Proposed Rule2022-12610
Air Plan Approval; Missouri; General Conformity Rescission
Primary source
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Published
June 13, 2022
Issuing agencies
Environmental Protection Agency
Abstract
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to approve a revision to the Missouri State Implementation Plan (SIP) relating to General Conformity received on April 15, 2022. In its submission, Missouri requests EPA approval of rescission of the Missouri General Conformity Rule from the Missouri SIP. General Conformity ensures actions taken by federal agencies, such as airport construction, do not interfere with a state's plans to attain and maintain national standards for air quality. After rescission of the state's General Conformity Rule, federal agency actions will be subject to the Federal General Conformity Rule.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 87 Issue 113 (Monday, June 13, 2022)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 113 (Monday, June 13, 2022)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 35709-35711]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2022-12610]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 52
[EPA-R07-OAR-2022-0482; FRL-9906-01-R7]
Air Plan Approval; Missouri; General Conformity Rescission
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Proposed rule.
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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to
approve a revision to the Missouri State Implementation Plan (SIP)
relating to General Conformity received on April 15, 2022. In its
submission, Missouri requests EPA approval of rescission of the
Missouri General Conformity Rule from the Missouri SIP. General
Conformity ensures actions taken by federal agencies, such as airport
construction, do not interfere with a state's plans to attain and
maintain national standards for air quality. After rescission of the
state's General Conformity Rule, federal agency actions will be subject
to the Federal General Conformity Rule.
DATES: Comments must be received on or before July 13, 2022.
ADDRESSES: You may send comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-R07-
OAR-2022-0482 to <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a>. Follow the online
instructions for submitting comments.
Instructions: All submissions received must include the Docket ID
No. for this rulemaking. Comments received will be posted without
change to <a href="https://www.regulations.gov/">https://www.regulations.gov/</a>, including any personal
information provided. For detailed instructions on sending comments and
additional information on the rulemaking process, see the ``Written
Comments'' heading of the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this
document.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jed D. Wolkins, Environmental
Protection Agency, Region 7 Office, Air Quality Planning Branch, 11201
Renner Boulevard, Lenexa, Kansas 66219; telephone number: (913) 551-
7588; email address: <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#3e4951525557504d10545b5a7e5b4e5f10595148"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="98eff7f4f3f1f6ebb6f2fdfcd8fde8f9b6fff7ee">[email protected]</span></a>.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Throughout this document ``we,'' ``us,'' and
``our'' refer to the EPA.
Table of Contents
I. Written Comments
II. What is being addressed in this document?
III. What is General Conformity?
IV. Have the requirements for approval of a SIP revision been met?
V. What action is the EPA taking?
VI. Environmental Justice Concerns
VII. Incorporation by Reference
VIII. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews
I. Written Comments
Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-R07-OAR-2022-
0482, at <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a>. Once submitted, comments cannot
be edited or removed from <a href="http://Regulations.gov">Regulations.gov</a>. 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, 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>.
II. What is being addressed in this document?
The EPA is proposing to approve the rescission of Missouri's
General Conformity Rule, 10 CSR 10-6.300 from Missouri's SIP. General
Conformity ensures actions taken by federal agencies, such as airport
construction, do not interfere with a state's plans to attain and
maintain national standards for air quality. After rescission of the
state's General Conformity Rule, federal agency actions will be subject
to the Federal General Conformity Rule.
III. What is General Conformity?
The purpose of the General Conformity rule is to ensure that
federal activities do not cause or contribute to
[[Page 35710]]
new violations of National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS),
federal actions do not worsen existing violations of the NAAQS, and
attainment of the NAAQS is not delayed. General Conformity covers most
aspects of federally funded or approved actions not covered by the
Transportation Conformity program. In November 1993, the EPA
promulgated two sets of regulations to implement section 176(c) of the
Clean Air Act (CAA). First, on November 24, 1993, the EPA promulgated
the Transportation Conformity regulations, which apply to highways and
mass transit. These regulations establish the criteria and procedures
for determining whether transportation plans, programs, and projects
funded under title 23 U.S.C. or the Federal Transit Act conform with
the State Implementation Plan (SIP) (58 FR 62188). Then, on November
30, 1993, the EPA promulgated a second set of regulations, known as the
General Conformity regulations, which apply to all other federal
actions. These regulations ensured that other federal actions also
conformed to the SIPs (58 FR 63214).
General Conformity is based on evaluating the annual net increase
in emissions caused by the proposed federal activity. The regulations
require a federal agency proposing certain general federal activities
to ensure that any increase in emissions of harmful air pollutants
conform to the purpose of the applicable implementation plan. This
includes projecting estimates of the direct and indirect emissions that
are likely to occur.
General Conformity covers a wide variety of federal activities. A
federal activity is generally an action that requires either federal
funding and/or federal approval. Even if a project is not federally-
funded, there may be federal approvals such as permits that are needed.
The General Conformity Regulations do not apply to every area.
Rather, the requirements only apply in nonattainment areas and
attainment areas with maintenance plans, maintenance areas. A
nonattainment area is an area designated by the EPA as not meeting a
NAAQS. A maintenance area is an area that was once designated as
nonattainment but has been redesignated by the EPA to attainment based
on meeting the NAAQS and having an approved plan to maintain the NAAQS.
