[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 205 (Wednesday, October 23, 2013)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 63148-63152]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-24853]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 52
[EPA-R04-OAR-2013-0440; FRL-9901-84-Region4]
Approval and Promulgation of Implementation Plans; Tennessee;
Bristol; 2010 Lead Base Year Emissions Inventory and Conversion of
Conditional Approvals for Prevention of Significant Deterioration
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Proposed rule.
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SUMMARY: EPA is proposing to approve the Lead 2010 base year emissions
inventory State Implementation Plan (SIP) revision submitted by the
State of Tennessee, through the Tennessee Department of Environment and
Conservation (TDEC) on April 11, 2013. The emissions inventory was
submitted to meet the requirements of the Clean Air Act (CAA or Act)
for the Bristol 2008 Lead National Ambient Air Quality Standards
(NAAQS) nonattainment area (hereafter also referred to as the ``Bristol
Area'' or ``Area''). Additionally, EPA is proposing to convert
conditional approvals to full approvals for Tennessee's 1997 annual
fine particulate matter (PM2.5) NAAQS, 2006 24-hour
PM2.5 NAAQS and 2008 ozone NAAQS infrastructure SIPs as they
relate to adequate provisions prohibiting emissions that interfere with
any other state's required measures to prevent significant
deterioration of its air quality. EPA conditionally approved these
portions of Tennessee's infrastructure submissions for these NAAQS on
March 6, 2013, and March 26, 2013. Tennessee has since met the
obligations associated with these conditional approvals, and therefore,
EPA is proposing to convert these conditional approvals to full
approvals.
DATES: Written comments must be received on or before November 22,
2013.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-R04-
OAR-2013-0440, by one of the following methods:
1. www.regulations.gov: Follow the on-line instructions for
submitting comments.
2. Email: [email protected].
3. Fax: (404) 562-9019.
4. Mail: ``EPA-R04-OAR-2013-0440,'' Regulatory Development Section,
Air Planning Branch, Air, Pesticides and Toxics Management Division,
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 4, 61 Forsyth Street SW.,
Atlanta, Georgia 30303-8960.
5. Hand Delivery or Courier: Lynorae Benjamin, Regulatory
Development Section, Air Planning Branch, Air, Pesticides and Toxics
Management Division, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 4, 61
Forsyth Street SW., Atlanta, Georgia 30303-8960. Such deliveries are
only accepted during the Regional Office's normal hours of operation.
The Regional Office's 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-R04-OAR-
2013-0440. EPA's policy is that all comments
[[Page 63149]]
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 through
www.regulations.gov or email, information that you consider to be CBI
or otherwise protected. 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. For additional information about EPA's public
docket visit the EPA Docket Center homepage at http://www.epa.gov/epahome/dockets.htm.
Docket: All documents in the electronic docket are listed in the
www.regulations.gov index. Although listed in the index, some
information is not publicly available, i.e., 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 electronically in www.regulations.gov or
in hard copy at the Regulatory Development Section, Air Planning
Branch, Air, Pesticides and Toxics Management Division, U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency, Region 4, 61 Forsyth Street SW.,
Atlanta, Georgia 30303-8960. EPA requests that if at all possible, you
contact the person listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT
section to schedule your inspection. The Regional Office's official
hours of business are Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.,
excluding Federal holidays.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Sean Lakeman, Regulatory Development
Section, Air Planning Branch, Air, Pesticides and Toxics Management
Division, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 4, 61 Forsyth
Street SW., Atlanta, Georgia 30303-8960. The telephone number is (404)
562-9043. Mr. Lakeman can be reached via electronic mail at
[email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
II. Emissions Inventory Requirements
III. EPA's Analysis of the Bristol 2010 Lead Base Year Emissions
Inventory
IV. Conversion of Conditional Approvals for Tennessee's SIP
V. Proposed Action
VI. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews
I. Background
a. Emissions Inventory
On November 12, 2008 (73 FR 66964), EPA revised the Lead NAAQS,
lowering the level from 1.5 micrograms per cubic meter ([micro]g/m\3\)
to 0.15 [micro]g/m\3\ calculated over a three-month rolling average.
