[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 19 (Tuesday, January 29, 2008)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 5097-5101]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-1416]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[EPA-R01-OAR-2007-0963; A-1-FRL-8522-1]


Approval and Promulgation of Air Quality Implementation Plans; 
Maine; Ozone Maintenance Plans

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Direct final rule.

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SUMMARY: The EPA is approving a State Implementation Plan (SIP) 
revision submitted by the State of Maine, that includes four separate 
8-hour ozone maintenance plans. The Clean Air Act requires that areas 
that are designated attainment for the 8-hour ozone standard, and also 
had been previously designated either nonattainment or maintenance for 
the 1-hour ozone standard, develop a plan showing how the state will 
maintain the ozone standard for the area. Maine's maintenance plans 
include an emissions inventory, a plan for how the state will 
demonstrate and track progress of continued maintenance of the 
standard, a commitment to continue ozone monitoring, and a contingency 
plan that

[[Page 5098]]

will ensure that any violation of the 8-hour ozone standard is promptly 
addressed. The intended effect of this action is to approve these four 
maintenance plans into the Maine SIP. This action is being taken under 
the Clean Air Act.

DATES: This direct final rule will be effective March 31, 2008, unless 
EPA receives adverse comments by February 28, 2008. If adverse comments 
are received, EPA will publish a timely withdrawal of the direct final 
rule in the Federal Register informing the public that the rule will 
not take effect.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID Number EPA-
R01-OAR-2007-0963 by one of the following methods:
    1. www.regulations.gov: Follow the on-line instructions for 
submitting comments.
    2. E-mail: [email protected]
    3. Fax: (617) 918-0047. Mail: ``Docket Identification Number EPA-
R01-OAR-2007-0963,'' Anne Arnold, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 
EPA New England Regional Office, One Congress Street, Suite 1100 (mail 
code CAQ), Boston, MA 02114-2023.
    4. Hand Delivery or Courier. Deliver your comments to: Anne Arnold, 
Manager, Air Quality Planning Unit, Office of Ecosystem Protection, 
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, EPA New England Regional Office, 
One Congress Street, 11th floor, (CAQ), Boston, MA 02114-2023. Such 
deliveries are only accepted during the Regional Office's normal hours 
of operation. The Regional Office's official hours of business are 
Monday through Friday, 8:30 to 4:30, excluding legal holidays.
    Instructions: Direct your comments to Docket ID No. EPA-R01-OAR-
2007-0963. EPA's policy is that all comments received will be included 
in the public docket without change and may be made available online at 
www.regulations.gov, 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 through www.regulations.gov, or e-
mail, information that you consider to be CBI or otherwise protected. 
The www.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 www.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.
    Docket: All documents in the electronic docket are listed in the 
www.regulations.gov index. 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 www.regulations.gov or 
in hard copy at Office of Ecosystem Protection, U.S. Environmental 
Protection Agency, EPA New England Regional Office, One Congress 
Street, Suite 1100, Boston, MA. EPA requests that if at all possible, 
you contact the contact listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT 
section to schedule your inspection. The Regional Office's official 
hours of business are Monday through Friday, 8:30 to 4:30, excluding 
legal holidays.
    In addition, copies of the state submittal and EPA's technical 
support document are also available for public inspection during normal 
business hours, by appointment at the State Air Agency; the Bureau of 
Air Quality Control, Department of Environmental Protection, First 
Floor Tyson Building, Augusta Mental Health Institute Complex, Augusta, 
ME 04333-0017.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Richard P. Burkhart, Air Quality 
Planning Unit, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, EPA New England 
Regional Office, One Congress Street, Suite 1100 (CAQ), Boston, MA 
02114-2023, telephone number (617) 918-1664, fax number (617) 918-0664, 
e-mail [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Throughout this document whenever ``we,'' 
``us,'' or ``our'' is used, we mean EPA.
    Organization of this document. The following outline is provided to 
aid in locating information in this preamble.

