[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 161 (Monday, August 20, 2001)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 43488-43492]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-20784]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[KY130-200117(a); FRL-7036-8]


Approval and Promulgation of Implementation Plans Commonwealth of 
Kentucky: Approval of Revisions to the 1-Hour Ozone Maintenance State 
Implementation Plan for Marshall and a Portion of Livingston Counties

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Direct final rule.

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SUMMARY: EPA is approving revisions to the 1-hour ozone maintenance 
state implementation plan (SIP) for Marshall and a portion of 
Livingston Counties, Kentucky (i.e., the Paducah area), submitted on 
June 14, 2001, by the Commonwealth of Kentucky through the Natural 
Resources and Environmental Protection Cabinet to correct/revise the 
original motor vehicle emissions budgets (MVEBs) approved by EPA. Once 
EPA's approval is effective, the revised MVEBs must be used for 
transportation conformity purposes in the Paducah area.

DATES: This direct final rule is effective October 19, 2001 without 
further notice, unless EPA receives adverse comment by September 19, 
2001. 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: All comments should be addressed to: Mr. Richard A. Schutt, 
Chief, Regulatory Planning Section, EPA, Region 4, 61 Forsyth Street, 
SW, Atlanta, Georgia 30303.
    Copies of the State submittal(s) are available at the following 
addresses for inspection during normal business hours:
    Environmental Protection Agency, Region 4, Air Planning Branch, 61 
Forsyth Street, SW, Atlanta, Georgia 30303-8960. Contact: Mr. Richard 
A. Schutt, (404) 562-9033, [email protected].
    Commonwealth of Kentucky Natural Resources and Environmental 
Protection Cabinet, Department for Environmental Protection, Division 
for Air Quality, 803 Schenkel Lane, Frankfort, Kentucky, 40601. (502) 
573-3382.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Richard A. Schutt, (404) 562-9033, 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

[[Page 43489]]

I. Background

    EPA designated Marshall and a portion of Livingston Counties, 
Kentucky, (i.e., the Paducah area) nonattainment under the 1-hour ozone 
National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) effective January 6, 1992 
(56 FR 56694). Furthermore, EPA classified the area as ``marginal'' 
under Title I Part D Subpart 2 of the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990. 
EPA approved the Paducah area's redesignation request and maintenance 
SIP effective April 10, 1995 (60 FR 7124). The maintenance SIP 
contained emissions inventories and projections for volatile organic 
compounds (VOC) and nitrogen oxides (NOX) from all sources 
for the 1990 base year through 2004, including every three years in the 
interim. The on-road mobile source VOC and NOX projections 
established MVEBs for transportation conformity purposes for the 
Paducah area. The original MVEBs are shown in Table 1.

                                      Table 1.--Original Paducah Area MVEBs
                                                   [tons/day]
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             Pollutant                       County           1990     1993     1996     1999     2002     2004
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
VOC................................  Livingston (Portion).     0.15     0.14     0.15     0.13     0.13     0.13
                                     Marshall.............     3.01     2.82     2.90     2.59     2.54     2.54
VOC MVEB...........................                            3.16     2.96     3.05     2.72     2.67     2.67
NOX................................  Livingston (Portion).     0.14     0.14     0.14     0.13     0.13     0.13
                                     Marshall.............     2.93     2.84     2.89     2.71     2.64     2.63
NOX MVEB...........................                            3.07     2.98     3.03     2.84     2.77     2.76
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    On June 14, 2001, the Commonwealth of Kentucky submitted a revision 
of the Paducah area maintenance SIP to correct the original MVEBs. 
Specifically, the MVEBs were revised to reflect corrected assumptions 
about daily vehicle-miles traveled (DVMT) for the years 1990-2004 in 
Marshall and Livingston Counties supplied by the Kentucky 
Transportation Cabinet (KYTC). The revised MVEBs are shown in Table 2.

                                      Table 2.--Revised Paducah Area MVEBs
                                                   [tons/day]
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             Pollutant                       County           1990     1993     1996     1999     2002     2004
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VOC................................  Livingston (Portion).     0.20     0.13     0.12     0.12     0.12     0.12
                                     Marshall.............     5.03     3.32     3.00     2.98     3.01     3.05
VOC MVEB...........................                            5.23     3.45     3.12     3.10     3.13     3.17
NOX................................  Livingston (Portion).     0.14     0.14     0.13     0.14     0.14     0.14
                                     Marshall.............     3.68     3.66     3.40     3.43     3.54     3.57
NOX MVEB...........................                            3.82      3.8     3.53     3.57     3.68     3.71
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    The SIP revises only the on-road mobile source emissions estimates 
and forecasts. The emissions inventories and forecasts for all other 
sources were not revised. The revised total VOC and NOX 
emissions from all sources are shown in Tables 3 and 4, respectively.

