Proposed Rule2024-02395
Air Plan Approval; Virginia; 1997 8-Hour Ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standard Second Maintenance Plan for the Fredericksburg Area
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
February 6, 2024
Issuing agencies
Environmental Protection Agency
Abstract
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to approve a state implementation plan (SIP) revision submitted by the Commonwealth of Virginia. This revision pertains to the Commonwealth's plan, submitted by the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (VADEQ), for maintaining the 1997 8-hour ozone national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS) (referred to as the "1997 ozone NAAQS") in the Fredericksburg, Virginia Area (Fredericksburg Area). This action is being taken under the Clean Air Act (CAA).
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 89 Issue 25 (Tuesday, February 6, 2024)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 25 (Tuesday, February 6, 2024)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 8131-8136]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2024-02395]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 52
[EPA-R03-OAR-2023-0629; FRL-11261-01-R3]
Air Plan Approval; Virginia; 1997 8-Hour Ozone National Ambient
Air Quality Standard Second Maintenance Plan for the Fredericksburg
Area
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Proposed rule.
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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to
approve a state implementation plan (SIP) revision submitted by the
Commonwealth of Virginia. This revision pertains to the Commonwealth's
plan, submitted by the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality
(VADEQ), for maintaining the 1997 8-hour ozone national ambient air
quality standards (NAAQS) (referred to as the ``1997 ozone NAAQS'') in
the Fredericksburg, Virginia Area (Fredericksburg Area). This action is
being taken under the Clean Air Act (CAA).
DATES: Written comments must be received on or before March 7, 2024.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-R03-
OAR-2023-0629 at <a href="http://www.regulations.gov">www.regulations.gov</a>, or via email to
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#f6b19984929998d8bb9f9d93b6938697d8919980"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="86c1e9f4e2e9e8a8cbefede3c6e3f6e7a8e1e9f0">[email protected]</span></a>. For comments submitted at <a href="http://Regulations.gov">Regulations.gov</a>, follow
the online instructions for submitting comments. Once submitted,
comments cannot be edited or removed from <a href="http://Regulations.gov">Regulations.gov</a>. For either
manner of submission, 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, please contact the person
identified in the For Further Information Contact section. For the full
EPA public comment policy, information about CBI or multimedia
submissions, and general guidance on making effective comments, please
visit <a href="http://www.epa.gov/dockets/commenting-epa-dockets">www.epa.gov/dockets/commenting-epa-dockets</a>.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Serena Nichols, Planning &
Implementation Branch (3AD30), Air & Radiation Division, U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency, Region III, 1600 John F Kennedy
Boulevard, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19103. The telephone number is
(215) 814-2053. Ms. Nichols can also be reached via electronic mail at
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#c886a1aba0a7a4bbe69badbaada6a988adb8a9e6afa7be"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="d09eb9b3b8bfbca3fe83b5a2b5beb190b5a0b1feb7bfa6">[email protected]</span></a>.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On May 25, 2023, the VADEQ submitted a
revision to the Virginia SIP to incorporate a plan for maintaining the
1997 ozone NAAQS in the Fredericksburg Area through January 23,
2026,\1\ in accordance with CAA section 175A.
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\1\ The state submission indicates that the twenty-year
maintenance period expires on December 31, 2025. This discrepancy is
likely due to EPA's December 23, 2005 redesignation and initial
approval of the maintenance plan, in which it mistakenly listed the
publication date as the effective date. 70 FR 76165. EPA
subsequently corrected the effective date, found in 40 CFR part 81,
to January 23, 2006. 72 FR 68515 (December 5, 2007). Thus, the
expiration date of the twenty-year maintenance period is January 23,
2026.
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I. Background
In 1979, under section 109 of the CAA, EPA established primary and
secondary NAAQS for ozone at 0.12 parts per million (ppm), averaged
over a 1-hour period. 44 FR 8202 (February 8, 1979). On July 18, 1997
(62 FR 38856),\2\ EPA revised the primary and secondary NAAQS for ozone
to set the acceptable level of ozone in the ambient air at 0.08 ppm,
averaged over an 8-hour period. EPA set the 1997 ozone NAAQS based on
scientific evidence demonstrating that ozone causes adverse health
effects at lower concentrations and over longer periods of time than
was understood when the pre-existing 1-hour ozone NAAQS was set.
