Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 98 / Thursday, May 21, 2015 / Proposed Rules 29237 

CAA. EPA is not proposing action today 

to remove the Federal 7.8 psi RVP 

requirement for Gaston and 

Mecklenburg Counties. Any such 

proposal would occur in a separate and 

subsequent rulemaking. 

VII. Statutory and Executive Order 

Reviews 

Under the CAA, the Administrator is 

required to approve a SIP submittal that 

complies with the provisions of the Act 

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 proposed 

action merely proposes to approve state 

law as meeting Federal requirements 

and does not propose to impose 

additional requirements beyond those 

imposed by state law. For that reason, 

this proposed action: 

• Is not a significant regulatory action 

subject to review by the Office of 

Management and Budget under 

Executive Orders 12866 (58 FR 51735, 

October 4, 1993) and 13563 (76 FR 3821, 

January 21, 2011); 

• Does not impose an information 

collection burden under the provisions 

of the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 

U.S.C. 3501 et seq.); 

• Is certified as not having a 

significant economic impact on a 

substantial number of small entities 

under the Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 

U.S.C. 601 et seq.); 

• Does not contain any unfunded 

mandate or significantly or uniquely 

affect small governments, as described 

in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act 

of 1995 (Pub. L. 104–4); 

• Does not have Federalism 

implications as specified in Executive 

Order 13132 (64 FR 43255, October 7, 

1999); 

• Is not an economically significant 

regulatory action based on health or 

safety risks subject to Executive Order 

13045 (62 FR 19885, April 23, 1997); 

• Is not a significant regulatory action 

subject to Executive Order 13211 (66 FR 

28355, May 22, 2001); 

• Is not subject to requirements of 

Section 12(d) of the National 

Technology Transfer and Advancement 

Act of 1995 (15 U.S.C. 272 note) because 

application of those requirements would 

be inconsistent with the CAA; and 

• Does not provide EPA with the 

discretionary authority to address, as 

appropriate, disproportionate human 

health or environmental effects, using 

practicable and legally permissible 

methods, under Executive Order 12898 

(59 FR 7629, February 16, 1994). 

In addition, the SIP is not approved 

to apply on any Indian reservation land 

or in any other area where EPA or an 

Indian tribe has demonstrated that a 

tribe has jurisdiction. In those areas of 

Indian country, the proposed rule does 

not have tribal implications as specified 

by Executive Order 13175 (65 FR 67249, 

November 9, 2000) nor will it impose 

substantial direct costs on tribal 

governments or preempt tribal law. 

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 52 

Environmental protection, Air 

pollution control, Incorporation by 

reference, Intergovernmental relations, 

Nitrogen dioxide, Ozone, Particulate 

matter, Reporting and recordkeeping 

requirements, Volatile organic 

compounds. 

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

Dated: May 12, 2015. 

Heather McTeer Toney 

Regional Administrator, Region 4. 

[FR Doc. 2015–12348 Filed 5–20–15; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

40 CFR Parts 52 and 81 

[EPA–R04–OAR–2014–0870; FRL–9928–14– 

Region 4] 

Approval and Promulgation of 

Implementation Plans and Designation 

of Areas for Air Quality Planning 

Purposes; Tennessee; Redesignation 

of the Knoxville 2008 8-Hour Ozone 

Nonattainment Area to Attainment 

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency. 

ACTION: Proposed rule. 

SUMMARY: On November 14, 2014, the 

State of Tennessee, through the 

Tennessee Department of Environment 

and Conservation (TDEC), Air Pollution 

Control Division, submitted a request 

for the Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA) to redesignate the 

Knoxville, Tennessee 8-hour ozone 

nonattainment area (hereafter referred to 

as the ‘‘Knoxville Area’’ or ‘‘Area’’) to 

attainment for the 2008 8-hour ozone 

National Ambient Air Quality Standards 

(NAAQS) and to approve a State 

Implementation Plan (SIP) revision 

containing a maintenance plan and a 

base year emissions inventory for the 

Area. The Knoxville Area includes a 

portion of Anderson County as well as 

Blount and Knox Counties in their 

entireties. EPA is proposing to approve 

the base year emissions inventory for 

the 2008 8-hour ozone NAAQS for the 

Knoxville Area; to determine that the 

Knoxville Area is attaining the 2008 8- 

hour ozone NAAQS; to approve the 

State’s plan for maintaining attainment 

of the 2008 8-hour ozone standard in the 

Area, including the motor vehicle 

emission budgets (MVEBs) for nitrogen 

oxides (NOX) and volatile organic 

compounds (VOC) for the years 2011 

and 2026 for the Area, into the SIP; and 

to redesignate the Area to attainment for 

the 2008 8-hour ozone NAAQS. EPA is 

also notifying the public of the status of 

EPA’s adequacy determination for the 

Knoxville Area MVEBs. 

DATES: Comments must be received on 

or before June 22, 2015. 

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, 

identified by Docket ID No. EPA–R04– 

OAR–2014–0870, by one of the 

following methods: 

1. www.regulations.gov: Follow the 

on-line instructions for submitting 

comments. 

2. Email: R4-ARMS@epa.gov. 

3. Fax: (404) 562–9019. 

4. Mail: ‘‘EPA–R04–OAR–2014– 

0870,’’ Air Regulatory Management 

Section (formerly the Regulatory 

Development Section), Air Planning and 

Implementation Branch (formerly the 

Air Planning Branch), Air, Pesticides 

and Toxics Management Division, U.S. 

Environmental Protection Agency, 

Region 4, 61 Forsyth Street SW., 

Atlanta, Georgia 30303–8960. 

5. Hand Delivery or Courier: Ms. 

Lynorae Benjamin, Chief, Air Regulatory 

Management Section, Air Planning and 

Implementation Branch, Air, Pesticides 

and Toxics Management Division, U.S. 

Environmental Protection Agency, 

Region 4, 61 Forsyth Street SW., 

Atlanta, Georgia 30303–8960. 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 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., excluding 

Federal holidays. 

Instructions: Direct your comments to 

Docket ID No. EPA–R04–OAR–2014– 

0870. 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 

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 through 

www.regulations.gov or email, 

information that you consider to be CBI 

or otherwise protected. The 

www.regulations.gov Web site is an 

‘‘anonymous access’’ system, which 


tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with PROPOSALS
29238 Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 98 / Thursday, May 21, 2015 / Proposed Rules 

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. For additional information 

about EPA’s public docket visit the EPA 

Docket Center homepage at http://

www.epa.gov/epahome/dockets.htm. 

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 at the Air Regulatory 

Management Section, Air Planning and 

Implementation Branch, Air, Pesticides 

and Toxics Management Division, U.S. 

Environmental Protection Agency, 

Region 4, 61 Forsyth Street SW., 

Atlanta, Georgia 30303–8960. 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 to 4:30, 

excluding Federal holidays. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jane 

Spann or Tiereny Bell of the Air 

Regulatory Management Section, in the 

Air Planning and Implementation 

Branch, Air, Pesticides and Toxics 

Management Division, U.S. 

Environmental Protection Agency, 

Region 4, 61 Forsyth Street SW., 

Atlanta, Georgia 30303–8960. Ms. 

Spann may be reached by phone at (404) 

562–9029 or via electronic mail at 

spann.jane@epa.gov. Ms. Bell may be 

reached by phone at (404) 562–9088 or 

via electronic mail at bell.tiereny@

epa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Table of Contents 

I. What are the actions EPA is proposing to 

take? 

II. What is the background for EPA’s 

proposed actions? 

III. What are the criteria for redesignation? 

IV. Why is EPA proposing these actions? 

V. What is EPA’s analysis of the 

redesignation request and November 14, 

2014, SIP submission? 

VI. What is EPA’s analysis of Tennessee’s 

proposed NOX and VOC MVEBs for the 

Knoxville area? 

VII. What is the status of EPA’s adequacy 

determination for the proposed NOX and 

VOC MVEBs for the Knoxville area? 

VIII. What is the effect of EPA’s proposed 

actions? 

IX. Proposed Actions 

X. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews 

I. What are the actions EPA is 

proposing to take? 

EPA is proposing to take four separate 

but related actions, one of which 

involves multiple elements: (1) To 

approve the base year inventory for the 

2008 8-hour ozone NAAQS for the 

Knoxville Area into the Tennessee SIP; 

(2) to determine that the Knoxville Area 

is attaining the 2008 8-hour ozone 

NAAQS; (3) to approve Tennessee’s 

plan for maintaining the 2008 8-hour 

ozone NAAQS (maintenance plan), 

including the associated MVEBs, into 

the SIP; and (4) to redesignate the 

Knoxville Area to attainment for the 

2008 8-hour ozone NAAQS. EPA is also 

notifying the public of the status of 

EPA’s adequacy determination for the 

Knoxville Area MVEBs. These actions 

are summarized below and described in 

greater detail throughout this notice of 

proposed rulemaking. 

Based on the 2008 8-hour ozone 

nonattainment designation for the 

Knoxville Area, Tennessee was required 

to develop a nonattainment SIP revision 

addressing certain CAA requirements. 

Specifically, pursuant to CAA section 

182(a)(3)(B) and section 182(a)(1), the 

Knoxville Area was required to submit 

a SIP revision addressing emissions 

statements and emissions inventory 

requirements, respectively. EPA 

approved the emissions statements 

requirements for the Area into the SIP 

in a separate action. See 80 FR 11974 

(March 5, 2015). Today, EPA is 

proposing to determine that the base 

year emissions inventory, as submitted 

in the State’s November 14, 2014, SIP 

revision, meets the requirements of 

sections 110 and 182(a)(1) of the CAA 

and proposing to approve this emissions 

inventory into the SIP. 

EPA is also making the preliminarily 

determination that the Knoxville Area is 

attaining the 2008 8-hour ozone NAAQS 

based on recent air quality data and 

proposing to approve Tennessee’s 2008 

ozone NAAQS maintenance plan for the 

Knoxville Area as meeting the 

requirements of section 175A of the 

CAA (such approval being one of the 

CAA criteria for redesignation to 

attainment status). The maintenance 

plan is designed to keep the Knoxville 

Area in attainment of the 2008 8-hour 

ozone NAAQS through 2026. 

Additionally, EPA is proposing to 

approve the 2011 and 2026 NOX and 

VOC MVEBs that are included as part of 

Tennessee’s 2008 ozone NAAQS 

maintenance plan for the Knoxville 

Area. 

EPA is also notifying the public of the 

status of EPA’s adequacy process for the 

NOX and VOC MVEBs for the years 2011 

and 2026 for the Knoxville Area. The 

public comment period for Adequacy 

began on December 4, 2014, with EPA’s 

posting of the availability of this 

submittal on EPA’s Adequacy Web site 

(http://www.tn.gov/environment/ppo/

docs/air/knoxville-redesignationrequest-2014.pdf). The Adequacy 

comment period for these MVEBs closed 

on January 5, 2015. No comments, 

adverse or otherwise, were received 

during EPA’s adequacy process for the 

MVEBs associated with Tennessee’s 

2008 8-hour ozone maintenance plan. 

Please see section VII of this proposed 

rulemaking for further explanation of 

this process and for more details on the 

MVEBs. 

In summary, today’s notice of 

proposed rulemaking is in response to 

Tennessee’s November 14, 2014, 

redesignation request and associated SIP 

submittal that address the specific 

issues summarized above and the 

necessary elements described in section 

107(d)(3)(E) of the CAA for 

redesignation of the Knoxville Area to 

attainment for the 2008 8-hour ozone 

NAAQS. More detail regarding the 

rationale for EPA’s proposed actions is 

discussed below. 

