58058 Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 182 / Wednesday, September 19, 2012 / Proposed Rules 

We cannot ensure that comments 

received after the close of the comment 

period (see DATES) or sent to an address 

other than those listed (see ADDRESSES) 

will be included in the docket for this 

rulemaking and considered. 

Public Availability of Comments 

Before including your address, phone 

number, email address, or other 

personal identifying information in your 

comment, you should be aware that 

your entire comment including your 

personal identifying information may be 

made publicly available at any time. 

While you can ask us in your comment 

to withhold your personal identifying 

information from public review, we 

cannot guarantee that we will be able to 

do so. 

Public Hearing 

If you wish to speak at the public 

hearing, contact the person listed under 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT by 4 

p.m., c.d.t. on October 4, 2012. If you 

are disabled and need reasonable 

accommodations to attend a public 

hearing, contact the person listed under 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT. We 

will arrange the location and time of the 

hearing with those persons requesting 

the hearing. If no one requests an 

opportunity to speak, we will not hold 

a hearing. 

To assist the transcriber and ensure an 

accurate record, we request, if possible, 

that each person who speaks at the 

public hearing provide us with a written 

copy of his or her comments. The public 

hearing will continue on the specified 

date until everyone scheduled to speak 

has been given an opportunity to be 

heard. If you are in the audience and 

have not been scheduled to speak and 

wish to do so, you will be allowed to 

speak after those who have been 

scheduled. We will end the hearing after 

everyone scheduled to speak and others 

present in the audience who wish to 

speak, have been heard. 

Public Meeting 

If only one person requests an 

opportunity to speak, we may hold a 

public meeting rather than a public 

hearing. If you wish to meet with us to 

discuss the amendment, please request 

a meeting by contacting the person 

listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION

CONTACT. All such meetings are open to 

the public; if possible, we will post 

notices of meetings at the locations 

listed under ADDRESSES. We will make 

a written summary of each meeting a 

part of the administrative record. 

IV. Procedural Determinations 

Executive Order 12866—Regulatory 

Planning and Review 

This rule is exempted from review by 

the Office of Management and Budget 

(OMB) under Executive Order 12866. 

Other Laws and Executive Orders 

Affecting Rulemaking 

When a State submits a program 

amendment to OSM for review, our 

regulations at 30 CFR 732.17(h) require 

us to publish a notice in the Federal 

Register indicating receipt of the 

proposed amendment, its text or a 

summary of its terms, and an 

opportunity for public comment. We 

conclude our review of the proposed 

amendment after the close of the public 

comment period and determine whether 

the amendment should be approved, 

approved in part, or not approved. At 

that time, we will also make the 

determinations and certifications 

required by the various laws and 

executive orders governing the 

rulemaking process and include them in 

the final rule. 

List of Subjects in 30 CFR Part 924 

Intergovernmental relations, Surface 

mining, Underground mining. 

Dated: July 31, 2012. 

Paul J. Ehret, 

Acting Regional Director, Mid-Continent 

Region. 

[FR Doc. 2012–23077 Filed 9–18–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4310–05–P 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

40 CFR Part 52 

[EPA–R06–OAR–2012–0435; FRL–9731–1] 

Approval and Promulgation of 

Implementation Plans; Texas; 

Beaumont/Port Arthur Ozone 

Maintenance Plan Revision to 

Approved Motor Vehicle Emissions 

Budgets 

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA). 

ACTION: Proposed rule. 

SUMMARY: EPA is proposing to approve 

Texas’ request to revise its Beaumont/ 

Port Arthur (BPA) 1997 8-hour ozone 

maintenance air quality State 

Implementation Plan (SIP) by replacing 

the previously approved motor vehicle 

emissions budgets (budgets) with 

budgets developed using EPA’s Motor 

Vehicle Emissions Simulator (MOVES) 

2010a emissions model. The BPA 1997 

8-hour ozone maintenance area consists 

of Hardin, Jefferson, and Orange 

Counties in Texas. Texas submitted this 

request to EPA for parallel processing 

on June 28, 2012. 

DATES: Comments must be received on 

or before October 19, 2012. 

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, 

identified by Docket No. EPA–R06– 

OAR–2012–0435, by one of the 

following methods: 

• Federal Rulemaking Portal: http:// 

www.regulations.gov. Follow the online 

instructions for submitting comments. 

• U.S. EPA Region 6 ‘‘Contact Us’’ 

Web site: http://epa.gov/region6/ 

r6comment.htm. Please click on ‘‘6PD 

(Multimedia)’’ and select ‘‘Air’’ before 

submitting comments. 

• Email: Mr. Guy Donaldson at 

donaldson.guy@epa.gov. Please also 

send a copy by email to the person 

listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION

CONTACT section below. 

• Fax: Mr. Guy Donaldson, Chief, Air 

Planning Section (6PD–L), at fax 

number 214–665–7263. 

