Air Plan Approval; North Carolina; Revision to Approved Motor Vehicle Emissions Budgets, 25849-25856 [2024-07701]
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Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 72 / Friday, April 12, 2024 / Proposed Rules
Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.
J. Executive Order 12898: Federal
Actions To Address Environmental
Justice in Minority Populations and
Low-Income Populations
Lisa Garcia,
Regional Administrator, Region 2.
[FR Doc. 2024–07775 Filed 4–11–24; 8:45 am]
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Executive Order 12898 (Federal
Actions to Address Environmental
Justice in Minority Populations and
Low-Income Populations, 59 FR 7629,
Feb. 16, 1994) directs Federal agencies
to identify and address
‘‘disproportionately high and adverse
human health or environmental effects’’
of their actions on minority populations
and low-income populations to the
greatest extent practicable and
permitted by law. EPA defines
environmental justice (EJ) as ‘‘the fair
treatment and meaningful involvement
of all people regardless of race, color,
national origin, or income with respect
to the development, implementation,
and enforcement of environmental laws,
regulations, and policies.’’ EPA further
defines the term fair treatment to mean
that ‘‘no group of people should bear a
disproportionate burden of
environmental harms and risks,
including those resulting from the
negative environmental consequences of
industrial, governmental, and
commercial operations or programs and
policies.’’
The New Jersey Department of
Environmental Protection (NJDEP) did
consider environmental justice as part
of its SIP submittal even though the
CAA and applicable implementing
regulations neither prohibit nor require
such an evaluation. The EPA’s
evaluation of the NJDEP’s EJ
considerations is described above in the
section titled, ‘‘Environmental Justice
Considerations.’’ The analysis was done
for the purpose of providing additional
context and information about this
rulemaking to the public, and not as a
basis of the action. The EPA is taking
action under the CAA on bases
independent of New Jersey’s evaluation
of environmental justice. In addition,
there is no information in the record
upon which this decision is based that
is inconsistent with the stated goal of
E.O. 12898 of achieving environmental
justice for people of color, low-income
populations, and Indigenous peoples.
List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 52
Environmental protection, Air
pollution control, Incorporation by
reference, Intergovernmental relations,
Ozone, Reporting and recordkeeping
requirements, Volatile organic
compounds.
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BILLING CODE 6560–50–P
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
AGENCY
40 CFR Part 52
[EPA–R04–OAR–2023–0057; FRL–11847–
01–R4]
Air Plan Approval; North Carolina;
Revision to Approved Motor Vehicle
Emissions Budgets
Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Proposed rule.
AGENCY:
The Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) is proposing to approve a
revision to the North Carolina State
Implementation Plan (SIP), submitted
by the North Carolina Department of
Environmental Quality (NCDEQ),
Division of Air Quality, on December
19, 2022. The revision seeks to update
the 2026 on-road and nonroad
emissions inventories and safety
margins, allocate a portion of the newly
available 2026 safety margins in the
2008 8-hour Ozone Maintenance Plan to
the 2026 nitrogen oxides (NOX) and
volatile organic compounds (VOC)
motor vehicle emissions budgets
(‘‘budgets’’) for the North Carolina
portion of the Charlotte-Rock Hill, NCSC bi-state Area (hereinafter referred to
as the ‘‘North Carolina portion of the
Charlotte Maintenance Area’’) to
accommodate updates from the EPA
Motor Vehicle Emissions Simulator
(MOVES3) model. The SIP revision also
revises the current 2026 budgets based
on the MOVES3 updates and
recalculates new available safety
margins. NCDEQ’s December 19, 2022,
submission supplements the revised
2008 8-hour Ozone Maintenance Plan
submitted by NCDEQ on July 16, 2020,
and approved by EPA on August 25,
2021. EPA is proposing to approve
North Carolina’s December 19, 2022, SIP
revision and deem the budgets adequate
for transportation conformity purposes
because they meet the applicable
statutory and regulatory requirements.
DATES: Comments must be received on
or before May 13, 2024.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments,
identified by Docket ID No. EPA–R04–
OAR–2023–0057 at
www.regulations.gov. Follow the online
instructions for submitting comments.
Once submitted, comments cannot be
SUMMARY:
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25849
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
www.epa.gov/dockets/commenting-epadockets.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Dianna Myers, Air Regulatory
Management Section, Air Planning and
Implementation Branch, Air and
Radiation Division, U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency, Region 4, 61 Forsyth
Street SW, Atlanta, Georgia 30303–8960.
The telephone number is (404) 562–
9207. Ms. Myers can also be reached via
electronic mail at myers.dianna@
epa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Introduction
EPA is proposing to approve NCDEQ’s
December 19, 2022, SIP revision which
updates the 2026 on-road and nonroad
emissions inventories with the latest (at
the time of NCDEQ’s submission)
approved EPA mobile emissions model,
MOVES3, allocates a portion of the
newly available safety margin, revises
the 2026 NOX and VOC budgets, and
recalculates the available safety margins
for the North Carolina portion of
Charlotte 2008 8-hour Ozone
Maintenance Area 1 for transportation
conformity purposes.
If EPA finalizes this proposed
approval, the revised 2026 NOX and
VOC budgets from NCDEQ’s December
19, 2022, SIP revision will replace the
existing budgets in the State’s 2008 8hour Ozone Maintenance Plan approved
on August 25, 2021. See 86 FR 47387.
If approved, these newly revised 2026
budgets must be used in future
1 The North Carolina portion of the Charlotte
Maintenance Area for the 2008 8-hour ozone
national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS or
standards) is comprised of the following counties:
Mecklenburg County in its entirety and portions of
Cabarrus, Gaston, Iredell, Lincoln, Rowan, and
Union Counties. See section II.B. for more detail.
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transportation conformity analyses for
the Area according to the Transportation
Conformity Rule. See 40 CFR 93.118.
Therefore, the August 25, 2021,
approved budgets would no longer be
applicable for transportation conformity
purposes.
In the State’s submission, the
emissions inventories for point and area
sources from NCDEQ’s July 16, 2020,
SIP revision remain the same. This
submission revises the 2026 on-road
and nonroad emissions inventories and
the NOX and VOC safety margins using
MOVES3. The revision also allocates a
portion of the revised available safety
margins to the 2026 NOX and VOC
budgets and recalculates new available
safety margins. As explained below,
EPA is proposing to conclude that North
Carolina’s December 19, 2022, SIP
revision continues to demonstrate
maintenance for the Charlotte
Maintenance Area.
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II. Background
A. SIP Budgets and Transportation
Conformity
Under the Clean Air Act (CAA or
Act), states are required to submit, at
various times, control strategy SIP
revisions and maintenance plans for
nonattainment and maintenance areas
for a given NAAQS. These emission
control strategy SIP revisions (e.g.,
reasonable further progress and
attainment demonstration SIP revisions)
and maintenance plans include budgets
of on-road mobile source emissions for
criteria pollutants and/or their
precursors to address pollution from
cars, trucks, and other on-road vehicles.
The budgets are the portion of the total
allowable emissions that are allocated to
on-road-vehicle use that, together with
emissions from other sources in the
area, will provide for attainment or
maintenance. The budgets serve as a
ceiling on emissions from an area’s
planned transportation system.
Under section 176(c) of the CAA,
transportation plans, transportation
improvement programs (TIPs), and
transportation projects must ‘‘conform’’
to (i.e., be consistent with) the SIP
before they can be adopted or approved.
Conformity to the SIP means that
transportation activities will not cause
new air quality violations, worsen
existing air quality violations, or delay
timely attainment of the NAAQS or an
interim milestone. The transportation
conformity regulations can be found at
40 CFR parts 51 and 93.
Before budgets may be used in
conformity determinations, EPA must
affirmatively find the budgets adequate.
However, adequate budgets do not
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supersede approved budgets for the
same CAA purpose. If the submitted SIP
budgets are meant to replace budgets for
the same CAA purpose and year(s)
addressed by a previously approved SIP
revision, as is the case with this SIP
revision, EPA may approve the revised
SIP and budgets and also affirm that the
budgets are adequate at the same time.
Once EPA approves the submitted
budgets, the revised budgets must be
used by State and Federal agencies in
determining whether transportation
activities conform to the SIP as required
by section 176(c) of the CAA. EPA’s
substantive criteria for determining the
adequacy of budgets are set out in 40
CFR 93.118(e)(4).
B. Prior Approval of Budgets
Effective July 20, 2012, EPA
designated the Charlotte-Rock Hill, NCSC Area as Marginal nonattainment for
the 2008 8-hour ozone NAAQS. The
North Carolina portion of the Charlotte
2008 Maintenance Area includes
Mecklenburg County in its entirety and
portions of Cabarrus, Gaston, Iredell,
Lincoln, Rowan, and Union Counties.
The Charlotte Maintenance Area also
includes a portion of York County
located in Rock Hill, South Carolina.
See 77 FR 30088 (May 21, 2012). The
North Carolina portion of the Charlotte
Maintenance Area is comprised of three
metropolitan planning organizations
(MPOs): the Charlotte Regional
Transportation Planning Organization
(CRTPO) which covers Iredell,
Mecklenburg, and Union Counties; the
Cabarrus-Rowan Metropolitan Planning
Organization (CRMPO) which covers
Cabarrus and Rowan Counties; and the
Gaston-Cleveland-Lincoln Metropolitan
Planning Organization (GCLMPO)
which covers Gaston, Cleveland, and
Lincoln Counties. Although Cleveland
County is included in the GCLMPO
planning boundary, it was not included
in the North Carolina portion of the
Charlotte Maintenance Area. Each MPO
has its own budget, which is referred to
as a ‘‘sub-area budget.’’ The York
County, South Carolina, portion of this
maintenance area has a separate MPO
and budgets. The South Carolina
portion of the maintenance area
implements transportation conformity
independent of the North Carolina
portion.