II. What is the background for EPA’s 

proposed actions? 

On March 12, 2008, EPA promulgated 

a revised 8-hour ozone NAAQS of 0.075 

parts per million (ppm). See 73 FR 

16436 (March 27, 2008). Under EPA’s 

regulations at 40 CFR part 50, the 2008 

8-hour ozone NAAQS is attained when 

the 3-year average of the annual fourth 

highest daily maximum 8-hour average 

ambient air quality ozone 

concentrations is less than or equal to 

0.075 ppm. See 40 CFR 50.15. Ambient 

air quality monitoring data for the 3- 

year period must meet a data 

completeness requirement. The ambient 

air quality monitoring data 


tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with PROPOSALS
Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 98 / Thursday, May 21, 2015 / Proposed Rules 29239 

1This rule, entitled Implementation of the 2008 

National Ambient Air Quality Standards for Ozone: 

State Implementation Plan Requirements and 

published at 80 FR 12264 (March 6, 2015), 

addresses a range of nonattainment area SIP 

requirements for the 2008 ozone NAAQS, including 

requirements pertaining to attainment 

demonstrations, reasonable further progress (RFP), 

reasonably available control technology (RACT), 

reasonably available control measures (RACM), 

major new source review (NSR), emission 

inventories, and the timing of SIP submissions and 

of compliance with emission control measures in 

the SIP. This rule also addresses the revocation of 

the 1997 ozone NAAQS and the anti-backsliding 

requirements that apply when the 1997 ozone 

NAAQS are revoked. 

completeness requirement is met when 

the average percent of days with valid 

ambient monitoring data is greater than 

90 percent, and no single year has less 

than 75 percent data completeness as 

determined in Appendix I of part 50. 

Upon promulgation of a new or 

revised NAAQS, the CAA requires EPA 

to designate as nonattainment any area 

that is violating the NAAQS, based on 

the three most recent years of ambient 

air quality data at the conclusion of the 

designation process. The Knoxville Area 

was designated nonattainment for the 

2008 8-hour ozone NAAQS on May 21, 

2012 (effective July 20, 2012) using 

2009–2011 ambient air quality data. See 

77 FR 30088 (May 21, 2012). At the time 

of designation, the Knoxville Area was 

classified as a marginal nonattainment 

area for the 2008 8-hour ozone NAAQS. 

In the final implementation rule for the 

2008 8-hour ozone NAAQS (SIP 

Implementation Rule),1 EPA established 

ozone nonattainment area attainment 

dates based on Table 1 of section 181(a) 

of the CAA. This established an 

attainment date three years after the July 

20, 2012, effective date for areas 

classified as marginal areas for the 2008 

8-hour ozone nonattainment 

designations. Therefore, the Knoxville 

Area’s attainment date is July 20, 2015. 

III. What are the criteria for 

redesignation? 

The CAA provides the requirements 

for redesignating a nonattainment area 

to attainment. Specifically, section 

107(d)(3)(E) of the CAA allows for 

redesignation providing that: (1) The 

Administrator determines that the area 

has attained the applicable NAAQS; (2) 

the Administrator has fully approved 

the applicable implementation plan for 

the area under section 110(k); (3) the 

Administrator determines that the 

improvement in air quality is due to 

permanent and enforceable reductions 

in emissions resulting from 

implementation of the applicable SIP 

and applicable federal air pollutant 

control regulations and other permanent 

and enforceable reductions; (4) the 

Administrator has fully approved a 

maintenance plan for the area as 

meeting the requirements of section 

175A; and (5) the state containing such 

area has met all requirements applicable 

to the area for purposes of redesignation 

under section 110 and part D of the 

CAA. 

On April 16, 1992, EPA provided 

guidance on redesignation in the 

General Preamble for the 

Implementation of title I of the CAA 

Amendments of 1990 (57 FR 13498), 

and supplemented this guidance on 

April 28, 1992 (57 FR 18070). EPA has 

provided further guidance on processing 

redesignation requests in the following 

documents: 

1. ‘‘Ozone and Carbon Monoxide Design 

Value Calculations,’’ Memorandum from 

Bill Laxton, Director, Technical Support 

Division, June 18, 1990; 

2. ‘‘Maintenance Plans for Redesignation of 

Ozone and Carbon Monoxide 

Nonattainment Areas,’’ Memorandum 

from G.T. Helms, Chief, Ozone/Carbon 

Monoxide Programs Branch, April 30, 

1992; 

3. ‘‘Contingency Measures for Ozone and 

Carbon Monoxide (CO) Redesignations,’’ 

Memorandum from G.T. Helms, Chief, 

Ozone/Carbon Monoxide Programs 

Branch, June 1, 1992; 

4. ‘‘Procedures for Processing Requests to 

Redesignate Areas to Attainment,’’ 

Memorandum from John Calcagni, 

Director, Air Quality Management 

Division, September 4, 1992 (hereafter 

referred to as the ‘‘Calcagni 

Memorandum’’); 

5. ‘‘State Implementation Plan (SIP) Actions 

Submitted in Response to Clean Air Act 

(CAA) Deadlines,’’ Memorandum from 

John Calcagni, Director, Air Quality 

Management Division, October 28, 1992; 

6. ‘‘Technical Support Documents (TSDs) for 

Redesignation of Ozone and Carbon 

Monoxide (CO) Nonattainment Areas,’’ 

Memorandum from G.T. Helms, Chief, 

Ozone/Carbon Monoxide Programs 

Branch, August 17, 1993; 

7. ‘‘State Implementation Plan (SIP) 

Requirements for Areas Submitting 

Requests for Redesignation to 

Attainment of the Ozone and Carbon 

Monoxide (CO) National Ambient Air 

Quality Standards (NAAQS) On or After 

November 15, 1992,’’ Memorandum from 

Michael H. Shapiro, Acting Assistant 

Administrator for Air and Radiation, 

September 17, 1993; 

8. ‘‘Use of Actual Emissions in Maintenance 

Demonstrations for Ozone and CO 

Nonattainment Areas,’’ Memorandum 

from D. Kent Berry, Acting Director, Air 

Quality Management Division, 

November 30, 1993; 

9. ‘‘Part D New Source Review (Part D NSR) 

Requirements for Areas Requesting 

Redesignation to Attainment,’’ 

Memorandum from Mary D. Nichols, 

Assistant Administrator for Air and 

Radiation, October 14, 1994; and 

10. ‘‘Reasonable Further Progress, Attainment 

Demonstration, and Related 

Requirements for Ozone Nonattainment 

Areas Meeting the Ozone National 

Ambient Air Quality Standard,’’ 

Memorandum from John S. Seitz, 

Director, Office of Air Quality Planning 

and Standards, May 10, 1995. 

IV. Why is EPA proposing these 

actions? 

On November 14, 2014, the State of 

Tennessee, through TDEC, requested 

that EPA redesignate the Knoxville Area 

to attainment for the 2008 8-hour ozone 

NAAQS. EPA’s evaluation indicates that 

the Knoxville Area has attained the 

2008 8-hour ozone NAAQS and that the 

Knoxville Area meets the requirements 

for redesignation set forth in section 

107(d)(3)(E), including the maintenance 

plan requirements under section 175A 

of the CAA and associated MVEBs. 

Also, based on Tennessee’s November 

14, 2014, submittal, EPA is also 

proposing to approve the base year 

emissions inventory, included in 

Tennessee’s November 14, 2014, 

submittal, into the SIP. Approval of the 

base year inventory is a prerequisite to 

redesignating an ozone nonattainment 

area to attainment. 

V. What is EPA’s analysis of the 

redesignation request and November 

14, 2014, sip submission? 

As stated above, in accordance with 

the CAA, EPA proposes in today’s 

action to: (1) Approve the 2008 8-hour 

ozone base year emissions inventory for 

the Knoxville Area into the Tennessee 

SIP; (2) determine that the Knoxville 

Area is attaining the 2008 8-hour ozone 

NAAQS; (3) approve the Knoxville 

Area’s 2008 8-hour ozone NAAQS 

maintenance plan, including the 

associated sub-area MVEBs, into the 

Tennessee SIP; and (4) redesignate the 

Knoxville Area to attainment for the 

2008 8-hour ozone NAAQS. Approval of 

the 2008 8-hour ozone base year 

inventory is a required prerequisite 

action before the Area can be 

redesignated to attainment. The five 

redesignation criteria provided under 

CAA section 107(d)(3)(E) are discussed 

in greater detail for the Area following 

the discussion below on the Knoxville 

emissions inventory. 

A. Emission Inventory 

Section 182(a)(1) of the CAA requires 

states to submit a comprehensive, 

accurate, and current inventory of actual 

emissions from all sources of the 

relevant pollutant or pollutants in each 

ozone nonattainment area. The section 

182(a)(1) base year inventory is defined 

in the SIP Requirements Rule as ‘‘a 

comprehensive, accurate, current 


tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with PROPOSALS
29240 Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 98 / Thursday, May 21, 2015 / Proposed Rules 

2 40 CFR 51.1110(b) states that ‘‘at the time of 

designation for the 2008 ozone NAAQS the baseline 

emissions inventory shall be the emissions 

inventory for the most recent calendar year for 

which a complete triennial inventory is required to 

be submitted to EPA under the provisions of 

subpart A of this part. States may use an alternative 

baseline emissions inventory provided the state 

demonstrates why it is appropriate to use the 

alternative baseline year, and provided that the year 

selected is between the years 2008 to 2012.’’ 

3 ‘‘Ozone season day emissions’’ is defined as ‘‘an 

average day’s emissions for a typical ozone season 

work weekday. The state shall select, subject to EPA 

approval, the particular month(s) in the ozone 

season and the day(s) in the work week to be 

represented, considering the conditions assumed in 

the development of RFP plans and/or emissions 

budgets for transportation conformity.’’ See 40 CFR 

51.1100(cc). 4 Data downloaded from the EPA EIS from the 

2011 NEI was subjected to quality assurance 

procedures described under quality assurance 

details under 2011 NEI Version 1 Documentation 

located at http://www.epa.gov/ttn/chief/net/

2011inventory.html#inventorydoc. The quality 

assurance and quality control procedures and 

measures associated with this data are outlined in 

the State’s EPA-approved Emission Inventory 

Quality Assurance Project Plan. 

5This guidance includes: Procedures for the 

Preparation of Emission Inventories of Carbon 

Monoxide and Precursors of Ozone, Vol. 1, EPA– 

450/4–91–016 (May 1991) and Emissions Inventory 

Improvement Program (EIIP) Technical Report, Vol. 

3, Area Sources (Revised January 2001, updated 

April 2001). 

inventory of actual emissions from 

sources of VOC and NOX emitted within 

the boundaries of the nonattainment 

area as required by CAA section 

182(a)(1).’’ See 40 CFR 51.1100(bb). The 

inventory year must be selected 

consistent with the baseline year for the 

RFP plan as required by 40 CFR 

51.1110(b),2 and the inventory must 

include actual ozone season day 

emissions as defined in 40 CFR 

51.1100(cc) 3 and contain data elements 

consistent with the detail required by 40 

CFR part 51, subpart A. See 40 CFR 

51.1115(a), (c), (e). In addition, the point 

source emissions included in the 

inventory must be reported according to 

the point source emissions thresholds of 

the Air Emissions Reporting 

Requirements (AERR) in 40 CFR part 51, 

subpart A. 40 CFR 51.1115(d). 