• Mail: Mr. Guy Donaldson, Chief, 

Air Planning Section (6PD–L), 

Environmental Protection Agency, 1445 

Ross Avenue, Suite 1200, Dallas, Texas 

75202–2733. 

• Hand or Courier Delivery: Mr. Guy 

Donaldson, Chief, Air Planning Section 

(6PD–L), Environmental Protection 

Agency, 1445 Ross Avenue, Suite 1200, 

Dallas, Texas 75202–2733. Such 

deliveries are accepted only between the 

hours of 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. weekdays, 

and not on legal holidays. Special 

arrangements should be made for 

deliveries of boxed information. 

Instructions: Direct your comments to 

Docket ID No. EPA–R06–OAR–2012– 

0435. 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 information that you 

consider to be CBI or otherwise 

protected through www.regulations.gov 

or email. The www.regulations.gov Web 

site is an ‘‘anonymous access’’ system, 

which means EPA will not know your 

identity or contact information unless 

you provide it in the body of your 

comment. If you send an email 

comment directly to EPA without going 

through www.regulations.gov, your 

email address will be automatically 

captured and included as part of the 

comment that is placed in the public 


tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with PROPOSALS
Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 182 / Wednesday, September 19, 2012 / Proposed Rules 58059 

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 docket 

are listed in the www.regulations.gov 

index. Although listed in the index, 

some information is not publicly 

available, e.g., CBI or other information 

whose disclosure is restricted by statute. 

Certain other material, such as 

copyrighted material, will be publicly 

available only in hard copy. Publicly 

available docket materials are available 

either electronically at 

www.regulations.gov or in hard copy at 

the Air Planning Section (6PD–L), 

Environmental Protection Agency, 1445 

Ross Avenue, Suite 700, Dallas, Texas 

75202–2733. The file will be made 

available by appointment for public 

inspection in the Region 6 FOIA Review 

Room between the hours of 8:30 a.m. 

and 4:30 p.m. weekdays except for legal 

holidays. Contact the person listed in 

the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT

paragraph below or Mr. Bill Deese at 

214–665–7253 to make an appointment. 

If possible, please make the 

appointment at least two working days 

in advance of your visit. There will be 

a fee of 15 cents per page for making 

photocopies of documents. On the day 

of the visit, please check in at the EPA 

Region 6 reception area at 1445 Ross 

Avenue, Suite 700, Dallas, Texas 75202. 

The State submittal is also available 

for public inspection during official 

business hours by appointment: Texas 

Commission on Environmental Quality, 

Office of Air Quality, 12124 Park 35 

Circle, Austin, Texas 78753. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. 

Jeffrey Riley, Air Planning Section 

(6PD–L), Environmental Protection 

Agency, Region 6, 1445 Ross Avenue, 

Suite 700, Dallas, Texas 75202–2733, 

telephone 214–665–8542; fax number 

214–665–6762; email address 

riley.jeffrey@epa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Throughout this document, ‘‘we,’’ ‘‘us,’’ 

and ‘‘our’’ means EPA. 

Table of Contents 

I. What action is EPA proposing? 

II. What is the background for this 

rulemaking? 

A. SIP Budgets and Transportation 

Conformity 

B. Prior Approval of Budgets 

C. The MOVES Emissions Model and 

Regional Transportation Conformity 

Grace Period 

D. Submission of New Budgets Based on 

MOVES2010a 

III. What are the criteria for approval? 

IV. What is EPA’s analysis of the State’s 

submittal? 

A. The Revised Inventories 

B. Approvability of the MOVES2010aBased Budgets 

C. Applicability of MOBILE6.2-Based 

Budgets 

V. Proposed Action 

VI. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews 

I. What action is EPA proposing? 

EPA is proposing to approve new 

MOVES2010a-based budgets for the 

Beaumont/Port Arthur (BPA) 1997 8- 

hour ozone maintenance area. The BPA 

area was redesignated to attainment of 

the 1997 8-hour ozone standard on 

October 20, 2010 (75 FR 64675, effective 

date November 19, 2010), and the 

MOBILE6.2-based budgets were 

approved in that notice. Should EPA 

finalize this proposed approval, the 

newly submitted MOVES2010a budgets 

will replace the existing, MOBILE6.2- 

based budgets in the state’s 1997 8-hour 

ozone maintenance plan and must then 

be used in future transportation 

conformity analyses for the area. At that 

time, the previously approved budgets 

would no longer be applicable for 

transportation conformity purposes. 

Should EPA approve the 

MOVES2010a-based budgets, the BPA 

1997 8-hour ozone maintenance area 

must use the MOVES2010a-based 

budgets starting on the effective date of 

that final approval. See 75 FR 9411– 

9414 for background and section II.C 

below for details. 