EPA approved the redesignation
request and maintenance plan for North
Carolina’s portion of the Charlotte 2008
8-hour ozone Area on July 28, 2015 (80
FR 44873) with 2014 and 2026 NOX and
VOC sub-area budgets. On August 17,
2015 (80 FR 49164), EPA approved
North Carolina’s requested relaxation of
the Federal Reid Vapor Pressure (RVP)
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requirement from 7.8 pounds per square
inch (psi) to 9.0 psi. See 80 FR 44868
(approving the CAA section 110(l) noninterference demonstration that relaxing
the Federal RVP requirement from 7.8
psi to 9.0 psi in Mecklenburg and
Gaston Counties would not interfere
with maintenance of the NAAQS in the
Area and approving a revision to the
2026 NOX and VOC sub-area budgets for
Mecklenburg and Gaston Counties
only).
On July 25, 2018, NCDEQ submitted
a revision to the Charlotte 2008 8-hour
ozone maintenance plan to update the
emissions forecast and budgets for 2026
to account for the small increase in NOX
and VOC emissions associated with the
change in vehicle model year coverage
due to changes in the State of North
Carolina’s inspection and maintenance
(I/M) program. On September 11, 2019
(84 FR 47889), EPA approved NCDEQ’s
July 25, 2018, SIP revision related to
North Carolina’s I/M Program. The
September 11, 2019, SIP approval
updated the on-road mobile source
inventory and revised the 2026 sub-area
VOC and NOX budgets for Cabarrus and
Rowan Counties. The revised 2026
budgets became effective on October 11,
2019.
Subsequently, on August 25, 2021,
EPA approved NCDEQ’s July 16, 2020,
SIP revision which allocated a portion
of the available safety margin to the
2026 sub-area NOX and VOC budgets to
accommodate updates to the travel
demand model used to calculate vehicle
miles traveled in the Area. See 86 FR
47387. The revision to the 2026 sub-area
budgets became effective on September
24, 2021.
C. MOVES Emissions Model
The MOVES model is designed by
EPA to estimate air pollution emissions
from mobile sources. MOVES can be
used to estimate exhaust and
evaporative emissions as well as brake
and tire wear emissions from all types
of on-road vehicles for any part of the
country, except California.2 On January
7, 2021 (86 FR 1106), EPA announced
the availability of MOVES3 for official
purposes outside of California. At that
time, MOVES3 was the latest state of-the
art upgrade to EPA’s modeling tools for
estimating emissions from cars, trucks,
buses, and motorcycles based on the
latest data and regulations and was
available for use in SIPs and
transportation conformity analyses
outside of California. The notice of
availability started a two-year grace
2 In California, a different on-road emissions
model, EMFAC, is used for regulatory purposes
instead of MOVES.
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period 3 after which MOVES3 was
required to be used in new regionalemissions and hot-spot analyses for
transportation conformity
determinations outside of California.
On September 12, 2023 (88 FR 62567),
EPA announced the availability of
MOVES4 for official purposes outside of
California. MOVES4 is the latest stateof-the art upgrade to EPA’s modeling
tools for estimating emissions from cars,
trucks, buses, and motorcycles based on
the latest data and regulations. MOVES4
is available for use in SIPs and
transportation conformity analyses
outside of California. The notice of
availability started a two-year grace
period 4 after which MOVES4 is
required to be used in new regionalemissions and hot-spot analyses for
transportation conformity
determinations outside of California.
States should use the latest version of
MOVES that is available at the time that
a SIP is developed. However, state and
local agencies that have already
completed significant work on a SIP
with a version of MOVES3 (e.g.,
attainment modeling has already been
completed with MOVES3) may continue
to rely on this earlier version of MOVES.
It would be unreasonable to require
states to revise such SIPs using
MOVES4 since significant work has
already occurred based on the latest
information available at the time the SIP
was developed, and EPA intends to act
on these SIPs in a timely manner. North
Carolina developed and submitted the
SIP revision that is the subject of this
proposed rulemaking before the
MOVES3 grace period ended and before
MOVES4 was available. Therefore, use
of MOVES3 is appropriate here.
III. EPA’s Analysis of North Carolina’s
Submittal
EPA’s analysis involves an emissions
comparison between the current SIPapproved on-road and nonroad
emissions inventory and budgets and
the revised inventories and budgets that
North Carolina has requested that EPA
approve in the December 19, 2022, SIP
submittal. Section III.A. provides
information regarding the current SIPapproved and revised inventories and
safety margins, while sections III.B. and
III.C. contain information and analysis
regarding the proposed percentages and
revisions to the 2026 budgets and new
safety margins, respectively. Section
III.D. contains EPA’s analysis of the
adequacy of North Carolina’s revised
budgets pursuant to 40 CFR
93.118(e)(4).
As discussed further below, EPA’s
analysis of North Carolina’s December
19, 2022, SIP submittal indicates that
maintenance will continue to be
demonstrated after allocation of a
portion of the safety margin to the
budgets because the total level of
emissions from all source categories
remains equal to or less than the
attainment level of emissions. Thus,
EPA is proposing to approve North
Carolina’s December 19, 2022, SIP
submittal.
A. Maintenance Demonstration and
Emissions Inventory
This section contains information
regarding the previous and current SIPapproved budgets and inventories. The
point and area source inventories are
provided for illustrative purposes only
since, in this action, EPA is not
proposing any changes to the September
11, 2019, SIP point and area source
inventories.5 The 2026 on-road and
nonroad 6 emissions inventories were
modeled using MOVES3, which, as
discussed in section II.C. above, is based
on the latest modeling assumptions and
input data available at the time it was
released. The on-road mobile source
emissions for all other years were
unchanged as compared to the currently
approved version of the maintenance
plan.
As discussed above, EPA originally
approved NCDEQ’s 2008 8-hour ozone
maintenance SIP for the North Carolina
portion of the Charlotte Maintenance
Area on July 28, 2015, with the
following inventories for NOX and VOC
emissions: base year actual emissions
inventories for 2014; projected, future,
and interim year inventories for 2015,
2018, and 2022; and projected final year
emission inventory for 2026. On
September 11, 2019 (84 FR 47889), EPA
approved NCDEQ’s July 25, 2018, SIP,
which revised the budgets and the
inventories. EPA subsequently approved
NCDEQ’s July 16, 2020, SIP revision (86
FR 47387), which revised the sub-area
budgets. These remain the current SIPapproved budgets and inventories. See
tables 1 through 3, below.
Maintenance for the Charlotte
Maintenance Area is demonstrated
when the emissions in the final year of
the maintenance plan (‘‘maintenance
year’’) are less than the emissions in the
baseline attainment year. In the current
SIP-approved inventories, the baseline
year is 2014 and the maintenance year
is 2026. See 80 FR 29250.
TABLE 1—CURRENT TOTAL MAN-MADE NOX EMISSIONS FOR NORTH CAROLINA PORTION OF THE CHARLOTTE
MAINTENANCE AREA
[Tons/day]
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County
2014
2015
2018
2022
2026
Cabarrus * ............................................................................
Gaston * ................................................................................
Iredell * .................................................................................
Lincoln * ................................................................................
Mecklenburg .........................................................................
Rowan * ................................................................................
Union * ..................................................................................
11.49
27.89
6.86
4.36
56.71
11.74
11.13
10.73
27.62
6.49
4.71
52.97
11.31
10.36
6.78
12.03
5.41
6.41
39.16
8.28
6.63
5.44
6.41
4.68
4.29
33.52
7.01
5.09
4.44
7.87
4.16
2.34
31.33
6.10
4.05
Total ..............................................................................
130.18
124.19
84.69
66.44
60.28
* Emissions for the portion of the county included in the maintenance area.
3 The two-year grace period ended on January 9,
2023.
4 The two-year grace period will end on
September 12, 2025.
5 As discussed above, if EPA approves NCDEQ’s
December 19, 2022, SIP submittal, emissions
inventories for the point and area sources from
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NCDEQ’s September 11, 2019, SIP revision will
remain the same.
6 Information on the changes to the revised
nonroad emissions inventory for 2026 can be found
on pages 39–40 and in tables 3.9 and 3.10 of the
December 19, 2022, submittal. The nonroad mobile
sources, referred to as off-road mobile sources, are
pieces of equipment that can move but do not use
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the roadways (i.e., lawn mowers, construction
equipment, railroad locomotives, etc.). The nonroad
emissions inventory is separate from the on-road
emissions inventory and does not impact the
budgets but does impact the amount of the available
safety margins. The MOVES3 nonroad modeling
data for the nonroad emissions can be found in
Appendix B of the submittal.
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TABLE 2—CURRENT TOTAL MAN-MADE VOC EMISSIONS FOR NORTH CAROLINA PORTION OF THE CHARLOTTE
MAINTENANCE AREA
[Tons/day]
County
2014
2015
2018
2022
2026
Cabarrus * ............................................................................
Gaston * ................................................................................
Iredell * .................................................................................
Lincoln * ................................................................................
Mecklenburg .........................................................................
Rowan * ................................................................................
Union * ..................................................................................
