31858 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 98 / Friday, May 19, 2000 / Proposed Rules

recommendations included adding,

deleting, relocating and upgrading the

existing buoys in these channels. The

Commander, Eleventh Coast Guard

District will review these

recommendations and make final

decisions concerning Los Angeles-Long

Beach aids to navigation in light of the

Coast Guard’s waterways analysis

management system (WAMS). Specific

questions on WAMS should be directed

to the Eleventh Coast Guard District’s

points of contact listed in FOR FURTHER

INFORMATION CONTACT.

Modifications to the RNA

The Commander, Eleventh Coast

Guard District is planning modifications

to the San Pedro Bay RNA. A notice of

proposed rulemaking (NPRM), only

dealing with the RNA, will be published

in the Federal Register. As previously

discussed, one proposed change will

make the RNA geographically the same

as the precautionary area. The RNA

rulemaking will also address vessel

operating requirements; vessel size,

speeds, draft limitations; operating

conditions; pilot boarding areas; and

restrictions under hazardous conditions.

Conclusion

We appreciate the comments we

received concerning the PARS. We will

solicit additional comments on the

recommended changes to the existing

routing measures we will propose in an

NPRM to be published in the Federal

Register before making any submission

to the International Maritime

Organization.

Dated: May 11, 2000.

R.C. North,

Rear Admiral, U. S. Coast Guard, Assistant

Commandant for Marine Safety and

Environmental Protection.

[FR Doc. 00–12572 Filed 5–18–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4910–15–P

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

AGENCY

40 CFR Part 51

[AD–FRL–6701–1; Docket No. A–99–05]

RIN 2060–AF01

Requirements for Preparation,

Adoption, and Submittal of State

Implementation Plans (Guideline on Air

Quality Models); Conference on Air

Quality Modeling

AGENCY: Environmental Protection

Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Proposed rule; conference.

SUMMARY: We announce the Seventh

Conference on Air Quality Modeling.

Such a conference is required by

Section 320 of the Clean Air Act (CAA)

to be held every 3 years. The purpose

of the Seventh Conference is to provide

a forum for public review and comment

on proposed revisions to the Guideline

on Air Quality Models—‘‘Guideline’’

published on April 21, 2000. The

proposed revisions are based on our

review and analyses of comments

received at the Sixth Conference on Air

Quality Modeling, held in August 1995.

DATES: The seventh conference will be

held on June 28, 2000 from 9 a.m. to

5:30 p.m. and on June 29, 2000 from

8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Requests to speak at

the conference should be submitted to

the individual listed below by June 15,

2000. All written comments must be

submitted by close of business August

21, 2000.

ADDRESSES: Conference: The conference

will be held in the EPA Auditorium, 401

M Street, S.W., Washington, D.C.

Comments: Written statements or

comments not presented at the

conference should be submitted (in

duplicate if possible) to: OAR

Regulatory Docket (6102), Room M–

1500, Waterside Mall, Attention: OAR

Regulatory Docket A–99–05, U.S.

Environmental Protection Agency, 401

M Street, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20460.

We invite you to submit adverse or

critical comments pertinent to the

proposal to that docket. The docket is

available for public inspection and

copying between 8:00 a.m. and 5:30

p.m., Monday through Friday, at the

address above. Please furnish duplicate

comments to Tom Coulter, Air Quality

Modeling Group (MD–14), U.S.

Environmental Protection Agency,

Research Triangle Park, NC 27711. You

may send electronic versions of

comments pertinent to the proposal to:

A-AND-R-DOCKET@epamail.epa.gov.

Alternatively, comments are acceptable

in WordPerfect 6.1 (or higher),

preferably zipped (e.g., WinZip) as an

attachment to the e-mail message. You

must include the docket identification

(A–99–05) with all electronic

submittals. You may file electronic

comments on this proposal online at

many Federal Depository Libraries.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: C.

Thomas Coulter, Air Quality Modeling

Group (MD–14), Office of Air Quality

Planning and Standards, U.S.

