Document ID: EPA-R05-OAR-2012-0969-0002
Agency: epa
Document Type: Rule
Title: Direct Final Approval of 1997 8-Hour Ozone Maintenance Plan Revision for the Wheeling, WV-OH Area (Belmont County)
Posted Date: 2013-06-11T04:00Z

[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 112 (Tuesday, June 11, 2013)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 34903-34906]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-13735]

[[Page 34903]]

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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[EPA-R05-OAR-2012-0969; FRL-9821-3]

Approval and Promulgation of Air Quality Implementation Plans; 
Ohio; 1997 8-Hour Ozone Maintenance Plan Revision; Motor Vehicle 
Emissions Budgets for the Ohio Portion of the Wheeling Area

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Direct final rule.

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SUMMARY: Under the Clean Air Act (CAA), EPA is approving the request by 
Ohio to revise the 1997 8-hour ozone maintenance air quality State 
Implementation Plan (SIP) to replace motor vehicle emissions budgets 
(budgets) for the Ohio portion of the Wheeling, West Virginia-Ohio area 
with budgets developed using EPA's Motor Vehicle Emissions Simulator 
(MOVES) emissions model. Ohio submitted the SIP revision request to EPA 
on December 7, 2012.

DATES: This direct final rule will be effective August 12, 2013, unless 
EPA receives adverse comments by July 11, 2013. If adverse comments are 
received, EPA will publish a timely withdrawal of the direct final rule 
in the Federal Register informing the public that the rule will not 
take effect.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-R05-
OAR-2012-0969, by one of the following methods:
    1. www.regulations.gov: Follow the on-line instructions for 
submitting comments.
    2. Email: blakley.pamela@epa.gov.
    3. Fax: (312) 692-2450.
    4. Mail: Pamela Blakley, Chief, Control Strategies Section, Air 
Programs Branch (AR-18J), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 77 West 
Jackson Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois 60604.
    5. Hand Delivery: Pamela Blakley, Chief, Control Strategies 
Section, Air Programs Branch (AR-18J), U.S. Environmental Protection 
Agency, 77 West Jackson Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois 60604. Such 
deliveries are only accepted during the Regional Office normal hours of 
operation, and special arrangements should be made for deliveries of 
boxed information. The Regional Office 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-R05-OAR-
2012-0969. 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 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 Environmental Protection 
Agency, Region 5, Air and Radiation Division, 77 West Jackson 
Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois 60604. This facility is open from 8:30 
a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding Federal holidays. 
We recommend that you telephone Anthony Maietta, Environmental 
Protection Specialist, at (312) 353-8777 before visiting the Region 5 
office.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Anthony Maietta, Environmental 
Protection Specialist, Control Strategies Section, Air Programs Branch 
(AR-18J), Environmental Protection Agency, Region 5, 77 West Jackson 
Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois 60604, (312) 353-8777, 
maietta.anthony@epa.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Throughout this document whenever ``we,'' 
``us,'' or ``our'' is used, we mean EPA. This supplementary information 
section is arranged as follows:

I. What is EPA approving?
II. What is the background for this action?
    a. SIP Budgets and Transportation Conformity
    b. Prior Approval of Budgets
    c. The MOVES Emissions Model
    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 MOVES2010a-based Budgets
    c. Applicability of MOBILE6.2-based Budgets
V. What action is EPA taking?
VI. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

I. What is EPA approving?

    EPA is approving new MOVES2010a-based budgets for the Ohio portion 
of the Wheeling, West Virginia-Ohio 1997 8-hour ozone maintenance area 
that will replace MOBILE-based budgets in the SIP. The Ohio portion of 
the Wheeling, West Virginia-Ohio area was redesignated to attainment of 
the 1997 8-hour ozone standard effective June 15, 2007 (72 FR 27644). 
MOBILE6.2-based budgets for the Ohio portion of the area were approved 
in that action. Upon the effective date of approval of the MOVES-based 
budgets, they must then be used in future transportation conformity 
analyses for the Ohio portion of the area as required by section 176(c) 
of the CAA. See the official release of the MOVES2010 emissions model 
(75 FR 9411-9414) for background, and section II. (c) below for 
details.

