Air Plan Approval; Massachusetts; High Occupancy Vehicle Lanes |
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Deborah Szaro
Environmental Protection Agency
20 March 2019
[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 54 (Wednesday, March 20, 2019)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 10264-10266]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-04874]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 52
[EPA-R01-OAR-2018-0790; FRL-9990-94-Region 1]
Air Plan Approval; Massachusetts; High Occupancy Vehicle Lanes
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 revision provides for the Massachusetts Department
of Transportation (MassDOT) to construct and operate specified transit
facilities and high occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes established therein.
Implementation and continued monitoring of these projects will help
reduce the use of automobiles and improve traffic operations on the
region's roadways, resulting in improved air quality. This action will
have a beneficial effect on air quality because it is intended to
reduce vehicle miles traveled (VMT) and traffic congestion in the
Boston Metropolitan Area. Massachusetts has adopted these revisions to
reduce emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOC), particulate
matter (PM), and nitrogen oxides (NOX). This action is being
taken under the Clean Air Act.
DATES: This rule is effective on April 19, 2019.
ADDRESSES: EPA has established a docket for this action under Docket
Identification No. EPA-R01-OAR-2018-0790. 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
Region 1 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: Eric Rackauskas, Air Quality Unit,
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, EPA Region 1, 5 Post Office
Square--Suite 100, (Mail code OEP05-2), Boston, MA 02109-3912, tel.
(617) 918-1628, email rackauskas.eric@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 17, 2018 (83 FR 64495), EPA published a notice of
proposed rulemaking (NPRM) for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The
NPRM proposed approval of amendments to Massachusetts' 310 CMR 7.37:
High Occupancy Vehicle Lanes. The amended 310 CMR 7.37 contains added
definitions, revised due dates for certain requirements, minor
technical amendments, and clarifying language. The regulation is
designed to reduce the use of automobiles in the Metropolitan Boston
Area, and to improve traffic operations on the region's roadways.
Reducing the number of vehicles on the road and easing traffic
conditions on major highways will result in a reduction of vehicle
miles traveled (VMT) which eases traffic congestion and will lead to
improved air quality by lowering mobile source emissions.
A detailed discussion of Massachusetts' SIP revision and the
rationale for EPA's proposed action are explained in the NPRM and will
not be restated here. EPA received several comments supportive of HOV
lanes and encouraging Massachusetts to add even more HOV lanes outside
of the Greater Boston Area. One commenter questioned whether the
regulation contained requirements for only HOV studies rather than the
construction and implementation of HOV lanes. The rulemaking does
contain language requiring the implementation of several HOV lanes,
which have been constructed and are currently in use by MassDOT. EPA
received no adverse comments.
II. Final Action
EPA is approving, and incorporating into the Massachusetts SIP, the
revised regulation 310 CMR 7.37, High Occupancy Vehicle Lanes. This
[[Page 10265]]
regulation was submitted to EPA on July 9, 1996. This updated
regulation includes technical amendments and date clarifications to the
previous SIP-approved version of 310 CMR 7.37, which was originally
approved on October 4, 1994 (59 FR 50495). EPA is approving 310 CMR
7.37 into the Massachusetts SIP because EPA has found that the
requirements are consistent with the CAA.
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 the
Massachusetts regulations 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 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
rulemaking 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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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);
This action is not an Executive Order 13771 regulatory
action because this action is not significant under Executive Order
12866;
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 20, 2019. 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, Reporting and recordkeeping
requirements, Sulfur oxides, Volatile organic compounds.
Dated: March 11, 2019.
Deborah Szaro,
Acting Regional Administrator, EPA Region 1.
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
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1. The authority citation for part 52 continues to read as follows:
Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.
Subpart W--Massachusetts
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2. In Sec. 52.1120(c), amend the table by revising the entry ``310 CMR
7.37'' to read as follows:
Sec. 52.1120 Identification of plan.
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(c) * * *
[[Page 10266]]
EPA-Approved Massachusetts Regulations
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State
State citation Title/subject effective EPA approval date \1\ Explanations
date
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310 CMR 7.37............... High Occupancy 4/5/1996 3/20/2019, [Insert Technical revisions
Vehicle Lanes. Federal Register to SIP approved
citation]. regulation.
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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. 2019-04874 Filed 3-19-19; 8:45 am]
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