[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 4 (Friday, January 6, 1995)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 2022-2025]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-288]



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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 52

[Region II Docket No. 138, NY20-1-6729a, FRL-5124-5]


Approval and Promulgation of Implementation Plans; State of New 
York; Clean Fuel Fleet Opt Out

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Direct final rule.

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SUMMARY: In this action, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is 
announcing partial approval and partial disapproval of the State 
Implementation Plan submitted by the State of New York for the purpose 
of meeting the requirement to submit the Clean Fuel Fleet program 
(CFFP) or a substitute program that meets the requirements of the Clean 
Air Act. EPA is approving the State's plans for implementing a 
substitute program to opt out of the light duty vehicle portion of the 
CFFP and disapproving the State's commitment to adopt a CFFP for heavy 
duty vehicles at a future date.

DATES: This final rule is effective on March 7, 1995 unless adverse or 
critical comments are received by February 6, 1995. If the effective 
date is delayed, timely notice will be published in the Federal 
Register.

ADDRESSES: All comments should be addressed to:

William S. Baker, Chief, Air Programs Branch, Air and Waste Management 
Division, Environmental Protection Agency, Region II Office, 26 Federal 
Plaza, New York, New York 10278.

    Copies of the state submittals are available at the following 
addresses for inspection during normal business hours:

Environmental Protection Agency, Air Docket 6102, 401 M Street, SW., 
Washington, DC 20460.
Environmental Protection Agency, Region II Office, Air Programs Branch, 
26 Federal Plaza, Room 1034A, New York, New York 10278.
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, Division of 
Air Resources, 50 Wolf Road, Albany, New York 12233.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Michael P. Moltzen, Environmental 
Engineer, Technical Evaluation Section, Air Programs Branch, 
Environmental Protection Agency, 26 Federal Plaza, Room 1034A, New 
York, New York 10278, (212) 264-2517.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

    Section 182(c)(4)(A) of the Clean Air Act requires certain States, 
including [[Page 2023]] New York, to submit for EPA approval a State 
Implementation Plan (SIP) revision that includes measures to implement 
the Clean Fuel Fleet program (CFFP). Under this program, a certain 
specified percentage of vehicles purchased by fleet operators for 
covered fleets must meet emission standards that are more stringent 
than those that apply to conventional vehicles. Covered fleets are 
defined as fleets of 10 or more vehicles that are centrally fueled or 
capable of being centrally fueled. The program applies in the New York 
portion of the New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island nonattainment 
area beginning in 1999. Section 182(c)(4)(B) of the Act allows states 
to ``opt out'' of the CFFP by submitting for EPA approval a SIP 
revision consisting of a program or programs that will result in at 
least equivalent long term reductions in ozone-producing and toxic air 
emissions as achieved by the CFFP. The Clean Air Act directs EPA to 
approve a substitute program if it achieves long-term reductions in 
emissions of ozone-producing and toxic air pollutants equivalent to 
those that would have been achieved by the CFFP or the portion of the 
CFFP for which the measure is to be substituted.
    The State of New York submitted on November 13, 1992 a SIP revision 
which committed it to submit a substitute program or programs in lieu 
of the CFFP, or the CFFP itself, by May 15, 1994. Prior to EPA action 
on New York's commitment, the Court of Appeals for the District of 
Columbia ruled that EPA's conditional approval policy in general was 
contrary to law. [NRDC v. EPA, 22 F.3d. 1125 (D.C. Cir. 1994)]. The 
court held that a bare commitment from a state was not sufficient to 
warrant conditional approval from EPA under section 110(k)(4) of the 
Act. Therefore, following this decision, EPA could not approve New 
York's commitment of November 1992.
    However, in fashioning a remedy for EPA's improper use of it's 
conditional approval authority, the NRDC Appellate court did not want 
to penalize the states for their reliance on EPA's actions. EPA also 
does not believe that New York should lose its opportunity to opt out 
of the CFFP with a substitute program that meets the requirements of 
section 182(c)(4)(B) because of EPA's failure to act on New York's 
commitment, especially since New York has, in reliance on EPA advice, 
submitted such a substitute program for EPA approval prior to any EPA 
action on the commitment.
    Therefore, EPA will consider all submissions made thus far by the 
State that are intended to substitute for the CFFP, including that of 
May 15, 1994 which transmitted the New York State Code of Rules and 
Regulations Part 218, the State's low emission vehicle program and the 
submission of August 9, 1994, supplementing the May 1994 submittal, in 
conjunction with the November 1992 commitment.
    The Act requires states to observe certain procedural requirements 
in developing implementation plan revisions for submission to EPA. 
Sections 110(a)(2) and 172(c)(7) of the Act require states to provide 
reasonable notice and opportunity for public comment before accepting 
the submitted measures. Section 110(1) of the Act also requires states 
to provide reasonable notice and hold a public hearing before adopting 
SIP provisions.
    EPA must also determine whether a state's submittal is complete 
before taking further action on the submittal. See section 110(k)(1). 
EPA's completeness criteria for SIP submittals are set out in 40 CFR 
Part 51, Appendix V (1993).

