[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 126 (Tuesday, June 30, 2020)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 39135-39145]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-12691]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[EPA-R04-OAR-2019-0661; FRL-10010-47-Region 4]


Air Plan Approval; GA: Non-Interference Demonstration and 
Maintenance Plan Revision for the Removal of Transportation Control 
Measures in the Atlanta Area

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 
Georgia, through the Georgia Environmental Protection Division (GA 
EPD), on September 16, 2019, for the purpose of removing certain 
transportation control measures (TCMs) from thirteen counties in the 
Atlanta, Georgia area. EPA is also proposing to approve Georgia's 
update to the 2008 8-hour ozone maintenance

[[Page 39136]]

plan that was submitted in the September 16, 2019, SIP revision. 
Specifically, EPA is proposing to approve updates to the mobile 
emissions inventory, the associated 2030 motor vehicle emissions 
budgets (MVEBs), and measures offsetting the potential emissions 
increases due to removal of the TCMs from the Georgia SIP. EPA's 
preliminary analysis indicates that this SIP revision would not 
interfere with attainment or maintenance of any national ambient air 
quality standards (NAAQS or standards) or any other Clean Air Act (CAA 
or Act) requirements.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before July 30, 2020.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-R04-
OAR-2019-0661 at 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 www2.epa.gov/dockets/commenting-epa-dockets.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dianna Myers, 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. The telephone number is 
(404) 562-9207. Ms. Myers can also be reached via electronic mail at 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. EPA's Proposed Action

A. What action is EPA proposing?

    EPA is proposing to approve the removal of certain TCMs \1\ 
applicable in thirteen counties within the Atlanta Area \2\ from 
Georgia's SIP. EPA is also proposing to approve Georgia's update to the 
2008 8-hour ozone maintenance plan that was submitted in the September 
16, 2019, SIP revision. Specifically, EPA is proposing to approve 
updates to the mobile emissions inventory and the associated MVEBs in 
the 2008 8-hour ozone Maintenance Plan, and measures offsetting the 
potential emissions increases due to removal of the TCMs from the 
Georgia SIP. In addition, EPA is proposing to find that removing the 
TCMs from the Atlanta Area would not interfere with attainment or 
maintenance of any NAAQS, reasonable further progress (RFP), or with 
any other applicable requirement of the CAA.
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    \1\ See section I.D. for a discussion of the TCMs for which 
Georgia has requested removal. Georgia is removing all TCMs except 
for the Intersection Upgrade TCM, which will remain in the Georgia 
SIP. However, for this SIP revision and non-interference 
demonstration, Georgia was conservative by modeling removal of all 
the TCMs.
    \2\ The Atlanta Area consists of the following 20 counties: 
Barrow, Bartow, Carroll, Cherokee, Clayton, Cobb, Coweta, DeKalb, 
Douglas, Fayette, Forsyth, Fulton, Gwinnett, Hall, Henry, Newton, 
Paulding, Rockdale, Spalding, and Walton. As discussed further in 
section I.B., this area encompasses the 13-county 1-hour Atlanta 
Area for the 1979 ozone NAAQS, the 20-county 8-hour Atlanta Area for 
the 1997 ozone NAAQS, the 15-county 8-hour Atlanta Area for the 2008 
ozone NAAQS, and the 7-county 8-hour Atlanta Area for the 2015 ozone 
NAAQS.
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B. What is the background of the Atlanta area?

    On November 6, 1991 (56 FR 56694), EPA designated and classified 
the following counties in the Atlanta Area as a serious ozone 
nonattainment area for the 1-hour ozone NAAQS: Cherokee, Clayton, Cobb, 
Coweta, DeKalb, Douglas, Fayette, Forsyth, Fulton, Gwinnett, Henry, 
Paulding, and Rockdale (the Atlanta 1979 1-hour ozone Area). TCMs were 
implemented in the 13-counties comprising the Atlanta 1979 1-hour ozone 
Area. See Table 2-1 in the September 16, 2019, SIP revision. Because 
the Atlanta 1979 1-hour ozone Area failed to attain the 1-hour ozone 
NAAQS by November 15, 1999, EPA issued a final rulemaking action on 
September 26, 2003, to reclassify or ``bump up,'' the area to a severe 
ozone nonattainment area. See 68 FR 55469. Subsequently, the Atlanta 
1979 1-hour ozone Area attained the 1-hour ozone NAAQS, and thus EPA 
redesignated the nonattainment area to attainment for the 1-hour ozone 
NAAQS. See 70 FR 34660 (June 15, 2005). The 1979 1-hour ozone NAAQS was 
revoked, effective June 15, 2005. See 69 FR 23951 (April 30, 2004).
    On April 30, 2004 (69 FR 23858), EPA designated the following 20 
counties in the Atlanta Area as a marginal nonattainment area for the 
1997 8-hour ozone NAAQS: Barrow, Bartow, Carroll, Cherokee, Clayton, 
Cobb, Coweta, DeKalb, Douglas, Fayette, Forsyth, Fulton, Gwinnett, 
Hall, Henry, Newton, Paulding, Rockdale, Spalding, and Walton (Atlanta 
1997 8-hour ozone Area). The Atlanta 1979 1-hour ozone Area is a sub-
set of this 20-county area. EPA reclassified the Atlanta 1997 8-hour 
ozone Area as a moderate nonattainment area on March 6, 2008, because 
the area failed to attain the 1997 8-hour ozone NAAQS by the required 
attainment date of June 15, 2007. See 73 FR 12013. Subsequently, the 
Atlanta 1997 8-hour ozone Area attained the 1997 8-hour ozone standard, 
and on December 2, 2013, EPA redesignated the Atlanta 1997 8-hour ozone 
Area to attainment for the 1997 8-hour ozone NAAQS. See 78 FR 72040. 
The 1997 8-hour ozone NAAQS was revoked, effective April 6, 2015. See 
80 FR 12264 (March 6, 2015).
    On May 21, 2012 (77 FR 30088), EPA designated the following 15-
counties as marginal nonattainment for the 2008 8-hour ozone NAAQS: 
Bartow, Cherokee, Clayton, Cobb, Coweta, DeKalb, Douglas, Fayette, 
Forsyth, Fulton, Gwinnett, Henry, Newton, Paulding, and Rockdale 
(Atlanta 2008 8-hour ozone Area). The Atlanta 1979 1-hour ozone Area is 
sub-set of the Atlanta 2008 8-hour ozone Area. The Atlanta 2008 8-hour 
ozone Area did not attain the 2008 8-hour ozone NAAQS by the attainment 
date of July 20, 2015, and therefore on May 4, 2016, EPA reclassified 
the area from a marginal nonattainment area to a moderate nonattainment 
area for the 2008 8-hour ozone standard. See 81 FR 26697. Subsequently, 
on July 14, 2016, the Atlanta 2008 8-hour ozone Area attained the 2008 
8-hour ozone standard. See 81 FR 45419. EPA redesignated the Atlanta 
2008 8-hour ozone Area to attainment for the 2008 8-hour ozone NAAQS. 
See 82 FR 25523.
    On October 26, 2015, EPA revised the 8-hour ozone standard from 
0.075 parts per million (ppm) to 0.070 ppm. See 80 FR 65292. 
Subsequently, on June 4, 2018 (83 FR 25776), EPA designated the 
following seven Atlanta counties as marginal nonattainment for the 2015 
8-hour ozone NAAQS: Bartow, Clayton, Cobb, Dekalb, Fulton, Gwinnett and 
Henry (Atlanta 2015 8-hour ozone Area). The seven counties comprising 
the Atlanta 2015 8-hour ozone Area were also part of the 13-county 
Atlanta 1979 1-hour ozone Area. Areas designated as marginal 
nonattainment must attain the standard by August 3, 2021. Although the 
attainment date is

[[Page 39137]]

August 3, 2021, marginal areas must show attainment using air quality 
data for years 2018 through 2020.