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\2\ In March 2008, EPA completed another review of the primary
and secondary ozone standards and tightened them further by lowering
the level for both to 0.075 ppm. 73 FR 16436 (March 27, 2008).
Additionally, in October 2015, EPA completed a review of the primary
and secondary ozone standards and tightened them by lowering the
level for both to 0.70 ppm. 80 FR 65292 (October 26, 2015).
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Following promulgation of a new or revised NAAQS, EPA is required
by the CAA to designate areas throughout the nation as attaining or not
attaining the NAAQS. On April 30, 2004 (69 FR 23858), EPA designated
the Fredericksburg Area as nonattainment for the 1997 ozone NAAQS. The
Fredericksburg Area consists of the city of Fredericksburg, and the
counties of Spotsylvania and Stafford.
Once a nonattainment area has three years of complete and certified
air quality data that has been determined to attain the NAAQS, and the
area has met the other criteria outlined in CAA section
107(d)(3)(E),\3\ the state can submit a request to EPA to redesignate
the area to attainment. Areas that have
[[Page 8132]]
been redesignated by EPA from nonattainment to attainment are referred
to as ``maintenance areas.'' One of the criteria for redesignation is
to have an approved maintenance plan under CAA section 175A. The
maintenance plan must demonstrate that the area will continue to
maintain the standard for the period extending 10 years after
redesignation, and it must contain such additional measures as
necessary to ensure maintenance as well as contingency measures as
necessary to assure that violations of the standard will be promptly
corrected.
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\3\ The requirements of CAA section 107(d)(3)(E) include
attainment of the NAAQS, full approval under section 110(k) of the
applicable SIP, determination that improvement in air quality is a
result of permanent and enforceable reductions in emissions,
demonstration that the state has met all applicable section 110 and
part D requirements, and a fully approved maintenance plan under CAA
section 175A.
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On December 23rd, 2005 (70 FR 76165),\4\ EPA approved a
redesignation request (and maintenance plan) from VADEQ for the
Fredericksburg Area for the 1997 ozone NAAQS. In accordance with
section 175A(b), at the end of the eighth year after the effective date
of the redesignation, the state must also submit a second maintenance
plan to ensure ongoing maintenance of the standard for an additional 10
years.
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\4\ The effective date was January 23, 2006. See footnote 1.
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EPA's final implementation rule for the 2008 ozone NAAQS revoked
the 1997 ozone NAAQS and provided that one consequence of revocation
was that areas that had been redesignated to attainment (i.e.,
maintenance areas) for the 1997 ozone NAAQS no longer needed to submit
second 10-year maintenance plans under CAA section 175A(b). See 80 FR
12315 (March 6, 2015). However, in South Coast Air Quality Management
District v. EPA \5\ (South Coast II), the United States Court of
Appeals for the District of Columbia (D.C. Circuit) vacated EPA's
interpretation that, because of the revocation of the 1997 ozone
standard, second maintenance plans were not required for ``orphan
maintenance areas,'' (i.e., areas like the Fredericksburg Area) that
had been redesignated to attainment for the 1997 ozone NAAQS and were
designated attainment for the 2008 ozone NAAQS. Thus, states with these
``orphan maintenance areas'' under the 1997 ozone NAAQS must submit
maintenance plans for the second maintenance period.
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\5\ 882 F.3d 1138 (D.C. Cir. 2018).
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As previously discussed, CAA section 175A sets forth the criteria
for adequate maintenance plans. In addition, EPA has published
longstanding guidance \6\ that provides further insight on the content
of an approvable maintenance plan, explaining that a maintenance plan
should address five elements: (1) an attainment emissions inventory;
(2) a maintenance demonstration; (3) a commitment for continued air
quality monitoring; (4) a process for verification of continued
attainment; and (5) a contingency plan. The 1992 Calcagni Memo \7\
provides that states may generally demonstrate maintenance by either
performing air quality modeling to show that the future mix of sources
and emission rates will not cause a violation of the NAAQS or by
showing that future emissions of a pollutant and its precursors will
not exceed the level of emissions during a year when the area was
attaining the NAAQS (i.e., attainment year inventory). See 1992
Calcagni Memo at p. 9. EPA further clarified in three subsequent
guidance memos describing ``limited maintenance plans'' (LMPs) \8\ that
the requirements of CAA section 175A could be met by demonstrating that
the area's design value \9\ was well below the NAAQS and that the
historical stability of the area's air quality levels showed that the
area was unlikely to violate the NAAQS in the future. Specifically, EPA
believes that if the most recent air quality design value for the area
is at a level that is below 85% of the standard, or in this case below
0.071 ppm, then EPA considers the state to have met the section 175A
requirement for a demonstration that the area will maintain the NAAQS
for the requisite period. Accordingly, on May 25, 2023, VADEQ submitted
an LMP for the Fredericksburg Area, following EPA's LMP guidance and
demonstrating that the area will maintain the 1997 ozone NAAQS through
January 23, 2026, i.e., through the entire 20-year maintenance period.
