1Memorandum
of
November
18,
2002,
from
Lydia
Wegman
and
Peter
Tsirigotis,
"
2002
Base
Year
Emission
Inventory
SIP
Planning:
8­
hr
Ozone,
PM2.5
and
Regional
Haze
Programs."
This
document
is
available
at
the
following
web
site:
http://
www.
epa.
gov/
ttn/
oarpg/
meta.
442.1.2002baseinv.
pdf.
8/
17/
05
version
FROM
PREAMBLE:

3.
What
baseline
year
should
be
required
for
the
emissions
inventory
for
the
RFP
requirement?
[
Section
VI.
I.
4.
of
June
2,
2003
proposed
rule
(
68
FR
32833);
§
51.909
of
the
draft
regulatory
text;
§
51.910(
d)
of
the
final
regulatory
text.]
a.
Background
The
baseline
inventory
for
RFP
(
under
subpart
2)
is
used
as
the
starting
point
for
the
determination
of
a
target
level
of
emissions
for
the
future
year
RFP
and
as
the
baseline
from
which
creditable
reductions
are
determined.
We
designated
ozone
nonattainment
areas
in
April
2004.
Under
the
"
Consolidated
Emissions
Reporting
Rule"
(
67
FR
39602,
June
10,
2002)
revised
emissions
inventories
are
required
for
the
years
2002
and
2005;
therefore,
we
proposed
to
require
use
of
the
2002
inventory
as
the
baseline
inventory
for
the
RFP
requirement.
This
would
be
the
most
recent
inventory
available
at
the
time
of
designation.
We
issued
a
memorandum
identifying
2002
as
the
anticipated
emissions
inventory
base
year
for
the
SIP
planning
process
to
address
the
8­
hour
ozone
and
the
PM2.5
standards.
1
b.
Summary
of
Final
Rule
As
set
forth
in
our
proposed
rule,
for
areas
designated
nonattainment
for
the
8­
hour
ozone
NAAQS
with
an
effective
date
of
June
15,
2004,
we
are
requiring
States
to
use
the
2002
inventory
as
the
baseline
inventory
for
the
RFP
requirement.
As
noted
in
the
proposal,
the
inventory
for
the
2002
calendar
year
would
be
the
most
recently
available
inventory
at
the
time
of
designation
in
2004.
However,
in
response
to
several
comments,
we
are
allowing
States
the
option
of
justifying
the
use
of
an
alternative
baseline
inventory
year
for
RFP.
To
justify
an
alternative,
the
State
would
have
to
demonstrate
how
the
alternative
year
meets
the
CAA's
provisions
for
RFP
and
provide
a
rationale
for
the
use
of
the
alternative
baseline
year.
We
believe
that
for
multi­
State
nonattainment
areas,
the
several
States
must
agree
on
a
single
baseline.
Even
if
a
State
chooses
an
alternative
baseline
inventory
year
for
RFP,
2002
remains
the
valid
baseline
year
for
transportation
conformity
purposes
as
described
in
40
CFR
93.119.
This
use
of
2002
as
a
baseline
year
is
consistent
with
the
Clean
Air
Act
requirements
for
transportation
conformity.
The
baseline
emissions
inventory
is
calculated
as
of
the
2E.
g.,
where
the
effective
date
of
designation
to
nonattainment
for
an
area
for
the
8­
hour
ozone
NAAQS
is
after
June
1,
2007
but
before
June
1,
2010,
the
baseline
inventory
will
be
for
calendar
year
2005.
effective
date
of
an
area's
nonattainment
designation
using
the
most
recent
calendar
year
for
which
a
complete
inventory
is
required
to
be
submitted
to
EPA
under
subpart
A
of
this
part.
Under
subpart
A,
States
are
required
to
submit
a
comprehensive
inventory
on
3­
year
cycles
within
17
months
after
the
close
of
the
reporting
period.
Thus,
the
2002
inventory
was
due
17
months
after
the
December
31,
2002
close
of
the
reporting
period,
i.
e.,
was
due
by
June
1,
2004.
For
those
areas
designated
nonattainment
for
the
8­
hour
ozone
NAAQS
effective
June
15,
2004
(
69
FR
23858,
April
30,
2004),
the
baseline
emissions
inventory
shall
be
based
on
the
calendar
year
2002
because
the
2002
inventory
was
due
under
subpart
A
of
this
part
prior
to
the
time
of
designation.
For
areas
with
an
effective
nonattainment
designation
in
the
future,
the
baseline
inventory
will
be
for
the
calendar
year
of
the
most
recent
triennial
inventory
as
of
the
date
of
designation.
2
c.
Comments
and
responses
Comment:
Some
commenters
agreed
there
is
a
reasonable
basis
to
select
2002
as
the
date
of
emissions
inventories
for
purpose
of
establishing
creditable
reductions
from
the
inventory.
States
are
not
required
by
the
CAA
to
adopt
the
year
of
the
nonattainment
designation
for
the
8­
hour
standard
as
the
basis
for
their
planning,
even
though
that
was
the
case
under
the
1990
CAA
Amendments.
The
commenter
claims
there
are
a
variety
of
measures
that
would
be
implemented
after
2002
that
local
jurisdictions
would
like
to
be
able
to
account
for
as
new
emissions
reductions
in
their
modeling
demonstrations.
The
commenter
claims
that
this
in
part
is
justified
on
the
basis
of
the
1997
revisions
to
the
ozone
NAAQS,
including
maximum
achievable
control
technology
(
MACT)
reductions
and
NOx
SIP
Call/
126
rule
reductions.
The
commenter
thus
believes
that
reductions
between
these
years
"
should
count."
In
addition,
this
was
the
most
recent
quality
assured/
quality
controlled
inventory
used
to
support
the
States'
recommendations
for
proposed
nonattainment
designations
on
July
15,
2003.
Even
if
EPA
allows
States
to
show
that
air
quality
improved
between
2001­
2003
for
purposes
of
final
designations,
it
will
be
on
the
basis
of
reductions
from
these
earlier
inventories.
Several
commenters
recommended
that
the
baseline
year
(
starting
the
6
year
period
for
RFP)
be
set
for
the
year
in
which
designations
were
made
(
i.
e.,
2004).

