[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 112 (Tuesday, June 11, 2013)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 34903-34906]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-13735]
[[Page 34903]]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 52
[EPA-R05-OAR-2012-0969; FRL-9821-3]
Approval and Promulgation of Air Quality Implementation Plans;
Ohio; 1997 8-Hour Ozone Maintenance Plan Revision; Motor Vehicle
Emissions Budgets for the Ohio Portion of the Wheeling Area
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Direct final rule.
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SUMMARY: Under the Clean Air Act (CAA), EPA is approving the request by
Ohio to revise the 1997 8-hour ozone maintenance air quality State
Implementation Plan (SIP) to replace motor vehicle emissions budgets
(budgets) for the Ohio portion of the Wheeling, West Virginia-Ohio area
with budgets developed using EPA's Motor Vehicle Emissions Simulator
(MOVES) emissions model. Ohio submitted the SIP revision request to EPA
on December 7, 2012.
DATES: This direct final rule will be effective August 12, 2013, unless
EPA receives adverse comments by July 11, 2013. If adverse comments are
received, EPA will publish a timely withdrawal of the direct final rule
in the Federal Register informing the public that the rule will not
take effect.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-R05-
OAR-2012-0969, by one of the following methods:
1. www.regulations.gov: Follow the on-line instructions for
submitting comments.
2. Email: [email protected].
3. Fax: (312) 692-2450.
4. Mail: Pamela Blakley, Chief, Control Strategies Section, Air
Programs Branch (AR-18J), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 77 West
Jackson Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois 60604.
5. Hand Delivery: Pamela Blakley, Chief, Control Strategies
Section, Air Programs Branch (AR-18J), U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency, 77 West Jackson Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois 60604. Such
deliveries are only accepted during the Regional Office normal hours of
operation, and special arrangements should be made for deliveries of
boxed information. The Regional Office official hours of business are
Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., excluding Federal
holidays.
Instructions: Direct your comments to Docket ID No. EPA-R05-OAR-
2012-0969. EPA's policy is that all comments received will be included
in the public docket without change and may be made available online at
www.regulations.gov, including any personal information provided,
unless the comment includes information claimed to be Confidential
Business Information (CBI) or other information whose disclosure is
restricted by statute. Do not submit information that you consider to
be CBI or otherwise protected through www.regulations.gov or email. The
www.regulations.gov Web site is an ``anonymous access'' system, which
means EPA will not know your identity or contact information unless you
provide it in the body of your comment. If you send an email comment
directly to EPA without going through www.regulations.gov your email
address will be automatically captured and included as part of the
comment that is placed in the public docket and made available on the
Internet. If you submit an electronic comment, EPA recommends that you
include your name and other contact information in the body of your
comment and with any disk or CD-ROM you submit. If EPA cannot read your
comment due to technical difficulties and cannot contact you for
clarification, EPA may not be able to consider your comment. Electronic
files should avoid the use of special characters, any form of
encryption, and be free of any defects or viruses.
Docket: All documents in the docket are listed in the
www.regulations.gov index. Although listed in the index, some
information is not publicly available, e.g., CBI or other information
whose disclosure is restricted by statute. Certain other material, such
as copyrighted material, will be publicly available only in hard copy.
Publicly available docket materials are available either electronically
in www.regulations.gov or in hard copy 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 Anthony Maietta, Environmental
Protection Specialist, at (312) 353-8777 before visiting the Region 5
office.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Anthony Maietta, Environmental
Protection Specialist, Control Strategies Section, Air Programs Branch
(AR-18J), Environmental Protection Agency, Region 5, 77 West Jackson
Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois 60604, (312) 353-8777,
[email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Throughout this document whenever ``we,''
``us,'' or ``our'' is used, we mean EPA. This supplementary information
section is arranged as follows:
I. What is EPA approving?
II. What is the background for this action?
a. SIP Budgets and Transportation Conformity
b. Prior Approval of Budgets
c. The MOVES Emissions Model
d. Submission of New Budgets Based on MOVES2010a
III. What are the criteria for approval?
IV. What is EPA's analysis of the state's submittal?
a. The Revised Inventories
b. Approvability of the MOVES2010a-based Budgets
c. Applicability of MOBILE6.2-based Budgets
V. What action is EPA taking?
VI. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews
I. What is EPA approving?
EPA is approving new MOVES2010a-based budgets for the Ohio portion
of the Wheeling, West Virginia-Ohio 1997 8-hour ozone maintenance area
that will replace MOBILE-based budgets in the SIP. The Ohio portion of
the Wheeling, West Virginia-Ohio area was redesignated to attainment of
the 1997 8-hour ozone standard effective June 15, 2007 (72 FR 27644).
