Air Plan Approval and Designation of Areas; MS; Redesignation of the DeSoto County, 2008 8-Hour Ozone Nonattainment Area to Attainment, 7269-7279 [2016-02725]
Download as PDF
<![CDATA[
Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 28 / Thursday, February 11, 2016 / Proposed Rules
jstallworth on DSK7TPTVN1PROD with PROPOSALS
APC–S–6 25 that covers the
implementation and enforcement of
PSD and NNSR permits after they have
been issued. EPA has made the
preliminary determination that
Mississippi adequately provide for
permitting fees related to the 2010 1hour SO2 NAAQS when necessary.
13. 110(a)(2)(M) Consultation and
Participation by Affected Local Entities:
Section 110(a)(2)(M) of the Act requires
states to provide for consultation and
participation in SIP development by
local political subdivisions affected by
the SIP. Mississippi Code Title 49,
Sections 49–17–17(c) 49–17–19(b)
(Appendix A–9) requires that MDEQ
notify the public (including local
political subdivisions) of an application,
preliminary determination, the activity
or activities involved in the permit
action, any emissions change associated
with any permit modification, and the
opportunity for comment prior to
making a final permitting decision.
Additionally, MDEQ works closely with
local political subdivisions during the
development of its transportation
conformity SIP and regional haze SIP.
EPA has made the preliminary
determination that Mississippi’s SIP and
practices adequately demonstrate
consultation with affected local entities
related to the 2010 1-hour SO2 NAAQS.
V. Proposed Action
With the exception of interstate
transport provisions pertaining to the
contribution to nonattainment or
interference with maintenance in other
states and visibility protection
requirements of section 110(a)(2)(D)(i)(I)
and (II) (prongs 1, 2, and 4), and the
state board majority requirements
respecting the significant portion of
income of section 110(a)(2)(E)(ii), EPA is
proposing to approve Mississippi’s June
20, 2013, SIP submission for the 2010 1hour SO2 NAAQS for the above
described infrastructure SIP
requirements. EPA is proposing to
approve these portions of Mississippi’s
infrastructure SIP submission for the
2010 1-hour SO2 NAAQS because these
aspects of the submission are consistent
with section 110 of the CAA. With
regard to the state board majority
requirements respecting significant
portion of income, EPA is proposing to
disapprove Mississippi’s June 20, 2013,
infrastructure submission.
Under section 179(a) of the CAA, final
disapproval of a submittal that
addresses a requirement of a CAA Part
D Plan or is required in response to a
25 Title V program regulations are federallyapproved but not incorporated into the federallyapproved SIP.
VerDate Sep<11>2014
14:10 Feb 10, 2016
Jkt 238001
finding of substantial inadequacy as
described in CAA section 110(k)(5) (SIP
call) starts a sanctions clock. The
portion of section 110(a)(2)(E)(ii)
provisions (the provisions being
proposed for disapproval in today’s
notice) were not submitted to meet
requirements for Part D or a SIP call,
and therefore, if EPA takes final action
to disapprove this submittal, no
sanctions will be triggered. However, if
this disapproval action is finalized, that
final action will trigger the requirement
under section 110(c) that EPA
promulgate a Federal Implementation
Plan (FIP) no later than two years from
the date of the disapproval unless the
State corrects the deficiency, and EPA
approves the plan or plan revision
before EPA promulgates such FIP.
VI. Statutory and Executive Order
Reviews
Under the CAA, the Administrator is
required to approve a SIP submission
that complies with the provisions of the
Act and applicable Federal regulations.
See 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 proposed
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 proposed action:
• Is not a significant regulatory action
subject to review by the Office of
Management and Budget under
Executive Orders 12866 (58 FR 51735,
October 4, 1993) and 13563 (76 FR 3821,
January 21, 2011);
• 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);
PO 00000
Frm 00021
Fmt 4702
Sfmt 4702
7269
• 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, the SIP is not approved to
apply on any Indian reservation land or
in any other area where EPA or an
Indian tribe has demonstrated that a
tribe has jurisdiction. In those areas of
Indian country, the rule does not have
tribal implications as specified by
Executive Order 13175 (65 FR 67249,
November 9, 2000), nor will it impose
substantial direct costs on tribal
governments or preempt tribal law.
List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 52
Environmental protection, Air
pollution control, Incorporation by
reference, Intergovernmental relations,
Nitrogen dioxide, Ozone, Reporting and
recordkeeping requirements, Volatile
organic compounds.
Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.
Dated: January 28, 2016.
Heather McTeer Toney,
Regional Administrator, Region 4.
[FR Doc. 2016–02608 Filed 2–10–16; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560–50–P
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
AGENCY
40 CFR Parts 52 and 81
[EPA–R04–OAR–2015–0743; FRL–9942–01–
Region 4]
Air Plan Approval and Designation of
Areas; MS; Redesignation of the
DeSoto County, 2008 8-Hour Ozone
Nonattainment Area to Attainment
Environmental Protection
Agency.
ACTION: Proposed rule.
AGENCY:
On December 11, 2015, the
State of Mississippi, through the
Mississippi Department of Environment
Quality (MDEQ), submitted a request for
the Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA) to redesignate the portion of
Mississippi that is within the Memphis,
Tennessee-Mississippi-Arkansas
(Memphis, TN-MS-AR) 2008 8-hour
ozone nonattainment area (hereafter
referred to as the ‘‘Memphis, TN-MS-AR
Area’’ or ‘‘Area’’) and to approve a State
SUMMARY:
E:\FR\FM\11FEP1.SGM
11FEP1
7270
Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 28 / Thursday, February 11, 2016 / Proposed Rules
Implementation Plan (SIP) revision
containing a maintenance plan for the
Area. EPA is proposing to determine
that the Memphis, TN-MS-AR Area is
attaining the 2008 8-hour ozone national
ambient air quality standards (NAAQS);
to approve the State’s plan for
maintaining attainment of the 2008 8hour ozone NAAQS in the Area,
including the motor vehicle emission
budgets (MVEBs) for nitrogen oxides
(NOX) and volatile organic compounds
(VOC) for the year 2027 for the
Mississippi portion of the Area, into the
SIP; and to redesignate the Mississippi
portion of the Area to attainment for the
2008 8-hour ozone NAAQS. EPA is also
notifying the public of the status of
EPA’s adequacy determination for the
MVEBs for the Mississippi portion of
the Memphis, TN-MS-AR Area.
Comments must be received on
or before March 14, 2016.
DATES:
Submit your comments,
identified by Docket ID No. EPA–R04–
OAR–2015–0743 at https://
www.regulations.gov. Follow the online
instructions for submitting comments.
Once submitted, comments cannot be
edited or removed from Regulations.gov.
EPA may publish any comment received
to its public docket. Do not submit
electronically any information you
consider to be Confidential Business
Information (CBI) or other information
whose disclosure is restricted by statute.
Multimedia submissions (audio, video,
etc.) must be accompanied by a written
comment. The written comment is
considered the official comment and
should include discussion of all points
you wish to make. EPA will generally
not consider comments or comment
contents located outside of the primary
submission (i.e. on the web, cloud, or
other file sharing system). For
additional submission methods, the full
EPA public comment policy,
information about CBI or multimedia
submissions, and general guidance on
making effective comments, please visit
https://www2.epa.gov/dockets/
commenting-epa-dockets.
ADDRESSES:
jstallworth on DSK7TPTVN1PROD with PROPOSALS
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Sean Lakeman of the Air Regulatory
Management Section, Air Planning and
Implementation Branch, Air, Pesticides
and Toxics Management Division, U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency,
Region 4, 61 Forsyth Street, SW.,
Atlanta, Georgia 30303–8960. Mr.
Lakeman may be reached by phone at
(404) 562–9043 or via electronic mail at
lakeman.sean@epa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
VerDate Sep<11>2014
14:10 Feb 10, 2016
Jkt 238001
Table of Contents
I. What are the actions EPA is proposing to
take?
II. What is the background for EPA’s
proposed actions?
III. What are the criteria for redesignation?
IV. Why is EPA proposing these actions?
V. What is EPA’s analysis of the request?
VI. What is EPA’s analysis of Mississippi’s
proposed NOX and VOC MVEBs for the
Mississippi portion of the area?
VII. What is the status of EPA’s adequacy
determination for the proposed NOX and
VOC MVEBs for the Mississippi portion
of the area?
VIII. What is the effect of EPA’s proposed
actions?
IX. Proposed Actions
X. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews
I. What are the actions EPA is
proposing to take?
EPA is proposing to take the following
three separate but related actions, one of
which involves multiple elements: (1)
To determine that the Memphis, TNMS-AR Area is attaining the 2008 8hour ozone NAAQS; 1 (2) to approve
Mississippi’s plan for maintaining the
2008 8-hour ozone NAAQS
(maintenance plan), including the
associated MVEBs for the Mississippi
portion of the Memphis, TN-MS-AR
Area, into the SIP; and (3) to redesignate
the Mississippi portion of the Memphis,
TN-MS-AR Area to attainment for the
2008 8-hour ozone NAAQS. EPA is also
notifying the public of the status of
EPA’s adequacy determination for the
MVEBs for the Mississippi portion of
the Memphis, TN-MS-AR Area. The
Memphis, TN-MS-AR Area consists of a
portion of DeSoto County in
Mississippi, all of Shelby County in
Tennessee, and all of Crittenden County
in Arkansas. This proposed actions are
summarized below and described in
greater detail throughout this notice of
proposed rulemaking.
EPA is making the preliminary
determination that the Memphis, TNMS-AR Area is attaining the 2008 8hour ozone NAAQS based on recent air
quality data and proposing to approve
Mississippi’s maintenance plan for its
portion of the Memphis, TN-MS-AR
Area as meeting the requirements of
section 175A (such approval being one
1 On
August 27, 2015, EPA published a notice of
proposed rulemaking entitled ‘‘Determinations of
Attainment by the Attainment Date, Extensions of
the Attainment Date, and Reclassification of Several
Areas Classified as Marginal for the 2008 Ozone
National Ambient Air Quality Standards’’
proposing to determine that the Memphis, TN-MSAR Area attained the 2008 8-hour ozone NAAQS by
the applicable attainment date of July 20, 2015,
based on 2012–2014 monitoring data. See 80 FR
51992. Any final action on the August 27, 2015
proposed rule will occur in a separate rulemaking
from this proposed action.
PO 00000
Frm 00022
Fmt 4702
Sfmt 4702
of the Clean Air Act (CAA or Act)
criteria for redesignation to attainment
status). The maintenance plan is
designed to keep the Memphis, TN-MSAR Area in attainment of the 2008 8hour ozone NAAQS through 2027. The
maintenance plan includes 2027 MVEBs
for NOX and VOC for the Mississippi
portion of the Memphis, TN-MS-AR
Area for transportation conformity
purposes. EPA is proposing to approve
these MVEBs and incorporate them into
the Mississippi SIP.
EPA also proposes to determine that
the Mississippi portion of the Memphis,
TN-MS-AR Area has met the
requirements for redesignation under
section 107(d)(3)(E) of the CAA.
Accordingly, in this action, EPA is
proposing to approve a request to
change the legal designation of DeSoto
County within the Mississippi portion
of the Memphis, TN-MS-AR Area, as
found at 40 CFR part 81, from
nonattainment to attainment for the
2008 8-hour ozone NAAQS.
EPA is also notifying the public of the
status of EPA’s adequacy process for the
2027 NOX and VOC MVEBs for the
Mississippi portion of the Memphis,
TN-MS-AR Area. The Adequacy
comment period began on November 2,
2015, with EPA’s posting of the
availability of Mississippi’s submissions
on EPA’s Adequacy Web site (https://
www3.epa.gov/otaq/stateresources/
transconf/currsips.htm#desoto-ms).
The Adequacy comment period for
these MVEBs closed on December 2,
2015. No comments, adverse or
otherwise, were received during the
Adequacy comment period. Please see
section VII of this proposed rulemaking
for further explanation of this process
and for more details on the MVEBs.
In summary, this notice of proposed
rulemaking is in response to
Mississippi’s December 11, 2015,
redesignation request and associated SIP
submission that address the specific
issues summarized previously and the
necessary elements described in section
107(d)(3)(E) of the CAA for
redesignation of the Mississippi portion
of the Memphis, TN-MS-AR Area to
attainment for the 2008 8-hour ozone
NAAQS.
II. What is the background for EPA’s
proposed actions?
On March 12, 2008, EPA promulgated
a revised 8-hour ozone NAAQS of 0.075
parts per million (ppm). See 73 FR
16436 (March 27, 2008). Under EPA’s
regulations at 40 CFR part 50, the 2008
8-hour ozone NAAQS is attained when
the 3-year average of the annual fourth
highest daily maximum 8-hour average
ambient air quality ozone
E:\FR\FM\11FEP1.SGM
11FEP1
Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 28 / Thursday, February 11, 2016 / Proposed Rules
concentrations is less than or equal to
0.075 ppm. See 40 CFR 50.15. Ambient
air quality monitoring data for the 3year period must meet a data
completeness requirement. The ambient
air quality monitoring data
completeness requirement is met when
the average percent of days with valid
ambient monitoring data is greater than
90 percent, and no single year has less
than 75 percent data completeness as
determined in Appendix I of part 50.
Upon promulgation of a new or
revised NAAQS, the CAA requires EPA
to designate as nonattainment any area
that is violating the NAAQS, based on
the three most recent years of complete,
quality assured, and certified ambient
air quality data at the conclusion of the
designation process. The Memphis, TNMS-AR Area was designated
nonattainment for the 2008 8-hour
ozone NAAQS on May 21, 2012
(effective July 20, 2012) using 2008–
2010 ambient air quality data. See 77 FR
30088 (May 21, 2012). At the time of
designation, the Memphis, TN-MS-AR
Area was classified as a marginal
nonattainment area for the 2008 8-hour
ozone NAAQS. In the final
implementation rule for the 2008 8-hour
ozone NAAQS (SIP Implementation
Rule),2 EPA established ozone
nonattainment area attainment dates
based on Table 1 of section 181(a) of the
CAA. This established an attainment
date three years after the July 20, 2012,
effective date for areas classified as
marginal areas for the 2008 8-hour
ozone nonattainment designations.
Therefore, the Memphis, TN-MS-AR
Area’s attainment date is July 20, 2015.
jstallworth on DSK7TPTVN1PROD with PROPOSALS
III. What are the criteria for
redesignation?
The CAA provides the requirements
for redesignating a nonattainment area
to attainment. Specifically, section
107(d)(3)(E) of the CAA allows for
redesignation providing that: (1) The
Administrator determines that the area
has attained the applicable NAAQS; (2)
the Administrator has fully approved
the applicable implementation plan for
2 This rule, entitled Implementation of the 2008
National Ambient Air Quality Standards for Ozone:
State Implementation Plan Requirements and
published at 80 FR 12264 (March 6, 2015),
addresses a range of nonattainment area SIP
requirements for the 2008 ozone NAAQS, including
requirements pertaining to attainment
demonstrations, reasonable further progress (RFP),
reasonably available control technology (RACT),
reasonably available control measures (RACM),
major new source review (NSR), emission
inventories, and the timing of SIP submissions and
of compliance with emission control measures in
the SIP. This rule also addresses the revocation of
the 1997 ozone NAAQS and the anti-backsliding
requirements that apply when the 1997 ozone
NAAQS are revoked.
VerDate Sep<11>2014
14:10 Feb 10, 2016
Jkt 238001
the area under section 110(k); (3) the
Administrator determines that the
improvement in air quality is due to
permanent and enforceable reductions
in emissions resulting from
implementation of the applicable SIP
and applicable Federal air pollutant
control regulations and other permanent
and enforceable reductions; (4) the
Administrator has fully approved a
maintenance plan for the area as
meeting the requirements of section
175A; and, (5) the state containing such
area has met all requirements applicable
to the area for purposes of redesignation
under section 110 and part D of the
CAA.
