[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 150 (Tuesday, August 5, 1997)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 42068-42070]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-20578]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[TN-150-01-9711a; FRL-5866-1]


Approval and Promulgation of Implementation Plans, Tennessee: 
Approval of Revisions to Maintenance Plan for Knox County, Tennessee

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Direct final rule.

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SUMMARY: EPA is approving revisions to the Knox County portion of the 
State Implementation Plan regarding the Ozone Maintenance Plan and 
associated projections of future emissions submitted on January 18, 
1995, by the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation. The 
purpose of this action is to establish an emissions budget in Knox 
County in accordance with the Transportation Conformity provisions 
promulgated on November 24, 1993.

DATES: This final rule is effective October 6, 1997, unless adverse or 
critical comments are received by September 4, 1997. If the effective 
date is delayed, timely notice will be published in the Federal 
Register.

ADDRESSES: Written comments on this action should be addressed to 
Benjamin Franco at the Environmental Protection Agency, Region 4 Air 
Planning Branch, 61 Forsyth Street, SW, Atlanta, Georgia 30303. Copies 
of documents relative to this action are available for public 
inspection during normal business hours at the following locations. The 
interested persons wanting to examine these documents should make an 
appointment with the appropriate office at least 24 hours before the 
visiting day. Reference file TN150-01-9711. The Region 4 office may 
have additional background documents not available at the other 
locations.

Air and Radiation Docket and Information Center (Air Docket 6102), U.S. 
Environmental Protection Agency, 401 M Street, SW, Washington, DC 
20460.
Environmental Protection Agency, Region 4 Air Planning Branch, 61 
Forsyth Street, SW, Atlanta, Georgia 30303. Benjamin Franco, (404)-562-
9039.
Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation, Division of Air 
Pollution Control, L&C Annex, 9th Floor, 401 Church Street, Nashville, 
Tennessee 37243-1531. Telephone: (615) 532-0554.
Knox County Department of Air Pollution Control, City County Building, 
Suite 339, 400 West Main Street, Knoxville, Tennessee, 37902. 
Telephone: (615) 521-2488.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Benjamin Franco at 404/562-9039.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 176(c)(2)(A) of the Clean Air Act 
specifically requires conformity determinations to show that 
``emissions expected from implementation of such plans and programs are 
consistent with estimates of emissions from motor vehicles and 
necessary emissions reductions.'' SIP demonstrations of reasonable 
further progress, attainment, and maintenance contain these emission 
estimates and ``necessary emission reductions.'' The emissions budget 
is the mechanism EPA has identified for carrying out the demonstration 
of consistency.
    The emissions budget may be revised at any time through the 
standard SIP revision process, provided the SIP demonstrates that the 
revised emission budget will not threaten attainment and maintenance of 
the standard or any milestone in the required timeframe. The State may 
choose to revise its SIP emission budgets in order to reallocate 
emissions among sources or among pollutants and precursors.
    Section 51.456(b) of the Transportation Conformity Rule (58 FR 
62232) provides that in cases where a SIP submitted prior to November 
24, 1993, does not have an explicit emissions budget but quantifies a 
``safety margin'' by which emissions from all sources are less than the 
total emissions that would be consistent with attainment, the State may 
submit a SIP revision which assigns some or all of this safety margin 
to highway and transit mobile sources for the purpose of conformity. 
Such a SIP revision, once it is endorsed by the Governor and has been 
subject to a public hearing, may be used for the purposes of 
transportation conformity before it is approved by EPA.
    On August 26, 1992, the Tennessee Department of Environment and 
Conservation (TDEC) submitted an Ozone Maintenance Plan for Knox County 
that included a 1990 base year emission inventory and emissions 
projections. EPA published in the Federal Register on September 27, 
1993, a notice approving the maintenance plan and emission projections. 
These emission projections were approved before the conformity rule was 
finalized on November 24, 1993. Therefore, the approved emission 
projections became the area's emission budget for conformity purposes.
    On May 25, 1994, the Department of Environment and Conservation 
proposed a revision to the maintenance plan and emission projections. 
This revision provides a more accurate and practical budget for 
transportation planning conformity. The final conformity rule allows 
for areas to revise their emission projections as long as it does not 
affect attainment or the maintenance of the air quality standards. 
Section 51.456 of the final conformity rule allows an area to 
reallocate safety margins to highway and transit mobile sources for the 
purposes of transportation conformity. The State revision has allocated 
the safety margin in their emission projection to the mobile portion of 
the emissions budget. The following is the revised emission budget for 
Knox County submitted by the State.

