[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 105 (Thursday, June 1, 2006)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 31097-31100]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 06-5013]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 52
[EPA-R05-OAR-2006-0052; FRL-8177-8]
Approval and Promulgation of Maintenance Plan Revisions; Ohio:
Carbon Monoxide Maintenance Plan Updates; Limited Maintenance Plan
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Direct final rule.
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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is approving an
October 20, 2005, request from Ohio for a State Implementation Plan
(SIP) revision of the Cuyahoga County carbon monoxide (CO) maintenance
plan. The CO maintenance plan revision is an update to the current
approved maintenance plan and continues to demonstrate maintenance of
the CO National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) for an additional
10 years. The maintenance plan revision is submitted as a limited
maintenance plan for the Cuyahoga County, Ohio carbon monoxide area.
DATES: This rule is effective on July 31, 2006, unless EPA receives
adverse written comments by July 3, 2006. If EPA receives adverse
comments, EPA will publish a timely withdrawal of the rule in the
Federal Register and inform the public that the rule will not take
effect at that time.
ADDRESSES: Submit comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-R05-OAR-
2006-0052 by one of the following methods:
http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the on-line
instructions for submitting comments.
E-mail: [email protected].
Fax: (312) 886-5824.
Mail: John M. Mooney, Chief, Criteria Pollutant Section,
(AR-18J), Air Programs Branch, Air and Radiation Division, U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency, 77 West Jackson Boulevard, Chicago,
Illinois 60604.
Hand delivery: John M. Mooney, Chief, Criteria Pollutant
Section, (AR-18J), Air Programs Branch, Air and Radiation Division,
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 5, 77 West Jackson
Boulevard, 18th floor, Chicago, Illinois 60604.
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 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. excluding
Federal holidays.
Instructions: Direct your comments to Docket ID No. EPA-R05-OAR-
2006-0052. 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 whose
disclosure is restricted by statute. Do not submit information that you
consider to be CBI or otherwise protected through http://www.regulations.gov, or e-mail. The http://www.regulations.gov Web site
is an ``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 http://www.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 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. For additional instructions on submitting
comments, go to Section I of the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of
this document.
Docket: All documents in the docket are listed in the http://www.regulations.gov index. Although listed in the index, some
information is
[[Page 31098]]
not publicly available, e.g., CBI or other information whose disclosure
is restricted by statute. Certain other material, such as copyrighted
material, will be publicly available only in hard copy. Publicly
available docket materials are available either electronically in
http://www.regulations.gov or in hard copy at Environmental Protection
Agency, Region 5, Air and Radiation Division, 77 West Jackson
Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois 60604. This Facility is open from 8:30
a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding legal holidays. We
recommend that you telephone Patricia Morris, Environmental Scientist,
at (312) 353-8656 before visiting the Region 5 office.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Patricia Morris, Environmental
Scientist, Criteria Pollutant Section, Air Programs Branch (AR-18J),
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 5, 77 West Jackson
Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois 60604, (312) 353-8656,
[email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Throughout this document whenever ``we,''
``us,'' or ``our'' is used, we mean EPA. This supplementary information
section is arranged as follows:
I. What Should I Consider as I Prepare My Comments for EPA?
II. What Is the Background of This SIP?
III. What Is a Limited Maintenance Plan?
IV. What Does This Mean for Transportation Conformity?
V. What Action Is EPA Taking Today?
VI. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews
I. What Should I Consider as I Prepare My Comments for EPA?
A. Submitting CBI. Do not submit this information to EPA through
http://www.regulations.gov or e-mail. Clearly mark the part or all of
the information that you claim to be CBI. For CBI information in a disk
or CD-ROM that you mail to EPA, mark the outside of the disk or CD-ROM
as CBI and then identify electronically within the disk or CD-ROM the
specific information that is claimed as CBI. In addition to one
complete version of the comment that includes information claimed as
CBI, a copy of the comment that does not contain the information
claimed as CBI must be submitted for inclusion in the public docket.
Information so marked will not be disclosed except in accordance with
procedures set forth in 40 CFR part 2.
B. Tips for Preparing Your Comments. When submitting comments,
remember to:
1. Identify the rulemaking by docket number and other identifying
information (subject heading, Federal Register date and page number).
2. Follow directions--The EPA may ask you to respond to specific
questions or organize comments by referencing a Code of Federal
Regulations (CFR) part or section number.
3. Explain why you agree or disagree; suggest alternatives and
substitute language for your requested changes.
4. Describe any assumptions and provide any technical information
and/or data that you used.
5. If you estimate potential costs or burdens, explain how you
arrived at your estimate in sufficient detail to allow for it to be
reproduced.
6. Provide specific examples to illustrate your concerns, and
suggest alternatives.
7. Explain your views as clearly as possible, avoiding the use of
profanity or personal threats.
8. Make sure to submit your comments by the comment period deadline
identified.
II. What Is the Background of This SIP?
On October 20, 2005, the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency
(OEPA), submitted the final public hearing documentation for a SIP
revision request for the Cuyahoga County, Ohio carbon monoxide area.
