[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 225 (Friday, November 26, 2021)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 67409-67412]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-25526]



[[Page 67409]]

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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[EPA-R04-OAR-2020-0400; FRL-9274-01-R4]


Air Plan Approval; Georgia; Atlanta Area Emissions Inventory 
Requirements for the 2015 8-Hour Ozone Standard

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 
State of Georgia through the Georgia Environmental Protection Division 
(GA EPD) on July 2, 2020, to address the base year emissions inventory 
requirements for the 2015 8-hour ozone national ambient air quality 
standards (NAAQS) for the Atlanta, Georgia 2015 8-hour ozone 
nonattainment area (hereinafter referred to as the ``Atlanta Area''). 
These requirements apply to all ozone nonattainment areas. This action 
is being proposed pursuant to the Clean Air Act (CAA or Act).

DATES: Comments must be received on or before December 27, 2021.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-R04-
OAR-2020-0400 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: Tiereny Bell, 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) 562-9088. Ms. Bell can also be reached via electronic mail at 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

    On October 1, 2015, EPA promulgated a revised 8-hour primary and 
secondary ozone NAAQS, strengthening both from 0.075 parts per million 
(ppm) to 0.070 ppm (the 2015 8-hour ozone NAAQS). See 80 FR 65292. The 
2015 8-hour ozone NAAQS is set at 0.070 ppm based on an annual fourth-
highest daily maximum 8-hour average concentration averaged over three 
years. Under EPA's regulations at 40 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 
part 50, the 2015 8-hour ozone NAAQS is attained when the 3-year 
average of the annual fourth-highest daily maximum 8-hour average 
ambient air quality ozone concentrations is less than or equal to 0.070 
ppm. See 40 CFR 50.19. Ambient air quality monitoring data for the 3-
year period must meet a data completeness requirement. See 40 CFR part 
50, Appendix U. The ambient air quality monitoring data completeness 
requirement is met when the average percentage of days with valid 
ambient monitoring data is greater than 90 percent and no single year 
has less than 75 percent data completeness as determined using Appendix 
U.
    Upon promulgation of a new or revised ozone NAAQS, the CAA requires 
EPA to designate as nonattainment any area that is violating the NAAQS 
based on the three most recent years of ambient air quality data. On 
April 30, 2018, EPA designated a seven-county area in and around 
metropolitan Atlanta as a marginal ozone nonattainment area for the 
2015 8-hour ozone NAAQS.\1\ The Atlanta Area was designated 
nonattainment for the 2015 8-hour ozone NAAQS on April 30, 2018 
(effective August 3, 2018) using 2014-2016 ambient air quality data. 
See 83 FR 25776. On December 6, 2018, EPA finalized a rule titled 
``Implementation of the 2015 National Ambient Air Quality Standards for 
Ozone: Nonattainment Area State Implementation Plan Requirements'' (SIP 
Requirements Rule) that establishes the requirements that state, 
tribal, and local air quality management agencies must meet as they 
develop implementation plans for areas where air quality exceeds the 
2015 8-hour ozone NAAQS.\2\ See 83 FR 62998; 40 CFR part 51, subpart 
CC. This rule establishes nonattainment area attainment deadlines based 
on Table 1 of section 181(a) of the Clean Air Act (CAA), including an 
attainment deadline of August 3, 2021, three years after the August 3, 
2018 effective date, for areas classified as marginal for the 2015 8-
hour ozone NAAQS.
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    \1\ The nonattainment area for the 2015 8-hour ozone standard 
consists of the following counties: Bartow, Clayton, Cobb, Dekalb, 
Fulton, Gwinnett, and Henry.
    \2\ The SIP Requirements Rule addresses a range of nonattainment 
area SIP requirements for the 2015 8-hour ozone NAAQS, including 
requirements pertaining to attainment demonstrations, reasonable 
further progress (RFP), reasonably available control technology, 
reasonably available control measures, major nonattainment new 
source review, emission inventories, and the timing of SIP 
submissions and compliance with emission control measures in the 
SIP.
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    Based on the nonattainment designation, Georgia was required to 
develop a SIP revision addressing certain CAA requirements for the 
Atlanta Area. Among other things, Georgia was required to submit a SIP 
revision addressing the emissions inventory requirements in CAA section 
182(a)(1).
    Ground level ozone is not emitted directly into the air but is 
created by chemical reactions between oxides of nitrogen 
(NOX) and volatile organic compounds (VOC) in the presence 
of sunlight. Emissions from industrial facilities and electric 
utilities, motor vehicle exhaust, gasoline vapors, and chemical 
solvents are some of the major sources of NOX and VOC. 
Section 182(a)(1) of the CAA requires states with areas designated 
nonattainment for the ozone NAAQS to submit a SIP revision providing a 
comprehensive, accurate, and current inventory of actual emissions from 
all sources of the relevant pollutant or pollutants in such area. 
NOX and VOCs are the relevant pollutants because they are 
the precursors--i.e., the pollutants that contribute to the formation--
of ozone.

