[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 164 (Friday, August 24, 2007)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 48559-48562]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-16683]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Parts 52 and 81

[EPA-R03-OAR-2007-0175; FRL-8459-3]


Approval and Promulgation of Air Quality Implementation Plans; 
Pennsylvania; Redesignation of the Reading 8-Hour Ozone Nonattainment 
Area to Attainment and Approval of the Area's Maintenance Plan and 2002 
Base-Year Inventory

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: EPA is approving a redesignation request and State 
Implementation Plan (SIP) revisions submitted by the Commonwealth of 
Pennsylvania. The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection 
(PADEP) is requesting that the Reading, Berks County, Pennsylvania 
ozone nonattainment area (Reading Area) be redesignated as attainment 
for the 8-hour ozone national ambient air quality standard (NAAQS). In 
conjunction with its redesignation request, the PADEP submitted SIP 
revisions consisting of a maintenance plan for the Reading Area that 
provides for continued attainment of the 8-hour ozone NAAQS for at 
least 10 years after redesignation. EPA is approving the 8-hour 
maintenance plan. PADEP also submitted a 2002 base-year inventory for 
the Reading Area which EPA is approving. In addition, EPA is approving 
the adequacy determination for the motor vehicle emission budgets 
(MVEBs) that are identified in the Reading Area maintenance plan for 
purposes of transportation conformity, and is approving those MVEBs. 
EPA is approving the redesignation request, and the maintenance plan, 
and the 2002 base-year emissions inventory as revisions to the 
Pennsylvania SIP in accordance with the requirements of the Clean Air 
Act.

DATES: Effective Date: This final rule is effective on September 10, 
2007.

ADDRESSES: EPA has established a docket for this action under Docket ID 
Number EPA-R03-OAR-2007-0175. All documents in the docket are listed in 
the www.regulations.gov website. Although listed in the electronic 
docket, some information is not publicly available, i.e., confidential 
business information (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 through www.regulations.gov or in hard 
copy 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. Copies of the State 
submittal are available at the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental 
Protection, Bureau of Air Quality

[[Page 48560]]

Control, P.O. Box 8468, 400 Market Street, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania 
17105.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Christopher Cripps, (215) 814-2179, or 
by e-mail at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

