Approval and Promulgation of Air Quality Implementation Plans; Pennsylvania; Update of the Motor Vehicle Emissions Budgets and General Conformity Budgets for the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre 1997 8-Hour Ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standard Maintenance Area |
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William C. Early
Environmental Protection Agency
March 10, 2015
[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 46 (Tuesday, March 10, 2015)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 12604-12607]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-05434]
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Proposed Rules
Federal Register
________________________________________________________________________
This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains notices to the public of
the proposed issuance of rules and regulations. The purpose of these
notices is to give interested persons an opportunity to participate in
the rule making prior to the adoption of the final rules.
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Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 46 / Tuesday, March 10, 2015 /
Proposed Rules
[[Page 12604]]
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 52
[EPA-R03-OAR-2014-0652; FRL 9924-19-Region 3]
Approval and Promulgation of Air Quality Implementation Plans;
Pennsylvania; Update of the Motor Vehicle Emissions Budgets and General
Conformity Budgets for the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre 1997 8-Hour Ozone
National Ambient Air Quality Standard Maintenance Area
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Proposed rule.
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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to
approve State Implementation Plan (SIP) revisions submitted by the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. These 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) maintenance SIP for the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre 1997 8-
Hour Ozone NAAQS Maintenance Area (Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Maintenance
Area or Area). These SIP revisions also include general conformity
budgets for the construction of the Bell Bend Nuclear Power Plant. In
addition, these SIP revisions include updated point and area source
inventories for NOX. This rulemaking action proposes to
approve the general conformity budgets, the updated MVEBs, and updates
to the point and area source inventories, and thereby make them
available for transportation conformity purposes, in accordance with
the requirements of the Clean Air Act (CAA).
DATES: Written comments must be received on or before April 9, 2015.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID Number EPA-
R03-OAR-2014-0652 by one of the following methods:
A. www.regulations.gov. Follow the on-line instructions for
submitting comments.
B. Email: powers.marilyn@epa.gov.
C. Mail: EPA-R03-OAR-2014-0652, Marilyn Powers, Acting 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-
2014-0652. 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. 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 May 28, 2014, Pennsylvania submitted formal revisions to its
SIP. The SIP revisions consist of updated MVEBs for NOX for
the 1997 8-Hour Ozone NAAQS, general conformity budgets for the
construction of the Bell Bend Nuclear Power Plant, and updated point
and area source inventories for NOX.
On July 18, 1997 (62 FR 38856), EPA established the 1997 8-Hour
Ozone NAAQS. On April 30, 2004 (69 FR 23858), Lackawanna, Luzerne,
Wyoming, and Monroe Counties were designated as nonattainment for the
1997 8-Hour Ozone NAAQS as a part of the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre
Nonattainment Area. On June 12, 2007, the Pennsylvania Department of
Environmental Protection (PADEP) submitted a SIP revision which
consisted of a maintenance plan, a 2002 base year inventory, and MVEBs
for transportation conformity purposes. On November 19, 2007 (72 FR
64948), EPA approved the SIP revision as well as the redesignation
request made by PADEP; therefore, the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre
Nonattainment Area was redesignated to a maintenance area.
The current SIP-approved MVEBs for the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre
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
[[Page 12605]]
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 and EPA Analysis
These SIP revisions include an update to the MVEBs for
NOX for the years 2009 (interim year) and 2018 (maintenance
year) that were produced using the MOVES2010a model. These SIP
revisions also include an update to the point and area source
inventories for NOX. The MVEBs, as well as the point and
area source inventories, were not updated for volatile organic
compounds (VOCs); therefore certain VOC data in the tables below is
listed as not applicable (N/A). A comparison between the previous point
source inventory and the updated point source inventory is provided in
tons per summer day (tpsd) in Table 1. A comparison between the
previous area source inventory and the updated area source inventory is
provided for year 2018 because only that year was updated and is
provided in Table 2. The previously approved MVEBs from the approved
maintenance plan for the Area 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 3. 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 and not due to any growth that had not been
anticipated in the approved maintenance plan. Also, part of the update
of the MVEBs is the addition of a 2 tpsd safety margin for
NOX. The MVEBs that will be utilized for transportation
conformity purposes and that include the safety margins are presented
in Table 4. These safety margins were added because emissions in the
interim (2009) and maintenance (2018) years are significantly less than
the attainment (2004) year emissions, which is the year that the
Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Maintenance Area attained the standard.
Additionally, Table 5 presents the portion of the MVEBs allotted to
each metropolitan planning organization (MPO) and regional planning
organization (RPO). In the case of the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre
Maintenance Area, there are three MPOs/RPOs involved in transportation
planning for the counties that are a part of the maintenance area. The
Scranton/Wilkes-Barre MPO serves Lackawanna and Luzerne Counties; the
Northeastern Pennsylvania Alliance (NEPA) MPO serves Monroe County; and
the Northern Tier RPO serves Wyoming County.
