[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 73 (Thursday, April 15, 2004)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 19939-19943]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-8580]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[MD161-3110a; FRL-7648-3]


Approval and Promulgation of Air Quality Implementation Plans; 
Maryland; Revisions to the 2005 ROP Plan for the Cecil County Portion 
of the Philadelphia-Wilmington-Trenton 1-Hour Ozone Nonattainment Area 
to Reflect the Use of MOBILE6

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Direct final rule.

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SUMMARY: EPA is approving State Implementation Plan (SIP) revisions 
submitted by the State of Maryland. These revisions amend the 2005 
rate-of-progress (ROP) plan in the Maryland SIP for the Cecil County 
portion of the Philadelphia-Wilmington-Trenton nonattainment severe 1-
hour ozone nonattainment area. The intent of these revisions is to 
update the Cecil County 2005 ROP plan's mobile emissions inventories 
and motor vehicle emissions budgets (MVEBs) to reflect the use of 
MOBILE6 and to amend the contingency measures associated with that 
plan. These revisions are being approved in accordance with the Clean 
Air Act (the Act).

DATES: This rule is effective on June 1, 2004, without further notice, 
unless EPA receives adverse written comment by May 17, 2004. If EPA 
receives such comments, it 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: Submit your comments, identified by MD161-3110 by one of the 
following methods:
    A. Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. Follow 
the on-line instructions for submitting comments.
    B. E-mail: [email protected]
    C. Mail: Larry Budney, Mailcode 3AP23, U.S. Environmental 
Protection
    Agency, Region III, 1650 Arch Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 
19103.
    D. Hand Delivery: At the previously-listed EPA Region III address. 
Such deliveries are only accepted during the Docket's normal hours of 
operation, and special arrangements should be made for deliveries of 
boxed information.

[[Page 19940]]

    Instructions: Direct your comments to Docket ID No.MD161-3110. 
EPA's policy is that all comments received will be included in the 
public docket without change, including any personal information 
provided, unless the comment includes information claimed to be 
Confidential Business Information (CBI) or other information whose 
disclosure is restricted by statute. Do not submit information that you 
consider to be CBI or otherwise protected through regulations.gov or e-
mail. The federal regulations.gov Web site is an ``anonymous access'' 
system, which means EPA will not know your identity or contact 
information unless you provide it in the body of your comment. If you 
send an e-mail comment directly to EPA without going through 
regulations.gov, your e-mail address will be automatically captured and 
included as part of the comment that is placed in the public docket and 
made available on the Internet. If you submit an electronic comment, 
EPA recommends that you include your name and other contact information 
in the body of your comment and with any disk or CD-ROM you submit. If 
EPA cannot read your comment due to technical difficulties and cannot 
contact you for clarification, EPA may not be able to consider your 
comment. Electronic files should avoid the use of special characters, 
any form of encryption, and be free of any defects or viruses.
    Copies of the documents relevant to this action are available for 
public inspection during normal business hours at the Air Protection 
Division, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region III, 1650 Arch 
Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19103; and at the Maryland 
Department of the Environment, 1800 Washington Boulevard, Suite 705, 
Baltimore, Maryland 21230.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Larry Budney, Mail Code 3AP23, Energy, 
Radiation and Indoor Environment Branch, U.S. Environmental Protection 
Agency, 1650 Arch Street, Philadelphia Pennsylvania 19103, (215) 814-
2184, or by e-mail at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Clean Air Act Requirements

