[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 210 (Tuesday, November 1, 2005)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 65838-65842]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-21528]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 52
[RO4-OAR-2005-TN-0006-200519(a); FRL-7990-3]
Approval and Promulgation of Implementation Plans; Tennessee:
Nashville Area Second 10-Year Maintenance Plan for the 1-Hour Ozone
National Ambient Air Quality Standard
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Direct final rule.
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SUMMARY: The EPA is approving a revision to the Tennessee State
Implementation Plan (SIP) submitted in final form on August 10, 2005.
The SIP revision provides the second 10-year maintenance plan for the
Nashville (Middle Tennessee) 1-hour ozone maintenance area (Nashville
Area), which is composed of the following five counties: Davidson,
Rutherford, Sumner, Williamson, and Wilson. The Nashville Area is still
required to fulfill obligations under the 1-hour ozone national ambient
air quality standard (NAAQS), because EPA has deferred the effective
date of the designation for the Nashville Area under the newer 8-hour
ozone NAAQS due to participation in an Early Action Compact. EPA is
approving this SIP revision because it satisfies the requirement of the
Clean Air Act (CAA) for the second 10-year maintenance plan for the
Nashville Area.
In addition, in this rulemaking, EPA is providing information on
its transportation conformity adequacy determination for new motor
vehicle emission budgets (MVEBs) for the year 2016 that are contained
in the second 10-year 1-hour ozone maintenance plan for the Nashville
Area. EPA determined that the 2016 MVEBs are adequate through a
previous action. EPA is also approving the 2016 MVEBs in this action.
DATES: This direct final rule is effective January 3, 2006, without
further notice, unless EPA receives adverse comment by December 1,
2005. If adverse comment is received, EPA 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 Regional Material in
EDocket (RME) ID No. ``RO4-OAR-2005-TN-0006-200519'' by one of the
following methods:
1. Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. Follow
the on-line instruction for submitting comments.
2. Agency Web site: http://docket.epa.gov/rmepub/RME, EPA's
electronic public docket and comment system is EPA's preferred method
for receiving comments. Once in the system, select ``quick search,''
then key in the appropriate RME Docket identification number. Follow
the on-line instructions for submitting comments:
3. E-mail: [email protected].
4. Fax: (404) 562-9019.
5. Mail: ``RO4-OAR-2005-TN-0006'' Regulatory Development Section,
Air Planning Branch, Air Pesticides and Toxics Management Division,
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 4, 61 Forsyth Street, SW.,
Atlanta, Georgia 30303-8960.
6. Hand Delivery or Courier, Deliver your comments to Anne Marie
Hoffman, Regulatory Development Section, Air Planning Branch, Air,
Pesticides and Toxics Management Division, U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency, Region 4, 61 Forsyth Street, SW., Atlanta, Georgia
30303-8960, such deliveries are only accepted during the Regional
Office's normal hours of operation. The Regional office's official
hours of business are Monday through Friday, 8:30 to 4:30, excluding
federal holidays.
[[Page 65839]]
Instructions: Direct your comments to RME ID No. ``RO4-OAR-2005-TN-
0006.'' 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://docket.epa.gov/rmepub, 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 RME, regulations.gov,
or e-mail. The EPA RME website and the federal regulations.gov website
are ``anonymous access'' systems, 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 e-mail comment directly to EPA without
going through RME or regulations.gov, your e-mail 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 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
RME index at http://docket.epa.gov/rmepub. 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 material are available either electronically in RME or
in hard copy at the Regulatory Development Section, Air Planning
Branch, Air, Pesticides and Toxics Management Division, U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency Region 4, 61 Forsyth Street, SW.,
Atlanta, Georgia 30303-8960. EPA requests that if at all possible, you
contact the person listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT
section to schedule your inspection. The Regional Office's official
hours of business are Monday through Friday, 8:30 to 4:30, excluding
federal holidays.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Anne Marie Hoffman, Regulatory
Development Section, Air Planning Branch, Air, Pesticides and Toxics
Management Division, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 4, 61
Forsyth Street, SW., Atlanta, Georgia, 30303-8960, Phone (404) 562-
9074. E-mail: [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Table of Contents
I. What Is the Background for This Action?
II. What Is EPA's Analysis of the Nashville Area's Second 10-Year
Maintenance Plan?
