Approval and Promulgation of Implementation Plans; Kentucky and
Indiana: Approval of Revisions to 1-Hour Ozone Maintenance Plan for
Louisville Area
[Federal Register: September 20, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 181)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Page 56171-56174]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr20se04-8]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 52
[KY 146, 148--200419; IN 121-4; FRL-7812-4]
Approval and Promulgation of Implementation Plans; Kentucky and
Indiana: Approval of Revisions to 1-Hour Ozone Maintenance Plan for
Louisville Area
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Final rule.
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[[Page 56172]]
SUMMARY: The EPA is finalizing approval of the June 27, 2003, and June
26, 2003, revisions to the State implementation plans (SIPs) of the
Commonwealth of Kentucky and the State of Indiana to revise the 2012
motor vehicle emission budgets (MVEBs) using MOBILE6 for the Louisville
1-hour ozone maintenance area. The Louisville maintenance area includes
Jefferson County, Kentucky and portions of Bullitt and Oldham Counties
in Kentucky; and Clark and Floyd counties in Indiana.
DATES: This rule will be effective October 20, 2004.
ADDRESSES: Copies of Kentucky's submittal are available at the
following address for inspection during normal business hours:
Environmental Protection Agency, Region 4, Air Planning Branch, 61
Forsyth Street, SW., Atlanta, Georgia 30303-8960.
Copies of Indiana's submittal are available at the following
address for inspection during normal business hours: Environmental
Protection Agency Region 5, Air Programs Branch, Air and Radiation
Division, 77 W. Jackson Blvd., Chicago, Illinois 60604-3590.
The interested persons wanting to examine these documents should
make an appointment at least 24 hours before the visiting day.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Kentucky Submittal--Michele Notarianni, Air Planning Branch, Air,
Pesticides and Toxics Management Division, U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency Region 4, 61 Forsyth Street, SW., Atlanta, Georgia
30303-8960. Phone: (404) 562-9031. E-mail: notarianni.michele@epa.gov.
Indiana Submittal--Patricia Morris, Air Programs Branch, U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency Region 5, 77 West Jackson Boulevard,
Chicago, Illinois 60604-3590. Phone: (312) 353-8656. E-mail:
morris.patricia@epa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Today's Action
II. Background
III. Clarification
IV. Final Action
V. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews
I. Today's Action
In this final rulemaking, EPA is approving revisions to the
Kentucky and Indiana SIPs submitted by the Commonwealth of Kentucky,
through the Kentucky Department of Air Quality (KDAQ), on June 27,
2003, and submitted by the State of Indiana, through the Indiana
Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) on June 26, 2003. KDAQ
made this submittal on behalf of the Louisville Metro Air Pollution
Control District (``District''). The States'' revisions update the 2012
MVEBs and projected mobile source emissions using MOBILE6 for the
Kentucky and Indiana portions of the Louisville 1-hour ozone
maintenance area.
In this action, EPA is approving Kentucky's and Indiana's MVEBs. In
two rules published August 7, 2003 (68 FR 47059 and 68 FR 47060), EPA
found these MVEBs adequate for transportation conformity purposes. The
``Louisville transportation partners'' are currently using these MVEBs
to determine conformity. The Louisville transportation partners include
the Atlanta and Chicago regional offices of EPA; the Kentucky and
Indiana offices of the Federal Highway Administration; the Atlanta and
Indianapolis offices of the Federal Transit Administration; the
Kentucky Transportation Cabinet; the Indiana Department of
Transportation; the Louisville Metro Air Pollution Control District;
the Kentucky Department of Air Quality; the Indiana Department of Air
Quality; and, the Kentuckiana Planning Development Agency.
II. Background
The primary purpose of the SIP revisions that are the subject of
this action is to meet a commitment the District made in association
with the ozone redesignation request and maintenance plans for the
Louisville 1-hour ozone maintenance area that EPA approved on October
23, 2001 (66 FR 53665). As part of the ozone maintenance demonstration,
the District committed to update the 2012 MVEBs associated with the
maintenance demonstration for the Kentucky and Indiana portions of this
area within two years of the release of the EPA MOBILE6 emission factor
model. Briefly, a MVEB, in the context of a maintenance plan, is the
projected emissions of mobile sources that support a demonstration that
the area will continue to maintain the air quality standard for ten
years into the future.
In the District's maintenance demonstration, EPA initially allowed
the area to use interim emission projections to claim credit for
emission reductions associated with EPA's Tier 2/Low Sulfur fuel
program through a MOBILE5-based MVEB, on the condition that the area
make a commitment to revise the MOBILE5-based MVEB within two years of
the release of the new MOBILE6 emissions model. EPA did this because of
uncertainties associated with the ability of MOBILE5 to quantify the
benefits of the Tier 2/Low Sulfur fuel program. EPA officially released
MOBILE6 for use on January 29, 2002, and the Kentucky and Indiana SIP
revisions were developed to meet the original commitment noted above.
