Proposed Rule2022-01627
Air Plan Approval; New Hampshire; Conformity
Primary source
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Published
January 28, 2022
Issuing agencies
Environmental Protection Agency
Abstract
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to approve a State Implementation Plan (SIP) revision submitted by the State of New Hampshire. This submission revises previously approved transportation conformity criteria and procedures related to interagency consultation and enforceability of certain transportation- related control measures and mitigation measures. In addition, the revision continues to rely on the Federal rule for General Conformity. The intended effect of this action is to approve State criteria and procedures to govern conformity determinations. This action is being taken in accordance with the Clean Air Act.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 87 Issue 19 (Friday, January 28, 2022)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 19 (Friday, January 28, 2022)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 4535-4536]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2022-01627]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 52
[EPA-R01-OAR-2021-0945; FRL-9487-01-R1]
Air Plan Approval; New Hampshire; Conformity
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Proposed rule.
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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to
approve a State Implementation Plan (SIP) revision submitted by the
State of New Hampshire. This submission revises previously approved
transportation conformity criteria and procedures related to
interagency consultation and enforceability of certain transportation-
related control measures and mitigation measures. In addition, the
revision continues to rely on the Federal rule for General Conformity.
The intended effect of this action is to approve State criteria and
procedures to govern conformity determinations. This action is being
taken in accordance with the Clean Air Act.
DATES: Written comments must be received on or before February 28,
2022.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-R01-
OAR-2021-0945 at <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a>, or via email to
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#ff8d9e9c949e8a8c949e8cd19a8d969cbf9a8f9ed1989089"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="d9abb8bab2b8acaab2b8aaf7bcabb0ba99bca9b8f7beb6af">[email protected]</span></a>. For comments submitted at <a href="http://Regulations.gov">Regulations.gov</a>,
follow the online instructions for submitting comments. Once submitted,
comments cannot be edited or removed from <a href="http://Regulations.gov">Regulations.gov</a>. For either
manner of submission, the EPA may publish any comment received to its
public docket. Do not submit electronically any information you
consider to be Confidential Business Information (CBI) or other
information whose disclosure is restricted by statute. Multimedia
submissions (audio, video, etc.) must be accompanied by a written
comment. The written comment is considered the official comment and
should include discussion of all points you wish to make. The EPA will
generally not consider comments or comment contents located outside of
the primary submission (i.e., on the web, cloud, or other file sharing
system). For additional submission methods, please contact the person
identified in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section. For the full
EPA public comment policy, information about CBI or multimedia
submissions, and general guidance on making effective comments, please
visit <a href="https://www.epa.gov/dockets/commenting-epa-dockets">https://www.epa.gov/dockets/commenting-epa-dockets</a>. Publicly
available docket materials are available at <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a>
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 and facility closures due to COVID-19.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Eric Rackauskas, Air Quality Branch,
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, EPA Region 1, 5 Post Office
Square--Suite 100, (Mail code 05-2), Boston, MA 02109-3912, tel. (617)
918-1628, email <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#740615171f1501071f15075a11061d17341104155a131b02"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="42302321292337312923316c27302b21022732236c252d34">[email protected]</span></a>.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Throughout this document whenever ``we,''
``us,'' or ``our'' is used, we mean EPA.
Table of Contents
I. Background and Purpose
a. What is Transportation Conformity?
b. What is General Conformity?
c. Evaluation of State Submittal
II. Proposed Action
III. Incorporation by Reference
IV. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews
I. Background and Purpose
On September 9, 2021, the New Hampshire Air Resources Division
(ARD) submitted a revision to its State Implementation Plan (SIP)
consisting of amendments to Env-A 1500, Conformity. This revision
consists of minor administrative language changes, updated definitions
and references to Federal rules, and clarifications to roles and
responsibilities for Federal, state, and municipal partners.
a. What is Transportation Conformity?
Transportation Conformity is required under Section 176(c) of the
Clean Air Act to ensure that Federally-supported highway, transit
projects, and other activities are consistent with (``conform to'') the
purpose of the SIP. Conformity currently applies to areas that are
designated nonattainment, and those redesignated to attainment after
1990 (maintenance areas) with plans developed under section 175A of the
Clean Air Act, for the following transportation related criteria
pollutants: Ozone, particulate matter (PM<INF>2.5</INF> and
PM<INF>10</INF>), carbon monoxide (CO), and nitrogen dioxide
(NO<INF>2</INF>). Conformity to the purpose of the SIP means that
transportation activities will not cause new air quality violations,
worsen existing violations, or delay timely attainment of the relevant
national ambient air quality standards. The transportation conformity
regulation is found in 40 CFR part 93, subpart A and provisions related
to conformity SIPs are found in 40 CFR 51.390.
b. What is General Conformity?