In addition to the updated inventories and MVEBs, the SIP revisions
also provide general conformity budgets for NOX. These
budgets are established for the construction of the Bell Bend Nuclear
Power Plant. Under the general conformity rule, found at 40 CFR
93.153(b)(2), an ozone maintenance area must provide a conformity
determination for NOX or VOCs when a de minimus threshold of
100 tons per year (tpy) of NOX or 50 tpy of VOCs is
projected to be exceeded. The projections provided in this SIP revision
do not exceed the de minimus VOC threshold but do exceed the de minimus
NOX threshold. The estimated NOX emissions
projected from the construction of the facility are 167.7 tpy. To
accommodate this, the SIP revision adds a 1.0 tpsd NOX
emissions budget to the 2009 and 2018 emissions inventories in the
maintenance plan for the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Maintenance Area, which
will more than cover the expected annual emissions of 167.7 tpy. With
the addition of the general conformity budgets, the Area's 2009 and
2018 emissions are still less than the attainment year emissions;
therefore Pennsylvania asserts and EPA finds that the construction of
the Bell Bend Nuclear Power Plant conforms to the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre
Maintenance Area's approved maintenance plan. Table 6 provides the
general conformity budgets that EPA is proposing for approval. Table 7
presents the emission inventory totals which include the general
conformity budgets and the safety margins. The calculations presented
in Table 7 show that with the addition of safety margins and general
conformity budgets the 2009 and 2018 emissions are still well below the
attainment year (2004) emissions. A detailed summary of EPA's review
and rationale for proposing to approve these SIP revisions as in
accordance with CAA requirements 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-2014-0652.
Table 1--Summary of Point Source Inventory in tpsd for the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Maintenance Area
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Current Updated
Year -----------------------------------------------
2009 2018 2009 2018
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NOX............................................................. 9.4 10.5 7.7 5.8
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Table 2--Summary of Area Source Inventory in tpsd for the Scranton/
Wilkes-Barre Maintenance Area
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Current Updated
Year -----------------------------------------
2018 2018
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NOX........................... 4.4 7.5
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[[Page 12606]]
Table 3--Summary of Motor Vehicle Emissions in tpsd for the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Maintenance Area
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Model MOBILE6.2 MOVES2010a
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Year 2004 2009 2018 2004 2009 2018
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VOCs.......................................... 31.6 23.3 14.3 N/A N/A N/A
NOX........................................... 66.1 46.9 21.6 77.0 57.3 28.5
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Table 4--Revised MVEBs in tpsd for the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Maintenance
Area
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Year 2009 2018
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VOCs............................ N/A N/A
NOX............................. 59.3 30.5
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Table 5--MVEBs for Each MPO in tpsd for the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Maintenance Area
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MPO Scranton/Wilkes-Barre NEPA MPO Northern Tier RPO
----------------------------------- MPO ---------------------------------------------------
--------------------------
Year 2009 2018 2009 2018 2009 2018
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VOCs.............................. 17.99 11.80 6.19 4.64 0.99 0.54
NOX............................... 42.67 21.90 14.10 7.10 2.50 1.60
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Table 6--General Conformity Budgets for the Construction of the Bell
Bend Nuclear Power Plant in tpsd
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Emissions
Year -----------------------------------------
2009 2018
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NOX........................... 1.0 1.0
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Table 7--Comparison of 2004, 2009, and 2018 Emissions After Reserving the Safety Margins and General Conformity
Budgets
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Year 2004 2009 2004-2009 2018 2004-2018
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Total Emissions................. 98.9 80.1 18.8 49.5 49.4
Emissions with addition of 98.9 83.1 15.8 52.5 46.4
Safety Margins and General
Conformity Budgets.............
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III. Proposed Action
EPA is proposing to approve Pennsylvania's SIP revision submittal
from May 28, 2014 to update the MVEBs for the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre
Maintenance Area to reflect the use of the MOVES model. EPA is also
proposing to approve the updates to the point and area source
inventories. Additionally, EPA is proposing approval of the general
conformity budgets for the construction of the Bell Bend Nuclear Power
Plant. EPA is approving these SIP revisions because it will allow the
Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Maintenance Area to continue to maintain the 1997
8-Hour Ozone NAAQS. Our in depth review of the SIP revisions leads EPA
to conclude that the updated MVEBs meet the adequacy requirements set
forth in 40 CFR 93.118(e)(4)(i)-(vi), and that the updated MVEBs have
been correctly calculated to reflect the use of the MOVES model as
explained in our TSDs. EPA also concludes that the general conformity
budgets meet all requirements of the general conformity rule found at
40 CFR part 93, subpart B as explained in our TSDs. EPA is soliciting
public comments on the issues discussed in this document. These
comments will be considered before taking final action.
IV. 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 approves state law as meeting Federal requirements and
does not impose additional requirements beyond those imposed by state
law. For that reason, this proposed 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
[[Page 12607]]
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 proposed rule, pertaining to the update of the
MVEBs, point and area source inventories, as well as the general
conformity budgets for the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Maintenance Area, 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, Nitrogen dioxide, Ozone, Volatile organic compounds.
Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.
Dated: February 20, 2015.
William C. Early,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region III.
[FR Doc. 2015-05434 Filed 3-9-15; 08:45 am]
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