11.50
12.96
6.33
6.55
50.10
12.59
13.09
11.27
12.74
6.22
6.47
49.16
12.38
12.85
9.51
11.53
5.29
4.81
45.31
12.47
10.91
9.23
10.94
5.11
4.66
44.47
12.19
10.68
9.02
10.74
4.97
4.51
43.99
12.32
10.45
Total ..............................................................................
113.12
111.09
99.82
97.28
95.99
* Emissions for the portion of the county included in the maintenance area.
TABLE 3—CURRENT MAINTENANCE DEMONSTRATION FOR NORTH CAROLINA PORTION OF THE CHARLOTTE MAINTENANCE
AREA
NOX
(tons/summer
day)
Year
2014 .........................................................................................................................................................................
2015 .........................................................................................................................................................................
2018 .........................................................................................................................................................................
2022 .........................................................................................................................................................................
2026 .........................................................................................................................................................................
Reduction in emissions from 2014 to 2026 .............................................................................................................
As shown in table 4, the revised NOX
emissions for all years (interim years
and maintenance year) are under the
baseline of 130.18 tons per summer day
(tons/day); in the maintenance year of
2026, emissions are now projected to be
64.75 tons/day. Additionally, as shown
in table 5, the revised VOC emissions
for all years (interim years and
maintenance year) are under the
baseline of 113.12 tons/day; in the
maintenance year of 2026, emissions are
projected to be 94.57 tons/day. The
downward trend in revised NOX and
VOC
(tons/summer
day)
130.18
124.19
84.69
66.44
60.28
69.90
113.12
111.09
99.82
97.28
95.99
17.13
VOC emissions based on the updated
MOVES3 2026 NOX and VOC on-road
emissions inventory continues to show
maintenance of the NAAQS. See table 6,
below.
TABLE 4—REVISED TOTAL MAN-MADE NOX EMISSIONS FOR NORTH CAROLINA PORTION OF THE CHARLOTTE
MAINTENANCE AREA
[Tons/day]
County
2014
2015
2018
2022
2026
Cabarrus * ............................................................................
Gaston * ................................................................................
Iredell * .................................................................................
Lincoln * ................................................................................
Mecklenburg .........................................................................
Rowan * ................................................................................
Union * ..................................................................................
11.49
27.89
6.86
4.36
56.71
11.74
11.13
10.73
27.62
6.49
4.71
52.97
11.31
10.36
6.78
12.03
5.41
6.41
39.16
8.28
6.63
5.44
6.41
4.68
4.29
33.52
7.01
5.09
4.61
7.87
4.42
2.48
34.95
6.02
4.40
Total ..............................................................................
130.18
124.19
84.69
66.44
64.75
* Emissions for the portion of the county included in the maintenance area.
TABLE 5—REVISED TOTAL MAN-MADE VOC EMISSIONS FOR NORTH CAROLINA PORTION OF THE CHARLOTTE
MAINTENANCE AREA
[Tons/day]
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County
2014
Cabarrus * ............................................................................
Gaston * ................................................................................
Iredell * .................................................................................
Lincoln * ................................................................................
Mecklenburg .........................................................................
Rowan * ................................................................................
Union * ..................................................................................
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2015
11.50
12.96
6.33
6.55
50.10
12.59
13.09
Fmt 4702
Sfmt 4702
2018
11.27
12.74
6.22
6.47
49.16
12.38
12.85
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9.51
11.53
5.29
4.81
45.31
12.47
10.91
12APP1
2022
9.23
10.94
5.11
4.66
44.47
12.19
10.68
2026
8.57
10.42
4.88
4.63
43.72
11.96
10.39
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TABLE 5—REVISED TOTAL MAN-MADE VOC EMISSIONS FOR NORTH CAROLINA PORTION OF THE CHARLOTTE
MAINTENANCE AREA—Continued
[Tons/day]
County
2014
Total ..............................................................................
2015
113.12
2018
111.09
2022
99.82
2026
97.28
94.57
* Emissions for the portion of the county included in the maintenance area.
TABLE 6—REVISED MAINTENANCE DEMONSTRATION FOR NORTH CAROLINA PORTION OF THE CHARLOTTE MAINTENANCE
AREA
NOX
(tons/day)
Year
2014 .........................................................................................................................................................................
2015 .........................................................................................................................................................................
2018 .........................................................................................................................................................................
2022 .........................................................................................................................................................................
2026 .........................................................................................................................................................................
Reduction in emissions from 2014 to 2026 .............................................................................................................
130.18
124.19
84.69
66.44
64.75
65.43
113.12
111.09
99.82
97.28
94.57
18.55
907.1847 to convert them to units of
tons/day. The resulting values in tons/
day were rounded to two decimal
places.
Area. The emissions are expressed in
tons/day and in kg/day because the
budgets are expressed in kilograms per
day (kg/day). The MOVES3 output
emissions values were rounded to the
nearest kg/day and were divided by
Table 7 provides the revised NOX and
VOC on-road mobile emissions
inventory for 2014 (base year) and 2026
(maintenance year) for the 2008 8-hour
ozone NAAQS for the North Carolina
portion of the Charlotte Maintenance
VOC
(tons/day)
TABLE 7—REVISED ON-ROAD MOBILE SOURCE NOX AND VOC SUMMER DAY EMISSIONS IN 2014 AND 2026 FOR THE
NORTH CAROLINA PORTION OF THE CHARLOTTE MAINTENANCE AREA
2014 NOX
2014 VOC
2026 NOX
2026 VOC
County
tons/day
kg/day
tons/day
kg/day
tons/day
kg/day
tons/day
kg/day
Cabarrus * ........................................
Gaston * ............................................
Iredell * .............................................
Lincoln * ............................................
Mecklenburg * ...................................
Rowan * ............................................
Union * ..............................................
6.60
8.11
3.36
3.00
26.99
6.42
5.67
5,989
7,357
3,045
2,723
24,488
5,825
5,146
4.15
4.61
1.95
1.91
14.40
3.76
3.54
3,765
4,179
1,768
1,737
13,060
3,408
3,210
2.43
2.45
1.29
1.06
12.08
1.94
2.29
2,208
2,224
1,171
963
10,957
1,757
2,074
1.76
1.68
0.86
0.76
7.14
1.37
1.62
1,600
1,524
782
688
6,476
1,246
1,471
Total ..........................................
60.15
54,572
34.32
31,127
23.54
21,354
15.19
13,787
* Emissions for the portion of the county included in the maintenance area.
A safety margin is the difference
between the attainment level of
emissions from all source categories
(i.e., point, area, on-road, and nonroad)
(2014 in this case) and the projected
level of emissions from all source
categories in the maintenance year
(2026 in this case). The State may
choose to allocate some of the safety
margin to the budgets, for transportation
conformity purposes, so long as the total
level of emissions from all source
categories remains equal to or less than
the attainment level of emissions. As
noted above, North Carolina previously
chose to allocate a portion of its NOX
and VOC safety margin to the budgets
for the entire North Carolina portion of
the Charlotte Maintenance Area for the
year 2026. See 86 FR 32850 (June 23,
2021) and 86 FR 47387 (August 25,
2021). Tables 8 and 9, below, show the
revised MOVES3 safety margins and
percentages North Carolina is proposing
to allocate to the 2026 NOX and VOC
budgets from the newly calculated
safety margins, respectively, in the
North Carolina portion of the Charlotte
Maintenance Area.
lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with PROPOSALS1
TABLE 8—REVISED SAFETY MARGINS FOR THE NORTH CAROLINA PORTION OF THE CHARLOTTE MAINTENANCE AREA
NOX
(tons/day)
Year
2014
2015
2018
2022
2026
.........................................................................................................................................................................
.........................................................................................................................................................................
.........................................................................................................................................................................
.........................................................................................................................................................................
.........................................................................................................................................................................
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N/A
¥5.99
¥45.49
¥63.74
¥65.43
VOC
(tons/day)
N/A
¥2.03
¥13.30
¥15.84
¥18.55
25854
Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 72 / Friday, April 12, 2024 / Proposed Rules
B. Revised Budgets
In the December 19, 2022, SIP
revision, North Carolina requested that
EPA approve revisions to the budgets
for the North Carolina portion of the
Charlotte 2008 Ozone Maintenance Area
by allocating a portion of the remaining
safety margin to the budgets.7 The
budget revisions are proposed to
accommodate updates from the mobile
emissions model MOVES3. The
proposed percentages of the on-road
emissions allocated to the 2026 budgets
for the North Carolina counties in the
Charlotte 2008 Ozone Maintenance Area
are listed in the table 9, below.
TABLE 9—PROPOSED PERCENTAGE OF ON-ROAD EMISSIONS ALLOCATED TO THE 2026 MOTOR VEHICLE EMISSIONS
BUDGET
Cabarrus ..................................................................................................................................................................
Gaston .....................................................................................................................................................................
Iredell .......................................................................................................................................................................
Lincoln ......................................................................................................................................................................
Mecklenburg ............................................................................................................................................................
Rowan ......................................................................................................................................................................
Union ........................................................................................................................................................................
Based on the on-road emissions
inventory revisions in table 7, the
following tables provide the proposed
VOC 8
(percent)
NOX
(percent)
County
NOX and VOC sub-area budgets with the
proposed safety margin allocations in
kg/day for transportation conformity
65
60
62
62
57
65
60
67
62
62
62
57
67
62
purposes for 2026 (2014 is only shown
for illustration because no changes are
being made to the budgets for that year).
