[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 191 (Tuesday, October 2, 2012)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 60094-60096]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-24242]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[EPA-R03-OAR-2012-0422; FRL-9735-9]


Approval and Promulgation of Air Quality Implementation Plans; 
West Virginia; The 2002 Base Year Inventory for the Charleston Area

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Proposed rule.

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SUMMARY: EPA is proposing to approve the fine particulate matter 
(PM2.5) 2002 base year emissions inventory portion of the 
West Virginia State Implementation Plan (SIP) revision submitted by the 
State of West Virginia (WV), through the West Virginia Department of 
Environmental Protection (WVDEP), on November 4, 2009 for the 
Charleston, WV nonattainment area (hereafter referred to as the 
Charleston Area or Area). The emissions inventory is part of the West 
Virginia November 4, 2009 SIP revision that was submitted to meet 
nonattainment requirements related to the Charleston Area for the 1997 
PM2.5 National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) SIP. EPA 
is proposing to approve the 2002 base year PM2.5 emissions 
inventory for the Charleston Area in accordance with the requirements 
of the Clean Air Act (CAA).

DATES: Written comments must be received on or before November 1, 2012.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID Number EPA-
R03-OAR-2012-0422 by one of the following methods:
    A. www.regulations.gov. Follow the on-line instructions for 
submitting comments.
    B. Email: [email protected].
    C. Mail: EPA-R03-OAR-2010-0140, Donna Mastro, Acting Associate 
Director, Office of Air Program Planning, Mailcode 3AP30, 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.
    Instructions: Direct your comments to Docket ID No. EPA-R03-OAR-
2012-0422. 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

[[Page 60095]]

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 
www.regulations.gov or email. 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 email comment directly to EPA without 
going through www.regulations.gov, your email 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 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, 
West Virginia 25304.

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

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background
II. Summary of SIP Revision
III. Proposed Action
IV. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

I. Background

    Throughout this document, whenever ``we,'' ``us,'' or ``our'' is 
used, we mean EPA. On July 18, 1997 (62 FR 38652), EPA promulgated the 
1997 PM2.5 NAAQS, including an annual standard of 15.0 
micrograms per cubic meter ([micro]g/m\3\) based on a 3-year average of 
annual mean PM2.5 concentrations, and a 24-hour (or daily) 
standard of 65 [micro]g/m\3\ based on a 3-year average of the 98th 
percentile of 24-hour concentrations. EPA established the standards 
based on significant evidence and numerous health studies demonstrating 
that serious health effects are associated with exposures to 
PM2.5.
    Following promulgation of a new or revised NAAQS, EPA is required 
by the CAA to designate areas throughout the United States as attaining 
or not attaining the NAAQS; this designation process is described in 
section 107(d)(1) of the CAA. In 1999, EPA and state air quality 
agencies initiated the monitoring process for the 1997 PM2.5 
NAAQS and, by January 2001, established a complete set of air quality 
monitors. On January 5, 2005, EPA promulgated initial air quality 
designations for the 1997 PM2.5 NAAQS (70 FR 944), which 
became effective on April 5, 2005, based on air quality monitoring data 
for calendar years 2001-03.
    On April 14, 2005, EPA promulgated a supplemental rule amending the 
agency's initial designations (70 FR 19844), with the same effective 
date (April 5, 2005) at 70 FR 944. As a result of this supplemental 
rule, PM2.5 nonattainment designations are in effect for 39 
areas, comprising 208 counties within 20 states (and the District of 
Columbia) nationwide, with a combined population of approximately 88 
million. The Charleston Area, which is the subject of this rulemaking, 
was included in the list of areas not attaining the 1997 
PM2.5 NAAQS. The Charleston Area consists of Kanawha and 
Putnam Counties in West Virginia.
    On October 11, 2011 (76 FR 62640), EPA determined that West 
Virginia had attained the 1997 PM2.5 NAAQS in the Charleston 
Area. That determination was based on complete, quality-assured, 
quality-controlled, and certified ambient air monitoring data for the 
2007-2009 three-year period that showed the area attained the 1997 
PM2.5 NAAQS and continues to attain the standard. The 
October 11, 2011 determination suspended the requirements for West 
Virginia to submit an attainment demonstration, associated reasonably 
available control measures, a reasonable further progress plan, 
contingency measures, and other planning SIP revisions related to 
attainment of the standard for so long as the nonattainment area 
continues to meet the 1997 PM2.5 NAAQS. Section 172(c)(3) of 
the CAA requires submission and approval of a comprehensive, accurate, 
and current inventory of actual emissions. This proposed approval is 
limited to the emissions inventory for the Charleston Area. Separate 
action will be taken on the remainder of West Virginia's SIP submittal.

