Federal Register: March 25, 2009 (Volume , Number )
DOCID: fr25mr09-11 FR Doc E9-6643
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
Environmental Protection Agency
CFR Citation: 40 CFR Part 52
EPA ID: [EPA-R01-OAR-2008-0796 ; A-1-FRL-8785-6]
NOTICE: RULES
DOCID: fr25mr09-11
DOCUMENT ACTION: Direct final rule.
SUBJECT CATEGORY:
Approval and Promulgation of Air Quality Implementation Plans; Rhode Island; Carbon Monoxide Limited Maintenance Plan for Providence, RI
DATES: This direct final rule will be effective May 26, 2009, unless EPA receives adverse comments by April 24, 2009. If adverse comments are received, EPA will publish a timely withdrawal of the direct final rule in the Federal Register informing the public that the rule will not take effect.
DOCUMENT SUMMARY:
EPA is approving a State Implementation Plan (SIP) revision submitted by the State of Rhode Island. This revision establishes a limited maintenance plan for the Providence Rhode Island carbon monoxide attainment area and addresses the remaining portion of the tenyear update to the carbon monoxide maintenance plan. This action is being taken in accordance with the Clean Air Act.
SUMMARY:
Rhode Island; Carbon Monoxide Limited Maintenance Plan for Providence, RI,
SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION
Throughout this document whenever ``we,'' ``us,'' or ``our'' is used, we mean EPA.
Organization of this document. The following outline is provided to aid in locating information in this preamble.
I. Background and Purpose
II. Criteria for Limited Maintenance Plan Designation
A. EPA Guidance
B. Demonstration of Maintenance
C. Emission Inventory
D. Monitoring Network and Verification of Continued Attainment III. Contingency
IV. State Commitments
V. Conformity
VI. Final Action
VII. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews
I. Background and Purpose
In 1989, Rhode Island submitted a request to EPA to redesignate Providence to attainment status for carbon monoxide (CO). Since the EPA had not yet approved that request when the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 (CAAA) were enacted, Rhode Island submitted a revised redesignation request to EPA in 1991 that addressed additional requirements in the CAAA. The initial tenyear maintenance plan relied on emissions reductions from the Federal Motor Vehicle Emission Control Program (FMVECP) and from the Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD) program, which replaced the New Source Review (NSR) program when the redesignation became effective. The maintenance plan also stated that, if the carbon monoxide National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) was violated in the ten year period covered by the plan, the State would submit a plan to correct the violation within 18 months of the violation. On September 5, 1991, the EPA published a Final Rule in the Federal Register that redesignated Providence to attainment status for CO (56 FR 43872).
Section 175A of the CAAA requires redesignated areas to submit a second tenyear maintenance plan to the EPA eight years after the first plan is approved. The second plan must demonstrate that compliance with the NAAQS will continue during the ten year period following the expiration of the first maintenance plan. In the case of Rhode Island, the second tenyear maintenance plan was scheduled to be submitted in 1999 and would cover the years 2001 through 2011. Rhode Island did not submit a second tenyear maintenance plan at that time; however the emissions control programs established in the first tenyear maintenance plan continued to be in effect. Monitored levels of carbon monoxide in the Providence attainment area continued to be well below the 8hour NAAQS standard of 9.0 parts per million (ppm), and have stayed on a downward trend. The 1hour CO NAAQS of 32 parts per million was never exceeded in the State of Rhode Island.
In June 2007, Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (RI DEM) requested permission to discontinue monitoring for CO at the Dorrance Street site in Providence. This request was prompted by amendments to EPA's monitoring requirements (Final Rule: Revisions to Ambient Air Monitoring Regulations; October 17, 2006; 71 FR 61236), which removed minimum requirements for CO monitoring for determining compliance with NAAQS. The amended EPA regulation continued to require the operation of CO monitors at Type II stations in the Photochemical Assessment Monitoring Sites (PAMS) network. Rhode Island has operated a year round CO monitor at its Type II PAMS site in East Providence since 1998.
