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Approval and Promulgation of Air Quality Implementation Plans; Pennsylvania; Revision to the 1-Hour Ozone Maintenance Plan for the Pittsburgh-Beaver Valley Area To Reflect the Use of MOBILE6

Note: EPA no longer updates this information, but it may be useful as a reference or resource.

  [Federal Register: December 10, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 237)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Page 71712-71714]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr10de04-12]

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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 52
[PA217-4232; FRL-7845-6]
 
Approval and Promulgation of Air Quality Implementation Plans; 
Pennsylvania; Revision to the 1-Hour Ozone Maintenance Plan for the 
Pittsburgh-Beaver Valley Area To Reflect the Use of MOBILE6

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: EPA is approving a State Implementation Plan (SIP) revision 
submitted by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The revision amends 
Pennsylvania's ten-year plan to maintain the 1-hour ozone national 
ambient air quality standard (NAAQS) in the Pittsburgh-Beaver Valley 
ozone maintenance area (the Pittsburgh area). The maintenance plan is 
being amended to revise the volatile organic compound (VOC) and 
nitrogen oxides (NOX) motor vehicle emission budgets (MVEBs) 
to reflect the use of MOBILE6. The intended effect of this action is to 
approve a SIP revision that will better enable the Commonwealth of 
Pennsylvania to maintain attainment of the 1-hour ozone NAAQS in the 
Pittsburgh area. This action is being taken in accordance with the 
requirements of the Clean Air Act.

DATES: Effective Date: This final rule is effective on January 10, 2005.

ADDRESSES: Copies of the documents relevant to this action are 
available for public inspection during normal business hours at the Air 
Protection Division, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region III, 
1650 Arch Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19103; the Air and 
Radiation Docket and Information Center, U.S. Environmental Protection 
Agency, 1301 Constitution Avenue, NW., Room B108, Washington, DC 20460; 
and Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, Bureau of Air 
Quality, P.O. Box 8468, 400 Market Street, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania 17105.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Larry Budney, (215) 814-2184, or by e-
mail at budney.larry@epa.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

    On October 19, 2001 (66 FR 53094), EPA redesignated the Pittsburgh 
area to attainment for the 1-hour ozone NAAQS and approved the 
maintenance plan submitted by the Pennsylvania Department of 
Environmental Protection (DEP) as a revision to the Pennsylvania SIP. 
The Pittsburgh area consists of Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Butler, 
Fayette, Washington and Westmoreland Counties. The approved maintenance 
plan demonstrates that the area will maintain the 1-hour ozone NAAQS 
for ten years from the date of its approval (i.e., through 2011). The 
maintenance plan includes VOC and NOX emission inventories 
for all (point, area, highway and non-road mobile) source sectors for 
the years 1990, 1999, 2007 and 2011. The highway, or on-road, portion 
of the mobile inventories also constitute the MVEBs for each year. 
Those MVEBs are to be used when performing analyses of transportation 
plans, programs and projects to demonstrate conformity. The MVEBs in 
the maintenance plan approved on October 19, 2001 are based upon the 
MOBILE5 emissions model.
    On April 22, 2004, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental 
Protection (PADEP) submitted a formal revision to its SIP, amending the 
Pittsburgh area maintenance plan. On July 1, 2004 (69 FR 39854), EPA 
published a direct final rule approving that SIP revision and a 
companion proposed rule providing opportunity for public comment (69 FR 
39892). A brief summary of Pennsylvania's April 22, 2004 SIP revision 
submittal is provided in Section II. A detailed description of 
Pennsylvania's submittal and EPA's rationale for its approval were 
provided in the July 1, 2004 direct final rule and will not be restated 
here. During the public comment period, EPA received adverse comments 
on its proposed approval of the SIP revision. The comments necessitated 
EPA's withdrawal of the direct final rule before its effective date. 
That withdrawal was published in the Federal Register on August 5, 2004 
(69 FR 47366). A summary of the comments and EPA's response are 
provided in Section III.

