[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 152 (Tuesday, August 7, 2012)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 46990-46994]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-19173]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 52
[EPA-R03-OAR-2008-0930; FRL-9711-6 ]
Approval and Promulgation of Air Quality Implementation Plans;
Delaware; Attainment Demonstration for the 1997 8-Hour Ozone National
Ambient Air Quality Standard for the Philadelphia-Wilmington-Atlantic
City Moderate Nonattainment Area
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Proposed rule.
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SUMMARY: EPA is proposing to approve the attainment demonstration
portion of the attainment plan submitted by the State of Delaware
through the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental
Control (DNREC) as a State Implementation Plan (SIP) revision that
demonstrates attainment of the 1997 8-hour ozone national ambient air
quality standard (NAAQS) for the Philadelphia-Wilmington-Atlantic City,
PA-NJ-MD-DE, moderate nonattainment area (Philadelphia Area) by the
applicable attainment date of June 2011. EPA has determined that
Delaware's SIP revision meets the applicable requirements of the Clean
Air Act (CAA). This action is being taken in accordance with the CAA.
DATES: Written comments must be received on or before September 6,
2012.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID Number EPA-
R03-OAR-2008-0930 by one of the following methods:
A. www.regulations.gov. Follow the on-line instructions for
submitting comments.
B. Email: mastro.donna@epa.gov.
C. Mail: EPA-R03-OAR-2008-0930, Donna Mastro, Acting Associate
Director, Office of Air Planning Program, Mailcode 3AP30, U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency, Region III, 1650 Arch Street,
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19103.
D. Hand Delivery: At the previously-listed EPA Region III address.
Such deliveries are only accepted during the Docket's normal hours of
operation, and special arrangements should be made for deliveries of
boxed information.
Instructions: Direct your comments to Docket ID No. EPA-R03-OAR-
2008-0930. EPA's policy is that all comments received will be included
in the public docket without change, and may be made available online
at www.regulations.gov, including any
[[Page 46991]]
personal information provided, unless the comment includes information
claimed to be Confidential Business Information (CBI) or other
information whose disclosure is restricted by statute. Do not submit
information that you consider to be CBI or otherwise protected through
www.regulations.gov or email. The www.regulations.gov Web site is an
``anonymous access'' system, which means EPA will not know your
identity or contact information unless you provide it in the body of
your comment. If you send an email comment directly to EPA without
going through www.regulations.gov, your email address will be
automatically captured and included as part of the comment that is
placed in the public docket and made available on the Internet. If you
submit an electronic comment, EPA recommends that you include your name
and other contact information in the body of your comment and with any
disk or CD-ROM you submit. If EPA cannot read your comment due to
technical difficulties and cannot contact you for clarification, EPA
may not be able to consider your comment. Electronic files should avoid
the use of special characters, any form of encryption, and be free of
any defects or viruses.
Docket: All documents in the electronic docket are listed in the
www.regulations.gov index. Although listed in the index, some
information is not publicly available, i.e., CBI or other information
whose disclosure is restricted by statute. Certain other material, such
as copyrighted material, is not placed on the Internet and will be
publicly available only in hard copy form. Publicly available docket
materials are available either electronically in www.regulations.gov or
in hard copy during normal business hours at the Air Protection
Division, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region III, 1650 Arch
Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19103. Copies of the State submittal
are available at the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and
Environmental Control, 89 Kings Highway, P.O. Box 1401, Dover, Delaware
19903.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Rose Quinto, (215) 814-2182, or by
email at quinto.rose@epa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Throughout this document, whenever ``we,''
``us,'' or ``our'' is used, we mean EPA. The following is provided to
aid in locating information in this preamble.
I. What action is EPA proposing to take?
II. What is the background for EPA's proposed action?
III. What are the CAA requirements for a moderate 8-hour ozone
nonattainment area?
IV. What is included in Delaware's SIP submittal?
V. What is EPA's review of Delaware's modeled attainment
demonstration and weight of evidence analysis for the Philadelphia
area?
