[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 34 (Wednesday, February 20, 2013)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 11754-11758]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-03763]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[EPA-R04-OAR-2012-0762; FRL-9782-1]


Approval and Promulgation of Implementation Plans; Tennessee: 
Knox County Supplement Motor Vehicle Emissions Budget Update

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Direct final rule.

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SUMMARY: EPA is taking direct final action to approve a revision to the 
Tennessee State Implementation Plan (SIP), submitted to EPA on December 
13, 2012, by the State of Tennessee, through the Tennessee Department 
of Environment and Conservation (TDEC). Tennessee's December 13, 2012, 
SIP revision includes changes to the maintenance plan for the Knox 
County 1-hour ozone area submitted on August 26, 1992, and approved by 
EPA on September 27, 1993, and a subsequent SIP revision approved by 
EPA on August 5, 1997. The Knox County 1-hour ozone area was comprised 
of Knox County in its entirety. The December 13, 2012 SIP revision 
proposes to increase the safety margin allocated to motor vehicle 
emissions budgets (MVEB) for nitrogen oxides (NOX) and 
volatile organic compounds (VOC) for Knox County to account for changes 
in the emissions model and vehicle miles traveled (VMT) projection 
model. EPA is approving this SIP revision because the State has 
demonstrated that it is consistent with the Clean Air Act (CAA or Act).

DATES: This rule is effective on April 22, 2013 without further notice, 
unless EPA receives relevant adverse comment by March 22, 2013. If EPA 
receives such comment, EPA will publish a timely withdrawal in the 
Federal Register informing the public that this rule will not take 
effect.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-R04-
OAR-2012-0762 by one of the following methods:
    1. www.regulations.gov: Follow the on-line instructions for 
submitting comments.
    2. Email: [email protected].
    3. Fax: (404) 562-9019.
    4. Mail: EPA-R04-OAR-2012-0762, Regulatory Development Section, Air 
Planning Branch, Air, Pesticides and Toxics Management Division, U.S. 
Environmental Protection Agency, Region 4, 61 Forsyth Street SW., 
Atlanta, Georgia 30303-8960.
    5. Hand Delivery or Courier: Lynorae Benjamin, Chief, Regulatory 
Development Section, Air Planning Branch, Air, Pesticides and Toxics 
Management Division, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency,

[[Page 11755]]

Region 4, 61 Forsyth Street SW., Atlanta, Georgia 30303-8960. 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 federal holidays.
    Instructions: Direct your comments to Docket ID No. EPA-R04-OAR-
2013-0762. 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 
email, 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 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. For additional 
information about EPA's public docket visit the EPA Docket Center 
homepage at http://www.epa.gov/epahome/dockets.htm.
    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 the Regulatory Development Section, Air Planning 
Branch, Air, Pesticides and Toxics Management Division, U.S. 
Environmental Protection Agency, Region 4, 61 Forsyth Street SW., 
Atlanta, Georgia 30303-8960. EPA requests that if at all possible, you 
contact the person 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 
federal holidays.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kelly Sheckler, Air Quality and 
Transportation Modeling Section, Air Planning Branch, Air, Pesticides 
and Toxics Management Division, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 
Region 4, 61 Forsyth Street SW., Atlanta, Georgia 30303-8960. Kelly 
Sheckler may be reached by phone at (404) 562-9222 or by electronic 
mail address [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Table of Contents

I. Background
II. EPA's Analysis of Tennessee's SIP Revision
III. Final Action
IV. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

I. Background

    The Knox County, Tennessee, 1-hour ozone attainment and maintenance 
area is comprised of only Knox County in its entirety in Tennessee 
(hereafter referred to as the ``Knox County'' or ``Area''). Knox County 
was originally designated as marginal nonattainment for the 1-hour 
ozone national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS) on November 6, 
1991 (56 FR 56694).\1\ Knox County was redesignated as attainment for 
the 1-hour ozone NAAQS on September 27, 1993 (58 FR 50271). In this 
approval, was a 10-year air quality maintenance plan covering the years 
1994-2004. A subsequent revision to the Knox County Area maintenance 
plan was approved by EPA on August 5, 1997, that established MVEB for 
transportation conformity purposes. That plan satisfied the CAA 
requirement for a 10-year update of the Knox County 1-hour ozone 
maintenance plan.
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    \1\ Subsequent to designating Knox County nonattainment for the 
1-hour ozone NAAQS, EPA has since designated Knox County as part of 
the larger Knoxville nonattainment area for the 1997 8-hour ozone 
NAAQS (see 69 FR 23857, April 30, 2004) and the 2008 8-hour ozone 
NAAQS (see 77 FR 30160, May 21, 2012). This proposed action relates 
primarily to the MVEB established for Knox County for the 1-hour 
ozone NAAQS, and does not relate to the MVEB approved for 1997 8-
hour ozone NAAQS for the Knoxville Area, nor does it relate to any 
pending MVEB that may be contemplated for the Knoxville Area for the 
2008 8-hour ozone NAAQS.
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    On October 12, 2012, TDEC submitted a draft SIP revision which 
included changes to the emissions inventory for both on-road and off-
road mobile sources using the latest EPA-approved mobile emissions and 
NONROAD models. New emissions data for both the new base year 
(attainment year) and the projected years (2004 and 2014) were 
calculated. The plan updated the 2004 MVEB and provided for a new MVEB 
for the year 2014.
    On December 18, 2012, (77 FR 74820), EPA proposed to approve 
through parallel processing Tennessee's October 12, 2012, draft SIP 
revision with changes to the maintenance plan for the Knox County 1-
hour ozone area. EPA did not receive any comments, adverse or 
otherwise, for the December 18, 2012, proposed rulemaking. The MVEB for 
the Knox County 1-hour ozone area that were published in EPA's proposed 
rulemaking on December 18, 2012, were not the same as the MVEB provided 
in Tennessee's December 13, 2012, final SIP revision related to the 
Knox County 1-hour ozone area. Consequently, EPA is not finalizing its 
December 13, 2012, proposal but is instead replacing that proposal with 
today's direct final rulemaking and accompanying proposed rulemaking. 
EPA is approving the State's implementation plan revision as a direct 
final action with a parallel proposal because the Agency views this as 
a noncontroversial submittal and anticipates no adverse comments. A 
detailed rationale for the approval is discussed below.