    The Clean Air Act (the Act) requires that for certain ozone 
nonattainment areas, states are to submit plans demonstrating a 
reduction in volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions of at least 
three percent per year, grouped in consecutive three year periods, 
through the area's specified attainment date. This is known as the 
rate-of-progress, commonly referred to as ROP, requirement of the Act. 
The first ROP requirement covers the period 1990-1996 and is commonly 
known as the 15 Percent Plan. Subsequent ROP milestone years are 
grouped in three year intervals beginning after 1996. The ROP milestone 
years for Cecil County are 1999, 2002, and 2005. To qualify for SIP 
credit in ROP plans, emission reduction measures, whether mandatory 
under the Act or adopted at the state's discretion, must ensure real, 
permanent and enforceable emission reductions.
    Section 172(c)(9) of the Act requires moderate and above ozone 
nonattainment areas to adopt contingency measures to be implemented 
should the area fail to achieve ROP or to attain by its attainment 
date. In addition, section 182(c)(9) of the Act requires serious and 
above areas to adopt contingency measures which would be implemented if 
the area fails to meet any applicable milestone. States are required to 
develop contingency measures in the event an area fails to meet ROP in 
a given milestone year.
    Under EPA's transportation conformity rule, like an attainment 
plan, an ROP plan is referred to as a control strategy SIP (62 FR 
43780, August 1, 1997). A control strategy SIP identifies and 
establishes the MVEBs to which an area's transportation improvement 
program and long range transportation plan must conform. Conformity to 
a control strategy SIP means that transportation activities will not 
produce new air quality violations, worsen existing violations, or 
delay timely attainment of the relevant national ambient air quality 
standard (NAAQS), the 1-hour standard for ozone in this case. Maryland 
is required to identify MVEBs for both NOX and VOCs in the 
Cecil County ROP plans for all milestone years.
    On September 19, 2001 (66 FR 48209), EPA approved a 2005 ROP plan 
the Cecil County portion of the Philadelphia area which was based on 
the EPA emissions model MOBILE5. That plan included mobile source 
emissions inventories for 1990 and 2005 and MVEBs budgets for the 
milestone year 2005.

II. The Revisions to the Cecil County, Maryland 2005 ROP Plan

    On March 8, 2004, the State of Maryland submitted a SIP revision to 
EPA. This SIP revision, submitted by the Maryland Department of the 
Environment (MDE), amends the Cecil County 2005 ROP plan to reflect the 
use of the MOBILE6 emissions model. This SIP revision revises the1990 
and 2005 motor vehicle emissions inventories and explicitly identifies 
the 2005 MVEBs developed using the MOBILE6 emissions model. The March 
8, 2004 submittal also amends the contingency measures associated with 
the 2005 ROP plan for Cecil County. The revised 2005 ROP Plan for Cecil 
County submitted on March 8, 2004, continues to demonstrate that the 
2005 requirement for ROP is met.

A. The Emission Inventories

    Table 1 summarizes the revised motor vehicle emissions inventories 
for Cecil County in tons per day (tpd). The revised 1990 base year 
inventories were updated using the MOBILE6 model. The 2005 inventories 
were developed using MOBILE6 and the latest planning assumptions, 
including 2002 vehicle registration data, vehicle miles traveled (VMT), 
speeds, fleet mix, and 2005 SIP control measures. Only VOC inventories 
are addressed here because Cecil County's ROP Plan does not rely on any 
NOX substitution to meet the 2005 ROP emission reduction 
target for VOC.

Table 1.--Projected Uncontrolled Motor Vehicle VOC Emissions Inventories
                     in Cecil County's 2005 ROP Plan
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                        1990      2005
                 Nonattainment area                      VOC       VOC
                                                        (tpd)     (tpd)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cecil County........................................      8.59      5.00
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    EPA has articulated its policy regarding the use of MOBILE6 in SIP 
development in its ``Policy Guidance on the Use of MOBILE6 for SIP 
Development and Transportation Conformity'' \1\ EPA's policy guidance 
required the State to consider whether growth and control strategy 
assumptions for non-motor vehicle sources (i.e., point, area, and non-
road mobile sources) were still accurate at the time the March 8, 2004, 
submittal was developed. Maryland reviewed the growth and control 
strategy assumptions for non-motor vehicle sources, revised those which 
were not current and concluded that the remaining assumptions continue 
to be valid for the 2005 ROP plan. Maryland's March 8, 2004 submittal 
satisfies the conditions outlined in EPA's MOBILE6 Policy guidance, and 
demonstrates that the new levels of motor vehicle emissions

[[Page 19941]]

calculated using MOBILE6 continue to support ROP for the projected 
attainment of the 1-hour ozone NAAQS by the attainment date of 2005 for 
the Cecil County portion of the Philadelphia-Wilmington-Trenton area. 
EPA is approving these revisions to the 1990 and 2005 motor vehicle 
emission inventories of the 2005 ROP plan for Cecil County, Maryland.
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    \1\ Memorandum, ``Policy Guidance of 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.
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B. The Revised Motor Vehicle Emissions Budgets (MVEBs)

    Table 2 summarizes the revised MVEBs identified in MDE's March 8, 
2004, submittal to EPA. These MVEBs were developed using the latest 
planning assumptions, including 2002 vehicle registration data, VMT, 
speeds, fleet mix, and 2005 SIP control measures. Maryland's March 8, 
2004, 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 ROP for the 
projected attainment of the 1-hour NAAQS for ozone by Cecil County's 
November 15, 2005 attainment date. These MOBILE6-based 2005 ROP MVEBs, 
as shown Table 2, replace the previously approved MOBILE5-based MVEBs 
in the 2005 ROP plan for Cecil County. EPA is approving these MOBILE6-
based budgets as revisions to the Cecil County 2005 ROP plan.

