[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 1 (Monday, January 3, 2005)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 22-25]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-28700]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[R06-OAR-2004-TX-0003; FRL-7856-7]


Approval and Promulgation of Implementation Plans; Texas; 
Victoria County Maintenance Plan Update

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Direct final rule.

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SUMMARY: EPA is taking direct final action approving a State 
Implementation Plan (SIP) revision submitted by the Texas Commission on 
Environmental Quality (TCEQ) on February 18, 2003, concerning the 
Victoria County 1-hour ozone maintenance area. This SIP revision 
satisfies the Clean Air Act requirement as amended in 1990 for the 
second 10-year update to the Victoria County 1-hour ozone maintenance 
area.

DATES: This rule is effective on March 4, 2005 without further notice, 
unless EPA receives adverse comment by February 2, 2005. If EPA 
receives such comment, EPA will publish a timely withdrawal in the 
Federal Register informing the public that this rule will not take 
effect.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Regional Materials in 
EDocket (RME) ID No. R06-OAR-2004-TX-0003, by one of the following 
methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. 
Follow the on-line instructions for submitting comments.
     Agency Web site: http://docket.epa.gov/rempub/. Regional 
Materials in EDocket (RME), EPA's electronic public docket and comment 
system, is EPA's preferred method for receiving comments. Once in the 
system, select ``quick search,'' then key in the appropriate RME Docket 
identification number. Follow the online instructions for submitting 
comments.
     EPA Region 6 ``Contact Us'' Web site: http://epa.gov/region6/r6coment.htm. Please click on ``6PD'' (Multimedia) and select 
``Air'' before submitting comments.
     E-mail: Mr. Thomas Diggs at [email protected]. Please 
also send a copy by e-mail to the person listed in the FOR FURTHER 
INFORMATION CONTACT section below.
     Fax: Mr. Thomas Diggs, Chief, Air Planning Section (6PD-
L), at fax number 214-665-7263.
     Mail: Mr. Thomas Diggs, Chief, Air Planning Section (6PD-
L), Environmental Protection Agency, 1445 Ross Avenue, Suite 1200, 
Dallas, Texas 75202-2733.
     Hand or Courier Delivery: Mr. Thomas Diggs, Chief, Air 
Planning Section (6PD-L), Environmental Protection Agency, 1445 Ross 
Avenue, Suite 1200, Dallas, Texas 75202-2733. Such deliveries are 
accepted only between the hours of 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. weekdays except 
for legal holidays. Special arrangements should be made for deliveries 
of boxed information.
    Instructions: Direct your comments to RME ID No. R06-OAR-2004-TX-
0003. EPA's policy is that all comments received will be included in 
the public file without change and may be made available online at 
http://docket.epa.gov/rmepub/, including any personal information 
provided, unless the comment includes information claimed to be 
Confidential Business Information (CBI) or other information the 
disclosure of which is restricted by statute. Do not submit information 
through Regional Materials in EDocket (RME), regulations.gov or e-mail 
if you believe that it is CBI or otherwise protected from disclosure. 
The EPA RME Web site and the Federal regulations.gov Web site are 
``anonymous access'' systems, 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 RME or regulations.gov, your e-mail address will be 
automatically captured and included as part of the comment that is 
placed in the public file 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

[[Page 23]]