II. State Submittal

    New York submitted a SIP revision on May 15, 1994 (and supplemented 
it on August 9, 1994) which substituted a low emission vehicle (LEV) 
program for the light duty vehicle portion of the CFFP. The State 
adopted the LEV program, New York's Part 218, ``Emission Standards for 
Motor Vehicles and Motor Vehicle Engines,'' on April 28, 1992. New York 
held public hearings on February 8 and 9, 1993 and on January 11, 1994 
to entertain public comment on its 1992 and 1993 SIP revisions, 
respectively; these hearings included the State's proposal to opt out 
of the CFFP with LEV as a substitute program. EPA reviewed the State's 
submission for completeness, in accordance with the completeness 
criteria, and on September 1, 1994 found the submittals to be complete. 
EPA notified New York in writing of this finding.
    New York's submittal divides the CFFP into two separate 
requirements; that portion which applies to light duty fleet vehicles, 
and a second requirement for heavy duty fleet vehicles. This 
interpretation is provided for in sections 182 and 246 of the Clean Air 
Act (see part III. of this notice, ``Analysis of State Submission''). 
The State exercised its choice to substitute enough emission reduction 
credit from its LEV program for the light duty portion of the CFFP. New 
York has not submitted a substitute for the heavy duty portion of the 
CFFP. Nor has the State adopted the heavy duty fleet program.