VI. Proposed Action
VII. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews
I. What action is EPA proposing to take?
EPA is proposing to approve the attainment demonstration element of
a SIP revision submitted by DNREC to EPA on June 13, 2007. The June 13,
2007 SIP revision consisted of Delaware's attainment plan for the 1997
8-hour ozone NAAQS for the Philadelphia Area. The ozone attainment plan
submitted on June 13, 2007 included the attainment demonstration for
the Philadelphia Area and its associated motor vehicle emission budgets
(MVEBs) used for transportation conformity purposes in all three
Delaware counties (New Castle, Kent and Sussex Counties). The Delaware
attainment plan also included a 2002 base year emissions inventory, an
analysis of the reasonably available control measures/reasonably
available control technology (RACM/RACT), the 2008 rate of progress
(ROP) plan and its associated MVEBs, and contingency measures. The ROP
plan and its MVEBs, 2002 base year emissions inventory, RACM/RACT
analysis, and contingency measures (elements of the June 13, 2007
attainment plan) were approved on April 8, 2010 (75 FR 17763).
Therefore, in this action, EPA is only proposing to approve the
attainment demonstration for the 1997 8-hour ozone NAAQS for the
Philadelphia Area.
In a separate and concurrent process, EPA is conducting a process
to find adequate the MVEBs for New Castle, Kent, and Sussex Counties
which are associated with the Delaware attainment demonstration for the
Philadelphia Area. Concurrently with EPA's proposal to approve the SIP,
a notice will be posted on EPA's Web site at http://www.epa.gov/otaq/stateresources/transconf/currsips.htm for the purpose of opening a 30-
day public comment period on the adequacy of the MVEBs for New Castle,
Kent and Sussex Counties in the June 13, 2007 SIP revision's attainment
demonstration for the Philadelphia Area. That notice will inform the
public of the availability of the Delaware SIP revision on DNREC's Web
site. Interested members of the public could access Delaware's June 13,
2007 SIP revision on line at www.regulations.gov, Docket No. EPA-R03-
OAR-2008-0930. Following EPA's public comment period, responses to any
comments received will be addressed.
EPA has determined that Delaware's attainment demonstration meets
the applicable requirements of the CAA because it demonstrates
attainment by the applicable date of June 15, 2011.\1\ EPA's analysis
and findings are discussed in this proposed rulemaking. In addition, a
technical support document (TSD) for this proposal entitled ``Technical
Support Document for the Modeling and Weight of Evidence Portions of
the State of Delaware's Ozone State Implementation Plan,'' dated May 2,
2012 (referred to herein as the Attainment TSD) is available on line at
www.regulations.gov, Docket No. EPA-R03-OAR-2008-0930. The Attainment
TSD provides additional explanation on EPA's analysis supporting this
proposed approval of the attainment demonstration.
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\1\ As explained in detail in Section II, EPA approved on
January 21, 2011 a one-year extension of the Philadelphia Area's
attainment date from June 2010 to June 2011. 76 FR 3840 (Jan. 21,
2011).
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II. What is the background for EPA's proposed action?
On June 13, 2007, DNREC submitted a comprehensive SIP revision to
meet the requirements for an attainment plan for the 1997 8-hour ozone
NAAQS for the Philadelphia Area. On May 8, 2009 (74 FR 21599), EPA
proposed to disapprove the ozone attainment demonstration element of
the June 13, 2007 attainment plan of the comprehensive SIP revision.
EPA proposed to disapprove the attainment demonstration of the 1997 8-
hour NAAQS for the Philadelphia Area because EPA determined that the
photochemical modeling did not demonstrate attainment, and the weight
of evidence analysis used to support the attainment demonstration did
not provide sufficient evidence that the Philadelphia Area would attain
the 1997 8-hour ozone NAAQS by the June 2010 deadline for the ozone
nonattainment areas classified as moderate. On December 9, 2011 (76 FR
76929), EPA withdrew the May 8, 2009 proposed disapproval of the
attainment demonstration for the Philadelphia Area based on ambient air
quality monitoring data demonstrating attainment.
