

[Federal Register: March 31, 2006 (Volume 71, Number 62)]
[Rules and Regulations]               
[Page 16239-16241]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr31mr06-19]                         

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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[EPA-R03-OAR-2006-0151; FRL-8051-6]

 
Approval and Promulgation of Air Quality Implementation Plans; 
State of Maryland; Revised Definition of Volatile Organic Compounds

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Direct final rule.

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SUMMARY: EPA is taking direct final action on revisions to the Maryland 
State Implementation Plan (SIP) submitted by the Maryland Department of 
Environment (MDE). The revisions update the SIP's reference to the EPA 
definition of volatile organic compounds (VOC). EPA is approving these 
revisions to the State of Maryland's SIP in accordance with the 
requirements of the Clean Air Act.

DATES: This rule is effective on May 30, 2006 without further notice, 
unless EPA receives adverse written comment by May 1, 2006. If EPA 
receives such comments, it will publish a timely withdrawal of the 
direct final rule in the Federal Register and inform the public that 
the rule will not take effect.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID Number R03-
OAR-2006-0151 by one of the following methods:
    A. http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the on-line instructions for 

submitting comments.
    B. E-mail: frankford.harold@epa.gov.
    C. Mail: EPA-R03-OAR-2006-0151, Harold A. Frankford, Office of Air 
Programs, Mailcode 3AP20, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 
III, 1650 Arch Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19103.
    D. Hand Delivery: At the previously-listed EPA Region III address. 
Such deliveries are only accepted during the Docket's normal hours of 
operation, and special arrangements should be made for deliveries of 
boxed information.
    Instructions: Direct your comments to Docket ID No. EPA-R03-OAR-
2006-0151. EPA's policy is that all comments received will be included 
in the public docket without change, and may be made available online 
at http://www.regulations.gov, including any personal information 

provided, unless the comment includes information claimed to be 
Confidential Business Information (CBI) or other information whose 
disclosure is restricted by statute. Do not submit information that you 
consider to be CBI or otherwise protected through http://www.regulations.gov or e-mail. The http://www.regulations.gov Web site 

is an ``anonymous access'' system, which means EPA will not know your 
identity or contact information unless you provide it in the body of 
your comment. If you send an e-mail comment directly to EPA without 
going through http://www.regulations.gov, your e-mail address will be 

automatically captured and included as part of the comment that is 
placed in the public docket and made available on the Internet. If you 
submit an electronic comment, EPA recommends that you include your name 
and other contact information in the body of your comment and with any 
disk or CD-ROM you submit. If EPA cannot read your comment due to 
technical difficulties and cannot contact you for clarification, EPA 
may not be able to consider your comment. Electronic files should avoid 
the use of special characters, any form of encryption, and be free of 
any defects or viruses.
    Docket: All documents in the electronic docket are listed in the 
http://www.regulations.gov index. 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 either electronically in http://www.regulations.gov
 or in hard copy during normal business hours at the 

Air Protection Division, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 
III, 1650 Arch Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19103. Copies of the 
State submittal are available at the Maryland Department of the 
Environment, 1800 Washington Boulevard, Suite 705, Baltimore, Maryland 
21230.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Harold A. Frankford at (215) 814-2108, 
or by e-mail at frankford.harold@epa.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Summary of SIP Revisions

    On October 31, 2005, the State of Maryland submitted a formal 
revision (No. 05-05) to its SIP. The SIP revision consists of a revised 
reference to the Federal definition of VOC at 40 CFR 51.100(s) which is 
found at COMAR 26.11.01.01B(53), Maryland's definition for ``volatile 
organic compounds (VOC)''. These regulatory revisions became effective 
on September 12, 2005.

II. Description of the SIP Revision

    Maryland has amended COMAR 26.11.01.01B(53) to update the Federal 
reference for incorporation of the EPA definition of VOC found at 40 
CFR 51.100(s) from the 2002 edition (the currently SIP-approved 
version) to the 2004 edition of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR).

III. Final Action

    EPA is approving revisions to COMAR 26.11.01.01B(53) of the 
Maryland SIP to update the references to the EPA definition of VOC 
found at 40 CFR 51.100(s) in effect as of 12/31/2004. EPA is publishing 
this rule without prior proposal because the Agency views this as a 
noncontroversial amendment and anticipates no adverse comment since the 
revisions are administrative changes to the state regulations. However, 
in the ``Proposed Rules'' section of today's Federal Register, EPA is 
publishing a separate document that will serve as the proposal to 
approve the SIP revision if adverse comments are filed. This rule will 
be effective on May 30, 2006 without further notice unless EPA receives 
adverse comment by May 1, 2006. If EPA receives adverse comment, EPA 
will publish a timely withdrawal in the Federal Register informing the 
public that the rule will not take effect. EPA will address all public 
comments in a subsequent final rule based on the proposed rule. EPA 
will not institute a second comment period on this action. Any parties 
interested in commenting must do so at this time.

