Document ID: EPA-R04-OAR-2008-0036-0002
Agency: epa
Document Type: Rule
Title: Approval and Promulgation of Implementation Plans; North Carolina: Approval of Revisions to the 1-Hour Ozone Maintenance Plan for the Raleigh/Durham and Greensboro/Winston-Salem/High Point Areas
Posted Date: 2008-04-08T04:00Z

[Federal Register: April 8, 2008 (Volume 73, Number 68)]
[Rules and Regulations]               
[Page 18963-18968]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr08ap08-11]                         

=======================================================================
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[EPA-R04-OAR-2008-0036-200801(a); FRL-8551-9]

 
Approval and Promulgation of Implementation Plans; North 
Carolina: Approval of Revisions to the 1-Hour Ozone Maintenance Plan 
for the Raleigh/Durham and Greensboro/Winston-Salem/High Point Areas

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Direct final rule.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: EPA is taking direct final action to approve a February 4, 
2008, revision to the State Implementation Plan (SIP) submitted by the 
North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources (NCDENR) 
on behalf of the State of North Carolina for the purpose of revising 
the subarea motor vehicle emissions budgets (MVEBs) for the Greensboro/
Winston-Salem/High Point area. The Greensboro/Winston-Salem/High Point 
1-hour ozone maintenance area (hereafter referred to as the ``Triad 
Area'') is comprised of Davidson, Forsyth, and Guilford Counties and a 
portion of Davie County. The revisions to the subarea MVEBs are 
approvable because of an available safety margin for volatile organic 
compounds (VOC) and nitrogen oxides (NOX) for this Area.

DATES: This direct final rule is effective June 9, 2008 without further 
notice, unless EPA receives adverse comments by May 8, 2008. 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-R04-
OAR-2008-0036, by one of the following methods:
    1. http://www.regulations.gov: Follow the on-line instructions for 
submitting comments.
    (a) E-mail: ward.nacosta@epa.gov or wood.amanetta@epa.gov.
    (b) Fax: (404) 562-9019.
    2. Mail: EPA-R04-OAR-2008-0036, Regulatory Development Section, Air 
Planning Branch, Air, Pesticides and Toxics Management Division, U.S. 
Environmental Protection Agency, Region 4, 61 Forsyth Street, SW., 
Atlanta, Georgia 30303-8960.
    3. Hand Delivery or Courier: Nacosta C. Ward, Regulatory 
Development Section, or Amanetta Wood, Air Quality Modeling 
Transportation Section, of the Air Planning Branch, Air, Pesticides and 
Toxics Management Division, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 
Region 4, 61 Forsyth Street, SW., Atlanta, Georgia 30303-8960. Such 
deliveries are only accepted during the Regional Office's normal hours 
of operation. The Regional Office's official hours of business are 
Monday through Friday, 8:30 to 4:30, excluding federal holidays.
    Instructions: Direct your comments to Docket ID No. EPA-R04-OAR-
2008-0036. EPA's policy is that all comments received will be included 
in the public docket without change and may be made available online at 
http://www.regulations.gov, including any personal information 
provided, unless the comment includes information claimed to be 
Confidential Business Information (CBI) or other information whose 
disclosure is restricted by statute. Do not submit through http://
www.regulations.gov or e-mail information that you consider to be CBI 
or otherwise protected. The http://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 e-mail comment directly to EPA without 
going through http://www.regulations.gov, your e-mail address will be 
automatically captured and included as part of the comment that is 
placed in the public docket and made available on the Internet. If you 
submit an electronic comment, EPA recommends that you include your name 
and other contact information in the body of your comment and with any 
disk or CD-ROM you submit. If EPA cannot read your comment due to 
technical difficulties and cannot contact you for clarification, EPA 
may not be able to consider your comment. Electronic files should avoid 
the use of special characters, any form of encryption, and be free of 
any defects or viruses. For additional information about EPA's public 
docket visit the EPA Docket Center homepage at http://www.epa.gov/
epahome/dockets.htm.
    Docket: All documents in the electronic docket are listed in the 
http://www.regulations.gov index. Although listed in the index, some 
information is not publicly available, i.e., CBI or other information 
whose disclosure is restricted by statute. Certain other material, such 
as copyrighted material, is not placed on the Internet and will be 
publicly available only in hard copy form. Publicly available docket 
materials are available either electronically in http://
www.regulations.gov or in hard copy at the Regulatory Development 
Section, Air Planning Branch, Air, Pesticides and Toxics Management 
Division, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 4, 61 Forsyth 
Street, SW., Atlanta, Georgia 30303-8960. EPA requests that if at all 
possible, you contact the person listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION 
CONTACT section to schedule your inspection. The Regional Office's 
official hours of business are Monday through Friday, 8:30 to 4:30, 
excluding federal holidays.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Nacosta C. Ward of the Regulatory 
Development Section, or Ms. Amanetta Wood, Air Quality Modeling 
Transportation Section, in the Air Planning Branch, Air, Pesticides and 
Toxics Management Division, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 
Region 4, 61 Forsyth Street, SW., Atlanta, Georgia 30303-8960. The 
telephone numbers are (404) 562-9140 and (404) 562-9025 respectively. 
Ms. Nacosta Ward can be reached via electronic mail at 
ward.nacosta@epa.gov. Ms. Amanetta