EPA established the NAAQS based on significant evidence and numerous
health studies demonstrating that serious health effects are associated
with exposures to lead emissions.
Following promulgation of a new or revised NAAQS, EPA is required
by the CAA to designate areas throughout the United States as attaining
or not attaining the NAAQS; this designation process is described in
section 107(d)(1) of the CAA. On November 22, 2010 (75 FR 71033), EPA
promulgated initial air quality designations for the 2008 Lead NAAQS,
which became effective on December 31, 2010, based on air quality
monitoring data for calendar years 2007-2009, where there was
sufficient data to support a nonattainment designation. Designations
for all remaining areas were completed on November 22, 2011 (76 FR
72097), which became effective on December 31, 2011, based on air
quality monitoring data for calendar years 2008-2010. Effective
December 31, 2010, the Bristol Area was designated as nonattainment for
the 2008 Lead NAAQS. This designation triggered a requirement for
Tennessee to submit a SIP revision with a plan for how the Bristol Area
would attain the 2008 Lead NAAQS as expeditiously as practicable, but
no later than December 31, 2015.
Designation of an area as nonattainment starts the process for a
state to develop and submit to EPA a SIP revision under title I, part D
of the CAA. This SIP revision must include, among other elements, a
demonstration of how the NAAQS will be attained in the nonattainment
area as expeditiously as practicable, but no later than the date
required by the CAA, together with a base year emissions inventory,
reasonably available control measures (RACM), a reasonable further
progress (RFP) plan, contingency measures for failure to meet RFP and
attainment deadlines. Under CAA section 172(b), a state has up to three
years after an area's designation as nonattainment to submit its SIP
revision to EPA.
On August 29, 2012 (77 FR 55232), EPA took final action to
determine that the Bristol Area (comprising the portion of Sullivan
County bounded by a 1.25 kilometer radius surrounding the Universal
Transverse Mercator coordinates 4042923 meters E, 386267 meters N, Zone
17, which surrounds the Exide Technologies Facility, the only source
above the revised lead NAAQS within the Area) had attaining data for
the 2008 Lead NAAQS. This clean data determination was based upon
quality assured, quality controlled and certified ambient air
monitoring data that shows the Area has monitored attainment of the
2008 Lead NAAQS based on the calendar years 2009-2011 data. The 2012
monitoring data also demonstrated attainment for the 2008 Lead NAAQS.
Pursuant to EPA's Clean Data Policy, once EPA finalizes a clean data
determination, all the requirements for the Area to submit an
attainment demonstration, RACM, a RFP plan, and contingency measures
for failure to meet RFP and attainment deadlines are suspended for so
long as the Area continues to attain the 2008 Lead NAAQS.
Since 1995, EPA has applied its interpretation under the Clean Data
Policy in many rulemakings, suspending certain attainment-related
planning requirements for individual areas, based on a determination of
attainment. EPA notes that a final determination of attainment would
not suspend the emissions inventory requirement found in CAA section
172(c)(3), which requires submission and approval of a comprehensive,
accurate, and current inventory of actual emissions of the lead from
all sources in the nonattainment area (i.e., base year emissions
inventory).