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\6\ See ``Limited Maintenance Plan Option for Nonclassifiable
Ozone Nonattainment Areas'' from Sally L. Shaver, Office of Air
Quality Planning and Standards (OAQPS), dated November 16, 1994.
\7\ ``Procedures for Processing Requests to Redesignate Areas to
Attainment,'' Memorandum from John Calcagni, Director, Air Quality
Management Division, September 4, 1992 (1992 Calcagni Memo).
\8\ See ``Limited Maintenance Plan Option for Nonclassifiable
Ozone Nonattainment Areas'' from Sally L. Shaver, Office of Air
Quality Planning and Standards (OAQPS), dated November 16, 1994;
``Limited Maintenance Plan Option for Nonclassifiable CO
Nonattainment Areas'' from Joseph Paisie, OAQPS, dated October 6,
1995; and ``Limited Maintenance Plan Option for Moderate
PM<INF>10</INF> Nonattainment Areas'' from Lydia Wegman, OAQPS,
dated August 9, 2001.
\9\ The ozone design value for a monitoring site is the 3-year
average of the annual fourth-highest daily maximum 8-hour average
ozone concentrations. The design value for an ozone nonattainment
area is the highest design value of any monitoring site in the area.
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II. Summary of SIP Revision and EPA Analysis
VADEQ's May 25, 2023 submittal outlines a plan for continued
maintenance of the 1997 ozone NAAQS which addresses the criteria set
forth in EPA guidance, including the 1992 Calcagni Memo as follows.
A. Attainment Emissions Inventory
For maintenance plans, a state should develop a comprehensive and
accurate inventory of actual emissions for an attainment year which
identifies the level of emissions in the area which is sufficient to
maintain the NAAQS. The inventory should be developed consistent with
EPA's most recent guidance. For ozone, the inventory should be based on
a typical summer day's emissions of nitrogen oxides (NO<INF>X</INF>)
and volatile organic compounds (VOC), the precursors to ozone
formation. In the first maintenance plan for the Fredericksburg Area,
VADEQ used 2004 for the attainment year inventory, because 2004 was one
of the years in the 2002-2004 three-year period when the area first
attained the 1997 ozone NAAQS.\10\ The Fredericksburg Area continued to
monitor attainment of the 1997 ozone NAAQS in 2014. Therefore, the
emissions inventory from 2014 represents emissions levels conducive to
continued attainment (i.e., maintenance) of the NAAQS. Thus, VADEQ is
using 2014 as representing attainment level emissions for its second
maintenance plan. Virginia used 2014 summer day emissions from EPA's
2014 version 7.0 modeling platform as the basis for the 2014 inventory
presented in Table 1 in this document.\11\
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\10\ For more information, see EPA's September 12, 2005 document
proposing to redesignate the Frederickburg Area to attainment for
the 1997 ozone NAAQS (70 FR 53746).
\11\ For more information, visit <a href="http://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2018-11/ozone_1997_naaqs_emiss_inv_data_nov_19_2018_0.xlsx">www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2018-11/ozone_1997_naaqs_emiss_inv_data_nov_19_2018_0.xlsx</a>.
