Rule2025-20141
Air Plan Approval; Vermont; Regional Haze State Implementation Plan for the Second Implementation Period
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
November 18, 2025
Effective
December 18, 2025
Issuing agencies
Environmental Protection Agency
Abstract
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is approving a State Implementation Plan (SIP) revision submitted by the State of Vermont on July 1, 2024, as satisfying applicable requirements under the Clean Air Act (CAA) and EPA's Regional Haze Rule for the program's second implementation period. Vermont's SIP submission addresses the requirement that states must periodically revise their long-term strategies for making reasonable progress towards the national goal of preventing any future, and remedying any existing, anthropogenic impairment of visibility, including regional haze, in mandatory Class I Federal areas. The SIP submission also addresses other applicable requirements for the second implementation period of the regional haze program. This action is being taken in accordance with the Clean Air Act.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 90 Issue 220 (Tuesday, November 18, 2025)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 220 (Tuesday, November 18, 2025)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 51527-51529]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2025-20141]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 52
[EPA-R01-OAR-2025-0142; FRL-12778-02-R1]
Air Plan Approval; Vermont; Regional Haze State Implementation
Plan for the Second Implementation Period
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Final rule.
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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is approving a State
Implementation Plan (SIP) revision submitted by the State of Vermont on
July 1, 2024, as satisfying applicable requirements under the Clean Air
Act (CAA) and EPA's Regional Haze Rule for the program's second
implementation period. Vermont's SIP submission addresses the
requirement that states must periodically revise their long-term
strategies for making reasonable progress towards the national goal of
preventing any future, and remedying any existing, anthropogenic
impairment of visibility, including regional haze, in mandatory Class I
Federal areas. The SIP submission also addresses other applicable
requirements for the second implementation period of the regional haze
program. This action is being taken in accordance with the Clean Air
Act.
DATES: This rule is effective on December 18, 2025.
ADDRESSES: EPA has established a docket for this action under Docket
Identification No. EPA-R01-OAR-2025-0142. All documents in the docket
are listed on the <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a> 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 <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.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ayla Martinelli, Air Quality Branch,
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, EPA Region 1, 5 Post Office
Square--Suite 100, (Mail code 5-MI), Boston, MA 02109-3912, tel. (617)
918-1057, email <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#6c010d1e18050209000005420d15000d2c091c0d420b031a"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="3d505c4f49545358515154135c44515c7d584d5c135a524b">[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
II. Response to Comments
III. Final Action
IV. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews
I. Background and Purpose
On May 23, 2025 (90 FR 22033), EPA published a Notice of Proposed
Rulemaking (NPRM) for the State of Vermont. The NPRM proposed approval
of the second implementation period regional haze requirements
contained in CAA sections 169A and 169B and 40 CFR 51.308. The formal
SIP revision
[[Page 51528]]
was submitted by Vermont on July 1, 2024. EPA is now finalizing its
proposed determination that the Vermont regional haze SIP submission
for the second implementation period meets the applicable statutory and
regulatory requirements and is thus approving Vermont's submission into
its SIP. Other specific requirements of the Vermont submittal and the
rationale for EPA's proposed action is explained in the NPRM and will
not be restated here. Two public comments were received on the NPRM.
II. Response to Comments
EPA received two comments during the comment period. Both comments
supported EPA's proposed action to approve Vermont's Regional Haze Plan
submission. However, the comment from MANEVU also objected to EPA's
recently adopted policy referenced in the NPRM regarding the ``Uniform
Rate of Progress'' (URP). Below, EPA provides a response to that aspect
of MANEVU's comment.
Comment: MANEVU states that section 169A(g)(1) of the Clean Air Act
(CAA) sets forth the four factors a state must apply in evaluating
potential emission reductions from sources within its borders. They
then note that the EPA in its new policy ``now invokes an extra-
statutory fifth factor, the Uniform Rate of Progress (URP)'' which
``[a]s framed by the EPA, . . . can override a statutory four factor
analysis finding that while additional requirements placed on
visibility-impairing sources constitute `reasonable progress,' these
can be dismissed because the impacted Class I area is below the URP.''
