Approval and Promulgation of State Implementation Plans and Redesignation of the South Coast Air Basin in California to Attainment for Nitrogen Dioxide

EPA is taking direct final action on attainment and maintenance plans and a request submitted by the California Air Resources Board (CARB) to redesignate the South Coast Air Basin (South Coast) from nonattainment to attainment for the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for Nitrogen Dioxide (NO<INF>2</INF>). Under the Clean Air Act (CAA), designations can be revised if sufficient data are available to warrant such revisions. In this action, EPA is approving the attainment and maintenance plans as revisions to the California State Implementation Plan (SIP), and EPA is also approving the State's request to redesignate the South Coast to attainment because the plans and request meet the requirements set forth in the CAA. EPA is publishing this rule without prior proposal because the Agency views this as a noncontroversial amendment and anticipates no adverse comments. However, in the proposed rules section of this Federal Register publication, EPA is publishing a separate document that will serve as the proposal to approve the SIP revision and grant the redesignation request should relevant adverse comments be filed.