II. State's Submittal

    On July 2, 2020, Georgia submitted a SIP revision addressing the 
emissions inventory requirements related to the 2015 8-hour ozone NAAQS 
for the Atlanta Area.\3\ EPA is proposing to approve this SIP revision 
as meeting the inventory requirements of section 182(a)(1) of the CAA 
and meeting EPA's

[[Page 67410]]

SIP Requirements Rule. More information on EPA's analysis of Georgia's 
SIP revision and how this SIP revision addresses these requirements is 
provided below.
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    \3\ In the July 2, 2020, SIP revision, GA EPD submitted a 
certification that existing SIP-approved Georgia rules satisfy the 
permit program requirements found in section 172(c)(5) and section 
173 of the CAA. GA EPD also provided a written commitment to take 
action to meet the emissions statement requirement located in 
section 182(a)(3)(B) of the CAA. EPA will take action on these SIP 
revisions in separate rulemakings.
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III. Analysis of State's Submittal

    As discussed above, section 182(a)(1) of the CAA requires areas to 
submit a comprehensive, accurate, and current inventory of actual 
emissions from all sources of the relevant pollutant or pollutants in 
each ozone nonattainment area. The section 182(a)(1) base year 
inventory is defined in the SIP Requirements Rule as ``a comprehensive, 
accurate, current inventory of actual emissions from sources of VOC and 
NOX emitted within the boundaries of the nonattainment area 
as required by CAA section 182(a)(1).'' See 40 CFR 51.1300(p). The 
inventory year must be selected consistent with the baseline year for 
the RFP plan as required by 40 CFR 51.1310(b),\4\ and the inventory 
must include actual ozone season day emissions as defined in 40 CFR 
51.1300(q) \5\ and contain data elements consistent with the detail 
required by 40 CFR part 51, subpart A. See 40 CFR 51.1315(a), (c), (e). 
In addition, the point source emissions included in the inventory must 
be reported according to the point source emissions thresholds of the 
Air Emissions Reporting Requirements (AERR) in 40 CFR part 51, subpart 
A.
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    \4\ 40 CFR 51.1310(b) states that ``at the time of designation 
for the ozone NAAQS the baseline emissions inventory shall be the 
emissions inventory for the most recent calendar year for which a 
complete triennial inventory is required to be submitted to EPA 
under the provisions of subpart A of this part. States may use an 
alternative baseline emissions inventory provided that the year 
selected corresponds with the year of the effective date of 
designation as nonattainment for that NAAQS. All states associated 
with a multi-state nonattainment area must consult and agree on 
using the alternative baseline year. The emissions values included 
in the inventory required by this section shall be actual ozone 
season day emissions.'' For additional information, please see the 
guidance document titled ``Emissions Inventory Guidance for 
Implementation of Ozone and Particulate Matter National Ambient Air 
Quality Standards (NAAQS) and Regional Haze Regulations,'' EPA-454/
B-17- 003, July 2017, available at: https://www.epa.gov/air-emissions-inventories/air-emissions-inventory-guidance-implementation-ozone-and-particulate.
    \5\ ``Ozone season day emissions'' is defined as ``an average 
day's emissions for a typical ozone season work weekday. The state 
shall select, subject to EPA approval, the particular month(s) in 
the ozone season and the day(s) in the work week to be represented, 
considering the conditions assumed in the development of RFP plans 
and/or emissions budgets for transportation conformity.'' See 40 CFR 
51.1300(q).
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    Georgia selected 2014 as the base year for the emissions inventory, 
which is the year corresponding with the first triennial inventory 
under 40 CFR part 51, subpart A. This base year is one of the three 
years of ambient data used to designate the Atlanta Area as a 
nonattainment area and therefore represents emissions associated with 
nonattainment conditions. The emissions inventory is based on data 
developed and submitted by GA EPD to EPA's 2014 Emission Inventory 
(NEI), and it contains data elements consistent with the requirements 
of 40 CFR part 51, subpart A.\6\
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    \6\ Data downloaded from the EPA Emissions Inventory System 
(EIS) from the 2014 NEI was subjected to quality assurance 
procedures described under quality assurance details under 2014 NEI 
Version 1 located at https://www.epa.gov/air-emissions-inventories/2014-national-emissions-inventory-nei-data. The quality assurance 
and quality control procedures and measures associated with this 
data are outlined in the State's Emission Inventory Quality 
Assurance Project Plan. The 2017 GA EI QAPP can be found at https://epd.georgia.gov/document/document/appendix-e-georgia-quality-assurance-project-plan-document/download.
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    Georgia's emissions inventory for the Atlanta Area provides 2014 
typical average summer day emissions for NOX and VOCs for 
the following general source categories: Point sources, MAR (marine 
vessels, aircraft and rail) sources, nonpoint sources, on-road mobile 
sources, non-road mobile sources, fire events, and biogenic sources. 
The summer day emissions were calculated as the average of emissions 
during weekdays in July 2014. A detailed discussion of the inventory 
development is located on pages 1 through 6 of the documents in the 
July 2, 2020 submission entitled ``Atlanta Nonattainment Area Emissions 
Inventory for the 2015 8-Hour Ozone NAAQS'' (Inventory Document) in the 
State's July 2, 2020 submittal. The table below provides a summary of 
the emissions inventory.