The EPA, in partnership with the states or tribes, is responsible for
the designation of areas as nonattainment and redesignating them once
they achieve the NAAQS.
For more information on General Conformity, please visit
<a href="http://www.epa.gov/general-conformity">www.epa.gov/general-conformity</a>.
IV. Have the requirements for approval of a SIP revision been met?
Missouri's General Conformity Rule, 10 CSR 10-6.300, titled
``Conformity of General Federal Actions to State Implementation
Plans'', was incorporated into the SIP consistent with section 176(c)
of the CAA, as amended (42 U.S.C. 7506(c)), and regulations located in
40 CFR part 93, subpart B, that directed states to include in their
SIPs provisions requiring General Conformity of federal actions to the
applicable implementation plan. In 2005, Congress passed the ``Safe,
Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users''
(SAFETEA-LU). Section 6011 of SAFETEA-LU amended section 176(c) of the
CAA to remove the requirement for states to adopt a General Conformity
rule into the SIP. In turn, EPA amended the federal General Conformity
rule at 40 CFR part 51, subpart W, to make state adoption of a General
Conformity rule into the SIP optional rather than mandatory (75 FR
17258). 10 CSR 10-6.300 duplicates federal regulations. After
rescission of the state's General Conformity Rule, federal agency
actions will be subject to the Federal General Conformity Rule.
CAA section 110(l), 42 U.S.C. 7410(l), states that the
Administrator cannot approve a SIP revision if the revision would
interfere with any applicable requirement concerning attainment and
reasonable further progress or any other applicable requirement. The
federal General Conformity rule contains the same requirements as the
state's General Conformity rule. Therefore, the same requirements will
apply after the state's rule is rescinded and there will be no
associated emissions increase or adverse impact to air quality.
Therefore, the EPA is proposing that this change will not interfere
with: any area's ability to maintain any NAAQS, making reasonable
progress towards natural visibility in Missouri's Class I areas nor any
Class I area in another state Missouri impacts, or any other applicable
requirement.
The State submission has met the public notice requirements for SIP
submissions in accordance with 40 CFR 51.102. The submission also
satisfied the completeness criteria of 40 CFR part 51, appendix V. The
State provided public notice on this SIP revision from August 16, 2021
to October 7, 2021 and received no comment. In addition, as explained
above, the revision meets the substantive SIP requirements of the CAA,
including section 110 and implementing regulations.
V. What action is the EPA taking?
The EPA is proposing to approve a SIP revision submitted by the
State of Missouri on April 15, 2021, rescinding the State General
Conformity Rule, 10 CSR 10-6.300. EPA is proposing to determine that
this revision would not interfere with attainment or maintenance of any
NAAQS or with any other CAA requirement because the same requirements
exist in federal law. We are processing this as a proposed action
because we are soliciting comments on this proposed action. Final
rulemaking will occur after consideration of any comments.
VI. Environmental Justice Concerns
This action proposes to approve the rescission of the state's
General Conformity rule. The state's rule duplicates the federal
General Conformity rule. Once approved all federal actions that would
have been subject to the state rule will be subject to the same
requirements in the federal rule. For this reason, this proposed action
will not result in disproportionately high and adverse human health or
environmental effects on minority populations, low-income populations
and/or indigenous peoples.
VII. Incorporation by Reference
In this document, the EPA is proposing to amend regulatory text
that includes incorporation by reference. As described in Section II of
this preamble and set forth below in the proposed amendments to 40 CFR
part 52, the EPA is proposing to remove 10 CSR 10-6.300 of the EPA-
Approved Missouri Regulations from the Missouri State Implementation
Plan, which is incorporated by reference in accordance with the
requirements of 1 CFR part 51.
VIII. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews
Under the CAA, 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, the 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:
<bullet> Is not a significant regulatory action subject to review
by the Office of Management and Budget under
[[Page 35711]]
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 the National Technology
Transfer and Advancement Act (NTTA) because this rulemaking does not
involve technical standards; 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).
<bullet> 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: June 7, 2022.
Meghan A. McCollister,
Regional Administrator, Region 7.
For the reasons stated in the preamble, the EPA proposes to amend
40 CFR part 52 as set forth below:
PART 52--APPROVAL AND PROMULGATION OF IMPLEMENTATION PLANS
0
1. The authority citation for part 52 continues to read as follows:
Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.
Subpart AA--Missouri
Sec. 52.1320 [Amended]
0
2. In Sec. 52.1320, the table in paragraph (c) is amended by removing
the entry ``10-6.300'' under the heading ``Chapter 6--Air Quality
Standards, Definitions, Sampling and Reference Methods, and Air
Pollution Control Regulations for the State of Missouri''.
0
3. In Sec. 52.1323, paragraphs (h) and (j) are revised to read as
follows:
Sec. 52.1323 Approval status.
* * * * *
(h) Missouri rule 10 CSR 10-6.300 was rescinded on [date 30 days
after date of publication of final rule in the Federal Register].
* * * * *
(j) Missouri rule 10 CSR 10-6.300 was rescinded on [date 30 days
after date of publication of final rule in the Federal Register].
* * * * *
[FR Doc. 2022-12610 Filed 6-10-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P
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