[[Page 8133]]
Table 1--2014 Typical Summer Day NOX and VOC Emissions for the Fredericksburg Area in Tons/Day
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Area Source category NOX emissions VOC emissions
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City of Fredericksburg..................... Nonpoint..................... 0.21 1.06
Nonroad...................... 0.08 0.13
Onroad....................... 1.54 0.85
Spotsylvania County........................ Fire......................... 0.00 0.01
Nonpoint..................... 0.70 3.48
Nonroad...................... 1.41 1.38
Onroad....................... 6.15 3.15
Point........................ 0.01 0.01
Stafford County............................ Nonpoint..................... 1.00 3.09
Nonroad...................... 1.44 1.10
Onroad....................... 5.79 2.24
Point........................ 0.16 0.06
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The data shown in Table 1 in this document is based on the 2014
National Emissions Inventory (NEI) version 2.\12\ The inventory
addresses four anthropogenic emission source categories: Stationary
(point) sources, stationary nonpoint (area) sources, nonroad mobile,
and onroad mobile sources. Point sources are stationary sources that
have the potential to emit more than 100 tons per year (tpy) of VOC, or
more than 50 tpy of NO<INF>X</INF>, and which are required to obtain an
operating permit. The point source sector includes large industrial
operations that are relatively few in number but have large emissions,
such as kraft mills, electrical generating units, and pharmaceutical
factories. Nonpoint sources include emissions from equipment,
operations, and activities that are numerous and in total have
significant emissions. Examples include emissions from commercial and
consumer products, portable fuel containers, home heating, repair and
refinishing operations, and crematories. The nonroad emissions sector
includes emissions from engines that are not primarily used to propel
transportation equipment, such as generators, forklifts, and marine
pleasure craft. The onroad emissions sector includes emissions from
engines used primarily to propel equipment on highways and other roads,
including passenger vehicles, motorcycles, and heavy-duty diesel
trucks. The fire emissions sector includes emissions from agricultural
burning, prescribed fires, wildfires, and other types of fires. Data
are collected for each source at a facility and reported to VADEQ. EPA
reviewed the emissions inventory submitted by VADEQ and proposes to
conclude that the plan's inventory is acceptable for the purposes of a
subsequent maintenance plan under CAA section 175A(b).
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\12\ The NEI is a comprehensive and detailed estimate of air
emissions of criteria pollutants, criteria precursors, and hazardous
air pollutants from air emissions sources. The NEI is released every
three years based primarily upon data provided by State, Local, and
Tribal air agencies for sources in their jurisdictions and
supplemented by data developed by EPA.
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B. Maintenance Demonstration
In order to attain the 1997 ozone NAAQS, the three-year average of
the fourth-highest daily average ozone concentration (design value, or
``DV'') at each monitor within an area must not exceed 0.08 ppm. Based
on the rounding convention described in 40 CFR part 50, appendix I, the
standard is attained if the DV is 0.084 ppm or below. CAA section 175A
requires a demonstration that the area will continue to maintain the
NAAQS throughout the duration of the requisite maintenance period.
Consistent with the guidance documents discussed previously in this
document as well as EPA's November 20, 2018 ``Resource Document for
1997 Ozone NAAQS Areas: Supporting Information for States Developing
Maintenance Plans'' (2018 Resource Document),\13\ EPA believes that if
the most recent DV for the area is well below the NAAQS (e.g., below
85%, or in this case below 0.071 ppm), the section 175A demonstration
requirement has been met, provided that prevention of significant
deterioration requirements, any control measures already in the SIP,
and any Federal measures remain in place through the end of the second
10-year maintenance period (absent a showing consistent with section
110(l) that such measures are not necessary to assure maintenance).
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\13\ This resource document is included in the docket for this
rulemaking available online at <a href="http://www.regulations.gov">www.regulations.gov</a>, Docket ID: EPA-
R03-OAR-2023-0629 and is also available at <a href="http://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2018-11/documents/ozone_1997_naaqs_lmp_resource_document_nov_20_2018.pdf">www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2018-11/documents/ozone_1997_naaqs_lmp_resource_document_nov_20_2018.pdf</a>.
