[Federal Register: October 28, 2003 (Volume 68, Number 208)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Page 61379-61382]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr28oc03-22]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 52
[Region II Docket No. NY63-263, FRL-7579-5]
Approval and Promulgation of Implementation Plans; New York;
Revised Motor Vehicle Emissions Budgets for 1990 and 2007 Using MOBILE6
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Proposed rule.
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SUMMARY: EPA is proposing to approve a revision to the New York State
Implementation Plan (SIP) for the attainment and maintenance of the 1-
hour national ambient air quality standard (NAAQS) for ozone.
Specifically, EPA is proposing approval of New York's: revised 1990 and
2007 motor vehicle emission budgets recalculated using MOBILE6; and
modified date for submittal of the State's mid-course review. The
intended effect of this action is to approve a SIP revision that will
help the State continue to plan for attainment of the 1-hour NAAQS for
ozone in its portion of the New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island
nonattainment area (NAA).
DATES: Comments must be received on or before November 28, 2003. Public
comments on this action are requested and will be considered before
taking final action.
ADDRESSES: Comments may be submitted either by mail or electronically.
Written comments should be mailed to Raymond Werner, Chief, Air
Programs Branch, Environmental Protection Agency, Region 2 Office, 290
Broadway, New York, New York 10007-1866. Electronic comments could be sent either to Werner.Raymond@epa.gov or to http://www.regulations.gov,
which is an alternative method for submitting electronic comments to
EPA. Go directly to http://www.regulations.gov, then select
``Environmental Protection Agency'' at the top of the page and use the
``go'' button. Please follow the on-
[[Page 61380]]
line instructions for submitting comments.
Copies of the documents relevant to this action are available for
public inspection during normal business hours at the following
locations: Environmental Protection Agency, Region 2 Office, Air
Programs Branch, 290 Broadway, 25th Floor, New York, New York 10007-
1866, and New York State Department of Environmental Conservation,
Office of Air and Waste Management, 14th Floor, 625 Broadway, Albany,
New York 12233-1010.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Andrew A. Bascue, Air Programs Branch,
Environmental Protection Agency, 290 Broadway, 25th Floor, New York, New York 10007-1866, (212) 637-4249 or bascue.andrew@epa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This revision is being proposed under a
procedure called parallel processing. Under parallel processing, EPA
proposes action on a state submission before it has been formally
adopted and submitted to EPA, and will take final action on its
proposal if the final submission is substantially unchanged from the
submission on which the proposal is based, or if significant changes in
the final submission are anticipated and adequately described in EPA's
proposal as a basis for EPA's proposed action.
New York held a public hearing on its proposed SIP revision on June
24, 2003. If New York's proposed SIP revision is substantially changed,
EPA will evaluate those changes and may publish another notice of
proposed rulemaking. If no substantial changes are made, EPA will take
final action on the State's plan consistent with this proposal and any
submitted comments. Before EPA can approve this SIP revision, New York
must adopt the SIP revision and submit it formally to EPA for
incorporation into the SIP.
Table of Contents
1. Background
2. What is MOBILE6?
3. What is the purpose and content of New York's submittal?
4. What are the revised MOBILE6 budgets?
5. Are the revised MOBILE6 budgets consistent with New York's 1-Hour
Attainment Demonstration?
6. Are New York's motor vehicle emissions budgets approvable?
7. When will New York submit its mid-course review?
8. Summary of Conclusions and Proposed Action
9. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews
1. Background
In November of 1999, EPA issued two memoranda \1\ to articulate its
policy regarding states that incorporated MOBILE5-based interim Tier 2
standard \2\ benefits into their SIPs and motor vehicle emissions
budgets (``budgets''). Although these memoranda primarily targeted
certain serious and severe ozone NAAs, EPA has implemented this policy
in all other areas that have made use of Federal Tier 2 benefits in air
quality plans from EPA's April 2000 MOBILE5 guidance, ``MOBILE5
Information Sheet 8: Tier 2 Benefits Using MOBILE5.'' All
states whose attainment demonstrations or maintenance plans include
interim MOBILE5-based estimates of the Tier 2 standards were required
to make a commitment to revise and resubmit their budgets within either
1 or 2 years of the final release of MOBILE6 in order to gain SIP
approval.