II. What is the background for this 

rulemaking? 

A. SIP Budgets and Transportation 

Conformity 

Under the Clean Air Act (CAA), states 

are required to submit, at various times, 

control strategy SIP revisions and 

maintenance plans for nonattainment 

and maintenance areas for a given 

National Ambient Air Quality Standard 

(NAAQS). These emission control 

strategy SIP revisions (e.g., reasonable 

further progress and attainment 

demonstration SIP revisions) and 

maintenance plans include budgets of 

on-road mobile source emissions for 

criteria pollutants and/or their 

precursors to address pollution from 

cars and trucks. SIP budgets are the 

portions of the total allowable emissions 

that are allocated to on-road vehicle use 

that, together with emissions from other 

sources in the area, will provide for 

attainment or maintenance. The budget 

serves as a ceiling on emissions from an 

area’s planned transportation system. 

For more information about budgets, see 

the preamble to the November 24, 1993, 

transportation conformity rule (58 FR 

62188). 

Under section 176(c) of the CAA, 

transportation plans, Transportation 

Improvement Programs (TIPs), and 

transportation projects must ‘‘conform’’ 

to (i.e., be consistent with) the SIP 

before they can be adopted or approved. 

Conformity to the SIP means that 

transportation activities will not cause 

new air quality violations, worsen 

existing air quality violations, or delay 

timely attainment of the NAAQS or 

delay an interim milestone. The 

transportation conformity regulations 

can be found at 40 CFR Part 93. 

Before budgets can be used in 

conformity determinations, EPA must 

affirmatively find the budgets adequate. 

However, adequate budgets do not 

supersede approved budgets for the 

same CAA purpose. If the submitted SIP 

budgets are meant to replace budgets for 

the same purpose, as is the case with 

Texas’ MOVES2010a 1997 8-hour ozone 

maintenance plan budgets, EPA must 

approve the budgets, and can affirm that 

they are adequate at the same time. 

Once EPA approves the submitted 

budgets, they must be used by state and 

Federal agencies in determining 

whether transportation activities 

conform to the SIP as required by 

section 176(c) of the CAA. EPA’s 

substantive criteria for determining the 

adequacy of budgets are set out in 40 

CFR 93.118(e)(4). 

B. Prior Approval of Budgets 

EPA had previously approved budgets 

for the Beaumont/Port Arthur 8-hour 

ozone maintenance area for volatile 

organic compounds (VOCs) and 

nitrogen oxides (NOX) for the year 2021 

on October 20, 2010 (75 FR 64675). 

These budgets were based on EPA’s 

MOBILE6.2 emissions model. The ozone 

maintenance plan established 2021 

budgets for the Beaumont/Port Arthur 

area of 4.77 tons per summer day (tpd) 

for VOCs and 7.24 tpd for NOX. The 

budgets demonstrated a net reduction in 

emissions from the monitored 

attainment year and the NOX budget 

included a margin of safety. 


tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with PROPOSALS
58060 Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 182 / Wednesday, September 19, 2012 / Proposed Rules 

1For more information, see 77 FR 11394. 

C. The MOVES Emissions Model and 

Regional Transportation Conformity 

Grace Period 

The MOVES model is EPA’s state-ofthe-art tool for estimating highway 

emissions. The model is based on 

analyses of millions of emission test 

results and considerable advances in the 

agency’s understanding of vehicle 

emissions. MOVES incorporates the 

latest emissions data, more 

sophisticated calculation algorithms, 

increased user flexibility, new software 

design, and significant new capabilities 

relative to those reflected in 

MOBILE6.2. 

EPA announced the release of 

MOVES2010 in March 2010 (75 FR 

9411). This notice approved the use of 

MOVES2010 in official SIP submissions 

to EPA and for regional emissions 

analyses for transportation conformity 

purposes outside of California. In 

addition, the notice started a two-year 

grace period before MOVES2010 is 

required to be used in new regional 

emissions analyses for transportation 

conformity determinations outside of 

California. EPA has since extended that 

grace period until March 2, 2013 (77 FR 

11394). 

On September 8, 2010, EPA released 

MOVES2010a, which included minor 

revisions that enhance model 

performance and do not significantly 

affect the criteria pollutant emissions 

results from MOVES2010. Therefore, 

MOVES2010a is not considered a ‘‘new 

model’’ under 40 CFR 93.111. As a 

result, the MOVES2010 grace period for 

regional conformity analyses applies to 

the use of MOVES2010a as well.1

EPA encouraged Metropolitan 

Planning Organizations (MPOs), 

Departments of Transportation, and 

state air agencies to examine how 

MOVES would affect future 

transportation plans and TIP conformity 

determinations so, if necessary, SIPs 

and budgets could be revised with 

MOVES2010 or transportation plans and 

TIPs could be revised (as appropriate) 

prior to the end of the regional 

transportation conformity grace period. 

