[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 125 (Friday, June 27, 2008)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 36439-36443]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-14518]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 52
[EPA-R10-OAR-2007-0998; FRL-8684-1]
Approval and Promulgation of State Implementation Plans:
Washington; Vancouver Air Quality Maintenance Area Second 10-Year
Carbon Monoxide Maintenance Plan
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Direct final rule.
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SUMMARY: EPA is taking direct final action to approve a State
Implementation Plan (SIP) revision submitted by the State of
Washington. The Washington State Department of Ecology submitted the
Vancouver Air Quality Maintenance Area Second 10-year Carbon Monoxide
Maintenance Plan on April 25, 2007. In accordance with the requirements
of the Federal Clean Air Act (the Act), EPA is approving Washington's
revision because the State adequately demonstrates that the Vancouver
Air Quality Maintenance Area will maintain air quality standards for
carbon monoxide (CO) through the year 2016.
DATES: This rule is effective on August 26, 2008, without further
notice, unless EPA receives adverse comment by July 28, 2008. If EPA
receives adverse comment, we will publish a timely withdrawal in the
Federal Register informing the public that the rule will not take
effect.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-R10-
OAR-2007-0998, by any of the following methods:
http://www.regulations.gov: Follow the on-line
instructions for submitting comments.
E-mail: [email protected].
Mail: Claudia Vergnani Vaupel, U.S. EPA Region 10, Office
of Air, Waste and Toxics (AWT-107), 1200 Sixth Avenue, Suite 900,
Seattle, WA 98101.
Hand Delivery/Courier: U.S. EPA Region 10, 1200 Sixth
Avenue, Suite 900, Seattle, WA 98101. Attention: Claudia Vergnani
Vaupel, Office of Air, Waste and Toxics, AWT--107. Such deliveries are
only accepted during normal hours of operation, and special
arrangements should be made for deliveries of boxed information.
Instructions: Direct your comments to Docket ID No. EPA-R10-OAR-
2007-0998. 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'' 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 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
[[Page 36440]]
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 docket are listed in the http://www.regulations.gov index. Although listed in the index, some
information is not publicly available, e.g., 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. Publicly available docket
materials are available either electronically in http://www.regulations.gov or in hard copy during normal business hours at the
Office of Air, Waste and Toxics, U.S. EPA Region 10, 1200 Sixth Avenue,
Seattle, WA 98101.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Claudia Vergnani Vaupel at telephone
number: (206) 553-6121, e-mail address: [email protected], fax
number: (206) 553-0110, or Gina Bonifacino at telephone number: (206)
553-2970, e-mail address: [email protected], or the above EPA,
Region 10 address.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Table of Contents
I. General Information
II. What is the Purpose of this Action?
III. What is the Background for this Action?
IV. How Have the Public and Stakeholders Been Involved in this
Rulemaking Process?
V. Evaluation of Washington's Submittal
VI. Transportation and General Conformity
VII. Final Action
VIII. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews
I. General Information
A. What Should I Consider as I Prepare My Comments for EPA?
1. Submitting CBI. Do not submit this information to EPA through
RME, 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 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) part 2.
2. Tips for Preparing Your Comments. When submitting comments,
remember to:
i. Identify the rulemaking by docket number and other identifying
information (subject heading, Federal Register date and page number).
ii. Follow directions--The Agency may ask you to respond to
specific questions or organize comments by referencing a Code of
Federal Regulations (CFR) part or section number.
iii. Explain why you agree or disagree; suggest alternatives and
substitute language for your requested changes.
iv. Describe any assumptions and provide any technical information
and/or data that you used.
v. If you estimate potential costs or burdens, explain how you
arrived at your estimate in sufficient detail to allow for it to be
reproduced.
vi. Provide specific examples to illustrate your concerns, and
suggest alternatives.
vii. Explain your views as clearly as possible, avoiding the use of
profanity or personal threats.
viii. Make sure to submit your comments by the comment period
deadline identified.
II. What Is the Purpose of This Action?
EPA is taking direct final action to approve the Second 10-year CO
Maintenance Plan for the Vancouver, Washington Air Quality Maintenance
Area. Vancouver attained the CO national ambient air quality standards
(NAAQS) in 1996 and has not violated the standard since 1990. The
second 10-year CO maintenance plan submitted by the state of Washington
is designed to keep the Vancouver area in attainment for the CO
standard for a second ten-year period beyond redesignation.