Knoxville selected 2011 as the base 

year for the section 182(a)(1) emissions 

inventory which is the year 

corresponding with the first triennial 

inventory under 40 CFR part 51, subpart 

A. This base year is one of the three 

years of ambient data used to determine 

attainment and therefore represents 

emissions associated with attainment 

conditions. The emissions inventory is 

based on data developed and submitted 

by TDEC and Knox County Division of 

Air Quality Management to TDEC to 

EPA’s 2011 National Emissions 

Inventory (NEI), and it contains data 

elements consistent with the detail 

required by 40 CFR part 51, subpart A.4

Knoxville’s emissions inventory for 

its portion of the Area provides 2011 

emissions data for NOX and VOCs for 

the following general source categories: 

Stationary point, area, non-road mobile, 

and on-road mobile. A detailed 

discussion of the inventory 

development is located in Attachment 

A, Emission Inventory, in Tennessee’s 

November 14, 2014, SIP submittal 

which is provided in the docket for this 

action. The table below provides a 

summary of the emissions inventory. 

TABLE 1—2011 POINT, AREA, NON-ROAD MOBILE, AND ON-ROAD MOBILE SOURCES EMISSIONS FOR THE KNOXVILLE

AREA

[Tons per typical summer day] 

County 

Point Area Non-road mobile On-road mobile 

NOX VOC NOX VOC NOX VOC NOX VOC 

Anderson (partial) .......................................... 6.15 0 .2 0.93 5.56 0.23 0.31 1.05 0.70 

Blount ............................................................. 0.53 3 .67 2.38 41.16 1.53 2.15 6.65 4.60 

Knox ............................................................... 3.29 1 .11 3.26 40.12 6.61 5.02 33.92 14.42 

Total Emissions ...................................... 9.97 4 .98 6.57 86.93 8.37 7.47 41.62 19.71 

The emissions inventory includes all 

anthropogenic VOC and NOX sources 

for all of Blount and Knox Counties, as 

well as the portion of Anderson County 

included in the Area. NOX and VOC 

emissions were calculated for a typical 

summer July day, taking into account 

the seasonal adjustment factor for 

summer operations. The inventory 

contains point source emissions data for 

facilities located within the Blount and 

Knox Counties as well as the portion of 

Anderson County included in the Area 

based on Geographic Information 

Systems (GIS) mapping. For Blount and 

Knox County, the emissions for the 

entire county are provided. More detail 

on the inventory emissions for 

individual sources categories is 

provided below and in the Attachment 

A to Tennessee’s November 14, 2014, 

SIP submittal. 

Point sources are large, stationary, 

identifiable sources of emissions that 

release pollutants into the atmosphere. 

The inventory contains point source 

emissions data for facilities located 

within the Blount and Knox Counties as 

well as the portion of Anderson County 

included in the Area based on GIS 

mapping. Each facility was required to 

update the previous Emission Database 

Layout (EDL) file with information for 

the requested year and return the 

updated EDL to the TDEC emission 

inventory mailbox. For this submittal, 

point source emissions were obtained 

from EDL for facilities in the 

nonattainment counties. The point 

source emissions inventory for Blount 

and Knox County as well as the portion 

of Anderson County included in the 

Area is located in the docket for today’s 

action. 

Area sources are small emission 

stationary sources which, due to their 

large number, collectively have 

significant emissions (e.g., dry cleaners, 

service stations). Emissions for these 

sources were estimated by multiplying 

an emission factor by such indicators of 

collective emissions activity as 

production, number of employees, or 

population. These emissions were 

estimated at the county level. Tennessee 

developed its inventory using EPA 

Nonpoint files located on EPA’s CHIEF 

Emission Inventory Web site for the 

2011 NEI and subtracted available 

activity data for area sources that may 

have a point source contribution to 

eliminate double counting. Tennessee 

developed its inventory according to the 

current EPA emissions inventory 

guidance for area sources.5

On-road mobile sources include 

vehicles used on roads for 

transportation of passengers or freight. 

Tennessee developed its on-road 

emissions inventory using EPA’s Motor 

Vehicle Emissions Simulator (MOVES) 

model for each ozone nonattainment 


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6Tennessee used MOVES to Prepare Emission 

Inventories in State Implementation Plans and 

Transportation Conformity: Technical Guidance for 

MOVES2010, 2010a and 2010b, EPA–420–12–028 

(April 2012). 

7This guidance includes: Emissions Inventory 

Guidance for Implementation of Ozone and 

Particulate Matter National Ambient Air Quality 

Standards (NAAQS) and Regional Haze 

Regulations, EPA–454/R–05–001 (August 2005, 

updated November 2005); Policy Guidance on the 

Use of MOVES2010 for State Implementation Plan 

Development, Transportation Conformity, and 

Other Purposes, EPA–420–B–09–046 (December 

2009); and Technical Guidance on the Use of 

MOVES2010 for Emission Inventory Preparation in 

State Implementation Plans and Transportation 

Conformity, EPA–420–B–10–023 (April 2010). 

8For consistency with the National Emissions 

Inventory (NEI), Tennessee included emissions data 

for locomotive, and aircraft by county. ALM 

emissions for 2011 were primarily based on EPA’s 

2011 NEI. 

9This guidance includes: Procedures for Emission 

Inventory Preparation, Volume IV: Mobile Sources, 

EPA–450/4–81–026d (July 1991). 

10The monitor with the highest 3-year design 

value is considered the design value for the Area. 

11Preliminary 2014 data for the Knoxville Area is 

available at www.epa.gov/airdata. 

county.6 County level on-road modeling 

was conducted using county-specific 

vehicle population and other local data. 

Tennessee developed its inventory 

according to the current EPA emissions 

inventory guidance for on-road mobile 

sources using MOVES version 2014.7

Non-road mobile sources include 

vehicles, engines, and equipment used 

for construction, agriculture, recreation, 

and other purposes that do not use 

roadways (e.g., lawn mowers, 

construction equipment, railroad 

locomotives, and aircraft). Tennessee 

calculated emissions for most of the 

non-road mobile sources using EPA’s 

NONROAD2008a model 8 and 

developed its non-road mobile source 

inventory according to the current EPA 

emissions inventory guidance for nonroad mobile sources.9

For the reasons discussed above, EPA 

has preliminarily determined that 

Tennessee’s emissions inventory meets 

the requirements under CAA section 

182(a)(1) and the SIP Requirements Rule 

for the 2008 8-hour ozone NAAQS. 

Approval of Tennessee’s redesignation 

request and associated maintenance 

plan is contingent upon EPA’s final 

approval of the base year emission 

inventory for the 2008 8-hour ozone 

NAAQS. 

B. Redesignation Request and 

Maintenance Demonstration 

The five redesignation criteria 

provided under CAA section 

107(d)(3)(E) are discussed in greater 

detail for the Knoxville Area in the 

following paragraphs of this section. 

Criteria (1)—The Knoxville Area has 

Attained the 2008 8-Hour Ozone 

NAAQS 

For redesignating a nonattainment 

area to attainment, the CAA requires 

EPA to determine that the area has 

attained the applicable NAAQS (CAA 

section 107(d)(3)(E)(i)). For ozone, an 

area may be considered to be attaining 

the 2008 8-hour ozone NAAQS if it 

meets the 2008 8-hour ozone NAAQS, 

as determined in accordance with 40 

CFR 50.15 and Appendix I of part 50, 

based on three complete, consecutive 

calendar years of quality-assured air 

quality monitoring data. To attain the 

NAAQS, the 3-year average of the 

fourth-highest daily maximum 8-hour 

average ozone concentrations measured 

at each monitor within an area over 

each year must not exceed 0.075 ppm. 

Based on the data handling and 

reporting convention described in 40 

CFR part 50, Appendix I, the NAAQS 

are attained if the design value is 0.075 

ppm or below. The data must be 

collected and quality-assured in 

accordance with 40 CFR part 58 and 

recorded in the EPA Air Quality System 

(AQS). The monitors generally should 

have remained at the same location for 

the duration of the monitoring period 

required for demonstrating attainment. 

In this action, EPA is preliminarily 

determining that the Knoxville Area is 

attaining the 2008 8-hour ozone 

NAAQS. EPA reviewed the available 

ozone monitoring data from monitoring 

stations in the Knoxville Area for the 

2008 8-hour ozone NAAQS for 2011– 

2013. These data have been qualityassured, are recorded in Aerometric 

Information Retrieval System (AIRS– 

AQS), and indicate that the Area is 

attaining the 2008 8-hour ozone 

NAAQS. The fourth-highest 8-hour 

ozone values at each monitor for 2011, 

2012, and 2013, and the 3-year averages 

for 2011–2013 (i.e., design values), are 

summarized in Table 1, below. 

TABLE 2—DESIGN VALUE CONCENTRATIONS FOR THE KNOXVILLE AREA

Location County Monitor ID 

4th Highest values 

(ppm) 

3-Year design 

values 

(ppm) 

2011 2012 2013 2011–2013 

Freels Bend Study Area ................................. Anderson ............ 470010101–1 0.074 0.073 0.060 0.069 

Look Rock GSMNP ........................................ Blount ................. 470090101–1 0.083 0.075 0.064 0.074 

Cades Cove GSMNP ...................................... ............................. 470090102–1 0.068 0.064 0.059 0.063 

9315 Rutledge Pike ........................................ Knox ................... 470930021–1 0.071 0.073 0.057 0.067 

4625 Mildred Drive ......................................... ............................. 470931020–1 0.072 0.078 0.061 0.070 

The 3-year design value for 2011– 

2013 is 0.074 ppm,10 which meets the 

NAAQS. This data has been certified 

and quality-assured. In today’s action, 

EPA is proposing to determine that the 

Area is attaining the 2008 8-hour ozone 

NAAQS. EPA will not take final action 

to approve the redesignation if the 3- 

year design value exceeds the NAAQS 

after proposal. Preliminary 2014 data 

indicates that this Area will continue to 

attain the 2008 8-hour ozone NAAQS.11

As discussed in more detail below, the 

State of Tennessee has committed to 

continue monitoring in this Area in 

accordance with 40 CFR part 58. 

Criteria (2)—Tennessee has a Fully 

Approved SIP Under Section 110(k) for 

the Knoxville Area; and Criteria (5)— 

Tennessee has met all Applicable 

Requirements Under Section 110 and 

Part D of Title I of the CAA 

For redesignating a nonattainment 

area to attainment, the CAA requires 

EPA to determine that the state has met 

all applicable requirements under 

section 110 and part D of title I of the 

CAA (CAA section 107(d)(3)(E)(v)) and 

that the state has a fully approved SIP 

under section 110(k) for the area (CAA 

section 107(d)(3)(E)(ii)). EPA proposes 

to find that Tennessee has met all 

applicable SIP requirements for the 

Knoxville Area under section 110 of the 

CAA (general SIP requirements) for 

purposes of redesignation. Additionally, 

EPA proposes to find that the Tennessee 

SIP satisfies the criterion that it meets 


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applicable SIP requirements for 

purposes of redesignation under part D 

of title I of the CAA (requirements 

specific to 2008 8-hour ozone 

nonattainment areas) in accordance 

with section 107(d)(3)(E)(v). Further, 

EPA proposes to determine that the SIP 

is fully approved with respect to all 

requirements applicable for purposes of 

redesignation in accordance with 

section 107(d)(3)(E)(ii). In making these 

proposed determinations, EPA 

ascertained which requirements are 

applicable to the Area and, if applicable, 

that they are fully approved under 

section 110(k). SIPs must be fully 

approved only with respect to 

requirements that were applicable prior 

to submittal of the complete 

redesignation request. 

a. The Knoxville Area Has Met All 

Applicable Requirements Under Section 

110 and Part D of the CAA 

General SIP requirements. Section 

110(a)(2) of title I of the CAA delineates 

the general requirements for a SIP, 

which include enforceable emissions 

limitations and other control measures, 

means, or techniques; provisions for the 

establishment and operation of 

appropriate devices necessary to collect 

data on ambient air quality; and 

programs to enforce the limitations. 