Environmental Protection Agency,

Research Triangle Park, NC 27711;

telephone (919) 541–0832.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

The Guideline (appendix W to 40 CFR

part 51) is used by EPA, States, and

industry to prepare and review new

source permits and State

Implementation Plan revisions. The

Guideline serves as a means by which

consistency is maintained in air quality

analyses. We originally published the

Guideline in April 1978 and it was

incorporated by reference in the

regulations for the Prevention of

Significant Deterioration (PSD) of Air

Quality in June 1978. We revised the

Guideline in 1986, and updated it with

supplement A in 1987, supplement B in

July 1993, and supplement C in August

1995. We published the Guideline as

appendix W to 40 CFR part 51 when we

issued supplement B. We republished

the Guideline in August 1996 (61 FR

41838) to adopt the CFR system for

labeling paragraphs.

To support the process of developing

and revising the Guideline during the

period 1977–1988, we held the First,

Second and Third Conferences on Air

Quality Modeling as required by Section

320 of the Clean Air Act to help

standardize modeling procedures. These

modeling conferences provided us with

comments on the Guideline and

associated revisions, thereby helping us

introduce improved modeling

techniques into the regulatory process.

In October 1988, we held the Fourth

Conference on Air Quality Modeling. Its

purpose was to advise the public on

new modeling techniques and to solicit

comments to guide our consideration of

any rulemaking needed to further revise

the Guideline. The new models

provided techniques for situations

where specific procedures had not

previously been available, and also

improved several previously adopted

techniques.

We held the Fifth Conference on Air

Quality Modeling in March 1991, which

served as a public hearing for the

proposed supplement B revisions to the

Guideline (op. cit.). Since the Fifth

Conference and the adoption of

supplement C, we believed it was time

to consider a wide range of modeling

issues in order to update our available

modeling tools with state-of-the-science

techniques. We thus held the sixth

conference as an ideal forum for airing

these issues and for the public to offer

new ideas. We reviewed and analyzed

the public feedback from the sixth

conference, and placed a summary in

the docket (II–G–01). This information

served as a foundation for the proposed

Guideline revision we announced on

April 21, 2000 (65 FR 21506).

Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 98 / Friday, May 19, 2000 / Proposed Rules 31859

1AMS/EPA Regulatory MODel; AERMOD is being

developed by AERMIC: AMS/EPA Regulatory

Model Improvement Committee.

2 IWAQM was formed in 1991 to provide a focus

for development of technically sound regional air

quality models for regulatory assessments of

pollutant source impacts on federal Class I areas.

IWAQM is an interagency collaboration that

includes efforts by EPA, U.S. Forest Service,

National Park Service, and Fish and Wildlife

Service.

To review support documents and

data for our proposal, and to prepare for

the seventh conference, you may obtain

technical materials from several sources.

You may get copies of some materials

from the docket (see ADDRESSES). We

have uploaded many materials, for

example essential codes, preprocessors,

utilities, test cases, and user’s manuals

for the new modeling systems, to our

website (www.epa.gov/scram001; see

7th Conference).

Public Participation

The Seventh Conference on Air

Quality Modeling will be open to the

public; no admission fee is charged and

there is no formal registration. The

conference will begin the first morning

with introductory remarks by the

presiding EPA official. The conference

will continue with prepared

presentations on several key modeling

systems: The development of an

enhanced Gaussian dispersion model

with boundary layer parameterization

(AERMOD 1); the development of the

CALPUFF modeling system by Earth

Tech, Inc. under the auspice of the

Interagency Workgroup on Air Quality

Modeling (IWAQM 2); the development

and testing of ISC–PRIME by the

Electric Power Research Institute’s

building downwash program; and

revisions to the Emissions and

Dispersion Modeling System (EDMS) by

the Federal Aviation Administration.

There will also be presentations on

several models for consideration as

‘‘alternative models’’ for case-by-case

application.

