Approval and Promulgation of Air Quality Implementation Plans;
Maryland; Revisions to the 2005 ROP Plan for the Cecil County Portion
of the Philadelphia-Wilmington-Trenton 1-Hour Ozone Nonattainment Area
to Reflect the Use of MOBILE6
[Federal Register: April 15, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 73)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Page 19939-19943]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr15ap04-10]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 52
[MD161-3110a; FRL-7648-3]
Approval and Promulgation of Air Quality Implementation Plans;
Maryland; Revisions to the 2005 ROP Plan for the Cecil County Portion
of the Philadelphia-Wilmington-Trenton 1-Hour Ozone Nonattainment Area
to Reflect the Use of MOBILE6
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Direct final rule.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: EPA is approving State Implementation Plan (SIP) revisions
submitted by the State of Maryland. These revisions amend the 2005
rate-of-progress (ROP) plan in the Maryland SIP for the Cecil County
portion of the Philadelphia-Wilmington-Trenton nonattainment severe 1-
hour ozone nonattainment area. The intent of these revisions is to
update the Cecil County 2005 ROP plan's mobile emissions inventories
and motor vehicle emissions budgets (MVEBs) to reflect the use of
MOBILE6 and to amend the contingency measures associated with that
plan. These revisions are being approved in accordance with the Clean
Air Act (the Act).
DATES: This rule is effective on June 1, 2004, without further notice,
unless EPA receives adverse written comment by May 17, 2004. If EPA
receives such comments, it will publish a timely withdrawal of the
direct final rule in the Federal Register and inform the public that
the rule will not take effect.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by MD161-3110 by one of the
following methods:
A. Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. 
Follow the on-line instructions for submitting comments.
B. E-mail: Budney.Larry@epa.gov
C. Mail: Larry Budney, Mailcode 3AP23, U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency, Region III, 1650 Arch Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
19103.
D. Hand Delivery: At the previously-listed EPA Region III address.
Such deliveries are only accepted during the Docket's normal hours of
operation, and special arrangements should be made for deliveries of
boxed information.
[[Page 19940]]
Instructions: Direct your comments to Docket ID No.MD161-3110.
EPA's policy is that all comments received will be included in the
public docket without change, 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 regulations.gov or e-
mail. The federal 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
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.
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; and at the Maryland
Department of the Environment, 1800 Washington Boulevard, Suite 705,
Baltimore, Maryland 21230.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Larry Budney, Mail Code 3AP23, Energy,
Radiation and Indoor Environment Branch, U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency, 1650 Arch Street, Philadelphia Pennsylvania 19103, (215) 814-
2184, or by e-mail at Budney.Larry@epa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Clean Air Act Requirements
The Clean Air Act (the Act) requires that for certain ozone
nonattainment areas, states are to submit plans demonstrating a
reduction in volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions of at least
three percent per year, grouped in consecutive three year periods,
through the area's specified attainment date. This is known as the
rate-of-progress, commonly referred to as ROP, requirement of the Act.
The first ROP requirement covers the period 1990-1996 and is commonly
known as the 15 Percent Plan. Subsequent ROP milestone years are
grouped in three year intervals beginning after 1996. The ROP milestone
years for Cecil County are 1999, 2002, and 2005. To qualify for SIP
credit in ROP plans, emission reduction measures, whether mandatory
under the Act or adopted at the state's discretion, must ensure real,
permanent and enforceable emission reductions.
Section 172(c)(9) of the Act requires moderate and above ozone
nonattainment areas to adopt contingency measures to be implemented
should the area fail to achieve ROP or to attain by its attainment
date. In addition, section 182(c)(9) of the Act requires serious and
above areas to adopt contingency measures which would be implemented if
the area fails to meet any applicable milestone. States are required to
develop contingency measures in the event an area fails to meet ROP in
a given milestone year.
Under EPA's transportation conformity rule, like an attainment
plan, an ROP plan is referred to as a control strategy SIP (62 FR
43780, August 1, 1997). A control strategy SIP identifies and
establishes the MVEBs to which an area's transportation improvement
program and long range transportation plan must conform. Conformity to
a control strategy SIP means that transportation activities will not
produce new air quality violations, worsen existing violations, or
delay timely attainment of the relevant national ambient air quality
standard (NAAQS), the 1-hour standard for ozone in this case. Maryland
is required to identify MVEBs for both NOX and VOCs in the
Cecil County ROP plans for all milestone years.