[[Page 18964]]

Wood can be reached via electronic mail at wood.amanetta@epa.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Table of Contents

I. What Action Is EPA Taking?
II. What Is the Background for EPA's Action?
III. What Is the Effect of This Action? [FEDREG][VOL]*[/VOL][NO]*[/
NO][DATE]*[/DATE][RULES][RULE][PREAMB][AGENCY]*[/AGENCY][SUBJECT]*[/
SUBJECT][/PREAMB][SUPLINF][HED]*[/HED][REGTEXT][EXTRACT][P]*[/P]?>
IV. What Is EPA's Analysis of North Carolina's Subarea VOC and 
NOX for the Triad Area?
V. Final Action
VI. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

I. What Action is EPA Taking?

    EPA is taking direct final action to approve North Carolina's SIP 
revision submitted on February 4, 2008, which includes revisions to the 
subarea \1\ 2010, 2012, and 2015 MVEBs for VOC and NOX for 
the Triad Area because it meets all requirements of section 110 of the 
Clean Air Act (``CAA'' or ``Act''). These new MVEBs revise those 
established in a September 20, 2004 (69 FR 56163) direct final 
rulemaking entitled ``Approval and Promulgation of Implementation of 
Plans; North Carolina: Raleigh/Durham Area and Greensboro/Winston-
Salem/High Point Area Maintenance Plan Updates.'' The revised subarea 
MVEBs are in the below tables:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \1\ The term ``subarea'' refers to the portion of the area, in a 
nonattainment or maintenance area, for which the MVEBs apply. In 
this case, the ``subareas'' are established at the county level so 
this indicates that the MVEBs cover individual counties and also 
indicates to transportation conformity implementers in this area 
that there are separate county-level MVEBs for each county in this 
area. EPA's Companion Guidance for the July 1, 2004, Final 
Transportation Conformity Implementation in Multi-Jurisdictional 
Nonattainment and Maintenance Areas for Existing and New Air Quality 
Standards explains more about the possible geographical extents of a 
MVEB, how these geographical areas are defined, and how 
transportation conformity is implemented in these different 
geographical areas.

                     Table 1.--Davidson County MVEBs
                               [Tons/day]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                 Revised subarea MVEBs
                                              --------------------------
                                                 2010     2012     2015
------------------------------------------------------------------------
VOC..........................................     4.91     4.50     4.12
NOX..........................................     8.09     6.83     5.15
------------------------------------------------------------------------

                      Table 2.--Davie* County MVEBs
                               [Tons/day]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                 Revised subarea MVEBs
                                              --------------------------
                                                 2010     2012     2015
------------------------------------------------------------------------
VOC..........................................     0.03     0.03     0.03
NOX..........................................     0.05     0.05     0.05
------------------------------------------------------------------------
* The Davie County MVEBs are for the portion of Davie County in the
  maintenance area.

