[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 208 (Tuesday, October 28, 2003)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 61379-61382]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-27157]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[Region II Docket No. NY63-263, FRL-7579-5]


Approval and Promulgation of Implementation Plans; New York; 
Revised Motor Vehicle Emissions Budgets for 1990 and 2007 Using MOBILE6

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Proposed rule.

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SUMMARY: EPA is proposing to approve a revision to the New York State 
Implementation Plan (SIP) for the attainment and maintenance of the 1-
hour national ambient air quality standard (NAAQS) for ozone. 
Specifically, EPA is proposing approval of New York's: revised 1990 and 
2007 motor vehicle emission budgets recalculated using MOBILE6; and 
modified date for submittal of the State's mid-course review. The 
intended effect of this action is to approve a SIP revision that will 
help the State continue to plan for attainment of the 1-hour NAAQS for 
ozone in its portion of the New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island 
nonattainment area (NAA).

DATES: Comments must be received on or before November 28, 2003. Public 
comments on this action are requested and will be considered before 
taking final action.

ADDRESSES: Comments may be submitted either by mail or electronically. 
Written comments should be mailed to Raymond Werner, Chief, Air 
Programs Branch, Environmental Protection Agency, Region 2 Office, 290 
Broadway, New York, New York 10007-1866. Electronic comments could be 
sent either to [email protected] or to http://www.regulations.gov, 
which is an alternative method for submitting electronic comments to 
EPA. Go directly to http://www.regulations.gov, then select 
``Environmental Protection Agency'' at the top of the page and use the 
``go'' button. Please follow the on-

[[Page 61380]]

line instructions for submitting comments.
    Copies of the documents relevant to this action are available for 
public inspection during normal business hours at the following 
locations: Environmental Protection Agency, Region 2 Office, Air 
Programs Branch, 290 Broadway, 25th Floor, New York, New York 10007-
1866, and New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, 
Office of Air and Waste Management, 14th Floor, 625 Broadway, Albany, 
New York 12233-1010.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Andrew A. Bascue, Air Programs Branch, 
Environmental Protection Agency, 290 Broadway, 25th Floor, New York, 
New York 10007-1866, (212) 637-4249 or [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This revision is being proposed under a 
procedure called parallel processing. Under parallel processing, EPA 
proposes action on a state submission before it has been formally 
adopted and submitted to EPA, and will take final action on its 
proposal if the final submission is substantially unchanged from the 
submission on which the proposal is based, or if significant changes in 
the final submission are anticipated and adequately described in EPA's 
proposal as a basis for EPA's proposed action.
    New York held a public hearing on its proposed SIP revision on June 
24, 2003. If New York's proposed SIP revision is substantially changed, 
EPA will evaluate those changes and may publish another notice of 
proposed rulemaking. If no substantial changes are made, EPA will take 
final action on the State's plan consistent with this proposal and any 
submitted comments. Before EPA can approve this SIP revision, New York 
must adopt the SIP revision and submit it formally to EPA for 
incorporation into the SIP.

Table of Contents

1. Background
2. What is MOBILE6?
3. What is the purpose and content of New York's submittal?
4. What are the revised MOBILE6 budgets?
5. Are the revised MOBILE6 budgets consistent with New York's 1-Hour 
Attainment Demonstration?
6. Are New York's motor vehicle emissions budgets approvable?
7. When will New York submit its mid-course review?
8. Summary of Conclusions and Proposed Action
9. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

