Approval and Promulgation of Air Quality Implementation Plans; Texas; Reasonable Further Progress Plan and Motor Vehicle Emissions Budgets for the Dallas/Fort Worth 1997 8-Hour Ozone Nonattainment Area; Enhanced Monitoring; Clean Fuel Fleets and Transportation Conformity |
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Ron Curry
Environmental Protection Agency
May 13, 2014
[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 92 (Tuesday, May 13, 2014)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 27257-27264]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-10969]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 52
[EPA-R06-OAR-2012-0099; FRL-9910-80-Region 6]
Approval and Promulgation of Air Quality Implementation Plans;
Texas; Reasonable Further Progress Plan and Motor Vehicle Emissions
Budgets for the Dallas/Fort Worth 1997 8-Hour Ozone Nonattainment Area;
Enhanced Monitoring; Clean Fuel Fleets and Transportation Conformity
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Proposed rule.
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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to
approve revisions to the Texas State Implementation Plan (SIP) to meet
certain serious area requirements under section 182(c) of the Clean Air
Act (CAA or Act) for the Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW) nonattainment area
under the 1997 8-hour ozone standard. Further, we are proposing to
approve revisions to the DFW moderate area attainment demonstration SIP
that address the failure-to-attain contingency measures and proposing
to approve revisions to the Texas SIP that address control of air
pollution from motor vehicles and transportation conformity. The EPA is
proposing to approve these SIP revisions because they satisfy the
requirements of section 110 and part D of the CAA.
DATES: Comments must be received on or before June 12, 2014.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-R06-
OAR-2012-0099, by one of the following methods:
www.regulations.gov. Follow the on-line instructions.
Email: Ms. Carrie Paige at paige.carrie@epa.gov.
Mail: Mr. Guy Donaldson, Chief, Air Planning Section (6PD-
L), Environmental Protection Agency, 1445 Ross Avenue, Suite 1200,
Dallas, Texas 75202-2733.
Instructions: Direct your comments to Docket ID No. EPA-R06-OAR-
2012-0099. EPA's policy is that all comments received will be included
in the public docket without change and may be made available online at
http://www.regulations.gov, including any personal information
provided, unless the comment includes information claimed to be
Confidential Business Information (CBI) or other information the
disclosure of which is restricted by statute. Do not submit information
through http://www.regulations.gov or email, if you believe that it is
CBI or otherwise protected from disclosure. The http://www.regulations.gov Web site is an ``anonymous access'' system, which
means that 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 http://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 along with any disk or CD-ROM
submitted. 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 and any form of encryption and should be free of any
defects or viruses. For additional information
[[Page 27258]]
about EPA's public docket, visit the EPA Docket Center homepage at
http://www.epa.gov/epahome/dockets.htm.
Docket: The index to the docket for this action is available
electronically at www.regulations.gov and in hard copy at EPA Region 6,
1445 Ross Avenue, Suite 700, Dallas, Texas. While all documents in the
docket are listed in the index, some information may be publicly
available only at the hard copy location (e.g., copyrighted material),
and some may not be publicly available at either location (e.g., CBI).
To inspect the hard copy materials, please schedule an appointment with
the person listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT paragraph
below or Mr. Bill Deese at 214-665-7253.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Carrie Paige, Air Planning Section
(6PD-L); telephone (214) 665-6521; email address paige.carrie@epa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Throughout this document, ``we,'' ``us,''
and ``our'' means EPA.
Table of Contents
I. What is the EPA proposing?
II. Background for the Actions Under Section 182(c) of the CAA (the
Serious Area Requirements)
III. Background for the Failure-To-Attain Contingency Measures
IV. Background for the Revisions to Chapter 114
V. What are the EPA's evaluations of these revisions?
VI. Proposed Action
VII. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews
I. What is the EPA proposing?
The EPA is proposing to approve all or parts of six SIP revisions
from the State of Texas as they relate to certain CAA requirements. Our
actions fall into three categories. First, the EPA is proposing to
approve revisions to the Texas SIP submitted to meet certain serious
area requirements of section 182(c) of the Act for the DFW serious
nonattainment area under the 1997 ozone standard. Specifically, we are
proposing to approve the revised 2002 base year emission inventory
(EI), the reasonable further progress (RFP) plan, the RFP motor vehicle
emission budgets (MVEBs) for 2011 and 2012, and the RFP contingency
provisions. In addition, we are proposing to find that the State has
fulfilled the CAA requirements for enhanced ambient monitoring and the
clean-fuel fleet programs (CFFPs). Second, we are proposing to approve
revisions to the DFW SIP's failure-to-attain contingency measures plan
for the moderate ozone nonattainment area under the 1997 ozone
standard. Third, we are proposing to approve revisions to Title 30 of
the Texas Administrative Code, Chapter 114 (denoted 30 TAC 114 or
Chapter 114) pertaining to mobile source control. Specifically, we are
proposing to approve revisions that make the Texas transportation
conformity rules consistent with the Federal Surface Transportation
Reauthorization Act \1\ and revisions that add provisions to certain
sections within the State's Diesel Emissions Reduction Incentive
Program for On-Road and Non-Road Vehicles (DERIP, also often referred
to as the Texas Emission Reduction Plan or TERP).