   Table 2.--Maryland Motor Vehicle Emission Budgets for Cecil County
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                           2005 ROP
                                                     -------------------
                 Nonattainment area                      VOC       NOX
                                                        (tpd)     (tpd)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cecil County........................................       3.0      11.3
------------------------------------------------------------------------

C. Demonstration That the 2005 Rate-of-Progress Target Continues To Be 
Met

    The State of Maryland's March 8, 2004 submittal of the revised 2005 
ROP plan for Cecil County details how the 2005 ROP emission reduction 
target is calculated in tons of VOC per day. For the year 2005, it also 
projects what the uncontrolled VOC emissions from all sources (point, 
mobile, and area) would be, the calculated creditable VOC reductions 
from all Federal measures and SIP-approved emission control measures, 
and the emission level obtained from implementation of those measures. 
The revised 2005 ROP Plan for Cecil County submitted on March 8, 2004 
continues to demonstrate that the 2005 ROP target level is met. EPA is 
approving the MOBILE6-based revisions to the1990 and 2005 motor vehicle 
emissions inventories and the 2005 MVEBs of the 2005 ROP plan for Cecil 
County because that plan continues to demonstrate that the required ROP 
target level for 2005 is met. Table 3 summarizes the ROP demonstration.

      Table 3.--Summary of 2005 ROP Demonstration for Cecil County
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                  Cecil County 2005 ROP Plan                    VOC  tpd
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Projected Uncontrolled Emissions from All Sources of VOC           17.26
 (includes growth)............................................
Reductions From All Creditable Emission Control Measures......      9.86
Emission Level Obtained (uncontrolled emissions minus emission    * 7.41
 reductions from creditable control measures).................
Projected 2005 ROP Target Level...............................      7.73
Surplus Emission Reductions (target level minus emission level     0.32
 obtained)....................................................
------------------------------------------------------------------------
*Note: Numbers are rounded.

D. Contingency Measures

    Section 172(c)(9) of the Act requires moderate and above ozone 
nonattainment areas to adopt contingency measures that would have to be 
implemented should the area fail to achieve ROP or to attain by its 
attainment date. In addition, section 182(c)(9) of the Act requires 
serious and above areas to adopt contingency measures which would be 
implemented if the area fails to meet any applicable milestone. EPA 
previously approved the 2005 ROP plan for Cecil County (66 FR 48209, 
September 19, 2001) including contingency measures. In the March 8, 
2004, revision to Cecil County's 2005 plan, Maryland outlines its 
approach for using the NOX reductions from its SIP-approved 
rule banning open burning for contingency purposes. EPA encourages the 
early implementation of required control measures and of contingency 
measures as a means of guarding against failure to meet a milestone. 
EPA allows for the substitution of NOX emission reductions 
for VOC in contingency plans for ROP provided NOX reductions 
are necessary for attainment. The emission reduction measures listed to 
meet the 2005 target level for VOCs are expected to result in more 
emission reductions than are needed to meet ROP requirements (see Table 
3). Maryland's March 8, 2004, submittal indicates that it is now 
dedicating all of the VOC emission reductions from its control measures 
to control strategy portion of the 2005 ROP plan to ensure that the ROP 
requirement (emission reduction target) is met. If contingency measure 
credits are needed in the future to ensure that the 2005 reduction in 
VOC emissions has been met, the excess NOX emission 
reductions achieved through the open burning ban rule will be used. If 
needed, a reduction of 0.74 tpd of NOX from the open-burning 
ban rule is available to meet the VOC contingency requirement of the 
2005 ROP plan utilizing NOX substitution. The open burning 
ban rule was adopted and implemented as a part of the Maryland SIP's 
attainment demonstration for the Philadelphia area approved by EPA (66 
FR 54977, October 29, 2001), which demonstrated that NOX 
reductions are needed for attainment. EPA is approving the revisions to 
the contingency measures associated with the 2005 ROP plan for Cecil 
County.

