[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 5 (Tuesday, January 8, 2008)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 1282-1285]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-25640]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[EPA-R03-OAR-2007-0215; FRL-8513-8]


Approval and Promulgation of Air Quality Implementation Plans; 
West Virginia; Section 110(a)(1) 8-Hour Ozone Maintenance Plan and 
Amendments to the 1-Hour Ozone Maintenance Plan

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: EPA is approving State Implementation Plan (SIP) revisions

[[Page 1283]]

submitted by West Virginia. These revisions pertain to: the maintenance 
plan prepared by West Virginia to maintain the 8-hour national ambient 
air quality standard (NAAQS) for ozone in Greenbrier County, which is 
designated attainment for the ozone NAAQS; and two amendments to the 
existing 1-hour ozone maintenance plan, which include removal of the 
obligation to submit a maintenance plan for the 1-hour NAAQS eight 
years after approval of the initial 1-hour maintenance plan, and 
removal of the State's obligation to implement contingency measures 
upon a violation of the 1-hour NAAQS. The purpose of this approval is 
to ensure Federal enforceability of the state air program plan and to 
maintain consistency between the State-adopted plan and the approved 
SIP. This action is being taken under the Clean Air Act (CAA).

DATES: Effective Date: This final rule is effective on February 7, 
2008.

ADDRESSES: EPA has established a docket for this action under Docket ID 
Number EPA-R03-OAR-2007-0215. 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 West Virginia Department of 
Environmental Protection, Division of Air Quality, 601 57th Street, 
SE., Charleston, WV 25304.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Irene Shandruk, (215) 814-2166, or by 
e-mail at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background

    Section 110(a)(1) of the Clean Air Act (CAA) requires, in part, 
that states submit to EPA plans to maintain any NAAQS promulgated by 
EPA. EPA interprets this provision to require that areas that were 
maintenance areas for the 1-hour ozone NAAQS, but attainment for the 8-
hour ozone NAAQS submit a plan to demonstrate the continued maintenance 
of the 8-hour ozone NAAQS. EPA established June 15, 2007, three years 
after the effective date of the initial 8-hour ozone designations, as 
the deadline for submission of plans for these areas.
    On May 20, 2005, EPA issued guidance that applies, in part, to 
areas that are designated attainment/unclassifiable for the 8-hour 
ozone standard and that had an approved 1-hour ozone maintenance plan. 
The purpose of the guidance, referred to as section 110(a)(1) guidance, 
is to assist the states in the development of a SIP which addresses the 
maintenance requirements found in section 110(a)(1) of the CAA. There 
are five components of the section 110(a)(1) maintenance plan which 
are: (1) An attainment inventory, which is based on actual typical 
summer day emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and oxides of 
nitrogen (NOX) for a ten-year period from a base year as 
chosen by the state; (2) a maintenance demonstration which shows how 
the area will remain in compliance with the 8-hour ozone standard for 
10 years after the effective date of designations (June 15, 2004); (3) 
a commitment to continue to operate air quality monitors; (4) a 
contingency plan that will ensure that a violation of the 8-hour ozone 
NAAQS is promptly addressed; and (5) an explanation of how the State 
will track the progress of the maintenance plan.
    On November 7, 2007 (72 FR 62809), EPA published a notice of 
proposed rulemaking (NPR) for the State of West Virginia. The NPR 
proposed approval of the 8-hour ozone maintenance plan for Greenbrier 
County, as well as concurrent approval of two amendments to its 
existing 1-hour ozone maintenance plan, which include (a) removal of 
the obligation to submit a maintenance plan for the 1-hour NAAQS eight 
years after approval of the initial 1-hour maintenance plan, and (b) 
removal of the State's obligation to implement contingency measures 
upon a violation of the 1-hour NAAQS. The formal SIP revision was 
submitted by West Virginia on November 29, 2006.

II. Summary of SIP Revision

    The WVDEP 8-hour ozone maintenance plan addresses the components of 
the section 110(a)(1) 8-hour ozone maintenance plan as outlined in 
EPA's May 20, 2005 guidance. West Virginia requested approval of their 
8-hour ozone maintenance plan for Greenbrier County, as well as 
concurrent approval of two amendments to its existing 1-hour ozone 
maintenance plan.
    Emissions Inventory: An emissions inventory is an itemized list of 
emission estimates for sources of air pollution in a given area for a 
specified time period. WVDEP has provided a comprehensive and current 
emissions inventory for NOX and VOCs. WVDEP has chosen to 
use 2002 as the base year from which it will project emissions. The 
maintenance plan also includes an explanation of the methodology used 
for determining the anthropogenic (area and mobile sources) emissions. 
There are no Title V point sources located in Greenbrier County, so a 
2002 point source inventory was not compiled. The inventory is based on 
emissions from a typical ozone season day. The term ``typical'' refers 
to emissions being emitted during a typical weekday during the months 
where ozone concentrations are typically the highest.
    Maintenance Demonstration and Tracking Progress: With regard to 
demonstrating continued maintenance of the 8-hour ozone standard, West 
Virginia projects that the total emissions from Greenbrier County will 
decrease during the ten-year maintenance period. WVDEP has projected 
emissions for 10 years from the effective date of initial designations, 
or 2014. In 2002, the total anthropogenic emissions in Greenbrier 
County were 7.7 tons/ozone season day for VOCs and 7.4 tons/ozone 
season day for NOX. The projected 2014 anthropogenic 
emissions from Greenbrier County are 7.0 tons/ozone season day for VOCs 
and 4.9 tons/ozone season day for NOX. As such, the plan 
demonstrates that, from an emissions projections standpoint, emissions 
are projected to decrease.
    It is important to note that the formation of ozone is dependent on 
a number of variables which cannot be estimated through emissions 
growth and reduction calculations. A few of these variables include 
weather and the transport of ozone precursors from outside the 
maintenance area. In the section 110(a)(1) maintenance plan, WVDEP had 
indicated that the state will track the progress of the maintenance 
plan by updating the emissions inventory for Greenbrier County 
approximately every three years. The emissions inventory update will 
include point, area, and mobile emissions. Information from these 
future updates will be compared with the projected growth estimates for 
the 2002 base inventory data to track maintenance of the standard.
    Ambient Monitoring: With regard to the ambient air monitoring 
component of the maintenance plan, West Virginia commits to continue 
operating air quality monitoring stations in accordance with 40 CFR 
Part 58 throughout the maintenance period to