                                                    Table 1--2014 Emissions for the Atlanta Area \7\
                                                                  [Tons per summer day]
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                                                             Point          Marine vessels,        Nonpoint             On-road            Non-road
                                                     -------------------- aircraft, and rail -----------------------------------------------------------
                       County                                            --------------------
                                                         NOX       VOC       NOX       VOC       NOX       VOC       NOX       VOC       NOX       VOC
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Bartow..............................................     17.01      1.07      0.84      0.06      0.14      3.61     11.03      3.51      1.30      1.29
Clayton.............................................      0.28      0.59     13.27      1.85      0.15      6.69      8.39      3.63      2.45      1.26
Cobb................................................      2.05      1.35      2.73      0.73      0.59     18.14     26.23     11.87      7.24      9.30
Dekalb..............................................      0.33      3.43      0.75      0.08      0.53     18.41     25.84     10.46      6.27      8.06
Fulton..............................................      1.17      0.69      2.49      0.16      1.23     25.76     42.83     19.54     10.74      9.04
Gwinnett............................................      0.00      0.21      0.64      0.05      0.58     21.77     24.18     11.54     10.58     11.04
Henry...............................................      4.37      1.18      0.82      0.04      0.13      4.66      4.35      2.40      2.38      1.46
                                                     ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Total...........................................     25.21      8.52     21.54      2.97      3.35     99.04    142.85     62.95     40.96     41.45
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    The emissions reported for the Atlanta Area reflect the emissions 
within the seven counties comprising the nonattainment area. The 
inventory contains point source emissions data for the facilities 
located within the Area. More detail on the emissions for individual 
source categories is provided below and in Appendix A of Georgia's July 
2, 2020 submittal.
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    \7\ For the purpose of Table 1--2014 Emissions for the Atlanta 
Area, EPA rounded to the nearest hundredth of a ton per summer day.
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    Point sources are large, stationary, identifiable sources of 
emissions that release pollutants into the atmosphere. The Electric 
Generating Units (EGU) point source emissions inventory was developed 
from facility-specific emissions data. NOX emissions were 
calculated using continuous emissions monitoring system data which 
included hourly measurements. For VOC emissions, GA EPD used facility-
specific emissions data reported to the 2014 NEI from sources that are 
required to submit inventory data according to the AERR. The non-EGU 
point source emissions inventory for the Atlanta Area was

[[Page 67411]]