II. EPA's Analysis of Tennessee's SIP Revision

    As discussed above, on December 13, 2012, the State of Tennessee, 
through TDEC, submitted a SIP revision to revise the MVEB for the Knox 
County 1-hour ozone maintenance plan to increase the safety margin as a 
result of new emissions model, VMT projection models, and other 
emission model input data. The MVEB (expressed in tons per day (tpd)) 
that are being updated through today's action were originally approved 
by EPA on September 27, 1993, updated on August 5, 1997, and February 
4, 2004, and are outlined in the table below.

                 Table 1--Original MVEB for Knox County
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                     2004        2014
------------------------------------------------------------------------
NOX.............................................   33.89 tpd   22.49 tpd
VOC.............................................   29.24 tpd   22.12 tpd
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    TDEC is currently allocating portions of the available safety 
margin \2\ to the

[[Page 11756]]

MVEB to account for new emissions models, VMT projections models, as 
well as changes to future vehicle mix assumptions, that influence the 
emission estimations. TDEC has now decided to allocate a majority of 
the safety margin available to the MVEB. Specifically, 7.97 tpd of the 
available VOC safety margin (15.94) is allocated to the 2004 MVEB, and 
11.61 tpd for the available 2014 MVEB (23.22). Additionally, 2.79 tpd 
of the available NOX safety margin are allocated to the 2004 
MVEB and 18.43 tpd for the 2014 MVEB. The remaining safety margin for 
VOC for 2004 is 7.97 tpd and for 2014 is 11.61 tpd. As a result, there 
will be no safety margin remaining for NOX for 2004 and 
2014.
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    \2\ A safety margin is the difference between the attainment 
level of emissions from all source categories (i.e., point, area, 
and mobile) and the projected level of emissions from all source 
categories. The State may choose to allocate some of the safety 
margin to the MVEB, for transportation conformity purposes, so long 
as the total level of emissions from all source categories remains 
equal to or less than the attainment level of emissions.
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    The following tables provide the adjusted VOC and NOX 
emissions data, for the 2004 base attainment year inventories, as well 
as the projected VOC and NOX emissions inventory 2014.

                         Table 2--Knox County Total Volatile Organic Compounds Emissions
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                                                                                                       Available
                Year                    Area     Non-road   Biogenic    Mobile     Point      Total      safety
                                                                                                         margin
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1990...............................      28.82       9.81      32.43      40.84       8.06     119.96  .........
1993...............................      29.25       9.96      32.43      32.35       8.64     112.63  .........
2004...............................      30.90      10.52      32.43      21.27       8.90     104.02      15.94
2010...............................      31.84      10.84      32.43      13.93       9.76      98.80  .........
2014...............................      32.48      11.06      32.43      10.51      10.26      96.74      23.22
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                              Table 3--Knox County Total Nitrogen Oxides Emissions
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                                                                                                         Safety
                Year                    Area     Non-road   Biogenic    Mobile     Point      Total      margin
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1990...............................       3.66       9.77          0      37.62       8.96      60.01  .........
1993...............................       3.72       9.92          0      34.85       9.54      58.03  .........
2004...............................       3.92      10.48          0      31.10      11.73      57.23       2.79
2010...............................       4.04      10.79          0      19.99      12.53      47.35  .........
2014...............................       4.13      11.01          0      13.27      13.17      41.58      18.43
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                      Table 4--Knox County NOX MVEB
                                  [tpd]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                       2004       2014
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                              NOX Emissions
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Base Emissions....................................      31.10      13.27
Safety Margin Allocated to MVEB...................       2.79      18.43
NOX Conformity MVEB...............................      33.89      31.71
------------------------------------------------------------------------


                      Table 5--Knox County VOC MVEB
                                  [tpd]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                       2004       2014
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                              VOC Emissions
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Base Emissions....................................      21.27      10.51
Safety Margin Allocated to MVEB...................       7.97      11.61
VOC Conformity MVEB...............................      29.24      22.12
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Taking into consideration the portion of the safety margin applied 
to the MVEB, the resulting difference between the attainment level of 
emissions from all sources and the projected level of emissions from 
all sources in the maintenance area, the area still attains the NAAQS 
and meets the maintenance requirements. The new safety margins, are 
listed below in Table 6.