III. What Is the Background for This Action?
Under section 107(d)(1)(C) of the Act, any area designated before
the date of enactment of the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 (CAAA)
was to be designated upon enactment by operation of law. Under section
107(d)(1)(A) of the Act, States were required by 120 days after
enactment of the CAAA, to submit lists designating all areas of the
State as attainment, unclassifiable, or nonattainment.
Accordingly, on March 15, 1991, letters were submitted by the
governors of Washington and Oregon to the EPA Region 10 Administrator
recommending the Vancouver and Portland areas, respectively, be
designated as nonattainment for CO. On November 6, 1991 (56 FR 56694)
the areas were designated by EPA as nonattainment for CO and classified
as ``moderate'' with design values less than or equal to 12.7 parts per
million (ppm) under the provisions outlined in sections 186 and 187 of
the Act. On September 29, 1995 (60 FR 50423) EPA divided the Portland-
Vancouver area into separate nonattainment areas for each state.
The State of Washington, following the requirements of the Act,
prepared and submitted revisions to the Washington SIP that first
included an attainment plan, and then developed a plan to demonstrate
maintenance of the standard for a 10-year period beyond the statutory
attainment date. EPA published approval of a redesignation request to
attainment and the first 10-year maintenance plan on October 21, 1996
(61 FR 54560). The first 10-year CO maintenance plan included a
commitment for periodic review of the plan and submission of the second
10-year maintenance plan. The State of Washington submitted a second
10-year maintenance plan to EPA on April 25, 2007.
The national 8-hour CO ambient standard is attained when the daily
average 8-hour CO concentration of 9.0 ppm is not exceeded more than
once a year. Since the redesignation of the Vancouver area to
attainment for CO on October 21, 1996, the second highest concentration
in any calendar year measured by the approved monitoring network was
6.7 ppm, which is less than 9.0 ppm. Therefore the area is attaining
the CO NAAQS.
In addition, areas that can demonstrate design values at or below
7.65 ppm (85 percent of exceedance levels of the CO NAAQS) for 8
consecutive quarters may use a Limited Maintenance Plan option. The
current 8-hour CO design value for the Vancouver area is 4.8 ppm based
on 2004-2005 data. The State of Washington has opted to develop a
Limited Maintenance Plan to fulfill the Vancouver Area second 10-year
maintenance period required by the Act.
IV. How Have the Public and Stakeholders Been Involved in This
Rulemaking Process?
Section 110(a)(2) of the Act requires that each SIP revision be
adopted after reasonable notice and public hearing. This must occur
prior to the revision being submitted by a State to us. The state of
Washington held a public hearing on March 1, 2007 in Vancouver,
Washington. A notice of public hearing
[[Page 36441]]
was published in The Columbian on January 29, 2007. A notice was also
published in the Washington State Register on February 7, 2007. This
SIP revision became State effective on April 9, 2007, and was submitted
by the Governor's designee to us on April 25, 2007. EPA has evaluated
the State's submittal and determined that the State met the
requirements for reasonable notice and public hearing under section
110(a)(2) of the Act.
V. Evaluation of Washington's Submittal
EPA has reviewed the State's revised CO maintenance plan for the
Vancouver air quality maintenance. This revision provides the second
10-year update to the maintenance plan for the area, as required by
section 175A(b) of the Act. The following is a summary of the
requirements and EPA's evaluation of how each requirement is met.
A. Base Year Emissions Inventory
The plan must contain an attainment year emissions inventory to
identify a level of emissions in the area which is sufficient to attain
the CO NAAQS. The Vancouver CO second 10-year maintenance plan contains
an emissions inventory for the base year 2002 that is consistent with
EPA's most recent guidance on maintenance plan emission inventories.
The emissions inventory is a list, by source, of the air contaminants
directly emitted into the Vancouver CO area. The data in the emissions
inventory is based on calculations and is developed using emission
factors, which is a method for converting source activity levels into
an estimate of emissions contributions for those sources. Because
violations of the CO NAAQS are most like to occur on winter weekdays,
the inventory prepared is in a ``typical winter day'' format. The table
below shows the pounds of CO emitted per winter day in 2002 by source
category.
2002 Emission Inventory, Main Source Category Subtotals
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CO emissions
pounds per
Main source category winter day (lb/
d)
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Point Sources......................................... 4,396
Onroad Mobile Sources................................. 383,058
Non-road Mobile Sources............................... 56,837
Area Sources.......................................... 126,377
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Total............................................. 570,669
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B. Demonstration of Maintenance
The maintenance plan demonstration requirement is considered to be
satisfied for areas using the Limited Maintenance Plan option, which
are required to demonstrate design values at or below 7.65 ppm (85
percent of exceedance levels of the CO NAAQS) for 8 consecutive
quarters. The State of Washington has opted to develop a Limited
Maintenance Plan to fulfill the Vancouver Area second 10-year
maintenance period required by the Act.