On April 16, 1992, EPA provided
guidance on redesignation in the
General Preamble for the
Implementation of title I of the CAA
Amendments of 1990 (57 FR 13498),
and supplemented this guidance on
April 28, 1992 (57 FR 18070). EPA has
provided further guidance on processing
redesignation requests in the following
documents:
1. ‘‘Ozone and Carbon Monoxide Design
Value Calculations,’’ Memorandum from Bill
Laxton, Director, Technical Support Division,
June 18, 1990;
2. ‘‘Maintenance Plans for Redesignation of
Ozone and Carbon Monoxide Nonattainment
Areas,’’ Memorandum from G. T. Helms,
Chief, Ozone/Carbon Monoxide Programs
Branch, April 30, 1992;
3. ‘‘Contingency Measures for Ozone and
Carbon Monoxide (CO) Redesignations,’’
Memorandum from G. T. Helms, Chief,
Ozone/Carbon Monoxide Programs Branch,
June 1, 1992;
4. ‘‘Procedures for Processing Requests to
Redesignate Areas to Attainment,’’
Memorandum from John Calcagni, Director,
Air Quality Management Division, September
4, 1992 (hereafter referred to as the ‘‘Calcagni
Memorandum’’);
5. ‘‘State Implementation Plan (SIP)
Actions Submitted in Response to Clean Air
Act (CAA) Deadlines,’’ Memorandum from
John Calcagni, Director, Air Quality
Management Division, October 28, 1992;
6. ‘‘Technical Support Documents (TSDs)
for Redesignation of Ozone and Carbon
Monoxide (CO) Nonattainment Areas,’’
Memorandum from G. T. Helms, Chief,
Ozone/Carbon Monoxide Programs Branch,
August 17, 1993;
7. ‘‘State Implementation Plan (SIP)
Requirements for Areas Submitting Requests
for Redesignation to Attainment of the Ozone
and Carbon Monoxide (CO) National
Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) On
or After November 15, 1992,’’ Memorandum
from Michael H. Shapiro, Acting Assistant
Administrator for Air and Radiation,
September 17, 1993;
8. ‘‘Use of Actual Emissions in
Maintenance Demonstrations for Ozone and
CO Nonattainment Areas,’’ Memorandum
from D. Kent Berry, Acting Director, Air
Quality Management Division, November 30,
1993;
PO 00000
Frm 00023
Fmt 4702
Sfmt 4702
7271
9. ‘‘Part D New Source Review (Part D
NSR) Requirements for Areas Requesting
Redesignation to Attainment,’’ Memorandum
from Mary D. Nichols, Assistant
Administrator for Air and Radiation, October
14, 1994; and
10. ‘‘Reasonable Further Progress,
Attainment Demonstration, and Related
Requirements for Ozone Nonattainment
Areas Meeting the Ozone National Ambient
Air Quality Standard,’’ Memorandum from
John S. Seitz, Director, Office of Air Quality
Planning and Standards, May 10, 1995.
IV. Why is EPA proposing these
actions?
On December 11, 2015, the State of
Mississippi, through MDEQ, requested
that EPA redesignate the Mississippi
portion of the Memphis, TN-MS-AR
Area to attainment for the 2008 8-hour
ozone NAAQS. EPA’s evaluation
indicates that the entire Memphis, TNMS-AR Area has attained the 2008 8hour ozone NAAQS, and that the
Mississippi portion of the Memphis,
TN-MS-AR Area meets the requirements
for redesignation as set forth in section
107(d)(3)(E), including the maintenance
plan requirements under section 175A
of the CAA. As a result, EPA is
proposing to take the three related
actions summarized in section I of this
notice.
V. What is EPA’s analysis of the
request?
As stated previously, in accordance
with the CAA, EPA proposes in this
action to: (1) Determine that the
Memphis, TN-MS-AR Area is attaining
the 2008 8-hour ozone NAAQS; (2)
approve the Mississippi portion of the
Memphis, TN-MS-AR Area’s 2008 8hour ozone NAAQS maintenance plan,
including the associated MVEBs, into
the Mississippi SIP; and (3) redesignate
the Mississippi portion of the Memphis,
TN-MS-AR Area to attainment for the
2008 8-hour ozone NAAQS. The five
redesignation criteria provided under
CAA section 107(d)(3)(E) are discussed
in greater detail for the Area in the
following paragraphs of this section.
Criteria (1)—The Memphis, TN-MS-AR
Area has Attained the 2008 8-Hour
Ozone NAAQS
For redesignating a nonattainment
area to attainment, the CAA requires
EPA to determine that the area has
attained the applicable NAAQS (CAA
section 107(d)(3)(E)(i)). For ozone, an
area may be considered to be attaining
the 2008 8-hour ozone NAAQS if it
meets the 2008 8-hour ozone NAAQS,
as determined in accordance with 40
CFR 50.15 and Appendix I of part 50,
based on three complete, consecutive
calendar years of quality-assured air
E:\FR\FM\11FEP1.SGM
11FEP1
7272
Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 28 / Thursday, February 11, 2016 / Proposed Rules
quality monitoring data. To attain the
NAAQS, the 3-year average of the
fourth-highest daily maximum 8-hour
average ozone concentrations measured
at each monitor within an area over
each year must not exceed 0.075 ppm.
Based on the data handling and
reporting convention described in 40
CFR part 50, Appendix I, the NAAQS
are attained if the design value is 0.075
ppm or below. The data must be
collected and quality-assured in
accordance with 40 CFR part 58 and
recorded in the EPA Air Quality System
(AQS). The monitors generally should
have remained at the same location for
the duration of the monitoring period
required for demonstrating attainment.
In this action, EPA is proposing to
determine that the Memphis, TN-MSAR Area is attaining the 2008 8-hour
ozone NAAQS. EPA reviewed ozone
monitoring data from monitoring
stations in the Memphis, TN-MS-AR
Area for the 2008 8-hour ozone NAAQS
for 2012–2014, and the design values for
each monitor in the Area are less than
0.075 ppm. These data have been
quality-assured, are recorded in
Aerometric Information Retrieval
System (AIRS–AQS), and indicate that
the Area is attaining the 2008 8-hour
ozone NAAQS. The fourth-highest 8hour ozone values at each monitor for
2012, 2013, 2014, and the 3-year
averages of these values (i.e., design
values), are summarized in Table 1,
below.
TABLE 1—2012–2014 DESIGN VALUE CONCENTRATIONS FOR THE MEMPHIS, TN-MS-AR AREA
[ppm]
4th Highest 8-hour ozone value (ppm)
Location
2012
DeSoto, MS ....................................................
Shelby, TN ......................................................
Shelby, TN ......................................................
Shelby, TN ......................................................
Crittenden, AR ................................................
The 3-year design value for 2012–
2014 for the Memphis, TN-MS-AR Area
is 0.073 ppm,3 which meets the
NAAQS. EPA has reviewed 2015
preliminary monitoring data for the
Area, and that data indicates that the
Area continues to attain.4 In this action,
EPA is proposing to determine that
Memphis, TN-MS-AR Area is attaining
the 2008 8-hour ozone NAAQS. EPA
will not take final action to approve the
redesignation if the 3-year design value
exceeds the NAAQS prior to EPA
finalizing the redesignation. As
discussed in more detail below, the
State of Mississippi has committed to
continue monitoring in this Area in
accordance with 40 CFR part 58.
jstallworth on DSK7TPTVN1PROD with PROPOSALS
Criteria (2)—Mississippi Has a Fully
Approved SIP Under Section 110(k) for
the Mississippi Portion of the Memphis,
TN-MS-AR Area; and Criteria (5)—
Mississippi Has Met All Applicable
Requirements Under Section 110 and
Part D of Title I of the CAA
For redesignating a nonattainment
area to attainment, the CAA requires
EPA to determine that the state has met
all applicable requirements under
section 110 and part D of title I of the
CAA (CAA section 107(d)(3)(E)(v)) and
that the state has a fully approved SIP
under section 110(k) for the area (CAA
section 107(d)(3)(E)(ii)). EPA proposes
3 The highest 3-year design value at a monitoring
station is considered the design value for the Area.
4 This preliminary data is available at EPA’s air
data Web site: https://aqsdr1.epa.gov/aqsweb/
aqstmp/airdata/download_files.html#Daily.
VerDate Sep<11>2014
14:10 Feb 10, 2016
3-Year design
values (ppm)
Site
Jkt 238001
Hernando ............................
Frayser ................................
Orgill Park ...........................
Shelby Farms ......................
Marion .................................
2013
0.075
0.083
0.084
0.086
0.079
2014
0.065
0.069
0.063
0.069
0.067
0.067
0.067
0.065
0.066
0.067
2012–2014
0.069
0.073
0.070
0.073
0.071
needed to monitor ambient air quality;
implementation of a source permit
program; provisions for the
implementation of part C requirements
(Prevention of Significant Deterioration
(PSD)) and provisions for the
implementation of part D requirements
(NSR permit programs); provisions for
air pollution modeling; and provisions
for public and local agency participation
in planning and emission control rule
development.
Section 110(a)(2)(D) requires that SIPs
contain certain measures to prevent
sources in a state from significantly
contributing to air quality problems in
another state. To implement this
provision, EPA has required certain
states to establish programs to address
the interstate transport of air pollutants.
The section 110(a)(2)(D) requirements
for a state are not linked with a
particular nonattainment area’s
designation and classification in that
state. EPA believes that the
requirements linked with a particular
a. The Mississippi Portion of the
nonattainment area’s designation and
Memphis, TN-MS-AR Area Has Met All
classifications are the relevant measures
Applicable Requirements Under Section
to evaluate in reviewing a redesignation
110 and Part D of the CAA
request. The transport SIP submittal
General SIP requirements. General SIP requirements, where applicable,
continue to apply to a state regardless of
elements and requirements are
the designation of any one particular
delineated in section 110(a)(2) of title I,
area in the state. Thus, EPA does not
part A of the CAA. These requirements
believe that the CAA’s interstate
include, but are not limited to, the
transport requirements should be
following: Submittal of a SIP that has
construed to be applicable requirements
been adopted by the state after
for purposes of redesignation.
reasonable public notice and hearing;
In addition, EPA believes that other
provisions for establishment and
section 110(a)(2) elements that are
operation of appropriate procedures
to find that Mississippi has met all
applicable SIP requirements for the
Mississippi portion of the Area under
section 110 of the CAA (general SIP
requirements) for purposes of
redesignation. Additionally, EPA
proposes to find that the Mississippi SIP
satisfies the criterion that it meets
applicable SIP requirements for
purposes of redesignation under part D
of title I of the CAA in accordance with
section 107(d)(3)(E)(v). Further, EPA
proposes to determine that the SIP is
fully approved with respect to all
requirements applicable for purposes of
redesignation in accordance with
section 107(d)(3)(E)(ii). In making these
determinations, EPA ascertained which
requirements are applicable to the Area
and, if applicable, that they are fully
approved under section 110(k). SIPs
must be fully approved only with
respect to requirements that were
applicable prior to submittal of the
complete redesignation request.
PO 00000
Frm 00024
Fmt 4702
Sfmt 4702
E:\FR\FM\11FEP1.SGM
11FEP1
jstallworth on DSK7TPTVN1PROD with PROPOSALS
Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 28 / Thursday, February 11, 2016 / Proposed Rules
neither connected with nonattainment
plan submissions nor linked with an
area’s attainment status are not
applicable requirements for purposes of
redesignation. The area will still be
subject to these requirements after the
area is redesignated. The section
110(a)(2) and part D requirements which
are linked with a particular area’s
designation and classification are the
relevant measures to evaluate in
reviewing a redesignation request. This
approach is consistent with EPA’s
existing policy on applicability (i.e., for
redesignations) of conformity and
oxygenated fuels requirements, as well
as with section 184 ozone transport
requirements. See Reading,
Pennsylvania, proposed and final
rulemakings (61 FR 53174–53176,
October 10, 1996), (62 FR 24826, May 7,
2008); Cleveland-Akron-Loraine, Ohio,
final rulemaking (61 FR 20458, May 7,
1996); and Tampa, Florida, final
rulemaking at (60 FR 62748, December
7, 1995). See also the discussion on this
issue in the Cincinnati, Ohio,
redesignation (65 FR 37890, June 19,
2000), and in the Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania, redesignation (66 FR
50399, October 19, 2001).
EPA has reviewed Mississippi’s SIP
and has concluded that it meets the
general SIP requirements under section
110(a)(2) of the CAA to the extent they
are applicable for purposes of
redesignation. EPA has previously
approved provisions of Mississippi’s
SIP addressing CAA section 110(a)(2)
requirements including provisions
addressing the 2008 ozone NAAQS. See
80 FR 11131 (March 2, 2015); 80 FR
14019 (March 18, 2015). These
requirements are, however, statewide
requirements that are not linked to the
ozone nonattainment status of the Area.
Therefore, EPA believes that these SIP
elements are not applicable
requirements for purposes of review of
Mississippi’s ozone redesignation
request.
Title I, Part D, applicable SIP
requirements. Section 172(c) of the CAA
sets forth the basic requirements of
attainment plans for nonattainment
areas that are required to submit them
pursuant to section 172(b). Subpart 2 of
part D, which includes section 182 of
the CAA, establishes specific
requirements for ozone nonattainment
areas depending on the area’s
nonattainment classification. As
provided in Subpart 2, a marginal ozone
nonattainment area, such as the
Memphis, TN-MS-AR Area, must
submit an emissions inventory that
complies with section 172(c)(3), but the
specific requirements of section 182(a)
apply in lieu of the demonstration of
VerDate Sep<11>2014
14:10 Feb 10, 2016
Jkt 238001
attainment (and contingency measures)
required by section 172(c). 42 U.S.C.
7511a(a). A thorough discussion of the
requirements contained in sections
172(c) and 182 can be found in the
General Preamble for Implementation of
Title I (57 FR 13498).
Section 182(a) Requirements. Section
182(a)(1) requires states to submit a
comprehensive, accurate, and current
inventory of actual emissions from
sources of VOC and NOX emitted within
the boundaries of the ozone
nonattainment area. Mississippi
provided an emissions inventory for the
Memphis, TN-MS-AR Area to EPA in a
January 14, 2015, SIP submission. On
July 2, 2015, EPA published a direct
final rule approving this emissions
inventory into the SIP. See 80 FR 37985.
Under section 182(a)(2)(A), states
with ozone nonattainment areas that
were designated prior to the enactment
of the 1990 CAA amendments were
required to submit, within six months of
classification, all rules and corrections
to existing VOC RACT rules that were
required under section 172(b)(3) of the
CAA (and related guidance) prior to the
1990 CAA amendments. The
Mississippi portion of the Memphis,
TN-MS-AR Area is not subject to the
section 182(a)(2) RACT ‘‘fix up’’ because
the Area was designated as
nonattainment after the enactment of
the 1990 CAA amendments.
Section 182(a)(2)(B) requires each
state with a marginal ozone
nonattainment area that implemented,
or was required to implement, an
inspection and maintenance (I/M)
program prior to the 1990 CAA
amendments to submit a SIP revision
providing for an I/M program no less
stringent than that required prior to the
1990 amendments or already in the SIP
at the time of the amendments,
whichever is more stringent. The
Mississippi portion of the Memphis,
TN-MS-AR Area is not subject to the
section 182(a)(2)(B) requirement
because it was designated as
nonattainment after the enactment of
the 1990 CAA amendments and did not
have an I/M program in place prior to
those amendments.
Regarding the permitting and offset
requirements of section 182(a)(2)(C) and
section 182(a)(4), Mississippi does not
have an approved part D NSR program
in place. However, EPA has determined
that areas being redesignated need not
comply with the requirement that a NSR
program be approved prior to
redesignation, provided that the area
demonstrates maintenance of the
NAAQS without part D NSR, because
PSD requirements will apply after
redesignation. A more detailed rationale
PO 00000
Frm 00025
Fmt 4702
Sfmt 4702
7273
for this view is described in a
memorandum from Mary Nichols,
Assistant Administrator for Air and
Radiation, dated October 14, 1994,
entitled, ‘‘Part D New Source Review
Requirements for Areas Requesting
Redesignation to Attainment.’’
Mississippi’s PSD program will become
applicable in the Memphis, TN-MS-AR
Area upon redesignation to attainment.
Section 182(a)(3) requires states to
submit periodic inventories and
emissions statements. Section
182(a)(3)(A) requires states to submit a
periodic inventory every three years. As
discussed later on in the section of this
notice titled Criteria (4)(e), Verification
of Continued Attainment, the State will
continue to update its emissions
inventory at least once every three
years. Under section 182(a)(3)(B), each
state with an ozone nonattainment area
must submit a SIP revision requiring
emissions statements to be submitted to
the state by sources within that
nonattainment area. Mississippi
provided a SIP revision to EPA on
August 28, 2015, addressing the section
182(a)(3)(B) emissions statements
requirement, and on January 12, 2016,
EPA published a final rule approving
this SIP revision. See 81 FR 1320.