[[Page 42069]]



                                                               Knox County Emission Budget                                                              
                                                                       [Tons/Day]                                                                       
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                          Year                                Area           Nonroad        Biogenic         Mobile           Point            Total    
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                                                               Volatile Organic Compounds                                                               
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1990...................................................           28.82            9.81           32.43           41.16            8.06           120.28
1993...................................................           29.25            9.96           32.43           29.28            8.64           109.56
2000...................................................           30.29           10.31           32.43         * 37.37            9.88           120.28
2004...................................................           30.90           10.52           32.43          *35.94           10.49           120.28
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                                                                     Nitrogen Oxides                                                                    
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1990...................................................            3.66            9.77               0           41.73            8.96            64.12
1993...................................................            3.72            9.92               0           41.20            9.54            64.38
2000...................................................            3.85           10.27               0         * 38.99           11.01            64.12
2004...................................................            3.92           10.48               0         * 38.21           11.51            64.12
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                                                                     Carbon Monoxide                                                                    
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1990...................................................            7.54           68.89               0          296.32            3.00           375.75
1993...................................................            7.65           69.93               0          245.90            3.34           326.82
2000...................................................            7.92           72.41               0          220.72            3.67           304.72
2004...................................................            8.08           73.87               0          203.60            3.84           289.39
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* Safety margin emission were reallocated to mobile sources. A safety margin is produced when the emissions from all sources are less than the total    
  emissions that would be consistent with attainment.                                                                                                   

Final Action

    The Agency has reviewed this request for revision of the Federally-
approved State implementation plan for conformance with the provisions 
of the 1990 amendments enacted on November 15, 1990. The Agency has 
determined that this action conforms with those requirements.
    The EPA is publishing this action without prior proposal because 
the Agency views this as a noncontroversial amendment and anticipates 
no adverse comments. However, in a separate document in this Federal 
Register publication, the EPA is proposing to approve the SIP revision 
should adverse or critical comments be filed. This action will be 
effective October 6, 1997, unless, by September 4, 1997, adverse or 
critical comments are received.
    If the EPA receives such comments, this action will be withdrawn 
before the effective date by publishing a subsequent document that will 
withdraw the final action. All public comments received will be 
addressed in a subsequent final rule based on this action serving as a 
proposed rule. The EPA will not institute a second comment period on 
this action. Any parties interested in commenting on this action should 
do so at this time. If no such comments are received, the public is 
advised that this action will be effective October 6, 1997.
    Nothing in this action should be construed as permitting or 
allowing or establishing a precedent for any future request for 
revision to any state implementation plan. Each request for revision to 
the state implementation plan shall be considered separately in light 
of specific technical, economic, and environmental factors and in 
relation to relevant statutory and regulatory requirements.

I. Administrative Requirements

A. Executive Order 12866

    The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has exempted this 
regulatory action from E.O. 12866 review.

