FR Doc 04-28700

[Federal Register: January 3, 2005 (Volume 70, Number 1)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Page 22-25]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr03ja05-8]

=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[R06-OAR-2004-TX-0003; FRL-7856-7]

Approval and Promulgation of Implementation Plans; Texas;
Victoria County Maintenance Plan Update

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Direct final rule.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: EPA is taking direct final action approving a State
Implementation Plan (SIP) revision submitted by the Texas Commission on
Environmental Quality (TCEQ) on February 18, 2003, concerning the
Victoria County 1-hour ozone maintenance area. This SIP revision
satisfies the Clean Air Act requirement as amended in 1990 for the
second 10-year update to the Victoria County 1-hour ozone maintenance
area.

DATES: This rule is effective on March 4, 2005 without further notice,
unless EPA receives adverse comment by February 2, 2005. If EPA
receives such comment, EPA will publish a timely withdrawal in the
Federal Register informing the public that this rule will not take
effect.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Regional Materials in
EDocket (RME) ID No. R06-OAR-2004-TX-0003, by one of the following
methods:
Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov.

Follow the on-line instructions for submitting comments.
Agency Web site: http://docket.epa.gov/rempub/. Regional

Materials in EDocket (RME), EPA's electronic public docket and comment
system, is EPA's preferred method for receiving comments. Once in the
system, select ``quick search,'' then key in the appropriate RME Docket
identification number. Follow the online instructions for submitting
comments.
EPA Region 6 ``Contact Us'' Web site: http://epa.gov/region6/r6coment.htm.
Please click on ``6PD'' (Multimedia) and select

``Air'' before submitting comments.
E-mail: Mr. Thomas Diggs at diggs.thomas@epa.gov. Please
also send a copy by e-mail to the person listed in the FOR FURTHER
INFORMATION CONTACT section below.
Fax: Mr. Thomas Diggs, Chief, Air Planning Section (6PD-
L), at fax number 214-665-7263.
Mail: Mr. Thomas Diggs, Chief, Air Planning Section (6PD-
L), Environmental Protection Agency, 1445 Ross Avenue, Suite 1200,
Dallas, Texas 75202-2733.
Hand or Courier Delivery: Mr. Thomas Diggs, Chief, Air
Planning Section (6PD-L), Environmental Protection Agency, 1445 Ross
Avenue, Suite 1200, Dallas, Texas 75202-2733. Such deliveries are
accepted only between the hours of 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. weekdays except
for legal holidays. Special arrangements should be made for deliveries
of boxed information.
Instructions: Direct your comments to RME ID No. R06-OAR-2004-TX-
0003. EPA's policy is that all comments received will be included in
the public file without change and may be made available online at
http://docket.epa.gov/rmepub/, including any personal information

provided, unless the comment includes information claimed to be
Confidential Business Information (CBI) or other information the
disclosure of which is restricted by statute. Do not submit information
through Regional Materials in EDocket (RME), regulations.gov or e-mail
if you believe that it is CBI or otherwise protected from disclosure.
The EPA RME Web site and the Federal regulations.gov Web site are
``anonymous access'' systems, which means EPA will not know your
identity or contact information unless you provide it in the body of
your comment. If you send an e-mail comment directly to EPA without
going through RME or regulations.gov, your e-mail address will be
automatically captured and included as part of the comment that is
placed in the public file 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

[[Page 23]]

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 and any form of encryption, and should be
free of any defects or viruses.
Docket: All documents in the electronic docket are listed in the
Regional Materials in EDocket (RME) index at http://docket.epa.gov/rempub/.
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 RME or in the official file, which
is available at the Air Planning Section (6PD-L), Environmental
Protection Agency, 1445 Ross Avenue, Suite 700, Dallas, Texas 75202-
2733. The file will be made available by appointment for public
inspection in the Region 6 FOIA Review Room between the hours of 8:30
a.m. and 4:30 p.m. weekdays except for legal holidays. Contact the
person listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT paragraph below or
Mr. Bill Deese at 214-665-7253 to make an appointment. If possible,
please make the appointment at least two working days in advance of
your visit. There will be a 15 cent per page fee for making photocopies
of documents. On the day of the visit, please check in at the EPA
Region 6 reception area at 1445 Ross Avenue, Suite 700, Dallas, Texas.
The State submittal is also available for public inspection at the
State Air Agency listed below during official business hours by
appointment:
Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, Office of Air Quality,
12124 Park 35 Circle, Austin, Texas 78753.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Peggy Wade, Air Planning Section (6PD-
L), Environmental Protection Agency, Region 6, 1445 Ross Avenue, Suite
700, Dallas, Texas 75202-2733, telephone (214) 665-7247; fax number
214-665-7263; e-mail address wade.peggy@epa.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Throughout this document, whenever ``we''
``us'' or ``our'' is used, we mean the EPA.

Outline

I. Background
II. Analysis of the State's Submittal
III. Final Action
IV. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

I. Background

On March 3, 1978, under the 1977 Clean Air Act (CAA) amendments,
Victoria County, Texas, was designated a nonattainment area because it
did not meet the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for
ozone (43 FR 8962). As required by the CAA, the state of Texas
submitted a State Implementation Plan (SIP) to the EPA in 1979. This
SIP outlined control measures to bring the area into attainment for the
ozone NAAQS. This SIP was approved by EPA in two actions, one in 1980
and another in 1984. An additional SIP revision for Victoria County was
submitted to EPA on November 12, 1992. This submission revised the air
monitoring, reporting and recordkeeping requirements and was approved
by EPA on March 7, 1995 (60 FR 12348).
On July 27, 1994, Texas submitted a request to redesignate Victoria
County to attainment. At the same time, Texas submitted the required
ozone monitoring data and a maintenance plan to ensure the area would
remain in attainment for ozone for a period of 10 years. The
maintenance plan submitted by Texas followed EPA guidance for limited
maintenance areas, which provides relief for ozone areas that have
design values less than 85% of the applicable standard. In this case,
the applicable standard is the 1-hour ozone standard of 0.12 parts per
million (ppm). At the time of the redesignation request, the design
value for Victoria County was 0.100 ppm, well below the 85% threshold
of 0.106 ppm. EPA approved Texas's request, and Victoria County was
redesignated to attainment on March 7, 1995, with an effective date of
May 8, 1995 (60 FR 12453).
Section 175A(b) of the CAA as amended in 1990 requires the state to
submit a subsequent maintenance plan to EPA eight years after
designation to attainment. This SIP revision satisfies this CAA
requirement for the Victoria County 1-hour ozone maintenance area.

II. Analysis of the State's Submittal

On February 18, 2003, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality
(TCEQ) submitted a revision to the SIP for Victoria County. This
revision provides the second 10-year update to the maintenance plan for
the area, as required by the section 175A(b) of the CAA. The purpose of
this plan is to ensure continued maintenance of the NAAQS for 1-hour
ozone in Victoria County by demonstrating that future emissions of the
ozone precursor pollutants, nitrogen oxides (NOX) and
volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are expected to remain at or below
attainment year emission levels.
This revision is a continuation of an existing maintenance plan and
no new control strategies specifically for Victoria County have been
incorporated. However, since approval of the existing plan, which
occurred in March of 1995, TCEQ has implemented several regional air
quality measures which will provide improved control of air pollution
in Victoria County. These measures include the following elements,
among others: (1) Implementation of Stage I vapor recovery which serves
to reduce VOC emissions from gas stations as the gasoline storage tanks
are refilled, (2) enacting specific requirements for the permitting or
shutdown of previously grandfathered facilities such as pipelines,
small stationary sources and electric generating facilities, (3)
required reductions in NOX emission rates from larger point
sources such as electric utility boilers and gas turbines and (4)
implementation of control requirements for non-road, large spark-
ignition engines, beginning with model year 2004, that match California
standards. The purpose of these regional measures is to reduce
background levels of ozone in order to facilitate compliance with the
ozone standard in nonattainment, maintenance and near-nonattainment
areas, including Victoria County.
This SIP revision also updates the monitoring data for Victoria
County. Air quality monitoring is the method by which continued
attainment of the NAAQS is demonstrated. TCEQ commits to keep the
current Victoria area air monitors active for the duration of the
second 10-year maintenance period. The current system consists of two
monitors; one (CAMS 87) is in the City of Victoria and the other (CAMS
602, a private monitor meeting 40 CFR part 58 Quality Assurance
requirements), which has been operational since July 19, 2000, is
located southeast of the City of Victoria. The current 1-hour ozone
design value for Victoria County, based on 2001-2003 data from the CAMS
87 monitor, is 0.094 ppm, which remains less than 85% of the 1-hour
ozone NAAQS of 0.12 ppm. The design value from the private CAMS 602
monitor, based on 2001-2003 data, is 0.090 ppm. Also, Victoria was
designated attainment for the new, more protective 8-hour ozone
standard on April 15, 2004 (69 FR 23858, published on April 30, 2004).
The 8-hour ozone NAAQS is 0.08 ppm (62 FR38856). The 8-hour ozone
design value is 0.078 ppm at the CAMS 87 monitor, based on 2001-2003
data. The CAMS 602 monitor has a design value of 0.073 ppm for 2001-
2003 data.

