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PA Bulletin, Doc. No. 13-2325

NOTICES

Proposed Revision to the State Implementation Plan for the Motor Vehicle Emissions Budgets in the Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton 1997 Eight-Hour Ozone Maintenance Area; Public Hearing

[43 Pa.B. 7350]
[Saturday, December 14, 2013]

 The Department of Environmental Protection (Department) is revising the motor vehicle emissions budgets (MVEB) for the Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton (ABE) 1997 Eight-Hour Ozone Maintenance Area (ABE Area). The revised budgets, once approved by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), will allow local transportation planning agencies to better compare highway vehicle emissions in transportation plans with MVEBs in the State Implementation Plan (SIP). The SIP will now include highway emissions estimated using the same computer model that local planning agencies are required to use for developing their transportation plans. The EPA developed a new computer model, the Motor Vehicle Emissions Simulator (MOVES), which estimates emissions from highway vehicles more accurately. The Department used the former EPA-approved model, MOBILE6, for estimating highway vehicles emissions in the approved maintenance plan for the ABE Area. Emissions of nitrogen oxides and, in some cases, volatile organic compounds, are estimated by the MOVES model to be at higher levels than the MVEBs approved by the EPA in the ABE Area Maintenance Plan. The Transportation Conformity regulation requires that emissions from updated local transportation improvement plans do not exceed the MVEB in the area's approved, applicable SIP. By using the same model in transportation planning and the SIP, a more realistic comparison between the two will result, which will offer less chance of transportation projects being delayed.

 This proposal is available on the Department's web site at http://www.dep.state.pa.us/dep/deputate/airwaste/aq/default.htm or through the contact persons listed.

 The Department is seeking public comment on updated emissions in this proposed SIP revision, which includes changes made to the motor vehicle emissions budgets and the point source inventory. The Department will hold a public hearing, if requested, to receive comments on the proposal at 10 a.m. on January 23, 2014, in the 2nd Floor Little Schuylkill Room, Department of Environmental Protection's Northeast Regional Office, 2 Public Square, Wilkes-Barre, PA.

 Persons wishing to present testimony at the hearing should contact Alex Haas, P. O. Box 8468, Harrisburg, PA 17105, (717) 787-9495 or alehaas@pa.gov to reserve a time. If, by 12 p.m. on January 21, 2013, no person has requested to testify at the hearing, the hearing will be cancelled. If the hearing is cancelled, the Department will notify the public on the Bureau of Air Quality web page at http://www.dep.state.pa.us/dep/deputate/airwaste/aq/default.htm. Witnesses should keep testimony to ten minutes and should provide two written copies of their statement 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 Alex Haas at (717) 787-9495 or alehaas@pa.gov. TDD users may contact the Pennsylvania AT&T Relay Service at (800) 654-5984 to discuss how the Department can best accommodate their needs.

 The Department must receive comments no later than January 24, 2014. Written comments should be sent to the attention of Kirit Dalal, Chief, Division of Air Resource Management, Bureau of Air Quality, P. O. Box 8468, Harrisburg, PA 17105-8468 or kdalal@pa.gov. Use ''ABE Area MVEB Revisions'' in the subject line.

E. CHRISTOPHER ABRUZZO, 
Secretary

[Pa.B. Doc. No. 13-2325. Filed for public inspection December 13, 2013, 9:00 a.m.]


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