General SIP elements and requirements 

are delineated in section 110(a)(2) of 

title I, part A of the CAA. These 

requirements include, but are not 

limited to, the following: submittal of a 

SIP that has been adopted by the state 

after reasonable public notice and 

hearing; provisions for establishment 

and operation of appropriate procedures 

needed to monitor ambient air quality; 

implementation of a source permit 

program; provisions for the 

implementation of part C requirements 

(Prevention of Significant Deterioration 

(PSD)) and provisions for the 

implementation of part D requirements 

(NSR permit programs); provisions for 

air pollution modeling; and provisions 

for public and local agency participation 

in planning and emission control rule 

development. 

Section 110(a)(2)(D) requires that SIPs 

contain certain measures to prevent 

sources in a state from significantly 

contributing to air quality problems in 

another state. To implement this 

provision, EPA has required certain 

states to establish programs to address 

the interstate transport of air pollutants. 

The section 110(a)(2)(D) requirements 

for a state are not linked with a 

particular nonattainment area’s 

designation and classification in that 

state. EPA believes that the 

requirements linked with a particular 

nonattainment area’s designation and 

classifications are the relevant measures 

to evaluate in reviewing a redesignation 

request. The transport SIP submittal 

requirements, where applicable, 

continue to apply to a state regardless of 

the designation of any one particular 

area in the state. Thus, EPA does not 

believe that the CAA’s interstate 

transport requirements should be 

construed to be applicable requirements 

for purposes of redesignation. 

In addition, EPA believes other 

section 110 elements that are neither 

connected with nonattainment plan 

submissions nor linked with an area’s 

attainment status are applicable 

requirements for purposes of 

redesignation. The area will still be 

subject to these requirements after the 

area is redesignated. The section 110 

and part D requirements which are 

linked with a particular area’s 

designation and classification are the 

relevant measures to evaluate in 

reviewing a redesignation request. This 

approach is consistent with EPA’s 

existing policy on applicability (i.e., for 

redesignations) of conformity and 

oxygenated fuels requirements, as well 

as with section 184 ozone transport 

requirements. See Reading, 

Pennsylvania, proposed and final 

rulemakings (61 FR 53174–53176, 

October 10, 1996), (62 FR 24826, May 7, 

2008); Cleveland-Akron-Loraine, Ohio, 

final rulemaking (61 FR 20458, May 7, 

1996); and Tampa, Florida, final 

rulemaking at (60 FR 62748, December 

7, 1995). See also the discussion on this 

issue in the Cincinnati, Ohio, 

redesignation (65 FR 37890, June 19, 

2000), and in the Pittsburgh, 

Pennsylvania, redesignation (66 FR 

50399, October 19, 2001). 

Title I, Part D, applicable SIP 

requirements. Section 172(c) of the CAA 

sets forth the basic requirements of 

attainment plans for nonattainment 

areas that are required to submit them 

pursuant to section 172(b). Subpart 2 of 

part D, which includes section 182 of 

the CAA, establishes specific 

requirements for ozone nonattainment 

areas depending on the area’s 

nonattainment classification. As 

provided in Subpart 2, a marginal ozone 

nonattainment area, such as the 

Knoxville Area, must submit an 

emissions inventory that complies with 

section 172(c)(3), but the specific 

requirements of section 182(a) apply in 

lieu of the demonstration of attainment 

(and contingency measures) required by 

section 172(c). See 42 U.S.C. 7511a(a). A 

thorough discussion of the requirements 

contained in sections 172(c) and 182 

can be found in the General Preamble 

for Implementation of Title I (57 FR 

13498). 

Section 182(a) Requirements. Section 

182(a)(1) requires states to submit a 

comprehensive, accurate, and current 

inventory of actual emissions from 

sources of VOC and NOx emitted within 

the boundaries of the ozone 

nonattainment area. Tennessee provided 

an emissions inventory for the 

Knoxville Area to EPA in a November 

14, 2014 SIP submission. Specifically, 

Tennessee addressed this requirement 

by submitting a 2011 base year 

emissions inventory for the Knoxville 

Area. EPA is proposing approval of 

Tennessee’s 2011 base year inventory in 

this action (see Section V.A. above). 

Tennessee’s section 182(a)(1) inventory 

must be incorporated into the SIP before 

EPA can take final action to approve the 

State’s redesignation request for the 

Knoxville Area. 

Under section 182(a)(2)(A), states 

with ozone nonattainment areas that 

were designated prior to the enactment 

of the 1990 CAA amendments were 

required to submit, within six months of 

classification, all rules and corrections 

to existing VOC RACT rules that were 

required under section 172(b)(3) of the 

CAA (and related guidance) prior to the 

1990 CAA amendments. The Knoxville 

Area is not subject to the section 

182(a)(2) RACT ‘‘fix up’’ because it was 

designated as nonattainment after the 

enactment of the 1990 CAA 

amendments. 

Section 182(a)(2)(B) requires each 

state with a marginal ozone 

nonattainment area that implemented, 

or was required to implement, an 

inspection and maintenance (I/M) 

program prior to the 1990 CAA 

amendments to submit a SIP revision 

providing for an I/M program no less 

stringent than that required prior to the 

1990 amendments or already in the SIP 

at the time of the amendments, 

whichever is more stringent. The 

Knoxville Area is not subject to the 

section 182(a)(2)(B) because it was 

designated as nonattainment after the 

enactment of the 1990 CAA 

amendments and did not have an I/M 

program in place prior to those 

amendments. 

Regarding the permitting and offset 

requirements of section 182(a)(2)(C) and 

section 182(a)(4), Tennessee currently 

has a fully-approved part D NSR 

program in place. However, EPA has 

determined that areas being 

redesignated need not comply with the 

requirement that a NSR program be 

approved prior to redesignation, 

provided that the area demonstrates 

maintenance of the NAAQS without 

part D NSR, because PSD requirements 


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12CAA section 176(c)(4)(E) requires states to 

submit revisions to their SIPs to reflect certain 

federal criteria and procedures for determining 

transportation conformity. Transportation 

conformity SIPs are different from the MVEBs that 

are established in control strategy SIPs and 

maintenance plans. 

13Tennessee also identified Tier 3 Motor Vehicle 

Emissions and Fuel Standards as a federal measure. 

EPA issued this rule in April 28, 2014 (79 FR 

23414), which applies to light duty passengers cars 

and trucks. EPA promulgated this rule to reduce air 

pollution from new passenger cars and trucks 

beginning in 2017. Tier 3 emission standards will 

lower sulfur content of gasoline and lower the 

emissions standards. 

will apply after redesignation. A more 

detailed rationale for this view is 

described in a memorandum from Mary 

Nichols, Assistant Administrator for Air 

and Radiation, dated October 14, 1994, 

entitled, ‘‘Part D New Source Review 

Requirements for Areas Requesting 

Redesignation to Attainment.’’ 

Tennessee’s PSD program will become 

applicable in the Knoxville Area upon 

redesignation to attainment. 

Section 182(a)(3) requires states to 

submit periodic inventories and 

emissions statements. Section 

182(a)(3)(A) requires states to submit a 

periodic inventory every three years. As 

discussed below in the section of this 

notice titled Criteria (4)(e), Verification 

of Continued Attainment, the State will 

continue to update its emissions 

inventory at least once every three 

years. Under section 182(a)(3)(B), each 

state with an ozone nonattainment area 

must submit a SIP revision requiring 

emissions statements to be submitted to 

the state by sources within that 

nonattainment area. EPA approved 

Tennessee’s emissions statements 

requirement on March 5, 2015 (80 FR 

11887). 

Section 176 Conformity 

Requirements: Section 176(c) of the 

CAA requires states to establish criteria 

and procedures to ensure that federally 

supported or funded projects conform to 

the air quality planning goals in the 

applicable SIP. The requirement to 

determine conformity applies to 

transportation plans, programs and 

projects that are developed, funded or 

approved under title 23 of the United 

States Code (U.S.C.) and the Federal 

Transit Act (transportation conformity) 

as well as to all other federally 

supported or funded projects (general 

conformity). State transportation 

conformity SIP revisions must be 

consistent with federal conformity 

regulations relating to consultation, 

enforcement and enforceability that EPA 

promulgated pursuant to its authority 

under the CAA. 

EPA interprets the conformity SIP 

requirements 12 as not applying for 

purposes of evaluating a redesignation 

request under section 107(d) because 

state conformity rules are still required 

after redesignation and federal 

conformity rules apply where state rules 

have not been approved. See Wall v. 

EPA, 265 F.3d 426 (6th Cir. 2001) 

(upholding this interpretation); see also 

60 FR 62748 (December 7, 1995) 

(redesignation of Tampa, Florida). 

Nonetheless, Tennessee has an 

approved conformity SIP for the 

Knoxville Area. See 78 FR 29027 (May 

17, 2013). Thus, the Knoxville Area has 

satisfied all applicable requirements for 

purposes of redesignation under section 

110 and part D of title I of the CAA. 

b. The Knoxville Area Has a Fully 

Approved Applicable SIP Under Section 

110(k) of the CAA 

EPA has fully approved the applicable 

Tennessee SIP for the Knoxville Area 

under section 110(k) of the CAA for all 

requirements applicable for purposes of 

redesignation. EPA may rely on prior 

SIP approvals in approving a 

redesignation request (see Calcagni 

Memorandum at p. 3; Southwestern 

Pennsylvania Growth Alliance v. 

Browner, 144 F.3d 984, 989–90 (6th Cir. 

1998); Wall, 265 F.3d 426) plus any 

additional measures it may approve in 

conjunction with a redesignation action 

(see 68 FR 25426 (May 12, 2003) and 

citations therein). Tennessee has 

adopted and submitted, and EPA has 

approved at various times, provisions 

addressing the various SIP elements 

applicable for the ozone NAAQS. See 78 

FR 14450 (March 16, 2013). 

As indicated above, EPA believes that 

the section 110 elements that are neither 

connected with nonattainment plan 

submissions nor linked to an area’s 

nonattainment status are not applicable 

requirements for purposes of 

redesignation. With the exception of the 

emissions inventory requirement, which 

is addressed in this action, EPA has 

approved all part D requirements 

applicable for purposes of this 

redesignation. 

Criteria (3)—The Air Quality 

Improvement in the Knoxville Area Is 

Due to Permanent and Enforceable 

Reductions in Emissions Resulting From 

Implementation of the Sip and 

Applicable Federal Air Pollution 

Control Regulations and Other 

Permanent and Enforceable Reductions 

For redesignating a nonattainment 

area to attainment, the CAA requires 

EPA to determine that the air quality 

improvement in the area is due to 

permanent and enforceable reductions 

in emissions resulting from 

implementation of the SIP and 

applicable federal air pollution control 

regulations and other permanent and 

enforceable reductions (CAA section 

107(d)(3)(E)(iii)). EPA has preliminarily 

determined that Tennessee has 

demonstrated that the observed air 

quality improvement in its portion of 

the Knoxville Area is due to permanent 

and enforceable reductions in emissions 

resulting from federal measures and 

from state measures adopted into the 

SIP. EPA does not have any information 

to suggest that the decrease in ozone 

concentrations in the Knoxville Area is 

due to unusually favorable 

meteorological conditions. 

