AGENCY:
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION:
Proposed rule.
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 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 If EPA receives adverse comments, the direct final rule will be withdrawn and all public comments received will be addressed in a subsequent final rule based on this proposed rule.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]
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