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For the purposes of demonstrating continued maintenance with the
1997 ozone NAAQS, VADEQ provided 3-year DVs at the Stafford County
monitor located in the Fredericksburg Area from 2001 to 2021. This
includes DVs at the monitor for 2001-2003, 2002-2004, 2003-2005, 2004-
2006, 2005-2007, 2006-2008, 2007-2009, 2008-2010, 2009-2011, 2010-2012,
2011-2013, 2012-2014, 2013-2015, 2014-2016, 2015-2017, 2016-2018, 2017-
2019, 2018-2020, and 2019-2021 which are shown in Table 2 in this
document.\14\ In addition, EPA has reviewed the most recent ambient air
quality monitoring data for ozone in the Fredericksburg Area, as
submitted by Virginia and recorded in EPA's Air Quality System. The
most recent DV (i.e., 2020-2022) at the monitor located in the
Fredericksburg Area is 0.058 ppm.\15\
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\14\ See also Figure 2 of VADEQ's May 25, 2023 submittal,
included in the docket for this rulemaking available online at
<a href="http://www.regulations.gov">www.regulations.gov</a>, Docket ID: EPA-R03-OAR-2023-0629.
\15\ This data is also included in the docket for this
rulemaking available online at <a href="http://www.regulations.gov">www.regulations.gov</a>, Docket ID: EPA-
R03-OAR-2023-0629 and is also available at <a href="http://www.epa.gov/air-trends/air-quality-design-values#report">www.epa.gov/air-trends/air-quality-design-values#report</a>.
[[Page 8134]]
Table 2--1997 Ozone NAAQS Design Values in parts per million for the Fredericksburg Area
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AQS site
County ID 2001 - 2003 2002 - 2004 2003 - 2005 2004 - 2006 2005 - 2007 2006 - 2008 2007 - 2009 2008 - 2010 2009 - 2011 2010 - 2012
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Stafford......................................... 511790001 .088 .084 .079 .081 .085 .081 .072 .070 .072 .076
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AQS site
County ID 2011 - 2013 2012 - 2014 2013 - 2015 2014 - 2016 2015 - 2017 2016 - 2018 2017 - 2019 2018 - 2020 2019 - 2021 2020 - 2022
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Stafford......................................... 511790001 .071 .067 .063 .063 .062 .062 .060 .059 .059 .058
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Additionally, states can support the demonstration of continued
maintenance by showing stable or improving air quality trends.
According to EPA's 2018 Resource Document, several kinds of analyses
can be performed by states wishing to make such a showing. One approach
is to take the most recent DV at a monitor located in the area and add
the maximum design value increase (over one or more consecutive years)
that has been observed in the area over the past several years. For an
area with multiple monitors, the highest of the most recent DVs should
be used. A sum that does not exceed the level of the 1997 ozone NAAQS
may be a good indicator of expected continued attainment. The largest
increase in DVs at the Stafford monitor located in the Fredericksburg
Area was 0.004 ppm, which first occurred between the 2004-2006 (0.081
ppm) and 2005-2007 (0.085 ppm) DVs, and occurred again between the
2009-2011 (0.072 ppm) and 2010-2012 (0.076 ppm) DVs. Adding 0.004 ppm
to the highest DV for the 2020-2022 period (0.058 ppm) results in 0.062
ppm, a sum that is still below the 1997 ozone NAAQS.
DVs at the monitor located in the Fredericksburg Area have been
below 85% of the 1997 ozone NAAQS (i.e., 0.071 ppm or 71 ppb) since the
2012-2014 period. Additional supporting information that the area is
expected to continue to maintain the standard can be found in
projections of future year DVs that EPA recently completed to assist
states with the development of interstate transport SIPs for the 2015
8-hour ozone NAAQS. Those projections, made for the year 2023, show
that the highest DV at the monitor located in the Fredericksburg Area
is expected to be 0.057 ppm.\16\ Therefore, EPA proposes to determine
that future violations of the 1997 ozone NAAQS in the Fredericksburg
Area are unlikely.
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\16\ See U.S. EPA, ``Air Quality Modeling Technical Support
Document for the Updated 2023 Projected Ozone Design Values'',
Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards, dated June 2018,
available at <a href="http://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2018-06/documents/aq_modelingtsd_updated_2023_modeling_o3_dvs.pdf">www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2018-06/documents/aq_modelingtsd_updated_2023_modeling_o3_dvs.pdf</a>.
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C. Continued Air Quality Monitoring and Verification of Continued
Attainment
Once an area has been redesignated to attainment, the state remains
obligated to maintain an air quality network in accordance with 40 CFR
part 58, in order to verify the area's attainment status. In the May
25, 2023 submittal, VADEQ commits to continue to operate their air
monitoring network in accordance with 40 CFR part 58. VADEQ also
commits to track the attainment status of the Fredericksburg Area for
the 1997 ozone NAAQS through the review of air quality and emissions
data during the second maintenance period. EPA has analyzed the
commitments in VADEQ's submittal and is proposing to determine that
they meet the requirements for continued air quality monitoring and
verification of continued attainment.
