Rule2026-11728
Air Plan Approval; Connecticut; Ozone Ambient Air Quality Standard and Adhesive and Sealants Regulation Revisions
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
June 11, 2026
Effective
July 13, 2026
Issuing agencies
Environmental Protection Agency
Abstract
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is approving a State Implementation Plan (SIP) revision submitted by the State of Connecticut. This revision revises the Connecticut ambient air quality standard (AAQS) for ozone to be consistent with EPA's national ambient air quality standard (NAAQS) for ozone and clarifies the volatile organic compound (VOC) calculation methods of adhesive and sealant products. The intended effect of this action is to approve these regulations into the Connecticut SIP. This action is being taken in accordance with the Clean Air Act.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 91 Issue 112 (Thursday, June 11, 2026)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 91, Number 112 (Thursday, June 11, 2026)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 35414-35416]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2026-11728]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 52
[EPA-R01-OAR-2025-1311; FRL-13029-02-R1]
Air Plan Approval; Connecticut; Ozone Ambient Air Quality
Standard and Adhesive and Sealants Regulation Revisions
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
Connecticut. This revision revises the Connecticut ambient air quality
standard (AAQS) for ozone to be consistent with EPA's national ambient
air quality standard (NAAQS) for ozone and clarifies the volatile
organic compound (VOC) calculation methods of adhesive and sealant
products. The intended effect of this action is to approve these
regulations into the Connecticut SIP. This action is being taken in
accordance with the Clean Air Act.
DATES: This rule is effective on July 13, 2026.
ADDRESSES: EPA has established a docket for this action under Docket
Identification No. EPA-R01-OAR-2025-1311. 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: Laura Berman, Energy and Resilience
Branch, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, EPA Region 1, 5 Post
Office Square--Suite 100, (Mail code 5-MI), Boston, MA 02109-3912,
telephone (617) 918-1856, email <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#f3b196819e929dddbf92868192b3968392dd949c85"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="337156415e525d1d7f52464152735643521d545c45">[email protected]</span></a>.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Throughout this document whenever
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``we,'' ``us,'' or ``our'' is used, we mean EPA.
Table of Contents
I. Background and Purpose
II. Response to Comments
III. Final Action
IV. Incorporation by Reference
V. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews
I. Background and Purpose
On November 20, 2025 (90 FR 52288), EPA published a Notice of
Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) for the State of Connecticut proposing
approval of SIP revisions. The formal SIP revision was submitted by
Connecticut on April 30, 2025, and consisted of revisions to
Regulations of Connecticut State Agencies (RCSA) sections 22a-174-24
and 22a-174-44. The revisions include adding the 0.070 parts per
million ozone standard in RCSA 22a-174-24 and clarifying the volatile
organic compound calculation methods available for adhesive and sealant
products in RCSA 22a-174-44. The evaluation and rationale for EPA's
proposed action are explained in the NPRM and will not be restated
here.
II. Response to Comments
The EPA received one comment during the comment period, which is
available in the docket of this rulemaking action. The commenter
claimed that the EPA did not adhere to the following statutory
requirements based on the five arguments below:
Comment 1: The final [sic] action incorporates by reference
Connecticut regulations. Those State rules in turn typically reference
test methods and technical standards used to determine VOC content and
compliance for adhesives and sealants . . . and may reference model
rule provisions. When an EPA rule incorporates material by reference
(IBR), EPA must comply with 1 CFR 51.5: identify the specific material
being incorporated, ensure it is reasonably available to interested
persons, and place copies in the docket and at EPA/NARA for inspection
. . . Absent this, the public did not have a fair opportunity to review
the full content of the rule as approved, which is a procedural
deficiency under the APA and IBR regulations.
Response: The proposed action identified the Connecticut
regulations in the text of the proposed rulemaking and attached the
application regulations in the docket. EPA also included copies of the
referenced OTC model rule and related CARB RACT determination in the
docket of the proposed rule.
