Approval and Promulgation of Air Quality Implementation Plans; Pennsylvania; Update of the Motor Vehicle Emissions Budgets for the Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton 1997 8-Hour Ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standard Maintenance Area |
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W.C. Early
Environmental Protection Agency
May 16, 2014
[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 95 (Friday, May 16, 2014)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 28435-28439]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-10695]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 52
[EPA-R03-OAR-2014-0268; FRL-9910-48-Region-3]
Approval and Promulgation of Air Quality Implementation Plans;
Pennsylvania; Update of the Motor Vehicle Emissions Budgets for the
Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton 1997 8-Hour Ozone National Ambient Air
Quality Standard Maintenance Area
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Direct final rule.
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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is taking direct
final action to approve revisions to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania's
(Pennsylvania) State Implementation Plan (SIP). The revisions consist
of an update to the Motor Vehicle Emissions Budgets (MVEBs) for
nitrogen oxides (NOX) for the 1997 8-Hour Ozone National
Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) SIP for the Allentown-Bethlehem-
Easton 1997 8-Hour Ozone NAAQS Maintenance Area (Allentown Maintenance
Area). The SIP revision also includes an updated point source inventory
for NOX. This rulemaking action approves the updated MVEBs
and thereby makes them available for transportation conformity
purposes. EPA is approving these revisions to the MVEBs and point
source inventory in accordance with the requirements of the Clean Air
Act (CAA).
DATES: This rule is effective on July 15, 2014 without further notice,
unless EPA receives adverse written comment by June 16, 2014. If EPA
receives such comments, it will publish a timely withdrawal of the
direct final rule in the Federal Register and inform the public that
the rule will not take effect.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID Number EPA-
R03-OAR-2014-0268 by one of the following methods:
A. www.regulations.gov. Follow the on-line instructions for
submitting comments.
B. Email: fernandez.cristina@epa.gov.
C. Mail: EPA-R03-OAR-2014-0268, Cristina Fernandez, Associate
Director, Office of Air Program Planning, Mailcode 3AP30, U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency, Region III, 1650 Arch Street,
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19103.
D. Hand Delivery: At the previously-listed EPA Region III address.
Such deliveries are only accepted during the Docket's normal hours of
operation, and special arrangements should be made for deliveries of
boxed information.
Instructions: Direct your comments to Docket ID No. EPA-R03-OAR-
2014-0268. 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 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 during normal business hours at the Air Protection
Division, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region III, 1650 Arch
Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19103.
[[Page 28436]]
Copies of the State submittal are available at the Pennsylvania
Department of Environmental Protection, Bureau of Air Quality Control,
P.O. Box 8468, 400 Market Street, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania 17105.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Asrah Khadr, (215) 814-2071, or by
email at khadr.asrah@epa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
On March 7, 2014, Pennsylvania submitted a formal revision to its
SIP. The SIP revision consists of updated MVEBs for NOX for
the 1997 8-Hour Ozone NAAQS. The SIP revision also includes an updated
point source inventory for NOX.
On July 18, 1997 (62 FR 38856), EPA established the 1997 8-Hour
Ozone NAAQS. On April 30, 2004 (69 FR 23858), Lehigh, Northampton, and
Carbon Counties were designated as nonattainment for the 1997 8-Hour
Ozone NAAQS as a part of the Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton Nonattainment
Area. On June 26, 2007, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental
Protection (PADEP) submitted a request for redesignation and a SIP
revision which consisted of a maintenance plan, a 2002 base year
inventory and MVEBs for transportation conformity purposes. On March 2,
2008 (73 FR 11557), EPA approved the SIP revision as well as the
redesignation request made by PADEP; therefore the Allentown-Bethlehem-
Easton Nonattainment Area was redesignated as an attainment area.