The second morning, there will be

critical reviews/discussions of the new

modeling systems facilitated first by the

American Meteorological Society’s

Committee on Meteorological Aspects of

Air Pollution, and then by the Air &

Waste Management Association’s AB–3

Committee. We also plan to feature a

special panel presentation on the next

generation of air quality models that

may be driven by output from fourdimensional prognostic models. This

will be followed by statements from

representatives of State and local air

pollution control agencies and by

appropriate Federal agencies. The

conference will then be opened to

statements and comments from the

general public. As information

develops, we will post an agenda for the

conference on our website

(www.epa.gov/scram001; see 7th

Conference).

For the new models and modeling

techniques described on June 28th, EPA

will be asking the public to address the

following questions:

• Has the scientific merit of the

models presented been established?

• Are the models’ accuracy

sufficiently documented?

• Are the proposed regulatory uses of

individual models for specific

applications appropriate and

reasonable?

• Do significant implementation

issues remain or is additional guidance

needed?

• Are there serious resource

constraints imposed by modeling

systems presented?

• What additional analyses or

information are needed?

Those wishing to speak at the

conference, whether to volunteer a

presentation on a special topic or to

offer general comment on any of the

modeling techniques scheduled for

presentation, should contact us at the

address given in the FOR FURTHER

INFORMATION CONTACT section no later

than June 15, 2000. Such persons

should identify the organization (if any)

on whose behalf they are speaking and

the length of presentation. If a

presentation of general comments is

projected to be longer than 10 minutes,

the presenter should also state why a

longer period is needed. Persons failing

to submit a written notice but desiring

to speak at the conference should notify

the presiding officer immediately before

the conference and they will be

scheduled on a time-available basis.

The conference will be conducted

informally and chaired by an EPA

official. There will be no sworn

testimony or cross examination. A

verbatim transcript of the conference

proceedings will be produced and

placed in the docket. Speakers should

bring extra copies of their presentation

for inclusion in the docket and for the

convenience of the reporter. Speakers

will be permitted to enter into the

record any additional written comments

that are not presented orally. Additional

written statements or comments should

be sent to the OAR Regulatory Docket

(see ADDRESSES section). A transcript of

the proceedings and a copy of all

written comments will be maintained in

Docket A–99–05 which will remain

open until August 21, 2000 for the

purpose of receiving additional

comments.

Dated: May 9, 2000.

Bob Perciasepe,

Assistant Administrator for Air and

Radiation.

[FR Doc. 00–12390 Filed 5–18–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

AGENCY

40 CFR Part 81

[AZ–098–0025 FRL–6703–1]

Determination of Attainment of the 1-

Hour Ozone Standard for the Phoenix

Metropolitan Area, Arizona and

Determination Regarding Applicability

of Certain Clean Air Act Requirements

AGENCY: Environmental Protection

Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Proposed rule.

SUMMARY: EPA proposes to determine

that the Phoenix metropolitan serious

ozone nonattainment area has attained

the 1-hour ozone air quality standard

deadline required by the Clean Air Act

(CAA), November 15, 1999. Based on

this proposal, we also propose to

determine that the CAA’s requirements

for reasonable further progress and

attainment demonstrations and for

contingency measures are not applicable

to the area for so long as the Phoenix

metropolitan area continues to attain the

1-hour ozone standard.

DATES: Comments on this proposal must

be received in writing by June 19, 2000.

Comments should be addressed to the

contact listed below.

ADDRESSES: Copies of our draft technical

support document for this rulemaking

and our policies governing attainment

findings and the applicability of CAA

requirements in areas attaining the 1-

hour ozone standard are contained in

the docket for this rulemaking. The

docket is available for inspection during

normal business hours at the following

locations:

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency,

Region 9, Office of Air Planning, Air

Division, 17th Floor, 75 Hawthorne

Street, San Francisco, California

94105, (415) 744–1248.

Arizona Department of Environmental

Quality, Office of Outreach and

Information, First Floor, 3033 N.

Central Avenue, Phoenix, Arizona

85012, (602) 207–2217

Copy of this document and the TSD

are also available in the air programs

section of EPA Region 9’s website,

www.epa.gov/region09/air.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Frances Wicher, Office of Air Planning