On September 19, 2001 (66 FR 48209), EPA approved a 2005 ROP plan
the Cecil County portion of the Philadelphia area which was based on
the EPA emissions model MOBILE5. That plan included mobile source
emissions inventories for 1990 and 2005 and MVEBs budgets for the
milestone year 2005.
II. The Revisions to the Cecil County, Maryland 2005 ROP Plan
On March 8, 2004, the State of Maryland submitted a SIP revision to
EPA. This SIP revision, submitted by the Maryland Department of the
Environment (MDE), amends the Cecil County 2005 ROP plan to reflect the
use of the MOBILE6 emissions model. This SIP revision revises the1990
and 2005 motor vehicle emissions inventories and explicitly identifies
the 2005 MVEBs developed using the MOBILE6 emissions model. The March
8, 2004 submittal also amends the contingency measures associated with
the 2005 ROP plan for Cecil County. The revised 2005 ROP Plan for Cecil
County submitted on March 8, 2004, continues to demonstrate that the
2005 requirement for ROP is met.
A. The Emission Inventories
Table 1 summarizes the revised motor vehicle emissions inventories
for Cecil County in tons per day (tpd). The revised 1990 base year
inventories were updated using the MOBILE6 model. The 2005 inventories
were developed using MOBILE6 and the latest planning assumptions,
including 2002 vehicle registration data, vehicle miles traveled (VMT),
speeds, fleet mix, and 2005 SIP control measures. Only VOC inventories
are addressed here because Cecil County's ROP Plan does not rely on any
NOX substitution to meet the 2005 ROP emission reduction
target for VOC.
Table 1.--Projected Uncontrolled Motor Vehicle VOC Emissions Inventories
in Cecil County's 2005 ROP Plan
------------------------------------------------------------------------
1990 2005
Nonattainment area VOC VOC
(tpd) (tpd)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cecil County........................................ 8.59 5.00
------------------------------------------------------------------------
EPA has articulated its policy regarding the use of MOBILE6 in SIP
development in its ``Policy Guidance on the Use of MOBILE6 for SIP
Development and Transportation Conformity'' \1\ EPA's policy guidance
required the State to consider whether growth and control strategy
assumptions for non-motor vehicle sources (i.e., point, area, and non-
road mobile sources) were still accurate at the time the March 8, 2004,
submittal was developed. Maryland reviewed the growth and control
strategy assumptions for non-motor vehicle sources, revised those which
were not current and concluded that the remaining assumptions continue
to be valid for the 2005 ROP plan. Maryland's March 8, 2004 submittal
satisfies the conditions outlined in EPA's MOBILE6 Policy guidance, and
demonstrates that the new levels of motor vehicle emissions
[[Page 19941]]
calculated using MOBILE6 continue to support ROP for the projected
attainment of the 1-hour ozone NAAQS by the attainment date of 2005 for
the Cecil County portion of the Philadelphia-Wilmington-Trenton area.
EPA is approving these revisions to the 1990 and 2005 motor vehicle
emission inventories of the 2005 ROP plan for Cecil County, Maryland.
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\1\ Memorandum, ``Policy Guidance of the Use of MOBILE6 for SIP
development and Transportation Conformity,'' issued January 18,
2002. A copy of this memorandum can be found on EPA's Web site at
http://www.epa.gov/otaq/transp/traqconf.htm.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
B. The Revised Motor Vehicle Emissions Budgets (MVEBs)
Table 2 summarizes the revised MVEBs identified in MDE's March 8,
2004, submittal to EPA. These MVEBs were developed using the latest
planning assumptions, including 2002 vehicle registration data, VMT,
speeds, fleet mix, and 2005 SIP control measures. Maryland's March 8,
2004, submittal satisfies the conditions outlined in EPA's MOBILE6
Policy guidance, and demonstrates that the new levels of motor vehicle
emissions calculated using MOBILE6 continue to support ROP for the
projected attainment of the 1-hour NAAQS for ozone by Cecil County's
November 15, 2005 attainment date. These MOBILE6-based 2005 ROP MVEBs,
as shown Table 2, replace the previously approved MOBILE5-based MVEBs
in the 2005 ROP plan for Cecil County. EPA is approving these MOBILE6-
based budgets as revisions to the Cecil County 2005 ROP plan.