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\1\ The Federal Surface Transportation Reauthorization Act is
commonly known as the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient
Transportation Equity Act--A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU).
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II. Background for the Actions Under Section 182(c) of the CAA (the
Serious Area Requirements)
On July 18, 1997, EPA promulgated an 8-hour ozone standard of 0.08
parts per million (ppm) \2\ and on April 30, 2004, the EPA designated
the DFW area (consisting of Collin, Dallas, Denton, Ellis, Johnson,
Kaufman, Parker, Rockwall and Tarrant counties) \3\ as a moderate
nonattainment area under the 1997 ozone standard with an attainment
date of June 15, 2010 (see 69 FR 23858 and 69 FR 23951). However, the
DFW area failed to attain the 1997 ozone standard by June 15, 2010, and
was consequently reclassified as a serious ozone nonattainment area (75
FR 79302, December 20, 2010).\4\ Accordingly, the TCEQ was required to
submit revisions to the DFW SIP to meet serious area requirements. In
this action, we are addressing the serious area RFP plan, contingency
measures, enhanced monitoring and clean fuel fleet requirements that
were submitted in revisions dated January 17, 2012.
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\2\ See 62 FR 38856. In this action we refer to the 1997 8-hour
ozone standard as ``the 1997 ozone standard.''
\3\ We refer to the DFW nonattainment area for the 1997 ozone
standard as ``the nine-county nonattainment area.'' The nine-county
nonattainment area consists of the four core counties (Collin,
Dallas, Denton and Tarrant) and five ``cradle'' counties. The cradle
counties are Ellis, Johnson, Kaufman, Parker and Rockwall, and in
prior SIP actions, we referred to these as ``the five new
counties.'' Since these counties are no longer new to the
nonattainment designation and geographically they ``cradle'' the
four core counties, we are adopting the term ``cradle'' herein for
ease of identification.
\4\ On March 12, 2008, the EPA promulgated a more protective 8-
hour ozone standard of 0.075 ppm (73 FR 16436, March 27, 2008). On
April 30, 2012, the EPA promulgated designations under the 2008
ozone standard (77 FR 30088, May 21, 2012) and in that action, the
EPA designated Collin, Dallas, Denton, Ellis, Johnson, Kaufman,
Parker, Rockwall, Tarrant and Wise counties as a moderate ozone
nonattainment area. The RFP required under the 2008 ozone standard
must be submitted to EPA by July 20, 2015. The submittals under
evaluation in today's rulemaking do not specifically address the
2008 ozone standard, but will provide progress toward this new
standard.
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A. Reasonable Further Progress
The CAA requires that areas designated as nonattainment for ozone
and classified as moderate or worse demonstrate RFP in reducing
emissions of ozone precursors (nitrogen oxides or NOX and
volatile organic compounds or VOCs).\5\ A RFP plan generally is
designed to achieve annual progress toward meeting the ozone national
ambient air quality standard (NAAQS) through reductions in emissions of
NOX and/or VOCs. On November 29, 2005 (70 FR 71612) and as
revised on June 8, 2007 (72 FR 31727), EPA published the Phase 2 final
rule to implement the 1997 ozone standard that addressed, among other
things, the RFP control and planning obligations as they apply to areas
designated nonattainment for the 1997 ozone standard. In the Phase 1
Rule, RFP was defined in Sec. 51.900(p) as meaning for the purposes of
the 1997 ozone standard, the progress reductions required under section
172(c)(2) and section 182(b)(1) and (c)(2)(B) and (c)(2)(C) of the CAA
(69 FR 23951, 23997, April 30, 2004).\6\ RFP plans must also include a
MVEB, which provides the allowable on-road mobile emissions an area can
produce and continue to demonstrate RFP (57 FR 13498, 13558, April 16,
1992).
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\5\ For additional information on ozone, please visit
www.epa.gov/groundlevelozone.
\6\ See also the RFP regulations at 40 CFR 51.910 and EI
regulations at 40 CFR 51.915.
