[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 106 (Wednesday, June 3, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 30221-30222]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-14725]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[AMS-FRL-6106-2]
Air Pollution Control; Nonroad Vehicle and Equipment Emission
Inventories
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice of Public Workshop.
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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency is in the process of
developing a nonroad mobile source emissions inventory model (the
NONROAD model). This notice announces a public workshop for the purpose
of discussing the various issues involved in creating a model for this
diverse collection of vehicles and equipment that comprise the nonroad
mobile source sector, and provides a formal opportunity for comment and
reaction to the release of the draft NONROAD model and its associated
technical documentation. This notice also announces a hands-on
demonstration of the model immediately following the public workshop.
DATES: The workshop will be held Thursday, June 25, 1997. The times are
from 8:30 am to 4 pm. A demonstration of the NONROAD model will be held
on the same day from approximately 4:30 pm to 5:30 pm. All times are
Central Daylight Time.
ADDRESSES: The workshop will be held in the Metcalf Federal Building,
17 West Jackson Blvd., Chicago, IL, Lake Michigan and Lake Ontario
Rooms--12th Floor, Great Lakes Conference and Training Center. The
Metcalf building is located in the heart of the downtown area. The
model demonstration will be held at the same location. Directions to
the workshop and model demonstration can be obtained through the EPA
OMS World Wide Web (WWW) site, or otherwise requested from the EPA
contact person. Information on how to electronically access the web
site or on the EPA contact person appears immediately below.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Gertrude Venlet, U. S. EPA, Office
of Mobile Sources, Assessment and Modeling Division, Scientific
Assessment Group, 2000 Traverwood Drive, Ann Arbor MI 48105. Telephone:
(734) 214-4892; fax (734) 214-4939. Email: [email protected].
This notice, as well as related information concerning the
workshop, may be found at the EPA OMS web site. The electronic address
for this site is: http://www.epa.gov/omswww/nonrdmdl.htm.
Workshop-related files, including a copy of this notice, additional
information on the location of the workshop and model demonstration,
hotels, technical reports, the draft NONROAD model, and later
additional information that may become available as described in the
body of this announcement, will be found at the web site location or
may otherwise be obtained from the EPA contact person.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
Nonroad mobile sources are a significant source of air pollutants
in many areas of the United States. This broad category is comprised of
a diverse collection of vehicles and equipment, including vehicles and
equipment in the following nine categories:
--Recreational vehicles, such as all-terrain vehicles and off-road
motorcycles;
--Logging equipment, such as chain saws;
--Agricultural equipment, such as tractors;
--Construction equipment, such as graders and back hoes;
--Industrial equipment, such as fork lifts and sweepers;
--Residential and commercial lawn and garden equipment, such as leaf
and snow blowers;
--Recreational and commercial marine vessels, such as power boats and
oil tankers;
--Locomotive equipment, such as train engines; and
--Aircraft, such as jets and prop planes.
Current nonroad inventory development practices are based on EPA's
Nonroad Engine and Vehicle Emissions Study (NEVES), done under the 1990
Clean Air Act Amendment requirements, and ``Procedures for Emission
Inventory Preparation, Volume IV: Mobile Sources'' (EPA-450/4-81-026d
(revised), 1992). In consideration of the increased recognition of the
importance of emissions from nonroad sources in terms of overall
emissions and air quality, and the considerable practical difficulty of
implementing the current guidance, EPA is developing a nonroad
emissions inventory model (NONROAD) to meet the needs of the modeling
audience.
NONROAD Emission Inventory Model
EPA has completed a draft version of NONROAD, an accompanying
detailed user's guide, and a number of technical reports describing the
model's data inputs and assumptions. This version of the model covers
all nonroad vehicle and equipment types, except aircraft, locomotives,
and commercial marine. The Agency will develop modeling modules for
aircraft and locomotives sometime in the future. As for commercial
marine, a module for this source category is under construction and
will be released for public review later this year.
The draft model is intended to easily create and project accurate,
reproducible inventories of nonroad emissions. It has a number of uses,
but should be especially important to state and local pollution control
agencies in satisfying the State Implementation Plan (SIP) requirements
of the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990.
Structurally, the model is made up of three specific components: a
graphical user interface (GUI) which allows the user to easily input
model parameters,
[[Page 30222]]
the core model which contains all computational algorithms, and a
reporting utility for viewing and summarizing modeled emissions
estimates. The model has been designed to allow the user a high degree
of flexibility. As such, the model will:
--Calculate and report emissions in total for the United States, and
for individual states and counties;
--Calculate emissions for a variety of time periods (e.g., an entire
year, any particular month, any combination of months, or daily weekday
or weekend day);
--Report emissions of six pollutants: hydrocarbons (HC), carbon
monoxide (CO), NOX, sulfur oxides (SOX ), and PM.
The model will report both exhaust and non-exhaust HC emissions, the
latter of which includes crankcase, diurnal, refueling, etc;
--Estimate current and future year emissions in a specified geographic
area. In estimating future year emissions, the model includes growth
and scrappage and can accommodate a variety of control program options;
and
--View model results in different formats such as an Emission Pre-
Processor System 2 (EPS-2) input file, spreadsheet, and preformatted
reports.
The public workshop being announced today provides a valuable
opportunity for EPA to receive assistance in developing the final
NONROAD model through review and comment by all interested users. The
workshop will focus on all aspects of the model including user
convenience, data inputs and modeling assumptions, computational
structure, and reporting options and formats. Presentations on each
subject will be followed by a short discussion/question and answer
period, and there should be some time left at the end of the day for
more general open discussion of the material that has been presented. A
detailed draft agenda for the workshop will be posted on the EPA OMS
web site or may be obtained from the EPA contact person (see FOR
FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT).
Availability of Technical Reports and NONROAD
EPA anticipates the workshop will be highly interactive. To
facilitate this goal, all participants are encouraged to review the
draft technical reports on data inputs and assumptions, as well as the
draft NONROAD model and accompanying user's guide. These documents and
the model are posted on the EPA OMS web site or are otherwise available
on CD ROM from the EPA contact person (see FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
CONTACT). Please visit this site often to check for additional
information or model documentation which may be posted between now and
the workshop date.
Comment Period
The Agency is providing a 60-day public comment period on the draft
model and associated documents. This period should be adequate for
interested parties to thoroughly review the available information, and
is consistent with the guidelines for public review of EPA emission
models the Mobile Sources Technical Review Subcommittee of the Clean
Air Act Advisory Committee established under the Federal Advisory
Committee Act. The comment period will be initiated at the time the
draft NONROAD model is posted on the EPA OMS web site, which EPA
projects to be on or around June 15, 1998.
Model Demonstration
The Agency will hold a hands-on demonstration of the model on the
same day, at the same location immediately after the public workshop.
The facility is capable of seating approximately 20 people at
individual personal computers. This demonstration will be held on a
first come, first serve basis. Please contact EPA via the NONROAD E-
mail box or the EPA contact person (see FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
CONTACT).
Additional Information
To the extent possible, EPA will post material at the EPA OMS web
site, as described under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT, in advance of
the workshop. Those planning to attend, and those interested in
following the progress of workshop planning more closely, should
periodically visit the EPA OMS web site.
Dated: May 28, 1998.
Donald E. Zinger,
Acting Director, Office of Mobile Sources.
[FR Doc. 98-14725 Filed 6-2-98; 8:45 am]
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