III. What Is EPA's Action on the Nashville Area's Second 10-Year
Maintenance Plan?
IV. What Is an Adequacy Determination and What Is EPA's Adequacy
Determination for the Nashville Area's New MVEBs for the Year 2016?
V. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews
I. What Is the Background for This Action?
In 1996, based on measured air quality data, the Nashville Area was
able to demonstrate attainment with the 1-hour ozone National Ambient
Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) due to numerous control measures
implemented in the Nashville Area. As a result of the measured air
quality data, Tennessee petitioned EPA for redesignation. In 1996, EPA
redesignated the Nashville Area to attainment based on the measured air
quality data and a 10-year maintenance plan submitted for the Nashville
Area. The air quality maintenance plan is a requirement of the 1990 CAA
amendments for nonattainment areas that come into compliance with the
NAAQS to assure their continued maintenance of that standard. Eight
years after redesignation to attainment, section 175A(b) of the CAA
requires the state to submit a revised maintenance plan which
demonstrates that attainment will continue to be maintained for the ten
years following the initial ten-year period (this is known as the
second 10-year plan). The second 10-year plan updates the original 10-
year 1-hour ozone maintenance plan for the next 10-year period. The
maintenance plan sets out the steps the area would take to maintain
attainment with the 1-hour ozone NAAQS. Tennessee was required to
submit the second 10-year plan for the Nashville Area demonstrating
that it would continue to attain the 1-hour ozone NAAQS through 2016.
The Nashville Area is still required to fulfill requirements under
the 1-hour ozone NAAQS due to its participation in an Early Action
Compact (EAC). The effective date of the revocation of the 1-hour ozone
NAAQS is one year after the effective date of the designations for the
8-hour ozone standard as explained in EPA's April 30, 2004, final rule
(69 FR 23951). For areas participating in an EAC, the effective date
for designations for the 8-hour ozone NAAQS was deferred until December
31, 2006, in a final action published by EPA on August 29, 2005 (70 FR
50988). Therefore, the 1-hour ozone NAAQS is not yet revoked for the
Nashville Area and other areas participating in an EAC, because the
effective date for designations for the 8-hour ozone NAAQS in EAC areas
has been deferred. For more information, please see EPA's Web site on
EACs at: http://www.epa.gov/air/eac/index.html.
The original 10-year maintenance plan for the Nashville Area
established MVEBs for the year 2006. The 2006 MVEBs are 53.17 tons per
day (tpd) for volatile organic compounds (VOC) and 96.60 tpd for
nitrogen oxides (NOX). These MVEBs are currently being used
by the transportation partners to demonstrate transportation
conformity. Additionally, through this rulemaking, EPA is providing
information on the status of its transportation conformity adequacy
determination for new MVEBs for the year 2016 that are contained in the
second 10-year plan for the Nashville Area. The adequacy comment period
for the 2016 MVEBs began on June 9, 2005, with EPA's posting of the
availability of this submittal on EPA's Adequacy Web site (at http://www.epa.gov/otaq/transp/conform/adequacy.htm). The adequacy comment
period for these MVEBs closed on July 11, 2005. No request for, or
adverse comments on this submittal were received during EPA's adequacy
comment period. EPA determined that the 2016 MVEBs are adequate through
a separate action on September 16, 2005, (70 FR 2005). Please see
section IV of this rulemaking for further explanation of this process.
II. What Is EPA's Analysis of the Nashville Area's Second 10-Year
Maintenance Plan?
