[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 171 (Thursday, September 3, 1998)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 46894-46898]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-23502]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 52
[KY-104-9818a; FRL-6152-9]
Approval and Promulgation of Implementation Plans; Commonwealth
of Kentucky
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Direct final rule.
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SUMMARY: EPA is approving revisions to the Edmonson County and
Owensboro portions of the Kentucky State Implementation Plan (SIP)
submitted on April 16, 1998, through the Kentucky Natural Resources and
Environmental Protection Cabinet (NREPC). The purpose of this action is
to incorporate revised motor vehicle emissions budgets for Owensboro
and Edmonson, Kentucky. These budgets are used for demonstration of
conformity of transportation plans, programs, and projects with the
Kentucky SIP for the Edmonson County and Owensboro ozone maintenance
areas. This action is
[[Page 46895]]
in accordance with the Transportation Conformity Rule promulgated on
November 24, 1993, and subsequent amendments.
DATES: This direct final rule is effective on November 2, 1998, without
further notice, unless EPA receives adverse comments by October 5,
1998. If adverse comment is received, EPA will publish a timely
withdrawal of the direct final rule in the Federal Register and inform
the public that the rule will not take effect.
ADDRESSES: Written comments should be addressed to: Kelly Sheckler at
the Region 4, Environmental Protection Agency, Air Planning Branch, 61
Forsyth Street, SW, Atlanta, Georgia 30303.
Copies of the documents relative to this action are available for
public inspection during normal business hours at the following
locations. The persons wanting to examine these documents should make
an appointment with the appropriate office at least 24 hours before the
visiting day. Reference file number KY-104-9818. The Region 4 office
may have additional background documents not available at the other
locations.
Air and Radiation Docket and Information Center (Air Docket 6102), U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency, 401 M Street, SW, Washington, D.C.
20460.
Environmental Protection Agency, Region 4 Air Planning Branch, 61
Forsyth Street, SW, Atlanta, Georgia 30303.
Kentucky Department for Environmental Protection, 803 Schenkel Lane,
Frankfort, Kentucky 400601.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kelly Sheckler at (404) 562-9042.
Reference file KY-104-9818.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Commonwealth of Kentucky through the
KNREPC submitted an attainment and maintenance plan for the Edmonson
County and Owensboro ozone nonattainment areas on November 13, 1992.
The Owensboro area consists of Daviess County and a portion of Hancock
County. The Commonwealth of Kentucky's request for redesignation of the
Edmonson County and Owensboro ozone nonattainment areas was approved by
EPA because the areas attained the ozone NAAQS, met all relevant
requirements under section 110 and part D of the CAA, had a fully
approved SIP under section 110(k) of the CAA, demonstrated permanent
and enforceable air quality improvement, and had a maintenance plan
satisfying the requirements of section 175A of the CAA. For further
detail on this rulemaking refer to 59 FR 55058, dated November 3, 1994.
This SIP contained comprehensive inventories of volatile organic
compound (VOC), nitrogen oxide (NOX), and carbon dioxide
(CO) emissions for the Edmonson County and Owensboro ozone areas. The
inventories include biogenic, area, stationary, and mobile sources
using 1990 as the base year for projections to demonstrate maintenance.
The 1990 inventory is considered representative of attainment
conditions because the NAAQS was not violated during 1990.
EPA approved this revision of the Kentucky SIP and redesignated the
area from nonattainment to attainment for ozone effective January 3,
1995. At the time of this submittal, EPA had not finalized the
Transportation Conformity rule which provides the criteria and
procedures by which the transportation planning authorities must show
that transportation plans and projects conform to the emission
estimates in the applicable state maintenance plan. In the maintenance
SIP, the Commonwealth did not provide an explicit motor vehicles
emissions budget for the purposes of showing conformity. However, the
Transportation Conformity regulations at 40 CFR 51.456 were promulgated
on November 24, 1993, and defined a mobile source emissions budget for
determining conformity of transportation as the mobile source portion
of the total allowable emissions defined in the submitted or approved
control strategy implementation plan revision or maintenance plan. The
Commonwealth established an emissions baseline inventory as part of its
redesignation and maintenance SIP. As required for maintenance
demonstrations, the emission projections from the baseline inventory
were developed for a ten year period. In areas subject to conformity,
that had not established an emissions budget per 40 CFR 51.456, a SIP
approved emissions projection inventory would be used as the emissions
budget for conformity purposes. Therefore, the emission projections
inventory provided in the Commonwealth's maintenance plan became the
emissions budget for conformity.
Furthermore, 40 CFR Part 93.118, allows states to revise their
emissions budgets at any time through the standard SIP revision
process, provided the submittal demonstrates that the revised emissions
budget will not interfere with attainment and maintenance of the
standard or any milestones in the required time frame.
The Clean Air Act (CAA), as amended in 1990, defines conformity to
an implementation plan as conformity to the plan's purpose of reducing
the severity and number of violations of the National Ambient Air
Quality Standards (NAAQS) and achieving expeditious attainment of such
standards. Specifically, the CAA requires transportation improvement
programs (TIP) and Long Range Transportation Plans that are federally
funded or approved actions will not cause or contribute to any new
violation, increase the frequency or severity of any existing
violation, or delay timely attainment of any standard or any required
interim emission reductions or other milestones in any area. Therefore,
the emissions expected from implementation of such transportation plans
and programs must be consistent with estimates of emissions from a
maintenance plan.
The total emissions in the revised emissions budget for the
Edmonson County and Owensboro ozone maintenance areas are below the
1990 levels through the period of projection necessary for the
attainment and maintenance plan, i.e., through 2005. Due to reductions
expected from new and/or future federal emission standards, non-road
source emissions are projected to decrease below the levels projected
in the original maintenance plan. The safety margin created from this
category is allotted to the on-road mobile source emissions budget. As
provided in the table below, the reallotted emissions budget maintains
the 1990 levels and is consistent with the redesignation/maintenance
demonstration SIP.
[[Page 46896]]
NOX Emissions Inventory Summary
[Tons per day]
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Category 1990 1993 1996 1999 2002 2004
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Edmonson County
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Mobile.................................................. .86 .83 .81 .79 .77 .78
Area.................................................... .04 .04 .04 .04 .04 .04
Point................................................... 0 0 0 0 0 0
Nonroad................................................. .37 .38 .39 .40 .40 .41
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Total............................................... 1.27 1.25 1.24 1.23 1.22 1.23
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Daviess County
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Mobile.................................................. 5.33 5.25 5.17 5.11 5.04 5.10
Area.................................................... .22 .22 .22 .22 .22 .22
Point................................................... 39.20 38.92 38.65 38.37 38.10 37.92
Nonroad................................................. 2.91 2.89 2.87 2.85 2.83 2.82
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Total............................................... 47.66 47.28 46.91 46.55 46.19 46.06
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Hancock County
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Mobile.................................................. .14 .14 .13 .13 .12 .12
Area.................................................... 0 0 0 0 0 0
Point................................................... 42.86 42.89 42.93 42.97 43.01 43.04
Nonroad................................................. .16 .16 .16 .16 .16 .16
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Total............................................... 43.16 43.19 43.22 43.26 43.29 43.32
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VOC Emissions Inventory Summary
[Tons per day]
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Category 1990 1993 1996 1999 2002 2004
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Edmonson County
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Mobile.................................................. 1.24 .79 .75 .73 .72 .72
Area.................................................... .74 .76 .77 .79 .80 .82
Point................................................... 0 0 0 0 0 0
Nonroad................................................. .45 .46 .47 .48 .49 .50
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Total............................................... 2.43 2.01 1.99 2.00 2.01 2.04
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Daviess County
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Mobile.................................................. 10.18 6.65 6.48 6.42 6.44 6.53
Area.................................................... 5.29 5.25 5.22 5.18 5.15 5.13
Point................................................... 13.23 13.13 13.04 12.95 12.86 12.80
Nonroad................................................. 3.84 3.81 3.79 3.76 3.74 3.72
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Total............................................... 32.54 28.84 28.53 28.31 28.19 28.18
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Hancock County
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Mobile.................................................. .20 .13 .12 .12 .11 .11
Area.................................................... .08 .08 .08 .08 .08 .08
Point................................................... 3.23 3.30 3.30 3.30 3.31 3.31
Nonroad................................................. .09 .09 .09 .09 .09 .09
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Total............................................... 3.60 3.60 3.59 3.59 3.59 3.59
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Final action
EPA is approving Kentucky's revised emission budget for the
Edmonson County and Owensboro ozone maintenance area. The Agency has
reviewed this request for revision of the Federally approved State
implementation plans (SIP) for conformance with the provisions of the
Amendments enacted on November 15, 1990, and the Transportation
Conformity Rule promulgated on November 24, 1993 and amended on August
15, 1997. The Agency has determined that this request conforms to those
requirements. Therefore, this action revises the motor vehicle
emissions budget for the Kentucky Counties of Edmonson, Daviess and a
portion of Hancock.
