[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 8 (Wednesday, January 13, 1999)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 2416-2418]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-849]



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Part IV





Environmental Protection Agency





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40 CFR Parts 52, 97, and 98



Reopening of Emissions Inventory Comment Periods for the Findings of 
Significant Contribution and Rulemakings on Section 126 Petitions and 
Federal Implementation Plans for Purposes of Reducing Interstate 
Transport of Ozone; Proposed Rules

  Federal Register / Vol. 64, No. 8 / Wednesday, January 13, 1999 / 
Proposed Rules  

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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Parts 52, 97, and 98

[FRL-6219-5]


Reopening of Emissions Inventory Comment Periods for the Findings 
of Significant Contribution and Rulemakings on Section 126 Petitions 
and Federal Implementation Plans for Purposes of Reducing Interstate 
Transport of Ozone

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of reopening of comment periods for emission inventory 
inputs.

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SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that EPA is reopening the comment 
periods for emissions inventory revisions to the 2007 baseline sub-
inventory information for the proposed rulemakings concerning the Clean 
Air Act section 126 petitions (the section 126 proposal) and the 
Federal implementation plans (FIPs) for the purpose of reducing 
interstate ozone transport. For both proposals, this includes 
opportunity to comment on source-specific emission inventory data; for 
the FIP proposal, it also includes the opportunity to comment on 
vehicle miles traveled (VMT) and nonroad mobile growth rates, VMT 
distribution by vehicle class, average speed by roadway type, 
inspection and maintenance program parameters, and other input 
parameters used in the calculation of highway vehicle emissions. The 
comment periods remain closed for all other issues.

DATES: The EPA is reopening the comment periods for emissions inventory 
revisions, ending on February 22, 1999. Comments must be postmarked by 
the last day of the comment periods and sent directly to the Docket 
Office listed in ADDRESSES (in duplicate form if possible). The EPA 
strongly urges commenters to submit proposed changes to the inventories 
of electric generating units (EGUs) greater than 25 megawatts (MWe) and 
non-EGU boilers and turbines greater than 250 mmBtu/hr by January 25, 
1999 to facilitate incorporation of any necessary changes into the 
section 126 final rulemaking.

ADDRESSES: Comments may be submitted to the Air and Radiation Docket 
and Information Center (6102), Attention: Docket No. A-97-43 for the 
section 126 proposal and Docket No. A-98-12 for the FIP proposal, U.S. 
Environmental Protection Agency, 401 M Street SW, room M-1500, 
Washington, DC 20460, telephone (202) 260-7548. Comments and data may 
also be submitted electronically by following the instructions under 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION of this document. The e-mail address is A-
and-R-D[email protected]. No confidential business information 
(CBI) should be submitted through e-mail.
    Documents relevant to this action are available for inspection at 
the Docket Office, at the above address, between 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 
p.m., Monday though Friday, excluding legal holidays. A reasonable 
copying fee may be charged for copying.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: General questions on emissions 
inventory updates should be directed to Greg Stella, Office of Air 
Quality Planning and Standards, Emissions Monitoring and Analysis 
Division, MD-14, Research Triangle Park, NC 27711, telephone (919) 541-
3649, e-mail [email protected].
    Specific questions on modifications to the EGU sector of the 
inventory should be directed to Kevin Culligan, Office of Atmospheric 
Programs, Acid Rain Division, MC-6204J, 401 M Street, Washington, DC 
20460, telephone (202) 564-9172, e-mail [email protected].
    General questions concerning the section 126 proposal should be 
addressed to Carla Oldham, Office of Air Quality Planning and 
Standards, Air Quality Strategies and Standards Division, MD-15, 
Research Triangle Park, NC, 27711, telephone (919) 541-3347, e-mail 
[email protected].
    General questions concerning the FIP proposal should be addressed 
to Doug Grano, Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards, Air 
Quality Strategies and Standards Division, MD-15, Research Triangle 
Park, NC, 27711, telephone (919) 541-3292, e-mail [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: By notice dated September 30, 1998, EPA 
proposed ``Findings of Significant Contribution and Rulemakings on 
Section 126 Petitions and Federal Implementation Plans for Purposes of 
Reducing Interstate Ozone Transport,'' (63 FR 52213). On October 21, 
1998, EPA published longer, more detailed versions of these proposals 
entitled ``Findings of Significant Contribution and Rulemaking on 
Section 126 Petitions for Purposes of Reducing Interstate Ozone 
Transport,'' (63 FR 56292), which may be referred to as the section 126 
proposal; and ``Federal Implementation Plans to Reduce the Regional 
Transport of Ozone,'' (63 FR 56394), which may be referred to as the 
FIP proposal. These two proposals each had a comment period of 60 days, 
which closed on November 30, 1998.
    By notice dated October 27, 1998, EPA published the final 
rulemaking, ``Finding of Significant Contribution and Rulemaking for 
Certain States in the Ozone Transport Assessment Group Region for 
Purposes of Reducing Regional Transport of Ozone,'' (63 FR 57356), 
which may be referred to as the NOX SIP call.

