Approval and Promulgation of Implementation Plans and Designation of Areas for Air Quality Planning Purposes; State of New Mexico; Approval of the Vehicle Inspection and Maintenance Program, Emissions Inventory, and Maintenance Plan; Redesignation to Attainment; Albuquerque/Bernalillo County, New Mexico; Carbon Monoxide

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Parts 52 and 81

[NM 28-1-7312; FRL-5514-2]

Approval and Promulgation of Implementation Plans and Designation

of Areas for Air Quality Planning Purposes; State of New Mexico;

Approval of the Vehicle Inspection and Maintenance Program, Emissions

Inventory, and Maintenance Plan; Redesignation to Attainment;

Albuquerque/Bernalillo County, New Mexico; Carbon Monoxide

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Final rule.

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

SUMMARY: EPA is redesignating to attainment the Albuquerque/Bernalillo

County carbon monoxide (CO) nonattainment area. This action is in

response to a request from the Governor of New Mexico on behalf of the

Albuquerque and Bernalillo County carbon monoxide nonattainment area.

The Governor's request included a revision to the State Implementation

Plan (SIP) for the administration of a vehicle inspection and

maintenance (I/M) program, a 1993 emissions inventory for Albuquerque/

Bernalillo County, and an attainment maintenance plan. On February 16,

1996, the EPA proposed approval of the Albuquerque/ Bernalillo County

I/M program, 1993 periodic emissions inventory, the maintenance plan,

and the request for redesignation, because all met the requirements set

forth in the Clean Air Act (Act). This final action promulgates the

rule, redesignating the area to attainment, and incorporating the

request into the SIP.

EFFECTIVE DATE: July 15, 1996.

ADDRESSES: Copies of the documents relevant to this action are

available for public inspection during normal business hours at the

addresses listed below. The interested persons wanting to examine these

documents should make an appointment with the appropriate office at

least twenty-four hours before the visiting day.

Air and Radiation Docket and Information Center (Air Docket Room

M1500), Environmental Protection Agency, 401 M Street SW., Washington,

D. C. 20460

Environmental Protection Agency, Region 6, Air Planning Section (6PD-

[[Page 29971]]

L), 1445 Ross Avenue, Suite 1200, Dallas, Texas 75202-2733

Albuquerque Environmental Health Department, Air Pollution Control

Division, One Civic Plaza Room 3023, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87102.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Matthew Witosky, Air Planning

Section (6PD-L), Multimedia Planning and Permitting Division, EPA

Region 6, 1445 Ross Avenue, Dallas, Texas 75202-2733, telephone (214)

665-7214.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

Albuquerque/Bernalillo County, New Mexico, was designated

nonattainment for CO and classified as moderate with a design value

below 12.7 parts per million (ppm) (specifically 11.1 ppm), under

sections 107(d)(4)(A) and 186(a) of the Act, upon enactment of the

Clean Air Act Amendments (CAAA) of 1990 (the Act).1 Please

reference 56 FR 56694 (November 6, 1991) and 57 FR 13498 and 13529

(April 16, 1992). On November 5, 1992, the Governor of New Mexico

submitted to the EPA a SIP revision for CO concerning Albuquerque/

Bernalillo County that was intended to satisfy the Act's requirements

due on November 15, 1992. The Act outlines certain required items to be

included in CO SIPs. The required items for the Albuquerque/Bernalillo

County CO SIP, due November 15, 1992, included: (1) a comprehensive,

accurate, and current inventory of actual emissions from all sources of

CO in the nonattainment area (sections 172(c)(3) and 187(a)(1) of the

Act); (2) no later than September 30, 1995, and no later than the end

of each three year period thereafter, until the area is redesignated to

attainment, a revised inventory meeting the requirements of sections

187(a)(1) and 187(a)(5) of the Act; (3) a permit program to be

submitted by November 15, 1993, which meets the requirements of section

173 for the construction and operation of new and modified major

stationary sources of CO (section 172(c)(5)); (4) contingency measures

due November 15, 1993, that are to be implemented if the EPA determines

that the area has failed to attain the primary standards by the

applicable date (section 172(c)(9)); (5) a commitment to upgrade and

submit a SIP revision for the I/M program by November 15, 1993,

(section 187(a)(4)); and (6) an oxygenated fuels program (section

211(m)).