The Commenters note that ``[b]ecause the URP is a regulatory creation
outside the CAA section 169A(g)(1) definition of determining reasonable
progress, . . . the URP as a factor to override a statutory four factor
analysis is not permissible.'' Commenters state that ``CAA section
169A(g)(1) explicitly defines how to determine reasonable progress, and
the EPA has received no authority from Congress to impose an additional
overriding regulatory criterion that goes beyond the statutory factors
[see, e.g., Loper Bright Enterprises, et al. v. Raimondo, et al. 603
U.S. 369 (2024)].''
Response: As MANEVU recognizes, Vermont's Regional Haze submission
satisfies Clean Air Act requirements.\1\ The EPA disagrees, however,
with MANEVU's comment that the URP policy articulated in our proposed
approval of Vermont's submission allows states and EPA to override a
statutory four-factor analysis to determine how to make reasonable
progress toward the national visibility goal in the second planning
period. CAA section 169A(b)(2) requires SIPs to ``contain such emission
limits, schedules of compliance and other measures as may be necessary
to make reasonable progress toward the national visibility goal'' and
169A(g)(1) requires that ``in determining reasonable progress there
shall be taken into consideration the costs of compliance, the time
necessary for compliance, and the energy and nonair quality
environmental impacts of compliance, and the remaining useful life of
any existing source subject to such requirements.'' Vermont considered
the four statutory factors, as required by the Act, and EPA did not
dismiss the state's four factor analysis. Additionally, as EPA noted in
the NPRM, the Class I areas affected by emissions from Vermont remain
below their respective URPs.
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\1\ MANEVU noted that ``approval of Vermont's haze SIP is
justified solely on the basis of the four statutory factors without
resort to an impermissible fifth factor not found in the statute.''
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III. Final Action
EPA is approving Vermont's July 1, 2024, submittal as a revision to
the Vermont SIP, satisfying the regional haze requirements for the
second implementation period contained in 40 CFR 51.308(f), (g), and
(i).
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 Clean Air 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:
<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);
<bullet> Is not subject to Executive Order 14192 (90 FR 9065,
February 6, 2025) because SIP actions are exempt from review under
Executive Order 12866;
<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 subject to Executive Order 13045 (62 FR 19885,
April 23, 1997) because it approves a state program;
<bullet> Is not a significant regulatory action subject to
Executive Order 13211 (66 FR 28355, May 22, 2001); and
<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.
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. 801 et 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 by January 20, 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
[[Page 51529]]
of such rule or action. This action may not be challenged later in
proceedings to enforce its requirements. (See section 307(b)(2).
List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 52
Environmental protection, Air pollution control, Incorporation by
reference, Nitrogen dioxide, Ozone, Particulate matter, Sulfur oxides,
Volatile organic compounds.
Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.
Dated: October 6, 2025.
Mark Sanborn,
Regional Administrator, EPA Region 1.
For the reasons stated in the preamble, the Environmental
Protection Agency amends part 52 of chapter I, title 40 of the Code of
Federal Regulations as follows:
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 UU--Vermont
0
2. In Sec. 52.2370, amend the table in paragraph (e) by adding an
entry for ``Vermont Regional Haze Plan Periodic Comprehensive Revision
for 2nd planning period 2018-2028'' to the end of the table to read as
follows:
Sec. 52.2370 Identification of plan.
* * * * *
(e) * * *
Vermont Non-Regulatory
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Name of non-regulatory SIP Applicable geographic or State submittal date/effective
provision nonattainment area date EPA approved date Explanations
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* * * * * * *
Vermont Regional Haze Plan Statewide............... Submitted 7/1/2024................ 11/18/2025, 90 FR Approves full plan.
Periodic Comprehensive Revision [Insert Federal
for 2nd planning period 2018- Register page
2028. where the document
begins].
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[FR Doc. 2025-20141 Filed 11-17-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P
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