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 and any form of encryption, and should be 
free of any defects or viruses.
    Docket: All documents in the electronic docket are listed in the 
Regional Materials in EDocket (RME) index at http://docket.epa.gov/rempub/. Although listed in the index, some information is not publicly 
available, i.e., CBI or other information whose disclosure is 
restricted by statute. Certain other material, such as copyrighted 
material, is not placed on the Internet and will be publicly available 
only in hard copy form. Publicly available docket materials are 
available either electronically in RME or in the official file, which 
is available at the Air Planning Section (6PD-L), Environmental 
Protection Agency, 1445 Ross Avenue, Suite 700, Dallas, Texas 75202-
2733. The file will be made available by appointment for public 
inspection in the Region 6 FOIA Review Room between the hours of 8:30 
a.m. and 4:30 p.m. weekdays except for legal holidays. Contact the 
person listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT paragraph below or 
Mr. Bill Deese at 214-665-7253 to make an appointment. If possible, 
please make the appointment at least two working days in advance of 
your visit. There will be a 15 cent per page fee for making photocopies 
of documents. On the day of the visit, please check in at the EPA 
Region 6 reception area at 1445 Ross Avenue, Suite 700, Dallas, Texas.
    The State submittal is also available for public inspection at the 
State Air Agency listed below during official business hours by 
appointment:
    Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, Office of Air Quality, 
12124 Park 35 Circle, Austin, Texas 78753.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Peggy Wade, Air Planning Section (6PD-
L), Environmental Protection Agency, Region 6, 1445 Ross Avenue, Suite 
700, Dallas, Texas 75202-2733, telephone (214) 665-7247; fax number 
214-665-7263; e-mail address [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Throughout this document, whenever ``we'' 
``us'' or ``our'' is used, we mean the EPA.

Outline

I. Background
II. Analysis of the State's Submittal
III. Final Action
IV. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

I. Background

    On March 3, 1978, under the 1977 Clean Air Act (CAA) amendments, 
Victoria County, Texas, was designated a nonattainment area because it 
did not meet the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for 
ozone (43 FR 8962). As required by the CAA, the state of Texas 
submitted a State Implementation Plan (SIP) to the EPA in 1979. This 
SIP outlined control measures to bring the area into attainment for the 
ozone NAAQS. This SIP was approved by EPA in two actions, one in 1980 
and another in 1984. An additional SIP revision for Victoria County was 
submitted to EPA on November 12, 1992. This submission revised the air 
monitoring, reporting and recordkeeping requirements and was approved 
by EPA on March 7, 1995 (60 FR 12348).
    On July 27, 1994, Texas submitted a request to redesignate Victoria 
County to attainment. At the same time, Texas submitted the required 
ozone monitoring data and a maintenance plan to ensure the area would 
remain in attainment for ozone for a period of 10 years. The 
maintenance plan submitted by Texas followed EPA guidance for limited 
maintenance areas, which provides relief for ozone areas that have 
design values less than 85% of the applicable standard. In this case, 
the applicable standard is the 1-hour ozone standard of 0.12 parts per 
million (ppm). At the time of the redesignation request, the design 
value for Victoria County was 0.100 ppm, well below the 85% threshold 
of 0.106 ppm. EPA approved Texas's request, and Victoria County was 
redesignated to attainment on March 7, 1995, with an effective date of 
May 8, 1995 (60 FR 12453).
    Section 175A(b) of the CAA as amended in 1990 requires the state to 
submit a subsequent maintenance plan to EPA eight years after 
designation to attainment. This SIP revision satisfies this CAA 
requirement for the Victoria County 1-hour ozone maintenance area.

