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Approval and Promulgation of Air Quality Implementation Plans; Delaware; Attainment Plan for the Philadelphia-Wilmington, Pennsylvania-New Jersey-Delaware 1997 Fine Particulate Matter Nonattainment AreaNov 19, 2012 (Environmental Protection Agency Documents and Publications/ContentWorks via COMTEX) -- SUMMARY: EPA is proposing to approve a State Implementation Plan (SIP) revision submitted by Delaware on April 3, 2008, as amended on April 25, 2012. The SIP revision demonstrates attainment of the 1997 annual fine particulate matter (PM2.5) national ambient air quality standard (NAAQS) for the Philadelphia-Wilmington, Pennsylvania-New Jersey-Delaware (PA-NJ-DE) nonattainment area (Philadelphia Area). This Delaware SIP revision (herein called the "attainment plan") includes the Philadelphia Area's attainment demonstration and motor vehicle emission budgets (MVEBs) used for transportation conformity purposes for New Castle County in Delaware. The attainment plan also includes an analysis of reasonably available control measures (RACM) and reasonably available control technology (RACT), a base year emissions inventory, and contingency measures. The April 25, 2012 submittal is a SIP revision that replaces the MVEBs in the April 3, 2008 submittal with a budget that is based on the Motor Vehicle Emissions Simulator (MOVES) model. In a separate and concurrent process, EPA is conducting a procedure to find adequate the MVEBs for New Castle County. Furthermore, EPA has determined that a reasonable further progress (RFP) plan is not required because Delaware projected that attainment of the 1997 annual PM2.5 NAAQS occurred in the Philadelphia Area by the attainment date of April 2010. This action is being taken in accordance with the Clean Air Act (CAA) and the Clean Air Fine Particulate Implementation Rule (PM2.5 Implementation Rule) published on April 25, 2007. EFFECTIVE DATE: Written comments must be received on or before December 19, 2012. ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID Number EPA-R03-OAR-2010-0141 by one of the following methods: A. www.regulations.gov. Follow the on-line instructions for submitting comments. B. Email: [email protected]. C. Mail: EPA-R03-OAR-2010-0141, Donna Mastro, Acting Associate Director, Office of Air Planning Program, Mailcode 3AP30, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region III, 1650 Arch Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19103. D. Hand Delivery: At the previously-listed EPA Region III address. Such deliveries are only accepted during the Docket's normal hours of operation, and special arrangements should be made for deliveries of boxed information. Instructions: Direct your comments to Docket ID No. EPA-R03-OAR-2010-0141. EPA's policy is that all comments received will be included in the public docket without change, and may be made available online at www.regulations.gov, including any personal information provided, unless the comment includes information claimed to be Confidential Business Information (CBI) or other information whose disclosure is restricted by statute. Do not submit information that you consider to be CBI or otherwise protected through www.regulations.gov or email. The www.regulations.gov Web site is an "anonymous access" system, which means EPA will not know your identity or contact information unless you provide it in the body of your comment. If you send an email comment directly to EPA without going through www.regulations.gov, your email address will be automatically captured and included as part of the comment that is placed in the public docket and made available on the Internet. If you submit an electronic comment, EPA recommends that you include your name and other contact information in the body of your comment and with any disk or CD-ROM you submit. If EPA cannot read your comment due to technical difficulties and cannot contact you for clarification, EPA may not be able to consider your comment. Electronic files should avoid the use of special characters, any form of encryption, and be free of any defects or viruses. Docket: All documents in the electronic docket are listed in the www.regulations.gov index. Although listed in the index, some information is not publicly available, i.e., CBI or other information whose disclosure is restricted by statute. Certain other material, such as copyrighted material, is not placed on the Internet and will be publicly available only in hard copy form. Publicly available docket materials are available either electronically in www.regulations.gov or in hard copy during normal business hours at the Air Protection Division, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region III, 1650 Arch Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19103. Copies of the State submittal are available at the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control, 89 Kings Highway, P.O. Box 1401, Dover, Delaware 19903. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Rose Quinto, (215) 814-2182, or by email at [email protected]. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Throughout this document, whenever "we," "us," or "our" is used, we mean EPA. The following is provided to aid in locating information in this preamble. I. Summary of Action II. Background A. Designation History B. Clean Air Fine Particle Implementation Rule C. Determinations of Attainment III. Description of the Delaware Attainment Plan IV. EPA's Analysis A. Attainment Demonstration 1. Pollutants Addressed 2. Emission Inventory Requirements 3. Modeling 4. Reasonably Available Control Measures/Reasonably Available Control Technology 5. Reasonable Further Progress 6. Contingency Measures 7. Attainment Date B. Motor Vehicle Emissions Budgets (MVEBs) V. Proposed Action VI. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews I. Summary of Action EPA is proposing to approve Delaware's SIP revision which was submitted by the State of Delaware through the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC) to EPA on April 3, 2008, as amended on April 25, 2012, which demonstrates attainment of the 1997 annual PM2.5 NAAQS for the Philadelphia Area. This PM2.5 attainment plan includes Delaware's attainment demonstration and MVEBs used for transportation conformity purposes for New Castle County in Delaware. The April 25, 2012 SIP revision submittal (1) replaced the onroad emissions budget in the April 3, 2008 submittal with a budget that is based on a new onroad mobile emissions model--MOVES model; (2) demonstrated that the MOVES based mobile source budget is consistent with attainment of the PM2.5 NAAQS by 2010; and (3) demonstrated that the contingency requirements of the CAA are met. The April 25, 2012 submittal only impacts PM2.5 and nitrogen oxide (NOX) emissions and calculations. The attainment plan also includes a base year emissions inventory, an analysis of RACM/RACT, and contingency measures. EPA has determined that a RFP plan is not required because Delaware demonstrated that attainment with the 1997 annual PM2.5 NAAQS occurred in the Philadelphia Area by the attainment date of April 2010. In a separate and concurrent process, EPA is conducting a process to find adequate the MVEBs for New Castle County which are associated with the Delaware attainment demonstration for the Philadelphia Area. Concurrently with EPA's proposal to approve the SIP, a notice will be posted on EPA's Web site at http://www.epa.gov/otaq/stateresources/transconf/currsips.htm for the purpose of opening a 30-day public comment period on the adequacy of the MVEBs for New Castle County in the April 25, 2012 SIP revision's attainment demonstration for the Philadelphia Area. That notice will inform the public of the availability of the Delaware SIP revision on DNREC's Web site. Interested members of the public could access Delaware's April 25, 2012 SIP revision on line at www.regulations.gov, Docket No. EPA-R03-OAR-2010-0141. Following EPA's public comment period, responses to any comments received will be addressed. EPA has reviewed the revised MVEBs developed with MOVES and found them consistent with the attainment demonstration and found that the budgets meet the criteria for adequacy and approval. EPA has determined that Delaware's PM2.5 attainment plan meets the applicable requirements of the CAA, as described in the PM2.5 Implementation Rule published on April 25, 2007 (72 FR 20586). EPA's analysis and findings are discussed in this proposed rulemaking. In addition, technical support documents (TSDs) for this proposal are available on line at www.regulations.gov, Docket No. EPA-R03-OAR-2010-0141. These TSDs provide additional explanation of EPA's analysis supporting this proposal. II. Background A. Designation History On July 16, 1997, EPA established the 1997 PM2.5 NAAQS, including an annual standard of 15.0 micrograms per cubic meter ([mu]g/m3) based on a 3-year average of annual mean PM2.5 concentrations and a 24-hour (or daily) standard of 65 [mu]g/m3 based on a 3-year average of the 98th percentile of 24-hour concentrations. See 62 FR 38652 (July 18, 1997). EPA established these standards based on significant evidence and numerous health studies demonstrating that serious health effects are associated with exposures to PM2.5. Following promulgation of a new or revised NAAQS, EPA is required by the CAA to designate areas throughout the United States as attaining or not attaining the NAAQS; this designation process is described in section 107(d)(1) of the CAA. In 1999, EPA and state air quality agencies initiated the monitoring process for the 1997 PM2.5 NAAQS and by January 2001, established a complete set of air quality monitors. On January 5, 2005 (70 FR 944), EPA promulgated initial air quality designations for the 1997 PM2.5 NAAQS, which became effective on April 5, 2005, based on air quality monitoring data for calendar years 2001-2003. --This is a summary of a Federal Register article originally published on the page number listed below-- Proposed rule. CFR Part: "40 CFR Part 52" Citation: "77 FR 69399" Document Number: "EPA-R03-OAR-2010-0141; FRL-9752-8" Federal Register Page Number: "69399" "Proposed Rules" |