TABLE 10—PROPOSED CABARRUS-ROWAN METROPOLITAN PLANNING ORGANIZATION (CRMPO) BUDGETS IN 2014 AND
2026
[kg/day] *
2014 NOX
Base On-road Emissions .................................................................................
Safety margin allocated to budget ...................................................................
Conformity budget ...........................................................................................
2014 VOC
11,814
7,173
11,814
7,173
2026 NOX
3,965
2,578
6,543
2026 VOC
2,846
1,907
4,753
* Includes the portions of Cabarrus and Rowan Counties in the maintenance area.
TABLE 11—PROPOSED GASTON-CLEVELAND-LINCOLN METROPOLITAN PLANNING ORGANIZATION (GCLMPO) BUDGETS IN
2014 AND 2026
[kg/day] *
2014 NOX
Base On-road Emissions .................................................................................
Safety margin allocated to budget ...................................................................
Conformity budget ...........................................................................................
2014 VOC
10,079
5,916
10,079
5,916
2026 NOX
3,187
1,930
5,117
2026 VOC
2,212
1,371
3,583
* Includes the portions of Gaston and Lincoln Counties in the maintenance area. Although Cleveland County is included in the MPO, it is not
included in the Charlotte ozone maintenance area.
TABLE 12—PROPOSED CHARLOTTE REGIONAL TRANSPORTATION PLANNING ORGANIZATION (CRTPO)—ROCKY RIVER
RURAL PLANNING ORGANIZATION (RRRPO) BUDGETS IN 2014 AND 2026
[kg/day] *
2014 NOX
Base On-road Emissions .................................................................................
Safety margin allocated to budget ...................................................................
Conformity budget ...........................................................................................
2014 VOC
32,679
18,038
32,679
18,038
2026 NOX
14,202
8,215
22,417
2026 VOC
8,729
5,089
13,818
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* Includes all of Mecklenburg County and a portion of Iredell and Union Counties in the maintenance area.
7 As with the original SIP revision approved on
July 15, 2015, and the last revision approved on
August 25, 2021, NCDEQ utilized a five-step
approach for determining a factor to use to calculate
the amount of safety margin to apply to the budgets
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for 2026. See Appendix A of the submittal for more
detailed information.
8 These VOC percentages were not clearly
delineated in NCDEQ’s December 19, 2022,
submittal (at table 4.1 in the narrative portion of the
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submittal and table 4.4–1 in Appendix A). NCDEQ
submitted a correction to the December 19, 2022,
submittal via a letter dated March 15, 2024, which
is in the docket for this proposed rulemaking.
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Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 72 / Friday, April 12, 2024 / Proposed Rules
C. Revised Safety Margin
As mentioned above, a safety margin
is the difference between the attainment
level of emissions from all source
categories (i.e., point, area, on-road, and
nonroad) and the projected level of
emissions from all source categories.
NCDEQ has requested that EPA approve
the proposed allocation of some of the
available safety margin to the 2026 NOX
and VOC budgets for transportation
conformity purposes. The total level of
emissions from all source categories
remains equal to or less than the
attainment level of emissions.
EPA is proposing to approve changes
to the budgets that include a proposed
allocation of 2,577 and 1,907 kg/day of
NOX and VOC, respectively, for the
Cabarrus-Rowan MPO; 1,931 and 1,371
kg/day of NOX and VOC, respectively,
for the Gaston-Cleveland MPO; and
25855
8,215 and 5,089 kg/day of NOX and
VOC, respectively, for the Charlotte
Regional TPO. Thus, if EPA’s action is
finalized as proposed, the amount of the
safety margin allocated to the 2026
budgets will be 12,723 kg/day (14.02
tons/day) of NOX and 8,367 kg/day (9.22
tons/day) of VOC. The proposed new
safety margins available for the North
Carolina portion of the Charlotte
Maintenance Area are listed below.
TABLE 15—NEW SAFETY MARGINS FOR THE NORTH CAROLINA PORTION OF THE CHARLOTTE MAINTENANCE AREA
NOX
(tons/day)
Year
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2014
2015
2018
2022
2026
.........................................................................................................................................................................
.........................................................................................................................................................................
.........................................................................................................................................................................
.........................................................................................................................................................................
.........................................................................................................................................................................
D. Adequacy of the Budgets
EPA evaluated NCDEQ’s December
19, 2022, SIP revision allocating a
portion of the available safety margin to
the 2026 MOVES3 based budgets in the
revised 2008 8-hour ozone Charlotte
maintenance plan for use in
determining transportation conformity
in the North Carolina portion of the
Charlotte Maintenance Area. EPA is
proposing this action based on its
evaluation of these budgets using the
adequacy criteria found in 40 CFR
93.118(e)(4) and its evaluation of
NCDEQ’s submittal and SIP
requirements. EPA is proposing to
approve this SIP revision because the
SIP continues to serve its intended
purpose of maintenance of the 2008 8hour ozone standard with the newly
revised MOVES3 based budgets. EPA is
also proposing to deem the budgets
adequate for transportation conformity
purposes because they meet the
adequacy criteria in the conformity rule
at 40 CFR 93.118(e)(4). Specifically:
• NCDEQ’s SIP was endorsed by the
Governor’s designee and was subject to
a State public hearing ((e)(4)(i));
• Before NCDEQ submitted the SIP
revision to EPA, consultation among
Federal, State, and local agencies
occurred and full documentation was
provided to EPA and EPA had no
concerns ((e)(4)(ii));
• The budgets are clearly identified
and precisely quantified ((e)(4)(iii));
• The budgets, when considered
together with all other emissions
sources, are consistent with applicable
requirements for reasonable further
progress, attainment, or maintenance
((e)(4)(iv));
• The budgets are consistent with and
clearly related to the emissions
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inventory and control measures in the
SIP revision ((e)(4)(v); and
• The December 19, 2022, SIP
revision explains and documents
changes to the previous budgets,
impacts on point, area, nonroad and onroad source emissions, and changes to
established safety margins, and reasons
for the changes (including the basis for
any changes related to emission factors
or vehicle miles traveled) ((e)(4)(vi)).
IV. Proposed Action
EPA is proposing to approve NCDEQ’s
December 19, 2022, SIP revision,
requesting approval of a revision to the
Charlotte 2008 8-hr Ozone Maintenance
Plan that updates the 2026 on-road and
nonroad emissions inventories and
safety margins with MOVES3, allocates
a portion of the newly available 2026
safety margins. The SIP revision also
updates the current 2026 budgets with
MOVES3 and recalculates new available
safety margins. The revised budgets
ensure continued attainment of the 2008
8-hour ozone NAAQS through the
maintenance year 2026. In addition,
EPA is proposing to deem the budgets
adequate for transportation conformity
purposes because the budgets meet the
adequacy criteria in the conformity rule
at 40 CFR 93.118(e)(4). If approved, the
newly revised MOVES3 2026 budgets
for NOX and VOC identified in tables 10
through 12 will be used by the MPOs in
future transportation conformity
determinations. The remaining safety
margins are 51.41 tons/day and 9.33
tons/day for NOX and VOC,
respectively. EPA has evaluated North
Carolina’s submittal and has determined
that it meets the applicable
requirements of the CAA and EPA
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VOC
(tons/day)
* N/A
¥5.99
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¥63.74
¥51.41
N/A
¥2.03
¥13.30
¥15.84
¥9.33
regulations and is consistent with EPA
policy.
V. Statutory and Executive Order
Reviews
Under the CAA, the Administrator is
required to approve a SIP submission
that complies with the provisions of the
CAA and applicable Federal regulations.
42 U.S.C. 7410(k); 40 CFR 52.02(a).
Thus, in reviewing SIP submissions,
EPA’s role is to approve State choices,
provided that they meet the criteria of
the CAA. Accordingly, this proposed
action merely proposes to approve 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 14094 (88 FR
21879, April 11, 2023);
• 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);
E:\FR\FM\12APP1.SGM
12APP1
lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with PROPOSALS1
25856
Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 72 / Friday, April 12, 2024 / Proposed Rules
• Is not subject to Executive Order
13045 (62 FR 19885, April 23, 1997)
because it approves a State program;
• Is not a significant regulatory action
subject to Executive Order 13211 (66 FR
28355, May 22, 2001); and
• 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.
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 rulemaking does not
have Tribal implications and will not
impose substantial direct costs on Tribal
governments or preempt Tribal law as
specified by Executive Order 13175 (65
FR 67249, November 9, 2000).
Executive Order 12898 (Federal
Actions To Address Environmental
Justice in Minority Populations and
Low-Income Populations, 59 FR 7629,
Feb. 16, 1994) directs Federal agencies
to identify and address
‘‘disproportionately high and adverse
human health or environmental effects’’
of their actions on minority populations
and low-income populations to the
greatest extent practicable and
permitted by law. EPA defines
environmental justice (EJ) as ‘‘the fair
treatment and meaningful involvement
of all people regardless of race, color,
national origin, or income with respect
to the development, implementation,
and enforcement of environmental laws,
regulations, and policies.’’ EPA further
defines the term fair treatment to mean
that ‘‘no group of people should bear a
disproportionate burden of
environmental harms and risks,
including those resulting from the
negative environmental consequences of
industrial, governmental, and
commercial operations or programs and
policies.’’
NCDEQ did not evaluate EJ
considerations as part of its SIP
submittal; the CAA and applicable
implementing regulations neither
prohibit nor require such an evaluation.
