[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 192 (Wednesday, October 3, 2012)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 60339-60341]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-24380]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[EPA-R03-OAR-2010-0601; FRL-9736-1]


Approval and Promulgation of Air Quality Implementation Plans; 
Pennsylvania; The 2002 Base Year Inventory for the Pittsburgh-Beaver 
Valley Area for 1997 Fine Particulate Matter National Ambient Air 
Quality Standard

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 
Pennsylvania State Implementation Plan (SIP) revision submitted by the 
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, through the Pennsylvania Department of

[[Page 60340]]

Environmental Protection (PADEP), on November 10, 2009 for the 
Pittsburgh-Beaver Valley, PA nonattainment area (hereafter referred to 
as the Area). The emissions inventory is part of the November 10, 2009 
SIP revision that was submitted to meet nonattainment requirements 
related to the 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 Area in accordance 
with the requirements of the Clean Air Act (CAA).

DATES: Written comments must be received on or before November 2, 2012.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID Number EPA-
R03-OAR-2010-0601 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-
2010-0601. 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 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 Pennsylvania Department of Environmental 
Protection, Bureau of Air Quality Control, P.O. Box 8468, 400 Market 
Street, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania 17105.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ruth Knapp, (215) 814-2191, 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 ([mu]g/m\3\) based on a 3-year average of 
annual mean PM2.5 concentrations, and a 24-hour (or daily) 
standard of 65 [mu]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 (70 FR 
19844) amending our initial designations (70 FR 944), with the same 
effective date (April 5, 2005). 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 
Area, which is the subject of this rulemaking, was included in the list 
of areas not attaining the 1997 PM2.5 NAAQS. The Area 
consists of the following: Allegheny County (remainder of county not 
included in Liberty-Clairton nonattainment area); Armstrong County 
(portion consisting of Elderton Borough and Plum Creek and Washington 
Townships); Beaver County; Butler County; Greene County (portion 
consisting of Monongahela Township); Lawrence County (portion 
consisting of Township of Taylor south of New Castle City); Washington 
County; and Westmorland County.
    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 
Area. Separate action will be taken on the remainder of Pennsylvania's 
November 10, 2009 SIP submittal.

II. Summary of SIP Revision

    The 2002 base year emission inventory submitted by PADEP on 
November 10, 2009 for the Area includes emissions estimates that cover 
the general source categories of point sources, area sources, on-road 
mobile sources, and non-road mobile sources. The pollutants that 
comprise the inventory are PM2.5, coarse particles 
(PM10), nitrogen oxides (NOX), volatile organic 
compounds (VOCs), ammonia (NH3), and sulfur dioxide 
(SO2). EPA has reviewed the results, procedures and 
methodologies for the base year emissions inventory submitted by PADEP. 
The year 2002 was selected by PADEP 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 Area 
can be found in Section III of the November 10, 2009 SIP submittal.

[[Page 60341]]

    Table 1, below, provides a summary of the annual 2002 emissions of 
PM2.5, PM10, SO2, NOX, 
VOCs, and NH3 for the Area submittal.

                                         Table 1--2002 Annual Emissions
                                                 [Tons per year]
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      Pittsburgh-Beaver Valley Area 2002          PM2.5       PM10       SO2        NOX        VOC        NH3
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Stationary Point Sources......................       4868      11149     463501     110618       5157        462
Area Sources..................................       7916      41206       9905       8622      36683       2948
Highway Vehicle Sources.......................        824       1164       1770      53268      25638       1884
Non-Road Sources..............................       1297       1359       1694      25975      13421          8
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    Totals....................................      14904      54879     476871     198483      80898       5303
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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 Pennsylvania are found in the Technical Support Document 
dated August 12, 2010 available online at www.regulations.gov, Docket 
No. EPA-R03-OAR-2010-0601. EPA finds that the process used to develop 
this emissions inventory for the 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 Commonwealth of 
Pennsylvania on November 10, 2009 for the Pittsburgh-Beaver Valley 
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 Pennsylvania SIP for 
the Pittsburgh-Beaver Valley 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 18, 2012.
W.C. Early,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region III.
[FR Doc. 2012-24380 Filed 10-2-12; 8:45 am]
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