MOBILE6.2-based budgets for the Ohio portion of the area were approved
in that action. Upon the effective date of approval of the MOVES-based
budgets, they must then be used in future transportation conformity
analyses for the Ohio portion of the area as required by section 176(c)
of the CAA. See the official release of the MOVES2010 emissions model
(75 FR 9411-9414) for background, and section II. (c) below for
details.
II. What is the background for this action?
a. SIP Budgets and Transportation Conformity
Under the CAA, states are required to submit control strategy SIP
revisions and maintenance plans for nonattainment and maintenance areas
for a given National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS). These SIP
revisions and maintenance plans include budgets of on-road mobile
source emissions for criteria pollutants, including precursors.
Transportation plans and projects ``conform'' to (i.e., are consistent
with) the SIP when they will not cause or contribute to air quality
violations, or delay timely attainment of the NAAQS.
[[Page 34904]]
b. Prior Approval of Budgets
EPA previously approved MOBILE6.2-based volatile organic compounds
(VOCs) and nitrogen oxides (NOX) budgets for the Ohio
portion of the Wheeling, West Virginia-Ohio nonattainment area. The
area's ozone maintenance plan established 2009 and 2018 budgets that
demonstrated a reduction in emissions from the monitored attainment
year of 2004.
c. The MOVES Emissions Model
The MOVES model is EPA's state of the art tool for estimating
highway emissions. EPA announced the release of MOVES2010 on March 2,
2010 (75 FR 9411). Use of the MOVES model is required for regional
emissions analyses for transportation conformity determinations outside
of California that begin after March 2, 2013.
MOVES2010a was used to estimate emissions in the Ohio portion of
the Wheeling, West Virginia-Ohio area for the same milestone years as
the original budgets in the SIP. The Ohio Environmental Protection
Agency (OEPA) is revising the budgets using the latest planning
assumptions, including population and employment updates. In addition,
newer vehicle registration data has been used to update the age
distribution of the vehicle fleet. Updating the budgets with MOVES2010a
allows the area to continue to show conformity to the SIP in plans,
transportation improvement programs, and projects. The interagency
consultation group has had extensive consultation on the requirements
and need for new budgets.
d. Submission of New Budgets Based on MOVES2010a
On December 7, 2012, OEPA submitted final budgets based on
MOVES2010a that cover the Ohio portion of the Wheeling area. Ohio
received no comments during the public review and comment period.
The new MOVES2010a based budgets are for the years 2009 and 2018,
for both VOCs and NOX, and are detailed in table 3 of this
notice. Ohio has also provided emissions per sector, including mobile
emissions based on MOVES2010a, for the 2004 attainment year, the 2009
interim budget year, and the 2018 maintenance year. The emissions
reduction from all sectors between the years 2004 and 2018 is also
shown. Emissions per sector and the combined emissions reduction for
VOC and NOX for the Ohio portion of the Wheeling, West
Virginia-Ohio area are shown in tables 1 and 2. In tables 1 and 2, for
on-road emissions of both VOC and NOX for the years 2009 and
2018, a 25% safety margin has been applied.\1\
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\1\ The safety margin is applied by adding a certain percentage
of emissions, in tons per day, onto the MOVES-based on-road
emissions budgets. In this case, Ohio chose to add a 25% safety
margin to their budgets. The safety margin cannot exceed the
combined emissions reduction for the area.
Table 1--Total VOC Emissions With MOVES2010a Mobile Emissions in the Ohio Portion of Wheeling, West Virginia-
Ohio Area (Belmont County, Ohio)
[Tons per day]
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Combined
emissions
Sector 2004 Attainment 2009 Interim 2018 Maintenance reduction (2004-
2018)
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Point................................... 0.20 0.15 0.21
Area.................................... 4.03 3.85 3.86
On-road Mobile.......................... 5.04 4.70 2.15
Non-road Mobile......................... 0.93 0.81 0.61
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Total............................... 10.20 9.51 6.83 3.37
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Table 2--Total NOX Emissions With MOVES2010a Mobile Emissions in the Ohio portion of Wheeling West Virginia-Ohio
area (Belmont County, OH)
[Tons per day]
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Combined
emissions
Sector 2004 Attainment 2009 Interim 2018 Maintenance reduction (2004-
2018)
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Point................................... 28.69 21.04 18.93
Area.................................... 0.29 0.36 0.38
On-road Mobile.......................... 13.98 13.30 5.18
Non-road Mobile......................... 2.89 2.54 1.91
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Total............................... 45.85 37.24 26.40 19.46
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The Belmont-Ohio Marshall Regional Council Metropolitan Planning
Organization has added a safety margin that is only a portion of the
attainment margin available for NOX and VOCs to the budgets
for 2009 and 2018. As shown in tables 1 and 2, the submittal
demonstrates how the area's emissions decline from the attainment year
of 2004 to maintain the 1997 8-hour ozone standard.