C. What is the background of the TCMs?

    CAA section 108(f) contains information related to processes, 
procedures, and methods that can be used by states and transportation 
planning agencies to reduce or control transportation and mobile source 
related pollutants and includes a non-comprehensive list of 
transportation control measures.
    Section 93.101 of the transportation conformity rule at 40 CFR part 
93 defines a TCM as: Any measure that is specifically identified and 
committed to in the applicable implementation plan, including a 
substitute or additional TCM that is incorporated into the applicable 
SIP through the process established in CAA section 176(c)(8), that is 
either one of the types listed in CAA section 108(f), or any other 
measure for the purpose of reducing emissions or concentrations of air 
pollutants from transportation sources by reducing vehicle use or 
changing traffic flow or congestion conditions. Notwithstanding the 
first sentence of this definition, vehicle technology-based, fuel-
based, and maintenance-based measures which control the emissions from 
vehicles under fixed traffic conditions are not TCMs for the purposes 
of this subpart.

D. Why is EPA proposing this action?

    On September 16, 2019, Georgia submitted a SIP revision, requesting 
removal of certain TCMs from the Georgia SIP. The following TCMs have 
been approved into the Georgia SIP: High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) Lanes; 
High Occupancy Toll (HOT) Lanes; Atlantic Station; Express Bus Routes; 
Improvements/Expansion of Bus Service; Park and Ride Lots; Transit 
Signal Preemption; Clean Fuel Buses; Clean Fuels Revolving Loan 
Program; Intersection Upgrade, Coordination and Computerization; ATMS/
Incident Management; Regional Commute Options & HOV Marketing; 
Transportation Management Associations (TMAs); Transit Incentives; and 
University Rideshare Programs. See 63 FR 23387 (April 29, 1998), 63 FR 
34300 (June 24, 1998), 64 FR 13348 (March 18, 1999), 64 FR 20186 (April 
26, 1999), 65 FR 52028 (August 28, 2000), 77 FR 24397 (April 24, 2012), 
and Table 1, Appendix A, Table 2-1 and Table 2-2 of Georgia's September 
16, 2019 SIP Revision. Georgia is requesting removal of all the TCMs 
that are approved into the SIP except for Intersection Upgrade, 
Coordination and Computerization. See September 16, 2019, SIP Revision.
    Georgia's September 16, 2019, SIP revision also includes a non-
interference demonstration to support the State's request to remove 
TCMs implemented in the Atlanta Area from Georgia's SIP. Georgia's 
September 16, 2019, SIP revision evaluates the Atlanta 2008 8-hour 
ozone Area, which encompasses the smaller Atlanta 1979 1-hour ozone and 
Atlanta 2015 8-hour ozone Areas. Georgia's demonstration also includes 
an evaluation of the impact that removing the TCMs would have on the 
Atlanta Area's ability to maintain the ozone NAAQS. Additionally, 
Georgia's demonstration also evaluates whether the removal of the TCMs 
would interfere with the ability of the Atlanta 2015 8-hour ozone Area 
to attain the ozone NAAQS by August 3, 2021, which is the attainment 
date for areas classified as marginal, or any of the other applicable 
NAAQS.
    Georgia's SIP revision updates the 2008 8-hour ozone maintenance 
plan \3\ to support the State's request for removal of most of the TCMs 
for the Georgia SIP.\4\ To revise the SIP and make the demonstration of 
non-interference, Georgia completed a technical analysis, including 
using EPA's Motor Vehicle Emissions Simulator (MOVES2014a) to project 
the change in emissions that would result from removing the TCMs from 
the Atlanta Area. The 2014 attainment base year mobile emissions were 
taken directly from the 2008 maintenance SIP, and future-year on-road 
mobile source emissions estimates for 2020, 2030, and 2040 were modeled 
with and without the TCMs. Georgia interpolated years 2025 and 2035 to 
further illustrate the downward trend in emissions. Georgia selected 
years 2020, 2030, and 2040 because these years are used by the Atlanta 
Regional Commission (ARC) in Atlanta's transportation conformity 
determinations. The July 18, 2016, maintenance plan and the subsequent 
August 15, 2018, revision showed compliance with and maintenance of the 
2008 8-hour ozone NAAQS until the 2030 outyear by providing information 
to support the demonstration that current and future emissions of 
nitrogen oxides (NOX) and volatile organic compounds (VOC) 
remained at or below the 2014 base year emissions inventory. Further 
discussions on the demonstration of non-interference for the 2015 8-
hour ozone NAAQS and the other pollutants are provided later in the 
proposal.
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    \3\ On August 15, 2018, Georgia submitted a request to revise 
and update the 2008 8-hour ozone maintenance plan to relax the 
federal Reid Vapor Pressure (RVP) requirements from 7.8 to 9.0 
pounds per square inch (psi) RVP. On September 20, 2019, EPA 
published final approval allowing for a change for the federal RVP 
requirements. See 84 FR 49470. The approval of the August 15, 2018 
SIP revision and change to the federal RVP requirements updated 
Georgia's mobile emissions inventory and MVEBs which are the basis 
for Georgia's September 16, 2019 submittal.
    \4\ For more detailed information on the current approved 
maintenance plan and revisions, see EPA's December 23, 2016 (81 FR 
94283) proposed approval of Georgia's maintenance plan and EPA's 
February 12, 2019 (84 FR 3358) proposed approval of the relaxation 
of the federal RVP requirements. On April 23, 2019 (84 FR 16786), 
EPA approved the revision to the 2008 8-hour ozone maintenance plan.
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    EPA has evaluated Georgia's September 16, 2019, SIP revision and is 
proposing to approve the SIP revision removing the TCMs from the SIP 
and revising the maintenance plan for the Atlanta 2008 8-hour ozone 
Area. The Agency is also making the preliminary determination that 
removing the TCMs from the Georgia SIP would not interfere with 
attainment or maintenance of any NAAQS or with any other applicable 
requirement of the CAA in the Atlanta, Area. EPA's section 110(l) 
analysis of the non-interference demonstration included as a part of 
Georgia's September 16, 2019, SIP revision is provided below.

