Approval and Promulgation of Air Quality Implementation Plans; West Virginia; Revised Motor Vehicle Emission Budgets for the Charleston 8-Hour Ozone Maintenance Area, 2156-2159 [E8-263]
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Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 9 / Monday, January 14, 2008 / Rules and Regulations
ability to detect the presence or likely
presence of oil by appropriate
investigation. The report of the
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include an opinion under § 137.35(c)(4)
regarding whether additional
appropriate investigation is necessary.
I
Dated: January 7, 2008.
William Grawe,
Acting Director, National Pollution Funds
Center, United States Coast Guard.
[FR Doc. E8–329 Filed 1–11–08; 8:45 am]
*
BILLING CODE 4910–15–P
781 Payment Required
[Add new 781.1 using the current text
of 781 as follows:]
39 CFR Part 20
Undeliverable Items
Postal Service.
Final rule.
AGENCY:
The Postal ServiceTM has
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returned undeliverable-as-addressed
items that were posted abroad with a
United States return address. When this
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DATES: Effective Date: January 14, 2008.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Obataiye B. Akinwole, 703–292–5260,
Bruce Marsh, 703–292–3570.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Article RL
147 of the Letter Post Regulations of the
Universal Postal Union (UPU),
‘‘Undeliverable Items,’’ allows all posts
to collect handling charges for
undeliverable-as-addressed pieces
posted abroad by customers residing in
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SUMMARY:
List of Subjects in 39 CFR Part 20
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Effective the date of this rulemaking
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I
PART 20—[AMENDED]
1. The authority citation for 39 CFR
part 20 continues to read as follows:
I
Authority: 5 U.S.C. 552(a); 39 U.S.C. 401,
404, 407, 408.
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15:18 Jan 11, 2008
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7
Treatment of Inbound Mail
*
*
*
*
780 Items Mailed Abroad by or on
Behalf of Senders in the United States
[Revise the heading of 781 as follows:]
POSTAL SERVICE
ACTION:
2. Revise the Mailing Standards of the
United States Postal Service,
International Mail Manual (IMM) as
follows:
*
*
*
*
*
781.1 Postage Payment Required
Payment of U.S. Postage is required to
secure delivery of mail when the
mailing is by or on behalf of a person
or firm that is a resident of the United
States and the foreign postage rate
applied to such items is lower than the
comparable U.S. domestic rate.
[Add new 781.2 as follows:]
781.2
Handling Charges
Undeliverable-as-addressed mail
returned to the sender for which
outbound postage was not paid to the
USPS is subject to the payment of
handling charges. On delivery to the
sender, the sender may be charged the
First-Class Mail International rate for
the weight and shape of the returned
piece.
*
*
*
*
*
Neva R. Watson,
Attorney, Legislative.
[FR Doc. E8–392 Filed 1–11–08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7710–12–P
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
AGENCY
40 CFR Part 52
[EPA–R03–OAR–2007–1010; FRL–8515–6]
Approval and Promulgation of Air
Quality Implementation Plans; West
Virginia; Revised Motor Vehicle
Emission Budgets for the Charleston
8-Hour Ozone Maintenance Area
Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Direct final rule.
AGENCY:
SUMMARY: EPA is taking direct final
action to approve a State
Implementation Plan (SIP) revision
submitted by the State of West Virginia.
The revision amends the 8-hour ozone
maintenance plan for the Charleston
area. This revision amends the
maintenance plans’ 2009 and 2018
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Fmt 4700
Sfmt 4700
motor vehicle emissions budgets
(MVEBs) by reallocating a portion of the
plans’ safety margins which results in
an increase in the MVEBs. The revised
plan continues to demonstrate
maintenance of the 8-hour national
ambient air quality standard (NAAQS)
for ozone. EPA is approving this SIP
revision to the West Virginia
maintenance plan for Charleston in
accordance with the requirements of the
Clean Air Act (CAA).
DATES: This rule is effective on March
14, 2008 without further notice, unless
EPA receives adverse written comment
by February 13, 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 Number EPA–
R03–OAR–2007–1010 by one of the
following methods:
A. www.regulations.gov. Follow the
on-line instructions for submitting
comments.
