[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 236 (Thursday, December 9, 2004)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 71375-71380]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-27026]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[R05-OAR-2004-MN-0002; FRL-7846-7]


Approval and Promulgation of Implementation Plans: Minnesota: 
Minneapolis-St. Paul Carbon Monoxide Maintenance Plan Update

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Direct final rule.

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SUMMARY: EPA is approving a revision to the Minnesota State 
Implementation Plan (SIP) for the maintenance of the Carbon Monoxide 
(CO) ambient air quality standards (NAAQS) submitted on November 10, 
2004. Specifically, EPA is approving Minnesota's revised 1996 and 2009 
CO emissions inventories and 2009 Motor Vehicle Emissions Budgets 
(MVEB) recalculated using MOBILE6 for the Minneapolis-St. Paul CO 
maintenance area.

DATES: This rule is effective on January 24, 2005, unless EPA receives 
relevant adverse written comments by January 10, 2005. If adverse 
comment is received, EPA will publish a timely withdrawal of the rule 
in the Federal Register and inform the public that the rule will not 
take effect.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. R05-OAR-
2004-MN-0002 by one of the following methods:
    Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the 
on-line instructions for submitting comments.
    E-mail: <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#41232e33353b24336f2b2038012431206f262e37"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="7f1d100d0b051a0d51151e063f1a0f1e51181009">[email protected]</span></a>.
    Fax: (312) 886-5824.
    Mail: You may send written comments to: J. Elmer Bortzer, Chief, 
Air Programs Branch (AR-18J),

[[Page 71376]]

Environmental Protection Agency, 77 West Jackson Boulevard, Chicago, 
Illinois 60604.
    Hand delivery: Deliver your comments to: J. Elmer Bortzer, Chief, 
Air Programs Branch, (AR-18J), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 
Region 5, 77 West Jackson Boulevard, 18th floor, Chicago, Illinois 
60604. Such deliveries are only accepted during the Regional Office's 
normal hours of operation. The Regional Office's official hours of 
business are Monday through Friday, 8:30 to 4:30 excluding Federal 
holidays.
    Instructions: Direct your comments to Docket ID No.R05-OAR-2004-MN-
0002. EPA's policy is that all comments received will be included in 
the public docket without change, including any 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 regulations.gov, or 
e-mail. The Federal 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 e-mail comment directly to EPA without going through 
regulations.gov, your e-mail 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. For 
additional instructions on submitting comments, go to the SUPPLEMENTARY 
INFORMATION section of the related proposed rule which is published in 
the proposed rule section of this Federal Register.
    Docket: All documents in the docket are listed in an index. 
Although listed in the index, some information is not publicly 
available, i.e., CBI or other information whose disclosure is 
restricted by statute. Publicly available docket materials are 
available in hard copy at Environmental Protection Agency, Region 5, 
Air and Radiation Division, 77 West Jackson Boulevard, Chicago, 
Illinois 60604. (We recommend that you telephone Michael Leslie, 
Environmental Engineer, at (312) 353-6680 before visiting the Region 5 
office.) This Facility is open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday 
through Friday, excluding legal holidays.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Michael Leslie, Environmental 
Engineer, Criteria Pollutants Section (AR-18J), Air Programs Branch, 
Air and Radiation Division, United States Environmental Protection 
Agency, Region 5, 77 West Jackson Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois 60604, 
(312) 353-6680, <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#2d41485e4144480340444e454c48416d485d4c034a425b"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="ff939a8c93969ad192969c979e9a93bf9a8f9ed1989089">[email protected]</span></a>.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Throughout this document whenever ``we,'' 
``us,'' or ``our'' is used, we mean EPA. This SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION 
section is organized as follows:

I. General Information
    A. Does This Action Apply to Me?
    B. How Can I Get Copies of This Document and Other Related 
Information?
    C. How and To Whom Do I Submit Comments?
II. Background
III. What Is The MOBILE Model and MOBILE6?
IV. What Is Transportation Conformity?
V. What Is a Motor Vehicle Emissions Budget?
VI. What Is the Purpose and Content of Minnesota's Submittal?
VII. What Are the Revised CO Emissions Inventories?
VIII. What Is Minneapolis-St. Paul Revised Motor Vehicle Emissions 
Budget?
IX. EPA Action.
X. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

I. General Information

A. Does This Action Apply to Me?

    This action is a non-regulatory planning document designed to 
ensure that ambient concentrations of CO in the Minneapolis-St. Paul 
area are maintained at levels that comply with the NAAQS.