III. Analysis of State Submission

    Section 182(c)(4) of the Clean Air Act, which allows states 
required to implement a CFFP to ``opt out'' of the program by 
submitting a SIP revision consisting of a substitute program, requires 
that the substitute program result in emission reductions equal to or 
greater than does the CFFP. Also, EPA can only approve such substitute 
programs that consist exclusively of provisions other than those 
required under the Clean Air Act for the area. New York's LEV program 
satisfies both of these requirements as they pertain to the light duty 
portion of the fleet program.
    Section 182(c)(4)(B) states that a measure can be substituted for 
all or a portion of the CFFP, and such a substitute program will be 
approvable if it achieves long-term emission reductions equivalent to 
those that would have been achieved by the portion of the CFFP for 
which the measure is to be substituted. Section 246 implies that the 
CFFP can be subdivided into a light duty vehicle portion (up to 8,500 
pounds gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR)) and a heavy duty vehicle 
portion (from 8,501 pounds GVWR to 26,000 pounds GVWR). This is made 
apparent most notably by section 246(f)(2)(B), which restricts the use 
of Clean Fuel Fleet credits generated for either light or heavy duty 
fleet vehicles to those classes, respectively. Credit trading between 
weight classes is prohibited.
    In recognizing the severable nature of the CFFP, New York has 
chosen to submit a substitute measure, the State's LEV program, that is 
intended to substitute for only the light duty portion of the CFFP. The 
State must therefore implement a heavy duty CFFP which also complies 
with section 246 of the Clean Air Act. New York is currently required 
by state law to adopt and implement a heavy duty fleet program and 
consequently has not chosen to opt-out of the heavy duty portion of the 
CFFP. However, the State has not yet adopted a heavy duty fleet program 
(New York's Clean Air Compliance Act called for adoption of the heavy 
duty fleet program by May 15, 1994).
    New York, in exercising its option under section 177 of the Clean 
Air Act, has adopted a LEV program which affects all new light duty 
vehicles, specifically passenger cars and light duty trucks under 6,000 
lbs. GVWR for vehicle model years 1994 and later. The LEV program is a 
far reaching, technology-forcing program designed to improve the 
emissions performance of vehicles over a long period of time. The 
[[Page 2024]] LEV program sets forth five different sets of emission 
standards, and vehicle manufacturers may market any combination of 
vehicles provided that the annual average emissions of each 
manufacturer's fleet complies with a fleet average limit that becomes 
more stringent each year. In addition, New York's LEV program requires 
manufacturers to begin to market a fixed percentage of zero emission 
vehicles (ZEVs) in model year 1998. The ZEV requirement will help 
assure that the LEV program will achieve a significant amount of ozone 
forming emission reductions, beyond those achieved by the light duty 
portion of the CFFP.
    New York's LEV program will assure reductions of ozone-forming and 
air toxics emissions that are at least equivalent to those that would 
be realized through the light duty portion of a CFFP. Moreover, a light 
duty CFFP would affect a much smaller subset of vehicles than the LEV 
program, since the fleet vehicles affected by the CFFP would be limited 
to a set yearly percentage of new vehicles purchased by fleet operators 
of covered fleets, restricted to the New York State portion of the New 
York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island nonattainment area. The LEV 
program is a statewide program affecting the sale of all light duty 
vehicles. The LEV program has fleet average emission standards that are 
comparable to those established by the Clean Air Act for clean fuel 
fleet vehicles in the CFFP. With respect to long term emission 
standards for non-methane organic gases (NMOG), the CFFP requires that 
70% of new light duty fleet vehicles purchased annually in covered 
fleets have a standard of 0.075 grams per mile (model year 2000 and 
later), while the LEV program requires that the long term NMOG standard 
for 100% of all light duty vehicles be no more than 0.062 grams per 
mile (model year 2003 and later).
    While New York's LEV program does not cover vehicles in the weight 
class range of 6,000 to 8,500 pounds GVWR, in its SIP revision New York 
states that it will dedicate enough ozone forming and toxic emission 
reduction credit as is necessary to fully substitute for the entire 
light duty portion of the CFFP. Also, while the light duty portion of 
the CFFP covers the 6,000 to 8,500 pound vehicle range, the State still 
plans to adopt and implement a heavy duty fleet program, as required by 
its Clean Air Compliance Act, which will include this vehicle weight 
range.
    The Clean Air Act also requires New York to adopt a CFFP that 
applies to heavy duty vehicles. The long term emission standard for 
heavy duty vehicles participating in the CFFP, independent of fuel 
type, is a combined non-methane hydrocarbon (NMHC) plus nitrogen oxide 
(NOx) standard of 3.8 grams per brake horsepower hour. This is about a 
50 percent reduction from 1994 heavy duty diesel engine requirements 
and would apply to 50 percent of affected heavy duty fleet vehicles for 
model year 2000 and later. New York has not yet adopted a heavy duty 
CFFP, nor has it submitted an adequate substitute measure for the heavy 
duty portion of the CFFP. Although the State has legislative authority 
to adopt and implement the heavy duty fleet program, EPA may not 
approve a revision that lacks adopted measures.
    As a result of these deficiencies, EPA finds, pursuant to 40 CFR 
section 52.31(c)(2), that New York has failed to meet one or more of 
the elements of submission required by the Act.
    This notice initiates the sanction process, mandated by section 
179(a)(2) of the Clean Air Act, as a result of the partial disapproval 
of the New York SIP described in this notice. Section 179(b) of the 
Clean Air Act prescribes certain mandatory sanctions that the 
Administrator must impose upon a finding that a SIP revision submitted 
by a state is not approvable. The two sanctions identified in the Clean 
Air Act are: a requirement for a two-for-one emissions offsets in 
nonattainment areas for construction of major new and modified sources, 
and a cutoff of federal funding for certain highway projects. The 
Administrator must impose the first sanction no later than eighteen 
months of the date of the finding if the deficiency has not been 
corrected and the second sanction no later than six months thereafter. 
The offset sanction would apply at eighteen months and the highway 
funding sanction at twenty-four months, although the Administrator can 
change the sequence of the sanctions and accelerate their effective 
date.
    EPA, auto manufacturers, and states are currently considering the 
possibility of developing a voluntary national LEV-equivalent motor 
vehicle emission control program. See 59 FR 48664 (9/22/94) and 59 FR 
53396 (10/24/94). EPA does not expect that this approval will impede 
the development or implementation of such a program. If New York were 
to participate in a LEV-equivalent program, it would have the 
opportunity to revise its clean fuel fleet substitute program.