Section 176 Conformity
Requirements. Section 176(c) of the
CAA requires states to establish criteria
and procedures to ensure that federally
supported or funded projects conform to
the air quality planning goals in the
applicable SIP. The requirement to
determine conformity applies to
transportation plans, programs, and
projects that are developed, funded, or
approved under title 23 of the United
States Code (U.S.C.) and the Federal
Transit Act (transportation conformity)
as well as to all other federally
supported or funded projects (general
conformity). State transportation
conformity SIP revisions must be
consistent with Federal conformity
regulations relating to consultation,
enforcement, and enforceability that
EPA promulgated pursuant to its
authority under the CAA.
EPA interprets the conformity SIP
requirements 5 as not applying for
purposes of evaluating a redesignation
request under section 107(d) because
state conformity rules are still required
after redesignation and Federal
conformity rules apply where state rules
have not been approved. See Wall v.
5 CAA section 176(c)(4)(E) requires states to
submit revisions to their SIPs to reflect certain
Federal criteria and procedures for determining
transportation conformity. Transportation
conformity SIPs are different from the MVEBs that
are established in control strategy SIPs and
maintenance plans.
E:\FR\FM\11FEP1.SGM
11FEP1
7274
Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 28 / Thursday, February 11, 2016 / Proposed Rules
EPA, 265 F.3d 426 (6th Cir. 2001)
(upholding this interpretation); see also
60 FR 62748 (December 7, 1995)
(redesignation of Tampa, Florida).
Nonetheless, Mississippi has an
approved conformity SIP for the
Mississippi portion of the Memphis,
TN-MS-AR Area. See 78 FR 67952
(November 13, 2013). Thus, EPA
proposes that the Mississippi portion of
the Memphis, TN-MS-AR Area has
satisfied all applicable requirements for
purposes of redesignation under section
110 and part D of title I of the CAA.
jstallworth on DSK7TPTVN1PROD with PROPOSALS
b. The Mississippi Portion of the
Memphis, TN-MS-AR Area Has a Fully
Approved Applicable SIP Under Section
110(k) of the CAA
As discussed previously, EPA has
fully approved the State’s SIP for the
Mississippi portion of the Memphis,
TN-MS-AR Area under section 110(k) of
the CAA for all requirements applicable
for purposes of redesignation. See, e.g.,
80 FR 11131 (March 2, 2015); 80 FR
14019 (March 18, 2015). EPA may rely
on prior SIP approvals in approving a
redesignation request (see Calcagni
Memorandum at p. 3; Southwestern
Pennsylvania Growth Alliance v.
Browner, 144 F.3d 984, 989–90 (6th Cir.
1998); Wall, 265 F.3d 426) plus any
additional measures it may approve in
conjunction with a redesignation action
(see 68 FR 25426 (May 12, 2003) and
citations therein). EPA believes that the
section 110 elements that are neither
connected with nonattainment plan
submissions nor linked to an area’s
nonattainment status are not applicable
requirements for purposes of
redesignation, and EPA has approved all
part D requirements applicable for
purposes of this redesignation. See 80
FR 37985 (July 2, 2015) and 80 FR 1320
(January 12, 2016).
Criteria (3)—The Air Quality
Improvement in the Memphis, TN-MSAR Area Is Due to Permanent and
Enforceable Reductions in Emissions
Resulting From Implementation of the
SIP and Applicable Federal Air
Pollution Control Regulations and Other
Permanent and Enforceable Reductions
For redesignating a nonattainment
area to attainment, the CAA requires
EPA to determine that the air quality
improvement in the area is due to
permanent and enforceable reductions
in emissions resulting from
implementation of the SIP, applicable
Federal air pollution control
regulations, and other permanent and
enforceable reductions (CAA section
107(d)(3)(E)(iii)). EPA has preliminarily
determined that Mississippi has
demonstrated that the observed air
VerDate Sep<11>2014
14:10 Feb 10, 2016
Jkt 238001
quality improvement in the Memphis,
TN-MS-AR Area is due to permanent
and enforceable reductions in emissions
resulting from Federal measures. EPA
proposes to agree with the State’s
conclusion that meteorology has not had
a significant role in the steady decline
in ozone concentrations in the Area.6
Federal measures enacted in recent
years have resulted in permanent
emission reductions. The Federal
measures that have been implemented
include the following:
Tier 2 vehicle and fuel standards.
Implementation began in 2004 and
requires all passenger vehicles in any
manufacturer’s fleet to meet an average
standard of 0.07 grams of NOX per mile.
Additionally, in January 2006 the sulfur
content of gasoline was required to be
on average 30 ppm which assists in
lowering the NOX emissions. Most
gasoline sold in Mississippi prior to
January 2006 had a sulfur content of
about 300 ppm.7 EPA expects that these
standards will reduce NOX emissions
from vehicles by approximately 74
percent by 2030, translating to nearly 3
million tons annually by 2030.8
Large non-road diesel engines rule.
This rule was promulgated in 2004, and
is being phased in between 2008
through 2014. This rule will also reduce
the sulfur content in the nonroad diesel
fuel. When fully implemented, this rule
will reduce NOX, VOC, particulate
matter, and carbon monoxide. These
emission reductions are federally
enforceable. EPA issued this rule in
June 2004, which applies to diesel
engines used in industries, such as
construction, agriculture, and mining. It
is estimated that compliance with this
rule will cut NOX emissions from nonroad diesel engines by up to 90 percent
nationwide.
Heavy-duty gasoline and diesel
highway vehicle standards. EPA issued
this rule in January 2001 (66 FR 5002).
This rule includes standards limiting
the sulfur content of diesel fuel, which
went into effect in 2004. A second phase
took effect in 2007, which further
reduced the highway diesel fuel sulfur
content to 15 ppm, leading to additional
6 The State compared temperature and wind data
for each of the design value attainment years (2012–
2014) with the 30-year averages for the Area. See
pp.10–15 of Mississippi’s December 11, 2015,
submission for the State’s meteorological analysis.
7 Mississippi also identified Tier 3 Motor Vehicle
Emissions and Fuel Standards as a federal measure.
EPA issued this rule in April 28, 2014, which
applies to light duty passenger cars and trucks. EPA
promulgated this rule to reduce air pollution from
new passenger cars and trucks beginning in 2017.
Tier 3 emission standards will lower sulfur content
of gasoline and lower the emissions standards.
8 EPA, Regulatory Announcement, EPA420–F–
99–051 (December 1999), available at: https://
www.epa.gov/tier2/documents/f99051.pdf.
PO 00000
Frm 00026
Fmt 4702
Sfmt 4702
reductions in combustion NOX and VOC
emissions. EPA expects that this rule
will achieve a 95 percent reduction in
NOX emissions from diesel trucks and
buses and will reduce NOX emissions by
2.6 million tons by 2030 when the
heavy-duty vehicle fleet is completely
replaced with newer heavy-duty
vehicles that comply with these
emission standards.9
Nonroad spark-ignition engines and
recreational engines standards. The
nonroad spark-ignition and recreational
engine standards, effective in July 2003,
regulate NOX, hydrocarbons, and carbon
monoxide from groups of previously
unregulated nonroad engines. These
engine standards apply to large sparkignition engines (e.g., forklifts and
airport ground service equipment),
recreational vehicles (e.g., off-highway
motorcycles and all-terrain-vehicles),
and recreational marine diesel engines
sold in the United States and imported
after the effective date of these
standards. When all of the nonroad
spark-ignition and recreational engine
standards are fully implemented, an
overall 72 percent reduction in
hydrocarbons, 80 percent reduction in
NOX, and 56 percent reduction in
carbon monoxide emissions are
expected by 2020. These controls reduce
ambient concentrations of ozone, carbon
monoxide, and fine particulate matter.
National Program for greenhouse gas
(GHG) emissions and Fuel Economy
Standards. The federal GHG and fuel
economy standards apply to light-duty
cars and trucks in model years 2012–
2016 (phase 1) and 2017–2025 (phase 2).
The final standards are projected to
result in an average industry fleet-wide
level of 163 grams/mile of carbon
dioxide which is equivalent to 54.5
miles per gallon if achieved exclusively
through fuel economy improvements.
The fuel economy standards result in
less fuel being consumed, and therefore
less NOX emissions released.
EPA proposes to find that the
improvements in air quality in the
Memphis, TN-MS-AR Area are due to
real, permanent and enforceable
reductions in NOX and VOC emissions
resulting from Federal measures.
9 66 FR 5002, 5012 (January 18, 2001). Mississippi
also identified Federal rules requiring
manufacturers to install on-board diagnostic (OBD)
systems for heavy-duty vehicles and for engines
certified for use in heavy-duty vehicles. EPA
promulgated these rules to help ensure that the
projected benefits from the relevant federal vehicle
emissions standards are realized.
E:\FR\FM\11FEP1.SGM
11FEP1
Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 28 / Thursday, February 11, 2016 / Proposed Rules
Criteria (4)—The Mississippi Portion of
the Memphis, TN-MS-AR Area Has a
Fully Approved Maintenance Plan
Pursuant to Section 175A of the CAA
For redesignating a nonattainment
area to attainment, the CAA requires
EPA to determine that the area has a
fully approved maintenance plan
pursuant to section 175A of the CAA
(CAA section 107(d)(3)(E)(iv)). In
conjunction with its request to
redesignate the Mississippi portion of
the Memphis, TN-MS-AR Area to
attainment for the 2008 8-hour ozone
NAAQS, MDEQ submitted a SIP
revision to provide for the maintenance
of the 2008 8-hour ozone NAAQS for at
least 10 years after the effective date of
redesignation to attainment. EPA
believes that this maintenance plan
meets the requirements for approval
under section 175A of the CAA.
jstallworth on DSK7TPTVN1PROD with PROPOSALS
a. What is required in a maintenance
plan?
Section 175A of the CAA sets forth
the elements of a maintenance plan for
areas seeking redesignation from
nonattainment to attainment. Under
section 175A, the plan must
demonstrate continued attainment of
the applicable NAAQS for at least 10
years after the Administrator approves a
redesignation to attainment. Eight years
after the redesignation, the state must
submit a revised maintenance plan
demonstrating that attainment will
continue to be maintained for the 10
years following the initial 10-year
period. To address the possibility of
future NAAQS violations, the
maintenance plan must contain
contingency measures as EPA deems
necessary to assure prompt correction of
any future 2008 8-hour ozone violations.
The Calcagni Memorandum provides
further guidance on the content of a
maintenance plan, explaining that a
maintenance plan should address five
requirements: The attainment emissions
inventory, maintenance demonstration,
monitoring, verification of continued
attainment, and a contingency plan. As
is discussed more fully below, EPA has
preliminarily determined that
Mississippi’s maintenance plan
includes all the necessary components
and is thus proposing to approve it as
a revision to the Mississippi SIP.
b. Attainment Emissions Inventory
EPA is proposing to determine that
the Memphis, TN-MS-AR Area has
attained the 2008 8-hour ozone NAAQS
based on quality-assured monitoring
VerDate Sep<11>2014
14:10 Feb 10, 2016
Jkt 238001
data for the 3-year period from 2012–
2014, and is continuing to attain the
standard based on preliminary 2015
data. Mississippi selected 2012 as the
base year (i.e., attainment emissions
inventory year) for developing a
comprehensive emissions inventory for
NOX and VOC, for which projected
emissions could be developed for 2017,
2020, and 2027. The attainment
inventory identifies a level of emissions
in the Area that is sufficient to attain the
2008 8-hour ozone NAAQS. Mississippi
began development of the attainment
inventory by first generating a baseline
emissions inventory for the State’s
portion of the Memphis, TN-MS-AR
Area. The projected summer day
emission inventories have been
estimated using projected rates of
growth in population, traffic, economic
activity, and other parameters. In
addition to comparing the final year of
the plan (2027) to the base year (2012),
Mississippi compared interim years to
the baseline to demonstrate that these
years are also expected to show
continued maintenance of the 2008
8-hour ozone standard.
The emissions inventory is composed
of four major types of sources: Point,
area, on-road mobile, and non-road
mobile. Complete descriptions of how
the inventories were developed are
located in Appendix A through
Appendix D of the December 11, 2015
submittal, which can be found in the
docket for this action. Point source
emissions are tabulated from data
collected by direct on-site
measurements of emissions or from
mass balance calculations utilizing
approved emission factors. For each
projected year’s inventory, point sources
are adjusted by growth factors based on
Standard Industrial Classification codes
generated using growth patterns
obtained from County Business Patterns.
For Title V sources, the actual 2012
emissions were used. Rail yard and
airport emissions reported were
obtained from the EPA’s 2011 National
Emission Inventory.
For area sources, emissions are
estimated by multiplying an emission
factor by some known indicator of
collective activity such as production,
number of employees, or population.
For each projected year’s inventory, area
source emissions are changed by
population growth, projected
production growth, or estimated
employment growth.
The non-road mobile sources
emissions are calculated using
PO 00000
Frm 00027
Fmt 4702
Sfmt 4702
7275
NONROAD2008 within EPA’s Motor
Vehicle Emission Simulator
(MOVES2014) model, with the
exception of the railroad locomotives
which were estimated by taking activity
and multiplying by an emission factor.
For each projected year’s inventory, the
emissions are estimated using EPA’s
MOVES2014 model with activity input
such as projected landing and takeoff
data for aircraft.
For on-road mobile sources, EPA’s
MOVES2014 mobile model is run to
generate emissions. The MOVES2014
model includes the road class vehicle
miles traveled (VMT) as an input file
and can directly output the estimated
emissions. For each projected year’s
inventory, the on-road mobile sources
emissions are calculated by running the
MOVES mobile model for the future
year with the projected VMT to generate
emissions that take into consideration
expected Federal tailpipe standards,
fleet turnover, and new fuels.
The 2012 NOX and VOC emissions for
the Mississippi portion of the Memphis,
TN-MS-AR Area, as well as the
emissions for other years, were
developed consistent with EPA
guidance and are summarized in Tables
2 through 3 of the following subsection
discussing the maintenance
demonstration. See Appendix B through
Appendix D of the December 11, 2015,
submission for more detailed
information on the emissions inventory.
c. Maintenance Demonstration
The maintenance plan associated with
the redesignation request includes a
maintenance demonstration that:
(i) Shows compliance with and
maintenance of the 2008 8-hour ozone
NAAQS by providing information to
support the demonstration that current
and future emissions of NOX and VOC
remain at or below 2012 emissions
levels.
(ii) Uses 2012 as the attainment year
and includes future emissions inventory
projections for 2017, 2020, and 2027.
(iii) Identifies an ‘‘out year’’ at least 10
years after the time necessary for EPA to
review and approve the maintenance
plan. Per 40 CFR part 93, NOX and VOC
MVEBs were established for the last
year (2027) of the maintenance plan (see
section VII below).
(iv) Provides actual (2012) and
projected emissions inventories, in tons
per summer day (tpsd), for the
Mississippi portion of the Memphis,
TN-MS-AR Area, as shown in Tables 2
and 3, below.
E:\FR\FM\11FEP1.SGM
11FEP1
7276
Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 28 / Thursday, February 11, 2016 / Proposed Rules
TABLE 2—ACTUAL AND PROJECTED AVERAGE SUMMER DAY NOX EMISSIONS (tpsd) FOR THE MISSISSIPPI PORTION OF
THE MEMPHIS, TN-MS-AR AREA
Sector
2012
2017
2020
2027
Point .................................................................................................................
Area .................................................................................................................
Non-road ..........................................................................................................
On-road ............................................................................................................
1.78
1.24
2.89
8.66
1.81
1.25
2.29
5.34
1.83
1.25
2.06
3.53
1.89
1.24
1.78
2.74
Total ..........................................................................................................
14.57
10.68
8.68
7.65
TABLE 3—ACTUAL AND PROJECTED AVERAGE SUMMER DAY VOC EMISSIONS (tpsd) FOR THE MISSISSIPPI PORTION OF
THE MEMPHIS, TN-MS-AR AREA
Sector
2012
2017
2020
2027
0.84
6.49
1.86
5.75
0.77
6.57
1.41
3.92
0.77
6.59
1.33
2.51
0.79
6.54
1.28
2.54
Total ..........................................................................................................
jstallworth on DSK7TPTVN1PROD with PROPOSALS
Point .................................................................................................................