B. How Can I Get Copies of This Document and Other Related Information?

    1. The Regional Office has established an electronic public 
rulemaking file available for inspection at Regional Material in 
EDocket (RME) under RME ID No. R05-OAR-2004-MN-0002, and a hard copy 
file which is available for inspection at the Regional Office. The 
official public file consists of the documents specifically referenced 
in this action, any public comments received, and other information 
related to this action. Although a part of the official docket, the 
public rulemaking file does not include Confidential Business 
Information (CBI) or other information whose disclosure is restricted 
by statute. The official public rulemaking file is the collection of 
materials that is available for public viewing at the Air Programs 
Branch, Air and Radiation Division, EPA Region 5, 77 West Jackson 
Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois 60604. EPA requests that if at all 
possible, you contact the person listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION 
CONTACT section to schedule your inspection. The Regional Office's 
official hours of business are Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 
p.m. excluding Federal holidays.
    2. Electronic Access. You may access this Federal Register document 
electronically through the regulations.gov Web site located at http://www.regulations.gov where you can find, review, and submit comments on 
Federal rules that have been published in the Federal Register, the 
government's legal newspaper, and are open for comment.
    For public commenters, it is important to note that EPA's policy is 
that public comments, whether submitted electronically or in paper, 
will be made available for public viewing at the EPA Regional Office, 
as EPA receives them and without change, unless the comment contains 
copyrighted material, CBI, or other information whose disclosure is 
restricted by statute. When EPA identifies a comment containing 
copyrighted material, EPA will provide a reference to that material in 
the version of the comment that is placed in the official public 
rulemaking file. The entire printed comment, including the copyrighted 
material, will be available at the Regional Office for public 
inspection.

C. How and to Whom Do I Submit Comments?

    You may submit comments electronically, by mail, or through hand 
delivery/courier. To ensure proper receipt by EPA, identify the 
appropriate rulemaking identification number by including the text 
``Public comment on proposed rulemaking Region 5 Air Docket ``R05-OAR-
2004-MN-0002'' in the subject line on the first page of your comment. 
Please ensure that your comments are submitted within the specified 
comment period. Comments received after the close of the comment period 
will be marked ``late.'' EPA is not required to consider these late 
comments.
    For detailed instructions on submitting public comments and on what 
to consider as you prepare your comments see the ADDRESSES section and 
the section I General Information of the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION 
section of the related proposed rule which is

[[Page 71377]]

published in the Proposed Rules section of this Federal Register.

II. Background

    The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) is required to 
develop and periodically update a maintenance plan to ensure that 
ambient concentrations of CO in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area are 
maintained at levels that comply with the NAAQS. The CO Maintenance 
Plan for Minneapolis-St. Paul is a component of Minnesota's SIP for the 
NAAQS. The CO maintenance plan established a MVEB which is used in 
transportation conformity.
    On January 29, 2002, EPA officially released the MOBILE6 motor 
vehicle emissions factor model (67 FR 4254). The primary purpose of 
this submittal is to use the MOBILE6 model to help MPCA update the CO 
Maintenance Plan's MVEB. The on-road mobile, point and area, and non-
road portions of the maintenance plan's CO emissions inventory have 
been updated as well.