In its request to remove the Dorrance Street CO monitor, RI DEM
stated that the monitor no longer served a useful purpose because the
CO NAAQS had not been exceeded for 20 years and was extremely unlikely
to be exceeded in the future, since monitored levels were considerably
below the NAAQS and continued to trend downward and the emissions
control programs that had resulted in this decrease remained in [[Page 12564]]
place. Moreover, this site was no longer useful for predicting the
State's daily Air Quality Index (AQI), which serves to warn the public
about impending poor air quality, because all CO measurements recorded since 2001 had been in the ``good'' category of the AQI.
In an October 24, 2007 letter from Michael Kenyon, Director of the Office of Environmental Measurement and Evaluation, EPA Region I approved the termination of the Dorrance Street site ``subject to the revision of the Providence carbon monoxide maintenance plan being approved by EPA.'' At issue was the fact that the original maintenance plan relied on the levels measured by the Dorrance Street monitor to track continued attainment of the CO NAAQS. EPA advised that, if CO monitoring at that site were discontinued, Rhode Island would need to revise its CO maintenance plan to provide another mechanism to track continued attainment until the end of the second tenyear maintenance period (September 2011) and to identify levels that would trigger the need for additional action. RI DEM agreed to revise its plan and discontinued CO monitoring at the Dorrance Street site at the end of June 2007.
On September 22, 2008, the State of Rhode Island submitted a formal
revision to its State Implementation Plan (SIP) for a Limited
Maintenance Plan for the Providence Rhode Island Carbon Monoxide
Maintenance Area. The SIP revision consists of a second followon ten
year carbon monoxide maintenance plan for the Providence carbon
monoxide attainment area to address the remainder of the maintenance
plan period (period 2001 to 2011), and a request for a limited carbon
monoxide maintenance plan designation. The SIP revision also includes
the State's commitment to year round carbon monoxide monitoring at the
East Providence Photochemical Assessment Monitoring Station (PAMS) site.
II. Criteria for Limited Maintenance Plan Designation
A. EPA Guidance
In November 1994, EPA issued guidance regarding a limited
maintenance plan option for nonclassifiable ozone nonattainment
areas.\1\ In October 1995, EPA issued further guidance that extended
that option to nonclassifiable carbon monoxide nonattainment areas.\2\
To qualify for the limited maintenance option, an area's 8hour average
CO design value at the time of redesignation must be at or below 7.65 ppm (85% of the NAAQS).
\1\ Memorandum ``Limited Maintenance Plan Option for
Nonclassifiable Ozone Nonattainment Areas'' from Sally L. Shaver,
Director, EPA Air Quality Strategies and Standards Division, to Regional Air Directors, November 16, 1994.
\2\ Memorandum ``Limited Maintenance Plan Option for
Nonclassifiable CO Nonattainment Areas'' from Joseph W. Paisie,
Group Leader, EPA Integrated Policy and Strategies Group, to Air Branch Chiefs, October 6, 1995.
Unlike full maintenance plans, limited maintenance plans are not required to include a projection of emissions over the maintenance period, because, according to EPA's 1995 guidance, ``the continued applicability of prevention of significant deterioration (PSD) requirements, any control measures already in the SIP, and Federal measures (such as the Federal Motor Vehicle Emission Control Program) should provide adequate assurance of maintenance for those areas.''
Moreover, the establishment of emissions budgets for conformity purposes is not required as part of limited maintenance plans. According to the 1995 guidance, ``it is unreasonable to expect that such an area will experience so much growth * * * that a violation of the CO NAAQS would result.'' Therefore, budgets for transportation and general conformity determinations are not required for areas with approved limited maintenance plans.
