[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 206 (Wednesday, October 25, 2006)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 62384-62388]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-17854]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 52
[EPA-R04-OAR-2006-0531-200618(a); FRL-8233-8]
Approval and Promulgation of Implementation Plans; Tennessee:
Memphis/Shelby County Area Second 10-Year Maintenance Plan for the
Carbon Monoxide National Ambient Air Quality Standard
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Direct final rule.
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SUMMARY: EPA is approving a revision to the Tennessee State
Implementation Plan (SIP) submitted in final form on May 17, 2006. The
SIP revision provides the second 10-year maintenance plan for the
Memphis/Shelby County Carbon Monoxide (CO) Maintenance Area. The second
10-year maintenance plan includes a new motor vehicle emission budget
(MVEB) for CO for the year 2017. EPA is approving this SIP revision,
including the new 2017 MVEB for CO, because it satisfies the
requirement of the Clean Air Act (CAA) for the second 10-year
maintenance plan for the Memphis/Shelby County Area.
In addition, in this rulemaking, EPA is providing information on
its transportation conformity adequacy determination for the new MVEB
for the year 2017 that is contained in the second 10-year CO
maintenance plan for the Memphis/Shelby County Area.
DATES: This rule is effective on December 26, 2006 without further
notice, unless EPA receives adverse comments by November 24, 2006. If
we receive such comments, we will publish a timely withdrawal in the
Federal Register to notify the public that this direct final rule will
not take effect.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-R04-
OAR-2006-0531, by one of the following methods:
1. http://www.regulations.gov: Follow the on-line instructions for
submitting comments.
2. E-mail: [email protected], or [email protected].
3. Fax: (404) 562-9019.
4. Mail: ``EPA-R04-OAR-2006-0531'', 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.
5. Hand Delivery or Courier: Egide Louis, 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.
Instructions: Direct your comments to Docket ID No.: ``EPA-R04-OAR-
2006-0531''. 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 through
www.regulations.gov or e-mail, information that you consider to be CBI
or otherwise protected. 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 e-mail comment directly to EPA without
going through 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 information about EPA's public
docket, visit the EPA Docket Center homepage at http://www.epa.gov/epahome/dockets.htm.
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 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
legal holidays.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Egide Louis of the Regulatory
Development Section or Ms. Lynorae Benjamin of the Air Quality Modeling
and Transportation Section at the Air Planning Branch, Air, Pesticides
and Toxics Management Division, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency,
[[Page 62385]]
Region 4, 61 Forsyth Street, SW., Atlanta, Georgia 30303-8960. Dr.
Louis's telephone number is (404) 562-9240. He can be reached also via
electronic mail at [email protected]. Ms. Benjamin's telephone number
is (404) 562-9040 and her electronic mail is [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Table of Contents
I. What Is the Background for This Action?
II. What Is EPA's Analysis of the Memphis/Shelby County Area's
Second 10-Year Maintenance Plan?
III. What Is EPA's Action on the Memphis/Shelby County Area's Second
10-Year Maintenance Plan?
IV. What Is an Adequacy Determination and What Is EPA's Adequacy
Determination for the Memphis/Shelby County Area's New MVEBs for the
Year 2017?
V. Final Action
VI. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews
I. What Is the Background for This Action?
In 1992, based on measured air quality data, the Memphis/Shelby
County Area was able to demonstrate attainment with the CO National
Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) due to numerous control measures
implemented in the Memphis/Shelby County Area. As a result of the
measured air quality data, Tennessee petitioned EPA for redesignation
of this Area to attainment for CO. EPA redesignated the Memphis/Shelby
County Area to attainment based on the measured air quality data and a
10-year maintenance plan submitted for the Memphis/Shelby County Area
on July 26, 1994 (59 FR 37939).
The air quality maintenance plan is a requirement of the 1990 CAA
amendments for nonattainment areas that come into compliance with the
NAAQS and request redesignation, 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 10 years following the initial 10-year period (this
is known as the second 10-year maintenance plan). The second 10-year
maintenance plan updates the original 10-year CO maintenance plan for
the next 10-year period. Thus, pursuant to the CAA section 175A(b),
Tennessee was required to submit the second 10-year maintenance plan
for the Memphis/Shelby County Area demonstrating that it would continue
to attain the CO NAAQS in this area through at least 2014.
II. What Is EPA's Analysis of the Memphis/Shelby County Area's Second
10-Year Maintenance Plan?