D. Contingency Plan
The contingency plan provisions are designed to promptly correct or
prevent a violation of the NAAQS that might occur after redesignation
of an area to attainment. Section 175A of the CAA requires that a
maintenance plan include such contingency measures as EPA deems
necessary to assure that the state will promptly correct a violation of
the NAAQS that occurs after redesignation. The maintenance plan should
identify the contingency measures to be adopted, a schedule and
procedure for adoption and implementation of the contingency measures,
and a time limit for action by the state. The state should also
identify specific indicators to be used to determine when the
contingency measures need to be adopted and implemented. The
maintenance plan must require that the state will implement all
pollution control measures that were contained in the SIP before
redesignation of the area to attainment. See section 175(A)(d) of the
CAA.
VADEQ's May 25, 2023 submittal includes the following contingency
plan for the Fredericksburg Area:
Virginia commits to implement all measures with respect to the
control of NO<INF>X</INF> and VOC contained in the SIP for the area
before redesignation to attainment/maintenance. General conformity
requirements and transportation conformity requirements will no longer
apply once this maintenance plan expires at the end of the twenty-year
maintenance period.
If the ozone monitor in the area registers a fourth-highest, eight-
hour average of 0.085 ppm or greater it is considered to have recorded
an exceedance of the 1997 ozone NAAQS. One control measure listed in
Table 3 in this document will be implemented in the unlikely event that
a monitor registers an exceedance.
If the ozone monitor in the area registers a three-year average of
the fourth-highest, eight-hour ozone values of 0.085 ppm or greater it
is considered to have recorded a violation of the 1997 ozone NAAQS. One
additional control measure listed in Table 3 in this document will be
implemented in the unlikely event that a monitor registers a violation.
One additional control measure listed in Table 3 in this document
will be implemented in the unlikely event that the ozone monitor
registers a second violation following the implementation of the first
contingency measures.
[[Page 8135]]
Table 3--Contingency Measures for the Fredericksburg Maintenance Area
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Program Description
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Ozone Transport Commission (OTC) Rule provides additional
Architectural and Industrial (AIM) requirements reducing
Coating Model Rule dated October 13, emissions from the AIM source
2014 \17\. category.
OTC Model Rule for Consumer Products Rule provides additional
dated May 21, 2013 \18\. requirements reducing
emissions from the Consumer
Product source category.
OTC Model Rule for Solvent Degreasing Rule provides additional
dated 2012 \19\. requirements reducing
emissions from the solvent
degreasing category.
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The following schedule applies to contingency measures should they
need to be implemented due to exceedances or violations of the 1997
ozone NAAQS:
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\17\ <a href="http://otcair.org/upload/Documents/Model%20Rules/AIM_Preamble_Model_Rule.pdf">otcair.org/upload/Documents/Model%20Rules/AIM_Preamble_Model_Rule.pdf</a>.
\18\ <a href="http://otcair.org/upload/Documents/Model%20Rules/OTC%20CP%20Model%20Rule%20Final%20Clean%202013%20Revision%20Clean.pdf">otcair.org/upload/Documents/Model%20Rules/OTC%20CP%20Model%20Rule%20Final%20Clean%202013%20Revision%20Clean.pdf</a>
.
\19\ <a href="http://otcair.org/upload/Documents/Model%20Rules/2011%20OTC%20Model%20Rule%20for%20Solvent%20Degreasing.pdf">otcair.org/upload/Documents/Model%20Rules/2011%20OTC%20Model%20Rule%20for%20Solvent%20Degreasing.pdf</a>.
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<bullet> Notification received from EPA that a contingency measure
must be implemented or three months after a recorded exceedance or
violation is certified.
<bullet> Applicable regulation to be adopted 6 months after this
date.
<bullet> Applicable regulation to be implemented 6 months after
adoption.
<bullet> Compliance with regulation to be achieved within 12 months
of adoption.