III. What Is the MOBILE Model and MOBILE6?

    MOBILE is an EPA emissions factor model used for estimating 
pollution from on-road motor vehicles. MOBILE calculates emissions of 
volatile organic compounds (VOCs), nitrogen oxides (NO<INF>X</INF>) and 
carbon monoxide (CO) from passenger cars, motorcycles, buses, and 
light-duty and heavy-duty trucks. The model accounts for changes in 
vehicle emission standards, changes in vehicle populations and 
activity, and variation in local conditions such as temperature, 
humidity, fuel quality, and air quality programs.
    MOBILE is used to calculate current and future inventories of motor 
vehicle emissions at the national and local level. Inventories based on 
MOBILE are also used to meet the federal Clean Air Act's SIP and 
transportation conformity requirements.
    MOBILE6 is the first major update of the MOBILE model since 1993. 
The MOBILE model was first developed in 1978. It has been updated many 
times to reflect changes in the vehicle fleet and fuels, to incorporate 
EPA's growing understanding of vehicle emissions, and to cover new 
emissions regulations and modeling needs. Although some minor updates 
were made in 1996 with the release of MOBILE5b, MOBILE6 is the first 
major revision to MOBILE since MOBILE5a was released in 1993.

IV. What Is Transportation Conformity?

    Transportation conformity means that the level of emissions from 
the transportation sector (cars, trucks and buses) must be consistent 
with the requirements in the SIP to attain and maintain the air quality 
standards. The Clean Air Act, in section 176(c), requires conformity of 
transportation plans, programs and projects to an implementation plan's 
purpose of attaining and maintaining the National Ambient Air Quality 
Standards. EPA published rules (40 CFR part 93 subpart A) establishing 
criteria and procedures for determining whether transportation plans, 
programs and projects funded or approved under title 23 U.S.C. or the 
Federal Transit Act conform to the SIP.
    The transportation conformity rules require a CO maintenance area, 
such as Minneapolis-St. Paul, to compare the actual projected emissions 
from cars, trucks and buses on the highway network, to the MVEB 
established by a maintenance plan. The Minneapolis-St. Paul area has an 
approved CO maintenance plan. This submittal established the new MVEB 
for transportation conformity purposes.

V. What Is a Motor Vehicle Emissions Budget?

    An MVEB is the projected level of controlled emissions from the 
transportation sector (on-road mobile sources) that is estimated in the 
SIP. The SIP controls emissions through regulations, for example, on 
fuels and exhaust levels for cars. The emissions budget concept is 
further explained in the preamble to the November 24, 1993, 
transportation conformity rule (58 FR 62188). The preamble also 
describes how to establish the MVEB in the SIP and how to revise the 
emissions budget. The transportation conformity rule allows changing 
the MVEB as long as the total level of emissions from all sources 
remains below the attainment level.

VI. What Is the Purpose and Content of Minnesota's Submittal?

    In this submittal, Minnesota provided 1996 and 2009 CO emissions 
inventories based on the MOBILE6 model. The purpose of this submittal 
is to update the CO Maintenance Plan MVEB to reflect the updated 
inventories. EPA officially released the MOBILE6 motor vehicle 
emissions factor model on January 29, 2002 (67 FR 4254). The November 
10, 2004, submittal demonstrates that the new levels of motor vehicle 
emissions calculated using MOBILE6 continue to support maintenance of 
the CO NAAQS for Minneapolis-St. Paul area.

VII. What Are the Revised CO Emissions Inventories?

    The MPCA contracted with the Sonoma Technology Incorporated (STI) 
consultants to develop the emissions inventory for the maintenance 
plan. Table 1 below summarizes the revised CO emissions inventories in 
tons per winter day. EPA is approving these revised 2009 emissions 
inventories. The CO emission inventory includes on-road mobile sources, 
point and area sources, and non-road mobile sources.

      Table 1.--Minneapolis-St. Paul CO Emissions (tons/winter day)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                    Source category                       1996     2009
------------------------------------------------------------------------
On-Road Mobile........................................    1,872    1,311
Point and Area........................................      297      127
Non-Road Mobile.......................................      337      418
                                                       ----------
    Totals............................................    2,506    1,856
------------------------------------------------------------------------