With the Limited Maintenance Plan option, 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 level of the CO 8-hour NAAQS, the applicability of
prevention of significant deterioration requirements, the control
measures already in the SIP, and Federal measures, should provide
adequate assurance of maintenance over the 10-year maintenance period.
The last monitored violation of the CO NAAQS in Vancouver occurred in
1990 and monitored CO levels have been steadily in decline ever since.
The current 8-hour CO design value for the Vancouver CO area is 4.8 ppm
based on 2004-2005 data, which is below the limited maintenance plan
requirement of 7.65 ppm. Therefore, the Vancouver area has adequately
demonstrated that it will maintain the CO NAAQS into the future.
C. Monitoring Network and Verification of Continued Attainment
To verify the attainment status of the area over the maintenance
period, the maintenance plan should contain provisions for continued
operation of an appropriate, EPA-approved monitoring network in
accordance with 50 CFR part 58. The State of Washington has an approved
monitoring network that includes the Vancouver area. The monitoring
network was most recently approved by EPA on November 16, 2007. In
2006, the Southwest Clean Air Agency requested permission to remove the
CO monitor at the Atlas and Cox site in Vancouver and EPA concurred
that monitoring could be discontinued at the site. The State is
continuing to verify attainment by conducting a triennial review of CO
emissions from the countywide emissions inventory.
D. Contingency Plan
Section 175A(d) of the Act requires that a maintenance plan include
contingency provisions. The Vancouver Area CO Maintenance Plan contains
a tiered level of response should the triennial emission inventory show
that annual county-wide on road mobile emissions have increased over
2005 levels. The contingency plan calls for analysis of appropriate
emission reduction measures and their implementation.
VI. Transportation and General Conformity
Transportation conformity is required by section 176(c) of the
Clean Air Act. EPA's conformity rule requires that transportation
plans, programs, and projects that are funded under 23 U.S.C. or the
Federal Transit Act conform to SIPs. Conformity to a SIP means that
transportation activities will not produce new air quality violations,
worsen existing violations, or delay timely attainment of the NAAQS.
The transportation conformity rule (40 CFR parts 51 and 93) and the
general conformity rule (40 CFR parts 51 and 93) apply to nonattainment
areas and maintenance areas covered by an approved maintenance plan.
Under either conformity rule, an acceptable method of demonstrating
that a Federal action conforms to the applicable SIP is to demonstrate
that expected emissions from the planned action are consistent with the
emissions budget for the area.
While EPA's Limited Maintenance Plan option does not exempt an area
from the need to affirm conformity, it explains that the area may
demonstrate conformity without submitting an emissions budget. Under
the Limited Maintenance Plan option, emissions budgets are treated as
essentially not constraining for the length of the maintenance period
because it is unreasonable to expect that the qualifying areas would
experience so much growth in that period that a violation of the CO
NAAQS would result. Similarly, Federal actions subject to the general
conformity rule could be considered to satisfy the ``budget test''
specified in section 93.158(a)(5)(i)(A) for the same reasons that the
budgets are essentially considered to be unlimited.
1. Transportation Conformity
While areas with maintenance plans approved under the Limited
Maintenance Plan option are not subject to the budget test, the areas
remain subject to other transportation conformity requirements of 40
CFR part 93, subpart A. Thus, the metropolitan planning organization
(MPO) in the area or the State must document and ensure that:
a. Transportation plans and projects provide for timely
implementation of SIP transportation control measures in accordance
with 40 CFR 93.113;
b. Transportation plans and projects comply with the fiscal
constraint element per 40 CFR 93.108;
[[Page 36442]]
c. The MPO's interagency consultation procedures meet applicable
requirements of 40 CFR 93.105;
d. Conformity of transportation plans is determined no less
frequently than every four years, and conformity of plan amendments and
transportation projects is demonstrated in accordance with the timing
requirements specified in 40 CFR 93.104;
e. The latest planning assumptions and emissions model are used as
set forth in 40 CFR 93.110 and 40 CFR 93.111;
f. Projects do not cause or contribute to any new localized carbon
monoxide or particulate matter violations, in accordance with
procedures specified in 40 CFR 93.123; and
g. Project sponsors and/or operators provide written commitments as
specified in 40 CFR 93.125.
