Air Plan Approval; Massachusetts; Boston Metropolitan Area, Lowell, Springfield, Waltham, and Worcester Second 10-Year Carbon Monoxide Limited Maintenance Plan
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is approving a State Implementation Plan (SIP) revision submitted by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. This revision includes the seco...
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is approving a State Implementation Plan (SIP) revision submitted by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. This revision includes the second 10-year limited maintenance plan (LMP) for Carbon Monoxide (CO) for the Boston Metropolitan Area, as well as for the cities of Lowell, Springfield, Waltham, and Worcester. This LMP addresses maintenance of the CO National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) for a second 10-year period beyond the original re-designation to attainment. This action is being taken in accordance with the Clean Air Act.
DATES:
This rule is effective on July 31, 2019.
ADDRESSES:
EPA has established a docket for this action under Docket Identification No. EPA-R01-OAR-2018-0789. All documents in the docket are listed on the
https://www.regulations.gov
website. Although listed in the index, some information is not publicly available,
i.e.,
CBI or other information whose disclosure is restricted by statute. Certain other material, such as copyrighted material, is not placed on the internet and will be publicly available only in hard copy form. Publicly available docket materials are available at
https://www.regulations.gov
or at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, EPA Region 1 Regional Office, Air and Radiation Division, 5 Post Office Square—Suite 100, Boston, MA. EPA requests that if at all possible, you contact the contact listed in the
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT
section to schedule your inspection. The Regional Office's official hours of business are Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., excluding legal holidays.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Ariel Garcia, Air Quality Branch, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, EPA Region 1 Regional Office, 5 Post Office Square, Suite 100 (mail code: 05-2), Boston, MA 02109-3912, telephone number (617) 918-1660, email
garcia.ariel@epa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Throughout this document whenever
( printed page 31207)
“we,” “us,” or “our” is used, we mean EPA.
Table of Contents
I. Background and Purpose
II. Final Action
III. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews
I. Background and Purpose
On May 16, 2019 (84 FR 22087), EPA published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The NPRM proposed approval of a SIP revision consisting of the second 10-year limited maintenance plan (LMP) for Carbon Monoxide (CO) for the Boston Metropolitan Area, as well as for the cities of Lowell, Springfield, Waltham, and Worcester. The formal SIP revision was submitted by Massachusetts on February 9, 2018.
Other specific requirements for a second maintenance plan covering a second 10-year maintenance period, the utilization of the LMP option, and the rationale for EPA's proposed action are explained in the NPRM and will not be restated here. No public comments were received on the NPRM.
II. Final Action
EPA is approving Massachusetts' second 10-year LMP for CO, for the Boston Metropolitan area, Lowell, Springfield, Waltham, and Worcester, as a revision to the Massachusetts SIP. EPA is also approving Massachusetts' alternative CO monitoring strategy for the Springfield area. EPA's approval of this LMP satisfies the CAA section 175A requirements for the second 10-year period in the aforementioned CO maintenance areas.
III. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews
Under the Clean Air Act, the Administrator is required to approve a SIP submission that complies with the provisions of the Act and applicable Federal regulations. 42 U.S.C. 7410(k); 40 CFR 52.02(a). Thus, in reviewing SIP submissions, EPA's role is to approve state choices, provided that they meet the criteria of the Clean Air Act. Accordingly, this action merely approves state law as meeting Federal requirements and does not impose additional requirements beyond those imposed by state law. For that reason, this action:
Is not a significant regulatory action subject to review by the Office of Management and Budget under Executive Orders 12866 (58 FR 51735, October 4, 1993) and 13563 (76 FR 3821, January 21, 2011);
Does not impose an information collection burden under the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 3501et seq.);
Is certified as not having a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities under the Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 601et seq.);
Does not contain any unfunded mandate or significantly or uniquely affect small governments, as described in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995 (Pub. L. 104-4);
Is not subject to requirements of Section 12(d) of the National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act of 1995 (15 U.S.C. 272 note) because application of those requirements would be inconsistent with the Clean Air Act; and
Does not provide EPA with the discretionary authority to address, as appropriate, disproportionate human health or environmental effects, using practicable and legally permissible methods, underExecutive Order 12898 (59 FR 7629, February 16, 1994).
In addition, the SIP is not approved to apply on any Indian reservation land or in any other area where EPA or an Indian tribe has demonstrated that a tribe has jurisdiction. In those areas of Indian country, the rule does not have tribal implications and will not impose substantial direct costs on tribal governments or preempt tribal law as specified by Executive Order 13175 (65 FR 67249, November 9, 2000).
The Congressional Review Act, 5 U.S.C. 801et 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 action 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
. A major rule cannot take effect until 60 days after it is published in the
Federal Register
. This action is not a “major rule” as defined by 5 U.S.C. 804(2).
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 byAugust 30, 2019. Filing a petition for reconsideration by the Administrator of this final rule does not affect the finality of this action 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).)
2. In § 52.1120, in paragraph (e), amend the table by adding an entry entitled “Carbon Monoxide 2nd 10-Year Limited Maintenance Plan” at the end of the table to read as follows:
Carbon Monoxide 2nd 10-Year Limited Maintenance Plan
Boston Metropolitan Area, Lowell, Springfield, Waltham, and Worcester
2/9/2018
7/1/2019 [Insert
Federal Register
citation]
3
To determine the EPA effective date for a specific provision listed in this table, consult the
Federal Register
notice cited in this column for the particular provision.