Approval and Promulgation of Air Quality Implementation Plans; Maryland; Low Emissions Vehicle Program Revisions

William C. Early
Environmental Protection Agency
July 14, 2015

[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 134 (Tuesday, July 14, 2015)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 40955-40956]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-17063]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[EPA-R03-OAR-2015-0241; FRL-9930-34-Region 3]


Approval and Promulgation of Air Quality Implementation Plans; 
Maryland; Low Emissions Vehicle Program Revisions

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Proposed rule.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposes to approve 
two State Implementation Plan (SIP) revisions submitted by the State of 
Maryland for the purpose of amending Maryland's prior approved Low 
Emission Vehicles (LEV), or Clean Car Program. Maryland adopted 
California's emission standards applicable to newly manufactured light 
and medium-duty motor vehicles in 2007, effective beginning with 2011 
and newer vehicles sold in Maryland. EPA approved Maryland's Clean Car 
Program in prior SIP approval rulemakings. However, since then 
California revised its LEV program regulations on several occasions, 
and Maryland subsequently amended its own rules to be consistent with 
those of California. Maryland then submitted these regulatory 
amendments to EPA as a revision to its SIP. Maryland submitted two such 
Clean Car Program SIP revisions in July 2014 and April 2015.
    In the Final Rules section of this Federal Register, EPA is 
approving the

[[Page 40956]]

State's SIP submittal as a direct final rule without prior proposal 
because the Agency views this as a noncontroversial submittal and 
anticipates no adverse comments. A detailed rationale for the approval 
is set forth in the direct final rule. If no adverse comments are 
received in response to this action, no further activity is 
contemplated. If EPA receives adverse comments, the direct final rule 
will be withdrawn and all public comments received will be addressed in 
a subsequent final rule based on this proposed rule. EPA will not 
institute a second comment period. Any parties interested in commenting 
on this action should do so at this time.

DATES: Comments must be received in writing by August 13, 2015.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID Number EPA-
R03-OAR-2015-0241 by one of the following methods:
    A. www.regulations.gov. Follow the on-line instructions for 
submitting comments.
    B. Email: Fernandez.cristina@epa.gov.
    C. Mail: EPA-R03-OAR-2015-0241, Cristina Fernandez, Associate 
Director, Office of Air Program Planning, Mailcode 3AP30, 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-
2015-0241. EPA's policy is that all comments received will be included 
in the public docket without change, and may be made available online 
at 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 www.regulations.gov or email. The 
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 email comment 
directly to EPA without going through www.regulations.gov, your email 
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 
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 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: Brian Rehn, (215) 814-2176, or by 
email at rehn.brian@epa.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: For further information, please see the 
information provided in the direct final action to approve Maryland's 
amended Clean Car Program, with the same title, which is located in the 
``Rules and Regulations'' section of this Federal Register publication.

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 52

    Environmental protection, Air pollution control, Carbon monoxide, 
Incorporation by reference, Intergovernmental relations, Nitrogen 
dioxide, Ozone, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, Volatile 
organic compounds.

    Dated: June 26, 2015.
William C. Early,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region III.
[FR Doc. 2015-17063 Filed 7-13-15; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6560-50-P