EPA meets at least annually with the Washington Department of
Ecology, the Southwest Clean Air Agency, the Federal Highway
Administration, the Southwest Washington Regional Transportation
Council, and the Washington Department of Transportation to review
documentation and the Transportation Improvement Plan for the Vancouver
area and determine if the area is meeting the transportation conformity
requirements under 40 CFR part 93. Vancouver is currently meeting the
requirements under 40 CFR part 93, subpart A.
On November 19, 2007, EPA posted a notice finding the Vancouver CO
second 10-year maintenance plan adequate for transportation conformity
purposes. (See 72 FR 65019.)
VII. Final Action
In accordance with the requirements of the Federal Clean Air Act
(the Act), EPA is approving this revision to the State Implementation
Plan (SIP) because the State adequately demonstrates that the Vancouver
Air Quality Maintenance Area will maintain air quality standards for CO
through the year 2016. EPA is publishing this action without prior
proposal because the Agency views this as a noncontroversial amendment
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
August 26, 2008 without further notice unless the Agency receives
adverse comments by July 28, 2008.
If EPA receives such comments, then EPA will publish a timely
withdrawal of the direct final rule 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. The
EPA will not institute a second comment period on this rule. Any
parties interested in commenting on this rule should do so at this
time. If no such comments are received, the public is advised that this
rule will be effective on August 26, 2008 and no further action will be
taken on the proposed rule.
VIII. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews
Under the Clean Air Act, the Administrator is required to approve a
SIP submission that complies with the provisions of the Act and
applicable Federal regulations. 42 U.S.C. 7410(k); 40 CFR 52.02(a).
Thus, in reviewing SIP submissions, EPA's role is to approve state
choices, provided that they meet the criteria of the Clean Air Act.
Accordingly, this action merely approves state law as meeting Federal
requirements and does not impose additional requirements beyond those
imposed by state law. For that reason, this action:
Is not a ``significant regulatory action'' subject to
review by the Office of Management and Budget under Executive Order
12866 (58 FR 51735, October 4, 1993);
Does not impose an information collection burden under the
provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.);
Is certified as not having a significant economic impact
on a substantial number of small entities under the Regulatory
Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 601 et seq.);
Does not contain any unfunded mandate or significantly or
uniquely affect small governments, as described in the Unfunded
Mandates Reform Act of 1995 (Pub. L. 104-4);
Does not have Federalism implications as specified in
Executive Order 13132 (64 FR 43255, August 10, 1999);
Is not an economically significant regulatory action based
on health or safety risks subject to Executive Order 13045 (62 FR
19885, April 23, 1997);
Is not a significant regulatory action subject to
Executive Order 13211 (66 FR 28355, May 22, 2001);
Is not subject to requirements of Section 12(d) of the
National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act of 1995 (15 U.S.C. 272
note) because application of those requirements would be inconsistent
with the Clean Air Act; and
Does not provide EPA with the discretionary authority to
address, as appropriate, disproportionate human health or environmental
effects, using practicable and legally permissible methods, under
Executive Order 12898 (59 FR 7629, February 16, 1994).
In addition, this rule does not have tribal implications as
specified by Executive Order 13175 (65 FR 67249, November 9, 2000),
because the SIP is not approved to apply in Indian country located in
the state, and EPA notes that it will not impose substantial direct
costs on tribal governments or preempt tribal law.
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 action 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 August 26, 2008. Filing a
petition for reconsideration by the Administrator of this final rule
does not affect the finality of this action 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, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements.
Dated: June 10, 2008.
Michelle Pirzadeh,
Acting Regional Administrator, EPA Region 10.
0
For the reasons set out in the preamble, title 40, chapter I of the
Code of Federal Regulations is amended as follows:
[[Page 36443]]
PART 52--[AMENDED]
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1. The authority citation for part 52 continues to read as follows:
Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.
Subpart WW--Washington
0
2. Section 52.2475 is amended by adding paragraph (a)(4) to read as
follows:
Sec. 52.2475 Approval of plans.
(a) * * *
(4) Vancouver.
(i) EPA approves as a revision to the Washington State
Implementation Plan, the Vancouver Air Quality Maintenance Area Second
10-year Carbon Monoxide Maintenance Plan submitted by the Washington
Department of Ecology on April 25, 2007.
(ii) [Reserved]
* * * * *
[FR Doc. E8-14518 Filed 6-26-08; 8:45 am]
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