[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 130 (Monday, July 8, 2019)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 32359-32361]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-14143]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[EPA-R04-OAR-2019-0153; FRL-9995-58-Region 4]


Air Plan Approval; North Carolina: Amendments of Air Quality 
Rules

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Proposed rule.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to 
approve a State Implementation Plan (SIP) revision submitted by the 
North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality, Division of Air 
Quality (DAQ), through a letter dated March 21, 2018, readopting and 
amending air quality rules related to transportation conformity 
requirements in the State of North Carolina. This action is being taken 
pursuant to section 110 of the Clean Air Act (CAA or Act).

DATES: Comments must be received on or before August 7, 2019.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-R04-
OAR-2019-0153 at http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the online 
instructions for submitting comments. Once submitted, comments cannot 
be edited or removed from Regulations.gov. EPA may publish any comment 
received to its public docket. Do not submit electronically any 
information you consider to be Confidential Business Information (CBI) 
or other information whose disclosure is restricted by statute. 
Multimedia submissions (audio, video, etc.) must be accompanied by a 
written comment. The written comment is considered the official comment 
and should include discussion of all points you wish to make. EPA will 
generally not consider comments or comment contents located outside of 
the primary submission (i.e. on the web, cloud, or other file sharing 
system). For additional submission methods, the full EPA public comment 
policy, information about CBI or multimedia submissions, and general 
guidance on making effective comments, please visit http://www2.epa.gov/dockets/commenting-epa-dockets.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kelly Sheckler, Air Regulatory 
Management Section, Air Planning and Implementation Branch, Air and 
Radiation Division, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 4, 61 
Forsyth Street SW, Atlanta, Georgia 30303-8960. Ms. Sheckler's 
telephone number is (404) 562-9222 . She can also be reached via 
electronic mail at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Overview

    EPA is proposing to approve a SIP revision submitted by DAQ, 
through a letter dated March 21, 2018, seeking to readopt and amend the 
air quality rules pertaining to transportation conformity in the North 
Carolina SIP.\1\ North Carolina's SIP submission revises the following 
North Carolina regulations in 15A NCAC 2D Section .2000: Section .2001 
Purpose, Scope and Applicability, Section .2002 Definitions, Section 
.2003 Transportation Conformity

[[Page 32360]]

Determination, and Section .2005 Memorandum of Agreement.\2\ The 
changes to these rules are discussed below in Section II of this 
proposed rulemaking.
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    \1\ EPA received the official electronic version of the 
submittal on April 4, 2018. EPA has already taken action on the 
other North Carolina changes submitted through the cover letter 
dated March 21, 2018, in a separate action. See 84 FR 14308.
    \2\ The table at 40 CFR 52.1770(c), identifying the North 
Carolina regulations approved into the SIP, labels each rule as a 
``Sect.'' (i.e., Section) under the column titled ``State 
citation.'' For consistency with the nomenclature used in the table, 
this notice uses the term ``Section'' when referring to individual 
North Carolina rules.
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II. Analysis of North Carolina's Submittal

