[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 184 (Monday, September 25, 2017)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 44522-44525]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-20324]



[[Page 44522]]

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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[EPA-R03-OAR-2017-0149; FRL-9968-00-Region 3]


Approval and Promulgation of Air Quality Implementation Plans; 
Maryland; 2011 Base Year Inventory for the 2008 8-Hour Ozone National 
Ambient Air Quality Standard for the Maryland Portion of the 
Philadelphia-Wilmington-Atlantic City Nonattainment Area

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Direct final rule.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is taking direct 
final action to approve the 2011 base year inventory for the Maryland 
portion of the Philadelphia-Wilmington-Atlantic City marginal 
nonattainment area for the 2008 8-hour ozone national ambient air 
quality standard (NAAQS). The State of Maryland submitted the emission 
inventory, which included the ozone precursors, nitrogen oxides 
(NO<INF>X</INF>) and volatile organic compounds (VOC), as well as 
several other pollutants, through the Maryland Department of the 
Environment (MDE) to meet the nonattainment requirements for marginal 
ozone nonattainment areas for the 2008 8-hour ozone NAAQS. EPA is 
approving the 2011 base year emissions inventory for the 2008 8-hour 
ozone NAAQS as a revision to the Maryland State Implementation Plan 
(SIP) as the inventory for NO<INF>X</INF> and VOC is in accordance with 
the requirements of the Clean Air Act (CAA).

DATES: This rule is effective on November 24, 2017 without further 
notice, unless EPA receives adverse written comment by October 25, 
2017. If EPA receives such comments, it will publish a timely 
withdrawal of the direct final rule in the Federal Register and inform 
the public that the rule will not take effect.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-R03-
OAR-2017-0149 at https://www.regulations.gov, or via email to 
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#a0d3d4c1c8cc8ec3d9ced4c8c9c1e0c5d0c18ec7cfd6"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="730007121b1f5d100a1d071b1a12331603125d141c05">[email protected]</span></a>. For comments submitted at Regulations.gov, 
follow the online instructions for submitting comments. Once submitted, 
comments cannot be edited or removed from Regulations.gov. For either 
manner of submission, EPA may publish any comment received to its 
public docket. Do not submit electronically any information you 
consider to be confidential business information (CBI) or other 
information whose disclosure is restricted by statute. Multimedia 
submissions (audio, video, etc.) must be accompanied by a written 
comment. The written comment is considered the official comment and 
should include discussion of all points you wish to make. EPA will 
generally not consider comments or comment contents located outside of 
the primary submission (i.e. on the web, cloud, or other file sharing 
system). For additional submission methods, please contact the person 
identified in the For Further Information Contact section. For the full 
EPA public comment policy, information about CBI or multimedia 
submissions, and general guidance on making effective comments, please 
visit http://www2.epa.gov/dockets/commenting-epa-dockets.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Sara Calcinore, (215) 814-2043, or by 
email at <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#1073717c73797e7f62753e63716271507560713e777f66"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="b7d4d6dbd4ded9d8c5d299c4d6c5d6f7d2c7d699d0d8c1">[email protected]</span></a>.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

    Ground level ozone is formed when NO<INF>X</INF> and VOC react in 
the presence of sunlight. NO<INF>X</INF> and VOC are referred to as 
ozone precursors and are emitted by many types of pollution sources, 
including motor vehicles, power plants, industrial facilities, and area 
wide sources, such as consumer products and lawn and garden equipment. 
Scientific evidence indicates that adverse public health effects occur 
following exposure to ozone. These effects are more pronounced in 
children and adults with lung disease. Breathing air containing ozone 
can reduce lung function and inflame airways, which can increase 
respiratory symptoms and aggravate asthma or other lung diseases. In 
response to this scientific evidence, EPA promulgated the first ozone 
NAAQS in 1979, the 0.12 part per million (ppm) 1-hour ozone NAAQS. See 
44 FR 8202 (February 8, 1979). EPA had previously promulgated a NAAQS 
for total photochemical oxidants.
    On July 18, 1997, EPA promulgated a revised ozone NAAQS of 0.08 
ppm, averaged over eight hours. 62 FR 38855. This 8-hour ozone NAAQS 
was determined to be more protective of public health than the previous 
1979 1-hour ozone NAAQS. In 2008, EPA revised the 8-hour ozone NAAQS 
from 0.08 to 0.075 ppm. See 73 FR 16436 (March 27, 2008).\1\
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    \1\ On October 1, 2015, EPA strengthened the 8-hour ozone NAAQS 
to 0.070 ppm. See 80 FR 65292 (October 16, 2015). This rulemaking 
addresses the 2008 8-hour ozone NAAQS and does not address the 2015 
8-hour ozone NAAQS.
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    On May 21, 2012, the Philadelphia-Wilmington-Atlantic City area was 
designated as marginal nonattainment for the 2008 8-hour ozone NAAQS. 
77 FR 30088. The designation of the Philadelphia-Wilmington-Atlantic 
City area as marginal nonattainment was effective July 20, 2012. The 
Philadelphia-Wilmington-Atlantic City nonattainment area is comprised 
of Cecil County in Maryland, as well as counties in Delaware, New 
Jersey, and Pennsylvania. Under section 172(c)(3) of the CAA, Maryland 
is required to submit a comprehensive, accurate, and current inventory 
of actual emissions from all sources of the relevant pollutants, i.e. 
the ozone precursors NO<INF>X</INF> and VOC, in its marginal 
nonattainment area, i.e., the Maryland portion of the Philadelphia-
Wilmington-Atlantic City nonattainment area.