E. What are the Section 110(l) requirements?

    Section 110(l) requires that a revision to the SIP not interfere 
with any applicable requirement concerning attainment and RFP (as 
defined in section 171), or any other applicable requirement of the 
Act. The mobile emissions modeling associated with Georgia's 
maintenance plan for the 2008 8-hour ozone NAAQS was premised upon the 
future-year emissions estimates for 2020 \5\ which includes the 
emission reductions from the various TCMs in the Georgia SIP for the 
Atlanta Area. To approve Georgia's request to remove the TCMs in the 
Atlanta Area, EPA must conclude that requested change will satisfy 
section 110(l) of the CAA. In Georgia's September 16, 2019, SIP 
revision, the State's modeling includes the same future years as the 
original 2008 8-hour ozone maintenance plan but is now based on the 
federal 9.0 psi RVP limit and removal of the TCMs.
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    \5\ As discussed below, 2020 was chosen because the attainment 
date for the Atlanta 2015 8-hour ozone Area to attain the ozone 
standard is August 3, 2021, based on data from 2018 through 2020. 
Further, Georgia anticipated that 2020 was the first year that it 
could cease implementation of the TCMs.
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    In the absence of an attainment demonstration, to demonstrate no 
interference with any applicable NAAQS or requirement of the CAA

[[Page 39138]]

under section 110(l), EPA believes it is appropriate to allow states to 
substitute equivalent emissions reductions to compensate for any change 
to a SIP-approved program, if actual emissions in the air are not 
increased. ``Equivalent'' emissions reductions are reductions that are 
equal to or greater than those reductions achieved by the control 
measure approved in the SIP. To show that compensating emissions 
reductions are equivalent, adequate justification must be provided. The 
compensating, equivalent reductions should represent actual emissions 
reductions achieved in a contemporaneous time frame to the change of 
the existing SIP control measure in order to preserve the status quo 
level of emission in the air. If the status quo is preserved, non-
interference is demonstrated. In addition to being contemporaneous, the 
equivalent emissions reductions should also be permanent, enforceable, 
quantifiable, and surplus. The offset measures are described in Section 
I.M. of this notice.
    EPA evaluates each section 110(l) non-interference demonstration on 
a case-by-case basis considering the circumstances of each SIP 
revision. EPA interprets 110(l) as applying to all NAAQS that are in 
effect, including those for which SIP submissions have not been made. 
The degree of analysis focused on any NAAQS in a non-interference 
demonstration varies depending on a number of relevant factors, 
including the nature of the emissions associated with the proposed SIP 
revision. EPA's section 110(l) analysis of the non-interference 
demonstration included as part of Georgia's September 16, 2019, SIP 
revision is provided below.

F. Proposed Analysis of Georgia's Non-Interference Demonstration

    As mentioned above, on September 16, 2019, Georgia submitted a non-
interference demonstration to support the State's request to remove 
several TCMs implemented in the Atlanta Area from the Georgia SIP. 
Georgia is currently in attainment for all particulate matter (PM), 
sulfur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), 
carbon monoxide (CO), and lead (Pb) NAAQS.
    GA EPD focused its analysis on the impact that removing the TCMs 
would have on attainment and maintenance of the ozone standards and 
ozone precursors (NOX and VOC). Specifically, Georgia's non-
interference demonstration evaluates the Atlanta 2008 8-hour ozone 
Area, which encompasses the smaller Atlanta 1979 1-hour ozone Area and 
the Atlanta 2015 8-hour ozone Area. This demonstration includes an 
evaluation of the impact that removing the TCMs would have on Atlanta's 
ability to maintain the 1997 and 2008 ozone standards. It also 
evaluates whether removing the TCMs would interfere with the ability of 
the Atlanta 2015 8-hour ozone Area to attain the ozone standard by 
August 3, 2021, which is the attainment date for areas classified as 
marginal, or with any of the other applicable NAAQS. Although the 
attainment date is August 3, 2021, marginal areas must show attainment 
using air quality data for years 2018 through 2020.
    Additional discussion regarding VOCs, NOX, and PM is 
included later in this section because VOC and NOX emissions 
are also precursors for PM, and NOX is also a precursor for 
NO2.

G. Non-Interference Analysis for the Ozone NAAQS

    In its non-interference demonstration, Georgia used EPA's 
MOVES2014a model to develop its projected mobile emissions inventory 
according to EPA's guidance for on-road mobile sources. As mentioned in 
Section I.D, the on-road mobile source emissions calculations for 2020, 
2025 and 2030, 2035, and 2040 were generated with MOVES2014a with and 
without the TCMs.\6\ Georgia used two categories of methodologies to 
calculate emissions from the TCMs: An activity-based model (ABM) and an 
off-model method. The emissions from the TCM projects calculated with 
the ABM were coded directly into the ARC's travel demand model then ran 
through MOVES2014a. The emissions from the TCM projects using the off-
model method were added to the MOVES2014a output. See Appendix B of the 
submittal for more details on the methodologies and the projects 
identified in each category.
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    \6\ For additional information on the methodology used to assess 
the emissions impacts, see Appendix B of the September 16, 2019 
submittal.
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    The information provided by Georgia indicates that that current and 
future emissions of NOX and VOC remained at or below the 
2008 8-hour ozone NAAQS attainment base year (2014) emissions 
inventory, thus showing compliance with the 2008 8-hour ozone NAAQS.\7\ 
The analysis in this proposal will primarily refer to the year 2020 
because that is the first year Georgia anticipated it would be able to 
remove the TCMs, and 2030 because it is the maintenance year in the 
Atlanta 2008 8-hour ozone Area maintenance plan. In addition, the 
emissions trend for year 2020 will be discussed later in the notice 
because attainment for the 2015 8-hour ozone NAAQS will be based on 
years 2018 through 2020.
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    \7\ The 2014 base year emissions are unchanged from the 2008 8-
hour ozone maintenance plan included in Appendix A of the September 
16, 2019, SIP revision.
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    Tables 1 and 2, below, show the direct impact on the on-road mobile 
source emissions from removing the TCMs in the Atlanta Area. As 
summarized below, on-road NOX and VOC emissions increase 
when the TCMs are removed. NOX emissions increased by 0.32 
and 0.09 tons per day (tpd) in 2020 and 2030, respectively in the 
Atlanta 2008 8-hour ozone Area. VOC emissions also increased by 0.49 
and 0.27 tpd in 2020 and 2030, respectively in the same area. As 
discussed in section I.L. of this proposal, Georgia has also requested 
EPA approve measures to offset these small increases.
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    \8\ In this table, the 13-county area refers to the Atlanta 1979 
1-hour ozone Area and the 15-county area refers to the 2008 8-hour 
ozone Area. The 2-county area is the difference between the Atlanta 
1-hour ozone Area and the Atlanta 2008 8-hour ozone Area. This table 
reflects how the State references these areas in their submittal.