II. What is the background for this action?

a. SIP Budgets and Transportation Conformity

    Under the CAA, states are required to submit control strategy SIP 
revisions and maintenance plans for nonattainment and maintenance areas 
for a given National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS). These SIP 
revisions and maintenance plans include budgets of on-road mobile 
source emissions for criteria pollutants, including precursors. 
Transportation plans and projects ``conform'' to (i.e., are consistent 
with) the SIP when they will not cause or contribute to air quality 
violations, or delay timely attainment of the NAAQS.

[[Page 34904]]

b. Prior Approval of Budgets

    EPA previously approved MOBILE6.2-based volatile organic compounds 
(VOCs) and nitrogen oxides (NOX) budgets for the Ohio 
portion of the Wheeling, West Virginia-Ohio nonattainment area. The 
area's ozone maintenance plan established 2009 and 2018 budgets that 
demonstrated a reduction in emissions from the monitored attainment 
year of 2004.

c. The MOVES Emissions Model

    The MOVES model is EPA's state of the art tool for estimating 
highway emissions. EPA announced the release of MOVES2010 on March 2, 
2010 (75 FR 9411). Use of the MOVES model is required for regional 
emissions analyses for transportation conformity determinations outside 
of California that begin after March 2, 2013.
    MOVES2010a was used to estimate emissions in the Ohio portion of 
the Wheeling, West Virginia-Ohio area for the same milestone years as 
the original budgets in the SIP. The Ohio Environmental Protection 
Agency (OEPA) is revising the budgets 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. Updating the budgets with MOVES2010a 
allows the area to continue to show conformity to the SIP in plans, 
transportation improvement programs, and projects. 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 December 7, 2012, OEPA submitted final budgets based on 
MOVES2010a that cover the Ohio portion of the Wheeling area. Ohio 
received no comments during the public review and comment period.
    The new MOVES2010a based budgets are for the years 2009 and 2018, 
for both VOCs and NOX, and are detailed in table 3 of this 
notice. Ohio has also provided emissions per sector, including mobile 
emissions based on MOVES2010a, for the 2004 attainment year, the 2009 
interim budget year, and the 2018 maintenance year. The emissions 
reduction from all sectors between the years 2004 and 2018 is also 
shown. Emissions per sector and the combined emissions reduction for 
VOC and NOX for the Ohio portion of the Wheeling, West 
Virginia-Ohio area are shown in tables 1 and 2. In tables 1 and 2, for 
on-road emissions of both VOC and NOX for the years 2009 and 
2018, a 25% safety margin has been applied.\1\
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    \1\ The safety margin is applied by adding a certain percentage 
of emissions, in tons per day, onto the MOVES-based on-road 
emissions budgets. In this case, Ohio chose to add a 25% safety 
margin to their budgets. The safety margin cannot exceed the 
combined emissions reduction for the area.