B. Demonstration of Maintenance
For areas such as Providence Rhode Island that utilize EPA's
limited maintenance plan approach, the maintenance demonstration is
considered to be satisfied for ``not classified'' areas if the
monitoring data show the design value is at or below 7.65 ppm, or 85
percent of the level of the 8hour carbon monoxide CO NAAQS. The design
value must be based on the 8 consecutive quarters of data. For such
areas, there is no requirement to project emissions of air quality over
the maintenance period. EPA believes if the area begins the maintenance
period at, or below, 85% of the CO 8 hour NAAQS, the applicability of
Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD) requirements, the control
measures already in the SIP, and Federal measures, should provide
adequate assurance of maintenance over the initial 10year maintenance
period. In addition, the design value for the area must continue to be
at or below 7.65 ppm until the time of final EPA action on the
redesignation. At the time of redesignation, in 1991, Providence's 8
hour CO design value was 7.4 ppm, and had been below 7.65 since 1989.
The design value has continued to decline as shown in Table 1. The
design value for 2006, the last full year that the Providence monitor
operated, was 2.5 ppm (as compared to the NAAQS of 9.0 ppm). Therefore,
Providence demonstrates maintenance and is clearly eligible for the limited maintenance plan option.
Table 18Hour Carbon Monoxide Design Values for Providence Rhode Island
[8Hour carbon monoxide design values for Providence Rhode Island]
Design value
Year (ppm)
1991.................................................... 7.4
1998.................................................... 4.7
1999.................................................... 3.9
2000.................................................... 3.5
2001.................................................... 3.8
2002.................................................... 2.7
2003.................................................... 2.3
2004.................................................... 2.5
2005.................................................... 2.5
2006.................................................... 2.5
2007.................................................... 2.5 C. Emission Inventory
An annual carbon monoxide emission inventory was prepared for both
Rhode Island Statewide and Providence County for the year 2002, a year
in which attainment was monitored in the Providence Rhode Island carbon
monoxide attainment area, and the 8hour carbon monoxide design value was 2.7 parts per million. Please see Table 2. below:
[[Page 12565]]
Table 2Statewide and Providence County Rhode Island 2002 Annual Carbon Monoxide Emissions
[2002 carbon monoxide annual emissions (tons per year)] Rhode Island
statewide carbon Providence county
Source monoxide carbon monoxide
emissions emissions
Stationary point.................. 1,742 1,663
Stationary nonpoint............... 10,535 4,875
Nonroad mobile................... 68,804 30,501
Onroad mobile.................... 188,312 109,794
Total Anthropogenic (manmade) 269,393 146,833
Biogenic.......................... 1,925 554
=====================================
Total..................... 271,318 147,387
D. Monitoring Network and Verification of Continued Attainment
In the limited maintenance plan, Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management commits to maintain a continuous CO monitor at the East Providence PAMS site and reestablish a CO monitoring site meeting EPA specifications in downtown Providence should (1) the East Providence 8hour CO design value increase to five parts per million; or (2) total calendar year CO emissions in Providence County from all anthropogenic sources exceed 190,883 tons per year (a value 30% higher than the total anthropogenic emissions in the 2002 inventory); or (3) average motor vehicle CO emissions measured by the remote sensing program in any year between 2008 and 2011 exceed 0.39%, which is three times the 2006 value.
III. Contingency
EPA concurs with RI DEM that specific contingency measures are not needed at the present, since current CO levels are so far below the NAAQS and emissions from mobile sources, the dominant source of CO in the State and in Providence County, are decreasing as the percentage of vehicles subject to tighter Federal Motor Vehicle Emission Control Program (FMVECP) standards increase in the State. However, if monitoring for CO in downtown Providence is triggered, based on the criteria specified below, in ``State Commitments,'' RI DEM will develop contingency measures that will go into effect if a violation of the NAAQS occurs without further action by the State.