             Table 6--New Safety Margins for the Knox County
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                       Year                          VOC tpd    NOX tpd
------------------------------------------------------------------------
2004..............................................       7.97          0
2014..............................................      11.61          0
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    As shown in Tables 2 and 3 above, VOC and NOX total 
emissions in Knox County are projected to steadily decrease from 2004 
to the maintenance year of 2014. This VOC and NOX emission 
decrease demonstrates continued attainment/maintenance of the 1-hour 
ozone NAAQS for ten years from 2004 (the year the Area was effectively 
designated attainment for the 1-hour ozone NAAQS) as required by the 
CAA.
    The revised MVEB that Tennessee submitted for the Knox County Area 
were developed with projected mobile source emissions derived using the 
MOBILE6 motor vehicle emissions model. This model was the most current 
model available at the time Tennessee was performing its analysis. 
However, EPA has now issued an updated motor vehicle emissions model 
known as Motor Vehicle Emission Simulator or MOVES. In its announcement 
of this model, EPA established a two-year grace period for continued 
use of MOBILE6.2 in regional emissions analyses for transportation plan 
and transportation improvement programs (TIPs) conformity 
determinations (extending to March 2, 2013),\3\ after which states 
(other than California) must use MOVES in conformity determinations for 
TIPs. As stated above, MOBILE6.2 was the applicable mobile source 
emissions model that was available when the original SIP was submitted.
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    \3\ EPA previously extended the grace period to use MOVES for 
regional emissions analysis in conformity determinations to March 2, 
2013 (77 FR 11394).
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III. Final Action

    EPA is taking direct final action to approve Tennessee's December 
13, 2012, SIP revision to allocate a portion of the available safety 
margin to the MVEB for the Knox County 1-hour ozone maintenance Area. 
This action, will result in higher NOX and VOC MVEB for 
transportation conformity purposes for Knox County, and would still be 
consistent with attainment for the 1-hour ozone NAAQS. EPA is proposing 
this action because it is consistent with the CAA and the

[[Page 11757]]

transportation conformity requirements at 40 CFR part 93.
    On March 12, 2008, EPA issued revised ozone NAAQS. The current 
action, however, is being taken to address requirements under the 1997 
8-hour ozone NAAQS. EPA is publishing this rule without prior proposal 
because the Agency views this as a non-controversial 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 an adverse comment be filed. This rule will be effective on 
March 22, 2013 without further notice unless the Agency receives 
adverse comment by March 22, 2013. If EPA receives such comments, then 
EPA will publish a document 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. EPA will not institute a second comment period on this 
action. Any parties interested in commenting must do so at this time. 
If no such comments are received, the public is advised this rule will 
be effective on April 22, 2013 and no further action will be taken on 
the proposed rule.

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 Act 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 approves state law as meeting federal requirements and 
does not impose additional requirements beyond those imposed by State 
law. For that reason, this 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 rule 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, and EPA 
notes that it will not impose substantial direct costs on tribal 
governments or preempt tribal law.
    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 action 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 CAA, petitions for judicial review 
of this action must be filed in the United States Court of Appeals for 
the appropriate circuit by April 22, 2013. Filing a petition for 
reconsideration by the Administrator of this final rule does not affect 
the finality of this action 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. Parties with objections to this direct final rule are 
encouraged to file a comment in response to the parallel notice of 
proposed rulemaking for this action published in the proposed rules 
section of today's Federal Register, rather than file an immediate 
petition for judicial review of this direct final rule, so that EPA can 
withdraw this direct final rule and address the comment in the proposed 
rulemaking. 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, Ozone, 
Intergovernmental relations, Incorporation by reference, Nitrogen 
dioxides, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, and Volatile 
organic compounds.

    Dated: February 7, 2013.
A. Stanley Meiburg,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region 4.

    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 II--Tennessee

0
2. Section 52.2220(e) is amended by adding a new entry at the end of 
the table for the ``MVEB Update for the 1-hour Ozone Maintenance Plan 
for Knox County, Tennessee'' to read as follows:


Sec.  52.2220  Identification of plan.

* * * * *
    (e) * * *

[[Page 11758]]



                                EPA Approved Tennessee Non-Regulatory Provisions
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                                    Applicable geographic
    Name of non-regulatory SIP        or  nonattainment         State        EPA approval date      Explanation
             provision                       area          effective date
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                                                  * * * * * * *
MVEB Update for the 1-hour Ozone    Knox County, TN......      12/13/2012  02/20/13.............
 Maintenance Plan for Knox County,                                         [Insert citation of
 Tennessee.                                                                 publication].
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[FR Doc. 2013-03763 Filed 2-19-13; 8:45 am]
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