SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Table of Contents

I. What is the background for this action?

II. What comments were received in response to the EPA's proposed action?

III. What action is the EPA taking?

IV. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

I. What is the background for this action?

Hereafter, the New York Metropolitan Area (NYMA) refers to the New York portion of the NY-NJ-CT maintenance area, which is comprised of the following counties: Bronx, Kings, Nassau, New York, Orange, Queens, Richmond, Rockland, Suffolk, and Westchester. EPA promulgated the designations for the NYMA as a PM_2.5 nonattainment area for the 1997 annual PM_2.5 NAAQS on January 5, 2005 (70 FR 944) which was then supplemented on April 14, 2005 (70 FR 19844) due to measured violations of the standards.

On June 27, 2013, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) submitted a request to EPA to redesignate the nonattainment area to attainment for both the 1997 annual and 2006 24-hour PM_2.5 NAAQS. Concurrently, NYSDEC submitted a maintenance plan for the area as a State Implementation Plan (SIP) revision to ensure continued attainment. NYSDEC provided supplemental submissions to EPA on September 18, 2013, and February 27, 2014, to clarify portions of the redesignation request, maintenance plan, and emissions information. EPA redesignated the NYMA to attainment for the 1997 and 2006 PM_2.5 NAAQS on April 18, 2014 (79 FR 21857) and approved the associated maintenance plan into the SIP. The purpose of NYSDEC's October 15, 2024, LMP submission is to fulfill the second ten-year planning requirement of CAA section 175A(b), thus ensuring PM_2.5 NAAQS attainment through the end of the second maintenance period for PM_2.5.

In its LMP submission, NYSDEC has requested approval for both the 2006 24-hour standard and the 1997 annual standard. However, the EPA is addressing only the 2006 24-hour NAAQS, in accordance with the PM_2.5 SIP Requirements Rule (81 FR 58010, August 24, 2016), because a second ten-year maintenance plan is not required for the now-revoked 1997 annual PM_2.5 standard.

On February 12, 2026 (91 FR 6561), the EPA published a notice of proposed rulemaking to approve a SIP revision submitted by the State of New York on October 15, 2024 for the purpose of fulfilling the second ten-year planning requirement of CAA section 175A(b), thus ensuring PM_2.5 NAAQS attainment through the end of the second maintenance period for PM_2.5 . New York's October 15, 2024, SIP submittal consisted of PM_2.5 emissions data for the New York portion of the NY-NJ-CT 2006 PM_2.5 NAAQS maintenance area.

Within EPA's proposed action, PM_2.5 historic design values for each monitoring site within the NYMA were analyzed for 2012-2024. The EPA found that the NYMA meets the critical design value (CDV) demonstration for an LMP. Additionally, EPA reviewed transportation conformity, attainment inventory, and the air quality monitoring network. The EPA found that NYSDEC's submittal satisfies the transportation conformity regulation in 40 CFR 93.109(e) and contains the necessary emissions inventory. NYSDEC also continues to operate a PM_2.5 monitoring network sited and maintained in accordance with Federal siting and design criteria in 40 CFR part 58, and in consultation with EPA Region 2. Finally, NYSDEC continues to adhere to the contingency plan it submitted with its first maintenance plan, which includes the required contingency provisions to ensure that New York State will promptly correct any violation of the 2006 PM_2.5 NAAQS in the area (79 FR 8133, February 11, 2014).

All these steps were taken to ensure that this LMP satisfies the CAA section 175A requirements for the second ten-year maintenance period. The specific details of New York's SIP submittals and the rationale for the EPA's approval action are explained in the EPA's proposed rulemaking and are not restated in this final action. For this detailed information, the reader is referred to the EPA's February 12, 2026, proposed rulemaking (91 FR 6561).

II. What comments were received in response to the EPA's proposed action?

The EPA provided a 30-day review and comment period for the February 12, 2026 proposed rule (91 FR 6561). The comment period ended on March 16, 2026. We received no comments on the EPA's action. Therefore, no changes have been made to the proposed action.

III. What action is the EPA taking?

The EPA is approving the New York Metropolitan Area Second Ten-Year Limited Maintenance Plan for the 2006 24-Hour PM_2.5 Standard, dated February 12, 2026 (91 FR 6561), for the purposes of satisfying the second ten-year planning requirement of CAA section 175A(b), thus ensuring PM_2.5 NAAQS attainment through the end of the second 10-year period for PM_2.5.

EPA's review of the air quality data for the maintenance area indicates that the State continues to show attainment well below the level of the 2006 PM_2.5 NAAQS and that NYSDEC's LMP meets all the LMP qualifying criteria set forth in the “Guidance on Limited Maintenance Plan Option for Moderate PM_2.5 Nonattainment Areas and PM_2.5 Maintenance Areas.” ^[1] EPA's approval of this LMP will satisfy the CAA section 175A requirements for the second 10-year period for the New York Metropolitan maintenance area. EPA also finds the LMP to be adequate as it pertains to transportation conformity requirements.

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IV. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

Under the CAA, the Administrator is required to approve a SIP submission that complies with the provisions of the CAA 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 CAA. 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 underExecutive Order 12866 (58 FR 51735, October 4, 1993);
• Is not anExecutive Order 14192 (90 FR 9065, February 6, 2025) regulatory action because this action is not significant under Executive Order 12866;
• Does not impose an information collection burden under the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 3501 et 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. 601 et 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);
• Does not have federalism implications as specified inExecutive Order 13132 (64 FR 43255, August 10, 1999);
• Is not subject toExecutive Order 13045 (62 FR 19885, April 23, 1997) because it approves a State program;
• Is not a significant regulatory action subject toExecutive Order 13211 (66 FR 28355, May 22, 2001); and
• 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 CAA.

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).

This action is subject to the Congressional Review Act, and EPA will submit a rule report to each House of the Congress and to the Comptroller General of the United States. This action is not a “major rule” as defined by 5 U.S.C. 804(2).

Under section 307(b)(1) of the CAA, petitions for judicial review of this action must be filed in the United States Court of Appeals for the appropriate circuit by August 10, 2026. 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 CAA section 307(b)(2).

For the reasons set forth in the preamble, EPA amends 40 CFR part 52 as follows:

91 FR 35416