II. Analysis of the State's Submittal

    On February 18, 2003, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality 
(TCEQ) submitted a revision to the SIP for Victoria County. This 
revision provides the second 10-year update to the maintenance plan for 
the area, as required by the section 175A(b) of the CAA. The purpose of 
this plan is to ensure continued maintenance of the NAAQS for 1-hour 
ozone in Victoria County by demonstrating that future emissions of the 
ozone precursor pollutants, nitrogen oxides (NOX) and 
volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are expected to remain at or below 
attainment year emission levels.
    This revision is a continuation of an existing maintenance plan and 
no new control strategies specifically for Victoria County have been 
incorporated. However, since approval of the existing plan, which 
occurred in March of 1995, TCEQ has implemented several regional air 
quality measures which will provide improved control of air pollution 
in Victoria County. These measures include the following elements, 
among others: (1) Implementation of Stage I vapor recovery which serves 
to reduce VOC emissions from gas stations as the gasoline storage tanks 
are refilled, (2) enacting specific requirements for the permitting or 
shutdown of previously grandfathered facilities such as pipelines, 
small stationary sources and electric generating facilities, (3) 
required reductions in NOX emission rates from larger point 
sources such as electric utility boilers and gas turbines and (4) 
implementation of control requirements for non-road, large spark-
ignition engines, beginning with model year 2004, that match California 
standards. The purpose of these regional measures is to reduce 
background levels of ozone in order to facilitate compliance with the 
ozone standard in nonattainment, maintenance and near-nonattainment 
areas, including Victoria County.
    This SIP revision also updates the monitoring data for Victoria 
County. Air quality monitoring is the method by which continued 
attainment of the NAAQS is demonstrated. TCEQ commits to keep the 
current Victoria area air monitors active for the duration of the 
second 10-year maintenance period. The current system consists of two 
monitors; one (CAMS 87) is in the City of Victoria and the other (CAMS 
602, a private monitor meeting 40 CFR part 58 Quality Assurance 
requirements), which has been operational since July 19, 2000, is 
located southeast of the City of Victoria. The current 1-hour ozone 
design value for Victoria County, based on 2001-2003 data from the CAMS 
87 monitor, is 0.094 ppm, which remains less than 85% of the 1-hour 
ozone NAAQS of 0.12 ppm. The design value from the private CAMS 602 
monitor, based on 2001-2003 data, is 0.090 ppm. Also, Victoria was 
designated attainment for the new, more protective 8-hour ozone 
standard on April 15, 2004 (69 FR 23858, published on April 30, 2004). 
The 8-hour ozone NAAQS is 0.08 ppm (62 FR38856). The 8-hour ozone 
design value is 0.078 ppm at the CAMS 87 monitor, based on 2001-2003 
data. The CAMS 602 monitor has a design value of 0.073 ppm for 2001-
2003 data.

[[Page 24]]

    Section 175A of the CAA requires that a maintenance plan include 
contingency provisions to promptly correct any violation of the NAAQS 
that occurs after redesignation of the area to attainment. With this 
submission, TCEQ is revising the contingency measures and contingency 
trigger levels in the existing SIP for Victoria County. The contingency 
indicator will remain the ambient air quality monitoring data, taken 
from the most recent three years of monitoring data. The triggering 
mechanism has been adjusted from that contained in the existing SIP. 
Three basic trigger levels are specified for the activation of 
contingency measures. They are as follows:
    (a) A monitor shows one exceedance of the NAAQS during a three-year 
period;
    (b) A monitor shows two or three exceedances of the NAAQS during a 
three-year period; or
    (c) A monitor shows the fourth exceedance, and therefore a 
violation, of the NAAQS during a three-year period.

    These trigger levels are appropriate in that they require action to 
be taken with a single exceedance of the NAAQS. This will assist the 
area in implementing measures that may lessen future exceedances and 
potentially avoid a violation of the NAAQS.
    The activation of contingency measures in the submitted maintenance 
plan revision are associated with specific triggers. In the existing 
plan, implementation of Stage I vapor recovery systems is an approved 
contingency measure. However, this measure has been implemented 
regionally by TCEQ and is thus already in effect in Victoria County and 
is no longer appropriate as a contingency measure in the maintenance 
plan. This SIP revision removes Stage I vapor recovery as a contingency 
measure for Victoria County. The contingency measures adopted by TCEQ 
for Victoria County include the following:
    (a) Upon one exceedance of the NAAQS at either air quality monitor 
within a three-year period, the City of Victoria and the Metropolitan 
Planning Organization will establish a formal ozone advisory committee 
with the intended purpose of managing an ozone abatement program during 
the ozone season;
    (b) Upon two exceedances of the NAAQS within a three-year period, 
the ozone advisory committee will implement a voluntary program with 
industry to reschedule, revise or curtail activities on ozone advisory 
days, and;
    (c) Upon a violation of the NAAQS (i.e., four exceedances during a 
three-year period), TCEQ will submit to EPA a full maintenance plan in 
accordance with the CAA and EPA guidance.
    This SIP submission also serves to update the emissions inventory 
for Victoria County. In the existing SIP, the base year or attainment 
year inventory is for 1992. Texas has updated the inventory to be 
consistent with reported and estimated emissions for 1996. The choice 
of 1996 as a new base year is acceptable because the area was in 
attainment in 1996, with a design value of 0.98 ppm. The 1996 emission 
inventory for area, point, nonroad mobile, onroad mobile and biogenic 
sources is provided in the following table.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                 VOC (tons     NOX (tons
                                                  per day)     per day)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Point.........................................         2.91        20.18
Area..........................................         9.09         2.81
Nonroad Mobile................................         4.74         6.56
Onroad Mobile.................................         5.89         8.72
Biogenic......................................       161.11         3.41
                                               --------------
  Total.......................................       183.74        41.68
------------------------------------------------------------------------

