[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 171 (Thursday, September 3, 1998)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 46894-46898]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-23502]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[KY-104-9818a; FRL-6152-9]


Approval and Promulgation of Implementation Plans; Commonwealth 
of Kentucky

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Direct final rule.

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SUMMARY: EPA is approving revisions to the Edmonson County and 
Owensboro portions of the Kentucky State Implementation Plan (SIP) 
submitted on April 16, 1998, through the Kentucky Natural Resources and 
Environmental Protection Cabinet (NREPC). The purpose of this action is 
to incorporate revised motor vehicle emissions budgets for Owensboro 
and Edmonson, Kentucky. These budgets are used for demonstration of 
conformity of transportation plans, programs, and projects with the 
Kentucky SIP for the Edmonson County and Owensboro ozone maintenance 
areas. This action is

[[Page 46895]]

in accordance with the Transportation Conformity Rule promulgated on 
November 24, 1993, and subsequent amendments.

DATES: This direct final rule is effective on November 2, 1998, without 
further notice, unless EPA receives adverse comments by October 5, 
1998. If adverse comment is received, EPA 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: Written comments should be addressed to: Kelly Sheckler at 
the Region 4, Environmental Protection Agency, Air Planning Branch, 61 
Forsyth Street, SW, Atlanta, Georgia 30303.
    Copies of the documents relative to this action are available for 
public inspection during normal business hours at the following 
locations. The persons wanting to examine these documents should make 
an appointment with the appropriate office at least 24 hours before the 
visiting day. Reference file number KY-104-9818. The Region 4 office 
may have additional background documents not available at the other 
locations.

Air and Radiation Docket and Information Center (Air Docket 6102), U.S. 
Environmental Protection Agency, 401 M Street, SW, Washington, D.C. 
20460.
Environmental Protection Agency, Region 4 Air Planning Branch, 61 
Forsyth Street, SW, Atlanta, Georgia 30303.
Kentucky Department for Environmental Protection, 803 Schenkel Lane, 
Frankfort, Kentucky 400601.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kelly Sheckler at (404) 562-9042. 
Reference file KY-104-9818.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Commonwealth of Kentucky through the 
KNREPC submitted an attainment and maintenance plan for the Edmonson 
County and Owensboro ozone nonattainment areas on November 13, 1992. 
The Owensboro area consists of Daviess County and a portion of Hancock 
County. The Commonwealth of Kentucky's request for redesignation of the 
Edmonson County and Owensboro ozone nonattainment areas was approved by 
EPA because the areas attained the ozone NAAQS, met all relevant 
requirements under section 110 and part D of the CAA, had a fully 
approved SIP under section 110(k) of the CAA, demonstrated permanent 
and enforceable air quality improvement, and had a maintenance plan 
satisfying the requirements of section 175A of the CAA. For further 
detail on this rulemaking refer to 59 FR 55058, dated November 3, 1994. 
This SIP contained comprehensive inventories of volatile organic 
compound (VOC), nitrogen oxide (NOX), and carbon dioxide 
(CO) emissions for the Edmonson County and Owensboro ozone areas. The 
inventories include biogenic, area, stationary, and mobile sources 
using 1990 as the base year for projections to demonstrate maintenance. 
The 1990 inventory is considered representative of attainment 
conditions because the NAAQS was not violated during 1990.
    EPA approved this revision of the Kentucky SIP and redesignated the 
area from nonattainment to attainment for ozone effective January 3, 
1995. At the time of this submittal, EPA had not finalized the 
Transportation Conformity rule which provides the criteria and 
procedures by which the transportation planning authorities must show 
that transportation plans and projects conform to the emission 
estimates in the applicable state maintenance plan. In the maintenance 
SIP, the Commonwealth did not provide an explicit motor vehicles 
emissions budget for the purposes of showing conformity. However, the 
Transportation Conformity regulations at 40 CFR 51.456 were promulgated 
on November 24, 1993, and defined a mobile source emissions budget for 
determining conformity of transportation as the mobile source portion 
of the total allowable emissions defined in the submitted or approved 
control strategy implementation plan revision or maintenance plan. The 
Commonwealth established an emissions baseline inventory as part of its 
redesignation and maintenance SIP. As required for maintenance 
demonstrations, the emission projections from the baseline inventory 
were developed for a ten year period. In areas subject to conformity, 
that had not established an emissions budget per 40 CFR 51.456, a SIP 
approved emissions projection inventory would be used as the emissions 
budget for conformity purposes. Therefore, the emission projections 
inventory provided in the Commonwealth's maintenance plan became the 
emissions budget for conformity.
    Furthermore, 40 CFR Part 93.118, allows states to revise their 
emissions budgets at any time through the standard SIP revision 
process, provided the submittal demonstrates that the revised emissions 
budget will not interfere with attainment and maintenance of the 
standard or any milestones in the required time frame.
    The Clean Air Act (CAA), as amended in 1990, defines conformity to 
an implementation plan as conformity to the plan's purpose of reducing 
the severity and number of violations of the National Ambient Air 
Quality Standards (NAAQS) and achieving expeditious attainment of such 
standards. Specifically, the CAA requires transportation improvement 
programs (TIP) and Long Range Transportation Plans that are federally 
funded or approved actions will not cause or contribute to any new 
violation, increase the frequency or severity of any existing 
violation, or delay timely attainment of any standard or any required 
interim emission reductions or other milestones in any area. Therefore, 
the emissions expected from implementation of such transportation plans 
and programs must be consistent with estimates of emissions from a 
maintenance plan.
    The total emissions in the revised emissions budget for the 
Edmonson County and Owensboro ozone maintenance areas are below the 
1990 levels through the period of projection necessary for the 
attainment and maintenance plan, i.e., through 2005. Due to reductions 
expected from new and/or future federal emission standards, non-road 
source emissions are projected to decrease below the levels projected 
in the original maintenance plan. The safety margin created from this 
category is allotted to the on-road mobile source emissions budget. As 
provided in the table below, the reallotted emissions budget maintains 
the 1990 levels and is consistent with the redesignation/maintenance 
demonstration SIP.