                     Table 3.--Forsyth County MVEBs
                               [Tons/day]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                 Revised subarea MVEBs
                                              --------------------------
                                                 2010     2012     2015
------------------------------------------------------------------------
VOC..........................................    10.31     9.36     8.50
NOX..........................................    15.04    12.72     9.59
------------------------------------------------------------------------

                     Table 4.--Guilford County MVEBs
                               [Tons/day]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                 Revised subarea MVEBs
                                              --------------------------
                                                 2010     2012     2015
------------------------------------------------------------------------
VOC..........................................    14.86    13.46    12.17
NOX..........................................    20.87    17.66    13.28
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    This direct final rulemaking is in response to North Carolina's 
February 4, 2008, SIP submittal which supersedes North Carolina's 
December 20, 2007, submittal that included a request for parallel 
processing.

II. What Is the Background for EPA's Action?

    Under the CAA, states are required to submit, at various times, 
control strategy SIPs and maintenance plans for ozone attainment areas. 
These control strategy SIPs (reasonable further progress and attainment 
demonstration, etc.) and maintenance plans establish MVEBs for criteria 
pollutants and/or their precursors to address pollution from cars and 
trucks. Pursuant to 40 CFR part 93, an MVEB is established for the last 
year of the maintenance plan. A state may adopt MVEBs for other years 
as well. States also have the option to revise MVEBs at any time 
through a SIP revision. The MVEB is the portion of the total allowable 
emissions in the maintenance demonstration that is allocated to highway 
and transit vehicle use and emissions. See, 40 CFR 93.101. The MVEB 
serves as a ceiling on emissions from an area's planned transportation 
system. The MVEB concept is further explained in the preamble to the 
November 24, 1993, transportation conformity rule (58 FR 62188). The 
preamble also describes how to establish the MVEB in the SIP and how to 
revise the MVEB.
    The Triad Area was designated as a nonattainment area for the 1-
hour ozone national ambient air quality standard (``NAAQS'' or 
``standard'') on November 6, 1991 (56 FR 56694). In 1993, after the 
area had three consecutive years, 1990-1992, of air quality data 
showing attainment of the standard, the State of North Carolina, 
through NCDENR, submitted a redesignation request and a maintenance 
plan for the Triad Area for the 1-hour ozone NAAQS. On September 9, 
1993, EPA redesignated the Triad Area to attainment for the 1-hour 
ozone NAAQS and approved the 1-hour ozone maintenance plan (58 FR 
47391).
    Consistent with the CAA, ozone reductions are achieved by 
establishing NAAQS, such as the 1-hour and subsequent 8-hour ozone 
standard, and implementing the measures necessary to reduce ozone and 
its precursors. In the April 30, 2004, rulemaking entitled ``Air 
Quality Designations and Classifications for the 8-Hour Ozone National 
Ambient Air Quality Standards; Early Action Compact Areas with Deferred 
Effective Dates'' (69 FR 23858), EPA designated every county in the 
United States unclassifiable/attainment or nonattainment for the new 8-
hour ozone standard. The Triad Area was designated as nonattainment 
with a deferred effective date as part of the Early Action Compact 
program. (For more information on the Early Action Compact--or EAC--
Program, see, http://www.epa.gov/ttn/naaqs/ozone/eac/
index.htm#RMNotices.) One year after the effective date of these 
designations, June 15, 2005, the 1-hour ozone standard was revoked in 
most areas. However, the 1-hour ozone standard was not revoked for 
previous 1-hour nonattainment areas that are currently 8-hour EAC 
areas, such as the Triad Area, even if those areas were designated as 
attainment for the 1-hour ozone standard prior to the 8-hour ozone 
designations.\2\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \2\ An EAC is an agreement between a State, local governments 
and EPA to implement measures not necessarily required by the Act in 
order to achieve cleaner air as soon as possible. The program was 
designed for areas that approach or monitor exceedances of the 8-
hour ozone standard, but are in attainment for the 1-hour ozone 
standard. These areas continue to implement transportation 
conformity requirements related to the 1-hour ozone standard. See, 
http://www.epa.gov/ttn/naaqs/ozone/eac/index.htm#RMNotices, for 
further information.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Currently, the Triad EAC Area is attaining the 8-hour ozone 
standard with a design value of 0.083 parts per million (ppm) using the 
latest three years of quality assured data for the years of 2005-2007. 
On February 6, 2008 (73 FR 6863), EPA proposed that 13 nonattainment 
areas, including the Triad Area, with deferred effective dates be 
designated attainment for the 8-hour ozone standard, because they have 
met all of the milestones of the EAC program and have demonstrated that 
they were in attainment of the 8-hour ozone NAAQS as of December 31, 
2007. A final decision will be made on designations by April 15, 2008. 
EPA also proposed that one year after the