On May 17, 2006, the State of Tennessee, through the Tennessee
Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC), Air Pollution
Control Division, submitted a SIP revision to EPA that provided for the
second 10-year maintenance plan for the Memphis/Shelby County Area as
required by section 175A(b) of the CAA. This second 10-year maintenance
plan for the Memphis/Shelby County Area includes a new CO emission
inventory for 1990 which reflects emission controls applicable for the
Memphis/Shelby County Area, and actual and projected emissions for
1990, 2002, 2007, and 2017. The SIP revision also establishes a new
MVEB for CO for 2017 for the Memphis/Shelby County Area.
The emission reduction measures for CO emissions implemented in the
Memphis/Shelby County Area from 1990 to 2002, and control measures that
are projected to occur between 2007 and 2017 are accounted for in the
1990 emission inventory and projected emissions estimates. Tables 1 and
2 provide emissions data and projections for CO with and without the
use of an inspection and maintenance (I&M) program, respectively. The
on-road mobile portion of the data was calculated with MOBILE6.2. The
difference between the 1990 mobile source base year emissions for this
maintenance plan and the initial maintenance plan are primarily a
result of a change in the mobile emissions factor model (e.g.,
MOBILE6.2) that was used to develop these emissions.
Table 1.--Memphis/Shelby Carbon Monoxide Area--Emission Inventory and Projected CO Emissions (1990-2017)--With
I&M Plan
[Tons per day]
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On-road
Year Area Non-road mobile with Point Total
mobile I&M
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1990............................ 10.14 100.83 893.76 22.77 1027.50
2002............................ 7.03 115.67 615.98 14.53 753.21
2007............................ 7.42 125.85 441.15 15.35 589.77
2017............................ 8.08 138.84 327.88 16.56 491.36
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Table 2.--Memphis/Shelby County Carbon Monoxide Area--Emission Inventory and Projected CO Emissions (1990-2017)--Without I&M Plan
[Tons per day]
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On-road Safety margin
Year Area Non-road mobile without Point Total based on 1990
mobile I&M emissions
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1990.................................................... 10.14 100.83 893.76 22.77 1027.50 n/a
2002.................................................... 7.03 115.67 654.37 14.53 791.60 235.90
2007.................................................... 7.42 125.85 492.13 15.35 640.75 386.75
2017.................................................... 8.08 138.84 383.33 16.56 546.81 480.69
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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. Since 1990, the
Memphis/Shelby County Area has not violated the CO standard for the 8-
hour average concentration as shown by monitoring data in Table 3. The
data also show a consistent downward trend in CO levels
[[Page 62386]]
as a result in part of the Federal Motor Vehicle Control Program. In
this SIP revision, the emissions from the year 1990 are used to
calculate a new attainment emissions level for the Memphis/Shelby
County Area. The emissions from point, area, non-road, and mobile
sources in 1990 equal 1027.50 tons per day (tpd) of CO. These emission
calculations were made using the MOBILE6.2 model and the most recent
version of the nonroad model. The projected emissions, with and without
I&M, are lower than the attainment level of emissions, thus
demonstrating continued maintenance of the CO NAAQS.
Table 3.--Summary of Memphis/Shelby County Area Carbon Monoxide
Monitoring Data
[In parts per million]
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Second highest
CO 8-hr
Year CO 8-hr NAAQS average value
\1\
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1990.................................... 9.0 8.8
1991.................................... 9.0 6.4
1992.................................... 9.0 8.2
1993.................................... 9.0 8.5
1994.................................... 9.0 8.0
1995.................................... 9.0 6.2
1996.................................... 9.0 6.3
1997.................................... 9.0 5.2
1998.................................... 9.0 5.4
1999.................................... 9.0 4.9
2000.................................... 9.0 4.4
2001.................................... 9.0 4.3
2002.................................... 9.0 3.5
2003.................................... 9.0 2.9
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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 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 CO was calculated as the difference between these
amounts or, in this case, 480.69 tpd for 2017. The emissions are
projected to maintain the Memphis/Shelby County Area's air quality
consistent with the CO 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.
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 a SIP. In
this SIP revision, the Memphis/Shelby County Area used MOBILE6.2 to
establish a MVEB for CO for the year 2017. The State of Tennessee has
chosen to allocate 95% of the safety margin (i.e., 456.66 tpd) to the
transportation section. This MVEB is listed in Table 4.
Table 4.--Memphis/Shelby County Carbon Monoxide Maintenance Area MVEB With Safety Margin Included
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2017 Projected on-
road emissions Allocated safety 2017 MVEB with
(tons per day) margin safety margin
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CO.................................................. 383.33 456.66 839.99
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The MVEB presented in Table 4 is directly reflective of the
combined on-road (or ``highway'') emissions for the Memphis/Shelby
County Area for CO, plus an allocation from the available safety margin
(95%). After allocation of the safety margin to the MVEB, the remaining
safety margin for future allocation is 24.03 tpd. In summary, the new
CO MVEB for the year 2017 is 839.99 tpd.
