[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 161 (Monday, August 22, 2005)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 48874-48877]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-16596]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 52
[R04-OAR-2004-NC-0005-200513, FRL-7956-8]
Approval and Promulgation of Air Quality Implementation Plans;
North Carolina; Attainment Demonstration of the Mountain, Unifour,
Triad and Fayetteville Early Action Compact Areas
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Final rule.
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SUMMARY: The EPA is approving revisions to the State Implementation
Plan (SIP) submitted by the State of North Carolina, through the
Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) on December 21,
2004, for the four Early Action Compact (EAC) areas in North Carolina:
the Mountain, Unifour, Triad and Fayetteville areas (the North Carolina
EAC Areas). The SIP revisions meet the requirements for the North
Carolina EAC Areas to attain and maintain the 8-hour ozone national
ambient air quality standard (the 8-hour ozone standard) as described
in the EAC Protocol and related regulations. EPA is also now approving
the photochemical modeling used by North Carolina to support the
attainment and maintenance demonstration of the 8-hour ozone standard
in the North Carolina EAC Areas.
In this action, EPA is not finalizing its proposed rulemaking to
defer the effective date of the nonattainment designations for EAC
areas. In a separate action, published on June 8, 2005, EPA proposed to
defer the effective date of the nonattainment deferred designation for
EAC areas until December 31, 2006 (69 FR 23858). EPA final action on
the deferral is expected to be published before September 30, 2005.
[[Page 48875]]
DATES: This rule will be effective September 21, 2005.
ADDRESSES: EPA has established a docket for this action under Regional
Material in EDocket (RME) ID No. R04-OAR-2004-NC-0005. The EAC Protocol
can be found in RME ID No. R04-OAR-2004-NC-0005. The Protocol can also
be found at http://www.epa.gov/air/eac/. All documents in the docket
are listed in the RME index at http://docket.epa.gov/rmepub/. Once in
the system, select ``quick search,'' then key in the appropriate RME
Docket identification number. Although listed in the index, some
information is not publicly available, i.e., confidential business
information (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 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 a.m. to 4:30
p.m., excluding Federal holidays.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jane Spann, Regulatory Development
Section, Air Planning Branch, Air, Pesticides and Toxics Management
Division, Region 4, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 61 Forsyth
Street, SW., Atlanta, Georgia 30303-8960. The telephone number is (404)
562-9029. Ms. Spann can also be reached via electronic mail at
[email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Table of Contents
I. Background
II. Today's Action
III. Response to Comments
IV. Final Action
V. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews
I. Background
On May 26, 2005, EPA proposed approval of North Carolina's December
21, 2004, SIP revisions demonstrating attainment and maintenance of the
8-hour ozone standard, 0.08 parts per million (ppm), in the North
Carolina EAC Areas by December 31, 2007.\1\ Additional information
regarding the specific SIP revisions being approved today is available
in the proposed rule (70 FR 30389, May 26, 2005) included in this
Docket. The submitted revisions were necessary, pursuant to the April
30, 2004, designations of the North Carolina EAC Areas for the 8-hour
ozone standard. The SIP revisions are consistent with the requirements
established in the EAC Protocol and related regulations. For further
information on the designation process and the North Carolina EAC
designations, please see 69 FR 23858 (April 30, 2004).\2\ EPA received
public comments for thirty days on the SIP revisions being approved
today. The comments will be discussed below in Part III., ``Response to
Comments.''
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\1\ The 8-hour ozone standard was promulgated on July 18, 1997
(62 FR 38856).
\2\ As discussed in the April 30, 2004 designations and the May
26, 2005 proposal for the North Carolina SIP revisions, the North
Carolina EAC Areas include counties designated as unclassifiable/
attainment and nonattainment-deferred. The specific measures
included in the SIP revisions may be different depending on the
specific county's designation.