State and Federal measures enacted in 

recent years have resulted in permanent 

emission reductions. Most of these 

emission reductions are enforceable 

through regulations. A few nonregulatory measures also result in 

emission reductions. The state and local 

measures that have been implemented 

to date and relied upon by Tennessee to 

demonstrate attainment and/or 

maintenance in the Knoxville Area 

include the Statewide Motor Vehicle 

Anti-Tampering Rule and Stage I 

Gasoline Vapor Recovery. These 

measures are approved in the federallyapproved SIP and thus are permanent 

and enforceable. The Federal measures 

that have been implemented include the 

following: 

Tier 2 Vehicle Standards. 

Implementation began in 2004 and 

requires all passenger vehicles in any 

manufacturer’s fleet to meet an average 

standard of 0.07 grams of NOX per mile. 

Additionally, in January 2006 the sulfur 

content of gasoline was required to be 

on average 30 ppm which assists in 

lowering the NOX emissions.13

Heavy-duty gasoline and diesel 

highway vehicle standards and Ultra 

Low-Sulfur Diesel Rule. EPA issued this 

rule on January 18, 2001 (66 FR 5002). 

This rule includes standards limiting 

the sulfur content of diesel fuel, which 

began to take effect in 2004. A second 

phase took effect in 2007, which further 

reduced the highway diesel fuel sulfur 

content to 15 ppm, leading to additional 

reductions in combustion NOX and VOC 

emissions. This rule is expected to 

achieve a 95 percent reduction in NOX

emissions from diesel trucks and buses. 

Nonroad spark-ignition engines and 

recreational engines standards. The 

nonroad spark-ignition and recreational 

engine standards, effective in July 2003, 

regulate NOX, hydrocarbons, and carbon 

monoxide from groups of previously 

unregulated nonroad engines. These 

engine standards apply to large sparkignition engines (e.g., forklifts and 

airport ground service equipment), 


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14The Bull Run facility in Anderson County is 

the only source in the Knoxville Area that is 

covered by the consent decree/FFCA. While 

Tennessee notes in its submission that selective 

catalytic reduction (SCR) was required per the 

consent decree/FFCA to be operational at unit 1 for 

Bull Run in 2011, EPA has reviewed data for this 

unit and it appears that controls were put in place 

on the Bull Run facility prior to the nonattainment 

designation for the Knoxville Area for the 2008 8- 

hour ozone NAAQS. These controls continue to 

operate. Specifically, according to the data reported 

to EPA’s Clean Air Markets Division, the SCR was 

installed and began operating on May 12, 2004. It 

appears that the SCR was only used during the 

ozone season between 2004 and 2008, and from 

2009 to the present, began operating the full year. 

recreational vehicles (e.g., off-highway 

motorcycles and all-terrain-vehicles), 

and recreational marine diesel engines 

sold in the United States and imported 

after the effective date of these 

standards. When all of the nonroad 

spark-ignition and recreational engine 

standards are fully implemented, an 

overall 72 percent reduction in 

hydrocarbons, 80 percent reduction in 

NOX, and 56 percent reduction in 

carbon monoxide emissions are 

expected by 2020. These controls reduce 

ambient concentrations of ozone, carbon 

monoxide, and fine particulate matter. 

Mercury and Air Toxics Standards 

(MATS). On February 16, 2012, EPA 

promulgated maximum achievable 

control technology regulations for coaland oil-fired EGUs, intended to reduce 

hazardous air pollutants emissions from 

EGUs. Although the MATS rule is not 

targeted at NOX emissions, it is expected 

to result in additional NOX reductions 

due to the retirement of older coal-fired 

units. 

Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) 

Consent Decree/Federal Facilities 

Compliance Agreement. On April 14, 

2011, TVA entered into a consent decree 

with Tennessee, Alabama, Kentucky, 

and North Carolina to resolve 

allegations of CAA violations at TVA’s 

coal-fired power plants. The relief 

obtained in this consent decree was also 

secured in a Federal Facilities 

Compliance Agreement (FFCA) between 

EPA and TVA. The consent decree and 

FFCA establish system-wide caps on 

NOX and SO2emissions at TVA’s coalfired facilities, declining to permanent 

levels of 52,000 tons of NOX in 2018 and 

110,000 tons of SO2 in 2019, and require 

TVA to meet specific control 

requirements.14

NOX SIP Call. On October 27, 1998 

(63 FR 57356), EPA issued the NOX SIP 

Call requiring the District of Columbia 

and 22 states to reduce emissions of 

NOX, a precursor to ozone pollution, 

and providing a mechanism (the NOX

Budget Trading Program) that states 

could use to achieve those reductions. 

Affected states were required to comply 

with Phase I of the SIP Call beginning 

in 2004 and Phase II beginning in 2007. 

By the end of 2008, ozone season 

emissions from sources subject to the 

NOX SIP Call dropped by 62 percent 

from 2000 emissions levels. All NOX SIP 

Call states have SIPs that currently 

satisfy their obligations under the NOX

SIP Call; the NOX SIP Call reduction 

requirements are being met; and EPA 

will continue to enforce the 

requirements of the NOX SIP Call. 

Emission reductions resulting from 

regulations developed in response to the 

NOX SIP Call are therefore permanent 

and enforceable for the purposes of 

today’s action. 

CAIR/CSAPR. CAIR created regional 

cap-and-trade programs to reduce SO2

and NOX emissions in 27 eastern states, 

including Tennessee. See 70 FR 25162 

(May 12, 2005). EPA approved 

Tennessee’s CAIR regulations into the 

Tennessee SIP on November 25, 2009. 

See 74 FR 61535. In 2009, the CAIR 

ozone season NOX trading program 

superseded the NOX Budget Trading 

Program, although the emission 

reduction obligations of the NOX SIP 

Call were not rescinded. See 40 CFR 

51.121(r) and 51.123(aa). In 2008, the 

United States Court of Appeals for the 

District of Columbia Circuit (D.C. 

Circuit) initially vacated CAIR, North 

Carolina v. EPA, 531 F.3d 896 (D.C. Cir. 

2008), but ultimately remanded the rule 

to EPA without vacatur to preserve the 

environmental benefits provided by 

CAIR, North Carolina v. EPA, 550 F.3d 

1176, 1178 (D.C. Cir. 2008). On August 

8, 2011 (76 FR 48208), acting on the 

D.C. Circuit’s remand, EPA promulgated 

CSAPR to address interstate transport of 

emissions and resulting secondary air 

pollutants and to replace CAIR. CSAPR 

requires substantial reductions of SO2

and NOX emissions from electric 

generating units (EGUs) in 28 states in 

the Eastern United States. 

Implementation of CSAPR was 

scheduled to begin on January 1, 2012, 

when CSAPR’s cap-and-trade programs 

would have superseded the CAIR cap 

and trade programs. Numerous parties 

filed petitions for review of CSAPR, and 

on December 30, 2011, the D.C. Circuit 

issued an order staying CSAPR pending 

resolution of the petitions and directing 

EPA to continue to administer CAIR. 

EME Homer City Generation, L.P. v. 

EPA, No. 11–1302 (D.C. Cir. Dec. 30, 

2011), Order at 2. 

On August 21, 2012, the D.C. Circuit 

issued its ruling, vacating and 

remanding CSAPR to EPA and once 

again ordering continued 

implementation of CAIR. EME Homer 

City Generation, L.P. v. EPA, 696 F.3d 

7, 38 (D.C. Cir. 2012). The D.C. Circuit 

subsequently denied EPA’s petition for 

rehearing en banc. EME Homer City 

Generation, L.P. v. EPA, No. 11–1302, 

2013 WL 656247 (D.C. Cir. Jan. 24, 

2013), at *1. EPA and other parties then 

petitioned the Supreme Court for a writ 

of certiorari, and the Supreme Court 

granted the petitions on June 24, 2013. 

EPA v. EME Homer City Generation, 

L.P., 133 S. Ct. 2857 (2013). 

On April 29, 2014, the Supreme Court 

vacated and reversed the D.C. Circuit 

Court’s decision regarding CSAPR, and 

remanded that decision to the D.C. 

Circuit Court to resolve remaining 

issues in accordance with its ruling. 

EPA v. EME Homer City Generation, 

L.P., 134 S. Ct. 1584 (2014). EPA moved 

to have the stay of CSAPR lifted in light 

of the Supreme Court decision. EME 

Homer City Generation, L.P. v. EPA, 

Case No. 11–1302, Document No. 

1499505 (D.C. Cir. filed June 26, 2014). 

In its motion, EPA asked the D.C. 

Circuit to toll CSAPR’s compliance 

deadlines by three years so that the 

Phase 1 emissions budgets apply in 

2015 and 2016 (instead of 2012 and 

2013), and the Phase 2 emissions 

budgets apply in 2017 and beyond 

(instead of 2014 and beyond). On 

October 23, 2014, the D.C. Circuit 

granted EPA’s motion and lifted the stay 

of CSAPR which was imposed on 

December 30, 2011. EME Homer City 

Generation, L.P. v. EPA, No. 11–1302 

(D.C. Cir. Oct. 23, 2014), Order at 3. On 

December 3, 2014, EPA issued an 

interim final rule to clarify how EPA 

will implement CSAPR consistent with 

the D.C. Circuit Court’s order granting 

EPA’s motion requesting lifting the stay 

and tolling the rule’s deadlines. See 79 

FR 71663 (December 3, 2014) (interim 

final rulemaking). Consistent with that 

rule, EPA began implementing CSAPR 

on January 1, 2015. EPA expects that the 

implementation of CSAPR will preserve 

the reductions achieved by CAIR and 

result in additional SO2 and NOX

emission reductions throughout the 

maintenance period. 

As mentioned above, the State 

measures that have been implemented 

include the following: 

Statewide Motor Vehicle AntiTampering Rule. Tennessee 

promulgated a statewide motor vehicle 

anti-tampering rule in 2005 to reduce air 

pollution caused by tampering with a 

motor vehicle’s emissions control 

system. The rule defines tampering as 

modifying, removing, or rendering 

inoperative any air pollution emission 

control device which results in an 

increase in emissions beyond 

established federal motor vehicle 

standards. EPA approved this rule into 

the Tennessee SIP on August 26, 2005 


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(70 FR 50199); therefore it is both state 

and federally enforceable. 

Stage I Gasoline Vapor Recovery. 

Tennessee promulgated rules for Stage I 

Gasoline Vapor Recovery for several 

counties throughout Tennessee, 

including Anderson, Blount, Jefferson, 

Knox, Loudon Counties in the Knoxville 

Area. Gasoline dispensing stations in 

these counties that were contributing 

sources on December 29, 2004, were 

required to comply by March 1, 2006. 

EPA approved these rules into the 

Tennessee SIP on August 26, 2005 (70 

FR 50199). 

Criteria (4)—The Knoxville Area Has a 

Fully Approved Maintenance Plan 

Pursuant to Section 175A of the CAA 

For redesignating a nonattainment 

area to attainment, the CAA requires 

EPA to determine that the area has a 

fully approved maintenance plan 

pursuant to section 175A of the CAA 

(CAA section 107(d)(3)(E)(iv)). In 

conjunction with its request to 

redesignate the Knoxville Area to 

attainment for the 2008 8-hour ozone 

NAAQS, TDEC submitted a SIP revision 

to provide for the maintenance of the 

2008 8-hour ozone NAAQS for at least 

10 years after the effective date of 

redesignation to attainment. EPA has 

made the preliminary determination 

that this maintenance plan meets the 

requirements for approval under section 

175A of the CAA. 

a. What is required in a maintenance 

plan? 

