[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 85 (Monday, May 4, 1998)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 24434-24435]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-11759]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 52
[AZ059-0005; FRL-6004-5]
Approval and Promulgation of Implementation Plans; Arizona State
Implementation Plan Revision, Maricopa County Environmental Services
Department
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Final rule.
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SUMMARY: EPA is taking final action to approve a revision to the
Arizona State Implementation Plan (SIP). The revision concerns Maricopa
County's Ordinance P-7, Maricopa County Trip Reduction Ordinance. This
approval action will incorporate this ordinance into the federally-
approved SIP. The intended effect of approving this ordinance is to
reduce emissions of volatile organic compounds, nitrogen oxides, carbon
monoxide, and particulate matter by reducing the number of single-
occupant-vehicle commute trips in the Phoenix, Arizona, metropolitan
area. EPA is finalizing the approval of this revision into the Arizona
SIP under provisions of the CAA regarding EPA action on SIP submittals,
SIPs for national primary and secondary ambient air quality standards
and plan requirements for nonattainment areas.
EFFECTIVE DATE: June 3, 1998.
ADDRESSES: Copies of the SIP revision and supporting information are
available for public inspection at EPA's Region IX office during normal
business hours. Copies of the submitted rule revisions are available
for inspection at the following location: Office of Air Planning (AIR-
2), Air Division, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region IX, 75
Hawthorne Street, San Francisco, CA 94105
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Frances Wicker, Office of Air
Planning, AIR-2, Air Division, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency,
Region IX, 75 Hawthorne Street, San Francisco, CA 94105, Telephone:
(415) 744-1248.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
On December 9, 1997 at 62 FR 64794, EPA proposed to approve
Maricopa County's Ordinance P-7, Maricopa County Trip Reduction
Ordinance which was revised by the Maricopa County, Arizona, Board of
Supervisors on May 26, 1994 and submitted as a SIP revision to EPA by
the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality on August 31, 1995. A
discussion of the ordinance and EPA's proposed approval action can be
found in the notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) cited above.
EPA has evaluated this ordinance for consistency with the
requirements of the CAA and EPA regulations and EPA's interpretation of
these requirements as expressed in the various Agency policy guidance
documents referenced in the NPRM. EPA has found that the ordinance
meets the applicable EPA requirements.
II. Public Comments
No comments were received on the proposed approval during the 30-
day public comment period that was provided in 62 FR 64794.
III. EPA Action
EPA is approving the above submitted ordinance for inclusion into
the federally-approved Arizona SIP. EPA is approving the submittal
under section 110(k)(3) as meeting the requirements of section 110(a)
and Part D of the CAA.
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.
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 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. U.S.
EPA, 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, 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
[[Page 24435]]
may be significantly or uniquely impacted by the rule.
EPA has determined that the approval action 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
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 rule 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. This rule is not a
``major'' rule as defined by 5 U.S.C. Sec. 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 July 6, 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, Hydrocarbons,
Carbon monoxide, Particulate matter, Incorporation by reference,
Intergovernmental relations, Ozone, Reporting and recordkeeping
requirements, Volatile organic compounds.
Note: Incorporation by reference of the State Implementation
Plan for the State of Arizona was approved by the Director of the
Federal Register on July 1, 1982.
Dated: March 20, 1998.
Felicia Marcus,
Regional Administrator, Region IX.
40 CFR part 52 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 D--Arizona
2. Section 52.120 by adding paragraph (c)(82)(i)(E) to read as
follows:
Sec. 52.120 Identification of plan.
* * * * *
(c) * * *
(82) * * *
(i) * * *
(E) Maricopa County.
(1) Ordinance P-7, Maricopa County Trip Reduction Ordinance,
adopted May 26, 1994.
* * * * *
[FR Doc. 98-11759 Filed 5-1-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P