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Summary of EAC Process
An EAC is an agreement between a state, local governments, and EPA
to implement measures not necessarily required by the Clean Air Act
(CAA) in order to achieve cleaner air as soon as possible.\3\
Communities close to or exceeding the 8-hour ozone standard, that have
elected to enter into an EAC, have started reducing air pollution at
least two years sooner than required by the CAA. In many cases, these
reductions will be achieved by local air pollution control measures not
otherwise mandated under the CAA. In accordance with the EAC Protocol,
North Carolina submitted an EAC for the Unifour area on December 19,
2002, the Fayetteville area on December 20, 2002, and the Triad and
Mountain areas on December 23, 2002. The compacts themselves were
signed by state air quality officials, representatives of the local
communities, and the Regional Administrator for EPA Region 4. The EAC
program was designed for areas that approached or monitored violations
of the 8-hour ozone standard, but were in attainment for the 1-hour
ozone national ambient air quality standard (the 1-hour ozone
standard). The 1-hour ozone standard will be revoked for counties in
EAC areas one year after the effective dates of their respective 8-hour
ozone designations. 40 CFR 50.9(b).
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\3\ Further information about the EAC program is available in
the EAC Protocol and prior Federal Register notices available at
http://www.epa.gov/air/eac/.
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As part of the EAC program, EPA deferred the effective date of the
nonattainment designations for EAC areas that were violating the 8-hour
ozone standard, but continue to meet the milestones described in the
EAC Protocol. Details of this deferral were published in the Federal
Register on April 30, 2004 (69 FR 23858). On June 8, 2005, EPA proposed
to extend the deferred effective date of the nonattainment designation
through December 31, 2006 (70 FR 33409), for EAC areas that have met
their obligations. A subsequent action will continue the deferral until
December 31, 2007, when attainment evaluations will begin. Pursuant to
the EAC Protocol, the designation process is scheduled to be completed
by April 15, 2008. To date, the North Carolina EAC Areas have met all
EAC milestones. In April, 2008, it is anticipated that EAC areas with
air quality monitoring data showing attainment for the years 2005-2007,
that have also met all the compact milestones, will be designated
attainment for the 8-hour ozone standard. EPA believes that early
planning and implementation of control measures that improve air
quality will likely accelerate protection of public health. The EAC
program allows participating state and local entities to make decisions
that will accelerate meeting the new 8-hour ozone standard using a mix
of local, State, and Federal measures. All of the measures being
adopted today as part of the SIP revisions will be mandatory and
federally enforceable.
Brief Summary of Control Measures and Modeling
The details of the SIP revisions being approved today are available
for review under RME ID No. R04-OAR-2004-NC-0005. In addition, the
measures discussed in this paragraph are applied differently to
different areas depending on the specific area's designation (i.e.,
unclassifiable/attainment or nonattainment-deferred). Generally, the
SIP revisions include emissions inventory, modeling, control
strategies, and maintenance for growth elements as required by the EAC
Protocol. With regard to control measures, North Carolina's SIP
revisions include Federal, State, and local control measures. The
Federal control measures include, among others, Tier 2 vehicle
standards and low sulfur fuel. The State of North Carolina's Clean
Smokestack's Act (a recently enacted state law) is an example of a
statewide control measure being approved as part of the SIP revisions.
Other state control measures, such as expansion of the statewide
vehicle inspection and maintenance program, and the NOX SIP
Call Rule, are
[[Page 48876]]
already part of the SIP. Implementation of the state measures will
occur at a local level through county involvement in both
implementation and enforcement. The local control measures include,
among others, eliminating the use of coal-fired boilers during the
ozone season at an RJ Reynolds facility in the Triad EAC area, truck
stop electrification, and local ordinances regarding landscaping. All
of these measures, including the local measures, will be enforceable
once they are incorporated into the SIP.
In addition to control measures, the North Carolina SIP revisions
also include a maintenance for growth plan that meets and exceeds the
minimum requirements of the EAC Protocol for such a plan. The EAC
Protocol requires that maintenance be demonstrated through 2012. In
summary, the North Carolina plan demonstrates attainment until 2017,
commits to a mid-point evaluation in 2012, and commits to develop a
second 10-year maintenance plan from 2017-2027, among other elements.