Comment:
Response:
The
EPA
has
decided
to
establish
2002
as
the
baseline
year
for
RFP
SIPs
in
conformity
with
both
the
language
of
the
CAA
and
the
inventory
year
cycle.
Of
reasonable
importance
is
the
need
to
maintain
consistency
with
the
periodic
inventory
for
use
in
various
milestone
considerations
such
as
RFP,
milestone
compliance
demonstration,
attainment,
and
contingency
plans.
In
addition,
there
should
be
little
if
any
difference
in
the
result
in
terms
of
emissions
reductions
needed
to
demonstrate
timely
attainment.
If
we
use
2002,
the
baseline
may
be
higher
but
areas
can
take
credit
for
any
2002­
2004
emission
reductions
from
federally
enforceable
control
measures.
If
we
use
2004,
the
baseline
may
be
lower
but
areas
can't
take
credit
for
measures
that
produce
emissions
reductions
between
2002­
2004.
Depending
on
the
area,
the
difference
should
be
minimal
in
terms
of
the
difference
in
the
amount
of
reductions
needed
to
reach
attainment
and
what
new
measures
are
necessary
to
get
there.
Also,
EPA
selected
this
baseline
year
at
the
request
of
many
States
to
allow
areas
to
take
credit
for
emissions
reductions
achieved
in
the
2002­
2004
period
as
a
result
of
numerous
recently
adopted
Federal
and
State
measures.
We
believe
it
is
reasonable
to
select
an
inventory
year
for
which
States
were
already
required
to
produce
an
inventory
rather
than
requiring
States
to
produce
an
additional
inventory
(
e.
g.,
for
2004)
that
is
not
otherwise
required.
Moreover,
requiring
the
use
of
an
inventory
for
the
designation
year
would
cause
delay,
as
it
would
take
the
States
1­
2
years
after
the
end
of
2004
to
produce
the
inventory
which
would
be
the
basis
for
selecting
controls
to
achieve
the
necessary
reductions.
However,
we
are
allowing
States
the
option
of
justifying
the
use
of
an
alternative
later
baseline
emission
inventory,
provided
it
meets
the
requirement
of
the
CAA's
RFP
provisions.
As
noted
above,
the
use
of
an
alternative
year
for
the
baseline
inventory
for
RFP
does
not
change
the
requirement
to
use
2002
as
the
baseline
year
for
transportation
conformity.

Comment:
Another
commenter
referred
to
EPA's
proposal
language
regarding
the
RFP
SIP
that
would
have
required
submission
of
the
RFP
plan
within
2
years
after
designation.
They
stated
that
EPA
is
missing
the
point
in
that
the
attainment
and
RFP
submission
dates
established
in
subpart
2
are
to
allow
States
a
sufficient
amount
of
time
to
achieve
the
mandated
goals.
That
commenter
referred
to
another
alternative
that
would
amend
the
proposal
to
require
a
1990,
rather
than
2002
baseline
for
those
areas
not
having
a
previously­
approved
15
percent
RFP
plan.
They
further
commented
that
although
a
1990
baseline
would
not
eliminate
the
planning
burden
associated
with
this
requirement,
it
would
go
far
towards
minimizing
the
necessary
additional
work.