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

\1\ The Clean Air Act as amended (1990 Amendments) made

significant changes to the air quality planning requirements for

areas that do not meet (or that significantly contribute to ambient

air quality in a nearby area that does not meet) the CO NAAQS (see

Pub. L. No. 101-549, 104 Stat. 2399). References herein are to the

CAAA, 42 U.S.C. sections 7401 et seq.

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

Several of these items required to be in the City/County CO SIP

were approved at different times prior to this action. The 1990 base

year inventory, the oxygenated fuels program, and the winter wood

burning program were approved on November 29, 1993, at 58 FR 62535. The

nonattainment New Source Review program was approved on December 21,

1994, at 58 FR 67326. Required contingency measures were approved on

May 5, 1995, at 59 FR 23167. Transportation conformity rules were

approved on November 8, 1995, at 60 FR 56238. This action provides

final approval for the 1993 emissions inventory, the vehicle inspection

and maintenance program, the attainment maintenance plan, and the

maintenance contingency provisions.2 Hence, the City/County has a

completely approved SIP for the purposes of redesignation.

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

\2\ The attainment contingency measure approved on May 5, 1995

at 59 FR 23167 would become one of two maintenance contingency

measures through final action on this petition.

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

The Albuquerque/Bernalillo County Air Quality Control Board has

ambient monitoring data showing attainment of the CO National Ambient

Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) during the period from 1992 through all

of 1995. Therefore, in an effort to comply with the Act and to ensure

continued attainment of the CO NAAQS, on April 14, 1995, the Governor

of New Mexico submitted a CO redesignation request and a maintenance

plan for the Albuquerque/Bernalillo County area. The redesignation

request and maintenance plan were both approved by the Albuquerque/

Bernalillo County Air Quality Control Board (hereafter referred to as

City/County) after a public hearing held on April 13, 1995.

II. Evaluation of Petition

The Act revised section 107(d)(3)(E) to provide specific

requirements that an area must meet in order to be redesignated from

nonattainment to attainment. The EPA performed a detailed analysis of

the City/County's petition and proposed approval on February 16, 1996

(see 61 FR 6179). The EPA concluded that the City/County had met all

applicable requirements. No comments received during the public comment

period have given the EPA cause to rescind the proposed approval.

Please see the proposed rule and Technical Support Document (TSD) for

the complete analysis.

III. Response to Comments

The EPA received one letter containing adverse comments to the

proposed action.

Comment: The commenter questioned whether the City of Albuquerque

and Bernalillo County would be in attainment if a previously

operational special-purpose monitor were still in place. The commenter

contended that the permanent monitoring network in place does not

accurately reflect air quality in the ``Uptown'' area of the City.

Response: The EPA disagrees with this comment in two respects. The

City/County operates an extensive CO monitoring network that

sufficiently covers the nonattainment area, operating more monitors

than required of cities of equal or greater population and area. All

current monitoring sites meet the siting criteria the EPA uses to

evaluate the location of individual monitors. The network as a whole

also conforms to the current EPA policy and guidance that dictate

coverage and resolution of monitoring data within a given domain to

demonstrate attainment.

The EPA reviewed the comment with the City/County to determine if

air quality analysis had been conducted in the ``Uptown'' area of the

City. The City/County provided documentation and analysis of a

monitoring exercise carried out in the high CO season of 1995. The

City/County deployed two special purpose monitors for 11 days to

discern if a CO ``hot spot'' exists at the intersection nearest the

previous site of the special purpose monitor. Direct monitoring data

showed little possibility that ambient CO concentrations currently

present a problem for human health or the environment. The monitoring

data generated by the special purpose monitor indicate CO levels in

compliance with the national standards. It should be pointed out that

the special purpose monitors were placed to measure the highest

possible concentrations at the locations in question, and CO levels

still remained below national standards. Statistical tests on the

correlation between CO values at the permanent and special purpose

monitors indicate that the monitoring data were representative of air

quality, reasonable and accurate. Hence, the City/County has adequately

ascertained that the existing monitoring network accurately reflects

air quality in the ``Uptown'' area. To review the information provided

by City/County, see the addendum to the Technical

[[Page 29972]]

Support Document (TSD) in the docket file.