  Table 1--Total VOC Emissions With MOVES2010a Mobile Emissions in the Ohio Portion of Wheeling, West Virginia-
                                        Ohio Area (Belmont County, Ohio)
                                                 [Tons per day]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                                    Combined
                                                                                                    emissions
                 Sector                    2004 Attainment    2009 Interim    2018 Maintenance  reduction (2004-
                                                                                                      2018)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Point...................................              0.20              0.15              0.21
Area....................................              4.03              3.85              3.86
On-road Mobile..........................              5.04              4.70              2.15
Non-road Mobile.........................              0.93              0.81              0.61
                                         ------------------------------------------------------
    Total...............................             10.20              9.51              6.83              3.37
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Table 2--Total NOX Emissions With MOVES2010a Mobile Emissions in the Ohio portion of Wheeling West Virginia-Ohio
                                            area (Belmont County, OH)
                                                 [Tons per day]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                                    Combined
                                                                                                    emissions
                 Sector                    2004 Attainment    2009 Interim    2018 Maintenance  reduction (2004-
                                                                                                      2018)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Point...................................             28.69             21.04             18.93
Area....................................              0.29              0.36              0.38
On-road Mobile..........................             13.98             13.30              5.18
Non-road Mobile.........................              2.89              2.54              1.91
                                         ------------------------------------------------------
    Total...............................             45.85             37.24             26.40             19.46
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The Belmont-Ohio Marshall Regional Council Metropolitan Planning 
Organization has added a safety margin that is only a portion of the 
attainment margin available for NOX and VOCs to the budgets 
for 2009 and 2018. As shown in tables 1 and 2, the submittal 
demonstrates how the area's emissions decline from the attainment year 
of 2004 to maintain the 1997 8-hour ozone standard.
    No additional control measures were needed to maintain the 1997 
ozone standard in the Wheeling, West Virginia-Ohio area. Further, 
Ohio's submittal contains an approach where Ohio and West Virginia 
maintain conformity with separate budgets for their respective portions 
of the area. The net result of these approaches will be a total 
emissions level for the Wheeling area that is expected to provide for 
the area's continued attainment. An appropriate safety margin for 
NOX and VOCs was established by the interagency consultation 
group, which consists of representatives from the

[[Page 34905]]

Federal Highway Administration, OEPA, Ohio Department of 
Transportation, and EPA. The submitted budgets for the Ohio portion of 
the Wheeling, West Virginia-Ohio area are shown in table 3 below.

III. What are the criteria for approval?

    EPA requires that revisions to existing SIPs and budgets continue 
to meet applicable requirements (e.g., reasonable further progress, 
attainment, or maintenance). The SIP must also meet any applicable SIP 
requirements under CAA section 110. In addition, adequacy criteria 
found at 40 CFR 93.118(e)(4) must be satisfied before EPA can find 
submitted budgets adequate and approve them for conformity purposes.
    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 non-motor vehicle sources continue to 
be valid and any minor updates do not change the overall conclusions of 
the SIP. For more information, see EPA's latest ``Policy Guidance on 
the Use of MOVES2010 for SIP Development, Transportation Conformity, 
and Other Purposes'' (April 2012), available online at: www.epa.gov/otaq/stateresources/transconf/policy.htm#models. Ohio's December 7, 
2012, submittal meets this requirement as described in the next 
section.

IV. What is EPA's analysis of the state's submittal?

a. The Revised Inventories

    The December 7, 2012, SIP revision request for the Ohio portion of 
the Wheeling, West Virginia-Ohio 1997 ozone maintenance plan seeks to 
revise only the on-road mobile source inventories. OEPA has certified 
that the control strategies remain the same as in the original SIP, and 
that no other control strategies are necessary. OEPA also finds that 
growth and control strategy assumptions for non-mobile sources (i.e., 
area, non-road, and point) have not changed significantly from the 
original submittal. This is supported by the monitoring data for the 
Wheeling area, which continues to monitor attainment for the 1997 8-
hour ozone standard.
    OEPA's submittal affirms that the total emissions in the revised 
SIP (which includes MOVES2010a emissions from mobile sources) as shown 
in tables 1 and 2 demonstrate that emissions in the Wheeling, Ohio area 
continue to decline and remain below the attainment levels.
    Ohio has submitted MOVES2010a-based budgets for the Wheeling, Ohio 
area that are clearly identified in the submittal. The budgets are 
displayed in table 3.

 Table 3--Motor Vehicle Emission Budgets (MOVES) for the Ohio Portion of
      the Wheeling, West Virginia-Ohio Area (Belmont County, Ohio)
                             [Tons per day]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                     Year                           2009         2018
------------------------------------------------------------------------
VOC...........................................         4.70         2.15
NOX...........................................        13.30         5.18
------------------------------------------------------------------------

