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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 43 / Monday, March 8, 2021 / Rules and Regulations conversionsobtain the necessary emissions reductions to make up for the increases in nitrogen oxides NOX and volatile organic compounds VOC
emissions resulting from the TCM
removals. Removing the TCMs will not worsen air quality because Georgias offsets provided compensating, equivalent, and contemporaneous emissions reductions to negate the increases in emissions from NOX and VOC. More information on the offsets is provided below.
The Georgia Environmental Protection Division GA EPD has a school bus early replacement program and a locomotive conversion program. School bus replacement projects that were completed in 2018 using Diesel Emissions Reduction Act funding have resulted in NOX emissions reductions.
Specifically, eighty-five older school
buses built in 19992005 in Fulton County were replaced with 2018 engine model year school buses. The Locomotive Conversion Program consists of two components in the Atlanta Area: 1 The conversion of three older Norfolk Southern Railway, Inc., traditional switcher locomotives into newly-available low emissions engine technology and 2 Norfolk Southern Railway, Inc.s conversion of two switchers into slugs which are driven by electrical motors whose electricity is received from companion mother locomotives. The offsets available from both the school bus replacements and locomotive conversions total 38.85 tons per year tpy of NOX. As there are 31.99 tpy of equivalent NOX associated with removing the TCMs, the annual NOX
decreases from the school bus
13193

replacements and locomotive conversions will offset the removal of the TCMs with 6.86 tpy excess NOX
emissions offset that will remain available. As further detailed in EPAs June 30, 2020, notice of proposed rulemaking NPRM, the school bus replacements and locomotive conversions were more than what was needed to compensate for the amount of NOX and VOC increases associated with removing the TCMs.
Georgias September 16, 2019, SIP
revision also included an update to the on-road emissions inventory and associated 2030 MVEBs due to the removal of the TCMs. The on-road emissions inventory and safety margin allocation for the year 2030 were updated but the MVEB totals themselves remained unchanged. See Table 1
below.

TABLE 1UPDATED MVEBS FOR THE ATLANTA 2008 8-HOUR OZONE AREA tpd 2014 2

On-Road Emissions
Safety Margin Allocation 3
MVEBs with Safety Margin

In the June 30, 2020, NPRM 85 FR
39135, EPA proposed to approve the September 16, 2019, SIP revision. The details of Georgias submittal and the rationale for EPAs action are further explained in the NPRM.
II. Response to Comments
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EPA received three comments on the proposal. Overall, the commenters disagreed with EPAs proposal to approve removal of the TCMs from the Georgia SIP. EPA has summarized and responded to these adverse comments below.
Comment 1: A Commenter disagrees with EPAs proposal, asserting that Georgia EPD does not have a very good reason for its request, making the request seem very arbitrary and capricious. The Commenter goes on to discuss the expense to install the TCMs and the usable lifespans of the TCMs and questions the States objective in removing the TCMs, while also 2 The 2014 on-road emissions and MVEBs in this chart are shown for illustration purposes only, as no changes were made to the 2014 attainment year emissions inventory due to removing the TCMs.
3 The safety margin is the difference between the attainment level of emissions from all sources and the projected level of emissions from all sources in the maintenance plan. The transportation conformity rule provides for establishing safety margins for use in transportation conformity determinations. See 40 CFR 93.124a.

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NOX

VOC

170.15
170.15

81.76
81.76

acknowledging that EPA has no purview over the monetary costs of the TCMs. The Commenter mentions that there is not enough analysis to determine whether removal of the TCMs will allow the state to meet the NAAQS and questions the use of school bus fleets to offset the potential increase in emissions as a result of removal of certain TCMs from the SIP.
Additionally, the Commenter mentions that the State failed to consider the increases in other pollutants such as carbon monoxide CO as a result of the retirement of the express bus fleets.
Response 1: EPA disagrees with the Commenters assertions that this action is arbitrary and capricious and that there is not enough analysis to determine whether removal will allow the state to meet the NAAQS. With respect to the Commenters assertion that Georgia EPD does not have a very good reason for its request, EPA notes that, with respect to SIPs, each State is given wide discretion in formulating its plan, so long as the revision is consistent with the applicable requirements of the CAA, including section 110l. See Union Elec. