[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 241 (Monday, December 16, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 76142-76143]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-29808]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-9904-13-Region-3]


Adequacy Status of the Submitted Attainment Plan for the Delaware 
Portion of the Philadelphia-Wilmington-New Jersey 1997 Fine Particulate 
Matter National Ambient Air Quality Standard Nonattainment Area for 
Transportation Conformity Purposes

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of adequacy.

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SUMMARY: In this notice, EPA is notifying the public that EPA has found 
that the Motor Vehicle Emissions Budgets (MVEBs) in the Delaware 
portion of the Philadelphia-Wilmington-New Jersey 1997 fine particulate 
matter (PM2.5) National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) 
Attainment Plan, submitted as a State Implementation Plan (SIP) 
revision on April 25, 2012 by the Delaware Department of Natural 
Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC), are adequate for 
transportation conformity purposes. As a result of EPA's finding, the 
State of Delaware must use the out-year 2012 MVEBs from the April 25, 
2012 Attainment Plan for future conformity determinations for the 1997 
PM2.5 NAAQS.

DATES: This final rule is effective on December 31, 2013.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Gregory Becoat, Environmental 
Scientist, Office of Air Program Planning (3AP30), United States 
Environmental Protection Agency, Region III, 1650 Arch Street, 
Philadelphia, PA 19103, (215) 814-2036; [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Today's notice is simply an announcement of 
a finding that EPA has already made. EPA Region III sent a letter to 
the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control 
on November 7, 2013 stating that EPA has found that the MVEBs in the 
Attainment Plan for budget year 2009 and out-year 2012, submitted on 
April 25, 2012 by DNREC, are adequate for transportation conformity 
purposes. As a result of EPA's finding, the State of Delaware

[[Page 76143]]

must use the out-year 2012 MVEBs from the April 25, 2012 Attainment 
Plan for future conformity determinations in the Delaware portion of 
the Philadelphia-Wilmington-New Jersey 1997 PM2.5 NAAQS 
nonattainment area. Receipt of the submittal was announced on EPA's 
transportation conformity Web site. No comments were received. The 
findings letter is available at EPA's conformity Web site: http://www.epa.gov/otaq/stateresources/transconf/adequacy.htm. The adequate 
direct PM and nitrogen oxides (NOX) MVEBs are provided in 
Table 1.

Table 1. Delaware Portion of the Philadelphia-Wilmington-New Jersey 1997
    PM2.5 NAAQS Attainment Demonstration MVEBs for Direct PM and NOX
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                          Mobile vehicle
                                             emissions    Mobile vehicle
              Budget years                  budget for       emissions
                                          direct PM-tons  budget for NOX-
                                             per year      tons per year
------------------------------------------------------------------------
2009....................................             257           8,448
2012....................................             199           6,273
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    Transportation conformity is required by section 176(c) of the 
Clean Air Act (CAA). EPA's conformity rule requires that transportation 
plans, transportation improvement programs, and projects conform to 
SIPs and establishes the criteria and procedures for determining 
whether or not they do. Conformity to a SIP means that transportation 
activities will not produce new air quality violations, worsen existing 
violations, or delay timely attainment of the national ambient air 
quality standards.
    The criteria by which we determine whether a SIP's MVEBs are 
adequate for conformity purposes are outlined in 40 CFR 93.118(e)(4). 
EPA described the process for determining the adequacy of submitted SIP 
budgets in a July 1, 2004 preamble starting at 69 FR 40038 and used the 
information in these resources in making this adequacy determination. 
Delaware did not provide emission budgets for sulfur dioxide 
(SO2), volatile organic compounds (VOCs), or ammonia for the 
Delaware portion of the Philadelphia-Wilmington-New Jersey 
nonattainment area because it concluded that emissions of these 
precursors from motor vehicles are not significant contributors to the 
area's PM2.5 air quality problem. The transportation 
conformity rule provision at 40 CFR 93.102(b)(2)(v) indicates that 
conformity does not apply for these precursors, due to the lack of 
MVEBs for these precursors and the State's conclusion that motor 
vehicle emissions of SO2, VOCs, and ammonia do not 
contribute significantly to the area's PM2.5 nonattainment 
problem. This provision of the transportation conformity rule predates 
and was not disturbed by the January 4, 2013 decision in the litigation 
on the PM2.5 implementation rule.\1\ EPA has preliminarily 
concluded that the State's decision to not include budgets for 
SO2, VOCs, and ammonia is consistent with the requirements 
of the transportation conformity rule. That decision does not affect 
EPA's adequacy finding for the submitted direct PM and NOX 
MVEBs for the Delaware portion of the Philadelphia-Wilmington-New 
Jersey nonattainment area.
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    \1\ EPA issued conformity regulations to implement the 1997 
PM2.5 NAAQS in July 2004 and May 2005 (69 FR 40004, July 
1, 2004 and 70 FR 24280, May 6, 2005, respectively). Those actions 
were not part of the final rule recently remanded to EPA by the 
Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia in NRDC v. EPA, No. 
08-1250 (Jan. 4, 2013), in which the Court remanded to EPA the 
implementation rule for the PM2.5 NAAQS because it 
concluded that EPA must implement that NAAQS pursuant to the PM-
specific implementation provisions of subpart 4 of Part D of Title I 
of the CAA, rather than solely under the general provisions of 
subpart 1.
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    Please note that an adequacy review is separate from EPA's 
completeness review, and should not be used to prejudge EPA's ultimate 
approval action for the SIP. Even if EPA finds a budget adequate, the 
SIP could later be disapproved. The finding and the response to 
comments are available at EPA's conformity Web site: http://www.epa.gov/otaq/stateresources/transconf/adequacy.htm.

    Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7401-7671q.

    Dated: November 25, 2013.
W.C. Early,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region III.
[FR Doc. 2013-29808 Filed 12-13-13; 8:45 am]
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