[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 53 (Wednesday, March 19, 2003)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 13247-13249]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-6584]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[KY-143-200315; FRL-7469-1]


Approval and Promulgation of Implementation Plans; Kentucky: 
Approval of Revisions to Maintenance Plan for Northern Kentucky

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Proposed rule.

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SUMMARY: The EPA is proposing to approve a revision to the state 
implementation plan (SIP) of the Commonwealth of Kentucky to revise the 
motor vehicle emissions budgets (MVEBs) for the Northern Kentucky 
maintenance area for the year 2010. The Northern Kentucky maintenance 
area, a subset of the Cincinnati-Hamilton maintenance area, includes 
the three Kentucky counties of Boone, Campbell and Kenton. The revision 
to the MVEBs is allowable because of an available safety margin for 
volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and nitrogen oxides (NOX) 
for the Northern Kentucky portion of the maintenance area. The 
Commonwealth's submittal also requests to clearly identify that the 
Ohio portion and the Kentucky portion of the Cincinnati-Hamilton 
maintenance area will have subarea MVEBs for the purposes of 
implementing transportation conformity. Ohio will make a similar 
request for subarea MVEBs for this area in an upcoming revision to the 
Cincinnati-Hamilton county maintenance plan. Kentucky has requested 
that EPA parallel process this revision because the revision is not yet 
state-effective.

DATES: Written comments must be received on or before April 18, 2003.

ADDRESSES: All comments should be addressed to: Michele Notarianni; 
Regulatory Development Section; Air Planning Branch; Air, Pesticides 
and Toxics Management Division; U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 
Region 4; 61 Forsyth Street, SW., Atlanta, Georgia 30303-8960. (404/
562-9031 (phone) or [email protected] (e-mail))
    Copies of documents relative to this action 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. (Michele Notarianni, 
404/562-9031, [email protected])
Commonwealth of Kentucky, Division for Air Quality, 803 Schenkel Lane, 
Frankfort, Kentucky 40601-1403. (502/573-3382)

    Persons wanting to examine these documents should make an 
appointment at least 24 hours before the visiting day and reference 
file KY143. (Telephone number: 404/562-9031)

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Michele Notarianni, Regulatory 
Development Section, Air Planning Branch, Air, Pesticides and Toxics 
Management Division, Region 4, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 61 
Forsyth Street, SW., Atlanta, Georgia 30303-8960. (404/562-9031 (phone) 
or [email protected] (e-mail))

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This section is organized as follows:

I. What is the background for this action?
II. Who is affected by this action?
III. What is transportation conformity?
IV. What is an MVEB?
V. What is a safety margin?
VI. How does this action change implementation of transportation 
conformity for the Kentucky portion of the Cincinnati-Hamilton 
maintenance area?
VII. What is parallel processing?
VIII. Proposed action
IX. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

I. What Is the Background for This Action?

    The Commonwealth of Kentucky submitted a request on February 6, 
2003, to revise the MVEBs for the Northern Kentucky maintenance area 
for the year 2010. The Northern Kentucky area (i.e., Boone, Campbell 
and Kenton counties), in conjunction with the Cincinnati-Hamilton 
County area in Ohio, was designated as a nonattainment area for the 1-
hour ozone national ambient air quality standard (NAAQS) per the Clean 
Air Act as amended in 1990. In October 1999, after the area had three 
consecutive years of ``clean'' air quality data, the Commonwealth of 
Kentucky, through the Kentucky Department of Air Quality (KDAQ), 
submitted a redesignation request and a maintenance plan for the 
Northern Kentucky area to EPA. On June 19, 2000, EPA redesignated the 
Northern Kentucky area to attainment for the 1-hour ozone NAAQS and 
approved the maintenance plan for the Northern Kentucky area (65 FR 
37879).

[[Page 13248]]

This maintenance plan established the MVEBs which are currently being 
used by the Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana Regional Council of Governments 
(OKI) to demonstrate transportation conformity. OKI is the metropolitan 
planning organization (MPO) for the Cincinnati-Hamilton County area, 
including the three counties identified in this action as the Northern 
Kentucky area.