[[Page 18965]]

effective date of these designations, the 1-hour ozone standard be 
revoked and the transportation conformity requirements no longer remain 
in effect.
    On June 4, 2004, NCDENR submitted revisions to North Carolina's SIP 
to provide a 10-year update to the Triad Area's 1-hour ozone 
maintenance plan as required by section 175A(b) of the CAA. In addition 
to meeting the requirements of 175A(b), the revisions established 
subarea MVEBs for the Triad Area for the years 2004, 2007, 2010, 2012, 
and 2015. Some of these subarea MVEBs are currently being used by the 
transportation partners to demonstrate conformity, as approved in the 
September 20, 2004, rulemaking. The subarea MVEBs that are currently 
being used by transportation partners in the Triad Area are noted in 
the tables below:

                     Table 5.--Davidson County MVEBs
                               [Tons/day]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                 Current subarea MVEBs
                                              --------------------------
                                                 2010     2012     2015
------------------------------------------------------------------------
VOC..........................................     4.73     4.38     3.94
NOX..........................................     7.79     6.36     4.72
------------------------------------------------------------------------

                     Table 6.--Davie * County MVEBs
                               [Tons/day]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                 Current subarea MVEBs
                                              --------------------------
                                                 2010     2012     2015
------------------------------------------------------------------------
VOC..........................................     0.01     0.01     0.01
NOX..........................................     0.02     0.02    0.01
------------------------------------------------------------------------
* The Davie County MVEBs are for the portion of Davie County in the
  maintenance area.

                     Table 7.--Forsyth County MVEBs
                               [Tons/day]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                 Current subarea MVEBs
                                              --------------------------
                                                 2010     2012     2015
------------------------------------------------------------------------
VOC..........................................     9.93     9.12     8.14
NOX..........................................    14.49    11.83     8.79
------------------------------------------------------------------------

                     Table 8.--Guilford County MVEBs
                               [Tons/day]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                 Current subarea MVEBs
                                              --------------------------
                                                 2010     2012     2015
------------------------------------------------------------------------
VOC..........................................    14.32    13.10    11.66
NOX..........................................    20.11    16.44    12.18
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The tables above showing the currently approved subarea MVEBs for 
the Triad Area reflect the total on-road emissions for 2010, 2012 and 
2015, plus an allocation from the available VOC and NOX 
safety margins for each year. Pursuant to 40 CFR 93.101, the term 
``safety margin'' is the difference between the attainment level (from 
all sources) and the projected level of emissions (from all sources) in 
the maintenance area. The safety margin can be allocated to the 
transportation sector; however, the total emissions must remain below 
the attainment level. These subarea MVEBs and the allocations from the 
safety margin were developed in consultation with the transportation 
partners and were added to account for uncertainties in population 
growth, changes in model vehicle miles traveled and new emission factor 
models. The allocated portion of the safety margins for the Triad Area 
that was approved in the September 20, 2004, rulemaking are as follows:

               Table 9.--Safety Margins for the Triad Area
                               [Tons/day]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                   Safety margin allocations for VOC and
                                                    NOX
             County              ---------------------------------------
                                                 2010     2012     2015
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Davidson........................  VOC             0.27     0.47     0.51
                                  NOX             0.44     0.42     0.43
Davie...........................  VOC             0.00     0.00     0.00
                                  NOX             0.00     0.00     0.00
Forsyth.........................  VOC             0.56     0.98     1.06
                                  NOX             0.82     0.77     0.80
Guilford........................  VOC             0.81     1.40     1.52
                                  NOX             1.14     1.08     1.11
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The total remaining VOC safety margins after allocating a portion 
of the safety margin to the subarea MVEBs for the Triad Area are 26.59 
tons per day (tpd) in 2010, 26.41 tpd in 2012, and 25.50 tpd in 2015. 
The total remaining NOX safety margins after allocating a 
portion of the safety margin to the subarea MVEBs for the Triad Area is 
58.61 tpd in 2010, 66.09 tpd in 2012, and 74.21 tpd in 2015. For more 
information on the total remaining safety margins, see the September 
20, 2004, direct final rulemaking.
    On February 4, 2008, the State of North Carolina, through NCDENR, 
submitted a request to revise the subarea MVEBs for the Triad 1-hour 
ozone maintenance area for the years 2010, 2012, and 2015. The new 
allocation of the safety margins to the subarea MVEBs is discussed in 
section IV of this direct final rulemaking.
    Through the Triad Area's Interagency Consultation Group, which 
includes the North Carolina transportation and air quality partners, 
NCDENR identified a need for revised subarea MVEBs to allow for growth 
in the transportation sector. NCDENR, a partner of the Interagency 
Consultation Group, evaluated the option of revising the subarea MVEBs 
for the Triad Area and prepared a February 4, 2008, SIP revision to 
effectuate that option. The February 4, 2008, SIP revision was 
submitted to EPA for approval and requested a change to the subarea 
MVEBs by allocating a portion of the available safety margins to the 
subarea MVEBs. This allocation is discussed further in section of IV of 
this direct final rulemaking.