Area .................................................................................................................
Non-road ..........................................................................................................
On-road ............................................................................................................
14.94
12.67
11.19
11.15
Tables 2 and 3 summarize the 2012
and future projected emissions of NOX
and VOC from the Mississippi portion
of the Memphis, TN-MS-AR Area. In
situations where local emissions are the
primary contributor to nonattainment,
such as the Memphis, TN-MS-AR Area,
if the future projected emissions in the
nonattainment area remain at or below
the baseline emissions in the
nonattainment area, then the ambient
air quality standard should not be
exceeded in the future. Mississippi has
projected emissions as described
previously and determined that
emissions in the Mississippi portion of
the Memphis, TN-MS-AR Area will
remain below those in the attainment
year inventory for the duration of the
maintenance plan.
As discussed in section VI of this
proposed rulemaking, a safety margin is
the difference between the attainment
level of emissions (from all sources) and
the projected level of emissions (from
all sources) in the maintenance plan.
The attainment level of emissions is the
level of emissions during one of the
years in which the area met the NAAQS.
Mississippi selected 2012 as the
attainment emissions inventory year for
the Mississippi portion of the Memphis,
TN-MS-AR Area. Mississippi calculated
safety margins in its submittal for years
2017, 2020, and 2027. The State has
allocated a portion of the 2027 safety
margin to the 2027 MVEBs for the
Memphis, TN-MS-AR Area.
VerDate Sep<11>2014
14:10 Feb 10, 2016
Jkt 238001
TABLE 4—SAFETY MARGINS FOR THE approved Mississippi’s monitoring plan
MISSISSIPPI PORTION OF THE MEM- on November 7, 2014.
PHIS, TN-MS-AR AREA
e. Verification of Continued Attainment
The State of Mississippi, through
MDEQ, has the legal authority to enforce
2017 ..........
2.27
3.89 and implement the maintenance plan
2020 ..........
3.75
5.90 for the Mississippi portion of the Area.
2027 ..........
3.79
6.92
This includes the authority to adopt,
implement, and enforce any subsequent
The State has decided to allocate a
emissions control contingency measures
portion of the available safety margin to determined to be necessary to correct
the 2027 MVEBs to allow for
future ozone attainment problems. The
unanticipated growth in VMT, changes
State has committed to track the
and uncertainty in vehicle mix
progress of the maintenance plan by
assumptions, etc., that will influence
updating its emissions inventory at least
the emission estimations. MDEQ has
once every three years and reviewing
allocated 5.26 tpd of the NOX safety
the updated emissions inventories for
margin to the 2027 NOX MVEB and 2.46
the area using the latest emissions
tpd of the VOC safety margin to the
factors, models, and methodologies.
2027 VOC MVEB. After allocation of the
Additionally, under the Consolidated
available safety margin, the remaining
Emissions Reporting Rule (CERR) and
safety margin is 1.66 tpd for NOX and
Air Emissions Reporting Requirements
1.33 tpd for VOC. This allocation and
(AERR), MDEQ is required to develop a
the resulting available safety margin for
the Mississippi portion of the Memphis, comprehensive, annual, statewide
TN-MS-AR Area are discussed further in emissions inventory every three years
section VI of this proposed rulemaking
that is due twelve to eighteen months
along with the MVEBs to be used for
after the completion of the inventory
transportation conformity proposes.
year. The AERR inventory years match
the base year and final year of the
d. Monitoring Network
inventory for the maintenance plan, and
are within one or two years of the
There are five monitors measuring
ozone in the Memphis, TN-MS-AR Area, interim inventory years of the
maintenance plan. Therefore, MDEQ
of which one is located in the
commits to compare the CERR and
Mississippi portion of the Memphis,
TN-MS-AR Area. In its maintenance
AERR inventories as they are developed
plan, Mississippi has committed to
with the maintenance plan to determine
continue operation of the monitor in the if additional steps are necessary for
Mississippi portion of the Memphis,
continued maintenance of the 2008 8TN-MS-AR Area in compliance with 40
hour ozone NAAQS in this Area.
CFR part 58 and has thus addressed the
requirement for monitoring. EPA
PO 00000
Year
Frm 00028
VOC (tpd)
Fmt 4702
Sfmt 4702
NOX (tpd)
E:\FR\FM\11FEP1.SGM
11FEP1
Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 28 / Thursday, February 11, 2016 / Proposed Rules
jstallworth on DSK7TPTVN1PROD with PROPOSALS
f. Contingency Measures in the
Maintenance Plan
Section 175A of the CAA requires that
a maintenance plan include such
contingency measures as EPA deems
necessary to assure that the state will
promptly correct a violation of the
NAAQS that occurs after redesignation.
The maintenance plan should identify
the contingency measures to be adopted,
a schedule and procedure for adoption
and implementation, and a time limit
for action by the state. A state should
also identify specific indicators to be
used to determine when the
contingency measures need to be
implemented. The maintenance plan
must include a requirement that a state
will implement all measures with
respect to control of the pollutant that
were contained in the SIP before
redesignation of the area to attainment
in accordance with section 175A(d).
The contingency plan included in the
submittal includes a triggering
mechanism to determine when
contingency measures are needed and a
process of developing and
implementing appropriate control
measures. The primary trigger is a
violation of the 2008 8-hour ozone
NAAQS (i.e., when the three-year
average of the 4th highest values is
equal to or greater than 0.076 ppm at a
monitor in the Area). If the quality
assured/quality controlled (QA/QC) data
indicates a violating design value, the
trigger date will be the date of the
design value violation and not the final
QA/QC date. If the initial monitoring
data indicates a possible violation but
later QA/QC indicates that a violation
did not occur, then a triggering event
will not have occurred and contingency
measures will not be implemented. The
secondary trigger is activated when
MDEQ forecasts ozone levels above the
2008 8-hour ozone NAAQS although no
actual violation of the 2008 8-hour
ozone NAAQS has occurred.
Once the primary or secondary trigger
is activated, the MDEQ, shall commence
analyses including an emissions
inventory assessment to determine those
emission control measures that will be
required for attaining or maintaining the
2008 8-hour ozone NAAQS. At least one
of the following contingency measures
will be adopted and implemented
within 18 to 24 months upon a primary
triggering event:
VerDate Sep<11>2014
14:10 Feb 10, 2016
Jkt 238001
• Implementation of diesel retrofit
programs, including incentives for
performing retrofits for fleet vehicle
operations;
• Voluntary engine idling reduction
programs;
• MDEQ will work with Mississippi
Department of Transportation to have
air quality alerts posted on the
Intelligent Transportation System
boards located in DeSoto County
encouraging motorists to take actions to
reduce emissions when forecasted
ozone levels will exceed; and
• Other measures deemed appropriate
at the time as a result of advances in
control technologies.10
If the secondary trigger is activated,
MDEQ will suspend all open burning
permits within the County until the
forecast shows improvement.
EPA preliminarily concludes that the
maintenance plan adequately addresses
the five basic components of a
maintenance plan: the attainment
emissions inventory, maintenance
demonstration, monitoring, verification
of continued attainment, and a
contingency plan. Therefore, EPA
proposes that the maintenance plan SIP
revision submitted by Mississippi for
the State’s portion of the Area meets the
requirements of section 175A of the
CAA and is approvable.
VI. What is EPA’s analysis of
Mississippi’s proposed NOX and VOC
MVEBs for the Mississippi portion of
the area?
Under section 176(c) of the CAA, new
transportation plans, programs, and
projects, such as the construction of
new highways, must ‘‘conform’’ to (i.e.,
be consistent with) the part of the state’s
air quality plan that addresses pollution
from cars and trucks. Conformity to the
SIP means that transportation activities
will not cause new air quality
violations, worsen existing violations, or
10 If the State adopts a voluntary emission
reduction measure as a contingency measure
necessary to attain or maintain the NAAQS, EPA
will evaluate approvability in accordance with
relevant Agency guidance regarding the
incorporation of voluntary measures into SIPs. See,
e.g., Memorandum from Richard D. Wilson, Acting
Administrator for Air and Radiation, to EPA
Regional Administrators re: Guidance on
Incorporating Voluntary Mobile Source Emission
Reduction Programs in State Implementation Plans
(SIPs) (October 24, 1997); EPA, Office of Air and
Radiation, Incorporating Emerging and Voluntary
Measures in a State Implementation Plan (SIP)
(September 2004).
PO 00000
Frm 00029
Fmt 4702
Sfmt 4702
7277
delay timely attainment of the NAAQS
or any interim milestones. If a
transportation plan does not conform,
most new projects that would expand
the capacity of roadways cannot go
forward. Regulations at 40 CFR part 93
set forth EPA policy, criteria, and
procedures for demonstrating and
assuring conformity of such
transportation activities to a SIP. The
regional emissions analysis is one, but
not the only, requirement for
implementing transportation
conformity. Transportation conformity
is a requirement for nonattainment and
maintenance areas. Maintenance areas
are areas that were previously
nonattainment for a particular NAAQS
but have since been redesignated to
attainment with an approved
maintenance plan for that NAAQS.
Under the CAA, states are required to
submit, at various times, control strategy
SIPs and maintenance plans for
nonattainment areas. These control
strategy SIPs (including RFP and
attainment demonstration requirements)
and maintenance plans create MVEBs
(or in this case sub-area MVEBs) for
criteria pollutants and/or their
precursors to address pollution from
cars and trucks. Per 40 CFR part 93, a
MVEB must be established for the last
year of the maintenance plan. A state
may adopt MVEBs for other years as
well. 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.
As part of the interagency
consultation process on setting MVEBs,
MDEQ held discussions to determine
what years to set MVEBs for the
Memphis, TN-MS-AR maintenance
plan. According to the transportation
conformity rule, a maintenance plan
must establish MVEBs for the last year
of the maintenance plan (in this case,
2027). See 40 CFR 93.118. Table 5,
below, provides the NOX and VOC
MVEBs for 2027.
E:\FR\FM\11FEP1.SGM
11FEP1
7278
Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 28 / Thursday, February 11, 2016 / Proposed Rules
TABLE 5—MVEBS FOR THE MISSISSIPPI PORTION OF THE MEMPHIS, TN-MS-AR AREA
[tpd]
2027
VOC
NOX
Base Year On-Road Emissions ...............................................................................................................................
Safety Margin Allocated to MVEB ...........................................................................................................................
Conformity MVEB ....................................................................................................................................................
jstallworth on DSK7TPTVN1PROD with PROPOSALS
As mentioned previously, Mississippi
has chosen to allocate a portion of the
available safety margin to the NOX and
VOC MVEBs for 2027. As discussed in
section V of this proposed rulemaking
notice, a safety margin is the difference
between the attainment level of
emissions (from all sources) and the
projected level of emissions (from all
sources) in the maintenance plan. The
attainment level of emissions is the
level of emissions during one of the
years in which the area met the NAAQS.
As discussed previously, Mississippi
has selected 2012 as the base year.
Through this rulemaking, EPA is
proposing to approve the MVEBs for
NOX and VOC for 2027 for the
Mississippi portion of the Memphis,
TN-MS-AR Area because EPA believes
that the Area maintains the 2008 8-hour
ozone NAAQS with the emissions at the
levels of the budgets. Once the MVEBs
for the Mississippi portion of the
Memphis, TN-MS-AR Area are
approved or found adequate (whichever
is completed first), they must be used
for future conformity determinations.
After thorough review, EPA has
preliminary determined that the budgets
meet the adequacy criteria, as outlined
in 40 CFR 93.118(e)(4), and is proposing
to approve the budgets because they are
consistent with maintenance of the 2008
8-hour ozone NAAQS through 2027.
VII. What is the status of EPA’s
adequacy determination for the
proposed NOX and VOC MVEBs for the
Mississippi portion of the area?
When reviewing submitted ‘‘control
strategy’’ SIPs or maintenance plans
containing MVEBs, EPA may
affirmatively find the MVEB contained
therein adequate for use in determining
transportation conformity. Once EPA
affirmatively finds the submitted MVEB
is adequate for transportation
conformity purposes, that MVEB must
be used by state and Federal agencies in
determining whether proposed
transportation projects conform to the
SIP as required by section 176(c) of the
CAA.
EPA’s substantive criteria for
determining adequacy of a MVEB are set
out in 40 CFR 93.118(e)(4). The process
VerDate Sep<11>2014
14:10 Feb 10, 2016
Jkt 238001
for determining adequacy consists of
three basic steps: public notification of
a SIP submission, a public comment
period, and EPA’s adequacy
determination. This process for
determining the adequacy of submitted
MVEBs for transportation conformity
purposes was initially outlined in EPA’s
May 14, 1999, guidance, ‘‘Conformity
Guidance on Implementation of March
2, 1999, Conformity Court Decision.’’
EPA adopted regulations to codify the
adequacy process in the Transportation
Conformity Rule Amendments for the
‘‘New 8-Hour Ozone and PM2.5 National
Ambient Air Quality Standards and
Miscellaneous Revisions for Existing
Areas; Transportation Conformity Rule
Amendments—Response to Court
Decision and Additional Rule Change,’’
on July 1, 2004 (69 FR 40004).
Additional information on the adequacy
process for transportation conformity
purposes is available in the proposed
rule entitled, ‘‘Transportation
Conformity Rule Amendments:
Response to Court Decision and
Additional Rule Changes,’’ 68 FR 38974,
38984 (June 30, 2003).
As discussed earlier, Mississippi’s
maintenance plan includes NOX and
VOC MVEBs for the Mississippi portion
of the Memphis, TN-MS-AR Area for
2027, the last year of the maintenance
plan. EPA is reviewing the NOX and
VOC MVEBs through the adequacy
process. The NOX and VOC MVEBs for
the Mississippi portion of the Memphis,
TN-MS-AR Area, opened for public
comment on EPA’s adequacy Web site
on November 2, 2015, found at: https://
www.epa.gov/otaq/stateresources/
transconf/currsips.htm. The EPA public
comment period on adequacy for the
2027 MVEBs for the Mississippi portion
of the Memphis, TN-MS-AR Area closed
on December 2, 2015. No comments,
adverse or otherwise, were received
during EPA’s adequacy process for the
MVEBs associated with Mississippi’s
maintenance plan.
EPA intends to make its
determination on the adequacy of the
2027 MVEBs for the Mississippi portion
of the Memphis, TN-MS-AR Area for
transportation conformity purposes in
the near future by completing the
PO 00000
Frm 00030
Fmt 4702
Sfmt 4702
2.74
5.26
8.00
2.54
2.46
5.00
adequacy process that was started on
November 2, 2015. After EPA finds the
2027 MVEBs adequate or approves
them, the new MVEBs for NOX and VOC
must be used for future transportation
conformity determinations. For required
regional emissions analysis years for
2027 and beyond, the applicable
budgets will be the new 2027 MVEBs
established in the maintenance plan, as
defined in section V of this proposed
rulemaking.
VIII. What is the effect of EPA’s
proposed actions?
EPA’s proposed actions establish the
basis upon which EPA may take final
action on the issues being proposed for
approval. Approval of Mississippi’s
redesignation request would change the
legal designation of the portion of
DeSoto County that is within the
Memphis, TN-MS-AR Area, as found at
40 CFR part 81, from nonattainment to
attainment for the 2008 8-hour ozone
NAAQS. Approval of Mississippi’s
associated SIP revision would also
incorporate a plan for maintaining the
2008 8-hour ozone NAAQS in the
Memphis, TN-MS-AR Area through
2027 into the SIP. This maintenance
plan includes contingency measures to
remedy any future violations of the 2008
8-hour ozone NAAQS and procedures
for evaluation of potential violations.
The maintenance plan also establishes
NOX and VOC MVEBs for 2027 for the
Mississippi portion of the Memphis,
TN-MS-AR Area. The MVEBs are listed
in Table 5 of this document.
Additionally, EPA is notifying the
public of the status of EPA’s adequacy
determination for the newly-established
NOX and VOC MVEBs for 2027 for the
Mississippi portion of the Memphis,
TN-MS-AR Area.