B. E-mail: febbo.carol@epa.gov.
C. Mail: EPA–R03–OAR–2007–1010,
Carol Febbo, Chief, Energy, Radiation
and Indoor Environment Branch,
Mailcode 3AP23, U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency, Region III, 1650
Arch Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
19103.
D. Hand Delivery: At the previouslylisted EPA Region III address. Such
deliveries are only accepted during the
Docket’s normal hours of operation, and
special arrangements should be made
for deliveries of boxed information.
Instructions: Direct your comments to
Docket ID No. EPA–R03–OAR–2007–
1010. 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 e-mail. 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 e-mail
comment directly to EPA without going
through 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
E:\FR\FM\14JAR1.SGM
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Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 9 / Monday, January 14, 2008 / Rules and Regulations
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
electronic docket are listed in the
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 www.regulations.gov or
in hard copy during normal business
hours at the Air Protection Division,
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency,
Region III, 1650 Arch Street,
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19103.
Copies of the State submittal are
available at the West Virginia
2157
Department of Environmental
Protection, Division of Air Quality, 601
57th Street, SE., Charleston, WV 25304.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Martin Kotsch, (215) 814–3335, or by
e-mail at kotsch.martin@epa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Throughout this document whenever
‘‘we’’, ‘‘us’’, or ‘‘our’’ is used, we mean
EPA.
sufficient buffer to account for
unforseen future growth or significant
changes in the planning assumption
data which was used in developing the
original MVEBs in its November 2005
submission.
Table of Contents
I. Background
II. Summary of West Virginia’s SIP Revision
and EPA’s Review
III. Final Action
IV. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews
On January 8, 2007, the State of West
Virginia submitted to EPA a formal
revision to its State Implementation
Plan (SIP). The SIP revision proposes
new MVEBs to reflect the reallocation of
a portion of the differences (safety
margins) between the total base year and
total projected 2009 and 2018 emissions
which produces an increase in the
MVEBs. The base year is 2004 for the
Charleston area. By increasing the
MVEBs, the West Virginia Department
of Environmental Protection (WVDEP) is
ensuring that transportation conformity
can be demonstrated in the Charleston
area. The January 8, 2007 submittal,
while increasing the MVEBs still
ensures maintenance of the NAAQS for
ozone for the Charleston area.
Tables 1 and 2 and the discussion that
follows describes the basis of the new
MVEBs for the Charleston area.
I. Background
On July 11, 2006 (71 FR 39001) EPA
redesignated the Charleston area of West
Virginia to attainment for the 8-hour
ozone NAAQS. For the Charleston area,
the redesignation included approval of
an 8-hour ozone maintenance plan,
which identifies on-road MVEBs for
VOCs and NOX, which are ozone
precursors, which are then used for
transportation planning and conformity
purposes. Subsequently after the SIP
approval by EPA, West Virginia
discovered that the MVEBs which were
included in the previously approved
maintenance plan did not provide a
II. Summary of West Virginia’s SIP
Revision and EPA’s Review 2009 and
2018 Motor Vehicle Emission Budgets
TABLE 1.—CHARLESTON AREA REALLOCATION OF SAFETY MARGIN TO THE MVEBS
2004
base year
2009
projection
2018
projection
Current MVEBs in the Approved Maintenance Plan (Tons/Day)
VOC .............................................................................................................................................
NOX ..............................................................................................................................................
16.1
26.4
11.6
19.8
7.2
8.2
16.1
26.4
12.9
22.9
7.5
9.5
Proposed MVEBs in the Revised Maintenance Plan (Tons/Day)
VOC .............................................................................................................................................
NOX ..............................................................................................................................................
TABLE 2.—CHARLESTON AREA TOTAL EMISSIONS (POINT, AREA AND MOBILE) BEFORE AND AFTER REALLOCATION OF
SAFETY MARGIN TO THE MVEBS (TONS/DAY)
2004
base year
2009
projection
2018
projection
Current Total Emissions in the Approved Maintenance Plan
VOC .............................................................................................................................................