Response:
We
disagree
with
the
commenters
who
urged
use
of
the
1990
inventories.
Use
of
the
1990
baseline
would
be
unreasonable
now
since
it
would
have
to
be
substantially
recalculated
due
to
changes
in
emission
calculating
methodologies.
Furthermore,
a
1990
inventory
was
only
required
for
nonattainment
areas
as
of
enactment
of
the
1990
CAA
Amendments
and
therefore
may
not
exist
for
a
number
of
areas
that
are
currently
designated
nonattainment
for
the
8­
hour
standard.
Finally,
we
believe
that
reliance
on
emission
reductions
that
may
have
occurred
well
before
8­
hour
designations
and
classifications
should
not
be
counted
as
making
progress
toward
attainment.

Comment:
Another
commenter
noted
that
the
18
percent
reduction
for
serious
areas
would
have
to
be
achieved
by
2008.
This
is
6
years
after
the
base
year.
The
commenter
noted
that
the
2
years
that
would
remain
after
SIP
submission
(
from
the
proposed
SIP
due
date
of
2006
until
2008)
would
be
totally
inadequate
to
achieve
either
the
15
percent
reduction
in
VOCs
or
the
18
percent
reduction
in
VOCs
and/
or
NOx.
The
commenter
noted
the
CAA
provides
for
submission
of
RFP
plans
within
3
years
(
from
1990)
in
section
182(
b)(
1)(
A)
and
4
years
in
section
182(
c)(
2).
Response:
The
final
rule
reflects
a
change
from
the
proposal
to
allow
submission
of
the
RFP
plan
up
to
3
years
from
the
date
of
designation.

Comment:
A
comment
on
draft
regulatory
text
§
51.909
noted
that
EPA
specified
various
program
milestone
dates,
which
were
derived
from
the
relationship
of
these
dates
to
the
expected
date
of
initial
designation.
The
commenter
recommends
deleting
all
such
specific
date
references
from
the
regulation,
to
avoid
the
need
for
revising
regulations
if
the
initial
designations
are
not
concluded
as
expected.
This
should
be
replaced
by
a
generic
approach,
for
example
by
requiring
the
most
recent
year's
data
to
be
used
as
the
baseline
in
the
second
sentence
of
§
51.909.
Deleting
the
calendar­
specific
dates
would
not
change
the
result
if
the
designations
occur
as
planned,
yet
would
allow
for
more
recent
data
to
be
used
if
factors
beyond
the
agency's
control
create
a
delay
in
designations.
This
approach
also
will
allow
the
regulation
to
apply
to
future
area
designation
changes,
such
as
areas
that
are
redesignated
nonattainment
at
some
point
in
the
future.
Such
specific
dates
are
more
appropriately
included
as
examples
in
agency
guidance
or
within
the
preamble
of
a
final
rule
with
a
discussion
of
how
they
are
derived.
The
regulation
itself
should
retain
only
the
generic
relationship
between
the
milestone
and
the
effective
date
of
designation,
which
is
the
approach
taken
elsewhere
in
the
rule.
Response:
Because
the
designations
have
already
taken
effect
at
this
point,
we
believe
removing
the
2002
specification
may
only
be
confusing
to
some.
The
final
version
of
rule
(
now
§
51.910(
d))
provides
specificity
regarding
the
appropriate
3We
note
that
even
though
the
draft
regulatory
text
was
structured
to
place
the
specification
of
the
baseline
year
for
RFP
(
as
well
as
for
attainment
demonstrations)
in
§
51.909,
the
final
rule
places
the
RFP
baseline
year
requirement
in
§
51.910.
baseline
year
for
subsequent
nonattainment
designations.
3
*
*
*
*
*

FROM
REG
TEXT
51.910
What
requirements
for
reasonable
further
progress
(
RFP)
under
sections
172(
c)(
1)
and
182
apply
for
areas
designated
nonattainment
for
the
8­
hour
ozone
NAAQS?

*
*
*

(
d)
What
is
the
baseline
emissions
inventory
for
RFP
plans?
(
1)
A
baseline
emissions
inventory
is
required
for
the
RFP
plan
required
under
this
section.
(
2)
The
baseline
emissions
inventory
shall
be
determined
at
the
time
of
designation
for
the
8­
hour
NAAQS
and
shall
be
the
emissions
inventory
for
the
most
recent
calendar
year
for
which
a
complete
inventory
is
required
to
be
submitted
to
EPA
under
the
provisions
of
subpart
A
of
this
part
or
a
more
recent
alternative
baseline
emissions
inventory
provided
the
State
demonstrates
that
the
baseline
inventory
meets
the
CAA
provisions
for
RFP
and
provides
a
rationale
for
using
an
alternative
baseline
year.