[[Page 1284]]

verify maintenance of the 8-hour ozone standard, and will submit 
quality-assured ozone data to EPA through the AIRS system.
    Contingency Measures: EPA interprets section 110(a)(1) of the CAA 
to require that the state develop a contingency plan that will ensure 
that any violation of a NAAQS is promptly corrected. The purposes of 
the contingency measures, as outlined in West Virginia's maintenance 
plan, is to accordingly select and adopt one or more measures outlined 
in the maintenance plan so as to assure continued attainment in the 
event that a violation of the ozone NAAQS is measured. Violation of the 
8-hour ozone standard would trigger one or more of the control measures 
outlined in the plan.
    Approval of two amendments to West Virginia's existing 1-hour 
maintenance plan has also been requested by WVDEP. Section 175A(b) 
requires that maintenance plans be updated. The 1-hour maintenance plan 
for Greenbrier County extends to 2005, but no update has been 
developed. West Virginia identifies the most important reason for this 
being that available resources are being devoted to attainment and 
maintenance of the 8-hour standard since the 8-hour standard is 
considered by the State to be more protective than the former 1-hour 
standard upon which the current maintenance plan is based. As such, 
West Virginia is amending this existing maintenance plan, which is 
codified at 40 CFR 52.2520(e), for the Greenbrier County 1-hour 
maintenance area by removing the State's obligation to submit a 
maintenance plan for the 1-hour NAAQS eight years after approval of the 
initial 1-hour maintenance plan, and is requesting approval of these 
amendments.

III. Final Action

    EPA is approving the SIP revisions submitted by WVDEP pertaining to 
their section 110(a)(1) 8-hour ozone maintenance plan for Greenbrier 
County, West Virginia. This plan demonstrates how the State intends to 
maintain the 8-hour NAAQS for ozone. Additionally, EPA is concurrently 
approving two amendments to the existing 1-hour ozone maintenance plan: 
(1) Removal of the obligation to submit a maintenance plan for the 1-
hour NAAQS 8 years after approval of the initial 1-hour maintenance 
plan; and (2) removal of the State's obligation to implement 
contingency measures upon a violation of the 1-hour NAAQS.

IV. 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 
requirement, and does not alter the relationship or the distribution of 
power and responsibilities established in the CAA. 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 CAA. 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 CAA. 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 CAA, petitions for judicial review 
of this action must be filed in the United States Court of Appeals for 
the appropriate circuit by March 10, 2008. 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 section 110(a)(1) 8-hour Ozone Maintenance 
Plan for Greenbrier County, West Virginia, and concurrent approval of 
two amendments to the existing 1-hour ozone maintenance plan 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, Incorporation by 
reference, Nitrogen dioxide, Ozone, Reporting and recordkeeping 
requirements, Volatile organic compounds.


[[Page 1285]]


    Dated: December 19, 2007.
Donald S. Welsh,
Regional Administrator, Region III.

0
40 CFR part 52 is amended as follows:

PART 52--[AMENDED]

0
1. The authority citation for 40 CFR part 52 continues to read as 
follows:

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

Subpart XX--West Virginia

0
2. In Sec.  52.2520, the table in paragraph (e) is amended by:
0
a. Revising the existing entry for Ozone Maintenance Plan & contingency 
measures (Greenbrier County).
0
b. Adding an entry for the 8-hour Ozone Maintenance plan for Greenbrier 
County, WV, at the end of the table.
    The amendments read as follows:


Sec.  52.2520  Identification of plan.

* * * * *
    (e) * * *

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                                       Applicable geographic        State
 Name of non-regulatory SIP revision            area           submittal date     EPA approval date                  Additional explanation
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                                                                      * * * * * * *
Ozone Maintenance Plan & contingency  Greenbrier County......          9/9/94  8/4/95, 60 FR 39857....  52.2565(c)(36)
 measures.
 
                                                                      * * * * * * *
                                                                     11/29/06  1/8/08, [Insert page     Action includes (a) removal of the obligation to
                                                                                number where the         submit a maintenance plan eight years after
                                                                                document begins].        initial approval, and (b) removal of the
                                                                                                         obligation to implement contingency measures
                                                                                                         upon a violation of the NAAQS
 
                                                                      * * * * * * *
8-Hour Ozone Maintenance Plan for     Greenbrier County......        11/29/06  1/8/08, [Insert page
 Greenbrier County, WV.                                                         number where the
                                                                                document begins].
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[FR Doc. E7-25640 Filed 1-7-08; 8:45 am]
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