    North Carolina's General Statue (G.S.) 150B-21.3A, adopted by the 
State in 2013, requires state agencies to review existing rules every 
ten years. The State recently reviewed all air quality rules in 15A 
NCAC 02D, Air Pollution Control Requirements.\3\ This proposed 
rulemaking pertains to a SIP revision that North Carolina provided to 
EPA for approval of changes to ``Section .2000--Transportation 
Conformity.'' \4\ Section .2000--Transportation Conformity contains the 
following five rules: Section .2001 Purpose, Scope and Applicability, 
Section .2002 Definitions, Section .2003 Transportation Conformity 
Determination, Section .2004 Determining Transportation-Related 
Emissions,\5\ and Section .2005 Memorandum of Agreement. EPA is 
proposing action on the following rules: Section .2001 Purpose, Scope 
and Applicability, Section .2002 Definitions, Section .2003 
Transportation Conformity Determination, and Section .2005 Memorandum 
of Agreement. The changes to these rules are individually described 
below. If approved, none of these changes would alter the way that 
transportation conformity requirements are implemented in the State of 
North Carolina.
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    \3\ See North Carolina's SIP submission, Background and Summary, 
at page I-1, available in the docket to this action.
    \4\ Transportation Conformity is required under section 176(c) 
of the CAA to ensure that federally-supported highway projects, 
transit projects, and other activities are consistent with (conform 
to) the purpose of the SIP. Conformity currently applies to areas 
that are designated nonattainment and to areas that have been 
redesignated to attainment after 1990 (maintenance areas) with plans 
developed under 175A of the CAA, for transportation-related criteria 
pollutants including ozone, particulate matter, and carbon monoxide 
and nitrogen dioxide. EPA previously approved SIP revisions from 
North Carolina addressing transportation conformity requirements. 
See 67 FR 78983 (December 27, 2002) and 78 FR 78266 (December 26, 
2013).
    \5\ North Carolina did not request EPA approval for Section 
.2004 Determining Transportation-Related Emissions as it was 
readopted without changes. See March 21, 2018, Letter from DAQ, 
available in the docket for this action.
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    Section .2001 Purpose, Scope and Applicability is amended to revise 
the specific areas to which conformity requirements apply in the 
following manner: by removing counties and adding certain townships 
listed in paragraph (b); and by clarifying in paragraph (c) that 
transportation conformity requirements are applicable to any area that 
is designated nonattainment or has been previously designated 
nonattainment and since redesignated to attainment for the 
PM2.5 and ozone NAAQS.\6\
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    \6\ See April 9, 2019 email from Matthew Davis of DAQ to Jane 
Spann, Acting Chief for the Air Regulatory Management Section of the 
U.S. EPA Region 4 Office (April 9, 2019 email), available in the 
docket for this proposed rulemaking. The April 9, 2019 email 
explains DAQ's intent to cover all nonattainment and maintenance 
areas for ozone and PM2.5 in paragraph (c), while 
retaining a specific list of current nonattainment townships in 
paragraph (b) based on stakeholder interest. With respect to NAAQS 
that are relevant for conformity purposes, EPA notes that North 
Carolina currently has areas designated for maintenance for ozone 
and PM2.5 NAAQS.
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    Further, the changes remove provisions related to carbon monoxide 
areas, which were redesignated to attainment with 10-year maintenance 
plans effective November 7, 1994,\7\ and September 8, 1995,\8\ and 
previously demonstrated attainment (containing motor vehicle emissions 
budgets) through 2015.\9\ As federal transportation conformity 
requirements no longer apply to the former carbon monoxide 
nonattainment areas in North Carolina,\10\ the EPA preliminarily 
concludes that there are no emissions increases associated with this 
action.
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    \7\ See 59 FR 48399 (September 21, 1994) (redesignating the 
Winston-Salem area in Forsyth County to attainment for the carbon 
monoxide NAAQS and approving the first 10-year maintenance plan for 
the Winston-Salem area).
    \8\ See 60 FR 39258 (August 2, 1995) (redesignating the 
Charlotte area in Mecklenburg County and the Raleigh-Durham area in 
Durham and Wake Counties to attainment for the carbon monoxide NAAQS 
and approving first 10-year maintenance plans for both areas).
    \9\ See 71 FR 14817 (March 24, 2006) (approving second 10-year 
maintenance plans through 2015 for the Winston-Salem, Charlotte, and 
Raleigh-Durham carbon monoxide areas).
    \10\ See Transportation Conformity Guidance for Areas Reaching 
the End of the Maintenance Period, October 2015, available at 
https://nepis.epa.gov/Exe/ZyPDF.cgi/P100KPP0.PDF?Dockey=P100KPP0.PDF. In general, transportation 
conformity applies for a NAAQS during the CAA section 175A 
maintenance planning period, which is the later of 20 years after 
redesignation and approval of the first 10-year maintenance plan, or 
the last year of a motor vehicle emissions budget established in the 
second maintenance plan. Those dates were November 7, 2014 (Winston-
Salem area), September 8, 2015 (Charlotte and Raleigh-Durham areas), 
and March 18, 2015 (last year of motor vehicle emissions budget for 
all three areas).
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    The rule changes also provide that--in addition to stating that 
transportation conformity requirements apply for 20 years after an area 
is redesignated to attainment--transportation conformity requirements 
apply ``until the effective date of revocation of the conformity 
requirements for the NAAQS by EPA.'' Additionally, rule .2001 is 
amended to make non-substantive wording, punctuation and formatting 
changes.
    After evaluation, EPA believes that the changes to North Carolina 
rule .2001, when taken together, provide the appropriate applicability 
for transportation conformity requirements, do not materially change 
the areas to which transportation conformity applies, and are 
consistent with the CAA requirements for applicable areas. EPA is 
proposing to approve the changes to rule .2001 because these changes do 
not alter the applicability for transportation conformity requirements 
in North Carolina nor do these changes conflict with the federal 
requirements for transportation conformity.\11\
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    \11\ See, e.g., 40 CFR 51.390; 40 CFR part 93 subpart A; 
Transportation Conformity Guidance for the South Coast II Court 
Decision, dated November 2018, available at https://nepis.epa.gov/Exe/ZyPDF.cgi?Dockey=P100VQME.pdf.
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    Section .2002 Definitions is amended to remove the definition of 
consultation, and to make non-substantive wording, punctuation and 
formatting changes (for example, to include hyphens between the words 
regionally and significant). EPA is proposing to approve the changes to 
rule .2002 because these changes, including the deletion of the 
definition of consultation,\12\ do not alter transportation conformity 
requirements for any applicable area in North Carolina nor do these 
changes conflict with the federal requirements for transportation 
conformity.
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    \12\ EPA notes that consultation process requirement to comply 
with 40 CFR 93.105 were approved into the SIP within memoranda of 
agreements addressing transportation conformity. See 67 FR 78986 
(December 27, 2002).
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    Section .2003 Transportation Conformity Determination is amended to 
update references to federal transportation conformity requirements 
from 40 CFR 93.109 through 93.119 as opposed to referencing the federal 
transportation conformity requirements from 40 CFR 93.109 through 
93.118; \13\ to clarify that written commitments to implement control 
measures must be obtained if a control measure is not included in 
either the transportation plan or the transportation improvement 
program; and to make non-substantive