B. Regulatory Flexibility Act

    Under the Regulatory Flexibility Act, 5 U.S.C. 600 et seq., EPA 
must prepare a regulatory flexibility analysis assessing the impact of 
any proposed or final rule on small entities. 5 U.S.C. 603 and 604. 
Alternatively, EPA may certify that the rule will not have a 
significant impact on a substantial number of small entities. Small 
entities include small businesses, small not-for-profit enterprises, 
and government entities with jurisdiction over populations of less than 
50,000.
    SIP approvals under section 110 and subchapter I, part D of the 
Clean Air Act do not create any new requirements but simply approve 
requirements that the State is already imposing. Therefore, because the 
Federal SIP approval does not impose any new requirements, the Regional 
Administrator certifies that it does not have a significant impact on 
any small entities affected. Moreover, due to the nature of the 
Federal-State relationship under the CAA, preparation of a flexibility 
analysis would constitute Federal inquiry into the economic 
reasonableness of state action. The Clean Air Act forbids EPA to base 
its actions concerning SIPs on such grounds. Union Electric Co. v. U.S. 
EPA, 427 U.S. 246, 255-66 (1976); 42 U.S.C. 7410(a)(2) and 7410(k)(3).

C. Unfunded Mandates

    Under section 202 of the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995 
(``Unfunded Mandates Act''), signed into law on March 22, 1995, EPA 
must prepare a budgetary impact statement to accompany any proposed or 
final rule that includes a Federal mandate that may result in estimated 
costs to State, local, or tribal governments in the aggregate, or to 
the private sector, of $100 million or more. Under section 205, EPA 
must select the most cost-effective and least burdensome alternative 
that achieves the objectives of the rule and is consistent with 
statutory requirements. Section 203 requires EPA to establish a plan 
for informing and advising any small governments that may be 
significantly or uniquely impacted by the rule.
    EPA has determined that the approval action promulgated does not 
include a Federal mandate that may result in estimated costs of $100 
million or more to either State, local, or tribal governments in the 
aggregate, or to the private sector. This Federal action approves pre-
existing requirements under State or local law, and imposes no new 
requirements. Accordingly, no additional costs to State, local, or 
tribal governments, or to the private sector, result from this action.

[[Page 42070]]

D. Submission to Congress and the General Accounting Office

    Under 5 U.S.C. 801(a)(1)(A) as added by the Small Business 
Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996, EPA submitted a report 
containing this rule and other required information to the U.S. Senate, 
the U.S. House of Representatives and the Comptroller General of the 
General Accounting Office prior to publication of the rule in today's 
Federal Register. This rule is not a ``major rule'' as defined by 
section 804(2).

E. Petitions for Judicial Review

    Under section 307(b)(1) of the Clean Air Act, petitions for 
judicial review of this action must be filed in the United States Court 
of Appeals for the appropriate circuit by October 6, 1997. Filing a 
petition for reconsideration by the Administrator of this final rule 
does not affect the finality of this rule for the purposes of judicial 
review nor does it extend the time within which a petition for judicial 
review may be filed, and shall not postpone the effectiveness of such 
rule or action. This action may not be challenged later in proceedings 
to enforce its requirements. (See section 307(b)(2).)

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 52

    Environmental protection, Air pollution control, Carbon monoxide, 
Hydrocarbons, Incorporation by reference, Intergovernmental relations, 
Nitrogen oxides ,Ozone, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements.

    Dated: July 9, 1997.
Michael V. Payton,
Acting Regional Administrator .
    Chapter I, title 40, is amended as follows:

PART 52--[AMENDED]

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

    Authority: 42.U.S.C. 7401-7671q.

Subpart RR--Tennessee

    2. Section 52.2220, is amended by adding paragraph (c)(151) to read 
as follows:


Sec. 52.2220  Identification of plan.

* * * * *
    (c) * * *
    (151) A Revision to Knox County Ozone Maintenance plan and emission 
projections submitted by the Tennessee Department of Environment and 
Conservation on January 18, 1995.
    (i) Incorporation by reference.
    (A) Knox County Ozone Maintenance plan and emission projections 
adopted on November 21, 1994.
    (ii) Other material. None.
* * * * *
[FR Doc. 97-20578 Filed 8-4-97; 8:45 am]
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