EPA also encouraged state and local air 

agencies to consider how the release of 

MOVES would affect analyses 

supporting SIP submissions under 

development. 

The Texas Transportation Institute 

(TTI) (under contract with the Texas 

Commission on Environmental Quality 

(TCEQ)) has used MOVES2010a 

emission rates with the transportation 

network information to estimate 

emissions in the years of the 

transportation plan and also for the SIP. 

Texas is revising the budgets at this time 

using the latest planning assumptions 

including population and employment 

updates. In addition, newer vehicle 

registration data has been used to 

update the age distribution of the 

vehicle fleet. Texas finds that updating 

the budgets with MOVES2010a will 

prepare the South East Texas Regional 

Planning Commission (SETRPC, the 

Beaumont/Port Arthur area MPO) for 

the transition to using MOVES for 

conformity analyses and 

determinations. The interagency 

consultation group has had extensive 

consultation on the requirements and 

need for new budgets. 

D. Submission of New Budgets Based on 

MOVES2010a 

On June 28, 2012, Texas submitted for 

parallel processing replacement budgets 

based on MOVES2010a for the 

Beaumont/Port Arthur area. Texas is 

currently providing public review and 

comment at the state level. The state 

public comment period ended on 

August 3, 2012. EPA is proposing to 

approve the MOVES2010a budgets after 

completion of the public process and 

formal submittal of the SIP revision 

request. 

The MOVES2010a budgets are 

proposed to replace the prior approved 

MOBILE6.2 budgets and are for the 

same year and pollutants/precursors. 

The new MOVES2010a budgets are for 

the year 2021 for both VOCs and NOX. 

Texas has also submitted MOVES2010a 

emissions for the attainment year of 

2005 (and interim inventory years 2011, 

2014 and 2017) as a comparison to the 

2021 budget year. Table 4–1 in the 

submittal demonstrates how mobile 

source emissions decline from the 

attainment year of 2005. In 2005, the 

estimated NOX emissions from mobile 

sources is 45.60 tpd and the estimated 

VOC emissions from mobile sources is 

11.63 tpd. The 2021 estimated 

emissions for NOX from mobile sources 

is 6.24 tpd and the VOC estimated 

emissions from mobile sources is 4.77 

tpd. 

Tables 4–2 and 4–3 in the submittal 

demonstrate trends in total estimated 

NOX and VOC emissions, respectively, 

between 2005 to 2021. In 2005, the total 

estimated NOX emissions from all 

sources (including mobile, point, area 

and non-road sources) is 148.04 tpd and 

the total VOC emissions, for the 2005 

attainment year, from all sources is 

210.51 tpd. The 2021 estimated 

emissions for total NOX from all sources 

is 137.24 tpd and the total VOC 

emissions from all sources is 222.69 tpd. 

Although there is a 5.8% increase in 

total VOC emissions from all sources 

between the 2005 attainment year and 

the 2021 budget year, there is an 

offsetting 7.3% decrease in total NOX

emissions from all sources between 

these years. Therefore, the mobile 

source emissions, when included with 

point, area and non-road sources 

continue to demonstrate maintenance of 

the 1997 8-hour ozone standard 

attainment level of emissions in the 

Beaumont/Port Arthur area. 

No additional control measures were 

needed to maintain the 1997 ozone 

standard emissions in the Beaumont/ 

Port Arthur area. The on-road 

MOVES2010a based budgets are in 

Table 4–7 of the submittal and are listed 

as 9.7 tpd for NOX and 3.9 tpd for VOCs 

in the year 2021. These budgets will 

continue to keep emissions in the 

Beaumont/Port Arthur area below the 

calculated attainment year of emissions. 

III. What are the criteria for approval? 

The CAA has always required that 

revisions to existing SIPs and budgets 

continue to meet applicable 

requirements (i.e., reasonable further 

progress (RFP), attainment, or 

maintenance). States that revise their 

existing SIPs to include MOVES budgets 

must therefore show that the SIP 

continues to meet applicable 

requirements with the new level of 

motor vehicle emissions contained in 

the budgets. 

The transportation conformity rule (at 

40 CFR 93.118(e)(4)(iv)) requires that 

‘‘the motor vehicle emissions budget(s), 

when considered together with all other 

emissions sources, is consistent with 

applicable requirements for reasonable 

further progress (RFP), attainment, or 

maintenance (whichever is relevant to 

the given implementation plan 

submission).’’ This and the other 

adequacy criteria found at 40 CFR 

93.118(e)(4) must be satisfied before 

EPA can find submitted budgets 

adequate or approve them for 

conformity purposes. 