EPA proposes to find that the contingency plan included in VADEQ's
May 25, 2023 submittal satisfies the pertinent requirements of CAA
section 175A(d). EPA also finds that the submittal acknowledges
Virginia's continuing requirement to implement all pollution control
measures that were contained in the SIP before redesignation of the
Fredericksburg Area to attainment.
E. Transportation Conformity
Transportation conformity is required by section 176(c) of the CAA.
Conformity to a SIP means that transportation activities will not
produce new air quality violations, worsen existing violations, or
delay timely attainment of the NAAQS (CAA 176(c)(1)(B)). EPA's
conformity rule at 40 CFR part 93 requires that transportation plans,
programs and projects conform to SIPs and establish the criteria and
procedures for determining whether or not they conform. The conformity
rule generally requires a demonstration that emissions from the
Regional Transportation Plan (RTP) and Transportation Improvement
Program (TIP) are consistent with the motor vehicle emissions budget
(MVEB) contained in the control strategy SIP revision or maintenance
plan (40 CFR 93.101, 93.118, and 93.124). An MVEB is defined as ``that
portion of the total allowable emissions defined in the submitted or
approved control strategy implementation plan revision or maintenance
plan for a certain date for the purpose of meeting reasonable further
progress milestones or demonstrating attainment or maintenance of the
NAAQS, for any criteria pollutant or its precursors, allocated to
highway and transit vehicle use and emissions (40 CFR 93.101).''
Under the conformity rule, LMP areas may demonstrate conformity
without a regional emission analysis (40 CFR 93.109(e)). EPA made
findings that the MVEBs in the first 10-years of the 1997 8-hour ozone
maintenance plan for the Fredericksburg Area were adequate for
transportation conformity purposes. In a Federal Register notice
published on December 23, 2005 (70 FR 76165), EPA notified the public
of the adequacy finding for the Fredericksburg Area through a final
rule; the adequacy determination for the Fredericksburg Area became
effective on January 23, 2006. After approval of an adequacy finding
for the Fredericksburg Area LMP, there is no requirement to meet the
budget test pursuant to the transportation conformity rule for the
respective maintenance area. All actions that would require a
transportation conformity determination for the Fredericksburg Area
under EPA's transportation conformity rule provisions are considered to
have already satisfied the regional emissions analysis and ``budget
test'' requirements in 40 CFR 93.118 as a result of EPA's adequacy
finding for the LMP. See 69 FR 40004 (July 1, 2004).
However, because LMP areas are still maintenance areas, certain
aspects of transportation conformity determinations still will be
required for transportation plans, programs, and projects.
Specifically, for such determination, RTPs, TIPs, and transportation
projects still will have to demonstrate that they are fiscally
constrained (40 CFR 93.108), meet the criteria for consultation (40 CFR
93.105 and 93.112) and satisfy transportation control measure
implementation in the conformity rule provisions (40 CFR 93.113).
Additionally, conformity determinations for RTPs and TIPs must be
determined no less frequently than every four years, and conformity of
transportation plan and TIP amendments and transportation projects is
demonstrated in accordance with the timing requirements specified in 40
CFR 93.104. In addition, for projects to be approved, they must come
from a currently conforming RTP and TIP (40 CFR 93.114 and 93.115). The
Fredericksburg Area remains under the obligation to meet the applicable
conformity requirements for the 1997 ozone NAAQS.
III. Proposed Action
EPA's review of VADEQ's May 25, 2023 submittal indicates that it
meets all applicable CAA requirements, specifically the requirements of
CAA section 175A. EPA is proposing to approve the second maintenance
plan for the Fredericksburg Area as a revision to the Virginia SIP. EPA
is soliciting public comments on the issues discussed in this document.
These comments will be considered before taking final action.
IV. General Information Pertaining to SIP Submittals From the
Commonwealth of Virginia
In 1995, Virginia adopted legislation that provides, subject to
certain conditions, for an environmental assessment (audit)
``privilege'' for voluntary compliance evaluations performed by a
regulated entity. The legislation further addresses the relative burden
of proof for parties either asserting the privilege or seeking
disclosure of documents for which the privilege is claimed. Virginia's
legislation also provides, subject to certain conditions, for a penalty
waiver for violations of environmental laws when a regulated entity
discovers such violations pursuant to a voluntary compliance evaluation
and voluntarily discloses such violations to the Commonwealth and takes
prompt and appropriate measures to remedy the violations. Virginia's
Voluntary Environmental Assessment Privilege Law, Va. Code Sec. 10.1-
1198, provides
[[Page 8136]]
a privilege that protects from disclosure documents and information
about the content of those documents that are the product of a
voluntary environmental assessment. The Privilege Law does not extend
to documents or information that: (1) are generated or developed before
the commencement of a voluntary environmental assessment; (2) are
prepared independently of the assessment process; (3) demonstrate a
clear, imminent and substantial danger to the public health or
environment; or (4) are required by law.