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\1\ Memoranda, ``Guidance on Motor Vehicle Emissions Budgets in
1-Hour Ozone Attainment Demonstrations,'' issued November 3, 1999,
and ``1-Hour Ozone Attainment Demonstrations and Tier2/Sulfur
Rulemaking,'' issued November 8, 1999. Copies of these memoranda can
be found on EPA's Web site at http://www.epa.gov/otaq/transp/traqconf.htm
.
\2\ The final rule on Tier 2 Motor Vehicle Emissions Standards
and Gasoline Sulfur Control Requirements (``Tier 2 standards'') for
passenger cars, light trucks, and larger passenger vehicles was
published on February 10, 2000 (65 FR 6698).
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On April 18, 2000, New York submitted a revision to the 1-hr Ozone
Attainment Demonstration SIP for the New York portion of the New York-
Northern New Jersey-Long Island severe ozone Nonattainment Area, which
for purposes of this action will be referred to as the New York
Metropolitan NAA. The New York Metropolitan NAA is comprised of the New
York Counties of Bronx, Kings, Nassua, New York, Putnam, Queens,
Richmond, Rockland and Westchester and the lower Orange County towns of
Chester, Minisink, Monroe, Tuxedo, Warwick and Woodbury. The April 18,
2000 SIP revision included, among other things, revised budgets using
interim MOBILE5-based estimates of the Tier 2 standards and an
enforceable commitment to revise these budgets as well as the
attainment demonstration using the MOBILE6 model within one year of the
release of the model. Additional information on EPA's final approval of
New York's April 18, 2000 submittal can be found in the February 4,
2002 Federal Register (67 FR 5170).
EPA officially released the MOBILE6 motor vehicle emissions factor
model on January 29, 2002 (67 FR 4254). Thus, the effective date of
that Federal Register notice constituted the start of the 1 year time
period within which New York was required to revise its 1-Hour Ozone
Attainment Demonstration SIP using the MOBILE6 model. On January 29,
2003, New York submitted to EPA a proposed revision for its SIP to meet
this requirement. This proposed revision and the MOBILE6 modeling
methodology used were refined and supplemented subsequent to discussion
between New York and EPA. On June 24, 2003, New York held a public
hearing on the revised motor vehicle emission budgets using MOBILE6 and
EPA is proposing, herein, to approve those budgets.
2. What Is MOBILE6?
MOBILE6 is the most current version of a long line of MOBILE
emissions factor models developed by EPA for estimating pollution from
on-road motor vehicles in states outside of California. The model
calculates emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), nitrogen
oxides (NOX) and carbon monoxide (CO) from passenger cars,
motorcycles, buses, and light-duty and heavy-duty trucks. The model
accounts for the emission impacts of factors such as changes in vehicle
emission standards, changes in vehicle populations and activity, and
variations in local conditions such as temperature, humidity, fuel
quality, and inspection and maintenance programs. The model is used to
calculate current and future inventories of motor vehicle emissions at
the local, state and national level. These inventories are used to make
decisions about air pollution policies and programs at the local, state
and national level. Inventories based on the model are also used to
meet the Federal Clean Air Act's SIP and transportation conformity
requirements.
The MOBILE model was first developed in 1978. It has been updated
many times to reflect changes in the vehicle fleet and fuels, to
incorporate EPA's growing understanding of vehicle emissions, and to
cover new emissions regulations and modeling needs. Although some minor
updates were made in 1996 with the release of MOBILE5b, MOBILE6 is the
first major update of the MOBILE model since 1993.
3. What Is the Purpose and Content of New York's Submittal?
The State submitted this proposed SIP revision to address an
enforceable commitment made in the April 18, 2000 Attainment
Demonstration SIP revision, approved by EPA on February 2, 2002 (67 FR
5170). The enforceable commitment obligated the State to update its
2007, attainment year, motor
[[Page 61381]]
vehicle emissions budgets using the MOBILE6 model and to reevaluate the
attainment demonstration based on the updated budgets. The proposed
revision demonstrated that the updated motor vehicle emissions budgets
calculated using MOBILE6 continued to support the projected attainment
of the 1-hour ozone NAAQS for the New York Metropolitan NAA by the
attainment date of 2007. Also included as part of the proposed SIP
revision, New York proposed to modify the planned date for submitting
its mid-course review to December 31, 2004.
