6560-50-P
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 52
[EPA-R05-OAR-2022-0369; FRL-11761-02-R5]
Air Plan Approval; Wisconsin; Milwaukee Second 10-Year 2006 24Hour PM2.5 Limited Maintenance Plan
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Final rule.
SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is approving
the limited maintenance plan (LMP) submitted by the Wisconsin
Department of Natural Resources (WDNR) for the Milwaukee-Racine
maintenance area including Milwaukee, Waukesha, and Racine
counties.

The plan addresses the second 10-year maintenance

period for particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter less
than or equal to a nominal 2.5 micrometers (PM2.5).

EPA is

approving Wisconsin’s LMP submission for the Milwaukee-Racine
maintenance area because it provides for the maintenance of the
2006 PM2.5 National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) through
the end of the second 10-year portion of the maintenance period.
Additionally, EPA finds adequate and is approving the LMP as
meeting the appropriate transportation conformity requirements.
EPA proposed to approve this action on March 19, 2024, and
received no comments.
DATES: This final rule is effective on [INSERT DATE 30 DAYS
AFTER DATE OF PUBLICATION IN THE FEDERAL REGISTER].
ADDRESSES: EPA has established a docket for this action under

Docket ID No. EPA-R05-OAR-2022-0369.

All documents in the

docket are listed on the https://www.regulations.gov web site.
Although listed in the index, some information is not publicly
available, i.e., Confidential Business Information (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 through https://www.regulations.gov or at the
Environmental Protection Agency, Region 5, Air and Radiation
Division, 77 West Jackson Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois 60604.
This facility is open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday
through Friday, excluding Federal holidays.

We recommend that

you telephone Cecilia Magos, at (312) 886-7336 before visiting
the Region 5 office.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Cecilia Magos, Air and
Radiation Division (AR18J), Environmental Protection Agency,
Region 5, 77 West Jackson Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois 60604,
(312) 886-7336, magos.cecilia@epa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Throughout this document whenever
“we,” “us,” or “our” is used, we mean the EPA.
I. Background Information
On November 13, 2009 (74 FR 58688), EPA designated the
Milwaukee-Racine area as a PM2.5 nonattainment area due to
measured violations of the 2006 PM2.5 NAAQS.

On June 8, 2012,

and later supplemented on May 30, 2013, WDNR submitted to the

EPA a request to redesignate the Milwaukee-Racine nonattainment
area to attainment.

The submission included a plan to provide

for maintenance of the 2006 PM2.5 NAAQS in the area through 2024.
EPA redesignated the Milwaukee-Racine area on April 22, 2014 (79
FR 22415), and approved the associated maintenance plan into the
Wisconsin State Implementation Plan (SIP).

The purpose of

WDNR’s April 8, 2022, LMP submission is to fulfill the second
10-year planning requirement of Clean Air Act (CAA) section
175A(b) to ensure PM2.5 NAAQS compliance through 2034.
On March 19, 2024 (89 FR 19519), EPA proposed to approve
the second 10-year PM2.5 LMP for the Milwaukee-Racine maintenance
area addressing the 2006 PM2.5 maintenance area.

EPA’s approval

of the LMP will satisfy CAA section 175A requirements for the
second 10-year period for the Milwaukee-Racine 2006 PM2.5
maintenance area through 2034.

Further explanation of the CAA

requirements, a detailed analysis of the revisions, and the
EPA’s reasons for proposing approval were provided in the notice
of proposed rulemaking (89 FR 19519) and will not be restated
here.

The public comment period for the proposed rule ended on

April 18, 2024.

EPA received no comments on the proposal and is

finalizing our action as proposed.
II. Final Action
EPA is approving the second 10-year PM2.5 LMP for the
Milwaukee-Racine 2006 PM2.5 maintenance area submitted by WDNR.
EPA’s review of the air quality data for the maintenance area
indicates that the State continues to show attainment well below

the level of the 2006 PM2.5 NAAQS and that WDNR’s LMP meets all
the LMP qualifying criteria set forth in the “Guidance on
Limited Maintenance Plan Option for Moderate PM2.5 Nonattainment
Areas and PM2.5 Maintenance Areas”.1

EPA’s approval of this LMP

will satisfy the CAA section 175A requirements for the second
10-year period for the Milwaukee-Racine 2006 PM2.5 maintenance
area.

The Milwaukee-Racine PM2.5 maintenance area will no longer

be required to perform regional emissions analyses as part of
the conformity process but must meet project-level conformity
analyses requirements as well as other transportation conformity
criteria.

