Environmental Protection Agency March 30, 2007 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

Under the Federal Advisory Committee Act, Public Law 92463, EPA gives notice of a meeting of the National Advisory Committee (NAC) and Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC) to the U.S. Representative to the North American Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC). The National and Governmental Advisory Committees advise the EPA Administrator in his capacity as the U.S. Representative to the CEC Council. The Committees are authorized under Articles 17 and 18 of the North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation (NAAEC), North American Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act, Public Law 103-182, and as directed by Executive Order 12915, entitled ``Federal Implementation of the North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation.'' The NAC is composed of 12 members representing academia, environmental non-governmental organizations, and private industry. The GAC consists of 12 members representing state, local, and tribal governments. The Committees are responsible for providing advice to the U.S. Representative on a wide range of strategic, scientific, technological, regulatory, and economic issues related to implementation and further elaboration of the NAAEC. The purpose of the meeting is to formulate recommendations on how to make the work of the CEC more relevant and valuable to U.S. stakeholders. The committees will also provide advice on U.S. priorities for the CEC Council Session in June 2007. A copy of the agenda for the meeting will be posted at https://www.epa.gov/ocem/nacgac-page.htm.

EPA is approving two revisions to the Arizona State Implementation Plan submitted by the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality. These revisions consist of: changes to Arizona's Basic and Enhanced Vehicle Emissions Inspection Programs to exempt collectible vehicles in the Phoenix metropolitan area, and collectible vehicles and motorcycles in the Tucson metropolitan area, from emissions testing requirements; an updated performance standard evaluation for the vehicle emissions inspection program in the Phoenix area; and new contingency measures. EPA is approving these two state implementation plan revisions because they meet all applicable requirements of the Clean Air Act and EPA's regulations and because the exemptions will not interfere with attainment or maintenance of the national ambient air quality standards in the two affected areas. EPA is finalizing this action under the Clean Air Act obligation to take action on State submittals of revisions to state implementation plans. The intended effect is to exempt these vehicle categories from the emissions testing requirements of the State's vehicle emissions inspection programs as approved for the Phoenix and Tucson areas but also to provide a mechanism to reinstate the requirements in the event of a violation of the carbon monoxide national ambient air quality standard in the Phoenix or Tucson area.