developed from non-EGU facility-specific data reported to the 2014 NEI 
from sources that are required to submit inventory data according to 
the AERR. The point source emissions data meets the point source 
emissions requirements of 40 CFR part 51, subpart A. A detailed account 
of the non-EGU point sources can be found on pages 4 through 6 of the 
emissions inventory document in Georgia's submittal.
    MAR sources are marine, aircraft, and rail sources of emissions 
separated from the point and nonpoint source categories. Emissions for 
these sources were obtained from the 2014 NEI. A detailed account of 
the MAR sources can be found on pages 2 and 5-6 of the emissions 
inventory document in Georgia's submittal.
    Nonpoint sources are small stationary sources of emissions which, 
due to their large number, collectively have significant emissions 
(e.g., dry cleaners, service stations). Emissions for these sources 
were obtained from the 2014 NEI. A detailed account of the nonpoint 
sources can be found on page 2 of the emissions inventory document in 
Georgia's submittal.
    On-road mobile sources include vehicles used on roads for 
transportation of passengers or freight. Georgia developed its on-road 
emissions inventory using EPA's Motor Vehicle Emission Simulator 
(MOVES) model for each ozone nonattainment county.\8\ County level on-
road modeling was conducted using county-specific vehicle population 
and other local data. A detailed account of the on-road sources can be 
found in Appendix A and page 2 through 3 of the emissions inventory 
document in Georgia's submittal.
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    \8\ Georgia used MOVES version 2014a because this was the latest 
version available at the time that the State submitted its SIP 
revision.
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    Non-road mobile sources include vehicles, engines, and equipment 
used for construction, agriculture, recreation and other purposes that 
do not use the roadways (e.g., lawn mowers, construction equipment, 
railroad locomotives and aircraft). Georgia obtained emissions for the 
non-road mobile sources from the 2014 NEI. Those emissions were 
estimated using EPA's National Mobile Inventory Model (NMIM) with 
updated NMIM County Database (NCD) files from GA EPD. A detailed 
account of non-road mobile sources can be found in Appendix D of the 
July 2, 2020, submittal.
    Georgia also included 2014 actual emissions from fire events and 
biogenic sources in its emission inventory. Wildland fires are 
unplanned, unwanted wild land fires including unauthorized human-caused 
fires, escaped prescribed fire projects, or other inadvertent fire 
situations where the objective is to put the fire out. Prescribed fires 
are any fires ignited by management actions to meet specific objectives 
related to the reduction of the biomass potentially available for 
wildfires. Fire event emissions were developed by GA EPD using fire 
records collected from the Georgia Forestry Commission (GFC). When fire 
activities were not included in the GFC database, military bases and 
federal agencies (USFS and FWS) records were used. In addition, GA EPD 
collected detailed burning records for the Okefenokee area which showed 
burned area per day. A detailed account of fire event sources can be 
found in Appendix A and on page 4 of the emissions inventory document 
in the July 2, 2020, submittal.
    Biogenic emission sources are emissions that come from natural 
sources. GA EPD obtained biogenic emissions for 2014 from the 2014 NEI 
and used the summary of county-specific daily biogenic emissions.\9\ A 
detailed account of biogenic sources can be found in Appendix A and on 
page 4 of the emissions inventory document in the Georgia submittal. 
The table below provides a summary of the 2014 fire event \10\ and 
biogenic emissions for the Atlanta Area.
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    \9\ The biogenic emissions were calculated from the Biogenic 
Emission Inventory System (BEIS) version 3.61 model in the Sparse 
Matrix Operator Kernel Emissions model (SMOKE). These emissions were 
obtained from NEI2014. The data was downloaded from the U.S. EPA's 
Air Emissions Inventories website: https://www.epa.gov/air-emissions-inventories/2014-national-emissions-inventory-nei-data. 
More detailed information can be found in the SMOKE manual (https://www.cmascenter.org/smoke/).
    \10\ There were minimal emissions from fire events in 2014 such 
that, with rounding, there were 0.00 tons of NOX and VOC 
emitted per summer day. For the purpose of Table 2, EPA rounded to 
the nearest hundredth of a ton per summer day.

                      Table 2--2014--Fire Event and Biogenic Emissions for the Atlanta Area
                                              [Tons per summer day]
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                                                                     Fire events                Biogenic
                           County                            ---------------------------------------------------
                                                                  NOX          VOC          NOX          VOC
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bartow......................................................         0.00         0.00         0.43        67.00
Clayton.....................................................         0.00         0.00         0.14        26.68
Cobb........................................................         0.00         0.00         0.22        46.82
Dekalb......................................................         0.00         0.00         0.16        45.75
Fulton......................................................         0.00         0.00         0.27        64.04
Gwinnett....................................................         0.00         0.00         0.33        52.45
Henry.......................................................         0.00         0.00         0.30        42.98
                                                             ---------------------------------------------------
    Total...................................................         0.00         0.00         1.85       345.72
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    EPA has preliminarily determined that Georgia's emissions inventory 
meets the requirements under CAA section 182(a)(1) and the SIP 
Requirements Rule for the 2015 8-hour ozone NAAQS.

IV. Proposed Action

    EPA is proposing to approve the SIP revision submitted by Georgia 
on July 2, 2020, addressing the base year emissions inventory 
requirements for the 2015 8-hour ozone NAAQS for the Atlanta Area. EPA 
proposes to find that the State's submission meets the requirements of 
sections 110 and 182 of the CAA.

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, 
provided they meet the criteria of the

[[Page 67412]]

CAA. This proposed 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);
     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, Incorporation by 
reference, Intergovernmental relations, Nitrogen dioxide, Ozone, 
Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, Volatile organic compounds.

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

    Dated: November 17, 2021.
John Blevins,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region 4.
[FR Doc. 2021-25526 Filed 11-24-21; 8:45 am]
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