III. What Is the Effect of This Action?

    The subarea MVEBs for the Triad Area are established for each 
metropolitan planning organization (MPO), and in some instances, 
counties that are ``donut areas.'' The conformity rule defines a donut 
area as the portion of a metropolitan nonattainment or maintenance area 
that is located outside an MPO's planning boundary (40 CFR 93.101). 
Donut areas are not considered isolated rural nonattainment and

[[Page 18966]]

maintenance areas under the transportation conformity rule.
    The transportation conformity rule, specifically, 40 CFR 93.124(c) 
and (d), provide the regulatory mechanism for establishing and 
implementing subarea SIP MVEBs. In July 2004, EPA released a guidance 
document that provided additional details for implementing conformity 
in multi-jurisdictional areas, including establishing subarea SIP MVEBs 
in areas with multiple MPOs, entitled ``Companion Guidance for the July 
1, 2004 Final Transportation Conformity Rule Conformity Implementation 
in Multi-Jurisdictional Nonattainment and Maintenance Areas for 
Existing and New Air Quality Standards,'' EPA 420A-B-04-012 (2004 
Guidance). Although this guidance did not address the situation where 
subarea MVEBs are established for a donut area, such MVEBs may be 
established in a manner consistent with the requirements of the CAA 
that ensures that conformity determinations in the Triad Area will 
continue to meet federal conformity requirements.
    Statutory and regulatory requirements regarding conformity may be 
met for the entire nonattainment or maintenance area if conformity is 
determined for every subarea SIP MVEBs at least every four years. Only 
by meeting all subarea SIP MVEBs can the SIP's overall purpose be met. 
CAA section 176(c) states that the federal government and MPOs cannot 
approve transportation activities unless they conform to the SIP and 
its SIP-approved MVEBs. See also, page 21 of the 2004 Guidance. In a 
nonattainment or maintenance area with more than one MPO, all MPOs must 
conform even if the SIP has established subarea MVEBs. EPA believes 
that this same legal standard applies in the case where the SIP 
establishes a subarea MVEBs for a donut area.
    With regard to the February 4, 2008, revisions to the Triad 1-hour 
ozone maintenance area subarea MVEBs have been established for the 
Area's MPOs and donut areas. As a result, conformity determinations 
must be completed for all subarea MVEBs according to the statutory 
requirement to determine conformity at least every four years in areas 
with MPOs, transportation plans, and Transportation Improvement 
Programs (TIPs). MPOs must determine conformity to their respective 
transportation plans and TIPs every four years, and the interagency 
consultation process for the Triad Area should ensure that conformity 
is demonstrated for any subarea MVEBs for a donut area at least every 
four years as well. In the event that an MPO or donut area cannot 
demonstrate conformity on a four-year cycle, the other subareas cannot 
complete a conformity determination until all subareas conform. For 
further information regarding the conformity implications of not 
meeting subarea MVEBs, see pages 20-21 of the 2004 Guidance. The effect 
of this action will make new subarea MVEBs available to transportation 
partners in North Carolina.