II. Summary of SIP Revision

    The 2002 base year emission inventory submitted by WVDEP on 
November 4, 2009 for the Charleston Area includes emissions estimates 
that cover the general source categories of point sources, non-road 
mobile sources, area sources, on-road mobile sources, and biogenic 
sources. The pollutants that comprise the inventory are nitrogen oxides 
(NOX), volatile organic compounds (VOCs), PM2.5, 
coarse particles (PM10), ammonia (NH3) and sulfur 
dioxide (SO2). EPA has reviewed the results, procedures and 
methodologies for the base year emissions inventory submitted by WVDEP. 
The year 2002 was selected by WVDEP as the base year for the emissions 
inventory per 40 CFR 51.1008(b). A discussion of the emissions 
inventory development as well as the emissions inventory for the 
Charleston Area can be found in Appendices C and D of the November 4, 
2009 SIP submittal.
    Table 1, below, provides a summary of the annual 2002 emissions of 
NOX, VOCs, PM2.5, PM10, NH3 
and SO2 for the Charleston Area submittal.

                          Table 1--Summary of 2002 Baseline Emissions Inventory for the Charleston Area in Tons per Year (tpy)
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                      Source sector                             NH3             NOX            PM10            PM2.5            SO2             VOC
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Point...................................................              25          60,138           1,134             632         130,109           3,292
Area....................................................              70           1,614          10,039           2,396           2,486           9,209
Nonroad.................................................               1           3,957             229             213             239           2,828
Onroad..................................................             312          10,213             233             632             411           7,073

[[Page 60096]]

 
Biogenic................................................             N/A             N/A             N/A             N/A             N/A             N/A
                                                         -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Total...............................................             407          76,016          11,635           3,410         133,245          40,702
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    The CAA section 172(c)(3) emissions inventory is developed by the 
incorporation of data from multiple sources. States were required to 
develop and submit to EPA a triennial emissions inventory according to 
the Consolidated Emissions Reporting Rule (CERR) for all source 
categories (i.e., point, area, nonroad mobile and on-road mobile). The 
review and evaluation of the methods used for the emissions inventory 
submitted by West Virginia are found in the Technical Support Document 
dated August 12, 2010, available online at www.regulations.gov, Docket 
No. EPA-R03-OAR-2012-0422. EPA finds that the process used to develop 
this emissions inventory for the Charleston Area is adequate to meet 
the requirements of CAA section 172(c)(3), the implementing 
regulations, and EPA guidance for emission inventories.

III. Proposed Action

    EPA is proposing to approve the 2002 base year emissions inventory 
portion of the SIP revision submitted by the State of West Virginia on 
November 4, 2009 for the Charleston Area. We have made the 
determination that this action is consistent with section 110 of the 
CAA. EPA is soliciting public comments on the issues discussed in this 
document. These comments will be considered before taking final action.

IV. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

    Under the CAA, the Administrator is required to approve a SIP 
submission that complies with the provisions of the CAA and applicable 
Federal regulations. 42 U.S.C. 7410(k); 40 CFR 52.02(a). Thus, in 
reviewing SIP submissions, EPA's role is to approve state choices, 
provided that they meet the criteria of the CAA. Accordingly, this 
action merely proposes to approve state law as meeting Federal 
requirements and does not impose additional requirements beyond those 
imposed by state law. For that reason, this proposed action:
     Is not a ``significant regulatory action'' subject to 
review by the Office of Management and Budget under Executive Order 
12866 (58 FR 51735, October 4, 1993);
     Does not impose an information collection burden under the 
provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.);
     Is certified as not having a significant economic impact 
on a substantial number of small entities under the Regulatory 
Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 601 et seq.);
     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);
     Does not have Federalism implications as specified in 
Executive Order 13132 (64 FR 43255, August 10, 1999);
     Is not an economically significant regulatory action based 
on health or safety risks subject to Executive Order 13045 (62 FR 
19885, April 23, 1997);
     Is not a significant regulatory action subject to 
Executive Order 13211 (66 FR 28355, May 22, 2001);
     Is not subject to requirements of Section 12(d) of the 
National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act of 1995 (15 U.S.C. 272 
note) because application of those requirements would be inconsistent 
with the CAA; and
     Does not provide EPA with the discretionary authority to 
address, as appropriate, disproportionate human health or environmental 
effects, using practicable and legally permissible methods, under 
Executive Order 12898 (59 FR 7629, February 16, 1994).
    In addition, this proposed rule, pertaining to the PM2.5 
2002 base year emissions inventory portion of the West Virginia SIP for 
the Charleston Area, does not have tribal implications as specified by 
Executive Order 13175 (65 FR 67249, November 9, 2000), because the SIP 
is not approved to apply in Indian country located in the state, and 
EPA notes that it will not impose substantial direct costs on tribal 
governments or preempt tribal law.

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 52

    Environmental protection, Air pollution control, Nitrogen dioxide, 
Particulate matter, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, Sulfur 
oxides, Volatile organic compounds.

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

    Dated: September 13, 2012.
 W.C. Early,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region III.
[FR Doc. 2012-24242 Filed 10-1-12; 8:45 am]
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