Table 2.--Maryland Motor Vehicle Emission Budgets for Cecil County
------------------------------------------------------------------------
2005 ROP
-------------------
Nonattainment area VOC NOX
(tpd) (tpd)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cecil County........................................ 3.0 11.3
------------------------------------------------------------------------
C. Demonstration That the 2005 Rate-of-Progress Target Continues To Be
Met
The State of Maryland's March 8, 2004 submittal of the revised 2005
ROP plan for Cecil County details how the 2005 ROP emission reduction
target is calculated in tons of VOC per day. For the year 2005, it also
projects what the uncontrolled VOC emissions from all sources (point,
mobile, and area) would be, the calculated creditable VOC reductions
from all Federal measures and SIP-approved emission control measures,
and the emission level obtained from implementation of those measures.
The revised 2005 ROP Plan for Cecil County submitted on March 8, 2004
continues to demonstrate that the 2005 ROP target level is met. EPA is
approving the MOBILE6-based revisions to the1990 and 2005 motor vehicle
emissions inventories and the 2005 MVEBs of the 2005 ROP plan for Cecil
County because that plan continues to demonstrate that the required ROP
target level for 2005 is met. Table 3 summarizes the ROP demonstration.
Table 3.--Summary of 2005 ROP Demonstration for Cecil County
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cecil County 2005 ROP Plan VOC tpd
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Projected Uncontrolled Emissions from All Sources of VOC 17.26
(includes growth)............................................
Reductions From All Creditable Emission Control Measures...... 9.86
Emission Level Obtained (uncontrolled emissions minus emission * 7.41
reductions from creditable control measures).................
Projected 2005 ROP Target Level............................... 7.73
Surplus Emission Reductions (target level minus emission level 0.32
obtained)....................................................
------------------------------------------------------------------------
*Note: Numbers are rounded.
D. Contingency Measures
Section 172(c)(9) of the Act requires moderate and above ozone
nonattainment areas to adopt contingency measures that would have to be
implemented should the area fail to achieve ROP or to attain by its
attainment date. In addition, section 182(c)(9) of the Act requires
serious and above areas to adopt contingency measures which would be
implemented if the area fails to meet any applicable milestone. EPA
previously approved the 2005 ROP plan for Cecil County (66 FR 48209,
September 19, 2001) including contingency measures. In the March 8,
2004, revision to Cecil County's 2005 plan, Maryland outlines its
approach for using the NOX reductions from its SIP-approved
rule banning open burning for contingency purposes. EPA encourages the
early implementation of required control measures and of contingency
measures as a means of guarding against failure to meet a milestone.
EPA allows for the substitution of NOX emission reductions
for VOC in contingency plans for ROP provided NOX reductions
are necessary for attainment. The emission reduction measures listed to
meet the 2005 target level for VOCs are expected to result in more
emission reductions than are needed to meet ROP requirements (see Table
3). Maryland's March 8, 2004, submittal indicates that it is now
dedicating all of the VOC emission reductions from its control measures
to control strategy portion of the 2005 ROP plan to ensure that the ROP
requirement (emission reduction target) is met. If contingency measure
credits are needed in the future to ensure that the 2005 reduction in
VOC emissions has been met, the excess NOX emission
reductions achieved through the open burning ban rule will be used. If
needed, a reduction of 0.74 tpd of NOX from the open-burning
ban rule is available to meet the VOC contingency requirement of the
2005 ROP plan utilizing NOX substitution. The open burning
ban rule was adopted and implemented as a part of the Maryland SIP's
attainment demonstration for the Philadelphia area approved by EPA (66
FR 54977, October 29, 2001), which demonstrated that NOX
reductions are needed for attainment. EPA is approving the revisions to
the contingency measures associated with the 2005 ROP plan for Cecil
County.
