[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 222 (Friday, November 15, 1996)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 58481-58482]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-29193]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 52
[WV035-6006; FRL-5649-5]
Approval and Promulgation of Air Quality Implementation Plans;
West Virginia: Approval of PM-10 Implementation Plan for the Follansbee
Area
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Final rule.
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SUMMARY: EPA is approving a State Implementation Plan (SIP) revision
submitted by the State of West Virginia. The intended effect of this
action is to approve corrections to the moderate area SIP for the
Follansbee PM-10 nonattainment area. These revisions were submitted to
address plan deficiencies that were identified by EPA in a final
limited disapproval of particulate matter plans published in the
Federal Register on July 25, 1994. EPA is approving these revisions and
terminating the potential for sanctions that resulted from the
deficiencies identified in the rulemaking of July 25, 1994. This action
is being taken under section 110 of the Clean Air Act.
EFFECTIVE DATE: This final rule is effective on December 16, 1996.
ADDRESSES: Copies of the documents relevant to this action are
available for public inspection during normal business hours at the
Air, Radiation, and Toxics Division, U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency, Region III, 841 Chestnut Building, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
19107; and the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection,
Office of Air Quality, 1558 Washington Street, East, Charleston, West
Virginia, 25311.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Thomas A. Casey, (215) 566-2194, at
the EPA Region III address above (Mailcode 3AT22) or via e-mail at
casey.thomas@epamail.epa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
On November 15, 1991, West Virginia submitted a moderate area PM-10
SIP to EPA for the purpose of meeting Clean Air Act (Act) requirements
as they pertained to he Follansbee, West Virginia PM-10 nonattainment
area. On July 25, 1994, EPA took simultaneous limited approval and
limited disapproval actions on the 1991 submittal (59 FR 37696). EPA
approved the submittal for reasonably available control measures
(RACM), including reasonably available control technology (RACT);
incorporating the enforceable provisions of the submittal into Federal
regulations; and for meeting other requirements of the Act. EPA
disapproved the 1991 submittal because it did not demonstrate that the
plan was sufficient to attain national ambient air quality standards
(NAAQS) for PM-10 and for meeting Act requirements regarding emissions
inventories. See the July 25, 1994 Federal Register document for more
detail.
On November 22, 1995, West Virginia submitted to EPA additions to
its 1991 attainment demonstration and emissions inventory for the
purpose of correcting the deficiencies in the 1991 SIP submittal. On
February 5, 1996, EPA proposed approval (61 FR 4246) of the 1995
revisions and, on that same day, published (61 FR 4216) an interim
final determination indicating that EPA was suspending the application
of sanctions that could have resulted from the EPA's 1994 disapproval
of the 1991 submittal. Today's final action terminates the sanctions
and FIP clocks commenced on July 24, 1994.
Public Comment: EPA received no comments regarding the February 5,
1995 proposal and interim final determination.
II. Final Action
EPA is approving West Virginia's November 22, 1995 submittal as a
revision to the West Virginia SIP.
Nothing in this action should be construed as permitting or
allowing or establishing a precedent for any future request for
revision to any state implementation plan. Each request for revision to
the state implementation plan shall be considered separately in light
of specific technical, economic, and environmental factors and in
relation to relevant statutory and regulatory requirements.
III. Administrative Requirements
A. Executive Order 12866
This action has been classified as a Table 3 action for signature
by the Regional Administrator under the procedures published in the
Federal Register on January 19, 1989 (54 FR 2214-2225), as revised by a
July 10, 1995 memorandum from Mary Nichols, Assistant Administrator for
Air and Radiation. 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 businesses, small not-for-profit enterprises,
and government entities with jurisdiction over populations of less than
50,000.
SIP approvals under section 110 and subchapter I, part D of the
Clean Air Act 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 flexibility
analysis would constitute Federal inquiry into the economic
reasonableness of state action. The Clean Air Act forbids EPA to base
its actions concerning SIPs on such grounds. Union Electric Co. v.
USEPA, 427 U.S. 246, 255-66 (1976); 42 U.S.C. 7410(a)(2).
C. Unfunded Mandates
Under section 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,
[[Page 58482]]
local, or tribal governments in the aggregate; or to 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 determined that the approval action proposed/promulgated
does not include a Federal mandate that may result in estimated costs
of $100 million or more to either 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 approval of West Virginia's Follansbee PM-10
SIP must be filed in the United States Court of Appeals for the
appropriate circuit by January 14, 1997. Filing a petition for
reconsideration by the Administrator of this final rule does not affect
the finality of this rule approval 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, Intergovernmental
relations, Particulate matter.
Dated: October 31, 1996.
Stanley L. Laskowski,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region III.
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. 7401-7671q.
Subpart XX--West Virginia
2. Section 52.2522 is amended by adding paragraph (g) to read as
follows:
Sec. 52.2522 Approval status.
* * * * *
(g) The Administrator approves West Virginia's November 22, 1995
SIP submittal for the Follansbee, West Virginia PM-10 nonattainment
area as fulfilling the section 189(a)(1)(B) requirement for a
demonstration that the plan is sufficient to attain the PM-10 NAAQS.
[FR Doc. 96-29193 Filed 11-14-96; 8:45 am]
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