 I. Background

    On May 30, 2007 (72 FR 29901), EPA published a notice of proposed 
rulemaking (NPR) for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The NPR proposed 
approval of Pennsylvania's redesignation request, a SIP revision that 
establishes a maintenance plan for the Reading Area that provides for 
continued attainment of the 8-hour ozone NAAQS for at least 10 years 
after redesignation, and a 2002 base-year emissions inventory. The 
formal SIP revisions were submitted by PADEP on January 25, 2007. Other 
specific requirements of Pennsylvania's redesignation request and SIP 
revision for the maintenance plan, and the rationale for EPA's proposed 
actions are explained in the NPR and will not be restated here.
    On December 22, 2006, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of 
Columbia Circuit vacated EPA's Phase 1 Implementation Rule for the 8-
hour Ozone Standard (69 FR 23951, April 30, 2004). South Coast Air 
Quality Management Dist. v. EPA, 472 F.3d 882 (D.C. Cir. 2006). On June 
8, 2007, in South Coast Air Quality Management Dist. v. EPA, Docket No. 
04-1201, in response to several petitions for rehearing, the D.C. 
Circuit clarified that the Phase 1 Rule was vacated only with regard to 
those parts of the rule that had been successfully challenged. 
Therefore, the Phase 1 Rule provisions related to classifications for 
areas currently classified under subpart 2 of Title I, part D of the 
Act as 8-hour nonattainment areas, the 8-hour attainment dates, and the 
timing for emissions reductions needed for attainment of the 8-hour 
ozone NAAQS remain effective. The June 8 decision left intact the 
Court's rejection of EPA's reasons for implementing the 8-hour standard 
in certain nonattainment areas under subpart 1 in lieu of subpart 2. By 
limiting the vacatur, the Court let stand EPA's revocation of the 1-
hour standard and those anti-backsliding provisions of the Phase 1 Rule 
that had not been successfully challenged. The June 8, 2007 decision 
reaffirmed the December 22, 2006 decision that EPA had improperly 
failed to retain four measures required for 1-hour nonattainment areas 
under the anti-backsliding provisions of the regulations: (1) 
Nonattainment area nonattainment New Source Review (NSR) requirements 
based on an area's 1-hour nonattainment classification; (2) Section 185 
penalty fees for 1-hour severe or extreme nonattainment areas; and (3) 
measures to be implemented pursuant to section 172(c)(9) or 182(c)(9) 
of the Act, on the contingency of an area not making reasonable further 
progress toward attainment of the 1-hour NAAQS, or for failure to 
attain that NAAQS. In addition the June 8, 2007 decision clarified that 
the Court's reference to conformity requirements for anti-backsliding 
purposes was limited to requiring the continued use of 1-hour motor 
vehicle emissions budgets until 8-hour budgets were available for 8-
hour conformity determinations, which is already required under EPA's 
conformity regulations. The Court thus clarified that 1-hour conformity 
determinations are not required for anti-backsliding purposes.
    For the reasons set forth in the May 30, 2007 (72 FR 29901) 
proposed rulemaking, EPA does not believe that the Court's rulings 
alter any requirements relevant to this redesignation action so as to 
preclude redesignation, and do not prevent EPA from finalizing this 
redesignation. EPA believes that the Court's December 22, 2006 and June 
8, 2007 decisions impose no impediment to moving forward with the 
redesignation of this Area to attainment, because even in light of the 
Court's decisions, redesignation is appropriate under the relevant 
redesignation provisions of the Act and longstanding policies regarding 
redesignation requests.
    With respect to the requirement for transportation conformity under 
the 1-hour standard, the Court in its June 8, 2007 decision clarified 
that for those areas with 1-hour motor vehicle emissions budgets in 
their 1-hour maintenance plans, anti-backsliding requires only that 
those 1-hour budgets must be used for 8-hour conformity determinations 
until replaced by 8-hour budgets. To meet this requirement, conformity 
determinations in such areas must continue to comply with the 
applicable requirements of EPA's conformity regulations at 40 CFR Part 
93. As discussed elsewhere in this document, EPA is approving 8-hour 
MVEBs for the Reading Area. Approval of the 8-hour MVEBs means that the 
1-hour budgets no longer apply under anti-backsliding. The court 
clarified that 1-hour conformity determinations are not required for 
anti-backsliding purposes.

II. Comments and EPA's Responses

    EPA received one comment. The comment did not object to the 
proposed approvals of the redesignation request, maintenance plan or 
the 2002 base year inventory. The comment merely pointed out that EPA's 
notice had incorrectly identified the metropolitan planning 
organization (MPO) with jurisdiction over the Reading Area. EPA 
acknowledges that, as the commenter notes, we mistakenly identified the 
MPO as the ``Northern Tier RPO'' in the notice. The MPO, however, is 
identified correctly in the maintenance plan for the Reading Area 
(Berks County). The reference to the ``Northern Tier RPO'' on page 
29911 of the May 30, 2007 notice therefore should have been to Reading 
Metropolitan Planning Organization (``Berks County MPO'').

III. Effective Date

    EPA finds that there is good cause for this redesignation to 
attainment, and SIP revisions to become effective fifteen days after 
publication because a more delayed effective date is unnecessary due to 
the nature of a redesignation to attainment which relieves the area 
from certain Clean Air Act requirements that would otherwise apply to 
it. The effective date for this redesignation is authorized under both 
5 U.S.C. 553(d)(1), which provides that rulemaking actions may become 
effective less than 30 days after publication if the rule ``grants or 
recognizes an exemption or relieves a restriction'' and section 
553(d)(3), which allows an effective date less than 30 days after 
publication ``as otherwise provided by the agency for good cause found 
and published with the rule.''