II. Summary of SIP Revision

    The April 22, 2004 SIP revision amends the Pittsburgh area's ten-
year maintenance plan for the 1-hour ozone NAAQS. The maintenance plan 
is being amended to revise the highway mobile source emissions 
inventory and, therefore, the MVEBs to reflect the use of the MOBILE6 
emissions model. The following table presents the revised MVEBs for the 
Pittsburgh area based upon MOBILE6. Emissions are presented in tons per 
Summer day:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                 2004     2007     2011
------------------------------------------------------------------------
VOC..........................................    74.03    60.42    45.68
NOX..........................................   140.63   110.37    77.09
------------------------------------------------------------------------

III. Summary of Comments Received and EPA Response

    EPA received timely adverse comments from one commenter, a private 
citizen from the State of New Jersey.
    Comments: The commenter states that air pollution transported east 
from power plants and manufacturing facilities in Pennsylvania is 
detrimental to the health of citizens in New Jersey, New York and other 
states. The commenter further states that due to the impact of its 
transported air pollution and, specifically, power plant emissions on 
other states, Pennsylvania must be held to the highest standards. The 
commenter also questions whether the existing standards are high enough.
    EPA Response: The comments regarding transported emissions from 
power plants and manufacturing facilities located in Pennsylvania to 
New Jersey, New York and other states, are not germane to EPA's 
approval of a revision to the Pittsburgh area maintenance plan to amend 
the onroad mobile emissions inventory and MVEBs to reflect the use of 
the updated MOBILE6 emissions model. Nor is the question as to whether 
the emission standards for power plants located in Pennsylvania are 
stringent enough germane to the approval of this SIP revision. This SIP 
revision only changes the mobile source emission inventories and 
budgets to reflect the current updated mobile source emissions 
estimation model. It makes no change to the emissions estimates or 
control measures applicable to stationary sources, including power 
plants and manufacturing facilities. The SIP as a whole, taking into 
account both the previously existing stationary source emissions and 
controls and the revised mobile source emissions and controls, 
continues to demonstrate maintenance for the required ten year period, 
as explained below. Thus, EPA concludes that control levels for both 
stationary sources and mobile sources in the Pittsburgh area are 
sufficient to demonstrate maintenance of the 1-hour standard in the 
area. In addition, the Pittsburgh area is in compliance with all 
applicable SIP-approved requirements relating to controls designed to 
prevent adverse impacts of transported pollution on downwind areas. In 
addition to reasonably available control technology requirements, the 
Commonwealth has adopted and is implementing additional ``post RACT 
requirements'' to reduce

[[Page 71713]]

seasonal NOX emissions in the form of a NOX cap 
and trade regulation, 25 Pa Code Chapters 121 and 123, based upon a 
model rule developed by the States in the Ozone Transport Region. That 
regulation was approved as a SIP revision on June 6, 2000 (65 FR 
35842). Pennsylvania has also adopted 25 Pa Code Chapter 145 to satisfy 
Phase I of the NOX SIP call. That regulation was approved as 
a SIP revision on August 21, 2001 (66 FR 43795).
    In evaluating the Commonwealth's SIP revision, EPA has confirmed 
that the use of the MOBILE6 model has been properly conducted by the 
PADEP, that the MVEBs have been clearly identified in the maintenance 
plan, and that the amended maintenance plan for the Pittsburgh area 
continues to demonstrate modeling to demonstrate maintenance of the 1-
hour NAAQS for ozone through 2011. Therefore, EPA has determined that 
the amendments to the Pittsburgh area's maintenance plan for the 1-hour 
ozone NAAQS are approvable.

IV. Final Action

    EPA is approving Pennsylvania's April 22, 2004 SIP revision to 
amend the Pittsburgh area's maintenance plan for the 1-hour ozone NAAQS 
to reflect the use of the updated MOBILE6 emissions model. The revised 
maintenance plan for the Pittsburgh-Beaver Valley area continues to 
demonstrate maintenance of the 1-hour NAAQS for ozone through 2011.

V. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

A. General Requirements

    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 (59 FR 22951, November 9, 2000). 
This action also does not have Federalism implications because it does 
not have substantial direct effects on the States, on the relationship 
between the national government and the States, or on the distribution 
of power and responsibilities among the various levels of government, 
as specified in Executive Order 13132 (64 FR 43255, August 10, 1999). 
This action merely approves a state rule implementing a Federal 
standard, and does not alter the relationship or the distribution of 
power and responsibilities established in the Clean Air Act. This rule 
also is not subject to Executive Order 13045 ``Protection of Children 
from Environmental Health Risks and Safety Risks'' (62 FR 19885, April 
23, 1997), because it is not economically significant.
    In reviewing SIP submissions, EPA's role is to approve state 
choices, provided that they meet the criteria of the Clean Air Act. In 
this context, in the absence of a prior existing requirement for the 
State to use voluntary consensus standards (VCS), EPA has no authority 
to disapprove a SIP submission for failure to use VCS. It would thus be 
inconsistent with applicable law for EPA, when it reviews a SIP 
submission, to use VCS in place of a SIP submission that otherwise 
satisfies the provisions of the Clean Air Act. Thus, the requirements 
of section 12(d) of the National Technology Transfer and Advancement 
Act of 1995 (15 U.S.C. 272 note) do not apply. This rule does not 
impose an information collection burden under the provisions of the 
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.).

B. Submission to Congress and the Comptroller General

    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. This rule is not a 
``major rule'' as defined by 5 U.S.C. 804(2).

C. Petitions for Judicial Review

    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 February 8, 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 to approve a revision to the Pittsburgh-
Beaver Valley area's maintenance plan for the 1-hour ozone NAAQS 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, Incorporation by 
reference, Nitrogen dioxide, Ozone, Reporting and recordkeeping 
requirements, Volatile organic compounds.

    Dated: November 24, 2004.
Donald S. Welsh,
Regional Administrator, Region III.

? 40 CFR part 52 is amended as follows:

PART 52--[AMENDED]

? 1. The authority citation for part 52 continues to read as follows:

    Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.

Subpart NN--Pennsylvania

? 2. Section 52.2020 is amended by adding paragraph (c)(226) to read as 
follows:

Sec.  52.2020  Identification of plan.

* * * * *
    (c) * * *
    (226) Revisions to Pennsylvania's 1-hour ozone maintenance plan for 
the Pittsburgh-Beaver Valley area to revise the highway mobile 
emissions and the motor vehicle emission budgets to reflect the use of 
MOBILE6. These revisions were submitted by the Commonwealth of 
Pennsylvania's Department of Environmental Protection on April 22, 2004.
    (i) Incorporation by reference.

[[Page 71714]]

    (A) Letter of April 22, 2004 from the Pennsylvania Department of 
Environmental Protection transmitting a revision to Pennsylvania's 1-
hour ozone maintenance plan for the Pittsburgh-Beaver Valley area.
    (B) Document entitled, ``Revision to the State Implementation Plan 
for the Pittsburgh-Beaver Valley Area--Revised Highway Vehicle 
Emissions Budgets'' dated April, 2004. The document revises the 
Pittsburgh-Beaver Valley 1-hour ozone maintenance plan, establishing 
revised motor vehicle emission budgets of 74.03 tons/day of volatile 
organic compounds (VOC) and 140.63 tons/day of nitrogen oxides 
(NOX) for 2004, 60.42 tons/day of VOC and 110.37 tons/day of 
NOX for 2007, and 45.68 tons/day of VOC and 77.09 tons/day 
of NOX for 2011.
    (ii) Additional Material. Remainder of the Commonwealth's April 22, 
2004 submittal pertaining to the revision listed in paragraph 
(c)(226)(i) of this section.

[FR Doc. 04-27167 Filed 12-9-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P

 
 

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