Approval and Promulgation of Air Quality Implementation Plans; Maryland; 15% Rate of Progress Plan and Contingency Measures for the Cecil County Nonattainment Area

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[MD 038-3016; FRL-5864-9]

Approval and Promulgation of Air Quality Implementation Plans;

Maryland; 15% Rate of Progress Plan and Contingency Measures for the

Cecil County Nonattainment Area

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: EPA is granting full approval of the State Implementation Plan

(SIP) revision submitted by the State of Maryland, for Cecil County,

part of the Philadelphia-Wilmington-Trenton severe ozone nonattainment

area, to meet the 15 percent reasonable further progress (RFP, or 15%

plan) requirements of the Clean Air Act (the Act). EPA is granting

approval of the 15% plan and contingency measures, submitted by the

State of Maryland, because the plan achieves the required 15% emission

reduction. This action is being taken under section 110 of the Clean

Air Act.

EFFECTIVE DATE: This final rule is effective on August 28, 1997.

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 Maryland Department of the Environment, 2500 Broening

Highway, Baltimore, Maryland 21224.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Carolyn M. Donahue, (215) 566-2095, at

the EPA Region III address above. Information may also be requested via

e-mail at the following address: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

Section 182(b)(1) of the Act requires ozone nonattainment areas

classified as moderate or above to develop plans to reduce volatile

organic compounds (VOC) emissions by fifteen percent from 1990 baseline

levels. Cecil County, as part of the Philadelphia-Wilmington-Trenton

nonattainment area, is classified as severe and is subject to the 15%

plan requirement.

The State of Maryland submitted the 15% plan SIP revision for Cecil

County on July 12, 1995. On June 5, 1997, EPA published a notice of

proposed rulemaking (NPR) in the Federal Register proposing approval of

the 15% plan [62 FR 30818]. EPA's rationale for granting approval to

the Maryland 15% plan for the Cecil County nonattainment area, and the

details of the July 12, 1995 submittal are contained in the June 5,

1997 NPR and the accompanying technical support document and will not

be restated here. No public comments were received on the NPR.

II. Final Action

EPA is today granting approval of the 15% plan and contingency

measures for the Cecil County severe ozone nonattainment area as a

revision to the Maryland 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.

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has exempted this

regulatory action from E.O. 12866 review.

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 EPA

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 Act, 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.

[[Page 40458]]

EPA, 427 U.S. 246, 255-66 (1976); 42 U.S.C. 7410(a)(2).

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 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

requirements. Accordingly, no additional costs to State, local, or

tribal governments, or to the private sector, result from this action.

Under section 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

section 804(2).

Under section 307(b)(1) of the Clean Air Act, petitions for

judicial review of this action, pertaining to the final approval of the

15% plan for the Cecil County nonattainment area, must be filed in the

United States Court of Appeals for the appropriate circuit by September

29, 1997. 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,

Ozone.

Dated: July 18, 1997.

Thomas Voltaggio,

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 V--Maryland

2. Section 52.1076 is added to read as follows:

Sec. 52.1076 Control strategy: ozone

EPA is approving as a revision to the Maryland State Implementation

Plan the 15 Percent Rate of Progress Plan and associated contingency

measures for the Cecil County ozone nonattainment area, submitted by

the Secretary of the Maryland Department of the Environment on July 12,

1995.

[FR Doc. 97-19884 Filed 7-28-97; 8:45 am]

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