IV. Summary of Action

    In this rule, EPA is taking final action to partially approve and 
partially disapprove New York's SIP revision submitted to fulfill the 
Clean Fuel Fleet requirements of the Clean Air Act. The State's adopted 
Part 218 implementing the low emission vehicle program is an adequate 
substitute for the light duty vehicle portion of the CFFP under section 
182(c)(4).
    The State has failed to fulfill the requirement to submit the 
remaining portion of the CFFP, the heavy duty vehicle portion. EPA is 
disapproving this portion of the State's submittal because it does not 
consist of a State-adopted regulation.
    Nothing in this rule should be construed as permitting or allowing 
or establishing a precedent for any future request for revision to any 
SIP. Each request for revision to any SIP shall be considered 
separately in light of specific technical, economic, and environmental 
factors and in relation to relevant statutory and regulatory 
requirements.
    EPA is publishing this rule without prior proposal because EPA 
views this as a noncontroversial amendment and anticipates no adverse 
comments. However, in a separate document in this Federal Register 
publication, the EPA is proposing a notice and comment period to allow 
for adverse or critical comments to be considered. Thus, this direct 
final action will be effective March 7, 1995 unless, by February 6, 
1995, adverse or critical comments are received.
    If the EPA receives such comments, this rule will be withdrawn 
before the effective date by publishing a subsequent notice that will 
withdraw the final action. All public comments received will then be 
addressed in a subsequent final rule based on this action serving as a 
proposed rule. The EPA will not institute a second comment period on 
this action. Any parties interested in commenting on this rule should 
do so at this time. If no adverse comments are received, the public is 
advised that this rule will be effective March 7, 1995. (See 47 FR 
27073 and 59 FR 24059).
    Under the Regulatory Flexibility Act, 5 U.S.C. 600 et. seq., EPA 
must prepare a regulatory flexibility analysis assessing the impact of 
any proposed or final rule on small entities (5 U.S.C. 603 and 604). 
Alternatively, EPA may certify that the rule will not have a 
significant impact on a substantial number of small entities. Small 
entities include small businesses, small not-for-profit enterprises, 
and government entities with jurisdiction over populations of less than 
50,000.
    SIP approvals under section 110 and subchapter I, part D of the 
Clean Air Act do not create any new requirements, but 
[[Page 2025]] simply approve requirements that the State is already 
imposing. Therefore, because the federal SIP-approval does not impose 
any new requirements, I certify that it does not have a significant 
impact on any small entities affected. Moreover, due to the nature of 
the federal-state relationship under the Clean Air Act, preparation of 
a regulatory flexibility analysis would constitute federal inquiry into 
the economic reasonableness of state action. The Clean Air Act forbids 
EPA to base its actions concerning SIPs on such grounds. Union Electric 
Co. v US EPA, 427 US 246, 256-66 (S.Ct. 1976); 42 U.S.C. 7410(a)(2).
    The Office of Management and Budget has exempted this action from 
review under Executive Order 12866.
    This rule may be withdrawn by EPA pursuant to procedures described 
in this Federal Register notice. Before filing a petition for review, 
potential petitioners under section 307(b)(1) of the Act are cautioned 
to determine whether EPA has withdrawn the rule.
    Under section 307(b)(1) of the Act, petitions for judicial review 
of this rule must be filed in the United States Court of Appeals for 
the appropriate circuit within 60 days from date of publication. 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 rule may not be challenged later in proceedings to 
enforce its requirements. (See 307(b)(2)).

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 52

    Air pollution control, Incorporation by reference, Nitrogen 
dioxide, Ozone, Volatile organic compounds.

    Dated: November 21, 1994.
William J. Muszynski,
Acting Regional Administrator.
    Part 52, chapter I, title 40 of the 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. 7401-7671q.

Subpart HH--New York

    2. Section 52.1670 is amended by adding new paragraph (c)(88) to 
read as follows:


Sec. 52.1670  Identification of plan.

* * * * *
    (c) * * *
    (88) Revision to the New York State Implementation Plan (SIP) for 
ozone, submitting a low emission vehicle program for a portion of the 
Clean Fuel Fleet program, dated May 15, 1994 and August 9, 1994 
submitted by the New York State Department of Environmental 
Conservation (NYSDEC).
    (i) Incorporation by reference. Part 218, ``Emission Standards for 
Motor Vehicles and Motor Vehicle Engines,'' effective May 28, 1992.
    (ii) Additional material.
    May 1994 NYSDEC Clean Fuel Fleet Program description.
    3. Section 52.1679 is amended by adding, in numerical order, a new 
entry Part 218 to the table to read as follows:


Sec. 52.1679  EPA-approved New York State regulations.

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    New York State regulation      State effective date       Latest EPA approval date            Comments      
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                                                        *                                                       
Part 218 ``Emission Standards for  5/28/92.............  January 6, 1995 [60 FR 2025].....  ....................
 Motor Vehicles and Motor Vehicle                                                                               
 Engines''.                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                
        *                  *                  *                  *                  *                  *        
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[FR Doc. 95-288 Filed 1-5-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P