IV. Final Actions

    EPA is approving the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania's redesignation 
request, maintenance plan, and the 2002 base-year emissions inventory 
because the requirements for approval have been satisfied. EPA has 
evaluated Pennsylvania's redesignation request that was submitted on 
January 25, 2007, and determined that it meets the redesignation 
criteria set forth in section 107(d)(3)(E) of the Clean Air Act. EPA 
believes that the redesignation request and monitoring data demonstrate 
that the Reading Area has attained the 8-hour ozone standard. The final 
approval of this redesignation request will change the designation of 
the Reading Area from nonattainment to attainment for the 8-hour ozone 
standard. EPA is approving the maintenance plan for the Reading Area 
submitted on January 25, 2007 as a revision to the Pennsylvania

[[Page 48561]]

SIP. EPA is also approving the MVEBs submitted by PADEP in conjunction 
with its redesignation request. In addition, EPA is approving the 2002 
base-year emissions inventory submitted by PADEP on January 25, 2007, 
as a revision to the Pennsylvania SIP. In this final rulemaking, EPA is 
notifying the public that we have found that the MVEBs for nitrogen 
oxides (NOX) and volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions 
in the Reading Area for the 8-hour ozone maintenance plan are adequate 
and approved for conformity purposes. As a result of our finding, the 
Reading Area must use the MVEBs from the submitted 8-hour ozone 
maintenance plan for future conformity determinations. The adequate and 
approved MVEBs are provided in the following table:

  Adequate and Approved Motor Vehicle Emissions Budgets in Tons per Day
                                  (TPD)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                    Budget year                        NOX        VOC
------------------------------------------------------------------------
2009..............................................       22.3       14.3
2018..............................................        9.0        7.8
------------------------------------------------------------------------

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. 
Redesignation of an area to attainment under section 107(d)(3)(e) of 
the Clean Air Act does not impose any new requirements on small 
entities. Redesignation is an action that affects the status of a 
geographical area and does not impose any new regulatory requirements 
on sources. 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). Because this action affects the status of 
a geographical area or allows the state to avoid adopting or 
implementing other requirements and because this action does not impose 
any new requirements on sources, 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 requirement, 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 approves a state rule implementing a Federal 
standard.
    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. Redesignation is an 
action that affects the status of a geographical area and does not 
impose any new requirements on sources. 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 October 23, 2007. 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, approving the redesignation of the Reading 
Area to attainment for the 8-hour ozone NAAQS, the associated 
maintenance plan, the 2002 base-year emissions inventory, and the MVEBs 
identified in the maintenance plan, may not be challenged later in 
proceedings to enforce its requirements. (See section 307(b)(2).)

List of Subjects

40 CFR Part 52

    Environmental protection, Air pollution control, Nitrogen dioxide, 
Ozone, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements,Volatile organic 
compounds.

40 CFR Part 81

    Air pollution control, National parks, Wilderness areas.

    Dated: August 9, 2007.
William T. Wisniewski,
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 NN--Pennsylvania

0
2. In Sec.  52.2020, the table in paragraph (e)(1) is amended by adding 
an entry for

[[Page 48562]]

the 8-hour Ozone Maintenance Plan and the 2002 Base Year Emissions 
Inventory for the Reading, Pennsylvania Area at the end of the table to 
read as follows:


Sec.  52.2020  Identification of plan.

* * * * *
    (e) * * *
    (1) * * *

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   Name of non-regulatory SIP          Applicable           State                                 Additional
            revision                geographic area    submittal date    EPA approval date       explanation
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                                                  * * * * * * *
8-Hour Ozone Maintenance Plan     Reading Area (Berks       1/25/2007  8/24/2007 [Insert
 and 2002 Base Year Emissions      County).                             page number where
 Inventory.                                                             the document
                                                                        begins].
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PART 81--[AMENDED]

0
3. The authority citation for part 81 continues to read as follows:

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

0
4. In Sec.  81.339, the table entitled ``Pennsylvania--Ozone (8-Hour 
Standard)'' is amended by revising the entry for the Reading, PA Area 
to read as follows:


Sec.  81.339  Pennsylvania.

* * * * *

                                      Pennsylvania--Ozone (8-Hour Standard)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                   Designation \a\                   Category/classification
           Designated area           ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                         Date \1\               Type                Date \1\           Type
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                                                  * * * * * * *
Reading, PA: Berks County...........       9/10/2007  Attainment..............
 
                                                  * * * * * * *
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\a\ Includes Indian County located in each county or area, except otherwise noted.
\1\ This date is June 15, 2004, unless otherwise noted.

* * * * *
[FR Doc. E7-16683 Filed 8-23-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P