The currently SIP-approved MVEBs for the Allentown Maintenance Area
were developed using the Highway Mobile Source Emission Factor Model
(MOBILE6.2). On March 2, 2010 (75 FR 9411), EPA published a notice of
availability for the Motor Vehicle Emissions Simulator (MOVES2010)
model for use in developing MVEBs for SIPs and for conducting
transportation conformity analyses. EPA commenced a two year grace
period after which time the MOVES2010 model would have to be used for
transportation conformity purposes. The two year grace period was
scheduled to end on March 2, 2012. On February 27, 2012 (77 FR 11394),
EPA published a final rule extending the grace period for one more year
to March 2, 2013 to ensure adequate time for affected parties to have
the capacity to use the MOVES model to develop or update the applicable
MVEBs in SIPs and to conduct conformity analyses. On September 8, 2010,
EPA released MOVES2010a, which is a minor update to MOVES2010 and which
is used by Pennsylvania in this SIP revision.
II. Summary of SIP Revision
This SIP revision includes an update to the MVEBs for
NOX for the years 2009 (interim year) and 2018 (maintenance
year) that were produced using the MOVES2010a model. This SIP revision
also includes an update to the point source inventory for
NOX. The MVEBs, as well as the point source inventory, were
not updated for volatile organic compounds (VOCs), therefore providing
information about VOCs in the tables below is not applicable (N/A). A
comparison between the previous point source inventory and the updated
point source inventory is provided in ``Table 1, Summary of Point
Source Inventory in tpd.'' The previously approved MVEBs were produced
using the Mobile Source Emission Factor Model (MOBILE6.2). A summary of
the updated MOVES-based emissions and previously approved MOBILE6.2-
based emissions for the years 2004, 2009, and 2018 is provided in
``Table 2. Summary of Motor Vehicle Emissions in tpd.'' Even though
there is an emissions increase in the MOVES-based MVEBs, the increase
is not due to an increase in emissions from mobile sources. The
increase is due to the fact that the MOVES model provides more accurate
emissions estimates than MOBILE6.2, rather than growth that had not
been anticipated in the maintenance plan. Also, part of the update of
the MVEBs is the addition of a 2 ton per day (tpd) safety margin for
NOX. The MVEBs that will be utilized for transportation
conformity purposes and include the safety margins are presented in
``Table 3. Updated MVEBs in tpd.'' These safety margins were added
because emissions in the interim (2009) and maintenance (2018) years
are significantly less than the attainment year emissions, which is the
year that the Allentown Maintenance Area attained the standard.
Additionally, Table 3 presents the portion of the MVEBs allotted to
each metropolitan planning organization (MPO). In the case of the
Allentown Maintenance Area, there are two MPOs involved in
transportation planning for the counties that are a part of the
maintenance area. The Lehigh Valley MPO serves Lehigh and Northampton
Counties while the Northeastern Pennsylvania Alliance (NEPA) MPO serves
Carbon County. A detailed summary of EPA's review and rationale for
proposing to approve this SIP revision may be found in the Technical
Support Documents (TSDs) prepared in support of this proposed
rulemaking action and are available on line at http://www.regulations.gov, Docket number EPA-R03-OAR-2014-0628.
Table 1--Summary of Point Source Inventory in tpd
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Current
Updated
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Year........................................................ 2009 2018 2009 2018
NOX......................................................... 58.3 66.6 27.0 26.1
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Table 2--Summary of Motor Vehicle Emissions in tpd
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Model MOBILE6.2
MOVES2010a
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Year.............................. 2004 2009 2018 2004 2009 2018
VOCs.............................. 30.54 22.80 13.28 N/A N/A N/A
NOX............................... 48.33 33.89 14.44 59.38 44.08 21.95
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Table 3--MVEBs for Each MPO in tpd
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MPO Lehigh Valley MPO
NEPA MPO
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Year........................................................ 2009 2018 2009 2018
VOCs........................................................ 20.6482 12.4328 3.4372 2.263
[[Page 28437]]
NOX......................................................... 39.1787 20.4058 6.8977 3.541
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III. Final Action
EPA is approving Pennsylvania's SIP revision request from March 7,
2014 to update the MVEBs for the Allentown Maintenance Area to reflect
the use of the MOVES model. EPA is also proposing to approve the update
to the point source inventory. EPA is approving this SIP revision
because it will allow the Allentown Maintenance Area to continue to be
in attainment of the 1997 8-Hour Ozone NAAQS, and our in depth review
of the SIP revision leads EPA to conclude that the updated MVEBs meet
the adequacy requirements set forth in 40 CFR 93.118(e)(4)(i)-(vi), and
the updated MVEBs have been correctly calculated to reflect the use of
the MOVES model. As a result of EPA's approval, these updated MVEBs
will be both adequate and SIP-approved for purposes of transportation
conformity. EPA is publishing this rule without prior proposal because
EPA views this as a noncontroversial amendment and anticipates no
adverse comment. However, in the ``Proposed Rules'' section of today's
Federal Register, EPA is publishing a separate document that will serve
as the proposal to approve the SIP revision if adverse comments are
filed. This rule will be effective on July 15, 2014 without further
notice unless EPA receives adverse comment by June 16, 2014. If EPA
receives adverse comment, EPA will publish a timely withdrawal in the
Federal Register informing the public that the rule will not take
effect. EPA will address all public comments in a subsequent final rule
based on the proposed rule. EPA will not institute a second comment
period on this action. Any parties interested in commenting must 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.