On-Road Mobile Sources

    On-road mobile sources represent the majority of CO emissions for 
the Minneapolis-St Paul CO maintenance area. The revised inventories 
were developed using the latest planning assumptions, including updated 
vehicle registration data and age distribution, vehicle miles traveled 
(VMT), speeds, fleet mix, and SIP control measures.
    The VMT data used for the 1996 on-road mobile source inventories 
were generated from the data that was reported annually to the United 
States Department of Transportation's Highway Performance Monitoring 
System (HPMS). Because HPMS data are annual average daily traffic 
(AADT) data, these data need to be adjusted for wintertime inventories. 
The Minnesota Department of Transportation estimated a scaling factor 
of 0.87 for converting annual VMT to wintertime VMT, and this factor 
was applied to all HPMS data.
    For future years, VMT data were estimated using a traffic demand 
model (TDM) recently developed by the Metropolitan Council. This model 
estimates VMT on freeways, including some but not all ramps and 
arterials and collectors. To estimate the total VMT on freeways (i.e., 
including all ramps), a default assumption from MOBILE6 that total 
freeway VMT is 92% nonramp and 8% ramp was used.
    For the 1996 emission inventory, the speeds were assumed for each 
functional class (interstate, arterial, and collectors), with the 
exception that local systems (urban and rural) were modeled as local 
roadways in MOBILE6, and therefore had fixed average speeds of 12.9 
mph. Information was not available

[[Page 71378]]

to break the speed data down into separate averages for AM peak, PM 
peak, and off-peak periods, or to determine the statistical 
distribution of different speeds. For freeways and interstates, the 
speeds were assumed to be the VMT weighted average of ramp and nonramp 
speeds. The MOBILE6 defaults for freeway ramp VMT and freeway nonramp 
VMT were assumed.
    The TDM calculates speeds for future years, but the speed 
calculation methods were not developed for purposes of emissions 
modeling. In most transportation models, speed is estimated primarily 
to allocate travel across the roadway network. Speed is used as a 
measure of impedance to travel rather than as a prediction of accurate 
travel times. For this reason, speed results from most travel demand 
models must be adjusted to properly estimate actual average speeds.
    As a result, rather than using the speeds calculated by the TDM, 
speeds were calculated in accordance with EPA guidance. The EPA 
guidance identifies eight different methodologies for estimating speed 
of which one involves the use of a post-processor. For each TDM run, 
the post-processor was applied to each roadway link for each hour of 
the day. The number of roadway links differed among TDM runs; and 
therefore the interpolation of link-specific speed data between TDM 
runs (as was done for VMT data) would not have been straightforward for 
2009 and 2019. The interagency consultation group decided that it was 
reasonable to estimate that 2009 average speeds would be approximately 
the same as those estimated from the 2010 TDM run, and 2019 average 
speeds would be approximately the same as those estimated from the 2020 
TDM run. VMT weighted average speeds were calculated for each county, 
MOBILE6 roadway type (i.e., freeway and arterial/collector), and time 
period (AM peak, PM peak, or off-peak).
    The distribution of VMT across different vehicle types is referred 
to as the ``VMT mix.'' MOBILE6 includes default VMT mixes for past, 
current, and future years, taking into account projected changes in VMT 
mix over time. Although past VMT mix information could have been 
updated based on HPMS data, this is not possible for future years. For 
this reason, MOBILE6 defaults for VMT mix were used to generate 
emissions.
    Although the MOBILE6 model includes default vehicle age 
distributions, which are usually assumed to not change over time, 
MOBILE6 results can depend heavily on the distribution of vehicle ages 
used. STI obtained vehicle registration data from the Minnesota 
Department of Public Safety. For each vehicle, these data included a 
vehicle identification number (VIN) and the county of registration. 
These data were used to determine age distributions for light-duty 
passenger vehicles and light-duty trucks (LDVs and LDTs) in the 8-
county Minneapolis-St. Paul area. STI used MOBILE6 defaults for heavy-
duty vehicle age distributions. Heavy-duty vehicle traffic in 
Minneapolis-St. Paul is likely to have a significant contribution from 
vehicles registered outside the eight counties, and possibly outside 
the state, thus indicating that national default data were more 
appropriate for heavy-duty vehicles than for light-duty vehicles.
    For light-duty cars, the Minneapolis-St. Paul age distribution is 
very similar to the default national age distribution included in 
MOBILE6; but LDTs in the 8-county region were significantly newer than 
the MOBILE6 default age distribution with the exception that Class 1 
LDTs were significantly older than the MOBILE6 default age 
distribution.