The revision consists of a second follow-on ten year carbon monoxide
maintenance plan, and a request for a limited CO maintenance plan
designation. A public hearing was held on March 10, 2005, in Cleveland,
Ohio and a transcript from the public hearing was submitted.
In 1991, EPA designated Cuyahoga County, Ohio as a CO nonattainment
area (see 56 FR 56694 November 6, 1991). The State of Ohio developed
state implementation plans to control CO emissions through a number of
federally mandated control programs, as well as State initiated control
programs. These control measures resulted in the attainment of the
NAAQS for carbon monoxide in Cuyahoga County, Ohio. The area was
redesignated to attainment effective March 7, 1994, (59 FR 5332).
Section 175A of the CAA sets forth the elements of a maintenance
plan for areas seeking redesignation from nonattainment to attainment.
The plan must demonstrate continued attainment of the applicable NAAQS
for at least ten years after the EPA Administrator approves a
redesignation to attainment. Eight years after the redesignation, the
state must submit a revised maintenance plan which demonstrates
attainment for the ten years following the initial ten-year period. The
SIP submittal has been submitted by Ohio to meet the second maintenance
plan requirement of the CAA. This second maintenance plan supplements,
and does not replace, the original approved maintenance plan. The
commitments in the approved maintenance plan continue to apply for the
second 10 year timeframe.
Ohio originally submitted the emissions projections and SIP
revision request on December 24, 2003. However, the state did not
conduct a public hearing on the proposed SIP revision at that time. The
EPA wrote a letter to Ohio dated January 28, 2004, noting that the
public hearing requirements needed to be met. Ohio has now conducted
the appropriate public hearing and has submitted the public hearing
materials with the SIP revision request.
III. What Is a Limited Maintenance Plan?
EPA detailed the limited maintenance plan approach in a memorandum
entitled ``Limited Maintenance Plan Option for Nonclassifiable CO
Nonattainment Areas'' from Joseph Paisie, Group Leader, Integrated
Policy and Strategies Group, Office of Air Quality Planning and
Standards (OAQPS), dated October 6, 1995. Pursuant to this approach,
EPA will consider the maintenance demonstration satisfied for ``not
classified'' areas if the monitoring data show the design value is at
or below, 7.65 parts per million (ppm), or 85 percent of the level of
the 8-hour CO NAAQS. The design value must be based on eight
consecutive quarters of data. For such areas, there is no requirement
to project emissions of air quality over the maintenance period. EPA
believes that if the area begins the maintenance period at, or below,
85 percent of the CO 8 hour NAAQS, then the applicability of Prevention
of Significant Deterioration (PSD) requirements, the control measures
already in the SIP, and Federal measures, should provide adequate
assurance of maintenance over the 10-year maintenance period.
In addition, the design value for the area must continue to be at
or below 7.65 ppm until the time of final EPA action.
Current 2005 and 2006 8-hour CO design values for the Cuyahoga
County area meet the requirements for a limited maintenance plan. The 8
hour values from the Airdata reports were examined for Cuyahoga County
and have not exceeded the 7.65 ppm level for the time frame of 2001 to
2005. Because Cuyahoga County is an attainment/unclassifiable area and
meets the monitored CO levels, the area qualifies
[[Page 31099]]
for the limited maintenance plan option. The Ohio EPA will continue to
maintain a continuous CO monitoring network, meeting the requirements
of 40 CFR Part 58, that provides adequate coverage to verify continued
compliance with the CO NAAQS.
IV. What Does This Mean for Transportation Conformity?
Section 176(c) of the CAA defines transportation conformity as
conformity to the SIP's purpose of eliminating or reducing the severity
and number of violations of the NAAQS and achieving expeditious
attainment of such standards. The CAA further defines transportation
conformity to mean that no Federal transportation activity will: (1)
Cause or contribute to any new violation of any standard in any area;
(2) increase the frequency or severity of any existing violation of any
standard in any area; or (3) delay timely attainment of any standard or
any required interim emission reductions or other milestones in any
area. The Federal Transportation Conformity Rule, 40 CFR part 93
subpart A, sets forth the criteria and procedures for demonstrating and
assuring conformity of transportation plans, programs and projects
which are developed, funded or approved by the U.S. Department of
Transportation, and by metropolitan planning organizations or other
recipients of funds under title 23 U.S.C. or the Federal Transit Laws
(49 U.S.C. chapter 53). The transportation conformity rule applies
within all nonattainment and maintenance areas. As prescribed by the
transportation conformity rule, once an area has an applicable State
Implementation Plan with motor vehicle emissions budgets, the expected
emissions from planned transportation activities must be consistent
with (''conform to'') such established budgets for that area.
In the case of the Cuyahoga County, Ohio, CO limited maintenance
plan area, however, the emissions budgets may be treated as essentially
not constraining for the length of the second maintenance period as
long as the area continues to meet the limited maintenance criteria.
There is no reason to expect that this area will experience so much
growth in that period that a violation of the CO NAAQS would result.