                            Table 1--On-Road NOX Emissions With and Without TCMs \8\
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                                                                      On-road        Emissions       Emissions
                                                      On-road        emissions     increase with   increase with
      Pollutant and region             Year       emissions with   without TCMs     TCM removal   TCM removal as
                                                    TCMs (tpd)         (tpd)           (tpd)        percentage
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13-county area..................            2020           76.70           77.01            0.31            0.41
                                            2025           55.74           55.94            0.20            0.35
                                            2030           34.78           34.86            0.08            0.23
                                            2035           29.10           29.14            0.04            0.14
                                            2040           23.42           23.42            0.00            0.00

[[Page 39139]]

 
2-county area...................            2020            9.49            9.50            0.01            0.11
                                            2025            7.16            7.17            0.01            0.14
                                            2030            4.82            4.83            0.01            0.21
                                            2035            4.36            4.37            0.01            0.12
                                            2040            3.90            3.90            0.00            0.00
15-county \9\ area..............            2020           86.19           86.51            0.32            0.37
                                            2025           62.89           63.10            0.21            0.33
                                            2030           39.46           39.51            0.09            0.23
                                            2035           33.46           33.51            0.05            0.13
                                            2040           27.32           27.32            0.00            0.00
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    \9\ In final calculations for the Atlanta 2008 8-hour ozone 
Area, an additional 0.03 tpd is added to these values to account for 
the Senior Exemption. Senior citizens are exempt from the Inspection 
and Maintenance (I/M) program testing, and thus 0.03 tpd (based on 
2002 emissions comparisons) is used as a conservative estimate of 
disbenefit.

                            Table 2--On-Road VOC Emissions With and Without TCMs \10\
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                                                                      On-road        Emissions       Emissions
                                                      On-road        emissions     increase with   increase with
      Pollutant and region             Year       emissions with   without TCMs     TCM removal   TCM removal as
                                                    TCMs (tpd)         (tpd)           (tpd)        percentage
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13-county area..................            2020           54.14           54.63            0.49            0.90
                                            2025           43.59           43.96            0.37            0.86
                                            2030           33.03           33.30            0.27            0.81
                                            2035           28.69           28.93            0.24            0.83
                                            2040           24.36           24.56            0.20            0.86
2-county area...................            2020            4.72            4.73            0.01            0.21
                                            2025            3.83            3.83            0.01            0.08
                                            2030            2.93            2.93            0.00            0.00
                                            2035            2.59            2.59            0.00            0.00
                                            2040            2.26            2.26            0.00            0.00
15-county \11\ area.............            2020           58.86           59.35            0.49            0.83
                                            2025           47.41           47.79            0.38            0.80
                                            2030           35.96           36.23            0.27            0.75
                                            2035           31.29           31.53            0.24            0.77
                                            2040           26.62           26.83            0.21            0.79
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    Although removal of the TCMs from the Georgia SIP is projected to 
cause small increases in ozone precursor emissions in the Atlanta 2008 
8-hour ozone Area, the volume of those increases decreases over time. 
For instance, emissions of both precursors increase with removal of the 
TCMs; however, the increases decrease over time from a 0.37 percent 
increase in 2020 to a 0.23 percent increase in 2030 for NOX 
emissions, and from a 0.83 percent increase in 2020 down to a 0.75 
percent increase in 2030 for VOC emissions in the 15-county Atlanta 
2008 8-hour ozone Area. The overall on-road emissions for 
NOX decrease from 86.51 tpd in 2020 to 39.51 tpd in 2030. 
Similarly, the overall on-road emissions for VOC decrease from 59.35 
tpd in 2020 to 36.23 tpd in 2030 in the Atlanta 2008 8-hour ozone Area. 
This indicates that changes in on-road emissions from removing the TCMs 
from the SIP would not interfere with continued maintenance of the 2008 
8-hour ozone NAAQS in the Atlanta 2008 8-hour ozone Area.
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    \10\ See footnote 9.
    \11\ In final calculations for the Atlanta 2008 8-hour ozone 
Area, an additional 0.05 tpd would be added to these values to 
account for the Senior Exemption. Senior citizens are exempt from 
the Inspection and Maintenance (I/M) program testing, and thus 0.05 
tpd (based on 2002 emissions comparisons) is used as a conservative 
estimate of disbenefit.
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    Tables 3 and 4, below, show the impact of TCM removal on 
NOX and VOC emissions from all sectors (point, area, 
nonroad, and on-road) compared to the 2014 attainment inventory. 
Georgia calculated the change in emissions from attainment levels with 
and without the TCMs and used the term ``margin'' to indicate the 
amount of the decrease in tpd from attainment (2014) to the maintenance 
(2030) and beyond (2040). The amount of margin ``allotted'' to TCM 
removal is the difference in emissions with and without the TCMs. 
Georgia also shows the allotted difference as a percent.

[[Page 39140]]



                                         Table 3--2014 NOX Attainment Inventory Comparison With and Without TCMs
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                                          Total 2014 NOX                     Total NOX                                       Amount of      Percent of
                                            attainment       Total NOX       emissions    Current margin  Margin without      margin          margin
                  Year                       inventory       emissions       inventory       with TCMs      TCMs (NOX)      allotted to     allotted to
                                               (Tpd)      inventory with   without TCMs     (NOX) (tpd)        (tpd)        TCM removal     removal of
                                                            TCMs (tpd)         (tpd)                                           (tpd)           TCMs
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2014....................................          283.09          283.09          283.09               0             N/A             N/A             N/A
2020....................................          283.09          181.44          181.76          101.65          101.33            0.32            0.31
2025....................................          283.09          153.29          153.49          129.80          129.60            0.21            0.16
2030....................................          283.09          125.14          125.23          157.95          157.86            0.09            0.06
2035....................................          283.09          118.69          118.74          164.40          164.35            0.05            0.03
2040....................................          283.09          112.24          112.24          170.85          170.85            0.00            0.00
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                                         Table 4--2014 VOC Attainment Inventory Comparison With and Without TCMs
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                                                                             Total VOC                                       Amount of      Percent of
                                          Total 2014 VOC     Total VOC       emissions    Current margin  Margin without      margin          margin
                  Year                      attainment       emissions       inventory       with TCMs      TCMs (VOC)      allotted to     allotted to
                                             inventory    inventory with   without TCMs     (VOC) (Tpd)        (tpd)        TCM removal     removal of
                                               (tpd)        TCMs (tpd)         (tpd)                                           (tpd)           TCMs
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2014....................................          266.25          266.25             N/A               0             N/A             N/A             N/A
2020....................................          266.25          237.67          238.16           28.58           28.09            0.49            1.71
2025....................................          266.25          226.36          226.74           39.89           39.51            0.38            0.95
2030....................................          266.25          215.06          215.33           51.19           50.92            0.27            0.53
2035....................................          266.25          211.77          212.01           54.48           54.24            0.24            0.44
2040....................................          266.25          208.48          208.69           57.77           57.56            0.21            0.36
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    As shown in Table 3, when the TCMs are removed, the total 
NOX emissions increase the most in 2020 by 0.32 tpd, from 
181.44 tpd to 181.76 tpd. In 2030, NOX emissions increase 
slightly by 0.09 tpd, from 125.14 tpd to 125.23 tpd when the TCMs are 
removed. Although the removal of TCMs results in small increases in 
NOX emissions initially, overall, total NOX 
emissions decrease by 170.85 tpd from the attainment year 2014 to 2040. 
With respect to years 2020 through 2040, total NOX emissions 
are less than the attainment year of 2014.
    Table 4 shows that the total VOC emissions increase in 2020 by 0.49 
tpd, from 237.67 tpd to 238.16 tpd. In 2030, VOC emissions increase by 
0.27 tpd, from 215.06 tpd to 215.33 tpd. Although there are emissions 
increases in VOC when the TCMs are removed, there is an overall 
downward trend in emissions from the 2014 attainment year to the 2030 
maintenance year. VOC emissions decrease from 266.25 tpd in 2014 down 
to 208.69 tpd in 2040 an overall decrease of 57.56 tpd. With respect to 
years 2020 through 2040, total VOC emissions are less than the 
attainment year of 2014.
    Based on Tables 3 and 4, total NOX emissions trend 
downward from 283.09 tpd in 2014 to 125.23 tpd in 2030 with the TCMs 
removed. This gives a safety margin of 157.86 tpd. The VOC safety 
margin is 50.92 tpd because of the downward trend from the 2014 
attainment level of 266.25 tpd to 215.33 tpd in 2030 with the TCMs 
removed. A safety margin is the difference between the attainment level 
of emissions (from all sources) and the projected level of emissions 
(from all sources) in the maintenance plan. The decline in total 
emissions, including the safety margin, indicate that changes in on-
road emissions from removing the TCMs from the SIP would not interfere 
with continued maintenance of the 2008 8-hour ozone NAAQS in the 
Atlanta 2008 8-hour ozone Area.