Comment: The commenter asserted that efforts of the City of

Albuquerque and Bernalillo County to reduce vehicle-miles travelled

(VMT) in the nonattainment area are inadequate for the City/County to

achieve attainment.

Response: The EPA disagrees that the City/County should be required

to implement additional reductions in VMT to attain the standard. The

main components of the CO control program are the vehicle inspection

and maintenance program, the oxygenated fuels program, the episode

contingency plan, and the new source review permit program. The City/

County has also adopted general and transportation conformity rules

that are also currently being applied. Although the commenter

specifically mentions high occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes, the use of

mass transit, public education campaigns, and pedestrian and bike

trails, these programs do not constitute the mainstay of the CO control

program, upon which the City/County achieved attainment and requested

redesignation. The main parts of the control program, in conjunction

with other federal programs, have enabled the area to achieve four

years of continuous attainment with the CO standard. Should the main

parts of the program not achieve maintenence of the standard,

contingency measures will be applied without further action by the

City/County to bring the area back into attainment. See the proposed

rule for discussion of the applicable contingency measures.

Comment: The commenter asserted that implementation of the

Intermodal Multimodal Transporation Plan and Transportation Improvement

Program is deficient.

Response: The implementation of the Intermodal Multimodal

Transporation Plan and Transportation Improvement Plans (TIP) are not

under the purview of the EPA. The EPA takes this opportunity to point

out that the U.S. Department of Transportation renders the

determination that the TIP does or does not conform to the SIP, for

transportation planning purposes.

IV. Final Action

The EPA is issuing final approval of the request of the State of

New Mexico and Albuquerque/Bernalillo County to redesignate the

Albuquerque CO nonattainment area to attainment status. The EPA is also

issuing final approval of the vehicle inspection and maintenance

program, the 1993 periodic emissions inventory, and the attainment

maintenance plan. The EPA received and addressed comments on the

proposed approval of all these elements of the complete CO SIP.

This action has been classified as a Table 3 action under the

procedures published in the FR on January 19, 1989 (54 FR 2214-2225),

as revised by a July 10, 1995, memorandum from Mary Nichols, Assistant

Administrator for Air and Radiation. The Office of Management and

Budget has exempted this regulatory action from Executive Order 12866

review.

Nothing in this action should be construed as permitting, allowing

or establishing a precedent for any future request for revision to any

SIP. The EPA shall consider each request for revision to the SIP in

light of specific technical, economic, and environmental factors and in

relation to relevant statutory and regulatory requirements.

Miscellaneous

Under the Regulatory Flexibility Act, 5 U.S.C. Sec. 600 et seq.,

the EPA must prepare a regulatory flexibility analysis assessing the

impact of any proposed or final rule on small entities (5 U.S.C.

Secs. 603 and 604). Alternatively, the EPA may certify that the rule

will not have a significant impact on a substantial number of small

entities. Small entities include small businesses, small not-for-profit

enterprises, and government entities with jurisdiction over populations

of less than 50,000.

The SIP approvals under section 110 and subchapter I, part D, of

the Act do not create any new requirements, but simply approve

requirements that the State is already imposing. Therefore, because the

Federal SIP-approval does not impose any new requirements, I certify

that it does not have a significant impact on any small entities

affected. Moreover, due to the nature of the Federal-State relationship

under the Act, preparation of a regulatory flexibility analysis would

constitute Federal inquiry into the economic reasonableness of State

action. The Act forbids the EPA to base its actions concerning SIPs on

such grounds (Union Electric Co. v. U.S. E.P.A., 427 U.S. 246, 256-66

(1976); 42 U.S.C. Sec. 7410(a)(2)).