b. Conditional Approvals
On October 4, 2012, Tennessee submitted a letter requesting
conditional approval of certain prevention of significant deterioration
(PSD)-related infrastructure elements.\1\ Specifically,
[[Page 63150]]
Tennessee requested conditional approval of elements of the
infrastructure SIP related to the requirements in its SIP applicable to
its permitting program for adopting the PM2.5 PSD increments
as promulgated in the rule entitled ``Prevention of Significant
Deterioration (PSD) for Particulate Matter Less Than 2.5 Micrometers
(PM2.5)--Increments, Significant Impact Levels (SILs) and
Significant Monitoring Concentration (SMC), Final Rule,'' 75 FR 64864
(October 20, 2010) (hereafter referred to as the ``PM2.5 PSD
Increments-SILs-SMC Rule''). Following promulgation of the
PM2.5 PSD Increment-SILs-SMC Rule, the PSD increments
portion of the Rule became one of the prerequisites for approval of the
PSD-related infrastructure requirements of sections 110(a)(2)(C),
110(a)(2)(D)(i)(II) and 110(a)(2)(J) for the 2008 ozone NAAQS, and the
1997 annual and 2006 24-hour PM2.5 NAAQS. The Rule provides
additional regulatory provisions under the PSD program regarding the
implementation of the PM2.5 NAAQS for New Source Review,
including PM2.5 increments pursuant to section 166(a) of the
CAA to prevent significant deterioration of air quality in areas
meeting the NAAQS. PSD increments prevent air quality in attainment/
unclassifiable areas from deteriorating to the level set by the NAAQS.
Therefore, an increment is the mechanism used to estimate ``significant
deterioration'' of air quality for a pollutant in an area. Under
section 165(a)(3) of the CAA, a PSD permit applicant must demonstrate
that emissions from the proposed construction and operation of a
facility ``will not cause, or contribute to, air pollution in excess of
any maximum allowable increase or allowable concentration for any
pollutant.''
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\1\ The CAA requires that the SIP provide for the
implementation, maintenance, and enforcement of each NAAQS
promulgated by EPA, which is commonly referred to as an
``infrastructure'' SIP. See 42 U.S.C. 7410(a).
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With respect to the PSD requirements of sections 110(a)(2)(C),
110(a)(2)(D)(i)(II) and 110(a)(2)(J) for the 2008 ozone NAAQS, and
110(a)(2)(D)(i)(II) for the 1997 annual and 2006 24-hour
PM2.5 NAAQS, EPA conditionally approved Tennessee's
infrastructure SIP submissions, because at the time of these approvals,
the State had not yet adopted the PSD increments provided in the
PM2.5 PSD Increment-SILs-SMC Rule; however, the State had
committed through the October 4, 2012, letter to do so within one year.
Based upon this commitment, and consistent with section 110(k)(4) of
the CAA, EPA took final action to conditionally approval Tennessee's
infrastructure SIP submissions related to the above-described PSD
program requirements for the 1997 annual and the 2006 24-hour fine
PM2.5 NAAQS, and the 2008 ozone NAAQS. See 78 FR 14450
(March 6, 2013), and 78 FR 18241 (March 26, 2013), respectively.
Following these actions, and consistent with the terms of the
conditional approvals, Tennessee submitted a SIP revision on May 10,
2013, to adopt the PSD PM2.5 increments (set forth in
Chapter 1200-03-09 of the Tennessee Air Pollution Control Regulations--
Construction and Operating Permits, Rule Number .01--Construction
Permits) and the then applicable regulatory requirements for
implementing the PM2.5 NAAQS, as promulgated in the
PM2.5 PSD Increments-SILs-SMC Rule. This SIP revision was
provided to satisfy the October 4, 2012, commitment made by the State.
EPA took final action approving the May 10, 2013, submittal on July 25,
2013. See 78 FR 44886. As such, Tennessee has satisfied the conditions
listed in EPA's previous conditional approvals for these infrastructure
submissions. (See the above July 25, 2013, Federal Register publication
for additional information).