H. Non-Interference Analysis for the 2015 Ozone NAAQS

    The current 3-year design value for 2016-2018 for the Atlanta 2015 
8-hour ozone Area is 0.073 ppm.\12\ The 2015 8-hour ozone NAAQS is 
0.070 ppm and this area is currently designated as marginal 
nonattainment for this NAAQS. Table 5, below, shows the ozone 
monitoring data from monitoring stations in Atlanta.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \12\ The design value for an area is the highest 3-year average 
of the annual fourth-highest daily maximum 8-hour concentration 
recorded at any monitor in the area.

                      Table 5--2016-2018 Design Value Concentrations for Atlanta (ppm) \13\
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                          4th Highest 8-hour ozone value           3-Year design
                                   Monitoring    ------------------------------------------------     values
       Location (county)             station                                                     ---------------
                                                       2016            2017            2018          2016-2018
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cobb..........................  GA National                0.070           0.065           0.065           0.066
                                 Guard, McCollum
                                 Pkwy. (13-067-
                                 0003).
Coweta........................  University of W            0.066           0.057  ..............          (\14\)
                                 Georgia at
                                 Newnan (13-077-
                                 0002).
DeKalb........................  2390-B Wildcat             0.074           0.068           0.067           0.069
                                 Road Decatur
                                 (13-089-0002).
Douglas.......................  Douglas Co.                0.071           0.066           0.064           0.067
                                 Water Auth. W
                                 Strickland St.
                                 (13-097-0004).
Gwinnett......................  Gwinnett Tech,             0.078           0.065           0.065           0.069
                                 5150 Sugarloaf
                                 Pkwy. (13-135-
                                 0002).
Henry.........................  Henry County               0.078           0.067           0.069           0.071
                                 Extension
                                 Office (13-151-
                                 0002).
Paulding......................  Yorkville, King            0.067  ..............  ..............          (\15\)
                                 Farm (13-223-
                                 0003).
Rockdale......................  Conyers                    0.076           0.065           0.069           0.070
                                 Monastery, 2625
                                 GA Hwy. 212 (13-
                                 247-0001).

[[Page 39141]]

 
Fulton........................  Confederate                0.075           0.074           0.072           0.073
                                 Ave., Atlanta
                                 (13-121-0055).
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    As previously mentioned, the Atlanta 2015 8-hour ozone Area must 
attain the 2015 8-hour ozone NAAQS by August 3, 2021, with air quality 
data for years 2018 through 2020.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \13\ These monitoring stations are representative of the air 
quality in the entire 2015 8-hour ozone Area even though not all 
counties in the area have a monitoring station. In addition, the 
table includes counties (Coweta, Douglas, Paulding, and Rockdale) 
that are not located within the Atlanta 2015 8-hour ozone Area but 
are located within the Atlanta 2008 8-hour ozone Area.
    \14\ The average of the 2016 and 2017 values for the Coweta 
Monitor (13-077-0002) is 0.061. The monitor was shut down on 
November 15, 2017. See GA EPD Addendum to 2018 Ambient Air 
Monitoring Plan, available at https://airgeorgia.org/docs/2018%20Addendum%20to%20Annual%20Plan.pdf.
    \15\ The value for the Paulding Monitor (13-223-0003) of 0.067 
is the value for 2016 only. The monitor was shut down on January 31, 
2017. See GA EPD Addendum to 2016 Ambient Air Monitoring Plan, 
available at https://airgeorgia.org/docs/2016%20Addendum%20to%20Annual%20Plan.pdf.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Marginal areas are not required to provide attainment 
demonstrations because these areas are expected to attain the standard 
three years after being designated nonattainment. As such, Georgia has 
decided to demonstrate non-interference for removal of the TCMs for the 
2015 8-hour ozone standard by securing offsetting, contemporaneous, 
compensating, equivalent, emissions reductions. These emission 
reductions are associated with measures that Georgia has proposed for 
incorporation into the SIP through its September 16, 2019, SIP revision 
and that were obtained for the Atlanta 2015 8-hour ozone Area to 
account for the small increases due to a removal of the TCMs. With 
offsets, EPA believes that removing the TCMs would not affect Atlanta's 
ability to attain the 2015 8-hour ozone NAAQS. A more detailed 
discussion regarding Georgia's ozone sensitivities and offset 
calculations for the Atlanta Area is provided below.