Comment 2: The adhesives and sealants regulation applies broadly to
numerous small entities in Connecticut which adds Federal
enforceability and citizen-suit exposure, alters compliance assurance
and can shift product markets toward compliant formulations with higher
unit costs or different performance characteristics. Although the
Regulatory Flexibility Act focuses on direct effects, EPA should at
minimum provide a tailored certification with data or analysis
addressing the incremental impacts and enforcement consequences of
Federal approval, not just a boilerplate statement.
Response: The Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA) is inapplicable to
this rulebecause the EPA has certified that this rule will not have a
significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities.
The regulatory analysis provisions of the RFA are only triggered by a
threshold determination by the Agency that this rule will have a
significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities.
Because the Agency has certified this rule will not have a significant
economic impact, section 603 and 604 of the RFA do not apply to this
action. 5 U.S.C. 605(b).
Comment 3: EPA should clarify its basis for concluding that the
action could not plausibly lead to expenditures State, local, and
Tribal governments, in the aggregate, or by the private sector, of $100
million or more in any one year when federally approving a rule that
applies across numerous sectors statewide, and becomes enforceable by
EPA and citizens.
Response: With regard to the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA),
the EPA has complied by making its own determination that this rule
will not result in expenditures of $100M+, and therefore the Agency
does not need to complete a statement under 2 U.S.C. 1532.
Comment 4: EPA does not provide an assessment of whether State and
Federal recordkeeping and reporting obligations constitute a collection
of information; EPA should obtain OMB approval to clarify why the
Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) does not apply.
Response: The EPA has complied with the PRA by certifying in the
rule that the PRA does not apply because the action does not involve an
information collection burden as defined by the PRA.
Comment 5: EPA states the proposed rulemaking is classified as not
significant, though the adhesives and sealants program intersects with
model rules and evolving compliance methods which may raise policy
issues.
Response: The Agency has complied with E.O. 12866 by determining
that this rule is not a significant regulatory action as defined in
E.O. 12866.
III. Final Action
EPA is approving Connecticut's revisions to RCSA 22a-174-24 and
22a-174-44 into the Connecticut SIP.
IV. Incorporation by Reference
In this rule, the EPA is finalizing regulatory text that includes
incorporation by reference. In accordance with requirements of 1 CFR
51.5, the EPA is finalizing the incorporation by reference of the
Connecticut RCSA 22a-174-24 to update the definition of the ozone
standard, and 22a-174-44 to clarify certain volatile organic compound
calculation methods, described in the amendments to 40 CFR part 52 set
forth below. 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). Therefore, these materials have been approved by EPA for
inclusion in the State implementation plan, have been incorporated by
reference by EPA into that plan, are fully federally enforceable under
sections 110 and 113 of the CAA as of the effective date of the final
rule of EPA's approval, and will be incorporated by reference in the
next update to the SIP compilation.\1\
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\1\ 62 FR 27968 (May 22, 1997).
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V. 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 an Executive Order 14192 (90 FR 9065,
February 6, 2025) regulatory action because this action is
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not significant 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).
This action is subject to the Congressional Review Act, and the 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 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 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 section 307(b)(2).)
List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 52
Environmental protection, Air pollution control, Incorporation by
reference, Ozone, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, Volatile
organic compounds.
Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.
Dated: May 27, 2026.
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 to read 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 H--Connecticut
0
2. In Sec. 52.370(c), amend the table by revising entries ``22a-174-
24'' and ``22a-174-44'' to read as follows:
Sec. 52.370 Identification of plan.
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(c) * * *
EPA-Approved Connecticut Regulations and Statutes
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State
State citation Title/subject effective EPA approval date Explanations
date
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22a-174-24................ Connecticut primary 4/2/2025 6/11/2026, 91 FR Addition of subdivision
and secondary [INSERT FEDERAL (3) to subsection (i)
ambient air quality REGISTER PAGE WHERE Connecticut primary
standards. THE DOCUMENT BEGINS]. and secondary ambient
air quality standards
for ozone.
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22a-174-44................ Adhesives and 4/2/2025 6/11/2026, 91 FR Amendment of
sealants. [INSERT FEDERAL subdivision (2) of
REGISTER PAGE WHERE subsection (e)
THE DOCUMENT BEGINS]. Compliance procedures
and test methods.
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[FR Doc. 2026-11728 Filed 6-10-26; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P
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