I. What Action Is EPA Taking?
II. What Is a Section 110(a)(1) Maintenance Plan?
III. How Has Maine Addressed the Components of a Section 110(a)(1) 
8-Hour Ozone Maintenance Plan?
IV. Final Action
V. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

I. What Action Is EPA Taking?

    EPA is approving a State Implementation Plan (SIP) revision 
submitted by the State of Maine on August 7, 2006. The SIP revision 
consists of the Clean Air Act (CAA or Act) Section 110(a)(1) 8-hour 
ozone maintenance plans for four areas in Maine. Maine held a public 
hearing on the proposed SIP revision on July 6, 2006. The maintenance 
plans demonstrate how the state intends to maintain the 8-hour National 
Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) for ozone. These plans replace the 
existing ozone maintenance plan for the former Hancock and Waldo 
Counties 1-hour marginal ozone nonattainment area. That plan had been 
included as part of the redesignation request for this area as required 
under 175A of the Clean Air Act. (See 62 FR 9081; February 28, 1997.)
    Maine has four areas that are required to submit a CAA Section 
110(a)(1) maintenance plan. This requirement applies to areas that are 
designated as attainment/unclassifiable for the 8-hour ozone standard 
and also had a designation of either nonattainment or attainment with 
an approved maintenance plan for the 1-hour ozone standard as of June 
15, 2004 (the effective date of the 8-hour ozone standard designation 
for these areas).\1\ In Maine, these areas are:
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    \1\ See 69 FR 23857.

Area 1--Portions of York and Cumberland Counties;
Area 2--Portions of Androscoggin and all of Kennebec County;
Area 3--Portions of Knox and Lincoln Counties; and
Area 4--Portions of Hancock and Waldo Counties.

    The exact cites and towns in these areas are listed in the 
Technical Support Document (TSD) for this action, and in the Maine 
submittal. The TSD and Maine's submittal are available in the docket 
for this action or from the contact listed in the FOR FURTHER 
INFORMATION CONTACT section of this action.

II. What Is a Section 110(a)(1) Maintenance Plan?

    Section 110(a)(1) of the CAA requires, in part, that states submit 
to EPA plans to maintain any NAAQS promulgated

[[Page 5099]]

by EPA. EPA interprets this provision to require that areas that were 
either nonattainment or 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 \2\ that applies, in part, to 
areas that are designated attainment/unclassifiable for the 8-hour 
ozone standard and either have an approved 1-hour ozone maintenance 
plan or were designated nonattainment of the 1-hour ozone standard. The 
purpose of the 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 a 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.
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    \2\ ``Maintenance Plan Guidance Document for Certain 8-hour 
Ozone Areas Under Section 110(a)(1) of Clean Air Act,'' EPA 
memorandum dated May 20, 2005, from Lydia Wegman to Air Division 
Directors.
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III. How Has Maine Addressed the Components of a Section 110(a)(1) 8-
Hour Ozone Maintenance Plan?