IV. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews
A. General Requirements
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.
B. Submission to Congress and the Comptroller General
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).
C. Petitions for Judicial Review
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 July 15, 2014. 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 action. This rulemaking action pertaining to the update of
the MVEBs and point and area source inventories for the Allentown
Maintenance Area 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, Nitrogen dioxide, Ozone, Volatile organic compounds.
[[Page 28438]]
Dated: April 25, 2014.
W.C. Early,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region III.
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.
Subpart NN--Pennsylvania
0
2. In Sec. 52.2020, the table in paragraph (e)(1) is amended by
revising the entry for ``8-Hour Ozone Maintenance Plan and 2002 Base
Year Emissions Inventory for Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton Area: Carbon,
Lehigh and Northampton Counties'' to read as follows:
Sec. 52.2020 Identification of plan.
* * * * *
(e) * * *
(1) * * *
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State
Name of non- regulatory SIP Applicable submittal EPA approval date Additional
revision geographic area date explanation
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* * * * * * *
8-Hour Ozone Maintenance Plan and Allentown-Bethlehem- 6/26/07 3/4/08 73 FR 11557.. Technical
2002 Base Year Emissions Easton Area: correction dated 8/
Inventory. Carbon, Lehigh and 9/07 addresses
Northampton omitted emissions
Counties. inventory
information from 6/
26/07 submittals.
3/7/14 5/16/14 [Insert page Revised 2009 and
number where the 2018 Motor Vehicle
document begins]. Emission Budgets.
Revised 2009 and
2018 point source
inventories. See
sections 52.2043
and 52.2052.
* * * * * * *
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* * * * *
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3. Section 52.2043 is amended by adding paragraph (c) to read as
follows:
Sec. 52.2043 Control strategy for maintenance plans: Ozone
* * * * *
(c) As of May 16, 2014, EPA approves the following revised 2009 and
2018 point source inventory for nitrogen oxides (NOX) for
the Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton 1997 8-Hour Ozone Maintenance Area
submitted by the Secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of
Environmental Protection:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tons per
Applicable geographic area Year day NOX
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Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton 1997 8-Hour Ozone 2009 27.0
Maintenance Area.............................
Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton 1997 8-Hour Ozone 2018 26.1
Maintenance Area.............................
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0
4. Section 52.2052 is amended by adding paragraph (c) to read as
follows:
Sec. 52.2052 Motor vehicle emissions budgets for Pennsylvania ozone
areas
* * * * *
(c) As of May 16, 2014, EPA approves the following revised 2009 and
2018 Motor Vehicle Emissions Budgets (MVEBs) for nitrogen oxides
(NOX) for the Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton 1997 8-Hour Ozone
Maintenance Area submitted by the Secretary of the Pennsylvania
Department of Environmental Protection:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tons per
Applicable geographic area Year day NOX
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Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton 1997 8-Hour Ozone 2009 39.18
Maintenance Area (Lehigh and Northampton
Counties)....................................
Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton 1997 8-Hour Ozone 2018 20.41
Maintenance Area (Lehigh and Northampton
Counties)....................................
Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton 1997 8-Hour Ozone 2009 6.90
Maintenance Area (Carbon County).............
Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton 1997 8-Hour Ozone 2018 3.54
Maintenance Area (Carbon County).............
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[FR Doc. 2014-10695 Filed 5-15-14; 8:45 am]
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