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The RFP plan for the DFW moderate ozone nonattainment area was
approved on October 7, 2008 (73 FR 58475) and it demonstrated required
emissions reductions through the end of calendar year 2008 and MVEBs
for 2008. Because the area was reclassified to serious, pursuant to
section 182(c)(2)(B)(i) of the Act and 40 CFR 51.910, the RFP SIP for
the DFW serious ozone nonattainment area must demonstrate
NOX and/or VOC emissions reductions of at least nine percent
for the calendar years 2009-2011 and three percent for 2012. The
emissions reductions must occur within the nine-county nonattainment
area.
B. Contingency Measures
Pursuant to section 172(c)(9) of the Act, RFP plans must include
contingency measures that will take effect without further action by
the State or EPA, which include additional controls that would be
implemented if the area fails to reach the RFP milestones. While the
Act does not
[[Page 27259]]
specify the type of measures or quantity of emissions reductions
required, EPA interprets the Act to mean that implementation of these
contingency measures would provide additional emissions reductions of
up to 3% of the adjusted base year inventory (or a lesser percentage
that will make up the identified shortfall) in the year following the
RFP milestone year. For more information on contingency measures,
please see the April 16, 1992 General Preamble (57 FR 13498, 13510) and
the Phase 2 implementation rule (70 FR 71612, 71650).
C. Enhanced Monitoring
States with serious and worse ozone nonattainment areas are
required to implement, among other things, enhanced ambient monitoring,
pursuant to section 182(c)(1) of the Act. The enhanced ambient
monitoring identifies the magnitude and type of ozone precursor
emissions in the nonattainment area where maximum precursor emissions
are expected to impact (see 71 FR 61236, October 17, 2006 and 40 CFR
Part 58, Appendix D).
D. Clean Fuel Fleet Program
Section 182(c)(4) of the Act requires States have programs to
require certain fleet operators to include a percentage of clean-fuel
vehicles in their new fleet purchases to reduce emissions of ozone
precursors. Section 182(c)(4) of the Act also allows substitute
programs to achieve equivalent reductions. (See 59 FR 50042, September
30, 1994 and 40 CFR part 88).
III. Background for the Failure-to-Attain Contingency Measures
Contingency provisions are also required for attainment plans and
on January 14, 2009 (74 FR 1903) we approved the attainment
demonstration for the DFW moderate ozone nonattainment area, including
the failure-to-attain contingency plan. In an April 6, 2010, SIP
revision Texas revised its plan by replacing the plan's reliance on
offset lithography with fleet turnover because offset lithography was
being implemented in response to EPA's issuance of a control technique
guideline (CTG). When the DFW area was reclassified as a serious ozone
nonattainment area (75 FR 79302), two failure-to-attain contingency
measures were implemented.\7\
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\7\ These contingency measures related to Degassing or Cleaning
of Stationary, Marine, and Transport Vessels and Petroleum Dry
Cleaning Systems (see the Texas Register, 35 TexReg 4268, dated May
21, 2010 and available in the docket for this rulemaking).
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IV. Background for the Revisions to Chapter 114
A. The Transportation Conformity Revisions
Section 176(c) of the Act requires states to submit a
transportation conformity SIP establishing enforceable procedures for
making determinations that metropolitan transportation plans, programs
and projects (activities) approved by the Federal Highway
Administration or the Federal Transit Administration meet or ``conform
to'' the area's air quality SIP. Transportation conformity is a
mechanism for ensuring that transportation activities are reviewed and
evaluated for their impacts on air quality prior to funding or
approval. The intent of transportation conformity is to ensure that new
transportation activities do not cause or contribute to new violations,
increase the frequency or severity of any existing violations, or delay
the timely attainment of air quality standards or the required interim
emissions reductions towards attainment. On July 25, 2007, Texas
submitted revisions to their transportation conformity requirements
that are addressed in this action.
B. The Revisions to the Diesel Emissions Reduction Incentive Program
for On-Road and Non-Road Vehicles
The Texas SIP includes a variety of control strategies to reduce
ozone precursor emissions in nonattainment and near-nonattainment
areas, including the TERP, a program that provides financial incentives
to eligible entities to reduce emissions from polluting vehicles and
equipment.\8\ The basic structure of TERP as an economic incentive
program was approved into the SIP on November 14, 2001 (66 FR 57160).
Since then, the TERP has grown to offer a variety of grants, including
the DERIP. The DERIP is designed to offset the incremental cost of
projects that can reduce NOX emissions from heavy duty
diesel trucks and construction equipment in nonattainment areas. This
is an incentive to owners and operators to upgrade their fleets at an
expedited rate and these upgrades will reduce NOX emissions
to the atmosphere. The EPA approved the DERIP into the Texas SIP on
August 19, 2005 (70 FR 48647). On March 25, 2010 and April 13, 2012,
Texas submitted revisions to the DERIP that are addressed in this
action.