IX. Proposed Actions
EPA is taking three separate but
related actions regarding the
redesignation and maintenance of the
2008 8-hour ozone NAAQS for the
Mississippi portion of the Memphis,
TN-MS-AR Area. First, EPA is
proposing to determine that the entire
Memphis, TN-MS-AR Area is attaining
the 2008 8-hour ozone NAAQS. Second,
E:\FR\FM\11FEP1.SGM
11FEP1
Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 28 / Thursday, February 11, 2016 / Proposed Rules
jstallworth on DSK7TPTVN1PROD with PROPOSALS
EPA is proposing to approve the
maintenance plan for the Mississippi
portion of the Area, including the NOX
and VOC MVEBs for 2027, into the
Mississippi SIP. The maintenance plan
demonstrates that the Area will
continue to maintain the 2008 8-hour
ozone NAAQS and that the budgets
meet all of the adequacy criteria
contained in 40 CFR 93.118(e)(4) and
(5). Third, EPA is proposing to
determine that the Mississippi portion
of the Memphis, TN-MS-AR Area has
met the criteria under CAA section
107(d)(3)(E) for redesignation from
nonattainment to attainment for the
2008 8-hour ozone NAAQS. Further, as
part of this action, EPA is describing the
status of its adequacy determination for
the NOX and VOC MVEBs for 2027 in
accordance with 40 CFR 93.118(f)(2).
Within 24 months from the effective
date of EPA’s adequacy determination
for the MVEBs or the publication date
for the final rule for this action,
whichever is earlier, the transportation
partners will need to demonstrate
conformity to the new NOX and VOC
MVEBs pursuant to 40 CFR 93.104(e).
If finalized, approval of the
redesignation request would change the
official designation of the portion of
DeSoto County that is within the
Memphis, TN-MS-AR Area, as found at
40 CFR part 81, from nonattainment to
attainment for the 2008 8-hour ozone
NAAQS.
X. Statutory and Executive Order
Reviews
Under the CAA, redesignation of an
area to attainment and the
accompanying approval of a
maintenance plan under section
107(d)(3)(E) are actions that affect the
status of a geographical area and do not
impose any additional regulatory
requirements on sources beyond those
imposed by state law. A redesignation to
attainment does not in and of itself
create any new requirements, but rather
results in the applicability of
requirements contained in the CAA for
areas that have been redesignated to
attainment. Moreover, the Administrator
is required to approve a SIP submission
that complies with the provisions of the
Act and applicable Federal regulations.
See 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, these proposed
actions merely propose to approve state
law as meeting Federal requirements
and do not impose additional
requirements beyond those imposed by
state law. For this reason, these
proposed actions:
VerDate Sep<11>2014
14:10 Feb 10, 2016
Jkt 238001
• Are not a significant regulatory
action subject to review by the Office of
Management and Budget under
Executive Orders 12866 (58 FR 51735,
October 4, 1993) and 13563 (76 FR 3821,
January 21, 2011);
• do not impose an information
collection burden under the provisions
of the Paperwork Reduction Act (44
U.S.C. 3501 et seq.);
• are 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.);
• do 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);
• do not have Federalism
implications as specified in Executive
Order 13132 (64 FR 43255, August 10,
1999);
• are not economically significant
regulatory actions based on health or
safety risks subject to Executive Order
13045 (62 FR 19885, April 23, 1997);
• are not significant regulatory
actions subject to Executive Order
13211 (66 FR 28355, May 22, 2001);
• are 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
• will not have disproportionate
human health or environmental effects
under Executive Order 12898 (59 FR
7629, February 16, 1994).
The SIP is not approved to apply on
any Indian reservation land or in any
other area where EPA or an Indian tribe
has demonstrated that a tribe has
jurisdiction. In those areas of Indian
country, the rule does not have tribal
implications as specified by Executive
Order 13175 (65 FR 67249, November 9,
2000), nor will it impose substantial
direct costs on tribal governments or
preempt tribal law.
List of Subjects
40 CFR Part 52
Environmental protection, Air
pollution control, Incorporation by
reference, Intergovernmental relations,
Nitrogen dioxide, Ozone, Reporting and
recordkeeping requirements, Volatile
organic compounds.
40 CFR Part 81
Environmental protection, Air
pollution control.
Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.
PO 00000
Frm 00031
Fmt 4702
Sfmt 4702
7279
Dated: January 28, 2016.
Heather McTeer Toney,
Regional Administrator, Region 4.
[FR Doc. 2016–02725 Filed 2–10–16; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560–50–P
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
50 CFR Part 91
[Docket No. FWS–HQ–MB–2015–0161;
FXMB12330900000//167//FF09M13200]
RIN 1018–BB23
Revision of Federal Migratory Bird
Hunting and Conservation Stamp
(Duck Stamp) Contest Regulations
Fish and Wildlife Service,
Interior.
ACTION: Proposed rule.
AGENCY:
We, the Fish and Wildlife
Service (Service), propose to revise the
regulations governing the annual
Migratory Bird Hunting and
Conservation Stamp Contest (also
known as the Federal Duck Stamp
Contest (contest)). Our amendments
would update our contact information;
update common names and spelling of
species on our list of contest design
subjects; correct minor grammar errors;
and specify the requirement to include
a second, appropriate, migratory bird
species in the artwork design beginning
with the 2016 contest.
DATES: We will accept comments that
we receive on or before March 14, 2016.
Please note that if you are using the
Federal eRulemaking Portal (see
ADDRESSES section, below), the deadline
for submitting an electronic comment is
11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on the closing
date.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments
by one of the following methods:
• Electronically: Go to the Federal
eRulemaking Portal: https://
www.regulations.gov. In the Search box,
enter FWS–HQ–MB–2015–0161, which
is the docket number for this
rulemaking. Then, in the Search panel
on the left side of the screen, under the
Document Type heading, click on the
Proposed Rules link to locate this
document. You may submit a comment
by clicking on ‘‘Comment Now!’’
• By hard copy: Submit by U.S. mail
or hand delivery to: Public Comments
Processing, Attn: FWS–HQ–MB–2015–
0161; Division of Policy, Performance,
and Management Programs; U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service; 5275 Leesburg
Pike, MS: BPHC; Falls Church, VA
22041–3803.
SUMMARY:
E:\FR\FM\11FEP1.SGM
11FEP1
]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 28 (Thursday, February 11, 2016)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 7269-7279]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-02725]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Parts 52 and 81
[EPA-R04-OAR-2015-0743; FRL-9942-01-Region 4]
Air Plan Approval and Designation of Areas; MS; Redesignation of
the DeSoto County, 2008 8-Hour Ozone Nonattainment Area to Attainment
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency.
ACTION: Proposed rule.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: On December 11, 2015, the State of Mississippi, through the
Mississippi Department of Environment Quality (MDEQ), submitted a
request for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to redesignate
the portion of Mississippi that is within the Memphis, Tennessee-
Mississippi-Arkansas (Memphis, TN-MS-AR) 2008 8-hour ozone
nonattainment area (hereafter referred to as the ``Memphis, TN-MS-AR
Area'' or ``Area'') and to approve a State
[[Page 7270]]
Implementation Plan (SIP) revision containing a maintenance plan for
the Area. EPA is proposing to determine that the Memphis, TN-MS-AR Area
is attaining the 2008 8-hour ozone national ambient air quality
standards (NAAQS); to approve the State's plan for maintaining
attainment of the 2008 8-hour ozone NAAQS in the Area, including the
motor vehicle emission budgets (MVEBs) for nitrogen oxides
(NOX) and volatile organic compounds (VOC) for the year 2027
for the Mississippi portion of the Area, into the SIP; and to
redesignate the Mississippi portion of the Area to attainment for the
2008 8-hour ozone NAAQS. EPA is also notifying the public of the status
of EPA's adequacy determination for the MVEBs for the Mississippi
portion of the Memphis, TN-MS-AR Area.
DATES: Comments must be received on or before March 14, 2016.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-R04-
OAR-2015-0743 at https://www.regulations.gov. Follow the online
instructions for submitting comments. Once submitted, comments cannot
be edited or removed from Regulations.gov. EPA may publish any comment
received to its public docket. Do not submit electronically any
information you consider to be Confidential Business Information (CBI)
or other information whose disclosure is restricted by statute.
Multimedia submissions (audio, video, etc.) must be accompanied by a
written comment. The written comment is considered the official comment
and should include discussion of all points you wish to make. EPA will
generally not consider comments or comment contents located outside of
the primary submission (i.e. on the web, cloud, or other file sharing
system). For additional submission methods, the full EPA public comment
policy, information about CBI or multimedia submissions, and general
guidance on making effective comments, please visit https://www2.epa.gov/dockets/commenting-epa-dockets.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Sean Lakeman of the Air Regulatory
Management Section, Air Planning and Implementation Branch, Air,
Pesticides and Toxics Management Division, U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency, Region 4, 61 Forsyth Street, SW., Atlanta, Georgia
30303-8960. Mr. Lakeman may be reached by phone at (404) 562-9043 or
via electronic mail at lakeman.sean@epa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Table of Contents
I. What are the actions EPA is proposing to take?
II. What is the background for EPA's proposed actions?
III. What are the criteria for redesignation?
IV. Why is EPA proposing these actions?
V. What is EPA's analysis of the request?
VI. What is EPA's analysis of Mississippi's proposed NOX
and VOC MVEBs for the Mississippi portion of the area?
VII. What is the status of EPA's adequacy determination for the
proposed NOX and VOC MVEBs for the Mississippi portion of
the area?
VIII. What is the effect of EPA's proposed actions?
IX. Proposed Actions
X. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews
I. What are the actions EPA is proposing to take?
EPA is proposing to take the following three separate but related
actions, one of which involves multiple elements: (1) To determine that
the Memphis, TN-MS-AR Area is attaining the 2008 8-hour ozone NAAQS;
\1\ (2) to approve Mississippi's plan for maintaining the 2008 8-hour
ozone NAAQS (maintenance plan), including the associated MVEBs for the
Mississippi portion of the Memphis, TN-MS-AR Area, into the SIP; and
(3) to redesignate the Mississippi portion of the Memphis, TN-MS-AR
Area to attainment for the 2008 8-hour ozone NAAQS. EPA is also
notifying the public of the status of EPA's adequacy determination for
the MVEBs for the Mississippi portion of the Memphis, TN-MS-AR Area.
The Memphis, TN-MS-AR Area consists of a portion of DeSoto County in
Mississippi, all of Shelby County in Tennessee, and all of Crittenden
County in Arkansas. This proposed actions are summarized below and
described in greater detail throughout this notice of proposed
rulemaking.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ On August 27, 2015, EPA published a notice of proposed
rulemaking entitled ``Determinations of Attainment by the Attainment
Date, Extensions of the Attainment Date, and Reclassification of
Several Areas Classified as Marginal for the 2008 Ozone National
Ambient Air Quality Standards'' proposing to determine that the
Memphis, TN-MS-AR Area attained the 2008 8-hour ozone NAAQS by the
applicable attainment date of July 20, 2015, based on 2012-2014
monitoring data. See 80 FR 51992. Any final action on the August 27,
2015 proposed rule will occur in a separate rulemaking from this
proposed action.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
EPA is making the preliminary determination that the Memphis, TN-
MS-AR Area is attaining the 2008 8-hour ozone NAAQS based on recent air
quality data and proposing to approve Mississippi's maintenance plan
for its portion of the Memphis, TN-MS-AR Area as meeting the
requirements of section 175A (such approval being one of the Clean Air
Act (CAA or Act) criteria for redesignation to attainment status). The
maintenance plan is designed to keep the Memphis, TN-MS-AR Area in
attainment of the 2008 8-hour ozone NAAQS through 2027. The maintenance
plan includes 2027 MVEBs for NOX and VOC for the Mississippi
portion of the Memphis, TN-MS-AR Area for transportation conformity
purposes. EPA is proposing to approve these MVEBs and incorporate them
into the Mississippi SIP.
EPA also proposes to determine that the Mississippi portion of the
Memphis, TN-MS-AR Area has met the requirements for redesignation under
section 107(d)(3)(E) of the CAA. Accordingly, in this action, EPA is
proposing to approve a request to change the legal designation of
DeSoto County within the Mississippi portion of the Memphis, TN-MS-AR
Area, as found at 40 CFR part 81, from nonattainment to attainment for
the 2008 8-hour ozone NAAQS.
EPA is also notifying the public of the status of EPA's adequacy
process for the 2027 NOX and VOC MVEBs for the Mississippi
portion of the Memphis, TN-MS-AR Area. The Adequacy comment period
began on November 2, 2015, with EPA's posting of the availability of
Mississippi's submissions on EPA's Adequacy Web site (https://www3.epa.gov/otaq/stateresources/transconf/currsips.htm#desoto-ms).
The Adequacy comment period for these MVEBs closed on December 2,
2015. No comments, adverse or otherwise, were received during the
Adequacy comment period. Please see section VII of this proposed
rulemaking for further explanation of this process and for more details
on the MVEBs.
In summary, this notice of proposed rulemaking is in response to
Mississippi's December 11, 2015, redesignation request and associated
SIP submission that address the specific issues summarized previously
and the necessary elements described in section 107(d)(3)(E) of the CAA
for redesignation of the Mississippi portion of the Memphis, TN-MS-AR
Area to attainment for the 2008 8-hour ozone NAAQS.
II. What is the background for EPA's proposed actions?
On March 12, 2008, EPA promulgated a revised 8-hour ozone NAAQS of
0.075 parts per million (ppm). See 73 FR 16436 (March 27, 2008). Under
EPA's regulations at 40 CFR part 50, the 2008 8-hour ozone NAAQS is
attained when the 3-year average of the annual fourth highest daily
maximum 8-hour average ambient air quality ozone
[[Page 7271]]
concentrations is less than or equal to 0.075 ppm. See 40 CFR 50.15.
Ambient air quality monitoring data for the 3-year period must meet a
data completeness requirement. The ambient air quality monitoring data
completeness requirement is met when the average percent of days with
valid ambient monitoring data is greater than 90 percent, and no single
year has less than 75 percent data completeness as determined in
Appendix I of part 50.
Upon promulgation of a new or revised NAAQS, the CAA requires EPA
to designate as nonattainment any area that is violating the NAAQS,
based on the three most recent years of complete, quality assured, and
certified ambient air quality data at the conclusion of the designation
process. The Memphis, TN-MS-AR Area was designated nonattainment for
the 2008 8-hour ozone NAAQS on May 21, 2012 (effective July 20, 2012)
using 2008-2010 ambient air quality data. See 77 FR 30088 (May 21,
2012). At the time of designation, the Memphis, TN-MS-AR Area was
classified as a marginal nonattainment area for the 2008 8-hour ozone
NAAQS. In the final implementation rule for the 2008 8-hour ozone NAAQS
(SIP Implementation Rule),\2\ EPA established ozone nonattainment area
attainment dates based on Table 1 of section 181(a) of the CAA. This
established an attainment date three years after the July 20, 2012,
effective date for areas classified as marginal areas for the 2008 8-
hour ozone nonattainment designations. Therefore, the Memphis, TN-MS-AR
Area's attainment date is July 20, 2015.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\2\ This rule, entitled Implementation of the 2008 National
Ambient Air Quality Standards for Ozone: State Implementation Plan
Requirements and published at 80 FR 12264 (March 6, 2015), addresses
a range of nonattainment area SIP requirements for the 2008 ozone
NAAQS, including requirements pertaining to attainment
demonstrations, reasonable further progress (RFP), reasonably
available control technology (RACT), reasonably available control
measures (RACM), major new source review (NSR), emission
inventories, and the timing of SIP submissions and of compliance
with emission control measures in the SIP. This rule also addresses
the revocation of the 1997 ozone NAAQS and the anti-backsliding
requirements that apply when the 1997 ozone NAAQS are revoked.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
III. What are the criteria for redesignation?
The CAA provides the requirements for redesignating a nonattainment
area to attainment. Specifically, section 107(d)(3)(E) of the CAA
allows for redesignation providing that: (1) The Administrator
determines that the area has attained the applicable NAAQS; (2) the
Administrator has fully approved the applicable implementation plan for
the area under section 110(k); (3) the Administrator determines that
the improvement in air quality is due to permanent and enforceable
reductions in emissions resulting from implementation of the applicable
SIP and applicable Federal air pollutant control regulations and other
permanent and enforceable reductions; (4) the Administrator has fully
approved a maintenance plan for the area as meeting the requirements of
section 175A; and, (5) the state containing such area has met all
requirements applicable to the area for purposes of redesignation under
section 110 and part D of the CAA.