Moderate areas are required to attain the 1997 8-hour ozone NAAQS
by no later than six years after designation. Therefore, the
Philadelphia Area was to attain by June 15, 2010. See 40 CFR 51.903 and
69 FR 23951 (April 30,
[[Page 46992]]
2004). However, the Philadelphia Area qualified for a one year
extension of its attainment date, based on the complete, certified
ambient air quality data for the 2009 ozone season. See 40 CFR 51.907.
On January 21, 2011 (76 FR 3840), EPA approved a one year extension of
the Philadelphia Area's attainment date from June 15, 2010 to June 15,
2011, based in part on air quality data recorded during the 2009 ozone
season.
On March 26, 2012 (77 FR 17341), EPA published two determinations
regarding the 1997 8-hour ozone NAAQS for the Philadelphia Area. First,
EPA made a clean data determination that the Philadelphia Area had
attained the 1997 8-hour ozone NAAQS. This determination was based upon
complete, quality assured, and certified ambient air monitoring data
that showed the Philadelphia Area had monitored attainment of the 1997
8-hour ozone NAAQS for the 2008-2010 monitoring period. Ambient air
monitoring data for the 2009-2011 monitoring period is consistent with
continued attainment. Second, pursuant to section 181(b)(2)(A) of the
CAA, EPA made a determination of attainment that the Philadelphia Area
had attained the 1997 8-hour ozone NAAQS by its attainment date of June
15, 2011.
III. What are the CAA requirements for a moderate 8-hour ozone
nonattainment area?
In 1997, EPA revised the health-based NAAQS for ozone, setting it
at 0.08 parts per million (ppm) averaged over an 8-hour time frame. EPA
set the 1997 8-hour ozone standard based on scientific evidence
demonstrating that ozone causes adverse health effects at lower ozone
concentrations and over longer periods of time than was understood when
the pre-existing 1-hour ozone standard was set. EPA determined that the
1997 8-hour standard would be more protective of human health,
especially for children and adults who are active outdoors, and
individuals with a pre-existing respiratory disease, such as asthma.
On April 30, 2004 (69 FR 23951), EPA finalized its attainment/
nonattainment designations for areas across the country with respect to
the 1997 8-hour ozone standard. These actions became effective on June
15, 2004. In addition, on April 30, 2004 (69 FR 23951), EPA promulgated
its Phase 1 Implementation Rule which provided how areas designated
nonattainment for the 1997 8-hour ozone standard would be classified.
Among those nonattainment areas is the Philadelphia Area, which
includes all three counties in Delaware, five counties in eastern
Pennsylvania, one county in Maryland, and eight counties in southern
New Jersey. Therefore, the Philadelphia Area includes New Castle, Kent
and Sussex Counties in Delaware. EPA's Phase 2 Implementation Rule
published on November 29, 2005 (70 FR 71612) specifies that states must
submit attainment demonstrations for their nonattainment areas to EPA
by no later than three years from the effective date of designation,
that is, by June 15, 2007. See 40 CFR 51.908(a).
Pursuant to the Phase 1 Implementation Rule, an area was classified
under subpart 2 of Title I of the CAA based on its 8-hour design value
if it had a 1-hour design value at or above 0.12 ppm. Based on this
criterion, the Philadelphia Area was classified under subpart 2 as a
moderate nonattainment area. The Phase 2 Implementation Rule addressed
the control obligations that apply to areas classified under subpart 2.
Among other things, the Phase 1 and 2 Implementation Rules outline the
required SIP elements and deadlines for those various requirements in
areas designated as moderate nonattainment.
IV. What is included in Delaware's SIP submittal?
On June 13, 2007, Delaware submitted a comprehensive attainment
plan as a SIP revision for the 1997 8-hour ozone NAAQS. The SIP
revision included an attainment demonstration with MVEBs, the ROP plan
with MVEBs, a RACM/RACT analysis, the 2002 base year emissions
inventory, and contingency measures. The attainment demonstration of
the June 13, 2007 SIP submittal is the only subject of this proposed
rulemaking. In a separate and concurrent process, EPA is proposing an
adequacy determination for the 2009 MVEBs associated with the ozone
attainment demonstration for all three counties of Delaware. The other
elements of the June 13, 2007 SIP submittal were approved by EPA on
April 8, 2010 (75 FR 17863).