    EPA has determined that the ME DEP (Maine Department of 
Environmental Protection) 8-hour ozone maintenance plans address all of 
the necessary components of a Section 110(a)(1) 8-hour ozone 
maintenance plan as discussed below.
    A. 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. ME DEP has provided a comprehensive and 
current emissions inventory for ozone precursors (NOX and 
VOCs) in the four areas. ME DEP uses 2002 as the base year from which 
it projects emissions. The submittal also includes an explanation of 
the methodology used for determining the anthropogenic emissions 
(point, area, and mobile sources) in the maintenance areas. The 
inventory is based on emissions for a typical ozone season day. The 
term ``typical'' refers to emissions expected on a typical weekday 
during the months where ozone concentrations are typically the highest.
    B. Maintenance Demonstration and Tracking Progress: With regard to 
demonstrating continued maintenance of the 8-hour ozone standard, ME 
DEP projects that the total emissions from the four maintenance areas 
will decrease during the ten-year maintenance period. ME DEP has 
projected emissions from 2002 until 2016. The projected trend in 
emissions is downward. This clearly demonstrates that the 8-hour ozone 
standard will be maintained for the ten year period between 2004 and 
2014, which is the required test, even though a specific inventory was 
not prepared for 2014.
    Tables 1 through 4 show the total VOC and NOX emissions 
for each of the four maintenance areas in Maine for the base year 
(2002), an interim year (2009), and a final year (2016).\3\ More 
detailed emissions tables can be found in the TSD for this action and 
the ME DEP submittal. The trend in emissions is downward, for each 
pollutant, in each area. As such, the plan demonstrates that, from an 
emissions projections standpoint, emissions are projected to decrease.
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    \3\ It should be noted that the emissions shown in these tables 
are for the entire two counties named, rather than the somewhat 
smaller maintenance area, due to the difficulty of parsing out 
inventory data to a sub-county basis. This difference is not 
considered significant, and does not affect the downward trend shown 
in the emissions.

                            Table 1.--Maintenance Area 1--York and Cumberland County
                                [Emissions expressed in tons per summer week day]
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                  Year                     2002 VOC    2002 NOX    2009 VOC    2009 NOX    2016 VOC    2016 NOX
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Total...................................     80.191      83.495      65.290      53.028      62.092      36.499
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                         Table 2.--Maintenance Area 2--Androscoggin and Kennebec County
                                [Emissions expressed in tons per summer week day]
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                  Year                     2002 VOC    2002 NOX    2009 VOC    2009 NOX    2016 VOC    2016 NOX
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Total...................................     31.820      32.322      25.430      21.042      23.405      13.608
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                              Table 3.--Maintenance Area 3--Knox and Lincoln County
                                [Emissions expressed in tons per summer week day]
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                  Year                     2002 VOC    2002 NOX    2009 VOC    2009 NOX    2016 VOC    2016 NOX
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Total...................................     18.417      18.128      15.827      13.393      15.060      11.661
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[[Page 5100]]


                             Table 4.--Maintenance Area 4--Hancock and Waldo County
                                [Emissions expressed in tons per summer week day]
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                  Year                     2002 VOC    2002 NOX    2009 VOC    2009 NOX    2016 VOC    2016 NOX
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Total...................................     24.034      18.355      18.887      11.103      17.143       7.426
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    It is important to note that the formation of ozone is dependent on 
a number of variables which cannot be estimated using only emissions 
growth and reduction calculations. These variables include, among 
others, weather and the transport of ozone precursors from outside the 
maintenance area. In its submittal, ME DEP has indicated that the state 
will track the progress of the maintenance plans by updating the 
emissions inventory for the four areas approximately every three years. 
The emissions inventory update will include point, area, and mobile 
source emissions. Information from these future updates will be 
compared with the 2002 inventory data to track maintenance of the 
standard.
    C. Ambient Monitoring: With regard to the ambient air monitoring 
component of a maintenance plan, Maine's submittal describes the ozone 
monitoring network in Maine and commits to continue operating air 
quality monitors in accordance with 40 CFR Part 58 to verify 
maintenance of the 8-hour ozone standard. If any changes to the 
monitoring locations become necessary, Maine commits to working with 
EPA to ensure that the adequacy of the monitoring network is 
maintained. Based on ozone data from 2006, all of Maine meets the 8-
hour ozone standard. Furthermore, preliminary ozone data for 2007 shows 
that all of Maine continues to meet this standard.
    D. 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. Therefore, 
as required by Section 110(a)(1) of the Act, Maine has listed possible 
contingency measures in the event of a future ozone air quality 
problem. At the conclusion of each ozone season, the Maine DEP will 
evaluate whether the design value for each of the maintenance areas 
meets the 8-hour ozone standard.\4\ If the design value for an area 
does not meet the standard, the DEP will evaluate the potential causes 
of this design value increase. The DEP will examine whether this 
increase is due to an increase in local in-state emissions or an 
increase in upwind out-of-state emissions. If an increase in in-state 
emissions is determined to be a contributing factor to the design value 
increase, Maine will evaluate the projected in-state emissions for the 
relevant maintenance area for the ozone season in the following year. 
If in-state emissions are not expected to satisfactorily decrease in 
the following ozone season in order to mitigate the violation, Maine 
will implement one or more of the contingency measures listed in the 
submittal, or substitute a new VOC or NOX control measures 
to achieve additional in-state emission reductions. The contingency 
measures(s) will be selected by the Governor, or the Governor's 
designee, within 6 months of the end of the ozone season for which 
contingency measures have been determined necessary. Further details on 
the types of possible control measures to be used as contingencies can 
be found in the TSD and the Maine submittal. Maine's submittal 
satisfies EPA's contingency measure requirements.
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    \4\ The design value at an ozone monitor is the 3-year average 
annual fourth-highest daily maximum 8-hour average ozone 
concentration measured at that monitor. The design value for an area 
is the highest design value recorded at any monitor in the area.
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IV. Final Action