I. Sensitivity of Ozone in the Atlanta Area to NOX and VOC Emissions

    Control of NOX and VOC are generally considered the most 
important components of an ozone control strategy, and NOX 
and VOC make up the largest controllable contribution to ambient ozone 
formation. However, the Atlanta Area has shown a greater sensitivity of 
ground-level ozone to NOX controls rather than VOC controls. 
This is due to high biogenic VOC emissions compared to anthropogenic 
VOC emissions in Georgia. Therefore, implemented control measures have 
focused on the control of NOX emissions. The Atlanta Area is 
NOX limited in such a way that changes in anthropogenic VOC 
emissions have little effect on ozone formation.
    The Southeastern Modeling Analysis and Planning (SEMAP) project 
modeled sensitivities relative to 2018 emissions to evaluate the impact 
of NOX and VOC reductions on daily 8-hour maximum ozone 
concentrations.\16\ Each emissions sensitivity run reduced the 2018 
anthropogenic NOX or VOC emissions (point, area, mobile, 
nonroad, marine/aircraft/rail) within a specific geographic region by 
30 percent. GA EPD used the SEMAP project to examine the normalized 
sensitivities of NOX and VOC emissions on 8-hour daily 
maximum ozone concentrations (parts per billion (ppb) ozone/tpd) at 
nine ozone monitors in the Atlanta Area.\17\ In order to look at the 
impact of removing the TCMs, Georgia averaged the normalized 
sensitivities from the nine site-specific Atlanta ozone monitors. The 
average normalized sensitivities for NOX and VOC were -
0.0768 and -0.0042 ppb/tpd, respectively.\18\ The site-specific 
normalized NOX and VOC sensitivities were applied to the 
expected emissions increases due to removing the TCMs. The emissions 
increases are based on 2018 values and represent the largest impact as 
the emissions increase will decrease each successive year. A removal of 
the TCMs results in an increase of VOC emissions of 0.49 tpd in 2020. 
See Table 3. The TCM removal also results in an increase of 0.32 tpd of 
NOX in 2020 in the Atlanta Area decreasing over time to near 
zero by 2040. See Table 4. The corresponding NOX and VOC 
emissions increases at the site-specific ozone monitors, due to the TCM 
removal, are found in Table 6 below. The results of the combined 
NOX and VOC emissions increases from removing the TCMs 
demonstrate there are minimal increases in ozone concentrations at the 
monitors. The calculated changes in ozone levels are well below the 
level of precision of the ambient ozone monitors (1 ppb or 0.001 
ppm).\19\ Since the corresponding ozone increase at all nine monitors 
would only be seen at the fifth decimal place,\20\ these small 
increases could not impact maintenance or attainment of any ozone 
NAAQS.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \16\ As part of the SEMAP project, Georgia Institute of 
Technology performed an analysis of the sensitivity of ozone 
concentrations in the Eastern U.S. to reductions in emissions of 
both NOX and VOCs. This analysis was based off the 2007 
and 2018 SEMAP modeling which used the Community Multi-scale Air 
Quality (CMAQ) model, version 5.01 with updates to the vertical 
mixing coefficients and land-water interface. May 1st through 
September 30th was modeled using a 12-km modeling grid that covered 
the Eastern U.S. Details of the modeling platform set-up can be 
found in Appendix D of the September 16, 2019 SIP submission.
    \17\ For further details on the approach used to calculate the 
normalized sensitivities of NOX and VOC, please see 
Appendix D of Georgia's submittal.
    \18\ See Appendix E-2 of the September 16, 2019 SIP submission 
for the sensitivity calculations.
    \19\ Ozone concentrations are reported in ppm and to three 
decimal places (e.g., 0.070 ppm); any additional decimal places are 
truncated.
    \20\ Because the increases in Table 7 are reported in ppb, the 
changes are in the 2nd decimal place.

[[Page 39142]]



               Table 6--Emissions Increases Due to Removal of TCMs and Effects on Ozone Formation
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                  Removal of TCMs                            Combined
                                 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                   Corresponding
                                                  ozone increase                   Corresponding   Corresponding
             Monitor                 2020 NOX     at monitor due     2020 VOC     ozone increase  ozone increase
                                     emissions        to NOX         emissions    at Monitor due    at monitor
                                  increase (tpd)   increase \21\  increase (tpd)      to VOC           (ppb)
                                                       (ppb)                      increase (ppb)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kennesaw........................            0.32         0.02378            0.49         0.00221          0.0260
Newnan..........................            0.32         0.02579            0.49         0.00089          0.0267
Dawsonville.....................            0.32         0.01991            0.49         0.00034          0.0203
South Dekalb....................            0.32         0.02467            0.49         0.00285          0.0275
Douglasville....................            0.32         0.02550            0.49         0.00205          0.0276
United Ave......................            0.32         0.01959            0.49         0.00377          0.0234
Gwinnett........................            0.32         0.02442            0.49         0.00127          0.0257
McDonough.......................            0.32         0.02781            0.49         0.00167          0.0295
Dallas/Yorkville................            0.32         0.02218            0.49         0.00054          0.0227
Conyers.........................            0.32         0.02873            0.49         0.00152          0.0303
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

J. Non-Interference Analysis for the PM2.5 NAAQS 
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \21\ See Appendix E of the submission.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Over the course of several years, EPA has reviewed and revised the 
PM2.5 NAAQS several times. On July 18, 1997, EPA established 
an annual PM2.5 NAAQS of 15.0 micrograms per cubic meter 
([mu]g/m\3\), and on April 14, 2005 (70 FR 19844) designated certain 
counties in the Atlanta Area as nonattainment for the 1997 annual 
PM2.5 NAAQS. These counties attained the 1997 annual NAAQS 
and were redesignated to attainment on February 24, 2016. See 81 FR 
9114. On August 24, 2016, EPA took final action to revoke the 1997 
PM2.5 NAAQS for areas designated attainment or in 
maintenance for the standard. See 81 FR 58010.
    On September 21, 2006 (71 FR 61144), EPA retained the 1997 annual 
PM2.5 NAAQS of 15.0 [mu]g/m\3\ but revised the 24-hour 
PM2.5 NAAQS from 65.0 [mu]g/m\3\ to 35.0 [mu]g/m\3\. On 
November 13, 2009, EPA designated most of the state of Georgia--
including the Atlanta Area--as unclassifiable/attainment for the 24-
hour PM2.5 NAAQS. See 74 FR 58688.
    On December 14, 2012, EPA strengthened the annual primary 
PM2.5 NAAQS from 15.0 [mu]g/m\3\ to 12.0 [mu]g/m.\3\ See 78 
FR 3086. EPA designated the state of Georgia--including the Atlanta 
Area--as unclassifiable/attainment for the 2012 annual PM2.5 
NAAQS. See 80 FR 2206 (January 15, 2015), 81 FR 61136 (September 6, 
2016). The current 2016-2018 design value for the annual and 24-hour 
PM2.5 NAAQS are 10.1 and 21.0 [mu]g/m\3\, respectively.
    The recognized precursor pollutants for PM2.5 are 
NOX, SO2, VOC, and ammonia. As mentioned above, 
removing the TCMs only results in small emissions increases of VOC and 
NOX. Moreover, there have been several studies which have 
indicated that SO2 is the primary driver of PM2.5 
formation in the Southeast.\22\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \22\ See, e.g., Quantifying the sources of ozone, fine 
particulate matter, and regional haze in the Southeastern United 
States, Journal of Environmental Engineering (June 24, 2009), 
available at: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301479709001893?via%3Dihub.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    As previously stated, removing the TCMs does not affect the most 
significant PM2.5 precursor (SO2). In addition, 
the increases to other PM2.5 precursors--NOX and 
VOCs--are negligible. See Section I.G., above. Based on this and the 
fact that the current PM2.5 design values for the Atlanta 
Area are below the level of the 2012 annual primary and 2006 24-hour 
PM2.5 NAAQS, EPA is proposing to determine that removing the 
TCMs for the affected counties would not interfere with the Atlanta 
Area's attainment or maintenance of the PM2.5 NAAQS.

K. Non-Interference Analysis for the 2010 NO2 NAAQS

    On February 9, 2010 (75 FR 6474), EPA established a 1-hour 
NO2 standard set at 100 ppb. In 1971, an annual standard was 
set at a level of 53 ppb and has remained unchanged. EPA designated all 
counties in Georgia as unclassifiable/attainment for the 2010 
NO2 NAAQS on February 17, 2012. See 77 FR 95320. Currently, 
the 2016-2018 design values for the 2010 1-hour and annual 
NO2 NAAQS are 53.0 and 16.3 ppb, respectively, in the 
Atlanta Area. Given that the area is well below the level of the NAAQS, 
the small NO2 emissions increase from the TCM removal would 
not interfere with the area's ability to continue to attain the NAAQS. 
EPA is proposing to determine that removing the TCMs from the area 
would not interfere with attainment or maintenance of the 1-hour or 
annual NO2 NAAQS.