[[Page 24]]

Section 175A of the CAA requires that a maintenance plan include
contingency provisions to promptly correct any violation of the NAAQS
that occurs after redesignation of the area to attainment. With this
submission, TCEQ is revising the contingency measures and contingency
trigger levels in the existing SIP for Victoria County. The contingency
indicator will remain the ambient air quality monitoring data, taken
from the most recent three years of monitoring data. The triggering
mechanism has been adjusted from that contained in the existing SIP.
Three basic trigger levels are specified for the activation of
contingency measures. They are as follows:
(a) A monitor shows one exceedance of the NAAQS during a three-year
period;
(b) A monitor shows two or three exceedances of the NAAQS during a
three-year period; or
(c) A monitor shows the fourth exceedance, and therefore a
violation, of the NAAQS during a three-year period.

These trigger levels are appropriate in that they require action to
be taken with a single exceedance of the NAAQS. This will assist the
area in implementing measures that may lessen future exceedances and
potentially avoid a violation of the NAAQS.
The activation of contingency measures in the submitted maintenance
plan revision are associated with specific triggers. In the existing
plan, implementation of Stage I vapor recovery systems is an approved
contingency measure. However, this measure has been implemented
regionally by TCEQ and is thus already in effect in Victoria County and
is no longer appropriate as a contingency measure in the maintenance
plan. This SIP revision removes Stage I vapor recovery as a contingency
measure for Victoria County. The contingency measures adopted by TCEQ
for Victoria County include the following:
(a) Upon one exceedance of the NAAQS at either air quality monitor
within a three-year period, the City of Victoria and the Metropolitan
Planning Organization will establish a formal ozone advisory committee
with the intended purpose of managing an ozone abatement program during
the ozone season;
(b) Upon two exceedances of the NAAQS within a three-year period,
the ozone advisory committee will implement a voluntary program with
industry to reschedule, revise or curtail activities on ozone advisory
days, and;
(c) Upon a violation of the NAAQS (i.e., four exceedances during a
three-year period), TCEQ will submit to EPA a full maintenance plan in
accordance with the CAA and EPA guidance.
This SIP submission also serves to update the emissions inventory
for Victoria County. In the existing SIP, the base year or attainment
year inventory is for 1992. Texas has updated the inventory to be
consistent with reported and estimated emissions for 1996. The choice
of 1996 as a new base year is acceptable because the area was in
attainment in 1996, with a design value of 0.98 ppm. The 1996 emission
inventory for area, point, nonroad mobile, onroad mobile and biogenic
sources is provided in the following table.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
VOC (tons NOX (tons
per day) per day)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Point......................................... 2.91 20.18
Area.......................................... 9.09 2.81
Nonroad Mobile................................ 4.74 6.56
Onroad Mobile................................. 5.89 8.72
Biogenic...................................... 161.11 3.41
--------------
Total....................................... 183.74 41.68
------------------------------------------------------------------------

III. Final Action

EPA is approving the second 10-year update to the Victoria County
1-hour ozone maintenance plan.
We have evaluated the State's submittal and have determined that it
meets the applicable requirements of the Clean Air Act and EPA
regulations, and is consistent with EPA policy. Therefore, we are
approving the request of TCEQ to revise the SIP for the Victoria County
1-hour ozone maintenance area.
EPA is publishing this rule without prior proposal because we view
this as a noncontroversial amendment and anticipate no adverse
comments. However, in the proposed rules section of this Federal
Register publication, we are publishing a separate document that will
serve as the proposal to approve the SIP revision if adverse comments
are received. This rule will be effective on March 4, 2005 without
further notice unless we receive adverse comment by February 2, 2005.
If we receive adverse comments, we will publish a timely withdrawal in
the Federal Register informing the public that the rule will not take
effect. We will address all public comments in a subsequent final rule
based on the proposed rule. We will not institute a second comment
period on this action. Any parties interested in commenting must do so
now. Please note that if we receive adverse comment on an amendment,
paragraph, or section of this rule and if that provision may be severed
from the remainder of the rule, we may adopt as final those provisions
of the rule that are not the subject of an adverse comment.