Point and Area Sources

    The emission inventories for stationary and area sources were based 
on MPCA's emissions estimates for 1996 and 2002. Information gaps in 
the 2002 inventory were filled with estimates acquired from the Central 
Regional Air Planning Association, the Lake Michigan Air Directors' 
Consortium, and the preliminary draft version of the EPA's 2002 
National Emission Inventory (NEI). Emissions were projected from 2002 
forward to 2009 (and, when needed, back to 1996) by applying growth 
factors from EPA's Economic Growth Analysis System (EGAS) model or 
other appropriate growth surrogates. For example, STI applied survey 
data that indicated declining trends in the numbers of fireplaces per 
household and the consumption of wood per fireplace, as well as 
increasing trends in the estimated numbers of housing units (historical 
and forecasted) to project emissions for residential wood combustion. 
Finally, STI applied seasonal profiles to estimate emissions for a 
typical winter day.
    The specific information sources used for 1996 and 2002 emissions 
estimates, growth projection factors, and seasonal profiles applied for 
each emissions source category (designated by source classification 
code [SCC]) were included in an appendix to the submittal. In addition, 
some of the stationary source estimates reflect local data.

Non-Road Sources

    Non-road emissions result from the use of fuel in a diverse 
collection of vehicles and equipment such as recreational vehicles, 
agricultural equipment, and construction equipment. STI used the newest 
version of EPA's NONROAD model to estimate emissions from all non-road 
sources except commercial marine vessels (CMVs), locomotives, and 
aircraft. NONROAD was run for the 1996 and 2009 winters in the 8-county 
area, using weekday activity information. The most recent version of 
this model is NONROAD2004 released on May 11, 2004.
    Some of the seasonal activity factors in NONROAD2004 were adjusted 
to account for local information. For the Minneapolis-St. Paul area, it 
was determined the wintertime activity for some types of lawn and 
garden equipment (and golf carts) should be 0%. Aircraft ground support 
equipment and terminal tractors are excluded from the non-road 
emissions because these emissions were included in MPCA's emission 
inventory for airports.
    In winter, emissions from CMVs in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area are 
negligible due to frozen waterways. Year 2002 emissions from airport 
ground-support equipment at the Minneapolis-St. Paul airport and 
emissions from aircraft were acquired from the MPCA point source 
inventory. Emissions from ground-support equipment were projected to 
1996 and 2009 by using EGAS growth factors. Emissions for aircraft were 
projected by using historical aircraft operations data, forecasts of 
operations by the Metropolitan Council, or forecasts of operations by 
the Federal Aviation Administration whenever available. Historical data 
and forecasts were not readily available for a few small airports; 
therefore, EGAS growth factors were applied instead. Aircraft at these 
airports accounted for approximately 12% of total emissions from 
aircraft in 2002.
    Emissions from locomotives were estimated to be quite low 
(approximately one ton per winter day) in the 1998 Maintenance Plan, 
and a recent evaluation of locomotive emissions conducted by STI for 
calendar year 2002 confirmed that these emissions were approximately 
correct. Therefore, the 1996 locomotive emission estimates in the 1998 
Maintenance Plan were retained. For 2009, locomotive emissions were 
assumed to be identical, since EPA has projected no growth in 
locomotive fuel usage and no CO emission reductions

[[Page 71379]]

associated with its locomotive emissions regulations.

VIII. What Is Minneapolis-St. Paul Revised Motor Vehicle Emissions 
Budget?

    MPCA submitted an emissions inventory for the Minneapolis-St. Paul 
maintenance area for the base year of 1996. The year 1996 was selected 
for the inventory as no excursions or violations of the standard 
occurred. Emissions were then projected for 2009. The MOBILE6 emissions 
model was used for on-road mobile sources. These revised inventories 
were developed using the latest planning assumptions, including updated 
vehicle registration data from 1996 through 2009, VMT, speeds, fleet 
mix, and SIP control measures. The emission inventory amounts are shown 
in the table below.

