Approval and Promulgation of Implementation Plans; California State Implementation Plan Revision, Bay Area Air Quality Management District

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[CA 193-054; FRL-5907-9]

Approval and Promulgation of Implementation Plans; California

State Implementation Plan Revision, Bay Area Air Quality Management

District

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Direct final rule.

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SUMMARY: EPA is finalizing the approval of revisions to the California

State Implementation Plan (SIP) proposed in the Federal Register on

July 11, 1997. The revisions concern rules from the following District:

Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD). This approval action

will incorporate these rules into the federally approved SIP. The

intended effect of approving these rules is to implement the

transportation conformity provisions of the Clean Air Act, as amended

in 1990 (CAA or the Act). The rules define the criteria and procedures

for transportation conformity actions and consultation for the Bay

Area. EPA is finalizing the approval of these revisions into the

California SIP under provisions of the CAA regarding EPA action on SIP

submittals.

DATES: This action is effective on November 20, 1997.

ADDRESSES: Copies of the rule revisions and EPA's evaluation report for

each rule 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 locations:

Air Planning Office (AIR-2), Air Division, U.S. Environmental

Protection Agency, Region IX, 75 Hawthorne Street, San Francisco, CA

94105; Ruth Verlar, 415-744-1208.

Environmental Protection Agency, Air Docket (6102), 401 ``M'' Street,

SW., Washington, DC 20460.

California Air Resources Board, Transportation Strategies Group, 2020

``L'' Street, Sacramento, CA 92123-1095; Eric Simon, 916-322-2700.

Bay Area Air Quality Management District , 939 Ellis St., San

Francisco, CA 94109, David Marshall, 415-749-4678.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mark Brucker, Air Planning Office,

AIR-2, Air Division, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region IX,

75 Hawthorne Street, San Francisco, CA 94105, Telephone: 415-744-1231,

[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Applicability

The rules being approved into the California SIP include: BAAQMD,

``The San Francisco Bay Area Transportation Air Quality Conformity

Procedures,'' which include sections 93.100-93.104 and sections 93.106-

93.136 and ``The San Francisco Bay Area Transportation Air Quality

Conformity Interagency Consultation Procedures''. These rules were

submitted by the California Air Resources Board to EPA on December 16,

1996.

II. Background

On July 11, 1997 in 62 FR 37172, EPA proposed to approve the

following rules into the California SIP: BAAQMD: ``The San Francisco

Bay Area Transportation Air Quality Conformity Procedures,'' which

includes sections 93.100-93.104 and sections 93.106-93.136 and ``The

San Francisco Bay Area Transportation Air Quality Conformity

Interagency Consultation Procedures''. The rules were adopted by BAAQMD

on November 6, 1996. The California Air Resources Board (CARB)

submitted these revisions to EPA on December 16, 1996. These rules were

adopted as part of BAAQMD's efforts to achieve the National Ambient Air

Quality Standards (NAAQS) and in response to section 176(c)

transportation conformity requirements of the Clean Air Act (CAA). A

detailed discussion of the background for each of the above rules is

provided in the proposed rule cited above.

EPA has evaluated the above rule(s) for consistency with the

requirements of the CAA and EPA regulations and EPA interpretation of

these requirements as expressed in the various EPA policy guidance

documents referenced in the proposed rule cited above. EPA has found

that the rules meet the applicable EPA requirements. A detailed

discussion of the rule provisions and evaluations has been provided in

the proposed rule and in the technical support document (TSD), dated

June, 1997, which is available at EPA's Region IX office.

III. Response to Public Comments

A 30-day public comment period was provided in 62 FR 37172. No

comments were received, so no response has been prepared.

[[Page 54588]]

IV. EPA Action

EPA is finalizing this action to approve the above rules for

inclusion into the California SIP. EPA is approving the submittal under

section 110(k)(3) as meeting the requirements of sections 110(a) and

176(c)(4) of the CAA. This approval action will incorporate these

rule(s) into the Federally approved SIP. The intended effect of

approving these rule(s) is to regulate actions of agencies which affect

emissions from on-road mobile sources in accordance with the

requirements 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.

V. 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 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

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

section 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 December 22, 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, Carbon Monoxide,

Hydrocarbons, Incorporation by reference, Intergovernmental relations,

Oxides of Nitrogen, Ozone, Particulate matter, Reporting and

recordkeeping requirements, Volatile organic compounds.

Note: Incorporation by reference of the State Implementation

Plan for the State of California was approved by the Director of the

Federal Register on July 1, 1982.

Dated: September 26, 1997.

Felicia Marcus,

Regional Administrator.

Part 52, 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 F--California

2. Section 52.220 is amended by adding paragraph (c)(243) to read

as follows:

Sec. 52.220 Identification of plan.

* * * * *

(c) * * *

* * * * *

(243) Transportation Air Quality Conformity Procedures and

Transportation Conformity Consultation Procedures for the following

AQMD were submitted on December 16, 1996, by the Governor's designee.

(i) Incorporation by reference.

(A) Bay Area Air Quality Management District.

(1) ``The San Francisco Bay Area Transportation Air Quality

Conformity Procedures,'' which includes sections 93.100-93.104 and

sections 93.106-93.136, adopted on November 6, 1996.

(2) ``The San Francisco Bay Area Transportation Air Quality

Conformity Interagency Consultation Procedures,'' adopted on November

6, 1996.

* * * * *

[FR Doc. 97-27857 Filed 10-20-97; 8:45 am]

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