In addition, EPA has stated that areas 

can revise their budgets and inventories 

using MOVES without revising their 

entire SIP if (1) the SIP continues to 

meet applicable requirements when the 

previous motor vehicle emissions 

inventories are replaced with MOVES 

base year and milestone, attainment, or 

maintenance year inventories, and (2) 

the state can document that growth and 

control strategy assumptions for nonmotor vehicle sources continue to be 

valid and any minor updates do not 

change the overall conclusions of the 

SIP. For example, the first criterion 

could be satisfied by demonstrating that 

the emissions reductions between the 


tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with PROPOSALS
Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 182 / Wednesday, September 19, 2012 / Proposed Rules 58061 

baseline/attainment year and 

maintenance year are the same or 

greater using MOVES than they were 

previously. The Texas submittal meets 

this requirement as described below in 

section IV. 

For more information, see EPA’s latest 

‘‘Policy Guidance on the Use of 

MOVES2010 for State Implementation 

Plan Development, Transportation 

Conformity, and Other Purposes’’ 

available online at: www.epa.gov/otaq/ 

stateresources/transconf/ 

policy.htm#models. 

IV. What is EPA’s analysis of the State’s 

submittal? 

A. The Revised Inventories 

The Texas SIP revision request for 

Beaumont/Port Arthur 1997 8-hour 

ozone maintenance plan seeks to revise 

only the on-road mobile source 

inventories and not the non-road 

inventories, area source inventories or 

point source inventories for the 2021 

year for which the SIP revises the 

budgets. TCEQ has certified that the 

control strategies remain the same as in 

the original SIP, and that no other 

control strategies are necessary. This is 

confirmed by the complete, qualityassured 2009–2011 ozone season 

monitoring data for Beaumont/Port 

Arthur, which shows continued 

attainment for the 1997 8-hour ozone 

standard. Thus, the current control 

strategies are continuing to keep the 

area in attainment of the 1997 8-hour 

ozone NAAQS. 

EPA has reviewed the emission 

estimates for point, area and non-road 

sources and concluded that no major 

changes to the projections need to be 

made. The submittal states that analysis 

of emissions in these source categories 

using more recent growth and control 

strategy assumptions than the original 

2008 submittal resulted in lower 

emissions estimates of NOX and VOCs 

for each inventory year. Because of this, 

EPA concludes that the growth and 

control strategy assumptions for nonmobile sources for the years 2005, 2011, 

2014, 2017 and 2021 continue to be 

valid and do not affect the overall 

conclusions of the original plan. 

Texas confirms that the SIP continues 

to demonstrate its purpose of 

maintaining the 1997 ozone standard 

because the emissions are continuing to 

decrease from the attainment year to the 

final year of the maintenance plan. The 

total emissions in the revised SIP 

(which includes MOVES2010a 

emissions from mobile sources) are 

148.04 tpd for NOX and 210.51 tpd for 

VOCs in the 2005 attainment year. The 

total emissions from all sources in the 

2021 year are 137.24 tpd for NOX and 

222.69 tpd for VOCs. Although there is 

a 5.8% increase in total VOC emissions 

from all sources between the 2005 

attainment year and the 2021 budget 

year, there is an offsetting 7.3% 

decrease in total NOX emissions from all 

sources between these years. These 

totals demonstrate that emissions in the 

Beaumont/Port Arthur area are 

continuing to decline and remain below 

the 1997 8-hour ozone standard 

attainment levels. 

Texas has submitted MOVES2010abased budgets for the Beaumont/Port 

Arthur area that are clearly identified in 

Table 4–7 of the submittal. The budgets 

for 2021 are 9.7 tpd for NOX and 3.9 tpd 

for VOCs. 

TABLE 1—BEAMONT/PORT ARTHUR

MOVES2010A-BASED MVEBS (TPD) 

Budget year NOX

MVEB 

VOC 

MVEB 

2021 .......................... 9.7 3.9 

B. Approvability of the MOVES2010aBased Budgets 

EPA is proposing to approve the 

MOVES2010a-based budgets submitted 

by the state for use in determining 

transportation conformity in the 

Beaumont/Port Arthur 1997 ozone 

maintenance area. EPA is making this 

proposal based on our evaluation of 

these budgets using the adequacy 

criteria found in 40 CFR 93.118(e)(4) 

and our in-depth evaluation of the 

State’s submittal and SIP requirements. 

EPA has determined, based on its 

evaluation, that the area’s maintenance 

plan would continue to serve its 

intended purpose with the submitted 

MOVES2010a-based budgets and that 

the budgets themselves will meet the 

adequacy criteria in the conformity rule 

at 40 CFR 93.118(e)(4) after the state 

public hearing is completed and the SIP 

is formally submitted. 

EPA is parallel processing this SIP 

revision request which means that EPA 

is proposing approval at the same time 

that the state is completing the public 

process at the state level. This SIP 

revision request will not be complete 

and will not meet all the adequacy 

criteria until the state public process is 

complete and the SIP revision is 

submitted in final with a letter from the 

Governor or Governor’s designee. EPA is 

proposing to approve the SIP revision 

request after completion of the state 

public process and final submittal. If 

any comments are received, EPA will 

consider those comments received both 

at the state and Federal level. 