      Table 2.--Minneapolis-St. Paul CO Emissions (tons/winter day)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                    Source category                       1996     2009
------------------------------------------------------------------------
On-Road Mobile........................................    1,872    1,311
Point and Area........................................      297      127
Non-Road Mobile.......................................      337      418
                                                       ----------
    Totals............................................    2,506    1,856
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    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 attainment level of 
emissions is the level of emissions during one of the years in which 
the area met the air quality health standard. For example: The 
emissions from point, area and mobile sources for the Minneapolis-St. 
Paul area in 1996 equaled 2506 tons per winter day of CO. The projected 
emissions for 2009 totaled 1856 tons per winter day of CO from all 
sources. The safety margin for the Minneapolis-St. Paul area is the 
difference between these amounts, or 650 tons per winter day of CO.
    Minnesota has submitted a complete and accurate emissions inventory 
of CO for the Minneapolis-St. Paul maintenance area and we are 
approving the emissions inventory. Based upon the updated emissions 
inventory, the revised maintenance plan contains a new budget (or 
limit) for motor vehicle emissions resulting from transportation plans 
for the Minneapolis-St. Paul maintenance area. We have reviewed the 
budget and have found that the budgets meet all of the adequacy 
criteria in section 93.118 of the transportation conformity rule. These 
criteria include: (1) The SIP was endorsed by the Governor (or his 
designee) and was subject to a state public hearing; (2) consultation 
among federal, state, and local agencies occurred; (3) the emissions 
budget is clearly identified and precisely quantified; (4) the MVEB, 
when considered together with all other emissions, is consistent with 
attainment; and (5) the MVEB is consistent with and clearly related to 
the emissions inventory and control strategy in the SIP. We are also 
required to consider comments submitted to the state at the public 
hearing. No significant comments were received by the state on the 
transportation conformity budget. The new area-wide CO budget is shown 
in the table below:

     Table 3.--Minneapolis-St. Paul's Motor Vehicle Emissions Budget
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                              2009 CO
                                                             emissions
                     Source category                       (tons/winter
                                                               day)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
On-Road Mobile..........................................           1,311
Safety Margin...........................................             650
Motor Vehicle Emissions Budget..........................           1,961
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    This new MVEB is to be used in all subsequent conformity 
determinations concerning transportation plans in the Minneapolis-St. 
Paul maintenance area. We believe that the MVEB is consistent with the 
control measures identified in this maintenance plan and that this plan 
demonstrates maintenance with the CO standard.
    The above demonstrates the 2009 emissions will still maintain the 
total emissions for the area at or below the maintenance level. For 
this reason, EPA is approving the new projected MVEB for 2009.

IX. EPA Action

    EPA is approving the Minnesota SIP revision submitted on November 
10, 2004. This submittal revises Minnesota's 1996 and 2009 CO emission 
inventories and 2009 MVEB using MOBILE6 for the Minneapolis-St. Paul CO 
maintenance area.
    EPA is publishing this action without prior proposal, because EPA 
views this as a noncontroversial revision and anticipates no adverse 
comments. However, in a separate document in this Federal Register 
publication, EPA is proposing to approve the SIP revision should 
adverse written comments be filed. This action will be effective 
without further notice unless EPA receives relevant adverse written 
comments by January 10, 2005. Should the Agency receive such comment, 
we will publish a final rule informing the public that this action will 
not take effect. Any parties interested in commenting on this action 
should do so at this time. If we do not receive comments, this action 
will be effective on January 24, 2005. An effective date 45 days from 
the date of publication in the Federal Register has been selected in 
consideration of section 553 of the Administrative Procedure Act (5 
U.S.C. 553). Section 553(d)allows us to make this action effective in 
45 days because this action relieves a restriction on the funding of 
transportation projects in Minnesota which would occur and continue 
without the approval of this plan revision.

X. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

Executive Order 12866: Regulatory Planning and Review

    Under Executive Order 12866 (58 FR 51735, October 4, 1993), this 
action is not a ``significant regulatory action'' and therefore is not 
subject to review by the Office of Management and Budget.