1. Background

    In November of 1999, EPA issued two memoranda \1\ to articulate its 
policy regarding states that incorporated MOBILE5-based interim Tier 2 
standard \2\ benefits into their SIPs and motor vehicle emissions 
budgets (``budgets''). Although these memoranda primarily targeted 
certain serious and severe ozone NAAs, EPA has implemented this policy 
in all other areas that have made use of Federal Tier 2 benefits in air 
quality plans from EPA's April 2000 MOBILE5 guidance, ``MOBILE5 
Information Sheet 8: Tier 2 Benefits Using MOBILE5.'' All 
states whose attainment demonstrations or maintenance plans include 
interim MOBILE5-based estimates of the Tier 2 standards were required 
to make a commitment to revise and resubmit their budgets within either 
1 or 2 years of the final release of MOBILE6 in order to gain SIP 
approval.
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    \1\ Memoranda, ``Guidance on Motor Vehicle Emissions Budgets in 
1-Hour Ozone Attainment Demonstrations,'' issued November 3, 1999, 
and ``1-Hour Ozone Attainment Demonstrations and Tier2/Sulfur 
Rulemaking,'' issued November 8, 1999. Copies of these memoranda can 
be found on EPA's Web site at http://www.epa.gov/otaq/transp/traqconf.htm.
    \2\ The final rule on Tier 2 Motor Vehicle Emissions Standards 
and Gasoline Sulfur Control Requirements (``Tier 2 standards'') for 
passenger cars, light trucks, and larger passenger vehicles was 
published on February 10, 2000 (65 FR 6698).
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    On April 18, 2000, New York submitted a revision to the 1-hr Ozone 
Attainment Demonstration SIP for the New York portion of the New York-
Northern New Jersey-Long Island severe ozone Nonattainment Area, which 
for purposes of this action will be referred to as the New York 
Metropolitan NAA. The New York Metropolitan NAA is comprised of the New 
York Counties of Bronx, Kings, Nassua, New York, Putnam, Queens, 
Richmond, Rockland and Westchester and the lower Orange County towns of 
Chester, Minisink, Monroe, Tuxedo, Warwick and Woodbury. The April 18, 
2000 SIP revision included, among other things, revised budgets using 
interim MOBILE5-based estimates of the Tier 2 standards and an 
enforceable commitment to revise these budgets as well as the 
attainment demonstration using the MOBILE6 model within one year of the 
release of the model. Additional information on EPA's final approval of 
New York's April 18, 2000 submittal can be found in the February 4, 
2002 Federal Register (67 FR 5170).
    EPA officially released the MOBILE6 motor vehicle emissions factor 
model on January 29, 2002 (67 FR 4254). Thus, the effective date of 
that Federal Register notice constituted the start of the 1 year time 
period within which New York was required to revise its 1-Hour Ozone 
Attainment Demonstration SIP using the MOBILE6 model. On January 29, 
2003, New York submitted to EPA a proposed revision for its SIP to meet 
this requirement. This proposed revision and the MOBILE6 modeling 
methodology used were refined and supplemented subsequent to discussion 
between New York and EPA. On June 24, 2003, New York held a public 
hearing on the revised motor vehicle emission budgets using MOBILE6 and 
EPA is proposing, herein, to approve those budgets.

2. What Is MOBILE6?

    MOBILE6 is the most current version of a long line of MOBILE 
emissions factor models developed by EPA for estimating pollution from 
on-road motor vehicles in states outside of California. The model 
calculates emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), nitrogen 
oxides (NOX) and carbon monoxide (CO) from passenger cars, 
motorcycles, buses, and light-duty and heavy-duty trucks. The model 
accounts for the emission impacts of factors such as changes in vehicle 
emission standards, changes in vehicle populations and activity, and 
variations in local conditions such as temperature, humidity, fuel 
quality, and inspection and maintenance programs. The model is used to 
calculate current and future inventories of motor vehicle emissions at 
the local, state and national level. These inventories are used to make 
decisions about air pollution policies and programs at the local, state 
and national level. Inventories based on the model are also used to 
meet the Federal Clean Air Act's SIP and transportation conformity 
requirements.
    The MOBILE model was first developed in 1978. It has been updated 
many times to reflect changes in the vehicle fleet and fuels, to 
incorporate EPA's growing understanding of vehicle emissions, and to 
cover new emissions regulations and modeling needs. Although some minor 
updates were made in 1996 with the release of MOBILE5b, MOBILE6 is the 
first major update of the MOBILE model since 1993.

3. What Is the Purpose and Content of New York's Submittal?

    The State submitted this proposed SIP revision to address an 
enforceable commitment made in the April 18, 2000 Attainment 
Demonstration SIP revision, approved by EPA on February 2, 2002 (67 FR 
5170). The enforceable commitment obligated the State to update its 
2007, attainment year, motor

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vehicle emissions budgets using the MOBILE6 model and to reevaluate the 
attainment demonstration based on the updated budgets. The proposed 
revision demonstrated that the updated motor vehicle emissions budgets 
calculated using MOBILE6 continued to support the projected attainment 
of the 1-hour ozone NAAQS for the New York Metropolitan NAA by the 
attainment date of 2007. Also included as part of the proposed SIP 
revision, New York proposed to modify the planned date for submitting 
its mid-course review to December 31, 2004.