EPA is moving forward with 

proposing approval with this parallel 

process because transportation projects 

cannot be amended to the Beaumont/ 

Port Arthur Transportation Plan and 

transportation improvement program 

until this budget replacement is 

completed. The budgets need to be 

updated, not only to accommodate the 

use of MOVES2010a, but also because of 

the updated planning assumptions for 

mobile sources. 

The adequacy criteria found in 40 

CFR 93.118(e)(4) are as follows: 

• The submitted SIP was endorsed by 

[the Governor/Governor’s designee] and 

was subject to a state public hearing 

(§ 93.118(e)(4)(i)); 

• The submitted SIP underwent 

consultation among Federal, state, and 

local agencies and the state fully 

documented the submittal 

(§ 93.118(e)(4)(ii)); 

• The budgets are clearly identified 

and precisely quantified 

(§ 93.118(e)(4)(iii)); 

• The budgets, when considered with 

other emission sources, are consistent 

with applicable requirements for 

[reasonable further progress/attainment/ 

maintenance] (§ 93.118(e)(4)(iv)); 

• The budgets are consistent with and 

clearly related to the emissions 

inventory and control measures in the 

SIP (§ 93.118(e)(4)(v)); and 

• The revisions explain and 

document changes to the previous 

budgets, impacts on point and area 

source emissions and changes to 

established safety margins 

(§ 93.118(e)(4)(vi)). 

Our review finds that Texas has met 

all of the adequacy criteria, except the 

public process and final submittal by 

the Governor or Governor’s designee. 

The interagency consultation group, 

which is composed of the state air 

agency, state Department of 

Transportation, Federal Highway 

Administration, EPA, and SETRPC have 

discussed and reviewed the budgets 

developed with MOVES2010a. The 

budgets are clearly identified and 

precisely quantified in the submittal in 

table 4–7. The budgets when considered 

with other emissions sources (point, 

area, non-road) are consistent with 

continued maintenance of the 1997 

ozone standard. The budgets are clearly 

related to the emissions inventory and 

control measures in the SIP. The 

changes from the previous budgets are 

clearly explained with the change in the 

model from MOBILE6.2 to 

MOVES2010a and the revised and 

updated planning assumptions. The 

inputs to the model are detailed in the 

Appendix to the submittal. EPA has 

reviewed the inputs to the 


tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with PROPOSALS
58062 Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 182 / Wednesday, September 19, 2012 / Proposed Rules 

2For more information, see Question 11 of EPA’s 

‘‘Policy Guidance on the Use of MOVES2010 for 

State Implementation Plan Development, 

Transportation Conformity, and Other Purposes’’ 

and 75 FR 9411. 

MOVES2010a modeling and 

participated in the consultation process. 

The Federal Highway AdministrationTexas Division and the Texas 

Department of Transportation have 

taken a lead role in working with the 

MPO and contractor to provide accurate, 

timely information and inputs to the 

MOVES2010a model runs. The SETRPC 

network model provided the vehicle 

miles of travel and other necessary data 

from the travel demand networks. 

The CAA requires that revisions to 

existing SIPs and budgets continue to 

meet applicable requirements (in this 

case, maintenance). Therefore, states 

that revise existing SIPs with MOVES 

must show that the SIP continues to 

meet applicable requirements with the 

new level of motor vehicle emissions 

calculated by the new model. 

To that end, Texas’ submitted 

MOVES2010a budgets meet EPA’s two 

criteria for revising budgets without 

revising the entire SIP: 

(1) The SIP continues to meet 

applicable requirements when the 

previous motor vehicle emissions 

inventories are replaced with 

MOVES2010a base year and milestone, 

attainment, or maintenance year 

inventories, and 

(2) The state can document that 

growth and control strategy assumptions 

for non-motor vehicle sources continue 

to be valid and any minor updates do 

not change the overall conclusions of 

the SIP. 

EPA has reviewed the emission 

estimates for point, area and non-road 

sources and concluded that no major 

changes to the projections need to be 

made. The submittal states that analysis 

of emissions in these source categories 

using more recent growth and control 

strategy assumptions than the original 

2008 submittal resulted in lower 

emissions estimates of NOX and VOCs 

for each inventory year. Because of this, 

EPA concludes that the growth and 

control strategy assumptions for nonmobile sources for the years 2005, 2011, 

2014, 2017 and 2021 continue to be 

valid and do not affect the overall 

conclusions of the original plan. 