Executive Order 13211: Actions Concerning Regulations That 
Significantly Affect Energy Supply, Distribution, or Use

    For this reason, this action is also not subject to Executive Order 
13211, ``Actions Concerning Regulations That Significantly Affect 
Energy Supply, Distribution, or Use'' (66 FR 28355, May 22, 2001).

Regulatory Flexibility Act

    This action merely approves state law as meeting Federal 
requirements and imposes no additional requirements beyond those 
imposed by state law. Accordingly, the Administrator certifies that 
this rule will not have a significant economic impact on a substantial 
number of small entities under the Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 
601 et seq.).

Unfunded Mandates Reform Act

    Because this rule approves pre-existing requirements under state 
law and does not impose any additional enforceable duty beyond that 
required by state law, it 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).

Executive Order 13175: Consultation and Coordination With Indian Tribal 
Governments

    This rule also does not have tribal implications because it will 
not have a substantial direct effect on one or more Indian tribes, on 
the relationship

[[Page 71380]]

between the Federal Government and Indian tribes, or on the 
distribution of power and responsibilities between the Federal 
Government and Indian tribes, as specified by Executive Order 13175 (65 
FR 67249, November 9, 2000).

Executive Order 13132: Federalism

    This action also does not have federalism implications because it 
does not have substantial direct effects on the States, on the 
relationship between the national government and the States, or on the 
distribution of power and responsibilities among the various levels of 
government, as specified in Executive Order 13132 (64 FR 43255, August 
10, 1999). This action merely approves a state rule implementing a 
Federal standard, and does not alter the relationship or the 
distribution of power and responsibilities established in the Clean Air 
Act.

Executive Order 13045: Protection of Children From Environmental Health 
and Safety Risks

    This rule also is not subject to Executive Order 13045 ``Protection 
of Children from Environmental Health Risks and Safety Risks'' (62 FR 
19885, April 23, 1997), because it is not economically significant.

National Technology Transfer Advancement Act

    In reviewing SIP submissions, EPA's role is to approve state 
choices, provided that they meet the criteria of the Clean Air Act. In 
this context, in the absence of a prior existing requirement for the 
State to use voluntary consensus standards (VCS), EPA has no authority 
to disapprove a SIP submission for failure to use VCS. It would thus be 
inconsistent with applicable law for EPA, when it reviews a SIP 
submission, to use VCS in place of a SIP submission that otherwise 
satisfies the provisions of the Clean Air Act. Thus, the requirements 
of section 12(d) of the National Technology Transfer and Advancement 
Act of 1995 (15 U.S.C. 272 note) do not apply.

Paperwork Reduction Act

    This rule does not impose an information collection burden under 
the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 
et seq.).

Congressional Review Act

    The Congressional Review Act, 5 U.S.C. section 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. A major rule 
cannot take effect until 60 days after it is published in the Federal 
Register. This action is not a ``major rule'' as defined by 5 U.S.C. 
section 804(2).
    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 February 7, 2005. 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 
review may be filed, and shall 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.


    Dated: November 30, 2004.
Bharat Mathur,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region 5.

    Part 52, chapter I, title 40 of the Code of Federal Regulations is 
amended as follows:

PART 52--[AMENDED]

0
1. The authority citation for part 52 continues to read as follows:

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

Subpart Y--Minnesota

0
2. Section 52.1237 is amended by adding paragraph (d) to read as 
follows:


Sec.  52.1237  Control strategy: Carbon monoxide.

* * * * *
    (d) Approval--On November 10, 2004, Minnesota submitted a revision 
to the Carbon Monoxide (CO) maintenance plan for the Minneapolis-St. 
Paul area. These plans revised 1996 and 2009 motor vehicle emission 
inventories and 2009 Motor Vehicle Emissions Budgets (MVEB) 
recalculated using the emissions factor model MOBILE6. The MVEB for 
transportation conformity purposes for the Minneapolis-St. Paul 
maintenance area is 1961 tons per winter day of CO.

[FR Doc. 04-27026 Filed 12-8-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P


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