[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 105 (Thursday, June 2, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-13453]


[[Page Unknown]]

[Federal Register: June 2, 1994]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-4891-4]

 

Air Pollution Control; Ozone Transport Commission; Recommendation 
That EPA Adopt Low Emission Vehicle Program for the Northeast Ozone 
Transport Region

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency.

ACTION: Notice of Round-Table Meetings.

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SUMMARY: On February 10, 1994, the Northeast Ozone Transport Commission 
(OTC) submitted a recommendation to EPA under Section 184 of the Clean 
Air Act (the Act), for additional control measures to be applied 
throughout the Northeast Ozone Transport Region (OTR). Specifically, 
the OTC recommended that EPA require all State members of the OTC to 
adopt an Ozone Transport Commission Low Emission Vehicle (OTC LEV or 
LEV) program for the entire OTR. Under Section 184(c)(3) of the Act, 
EPA is to review the OTC's recommendation to determine whether the 
additional control measures are necessary to bring any area in the OTR 
into attainment by the dates specified in the Act, and are otherwise 
consistent with the Act. Based on this review, EPA is obligated to 
approve, disapprove, or partially approve and partially disapprove the 
OTC's recommendation.
    EPA recently issued a proposed rule describing the framework for 
EPA's action on the OTC's recommendation and describing the issues EPA 
is considering in deciding whether to approve, disapprove, or partially 
approve and partially disapprove the recommendation. Thereafter, EPA 
held public hearings on the OTC's recommendation in Hartford, 
Connecticut on May 2-3, 1994. As previously announced, EPA will be 
holding a series of three public meetings in the OTR during June and 
July, 1994 to provide an opportunity for interactive discussion of the 
issues involved. As discussed in greater detail below, EPA is 
structuring these three public meetings to generally follow the 
framework for analysis it has described in its proposal for action on 
the OTC's recommendation.
    At the first meeting, EPA expects the discussion to focus on the 
standard or test the Agency should apply in analyzing the OTC's 
recommendation and the need for the Agency to act in a timely fashion 
based on the best available information. Also at the first meeting, EPA 
expects the discussion to focus on issues related to the OTC LEV 
program, itself. At the second meeting, the Agency intends to take up 
the policy, legal, and technical issues relating to the magnitude of 
reductions needed, against which the OTC LEV program should be 
assessed. Also, at the second meeting EPA intends to begin a discussion 
of alternative proposals for obtaining additional emissions reductions 
from new cars. EPA expects this discussion may carry over into the 
third meeting. EPA also is reserving time at the third meeting to 
discuss new issues that might arise in the course of the foregoing 
agenda that EPA does not foresee now, or issues that should be 
revisited in light of later discussions.

DATES: EPA will be holding three public round-table meetings on: 
Wednesday, June 8, 1994 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Thursday, June 
23, 1994 in Durham, New Hampshire; and Wednesday, July 13, 1994 in New 
York, New York. Each round-table meeting will commence at 9 a.m. and 
conclude by approximately 6 p.m.

ADDRESSES: The first round-table meeting will be held at: Center City 
WHYY Television Station, Sixth & Arch Streets, Philadelphia, 
Pennsylvania.
    The second round-table meeting will be held at: The New England 
Center, University of New Hampshire, 1515 Stratford Avenue, Durham, New 
Hampshire 03824.
    The third round-table meeting will be held at: Holiday Inn Crown 
Plaza, Manhattan, 1605 Broadway (at 49th Street), New York, New York 
10019.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mike Shields, Office of Mobile 
Sources, USEPA, 401 M Street SW., Washington, DC 20460, telephone: 
(202) 260-3450.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Organization of Public Meetings

    EPA intends that the three public meetings will allow for a 
fruitful exchange of information and views among the various interested 
parties, the affected States, and EPA. The meetings will be organized 
as ``roundtable'' discussions. In order to promote an interactive 
discussion, EPA has retained a facilitator to direct discussions among 
the various parties. EPA will arrange for representatives of the 
various stake-holders, including the States, the auto manufacturers, 
other industry, and environmental interest groups, to be seated at a 
table with EPA. The facilitator will direct discussion first among 
these representatives. All members of the public are encouraged to 
attend and participate, and the public will have an opportunity to 
comment on the discussion of each discrete topic on the agenda.
    EPA believes that an opportunity for public interactive discussions 
will provide a valuable opportunity for EPA to refine and synthesize 
information from individual participants relevant to its action on the 
OTC's recommendation. EPA is not, however, establishing the 
representatives invited to participate in the roundtable discussions as 
an advisory committee, and EPA is not seeking a group opinion or 
recommendation from these representatives.