Section 175A of the CAA sets forth 

the elements of a maintenance plan for 

areas seeking redesignation from 

nonattainment to attainment. Under 

section 175A, the plan must 

demonstrate continued attainment of 

the applicable NAAQS for at least 10 

years after the Administrator approves a 

redesignation to attainment. Eight years 

after the redesignation, the state must 

submit a revised maintenance plan 

which demonstrates that attainment will 

continue to be maintained for the 

remainder of the 20-year period 

following the initial 10-year period. To 

address the possibility of future NAAQS 

violations, the maintenance plan must 

contain contingency measures as EPA 

deems necessary to assure prompt 

correction of any future 2008 8-hour 

ozone violations. The Calcagni 

Memorandum provides further guidance 

on the content of a maintenance plan, 

explaining that a maintenance plan 

should address five requirements: The 

attainment emissions inventory, 

maintenance demonstration, 

monitoring, verification of continued 

attainment, and a contingency plan. As 

is discussed more fully below, EPA 

proposes to find that Tennessee’s 

maintenance plan includes all the 

necessary components and is thus 

proposing to approve it as a revision to 

the Tennessee SIP. 

b. Attainment Emissions Inventory 

EPA is proposing to determine that 

the Knoxville Area has attained the 

2008 8-hour ozone NAAQS based on 

monitoring data for the 3-year period 

from 2011–2013. Tennessee selected 

2011 as the base year (i.e., attainment 

emissions inventory year) for 

developing a comprehensive emissions 

inventory for NOX and VOC, for which 

projected emissions could be developed 

for 2014, 2017, 2020, 2023 and 2026. 

The attainment inventory identifies a 

level of emissions in the Area that is 

sufficient to attain the 2008 8-hour 

ozone NAAQS. Tennessee began 

development of the attainment 

inventory by first generating a baseline 

emissions inventory for the Knoxville 

Area. 

The attainment year emissions were 

projected to future years separately 

using different methods by source 

categories, including: Point sources; 

area sources; on-road mobile sources; 

non-road mobile sources including 

commercial marine vessels, locomotives 

and air craft (MLA); and non-road 

mobile sources excluding MLA. The 

emissions were projected for 2014, 

2017, 2020, 2023 and 2026 using 2011 

emissions and growth factors developed 

from the methodology from SESARM 

Metro4, Inc. Growth factors were 

developed using the U.S. Energy 

Information Administration’s 2014 

Annual Energy Outlook (AEO2014) 

energy consumption and production 

forecasts. 

Tennessee’s 2011 emissions 

inventory, prepared by TDEC, was used 

as a source of base year emissions for 

Blount and Knox Counties, as well as 

the part of Anderson County included 

in the Area. NOX and VOC emissions 

were calculated for a typical summer 

July day, taking in to account the 

seasonal adjustment factor for summer 

operations of facilities. Future-year 

emissions were projected for 2014, 

2017, 2020, 2023, and 2026. Growth 

factors were developed using the 

methodology in the SESARM Metro4, 

Inc. document prepared by AMEC 

Environment & Infrastructure, Inc., 

titled ‘‘Development of the 2018 

Projection Point Source Emission 

Inventory for the SESARM Region,’’ 

February 11, 2014. Point source units 

were categorized as electric generating 

units (EGU) or non-EGU sources. Data 

obtained from the U.S. Energy 

Information Administration on either 

fuel use projections or industrial output 

projections were used to develop the 

growth factors used to generate the 

emissions inventory. 

Nonpoint sources captured in the 

inventory include stationary sources 

whose emissions levels of NOX, SO2, 

and particulate matter are each less than 

25 tons per year. Emissions from 

nonpoint sources in 2011 were obtained 

from NEI2011 ozone season daily 

emissions for area sources were 

calculated using the SMOKE temporal 

profiles as described for non-EGU point 

sources. 

The 2011 NOX and VOC emissions for 

the Knoxville Area, as well as the 

emissions for other years, were 

developed consistent with EPA 

guidance and are summarized in Tables 

3 through 5 of the following subsection 

discussing the maintenance 

demonstration. 

c. Maintenance Demonstration 

The November 14, 2014, final SIP 

revision includes a maintenance plan 

for the Knoxville Area. The 

maintenance plan: 

(i). Shows compliance with and 

maintenance of the 8-hour ozone 

standard by providing information to 

support the demonstration that current 

and future emissions of NOX and VOC 

remain at or below 2011 emissions 

levels. 

(ii). Uses 2011 as the attainment year 

and includes future emissions inventory 

projections and national growth factors 

for 2014, 2017, 2020, 2023, and 2026. 

(iii). Identifies an ‘‘out year’’ at least 

10 years after the time necessary for 

EPA to review and approve the 

maintenance plan. Per 40 CFR part 93, 

NOX and VOC MVEBs were established 

for the last year (2026) of the 

maintenance plan (see section VI 

below). Through the interagency 

consultation process, it was also 

decided that MVEBs would be adopted 

for the year 2011. 

(iv). Provides actual (2011) and 

projected emissions inventories, in tons 

per day (tpd), for the Knoxville Area, as 

shown in Tables 3 and 4, below. 


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TABLE 3—ACTUAL AND PROJECTED ANNUAL NOX EMISSIONS (tpd) FOR THE KNOXVILLE AREA

Sector 2011 2014 2017 2020 2023 2026 

Point ......................................................... 9.97 10.55 11.05 11.70 12.28 12.90 

Area .......................................................... 6.56 6.67 6.53 6.53 6.65 6.72 

On-road .................................................... 41.62 35.13 28.63 22.14 15.65 9.15 

Non-road (excluding MLA) ....................... 8.37 5.43 4.43 3.78 3.38 3.15 

Non-road (MLA) ....................................... 4.06 3.79 3.70 3.81 4.19 4.92 

Total .................................................. 70.6 61.6 54.3 48.0 42.2 36.8 

Note: Emissions are provided for Blount and Knox Counties and a portion of Anderson County MLA—Commercial Marine Vessels, Locomotive, and Aircraft. 

TABLE 4—ACTUAL AND PROJECTED ANNUAL VOC EMISSIONS (tpd) FOR THE KNOXVILLE AREA

Sector 2011 2014 2017 2020 2023 2026 

Point ......................................................... 4.98 5.42 6.09 6.48 7.14 7.75 

Area .......................................................... 86.93 84.81 84.61 84.94 85.28 85.64 

On-road .................................................... 19.71 17.17 14.63 12.08 9.54 7.00 

Non-road (excluding MLA) ....................... 7.47 5.33 4.64 4.26 4.19 4.19 

Non-road (MLA) ....................................... 0.31 0.32 0.36 0.44 0.55 0.74 

Total .................................................. 119.40 113.05 110.33 108.20 106.70 105.32 

Note: Emissions are provided for Blount and Knox Counties and a portion of Anderson County MLA—Commercial Marine Vessels, Locomotives, and Aircraft. 

In situations where local emissions 

are the primary contributor to 

nonattainment, such as the Knoxville 

Area, if the future projected emissions 

in the nonattainment area remain at or 

below the baseline emissions in the 

nonattainment area, then the ambient 

air quality standard should not be 

exceeded in the future. Tennessee has 

projected emissions as described 

previously and determined that 

emissions in the Knoxville Area will 

remain below those in the attainment 

year inventory for the duration of the 

maintenance plan. 

As discussed in section VI of this 

proposed rulemaking, 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 NAAQS. 

Tennessee selected 2011 as the 

attainment emissions inventory year for 

the Knoxville Area and calculated a 

safety margin for 2026. The State has 

decided to allocate a portion of this 

2026 safety margin to the 2026 MVEB 

for the Knoxville Area. Specifically, 

Tennessee has decided to allocate 8.53 

tpd to the 2026 NOX MVEB and 3.49 tpd 

to the 2026 VOC MVEB. After allocation 

of the available safety margin, the 

remaining safety margin was calculated 

as 25.30 tpd for NOX and 10.59 tpd for 

VOC. The MVEB to be used for 

transportation conformity proposes is 

discussed in section VI. This allocation 

and the resulting available safety margin 

for the Knoxville Area are discussed 

further in section VI of this proposed 

rulemaking. 

d. Monitoring Network 

There are currently three monitors 

measuring ozone in the Knoxville Area. 

The State of Tennessee, through TDEC, 

has committed to continue operation of 

the monitors in Knoxville Area in 

compliance with 40 CFR part 58 and 

have thus addressed the requirement for 

monitoring. EPA approved the ozone 

portion of Tennessee’s 2012 annual 

ambient air monitoring network plan on 

June 15, 2012. 

e. Verification of Continued Attainment 

The State of Tennessee, through 

TDEC, has the legal authority to enforce 

and implement the requirements of the 

maintenance plan for the Knoxville 

Area. This includes the authority to 

adopt, implement, and enforce any 

subsequent emissions control 

contingency measures determined to be 

necessary to correct future ozone 

attainment problems. 

Verification of continued attainment 

is accomplished through operation of 

the ambient ozone monitoring network 

and the periodic updates of the Area’s 

emissions inventory. As discussed 

above, TDEC will continue to operate 

the current monitors located in the 

Knoxville Area. There are no plans to 

discontinue operation, relocate, or 

otherwise change the existing ambient 

monitoring network. Tennessee will 

continue to update its emissions 

inventory at least once every three 

years. 

The Consolidated Emissions 

Reporting Rule (CERR) was promulgated 

by EPA on June 10, 2002. The CERR was 

replaced by the Annual Emissions 

Reporting Requirements (AERR) rule on 

December 17, 2008. The most recent 

triennial inventory for Tennessee was 

compiled for 2011. The larger point 

sources of air pollution will continue to 

submit data on their emissions on an 

annual basis as required by the AERR. 

Emissions from the rest of the point 

sources, the nonpoint source portion, 

and the on-road and nonroad mobile 

sources continue to be quantified on a 

three-year cycle. The inventory will be 

updated and maintained on a three-year 

cycle. As required by the AERR, the 

next overall emissions inventory will be 

compiled for 2014. 

f. Contingency Measures in the 

Maintenance Plan 

Section 175A of the CAA requires that 

a maintenance plan include such 

contingency measures as EPA deems 

necessary to assure that the state will 

promptly correct a violation of the 

NAAQS that occurs after redesignation. 

The maintenance plan should identify 

the contingency measures to be adopted, 

a schedule and procedure for adoption 

and implementation, and a time limit 

for action by the state. A state should 

also identify specific indicators to be 

used to determine when the 

contingency measures need to be 

implemented. The maintenance plan 

must include a requirement that a state 


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will implement all measures with 

respect to control of the pollutant that 

were contained in the SIP before 

redesignation of the area to attainment 

in accordance with section 175A(d). 

The contingency plan included in 

Tennessee’s SIP revision includes a 

triggering mechanism to determine 

when contingency measures are needed 

and a process of developing and 

implementing appropriate control 

measures. The State of Tennessee will 

use actual ambient monitoring data and 

emissions inventory data as the 

indicators to determine whether a 

trigger has been activated and whether 

contingency measures should be 

implemented. 

Tennessee has identified a primary 

trigger (Tier I) that will be activated 

when any quality-assured/quality 

controlled 8-hour ozone monitoring 

reading exceeds 0.075 ppm at an 

ambient monitoring station located in 

the Knoxville Area or if the periodic 

emission inventory updates reveal 

excessive or unanticipated growth 

greater than 10 percent in emissions of 

NOX or VOC over the attainment or 

intermediate emissions inventories for 

the Knoxville Area (as determined by 

the triennial emission reporting 

required by AERR). The State of 

Tennessee, in conjunction with the 

Knox County Department of Air Quality 

Management (DAQM), will conduct an 

evaluation as expeditiously as 

practicable to determine what 

additional measures will be necessary to 

attain or maintain the 8-hour ozone 

standard. If it is determined that 

additional emission reductions are 

necessary, Tennessee and Knox County 

DAQM, will adopt and implement any 

required measures in accordance with 

the schedule and procedure for 

adoption and implementation of 

contingency measures. 