II. Who Is Affected by This Action?

    Primarily, the transportation sector represented by OKI will 
benefit from this revision. Through the Interagency Consultation Group, 
which includes the Kentucky transportation and air quality partners, 
OKI identified a need for revised MVEBs for the Northern Kentucky area 
to allow for growth in the transportation sector. KDAQ, a partner of 
the Interagency Consultation Group, evaluated the potential to revise 
the MVEBs for the Northern Kentucky area and prepared this SIP revision 
to accommodate OKI's request.

III. What Is Transportation Conformity?

    Transportation conformity means that the level of emissions from 
the transportation sector (i.e., cars, trucks and buses) must be 
consistent with the requirements in the SIP to attain and maintain the 
NAAQS. The Clean Air Act, in section 176(c), requires conformity of 
transportation plans, programs and projects to a SIP's purpose of 
attaining and maintaining the NAAQS. On November 24, 1993, EPA 
published a final rule establishing criteria and procedures for 
determining if transportation plans, programs and projects funded or 
approved under Title 23 U.S.C. or the Federal Transit Act conform to 
the SIP.
    The transportation conformity rules require an ozone maintenance 
area to compare the actual projected emissions from cars, trucks and 
buses on the highway network, to the MVEB established by the 
maintenance plan. The Northern Kentucky area has an approved 
maintenance plan. EPA's approval of the maintenance plan on June 19, 
2000, established the MVEBs for transportation conformity purposes.

IV. What Is an MVEB?

    An MVEB is the projected level of controlled emissions from the 
transportation sector (mobile sources) that is estimated in the SIP. 
The SIP controls emissions through regulations, for example, on fuels 
and exhaust levels for cars. The MVEB concept is further explained in 
the preamble to the November 24, 1993, transportation conformity rule 
(58 FR 62188). The preamble also describes how to establish the MVEB in 
the SIP and revise the MVEB. The transportation conformity rule allows 
the MVEB to be changed as long as the total level of emissions from all 
sources remains below the attainment level of emissions.

V. What Is a Safety Margin?

    A ``safety margin'' is the difference between the attainment level 
of emissions (from all sources) and the projected level of emissions 
(from all sources) in the maintenance plan. The attainment level of 
emissions is the level of emissions during one of the years in which 
the area met the NAAQS. For example, the Northern Kentucky area 
attained the 1-hour ozone NAAQS during the 1996-1998 time period. 
Kentucky uses 1996 as the attainment level of emissions for the area. 
The emissions from point, area and mobile sources in 1996 equaled 39.71 
tons per day (tpd) of VOC for the Northern Kentucky area. KDAQ 
projected emissions out to the year 2010 and projected a total of 32.55 
tpd of VOC. The safety margin for VOCs is calculated to be the 
difference between these amounts or, in this case, 7.16 tpd of VOC for 
2010. By this same method, 4.78 tpd (i.e., 66.55 tpd less 61.77 tpd) is 
the safety margin for NOX for 2010.
    The emissions are projected to maintain the area's air quality 
consistent with the NAAQS. The safety margin credit can be allocated to 
the transportation sector. The total emission level must stay below the 
attainment level to be acceptable. The safety margin is the extra 
emissions that can be allocated as long as the total attainment level 
of emissions is maintained.

VI. How Does This Action Change Implementation of Transportation 
Conformity for the Kentucky Portion of the Cincinnati-Hamilton 
Maintenance Area?

    In today's action, EPA is proposing to approve a revision to the 
2010 MVEBs for the Northern Kentucky maintenance area. The revised 
MVEBs are 17.13 tpd for NOX and 7.33 tpd for VOC, and 
include an allocation of 2.0 tpd and 1.5 tpd from the available safety 
margin for NOX and VOC, respectively, for the Northern 
Kentucky maintenance area. The MVEB is being changed from 15.13 tpd for 
NOX and 5.83 tpd for VOC. Additionally, this action proposes 
to approve the establishment of subarea MVEBs for the Northern Kentucky 
maintenance area. Presently, OKI demonstrates conformity for the 
Kentucky and Ohio portions of the Cincinnati-Hamilton maintenance area 
together, although Ohio and Kentucky have separate MVEBs for their 
areas in the individual SIPs. OKI is the MPO for both areas so it was 
convenient to demonstrate conformity for both areas together. However, 
because of a recent mismatch for the budget years for the Ohio and 
Kentucky portions of this maintenance area, it will be more convenient 
for the MPO to demonstrate conformity for each area separately. The 
subarea budget for the Northern Kentucky area is identical to the MVEBs 
identified above for the Northern Kentucky area. This action merely 
provides formal recognition that the MPO will demonstrate conformity 
for the Ohio and Kentucky portions of the Cincinnati-Hamilton County 
maintenance area separately. The establishment of subarea MVEBs for 
this area will minimize the administrative burden for the MPO to 
demonstrate conformity for the Northern Kentucky maintenance area. 
Without the subarea MVEBs, the MPO would have to analyze an extra year 
for each conformity analysis because of a current mismatch for the 
budget years for the Ohio and Kentucky portions of this maintenance 
area.

