ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[EPA-R03-OAR-2009-0311; FRL-      ]

Approval and Promulgation of Air Quality Implementation Plans;

Pennsylvania; Revised Motor Vehicle Emission Budgets for

the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre 8-Hour Ozone Maintenance Area

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Direct final rule.

SUMMARY: EPA is taking direct final action to approve a State
Implementation Plan (SIP) revision submitted by the Commonwealth of
Pennsylvania.  The revision amends the 8-hour ozone maintenance plan for
the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Area 8-Hour Ozone Maintenance Area (the Area).
 This revision amends the maintenance plan’s 2009 and 2018 motor
vehicle emissions budgets (MVEBs) by unequally dividing the existing
approved MVEBs which covers the entire maintenance area into three
sub-regional MVEBs, one set of MVEBs for each county comprising the
area.  The revised plan continues to demonstrate maintenance of the
8-hour national ambient air quality standard (NAAQS) for ozone.  EPA is
approving this SIP revision to the Pennsylvania maintenance plan for the
Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Area in accordance with the requirements of the
Clean Air Act (CAA).

DATES:  This rule is effective on [Insert date 60 days after publication
in the Federal Register] without further notice, unless EPA receives
adverse written comment by [Insert date 30 days after publication in the
Federal Register].  If EPA receives such comments, it will publish a
timely withdrawal of the direct final rule in the Federal Register and
inform the public that the rule will not take effect.

ADDRESSES:  Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID Number
EPA-R03-OAR-2009-0311 by one of the following methods:

     A.    www.regulations.gov.  Follow the on-line instructions for
submitting comments.

     B.    E-mail: febbo.carol@epa.gov

     C.    Mail:   EPA-R03-OAR-2009-0311, Carol Febbo, Chief, Energy,
Radiation and Indoor Environment Branch, Mailcode 3AP23, 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-2009-0311.  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
e-mail.  The www.regulations.gov website 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
e-mail comment directly to EPA without going through
www.regulations.gov, your e-mail 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 Pennsylvania Department of Environmental
Protection, Bureau of Air Quality, P.O. Box 8468, 400 Market Street,
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania .

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:  Martin Kotsch, (215) 814-3335, or by
e-mail at kotsch.martin@epa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:  Throughout this document whenever ``we'',

``us'', or ``our'' is used, we mean EPA.

Table of Contents

I. Background

II. Summary of Pennsylvania's SIP Revision and EPA's Review

III. Final Action

IV. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

I. Background

On November 11, 2007 (72 FR 64948) EPA redesignated the
Scranton/Wilkes-Barre area of Pennsylvania to attainment for the 8-hour
ozone NAAQS.  For this area, the redesignation included approval of an
8-hour ozone maintenance plan, which identifies on-road MVEBs for
Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) and Nitrous Oxides (NOX), which are
ozone precursors, which are then used for transportation planning and
conformity purposes.  There are three separate metropolitan planning
organizations (MPOs) in this maintenance area - one for Lackawana and
Luzerne Counties, one for Monroe County and one for Wyoming County, with
individual responsibility for doing transportation conformity within
their respective planning boundaries within the Area.  Pennsylvania has
unequally divided the existing MVEBs and created sub-regional MVEBs for
each MPO to better accommodate the transportation planning and
conformity processes within the Area.

II. Summary of Pennsylvania's SIP Revision and EPA's Review

On April 21, 2008, the State of Pennsylvania submitted to EPA a formal
revision to its State Implementation Plan (SIP).  The SIP revision
proposes new MVEBs to reflect the reallocation of the existing overall
MVEBS for the maintenance area.  By reallocating the MVEBs, the
Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PADEP) is ensuring
that transportation conformity can be demonstrated in the
Scranton/Wilkes-Barre area.  The April 21, 2008 submittal still ensures
maintenance of the NAAQS for ozone for the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre area.

The following table lists the previously approved MVEBs and the proposed
reallocation of the MVEBs into sub-regional budgets for the
Scranton/Wilkes-Barre area.

Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Area Reallocation of the MVEBs into Sub-regional
Budgets

Current MVEBs in the Approved Maintenance Plan – All Counties 

(Tons/Day)

2004 Base Year         2009 Projection     2018 Projection

       VOC                 31.6                              25.2       
               16.9

       NOx                 66.1                              48.3       
               23.7

Proposed MVEBs in the Revised Maintenance Plan

(Tons/Day) 1/

                              2009 Budget           2018 Budget

  Lackawana-Luzerne Counties

VOC                              17.99                       11.8

NOx                              34.58                        16.7

Monroe County

VOC                              6.19                        4.64

NOx                             12.16                        6.36

Wyoming County

VOC                              0.99                        0.54

NOx                             1.54                        0.68

1/  Due to rounding, some of the new reallocated budgets, if combined,
are insignificantly different then the previously approved mobile
budgets for the entire area. This slight difference will still ensure
maintenance of the 8-hour ozone attainment as the combined MVEBs  are
still lower then the attainment year budgets.   

EPA is approving the 2009 and 2018 MVEBs for VOCs and NOX emissions
listed above in Table 1 as the new MVEBs for transportation conformity
planning.

III. Final Action

EPA is approving Pennsylvania's April 21, 2008 SIP revision submittal
which amends the 8-hour ozone maintenance plans for the Scranton/Wilkes
Barre area.  This revision unequally divides the previously approved
2009 and 2018 MVEBs to create sub-regional MVEBs for the two counties
comprising the area.  EPA is approving this SIP revision because the
April 21, 2008 submittal continues to demonstrate maintenance of the
8-hour ozone NAAQS with the aggregated sub-regional MVEBs.  EPA is
publishing this rule without prior proposal because the Agency views
this as a noncontroversial amendment and anticipates no adverse comment,
since no significant adverse comments were received on the SIP revision
at the State level.  However, in the Proposed Rules section of today's
Federal Register, EPA is publishing a separate document that will serve
as the proposal to approve the SIP revision if adverse comments are
filed. This rule will be effective on [Insert date 60 days after
publication in the Federal Register] without further notice unless EPA
receives adverse comment by [Insert date 30 days after publication in
the Federal Register]. 

If EPA receives adverse comment, EPA will publish a timely withdrawal in
the Federal Register informing the public that the rule will not take
effect.  EPA will address all public comments in a subsequent final rule
based on the proposed rule. EPA will not institute a second comment
period on this action.  Any parties interested in commenting must do so
at this time

IV.   Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

A.   General Requirements 

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:

Is not a "significant regulatory action” subject to review by the
Office of Management and Budget under Executive Order 12866 (58 FR
51735, October 4, 1993);  

Does not impose an information collection burden under the provisions of
the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.);

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.);  

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);

Does not have Federalism implications as specified in Executive Order
13132 (64 FR 43255, August 10, 1999);

Is not an economically significant regulatory action based on health or
safety risks subject to Executive Order 13045 (62 FR 19885, April 23,
1997); 

Is not a significant regulatory action subject to Executive Order 13211
(66 FR 28355, May 22, 2001); 

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; and 

Does not provide EPA with the discretionary authority to address, as
appropriate, disproportionate human health or environmental effects,
using practicable and legally permissible methods, under Executive Order
12898 (59 FR 7629, February 16, 1994).

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.

B.   Submission to Congress and the Comptroller General

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). 

 C.  Petitions for Judicial Review

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 [Insert date 60 days from date of
publication of this document in the Federal Register].  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 to approve the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre revised maintenance
plan 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, Incorporation by
reference, Intergovernmental relations, Nitrogen dioxide, Ozone,
Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, Volatile organic compounds.

__July 28, 2009___                   		         
_______\\s\\_______________

Dated:                                				William C. Early,             
                                                                      		
				Acting Regional Administrator,

                                      				Region III.

40 CFR part 52 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 NN--Pennsylvania

2.  In § 52.2020, the table in paragraph (e)(1) is amended by revising
the entry for the 8-Hour Ozone Maintenance Plan and 2002 Base Year
Emissions Inventory for the Scranton/Wilkes Barre, PA Area to read as
follows: 

§ 52.2020  	Identification of plan.

*	*	*	*	*	

(e) * * *

(1)* * *

Name of non-regulatory SIP revision 	

Applicable geographic area	

State submittal date 	

EPA approval date	

Additional explanation



*     *     *     *     *     *     *

8-Hour Ozone Maintenance Plan and 2002 Base Year Emissions Inventory
Scranton/

Wilkes-Barre Area: Lackawanna, Luzerne, Monroe and Wyoming Counties	

6/12/07	

11/14/07

72 FR 64948	





4/21/08   	[Insert Federal Register publication date]

[Insert page number where the document begins]

	

*     *     *     *     *     *     *

   

*	*	*	*	*

	

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