Approval and Promulgation of Implementation Plans; Arizona State Implementation Plan Revision, Maricopa County Environmental Services Department

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]

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