On January 5, 2004, EPA published a proposed rule (69 FR 302) to
simultaneously approve the June 27, 2003, and June 26, 2003, revisions
to the Kentucky and Indiana SIPs which include revised 2012 MVEBs using
MOBILE6 for both the Kentucky and Indiana portions of the Louisville 1-
hour ozone maintenance area. A detailed description of these revisions
and EPA's rationale for approving them is provided in the January 5,
2004, proposal and will not be restated here. The public comment period
ended February 4, 2004. No adverse comments were received on EPA's
proposal. EPA did receive, however, a request to clarify a particular
aspect of the rule, as discussed further below. The revised 2012 MVEBs
for the total Louisville area are 47.28 tons per day (tpd) for volatile
organic compounds (VOC) and 111.13 tpd for nitrogen oxides
(NOX).
III. Clarification
During the 30-day comment period for the proposed action, EPA
received a request to clarify whether EPA's proposed action on
Indiana's and Kentucky's June 26, 2003, and June 27, 2003, SIP
submittals removed the requirement for the Jefferson County inspection
and maintenance program, known as the Vehicle Emissions Testing or
``VET'' Program, from the Kentucky SIP because no credit was taken for
this program in the maintenance plan.
In developing the June 27, 2003, SIP revision, the District elected
not to take credit for reductions from the VET Program in Jefferson
County, Kentucky in Louisville's 1-Hour Ozone Maintenance Plan. (See
proposed rule published January 5, 2004, column 1, at page number 69 FR
303.) The District was able to demonstrate continued maintenance of the
1-hour ozone standard for the requisite timeframe without taking credit
for reductions from the Jefferson County VET Program. Nothing in the
Clean Air Act would require the District to take credit for any
program, even a mandatory one, that it does not need to demonstrate
continued maintenance. In fact, Clean Air Act section 175A provides for
transferring previously applicable programs in a SIP to the contingency
measures portion of a maintenance plan; the exercise of this authority
would require a revised SIP showing maintenance without the
[[Page 56173]]
mandatory measure. The relevant EPA policy concerning SIP revisions of
this type is contained in a May 12, 2004, Memorandum from Tom Helms,
Group Leader, Ozone Policy and Strategies Group, Office of Air Quality
Planning and Standards, and Leila H. Cook, Group Leader, State Measures
and Conformity Group, Office of Transportation and Air Quality, to the
Air Program Managers, the subject of which is ``1-Hour Ozone
Maintenance Plans Containing Basic I/M Programs.''
On September 22, 2003, Kentucky submitted a SIP revision to
transfer the Jefferson County VET Program from a mandatory measure to a
contingency measure in the SIP. This pending submittal is separate from
and unrelated to the revised budgets in the Louisville 1-Hour Ozone
Maintenance Plan, and will be addressed by EPA in the future in a
separate action. EPA was not, and is not, in this rulemaking taking
action on Kentucky's September 22, 2003, SIP revision to transfer the
Jefferson County VET Program to a contingency measure in the SIP.
Today's action only concerns approval of the revised MVEBs which do not
contain emission reductions from the VET Program. Approval of the SIP
revision to transfer the VET Program to the contingency portion of the
SIP will require review of that SIP revision and determination that it
complies with section 110(l) of the Act. That analysis has not yet been
completed.
IV. Final Action
EPA is finalizing approval of the 2012 MVEBs for both the Kentucky
and Indiana portions of the Louisville 1-hour ozone maintenance area.
The revised 2012 MVEBs for the total Louisville area are 47.28 tpd for
VOC and 111.13 tpd for NOX. EPA is approving the Kentucky
and Indiana SIP revisions because they are consistent with section 110
of the Clean Air Act, as interpreted by Agency policy and guidance.
Additionally, these SIP revisions meet the applicable requirements of
the Transportation Conformity Rule.
V. 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 (Public Law 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 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.).
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 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 November 19, 2004. 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, Nitrogen dioxide, Ozone, Reporting and
recordkeeping requirements, Volatile organic compounds.
Dated: August 6, 2004.
Bharat Mathur,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region 5.
Dated: August 30, 2004.
A. Stanley Meiburg,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region 4.
? Part 52 of chapter I, title 40, Code of Federal Regulations, 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 P--Indiana
? 2. Section 52.777 is amended by adding paragraph (z) to read as
follows:
[[Page 56174]]
Sec. 52.777 Control strategy: Photochemical oxidants (hydrocarbons).
* * * * *
(z) EPA is approving a revision to the Indiana SIP submitted by
Indiana on June 26, 2003. The revision is for transportation conformity
budgets for the Clark and Floyd portion of the Louisville area. The
revised 2012 motor vehicle emission budgets (MVEBs) for the total
Louisville area are 47.28 tons per day (tpd) for volatile organic
compounds (VOC) and 111.13 tpd for oxides of nitrogen.
Subpart S--Kentucky
? 3. Section 52.920(e) is amended by removing the entry for ``Louisville
Ozone Maintenance Plan'' and adding a new entry in it's place entitled,
``Louisville 1-Hour Ozone Maintenance Plan'' to read as follows:
Sec. 52.920 Identification of plan.
* * * * *
(e) * * *
EPA-Approved Kentucky Non-Regulatory Provisions
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Applicable State submittal
Name of non-regulatory SIP geographic or date/effective EPA approval date Explanations
provision nonattainment area date
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* * * * * * *
Louisville 1-Hour Ozone Jefferson County and 06/27/03 9/20/04 [Insert page
Maintenance Plan. portions of Bullitt citation
and Oldham Counties. publication in
Federal Register].
* * * * * * *
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[FR Doc. 04-21062 Filed 9-17-04; 8:45 am]
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