On August 10, 2005, the State of Tennessee, through the Tennessee
Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC), submitted a SIP
revision to EPA that provided for the second 10-year plan for the
Nashville Area as required by section 175A(b) of the CAA. This second
10-year plan for the Nashville Area includes a new ozone precursor
emission inventory for 2002 for the Nashville Area which reflects
emission controls applicable for
[[Page 65840]]
the Nashville Area, and actual and projected emissions for 2002, 2006,
2009, 2012 and 2016. The SIP revision also establishes new MVEBs for
2016 for the Nashville Area.
The emission reduction measures for ozone precursor emissions
implemented in the Nashville Area from 1996 to 2006, and measures that
are projected to occur between 2006 and 2016, are accounted for in the
2002 emission inventory and projected emissions estimates. The
following two tables provide emissions data and projections, calculated
using MOBILE6.2, for the ozone precursors, VOC and NOX.
Table 1.--Nashville 1-Hour Ozone Area
[Emission inventory and projected VOC emissions (2002-2016)]
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Safety margin
Area Non-road On-road Point Total based on 2002
mobile mobile emissions
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2002.................................................... 80.63 27.53 51.21 19.97 179.34 n/a
2006.................................................... 85.56 24.01 37.28 13.05 159.90 19.44
2009.................................................... 89.03 20.30 31.03 14.02 154.38 24.96
2012.................................................... 92.75 18.45 24.91 15.09 151.20 28.14
2016.................................................... 98.87 16.77 19.18 17.02 151.84 27.50
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Table 2.--Nashville 1-Hour Ozone Area
[Emission inventory and projected NOX emissions (2002-2016)]
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Safety margin
Area Non-road On-road Point Total based on 2002
mobile mobile emissions
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2002.................................................... 21.13 47.85 136.00 53.29 258.27 n/a
2006.................................................... 23.48 44.74 97.89 61.01 227.11 31.15
2009.................................................... 24.45 41.18 77.65 61.57 204.85 53.42
2012.................................................... 25.69 37.71 56.02 64.21 183.63 74.64
2016.................................................... 26.53 32.97 36.01 65.21 160.72 97.55
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The attainment level of emissions is the level of emissions during
one of the years in which the area met the NAAQS. The Nashville Area
attained the 1-hour ozone NAAQS based on air quality data for the 2000-
2002 time period. Therefore, in this SIP revision, the emissions from
the year 2002 are used to calculate a new attainment emissions level
for the Nashville Area. The emissions from point, area, nonroad, and
mobile sources in 2002 equal 179.34 tpd of VOC for the entire Nashville
Area. Projected VOC emissions to the year 2016 equal 151.84 tpd of VOC.
The safety margin is the difference between the attainment level of
emissions (from all sources) and the projected level of emissions (from
all sources) in the maintenance plan. The safety margin is for the
entire Nashville Area and is not sub-allocated by county. The safety
margin credit, or a portion thereof, can be allocated to the
transportation sector, however, the total emission level must stay
below the attainment level. The safety margin for VOC is the difference
between these amounts or, in this case, 27.50 tpd for 2016. By this
same method, 97.55 tpd (258.27 tpd less 160.72 tpd) is the safety
margin for NOX for 2016. The emissions are projected to
maintain the Nashville Area's air quality consistent with the NAAQS.
Maintenance plans and other control strategy SIPs create MVEBs for
criteria pollutants and/or their precursors to address pollution from
cars and trucks. The MVEB is the portion of the total allowable
emissions that is allocated to highway and transit vehicle use and
emissions. The MVEB serves as a ceiling on emissions from an area's
planned transportation system. In this SIP revision, the Nashville Area
used MOBILE6.2 to establish MVEBs for VOC and NOX for the
year 2016. In a previous action on September 16, 2005, (70 FR 54738)
EPA determined that the new 2016 MVEBs are adequate for the Nashville
Area. These MVEBs are listed in Tables 3.1 and 3.2.