IV. What Is EPA's Analysis of North Carolina's Subarea VOC and 
NOX for the Triad Area?

    In a June 4, 2004, SIP submittal, NCDENR, after interagency 
consultation with the transportation partners for the Triad Area, 
elected to develop county-level subarea MVEBs for VOC and 
NOX. In addition to other years, North Carolina developed 
these MVEBs, for the years 2010, 2012, and 2015 of its maintenance 
plan. The aforementioned MVEBs reflect the total on-road emissions for 
2010, 2012 and 2015, plus an allocation from the available VOC and 
NOX safety margins for each year. Refer to the section II 
entitled ``What is the Background for EPA's Proposed Actions?'' of this 
rulemaking for further explanation of the safety margin. These MVEBs 
were approved into the SIP in the September 20, 2004, direct final 
rulemaking. On February 4, 2008, NCDENR submitted a SIP revision 
seeking to change the MVEBs that were approved in the September 20, 
2004, SIP revision. The February 4, 2008, change is consistent with the 
CAA. The revised subarea VOC and NOX MVEBs for the Triad 
Area are defined in the revised MVEBs tables, Tables 1 through 4, in 
section I of this direct final rulemaking.
    North Carolina has chosen to allocate a portion of the available 
safety margin to the 2010, 2012 and 2015 subarea VOC and NOX 
MVEBs. The following table identifies the amount of the safety margin 
that was allotted to the 2010, 2012 and 2015 VOC and NOX 
subarea MVEBs per the February 4, 2008, submittal:

      Table 10.--Revised Safety Margin Allocations for VOC and NOX
                               [Tons/day]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                   Revised safety margin allocations for
                                                VOC and NOX
             County              ---------------------------------------
                                                 2010     2012     2015
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Davidson........................  VOC             0.45     0.59     0.69
                                  NOX             0.74     0.89     0.86
Davie...........................  VOC             0.02     0.02     0.02
                                  NOX             0.03     0.03     0.04
Forsyth.........................  VOC             0.94     1.22     1.42
                                  NOX             1.37     1.66     1.60
Guilford........................  VOC             1.35     1.76     2.03
                                  NOX             1.90     2.30     2.21
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The total remaining VOC safety margin after allocation of some of 
the safety margin to the subarea MVEBs for the Triad Area is 25.47 tpd 
in 2010, 25.67 tpd in 2012, and 24.43 tpd in 2015. The total remaining 
NOX safety margin after allocation of some of the safety 
margin to the subarea MVEBs for the Triad Area is 56.97 tpd in 2010, 
63.48 tpd in 2012, and 71.84 tpd in 2015.
    Through this rulemaking, EPA is approving the revised 2010, 2012 
and 2015 subarea MVEBs for VOC and NOX for the Triad Area 
because EPA has determined that the Area maintains the 1-hour ozone 
standard with the emissions at the levels of the MVEBs and demonstrates 
that based upon expected emissions for all other source categories, the 
Triad Area will continue to maintain the 1-hour ozone standard.
    As mentioned above, these MVEBs are subarea MVEBs for each 
individual

[[Page 18967]]

county in the Triad Area. Once the new subarea MVEBs for the Triad Area 
(the subject of this rulemaking) are approved they must be used for 
future conformity determinations.

V. Final Action

    EPA is approving revisions to the 1-hour ozone maintenance plan for 
the Triad Area submitted by NCDENR on February 4, 2008. Tables 1-4, 
above, list the new MVEBs for VOC and NOX being approved in 
this action. Table 10, above, lists the new available safety margins 
being approved in this action. The safety margin was reallocated as 
described in section IV of this action.
    Within 24 months from the effective date of this direct final rule 
or the date of publication for the final rule for this action, the 
transportation partners will need to demonstrate conformity to the new 
subarea MVEBs pursuant to 40 CFR 93.104(e). See, 73 FR 4419 (January 
24, 2008).
    EPA is publishing this rule without prior proposal because the 
Agency views this as a noncontroversial submittal and anticipates no 
adverse comments. However, in the proposed rules section of this 
Federal Register publication, EPA is publishing a separate document 
that will serve as the proposal to approve the SIP revision should 
adverse comments be filed. This rule will be effective June 9, 2008 
without further notice unless the Agency receives adverse comments by 
May 8, 2008.
    If EPA receives such comments, then EPA will publish a document 
withdrawing the final rule and informing the public that the rule will 
not take effect. All public comments received will then be addressed in 
a subsequent final rule based on the proposed rule. EPA will not 
institute a second comment period. Parties interested in commenting 
should do so at this time. If no such comments are received, the public 
is advised that this rule will be effective on June 9, 2008 and no 
further action will be taken on the proposed rule.