Under section 307(b)(1) of the Act, petitions for judicial review

of this action must be filed in the United States Court of Appeals for

the appropriate circuit by August 12, 1996. 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).]

Unfunded Mandates

Under sections 202, 203, and 205 of the Unfunded Mandates Reform

Act of 1995 (Unfunded Mandates Act), signed into law on March 22, 1995,

EPA must undertake various actions in association with proposed or

final rules that include a Federal mandate that may result in estimated

costs of $100 million or more to the private sector, or to State,

local, or tribal governments in the aggregate.

Through submission of this state implementation plan or plan

revision, the State and any affected local or tribal governments have

elected to adopt the program provided for under section 110 of the Act.

These rules may bind State, local and tribal governments to perform

certain actions and also require the private sector to perform certain

duties. To the extent that the rules being approved by this action will

impose no new requirements; such sources are already subject to these

regulations under State law. Accordingly, no additional costs to State,

local, or tribal governments, or to the private sector, result from

this action. The EPA has also determined that this action does not

include a mandate that may result in estimated costs of $100 million or

more to State, local, or tribal governments in the aggregate or to the

private sector.

List of Subjects

40 CFR Part 52

Environmental protection, Air pollution control, Carbon monoxide,

Incorporation by reference.

40 CFR Part 81

Air pollution control, National parks, and Wilderness areas.

Dated: May 15, 1996.

Carol M. Browner,

Administator.

40 CFR Parts 52 and 81 are amended as follows:

PART 52--[AMENDED]

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

Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7401-7671q.

Subpart GG--New Mexico

2. Section 52.1620 is amended by adding paragraph (c)(63) to read

as follows:

[[Page 29973]]

Sec. 52.1620 Identification of plan.

* * * * *

(c) * * *

(63) A revision to the New Mexico SIP approving a request for

redesignation to attainment, a vehicle inspection and maintenance

program, and the required maintenance plan for the Albuquerque/

Bernalillo County CO nonattainment area, submitted by the Governor on

May 11, 1995. The 1993 emissions inventory and projections were

included in the maintenance plan.

(i) Incorporation by reference.

(A) A letter from the Governor of New Mexico to EPA dated April 14,

1995, in which the Governor requested redesignation to attainment based

on the adopted Carbon Monoxide Redesignation Request and Maintenance

Plan for Albuquerque/Bernalillo County New Mexico.

(B) Albuquerque/Bernalillo County Air Quality Control Board

Regulation No. 28, Motor Vehicle Inspection, as amended April 12, 1995

and effective on July 1, 1995.

(ii) Additional material. Carbon Monoxide Redesignation Request and

Maintenance Plan for Albuquerque/Bernalillo County New Mexico, approved

and adopted by the Air Quality Control Board on April 13, 1995.

3. Section 52.1627 is revised to read as follows:

Sec. 52.1627 Control strategy and regulations: Carbon monoxide.

Part D Approval. The Albuquerque/Bernalillo County carbon monoxide

maintenance plan as adopted on April 13, 1995, meets the requirements

of Section 172 of the Clean Air Act, and is therefore approved.

PART 81--[AMENDED]

1. The authority citation for part 81 continues to read as follows:

Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7401-7671q.

Subpart C--Section 107 Attainment Status Designations

2. In Sec. 81.332 the table for ``New Mexico-Carbon Monoxide'' is

amended by revising the entry for the Albuquerque Area Bernalillo

County to read as follows:

Sec. 81.332 New Mexico.

* * * * *

New Mexico-Carbon Monoxide

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

Designation Classification

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

Date\1\ Type Date\1\ Type

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

Albuquerque Area Bernalillo County.. July 15, 1996.............. Attainment................. ........................... ...........................

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

\1\ This date is November 15, 1990, unless otherwise noted.

* * * * *

[FR Doc. 96-14968 Filed 6-12-96; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6560-50-P