III. Final Action

    EPA is approving the second 10-year update to the Victoria County 
1-hour ozone maintenance plan.
    We have evaluated the State's submittal and have determined that it 
meets the applicable requirements of the Clean Air Act and EPA 
regulations, and is consistent with EPA policy. Therefore, we are 
approving the request of TCEQ to revise the SIP for the Victoria County 
1-hour ozone maintenance area.
    EPA is publishing this rule without prior proposal because we view 
this as a noncontroversial amendment and anticipate no adverse 
comments. However, in the proposed rules section of this Federal 
Register publication, we are publishing a separate document that will 
serve as the proposal to approve the SIP revision if adverse comments 
are received. This rule will be effective on March 4, 2005 without 
further notice unless we receive adverse comment by February 2, 2005. 
If we receive adverse comments, we will publish a timely withdrawal in 
the Federal Register informing the public that the rule will not take 
effect. We will address all public comments in a subsequent final rule 
based on the proposed rule. We will not institute a second comment 
period on this action. Any parties interested in commenting must do so 
now. Please note that if we receive adverse comment on an amendment, 
paragraph, or section of this rule and if that provision may be severed 
from the remainder of the rule, we may adopt as final those provisions 
of the rule that are not the subject of an adverse comment.

IV. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

    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 (Public Law 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

[[Page 25]]

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.).
    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. 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 March 4, 2005. 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, Intergovernmental 
relations, Nitrogen dioxide, Ozone, Reporting and recordkeeping 
requirements, Volatile organic compounds.

    Dated: December 17, 2004.
Richard E. Greene,
Regional Administrator, Region 6.

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 SS--Texas

0
2. In Sec.  52.2270, the table in paragraph (e) entitled ``EPA approved 
nonregulatory provisions and quasi-regulatory measures'' is amended by 
adding one new entry to the end of the table to read as follows:


Sec.  52.2270  Identification of plan.

* * * * *
    (e) * * *

                                                      EPA Approved Nonregulatory Provisions and Quasi-Regulatory Measures in the Texas SIP
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                                    Applicable geographic or nonattainment
       Name of SIP provision                         area                    State approval/submittal date                        EPA approval date                               Comments
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                                                                                          * * * * * * *
Second 10-year maintenance plan     Victoria..............................  02/05/03                        01/03/05 [Insert FR page number where document begins].......
 for Victoria County.
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0
3. Section 52.2275, Control strategy and regulations: Ozone, paragraph 
(e) is revised to read as follows:


Sec.  52.2275  Control strategy and regulations: Ozone.

* * * * *
    (e) Approval--The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) 
submitted a revision to the Texas SIP on February 18, 2003, concerning 
the Victoria County 1-hour ozone maintenance plan. This SIP revision 
was adopted by TCEQ on February 5, 2003. This SIP revision satisfies 
the Clean Air Act requirement, as amended in 1990, for the second 10-
year update to the Victoria County 1-hour ozone maintenance area.

[FR Doc. 04-28700 Filed 12-30-04; 8:45 am]
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