4. What Are the Revised MOBILE6 Budgets?

    Table 1 below summarizes the revised motor vehicle emissions 
budgets for the New York Metropolitan NAA in tons per summer day (tpd). 
These revised budgets were developed using the latest planning 
assumptions, including the most recently available vehicle registration 
data, vehicle miles traveled (VMT) estimates, vehicle speeds, fleet 
mix, and SIP control measures. For additional details the reader is 
referred to the Technical Support Document (TSD) for this proposed 
action. EPA is proposing to approve these revised 1990 and 2007 motor 
vehicle emissions budgets. The 2007 motor vehicle emissions budgets 
will serve as the transportation conformity budgets for the New York 
Metropolitan NAA.

  Table 1.--New York Metropolitan NAA Motor Vehicle Emissions Budgets,
                          Revised With MOBILE6
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             1990                                 2007
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   VOC  (tpd)      NOX  (tpd)      VOC  (tpd)           NOX  (tpd)
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       596          512                182                   230
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5. Are the Revised MOBILE6 Budgets Consistent With New York's 1-Hour 
Attainment Demonstration?

    EPA has found that New York's revised MOBILE6 budgets are 
consistent with its 1-hour ozone Attainment Demonstration. EPA has 
articulated its policy regarding the use of MOBILE6 for SIP development 
in its ``Policy Guidance on the Use of MOBILE6 for SIP Development and 
Transportation Conformity'' \3\ and ``Clarification of Policy Guidance 
for MOBILE6 in Mid-course Review Areas.'' \4\ New York included in the 
January 29, 2003 submittal a relative reduction comparison to show that 
its 1-Hour Ozone Attainment Demonstration SIP continues to demonstrate 
attainment using revised MOBILE6 budgets for the New York Metropolitan 
NAA, see Table 2. New York's attainment demonstration used 
photochemical grid modeling supplemented with a weight of evidence 
analysis. Consistent with EPA policy, as detailed in the aforementioned 
guidance documents, the State's methodology for the relative reduction 
comparison consisted of comparing the new MOBILE6 budgets with the 
previously approved (67 FR 5170) MOBILE5 budgets for the New York 
Metropolitan NAA to determine if attainment will still be predicted by 
the 2007 attainment year. Specifically, the State calculated the 
percent reduction from the 1990 base year to the 2007 attainment year 
for NOX and VOC MOBILE5-based budgets. These percent 
reductions were then compared to the percent reductions between the 
revised MOBILE6-based 1990 base year and 2007 attainment year budgets.
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    \3\ Memorandum, ``Policy Guidance on the Use of MOBILE6 for SIP 
development and Transportation Conformity,'' issued January 18, 
2002. A copy of this memorandum can be found on EPA's Web site at 
http://www.epa.gov/otaq/transp/traqconf.htm.
    \4\ Memorandum, ``Clarification of Policy Guidance for MOBILE6 
SIPs in Mid-course Review Areas,'' issued February 12, 2003. A copy 
of this memorandum can be found on EPA's Web site at http://www.epa.gov/otaq/transp/traqconf.htm.

  Table 2.--Relative Reduction Comparison Between MOBILE5-Based Budgets
       and MOBILE6-Based Budgets From Base Year to Attainment Year
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                                                    NOX          VOC
                                                 (percent)    (percent)
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MOBILE5.......................................         44.8         66.7
MOBILE6.......................................         55.1         69.3
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    As shown in Table 2, New York's relative reduction comparison shows 
that for the New York Metropolitan NAA the percent reductions in VOC 
and NOX budgets obtained through the use of MOBILE6 are 
greater than the percent reductions calculated with MOBILE5-based 
budgets. As such, New York's January 29, 2003 submittal satisfies the 
conditions outlined in EPA's MOBILE6 Policy guidance, and demonstrates 
that the new levels of motor vehicle emissions calculated using MOBILE6 
continue to support achievement of the projected attainment of the 1-
Hour Ozone NAAQS by the attainment date of 2007 for the New York 
Metropolitan NAA, i.e. the SIP continues to demonstrate its purpose.