4. What Are the Revised MOBILE6 Budgets?
Table 1 below summarizes the revised motor vehicle emissions
budgets for the New York Metropolitan NAA in tons per summer day (tpd).
These revised budgets were developed using the latest planning
assumptions, including the most recently available vehicle registration
data, vehicle miles traveled (VMT) estimates, vehicle speeds, fleet
mix, and SIP control measures. For additional details the reader is
referred to the Technical Support Document (TSD) for this proposed
action. EPA is proposing to approve these revised 1990 and 2007 motor
vehicle emissions budgets. The 2007 motor vehicle emissions budgets
will serve as the transportation conformity budgets for the New York
Metropolitan NAA.
Table 1.--New York Metropolitan NAA Motor Vehicle Emissions Budgets,
Revised With MOBILE6
------------------------------------------------------------------------
1990 2007
------------------------------------------------------------------------
VOC (tpd) NOX (tpd) VOC (tpd) NOX (tpd)
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596 512 182 230
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5. Are the Revised MOBILE6 Budgets Consistent With New York's 1-Hour
Attainment Demonstration?
EPA has found that New York's revised MOBILE6 budgets are
consistent with its 1-hour ozone Attainment Demonstration. EPA has
articulated its policy regarding the use of MOBILE6 for SIP development
in its ``Policy Guidance on the Use of MOBILE6 for SIP Development and
Transportation Conformity'' \3\ and ``Clarification of Policy Guidance
for MOBILE6 in Mid-course Review Areas.'' \4\ New York included in the
January 29, 2003 submittal a relative reduction comparison to show that
its 1-Hour Ozone Attainment Demonstration SIP continues to demonstrate
attainment using revised MOBILE6 budgets for the New York Metropolitan
NAA, see Table 2. New York's attainment demonstration used
photochemical grid modeling supplemented with a weight of evidence
analysis. Consistent with EPA policy, as detailed in the aforementioned
guidance documents, the State's methodology for the relative reduction
comparison consisted of comparing the new MOBILE6 budgets with the
previously approved (67 FR 5170) MOBILE5 budgets for the New York
Metropolitan NAA to determine if attainment will still be predicted by
the 2007 attainment year. Specifically, the State calculated the
percent reduction from the 1990 base year to the 2007 attainment year
for NOX and VOC MOBILE5-based budgets. These percent
reductions were then compared to the percent reductions between the
revised MOBILE6-based 1990 base year and 2007 attainment year budgets.
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\3\ Memorandum, ``Policy Guidance on 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.
\4\ Memorandum, ``Clarification of Policy Guidance for MOBILE6
SIPs in Mid-course Review Areas,'' issued February 12, 2003. A copy
of this memorandum can be found on EPA's Web site at http://www.epa.gov/otaq/transp/traqconf.htm
.
Table 2.--Relative Reduction Comparison Between MOBILE5-Based Budgets
and MOBILE6-Based Budgets From Base Year to Attainment Year
------------------------------------------------------------------------
NOX VOC
(percent) (percent)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
MOBILE5....................................... 44.8 66.7
MOBILE6....................................... 55.1 69.3
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As shown in Table 2, New York's relative reduction comparison shows
that for the New York Metropolitan NAA the percent reductions in VOC
and NOX budgets obtained through the use of MOBILE6 are
greater than the percent reductions calculated with MOBILE5-based
budgets. As such, New York's January 29, 2003 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 achievement of the projected attainment of the 1-
Hour Ozone NAAQS by the attainment date of 2007 for the New York
Metropolitan NAA, i.e. the SIP continues to demonstrate its purpose.