V. What is EPA's review of Delaware's modeled attainment demonstration
and weight of evidence analysis for the Philadelphia area?
Section 110(a)(2)(K) of the CAA requires states to prepare air
quality modeling to show how they will meet ambient air quality
standards. EPA determined that areas classified as moderate or above
must use photochemical grid modeling or any other analytical method
determined by the Administrator to be at least as effective to
demonstrate attainment of the ozone health-based standard by the
required attainment date (November 29, 2005, 70 FR 71612, and 40 CFR
51.908). On April 30, 2004 (69 FR 23951 and 40 CFR 51.903), EPA
specified how areas would be classified with regard to the 8-hour ozone
standard set by EPA in 1997. On April 30, 2004 (69 FR 23858), EPA
followed these procedures and classified the Philadelphia Area as
moderate, and the nonattainment area was required to attain the 1997 8-
hour ozone standard by June 2010. Because the attainment date was June
2010 for moderate areas, states had to achieve emission reductions by
the ozone season of 2009 in order for ozone concentrations to be
reduced and show attainment during the last complete ozone season
before the 2010 deadline.
A. EPA Guidance for Using Models To Determine Attainment
EPA's photochemical modeling guidance is found at Guidance on the
Use of Models and Other Analyses for Demonstrating Attainment of Air
Quality Goals for Ozone, PM 2.5, and Regional Haze, EPA-454/
B-07-002, April 2007. The photochemical modeling guidance is divided
into two parts. One part describes how to use a photochemical grid
model for ozone to assess whether an area will come into attainment of
the air quality standard. A second part describes how the user should
perform supplemental analyses, using various analytical methods, to
determine if the model over predicts, under predicts, or accurately
predicts the air quality improvement projected to occur by the
attainment date. The guidance indicates that states should review these
supplemental analyses, in combination with the modeling analysis, in a
``weight of evidence'' assessment to determine whether each area is
likely to achieve timely attainment.
A description of how the attainment demonstration from the June 13,
2007 SIP revision addresses this EPA modeling guidance for a modeled
attainment demonstration can be found in the Attainment TSD, available
on line at www.regulations.gov, Docket number EPA-R03-OAR-2008-0930.
In the June 13, 2007 SIP revision, the photochemical grid model
used projected emissions for 2009, including emission changes due to
regulations Delaware and its neighboring states were planning to
implement and expected growth by the 2009 ozone season. Meteorological
conditions from 2002, the same as the base year modeling, were used in
the projection modeling for 2009. Using the base case meteorology
allows the effect of changes in states' emissions to be determined
[[Page 46993]]
without being influenced by yearly fluctuations in meteorology and is
consistent with EPA guidance.
The attainment test used in the Philadelphia Area modeling
demonstration involved the application of model-based relative response
factors (RRFs) to base year design values at each monitor to produce
projected future year design values (2009). The projected 2009 design
values represent design values that should result from emission
controls Delaware and other states planned to have in place in 2009. As
discussed in the Attainment TSD, the 2009 design values should be less
than or equal to 84 parts per billion (ppb) at all monitoring stations
to meet the attainment test. The SIP modeling predicts that in 2009,
the Philadelphia Area will not pass the attainment test since design
values are projected to be over the 84 ppb standard.
In summary, the basic photochemical grid modeling presented in the
Delaware SIP revision meets EPA's guidelines and when used with the
methods recommended in EPA's modeling guidance, is acceptable to EPA.
However, when EPA's attainment test is applied to the modeling results,
the 2009 ozone design value is predicted to be 91 ppb in the
Philadelphia Area. Thus, based on EPA's modeled attainment test, the
Philadelphia Area has not demonstrated that it will reach attainment of
the 1997 8-hour ozone standard in the attainment year with the modeled
emission reduction strategies committed to by Delaware and the
neighboring states in the Ozone Transport Region (OTR). Therefore, a
weight of evidence (WOE) analysis was used by Delaware and reviewed by
EPA to demonstrate attainment of the 1997 8-hour ozone standard in the
Philadelphia Area.