III. EPA's Evaluation of the March 8, 2004 SIP Revisions
On March 8, 2004, the State of Maryland submitted SIP revisions to
EPA for review and approval. These SIP revisions update the Cecil
County 2005 ROP plan's mobile source emissions inventories and MVEBs to
reflect the use of MOBILE6, and amend the contingency measures
associated with that plan. EPA has evaluated Maryland's March 8, 2004,
SIP revision submittal amending Cecil County's 2005 ROP plan for
consistency with the Act, applicable EPA regulations, policies and
guidance. The revised Cecil County 2005 ROP continues to demonstrate
that the three percent per year emissions reduction requirement of
section 182(b)(1) of the Act has been met. All control measures in the
ROP demonstration have been adopted and implemented by the State of
Maryland or are Federal measures being implemented at the national
level. All state control measures have been approved by EPA into the
Maryland SIP and are permanent and enforceable. A Technical Support
Document (TSD) has been prepared to support this rulemaking action.
Copies of the TSD may be obtained by contacting Larry Budney at Mail
Code 3AP23, Energy, Radiation and Indoor Environment Branch, U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency, 1650 Arch Street, Philadelphia
Pennsylvania 19103, by phone at (215) 814-2184, or by e-mail at
Budney.Larry@epa.gov.
IV. Final Action
EPA is approving the SIP revisions submitted by the State of
Maryland on March 8, 2004. These revisions amend the Cecil County 2005
ROP plan to update the plan's 1990 and 2005 motor vehicle emissions
inventories and MVEBs to reflect the use of the MOBILE6 emissions
model. The
[[Page 19942]]
revisions also amend the contingency measures associated with the Cecil
County 2005 ROP plan. The revised 2005 ROP for Cecil County submitted
on March 8, 2004 continues to demonstrate that the required ROP
emission reduction target for year 2005 is met. EPA is publishing this
rule without prior proposal because the Agency views this as a
noncontroversial amendment and anticipates no adverse comment. However,
in the ``Proposed Rules'' section of today's Federal Register, EPA is
publishing a separate document that will serve as the proposal to
approve the SIP revision if adverse comments are filed. This rule will
be effective on June 1, 2004, without further notice unless EPA
receives adverse comment by May 17, 2004. If EPA receives adverse
comment, EPA will publish a timely withdrawal in the Federal Register
informing the public that the rule will not take effect. EPA will
address all public comments in a subsequent final rule based on the
proposed rule. EPA will not institute a second comment period on this
action. Any parties interested in commenting must do so at this time.
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 June 14, 2004.
Filing a petition for reconsideration by the Administrator of this
final rule approving revisions to the motor vehicle emission
inventories and MVEBs of the 2005 ROP plan for Cecil County, Maryland
to reflect the use of the MOBILE6 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, Intergovernmental
relations, Nitrogen dioxide, Ozone, Reporting and recordkeeping
requirements, Volatile organic compounds.
Dated: April 7, 2004.
Judith M. Katz,
Acting 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 V--Maryland
? 2. Section 52.1076 is amended by adding paragraph (f)(3) to read as
follows:
Sec. 52.1076 Control strategy plans for attainment and rate-of-
progress: Ozone.
* * * * *
(f) * * *
(3) EPA approves revisions to the Maryland State Implementation
Plan, submitted by the Secretary of the Maryland Department of the
Environment on March 8, 2004, for the rate-of-progress (ROP) plan for
year 2005 for the Cecil County portion of the Philadelphia-Wilmington-
Trenton 1-hour ozone nonattainment area. These revisions update Cecil
County's 2005 ROP plan's 1990 and 2005 motor vehicle emissions
inventories and motor vehicle emissions budgets to reflect the use of
the MOBILE6 emissions model, establish motor vehicle emissions budgets
of 3.0 tons per day (tpd) of volatile organic compounds and 11.3 tpd of
nitrogen oxides, and amend the
[[Page 19943]]
contingency measures associated with the 2005 ROP plan for Cecil County.
[FR Doc. 04-8580 Filed 4-14-04; 8:45 am]
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