No additional control measures were needed to maintain the 1997
ozone standard in the Wheeling, West Virginia-Ohio area. Further,
Ohio's submittal contains an approach where Ohio and West Virginia
maintain conformity with separate budgets for their respective portions
of the area. The net result of these approaches will be a total
emissions level for the Wheeling area that is expected to provide for
the area's continued attainment. An appropriate safety margin for
NOX and VOCs was established by the interagency consultation
group, which consists of representatives from the
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Federal Highway Administration, OEPA, Ohio Department of
Transportation, and EPA. The submitted budgets for the Ohio portion of
the Wheeling, West Virginia-Ohio area are shown in table 3 below.
III. What are the criteria for approval?
EPA requires that revisions to existing SIPs and budgets continue
to meet applicable requirements (e.g., reasonable further progress,
attainment, or maintenance). The SIP must also meet any applicable SIP
requirements under CAA section 110. In addition, adequacy criteria
found at 40 CFR 93.118(e)(4) must be satisfied before EPA can find
submitted budgets adequate and approve them for conformity purposes.
Areas can revise their budgets and inventories using MOVES without
revising their entire SIP if (1) the SIP continues to meet applicable
requirements when the previous motor vehicle emissions inventories are
replaced with MOVES base year and milestone, attainment, or maintenance
year inventories, and (2) the state can document that growth and
control strategy assumptions for non-motor vehicle sources continue to
be valid and any minor updates do not change the overall conclusions of
the SIP. For more information, see EPA's latest ``Policy Guidance on
the Use of MOVES2010 for SIP Development, Transportation Conformity,
and Other Purposes'' (April 2012), available online at: www.epa.gov/otaq/stateresources/transconf/policy.htm#models. Ohio's December 7,
2012, submittal meets this requirement as described in the next
section.
IV. What is EPA's analysis of the state's submittal?
a. The Revised Inventories
The December 7, 2012, SIP revision request for the Ohio portion of
the Wheeling, West Virginia-Ohio 1997 ozone maintenance plan seeks to
revise only the on-road mobile source inventories. OEPA has certified
that the control strategies remain the same as in the original SIP, and
that no other control strategies are necessary. OEPA also finds that
growth and control strategy assumptions for non-mobile sources (i.e.,
area, non-road, and point) have not changed significantly from the
original submittal. This is supported by the monitoring data for the
Wheeling area, which continues to monitor attainment for the 1997 8-
hour ozone standard.
OEPA's submittal affirms that the total emissions in the revised
SIP (which includes MOVES2010a emissions from mobile sources) as shown
in tables 1 and 2 demonstrate that emissions in the Wheeling, Ohio area
continue to decline and remain below the attainment levels.
Ohio has submitted MOVES2010a-based budgets for the Wheeling, Ohio
area that are clearly identified in the submittal. The budgets are
displayed in table 3.
Table 3--Motor Vehicle Emission Budgets (MOVES) for the Ohio Portion of
the Wheeling, West Virginia-Ohio Area (Belmont County, Ohio)
[Tons per day]
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Year 2009 2018
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VOC........................................... 4.70 2.15
NOX........................................... 13.30 5.18
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b. Approvability of the MOVES2010a-Based Budgets
EPA is approving the MOVES2010a-based budgets submitted by Ohio for
use in determining transportation conformity in the Wheeling, Ohio 1997
ozone maintenance area. EPA evaluated the MOVES-based budgets submitted
on December 7, 2012, using the adequacy criteria found in 40 CFR
93.118(e)(4) and our in-depth evaluation of the state's submittal and
SIP requirements.
Before submitting the revised budgets, OEPA has shown that it
followed all necessary conformity procedures. The budgets are clearly
identified and precisely quantified in the submittal. The budgets, when
considered with other emissions sources, are consistent with continued
maintenance of the 1997 ozone standard. The budgets are clearly related
to the emissions inventory and control measures in the SIP. The changes
from the previous budgets are clearly explained with the change in the
model from MOBILE6.2 to MOVES2010a and the revised and updated planning
assumptions. The inputs to the model are detailed in the appendix to
the submittal. EPA has reviewed the inputs to the MOVES2010a modeling
and participated in the consultation process. The Federal Highway
Administration and the Ohio Department of Transportation have taken a
lead role in working with the Belmont-Ohio-Marshall Transportation
Study to provide accurate, timely information and inputs to the
MOVES2010a model run. The state has documented that growth and control
strategy assumptions for non-motor vehicle sources (i.e. area, non-
road, and point) continue to be valid and any minor updates do not
change the overall conclusions of the SIP.