IV. State Commitments
EPA's guidance for limited maintenance plans also requires states
to include several commitments as part of the SIP revision. To fulfill
those requirements, Rhode Island's September 22, 2008 SIP submittal includes the following commitments:
Section 176(c) of the Clean Air Act (CAA) defines transportation conformity as conformity to the state implementation plan's purpose of eliminating or reducing the severity and number of violations of the NAAQS and achieving expeditious attainment of such standards. The CAA further defines transportation conformity to mean that no Federal transportation activity will: (1) Cause or contribute to any new violation of any standard in any area; (2) increase the frequency or severity of any existing violation of any standard in any area; or (3) delay timely attainment of any standard or any required interim emission reductions or other milestones in any area. The Federal Transportation Conformity Rule, 40 CFR part 93, subpart A, sets forth the criteria and procedures for demonstrating and assuring conformity of transportation plans, programs and projects which are developed, funded or approved by the U.S. Department of Transportation, and by metropolitan planning organizations or other recipients of funds under title 23 U.S.C. or the Federal Transit Laws (49 U.S.C. 53). The transportation conformity rule applies within all nonattainment and maintenance areas. As prescribed by the transportation conformity rule, once an area has an applicable state implementation plan with motor vehicle emissions budgets, the expected emissions from planned transportation activities must be consistent with (``conform to'') such established budgets for that area.
In the case of the Providence Rhode Island CO limited maintenance
plan area, however, the emissions budgets may be treated as essentially
not constraining for the length of the second maintenance period as
long as the area continues to meet the limited maintenance criteria, because there is
[[Page 12566]]
no reason to expect that these areas will experience so much growth in
that period that a violation of the CO NAAQS would result. In other
words, emissions from onroad transportation sources need not be capped
for the remainder of the maintenance period because it is unreasonable
to believe that emissions from such sources would increase to a level
that would threaten the air quality in this area for the duration of
this maintenance period. Therefore, for the limited maintenance plan CO
maintenance area, all Federal actions that require conformity
determinations under the transportation conformity rule are considered
to satisfy the regional emissions analysis and ``budget test'' requirements in 40 CFR 93.118 of the rule.
Since limited maintenance plan areas are still maintenance areas, however, transportation conformity determinations are still required for transportation plans, programs and projects. Specifically, for such determinations, transportation plans, transportation improvement programs, and projects must still demonstrate that they are fiscally constrained (40 CFR part 108) and must meet the criteria for consultation and Transportation Control Measure (TCM) implementation in the conformity rule (40 CFR 93.112 and 40 CFR 93.113, respectively). In addition, projects in limited maintenance areas will still be required to meet the criteria for CO hot spot analyses to satisfy ``project level'' conformity determinations (40 CFR 93.116 and 40 CFR 93.123) which must incorporate the latest planning assumptions and models that are available. All aspects of transportation conformity (with the exception of satisfying the emission budget test) will still be required.
If the carbon monoxide attainment area monitors carbon monoxide concentrations at or above the limited maintenance eligibility criteria, or 7.65 parts per million, then that maintenance area would no longer qualify for a limited maintenance plan and would revert to a full maintenance plan. In this event, the limited maintenance plan would remain applicable for conformity purposes only until the full maintenance plan is submitted and EPA has found its motor vehicle emissions budgets adequate for conformity purposes or EPA approves the full maintenance plan SIP revision. At that time regional emissions analyses would resume as a transportation conformity criteria. VI. Final Action
EPA is approving Rhode Island's September 22, 2008 State Implementation Plan (SIP) revision establishing a limited maintenance plan for the Providence Rhode Island carbon monoxide attainment area.
The EPA is publishing this action without prior proposal because the Agency views this as a noncontroversial amendment and anticipates no adverse comments. However, in the proposed rules section of this Federal Register publication, EPA is publishing a separate document that will serve as the proposal to approve the SIP revision should relevant adverse comments be filed. This rule will be effective May 26, 2009 without further notice unless the Agency receives relevant adverse comments by April 24, 2009.
If the EPA receives such comments, then EPA will publish a notice withdrawing the final rule and informing the public that the rule will not take effect. All public comments received will then be addressed in a subsequent final rule based on the proposed rule. The EPA will not institute a second comment period on the proposed rule. All parties interested in commenting on the proposed rule should do so at this time. If no such comments are received, the public is advised that this rule will be effective on May 26, 2009 and no further action will be taken on the proposed rule. Please note that if EPA receives adverse comment on an amendment, paragraph, or section of this rule and if that provision may be severed from the remainder of the rule, EPA may adopt as final those provisions of the rule that are not the subject of an adverse comment.
