Approval and Promulgation of Air Quality Implementation Plans; West Virginia; Amendments to West Virginia's Ambient Air Quality Standards

Summary

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EPA is proposing to approve a State Implementation Plan (SIP) revision submitted by the State of West Virginia (West Virginia). This revision pertains to amendments of West Virginia's Legislative Rule regarding ambient air quality standards (45CSR8- Ambient Air Quality Standards). These amendments incorporate by reference the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for sulfur dioxide, particulate matter, carbon monoxide, ozone, nitrogen dioxide, and lead. This action is being taken under the Clean Air Act (CAA).

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Federal Register, Volume 77 Issue 35 (Wednesday, February 22, 2012)

Federal Register Volume 77, Number 35 (Wednesday, February 22, 2012)

Proposed Rules

Pages 10423-10424

From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office www.gpo.gov

FR Doc No: 2012-3918

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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

EPA-R03-OAR-2011-0958; FRL- 9634-7

Approval and Promulgation of Air Quality Implementation Plans; West Virginia; Amendments to West Virginia's Ambient Air Quality Standards

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Proposed rule.

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SUMMARY: EPA is proposing to approve a State Implementation Plan (SIP) revision submitted by the State of West Virginia (West Virginia). This revision pertains to amendments of West Virginia's Legislative Rule regarding ambient air quality standards (45CSR8- Ambient Air Quality Standards). These amendments incorporate by reference the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for sulfur dioxide, particulate matter, carbon monoxide, ozone, nitrogen dioxide, and lead. This action is being taken under the Clean Air Act (CAA).

DATES: Written comments must be received on or before March 23, 2012.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID Number EPA-

R03-OAR-2011-0958 by one of the following methods:

A. www.regulations.gov. Follow the on-line instructions for submitting comments.

B. Email: fernandez.cristina@epa.gov.

C. Mail: EPA-R03-OAR-2011-0958, Cristina Fernandez, Associate Director, Office of Air Program Planning, Mailcode 3AP30, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region III, 1650 Arch Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19103.

D. Hand Delivery: At the previously-listed EPA Region III address. Such deliveries are only accepted during the Docket's normal hours of operation, and special arrangements should be made for deliveries of boxed information.

Instructions: Direct your comments to Docket ID No. EPA-R03-OAR-

2011-0958. EPA's policy is that all comments received will be included in the public docket without change, and may be made available online at www.regulations.gov, including any personal information provided, unless the comment includes information claimed to be Confidential Business Information (CBI) or other information whose disclosure is restricted by statute. Do not submit information that you consider to be CBI or otherwise protected through www.regulations.gov or email. The www.regulations.gov Web site is an ``anonymous access'' system, which means EPA will not know your identity or contact information unless you provide it in the body of your comment. If you send an email comment directly to EPA without going through www.regulations.gov, your email address will be automatically captured and included as part of the comment that is placed in the public docket and made available on the Internet. If you submit an electronic comment, EPA recommends that you include your name and other contact information in the body of your comment and with any disk or CD-ROM you submit. If EPA cannot read your comment due to technical difficulties and cannot contact you for clarification, EPA may not be able to consider your comment. Electronic files should avoid the use of special characters, any form of encryption, and be free of any defects or viruses.

Docket: All documents in the electronic docket are listed in the www.regulations.gov index. 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 either electronically in www.regulations.gov or in hard copy during normal business hours at the Air Protection Division, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region III, 1650 Arch Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19103. Copies of the State submittal are available at the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection, Division of Air Quality, 601 57th Street SE., Charleston, West Virginia 25304.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Asrah Khadr, (215) 814-2071, or by email at khadr.asrah@epa.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Throughout this document, whenever ``we,'' ``us,'' or ``our'' is used, we mean EPA.

I. Background

On July 8, 2011, the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection submitted a SIP revision pertaining to amendments of Legislative Rule 45CSR8--Ambient Air Quality Standards. EPA had approved a previous revision of Legislative Rule 45CSR8 on February 10, 2009 (74 FR 6552).

II. Summary of SIP Revision

Amendments to 45CSR8 consist of revisions to section 45-8-1--

General, subpart 1.6--Former Rules, in which the effective and filed dates were revised to represent the most recent changes to the NAAQS and the addition of subpart 1.5--Incorporation by Reference to section 45-8-1 to incorporate by reference 40 CFR part 50--National Primary and Secondary Ambient Air Quality Standards and 40 CFR part 53--Ambient Air Monitoring Reference and Equivalent Methods, effective June 1, 2010. The previous version of 45CSR8 merely stated EPA standards for the NAAQS and the revised version incorporates by reference the NAAQS and monitoring reference and equivalency methods. Also, other amendments to 45CSR8 include the addition of section 45-8-3--Adoption of Standards and the removal of section 45-8-2--Anti-Degradation Policy, section 45-

8-4--Ambient Air Quality Standards, section 45-8-5--Methods of Measurement, and section 45-8-6--Reference Conditions.

III. Proposed Action

EPA is proposing to approve the West Virginia SIP revision regarding the incorporation by reference of the NAAQS for sulfur dioxide, particulate matter, carbon monoxide, ozone, nitrogen dioxide, and lead into 45CSR8--Ambient Air Quality Standards, which was submitted on July 12, 2011. EPA is soliciting public comments on the issues discussed in this document. These comments will be considered before taking final action.

Page 10424

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 proposes to approve state law as meeting Federal requirements and does not impose additional requirements beyond those imposed by state law. For that reason, this proposed action:

Is not a ``significant regulatory action'' subject to review by the Office of Management and Budget under Executive Order 12866 (58 FR 51735, October 4, 1993);

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 in Executive Order 13132 (64 FR 43255, August 10, 1999);

Is not an economically significant regulatory action based on health or safety risks subject to Executive Order 13045 (62 FR 19885, April 23, 1997);

Is not a significant regulatory action subject to Executive Order 13211 (66 FR 28355, May 22, 2001);

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; 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, under Executive Order 12898 (59 FR 7629, February 16, 1994).

In addition, the proposed approval of the West Virginia SIP revision regarding the incorporation by reference of the NAAQS for sulfur dioxide, particulate matter, carbon monoxide, ozone, nitrogen dioxide, and lead into 45CSR8-Ambient Air Quality Standards, does not have tribal implications as specified by Executive Order 13175 (65 FR 67249, November 9, 2000), because the SIP is not approved to apply in Indian country located in the state, and EPA notes that it will not impose substantial direct costs on tribal governments or preempt tribal law.

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 52

Environmental protection, Air pollution control, Carbon monoxide, Nitrogen dioxide, Ozone, Particulate matter, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, Sulfur oxides.

Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.

Dated: February 6, 2012.

W. C. Early,

Acting Regional Administrator, Region III.

FR Doc. 2012-3918 Filed 2-21-12; 8:45 am

BILLING CODE 6560-50-P

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