
[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 180 (Tuesday, September 19, 2017)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 43699-43701]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-19817]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[EPA-R01-OAR-2016-0110; FRL-9967-88-Region 1]


Air Plan Approval; Maine; Regional Haze 5-Year Progress Report

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency.

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 Maine on 
February 23, 2016. Maine's SIP revision addresses requirements of the 
Clean Air Act (CAA) and EPA's rules that require States to submit 
periodic reports describing progress toward reasonable progress goals 
(RPGs) established for regional haze and a determination of the 
adequacy of the State's existing regional haze SIP. Maine's progress 
report notes that Maine has implemented the measures in the regional 
haze SIP due to be in place by the date of the progress

[[Page 43700]]

report and that visibility in federal Class I areas affected by 
emissions from Maine is improving and has already met the applicable 
RPGs for 2018. Maine also determined that the State's regional haze SIP 
is adequate to meet these reasonable progress goals for the first 
implementation period covering through 2018 and requires no substantive 
revision at this time.

DATES: This rule is effective on October 19, 2017.

ADDRESSES: EPA has established a docket for this action under Docket 
Identification No. EPA-R01-OAR-2016-0110. All documents in the docket 
are listed on the http://www.regulations.gov Web site. 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 http://www.regulations.gov or at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, EPA 
New England Regional Office, Office of Ecosystem Protection, Air 
Quality Planning Unit, 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.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Anne McWilliams, Air Quality Unit, 
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, EPA New England Regional Office, 
5 Post Office Square--Suite 100, (Mail Code OEP05-02), Boston, MA 
02109-3912, telephone number (617) 918-1697, fax number (617) 918-0697, 
email mcwilliams.anne@epa.gov.

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

Table of Contents

I. Background
II. Final Action
III. Incorporation by Reference
IV. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

I. Background

    States are required to submit a progress report in the form of a 
SIP revision every five years that evaluates progress towards the RPGs 
for each mandatory Class I Federal area within the state and in each 
mandatory Class I Federal area outside the state which may be affected 
by emissions from within the state. See 40 CFR 51.308(g). In addition, 
the provisions under 40 CFR 51.308(h) require States to submit, at the 
same time as the 40 CFR 51.308(g) progress report, a determination of 
the adequacy of the state's existing regional haze SIP. The first 
progress report SIP is due five years after submittal of the initial 
regional haze SIP.
    On July 20, 2017 (82 FR 33471), EPA published a notice of proposed 
rulemaking (NPR) proposing approval of Maine's February 23, 2016 
Regional Haze 5-Year Progress Report SIP revision on the basis that it 
satisfies the requirements of 40 CFR 51.308(g) and (h).
    The specific details of Maine's February 23, 2016 SIP revision and 
the rationale for EPA's approval are discussed in the NPR and will not 
be restated here. EPA received one comment agreeing with EPA's 
assessment of Maine's February 23, 2016 Regional Haze 5-Year Progress 
Report.

II. Final Action

    EPA is approving Maine's February 23, 2016 Regional Haze 5-Year 
Progress Report SIP submittal as meeting the requirements of 40 CFR 
51.308(g) and (h).

III. 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 New 
Hampshire's regulation 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 http://www.regulations.gov.

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 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:
     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);
     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 Clean Air Act; 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 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).

[[Page 43701]]

    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 November 20, 2017. 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, Carbon monoxide, 
Incorporation by reference, Intergovernmental relations, Lead, Nitrogen 
dioxide, Ozone, Particulate matter, Regional haze, Reporting and 
recordkeeping requirements, Sulfur oxides, Volatile organic compounds.

    Dated: September 7, 2017.
Deborah A. Szaro,
Acting Regional Administrator, EPA New England.

    Part 52 of chapter I, title 40 of the Code of Federal Regulations 
is amended 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 U--Maine

0
2. In Sec.  52.1020, the table in paragraph (e) is amended by adding 
the entry ``Regional Haze 5-Year Progress Report'' at the end of the 
table to read as follows:


Sec.  52.1020   Identification of plan.

* * * * *
    (e) * * *

                                                                  Maine Non Regulatory
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                                                                                            State
        Name of non regulatory SIP  provision             Applicable geographic or     submittal date/   EPA approved date \3\         Explanations
                                                             nonattainment area        effective date
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                                                                      * * * * * * *
Regional Haze 5-Year Progress Report................  Statewide......................       2/23/2016  9/19/2017, [insert        Progress report for the
                                                                                                        Federal Register          first regional haze
                                                                                                        citation].                planning period ending
                                                                                                                                  in 2018.
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\3\ In order to determine the EPA effective date for a specific provision listed in this table, consult the Federal Register notice cited in this column
  for the particular provision.


[FR Doc. 2017-19817 Filed 9-18-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6560-50-P