EPA is publishing this rule without prior proposal because the
Agency views this as a noncontroversial amendment and anticipates no
adverse
[[Page 46897]]
comments. However, in the proposed rules section of this Federal
Register publication, EPA is publishing a separate document that will
serve as the proposal to approve the SIP revision should relevant
adverse comments be filed. This rule will be effective November 2, 1998
without further notice unless the Agency receives relevant adverse
comments by October 5, 1998.
If the EPA receives such comments, then EPA will publish a timely
withdrawal of the direct final rule informing the public that the rule
will not take effect. All public comments received will then be
addressed in a subsequent final rule based on the proposed rule. The
EPA will not institute a second comment period on this rule. Only
parties interested in commenting on the rule should do so at this time.
If no such comments are received, the public is advised that this rule
will be effective on November 2, 1998 and no further action will be
taken on the proposed rule.
The ozone SIP is designed to satisfy the requirements of part D of
the CAA and to provide for attainment and maintenance of the ozone
NAAQS. Approval of this motor vehicle emissions budget should not be
interpreted as authorizing the State to delete, alter, or rescind any
of the VOC or NOX emission limitations and restrictions
contained in the approved ozone SIP. Changes to ozone SIP VOC
regulations rendering them less stringent than those contained in the
EPA approved plan cannot be made unless a revised maintenance plan is
submitted to and approved by EPA. Unauthorized relaxations, deletions,
and changes could result in both a finding of non-implementation
[section 173(b) of the CAA] and in a SIP deficiency call made pursuant
to section 110(a)(2)(H) of the CAA.
Nothing in this action will be construed as permitting or allowing
or establishing a precedent for any future request for a revision to
any SIP. Each request for revision to the SIP will be considered
separately in light of specific technical, economic, and environmental
factors and in relation to relevant statutory and regulatory
requirements.
Nothing in this action should be construed as making any
determination or expressing any position regarding Kentucky's audit
privilege and penalty immunity law KRS 224.01-040 or its impact upon
any approved provision in the SIP, including the revision at issue
here. The action taken herein does not express or imply any viewpoint
on the question of whether there are legal deficiencies in this or any
other Clean Air Act program resulting from the effect of Kentucky's
audit privilege and immunity law. A state audit privilege and immunity
law can affect only state enforcement and cannot have any impact on
federal enforcement authorities. EPA may at any time invoke its
authority under the Clean Air Act, including, for example, sections
113, 167, 205, 211 or 213, to enforce the requirements or prohibitions
of the state plan, independently of any state enforcement effort. In
addition, citizen enforcement under section 304 of the Clean Air Act is
likewise unaffected by a state audit privilege or immunity law.
I. Administrative Requirements
A. Executive Order 12866
The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has exempted this
regulatory action from review under Executive Order 12866, entitled
Regulatory Planning and Review.
B. Executive Order 13045
The final rule is not subject to Executive Order 13045, entitled
Protection of Children from Environmental Health Risks and Safety
Risks, because it is not an ``economically significant'' action under
Executive Order 12866.
C. Regulatory Flexibility Act
Under the Flexibility Act, 5 U.S.C. 600 et seq., EPA must prepare a
regulatory flexibility analysis assessing the impact of any proposed or
final rule on small entities. 5 U.S.C sections 603 and 604.
Alternatively, EPA may certify that the rule will not have a
significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities.