On January 12, 1998, the Commonwealth of Virginia Office of the
Attorney General provided a legal opinion that states that the
Privilege law, Va. Code Sec. 10.1-1198, precludes granting a privilege
to documents and information ``required by law,'' including documents
and information ``required by Federal law to maintain program
delegation, authorization or approval,'' since Virginia must ``enforce
Federally authorized environmental programs in a manner that is no less
stringent than their Federal counterparts . . . .'' The opinion
concludes that ``[r]egarding Sec. 10.1-1198, therefore, documents or
other information needed for civil or criminal enforcement under one of
these programs could not be privileged because such documents and
information are essential to pursuing enforcement in a manner required
by Federal law to maintain program delegation, authorization or
approval.''
Virginia's Immunity law, Va. Code Sec. 10.1-1199, provides that
``[t]o the extent consistent with requirements imposed by Federal
law,'' any person making a voluntary disclosure of information to a
state agency regarding a violation of an environmental statute,
regulation, permit, or administrative order is granted immunity from
administrative or civil penalty. The Attorney General's January 12,
1998 opinion states that the quoted language renders this statute
inapplicable to enforcement of any federally authorized programs, since
``no immunity could be afforded from administrative, civil, or criminal
penalties because granting such immunity would not be consistent with
Federal law, which is one of the criteria for immunity.''
Therefore, EPA has determined that Virginia's Privilege and
Immunity statutes will not preclude the Commonwealth from enforcing its
program consistent with the Federal requirements. In any event, because
EPA has also determined that a state audit privilege and immunity law
can affect only state enforcement and cannot have any impact on Federal
enforcement authorities, EPA may at any time invoke its authority under
the CAA, including, for example, sections 113, 167, 205, 211 or 213, to
enforce the requirements or prohibitions of the state plan,
independently of any state enforcement effort. In addition, citizen
enforcement under section 304 of the CAA is likewise unaffected by
this, or any, state audit privilege or immunity law.
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
action merely approves state law as meeting Federal requirements and
does not impose additional requirements beyond those imposed by state
law. For that reason, this proposed action:
<bullet> Is not a significant regulatory action subject to review
by the Office of Management and Budget under Executive Orders 12866 (58
FR 51735, October 4, 1993) and 13563 (76 FR 3821, January 21, 2011);
<bullet> Does not impose an information collection burden under the
provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.);
<bullet> 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.);
<bullet> 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);
<bullet> Does not have federalism implications as specified in
Executive Order 13132 (64 FR 43255, August 10, 1999);
<bullet> Is not an economically significant regulatory action based
on health or safety risks subject to Executive Order 13045 (62 FR
19885, April 23, 1997);
<bullet> Is not a significant regulatory action subject to
Executive Order 13211 (66 FR 28355, May 22, 2001); and
<bullet> 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 Clean Air Act;
The SIP is not approved to apply on any Indian reservation land as
defined in 18 U.S.C. 1151 or in any other area where EPA or an Indian
tribe has demonstrated that a tribe has jurisdiction. In those areas of
Indian country, the rule pertaining to Virginia's second maintenance
plan for the Fredericksburg area 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,
February 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 VADEQ did not evaluate environmental justice 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 action.
Consideration of EJ is not required as part of this action, and there
is no information in the record 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, Nitrogen dioxide Ozone, Volatile organic compounds.
Adam Ortiz,
Regional Administrator, Region III.
[FR Doc. 2024-02395 Filed 2-5-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P
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</html>Indexed from Federal Register on February 6, 2024.
This is legal information, not legal advice. Laws vary by jurisdiction and change frequently. Always verify current law with official sources and consult a licensed attorney in your jurisdiction for advice on your specific situation.