On April 16, 1992, EPA provided guidance on redesignation in the
General Preamble for the Implementation of title I of the CAA
Amendments of 1990 (57 FR 13498), and supplemented this guidance on
April 28, 1992 (57 FR 18070). EPA has provided further guidance on
processing redesignation requests in the following documents:
1. ``Ozone and Carbon Monoxide Design Value Calculations,''
Memorandum from Bill Laxton, Director, Technical Support Division,
June 18, 1990;
2. ``Maintenance Plans for Redesignation of Ozone and Carbon
Monoxide Nonattainment Areas,'' Memorandum from G. T. Helms, Chief,
Ozone/Carbon Monoxide Programs Branch, April 30, 1992;
3. ``Contingency Measures for Ozone and Carbon Monoxide (CO)
Redesignations,'' Memorandum from G. T. Helms, Chief, Ozone/Carbon
Monoxide Programs Branch, June 1, 1992;
4. ``Procedures for Processing Requests to Redesignate Areas to
Attainment,'' Memorandum from John Calcagni, Director, Air Quality
Management Division, September 4, 1992 (hereafter referred to as the
``Calcagni Memorandum'');
5. ``State Implementation Plan (SIP) Actions Submitted in
Response to Clean Air Act (CAA) Deadlines,'' Memorandum from John
Calcagni, Director, Air Quality Management Division, October 28,
1992;
6. ``Technical Support Documents (TSDs) for Redesignation of
Ozone and Carbon Monoxide (CO) Nonattainment Areas,'' Memorandum
from G. T. Helms, Chief, Ozone/Carbon Monoxide Programs Branch,
August 17, 1993;
7. ``State Implementation Plan (SIP) Requirements for Areas
Submitting Requests for Redesignation to Attainment of the Ozone and
Carbon Monoxide (CO) National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS)
On or After November 15, 1992,'' Memorandum from Michael H. Shapiro,
Acting Assistant Administrator for Air and Radiation, September 17,
1993;
8. ``Use of Actual Emissions in Maintenance Demonstrations for
Ozone and CO Nonattainment Areas,'' Memorandum from D. Kent Berry,
Acting Director, Air Quality Management Division, November 30, 1993;
9. ``Part D New Source Review (Part D NSR) Requirements for
Areas Requesting Redesignation to Attainment,'' Memorandum from Mary
D. Nichols, Assistant Administrator for Air and Radiation, October
14, 1994; and
10. ``Reasonable Further Progress, Attainment Demonstration, and
Related Requirements for Ozone Nonattainment Areas Meeting the Ozone
National Ambient Air Quality Standard,'' Memorandum from John S.
Seitz, Director, Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards, May
10, 1995.
IV. Why is EPA proposing these actions?
On December 11, 2015, the State of Mississippi, through MDEQ,
requested that EPA redesignate the Mississippi portion of the Memphis,
TN-MS-AR Area to attainment for the 2008 8-hour ozone NAAQS. EPA's
evaluation indicates that the entire Memphis, TN-MS-AR Area has
attained the 2008 8-hour ozone NAAQS, and that the Mississippi portion
of the Memphis, TN-MS-AR Area meets the requirements for redesignation
as set forth in section 107(d)(3)(E), including the maintenance plan
requirements under section 175A of the CAA. As a result, EPA is
proposing to take the three related actions summarized in section I of
this notice.
V. What is EPA's analysis of the request?
As stated previously, in accordance with the CAA, EPA proposes in
this action to: (1) Determine that the Memphis, TN-MS-AR Area is
attaining the 2008 8-hour ozone NAAQS; (2) approve the Mississippi
portion of the Memphis, TN-MS-AR Area's 2008 8-hour ozone NAAQS
maintenance plan, including the associated MVEBs, into the Mississippi
SIP; and (3) redesignate the Mississippi portion of the Memphis, TN-MS-
AR Area to attainment for the 2008 8-hour ozone NAAQS. The five
redesignation criteria provided under CAA section 107(d)(3)(E) are
discussed in greater detail for the Area in the following paragraphs of
this section.
Criteria (1)--The Memphis, TN-MS-AR Area has Attained the 2008 8-Hour
Ozone NAAQS
For redesignating a nonattainment area to attainment, the CAA
requires EPA to determine that the area has attained the applicable
NAAQS (CAA section 107(d)(3)(E)(i)). For ozone, an area may be
considered to be attaining the 2008 8-hour ozone NAAQS if it meets the
2008 8-hour ozone NAAQS, as determined in accordance with 40 CFR 50.15
and Appendix I of part 50, based on three complete, consecutive
calendar years of quality-assured air
[[Page 7272]]
quality monitoring data. To attain the NAAQS, the 3-year average of the
fourth-highest daily maximum 8-hour average ozone concentrations
measured at each monitor within an area over each year must not exceed
0.075 ppm. Based on the data handling and reporting convention
described in 40 CFR part 50, Appendix I, the NAAQS are attained if the
design value is 0.075 ppm or below. The data must be collected and
quality-assured in accordance with 40 CFR part 58 and recorded in the
EPA Air Quality System (AQS). The monitors generally should have
remained at the same location for the duration of the monitoring period
required for demonstrating attainment.
In this action, EPA is proposing to determine that the Memphis, TN-
MS-AR Area is attaining the 2008 8-hour ozone NAAQS. EPA reviewed ozone
monitoring data from monitoring stations in the Memphis, TN-MS-AR Area
for the 2008 8-hour ozone NAAQS for 2012-2014, and the design values
for each monitor in the Area are less than 0.075 ppm. These data have
been quality-assured, are recorded in Aerometric Information Retrieval
System (AIRS-AQS), and indicate that the Area is attaining the 2008 8-
hour ozone NAAQS. The fourth-highest 8-hour ozone values at each
monitor for 2012, 2013, 2014, and the 3-year averages of these values
(i.e., design values), are summarized in Table 1, below.
Table 1--2012-2014 Design Value Concentrations for the Memphis, TN-MS-AR Area
[ppm]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4th Highest 8-hour ozone value (ppm) 3-Year design
------------------------------------------------ values (ppm)
Location Site ---------------
2012 2013 2014 2012-2014
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DeSoto, MS.................... Hernando........ 0.075 0.065 0.067 0.069
Shelby, TN.................... Frayser......... 0.083 0.069 0.067 0.073
Shelby, TN.................... Orgill Park..... 0.084 0.063 0.065 0.070
Shelby, TN.................... Shelby Farms.... 0.086 0.069 0.066 0.073
Crittenden, AR................ Marion.......... 0.079 0.067 0.067 0.071
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The 3-year design value for 2012-2014 for the Memphis, TN-MS-AR
Area is 0.073 ppm,\3\ which meets the NAAQS. EPA has reviewed 2015
preliminary monitoring data for the Area, and that data indicates that
the Area continues to attain.\4\ In this action, EPA is proposing to
determine that Memphis, TN-MS-AR Area is attaining the 2008 8-hour
ozone NAAQS. EPA will not take final action to approve the
redesignation if the 3-year design value exceeds the NAAQS prior to EPA
finalizing the redesignation. As discussed in more detail below, the
State of Mississippi has committed to continue monitoring in this Area
in accordance with 40 CFR part 58.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\3\ The highest 3-year design value at a monitoring station is
considered the design value for the Area.
\4\ This preliminary data is available at EPA's air data Web
site: https://aqsdr1.epa.gov/aqsweb/aqstmp/airdata/download_files.html#Daily.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Criteria (2)--Mississippi Has a Fully Approved SIP Under Section 110(k)
for the Mississippi Portion of the Memphis, TN-MS-AR Area; and Criteria
(5)--Mississippi Has Met All Applicable Requirements Under Section 110
and Part D of Title I of the CAA
For redesignating a nonattainment area to attainment, the CAA
requires EPA to determine that the state has met all applicable
requirements under section 110 and part D of title I of the CAA (CAA
section 107(d)(3)(E)(v)) and that the state has a fully approved SIP
under section 110(k) for the area (CAA section 107(d)(3)(E)(ii)). EPA
proposes to find that Mississippi has met all applicable SIP
requirements for the Mississippi portion of the Area under section 110
of the CAA (general SIP requirements) for purposes of redesignation.
Additionally, EPA proposes to find that the Mississippi SIP satisfies
the criterion that it meets applicable SIP requirements for purposes of
redesignation under part D of title I of the CAA in accordance with
section 107(d)(3)(E)(v). Further, EPA proposes to determine that the
SIP is fully approved with respect to all requirements applicable for
purposes of redesignation in accordance with section 107(d)(3)(E)(ii).
In making these determinations, EPA ascertained which requirements are
applicable to the Area and, if applicable, that they are fully approved
under section 110(k). SIPs must be fully approved only with respect to
requirements that were applicable prior to submittal of the complete
redesignation request.
a. The Mississippi Portion of the Memphis, TN-MS-AR Area Has Met All
Applicable Requirements Under Section 110 and Part D of the CAA
General SIP requirements. General SIP elements and requirements are
delineated in section 110(a)(2) of title I, part A of the CAA. These
requirements include, but are not limited to, the following: Submittal
of a SIP that has been adopted by the state after reasonable public
notice and hearing; provisions for establishment and operation of
appropriate procedures needed to monitor ambient air quality;
implementation of a source permit program; provisions for the
implementation of part C requirements (Prevention of Significant
Deterioration (PSD)) and provisions for the implementation of part D
requirements (NSR permit programs); provisions for air pollution
modeling; and provisions for public and local agency participation in
planning and emission control rule development.
Section 110(a)(2)(D) requires that SIPs contain certain measures to
prevent sources in a state from significantly contributing to air
quality problems in another state. To implement this provision, EPA has
required certain states to establish programs to address the interstate
transport of air pollutants. The section 110(a)(2)(D) requirements for
a state are not linked with a particular nonattainment area's
designation and classification in that state. EPA believes that the
requirements linked with a particular nonattainment area's designation
and classifications are the relevant measures to evaluate in reviewing
a redesignation request. The transport SIP submittal requirements,
where applicable, continue to apply to a state regardless of the
designation of any one particular area in the state. Thus, EPA does not
believe that the CAA's interstate transport requirements should be
construed to be applicable requirements for purposes of redesignation.
In addition, EPA believes that other section 110(a)(2) elements
that are
[[Page 7273]]
neither connected with nonattainment plan submissions nor linked with
an area's attainment status are not applicable requirements for
purposes of redesignation. The area will still be subject to these
requirements after the area is redesignated. The section 110(a)(2) and
part D requirements which are linked with a particular area's
designation and classification are the relevant measures to evaluate in
reviewing a redesignation request. This approach is consistent with
EPA's existing policy on applicability (i.e., for redesignations) of
conformity and oxygenated fuels requirements, as well as with section
184 ozone transport requirements. See Reading, Pennsylvania, proposed
and final rulemakings (61 FR 53174-53176, October 10, 1996), (62 FR
24826, May 7, 2008); Cleveland-Akron-Loraine, Ohio, final rulemaking
(61 FR 20458, May 7, 1996); and Tampa, Florida, final rulemaking at (60
FR 62748, December 7, 1995). See also the discussion on this issue in
the Cincinnati, Ohio, redesignation (65 FR 37890, June 19, 2000), and
in the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, redesignation (66 FR 50399, October
19, 2001).
EPA has reviewed Mississippi's SIP and has concluded that it meets
the general SIP requirements under section 110(a)(2) of the CAA to the
extent they are applicable for purposes of redesignation. EPA has
previously approved provisions of Mississippi's SIP addressing CAA
section 110(a)(2) requirements including provisions addressing the 2008
ozone NAAQS. See 80 FR 11131 (March 2, 2015); 80 FR 14019 (March 18,
2015). These requirements are, however, statewide requirements that are
not linked to the ozone nonattainment status of the Area. Therefore,
EPA believes that these SIP elements are not applicable requirements
for purposes of review of Mississippi's ozone redesignation request.
Title I, Part D, applicable SIP requirements. Section 172(c) of the
CAA sets forth the basic requirements of attainment plans for
nonattainment areas that are required to submit them pursuant to
section 172(b). Subpart 2 of part D, which includes section 182 of the
CAA, establishes specific requirements for ozone nonattainment areas
depending on the area's nonattainment classification. As provided in
Subpart 2, a marginal ozone nonattainment area, such as the Memphis,
TN-MS-AR Area, must submit an emissions inventory that complies with
section 172(c)(3), but the specific requirements of section 182(a)
apply in lieu of the demonstration of attainment (and contingency
measures) required by section 172(c). 42 U.S.C. 7511a(a). A thorough
discussion of the requirements contained in sections 172(c) and 182 can
be found in the General Preamble for Implementation of Title I (57 FR
13498).
Section 182(a) Requirements. Section 182(a)(1) requires states to
submit a comprehensive, accurate, and current inventory of actual
emissions from sources of VOC and NOX emitted within the
boundaries of the ozone nonattainment area. Mississippi provided an
emissions inventory for the Memphis, TN-MS-AR Area to EPA in a January
14, 2015, SIP submission. On July 2, 2015, EPA published a direct final
rule approving this emissions inventory into the SIP. See 80 FR 37985.
Under section 182(a)(2)(A), states with ozone nonattainment areas
that were designated prior to the enactment of the 1990 CAA amendments
were required to submit, within six months of classification, all rules
and corrections to existing VOC RACT rules that were required under
section 172(b)(3) of the CAA (and related guidance) prior to the 1990
CAA amendments. The Mississippi portion of the Memphis, TN-MS-AR Area
is not subject to the section 182(a)(2) RACT ``fix up'' because the
Area was designated as nonattainment after the enactment of the 1990
CAA amendments.
Section 182(a)(2)(B) requires each state with a marginal ozone
nonattainment area that implemented, or was required to implement, an
inspection and maintenance (I/M) program prior to the 1990 CAA
amendments to submit a SIP revision providing for an I/M program no
less stringent than that required prior to the 1990 amendments or
already in the SIP at the time of the amendments, whichever is more
stringent. The Mississippi portion of the Memphis, TN-MS-AR Area is not
subject to the section 182(a)(2)(B) requirement because it was
designated as nonattainment after the enactment of the 1990 CAA
amendments and did not have an I/M program in place prior to those
amendments.
Regarding the permitting and offset requirements of section
182(a)(2)(C) and section 182(a)(4), Mississippi does not have an
approved part D NSR program in place. However, EPA has determined that
areas being redesignated need not comply with the requirement that a
NSR program be approved prior to redesignation, provided that the area
demonstrates maintenance of the NAAQS without part D NSR, because PSD
requirements will apply after redesignation. A more detailed rationale
for this view is described in a memorandum from Mary Nichols, Assistant
Administrator for Air and Radiation, dated October 14, 1994, entitled,
``Part D New Source Review Requirements for Areas Requesting
Redesignation to Attainment.'' Mississippi's PSD program will become
applicable in the Memphis, TN-MS-AR Area upon redesignation to
attainment.
Section 182(a)(3) requires states to submit periodic inventories
and emissions statements. Section 182(a)(3)(A) requires states to
submit a periodic inventory every three years. As discussed later on in
the section of this notice titled Criteria (4)(e), Verification of
Continued Attainment, the State will continue to update its emissions
inventory at least once every three years. Under section 182(a)(3)(B),
each state with an ozone nonattainment area must submit a SIP revision
requiring emissions statements to be submitted to the state by sources
within that nonattainment area. Mississippi provided a SIP revision to
EPA on August 28, 2015, addressing the section 182(a)(3)(B) emissions
statements requirement, and on January 12, 2016, EPA published a final
rule approving this SIP revision. See 81 FR 1320.
Section 176 Conformity Requirements. Section 176(c) of the CAA
requires states to establish criteria and procedures to ensure that
federally supported or funded projects conform to the air quality
planning goals in the applicable SIP. The requirement to determine
conformity applies to transportation plans, programs, and projects that
are developed, funded, or approved under title 23 of the United States
Code (U.S.C.) and the Federal Transit Act (transportation conformity)
as well as to all other federally supported or funded projects (general
conformity). State transportation conformity SIP revisions must be
consistent with Federal conformity regulations relating to
consultation, enforcement, and enforceability that EPA promulgated
pursuant to its authority under the CAA.