Comment Period for Emission Inventory Revisions

    In the final NOX SIP call, as described at 63 FR 57427, 
EPA provided that the opportunity for source-specific inventory data 
revisions would be available for the first 60 days of the 12-month 
period between signature of the NOX SIP call and the 
deadline for submission of the required SIP revisions (i.e., November 
23, 1998). The EPA received numerous requests to allow more time to 
accept revisions to source-specific inventory data used to establish 
each State's base inventory and budget in the NOX SIP call 
and to also allow revisions to VMT projections. The Agency is aware of 
difficulties some States have had accessing the emission inventory data 
bases. Therefore, in a separate notice (63 FR 71220; December 24, 
1998), EPA extended this time period for source specific emissions 
inventory revisions and also agreed to accept revisions to VMT 
projections until February 22, 1999. Because the section 126 and FIP 
proposals rely on the same emissions inventory information as the 
NOX SIP call, EPA is today reopening the comment periods for 
these actions specifically for emissions inventory revisions.
    As specified in section III.F.5 of the final NOX SIP 
call, no changes to an emissions inventory will be made unless 
information is provided to corroborate and justify the need for the 
requested modification. Commenters need to submit any suggested 
inventory changes to the EPA Air and Radiation docket (A-97-43 for the 
section 126 proposal, and A-98-12 for the FIP proposal) by February 22, 
1999. Sources and other non-State commenters should also send a copy of 
their comments concerning the inventory changes to their State air 
pollution control agency. A courtesy copy of comments mailed to Greg 
Stella at the address listed above would be appreciated in addition to 
the formal submittal to the docket(s).
    For a comment to be considered, the data submitted in the request 
for modification must be submitted in electronic format (i.e., 
spreadsheet, data base, text file) and must be accompanied

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by information to support the requested change. The EPA has identified 
the specific data elements for each source sector that must be included 
in the electronic file submitted with any data modification request. 
For budget calculation purposes, emphasis should be on NOX 
emissions, noting that other precursor emissions and modeling data are 
necessary for final development of the modeling inventory.
    However, in many cases, not all of the inventory information needs 
to be corrected and resubmitted. For example, it may be the case that 
source-specific NOX emission rates are incorrect, but all 
stack and other emissions data are acceptable. In these cases, it is 
not necessary to resubmit the entire inventory record data. Only source 
identification information and additional data that require correction 
need to be resubmitted. In those cases where the majority of the data 
are incorrect or the submission is for a new, unaccounted for source, 
complete files with all data fields outlined in section III.F.5 of the 
final NOX SIP call must be submitted.
    For those sources so indicated above, a simplified inventory 
revision submittal is acceptable and must include the following 
information:
     Source sector needing revision,
     Identification of the specific changes requested to the 
inventory,
     Reason for requested change,
     All of the following sector-specific information in 
electronic file format:

Electric Generating Units

    Data on a source-specific basis including:
     Federal Information Placement System State Code,
     Federal Information Placement System County Code,
     Plant name,
     Plant ID numbers (ORIS code preferred (ORIS is a coding 
mechanism used by the Department of Energy to track plants with EGUs), 
State agency tracking number also or otherwise),
     Unit ID numbers (a unit is a boiler or other combustion 
device),
     Unit type (also known as prime mover; e.g., wall-fired 
boiler, stoker boiler, combined cycle, combustion turbine, etc.),
     Primary fuel on a heat input basis,
     Maximum rated heat input capacity of unit,
     Nameplate capacity of the largest generator the unit 
serves,
     1995 and 1996 ozone season heat inputs,
     1996 (or most recent) average NOX rate for the 
ozone season.