VII. What Is Parallel Processing?

    Kentucky has requested that EPA parallel process this proposed SIP 
revision. Under this procedure, the Regional Office works closely with 
the Commonwealth of Kentucky while the Commonwealth is developing new 
or revised regulations. The state submits a copy of the proposed 
regulation or other revisions to EPA before conducting its public 
hearing. EPA reviews this proposed state action, and prepares a notice 
of proposed rulemaking. EPA's notice of proposed rulemaking is 
published in the Federal Register during the same time frame that the 
Commonwealth is holding its public hearing. The Commonwealth and EPA 
then provide for concurrent public comment periods on both the state 
action and the Federal action. After the Commonwealth submits the 
formal SIP revision request (including a response to all public 
comments raised during the state's public participation process, and 
the approved, amended Maintenance Plan for Northern Kentucky), EPA will 
prepare a final rulemaking notice. If the Commonwealth's formal SIP 
submittal contains changes which occur after EPA's notice of proposed 
rulemaking, such changes must be described in EPA's final rulemaking 
action. If the Commonwealth's changes are significant, then EPA must 
decide whether it is appropriate to re-propose the state's action.

[[Page 13249]]

VIII. Proposed Action

    EPA is proposing to approve the Commonwealth's SIP revision because 
it meets all of the requirements of section 110 of the Clean Air Act.
    Additionally, this SIP revision request meets the applicable 
requirements of the Transportation Conformity Rule. The Commonwealth 
has identified a VOC and NOX safety margin for 2010, and has 
chosen to allocate a portion of this safety margin to the MVEBs. The 
1.5 tpd for VOC and the 2.0 tpd for NOX allocated to mobile 
sources still allow sufficient growth margin for stationary sources and 
maintain the total emissions for the area at the attainment year 
inventory level as required by the transportation conformity 
regulations. EPA is soliciting public comments on the issues discussed 
in this document.

IX. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

    Under Executive Order 12866 (58 FR 51735, October 4, 1993), this 
proposed action is not a ``significant regulatory action'' and 
therefore is not subject to review by the Office of Management and 
Budget. For this reason, this action is also not subject to Executive 
Order 13211, ``Actions Concerning Regulations That Significantly Affect 
Energy Supply, Distribution, or Use'' (66 FR 28355, May 22, 2001). This 
proposed action merely proposes to approve state law as meeting Federal 
requirements and imposes no additional requirements beyond those 
imposed by state law. Accordingly, the Administrator certifies that 
this proposed 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 proposes to approve 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 (Pub. L. 104-4).
    This proposed rule also does not have tribal implications because 
it will not have a substantial direct effect on one or more Indian 
tribes, on the relationship between the Federal Government and Indian 
tribes, or on the distribution of power and responsibilities between 
the Federal Government and Indian tribes, as specified by Executive 
Order 13175 (65 FR 67249, November 9, 2000). This action also does not 
have Federalism implications because it does 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). This action 
merely proposes to approve 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 
proposed rule also is not subject to Executive Order 13045 ``Protection 
of Children from Environmental Health Risks and Safety Risks'' (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. This proposed 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.).

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 52

    Environmental protection, Air pollution control, Intergovernmental 
relations, Nitrogen dioxide, Ozone, Volatile organic compounds.

    Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.

    Dated: March 10, 2003.
A. Stanley Meiburg,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region 4.
[FR Doc. 03-6584 Filed 3-18-03; 8:45 am]
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