II. Emissions Inventory Requirements
States are required under section 172(c)(3) of the CAA to develop
comprehensive, accurate and current emissions inventories of all
sources of the relevant pollutant or pollutants in the area. These
inventories provide a detailed accounting of all emissions and emission
sources by precursor or pollutant. In the November 12, 2008 Lead
Standard (PDF) (99pp, 665k) rulemaking, EPA finalized the guidance
related to the emissions inventories requirements. The current
regulations are located at 40 CFR 51.117(e), and include, but are not
limited to, the following requirements:
States must develop and periodically update a
comprehensive, accurate, current inventory of actual emissions from all
source affecting ambient lead concentrations;
The SIP inventory must be approved by EPA as a SIP element
and is subject to public hearing requirements; and
The point source inventory upon which the summary of the
baseline for lead emissions inventory is based must contain all sources
that emit 0.5 or more tons of lead per year.
For the base-year inventory of actual emissions, EPA recommends
using either 2010 or 2011 as the base year for the contingency measure
calculations, but does provide flexibility for using other inventory
years if states can show another year is more appropriate.\2\ For lead
SIPs, the CAA requires that all sources of lead emissions in the
nonattainment area must be submitted with the base-year inventory. In
today's action, EPA is approving the base year emissions inventory
portion of the SIP revision submitted by Tennessee on April 11, 2013,
(hereinafter also referred to as ``Tennessee's submission'') as
required by section 172(c)(3).
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\2\ See EPA document titled ``Addendum to the 2008 Lead NAAQS
Implementation Questions and Answers'' dated August 10, 2012,
included in EPA's SIP Toolkit located at http://www.epa.gov/air/lead/kitmodel.html.
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III. EPA Analysis of the Bristol 2010 Lead Base Year Emissions
Inventory
The State of Tennessee followed EPA's recommendation by using the
year of designation (2010) as the base year in the Bristol Area. Actual
emissions from all sources of lead were reviewed and compiled, as
applicable and available, for the base year emissions inventory
requirement. The discussion below provides more details on how the lead
emissions were calculated for the Bristol Area.
The only source of lead emissions above 0.5 tons per year within
the Bristol Area is Exide Technologies Facility, a lead acid battery
manufacturing and recycling facility which processes lead and reclaimed
lead into batteries for the auto industry. Pursuant to 40 CFR
51.117(e), the Exide Technologies Facility is the only point source
evaluated as part of this emissions inventory requirement. The
stationary point source emissions for the Exide Technologies Facility
were calculated using data collected through stack tests and the
application of AP-42 emissions factors for the source and quality
assured by TDEC (see Appendix A of Tennessee's submission). To obtain
estimates of the stationary area and nonroad and onroad mobile
emissions, Tennessee used the EPA 2008 National Emissions Inventory
(NEI) \3\ for Sullivan County, as the Bristol Area is located within
Sullivan County. Specifically, area source emissions were obtained from
the EPA Emissions Inventory System that archives and processes
emissions data submitted from the state, local and tribal agencies for
use in the NEI. Area source emissions are listed in Appendix D of
Tennessee's submission.
[[Page 63151]]
No nonroad and onroad sources of emissions of lead were found in the
2008 version 2 of the NEI. A detailed discussion of the emissions
inventory development can be found in Tennessee's submission. Table 1
below shows the level of emissions expressed in pounds per year (lbs/
year), in the Bristol Area for the 2010 base year and the emissions
source categories.
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\3\ EPA notes that area sources are only required to be
submitted for the NEI every three years, according to the Air
Emissions Reporting Rule. The most recent public release of the NEI
that includes area sources is the 2008 NEI version 2. Because the
2011 NEI is under development, that data was not available for the
State to consider in this SIP.
Table 1--2010 Lead Emissions for the Bristol Area (lbs/year)
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Year Onroad Nonroad Area Point
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2010............................................................ 0 0 66 1,280
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EPA has evaluated Tennessee's 2010 base year emissions inventory
for the Bristol Area, and has made the preliminary determination that
this inventory was developed consistent with EPA's guidance for
emissions inventory. As such, pursuant to section 172(c)(3), EPA is
proposing to approve Tennessee's 2010 base year emissions inventory for
the Bristol Area.