VI. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

    Under Executive Order 12866 (58 FR 51735, October 4, 1993), this 
action is not a ``significant regulatory action'' and therefore is not 
subject to review by the Office of Management and Budget. For this 
reason, this action is also not subject to Executive Order 13211, 
``Actions Concerning Regulations That Significantly Affect Energy 
Supply, Distribution, or Use'' (66 FR 28355, May 22, 2001). This action 
merely approves state law as meeting Federal requirements and imposes 
no additional requirements beyond those imposed by state law. 
Accordingly, the Administrator certifies that this rule will not have a 
significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities 
under the Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 601 et seq.). Because 
this rule approves pre-existing requirements under state law and does 
not impose any additional enforceable duty beyond that required by 
state law, it 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).
    This rule also does not have tribal implications because it will 
not have a substantial direct effect on one or more Indian tribes, on 
the relationship between the Federal Government and Indian tribes, or 
on the distribution of power and responsibilities between the Federal 
Government and Indian tribes, as specified by Executive Order 13175 (65 
FR 67249, November 9, 2000). This action also does not have Federalism 
implications because it does not have substantial direct effects on the 
States, on the relationship between the national government and the 
States, or on the distribution of power and responsibilities among the 
various levels of government, as specified in Executive Order 13132 (64 
FR 43255, August 10, 1999). This action merely approves a state rule 
implementing a Federal standard, and does not alter the relationship or 
the distribution of power and responsibilities established in the CAA. 
This rule also is not subject to Executive Order 13045 ``Protection of 
Children from Environmental Health Risks and Safety Risks'' (62 FR 
19885, April 23, 1997), because it is not economically significant.
    In reviewing SIP submissions, EPA's role is to approve state 
choices, provided that they meet the criteria of the CAA. In this 
context, in the absence of a prior existing requirement for the State 
to use voluntary consensus standards (VCS), EPA has no authority to 
disapprove a SIP submission for failure to use VCS. It would thus be 
inconsistent with applicable law for EPA, when it reviews a SIP 
submission, to use VCS in place of a SIP submission that otherwise 
satisfies the provisions of the CAA. Thus, the requirements of section 
12(d) of the National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act of 1995 
(15 U.S.C. 272 note) do not apply. This rule does not impose an 
information collection burden under the provisions of the Paperwork 
Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.).
    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 rule 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 June 9, 2008. Filing a petition for 
reconsideration by the Administrator of this final rule does not affect 
the finality of this rule for the purposes of judicial review nor does 
it extend the time within which a petition for judicial review may be 
filed, and shall not postpone the effectiveness of such rule or action. 
This action may not be challenged later in proceedings to enforce its 
requirements. (See, section 307(b)(2).)

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 52

    Environmental protection, Air pollution control, Intergovernmental 
relations, Incorporation by reference, Nitrogen dioxide, Ozone, 
Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, Volatile organic compounds.

    Dated: March 27, 2008.
J.I. Palmer, Jr.,
Regional Administrator, Region 4.

0
40 CFR part 52 is amended as follows:

PART 52--[AMENDED]

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

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

Subpart II--North Carolina

0
2. Section 52.1770 (e) is amended by adding a new entry at the end of 
the table for ``1-Hour Ozone Maintenance plan revision for the 
Greensboro/Winston-Salem/High Point area'' to read as follows:

Sec.  52.1770  Identification of plan.

* * * * *
    (e) * * *

[[Page 18968]]

                              EPA-Approved North Carolina Non-Regulatory Provisions
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                             Federal Register
              Provision                 State effective date       EPA approval date             citation
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

                                                  * * * * * * *
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1-Hour Ozone Maintenance plan         February 4, 2008........  April 8, 2008..........  [Insert first page of
 revision for the Greensboro/Winston-                                                     publication].
 Salem/High Point area (Davidson,
 Forsyth, and Guilford counties and
 a portion of Davie County).
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 [FR Doc. E8-7186 Filed 4-7-08; 8:45 am]

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