II. Summary of SIP Revision and EPA Analysis

    Under CAA section 172(c)(3), states are required to submit a 
comprehensive, accurate, and current inventory of actual emissions from 
all sources (point, nonpoint, nonroad, and onroad) of the relevant 
pollutant or pollutants in the nonattainment area. CAA section 
182(a)(1) requires that areas designated as nonattainment and 
classified as marginal submit an inventory of all sources of ozone 
precursors no later than 2 years after the effective date of 
designation. EPA's guidance for emissions inventory development calls 
for actual emissions to be used in the base year inventory. The state 
must report annual emissions as well as ``summer day emissions.'' As 
defined in 40 CFR 51.900(v), ``summer day emissions'' means, ``an 
average day's emissions for a typical summer work weekday. The state 
will select the particular month(s) in summer and the day(s) in the 
work week to be represented.''
    On January 19, 2017, MDE submitted a formal revision (SIP #16-15) 
to its SIP. The SIP revision consists of the 2011 base year inventory 
for the Maryland portion of the Philadelphia-Wilmington-Atlantic City 
nonattainment area for the 2008 8-hour ozone NAAQS. MDE selected 2011 
as its base year for SIP planning purposes, as recommended in EPA's 
final rule, ``Implementation of the 2008 National Ambient Air Quality 
Standards for Ozone: State Implementation Plan Requirements.'' See 80 
FR 12263 (March 6, 2015). MDE's 2011 base year inventory includes 
emissions estimates covering the general source categories of 
stationary point, area (nonpoint), nonroad mobile, onroad mobile, and 
Marine-Air-Rail (M-A-R).

[[Page 44523]]

In its 2011 base year inventory, MDE reported actual annual emissions 
and typical summer day emissions for the months of May through 
September for NO<INF>X</INF>, VOC, and carbon monoxide (CO). Although 
MDE also reported annual emissions for fine particulate matter 
(PM<INF>2.5</INF>), sulfur dioxide (SO<INF>2</INF>), and ammonia 
(NH<INF>3</INF>) and typical summer day emissions for CO, in this 
approval of the 2011 base year emissions inventory for the 2008 ozone 
NAAQS, EPA is approving only relevant ozone precursors, which are VOC 
and NO<INF>X</INF>.\2\
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    \2\ The actual annual emissions and typical summer day emissions 
were summarized by MDE in Table 1-1: 2011 Base Year SIP Emission 
Inventory Summary. A discrepancy was found between the area annual 
emissions reported for PM<INF>2.5</INF> and NH<INF>3</INF> in Table 
1-1 and the area annual emissions reported for PM<INF>2.5</INF> and 
NH<INF>3</INF> in Table 4-1: 2011 Base Year SIP Area Source Emission 
Inventories and the Nonpoint Annual data table under Appendix C 
Area/Nonpoint Sources. Since the anthropogenic totals in Table 1-1 
correspond to the annual emissions values, the anthropogenic totals 
for PM<INF>2.5</INF> and NH<INF>3</INF> in Table 1-1 were also 
affected by the discrepancy. In a correction letter, MDE confirmed 
that the area annual emissions for PM<INF>2.5</INF> and 
NH<INF>3</INF> in Table 1-1 are 456.50 tpy for PM<INF>2.5</INF> and 
477.15 tpy for NH<INF>3</INF>. MDE also confirmed that the 
corresponding anthropogenic totals for PM<INF>2.5</INF> and 
NH<INF>3</INF> are 625.04 tpy and 530.10 tpy. MDE has submitted a 
corrected version of page 3 of the 2011 base year inventory to 
reflect the necessary corrections to Table 1-1. The corrected 
version as well as the correction letter are included in the docket 
for this rulemaking even though the CAA at sections 172 and 182 only 
require an inventory of ozone precursors. See July 20, 2017 letter 
from Brian Hug, Program Manager, Maryland Department of the 
Environment to Cecil Rodrigues, Acting Regional Administrator, EPA 
Region III, Subject: SIP #16-15 ``2011 Base Year Emissions Inventory 
for the Maryland Portion of the Philadelphia-Atlantic City, PA-NJ-
DE-MD 2008 Ozone NAAQS Nonattainment Area (Cecil County, MD)'' Minor 
Corrections.
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    Table 1 summarizes the 2011 VOC and NO<INF>X</INF> emission 
inventory by source sector for Maryland's marginal nonattainment area. 
Annual emissions are given in tons per year (tpy) and summer weekday 
emissions are given by tons per day (tpd).

      Table 1--Summary of 2011 Emissions of Ozone Precursors for the Philadelphia-Wilmington-Atlantic City
                                               Nonattainment Area
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                                                       Summer weekday  (tpd)               Annual  (tpy)
                  Source sector                  ---------------------------------------------------------------
                                                        VOC             NOX             VOC             NOX
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Point...........................................           0.301            2.63           64.91           76.19
Area............................................           2.863            0.31          937.78          242.02
Nonroad.........................................           5.127            2.01        1,054.93          529.02
Onroad..........................................            2.29            7.50          791.98        2,730.44
M-A-R...........................................           0.030            0.46           11.03          167.97
Anthropogenic Subtotal..........................           10.61           12.90        2,860.63        3,745.63
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    Point sources are large, stationary, and identifiable sources of 
emissions that release pollutants into the atmosphere. Maryland 
obtained its point source data from the MDE Air and Radiation 
Management Administration (ARMA) point source emissions inventory. ARMA 
identifies and inventories stationary sources for the point source 
emissions inventory through inspections, investigations, permitting, 
and equipment registrations.
    Area sources, also known as nonpoint sources, are sources of 
pollution that are small and numerous and have not been inventoried as 
specific point or mobile sources. To inventory these sources, they are 
grouped so that emissions can be estimated collectively using one 
methodology. Examples include residential heating emissions and 
emissions from consumer solvents. MDE calculated nonpoint emissions for 
the Maryland portion of the Philadelphia-Wilmington-Atlantic City 
nonattainment area by multiplying emissions factors specific for each 
source category with some known indicator of collective activity for 
each source category, such as population or employment data.
    Nonroad sources are mobile sources other than onroad vehicles, 
including aircraft, locomotives, construction and agricultural 
equipment, and marine vessels. Emissions from different source 
categories are calculated using various methodologies. MDE relied on 
EPA's nonroad emissions calculations from the National Mobile Inventory 
Model (NMIM--April 5, 2009). Onroad or highway sources are vehicles, 
such as cars, trucks, and buses, which are operated on public roadways. 
MDE estimated onroad emissions using EPA's Motor Vehicle Emission 
Simulator (MOVES) model, version 2010a, and appropriate activity 
levels, such as vehicle miles traveled (VMT) estimates developed from 
vehicle count data maintained by the State Highway Administration (SHA) 
of the Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT). M-A-R sources 
include marine vessels, airports, and railroad locomotives. MDE 
estimated M-A-R emissions using data from surveyed sources or state and 
federal reporting agencies.
    EPA reviewed Maryland's 2011 base year emission inventory's 
results, procedures, and methodologies for the Maryland portion of the 
Philadelphia-Wilmington-Atlantic City nonattainment area and found them 
to be acceptable and approvable for sections 110, 172(c)(3) and 
182(a)(1) of the CAA. EPA's review and analysis is detailed in a 
Technical Support Document (TSD) prepared for this rulemaking. The TSD 
is available online at http://www.regulations.gov, Docket ID No. EPA-
R03-OAR-2017-0149.

III. Final Action

    EPA is approving the Maryland January 19, 2017 SIP revision as 
meeting requirements for a base year inventory for the 2008 8-hour 
ozone NAAQS for the Maryland portion of the Philadelphia-Wilmington-
Atlantic City nonattainment area because the inventory for ozone 
precursors was prepared in accordance with requirements in sections 
110, 172(c)(3) and 182(a)(1) of the CAA and its implementing 
regulations including 40 CFR 51.915. EPA is publishing this rule 
without prior proposal because EPA views this as a noncontroversial 
amendment and anticipates no adverse comment. However, in the 
``Proposed Rules'' section of this Federal Register, EPA is publishing 
a separate document that will serve as the proposal to approve the SIP 
revision if adverse comments are filed. This rule will be effective on 
November 24, 2017 without further notice unless EPA receives adverse 
comment by October 25, 2017. If EPA receives adverse comment, EPA will 
publish a timely withdrawal in the Federal Register informing the 
public that the rule will not take effect. EPA will address all public 
comments in a subsequent final rule based on the

[[Page 44524]]

proposed rule. EPA will not institute a second comment period on this 
action. Any parties interested in commenting must do so at this time.