[[Page 32361]]

wording, punctuation and formatting changes. EPA is proposing to 
approve the changes to rule .2003 because these changes do not alter 
transportation conformity requirements for any applicable area in North 
Carolina and these changes are consistent with the federal 
transportation conformity requirements.
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    \13\ As 40 CFR 93.119 contains provisions for areas without a 
motor vehicle emissions budget approved in the SIP, this provision 
is not required to be in the SIP and would be applicable to such 
areas absent its inclusion into the SIP. See 77 FR 14979 (March 14, 
2012). However, North Carolina has chosen to submit this provision 
for inclusion into the SIP, and as inclusion of this provision is 
not inconsistent with federal transportation conformity requirements 
or the CAA, EPA is proposing to approve this provision into North 
Carolina's federally approved SIP.
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    Section .2005 Memorandum of Agreement is amended to provide a more 
general reference to rule .2001 instead of referencing specific 
subsections in rule .2001, and to make non-substantive wording, 
punctuation and formatting changes. EPA is proposing to approve the 
changes to rule .2005 because these changes do not alter transportation 
conformity requirements for any applicable area in North Carolina and 
these changes are consistent with the federal transportation conformity 
requirements.
    In summary, EPA views the amendments described above as consistent 
with the federal transportation conformity requirements and the Clean 
Air Act, and is proposing to approve these rules, as amended, into the 
North Carolina SIP.

III. Incorporation by Reference

    In this rule, EPA is proposing to include in a final EPA rule 
regulatory text that includes incorporation by reference. In accordance 
with the requirements of 1 CFR 51.5, EPA is proposing to incorporate by 
reference the following air quality rules in 15A NCAC subchapter 2D.: 
Section .2001 Purpose, Scope and Applicability, Section .2002 
Definitions, Section .2003 Transportation Conformity Determination, and 
Section .2005 Memorandum of Agreement, state-effective January 1, 2018. 
EPA has made, and will continue to make, these materials generally 
available through www.regulations.gov and at the EPA Region 4 office 
(please contact the person identified in the ``For Further Information 
Contact'' section of this preamble for more information).

IV. Proposed Action

    For the reasons explained above, EPA is proposing to approve North 
Carolina's March 21, 2018, SIP revision, which amends and readopts 
rules 15A NCAC subchapter 2D.: .2001, .2002, .2003, and .2005, for 
inclusion into North Carolina's SIP.

V. 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. See 42 U.S.C. 7410(k); 40 CFR 52.02(a). Thus, in 
reviewing SIP submissions, EPA's role is to approve state choices, if 
they meet the criteria of the CAA. These actions merely propose to 
approve state law as meeting Federal requirements and does not impose 
additional requirements beyond those imposed by state law. For that 
reason, these proposed actions:
     Are not significant regulatory actions subject to review 
by the Office of Management and Budget under Executive Orders 12866 (58 
FR 51735, October 4, 1993) and 13563 (76 FR 3821, January 21, 2011);
     Are not Executive Order 13771 (82 FR 9339, February 2, 
2017) regulatory actions because SIP approvals are exempted under 
Executive Order 12866;
     Do not impose an information collection burden under the 
provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.);
     Are 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.);
     Do not contain any unfunded mandate or significantly or 
uniquely affect small governments, as described in the Unfunded 
Mandates Reform Act of 1995 (Public Law 104-4);
     Do not have Federalism implications as specified in 
Executive Order 13132 (64 FR 43255, August 10, 1999);
     Are not economically significant regulatory actions based 
on health or safety risks subject to Executive Order 13045 (62 FR 
19885, April 23, 1997);
     Are not significant regulatory actions subject to 
Executive Order 13211 (66 FR 28355, May 22, 2001);
     Are 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
     Do 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).
    The SIP is not approved to apply on any Indian reservation land or 
in any other area where EPA or an Indian tribe has demonstrated that a 
tribe has jurisdiction. In those areas of Indian country, the rule does 
not have tribal implications as specified by Executive Order 13175 (65 
FR 67249, November 9, 2000), nor will it impose substantial direct 
costs on tribal governments or preempt tribal law.

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 52

    Environmental protection, Air pollution control, Carbon monoxide, 
Incorporation by reference, Intergovernmental relations, Lead, Nitrogen 
dioxide, Ozone, Particulate matter, Reporting and recordkeeping 
requirements, Sulfur oxides, Volatile organic compounds.

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

    Dated: May 28, 2019.
Mary S. Walker,
Regional Administrator, Region 4.
[FR Doc. 2019-14143 Filed 7-5-19; 8:45 am]
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