The ozone trigger concentrations 

described above apply to each monitor 

in the maintenance area. TDEC will 

evaluate a Tier I condition, if it occurs, 

as expeditiously as practicable to 

determine the cause(s) of the ambient 

ozone or emissions inventory increase 

and to determine if a Tier II condition 

(see below) is likely to occur. 

A secondary trigger (Tier II) is 

activated when any violation of the 

2008 8-hour ozone NAAQS at any of the 

ambient monitoring stations in the 

Knoxville Area is recorded, based on 

quality-assured monitoring data. In the 

event that a Tier II trigger is activated, 

Tennessee and Knox County DAQM 

will conduct a comprehensive study to 

determine the cause(s) of the ambient 

ozone increase and will implement any 

required measures as expeditiously as 

practicable, taking into consideration 

the ease of implementation and the 

technical and economic feasibility of 

selected measures. 

Tennessee and Knox County DAQM 

will, in the event of: (1) A Tier II trigger 

condition, or (2) a Tier I condition in 

which Tennessee has determined that a 

Tier II condition is likely to occur, 

conduct a comprehensive study to 

determine what contingency measure(s) 

are required for the maintenance of the 

ozone standard. Since the Knoxville 

Area may be influenced by emissions 

from outside the maintenance area, the 

study will attempt to determine whether 

the trigger condition is due to local 

emissions, emissions from elsewhere, or 

a combination of the previous. Selected 

emission control measures will be 

subject to public review and the State 

will seek public input prior to selecting 

new emission control measures. 

The comprehensive study will be 

completed and submitted to EPA for 

review as expeditiously as practical, but 

no later than nine months after the Tier 

I or Tier II trigger is activated. When 

Tennessee and Knox County DAQM 

determines, through the comprehensive 

study, what contingency measure(s) are 

required for the maintenance of the 

ozone standard, appropriate corrective 

measures will be adopted and 

implemented within 18 to 24 months 

after the Tier I or II trigger occurs. The 

proposed schedule for these actions 

include: 

• Six months to identify appropriate 

contingency measures; 

• Three to six months to initiate 

stakeholder process; and 

• Nine to twelve months to 

implement the contingency measures. 

Section 175A(d) requires that state 

maintenance plans shall include a 

requirement that the state will 

implement all measures with respect to 

the control of the air pollutant 

concerned which were contained in the 

SIP for the area before redesignation of 

the area to attainment. Currently all 

such measures are in effect for the 

Knoxville Area. Contingency measure(s) 

will be selected from the following 

types of measures or from any other 

measure deemed appropriate and 

effective at the time the selection is 

made: 

• Implementation of diesel retrofit 

programs, including incentives for 

performing retrofits. 

• Reasonable Available Control 

Technology (RACT) for NOX sources in 

nonattainment counties. 

• Programs or incentives to decrease 

motor vehicle use, including employerbased programs, additional park and 

ride services, enhanced transit service 

and encouragement of flexible work 

hours/compressed work week/

telecommuting. 

• Trip reduction ordinances. 

• Additional emissions reductions on 

stationary sources. 

• Enhanced stationary source 

inspection to ensure that emissions 

control equipment is functioning 

properly. 

• Voluntary fuel programs including 

incentives for alternative fuels. 

• Construction of high-occupancy 

vehicle (HOV) lanes, or restriction of 

certain roads or lanes for HOV. 

• Programs for new construction and 

major reconstruction of bicycle and 

pedestrian facilities, including shared 

use paths, sidewalks and bicycle lanes. 

• Expand Air Quality Action Day 

activities/Clean Air Partners public 

education outreach. 

• Expansion of E-Government 

services at State and local level. 

• Additional Enforcement or outreach 

on driver observance of reduce speed 

limits. 

• Land use/transportation policies. 

• Promotion of non-motorized 

transportation. 

• Promotion or tree-planting 

standards that favor trees with low VOC 

biogenic emissions. 

• Promotion if energy saving plans for 

local government. 

• Gas can and lawnmower 

replacement programs. 

• Seasonal open burning ban in 

nonattainment counties. 

• Evaluation of anti-idling rules and/ 

or policy. 

• Additional controls in upwind 

areas, if necessary. 

EPA has preliminarily concluded that 

the maintenance plan adequately 

addresses the five basic components of 

a maintenance plan: The attainment 

emissions inventory, maintenance 

demonstration, monitoring, verification 

of continued attainment, and a 

contingency plan. Therefore, the 

maintenance plan for the Knoxville 

Area meets the requirements of section 

175A of the CAA and is approvable. 

VI. What is EPA’s analysis of 

Tennessee’s proposed NOX and VOC 

MVEBs for the Knoxville Area? 

Under section 176(c) of the CAA, new 

transportation plans, programs, and 

projects, such as the construction of 

new highways, must ‘‘conform’’ to (i.e., 

be consistent with) the part of the state’s 

air quality plan that addresses pollution 

from cars and trucks. Conformity to the 

SIP means that transportation activities 

will not cause new air quality 

violations, worsen existing violations, or 

delay timely attainment of the NAAQS 


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or any interim milestones. If a 

transportation plan does not conform, 

most new projects that would expand 

the capacity of roadways cannot go 

forward. Regulations at 40 CFR part 93 

set forth EPA policy, criteria, and 

procedures for demonstrating and 

assuring conformity of such 

transportation activities to a SIP. The 

regional emissions analysis is one, but 

not the only, requirement for 

implementing transportation 

conformity. Transportation conformity 

is a requirement for nonattainment and 

maintenance areas. Maintenance areas 

are areas that were previously 

nonattainment for a particular NAAQS 

but have since been redesignated to 

attainment with an approved 

maintenance plan for that NAAQS. 

Under the CAA, states are required to 

submit, at various times, control strategy 

SIPs and maintenance plans for 

nonattainment areas. These control 

strategy SIPs (including RFP and 

attainment demonstration requirements) 

and maintenance plans create MVEBs 

for criteria pollutants and/or their 

precursors to address pollution from 

cars and trucks. Per 40 CFR part 93, a 

MVEB must be established for the last 

year of the maintenance plan. A state 

may adopt MVEBs for other years as 

well. The MVEB is the portion of the 

total allowable emissions in the 

maintenance demonstration that is 

allocated to highway and transit vehicle 

use and emissions. See 40 CFR 93.101. 

The MVEB serves as a ceiling on 

emissions from an area’s planned 

transportation system. The MVEB 

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 MVEB. 

After interagency consultation with 

the transportation partners for the 

Knoxville Area, Tennessee has 

developed MVEBs for NOX and VOC for 

the Knoxville Area. Tennessee is 

developing these MVEBs, as required, 

for the last year of its maintenance plan, 

2026. Additionally, Tennessee is 

establishing MVEBs for the year 2011. 

The 2011 MVEBs reflect the total onroad emissions for 2011. The 2026 

MVEBs reflect the total on-road 

emissions 2026, plus an allocation from 

the available NOX and VOC safety 

margins. Under 40 CFR 93.101, the term 

‘‘safety margin’’ is the difference 

between the attainment level (from all 

sources) and the projected level of 

emissions (from all sources) in the 

maintenance plan. The safety margin 

can be allocated to the transportation 

sector; however, the total emissions 

must remain below the attainment level. 

The NOX and VOC MVEBs and 

allocation from the safety margin were 

developed in consultation with the 

transportation partners and were added 

to account for uncertainties in 

population growth, changes in model 

vehicle miles traveled and new 

emission factor models. The NOX and 

VOC MVEBs for the Knoxville Area are 

defined in Table 5 below. 

TABLE 5—KNOXVILLE AREA NOX AND VOC MVEBS (TPD) 

2011 2026 

NOX Emissions: 

Base Emissions ................................................................................................................................................ 41.62 9.15 

Safety Margin Allocated to MVEB .................................................................................................................... n/a 8.53 

NOX Conformity MVEBs ................................................................................................................................... 41.62 * 17.69 

VOC Emissions: 

Base Emissions ................................................................................................................................................ 19.71 7.00 

Safety Margin Allocated to MVEB .................................................................................................................... n/a 3.49 

VOC Conformity MVEBs .................................................................................................................................. 19.71 10.49 

* Due to rounding convention. 

As mentioned above, Tennessee has 

chosen to allocate a portion of the 

available safety margin to the NOX and 

VOC MVEBs for the Knoxville Area. 

This allocation is 8.53 tpd and 3.49 tpd 

for NOX and VOC, respectively. Thus, 

the remaining safety margins for 2026 

are 25.30 tpd and 10.59 tpd NOX and 

VOC, respectively. 

Through this rulemaking, EPA is 

proposing to approve the MVEBs for 

NOX and VOC for 2011 and 2026 for the 

Knoxville Area because EPA has 

preliminarily determined that the Area 

maintains the 2008 8-hour ozone 

NAAQS with the emissions at the levels 

of the budgets. Once the MVEBs for the 

Knoxville Area are approved or found 

adequate (whichever is completed first), 

they must be used for future conformity 

determinations. After thorough review, 

EPA has preliminarily determined that 

the budgets meet the adequacy criteria, 

as outlined in 40 CFR 93.118(e)(4), and 

is proposing to approve the budgets 

because they are consistent with 

maintenance of the 2008 8-hour ozone 

NAAQS through 2026. 

VII. What is the status of EPA’s 

adequacy determination for the 

proposed NOX and VOC MVEBs for the 

Knoxville Area? 

When reviewing submitted ‘‘control 

strategy’’ SIPs or maintenance plans 

containing MVEBs, EPA may 

affirmatively find the MVEB contained 

therein adequate for use in determining 

transportation conformity. Once EPA 

affirmatively finds the submitted MVEB 

is adequate for transportation 

conformity purposes, that MVEB must 

be used by state and federal agencies in 

determining whether proposed 

transportation projects conform to the 

SIP as required by section 176(c) of the 

CAA. 

EPA’s substantive criteria for 

determining adequacy of a MVEB are set 

out in 40 CFR 93.118(e)(4). The process 

for determining adequacy consists of 

three basic steps: Public notification of 

a SIP submission, a public comment 

period, and EPA’s adequacy 

determination. This process for 

determining the adequacy of submitted 

MVEBs for transportation conformity 

purposes was initially outlined in EPA’s 

May 14, 1999, guidance, ‘‘Conformity 

Guidance on Implementation of March 

2, 1999, Conformity Court Decision.’’ 

EPA adopted regulations to codify the 

adequacy process in the Transportation 

Conformity Rule Amendments for the 

‘‘New 8-Hour Ozone and PM2.5 National 

Ambient Air Quality Standards and 

Miscellaneous Revisions for Existing 

Areas; Transportation Conformity Rule 

Amendments—Response to Court 

Decision and Additional Rule Change,’’ 

on July 1, 2004 (69 FR 40004). 

Additional information on the adequacy 

process for transportation conformity 

purposes is available in the proposed 

rule entitled, ‘‘Transportation 

Conformity Rule Amendments: 

Response to Court Decision and 

Additional Rule Changes,’’ 68 FR 38974, 

38984 (June 30, 2003). 