III. What Is EPA's Action on the Memphis/Shelby County Area's Second
10-Year Maintenance Plan?
EPA is approving Tennessee's SIP revision pertaining to the
Memphis/Shelby County Area's second 10-year maintenance plan for CO.
Approval of the maintenance plan for Memphis/Shelby County Area is
appropriate, because the State of Tennessee has demonstrated that the
plan meets the requirements of section 175A as described fully in this
rulemaking. Additionally, EPA is finding adequate and approving the new
2017 MVEB, submitted by Tennessee for Memphis/Shelby County, in
conjunction with its maintenance plan update. Within 24 months from the
effective date of this action, the transportation partners will need to
demonstrate conformity to this new MVEB pursuant to 40 CFR 93.104(e).
IV. What Is an Adequacy Determination and What Is EPA's Adequacy
Determination for the Memphis/Shelby County Area's New MVEB for the
Year 2017?
Under Section 176(c) of the CAA, new transportation projects, such
as the construction of new highways, must ``conform'' to (i.e., 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 the 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).
EPA's process for determining ``adequacy'' consists of three basic
steps: public notification of a SIP submission, a public comment
period, and EPA's
[[Page 62387]]
adequacy finding. This process for determining the adequacy of
submitted SIP MVEBs was initially outlined in EPA's May 14, 1999
guidance, ``Conformity Guidance on Implementation of March 2, 1999,
Conformity Court Decision.'' This guidance was finalized in the
Transportation Conformity Rule Amendments for the ``New 8-Hour Ozone
and PM2.5 National Ambient Air Quality Standards and Miscellaneous
Revisions for Existing Areas; Transportation Conformity Rule
Amendments--Response to Court Decision and Additional Rule Change'' on
July 1, 2004 (69 FR 40004). EPA follows this guidance and rulemaking in
making its adequacy determinations.
Memphis/Shelby County Area's second 10-year maintenance plan
submission contained a new MVEB for the year 2017. The availability of
the SIP submission with the 2017 MVEB was announced for public comment
on EPA's adequacy Web page on June 6, 2006, at: http://www.epa.gov/otaq/stateresources/transconf/currsips.htm. The adequacy comment period
for this MVEB closed on July 6, 2006. No requests for the submittal or
adverse comments were received during EPA's Adequacy Public Comment
Period.
Through this rulemaking, EPA is finding adequate this 2017 MVEB for
use to determine transportation conformity because this MVEB meets the
adequacy criteria contained in the Transportation Conformity Rule. The
2017 MVEB for CO for the Memphis/Shelby County Area is 839.99 tpd.
V. Final Action
EPA is approving the aforementioned changes to the SIP. EPA is
publishing this rule without prior proposal because the Agency views
this as a noncontroversial submittal and anticipates no adverse
comments. However, in the proposed rules section of this Federal
Register publication, EPA is publishing a separate document that will
serve as the proposal to approve the SIP revision should adverse
comments be filed. This rule will be effective December 26, 2006
without further notice unless the Agency receives adverse comments by
November 24, 2006.
If EPA receives such comments, then EPA will publish a document
withdrawing the final rule and informing the public that the rule will
not take effect. All public comments received will then be addressed in
a subsequent final rule based on the proposed rule. EPA will not
institute a second comment period. Parties interested in commenting
should do so at this time. If no such comments are received, the public
is advised that this rule will be effective on December 26, 2006 and no
further action will be taken on the proposed rule.
VI. 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 affects the status of a
geographical area, does not impose any new requirements on sources or
allow a state to avoid adopting or implementing other requirements, and
does not alter the relationship or the distribution of power and
responsibilities established in the CAA. 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 CAA. 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 CAA. 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 CAA, petitions for judicial review
of this action must be filed in the United States Court of Appeals for
the appropriate circuit by December 26, 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, Ozone, Reporting and recordkeeping
requirements.
[[Page 62388]]
Dated: October 6, 2006.
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 ``Carbon Monoxide Second 10-Year Maintenance Plan for the
Memphis/Shelby County Area'' 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 EPA approval date Explanation
provision nonattainment area effective date
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* * * * * * *
Carbon Monoxide Second 10-Year Memphis/Shelby..... 5/10/2006 10/25/2006 [Insert
Maintenance Plan for the first page of
Memphis/Shelby County Area. publication].
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[FR Doc. E6-17854 Filed 10-24-06; 8:45 am]
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