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\8\ Additional information on the TERP is available on the TCEQ
Web site at www.tceq.texas.gov/airquality/terp. In addition, please
see our TSD for the revisions to 30 TAC 114 (labeled as TSD-B) in
the docket for this rulemaking.
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V. What are the EPA's evaluations of these revisions?
Summaries of our analyses are provided in this section. Our
detailed evaluations are provided in two technical support documents
(TSDs): One addressing the RFP submittal and identified as TSD-A; and
the other focused on the revisions to 30 TAC 114 and the failure-to-
attain contingency measures and labeled as TSD-B. These TSDs are in the
docket for this action.
A. The DFW RFP SIP Revision
On January 17, 2012, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality
(TCEQ) submitted a SIP revision to address the RFP requirements for the
DFW serious ozone nonattainment area. The submittal includes a revised
2002 base year EI for stationary and mobile sources, and the RFP plan,
which must demonstrate NOX and/or VOC emissions reductions
of at least nine percent for 2009-2011 and three percent for 2012, the
RFP MVEBs for 2011 and 2012, and RFP contingency measures.
1. The DFW Base Year Emissions Inventory
The base year EI is the starting point for calculating the
reductions necessary to meet the requirements for RFP. Sections
172(c)(3) and 182(b)(1) of the CAA require that nonattainment plan
provisions include an inventory of NOX and VOC emissions
from all sources in the nonattainment area. The EPA had previously
approved the 2002 base year inventory (73 FR 58475). Since that
submittal, more recent data (including, for example, actual local
activity data for 2002) and improvements in methods to calculate
certain categories within the inventory have become available. Because
of these advances, the TCEQ revised the emissions data for the 2002
base year. We have determined that the revised inventory was developed
in accordance with EPA guidance and therefore, we propose to approve
the revised 2002 base year EI. For reference, the previously approved
base year EI (73 FR 58475) is provided in Table 1, reported in tons per
day (tpd), along with the revised 2002 base year EI for the DFW area,
also reported in tpd. Details on how each of the emissions categories
was revised and emissions totals in the various counties are included
in TSD-A. Details on how each of the emissions categories was revised
is included in TSD-A.
[[Page 27260]]
Table 1--DFW RFP 2002 Base Year EI
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NOX VOC
---------------------------------------------------------------
Source type Previously Revised Previously Revised
approved inventory * approved inventory *
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Point........................................... 79.25 79.24 26.42 26.43
Area............................................ 37.04 38.63 237.41 247.03
On-road Mobile.................................. 356.23 354.01 161.60 139.70
Non-road Mobile................................. 134.67 153.41 119.60 82.05
---------------------------------------------------------------
Total....................................... 607.19 625.29 545.03 495.21
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* Submitted to EPA by the TCEQ on January 17, 2012.
2. The Adjusted Base Year Inventory and RFP Target Levels for 2011 and
2012
The 2002 base year EI is the starting point for calculating RFP.
Section 182(b)(1)(B) of the Act and 40 CFR 51.910 require that the base
year EI be adjusted to exclude certain emissions specified in section
182(b)(1)(D) of the Act, i.e., the emission reductions resulting from
the Federal Motor Vehicle Control Programs (FMVCP) promulgated by EPA
prior to January 1, 1990, and the regulation of Reid Vapor Pressure
promulgated by EPA prior to the enactment of the CAA Amendments of
1990. The result, after subtracting the non-creditable reductions, is
the ``adjusted base year inventory.'' The required RFP target levels
and emission reductions needed would be calculated using the adjusted
base year inventory, resulting in the target levels of emissions for
the milestone years, which in this case are 2011 and 2012.
In calculating the RFP target levels, section 182(c)(2)(C) of the
Act, 40 CFR 51.910 and EPA's NOX Substitution Guidance \9\
allow NOX emissions reductions to be substituted for VOC
controls if such would maximize reductions in ozone air pollution.
Modeling performed by the TCEQ for this RFP plan indicates that ozone
formation in the DFW area is more responsive to NOX: For
similar decreases in NOX (78 tpd) and VOC (80 tpd), the DFW
8-hour ozone design value would be reduced significantly more from
NOX cuts (-3.43 ppb) than VOC (-0.12 ppb). As a result, the
State has chosen to focus on NOX reductions to meet the RFP
requirements.
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\9\ See www.epa.gov/ttn/caaa/t1/memoranda/noxsubst.pdf and
www.epa.gov/ttn/oarpg/t1/memoranda/clarisub.pdf.