    EPA is approving into the Maine SIP the Clean Air Act Section 
110(a)(1) 8-hour ozone maintenance plans for the four areas in Maine 
that are required to have such plans. These areas are: Portions of York 
and Cumberland Counties; portions of Androscoggin and all of Kennebec 
County; portions of Knox and Lincoln Counties; and portions of Hancock 
and Waldo Counties.
    The EPA is publishing this action without prior proposal because 
the Agency views this as a noncontroversial amendment and anticipates 
no adverse comments. However, in the proposed rules section of this 
Federal Register publication, EPA is publishing a separate document 
that will serve as the proposal to approve the SIP revision should 
relevant adverse comments be filed. This rule will be effective March 
31, 2008 without further notice unless the Agency receives relevant 
adverse comments by February 28, 2008.
    If the EPA receives such comments, then EPA will publish a notice 
withdrawing the final rule and informing the public that the rule will 
not take effect. All public comments received will then be addressed in 
a subsequent final rule based on the proposed rule. The EPA will not 
institute a second comment period on the proposed rule. All parties 
interested in commenting on the proposed rule should do so at this 
time. If no such comments are received, the public is advised that this 
rule will be effective on March 31, 2008 and no further action will be 
taken on the proposed rule. Please note that if EPA receives adverse 
comment on an amendment, paragraph, or section of this rule and if that 
provision may be severed from the remainder of the rule, EPA may adopt 
as final those provisions of the rule that are not the subject of an 
adverse comment.

V. 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 (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

[[Page 5101]]

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), because it 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 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. 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. section 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 31, 2008. Interested 
parties should comment in response to the proposed rule rather than 
petition for judicial review, unless the objection arises after the 
comment period allowed for in the proposal. 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: January 16, 2008.
Robert W. Varney,
Regional Administrator, EPA New England.

0
Part 52 of chapter I, title 40 of the Code of Federal Regulations 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 U--Maine

0
2. Section 52.1023 is amended by adding paragraph (i) to read as 
follows:


Sec.  52.1023  Control strategy: Ozone.

* * * * *
    (i) Approval: EPA is approving the 110(a)(1) 8-hour ozone 
maintenance plans in the four areas of the state required to have a 
110(a)(1) maintenance plan for the 8-hour ozone National Ambient Air 
Quality Standard. These areas are as follows: portions of York and 
Cumberland Counties; portions of Androscoggin County and all of 
Kennebec County; portions of Knox and Lincoln Counties; and portions of 
Hancock and Waldo Counties. These maintenance plans were submitted to 
EPA on August 3, 2006.

[FR Doc. E8-1416 Filed 1-28-08; 8:45 am]
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