Texas confirms that the SIP continues 

to demonstrate its purpose of 

maintaining the 1997 ozone standard 

because the emissions are continuing to 

decrease from the attainment year to the 

final year of the maintenance plan. The 

total emissions in the revised SIP 

(which includes MOVES2010a 

emissions for mobile sources) decrease 

from 148.04 tpd for NOX and 210.51 tpd 

for VOCs in the 2005 attainment year to 

137.24 tpy NOX and 222.69 tpd VOC in 

2021. Although there is a 5.8% increase 

in total VOC emissions from all sources 

between the 2005 attainment year and 

the 2021 budget year, there is an 

offsetting 7.3% decrease in total NOX

emissions from all sources between 

these years. These totals demonstrate 

that emissions in the Beaumont/Port 

Arthur area are continuing to decline 

and remain below the 1997 8-hour 

ozone standard attainment levels. Table 

2 shows total emissions in the 

Beaumont/Port Arthur area including 

point, area, non-road, and mobile 

sources, and demonstrates the declining 

emissions from the 2005 attainment 

year. 

TABLE 2—TOTAL EMISSIONS WITH MOVES2010A MOBILE EMISSIONS

2005 2011 2014 2017 2021 

VOC (tpd) ............................................................................. 210.51 216.60 217.20 219.14 222.69 

NOX (tpd) ............................................................................. 148.04 142.80 138.02 136.27 137.24 

Based on our review of the SIP and 

the new budgets provided, EPA has 

determined that the SIP will continue to 

meet its requirements if the revised 

motor vehicle emissions inventories are 

replaced with MOVES2010a 

inventories. 

C. Applicability of MOBILE6.2-Based 

Budgets 

Pursuant to the State’s request, EPA is 

proposing that, if we finalize the 

approval of the revised budgets, the 

state’s existing MOBILE6.2-based 

budgets will no longer be applicable for 

transportation conformity purposes 

upon the effective date of that final 

approval. 

In addition, once EPA approves the 

MOVES2010a-based budgets, the 

regional transportation conformity grace 

period for using MOVES2010 (and 

subsequent minor revisions) for the 

pollutants included in these budgets 

will end for the Beaumont/Port Arthur 

ozone maintenance area on the effective 

date of that final approval.2

V. Proposed Action 

EPA is proposing in this action that 

the Beaumont/Port Arthur existing 

approved budgets for VOCs and NOX for 

2021 for the 1997 8-hour ozone 

maintenance plan be replaced with new 

budgets based on the MOVES2010a 

emissions model. Once this proposal is 

finalized, future transportation 

conformity determinations would use 

the new, MOVES2010a-based budgets 

and would no longer use the existing 

MOBILE6.2-based budgets. EPA is also 

proposing to find that the Beaumont/ 

Port Arthur area’s maintenance plan 

would continue to meet its requirements 

as set forth under the CAA when these 

new budgets are included. 

VI. Statutory and Executive Order 

Reviews 

Under the CAA, the Administrator is 

required to approve a SIP submission 

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 action 

merely approves state law as meeting 

Federal requirements and does not 

impose additional requirements beyond 

those imposed by state law. For that 

reason, this action: 

• Is not a ‘‘significant regulatory 

action’’ subject to review by the Office 

of Management and Budget under 

Executive Order 12866 (58 FR 51735, 

October 4, 1993); 

• Does not impose an information 

collection burden under the provisions 

of the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 

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

• Is certified as not having a 

significant economic impact on a 

substantial number of small entities 

under the Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 

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

• Does not contain any unfunded 

mandate or significantly or uniquely 

affect small governments, as described 

in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act 

of 1995 (Pub. L. 104–4); 

• Does not have Federalism 

implications as specified in Executive 

Order 13132 (64 FR 43255, August 10, 

1999); 


tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with PROPOSALS
Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 182 / Wednesday, September 19, 2012 / Proposed Rules 58063 

• 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, this rule does not have 

tribal implications as specified by 

Executive Order 13175 (65 FR 67249, 

November 9, 2000), because the SIP is 

not approved to apply in Indian country 

located in the state, and EPA notes that 

it will not impose substantial direct 

costs on tribal governments or preempt 

tribal law. 

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 52 

Environmental protection, Air 

pollution control, Intergovernmental 

relations, Nitrogen dioxide, Ozone, 

Volatile organic compounds. 

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

Dated: September 11, 2012. 

Samuel Coleman, 

Acting Regional Administrator, Region 6. 

[FR Doc. 2012–23123 Filed 9–18–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

40 CFR Part 52 

[EPA–R06–OAR–2012–0100; FRL–9728–8] 

Approval and Promulgation of 

Implementation Plans; Texas; 

Reasonably Available Control 

Technology for the 1997 8-Hour Ozone 

National Ambient Air Quality Standard 

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA). 

ACTION: Proposed rule. 