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Tables 2 and 3 provide an accounting of the required emissions
reductions through 2008 and 2012, and the target emissions levels of
NOX and VOC for 2011 and 2012. For reductions through 2008
the TCEQ provided NOX reductions for the four core counties
and VOC reductions in the five cradle \10\ counties (73 FR 58475); we
show these reductions in Table 2, using the revised 2002 base year EI.
Table 3 shows the reductions required through 2011 and 2012 for the
nine-county nonattainment area.
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\10\ See footnote 3.
\11\ These are calculated using the revised 2002 base year EI.
For reference, please see the TSD-A.
Table 2--Calculation of NOX and VOC Reductions Through 2008
[tpd] \11\
------------------------------------------------------------------------
VOC in 5
Description NOX in 4 core cradle
counties counties
------------------------------------------------------------------------
a. 2002 Emissions Inventory............. 486.53 69.08
b. Non-creditable reductions through -3.09 2.23
2008...................................
c. 2002 adjusted to 2008 (a-b).......... 489.62 66.85
d. 15% reductions required through 2008 73.44 10.03
(0.15 x c).............................
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Table 3--Calculation of NOX and VOC Target Levels of Emissions (tpd)
Through 2012
------------------------------------------------------------------------
9-County area
Description -------------------------------
NOX VOC
------------------------------------------------------------------------
a. 2002 Emissions Inventory............. 625.29 495.21
b1. Non-creditable reductions, 2002-2011 -0.55 17.53
(FMVCP + RVP)..........................
b2. 15% reductions required through 2008 73.44 10.03
b3. 9% reductions required through 2011. 56.33 ..............
c. 2002 Adjusted to 2011 [a-(b1+b2+b3)], 496.07 467.65
or 2011 Targets........................
d1. Non-creditable reductions for 2012 -4.62 -4.30
(FMVCP + RVP)..........................
d2. 3% Reductions required for 2012..... 18.91 ..............
e. 2002 Adjusted to 2012 [c-(d1+d2)], or 481.78 471.95
2012 Targets...........................
------------------------------------------------------------------------
[[Page 27261]]
3. The 2011 and 2012 Projected Emissions Inventories and How the
Required Emissions Reductions Are Achieved
Section 182(b)(1)(A) of the Act requires that States provide
sufficient control measures in their RFP plans to offset growth in
emissions. To do this, the State must estimate the amount of growth
that will occur between 2002 and the end of 2011 and 2012. Generally,
the State followed our guidelines in estimating the growth in
emissions. The projections of growth are labeled as the ``Uncontrolled
Inventories'' for 2011 and 2012. Our detailed evaluation is provided in
our TSD-A.
Texas estimated emission reductions from State and federal control
measures in place between 2002 and the end of 2011 and 2012,\12\ and
applied these reductions to the appropriate uncontrolled inventories;
the results are the ``Controlled Inventories'' for 2011 and 2012. The
total amount of VOC and NOX emissions in the controlled
inventories for 2011 and 2012 must be equal to or less than the
corresponding total target inventories to demonstrate RFP.
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\12\ The control measures address emissions from point, area,
and mobile (non-road and on-road) sources and are listed in our TSD-
A.
Table 4--Summary of RFP Demonstration for DFW Through 2011
[tpd]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Inventory NOX VOC
------------------------------------------------------------------------
2011 Targets............................ 496.07 467.65
2011 Uncontrolled Emissions............. 1168.59 823.46
Projected Emission Reductions through 759.79 283.01
2011...................................
2011 Projected Emissions after RFP 408.80 540.45
Reductions.............................
Surplus (+)/Shortfall (-)............... +87.27 -72.80
Is RFP Met? (Surplus greater than Yes Yes.
Shortfall).............................
------------------------------------------------------------------------
In Table 4, we see that the plan shows a surplus of NOX
emission reductions and a shortfall in the required VOC reductions. The
NOX surplus of 87.27 tpd is approximately 18% more
reductions than necessary to meet the target of 496.07 tpd. The VOC
shortfall of 72.80 tpd is approximately 16% less reductions than
necessary to meet the target of 467.65 tpd. The shortfall in VOC
reductions is apparently due to growth in VOC emissions. The Table
shows Texas has offset this growth in VOC emissions with additional
NOX reductions on a percentage basis (i.e., 1%
NOX reductions offsets 1% VOC growth). In the RFP submittal,
Texas notes they are ``reserving'' 77.29 tpd of the surplus
NOX reductions (approximately 16%) to offset the VOC
shortfall. Because Texas has offset the VOC growth plus provided the
necessary RFP NOX reductions, the EPA is proposing that the
emissions reductions projected for 2011 are sufficient to meet the 2011
targets.