II. Agendas for Discussion

    EPA's announcement of its receipt and availability of the OTC's 
recommendation provides a short background discussion of the 
recommendation and its context, 59 FR 12914 (March 18, 1994). EPA's 
recent notice of proposed rulemaking, 59 FR 21720 (April 26, 1994), 
provides a detailed description of the framework for EPA's action on 
the recommendation and the issues EPA is considering in reaching a 
decision. The reader should refer to these earlier notices for a full 
understanding of the OTC's recommendation and the issues EPA is 
interested in pursuing at the public meetings. Additional information 
may be obtained from the docket for this rulemaking (A-94-11), which 
includes a transcript of the May 2-3 public hearing held on EPA's 
notice of proposed rulemaking. The description of the agendas for the 
public meetings, below, presumes familiarity with these notices.
    To allow participants to focus their attention and prepare for 
topics on the agenda in advance, the Agency is disinclined to 
substantially change these agendas. As the process advances, however, 
the Agency may make slight changes in light of new issues that may 
emerge or to proceed quickly through issues that may require less time 
and attention than originally scheduled.

A. First Meeting; Philadelphia, PA on June 8, 1994

    At the first meeting, EPA intends the morning discussion to focus 
on the legal and policy aspects of the standard or test the Agency 
should apply in analyzing the OTC's recommendation. The Agency believes 
this is an overarching issue that should be addressed at the outset. 
Background for this topic can be found in EPA's proposal, 59 FR at 
21725-27.
    The agenda for the morning session is as follows:

Interpretation of ``Necessity'' Finding

    1. Relevance of standard under Section 211(c)(4)(C).
    2. Relevance of alternatives.
    3. Criteria for alternatives: standards for cost-effectiveness, 
practicability and reasonableness.
    4. Deference to the OTC and EPA's factual burden.
    5. The need for a timely decision based on available information 
despite scientific uncertainty.
    At the first meeting, EPA intends in the afternoon session to shift 
the discussion to focus on the recommended OTC LEV program, itself. 
Background information for this topic can be found in EPA's proposal, 
59 FR at 21722-23, 21730-31, and 21734-36. EPA believes there are both 
important legal and policy, as well as technical aspects of the OTC LEV 
program that merit discussion. Of course, the Agency has an obligation 
to evaluate whether the recommended program is consistent with the Act. 
While many issues regarding the legality of an OTC LEV program have 
been the subject of litigation and may be addressed adequately in 
written submissions, EPA believes that discussion of certain issues 
would be helpful.
    The agenda for the afternoon session is as follows:

OTC LEV

    1. Required elements of an OTC LEV program for purposes of 
consistency with Sections 177 and 209.
    2. Reductions from an OTC LEV program: what; where; when.
    3. Cost-effectiveness of an OTC LEV program.
    4. Assumptions about fuel used throughout the OTR, including 
attainment areas.
    5. ZEV Component of OTC LEV
     Is the ZEV sales mandate required to be part of the OTC 
LEV program?
     Status of Electric Vehicle technology
     Permutations on the ZEV Sales Mandate
     Possible conditions or incentives for ZEVs (such as sales 
tax rebate or income tax credit).
     Emissions impact of conditions or incentives for ZEVs in 
the absence of a sales mandate.
     Consistency of conditions or incentives for ZEVs with 
Sections 177 and 209.

B. Second Meeting; Durham, NH on June 23, 1994

    EPA intends the morning session to focus on the magnitude of 
reductions needed in assessing the OTC LEV program or alternatives. The 
Agency believes the amount of reductions that additional control 
measures must achieve for attainment is a threshold criterion for 
discussion. As noted in EPA's proposal, studies have consistently 
concluded that substantial reductions in NOx and VOC emissions are 
likely to be necessary to reduce ozone to the 0.12 ppm NAAQS or below 
throughout the OTR during periods of adverse meteorological conditions. 
The best available information about the amount, location, timing, and 
type of these reductions may be important in assessing the need for the 
OTC's recommended LEV program. EPA recognizes the discussions regarding 
the magnitude of reductions needed involves legal, policy and technical 
aspects that are in many ways interrelated. EPA expects that all of 
these aspects will be addressed in the discussion of these issues. 
Background information for the legal and policy aspects of this topic 
can be found in EPA's proposal, 59 FR at 21727-30. Background 
information for the technical aspects of this topic can be found in 
EPA's proposal, 59 FR at 21730-31.
    Also in the morning session, the Agency intends to provide an 
opportunity for discussion of whether alternative control measures are 
available to obtain sufficient emissions reductions so that more 
stringent emissions standards for new cars would not be necessary. This 
information could be relevant to the need for the OTC LEV program or a 
program to obtain similar reductions from new cars. As discussed in 
EPA's proposal, other measures may qualify as ``alternatives'' to LEV 
only if the other measures, singly or in combination, generate enough 
reductions to fill the entire shortfall needed without LEV. Background 
information for the alternatives topic can be found in EPA's proposal, 
59 FR at 21733-34.
    The agenda for the morning session is as follows:

Magnitude of Reductions

    1. Location of needed reductions; relevance of contribution to 
downwind nonattainment, including discussion of requirements for 
attainment demonstration and relevance of boundary conditions.
    2. Best current information regarding the OTR's needs for 
attainment, including timing of reductions for moderate, serious, and 
severe areas.
    3. Need for reductions for maintenance.
    4. Magnitude of motor vehicle emissions in the overall inventory.
    5. Confidence in current technical tools and information.

