NOTICES
Public Hearing and Request for Comment on the Mid-Course Review of Progress Toward Attainment for the Philadelphia One-Hour Ozone Nonattainment Area
[35 Pa.B. 604] Ground-level ozone concentrations above the Federal health-based standard are a serious human health threat and can also cause damage to crops, forests and wildlife. The Department of Environmental Protection (Department) is seeking public comment on the Department's Mid-Course Review of Progress Toward Attainment of the National Ambient Air Quality Standard for the Philadelphia one-hour Ozone Nonattainment Area (Mid-Course Review). This Mid-Course Review is to satisfy the requirements of 40 CFR 52.2037(j)(3).
The Philadelphia 1-hour ozone nonattainment area was defined shortly after adoption of the 1990 Clean Air Act (CAA) Amendments. The nonattainment area is comprised of 14 counties: 5 from Pennsylvania, 2 from Delaware, 1 from Maryland and 6 from New Jersey. The CAA mandated certain emission control requirements and specified that other measures be adopted to assure that the nonattainment area achieve the 1-hour ozone standard not later than 2005.
In a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPR) published on December 16, 1999 (64 FR 70428), the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed that additional measures are needed to support the attainment test for the Philadelphia-Wilmington-Trenton ozone nonattainment area. Specifically, in 64 FR 70428, the EPA determined that the Philadelphia-Wilmington-Trenton nonattainment area would fall short of its attainment emission level target by amounts equal to 4.5% of the 1990 baseline emission inventory for VOC and 0.3% of the 1990 baseline emission inventory for NOx. The Mid-Course Review confirms the Commonwealth's progress toward implementation of the additional measures required to achieve the emission reductions necessary to support the attainment demonstration.
The Commonwealth has implemented all emission control programs mandated by the 1990 CAA in the five-county Commonwealth portion of the Philadelphia 1-hour ozone nonattainment area. Additional control measures have been adopted to address the ozone emission reduction shortfall identified by the EPA. All volatile organic compound (VOC) emission reduction strategies required to address the shortfall have been adopted by the Commonwealth and the strategies have been submitted to the EPA as revisions to the State Implementation Plan (SIP). The Environmental Quality Board adopted final-form rulemaking for the small sources of NOx, stationary internal combustion engines and cement kilns requirements. The final-form rulemaking was published at 34 Pa.B. 6509 (December 11, 2004). The Commonwealth will submit this strategy to the EPA as a revision to the SIP.
The Department has prepared a Mid-Course Review that details the emission reduction strategies and other factors relating to the attainment of the 1-hour ozone standard in the Philadelphia Ozone Nonattainment Area.
The Department will hold a public hearing to receive comments on the Mid-Course Review on Thursday, February 24, 2005, at 1 p.m. at the Department of Environmental Protection's Southeast Regional Office, 2 East Main Street, Norristown, PA 19401.
Persons who wish to present testimony at the hearing should contact Susan Ferree, P. O. Box 8468, Harrisburg, PA 17105, (717) 787-9495, sferree@state.pa.us to reserve a time. Persons who do not reserve a time will be able to testify after preregistrants. Witnesses should keep testimony to 10 minutes and should also provide two written copies of their testimony at the hearing. Persons with a disability who wish to attend the hearing and require an auxiliary aid, service or other accommodation to participate in the proceeding should contact the Department at the telephone number listed previously. TDD users may contact the AT&T Relay Service at (800) 654-5984 to discuss how the Department can best accommodate their needs.
Written Comments:
Written or e-mail comments on the Department's Mid-Course Review should be sent to J. Wick Havens, Division of Air Resource Management, Bureau of Air Quality, P. O. Box 8468, Harrisburg, PA 17105-8468, jhavens@state.pa.us. The Department must receive written or e-mail comments by 4 p.m. on February 24, 2005.
KATHLEEN A. MCGINTY,
Secretary
[Pa.B. Doc. No. 05-157. Filed for public inspection January 21, 2005, 9:00 a.m.]
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