Table 5--Summary of RFP Demonstration for DFW Through 2012
[tpd]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Inventory NOX VOC
------------------------------------------------------------------------
2012 Targets............................ 481.78 471.95
2012 Uncontrolled Emissions............. 1194.94 846.38
Projected Emission Reductions through 815.86 313.88
2012...................................
2012 Projected Emissions after RFP 379.08 532.50
Reductions.............................
Surplus (+)/Shortfall (-)............... +102.70 -60.55
Is RFP Met? (Surplus greater than Yes Yes.
Shortfall).............................
------------------------------------------------------------------------
In Table 5, again we see a surplus of NOX reductions
necessary to offset a shortfall in VOC reductions. The NOX
surplus of 102.70 tpd is approximately 21% greater than necessary to
meet the target of 481.78 tpd. The VOC shortfall of 60.55 tpd is
approximately 13% less than necessary to meet the target of 471.95 tpd.
The NOX surplus again is greater than the VOC shortfall. In
the RFP submittal, Texas notes they are ``reserving'' 61.86 tpd of the
surplus NOX reductions (approximately 13%) to compensate for
the VOC shortfall. Because Texas has offset the VOC growth and provided
the necessary RFP NOX reductions, EPA is proposing that the
emissions reductions projected for 2012 are sufficient to meet the 2012
targets.
4. The RFP Contingency Measures
The 1997 8-hour ozone RFP plan for a serious nonattainment area
must include contingency measures, which are additional controls to be
implemented if the area fails to make reasonable further progress.
Contingency measures are intended to achieve reductions over and beyond
those relied on in the RFP demonstration and could include federal and
State measures already scheduled for implementation. The CAA does not
preclude a State from implementing such measures before they are
triggered. Texas used federal and State measures currently being
implemented to meet the contingency measure requirement for the DFW RFP
SIP. These measures provide reductions between 2012 and 2013 that are
in excess of those needed for RFP. As shown in Table 6, the excess
reductions are greater than 3% of the adjusted base year inventory. We
are proposing that these reductions are sufficient as RFP contingency
measures.
[[Page 27262]]
Table 6--Summary of RFP Demonstration for DFW, Contingency Measures
[tpd]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Description NOX VOC
------------------------------------------------------------------------
2002 Emission Inventory adjusted to 2012 630.46 481.97
3% needed for contingency (630.46 x 18.91 0.00
0.03)..................................
Total RFP contingency reductions 24.44 15.62
available..............................
Is the contingency measure requirement Yes Yes.
met?
------------------------------------------------------------------------
5. The Motor Vehicle Emissions Budgets (MVEBs)
The RFP plan must include a MVEB for transportation conformity
purposes. The MVEB is the mechanism to ensure that future
transportation activities will not produce new air quality violations,
worsen existing violations, delay reaching RFP milestones, or delay
timely attainment of the NAAQS. A MVEB establishes the maximum amount
of emissions allowed in the SIP for on-road motor vehicles.
On January 17, 2012, the TCEQ submitted its RFP SIP, which contains
VOC and NOX MVEBs for 2011 and 2012; these budgets are
provided in Table 7. We found the RFP MVEBs (also termed transportation
conformity budgets) adequate and on February 27, 2012, the availability
of these budgets was posted on our Web site for the purpose of
soliciting public comments. The comment period closed on March 28,
2012, and we received no comments. On February 1, 2013, we published
the Notice of Adequacy Determination for these RFP MVEBs (78 FR 7429).
Once determined adequate, these RFP budgets must be used in future DFW
transportation conformity determinations. The adequacy determination
represents a preliminary finding by EPA of the acceptability of the
MVEB. Today we are proposing that the MVEBs are fully consistent with
RFP, and we are proposing to approve the RFP plan, as it sets the
allowable on-road mobile emissions the DFW area can produce and
continue to demonstrate RFP.
Table 7--RFP Motor Vehicle Emissions Budgets for DFW
[tpd]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Year NOX VOC
------------------------------------------------------------------------
2011.................................... 197.05 89.54
2012.................................... 195.39 82.20
------------------------------------------------------------------------
B. The Requirement To Address Enhanced Ambient Monitoring
Section 182(c)(1) of the CAA requires that States with serious and
worse nonattainment areas adopt and implement a program to improve air
monitoring for ambient concentrations of ozone, NOX and VOC.