B. Weight of Evidence Demonstration
EPA's modeling guidance describes how to use a photochemical grid
model and additional analytical methods to complete a WOE analysis to
estimate if emissions control strategies will lead to attainment of the
1997 8-hour ozone NAAQS. A WOE analysis is a supporting analysis that
helps to determine if the results of the photochemical modeling system
are correctly (or not correctly) predicting future air quality.
The WOE analysis presented in the Delaware SIP revision describes
the analyses performed, databases used, key assumptions and outcomes of
each analysis, and why the evidence, viewed as a whole, supports a
conclusion that the Philadelphia Area will attain the NAAQS despite the
model prediction that some monitors' future design values exceed the
1997 8-hour ozone NAAQS.
EPA's review of the WOE analysis in the Attainment TSD included the
following: (1) A comparison of model-predicted 2009 ozone design values
to monitored design values for 2006-2011; (2) an analysis of recent
ozone trends in the Philadelphia Area; and (3) alternative methods for
calculating the 2009 ozone design value. As discussed in detail in the
Attainment TSD, the 2009 model over predicted ozone design values for
2006-2011 for most cases. Further, in the Attainment TSD, EPA's
analysis concurs with Delaware's analysis of significant declining
trends in the Philadelphia Area ozone design values. The Attainment TSD
concluded that additional emissions reductions have continued to occur
due mostly to local controls in each nonattainment area and to a few
reductions in major sources due to initiatives in the OTR. The
Attainment TSD noted that monitored ozone design values for each of the
Philadelphia Area monitors continued to decline and to show attainment
in 2010 and 2011.
As discussed in detail in the Attainment TSD, Delaware's attainment
demonstration also asserted an alternative baseline concentration could
be used to demonstrate attainment. However, EPA determined in the
Attainment TSD that the modeling would still show nonattainment even
with this alternative baseline value. Likewise, EPA determined in the
Attainment TSD that Delaware's recalculation of 2009 modeled ozone
design values with a relative response factor in Delaware's June 13,
2007 SIP revision reduced the modeled 2009 ozone design values slightly
but the model still over predicts the actual monitored 2009 design
values. In conclusion, in the Attainment TSD, EPA determined with the
benefit of 2009 monitored design values that the model in Delaware's
June 13, 2007 SIP revision over predicts actual concentrations even
when model adjustments are made as discussed herein to attempt to
account for model over prediction.
EPA has determined that the Delaware photochemical grid modeling
results predict a 2009 projected design value well above the 1997 8-
hour ozone NAAQS for the Philadelphia Area. However, after taking into
account WOE arguments regarding model over prediction of the 2009
monitored design values and recent ozone design value trends, which
show attainment of the standard by 2010, EPA determined that the
Delaware SIP has demonstrated attainment of the ozone standard by the
extended attainment date of June 2011 as discussed in detail in the
Attainment TSD.
VI. Proposed Action
EPA is proposing to approve the 1997 8-hour ozone NAAQS attainment
demonstration, included in Delaware's June 13, 2007 attainment plan SIP
revision, as demonstrating attainment for the Philadelphia Area by the
applicable attainment date of June 15, 2011. EPA is soliciting public
comments on the issues discussed in this document. These comments will
be considered before taking final action.
VII. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews
Under the CAA, the Administrator is required to approve a SIP
submission that complies with the provisions of the CAA and applicable
Federal regulations. 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 that they meet the criteria of the CAA. Accordingly, 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 Order
12866 (58 FR 51735, October 4, 1993);
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
[[Page 46994]]
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).
In addition, this proposed rule, pertaining to the 1997 8-hour
ozone attainment demonstration for the Philadelphia Area submitted by
Delaware on June 13, 2007, does not have tribal implications as
specified by Executive Order 13175 (65 FR 67249, November 9, 2000),
because the SIP is not approved to apply in Indian country located in
the state, and EPA notes that it will not impose substantial direct
costs on tribal governments or preempt tribal law.
List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 52
Environmental protection, Air pollution control, Nitrogen dioxide,
Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, Volatile organic compounds.
Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.
Dated: July 26, 2012.
W.C. Early,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region III.
[FR Doc. 2012-19173 Filed 8-6-12; 8:45 am]
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