                               Table 3.--Revised Paducah Area Total VOC Emissions
                                                   [tons/day]
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                                                              1990     1993     1996     1999     2002     2004
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Point.....................................................    96.47    94.03    83.80    84.47    85.13    85.58
Area......................................................     1.85     1.87     1.88     1.90     1.91     1.93
Mobile....................................................     5.23     3.45     3.12     3.10     3.13     3.17
Non-Road..................................................     1.29     1.30     1.31     1.32     1.34     1.34
                                                           -----------------------------------------------------
    Total.................................................   104.84   100.66    90.12    90.79    91.51    92.02
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                               Table 4.--Revised Paducah Area Total NOX Emissions
                                                   [tons/day]
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                                                              1990     1993     1996     1999     2002     2004
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Point.....................................................     5.88     5.93     5.97     6.02     6.07     6.10
Area......................................................     0.11     0.11     0.11     0.11     0.11     0.11
Mobile....................................................     3.82     3.80     3.53     3.57     3.68     3.71
Non-Road..................................................     1.34     1.35     1.37     1.38     1.39     1.40
                                                           -----------------------------------------------------
    Total.................................................    11.15    11.19    10.98    11.08    11.25    11.32
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    The Commonwealth of Kentucky forecasted slight increases in total 
NOX of 0.10 tons per day in 2002 and 0.17 tons per day in 
2004 compared to the 1990 level. The original maintenance plan for the 
Paducah area was based on

[[Page 43490]]

maintaining total emissions at or below the 1990 levels, a year during 
which the area met the 1-hour ozone NAAQS. However, EPA believes that 
these slight emissions increases will not adversely impact maintenance 
of the 1-hour ozone NAAQS in the Paducah area. In addition, the 
forecasted excess emissions will likely be offset by reductions from 
federal measures that were enacted and implemented since approval of 
the original maintenance plan, but for which the Commonwealth of 
Kentucky did not take credit in the SIP revision. Specifically, 
NOX emissions reductions from the Tier 2/Gasoline Sulfur 
Rule (65 FR 6697), federal locomotive standards (63 FR 18977), nonroad 
diesel engine standards (63 FR 56967), and new gasoline spark-ignition 
marine engine standards (61 FR 52087) should be sufficient to offset 
the forecasted emissions increases in the SIP.
    Per section 175A.(b) of the Clean Air Act, the Commonwealth of 
Kentucky must submit a revision of the Paducah area maintenance SIP to 
EPA by April 10, 2003. The revision will update the SIP to maintain the 
1-hour ozone NAAQS in the Paducah area for 10 years after the 
expiration of the current plan. EPA expects the Commonwealth of 
Kentucky to update all emissions source categories in the revision to 
the maintenance SIP and to incorporate any applicable Clean Air Act and 
federal measures that have been enacted since the original maintenance 
plan was developed.
    Once EPA's approval of this SIP revision is effective, the revised 
MVEBs in Table 2 must be used for transportation conformity purposes in 
the Paducah area.

II. Analysis of State's Submittal

    The procedure for estimating on-road mobile source emissions 
consists of multiplying together: (1) The level of travel activity 
(e.g., DVMT), and (2) the emissions factors (e.g., grams of pollutant 
emitted per mile driven). KYTC collects and forecasts DVMT data for the 
Paducah area, and the Kentucky Division for Air Quality (DAQ) 
calculates the corresponding mobile source emissions factors using 
EPA's MOBILE model.
    In developing the original maintenance SIP, KYTC utilized statewide 
average Highway Performance Monitoring System (HPMS) data to estimate 
and forecast DVMT in the Paducah area. Since that time, KYTC's 
supporting data and analytical procedures for DVMT estimation have been 
upgraded. In the revised maintenance SIP, KYTC's DVMT estimates are 
based on county-specific travel activity, and the forecasts are based, 
in part, on county-specific population forecasts. KYTC believes that 
the revised DVMT estimates and forecasts are more reliable than those 
used in the development of the original maintenance SIP. The SIP 
revision documents the new procedures, and EPA finds the procedures to 
be reasonable for estimating and forecasting DVMT in the Paducah area. 
The revised DVMT totals for the Paducah area are roughly 20 to 25 
percent higher than the original totals. The original and revised DVMT 
estimates are shown in Tables 5 and 6, respectively.