NOX ..............................................................................................................................................
52.3
129.4
46.8
102.4
45.1
80.6
52.3
129.4
48.1
105.5
45.4
81.9
Proposed Total Emissions in the Revised Maintenance Plan
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VOC .............................................................................................................................................
NOX ..............................................................................................................................................
For the Charleston, West Virginia 8hour ozone maintenance area addressed
herein, the WVDEP recalculated the
2009 and 2018 MVEBs using revised
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planning data which became available
after the original maintenance plan was
submitted to EPA on November 30,
2005. The 2009 and 2018 MVEBs for
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VOCs and NOX emissions listed above
in Table 1 under the Proposed MVEBs
in the Revised Maintenance Plan section
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will serve as the new MVEBs for
transportation conformity planning.
As shown in Table 1, the State has
proposed reallocating some of the
previous safety margin into the MVEBs
for both VOCs and NOX. The remaining
surplus emissions have been reserved as
residual safety margins in the total
maintenance budgets to ensure
continued maintenance of the 8-hour
ozone NAAQS.
To explain how the safety margins are
determined and allocated, the VOC
emissions for the Charleston area may
be used as an example. In Table 2, listed
under the Current Total Emissions in
the Approved Maintenance Plan
section, the total 2004 base year VOC
emissions are 52.3 tons/day (tpd), which
is the maximum amount of VOC
emissions consistent with maintenance
of the 8-hour ozone NAAQS. The total
projected 2009 emissions are 46.8 tpd,
which provides a 5.5 tpd VOC safety
margin (i.e., the ozone NAAQS would
continue to be maintained if total VOC
emissions increased as much as 5.5 tpd
above the projected 2009 emissions of
46.8 tpd). In the Proposed Total
Emissions in the Revised Maintenance
Plan section the total projected
emissions for 2009 would be increased
by 1.3 tpd through the increase in the
allowable mobile emissions for VOC
while still leaving a safety margin of 4.2
tpd. Therefore, even with the
reallocation of some of the current
safety margin into the MVEBs, the State
of West Virginia has left a safety margin
for any other unforseen growth.
III. Final Action
EPA is approving West Virginia’s
January 8, 2007 SIP revision submittal
which amends the 8-hour ozone
maintenance plans for the Charleston
area. These revisions amend the
maintenance plans’ 2009 and 2018
MVEBs to reflect the reallocation of a
portion of the plans’ safety margins
which results in an increase in the
MVEBs. EPA is approving this SIP
revision to the maintenance plan for the
Charleston area because the January 8,
2007 submittal continues to
demonstrate maintenance of the 8-hour
ozone NAAQS. EPA is publishing this
rule without prior proposal because the
Agency views this as a noncontroversial
amendment and anticipates no adverse
comment, since no significant adverse
comments were received on the SIP
revision at the State level. However, in
the ‘‘Proposed Rules’’ section of today’s
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 March 14, 2008
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without further notice unless EPA
receives adverse comment by February
13, 2008.
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
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 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 requirement, and does not alter
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the relationship or the distribution of
power and responsibilities established
in the Clean Air Act. 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 approves a state rule
implementing a Federal standard.
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.).
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 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. This rule 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 March 14, 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 to
approve the revised motor vehicle
emission budgets for the 8-hour
Charleston Maintenance Plan may not
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be challenged later in proceedings to
enforce its requirements. (See section
307(b)(2).)
Dated: December 27, 2007.
William T. Wisniewski,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region III.
List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 52
I
Environmental protection, Air
pollution control, Incorporation by
reference, Nitrogen dioxide, Ozone,
Reporting and recordkeeping
requirements, Volatile organic
compounds.
Name of nonregulatory SIP
revision
*
8-Hour Ozone Maintenance
Plan for the Charleston,
WV Area.
PART 52—[AMENDED]
1. The authority citation for part 52
continues to read as follows:
I
§ 52.2520
*
Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.
State submittal
date
Identification of plan.