EPA did not perform an EJ analysis and
did not consider EJ in this proposed
action. Due to the nature of the action
being proposed here, this proposed
action is expected to have a neutral to
positive impact on the air quality of the
affected area. Consideration of EJ is not
required as part of this proposed action,
and there is no information in the
record inconsistent with the stated goal
of E.O. 12898 of achieving EJ for people
of color, low-income populations, and
Indigenous peoples.
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List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 52
Environmental protection, Air
pollution control, Incorporation by
reference, Intergovernmental relations,
Carbon monoxide, Nitrogen dioxide,
Ozone, Particulate matter, Reporting
and recordkeeping requirements,
Volatile organic compounds.
Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.
Dated: April 5, 2024.
Jeaneanne Gettle,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region 4.
[FR Doc. 2024–07701 Filed 4–11–24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560–50–P
LEGAL SERVICES CORPORATION
45 CFR Part 1607
Governing Bodies
Legal Services Corporation.
Notice of proposed rulemaking.
AGENCY:
ACTION:
The Legal Services
Corporation’s (LSC) FY 2024
appropriation enacted on March 9,
2024, included language that lowered
the proportion of attorneys required to
serve on the governing bodies of LSC
grant recipients from 60% to 33%, and
eliminated the requirement that bar
associations appoint the majority of
attorneys. LSC is revising its regulation
pertaining to recipient governing bodies
to be consistent with this directive from
Congress.
DATES: Comments must be received by
LSC by 11:59 p.m. Eastern on May 13,
2024.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Stefanie K. Davis, Deputy General
Counsel, Legal Services Corporation,
3333 K Street NW, Washington, DC
20007; (202) 295–1563 (phone), (202)
337–6519 (fax), or sdavis@lsc.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
SUMMARY:
Background
The LSC Act of 1974 requires grant
recipients to have governing bodies
composed of at least 60% attorneys. 42
U.S.C. 2996f(c). LSC adopted part 1607
and the 60% requirement in 1976. 41 FR
25899, June 23, 1976. Subsequently,
LSC’s fiscal year (FY) 1983
appropriation included a requirement
that a majority of each recipient’s
governing body be composed of
attorneys appointed by state or local bar
associations, also known as the
‘‘McCollum Amendment’’. Public Law
97–276, 96 Stat. 1186. LSC revised part
1607 in 1983 to implement the
McCollum Amendment. 48 FR 1971,
Jan. 17, 1983. The McCollum
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Amendment currently appears in
§ 502(2)(b)(ii) of LSC’s FY 1996
appropriation, which is incorporated
through § 502 of LSC’s FY 1998
appropriation, as referenced in all LSC
appropriations from 1998 through 2024.
See, e.g., Public Law 104–134, 110 Stat.
1321; Public Law 105–119, 111 Stat.
2440; Public Law 118–42.
LSC’s FY 2024 appropriation changed
the minimum attorney percentage to
33% and eliminated the McCollum
Amendment requirement. The
Administrative Provision of this
appropriation reiterates the
incorporation of prior appropriations’
restrictions by reference. It also includes
language stating that for purposes of
applying the board composition
requirements described in LSC’s FY
1998 appropriation, the requirements
would be satisfied if at least 33% of a
grant recipient’s board were composed
of attorneys licensed in the state in
which legal assistance is to be provided.
Finally, it includes language stating that
the McCollum Amendment does not
apply. Public Law 118–42, Div. C, Title
IV, 141 (2024) (emphasis in original).
LSC is proposing to revise § 1607.3 of its
regulations to reflect this change.
LSC proposes to make the following
changes to incorporate the statutory
changes and to reorganize § 1607.3 for
ease of reference. First, LSC proposes to
delete § 1607.3(b)(1) in its entirety and
replace it with a new paragraph (b)(1)
stating that a recipient’s governing body
must be composed of at least 33%
attorneys. By doing so, LSC will remove
the language implementing the
McCollum Amendment. LSC also
proposes to redesignate existing
paragraphs (b)(2) and (3) as (b)(1)(i) and
(ii), respectively.
Second, LSC proposes to reorganize
the section by relocating the categories
of governing body members currently
located in paragraphs (c) and (d) to
paragraphs (b)(2) and (3), respectively,
and placing the processes for
appointments into paragraphs under
each category. LSC believes that
restructuring § 1607.3 in this way will
make it easier for readers to understand
the categories of membership on LSC
recipients’ governing bodies and the
considerations recipients use to recruit
and select members.
Third, LSC proposes to redesignate
paragraphs (f), (g), and (h) as (c), (d), and
(e).
Finally, LSC proposes to revise
redesignated paragraph (e) paragraph to
reflect the statutory change and allow
recipient staff to recommend candidates
to their governing bodies. LSC believes
this change would empower recipient
staff to identify and propose, clients,
E:\FR\FM\12APP1.SGM
12APP1
]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 72 (Friday, April 12, 2024)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 25849-25856]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-07701]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 52
[EPA-R04-OAR-2023-0057; FRL-11847-01-R4]
Air Plan Approval; North Carolina; Revision to Approved Motor
Vehicle Emissions Budgets
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Proposed rule.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to
approve a revision to the North Carolina State Implementation Plan
(SIP), submitted by the North Carolina Department of Environmental
Quality (NCDEQ), Division of Air Quality, on December 19, 2022. The
revision seeks to update the 2026 on-road and nonroad emissions
inventories and safety margins, allocate a portion of the newly
available 2026 safety margins in the 2008 8-hour Ozone Maintenance Plan
to the 2026 nitrogen oxides (NOX) and volatile organic
compounds (VOC) motor vehicle emissions budgets (``budgets'') for the
North Carolina portion of the Charlotte-Rock Hill, NC-SC bi-state Area
(hereinafter referred to as the ``North Carolina portion of the
Charlotte Maintenance Area'') to accommodate updates from the EPA Motor
Vehicle Emissions Simulator (MOVES3) model. The SIP revision also
revises the current 2026 budgets based on the MOVES3 updates and
recalculates new available safety margins. NCDEQ's December 19, 2022,
submission supplements the revised 2008 8-hour Ozone Maintenance Plan
submitted by NCDEQ on July 16, 2020, and approved by EPA on August 25,
2021. EPA is proposing to approve North Carolina's December 19, 2022,
SIP revision and deem the budgets adequate for transportation
conformity purposes because they meet the applicable statutory and
regulatory requirements.
DATES: Comments must be received on or before May 13, 2024.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-R04-
OAR-2023-0057 at 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 www.epa.gov/dockets/commenting-epa-dockets.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dianna Myers, Air Regulatory
Management Section, Air Planning and Implementation Branch, Air and
Radiation Division, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 4, 61
Forsyth Street SW, Atlanta, Georgia 30303-8960. The telephone number is
(404) 562-9207. Ms. Myers can also be reached via electronic mail at
[email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Introduction
EPA is proposing to approve NCDEQ's December 19, 2022, SIP revision
which updates the 2026 on-road and nonroad emissions inventories with
the latest (at the time of NCDEQ's submission) approved EPA mobile
emissions model, MOVES3, allocates a portion of the newly available
safety margin, revises the 2026 NOX and VOC budgets, and
recalculates the available safety margins for the North Carolina
portion of Charlotte 2008 8-hour Ozone Maintenance Area \1\ for
transportation conformity purposes.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ The North Carolina portion of the Charlotte Maintenance Area
for the 2008 8-hour ozone national ambient air quality standards
(NAAQS or standards) is comprised of the following counties:
Mecklenburg County in its entirety and portions of Cabarrus, Gaston,
Iredell, Lincoln, Rowan, and Union Counties. See section II.B. for
more detail.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
If EPA finalizes this proposed approval, the revised 2026
NOX and VOC budgets from NCDEQ's December 19, 2022, SIP
revision will replace the existing budgets in the State's 2008 8-hour
Ozone Maintenance Plan approved on August 25, 2021. See 86 FR 47387. If
approved, these newly revised 2026 budgets must be used in future
[[Page 25850]]
transportation conformity analyses for the Area according to the
Transportation Conformity Rule. See 40 CFR 93.118. Therefore, the
August 25, 2021, approved budgets would no longer be applicable for
transportation conformity purposes.
In the State's submission, the emissions inventories for point and
area sources from NCDEQ's July 16, 2020, SIP revision remain the same.
This submission revises the 2026 on-road and nonroad emissions
inventories and the NOX and VOC safety margins using MOVES3.
The revision also allocates a portion of the revised available safety
margins to the 2026 NOX and VOC budgets and recalculates new
available safety margins. As explained below, EPA is proposing to
conclude that North Carolina's December 19, 2022, SIP revision
continues to demonstrate maintenance for the Charlotte Maintenance
Area.
II. Background
A. SIP Budgets and Transportation Conformity
Under the Clean Air Act (CAA or Act), states are required to
submit, at various times, control strategy SIP revisions and
maintenance plans for nonattainment and maintenance areas for a given
NAAQS. These emission control strategy SIP revisions (e.g., reasonable
further progress and attainment demonstration SIP revisions) and
maintenance plans include budgets of on-road mobile source emissions
for criteria pollutants and/or their precursors to address pollution
from cars, trucks, and other on-road vehicles. The budgets are the
portion of the total allowable emissions that are allocated to on-road-
vehicle use that, together with emissions from other sources in the
area, will provide for attainment or maintenance. The budgets serve as
a ceiling on emissions from an area's planned transportation system.