EPA interprets the conformity SIP requirements \5\ as not applying
for purposes of evaluating a redesignation request under section 107(d)
because state conformity rules are still required after redesignation
and Federal conformity rules apply where state rules have not been
approved. See Wall v.
[[Page 7274]]
EPA, 265 F.3d 426 (6th Cir. 2001) (upholding this interpretation); see
also 60 FR 62748 (December 7, 1995) (redesignation of Tampa, Florida).
Nonetheless, Mississippi has an approved conformity SIP for the
Mississippi portion of the Memphis, TN-MS-AR Area. See 78 FR 67952
(November 13, 2013). Thus, EPA proposes that the Mississippi portion of
the Memphis, TN-MS-AR Area has satisfied all applicable requirements
for purposes of redesignation under section 110 and part D of title I
of the CAA.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\5\ CAA section 176(c)(4)(E) requires states to submit revisions
to their SIPs to reflect certain Federal criteria and procedures for
determining transportation conformity. Transportation conformity
SIPs are different from the MVEBs that are established in control
strategy SIPs and maintenance plans.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
b. The Mississippi Portion of the Memphis, TN-MS-AR Area Has a Fully
Approved Applicable SIP Under Section 110(k) of the CAA
As discussed previously, EPA has fully approved the State's SIP for
the Mississippi portion of the Memphis, TN-MS-AR Area under section
110(k) of the CAA for all requirements applicable for purposes of
redesignation. See, e.g., 80 FR 11131 (March 2, 2015); 80 FR 14019
(March 18, 2015). EPA may rely on prior SIP approvals in approving a
redesignation request (see Calcagni Memorandum at p. 3; Southwestern
Pennsylvania Growth Alliance v. Browner, 144 F.3d 984, 989-90 (6th Cir.
1998); Wall, 265 F.3d 426) plus any additional measures it may approve
in conjunction with a redesignation action (see 68 FR 25426 (May 12,
2003) and citations therein). EPA believes that the section 110
elements that are neither connected with nonattainment plan submissions
nor linked to an area's nonattainment status are not applicable
requirements for purposes of redesignation, and EPA has approved all
part D requirements applicable for purposes of this redesignation. See
80 FR 37985 (July 2, 2015) and 80 FR 1320 (January 12, 2016).
Criteria (3)--The Air Quality Improvement in the Memphis, TN-MS-AR Area
Is Due to Permanent and Enforceable Reductions in Emissions Resulting
From Implementation of the SIP and Applicable Federal Air Pollution
Control Regulations and Other Permanent and Enforceable Reductions
For redesignating a nonattainment area to attainment, the CAA
requires EPA to determine that the air quality improvement in the area
is due to permanent and enforceable reductions in emissions resulting
from implementation of the SIP, applicable Federal air pollution
control regulations, and other permanent and enforceable reductions
(CAA section 107(d)(3)(E)(iii)). EPA has preliminarily determined that
Mississippi has demonstrated that the observed air quality improvement
in the Memphis, TN-MS-AR Area is due to permanent and enforceable
reductions in emissions resulting from Federal measures. EPA proposes
to agree with the State's conclusion that meteorology has not had a
significant role in the steady decline in ozone concentrations in the
Area.\6\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\6\ The State compared temperature and wind data for each of the
design value attainment years (2012-2014) with the 30-year averages
for the Area. See pp.10-15 of Mississippi's December 11, 2015,
submission for the State's meteorological analysis.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Federal measures enacted in recent years have resulted in permanent
emission reductions. The Federal measures that have been implemented
include the following:
Tier 2 vehicle and fuel standards. Implementation began in 2004 and
requires all passenger vehicles in any manufacturer's fleet to meet an
average standard of 0.07 grams of NOX per mile.
Additionally, in January 2006 the sulfur content of gasoline was
required to be on average 30 ppm which assists in lowering the
NOX emissions. Most gasoline sold in Mississippi prior to
January 2006 had a sulfur content of about 300 ppm.\7\ EPA expects that
these standards will reduce NOX emissions from vehicles by
approximately 74 percent by 2030, translating to nearly 3 million tons
annually by 2030.\8\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\7\ Mississippi also identified Tier 3 Motor Vehicle Emissions
and Fuel Standards as a federal measure. EPA issued this rule in
April 28, 2014, which applies to light duty passenger cars and
trucks. EPA promulgated this rule to reduce air pollution from new
passenger cars and trucks beginning in 2017. Tier 3 emission
standards will lower sulfur content of gasoline and lower the
emissions standards.
\8\ EPA, Regulatory Announcement, EPA420-F-99-051 (December
1999), available at: https://www.epa.gov/tier2/documents/f99051.pdf.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Large non-road diesel engines rule. This rule was promulgated in
2004, and is being phased in between 2008 through 2014. This rule will
also reduce the sulfur content in the nonroad diesel fuel. When fully
implemented, this rule will reduce NOX, VOC, particulate
matter, and carbon monoxide. These emission reductions are federally
enforceable. EPA issued this rule in June 2004, which applies to diesel
engines used in industries, such as construction, agriculture, and
mining. It is estimated that compliance with this rule will cut
NOX emissions from non-road diesel engines by up to 90
percent nationwide.
Heavy-duty gasoline and diesel highway vehicle standards. EPA
issued this rule in January 2001 (66 FR 5002). This rule includes
standards limiting the sulfur content of diesel fuel, which went into
effect in 2004. A second phase took effect in 2007, which further
reduced the highway diesel fuel sulfur content to 15 ppm, leading to
additional reductions in combustion NOX and VOC emissions.
EPA expects that this rule will achieve a 95 percent reduction in
NOX emissions from diesel trucks and buses and will reduce
NOX emissions by 2.6 million tons by 2030 when the heavy-
duty vehicle fleet is completely replaced with newer heavy-duty
vehicles that comply with these emission standards.\9\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\9\ 66 FR 5002, 5012 (January 18, 2001). Mississippi also
identified Federal rules requiring manufacturers to install on-board
diagnostic (OBD) systems for heavy-duty vehicles and for engines
certified for use in heavy-duty vehicles. EPA promulgated these
rules to help ensure that the projected benefits from the relevant
federal vehicle emissions standards are realized.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Nonroad spark-ignition engines and recreational engines standards.
The nonroad spark-ignition and recreational engine standards, effective
in July 2003, regulate NOX, hydrocarbons, and carbon
monoxide from groups of previously unregulated nonroad engines. These
engine standards apply to large spark-ignition engines (e.g., forklifts
and airport ground service equipment), recreational vehicles (e.g.,
off-highway motorcycles and all-terrain-vehicles), and recreational
marine diesel engines sold in the United States and imported after the
effective date of these standards. When all of the nonroad spark-
ignition and recreational engine standards are fully implemented, an
overall 72 percent reduction in hydrocarbons, 80 percent reduction in
NOX, and 56 percent reduction in carbon monoxide emissions
are expected by 2020. These controls reduce ambient concentrations of
ozone, carbon monoxide, and fine particulate matter.
National Program for greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and Fuel
Economy Standards. The federal GHG and fuel economy standards apply to
light-duty cars and trucks in model years 2012-2016 (phase 1) and 2017-
2025 (phase 2). The final standards are projected to result in an
average industry fleet-wide level of 163 grams/mile of carbon dioxide
which is equivalent to 54.5 miles per gallon if achieved exclusively
through fuel economy improvements. The fuel economy standards result in
less fuel being consumed, and therefore less NOX emissions
released.
EPA proposes to find that the improvements in air quality in the
Memphis, TN-MS-AR Area are due to real, permanent and enforceable
reductions in NOX and VOC emissions resulting from Federal
measures.
[[Page 7275]]
Criteria (4)--The Mississippi Portion of the Memphis, TN-MS-AR Area Has
a Fully Approved Maintenance Plan Pursuant to Section 175A of the CAA
For redesignating a nonattainment area to attainment, the CAA
requires EPA to determine that the area has a fully approved
maintenance plan pursuant to section 175A of the CAA (CAA section
107(d)(3)(E)(iv)). In conjunction with its request to redesignate the
Mississippi portion of the Memphis, TN-MS-AR Area to attainment for the
2008 8-hour ozone NAAQS, MDEQ submitted a SIP revision to provide for
the maintenance of the 2008 8-hour ozone NAAQS for at least 10 years
after the effective date of redesignation to attainment. EPA believes
that this maintenance plan meets the requirements for approval under
section 175A of the CAA.
a. What is required in a maintenance plan?
Section 175A of the CAA sets forth the elements of a maintenance
plan for areas seeking redesignation from nonattainment to attainment.
Under section 175A, the plan must demonstrate continued attainment of
the applicable NAAQS for at least 10 years after the Administrator
approves a redesignation to attainment. Eight years after the
redesignation, the state must submit a revised maintenance plan
demonstrating that attainment will continue to be maintained for the 10
years following the initial 10-year period. To address the possibility
of future NAAQS violations, the maintenance plan must contain
contingency measures as EPA deems necessary to assure prompt correction
of any future 2008 8-hour ozone violations. The Calcagni Memorandum
provides further guidance on the content of a maintenance plan,
explaining that a maintenance plan should address five requirements:
The attainment emissions inventory, maintenance demonstration,
monitoring, verification of continued attainment, and a contingency
plan. As is discussed more fully below, EPA has preliminarily
determined that Mississippi's maintenance plan includes all the
necessary components and is thus proposing to approve it as a revision
to the Mississippi SIP.
b. Attainment Emissions Inventory
EPA is proposing to determine that the Memphis, TN-MS-AR Area has
attained the 2008 8-hour ozone NAAQS based on quality-assured
monitoring data for the 3-year period from 2012-2014, and is continuing
to attain the standard based on preliminary 2015 data. Mississippi
selected 2012 as the base year (i.e., attainment emissions inventory
year) for developing a comprehensive emissions inventory for
NOX and VOC, for which projected emissions could be
developed for 2017, 2020, and 2027. The attainment inventory identifies
a level of emissions in the Area that is sufficient to attain the 2008
8-hour ozone NAAQS. Mississippi began development of the attainment
inventory by first generating a baseline emissions inventory for the
State's portion of the Memphis, TN-MS-AR Area. The projected summer day
emission inventories have been estimated using projected rates of
growth in population, traffic, economic activity, and other parameters.
In addition to comparing the final year of the plan (2027) to the base
year (2012), Mississippi compared interim years to the baseline to
demonstrate that these years are also expected to show continued
maintenance of the 2008 8-hour ozone standard.
The emissions inventory is composed of four major types of sources:
Point, area, on-road mobile, and non-road mobile. Complete descriptions
of how the inventories were developed are located in Appendix A through
Appendix D of the December 11, 2015 submittal, which can be found in
the docket for this action. Point source emissions are tabulated from
data collected by direct on-site measurements of emissions or from mass
balance calculations utilizing approved emission factors. For each
projected year's inventory, point sources are adjusted by growth
factors based on Standard Industrial Classification codes generated
using growth patterns obtained from County Business Patterns. For Title
V sources, the actual 2012 emissions were used. Rail yard and airport
emissions reported were obtained from the EPA's 2011 National Emission
Inventory.
For area sources, emissions are estimated by multiplying an
emission factor by some known indicator of collective activity such as
production, number of employees, or population. For each projected
year's inventory, area source emissions are changed by population
growth, projected production growth, or estimated employment growth.
The non-road mobile sources emissions are calculated using
NONROAD2008 within EPA's Motor Vehicle Emission Simulator (MOVES2014)
model, with the exception of the railroad locomotives which were
estimated by taking activity and multiplying by an emission factor. For
each projected year's inventory, the emissions are estimated using
EPA's MOVES2014 model with activity input such as projected landing and
takeoff data for aircraft.
For on-road mobile sources, EPA's MOVES2014 mobile model is run to
generate emissions. The MOVES2014 model includes the road class vehicle
miles traveled (VMT) as an input file and can directly output the
estimated emissions. For each projected year's inventory, the on-road
mobile sources emissions are calculated by running the MOVES mobile
model for the future year with the projected VMT to generate emissions
that take into consideration expected Federal tailpipe standards, fleet
turnover, and new fuels.
The 2012 NOX and VOC emissions for the Mississippi
portion of the Memphis, TN-MS-AR Area, as well as the emissions for
other years, were developed consistent with EPA guidance and are
summarized in Tables 2 through 3 of the following subsection discussing
the maintenance demonstration. See Appendix B through Appendix D of the
December 11, 2015, submission for more detailed information on the
emissions inventory.
c. Maintenance Demonstration
The maintenance plan associated with the redesignation request
includes a maintenance demonstration that:
(i) Shows compliance with and maintenance of the 2008 8-hour ozone
NAAQS by providing information to support the demonstration that
current and future emissions of NOX and VOC remain at or
below 2012 emissions levels.
(ii) Uses 2012 as the attainment year and includes future emissions
inventory projections for 2017, 2020, and 2027.
(iii) Identifies an ``out year'' at least 10 years after the time
necessary for EPA to review and approve the maintenance plan. Per 40
CFR part 93, NOX and VOC MVEBs were established for the last
year (2027) of the maintenance plan (see section VII below).
(iv) Provides actual (2012) and projected emissions inventories, in
tons per summer day (tpsd), for the Mississippi portion of the Memphis,
TN-MS-AR Area, as shown in Tables 2 and 3, below.
[[Page 7276]]
Table 2--Actual and Projected Average Summer Day NOX Emissions (tpsd) for the Mississippi Portion of the
Memphis, TN-MS-AR Area
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sector 2012 2017 2020 2027
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Point........................................... 1.78 1.81 1.83 1.89
Area............................................ 1.24 1.25 1.25 1.24
Non-road........................................ 2.89 2.29 2.06 1.78
On-road......................................... 8.66 5.34 3.53 2.74
---------------------------------------------------------------
Total....................................... 14.57 10.68 8.68 7.65
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Table 3--Actual and Projected Average Summer Day VOC Emissions (tpsd) for the Mississippi Portion of the
Memphis, TN-MS-AR Area
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sector 2012 2017 2020 2027
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Point........................................... 0.84 0.77 0.77 0.79
Area............................................ 6.49 6.57 6.59 6.54
Non-road........................................ 1.86 1.41 1.33 1.28
On-road......................................... 5.75 3.92 2.51 2.54
---------------------------------------------------------------
Total....................................... 14.94 12.67 11.19 11.15
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tables 2 and 3 summarize the 2012 and future projected emissions of
NOX and VOC from the Mississippi portion of the Memphis, TN-
MS-AR Area. In situations where local emissions are the primary
contributor to nonattainment, such as the Memphis, TN-MS-AR Area, if
the future projected emissions in the nonattainment area remain at or
below the baseline emissions in the nonattainment area, then the
ambient air quality standard should not be exceeded in the future.
Mississippi has projected emissions as described previously and
determined that emissions in the Mississippi portion of the Memphis,
TN-MS-AR Area will remain below those in the attainment year inventory
for the duration of the maintenance plan.
As discussed in section VI of this proposed rulemaking, a safety
margin is the difference between the attainment level of emissions
(from all sources) and the projected level of emissions (from all
sources) in the maintenance plan. The attainment level of emissions is
the level of emissions during one of the years in which the area met
the NAAQS. Mississippi selected 2012 as the attainment emissions
inventory year for the Mississippi portion of the Memphis, TN-MS-AR
Area. Mississippi calculated safety margins in its submittal for years
2017, 2020, and 2027. The State has allocated a portion of the 2027
safety margin to the 2027 MVEBs for the Memphis, TN-MS-AR Area.