SUMMARY: The EPA is proposing to 

approve revisions to the Texas State 

Implementation Plan (SIP) for the 

Houston/Galveston/Brazoria (HGB) 1997 

8-Hour ozone nonattainment Area 

(Area). The HGB Area consists of 

Brazoria, Chambers, Fort Bend, 

Galveston, Harris, Liberty, Montgomery 

and Waller counties. Specifically, we 

are proposing to approve portions of 

two revisions to the Texas SIP 

submitted by the Texas Commission on 

Environmental Quality (TCEQ) as 

meeting certain Reasonably Available 

Control Technology (RACT) 

requirements for Volatile Organic 

Compounds (VOC) and Oxides of 

Nitrogen (NOX) in the HGB Area. We are 

also proposing to approve the 2007 

Voluntary Mobile Emission Reduction 

Program (VMEP) commitments for the 

HGB Area. This action is in accordance 

with section 110 of the federal Clean Air 

Act (the Act, CAA). 

DATES: Comments must be received on 

or before October 19, 2012. 

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, 

identified by Docket No. EPA–R06– 

OAR–2012–0100, by one of the 

following methods: 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: http:// 

www.regulations.gov. Follow the on-line 

instructions for submitting comments. 

• U.S. EPA Region 6 ‘‘Contact Us’’ 

Web site: http://epa.gov/region6/ 

r6coment.htm. Please click on ‘‘6PD’’ 

(Multimedia) and select ‘‘Air’’ before 

submitting comments. 

• Email: Mr. Guy Donaldson at 

donaldson.guy@epa.gov. Please also 

send a copy by email to the person 

listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION

CONTACT section below. 

• Fax: Mr. Guy Donaldson, Chief, Air 

Planning Section (6PD–L), at fax 

number 214–665–7263. 

• Mail: Mr. Guy Donaldson, Chief, 

Air Planning Section (6PD–L), 

Environmental Protection Agency, 1445 

Ross Avenue, Suite 1200, Dallas, Texas 

75202–2733. 

• Hand or Courier Delivery: Mr. Guy 

Donaldson, Chief, Air Planning Section 

(6PD–L), Environmental Protection 

Agency, 1445 Ross Avenue, Suite 1200, 

Dallas, Texas 75202–2733. Such 

deliveries are accepted only between the 

hours of 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. 

weekdays except for legal holidays. 

Special arrangements should be made 

for deliveries of boxed information. 

Instructions: Direct your comments to 

Docket ID No. EPA–R06–OAR–2012– 

0100. The 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 

the disclosure of which is restricted by 

statute. Do not submit information 

through www.regulations.gov or email 

that you consider to be CBI or otherwise 

protected from disclosure. The 

www.regulations.gov Web site is an 

‘‘anonymous access’’ system, which 

means EPA will not know your identity 

or contact information unless you 

provide it in the body of your comment. 

If you send an email comment directly 

to EPA without going through 

www.regulations.gov, your email 

address will be automatically captured 

and included as part of the comment 

that is placed in the public docket and 

made available on the Internet. If you 

submit an electronic comment, EPA 

recommends that you include your 

name and other contact information in 

the body of your comment and with any 

disk or CD–ROM you submit. If EPA 

cannot read your comment due to 

technical difficulties and cannot contact 

you for clarification, EPA may not be 

able to consider your comment. 

Electronic files should avoid the use of 

special characters, any form of 

encryption, and be free of any defects or 

viruses. 

Docket: All documents in the docket 

are listed in the www.regulations.gov 

index. Although listed in the index, 

some information is not publicly 

available, e.g., CBI or other information 

whose disclosure is restricted by statute. 

Certain other material, such as 

copyrighted material, will be publicly 

available only in hard copy. Publicly 

available docket materials are available 

either electronically in 

www.regulations.gov or in hard copy at 

the Air Planning Section (6PD–L), 

Environmental Protection Agency, 1445 

Ross Avenue, Suite 700, Dallas, Texas 

75202–2733. The file will be made 

available by appointment for public 

inspection in the Region 6 FOIA Review 

Room between the hours of 8:30 a.m. 

and 4:30 p.m. weekdays except for legal 

holidays. Contact the person listed in 

the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT

paragraph below to make an 

appointment. If possible, please make 

the appointment at least two working 

days in advance of your visit. There will 

be a 15 cent per page fee for making 

photocopies of documents. On the day 

of the visit, please check in at the EPA 

Region 6 reception area at 1445 Ross 

Avenue, Suite 700, Dallas, Texas 75202– 

2733. 

The State submittal is also available 

for public inspection at the State Air 

Agency listed below during official 

business hours by appointment: TCEQ, 

Office of Air Quality, 12124 Park 35 

Circle, Austin, Texas 78753. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. 

Alan Shar, Air Planning Section (6PD– 

L), Environmental Protection Agency, 

Region 6, 1445 Ross Avenue, Suite 700, 

Dallas, Texas 75202–2733, telephone 


tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with PROPOSALS