Table 3.1.--2016 MVEB With Safety Margin Included
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2016 estimated
2016 safety 10% of safety on-road mobile 2016 MVEB with
margin margin emissions safety margin
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VOC............................................. 27.50 2.75 19.18 21.93
NOX............................................. 97.54 9.75 36.01 45.76
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The MVEBs presented in Table 3.2 are directly reflective of the
combined onroad (or ``highway'') emissions for the Nashville Area for
VOC and NOX, plus allocation from the available safety
margin. In summary, the MVEBs for the Nashville Area that the
transportation partners must use are provided in the table below.
Table 3.2.--2006 and 2016 MVEBs
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2006 2016
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VOC................................................... 53.17 21.93
NOX................................................... 96.60 45.76
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[[Page 65841]]
III. What Is EPA's Action on the Nashville Area's Second 10-Year
Maintenance Plan?
EPA is approving Tennessee's SIP revision pertaining to the
Nashville Area's second 10-year plan, including the new 2016 MVEBs for
VOC and NOX.
IV. What Is an Adequacy Determination and What Is EPA's Adequacy
Determination for the Nashville Area's New MVEB for the Year 2016?
At various times under the CAA, states are required to submit
control strategy SIP revisions and maintenance plans for ozone areas.
These control strategy SIP submittals (e.g., reasonable further
progress SIP submittals and attainment demonstration SIP submittals)
and maintenance plans create MVEBs for criteria pollutants and/or their
precursors to address pollution from cars and trucks. Per 40 CFR part
93, a MVEB is established for the last year of the maintenance plan.
The MVEB is the portion of the total allowable emissions in the
maintenance plan that is allocated to highway and transit vehicle use
and emissions. The MVEB serves as a ceiling on emissions from an area's
planned transportation system. The MVEB concept is further explained in
the preamble to the November 24, 1993, transportation conformity rule
(58 FR 62188). The preamble also describes how to establish and revise
MVEBs in the SIP.
Under section 176(c) of the CAA, new transportation projects, such
as the construction of new highways, must ``conform'' to (e.g. be
consistent with) the part of the State's air quality plan that
addresses pollution from cars and trucks. ``Conformity'' to the SIP
means that transportation activities will not cause new air quality
violations, worsen existing violations, or delay timely attainment of
the NAAQS. Under the transportation conformity rule, at 40 CFR part 93,
projected emissions from transportation plans and programs must be
equal to or less than MVEBs for the area. If a transportation plan does
not ``conform,'' most new projects that would expand the capacity of
roadways cannot go forward. Regulations at 40 CFR part 93 set forth EPA
policy, criteria and procedures for demonstrating and assuring
conformity of such transportation activities to a SIP.
Until MVEBs in a SIP submittal are approved by EPA, they cannot be
used for transportation conformity purposes unless EPA makes an
affirmative finding that MVEBs contained therein are ``adequate.'' Once
EPA affirmatively finds the submitted MVEBs adequate for transportation
conformity purposes, those MVEBs can be used by the State and Federal
agencies in determining whether proposed transportation projects
``conform'' to the SIP even though the approval of the SIP revision
containing those MVEBs has not yet been finalized. EPA's substantive
criteria for determining ``adequacy'' of MVEBs in submitted SIPs are
set out in EPA's Transportation Conformity Rule at 40 CFR 93.118(e)(4).
In a letter dated August 16, 2005, to Barry Stephens, Director of
the Air Pollution Control Division of TDEC, EPA informed the State of
its intention to find the new 2016 MVEBs adequate for transportation
conformity purposes. Subsequently, in a Final Federal Register notice
dated September 16, 2005, (70 FR 54738) EPA found the Nashville Area's
2016 MVEBs adequate. These MVEBs meet the adequacy criteria contained
in the Transportation Conformity Rule. Both the 2006 and 2016 MVEBs for
the Nashville Area are currently being used for transportation
conformity determinations. For transportation plan analysis years that
involve the year 2015 or before, the applicable budget for the purposes
of conducting transportation conformity analysis will be the 2006 MVEBs
for VOC of 53.17 tpd and for NOX of 96.60 tpd for the
Nashville Area. For transportation plan analysis years that involve the
year 2016 or beyond, the applicable budget for the purposes of
conducting transportation conformity analysis will be the 2016 MVEB for
VOC of 19.18 tpd and for NOX of 36.01 tpd for the Nashville
Area.
V. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews
Under Executive Order 12866 (58 FR 51735, October 4, 1993), this
action is not a ``significant regulatory action'' and therefore is not
subject to review by the Office of Management and Budget. For this
reason, this action is also not subject to Executive Order 13211,
``Actions Concerning Regulations That Significantly Affect Energy
Supply, Distribution, or Use'' (66 FR 28355, May 22, 2001). This action
merely approves state law as meeting Federal requirements and imposes
no additional requirements beyond those imposed by state law.
Accordingly, the Administrator certifies that this rule will not have a
significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities
under the Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 601 et seq.). Because
this rule approves pre-existing requirements under state law and does
not impose any additional enforceable duty beyond that required by
state law, it 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).
This rule also does not have tribal implications because it will
not have a substantial direct effect on one or more Indian tribes, on
the relationship between the Federal Government and Indian tribes, or
on the distribution of power and responsibilities between the Federal
Government and Indian tribes, as specified by Executive Order 13175 (65
FR 67249, November 9, 2000). This action also does not have Federalism
implications because it does not have substantial direct effects on the
states, on the relationship between the national government and the
states, or on the distribution of power and responsibilities among the
various levels of government, as specified in Executive Order 13132 (64
FR 43255, August 10, 1999). This action merely approves a state rule
implementing a Federal standard, and does not alter the relationship or
the distribution of power and responsibilities established in the Clean
Air Act. This rule also is not subject to Executive Order 13045
``Protection of Children from Environmental Health Risks and Safety
Risks'' (62 FR 19885, April 23, 1997), because it is not economically
significant.
In reviewing SIP submissions, EPA's role is to approve state
choices, provided that they meet the criteria of the Clean Air Act. In
this context, in the absence of a prior existing requirement for the
state to use voluntary consensus standards (VCS), EPA has no authority
to disapprove a SIP submission for failure to use VCS. It would thus be
inconsistent with applicable law for EPA, when it reviews a SIP
submission, to use VCS in place of a SIP submission that otherwise
satisfies the provisions of the Clean Air Act. Thus, the requirements
of section 12(d) of the National Technology Transfer and Advancement
Act of 1995 (15 U.S.C. 272 note) do not apply. This rule does not
impose an information collection burden under the provisions of the
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.).
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 rule and other
required information to the U.S. Senate,
[[Page 65842]]
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).
Under section 307(b)(1) of the Clean Air Act, petitions for
judicial review of this action must be filed in the United States Court
of Appeals for the appropriate circuit by January 3, 2006. Filing a
petition for reconsideration by the Administrator of this final rule
does not affect the finality of this rule 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. This action 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, Intergovernmental
relations, Nitrogen dioxide, Ozone, Volatile organic compounds.
Dated: October 17, 2005.
A. Stanley Meiburg,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region 4.
0
40 CFR part 52 is amended as follows:
PART 52--[AMENDED]
0
1. The authority citation for part 52 continues to read as follows:
Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.
Subpart RR--Tennessee
0
2. Section 52.2220(e) is amended by adding a new entry at the end of
the table for ``Nashville 1-Hour Ozone Second 10-Year Maintenance
Plan'' to read as follows:
Sec. 52.2220 Identification of plan.
(e) * * *
EPA Approved Tennessee Non-Regulatory Provisions
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Applicable
Name of nonregulatory SIP geographic or State effective date EPA approval date Explanation
provision nonattainment area
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* * * * * * *
Nashville 1-Hour Ozone Second 10- Nashville........... August 10, 2005..... November 1, 2005 [Insert first page ...................................
Year Maintenance Plan. of publication].
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[FR Doc. 05-21528 Filed 10-31-05; 8:45 am]
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