See 40 CFR 93.109(e).

III. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews
Under the CAA, the Administrator is required to approve a
SIP submission that complies with the provisions of the CAA and
applicable Federal regulations.
52.02(a).

42 U.S.C. 7410(k); 40 CFR

Thus, in reviewing SIP submissions, the EPA’s role is

to approve State choices, provided that they meet the criteria
of the CAA.

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

The guidance document developed by the Office of Air Quality Planning and
Standards and the Office of Transportation and Air Quality, within the Office
of Air and Radiation, titled “Guidance on the Limited Maintenance Plan Option
for Moderate PM2.5 Nonattainment Areas and PM2.5 Maintenance Areas,” can be
found at https://nepis.epa.gov/Exe/ZyPDF.cgi?Dockey=P1015UL4.pdf.

12866 (58 FR 51735, October 4, 1993), and 14094 (88 FR
21879, April 11, 2023);
• 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 subject to Executive Order 13045 (62 FR 19885, April
23, 1997) because it approves a State program;
• Is not a significant regulatory action subject to Executive
Order 13211 (66 FR 28355, May 22, 2001); and
• 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 CAA.
In addition, the SIP is not approved to apply on any Indian
reservation land or in any other area where the 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).
Executive Order 12898 (Federal Actions To Address
Environmental Justice in Minority Populations and Low-Income
Populations, 59 FR 7629, February 16, 1994) directs Federal
agencies to identify and address “disproportionately high and
adverse human health or environmental effects” of their actions
on minority populations and low-income populations to the
greatest extent practicable and permitted by law.

The EPA

defines environmental justice as “the fair treatment and
meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, color,
national origin, or income with respect to the development,
implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws,
regulations, and policies.”

The EPA further defines the term

fair treatment to mean that “no group of people should bear a
disproportionate burden of environmental harms and risks,
including those resulting from the negative environmental
consequences of industrial, governmental, and commercial
operations or programs and policies.”
WDNR did not evaluate environmental justice considerations
as part of its SIP submittal; the CAA and applicable
implementing regulations neither prohibit nor require such an
evaluation.

The EPA performed an environmental justice

analysis, as is described in the section titled, “Environmental
Justice Considerations” in the notice of proposed rulemaking.
See 89 FR 19519.

The analysis was done for the purpose of

providing additional context and information about this
rulemaking to the public, not as a basis of the action.

Due to

the nature of the action being taken here, this action is
expected to have a neutral to positive impact on the air quality
of the affected area.

In addition, there is no information in

the record upon which this decision is based that is
inconsistent with the stated goal of E.O. 12898 of achieving
environmental justice for people of color, low-income
populations, and Indigenous peoples.
This action is subject to the Congressional Review Act, and
the EPA will submit a rule report to each House of the Congress
and to the Comptroller General of the United States.

This

action is not a “major rule” as defined by 5 U.S.C. 804(2).
Under section 307(b)(1) of the CAA, petitions for judicial
review of this action must be filed in the United States Court
of Appeals for the appropriate circuit by [INSERT DATE 60 DAYS
AFTER DATE OF PUBLICATION IN THE FEDERAL REGISTER].

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,
Incorporation by reference, Intergovernmental relations,
Particulate matter, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements.

Dated: July 2, 2024.
Debra Shore,
Regional Administrator, Region 5.
For the reasons stated in the preamble, EPA amends title 40
CFR part 52 as follows:
PART 52—APPROVAL AND PROMULGATION OF IMPLEMENTATION PLANS
1. The authority citation for part 52 continues to read as
follows:
Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.
2. Section 52.2584 is amended by adding paragraph (g) to
read as follows:
§ 52.2584 Control strategy; Particulate matter.
*

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*

*

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(g) Approval–On [INSERT DATE 30 DAYS AFTER DATE OF
PUBLICATION IN THE FEDERAL REGISTER], EPA approved the 2006 24Hour PM2.5 limited maintenance plan for the second 10-year
maintenance period for the Milwaukee-Racine area (Milwaukee,
Racine and Waukesha counties) as submitted by the State of
Wisconsin on April 8, 2022.

The limited maintenance plan

submission satisfies the second 10-year planning requirement of

section 175A(b) of the Clean Air Act for the Milwaukee-Racine
area.
[FR Doc. 2024-14932 Filed: 7/8/2024 8:45 am; Publication Date: 7/9/2024]