[[Page 46896]]



                                                             NOX Emissions Inventory Summary                                                            
                                                                     [Tons per day]                                                                     
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                        Category                               1990            1993            1996            1999            2002            2004     
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                                                                     Edmonson County                                                                    
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Mobile..................................................             .86             .83             .81             .79             .77             .78
Area....................................................             .04             .04             .04             .04             .04             .04
Point...................................................            0               0               0               0               0               0   
Nonroad.................................................             .37             .38             .39             .40             .40             .41
                                                         -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Total...............................................            1.27            1.25            1.24            1.23            1.22            1.23
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                                                                      Daviess County                                                                    
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Mobile..................................................            5.33            5.25            5.17            5.11            5.04            5.10
Area....................................................             .22             .22             .22             .22             .22             .22
Point...................................................           39.20           38.92           38.65           38.37           38.10           37.92
Nonroad.................................................            2.91            2.89            2.87            2.85            2.83            2.82
                                                         -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Total...............................................           47.66           47.28           46.91           46.55           46.19           46.06
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                                                                     Hancock County                                                                     
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Mobile..................................................             .14             .14             .13             .13             .12             .12
Area....................................................            0               0               0               0               0               0   
Point...................................................           42.86           42.89           42.93           42.97           43.01           43.04
Nonroad.................................................             .16             .16             .16             .16             .16             .16
                                                         -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Total...............................................           43.16           43.19           43.22           43.26           43.29           43.32
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                                                             VOC Emissions Inventory Summary                                                            
                                                                     [Tons per day]                                                                     
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                        Category                               1990            1993            1996            1999            2002            2004     
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                                                                    Edmonson County                                                                     
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Mobile..................................................            1.24             .79             .75             .73             .72             .72
Area....................................................             .74             .76             .77             .79             .80             .82
Point...................................................            0               0               0               0               0               0   
Nonroad.................................................             .45             .46             .47             .48             .49             .50
                                                         -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Total...............................................            2.43            2.01            1.99            2.00            2.01            2.04
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                                                                      Daviess County                                                                    
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Mobile..................................................           10.18            6.65            6.48            6.42            6.44            6.53
Area....................................................            5.29            5.25            5.22            5.18            5.15            5.13
Point...................................................           13.23           13.13           13.04           12.95           12.86           12.80
Nonroad.................................................            3.84            3.81            3.79            3.76            3.74            3.72
                                                         -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Total...............................................           32.54           28.84           28.53           28.31           28.19           28.18
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                                                                     Hancock County                                                                     
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Mobile..................................................             .20             .13             .12             .12             .11             .11
Area....................................................             .08             .08             .08             .08             .08             .08
Point...................................................            3.23            3.30            3.30            3.30            3.31            3.31
Nonroad.................................................             .09             .09             .09             .09             .09             .09
                                                         -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Total...............................................            3.60            3.60            3.59            3.59            3.59            3.59
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Final action

    EPA is approving Kentucky's revised emission budget for the 
Edmonson County and Owensboro ozone maintenance area. The Agency has 
reviewed this request for revision of the Federally approved State 
implementation plans (SIP) for conformance with the provisions of the 
Amendments enacted on November 15, 1990, and the Transportation 
Conformity Rule promulgated on November 24, 1993 and amended on August 
15, 1997. The Agency has determined that this request conforms to those 
requirements. Therefore, this action revises the motor vehicle 
emissions budget for the Kentucky Counties of Edmonson, Daviess and a 
portion of Hancock.
    EPA is publishing this rule without prior proposal because the 
Agency views this as a noncontroversial amendment and anticipates no 
adverse