Small entities include small businesses, small not-for-profit
enterprises, and government entities with jurisdiction over populations
of less than 50,000.
SIP approvals under section 110 and subchapter I, part D of the CAA
does not create any new requirements, but simply approve requirements
that the state is already imposing. Therefore, because the federal SIP-
approval does not impose any new requirements, I certify that it does
not have a significant impact on small entities. Moreover, due to the
nature of the federal-state relationship under the CAA, preparation of
a regulatory flexibility analysis would constitute federal inquiry into
the economic reasonableness of state action. The CAA forbids EPA to
base its actions concerning SIPs on such grounds. Union Electric Co. v.
U.S. E.P.A., 427 U.S. 246, 256-66 (S.Ct. 1976); 42 U.S.C. section 7410
(a)(2) and, 7410 (k)(3).
D. Unfunded Mandates
Under Section 202 of the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995
(``Unfunded Mandates Act''), signed into law on March 22, 1995, EPA
must prepare a budgetary impact statement to accompany any proposed or
final rule that includes a Federal mandate that may result in estimated
costs to State, local, or tribal governments in the aggregate, or to
the private sector, of $100 million or more. Under Section 205, EPA
must select the most cost effective and least burdensome alternative
that achieves objectives of the rule and is consistent with statutory
requirements. Section 203 requires EPA to establish a plan for
informing and advising any small governments that may be significantly
or uniquely impacted by the rule.
EPA has determined that the approval promulgated does not include a
Federal mandate that may result in estimated costs of $100 million or
more to either State, local, or tribal governments in aggregate, or to
the private sector. This Federal action approves pre-existing
requirements under State or local law, and imposes no new requirements.
Accordingly, no additional costs to State, local, or tribal
governments, or to the private sector, result from this action.
E. Submission to Congress and the Comptroller General
The Congressional Review Act, 5 U.S.C. 801 et seq., as added by the
Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996, generally
provides that before a rule may take effect, the agency promulgating
the rule must submit a rule report, which includes a copy of the rule,
to each House of the Congress and to the Comptroller General of the
United States. EPA will submit a report containing this rule and other
required information to the U.S. Senate, the U.S. House of
Representatives, and the Comptroller General of the United States prior
to publication of the rule in the Federal Register. This rule is not a
``major rule'' as defined by 5 U.S.C. 804(2).
F. Petitions for Judicial Review
Under Section 307((b)(1) of the Clean Air Act, petitions for
judicial review of this action must be filed in the United States Court
of Appeals for the appropriate circuit by November 2, 1998. Filing a
petition for reconsideration by the Administrator of this final rule
does not affect the finality of this rule for the purposes of judicial
review nor does it extend the time within which a petition for judicial
[[Page 46898]]
review may be filed, and will not postpone the effectiveness of such
rule or action. This action may not be challenged later in proceedings
to enforce its requirements. (See section 307(b)(2).)
List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 52
Environmental protection, Air pollution control, Carbon monoxide,
Hydrocarbons, Incorporation by reference, Intergovernmental relations,
Nitrogen dioxide, Ozone.
Dated: July 30, 1998.
A. Stanley Meiburg,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region 4.
Part 52 of chapter I, title 40, Code of Federal Regulations, is
amended as follows:
PART 52--[AMENDED]
1. The authority citation for part 52 continues to read as follows:
Authority: 42.U.S.C. 7401 et seq.
Subpart S--Kentucky
2. Section 52.920, is amended by adding paragraph (c)(91) to read
as follows:
Sec. 52.920 Identification of plan.
* * * * *
(c) * * *
(91) The maintenance plan for Edmonson County and Owensboro ozone
area submitted by the Commonwealth of Kentucky through the Natural
Resources and Environmental Protection Cabinet on April 16, 1998, as
part of the Kentucky SIP.
(i) Incorporation by reference.
Mobile Emissions Budgets for Owensboro Area and Edmonson County
Marginal Ozone Maintenance Areas: Introduction page and Tables 1
through 8 effective April 14, 1998.
(ii) Other material. None.
[FR Doc. 98-23502 Filed 9-2-98; 8:45 am]
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