L. Emissions Increase and Available Offsets and Measures

    As shown in Section 1, Tables 3 and 4, removing the TCMs results in 
an increase in NOX emissions in 2020 of 0.32 tpd and 0.49 
tpd of VOC. The ozone season for the Atlanta ozone Area consists of 245 
days per calendar year. This results in equivalent emissions increases 
of 79.06 tons per year (tpy) of NOX and 121.01 tpy of VOC as 
shown below.

0.32 tpd NOX * 245 days/year = 79.06 tpy of NOX
0.49 tpd VOC * 245 days/year = 121.01 tpy of VOC

    As discussed above, Table 6, shows ozone formation in the Atlanta 
2008 8-hour ozone Area and the sensitivity to reductions of 
NOX and VOC emissions. The Atlanta Area is a NOX 
limited area; therefore, the control of NOX emissions result 
in greater reductions of ozone compared to control of VOC emissions. 
The maximum VOC emissions increase resulting from removing the TCMs 
results in 0.49 tpd (121.01 tpy). This increase in VOC emissions can be 
converted to an equivalent increase in NOX emissions. GA EPD 
multiplied the VOC emissions increase during ozone season by the ratio 
of the average VOC to NOX normalized ozone sensitivities at 
the nine site-specific monitors, as discussed in Section I.I., to get 
the equivalent NOX emissions increase. See the calculation 
below.

    121.01 tpy VOC * (-0.00427ppb/tpd VOC)/(-0.07680 ppb/tpd 
NOX) = 6.62 (VOC equivalent reduction) tpy NOX
    By adding the actual NOX emissions increase during ozone 
season to the equivalent NOX emissions increase from

[[Page 39143]]

VOC emissions (VOC equivalent) using the sensitivity calculation, GA 
calculated the amount of NOX offsets needed to remove the 
TCMs. See the calculation below.

79.06 tpy of NOX + 6.62 tpy of NOX (VOC 
equivalent reduction) = 85.68 tpy NOX offsets required \23\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \23\ 85.68 tons/year represents the total NOX offsets 
required if all of the TCMs are removed.

    As mentioned earlier, Georgia is requesting the removal of all but 
one TCM from the SIP (i.e., the Intersection Upgrade TCM), and 
therefore does not need to acquire the entire 85.68 tpy of 
NOX offsets. Georgia used the same sensitivity calculations 
and ABM and off-model calculations mentioned in Section F to show the 
NOX and VOC emissions increase associated with the removal 
of the TCMs and excluding the Intersection Upgrade TCM \24\ as seen 
below.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \24\ Tables 2-4 and 2-7 of Georgia's submittal detail the 
NOX and VOC emissions associated with the Intersection 
Upgrade TCM. The method used for the ABM and off-model calculations 
can be found in Appendix B of Georgia's submittal.

0.11 tpd NOX * 245 days/year = 27.93 tpy of NOX
0.30 tpd VOC * 245 days/year = 74.30 tpy of VOC
74.30 tpy VOC * (-0.0042 ppb/tpd VOC)/(-0.0768 ppb/tpd NOX) 
= 4.06 tpy NOX
27.93 tpy of NOX + 4.06 tpy of NOX (VOC 
equivalent reduction) = 31.99 tpy of NOX offsets needed.

    Georgia's SIP revision includes two offset measures--school bus 
replacements and rail locomotive conversions--to obtain the necessary 
emissions reductions.\25\ GA EPD has a school bus early replacement 
program. School bus replacement projects that were completed in 2018 
using Diesel Emissions Reduction Act funding have resulted in 
NOX emissions reductions of 12.86 tpy in the Atlanta 2008 8-
hour ozone maintenance Area. Specifically, eighty-five old school buses 
(built in 1999-2005) in Fulton County were replaced with 2018 school 
buses. The replacements took place in September 2018. Georgia has not 
previously relied on these emissions reductions to satisfy any CAA 
requirement.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \25\ See Appendix F of the September 16, 2019 SIP submittal for 
additional information related to these programs, including 
calculations for NOX emissions reductions.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The Locomotive Conversion Program consists of two components in the 
Atlanta Area: (1) The conversion of three older traditional switcher 
locomotives into newly-available low emissions engine technology from 
Norfolk Southern Railway, Inc., and (2) Norfolk Southern Railway, 
Inc.'s conversion of two switchers into ``slugs'' which are driven by 
electrical motors whose electricity is received from companion 
``mother'' locomotives. This configuration is referred to as mother-
slug locomotives. Slugs do not have any direct emissions. The 
conversion took place in December 2018, which also falls within the 
contemporaneous timeframe and generated 25.99 tpy of NOX 
reductions. Georgia has not previously relied on the emissions 
reductions from the Locomotive Conversion Program to satisfy any CAA 
requirement. See Table 8 below for a summary of the offsets.

                               Table 7--Offsets Available for TCM Removal in 2020
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                  Locomotive       School bus
                                                                 conversions      replacements    Total offsets
                                                                    (tpy)            (tpy)            (tpy)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Available NOX Offsets........................................           25.99            12.86            38.85
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Based on the available offsets from the locomotive conversion 
projects and school bus early replacement projects, GA EPD has offsets 
in excess of the increase in emissions associated with removing the 
TCMs.

 Table 8--NOX Emissions Increase Compared to Available Emissions Offsets
------------------------------------------------------------------------
  Emissions increases due to removing    Total offsets    Excess offsets
            the TCMs (tpy)              available (tpy)       (tpy)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
31.99.................................           38.85             6.86
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The offsets available from both bus replacements and locomotive 
conversions total 38.85 tpy of NOX as shown in Table 7 
above. The annual NOX decrease from the locomotive 
conversions and school bus replacements are more than adequate to 
offset the maximum NOX and VOC emissions increases (31.99 
tpy of equivalent NOX) associated with removing the TCMs. 
There is a 6.86 tpy excess NOX emissions offset that will 
remain available. See Table 8.
    In addition, Georgia provided information designed to show that the 
substitute measures are quantifiable, permanent, surplus, enforceable, 
and contemporaneous. The locomotive conversions and school bus 
replacements occurring in 2018 are surplus since they have not been 
relied upon by any attainment plan or demonstration or credited in any 
RFP demonstration. The converted locomotives must remain operational 
for a period of ten years from the date placed into revenue service 
(December 2028). The school buses replaced must be scrapped or rendered 
permanently disabled or remanufactured to a cleaner emissions standard 
within 90 days of replacement. Therefore, the emissions reductions 
obtained are considered permanent. The emissions reductions have been 
quantified, as shown in Table 7. Fulton County Schools has grant 
commitments with EPA to replace school buses, while GA EPD and Norfolk 
Southern Railway, Inc., have a contract that requires locomotive 
conversions. The locomotive and school replacements occurred within one 
year of this submittal. EPA is proposing to conclude that the 
substitute measures are quantifiable, permanent, surplus, enforceable, 
and contemporaneous as described above to achieve equivalent emissions 
reductions to offset the potential emission increases related to 
removing the TCMs.