IV. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

A. General Requirements

    Under the CAA, the Administrator is required to approve a SIP 
submission that complies with the provisions of the CAA 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:
    <bullet> 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);
    <bullet> does not impose an information collection burden under the 
provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.);
    <bullet> 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.);
    <bullet> 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);
    <bullet> does not have federalism implications as specified in 
Executive Order 13132 (64 FR 43255, August 10, 1999);
    <bullet> is not an economically significant regulatory action based 
on health or safety risks subject to Executive Order 13045 (62 FR 
19885, April 23, 1997);
    <bullet> is not a significant regulatory action subject to 
Executive Order 13211 (66 FR 28355, May 22, 2001);
    <bullet> 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
    <bullet> 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.

B. Submission to Congress and the Comptroller General

    The Congressional Review Act, 5 U.S.C. 801 et seq., as added by the 
Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996, generally 
provides that before a rule may take effect, the agency promulgating 
the rule must submit a rule report, which includes a copy of the rule, 
to each House of the Congress and to the Comptroller General of the 
United States. EPA will submit a report containing this action and 
other required information to the U.S. Senate, the U.S. House of 
Representatives, and the Comptroller General of the United States prior 
to publication of the rule in the Federal Register. A major rule cannot 
take effect until 60 days after it is published in the Federal 
Register. This action is not a ``major rule'' as defined by 5 U.S.C. 
804(2).

C. Petitions for Judicial Review

    Under section 307(b)(1) of the CAA, petitions for judicial review 
of this action must be filed in the United States Court of Appeals for 
the appropriate circuit by November 24, 2017. Filing a petition for 
reconsideration by the Administrator of this final rule does not affect 
the finality of this action 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. Parties with objections to this direct final rule are 
encouraged to file a comment in response to the parallel notice of 
proposed rulemaking for this action published in the proposed rules 
section of this Federal Register, rather than file an immediate 
petition for judicial review of this direct final rule, so that EPA can 
withdraw this direct final rule and address the comment in the proposed 
rulemaking action.
    This action approving Maryland's 2011 base year inventory for the 
2008 8-hour ozone NAAQS for the Maryland portion of the Philadelphia-
Wilmington-Atlantic City nonattainment area 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, Incorporation by 
reference, Nitrogen dioxide, Ozone, Reporting and recordkeeping 
requirements, Volatile organic compounds.

    Dated: September 8, 2017.
Cecil Rodrigues,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region III.

    40 CFR part 52 is amended as follows:

PART 52--APPROVAL AND PROMULGATION OF IMPLEMENTATION PLANS

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

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

Subpart V--Maryland

0
2. In Sec.  52.1070, the table in paragraph (e) is amended by adding an 
entry for ``2011 Base Year Inventory for the 2008 8-Hour Ozone National 
Ambient Air Quality Standard'' at the end of the table to read as 
follows:


Sec.  52.1070  Identification of plan.

* * * * *
    (e) * * *

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   Name of non-regulatory SIP     Applicable geographic       State                              Additional
            revision                      area           submittal date  EPA approval date       explanation
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
                                                  * * * * * * *
2011 Base Year Inventory for     Maryland portion of         01/19/2017  09/25/2017,        Sec.   52.1075(q).
 the 2008 8-Hour Ozone National   the Philadelphia-                       [Insert Federal
 Ambient Air Quality Standard.    Wilmington-Atlantic                     Register
                                  City, PA-NJ-DE-MD                       citation].
                                  2008 ozone
                                  nonattainment area.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


0
3. Section 52.1075 is amended by adding paragraph (q) to read as 
follows:


Sec.  52.1075  Base year emissions inventory.

* * * * *
    (q) EPA approves, as a revision to the Maryland state 
implementation plan the

[[Page 44525]]

2011 base year emissions inventory for the Maryland portion of the 
Philadelphia-Wilmington-Atlantic City marginal nonattainment area for 
the 2008 8-hour ozone national ambient air quality standards submitted 
by the Maryland Department of the Environment on January 19, 2017, as 
amended July 20, 2017. The 2011 base year emissions inventory includes 
emissions estimates that cover the general source categories of 
stationary point, area (nonpoint), nonroad mobile, onroad mobile, and 
Marine-Air-Rail (M-A-R). The inventory included actual annual emissions 
and typical summer day emissions for the months of May through 
September for the ozone precursors, VOC and NO<INF>X</INF>.

[FR Doc. 2017-20324 Filed 9-22-17; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P


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