General Conformity is a requirement of section 176(c) of the Clean
Air Act (CAA) Amendments of 1990. General Conformity is a safeguard
that no action by the Federal government interferes with a SIP's
protection of the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS). Under
General Conformity, any action by the Federal government cannot: Cause
or contribute to any new violation of any standard in any area;
interfere with provisions in the applicable SIP for maintenance of any
standard; increase the frequency or severity of any existing violation
of any standard in any area; or delay timely attainment of any
standard, any required interim emission reductions, or any other
milestones, in any area. The general conformity regulation is found in
40 CFR part 93, subpart B and provisions related to conformity SIPs are
found in 40 CFR 51.851.
On April 5, 2010, EPA revisited the Federal General Conformity
Requirements Rule to clarify the conformity process, authorize
innovative and flexible compliance approaches, remove outdated or
unnecessary requirements, reduce the paperwork burden, provide
transition tools for implementing new standards, address issues raised
by Federal agencies affected by the rules, and provide a better
explanation of conformity regulations and policies (75
[[Page 4536]]
FR 17254). This April 2010 General Conformity rule eliminated the
Federal regulatory requirement for states to adopt and submit general
conformity SIPs, instead making submission of a general conformity SIP
a state option.
c. Evaluation of State Submittal
EPA previously approved a version of EnvA-1500 into the New
Hampshire SIP on November 29, 2013 (78 FR 71504). For transportation
conformity, the September 9, 2021, revision contains updated references
to the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), updates to public comment
period timeframes, and clarifications to roles of interagency partners.
Specifically, the rule updates multiple references to the CFR to the
April 1, 2018, version from April 1, 2011. The rule also changes
language for a public comment for planning organizations and New
Hampshire Department of Transportation (NHDOT) from ``a minimum of 10
days'' to ``between 10 and 30 days,'' to match language in the NHDOT
Statewide Transportation Improvement Program (STIP) Revision
Procedures.
The New Hampshire submittal also provides updated language to
project-level conformity determinations for carbon monoxide (CO) hot
spot areas. EPA notes that New Hampshire's twenty-year maintenance
period for the CO NAAQS expired on January 29, 2021. As a result of
this maintenance period expiration, conformity requirements for the CO
standard, including hot spot analyses, also expired.\1\ No conformity
or project level hot spot analyses are required for the State's CO
maintenance area, but the language would continue to apply in the event
of a future more stringent CO NAAQS and/or future nonattainment
classification.
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\1\ See Docket for letter to NHDOT.
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The NH submittal contains updated language for General Conformity.
As noted above, States are not required to submit state-level General
Conformity regulations into the SIP, rather they can rely upon the
federal provisions. The New Hampshire submittal adequately refers to
the General Conformity Federal rule for implementation and contains
only minor changes in references to the 2018 Code of Federal
Regulations, as mentioned above.
II. Proposed Action
EPA is proposing to approve New Hampshire's Env-A 1500 Conformity
into the New Hampshire SIP. This revision and proposed approval are
consistent with the CAA. EPA is soliciting public comments on the
issues discussed in this notice or on other relevant matters. These
comments will be considered before taking final action. Interested
parties may participate in the Federal rulemaking procedure by
submitting written comments to this proposed rule by following the
instructions listed in the ADDRESSES section of this Federal Register.
III. Incorporation by Reference
In this rule, the EPA is proposing to include in a final EPA rule
regulatory text that includes incorporation by reference. In accordance
with requirements of 1 CFR 51.5, the EPA is proposing to incorporate by
reference of NH's updated Env-A 1500, Conformity, as discussed in
sections I. and II. of this preamble, into 40 CFR part 52. The EPA has
made, and will continue to make, these documents generally available
through <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a> and at the EPA Region 1 Office
(please contact the person identified in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
CONTACT section of this preamble for more information).
IV. 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 proposed 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 proposed action:
<bullet> 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);
<bullet> Does not impose an information collection burden under the
provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.);
<bullet> 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.);
<bullet> 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);
<bullet> Does not have federalism implications as specified in
Executive Order 13132 (64 FR 43255, August 10, 1999);
<bullet> Is not an economically significant regulatory action based
on health or safety risks subject to Executive Order 13045 (62 FR
19885, April 23, 1997);
<bullet> Is not a significant regulatory action subject to
Executive Order 13211 (66 FR 28355, May 22, 2001);
<bullet> 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
<bullet> 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 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).
List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 52
Environmental protection, Air pollution control, Carbon monoxide,
Incorporation by reference, Intergovernmental relations, Lead, Nitrogen
dioxide, Ozone, Particulate matter, Reporting and recordkeeping
requirements, Sulfur oxides, Volatile organic compounds.
Dated: January 24, 2022.
Deborah Szaro,
Acting Regional Administrator, EPA Region 1.
[FR Doc. 2022-01627 Filed 1-27-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P
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