Ohio's submission confirms that the SIP continues to demonstrate
maintenance of the 1997 ozone standard because the total emissions in
the revised SIP (including MOVES2010a emissions for mobile sources)
continue to decrease from the attainment year to the final year of the
maintenance plan, as shown in tables 1 and 2 above. The budgets include
an appropriate margin of safety while still maintaining total emissions
below the attainment level.
Based on our review of the SIP and the new budgets provided, EPA
has determined that the SIP will continue to meet the requirements if
the motor vehicle emissions inventories are replaced with MOVES2010a-
based inventories.
c. Applicability of MOBILE6.2-Based Budgets
Upon the effective date of the approval of the revised budgets, the
state's existing MOBILE6.2-based budgets will no longer be applicable
for transportation conformity purposes.
V. What action is EPA taking?
EPA is approving, as a SIP revision, the replacement MOVES2010-
based budgets for the Ohio portion of the Wheeling, West Virginia-Ohio
1997 ozone maintenance plan, as submitted on December 7, 2012. We are
publishing this action without prior proposal because we view this as a
noncontroversial amendment and anticipate no adverse comments. However,
in the proposed rules section of this Federal Register publication, we
are publishing a separate document that will serve as the proposal to
approve the state plan if relevant adverse written comments are filed.
This rule will be effective August 12, 2013 without further notice
unless we receive relevant adverse written comments by July 11, 2013.
If we receive such comments, we will withdraw this action before the
effective date by publishing a subsequent document that will withdraw
the final action. All public comments received will then be addressed
in a subsequent final rule based on the proposed action. EPA will not
institute a second comment period. Any parties interested in commenting
on this action should do so at this time. Please note that if EPA
receives adverse comment on an amendment, paragraph, or section of this
rule and if that provision may be severed from the remainder of the
rule, EPA may adopt as final those provisions of the rule that are not
the subject of an adverse comment. If we do not receive any
[[Page 34906]]
comments, this action will be effective August 12, 2013.
VI. 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. 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, 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 Order
12866 (58 FR 51735, October 4, 1993);
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 an economically significant regulatory action based
on health or safety risks subject to Executive Order 13045 (62 FR
19885, April 23, 1997);
Is not a significant regulatory action subject to
Executive Order 13211 (66 FR 28355, May 22, 2001);
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; and
Does not provide EPA with the discretionary authority to
address, as appropriate, disproportionate human health or environmental
effects, using practicable and legally permissible methods, under
Executive Order 12898 (59 FR 7629, February 16, 1994).
In addition, this rule does not have tribal implications as
specified by Executive Order 13175 (65 FR 67249, November 9, 2000),
because the SIP is not approved to apply in Indian country located in
the state, and EPA notes that it will not impose substantial direct
costs on tribal governments or preempt tribal law.
The Congressional Review Act, 5 U.S.C. 801 et seq., as added by the
Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996, generally
provides that before a rule may take effect, the agency promulgating
the rule must submit a rule report, which includes a copy of the rule,
to each House of the Congress and to the Comptroller General of the
United States. EPA will submit a report containing this action and
other required information to the U.S. Senate, the U.S. House of
Representatives, and the Comptroller General of the United States prior
to publication of the rule in the Federal Register. A major rule cannot
take effect until 60 days after it is published in the Federal
Register. 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 August 12, 2013. 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. Parties with objections to this direct final rule are
encouraged to file a comment in response to the parallel notice of
proposed rulemaking for this action published in the proposed rules
section of today's Federal Register, rather than file an immediate
petition for judicial review of this direct final rule, so that EPA can
withdraw this direct final rule and address the comment in the proposed
rulemaking. 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, Nitrogen dioxide, Ozone,
Volatile organic compounds.
Dated: May 28, 2013.
Susan Hedman,
Regional Administrator, Region 5.
40 CFR part 52 is amended as follows:
PART 52--APPROVAL AND PROMULGATION OF IMPLEMENTATION PLANS
0
1. The authority citation for part 52 continues to read as follows:
Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.
0
2. Section 52.1885 is amended by adding paragraph (ff)(15) to read as
follows:
Sec. 52.1885 Control strategy: Ozone.
* * * * *
(ff) * * *
(15) Approval--On December 7, 2012, Ohio submitted a request to
revise the approved MOBILE6.2 motor vehicle emission budgets (budgets)
in the 1997 8-hour ozone maintenance plan for the Ohio portion of the
Wheeling area. The budgets are being revised with budgets developed
with the MOVES2010a model. The 2009 motor vehicle emissions budgets for
the Ohio portion of the Wheeling area are 4.70 tpd VOC and 13.30 tpd
NOX. The 2018 motor vehicle emissions budgets for the Ohio
portion of the Wheeling area are 2.15 tpd VOC and 5.18 tpd
NOX.
* * * * *
[FR Doc. 2013-13735 Filed 6-10-13; 8:45 am]
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