Air Plan Approval; Massachusetts; Logan Airport Parking Freeze |
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Alexandra Dapolito Dunn
Environmental Protection Agency
6 March 2018
[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 44 (Tuesday, March 6, 2018)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 9438-9440]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-04488]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 52
[EPA-R01-OAR-2017-0590; FRL-9974- 96--Region 1]
Air Plan Approval; Massachusetts; Logan Airport Parking Freeze
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 Commonwealth of
Massachusetts. This SIP revision increases the total number of
commercial parking spaces allowed in the Logan Airport Parking Freeze
area by 5,000 parking spaces. The intended effect of this action is to
reduce carbon monoxide (CO) and nitrogen oxide (NOX)
emissions by reducing the increased vehicle miles traveled (VMT)
resulting from insufficient available parking at Logan Airport. This
action is being taken under the Clean Air Act.
DATES: This rule is effective on April 5, 2018.
ADDRESSES: EPA has established a docket for this action under Docket
Identification No. EPA-R01-OAR-2017-0590. All documents in the docket
are listed on the https://www.regulations.gov 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 https://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 Planning
Unit, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, EPA New England Regional
Office, 5 Post Office Square--Suite 100, (Mail code OEP05-2), Boston,
MA 02109-3912, tel. (617) 918-1697, 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 and Purpose
II. Final Action
III. Incorporation by Reference
IV. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews
I. Background and Purpose
On December 5, 2017 (83 FR 57415), EPA published a Notice of
Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The
NPRM proposed approval of revisions to 310 Code of Massachusetts
Regulations (CMR) 7.30 Massachusetts Port Authority (Massport)/Logan
Airport Parking Freeze. The formal SIP revision was submitted by
Massachusetts on July 13, 2017.
The revised 310 CMR 7.30 increases the total number of commercial
spaces in the Logan Parking Freeze area by 5,000 spaces to a total of
26,088. In the event that the remaining 702 park-and-fly spaces in the
East Boston Parking Freeze cap were converted to commercial spaces at
Logan Airport in the future, the maximum total number of spaces
permitted would be 26,790.
In addition, the revision requires Massport to complete the
following studies within 24 months of June 30, 2017: (1) Potential
improvements to high occupancy vehicle access to Logan Airport; (2) a
cost and pricing assessment for different modes of transportation to
and from Logan Airport in order to generate revenue for the promotion
of high-occupancy
[[Page 9439]]
vehicle (HOV) use by airport travelers and visitors; and (3) the
feasibility and effectiveness of potential operational measures to
reduce non-HOV pick-up/drop-off modes of transportation to Logan
Airport.
Finally, the revision allows Massport to satisfy its annual
reporting requirements through its submission of annual Environmental
Data Reports or similar airport-wide documents under the Massachusetts
Environmental Policy Act (MEPA).
The rationale for EPA's proposed action is explained in the NPR and
will not be restated here. EPA received comments from the Conservation
Law Foundation (CLF) in support of the NPRM after the close of the
comment period, and they have been included in the docket for this
action. Initially, CLF opposed the addition of 5,000 commercial parking
spaces. However, with the development of a binding agreement between
CLF and Massport, CLF now supports this SIP revision due to the agreed
upon addition of substantial transportation mitigation measures and
increased HOV targets. The only comment received during the public
comment period was not germane or specific to this rulemaking, and did
not state how or why the rule should be changed. Therefore, no
additional response to the comment will be provided here.
II. Final Action
EPA is approving revised 310 CMR 7.30 Massport/Logan Airport
Parking Freeze as a revision to the Massachusetts SIP.
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 310 CMR
7.30 Massport/Logan Airport Parking Freeze 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 https://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).
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 May 7, 2018. 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: February 26, 2018.
Alexandra Dapolito Dunn,
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 W--Massachusetts
0
2. In Sec. 52.1120, in paragraph (c), amend the table by revising the
entry ``310 CMR 7.30'' to read as follows:
Sec. 52.1120 Identification of plan.
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(c) * * *
[[Page 9440]]
EPA Approved Massachusetts Regulations
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State EPA approval date
State citation Title/subject effective date \1\ Explanations
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* * * * * * *
310 CMR 7.30............. Massport/Logan 6/30/2017 3/6/2018............ Revises the existing
Airport Parking [Insert Federal commercial parking
Freeze. Register citation]. freeze limits and
requires the
Massachusetts Port
Authority to complete
several studies to
evaluate ways to further
support alternative
transit options.
* * * * * * *
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\1\ 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.
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[FR Doc. 2018-04488 Filed 3-5-18; 8:45 am]
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