*
*
(e) * * *
*
[FR Doc. E8–263 Filed 1–11–08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560–50–P
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
AGENCY
40 CFR Part 52
[EPA–R03–OAR–2007–1149; FRL–8515–4]
Approval and Promulgation of Air
Quality Implementation Plans; Virginia;
Fredericksburg and Shenandoah
National Park 8-Hour Ozone Areas
Movement From the Nonattainment
Area List to the Maintenance Area List
Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Direct final rule.
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AGENCY:
SUMMARY: EPA is taking direct final
action to approve revisions to the
Virginia State Implementation Plan
(SIP) that was submitted on August 14,
2007 by the Commonwealth of Virginia.
The revisions move the Fredericksburg
and the Shenandoah National Park 8Hour Ozone Areas from the
Nonattainment Area list to the
Maintenance Area list. EPA is approving
these revisions to move the
Fredericksburg 8-Hour Ozone
Nonattainment Area (Spotsylvania
County, Stafford County, and
Fredericksburg City) and the
Shenandoah National Park 8-Hour
Ozone Nonattainment Area (portions of
VerDate Aug<31>2005
16:53 Jan 11, 2008
*
11/30/05
*
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7/11/06 71 FR 39001
*
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*
*
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*
Additional
explanation
1/14/08 [Insert page number
where the document begins].
the park located in Page and Madison
Counties) from the list of nonattainment
areas to the list of maintenance areas in
accordance with the requirements of the
Clean Air Act (CAA).
DATES: This rule is effective on March
14, 2008 without further notice, unless
EPA receives adverse written comment
by February 13, 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 Number EPA–
R03–OAR–2007–1149 by one of the
following methods:
A. www.regulations.gov. Follow the
on-line instructions for submitting
comments.
B. E-mail: fernandez.cristina@epa.gov.
C. Mail: EPA–R03–OAR–2007–1149,
Cristina Fernandez, Chief, Air Quality
Planning Branch, Mailcode 3AP21, U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency,
Region III, 1650 Arch Street,
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19103.
D. Hand Delivery: At the previouslylisted EPA Region III address. Such
deliveries are only accepted during the
Docket’s normal hours of operation, and
special arrangements should be made
for deliveries of boxed information.
Instructions: Direct your comments to
Docket ID No. EPA–R03–OAR–2007–
1149. EPA’s policy is that all comments
received will be included in the public
PO 00000
*
EPA approval
date
01/08/07
*
*
Charleston Area (Kanawha
and Putnam Counties).
2. In § 52.2520, the table in paragraph
(e) is amended by revising the entry for
the 8-Hour Ozone Maintenance Plan for
the Charleston, WV Area at the end of
the table to read as follows:
I
40 CFR part 52 is amended as follows:
Applicable geographic area
*
Subpart XX—West Virginia
*
Action includes approval of
the following new motor
vehicle emission budgets
(MVEBs): 22.9 tons day
(tpd) for 2009 and 9.5 tpd
for 2018 for NOX and 12.9
tpd for 2009 and 7.5 tpd
for 2018 for VOC.
*
*
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 e-mail. 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 e-mail
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.
E:\FR\FM\14JAR1.SGM
14JAR1
]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 9 (Monday, January 14, 2008)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 2156-2159]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-263]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 52
[EPA-R03-OAR-2007-1010; FRL-8515-6]
Approval and Promulgation of Air Quality Implementation Plans;
West Virginia; Revised Motor Vehicle Emission Budgets for the
Charleston 8-Hour Ozone Maintenance Area
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Direct final rule.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: EPA is taking direct final action to approve a State
Implementation Plan (SIP) revision submitted by the State of West
Virginia. The revision amends the 8-hour ozone maintenance plan for the
Charleston area. This revision amends the maintenance plans' 2009 and
2018 motor vehicle emissions budgets (MVEBs) by reallocating a portion
of the plans' safety margins which results in an increase in the MVEBs.
The revised plan continues to demonstrate maintenance of the 8-hour
national ambient air quality standard (NAAQS) for ozone. EPA is
approving this SIP revision to the West Virginia maintenance plan for
Charleston in accordance with the requirements of the Clean Air Act
(CAA).