III. EPA's Evaluation of the March 8, 2004 SIP Revisions

    On March 8, 2004, the State of Maryland submitted SIP revisions to 
EPA for review and approval. These SIP revisions update the Cecil 
County 2005 ROP plan's mobile source emissions inventories and MVEBs to 
reflect the use of MOBILE6, and amend the contingency measures 
associated with that plan. EPA has evaluated Maryland's March 8, 2004, 
SIP revision submittal amending Cecil County's 2005 ROP plan for 
consistency with the Act, applicable EPA regulations, policies and 
guidance. The revised Cecil County 2005 ROP continues to demonstrate 
that the three percent per year emissions reduction requirement of 
section 182(b)(1) of the Act has been met. All control measures in the 
ROP demonstration have been adopted and implemented by the State of 
Maryland or are Federal measures being implemented at the national 
level. All state control measures have been approved by EPA into the 
Maryland SIP and are permanent and enforceable. A Technical Support 
Document (TSD) has been prepared to support this rulemaking action. 
Copies of the TSD may be obtained by contacting Larry Budney at Mail 
Code 3AP23, Energy, Radiation and Indoor Environment Branch, U.S. 
Environmental Protection Agency, 1650 Arch Street, Philadelphia 
Pennsylvania 19103, by phone at (215) 814-2184, or by e-mail at 
[email protected].

IV. Final Action

    EPA is approving the SIP revisions submitted by the State of 
Maryland on March 8, 2004. These revisions amend the Cecil County 2005 
ROP plan to update the plan's 1990 and 2005 motor vehicle emissions 
inventories and MVEBs to reflect the use of the MOBILE6 emissions 
model. The

[[Page 19942]]

revisions also amend the contingency measures associated with the Cecil 
County 2005 ROP plan. The revised 2005 ROP for Cecil County submitted 
on March 8, 2004 continues to demonstrate that the required ROP 
emission reduction target for year 2005 is met. EPA is publishing this 
rule without prior proposal because the Agency views this as a 
noncontroversial amendment and anticipates no adverse comment. However, 
in the ``Proposed Rules'' section of today's Federal Register, EPA is 
publishing a separate document that will serve as the proposal to 
approve the SIP revision if adverse comments are filed. This rule will 
be effective on June 1, 2004, without further notice unless EPA 
receives adverse comment by May 17, 2004. If EPA receives adverse 
comment, EPA will publish a timely withdrawal in the Federal Register 
informing the public that the rule will not take effect. EPA will 
address all public comments in a subsequent final rule based on the 
proposed rule. EPA will not institute a second comment period on this 
action. Any parties interested in commenting must do so at this time.

V. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

A. General 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. 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 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 (Pub. L. 104-4). This 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 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 ``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 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.).

B. 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).

C. 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 June 14, 2004.
    Filing a petition for reconsideration by the Administrator of this 
final rule approving revisions to the motor vehicle emission 
inventories and MVEBs of the 2005 ROP plan for Cecil County, Maryland 
to reflect the use of the MOBILE6 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, Intergovernmental 
relations, Nitrogen dioxide, Ozone, Reporting and recordkeeping 
requirements, Volatile organic compounds.

    Dated: April 7, 2004.
Judith M. Katz,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region III.

0
40 CFR part 52 is amended as follows:

PART 52--[AMENDED]

0
1. The authority citation for part 52 continues to read as follows:

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

Subpart V--Maryland

0
2. Section 52.1076 is amended by adding paragraph (f)(3) to read as 
follows:


Sec.  52.1076  Control strategy plans for attainment and rate-of-
progress: Ozone.

* * * * *
    (f) * * *
    (3) EPA approves revisions to the Maryland State Implementation 
Plan, submitted by the Secretary of the Maryland Department of the 
Environment on March 8, 2004, for the rate-of-progress (ROP) plan for 
year 2005 for the Cecil County portion of the Philadelphia-Wilmington-
Trenton 1-hour ozone nonattainment area. These revisions update Cecil 
County's 2005 ROP plan's 1990 and 2005 motor vehicle emissions 
inventories and motor vehicle emissions budgets to reflect the use of 
the MOBILE6 emissions model, establish motor vehicle emissions budgets 
of 3.0 tons per day (tpd) of volatile organic compounds and 11.3 tpd of 
nitrogen oxides, and amend the

[[Page 19943]]

contingency measures associated with the 2005 ROP plan for Cecil 
County.

[FR Doc. 04-8580 Filed 4-14-04; 8:45 am]
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