IV. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

Under Executive Order 12866 (58 FR 51735, October 4, 1993), this
action is not a ``significant regulatory action'' and therefore is not
subject to review by the Office of Management and Budget. For this
reason, this action is also not subject to Executive Order 13211,
``Actions Concerning Regulations That Significantly Affect Energy
Supply, Distribution, or Use'' (66 FR 28355, May 22, 2001). This action
merely approves State law as meeting Federal requirements and imposes
no additional requirements beyond those imposed by State law.
Accordingly, the Administrator certifies that this rule will not have a
significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities
under the Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 601 et seq.). Because
this rule approves pre-existing requirements under State law and does
not impose any additional enforceable duty beyond that required by
State law, it does not contain any unfunded mandate or significantly or
uniquely affect small governments, as described in the Unfunded
Mandates Reform Act of 1995 (Public Law 104-4).
This rule also does not have tribal implications because it will
not have a substantial direct effect on one or more Indian tribes, on
the relationship between the Federal Government and Indian tribes, or
on the distribution of power and responsibilities between the Federal
Government and Indian tribes, as specified by Executive Order 13175 (65
FR 67249, November 9, 2000). This action also does not have federalism
implications because it does not have substantial direct effects on the
States, on the relationship between the National Government and the
States, or on the distribution of power and responsibilities among the
various levels of government, as specified in Executive Order 13132 (64
FR 43255, August 10, 1999). This action merely approves a State rule
implementing a Federal standard, and does not alter the relationship or
the distribution of power and responsibilities established in the Clean
Air Act. This rule also is not subject to Executive Order 13045
``Protection of Children from Environmental Health Risks and Safety
Risks'' (62 FR 19885, April 23, 1997), because it is not economically
significant.
In reviewing SIP submissions, EPA's role is to approve State
choices, provided that they meet the criteria of

[[Page 25]]

the Clean Air Act. In this context, in the absence of a prior existing
requirement for the State to use voluntary consensus standards (VCS),
EPA has no authority to disapprove a SIP submission for failure to use
VCS. It would thus be inconsistent with applicable law for EPA, when it
reviews a SIP submission, to use VCS in place of a SIP submission that
otherwise satisfies the provisions of the Clean Air Act. Thus, the
requirements of section 12(d) of the National Technology Transfer and
Advancement Act of 1995 (15 U.S.C. 272 note) do not apply. This rule
does not impose an information collection burden under the provisions
of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.).
The Congressional Review Act, 5 U.S.C. 801 et seq., as added by the
Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996, generally
provides that before a rule may take effect, the agency promulgating
the rule must submit a rule report, which includes a copy of the rule,
to each House of the Congress and to the Comptroller General of the
United States. EPA will submit a report containing this rule and other
required information to the U.S. Senate, the U.S. House of
Representatives, and the Comptroller General of the United States prior
to publication of the rule in the Federal Register. 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 appropriate circuit by March 4, 2005. Filing a
petition for reconsideration by the Administrator of this final rule
does not affect the finality of this rule for the purposes of judicial
review nor does it extend the time within which a petition for judicial
review may be filed, and shall not postpone the effectiveness of such
rule or action. This action 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, Intergovernmental
relations, Nitrogen dioxide, Ozone, Reporting and recordkeeping
requirements, Volatile organic compounds.

Dated: December 17, 2004.
Richard E. Greene,
Regional Administrator, Region 6.

0
40 CFR part 52 is amended as follows:

PART 52--[AMENDED]

0
1. The authority citation for part 52 continues to read as follows:

Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.

Subpart SS--Texas

0
2. In Sec. 52.2270, the table in paragraph (e) entitled ``EPA approved
nonregulatory provisions and quasi-regulatory measures'' is amended by
adding one new entry to the end of the table to read as follows:

Sec. 52.2270 Identification of plan.

* * * * *
(e) * * *

EPA Approved Nonregulatory Provisions and Quasi-Regulatory Measures in the Texas SIP
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Applicable geographic or nonattainment
Name of SIP provision area State approval/submittal date EPA approval date Comments
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

* * * * * * *
Second 10-year maintenance plan Victoria.............................. 02/05/03 01/03/05 [Insert FR page number where document begins].......
for Victoria County.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

0
3. Section 52.2275, Control strategy and regulations: Ozone, paragraph
(e) is revised to read as follows:

Sec. 52.2275 Control strategy and regulations: Ozone.

* * * * *
(e) Approval--The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ)
submitted a revision to the Texas SIP on February 18, 2003, concerning
the Victoria County 1-hour ozone maintenance plan. This SIP revision
was adopted by TCEQ on February 5, 2003. This SIP revision satisfies
the Clean Air Act requirement, as amended in 1990, for the second 10-
year update to the Victoria County 1-hour ozone maintenance area.

[FR Doc. 04-28700 Filed 12-30-04; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6560-50-P