IV. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

A. General Requirements

    Under Executive Order 12866 (58 FR 51735, October 4, 1993), this 
action is not a ``significant regulatory action'' and therefore is not 
subject to review by the Office of Management and Budget. For this 
reason, this action is also not subject to Executive Order 13211, 
``Actions Concerning Regulations That Significantly Affect Energy 
Supply, Distribution, or Use'' (66 FR 28355, May 22, 2001). This action 
merely approves state law as meeting Federal requirements and imposes 
no additional requirements beyond those imposed by state law. 
Accordingly, the Administrator certifies that this rule will not have a 
significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities 
under the Regulatory Flexibility

[[Page 16240]]

Act (5 U.S.C. 601 et seq.). Because this rule approves pre-existing 
requirements under state law and does not impose any additional 
enforceable duty beyond that required by state law, it does not contain 
any unfunded mandate or significantly or uniquely affect small 
governments, as described in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995 
(Public Law 104-4). This rule also does not have tribal implications 
because it will not have a substantial direct effect on one or more 
Indian tribes, on the relationship between the Federal Government and 
Indian tribes, or on the distribution of power and responsibilities 
between the Federal Government and Indian tribes, as specified by 
Executive Order 13175 (65 FR 67249, November 9, 2000). This action also 
does not have Federalism implications because it does not have 
substantial direct effects on the States, on the relationship between 
the national government and the States, or on the distribution of power 
and responsibilities among the various levels of government, as 
specified in Executive Order 13132 (64 FR 43255, August 10, 1999). This 
action merely approves a state rule implementing a Federal standard, 
and does not alter the relationship or the distribution of power and 
responsibilities established in the Clean Air Act. This rule also is 
not subject to Executive Order 13045 ``Protection of Children from 
Environmental Health Risks and Safety Risks'' (62 FR 19885, April 23, 
1997), because it is not economically significant. In reviewing SIP 
submissions, EPA's role is to approve state choices, provided that they 
meet the criteria of the Clean Air Act. In this context, in the absence 
of a prior existing requirement for the State to use voluntary 
consensus standards (VCS), EPA has no authority to disapprove a SIP 
submission for failure to use VCS. It would thus be inconsistent with 
applicable law for EPA, when it reviews a SIP submission, to use VCS in 
place of a SIP submission that otherwise satisfies the provisions of 
the Clean Air Act. Thus, the requirements of section 12(d) of the 
National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act of 1995 (15 U.S.C. 272 
note) do not apply. This rule does not impose an information collection 
burden under the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 
U.S.C. 3501 et seq.).

B. Submission to Congress and the Comptroller General

    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 rule 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. This rule is not a 
``major rule'' as defined by 5 U.S.C. 804(2).

C. Petitions for Judicial Review

    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 May 30, 2006. Filing a 
petition for reconsideration by the Administrator of this final rule 
does not affect the finality of this rule 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 to approve Maryland's revised definition of 
``volatile organic compound (VOC)'' 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, Ozone, Volatile 
organic compounds.

    Dated: March 21, 2006.
William Early,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region III.

0
40 CFR part 52 is amended as follows:

PART 52--[AMENDED]

0
1. The authority citation for part 52 continues to read as follows:

    Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.

Subpart V--Maryland

0
2. In Sec.  52.1070, the table in paragraph (c) is amended by revising 
the entry for COMAR 26.11.01.01B(53) to read as follows:


52.1070  Identification of plan.

* * * * *
    (c) * * *

                                  EPA-Approved Regulations in the Maryland SIP
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                                    Additional
       Code of Maryland                                   State                                    explanation/
  administrative regulations       Title/subject        effective        EPA approval  date       citation at 40
       (COMAR) citation                                   date                                     CFR 52.1100
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                                 26.11.01.01 General Administrative Provisions

                                                  * * * * * * *
26.11.01.01B(53).............  Definitions-                 9/12/05  3/1/06 [Insert page number  Definition
                                definition of                         where the document          reflects the
                                volatile organic                      begins].                    version of 40
                                compound (VOC).                                                   CFR 51.100(s)
                                                                                                  in effect as
                                                                                                  of 12/31/2004.

                                                  * * * * * * *
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[FR Doc. 06-3107 Filed 3-30-06; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6560-50-P