The State established an enhanced ambient air quality monitoring
network in the form of the Photochemical Assessment Monitoring Stations
(PAMS), which was approved into the Texas SIP on October 4, 1994 (59 FR
50502).\13\ On January 17, 2012, the TCEQ submitted an attainment
demonstration SIP revision that in part demonstrated that by 2012, the
DFW area would meet the serious nonattainment area requirement for
enhanced monitoring. The submittal stated that the enhanced monitoring
would be in place by the attainment deadline of June 15, 2013. In 2012,
the air monitor at the Dallas Hinton site was enhanced to add carbonyl
\14\ measurements. These air monitoring improvements are consistent
with section 182(c)(1) of the CAA, the Revisions to the Ambient Air
Monitoring Regulations at 71 FR 61236 and 40 CFR Part 58, Appendix D.
The 2012 monitoring update is documented in the State's air monitoring
network plan, provided in the docket for this rulemaking.\15\ We are
proposing to approve that portion of the submittal that addresses the
requirements of section 182(c)(1) of the CAA for the nine-county
nonattainment area.
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\13\ Annual revisions to the air monitoring network plan (AMNP)
are provided to the EPA for approval and the most recently approved
AMNP is in the docket for this rulemaking.
\14\ Carbonyl compounds are organic compounds, consisting of a
carbon atom double bonded to an oxygen atom. The PAMS measures the
three carbonyls formaldehyde, acetaldehyde and acetone. Formaldehyde
and acetaldehyde have been found to be very important in the
formation of ground-level ozone.
\15\ See the Texas 2012 Annual AMNP documents in the docket for
this rulemaking.
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C. The Requirement To Address Clean-Fuel Fleet Programs
Section 182(c)(4) of the CAA requires that states with serious and
worse nonattainment areas implement federal CFFPs. Section 182(c)(4)
also allows states to implement substitute programs whose long term
emissions reductions are equal to or greater than the federal CFFPs.
Texas submitted a substitute program (which included the Texas Clean
Fleet or TCF Program) that we approved on February 7, 2001 (66 FR
9203). In addition to TCF Program of fleet measures, this substitute
program included substitute stationary source measures. In a subsequent
revision to the TCF program, we approved on January 31, 2014 (79 FR
5287), TCEQ repealed their TCF program. In the attainment demonstration
SIP revision submitted on January 17, 2012, Texas cited an EPA
determination \16\ that, beginning with the 2007 model years, both the
Tier 2 conventional vehicle and engine standards and heavy-duty vehicle
and engine standards are either equivalent to or more stringent than
the applicable clean fuel vehicle program low emission vehicle (LEV)
standards. In our January 31, 2014 approval action, we explain that
because 2007 model year Heavy Duty Diesel and Tier II vehicle meet or
exceed the LEV standards and because Texas' substitute measures are
still in place, Texas continues to meet the Federal CFFP requirements.
We are confirming in today's action that this serious area requirement
is met for the DFW area.
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\16\ See EPA Dear Manufacturer Letter CCD-05 (LDV/LDT/MDPV/HDV/
HDE/LD-FC), July 21, 2005, in the docket for this rulemaking.
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We are proposing to approve that portion of the submittal that
addresses the requirements of section 182(c)(4) of
[[Page 27263]]
the CAA for the nine-county nonattainment area.
D. Revisions to the Failure-To-Attain Contingency Measures
Section 172(c)(9) of the Act requires nonattainment SIPs to provide
for a contingency plan that will take effect without further action by
the State or EPA if an area fails to make reasonable further progress
or fails to attain the standard by the applicable date. On January 14,
2009, the EPA approved the State's attainment demonstration for the DFW
moderate ozone nonattainment area for the 1997 ozone standard, which
included a contingency plan (74 FR 1903). On April 6, 2010, the TCEQ
submitted revisions that address, among other things, the failure-to-
attain contingency measures in the DFW moderate ozone nonattainment
area. In this SIP revision, we are acting on only the revisions
addressing the failure-to-attain contingency measures in the DFW
nonattainment area, which remove offset lithographic printing at 30 TAC
115.449(c) as a contingency measure and substitute surplus emissions
reductions from fleet turnover. This revision is necessary because EPA
issued a CTG in 2006 for offset lithographic printing, requiring states
to update their rules consistent with the requirements of the CTG.
Therefore, when Texas responded to the CTG with rulemaking for this
source category, it also ``back-filled'' this contingency measure.
Our detailed evaluation is provided in the TSD-B. The surplus
reductions from fleet turnover are sufficient to make up the loss of
offset lithographic printing as a contingency measure and meet the
requirements for a contingency measure under sections 172 and 182 of
the CAA. See 57 FR 13498, 13510; and 70 FR 71612, 71651. We are
proposing approval of this revision. It should be noted that this
proposed approval comes after the fact of implementation of the other
contingency measures relied upon in this moderate area contingency
plan. Our proposed approval recognizes that these measures met the
Act's requirements. As discussed above, the State adopted a serious
area plan with its own contingency measures.