Under section 176(c) of the CAA, transportation plans,
transportation improvement programs (TIPs), and transportation projects
must ``conform'' to (i.e., be consistent with) the SIP before they can
be adopted or approved. Conformity to the SIP means that transportation
activities will not cause new air quality violations, worsen existing
air quality violations, or delay timely attainment of the NAAQS or an
interim milestone. The transportation conformity regulations can be
found at 40 CFR parts 51 and 93.
Before budgets may be used in conformity determinations, EPA must
affirmatively find the budgets adequate. However, adequate budgets do
not supersede approved budgets for the same CAA purpose. If the
submitted SIP budgets are meant to replace budgets for the same CAA
purpose and year(s) addressed by a previously approved SIP revision, as
is the case with this SIP revision, EPA may approve the revised SIP and
budgets and also affirm that the budgets are adequate at the same time.
Once EPA approves the submitted budgets, the revised budgets must be
used by State and Federal agencies in determining whether
transportation activities conform to the SIP as required by section
176(c) of the CAA. EPA's substantive criteria for determining the
adequacy of budgets are set out in 40 CFR 93.118(e)(4).
B. Prior Approval of Budgets
Effective July 20, 2012, EPA designated the Charlotte-Rock Hill,
NC-SC Area as Marginal nonattainment for the 2008 8-hour ozone NAAQS.
The North Carolina portion of the Charlotte 2008 Maintenance Area
includes Mecklenburg County in its entirety and portions of Cabarrus,
Gaston, Iredell, Lincoln, Rowan, and Union Counties. The Charlotte
Maintenance Area also includes a portion of York County located in Rock
Hill, South Carolina. See 77 FR 30088 (May 21, 2012). The North
Carolina portion of the Charlotte Maintenance Area is comprised of
three metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs): the Charlotte
Regional Transportation Planning Organization (CRTPO) which covers
Iredell, Mecklenburg, and Union Counties; the Cabarrus-Rowan
Metropolitan Planning Organization (CRMPO) which covers Cabarrus and
Rowan Counties; and the Gaston-Cleveland-Lincoln Metropolitan Planning
Organization (GCLMPO) which covers Gaston, Cleveland, and Lincoln
Counties. Although Cleveland County is included in the GCLMPO planning
boundary, it was not included in the North Carolina portion of the
Charlotte Maintenance Area. Each MPO has its own budget, which is
referred to as a ``sub-area budget.'' The York County, South Carolina,
portion of this maintenance area has a separate MPO and budgets. The
South Carolina portion of the maintenance area implements
transportation conformity independent of the North Carolina portion.
EPA approved the redesignation request and maintenance plan for
North Carolina's portion of the Charlotte 2008 8-hour ozone Area on
July 28, 2015 (80 FR 44873) with 2014 and 2026 NOX and VOC
sub-area budgets. On August 17, 2015 (80 FR 49164), EPA approved North
Carolina's requested relaxation of the Federal Reid Vapor Pressure
(RVP) requirement from 7.8 pounds per square inch (psi) to 9.0 psi. See
80 FR 44868 (approving the CAA section 110(l) non-interference
demonstration that relaxing the Federal RVP requirement from 7.8 psi to
9.0 psi in Mecklenburg and Gaston Counties would not interfere with
maintenance of the NAAQS in the Area and approving a revision to the
2026 NOX and VOC sub-area budgets for Mecklenburg and Gaston
Counties only).
On July 25, 2018, NCDEQ submitted a revision to the Charlotte 2008
8-hour ozone maintenance plan to update the emissions forecast and
budgets for 2026 to account for the small increase in NOX
and VOC emissions associated with the change in vehicle model year
coverage due to changes in the State of North Carolina's inspection and
maintenance (I/M) program. On September 11, 2019 (84 FR 47889), EPA
approved NCDEQ's July 25, 2018, SIP revision related to North
Carolina's I/M Program. The September 11, 2019, SIP approval updated
the on-road mobile source inventory and revised the 2026 sub-area VOC
and NOX budgets for Cabarrus and Rowan Counties. The revised
2026 budgets became effective on October 11, 2019.
Subsequently, on August 25, 2021, EPA approved NCDEQ's July 16,
2020, SIP revision which allocated a portion of the available safety
margin to the 2026 sub-area NOX and VOC budgets to
accommodate updates to the travel demand model used to calculate
vehicle miles traveled in the Area. See 86 FR 47387. The revision to
the 2026 sub-area budgets became effective on September 24, 2021.
C. MOVES Emissions Model
The MOVES model is designed by EPA to estimate air pollution
emissions from mobile sources. MOVES can be used to estimate exhaust
and evaporative emissions as well as brake and tire wear emissions from
all types of on-road vehicles for any part of the country, except
California.\2\ On January 7, 2021 (86 FR 1106), EPA announced the
availability of MOVES3 for official purposes outside of California. At
that time, MOVES3 was the latest state of-the art upgrade to EPA's
modeling tools for estimating emissions from cars, trucks, buses, and
motorcycles based on the latest data and regulations and was available
for use in SIPs and transportation conformity analyses outside of
California. The notice of availability started a two-year grace
[[Page 25851]]
period \3\ after which MOVES3 was required to be used in new regional-
emissions and hot-spot analyses for transportation conformity
determinations outside of California.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\2\ In California, a different on-road emissions model, EMFAC,
is used for regulatory purposes instead of MOVES.
\3\ The two-year grace period ended on January 9, 2023.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
On September 12, 2023 (88 FR 62567), EPA announced the availability
of MOVES4 for official purposes outside of California. MOVES4 is the
latest state-of-the art upgrade to EPA's modeling tools for estimating
emissions from cars, trucks, buses, and motorcycles based on the latest
data and regulations. MOVES4 is available for use in SIPs and
transportation conformity analyses outside of California. The notice of
availability started a two-year grace period \4\ after which MOVES4 is
required to be used in new regional-emissions and hot-spot analyses for
transportation conformity determinations outside of California. States
should use the latest version of MOVES that is available at the time
that a SIP is developed. However, state and local agencies that have
already completed significant work on a SIP with a version of MOVES3
(e.g., attainment modeling has already been completed with MOVES3) may
continue to rely on this earlier version of MOVES. It would be
unreasonable to require states to revise such SIPs using MOVES4 since
significant work has already occurred based on the latest information
available at the time the SIP was developed, and EPA intends to act on
these SIPs in a timely manner. North Carolina developed and submitted
the SIP revision that is the subject of this proposed rulemaking before
the MOVES3 grace period ended and before MOVES4 was available.
Therefore, use of MOVES3 is appropriate here.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\4\ The two-year grace period will end on September 12, 2025.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
III. EPA's Analysis of North Carolina's Submittal
EPA's analysis involves an emissions comparison between the current
SIP-approved on-road and nonroad emissions inventory and budgets and
the revised inventories and budgets that North Carolina has requested
that EPA approve in the December 19, 2022, SIP submittal. Section
III.A. provides information regarding the current SIP-approved and
revised inventories and safety margins, while sections III.B. and
III.C. contain information and analysis regarding the proposed
percentages and revisions to the 2026 budgets and new safety margins,
respectively. Section III.D. contains EPA's analysis of the adequacy of
North Carolina's revised budgets pursuant to 40 CFR 93.118(e)(4).
As discussed further below, EPA's analysis of North Carolina's
December 19, 2022, SIP submittal indicates that maintenance will
continue to be demonstrated after allocation of a portion of the safety
margin to the budgets because the total level of emissions from all
source categories remains equal to or less than the attainment level of
emissions. Thus, EPA is proposing to approve North Carolina's December
19, 2022, SIP submittal.
A. Maintenance Demonstration and Emissions Inventory
This section contains information regarding the previous and
current SIP-approved budgets and inventories. The point and area source
inventories are provided for illustrative purposes only since, in this
action, EPA is not proposing any changes to the September 11, 2019, SIP
point and area source inventories.\5\ The 2026 on-road and nonroad \6\
emissions inventories were modeled using MOVES3, which, as discussed in
section II.C. above, is based on the latest modeling assumptions and
input data available at the time it was released. The on-road mobile
source emissions for all other years were unchanged as compared to the
currently approved version of the maintenance plan.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\5\ As discussed above, if EPA approves NCDEQ's December 19,
2022, SIP submittal, emissions inventories for the point and area
sources from NCDEQ's September 11, 2019, SIP revision will remain
the same.
\6\ Information on the changes to the revised nonroad emissions
inventory for 2026 can be found on pages 39-40 and in tables 3.9 and
3.10 of the December 19, 2022, submittal. The nonroad mobile
sources, referred to as off-road mobile sources, are pieces of
equipment that can move but do not use the roadways (i.e., lawn
mowers, construction equipment, railroad locomotives, etc.). The
nonroad emissions inventory is separate from the on-road emissions
inventory and does not impact the budgets but does impact the amount
of the available safety margins. The MOVES3 nonroad modeling data
for the nonroad emissions can be found in Appendix B of the
submittal.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
As discussed above, EPA originally approved NCDEQ's 2008 8-hour
ozone maintenance SIP for the North Carolina portion of the Charlotte
Maintenance Area on July 28, 2015, with the following inventories for
NOX and VOC emissions: base year actual emissions
inventories for 2014; projected, future, and interim year inventories
for 2015, 2018, and 2022; and projected final year emission inventory
for 2026. On September 11, 2019 (84 FR 47889), EPA approved NCDEQ's
July 25, 2018, SIP, which revised the budgets and the inventories. EPA
subsequently approved NCDEQ's July 16, 2020, SIP revision (86 FR
47387), which revised the sub-area budgets. These remain the current
SIP-approved budgets and inventories. See tables 1 through 3, below.