                                                          Table 5.--Original Paducah Area DVMT
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                         County                                1990            1993            1996            1999            2002            2004
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Livingston..............................................         306,000         327,469         350,000         373,296         398,276         415,097
Marshall................................................         847,000         906,084         968,000       1,033,178       1,102,950       1,149,926
                                                         -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Total DVMT..........................................       1,153,000       1,233,553       1,318,000       1,406,474       1,501,226       1,565,023
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                                                           Table 6.--Revised Paducah Area DVMT
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                         County                                1990            1993            1996            1999            2002            2004
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Livingston..............................................         293,000         327,000         350,000         386,000         422,000         446,000
Marshall................................................       1,070,000       1,176,000       1,198,000       1,323,000       1,461,000       1,550,000
                                                         -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Total DVMT..........................................       1,363,000       1,503,000       1,548,000       1,709,000       1,883,000       1,996,000
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    DAQ used the same MOBILE input assumptions in the development of 
the revised maintenance SIP (e.g., ambient temperature, registration 
distributions, fuel volatility, average vehicle speeds) as were used in 
the original maintenance plan. In addition, for the revised SIP, DAQ 
included the effects of the 2004 NOX emissions standard for 
heavy-duty diesel engines (MOBILE5 Information Sheet #5, http://www.epa.gov/oms/models/mobile5/m5info5.pdf) in 2004 and the National 
Low Emission Vehicle standard for light-duty gasoline fueled vehicles 
in years 2002 and 2004 (MOBILE5 Information Sheet #6, http://www.epa.gov/oms/models/mobile5/m5info6.pdf), both of which were 
approved by EPA after the original maintenance plan was developed.

III. Final Action

    EPA is approving the aforementioned changes to the SIP because the 
revision meets all applicable Clean Air Act statutory and regulatory 
requirements.
    EPA is publishing this rule without prior proposal because the 
Agency views this as a noncontroversial submittal and anticipates no 
adverse 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 
adverse comments be filed. This rule will be effective October 19, 2001 
without further notice unless the Agency receives adverse comments by 
September 19, 2001.
    If EPA receives such comments, then EPA will publish a document 
withdrawing the final rule and 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. EPA will not 
institute a second comment period. Parties interested in commenting 
should do so at this time. If no such comments are received, the public 
is advised that this rule will be effective on October 19, 2001 and no 
further action will be taken on the proposed rule.

[[Page 43491]]

IV. Administrative Requirements

    Under Executive Order 12866 (58 FR 51735, October 4, 1993), this 
action is not a ``significant regulatory action'' and therefore is not 
subject to review by the Office of Management and Budget. This action 
merely approves state law as meeting federal requirements and imposes 
no additional requirements beyond those imposed by state law. 
Accordingly, the Administrator certifies that this 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 approves 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). For the same reason, 
this rule also does not significantly or uniquely affect the 
communities of tribal governments, as specified by Executive Order 
13084 (63 FR 27655, May 10, 1998). This rule will 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), because it 
merely approves 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 rule also is 
not subject to Executive Order 13045 (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. As required by section 3 
of Executive Order 12988 (61 FR 4729, February 7, 1996), in issuing 
this rule, EPA has taken the necessary steps to eliminate drafting 
errors and ambiguity, minimize potential litigation, and provide a 
clear legal standard for affected conduct. EPA has complied with 
Executive Order 12630 (53 FR 8859, March 15, 1988) by examining the 
takings implications of the rule in accordance with the ``Attorney 
General's Supplemental Guidelines for the Evaluation of Risk and 
Avoidance of Unanticipated Takings'' issued under the Executive Order. 
This 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.).
    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 United States Senate, the United States 
House of Representatives, and the Comptroller General of the United 
States prior to publication of the rule in the Federal Register. A 
major rule cannot take effect until 60 days after it is published in 
the Federal Register. This action is not a ``major rule'' as defined by 
5 U.S.C. 804(2).
    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 October 19, 2001. 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 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, Hydrocarbons, 
Intergovernmental relations, Nitrogen dioxide, Ozone, Reporting and 
recordkeeping requirements.

    Dated: August 3, 2001.
Russell Wright,
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. In Sec. 52.920 paragraph (e) the table is amended by adding a 
new entry ``21.'' to read as follows:


Sec. 52.920  Identification of plan.

* * * * *
    (e) * * *

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                                                          State
          Appendix                Title/subject         effective    EPA approval date   Federal Register Notice
                                                          date
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*                  *                  *                  *                  *                  *
                                                        *
21.........................  Maintenance Plan             06/14/01  08/20/01...........  08/20/01
                              Revision for Marshall
                              and a Portion of
                              Livingston CO.
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[FR Doc. 01-20784 Filed 8-17-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P