6. Are New York's Motor Vehicle Emissions Budgets Approvable?

    Table 1 summarizes New York's revised budgets contained in the 
January 29, 2003 submittal. These budgets were developed using the most 
recent planning assumptions, including the most recently available 
vehicle registration data, VMT, speeds, fleet mix, and SIP control 
measures. The updated budgets for 2007 were developed for the New York 
Metropolitan Transportation Council (NYMTC) to use for purposes of 
transportation conformity, which it is required to meet by October 
2005. The budgets were developed using appropriate methodology and 
support the SIP in demonstrating its purpose, therefore the budgets are 
approvable. Additional detail regarding the methodology and inputs used 
by the State can be found in the TSD for this proposed action.
    Concurrent with this notice of proposed rulemaking, EPA is 
completing the adequacy review process on the revised 2007 attainment 
budgets for NYMTC. EPA held the 30-day comment period for the budgets 
between July 1, 2003 and July 31, 2003 by posting a notice on EPA's 
conformity website: http://www.epa.gov/otaq/transp/conform/adequacy.htm. In accordance with the ``Conformity Guidance on 
Implementation of March 2, 1999 Conformity Court Decision,'' \5\ EPA 
will issue its adequacy determination, including a response to 
comments, by posting it on the conformity Web site, and will also 
subsequently announce the determination in the Federal Register. The 
revised 2007 attainment budget will apply for conformity purposes once 
EPA issues its adequacy determination.
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    \5\ Memorandum, ``Conformity Guidance on Implementation of March 
2, 1999 Conformity Court Decision,'' issued May 14, 1999. A copy of 
this memorandum can be found on EPA's Web site at http://www.epa.gov/otaq/transp/traqconf.htm.
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7. When Will New York Submit Its Mid-Course Review?

    On April 18, 2000, New York submitted a mid-course review analysis 
which showed a continued downward trend in both the number of 
violations of the 1-hour ozone standard and the measured ozone 
concentrations. EPA found, however, that several more years of 
monitored data and implementation of the Regional NOX 
Program were needed before a true mid-course review of the attainment 
demonstration could be made. Therefore, on February 4, 2002 (67 FR 
5170), EPA approved New York's further commitment to perform a mid-

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course review and submit the results to EPA by December 31, 2003.
    Due to challenges by upwind states of EPA's Regional NOX 
Program, the benefit of these upwind NOX reductions will not 
be fully realized until late 2003. Therefore, EPA has allowed states to 
revise their mid-course commitments to provide for the review no later 
than December 31, 2004. In order to be consistent with surrounding 
states and to include the benefit of the Regional NOX 
Program in its mid-course review, New York revised its commitment to 
perform a mid-course review to December 31, 2004. EPA proposes to 
approve this revised commitment.

8. Summary of Conclusions and Proposed Action

    This action is being proposed under a procedure called parallel 
processing, whereby EPA proposes rulemaking action concurrently with 
the State's procedures for amending its regulations. If the proposed 
revision is substantially changed in areas other than those identified 
in this document, EPA will evaluate those changes and may publish 
another notice of proposed rulemaking. If no substantial changes are 
made other than those areas cited in this document, EPA will publish a 
final rulemaking on the revisions. The final rulemaking action by EPA 
will occur only after the SIP revision has been adopted by New York and 
submitted formally to EPA for incorporation into the SIP.
    EPA is proposing to approve New York's proposed SIP revision 
submitted on January 29, 2003. This submittal revises New Jersey's 1990 
and 2007 motor vehicle emission budgets using MOBILE6 and modifies the 
planned date to complete the State's mid-course review to December 31, 
2004. New York has demonstrated that its 1-Hour Attainment 
Demonstration SIP for the New York Metropolitan NAA continues to 
demonstrate attainment with the revised MOBILE6 budgets.

9. 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 (Public Law 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, Hydrocarbons, 
Intergovernmental relations, Nitrogen dioxide, Ozone, Reporting and 
recordkeeping requirements, Volatile organic compounds.

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

    Dated: October 15, 2003.
Jane M. Kenny,
Regional Administrator, Region 2.
[FR Doc. 03-27157 Filed 10-27-03; 8:45 am]
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