6. Are New York's Motor Vehicle Emissions Budgets Approvable?
Table 1 summarizes New York's revised budgets contained in the
January 29, 2003 submittal. These budgets were developed using the most
recent planning assumptions, including the most recently available
vehicle registration data, VMT, speeds, fleet mix, and SIP control
measures. The updated budgets for 2007 were developed for the New York
Metropolitan Transportation Council (NYMTC) to use for purposes of
transportation conformity, which it is required to meet by October
2005. The budgets were developed using appropriate methodology and
support the SIP in demonstrating its purpose, therefore the budgets are
approvable. Additional detail regarding the methodology and inputs used
by the State can be found in the TSD for this proposed action.
Concurrent with this notice of proposed rulemaking, EPA is
completing the adequacy review process on the revised 2007 attainment
budgets for NYMTC. EPA held the 30-day comment period for the budgets
between July 1, 2003 and July 31, 2003 by posting a notice on EPA's
conformity website: http://www.epa.gov/otaq/transp/conform/adequacy.htm.
In accordance with the ``Conformity Guidance on
Implementation of March 2, 1999 Conformity Court Decision,'' \5\ EPA
will issue its adequacy determination, including a response to
comments, by posting it on the conformity Web site, and will also
subsequently announce the determination in the Federal Register. The
revised 2007 attainment budget will apply for conformity purposes once
EPA issues its adequacy determination.
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\5\ Memorandum, ``Conformity Guidance on Implementation of March
2, 1999 Conformity Court Decision,'' issued May 14, 1999. A copy of
this memorandum can be found on EPA's Web site at http://www.epa.gov/otaq/transp/traqconf.htm
.
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7. When Will New York Submit Its Mid-Course Review?
On April 18, 2000, New York submitted a mid-course review analysis
which showed a continued downward trend in both the number of
violations of the 1-hour ozone standard and the measured ozone
concentrations. EPA found, however, that several more years of
monitored data and implementation of the Regional NOX
Program were needed before a true mid-course review of the attainment
demonstration could be made. Therefore, on February 4, 2002 (67 FR
5170), EPA approved New York's further commitment to perform a mid-
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course review and submit the results to EPA by December 31, 2003.
Due to challenges by upwind states of EPA's Regional NOX
Program, the benefit of these upwind NOX reductions will not
be fully realized until late 2003. Therefore, EPA has allowed states to
revise their mid-course commitments to provide for the review no later
than December 31, 2004. In order to be consistent with surrounding
states and to include the benefit of the Regional NOX
Program in its mid-course review, New York revised its commitment to
perform a mid-course review to December 31, 2004. EPA proposes to
approve this revised commitment.
8. Summary of Conclusions and Proposed Action
This action is being proposed under a procedure called parallel
processing, whereby EPA proposes rulemaking action concurrently with
the State's procedures for amending its regulations. If the proposed
revision is substantially changed in areas other than those identified
in this document, EPA will evaluate those changes and may publish
another notice of proposed rulemaking. If no substantial changes are
made other than those areas cited in this document, EPA will publish a
final rulemaking on the revisions. The final rulemaking action by EPA
will occur only after the SIP revision has been adopted by New York and
submitted formally to EPA for incorporation into the SIP.
EPA is proposing to approve New York's proposed SIP revision
submitted on January 29, 2003. This submittal revises New Jersey's 1990
and 2007 motor vehicle emission budgets using MOBILE6 and modifies the
planned date to complete the State's mid-course review to December 31,
2004. New York has demonstrated that its 1-Hour Attainment
Demonstration SIP for the New York Metropolitan NAA continues to
demonstrate attainment with the revised MOBILE6 budgets.
9. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews
Under Executive Order 12866 (58 FR 51735, October 4, 1993), this
proposed 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
proposed action merely proposes to approve state law as meeting Federal
requirements and imposes no additional requirements beyond those
imposed by state law. Accordingly, the Administrator certifies that
this proposed 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 proposes to approve 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 proposed 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 proposes to approve 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
proposed 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 proposed 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.).
List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 52
Environmental protection, Air pollution control, Hydrocarbons,
Intergovernmental relations, Nitrogen dioxide, Ozone, Reporting and
recordkeeping requirements, Volatile organic compounds.
Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.
Dated: October 15, 2003.
Jane M. Kenny,
Regional Administrator, Region 2.
[FR Doc. 03-27157 Filed 10-27-03; 8:45 am]
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