Maintenance for the Charlotte Maintenance Area is demonstrated when
the emissions in the final year of the maintenance plan (``maintenance
year'') are less than the emissions in the baseline attainment year. In
the current SIP-approved inventories, the baseline year is 2014 and the
maintenance year is 2026. See 80 FR 29250.
Table 1--Current Total Man-Made NOX Emissions for North Carolina Portion of the Charlotte Maintenance Area
[Tons/day]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
County 2014 2015 2018 2022 2026
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cabarrus *...................... 11.49 10.73 6.78 5.44 4.44
Gaston *........................ 27.89 27.62 12.03 6.41 7.87
Iredell *....................... 6.86 6.49 5.41 4.68 4.16
Lincoln *....................... 4.36 4.71 6.41 4.29 2.34
Mecklenburg..................... 56.71 52.97 39.16 33.52 31.33
Rowan *......................... 11.74 11.31 8.28 7.01 6.10
Union *......................... 11.13 10.36 6.63 5.09 4.05
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total....................... 130.18 124.19 84.69 66.44 60.28
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* Emissions for the portion of the county included in the maintenance area.
[[Page 25852]]
Table 2--Current Total Man-Made VOC Emissions for North Carolina Portion of the Charlotte Maintenance Area
[Tons/day]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
County 2014 2015 2018 2022 2026
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cabarrus *...................... 11.50 11.27 9.51 9.23 9.02
Gaston *........................ 12.96 12.74 11.53 10.94 10.74
Iredell *....................... 6.33 6.22 5.29 5.11 4.97
Lincoln *....................... 6.55 6.47 4.81 4.66 4.51
Mecklenburg..................... 50.10 49.16 45.31 44.47 43.99
Rowan *......................... 12.59 12.38 12.47 12.19 12.32
Union *......................... 13.09 12.85 10.91 10.68 10.45
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total....................... 113.12 111.09 99.82 97.28 95.99
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* Emissions for the portion of the county included in the maintenance area.
Table 3--Current Maintenance Demonstration for North Carolina Portion of
the Charlotte Maintenance Area
------------------------------------------------------------------------
NOX (tons/ VOC (tons/
Year summer day) summer day)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
2014.................................... 130.18 113.12
2015.................................... 124.19 111.09
2018.................................... 84.69 99.82
2022.................................... 66.44 97.28
2026.................................... 60.28 95.99
Reduction in emissions from 2014 to 2026 69.90 17.13
------------------------------------------------------------------------
As shown in table 4, the revised NOX emissions for all
years (interim years and maintenance year) are under the baseline of
130.18 tons per summer day (tons/day); in the maintenance year of 2026,
emissions are now projected to be 64.75 tons/day. Additionally, as
shown in table 5, the revised VOC emissions for all years (interim
years and maintenance year) are under the baseline of 113.12 tons/day;
in the maintenance year of 2026, emissions are projected to be 94.57
tons/day. The downward trend in revised NOX and VOC
emissions based on the updated MOVES3 2026 NOX and VOC on-
road emissions inventory continues to show maintenance of the NAAQS.
See table 6, below.
Table 4--Revised Total Man-Made NOX Emissions for North Carolina Portion of the Charlotte Maintenance Area
[Tons/day]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
County 2014 2015 2018 2022 2026
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cabarrus *...................... 11.49 10.73 6.78 5.44 4.61
Gaston *........................ 27.89 27.62 12.03 6.41 7.87
Iredell *....................... 6.86 6.49 5.41 4.68 4.42
Lincoln *....................... 4.36 4.71 6.41 4.29 2.48
Mecklenburg..................... 56.71 52.97 39.16 33.52 34.95
Rowan *......................... 11.74 11.31 8.28 7.01 6.02
Union *......................... 11.13 10.36 6.63 5.09 4.40
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total....................... 130.18 124.19 84.69 66.44 64.75
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* Emissions for the portion of the county included in the maintenance area.
Table 5--Revised Total Man-Made VOC Emissions for North Carolina Portion of the Charlotte Maintenance Area
[Tons/day]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
County 2014 2015 2018 2022 2026
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cabarrus *...................... 11.50 11.27 9.51 9.23 8.57
Gaston *........................ 12.96 12.74 11.53 10.94 10.42
Iredell *....................... 6.33 6.22 5.29 5.11 4.88
Lincoln *....................... 6.55 6.47 4.81 4.66 4.63
Mecklenburg..................... 50.10 49.16 45.31 44.47 43.72
Rowan *......................... 12.59 12.38 12.47 12.19 11.96
Union *......................... 13.09 12.85 10.91 10.68 10.39
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[[Page 25853]]
Total....................... 113.12 111.09 99.82 97.28 94.57
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* Emissions for the portion of the county included in the maintenance area.
Table 6--Revised Maintenance Demonstration for North Carolina Portion of
the Charlotte Maintenance Area
------------------------------------------------------------------------
NOX (tons/ VOC (tons/
Year day) day)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
2014.................................... 130.18 113.12
2015.................................... 124.19 111.09
2018.................................... 84.69 99.82
2022.................................... 66.44 97.28
2026.................................... 64.75 94.57
Reduction in emissions from 2014 to 2026 65.43 18.55
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Table 7 provides the revised NOX and VOC on-road mobile
emissions inventory for 2014 (base year) and 2026 (maintenance year)
for the 2008 8-hour ozone NAAQS for the North Carolina portion of the
Charlotte Maintenance Area. The emissions are expressed in tons/day and
in kg/day because the budgets are expressed in kilograms per day (kg/
day). The MOVES3 output emissions values were rounded to the nearest
kg/day and were divided by 907.1847 to convert them to units of tons/
day. The resulting values in tons/day were rounded to two decimal
places.
Table 7--Revised On-Road Mobile Source NOX and VOC Summer Day Emissions in 2014 and 2026 for the North Carolina Portion of the Charlotte Maintenance
Area
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2014 NOX 2014 VOC 2026 NOX 2026 VOC
County -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
tons/day kg/day tons/day kg/day tons/day kg/day tons/day kg/day
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cabarrus *.............................................. 6.60 5,989 4.15 3,765 2.43 2,208 1.76 1,600
Gaston *................................................ 8.11 7,357 4.61 4,179 2.45 2,224 1.68 1,524
Iredell *............................................... 3.36 3,045 1.95 1,768 1.29 1,171 0.86 782
Lincoln *............................................... 3.00 2,723 1.91 1,737 1.06 963 0.76 688
Mecklenburg *........................................... 26.99 24,488 14.40 13,060 12.08 10,957 7.14 6,476
Rowan *................................................. 6.42 5,825 3.76 3,408 1.94 1,757 1.37 1,246
Union *................................................. 5.67 5,146 3.54 3,210 2.29 2,074 1.62 1,471
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total............................................... 60.15 54,572 34.32 31,127 23.54 21,354 15.19 13,787
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* Emissions for the portion of the county included in the maintenance area.
A safety margin is the difference between the attainment level of
emissions from all source categories (i.e., point, area, on-road, and
nonroad) (2014 in this case) and the projected level of emissions from
all source categories in the maintenance year (2026 in this case). The
State may choose to allocate some of the safety margin to the budgets,
for transportation conformity purposes, so long as the total level of
emissions from all source categories remains equal to or less than the
attainment level of emissions. As noted above, North Carolina
previously chose to allocate a portion of its NOX and VOC
safety margin to the budgets for the entire North Carolina portion of
the Charlotte Maintenance Area for the year 2026. See 86 FR 32850 (June
23, 2021) and 86 FR 47387 (August 25, 2021). Tables 8 and 9, below,
show the revised MOVES3 safety margins and percentages North Carolina
is proposing to allocate to the 2026 NOX and VOC budgets
from the newly calculated safety margins, respectively, in the North
Carolina portion of the Charlotte Maintenance Area.
Table 8--Revised Safety Margins for the North Carolina Portion of the
Charlotte Maintenance Area
------------------------------------------------------------------------
NOX (tons/ VOC (tons/
Year day) day)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
2014.................................... N/A N/A
2015.................................... -5.99 -2.03
2018.................................... -45.49 -13.30
2022.................................... -63.74 -15.84
2026.................................... -65.43 -18.55
------------------------------------------------------------------------
[[Page 25854]]
B. Revised Budgets
In the December 19, 2022, SIP revision, North Carolina requested
that EPA approve revisions to the budgets for the North Carolina
portion of the Charlotte 2008 Ozone Maintenance Area by allocating a
portion of the remaining safety margin to the budgets.\7\ The budget
revisions are proposed to accommodate updates from the mobile emissions
model MOVES3. The proposed percentages of the on-road emissions
allocated to the 2026 budgets for the North Carolina counties in the
Charlotte 2008 Ozone Maintenance Area are listed in the table 9, below.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\7\ As with the original SIP revision approved on July 15, 2015,
and the last revision approved on August 25, 2021, NCDEQ utilized a
five-step approach for determining a factor to use to calculate the
amount of safety margin to apply to the budgets for 2026. See
Appendix A of the submittal for more detailed information.
\8\ These VOC percentages were not clearly delineated in NCDEQ's
December 19, 2022, submittal (at table 4.1 in the narrative portion
of the submittal and table 4.4-1 in Appendix A). NCDEQ submitted a
correction to the December 19, 2022, submittal via a letter dated
March 15, 2024, which is in the docket for this proposed rulemaking.