The State of North Carolina used a process known as photochemical
modeling to evaluate attainment and maintenance of the 8-hour ozone
standard. Photochemical modeling performed by North Carolina used
control measures to model attainment and maintenance of the 8-hour
ozone standard through 2017, passing the attainment test for 2007,
2012, and 2017. Photochemical modeling is consistent with the EAC
Protocol and the EPA Draft modeling guidance that was provided to EAC
areas.\4\ In summary, the North Carolina modeling was based upon base
year emissions data from specific days in 1995, 1996, and 1997, with a
``current'' year of 2000. For further information on North Carolina's
modeling, see RME ID No. R04-OAR-2004-NC-0005.
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\4\ This guidance can be found at http://www.epa.gov/ttn/naaqs/ozone/eac/index.htm#Guidance.
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II. Today's Action
Today we are taking final action to approve revisions to the North
Carolina SIP under sections 110 and 116 of the CAA, 42 U.S.C. 7410 and
7416. The SIP revisions are consistent with the EAC Protocol and
related regulations. These revisions demonstrate attainment of the 8-
hour ozone standard within the North Carolina EAC Areas by 2007,
maintain it for five or more years beyond 2007, and incorporate the
control measures developed by these EAC Areas into the North Carolina
SIP.
III. Response to Comments
EPA Region 4 received a number of comments in response to the May
26, 2005, proposal to approve the North Carolina EAC Area SIP
revisions. The majority of the comments expressed support for the EAC
process and the goal of clean air sooner. Several commenters further
noted that the measures included in the SIP revisions demonstrate
attainment of the ozone standard by December 31, 2007. These commenters
supported EPA's proposal to approve the North Carolina EAC Area SIP
revisions. EPA received one comment that raised concerns about EPA's
proposal to approve the North Carolina EAC Area SIP revisions, although
the issues raised by this commenter were not directly relevant to the
May 26, 2005, proposal.
In the only unsupportive comment received, the commenter commended
North Carolina for the steps it has taken to improve air quality, but
noted opposition to today's action for two reasons. First, the SIP
revisions provide for the deferment of a nonattainment designation
until a future date potentially as late as December 31, 2007; second,
the revisions relieve the area of obligations under Title I, Subpart D
of the CAA. These two issues are directly related to the proposed
deferral of the nonattainment designations for the North Carolina EAC
Areas, published on June 8, 2005 (70 FR 33409), and not to today's
approval of the actual SIP revisions. In addition, these issues were
raised by the same commenter to EPA in response to the June 8, 2005,
deferral proposal. Because this comment relates to deferral issues, and
was also submitted in response to the proposed deferral, it will be
responded to by EPA in our subsequent rulemaking addressing the
deferred effective date for nonattainment designations for EAC areas.
When published, this final deferral rule will be available on the EAC
Web site http://www.epa.gov/air/eac/. Notably, contrary to the comment,
today's action neither provides for deferral of the nonattainment
designation nor relieves an area from obligations under Title I,
Subpart D of the CAA.
IV. Final Action
EPA is approving the revisions to the North Carolina SIP submitted
on December 21, 2004, pursuant to the EAC Protocol and resulting in
emission reductions needed to attain and maintain the 8-hour ozone
standard in the Mountain, Unifour, Triad and Fayetteville EAC Areas.
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
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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, 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 October 21, 2005. 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 CAA section 307(b)(2).)
List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 52
Environmental protection, Air pollution control, Carbon monoxide,
Intergovernmental relations, Nitrogen dioxide, Ozone, Particulate
matter, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, Volatile organic
compounds.
Dated: August 15, 2005.
J.I. Palmer, Jr.,
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 II--North Carolina
0
2. Section 52.1770(e) is amended by adding a new entry at the end of
the table for ``North Carolina Attainment Demonstration of the
Mountain, Unifour, Triad and Fayetteville Early Action Compact Areas''
to read as follows:
Sec. 52.1770 Identification of plan.
* * * * *
(e) * * *
EPA Approved North Carolina Non-Regulatory Provisions
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Federal Register
Provision State effective date EPA approval date citation
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* * * * * * *
Attainment Demonstration of the December 21, 2004...... September 21, 2005..... [Insert first page
Mountain, Unifour, Triad and number of
Fayetteville Early Action Compact publication].
Areas.
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[FR Doc. 05-16596 Filed 8-19-05; 8:45 am]
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