E. Revisions to Chapter 114
As noted earlier, we are also evaluating three Texas SIP submittals
that revise 30 TAC 114, which addresses control of air pollution from
motor vehicles. These submittals include programs or measures that
assist in reducing ozone precursor emissions and may be implemented in
the DFW area.
1. The Texas Transportation Conformity Rules
Transportation conformity is required by section 176(c) of the Act.
The Texas SIP has included transportation conformity provisions since
November 8, 1995 (60 FR 56244) and EPA most recently approved revisions
to these provisions on July 6, 2005 (70 FR 38776). On July 25, 2007,
the TCEQ submitted a SIP revision to make the Texas transportation
conformity rules at 30 TAC 114.260 consistent with the Federal Surface
Transportation Reauthorization Act, commonly known as the SAFETEA-LU,
which was enacted by Congress on August 10, 2005 (Pub. L. 109-59). The
July 25, 2007 revision also addresses certain federal requirements
relating to PM2.5 precursors and when they apply in
conformity determinations, pursuant to 40 CFR 93.102 (see also 70 FR
24280, May 6, 2005), and repeals the requirement to perform
quantitative PM hotspot analyses, pursuant to 40 CFR 93.116 and 93.123
(see also 71 FR 12468, March 10, 2006). A line-by-line description of
the revisions and our evaluation are provided in the TSD-B. These
revisions are consistent with the transportation planning rules at 23
CFR Part 450, the conformity rules at 40 CFR Part 93 and EPA's
guidance. We are proposing approval of these revisions.
2. The State's Diesel Emissions Reduction Incentive Program (DERIP)
The DERIP is an economic incentive program that is part of the
State's TERP program that provides financial incentives to eligible
individuals, businesses, and local governments to reduce emissions from
polluting vehicles and equipment. On March 25, 2010, and April 13,
2012, the TCEQ submitted SIP revisions that address the DERIP at
Chapter 114, Subchapter K (Mobile Source Incentive Programs), Division
3 (Diesel Emissions Reduction Incentive Program for On-Road and Non-
Road Vehicles). The March 25, 2010, submission adds stationary engines
to the DERIP and provides an allowance for projects involving non-road
equipment used for natural gas recovery purposes. The April 13, 2012,
revision adds incentive program requirements that include, but are not
limited to, the period of commitment by a grant recipient for use of
the grant-funded vehicles, requirements on the ownership or lease of
the vehicles being replaced, and destruction of the vehicles and
engines being replaced. A line-by-line description of the revisions and
our evaluation are provided in the TSD-B. These revisions are
consistent with EPA's Economic Incentive Program (EIP) Guidance.\17\
The revisions provide emissions reductions in Texas, primarily in
nonattainment areas and as such, would not interfere with any
applicable requirement regarding attainment and RFP, or any other
applicable requirement of the CAA. We are proposing approval of these
revisions.
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\17\ The EPA's EIP Guidance is available at www.epa.gov/ttn/oarpg/t1/memoranda/eipfin.pdf.
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VI. Proposed Action
The EPA is proposing to approve revisions to the Texas SIP to meet
RFP and certain other requirements of the CAA for the DFW serious
nonattainment area under the 1997 8-hour ozone NAAQS. Specifically, the
EPA is proposing to fully approve the TCEQ's January 17, 2012 RFP
submittal that revises the 2002 base year EI, the RFP plan, the 2011
and 2012 MVEBs, and the contingency measures associated with the DFW
RFP SIP. The EPA is also proposing to approve the portions of the
TCEQ's January 17, 2012 attainment demonstration submittal that address
the CAA requirements for enhanced ambient monitoring and the CFFPs in
the DFW serious nonattainment area under the 1997 8-hour ozone NAAQS.
We are also proposing to approve the portion of the TCEQ's April 6,
2010 submittal that revises the DFW moderate attainment demonstration
SIP's failure-to-attain contingency measures plan. Finally, we are also
proposing to fully approve the July 25, 2007, March 25, 2010, and April
13, 2012 submittals to the Texas SIP that address control of air
pollution from motor vehicles and transportation conformity rules at 30
TAC 114.260, 30 TAC 114.620, and 30 TAC 114.622. The EPA is proposing
to approve these SIP revisions because they satisfy the requirements of
section 110 and part D of the CAA and the federal transportation rules.
VII. 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:
[[Page 27264]]
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.
List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 52
Environmental protection, Air pollution control, Incorporation by
reference, Intergovernmental relations, Ozone, Reporting and
recordkeeping requirements, Volatile organic compounds.
Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.
Dated: April 24, 2014.
Ron Curry,
Regional Administrator, Region 6.
[FR Doc. 2014-10969 Filed 5-12-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P