Notice of Availability of Responses to Comments on Proposed Rulemaking for Section 126 Petitions for Purposes of Reducing Interstate Ozone Transport

The EPA conducted an extensive rulemaking on petitions filed by eight Northeastern States under section 126 of the Clean Air Act (CAA). These petitions sought to reduce interstate transport of nitrogen oxides (NO<INF>X</INF>), one of the precursors of ground-level ozone. During part of the rulemaking process and after EPA had taken one final action on the petitions (64 FR 28250, May 25, 1999), EPA issued a proposal (64 FR 33962, June 24, 1999) and solicited comments on a set of discrete issues. In response, a number of comments were submitted that were outside the scope of the June 24, 1999 proposal and that, effectively, sought reconsideration of issues on which EPA had already taken final action. On January 18, 2000, the Agency took final action on the June 24, 1999 proposal, and noted that it would respond to those comments at a later date. This notice informs the public that EPA has responded separately to those comments and that the responses are now available in the docket (Docket Number A-97-43).