b. Approvability of the MOVES2010a-Based Budgets

    EPA is approving the MOVES2010a-based budgets submitted by Ohio for 
use in determining transportation conformity in the Wheeling, Ohio 1997 
ozone maintenance area. EPA evaluated the MOVES-based budgets submitted 
on December 7, 2012, 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.
    Before submitting the revised budgets, OEPA has shown that it 
followed all necessary conformity procedures. The budgets are clearly 
identified and precisely quantified in the submittal. The budgets, when 
considered with other emissions sources, 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 MOVES2010a modeling 
and participated in the consultation process. The Federal Highway 
Administration and the Ohio Department of Transportation have taken a 
lead role in working with the Belmont-Ohio-Marshall Transportation 
Study to provide accurate, timely information and inputs to the 
MOVES2010a model run. The state has documented that growth and control 
strategy assumptions for non-motor vehicle sources (i.e. area, non-
road, and point) continue to be valid and any minor updates do not 
change the overall conclusions of the SIP.
    Ohio's submission confirms that the SIP continues to demonstrate 
maintenance of the 1997 ozone standard because the total emissions in 
the revised SIP (including MOVES2010a emissions for mobile sources) 
continue to decrease from the attainment year to the final year of the 
maintenance plan, as shown in tables 1 and 2 above. The budgets include 
an appropriate margin of safety while still maintaining total emissions 
below the attainment level.
    Based on our review of the SIP and the new budgets provided, EPA 
has determined that the SIP will continue to meet the requirements if 
the motor vehicle emissions inventories are replaced with MOVES2010a-
based inventories.

c. Applicability of MOBILE6.2-Based Budgets

    Upon the effective date of the approval of the revised budgets, the 
state's existing MOBILE6.2-based budgets will no longer be applicable 
for transportation conformity purposes.

V. What action is EPA taking?

    EPA is approving, as a SIP revision, the replacement MOVES2010-
based budgets for the Ohio portion of the Wheeling, West Virginia-Ohio 
1997 ozone maintenance plan, as submitted on December 7, 2012. We are 
publishing this action without prior proposal because we view this as a 
noncontroversial amendment and anticipate no adverse comments. However, 
in the proposed rules section of this Federal Register publication, we 
are publishing a separate document that will serve as the proposal to 
approve the state plan if relevant adverse written comments are filed. 
This rule will be effective August 12, 2013 without further notice 
unless we receive relevant adverse written comments by July 11, 2013. 
If we receive such comments, we will withdraw this action before the 
effective date by publishing a subsequent document that will withdraw 
the final action. All public comments received will then be addressed 
in a subsequent final rule based on the proposed action. EPA will not 
institute a second comment period. Any parties interested in commenting 
on this action should do so at this time. Please note that if EPA 
receives adverse comment on an amendment, paragraph, or section of this 
rule and if that provision may be severed from the remainder of the 
rule, EPA may adopt as final those provisions of the rule that are not 
the subject of an adverse comment. If we do not receive any

[[Page 34906]]

comments, this action will be effective August 12, 2013.

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 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:
     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);
     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.
    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).
    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 August 12, 2013. 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 today's 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. 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, Incorporation by 
reference, Intergovernmental relations, Nitrogen dioxide, Ozone, 
Volatile organic compounds.

    Dated: May 28, 2013.
Susan Hedman,
Regional Administrator, Region 5.

    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.

0
2. Section 52.1885 is amended by adding paragraph (ff)(15) to read as 
follows:

Sec.  52.1885  Control strategy: Ozone.

* * * * *
    (ff) * * *
    (15) Approval--On December 7, 2012, Ohio submitted a request to 
revise the approved MOBILE6.2 motor vehicle emission budgets (budgets) 
in the 1997 8-hour ozone maintenance plan for the Ohio portion of the 
Wheeling area. The budgets are being revised with budgets developed 
with the MOVES2010a model. The 2009 motor vehicle emissions budgets for 
the Ohio portion of the Wheeling area are 4.70 tpd VOC and 13.30 tpd 
NOX. The 2018 motor vehicle emissions budgets for the Ohio 
portion of the Wheeling area are 2.15 tpd VOC and 5.18 tpd 
NOX.
* * * * *
[FR Doc. 2013-13735 Filed 6-10-13; 8:45 am]
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