unnecessary'' because the revisions are 
administrative and non-substantive in nature. Immediate notice of this 
action in the Federal Register benefits the public by providing the 
public notice of the updated Maryland SIP. Approval of these revisions 
will ensure consistency between state and Federally-approved rules. EPA 
has determined that these changes will not relax the SIP or adversely 
impact air emissions.

III. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

A. General Requirements

    Under the Clean Air Act (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.

B. Submission to Congress and the Comptroller General

    The Congressional Review Act (CRA) (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. Section 808 allows the issuing agency to 
make a rule effective sooner than otherwise provided by the CRA if the 
agency makes a good cause finding that notice and public procedure is 
impracticable, unnecessary or contrary to the public interest. 5 U.S.C. 
808(2). In taking action on this SIP revision, EPA already made such a 
finding. Thus, the SIP revisions announced in this notice became 
effective upon EPA's February 6, 2013 Letter Notice to Maryland. 
Today's administrative action simply codifies a provision which is 
already in effect as a matter of law in Federal and approved state 
programs. EPA will submit a report containing this action and other 
information to the U.S. Senate, the U.S. House of Representatives, and 
the Comptroller General of the United States prior to publication of 
this action in the Federal Register. This action is not a ``major 
rule'' as defined by 5 U.S.C. 804(2).

C. Petitions for Judicial Review

    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 August 12, 2013. 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. This action to remove the obsolete Consent Decree for the 
Allegany County Board of Education, Beall Jr./Sr. High School 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, Particulate matter.

    Dated: May 28, 2013.
 W.C. Early,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region III.

    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.

Subpart V--Maryland

Sec.  52.1070  [Amended]

0
2. In Sec.  52.1070, the table in paragraph (d) is amended by removing 
the entry for Beall Jr./Sr. High School.

[FR Doc. 2013-13718 Filed 6-10-13; 8:45 am]
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