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As discussed earlier, Tennessee’s 

maintenance plan includes NOX and 

VOC MVEBs for the Knoxville Area for 

2026, the last year of the maintenance 

plan, and for 2011. EPA reviewed the 

NOX and VOC MVEBs through the 

adequacy process. Tennessee’s 

November 14, 2015, SIP submission, 

including the Knoxville Area NOX and 

VOC MVEBs, was open for public 

comment on EPA’s adequacy Web site 

on December 4, 2014, found at: http:// 

www.epa.gov/otaq/stateresources/

transconf/currsips.htm#knx-tn. The 

EPA public comment period on 

adequacy for the MVEBs for 2011 and 

2026 for the Knoxville Area closed on 

January 5, 2015. No comments, adverse 

or otherwise, were received during 

EPA’s adequacy process for the MVEBs 

associated with Tennessee’s 

maintenance plan. 

EPA intends to make its 

determination on the adequacy of the 

2011 and 2026 MVEBs for the Knoxville 

Area for transportation conformity 

purposes in the near future by 

completing the adequacy process that 

was started on December 4, 2014. After 

EPA finds the 2011 and 2026 MVEBs 

adequate or approves them, the new 

MVEBs for NOX and VOC must be used 

for future transportation conformity 

determinations. For required regional 

emissions analysis years for 2026 and 

beyond, the applicable budgets will be 

the new 2026 MVEBs established in the 

maintenance plan, as defined in section 

VI of this proposed rulemaking. The 

2011 MVEBs will be used for any 

analysis year prior to 2026. 

VIII. What is the effect of EPA’s 

proposed actions? 

EPA’s proposed actions establish the 

basis upon which EPA may take final 

action on the issues being proposed for 

approval today. Approval of 

Tennessee’s redesignation request 

would change the legal designation of 

Blount and Knox Counties and the 

portion of Anderson County included in 

the Knoxville Area, found at 40 CFR 

part 81, from nonattainment to 

attainment for the 2008 8-hour ozone 

NAAQS. Approval of Tennessee’s 

associated SIP revision would also 

incorporate a plan for maintaining the 

2008 8-hour ozone NAAQS in the 

Knoxville Area through 2026 and a 

section 182(a)(1) base year emissions 

inventory into the Tennessee SIP. The 

maintenance plan establishes NOX and 

VOC MVEBs for 2011 and 2026 for the 

Knoxville Area and includes 

contingency measures to remedy any 

future violations of the 2008 8-hour 

ozone NAAQS and procedures for 

evaluation of potential violations. The 

NOX MVEB for 2011 is 41.62 tpd, and 

for 2026 is 17.69 tpd. The VOC MVEB 

is 19.71 for 2011 and 10.49 tpd for 2026. 

Additionally, EPA is notifying the 

public of the status of EPA’s adequacy 

determination for the newly-established 

NOX and VOC MVEBs for 2026 for the 

Knoxville Area. 

IX. Proposed Actions 

EPA is now proposing to take four 

separate but related actions regarding 

the Knoxville Area’s redesignation and 

maintenance of the 2008 8-hour ozone 

NAAQS. First, EPA is proposing to 

approve Tennessee’s section 182(a)(1) 

base year emissions inventory for the 

2008 8-hour ozone standard for the 

Knoxville Area into the SIP. Approval of 

the base year inventory is a prerequisite 

for EPA to redesignate the Area from 

nonattainment to attainment. 

Second, EPA is proposing to 

determine that the Knoxville Area is 

attaining the 2008 8-hour ozone NAAQS 

based on complete, quality-assured and 

certified monitoring data for the 2011– 

2013 monitoring period. Preliminary 

2012–2014 data in AQS indicates that 

the Area is continuing to attain the 2008 

8-hour ozone NAAQS. 

Third, EPA is proposing to approve 

the maintenance plan for the Knoxville 

Area, including the NOX and VOC 

MVEBs for 2011 and 2026, into the 

Tennessee SIP (under CAA section 

175A). The maintenance plan 

demonstrates that the Area will 

continue to maintain the 2008 8-hour 

ozone NAAQS, and the budgets meet all 

of the adequacy criteria contained in 40 

CFR 93.118(e)(4) and (5). Further, as 

part of today’s action, EPA is describing 

the status of its adequacy determination 

for the NOX and VOC MVEBs for 2011 

and 2026 in accordance with 40 CFR 

93.118(f)(1). Within 24 months from the 

publication date of EPA’s adequacy 

determination for the MVEBs or the 

effective date for the final rule for this 

action, whichever is earlier, the 

transportation partners will need to 

demonstrate conformity to the new NOX

and VOC MVEBs pursuant to 40 CFR 

93.104(e). 

Finally, EPA is proposing to 

determine that Tennessee has met the 

criteria under CAA section 107(d)(3)(E) 

for the Knoxville Area for redesignation 

from nonattainment to attainment for 

the 2008 8-hour ozone NAAQS. On this 

basis, EPA is proposing to approve 

Tennessee’s redesignation request for 

the 2008 8-hour ozone NAAQS for the 

Knoxville Area. If finalized, approval of 

the redesignation request would change 

the official designation of Blount and 

Knox Counties and the portion of 

Anderson County in the Knoxville Area 

for the 2008 8-hour ozone NAAQS from 

nonattainment to attainment, as found 

at 40 CFR part 81. 

X. Statutory and Executive Order 

Reviews 

Under the CAA, redesignation of an 

area to attainment and the 

accompanying approval of a 

maintenance plan under section 

107(d)(3)(E) are actions that affect the 

status of a geographical area and do not 

impose any additional regulatory 

requirements on sources beyond those 

imposed by state law. A redesignation to 

attainment does not in and of itself 

create any new requirements, but rather 

results in the applicability of 

requirements contained in the CAA for 

areas that have been redesignated to 

attainment. Moreover, the Administrator 

is required to approve a SIP submission 

that complies with the provisions of the 

Act and applicable Federal regulations. 

See 42 U.S.C. 7410(k); 40 CFR 52.02(a). 

Thus, in reviewing SIP submissions, 

EPA’s role is to approve state choices, 

provided that they meet the criteria of 

the CAA. Accordingly, these proposed 

actions merely propose to approve state 

law as meeting federal requirements and 

do not impose additional requirements 

beyond those imposed by state law. For 

that reason, these proposed actions: 

• Are not a significant regulatory 

actions subject to review by the Office 

of Management and Budget under 

Executive Orders 12866 (58 FR 51735, 

October 4, 1993) and 13563 (76 FR 3821, 

January 21, 2011); 

• do not impose an information 

collection burden under the provisions 

of the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 

U.S.C. 3501 et seq.); 

• are 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.); 

• do 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); 

• do not have Federalism 

implications as specified in Executive 

Order 13132 (64 FR 43255, August 10, 

1999); 

• are not economically significant 

regulatory actions based on health or 

safety risks subject to Executive Order 

13045 (62 FR 19885, April 23, 1997); 

• are not a significant regulatory 

action subject to Executive Order 13211 

(66 FR 28355, May 22, 2001); 

• are 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 


tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with PROPOSALS
29250 Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 98 / Thursday, May 21, 2015 / Proposed Rules 

application of those requirements would 

be inconsistent with the CAA; and 

• do not provide EPA with the 

discretionary authority to address, as 

appropriate, disproportionate human 

health or environmental effects, using 

practicable and legally permissible 

methods, under Executive Order 12898 

(59 FR 7629, February 16, 1994). 

The SIP is not approved to apply on 

any Indian reservation land or in any 

other area where EPA or an Indian tribe 

has demonstrated that a tribe has 

jurisdiction. In those areas of Indian 

country, the rule does not have tribal 

implications as specified by Executive 

Order 13175 (65 FR 67249, November 9, 

2000), nor will it impose substantial 

direct costs on tribal governments or 

preempt tribal law. 

List of Subjects 

40 CFR Part 52 

Environmental protection, Air 

pollution control, Incorporation by 

reference, Intergovernmental relations, 

Nitrogen dioxide, Ozone, Reporting and 

recordkeeping requirements, Volatile 

organic compounds. 

40 CFR Part 81 

Environmental protection, Air 

pollution control. 

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

Dated: May 13, 2015. 

Heather McTeer Toney, 

Regional Administrator, Region 4. 

[FR Doc. 2015–12347 Filed 5–20–15; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

40 CFR Parts 52 and 81 

[EPA–R04–OAR–2015–0275; FRL–9928–11– 

Region 4] 

Approval and Promulgation of 

Implementation Plans and Designation 

of Areas; North Carolina; 

Redesignation of the Charlotte-Rock 

Hill, 2008 8-Hour Ozone Nonattainment 

Area to Attainment 

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency. 

ACTION: Proposed rule. 

SUMMARY: On April 16, 2015, the State 

of North Carolina, through the North 

Carolina Department of Environment 

and Natural Resources, Department of 

Air Quality (NC DAQ), submitted a 

request for the Environmental 

Protection Agency (EPA) to redesignate 

the portion of North Carolina that is 

within the bi-state Charlotte-Rock Hill, 

North Carolina-South Carolina 8-hour 

ozone nonattainment area (hereafter 

referred to as the ‘‘bi-state Charlotte 

Area,’’ or ‘‘Area’’) to attainment for the 

2008 8-hour ozone National Ambient 

Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) and to 

approve a State Implementation Plan 

(SIP) revision containing a maintenance 

plan for the Area. EPA is proposing to 

determine that the bi-State Charlotte 

Area is attaining the 2008 8-hour ozone 

NAAQS; to approve the State’s plan for 

maintaining attainment of the 2008 8- 

hour ozone standard in the Area, 

including the sub-area motor vehicle 

emission budgets (MVEBs) for nitrogen 

oxides (NOX) and volatile organic 

compounds (VOC) for the years 2014 

and 2026 for North Carolina portion of 

the Area, into the SIP; and to 

redesignate the North Carolina portion 

of the Area to attainment for the 2008 

8-hour ozone NAAQS. EPA is also 

notifying the public of the status of 

EPA’s adequacy determination for the 

sub-area MVEBs for the North Carolina 

portion of the bi-state Charlotte Area. 

DATES: Comments must be received on 

or before June 11, 2015. 

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, 

identified by Docket ID No. EPA–R04– 

OAR–2015–0275, by one of the 

following methods: 

1. www.regulations.gov: Follow the 

on-line instructions for submitting 

comments. 

2. Email: R4-ARMS@epa.gov. 

3. Fax: (404) 562–9019. 

4. Mail: ‘‘EPA–R04–OAR–2015– 

0275,’’ Air Regulatory Management 

Section (formerly the Regulatory 

Development Section), Air Planning and 

Implementation Branch (formerly the 

Air Planning Branch), Air, Pesticides 

and Toxics Management Division, U.S. 

Environmental Protection Agency, 

Region 4, 61 Forsyth Street SW., 

Atlanta, Georgia 30303–8960. 

5. Hand Delivery or Courier: Ms. 

Lynorae Benjamin, Chief, Air Regulatory 

Management Section, Air Planning and 

Implementation Branch, Air, Pesticides 

and Toxics Management Division, U.S. 

Environmental Protection Agency, 

Region 4, 61 Forsyth Street SW., 

Atlanta, Georgia 30303–8960. 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 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., excluding 

Federal holidays. 

Instructions: Direct your comments to 

Docket ID No. EPA–R04–OAR–2015– 

0275. 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 

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 through 

www.regulations.gov or email, 

information that you consider to be CBI 

or otherwise protected. 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. For additional information 

about EPA’s public docket visit the EPA 

Docket Center homepage at http://

www.epa.gov/epahome/dockets.htm. 

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 at the Air Regulatory 

Management Section, Air Planning and 

Implementation Branch, Air, Pesticides 

and Toxics Management Division, U.S. 

Environmental Protection Agency, 

Region 4, 61 Forsyth Street SW., 

Atlanta, Georgia 30303–8960. 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. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Sean Lakeman of the Air Regulatory 

Management Section, Air Planning and 


tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with PROPOSALS