Non-EGU Point Sources

    Data on a source-specific basis including:
     Federal Information Placement System State Code,
     Federal Information Placement System County Code,
     Plant name,
     Plant ID numbers (National Emission Data System (NEDS), 
Aerometric Information Retrieval System/AIRS Facility Subsystem (AIRS/
AFS), and State agency tracking number also or otherwise),
     Unit ID numbers,
     Primary source classification code (SCC),
     Maximum rated heat input capacity of unit,
     1995 ozone season or typical ozone season daily 
NOX emissions,
     1995 existing NOX control efficiency.

Stationary Area Sources

    Data on a sub-category specific basis including:
     Federal Information Placement System State Code,
     Federal Information Placement System County Code,
     Source classification code (SCC),
     1995 ozone season or typical ozone season daily 
NOX emissions,
     1995 existing NOX control efficiency.

Nonroad Mobile Sources

    Data on a sub-category specific basis including:
     Federal Information Placement System State Code,
     Federal Information Placement System County Code,
     Source classification code (SCC),
     1995 ozone season or typical ozone season daily 
NOX emissions,
     1995 existing NOX control efficiency.

Highway Mobile Sources

    Data on a SCC or vehicle type basis including:
     Federal Information Placement System State Code,
     Federal Information Placement System County Code,
     Primary source classification code (SCC) or vehicle type,
     1995 ozone season or typical ozone season daily vehicle 
miles traveled (VMT).
    For the FIP action, EPA is also accepting comments on VMT and 
nonroad mobile growth rates, VMT distribution by vehicle class, average 
speed by roadway type, inspection and maintenance program parameters, 
and other input parameters used in the calculation of highway vehicle 
emissions. These comments must be on a county-level basis and must 
include adequate evidence and explanation for any differences between 
the input parameters used in the proposed FIP budgets and the input 
parameters being proposed in the comments. Comments also must be 
consistent with other State submittals, including SIPs, transportation 
plans and conformity demonstrations, and other documents, or must 
contain an explanation for the differences between the comments and 
these other recent submittals and a plan to correct these other 
submittals to make them consistent with the comments submitted in 
response to this notice.
    In the notice which extended the period for emissions inventory 
revisions for the NOX SIP call (63 FR 71220; December 24, 
1998), EPA also corrected Table III-1 and clarified how large EGUs and 
large non-EGUs are defined. Those corrections and clarifications are 
applicable and included by reference in the section 126 and FIP 
rulemakings. That notice has been placed in the section 126 and FIP 
rulemaking dockets.

Availability of Related Information

    The official records for the section 126 and FIP rulemakings, as 
well as the public versions (including comments and data submitted 
electronically as described below), have been established under Docket 
No. A-97-43 for the section 126 action and Docket No. A-98-12 for the 
FIP action. The official record for the NOX SIP call has 
been established under Docket No. A-96-56. The public versions of these 
records, including printed, paper versions of electronic comments, 
which do not include any information claimed as CBI, are available for 
inspection from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding 
legal holidays. The official rulemaking records are located at the 
address in ADDRESSES at the beginning of this document.

Electronic Comments

    Electronic comments can be sent directly to EPA at: A-and-R-
D[email protected]. Electronic comments must be submitted as an 
ASCII file avoiding the use of special characters and any form of 
encryption. Comments and data will also be accepted on disks in 
WordPerfect in 5.1 file format or ASCII file format. All comments and 
data in electronic form must be identified by the appropriate docket 
number. Electronic comments on the proposals may be filed online at 
many Federal Depository Libraries.

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List of Subjects

40 CFR Part 52

    Environmental protection, Air pollution control, Emissions trading, 
Nitrogen oxides, Ozone transport, Reporting and recordkeeping 
requirements.

40 CFR Part 97

    Environmental protection, Air pollution control, Emissions trading, 
Nitrogen oxides, Ozone transport, Reporting and recordkeeping 
requirements.

40 CFR Part 98

    Environmental protection, Air pollution control, Emissions trading, 
Nitrogen oxides, Ozone transport, Reporting and recordkeeping 
requirements.

    Dated: January 7, 1999.
Robert Perciasepe,
Assistant Administrator for Air and Radiation.
[FR Doc. 99-849 Filed 1-12-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P