[[Page 46897]]

comments. However, in the proposed rules section of this Federal 
Register publication, EPA is publishing a separate document that will 
serve as the proposal to approve the SIP revision should relevant 
adverse comments be filed. This rule will be effective November 2, 1998 
without further notice unless the Agency receives relevant adverse 
comments by October 5, 1998.
    If the EPA receives such comments, then EPA will publish a timely 
withdrawal of the direct final rule informing the public that the rule 
will not take effect. All public comments received will then be 
addressed in a subsequent final rule based on the proposed rule. The 
EPA will not institute a second comment period on this rule. Only 
parties interested in commenting on the rule should do so at this time. 
If no such comments are received, the public is advised that this rule 
will be effective on November 2, 1998 and no further action will be 
taken on the proposed rule.
    The ozone SIP is designed to satisfy the requirements of part D of 
the CAA and to provide for attainment and maintenance of the ozone 
NAAQS. Approval of this motor vehicle emissions budget should not be 
interpreted as authorizing the State to delete, alter, or rescind any 
of the VOC or NOX emission limitations and restrictions 
contained in the approved ozone SIP. Changes to ozone SIP VOC 
regulations rendering them less stringent than those contained in the 
EPA approved plan cannot be made unless a revised maintenance plan is 
submitted to and approved by EPA. Unauthorized relaxations, deletions, 
and changes could result in both a finding of non-implementation 
[section 173(b) of the CAA] and in a SIP deficiency call made pursuant 
to section 110(a)(2)(H) of the CAA.
    Nothing in this action will be construed as permitting or allowing 
or establishing a precedent for any future request for a revision to 
any SIP. Each request for revision to the SIP will be considered 
separately in light of specific technical, economic, and environmental 
factors and in relation to relevant statutory and regulatory 
requirements.
    Nothing in this action should be construed as making any 
determination or expressing any position regarding Kentucky's audit 
privilege and penalty immunity law KRS 224.01-040 or its impact upon 
any approved provision in the SIP, including the revision at issue 
here. The action taken herein does not express or imply any viewpoint 
on the question of whether there are legal deficiencies in this or any 
other Clean Air Act program resulting from the effect of Kentucky's 
audit privilege and immunity law. A state audit privilege and immunity 
law can affect only state enforcement and cannot have any impact on 
federal enforcement authorities. EPA may at any time invoke its 
authority under the Clean Air Act, including, for example, sections 
113, 167, 205, 211 or 213, to enforce the requirements or prohibitions 
of the state plan, independently of any state enforcement effort. In 
addition, citizen enforcement under section 304 of the Clean Air Act is 
likewise unaffected by a state audit privilege or immunity law.

I. Administrative Requirements

A. Executive Order 12866

    The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has exempted this 
regulatory action from review under Executive Order 12866, entitled 
Regulatory Planning and Review.

B. Executive Order 13045

    The final rule is not subject to Executive Order 13045, entitled 
Protection of Children from Environmental Health Risks and Safety 
Risks, because it is not an ``economically significant'' action under 
Executive Order 12866.

C. Regulatory Flexibility Act

    Under the 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 sections 603 and 604. 
Alternatively, EPA may certify that the rule will not have a 
significant economic 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 CAA 
does not create any new requirements, but 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 small entities. Moreover, due to the 
nature of the federal-state relationship under the CAA, preparation of 
a regulatory flexibility analysis would constitute federal inquiry into 
the economic reasonableness of state action. The CAA forbids EPA to 
base its actions concerning SIPs on such grounds. Union Electric Co. v. 
U.S. E.P.A., 427 U.S. 246, 256-66 (S.Ct. 1976); 42 U.S.C. section 7410 
(a)(2) and, 7410 (k)(3).

D. Unfunded Mandates

    Under Section 202 of the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995 
(``Unfunded Mandates Act''), signed into law on March 22, 1995, EPA 
must prepare a budgetary impact statement to accompany any proposed or 
final rule that includes a Federal mandate that may result in estimated 
costs to State, local, or tribal governments in the aggregate, or to 
the private sector, of $100 million or more. Under Section 205, EPA 
must select the most cost effective and least burdensome alternative 
that achieves objectives of the rule and is consistent with statutory 
requirements. Section 203 requires EPA to establish a plan for 
informing and advising any small governments that may be significantly 
or uniquely impacted by the rule.
    EPA has determined that the approval promulgated does not include a 
Federal mandate that may result in estimated costs of $100 million or 
more to either State, local, or tribal governments in aggregate, or to 
the private sector. This Federal action approves pre-existing 
requirements under State or local law, and imposes no new requirements. 
Accordingly, no additional costs to State, local, or tribal 
governments, or to the private sector, result from this action.

E. 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).

F. 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 November 2, 1998. 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

[[Page 46898]]

review may be filed, and will 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, 
Hydrocarbons, Incorporation by reference, Intergovernmental relations, 
Nitrogen dioxide, Ozone.

    Dated: July 30, 1998.
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 S--Kentucky

    2. Section 52.920, is amended by adding paragraph (c)(91) to read 
as follows:


Sec. 52.920  Identification of plan.

* * * * *
    (c) * * *
    (91) The maintenance plan for Edmonson County and Owensboro ozone 
area submitted by the Commonwealth of Kentucky through the Natural 
Resources and Environmental Protection Cabinet on April 16, 1998, as 
part of the Kentucky SIP.
    (i) Incorporation by reference.
    Mobile Emissions Budgets for Owensboro Area and Edmonson County 
Marginal Ozone Maintenance Areas: Introduction page and Tables 1 
through 8 effective April 14, 1998.
    (ii) Other material. None.

[FR Doc. 98-23502 Filed 9-2-98; 8:45 am]
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