The OEPA submittal includes projections of point, area, and mobile
source emissions out to the year 2015. During this timeframe, CO
emissions are projected to decrease from 248,801 tons per year in 2002
to 154,102 tons per year in 2015. The on-road mobile source emissions
are estimated at 219,912 tons per year in 2002 and are expected to
decrease to 120,267 tons per year in 2015. In other words, emissions
from on-road transportation sources need not be capped for the
maintenance period because, based on the available data, it is
unreasonable to believe that emissions from such sources would increase
to a level that would threaten the air quality in this area for the
duration of this maintenance plan. Therefore, for the limited
maintenance plan CO maintenance area, all Federal actions that require
conformity determinations under the transportation conformity rule are
considered to satisfy the regional emissions analysis and ``budget
test'' requirements in 40 CFR 93.118 of the rule.
Since limited maintenance plan areas are still maintenance areas,
however, transportation conformity determinations are still required
for transportation plans, programs and projects. Specifically, for such
determinations, transportation plans, transportation improvement
programs and projects must still demonstrate that they are fiscally
constrained (40 CFR part 108) and must meet the criteria for
consultation and Transportation Control Measure (TCM) implementation in
the conformity rule (40 CFR 93.112 and 40 CFR 93.113, respectively). In
addition, projects in limited maintenance areas will still be required
to meet the criteria for CO hot spot analyses to satisfy ``project
level'' conformity determinations (40 CFR 93.116 and 40 CFR 93.123)
which must incorporate the latest planning assumptions and models that
are available. All aspects of transportation conformity (with the
exception of satisfying the emissions budget test) will still be
required.
If one of the carbon monoxide attainment areas monitors carbon
monoxide concentrations at or above the limited maintenance eligibility
criteria of 7.65 parts per million then that maintenance area would no
longer qualify for a limited maintenance plan and would revert to a
full maintenance plan. In this event, the limited maintenance plan
would remain applicable for conformity purposes only until the full
maintenance plan is submitted and EPA has found its motor vehicle
emissions budgets adequate for conformity purposes or EPA approves the
full maintenance plan SIP revision.
V. What Action Is EPA Taking Today?
EPA is approving a SIP revision request submitted by the State of
Ohio. This SIP revision meets the requirement for a second 10 year
maintenance plan for Cuyahoga County, Ohio. The SIP revision
supplements the current approved CO maintenance plan and establishes a
limited maintenance plan with an unlimited budget for regional motor
vehicle emissions for the Cuyahoga County, Ohio CO maintenance area.
We are publishing this action without prior proposal because we
view this as a noncontroversial amendment and anticipate no adverse
comments. However, in the proposed rules section of this Federal
Register publication, we are publishing a separate document that will
serve as the proposal to approve the state plan in the event that
relevant adverse written comments are filed. This rule will be
effective July 31, 2006 without further notice unless we receive
relevant adverse written comments by July 31, 2006. If we receive such
comments, we will withdraw this action before the effective date by
publishing a subsequent document that will withdraw the final action.
All public comments received will then be addressed in a subsequent
final rule based on the proposed action. The EPA will not institute a
second comment period. Any parties interested in commenting on this
action should do so at this time. If we do not receive any comments,
this action will be effective July 31, 2006.
VI. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews
Executive Order 12866; Regulatory Planning and Review
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.
Executive Order 13211: Actions That Significantly Affect Energy Supply,
Distribution, or Use
Because it is not a ``significant regulatory action'' under
Executive Order 12866 or a ``significant energy action,'' 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).
Regulatory Flexibility Act
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.).
[[Page 31100]]
Unfunded Mandates Reform Act
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).
Executive Order 13175 Consultation and Coordination With Indian Tribal
Governments
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 (59
FR 22951, November 9, 2000).
Executive Order 13132 Federalism
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.
Executive Order 13045 Protection of Children From Environmental Health
and Safety Risks
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.
National Technology Transfer Advancement Act
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.
Paperwork Reduction Act
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.).
Congressional Review Act
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.
section 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 July 31, 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, Carbon monoxide,
Intergovernmental relations.
Dated: May 19, 2006.
Norman Niedergang,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region 5.
0
For the reasons stated in the preamble, part 52, chapter I, of title 40
of the Code of Federal Regulations 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 KK--Ohio
0
2. Section 52.1887 is amended by adding paragraph (e) to read as
follows:
Sec. 52.1887 Control strategy: Carbon monoxide.
* * * * *
(e) Approval--On October 20, 2005, Ohio submitted a State
Implementation Plan (SIP) revision of the Cuyahoga County carbon
monoxide (CO) maintenance plan. The CO maintenance plan revision is an
update to the current approved maintenance plan and continues to
demonstrate maintenance of the CO National Ambient Air Quality Standard
(NAAQS) for an additional 10 years. The maintenance plan revision is
submitted as a limited maintenance plan for the Cuyahoga County, Ohio
carbon monoxide area and provides an unlimited motor vehicle emissions
budget as long as the ambient CO levels remain below the 7.65 parts per
million design value specified as the criterion for the limited
maintenance plan.
[FR Doc. 06-5013 Filed 5-31-06; 8:45 am]
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