VII. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews
Under the Clean Air Act, the Administrator is required to approve a
SIP submission that complies with the provisions of the Act 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 Clean Air Act.
Accordingly, this action merely approves state law as meeting Federal
requirements and does not impose additional requirements beyond those imposed by state law. For that reason, this action:
In addition, this rule does not have tribal implications as specified by Executive Order 13175 (65 FR 67249, November 9, 2000), because the SIP is not approved to apply in Indian country located in the state, and EPA notes that it will not impose substantial direct costs on tribal governments or preempt tribal law.
The Congressional Review Act, 5 U.S.C. 801 et seq., as added by the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996, generally provides that before a rule may take effect, the agency promulgating the rule must submit a rule report, which includes a copy of the rule, to each House of the Congress and to the Comptroller General of the United States. EPA will submit a report containing this action and other required information to the U.S. Senate, the U.S. House of Representatives, and the Comptroller General of the United States prior to publication of the rule in the Federal Register. A major rule cannot take effect until 60 days after it is published in the Federal Register. This action is not a ``major rule'' as defined by 5 U.S.C. 804(2).
Under section 307(b)(1) of the Clean Air Act, petitions for
judicial review of this action must be filed in the United States Court of Appeals for the
[[Page 12567]]
appropriate circuit by May 26, 2009. Filing a petition for
reconsideration by the Administrator of this final rule does not affect
the finality of this action for the purposes of judicial review nor
does it extend the time within which a petition for judicial review may
be filed, and shall not postpone the effectiveness of such rule or
action. Parties with objections to this direct final rule are
encouraged to file a comment in response to the parallel notice of
proposed rulemaking for this action published in the proposed rules
section of today's Federal Register, rather than file an immediate
petition for judicial review of this direct final rule, so that EPA can
withdraw this direct final rule and address the comment in the proposed
rulemaking. This action may not be challenged later in proceedings to enforce its requirements. (See section 307(b)(2).)
List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 52
Environmental protection, Air pollution control, Carbon monoxide,
Incorporation by reference, Intergovernmental relations, Lead, Nitrogen
dioxide, Ozone, Particulate matter, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, Sulfur oxides, Volatile organic compounds.
Dated: March 12, 2009.
Ira W. Leighton,
Acting Regional Administrator, EPA New England.
Part 52 of chapter I, title 40 of the Code of Federal Regulations is amended as follows:
PART 52[AMENDED]
1. The authority citation for part 52 continues to read as follows:
Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.
Subpart OORhode Island
2. Section 52.2089 is added to read as follows:
Sec. 52.2089 Control strategy: carbon monoxide.
(a) ApprovalOn September 22, 2008, the Rhode Island Department of
Environmental Management submitted a request to establish a limited
maintenance plan for the Providence Rhode Island carbon monoxide
attainment area for the remainder of the second tenyear maintenance
plan. The State of Rhode Island has committed to year round carbon
monoxide monitoring at the East Providence Photochemical Assessment
Monitoring Station (PAMS) site; reestablishing downtown Providence CO
monitoring if criteria specified in the Limited Maintenance Plan are
triggered; and, ensuring that projectlevel carbon monoxide evaluations
of transportation projects in the maintenance area are conducted. The
limited maintenance plan satisfies all applicable requirements of
section 175A of the Clean Air Act. Approval of a limited maintenance
plan is conditioned on maintaining levels of ambient carbon monoxide
levels below the required limited maintenance plan 8hour carbon
monoxide design value criterion of 7.65 parts per million. If the
Limited Maintenance Plan criterion is no longer satisfied, Rhode Island
must develop a full maintenance plan to meet Clean Air Act requirements.
(b) [Reserved]
[FR Doc. E96643 Filed 32409; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 656050P
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT
Donald O. Cooke, Air Quality Planning Unit, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, EPA New England Regional Office, One Congress Street, Suite 1100 (CAQ), Boston, MA 021142023, telephone number (617) 9181668, fax number (617) 9180668, email cooke.donald@epa.gov.