[[Page 39144]]

M. Conclusion Regarding the Non-Interference Analysis

    With respect to ozone, EPA is proposing to conclude that the 
emissions reductions from the offset measures included in the SIP 
revision are greater than those needed to maintain the status quo in 
air quality and are permanent, enforceable, quantifiable, surplus, 
contemporaneous and equivalent. Removing the identified TCMs from the 
SIP would not worsen ozone air quality because Georgia has provided 
offsets as compensating, equivalent emissions reductions to negate the 
predicted increases in emissions from NOX and VOCs in the 
Atlanta 2015 8-hour ozone Area. The amount of NOX reductions 
obtained from the school bus and locomotive retrofits are more than 
what is needed to compensate for the small amount of NOX and 
VOC increases due to removing the TCMs from the Georgia SIP in the 
Atlanta Area. In addition, the downward trend in emissions in the 
Atlanta 2008 8-hour ozone Area are reflected in the NOX and 
VOC attainment inventories summarized in Tables 3 and 4. The emissions 
trend show there are safety margins in the maintenance year 2030 of 
157.86 tpd for NOX and 50.92 tpd for VOC. EPA has 
preliminarily determined that the SIP revision adequately demonstrates 
that removing the TCMs from the Georgia SIP for the Atlanta Area would 
not interfere with Atlanta Area's ability to attain the 2015 8-hour 
ozone NAAQS or maintain the 1997 and 2008 8-hour ozone NAAQS, or with 
any other applicable requirement of the CAA.
    With respect to NO2 and PM2.5, EPA is 
proposing to find that the minimal increases in emissions of 
NO2, PM2.5 and PM2.5 precursors would 
not interfere with attainment or maintenance of the NO2 or 
PM2.5 NAAQS. In addition, with respect to lead,\26\ CO,\27\ 
coarse particulate matter (PM10),\28\ and 
SO2,\29\ EPA is proposing to find that removal of the TCMs 
from Georgia's SIP would not interfere with attainment or maintenance 
of the NAAQs.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \26\ The entire state of Georgia is designated attainment or 
unclassifiable/attainment for the lead NAAQS. See 40 CFR 81.311. The 
TCMs are not designed to reduce emissions of SO2; 
therefore, removing the TCMs from the SIP would not have any impact 
on ambient concentrations of lead. EPA proposes to find that removal 
of the TCMs from Georgia's SIP would not interfere with continued 
attainment or maintenance of the lead NAAQS.
    \27\ The entire state of Georgia is designated as attainment or 
unclassifiable/attainment for the CO NAAQS. See 40 CFR 81.311. The 
TCMs are not designed to reduce emissions of CO; therefore, removing 
the TCMs from the SIP would not have any impact on ambient 
concentrations of CO. EPA proposes to find that removal of the TCMs 
from Georgia's SIP would not interfere with continued attainment or 
maintenance of the CO NAAQS.
    \28\ The entire state of Georgia is designated attainment for 
the PM10 NAAQS. The TCMs are not designed to reduce 
emissions of PM10; therefore, removing the TCMs from the 
SIP would not have any impact on ambient concentrations of 
PM10. EPA proposes to find that removal of the TCMs from 
Georgia's SIP would not interfere with continued attainment or 
maintenance of the PM10 NAAQS.
    \29\ On June 22, 2010, EPA revised the 1-hour SO2 
NAAQS to 75 ppb which became effective on August 23, 2010. See 75 FR 
35520. On January 9, 2018, EPA designated most of the state of 
Georgia, including the counties where the TCMs were implemented, as 
attainment/unclassifiable for the 2010 SO2 NAAQS. See 83 
FR 1098. The TCMs are not designed to reduce emissions of 
SO2; therefore, removing the TCMs from the SIP would not 
have any impact on ambient concentrations of SO2. EPA 
proposes to find that removal of the TCMs from Georgia's SIP would 
not interfere with continued attainment or maintenance of the 
SO2 NAAQS.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Therefore, EPA is proposing to find that removal of the TCMs from 
the Georgia SIP meets the requirements of CAA section 110(l) and would 
not interfere with attainment or maintenance of any NAAQS, or any other 
requirement of the CAA.

N. Analysis of Updated 2030 MVEBs

    This SIP revision includes an update the 2008 8-hour ozone 
Maintenance Plan to update the mobile emissions inventory and 
associated 2030 MVEBs due to removing the TCMs. Georgia used the same 
approach as outlined in the 2008 8-hour ozone Maintenance Plan and 
redesignation request to determine the portion of the safety margin 
allocated to the MVEBs for this SIP revision. The on-road emissions 
inventory and safety margin allocation for the year 2030 were updated, 
but the MVEB totals remain unchanged. See Table 9 below. EPA has 
evaluated Georgia's revision to the MVEBs and notes that the State went 
through the appropriate interagency consultation process (of which EPA 
was a part) to establish these updated budgets per 40 CFR 93.105. As a 
result, EPA is proposing to approve the updated on-road emissions 
inventory, safety margins and MVEBs into the Atlanta 2008 8-hour ozone 
Maintenance Plan.

                       Table 9--Updated MVEBs for the Atlanta 2008 8-Hour Ozone Area (tpd)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                             2014 \30\                         2030
                                                 ---------------------------------------------------------------
                                                        NOX             VOC             NOX             VOC
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On-Road Emissions...............................          170.15           81.76           39.63           36.01
Safety Margin Allocation........................  ..............  ..............           18.37           15.99
MVEBs with Safety Margin........................          170.15           81.76              58              52
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

II. Proposed Action
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \30\ The 2014 on-road emissions and MVEBs in this chart are 
shown for illustration purposes only, as no changes were made to the 
2014 attainment year emissions inventory due to removing the TCMs.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    EPA is proposing to approve Georgia's September 16, 2019, SIP 
revision requesting removal of certain TCMs from the Georgia SIP 
applicable within the Atlanta Area. This SIP revision includes updates 
to the 2008 8-hour ozone standard Maintenance Plan, specifically the 
on-road emissions inventory and the associated 2030 MVEBs, and measures 
offsetting the emissions increases due to removal of the TCMs. EPA is 
proposing to find that removing the TCMs would not interfere with 
attainment or maintenance of any NAAQS or with any other applicable 
requirement of the CAA.

III. 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, 
provided they meet the criteria of the CAA. 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 Orders 12866 (58 
FR 51735, October 4, 1993) and 13563 (76 FR 3821, January 21, 2011);

[[Page 39145]]

     Is not an Executive Order 13771 (82 FR 9339, February 2, 
2017) regulatory action because SIP approvals are exempted under 
Executive Order 12866;
     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).
    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: June 4, 2020.
Mary Walker,
Regional Administrator, Region 4.
[FR Doc. 2020-12691 Filed 6-29-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P