Air Plan Approval; Georgia; Vehicle Inspection and Maintenance Program

<RULE> ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY <CFR>40 CFR Part 52</CFR> <DEPDOC>[EPA-R04-OAR-2022-0630; FRL-11582-02-R4]</DEPDOC> <SUBJECT>Air Plan Approval; Georgia; Vehicle Inspection and Maintenance Program</SUBJECT> <HD SOURCE="HED">AGENCY:</HD> Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). <HD SOURCE="HED">ACTION:</HD> Final rule. <SUM> <HD SOURCE="HED">SUMMARY:</HD> The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is approving changes to Georgia's State Implementation Plan (SIP) submitted by the State of Georgia through the Georgia Department of Natural Resources (GA DNR), Environmental Protection Division (EPD), on June 8, 2022, and on June 6, 2023. Georgia's June 8, 2022, SIP revision (hereinafter referred to as Georgia's 2022 I/M SIP revision) removes obsolete references and provisions; updates the State's inspection and maintenance (I/M) requirements; updates terminology, in part to reflect advances in test and vehicle technology; and makes other minor changes. The June 6, 2023, SIP revision (hereinafter referred to as Georgia's 2023 I/M SIP revision) removes outdated terminology; updates with new terminology; removes one requirement; and makes other minor changes to Georgia's enhanced I/M program. EPA is approving these changes pursuant to the Clean Air Act (CAA or Act). </SUM> <EFFDATE> <HD SOURCE="HED">DATES:</HD> This rule is effective March 11, 2024. </EFFDATE> <HD SOURCE="HED">ADDRESSES:</HD> EPA has established a docket for this action under Docket Identification No. EPA-R04-OAR-2022-0630. All documents in the docket are listed on the regulations.gov website. Although listed in the index, some information may not be publicly available, <E T="03">i.e.,</E> Confidential Business Information 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 through www.regulations.gov or in hard copy at the Air Regulatory Management Section, Air Planning and Implementation Branch, Air and Radiation Division, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 4, 61 Forsyth Street SW, Atlanta, Georgia 30303-8960. EPA requests that you contact the person listed in the <E T="02">FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT</E> 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 Federal holidays. <FURINF> <HD SOURCE="HED">FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:</HD> Weston Freund, Air Regulatory Management Section, Air Planning and Implementation Branch, Air and Radiation Division, Region 4, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 61 Forsyth Street SW, Atlanta, Georgia 30303-8960. The telephone number is (404) 562-8773. Mr. Freund can also be reached via electronic mail at <E T="03">freund.weston@epa.gov</E> . </FURINF> <SUPLINF> <HD SOURCE="HED">SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:</HD> <HD SOURCE="HD1">I. Background</HD> In 1991, EPA classified a 13-county area in and around the Atlanta, Georgia, metropolitan area as a serious ozone nonattainment area for the 1979 1-hour ozone national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS or standard), triggering the requirement for the State to establish an enhanced I/M program for the area. <SU>1</SU> <FTREF/> In 1996, Georgia submitted its enhanced I/M program to EPA for incorporation into the SIP. EPA granted interim approval of the State's program in 1997 and full approval in 2000. <E T="03">See</E> 62 FR 42916 (August 11, 1997) and 65 FR 4133 (January 26, 2000), respectively. <FTNT> <SU>1</SU>  On November 6, 1991, EPA designated and classified the following counties in and around the Atlanta, Georgia, metropolitan area as a serious ozone nonattainment area for the 1-hour ozone NAAQS: Cherokee, Clayton, Cobb, Coweta, DeKalb, Douglas, Fayette, Forsyth, Fulton, Gwinnett, Henry, Paulding, and Rockdale. <E T="03">See</E> 56 FR 56694. </FTNT> On June 8, 2022, and June 6, 2023, Georgia submitted SIP revisions seeking to amend various I/M regulations in Chapter 391-3-20— <E T="03">Enhanced Inspection and Maintenance,</E> of Georgia's SIP. In this rulemaking, EPA is approving changes to Rules 391-3-20-.01— <E T="03">Definitions;</E> Rule 391-3-20-.03, <E T="03">Covered Vehicles; Exemptions;</E> Rule 391-3-20-.04— <E T="03">Emission Inspection Procedures;</E> Rule 391-3-20-.05— <E T="03">Emission Standards;</E> Rule 391-3-20-.09— <E T="03">Inspection Station Requirements;</E> Rule 391-3-20-.10— <E T="03">Certificates of Authorization;</E> Rule 391-3-20-.11— <E T="03">Inspector Qualifications and Certification;</E> Rule 391-3-20-.13— <E T="03">Certificate of Emission Inspection;</E> Rule 391-3-20-.15— <E T="03">Repairs and Retests;</E> Rule 391-3-20-.17— <E T="03">Waivers;</E> and Rule 391-3-20-.22— <E T="03">Enforcement.