Sufficiency of Alternatives that Might Render OTC LEV Unnecessary, 
Including Magnitude of Reductions Available, Cost, Practicability, and 
Reasonableness

    In the afternoon session, EPA intends to begin discussion of 
alternative programs designed to reduce emissions from new motor 
vehicles. EPA recognizes that such alternatives designed to reduce 
emissions from new motor vehicles could conceivably constitute an 
``alternative'' to OTC LEV. Such alternatives that obtain reductions 
from the same sources as the OTC LEV program would thus be, at least in 
part, redundant of the reductions that the OTC LEV program would 
generate. (If entirely redundant of OTC LEV reductions, the sufficiency 
of such an alternative to fill the entire shortfall might arguably not 
be important.) EPA intends to begin discussion of such motor vehicle 
alternatives in the afternoon session.
    As a threshold matter, EPA notes that its responsibility under 
Section 184 of the Act is to approve or disapprove the OTC's LEV 
recommendation, and that Section 184 does not appear to authorize EPA 
to mandate alternatives. Nevertheless, EPA believes that the emergence 
of another approach to obtaining emissions reductions from new vehicles 
might conceivably affect the need for the OTC LEV program.
    EPA believes that threshold issues regarding such alternatives 
include how they might affect EPA's obligations regarding the OTC's 
recommendation now before EPA, and their legal consistency with 
Sections 177 and 209 of the Act. Thereafter, EPA expects that the 
discussion would turn to the specifics of the alternative proposals, 
which will carry over into the third meeting.
    The Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) has presented one such 
alternative. Under EDF's approach, the auto manufacturers would be 
responsible for achieving reductions commensurate with those that the 
OTC LEV program would achieve, and could do so by selling cars meeting 
LEV standards or by trading emissions reduction credits among 
themselves or with stationary sources. EPA expects to begin discussion 
of this alternative in the afternoon session. EPA recognizes that it 
may be ambitious to cover this entire topic at the second meeting, and 
may have to resume discussion of it at the third meeting. Further 
information pertaining to EDF's proposal is available in EDF's comments 
and testimony in the public docket.
    The agenda for the afternoon session is as follows:

Relevance of New Motor Vehicle Standards Alternatives to EPA's 
Obligation to Approve or Disapprove the OTC LEV Recommendation

    1. Should EPA disapprove the OTC LEV recommendation based on 
proposals to change that program or on different, more stringent new 
motor vehicle standards (e.g. The EDF proposal or the auto 
manufacturers proposal, discussed below)?
    2. Must there be a mechanism for EPA to be assured that the States 
will adopt the different approach, and if so what would that mechanism 
be?

EDF Trading Proposal

    1. Mechanism for implementation.
    2. Extent of trading: among auto companies; with stationary 
sources; across State boundaries.
    3. Baseline for assessing whether reductions are surplus and can be 
traded to avoid otherwise applicable emissions reduction obligations.
    4. Constraints on trading to ensure that areas reduce emissions 
that contribute to nonattainment downwind.
    5. Need for discounting credits.
    6. Role of ZEVs in a trading scheme.
    7. Consistency with Sections 177 and 209.

C. Third Meeting; New York, NY on July 13, 1994

    EPA intends to dedicate the third meeting to continued discussion 
of other proposals for obtaining additional emissions reductions from 
new motor vehicles or other sources. EPA intends to first complete any 
remaining carryover discussion of the EDF proposal from the second 
meeting. EPA intends to then continue with a discussion of the auto 
manufacturers' proposed alternative known as the Federal LEV or FLEV 
program. EPA's proposal describes this alternative, 59 FR at 21732-33.
    Also in the morning session, the Agency intends to provide an 
opportunity for discussion of the proposal presented at EPA's May 2-3 
public hearing by Texaco, Inc., Public Service Electric and Gas 
(PSE&G), and Merck & Company, Inc. Further information regarding this 
proposal is available in comments and testimony from these companies in 
the public docket.
    EPA expects that time will be left at the end of the third meeting 
to address previously unidentified topics, alternatives or issues that 
were not raised earlier. In addition, EPA expects that issues addressed 
in the earlier meetings might be revisited at this time in light of 
later discussions.
    The agenda for the third meeting is as follows:

FLEV Proposal

    1. Enforceability.
    2. SIP creditability.
    3. Consistency with Sections 177 and 209.
    4. Emissions reductions, and comparison with LEV emissions 
reductions, including timing.
    5. EPA's authority to disapprove the OTC LEV recommendation based 
on an alternative that States apparently could not adopt in their SIPs 
or otherwise into State law.

NOx Cap Proposal from Texaco, PSE&G, and Merck

Additional Topics Not Previously Addressed or to be Revisited

    Dated: May 24, 1994.
Mary D. Nichols,
Assistant Administrator for Air and Radiation.
[FR Doc. 94-13453 Filed 6-1-94; 8:45 am]
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