DATES: This rule is effective on March 14, 2008 without further notice,
unless EPA receives adverse written comment by February 13, 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 Number EPA-
R03-OAR-2007-1010 by one of the following methods:
A. www.regulations.gov. Follow the on-line instructions for
submitting comments.
B. E-mail: febbo.carol@epa.gov.
C. Mail: EPA-R03-OAR-2007-1010, Carol Febbo, Chief, Energy,
Radiation and Indoor Environment Branch, Mailcode 3AP23, U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency, Region III, 1650 Arch Street,
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19103.
D. Hand Delivery: At the previously-listed EPA Region III address.
Such deliveries are only accepted during the Docket's normal hours of
operation, and special arrangements should be made for deliveries of
boxed information.
Instructions: Direct your comments to Docket ID No. EPA-R03-OAR-
2007-1010. 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 e-mail.
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 e-
mail comment directly to EPA without going through 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
[[Page 2157]]
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 electronic docket are listed in the
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 www.regulations.gov or
in hard copy during normal business hours at the Air Protection
Division, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region III, 1650 Arch
Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19103. Copies of the State submittal
are available at the West Virginia Department of Environmental
Protection, Division of Air Quality, 601 57th Street, SE., Charleston,
WV 25304.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Martin Kotsch, (215) 814-3335, or by
e-mail at kotsch.martin@epa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Throughout this document whenever ``we'',
``us'', or ``our'' is used, we mean EPA.
Table of Contents
I. Background
II. Summary of West Virginia's SIP Revision and EPA's Review
III. Final Action
IV. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews
I. Background
On July 11, 2006 (71 FR 39001) EPA redesignated the Charleston area
of West Virginia to attainment for the 8-hour ozone NAAQS. For the
Charleston area, the redesignation included approval of an 8-hour ozone
maintenance plan, which identifies on-road MVEBs for VOCs and
NOX, which are ozone precursors, which are then used for
transportation planning and conformity purposes. Subsequently after the
SIP approval by EPA, West Virginia discovered that the MVEBs which were
included in the previously approved maintenance plan did not provide a
sufficient buffer to account for unforseen future growth or significant
changes in the planning assumption data which was used in developing
the original MVEBs in its November 2005 submission.
II. Summary of West Virginia's SIP Revision and EPA's Review 2009 and
2018 Motor Vehicle Emission Budgets
On January 8, 2007, the State of West Virginia submitted to EPA a
formal revision to its State Implementation Plan (SIP). The SIP
revision proposes new MVEBs to reflect the reallocation of a portion of
the differences (safety margins) between the total base year and total
projected 2009 and 2018 emissions which produces an increase in the
MVEBs. The base year is 2004 for the Charleston area. By increasing the
MVEBs, the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (WVDEP)
is ensuring that transportation conformity can be demonstrated in the
Charleston area. The January 8, 2007 submittal, while increasing the
MVEBs still ensures maintenance of the NAAQS for ozone for the
Charleston area.
Tables 1 and 2 and the discussion that follows describes the basis
of the new MVEBs for the Charleston area.
Table 1.--Charleston Area Reallocation of Safety Margin to the MVEBs
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2009 2018
2004 base year projection projection
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Current MVEBs in the Approved Maintenance Plan (Tons/Day)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
VOC............................................................. 16.1 11.6 7.2
NOX............................................................. 26.4 19.8 8.2
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Proposed MVEBs in the Revised Maintenance Plan (Tons/Day)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
VOC............................................................. 16.1 12.9 7.5
NOX............................................................. 26.4 22.9 9.5
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Table 2.--Charleston Area Total Emissions (Point, Area and Mobile) Before and After Reallocation of Safety
Margin to the MVEBs (Tons/Day)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2009 2018
2004 base year projection projection
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Current Total Emissions in the Approved Maintenance Plan
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
VOC............................................................. 52.3 46.8 45.1
NOX............................................................. 129.4 102.4 80.6
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Proposed Total Emissions in the Revised Maintenance Plan
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
VOC............................................................. 52.3 48.1 45.4
NOX............................................................. 129.4 105.5 81.9
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
For the Charleston, West Virginia 8-hour ozone maintenance area
addressed herein, the WVDEP recalculated the 2009 and 2018 MVEBs using
revised planning data which became available after the original
maintenance plan was submitted to EPA on November 30, 2005. The 2009
and 2018 MVEBs for VOCs and NOX emissions listed above in
Table 1 under the Proposed MVEBs in the Revised Maintenance Plan
section
[[Page 2158]]
will serve as the new MVEBs for transportation conformity planning.