Table 9--Proposed Percentage of On-Road Emissions Allocated to the 2026
Motor Vehicle Emissions Budget
------------------------------------------------------------------------
NOX (percent) VOC \8\
County (percent)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cabarrus................................ 65 67
Gaston.................................. 60 62
Iredell................................. 62 62
Lincoln................................. 62 62
Mecklenburg............................. 57 57
Rowan................................... 65 67
Union................................... 60 62
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Based on the on-road emissions inventory revisions in table 7, the
following tables provide the proposed NOX and VOC sub-area
budgets with the proposed safety margin allocations in kg/day for
transportation conformity purposes for 2026 (2014 is only shown for
illustration because no changes are being made to the budgets for that
year).
Table 10--Proposed Cabarrus-Rowan Metropolitan Planning Organization (CRMPO) Budgets in 2014 and 2026
[kg/day] *
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2014 NOX 2014 VOC 2026 NOX 2026 VOC
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Base On-road Emissions.......................... 11,814 7,173 3,965 2,846
Safety margin allocated to budget............... 2,578 1,907
Conformity budget............................... 11,814 7,173 6,543 4,753
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* Includes the portions of Cabarrus and Rowan Counties in the maintenance area.
Table 11--Proposed Gaston-Cleveland-Lincoln Metropolitan Planning Organization (GCLMPO) Budgets in 2014 and 2026
[kg/day] *
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2014 NOX 2014 VOC 2026 NOX 2026 VOC
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Base On-road Emissions.......................... 10,079 5,916 3,187 2,212
Safety margin allocated to budget............... 1,930 1,371
Conformity budget............................... 10,079 5,916 5,117 3,583
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* Includes the portions of Gaston and Lincoln Counties in the maintenance area. Although Cleveland County is
included in the MPO, it is not included in the Charlotte ozone maintenance area.
Table 12--Proposed Charlotte Regional Transportation Planning Organization (CRTPO)--Rocky River Rural Planning
Organization (RRRPO) Budgets in 2014 and 2026
[kg/day] *
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2014 NOX 2014 VOC 2026 NOX 2026 VOC
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Base On-road Emissions.......................... 32,679 18,038 14,202 8,729
Safety margin allocated to budget............... 8,215 5,089
Conformity budget............................... 32,679 18,038 22,417 13,818
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* Includes all of Mecklenburg County and a portion of Iredell and Union Counties in the maintenance area.
[[Page 25855]]
C. Revised Safety Margin
As mentioned above, a safety margin is the difference between the
attainment level of emissions from all source categories (i.e., point,
area, on-road, and nonroad) and the projected level of emissions from
all source categories. NCDEQ has requested that EPA approve the
proposed allocation of some of the available safety margin to the 2026
NOX and VOC budgets for transportation conformity purposes.
The total level of emissions from all source categories remains equal
to or less than the attainment level of emissions.
EPA is proposing to approve changes to the budgets that include a
proposed allocation of 2,577 and 1,907 kg/day of NOX and
VOC, respectively, for the Cabarrus-Rowan MPO; 1,931 and 1,371 kg/day
of NOX and VOC, respectively, for the Gaston-Cleveland MPO;
and 8,215 and 5,089 kg/day of NOX and VOC, respectively, for
the Charlotte Regional TPO. Thus, if EPA's action is finalized as
proposed, the amount of the safety margin allocated to the 2026 budgets
will be 12,723 kg/day (14.02 tons/day) of NOX and 8,367 kg/
day (9.22 tons/day) of VOC. The proposed new safety margins available
for the North Carolina portion of the Charlotte Maintenance Area are
listed below.
Table 15--New Safety Margins for the North Carolina Portion of the
Charlotte Maintenance Area
------------------------------------------------------------------------
NOX (tons/ VOC (tons/
Year day) day)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
2014.................................... * N/A N/A
2015.................................... -5.99 -2.03
2018.................................... -45.49 -13.30
2022.................................... -63.74 -15.84
2026.................................... -51.41 -9.33
------------------------------------------------------------------------
D. Adequacy of the Budgets
EPA evaluated NCDEQ's December 19, 2022, SIP revision allocating a
portion of the available safety margin to the 2026 MOVES3 based budgets
in the revised 2008 8-hour ozone Charlotte maintenance plan for use in
determining transportation conformity in the North Carolina portion of
the Charlotte Maintenance Area. EPA is proposing this action based on
its evaluation of these budgets using the adequacy criteria found in 40
CFR 93.118(e)(4) and its evaluation of NCDEQ's submittal and SIP
requirements. EPA is proposing to approve this SIP revision because the
SIP continues to serve its intended purpose of maintenance of the 2008
8-hour ozone standard with the newly revised MOVES3 based budgets. EPA
is also proposing to deem the budgets adequate for transportation
conformity purposes because they meet the adequacy criteria in the
conformity rule at 40 CFR 93.118(e)(4). Specifically:
NCDEQ's SIP was endorsed by the Governor's designee and
was subject to a State public hearing ((e)(4)(i));
Before NCDEQ submitted the SIP revision to EPA,
consultation among Federal, State, and local agencies occurred and full
documentation was provided to EPA and EPA had no concerns ((e)(4)(ii));
The budgets are clearly identified and precisely
quantified ((e)(4)(iii));
The budgets, when considered together with all other
emissions sources, are consistent with applicable requirements for
reasonable further progress, attainment, or maintenance ((e)(4)(iv));
The budgets are consistent with and clearly related to the
emissions inventory and control measures in the SIP revision
((e)(4)(v); and
The December 19, 2022, SIP revision explains and documents
changes to the previous budgets, impacts on point, area, nonroad and
on-road source emissions, and changes to established safety margins,
and reasons for the changes (including the basis for any changes
related to emission factors or vehicle miles traveled) ((e)(4)(vi)).
IV. Proposed Action
EPA is proposing to approve NCDEQ's December 19, 2022, SIP
revision, requesting approval of a revision to the Charlotte 2008 8-hr
Ozone Maintenance Plan that updates the 2026 on-road and nonroad
emissions inventories and safety margins with MOVES3, allocates a
portion of the newly available 2026 safety margins. The SIP revision
also updates the current 2026 budgets with MOVES3 and recalculates new
available safety margins. The revised budgets ensure continued
attainment of the 2008 8-hour ozone NAAQS through the maintenance year
2026. In addition, EPA is proposing to deem the budgets adequate for
transportation conformity purposes because the budgets meet the
adequacy criteria in the conformity rule at 40 CFR 93.118(e)(4). If
approved, the newly revised MOVES3 2026 budgets for NOX and
VOC identified in tables 10 through 12 will be used by the MPOs in
future transportation conformity determinations. The remaining safety
margins are 51.41 tons/day and 9.33 tons/day for NOX and
VOC, respectively. EPA has evaluated North Carolina's submittal and has
determined that it meets the applicable requirements of the CAA and EPA
regulations and is consistent with EPA policy.
V. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews
Under the CAA, the Administrator is required to approve a SIP
submission that complies with the provisions of the CAA and applicable
Federal regulations. 42 U.S.C. 7410(k); 40 CFR 52.02(a). Thus, in
reviewing SIP submissions, EPA's role is to approve State choices,
provided that they meet the criteria of the CAA. Accordingly, this
proposed action merely proposes to approve 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 14094 (88 FR 21879, April 11, 2023);
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);
[[Page 25856]]
Is not subject to Executive Order 13045 (62 FR 19885,
April 23, 1997) because it approves a State program;
Is not a significant regulatory action subject to
Executive Order 13211 (66 FR 28355, May 22, 2001); and
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.
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 rulemaking does not have Tribal implications and will not
impose substantial direct costs on Tribal governments or preempt Tribal
law as specified by Executive Order 13175 (65 FR 67249, November 9,
2000).
Executive Order 12898 (Federal Actions To Address Environmental
Justice in Minority Populations and Low-Income Populations, 59 FR 7629,
Feb. 16, 1994) directs Federal agencies to identify and address
``disproportionately high and adverse human health or environmental
effects'' of their actions on minority populations and low-income
populations to the greatest extent practicable and permitted by law.
EPA defines environmental justice (EJ) as ``the fair treatment and
meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, color,
national origin, or income with respect to the development,
implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and
policies.'' EPA further defines the term fair treatment to mean that
``no group of people should bear a disproportionate burden of
environmental harms and risks, including those resulting from the
negative environmental consequences of industrial, governmental, and
commercial operations or programs and policies.''
NCDEQ did not evaluate EJ considerations as part of its SIP
submittal; the CAA and applicable implementing regulations neither
prohibit nor require such an evaluation. EPA did not perform an EJ
analysis and did not consider EJ in this proposed action. Due to the
nature of the action being proposed here, this proposed action is
expected to have a neutral to positive impact on the air quality of the
affected area. Consideration of EJ is not required as part of this
proposed action, and there is no information in the record inconsistent
with the stated goal of E.O. 12898 of achieving EJ for people of color,
low-income populations, and Indigenous peoples.
List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 52
Environmental protection, Air pollution control, Incorporation by
reference, Intergovernmental relations, Carbon monoxide, Nitrogen
dioxide, Ozone, Particulate matter, Reporting and recordkeeping
requirements, Volatile organic compounds.
Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.
Dated: April 5, 2024.
Jeaneanne Gettle,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region 4.
[FR Doc. 2024-07701 Filed 4-11-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P