</E> EPA is approving these revisions because these changes will not interfere with any applicable requirement concerning attainment and reasonable further progress, or any other applicable CAA requirement. <SU>2</SU> <FTREF/> <FTNT> <SU>2</SU>  See CAA section 110(l). </FTNT> In a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM), published on December 21, 2023 (88 FR 88310), EPA proposed to approve the June 8, 2022, and June 6, 2023, SIP submissions. The details of Georgia's submissions, which remove obsolete references and provisions; update the State's I/M requirements; update and remove outdated terminology; remove a requirement; and makes other minor changes to Georgia's enhanced I/M program of the Georgia SIP, as well as EPA's rationale for approve the changes, are described in the December 21, 2023, NPRM. Comments on the December 21, 2023, NPRM were due on or before January 22, 2024. No comments were received on the NPRM, adverse or otherwise. <HD SOURCE="HD1">II. Incorporation by Reference</HD> In this document, EPA is finalizing regulatory text that includes incorporation by reference. In accordance with requirements of 1 CFR 51.5, and as discussed in Section I of this preamble, EPA is finalizing the incorporation by reference of Georgia Rule 391-3-20-.09— <E T="03">Inspection Station Requirements;</E> Rule 391-3-20-.10— <E T="03">Certificates of Authorization;</E> Rule 391-3-20-.13— <E T="03">Certificate of Emission Inspection;</E> Rule 391-3-20-.15— <E T="03">Repairs and Retests;</E> Rule 391-3-20-.17— <E T="03">Waivers;</E> and Rule 391-3-20-.22— <E T="03">Enforcement,</E> all of which have a state-effective date of April 19, 2022, into the Georgia SIP. Further, EPA is finalizing the incorporation by reference of Georgia Rule 391-3-20-.01— <E T="03">Definitions;</E> Rule 391-3-20-.03, <E T="03">Covered Vehicles; Exemptions;</E> Rule 391-3-20-.04— <E T="03">Emission Inspection Procedures;</E> Rule 391-3-20-.05— <E T="03">Emission Standards,</E> and Rule 391-3-20-.11— <E T="03">Inspector Qualifications and Certification,</E> all of which have a state-effective date of March 21, 2023, into the Georgia SIP. EPA has made, and will continue to make, these materials generally available through <E T="03">www.regulations.gov</E> and at the EPA Region 4 Office (please contact the person identified in the “For Further Information Contact” section of this preamble for more information). Therefore, the revised materials as stated above, 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. <SU>3</SU> <FTREF/> <FTNT> <SU>3</SU>  62 FR 27968 (May 22, 1997). </FTNT> <HD SOURCE="HD1">III. Final Actions</HD> EPA is approving the aforementioned changes to various I/M regulations in Chapter 391-3-20— <E T="03">Enhanced Inspection and Maintenance,</E> of the Georgia SIP. Specifically, EPA is finalizing the approval of the June 8, 2022, and June 6, 2023, SIP revisions which amends Georgia Rules 391-3-20-.01— <E T="03">Definitions;</E> Rule 391-3-20-.03, <E T="03">Covered Vehicles; Exemptions;</E> Rule 391-3-20-.04— <E T="03">Emission Inspection Procedures;</E> Rule 391-3-20-.05— <E T="03">Emission Standards;</E> Rule 391-3-20-.09— <E T="03">Inspection Station Requirements;</E> Rule 391-3-20-.10— <E T="03">Certificates of Authorization;</E> Rule 391-3-20-.11— <E T="03">Inspector Qualifications and Certification;</E> Rule 391-3-20-.13— <E T="03">Certificate of Emission Inspection;</E> Rule 391-3-20-.15— <E T="03">Repairs and Retests;</E> Rule 391-3-20-.17— <E T="03">Waivers;</E> and Rule 391-3-20-.22— <E T="03">Enforcement.</E> <HD SOURCE="HD1">VI. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews</HD> Under the CAA, the Administrator is required to approve a SIP submission that complies with the provisions of the CAA and applicable Federal regulations. <E T="03">See</E> 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 CAA. Accordingly, these actions merely approve state law as meeting Federal requirements and do not impose additional requirements beyond those imposed by state law. For that reason, these actions: • Are not significant regulatory actions subject to review by the Office of Management and Budget under Executive Orders 12866 (58 FR 51735, October 4, 1993) and 14094 (88 FR 21879, April 11, 2023); • Do not impose an information collection burden under the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 3501 <E T="03">et seq.</E> ); • Are certified as not having a significant economic impact on a substantial number ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ Preview showing 10k of 18k characters. Full document text is stored and available for version comparison. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━