IV. Conversion of Conditional Approvals for Tennessee's SIP
As described above, on July 25, 2013, EPA took final action to
approve Tennessee's May 10, 2013, SIP submission to adopt the PSD
PM2.5 increments (set forth in Chapter 1200-03-09 of the
Tennessee Air Pollution Control Regulations--Construction and Operating
Permits, Rule Number .01--Construction Permits) and related regulatory
requirements for implementing the PM2.5 NAAQS, as
promulgated in the PM2.5 PSD Increments-SILs-SMC Rule. See
78 FR 44886. This submission was provided to satisfy the October 4,
2012, commitment made by the State. As such, Tennessee has satisfied
the conditions listed in EPA's previous conditional approvals for the
infrastructure submissions (see 78 FR 44886 for additional
information). Therefore, EPA is proposing action to convert its
conditional approvals with respect to the PSD requirements of sections
110(a)(2)(C), 110(a)(2)(D)(i)(II) and 110(a)(2)(J) for the 2008 8-hour
ozone, and the PSD requirements of section 110(a)(2)(D)(i)(II) for the
1997 annual and the 2006 24-hour PM2.5 NAAQS to full
approvals. Since Tennessee's May 10, 2013, SIP revision, satisfies the
conditional approval requirements for conversion to a full approval,
the conditional approval language at 40 CFR 52.2219(c) \4\ and (e),
included in EPA's final conditional approvals published on March 6,
2013 and on March 26, 2013, is no longer necessary. Accordingly, EPA is
also proposing to remove the conditional approval language relating to
Tennessee's PSD program from the 40 CFR 52.2219 to reflect that the
program has been fully approved.\5\
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\4\ The conditional approval language at 40 CFR 52.2219(c)
incorrectly lists a conditional approval of sections 110(a)(2)(C),
110(a)(2)(D)(i)(II) and 110(a)(2)(J) for the 2008 Lead NAAQS. This
error stems from a typographical error included in the action
finalizing approval of certain sections of the 2008 Lead NAAQS
infrastructure SIP. See 78 FR 36440. EPA is publishing a correction
notice in this Federal Register correcting this inadvertent error,
such that the language at 40 CFR 52.2219(c) correctly describes the
conditional approval of sections 110(a)(2)(C), 110(a)(2)(D)(i)(II)
and 110(a)(2)(J) for the 2008 8-hour Ozone NAAQS.
\5\ EPA notes that through this action, the Agency is not
proposing any revisions to the conditionally-approved provisions
described at 40 CFR 52.2219(a), (b) or (d).
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V. Proposed Action
EPA is proposing to approve the 2010 base year emissions inventory
SIP revision for lead for the Bristol Area as submitted by the State of
Tennessee on April 11, 2013. Additionally, EPA is proposing to convert
the March 6, 2013, and March 26, 2013, conditional approvals with
respect to the PSD requirements of sections 110(a)(2)(C),
110(a)(2)(D)(i)(II) and 110(a)(2)(J) for the 2008 8-hour ozone, and the
PSD requirements of section 110(a)(2)(D)(i)(II) for 1997 annual and the
2006 24-hour PM2.5 NAAQS to full approvals. EPA is also
proposing to remove the conditional approval language from 40 CFR
52.2219 to reflect that the PSD program has been converted to full
approval, and that Tennessee has met the State's obligations related to
the previous conditional approvals. These actions are being proposed
pursuant to section 110 of the CAA.
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 Act 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 proposes to approve 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 proposal 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.
[[Page 63152]]
List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 52
Environmental protection, Air pollution control, Incorporation by
reference, Intergovernmental relations, Nitrogen dioxide, Particulate
matter, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements and Sulfur oxides.
Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.
Dated: September 25, 2013.
A. Stanley Meiburg,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region 4.
[FR Doc. 2013-24853 Filed 10-22-13; 8:45 am]
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