As shown in Table 1, the State has proposed reallocating some of
the previous safety margin into the MVEBs for both VOCs and
NOX. The remaining surplus emissions have been reserved as
residual safety margins in the total maintenance budgets to ensure
continued maintenance of the 8-hour ozone NAAQS.
To explain how the safety margins are determined and allocated, the
VOC emissions for the Charleston area may be used as an example. In
Table 2, listed under the Current Total Emissions in the Approved
Maintenance Plan section, the total 2004 base year VOC emissions are
52.3 tons/day (tpd), which is the maximum amount of VOC emissions
consistent with maintenance of the 8-hour ozone NAAQS. The total
projected 2009 emissions are 46.8 tpd, which provides a 5.5 tpd VOC
safety margin (i.e., the ozone NAAQS would continue to be maintained if
total VOC emissions increased as much as 5.5 tpd above the projected
2009 emissions of 46.8 tpd). In the Proposed Total Emissions in the
Revised Maintenance Plan section the total projected emissions for 2009
would be increased by 1.3 tpd through the increase in the allowable
mobile emissions for VOC while still leaving a safety margin of 4.2
tpd. Therefore, even with the reallocation of some of the current
safety margin into the MVEBs, the State of West Virginia has left a
safety margin for any other unforseen growth.
III. Final Action
EPA is approving West Virginia's January 8, 2007 SIP revision
submittal which amends the 8-hour ozone maintenance plans for the
Charleston area. These revisions amend the maintenance plans' 2009 and
2018 MVEBs to reflect the reallocation of a portion of the plans'
safety margins which results in an increase in the MVEBs. EPA is
approving this SIP revision to the maintenance plan for the Charleston
area because the January 8, 2007 submittal continues to demonstrate
maintenance of the 8-hour ozone NAAQS. EPA is publishing this rule
without prior proposal because the Agency views this as a
noncontroversial amendment and anticipates no adverse comment, since no
significant adverse comments were received on the SIP revision at the
State level. However, in the ``Proposed Rules'' section of today's
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 March 14, 2008 without further
notice unless EPA receives adverse comment by February 13, 2008.
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 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 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
requirement, and does not alter the relationship or the distribution of
power and responsibilities established in the Clean Air Act. 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 approves a state rule implementing a Federal
standard.
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.).
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 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. This rule 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 March 14, 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 to approve the revised motor vehicle emission budgets for
the 8-hour Charleston Maintenance Plan may not
[[Page 2159]]
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: December 27, 2007.
William T. Wisniewski,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region III.
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 XX--West Virginia
0
2. In Sec. 52.2520, the table in paragraph (e) is amended by revising
the entry for the 8-Hour Ozone Maintenance Plan for the Charleston, WV
Area at the end of the table to read as follows:
Sec. 52.2520 Identification of plan.
* * * * *
(e) * * *
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Name of non- regulatory SIP Applicable State submittal Additional
revision geographic area date EPA approval date explanation
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* * * * * * *
8-Hour Ozone Maintenance Plan Charleston Area 11/30/05 7/11/06 71 FR 39001
for the Charleston, WV Area. (Kanawha and
Putnam Counties).
01/08/07 1/14/08 [Insert Action includes
page number where approval of the
the document following new
begins]. motor vehicle
emission budgets
(MVEBs): 22.9
tons day (tpd)
for 2009 and 9.5
tpd for 2018 for
NOX and 12.9 tpd
for 2009 and 7.5
tpd for 2018 for
VOC.
* * * * * * *
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[FR Doc. E8-263 Filed 1-11-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P