Table 4--Safety Margins for the Mississippi Portion of the Memphis, TN-
MS-AR Area
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Year VOC (tpd) NOX (tpd)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
2017.................................... 2.27 3.89
2020.................................... 3.75 5.90
2027.................................... 3.79 6.92
------------------------------------------------------------------------
The State has decided to allocate a portion of the available safety
margin to the 2027 MVEBs to allow for unanticipated growth in VMT,
changes and uncertainty in vehicle mix assumptions, etc., that will
influence the emission estimations. MDEQ has allocated 5.26 tpd of the
NOX safety margin to the 2027 NOX MVEB and 2.46
tpd of the VOC safety margin to the 2027 VOC MVEB. After allocation of
the available safety margin, the remaining safety margin is 1.66 tpd
for NOX and 1.33 tpd for VOC. This allocation and the
resulting available safety margin for the Mississippi portion of the
Memphis, TN-MS-AR Area are discussed further in section VI of this
proposed rulemaking along with the MVEBs to be used for transportation
conformity proposes.
d. Monitoring Network
There are five monitors measuring ozone in the Memphis, TN-MS-AR
Area, of which one is located in the Mississippi portion of the
Memphis, TN-MS-AR Area. In its maintenance plan, Mississippi has
committed to continue operation of the monitor in the Mississippi
portion of the Memphis, TN-MS-AR Area in compliance with 40 CFR part 58
and has thus addressed the requirement for monitoring. EPA approved
Mississippi's monitoring plan on November 7, 2014.
e. Verification of Continued Attainment
The State of Mississippi, through MDEQ, has the legal authority to
enforce and implement the maintenance plan for the Mississippi portion
of the Area. This includes the authority to adopt, implement, and
enforce any subsequent emissions control contingency measures
determined to be necessary to correct future ozone attainment problems.
The State has committed to track the progress of the maintenance plan
by updating its emissions inventory at least once every three years and
reviewing the updated emissions inventories for the area using the
latest emissions factors, models, and methodologies.
Additionally, under the Consolidated Emissions Reporting Rule
(CERR) and Air Emissions Reporting Requirements (AERR), MDEQ is
required to develop a comprehensive, annual, statewide emissions
inventory every three years that is due twelve to eighteen months after
the completion of the inventory year. The AERR inventory years match
the base year and final year of the inventory for the maintenance plan,
and are within one or two years of the interim inventory years of the
maintenance plan. Therefore, MDEQ commits to compare the CERR and AERR
inventories as they are developed with the maintenance plan to
determine if additional steps are necessary for continued maintenance
of the 2008 8-hour ozone NAAQS in this Area.
[[Page 7277]]
f. Contingency Measures in the Maintenance Plan
Section 175A of the CAA requires that a maintenance plan include
such contingency measures as EPA deems necessary to assure that the
state will promptly correct a violation of the NAAQS that occurs after
redesignation. The maintenance plan should identify the contingency
measures to be adopted, a schedule and procedure for adoption and
implementation, and a time limit for action by the state. A state
should also identify specific indicators to be used to determine when
the contingency measures need to be implemented. The maintenance plan
must include a requirement that a state will implement all measures
with respect to control of the pollutant that were contained in the SIP
before redesignation of the area to attainment in accordance with
section 175A(d).
The contingency plan included in the submittal includes a
triggering mechanism to determine when contingency measures are needed
and a process of developing and implementing appropriate control
measures. The primary trigger is a violation of the 2008 8-hour ozone
NAAQS (i.e., when the three-year average of the 4th highest values is
equal to or greater than 0.076 ppm at a monitor in the Area). If the
quality assured/quality controlled (QA/QC) data indicates a violating
design value, the trigger date will be the date of the design value
violation and not the final QA/QC date. If the initial monitoring data
indicates a possible violation but later QA/QC indicates that a
violation did not occur, then a triggering event will not have occurred
and contingency measures will not be implemented. The secondary trigger
is activated when MDEQ forecasts ozone levels above the 2008 8-hour
ozone NAAQS although no actual violation of the 2008 8-hour ozone NAAQS
has occurred.
Once the primary or secondary trigger is activated, the MDEQ, shall
commence analyses including an emissions inventory assessment to
determine those emission control measures that will be required for
attaining or maintaining the 2008 8-hour ozone NAAQS. At least one of
the following contingency measures will be adopted and implemented
within 18 to 24 months upon a primary triggering event:
Implementation of diesel retrofit programs, including
incentives for performing retrofits for fleet vehicle operations;
Voluntary engine idling reduction programs;
MDEQ will work with Mississippi Department of
Transportation to have air quality alerts posted on the Intelligent
Transportation System boards located in DeSoto County encouraging
motorists to take actions to reduce emissions when forecasted ozone
levels will exceed; and
Other measures deemed appropriate at the time as a result
of advances in control technologies.\10\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\10\ If the State adopts a voluntary emission reduction measure
as a contingency measure necessary to attain or maintain the NAAQS,
EPA will evaluate approvability in accordance with relevant Agency
guidance regarding the incorporation of voluntary measures into
SIPs. See, e.g., Memorandum from Richard D. Wilson, Acting
Administrator for Air and Radiation, to EPA Regional Administrators
re: Guidance on Incorporating Voluntary Mobile Source Emission
Reduction Programs in State Implementation Plans (SIPs) (October 24,
1997); EPA, Office of Air and Radiation, Incorporating Emerging and
Voluntary Measures in a State Implementation Plan (SIP) (September
2004).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
If the secondary trigger is activated, MDEQ will suspend all open
burning permits within the County until the forecast shows improvement.
EPA preliminarily concludes that the maintenance plan adequately
addresses the five basic components of a maintenance plan: the
attainment emissions inventory, maintenance demonstration, monitoring,
verification of continued attainment, and a contingency plan.
Therefore, EPA proposes that the maintenance plan SIP revision
submitted by Mississippi for the State's portion of the Area meets the
requirements of section 175A of the CAA and is approvable.
VI. What is EPA's analysis of Mississippi's proposed NOX and
VOC MVEBs for the Mississippi portion of the area?
Under section 176(c) of the CAA, new transportation plans,
programs, and projects, such as the construction of new highways, must
``conform'' to (i.e., be consistent with) the part of the state's air
quality plan that addresses pollution from cars and trucks. Conformity
to the SIP means that transportation activities will not cause new air
quality violations, worsen existing violations, or delay timely
attainment of the NAAQS or any interim milestones. If a transportation
plan does not conform, most new projects that would expand the capacity
of roadways cannot go forward. Regulations at 40 CFR part 93 set forth
EPA policy, criteria, and procedures for demonstrating and assuring
conformity of such transportation activities to a SIP. The regional
emissions analysis is one, but not the only, requirement for
implementing transportation conformity. Transportation conformity is a
requirement for nonattainment and maintenance areas. Maintenance areas
are areas that were previously nonattainment for a particular NAAQS but
have since been redesignated to attainment with an approved maintenance
plan for that NAAQS.
Under the CAA, states are required to submit, at various times,
control strategy SIPs and maintenance plans for nonattainment areas.
These control strategy SIPs (including RFP and attainment demonstration
requirements) and maintenance plans create MVEBs (or in this case sub-
area MVEBs) for criteria pollutants and/or their precursors to address
pollution from cars and trucks. Per 40 CFR part 93, a MVEB must be
established for the last year of the maintenance plan. A state may
adopt MVEBs for other years as well. 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.
As part of the interagency consultation process on setting MVEBs,
MDEQ held discussions to determine what years to set MVEBs for the
Memphis, TN-MS-AR maintenance plan. According to the transportation
conformity rule, a maintenance plan must establish MVEBs for the last
year of the maintenance plan (in this case, 2027). See 40 CFR 93.118.
Table 5, below, provides the NOX and VOC MVEBs for 2027.
[[Page 7278]]
Table 5--MVEBs for the Mississippi Portion of the Memphis, TN-MS-AR Area
[tpd]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
2027
-------------------------------
NOX VOC
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Base Year On-Road Emissions............. 2.74 2.54
Safety Margin Allocated to MVEB......... 5.26 2.46
Conformity MVEB......................... 8.00 5.00
------------------------------------------------------------------------
As mentioned previously, Mississippi has chosen to allocate a
portion of the available safety margin to the NOX and VOC
MVEBs for 2027. As discussed in section V of this proposed rulemaking
notice, a safety margin is the difference between the attainment level
of emissions (from all sources) and the projected level of emissions
(from all sources) in the maintenance plan. The attainment level of
emissions is the level of emissions during one of the years in which
the area met the NAAQS. As discussed previously, Mississippi has
selected 2012 as the base year.
Through this rulemaking, EPA is proposing to approve the MVEBs for
NOX and VOC for 2027 for the Mississippi portion of the
Memphis, TN-MS-AR Area because EPA believes that the Area maintains the
2008 8-hour ozone NAAQS with the emissions at the levels of the
budgets. Once the MVEBs for the Mississippi portion of the Memphis, TN-
MS-AR Area are approved or found adequate (whichever is completed
first), they must be used for future conformity determinations. After
thorough review, EPA has preliminary determined that the budgets meet
the adequacy criteria, as outlined in 40 CFR 93.118(e)(4), and is
proposing to approve the budgets because they are consistent with
maintenance of the 2008 8-hour ozone NAAQS through 2027.
VII. What is the status of EPA's adequacy determination for the
proposed NOX and VOC MVEBs for the Mississippi portion of
the area?
When reviewing submitted ``control strategy'' SIPs or maintenance
plans containing MVEBs, EPA may affirmatively find the MVEB contained
therein adequate for use in determining transportation conformity. Once
EPA affirmatively finds the submitted MVEB is adequate for
transportation conformity purposes, that MVEB must be used by state and
Federal agencies in determining whether proposed transportation
projects conform to the SIP as required by section 176(c) of the CAA.
EPA's substantive criteria for determining adequacy of a MVEB are
set out in 40 CFR 93.118(e)(4). The process for determining adequacy
consists of three basic steps: public notification of a SIP submission,
a public comment period, and EPA's adequacy determination. This process
for determining the adequacy of submitted MVEBs for transportation
conformity purposes was initially outlined in EPA's May 14, 1999,
guidance, ``Conformity Guidance on Implementation of March 2, 1999,
Conformity Court Decision.'' EPA adopted regulations to codify the
adequacy process in the Transportation Conformity Rule Amendments for
the ``New 8-Hour Ozone and PM2.5 National Ambient Air
Quality Standards and Miscellaneous Revisions for Existing Areas;
Transportation Conformity Rule Amendments--Response to Court Decision
and Additional Rule Change,'' on July 1, 2004 (69 FR 40004). Additional
information on the adequacy process for transportation conformity
purposes is available in the proposed rule entitled, ``Transportation
Conformity Rule Amendments: Response to Court Decision and Additional
Rule Changes,'' 68 FR 38974, 38984 (June 30, 2003).
As discussed earlier, Mississippi's maintenance plan includes
NOX and VOC MVEBs for the Mississippi portion of the
Memphis, TN-MS-AR Area for 2027, the last year of the maintenance plan.
EPA is reviewing the NOX and VOC MVEBs through the adequacy
process. The NOX and VOC MVEBs for the Mississippi portion
of the Memphis, TN-MS-AR Area, opened for public comment on EPA's
adequacy Web site on November 2, 2015, found at: https://www.epa.gov/otaq/stateresources/transconf/currsips.htm. The EPA public comment
period on adequacy for the 2027 MVEBs for the Mississippi portion of
the Memphis, TN-MS-AR Area closed on December 2, 2015. No comments,
adverse or otherwise, were received during EPA's adequacy process for
the MVEBs associated with Mississippi's maintenance plan.
EPA intends to make its determination on the adequacy of the 2027
MVEBs for the Mississippi portion of the Memphis, TN-MS-AR Area for
transportation conformity purposes in the near future by completing the
adequacy process that was started on November 2, 2015. After EPA finds
the 2027 MVEBs adequate or approves them, the new MVEBs for
NOX and VOC must be used for future transportation
conformity determinations. For required regional emissions analysis
years for 2027 and beyond, the applicable budgets will be the new 2027
MVEBs established in the maintenance plan, as defined in section V of
this proposed rulemaking.
VIII. What is the effect of EPA's proposed actions?
EPA's proposed actions establish the basis upon which EPA may take
final action on the issues being proposed for approval. Approval of
Mississippi's redesignation request would change the legal designation
of the portion of DeSoto County that is within the Memphis, TN-MS-AR
Area, as found at 40 CFR part 81, from nonattainment to attainment for
the 2008 8-hour ozone NAAQS. Approval of Mississippi's associated SIP
revision would also incorporate a plan for maintaining the 2008 8-hour
ozone NAAQS in the Memphis, TN-MS-AR Area through 2027 into the SIP.
This maintenance plan includes contingency measures to remedy any
future violations of the 2008 8-hour ozone NAAQS and procedures for
evaluation of potential violations. The maintenance plan also
establishes NOX and VOC MVEBs for 2027 for the Mississippi
portion of the Memphis, TN-MS-AR Area. The MVEBs are listed in Table 5
of this document. Additionally, EPA is notifying the public of the
status of EPA's adequacy determination for the newly-established
NOX and VOC MVEBs for 2027 for the Mississippi portion of
the Memphis, TN-MS-AR Area.
IX. Proposed Actions
EPA is taking three separate but related actions regarding the
redesignation and maintenance of the 2008 8-hour ozone NAAQS for the
Mississippi portion of the Memphis, TN-MS-AR Area. First, EPA is
proposing to determine that the entire Memphis, TN-MS-AR Area is
attaining the 2008 8-hour ozone NAAQS. Second,
[[Page 7279]]
EPA is proposing to approve the maintenance plan for the Mississippi
portion of the Area, including the NOX and VOC MVEBs for
2027, into the Mississippi SIP. The maintenance plan demonstrates that
the Area will continue to maintain the 2008 8-hour ozone NAAQS and that
the budgets meet all of the adequacy criteria contained in 40 CFR
93.118(e)(4) and (5). Third, EPA is proposing to determine that the
Mississippi portion of the Memphis, TN-MS-AR Area has met the criteria
under CAA section 107(d)(3)(E) for redesignation from nonattainment to
attainment for the 2008 8-hour ozone NAAQS. Further, as part of this
action, EPA is describing the status of its adequacy determination for
the NOX and VOC MVEBs for 2027 in accordance with 40 CFR
93.118(f)(2). Within 24 months from the effective date of EPA's
adequacy determination for the MVEBs or the publication date for the
final rule for this action, whichever is earlier, the transportation
partners will need to demonstrate conformity to the new NOX
and VOC MVEBs pursuant to 40 CFR 93.104(e).
If finalized, approval of the redesignation request would change
the official designation of the portion of DeSoto County that is within
the Memphis, TN-MS-AR Area, as found at 40 CFR part 81, from
nonattainment to attainment for the 2008 8-hour ozone NAAQS.
X. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews
Under the CAA, redesignation of an area to attainment and the
accompanying approval of a maintenance plan under section 107(d)(3)(E)
are actions that affect the status of a geographical area and do not
impose any additional regulatory requirements on sources beyond those
imposed by state law. A redesignation to attainment does not in and of
itself create any new requirements, but rather results in the
applicability of requirements contained in the CAA for areas that have
been redesignated to attainment. Moreover, the Administrator is
required to approve a SIP submission that complies with the provisions
of the Act and applicable Federal regulations. See 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, these proposed actions merely propose to approve state law
as meeting Federal requirements and do not impose additional
requirements beyond those imposed by state law. For this reason, these
proposed actions:
Are not a significant regulatory action subject to review
by the Office of Management and Budget under Executive Orders 12866 (58
FR 51735, October 4, 1993) and 13563 (76 FR 3821, January 21, 2011);
do not impose an information collection burden under the
provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.);
are 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.);
do 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);
do not have Federalism implications as specified in
Executive Order 13132 (64 FR 43255, August 10, 1999);
are not economically significant regulatory actions based
on health or safety risks subject to Executive Order 13045 (62 FR
19885, April 23, 1997);
are not significant regulatory actions subject to
Executive Order 13211 (66 FR 28355, May 22, 2001);
are 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
will not have disproportionate human health or
environmental effects under Executive Order 12898 (59 FR 7629, February
16, 1994).
The SIP is not approved to apply on any Indian reservation land or
in any other area where EPA or an Indian tribe has demonstrated that a
tribe has jurisdiction. In those areas of Indian country, the rule does
not have tribal implications as specified by Executive Order 13175 (65
FR 67249, November 9, 2000), nor will it impose substantial direct
costs on tribal governments or preempt tribal law.
List of Subjects
40 CFR Part 52
Environmental protection, Air pollution control, Incorporation by
reference, Intergovernmental relations, Nitrogen dioxide, Ozone,
Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, Volatile organic compounds.
40 CFR Part 81
Environmental protection, Air pollution control.
Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.
Dated: January 28, 2016.
Heather McTeer Toney,
Regional Administrator, Region 4.
[FR Doc. 2016-02725 Filed 2-10-16; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P
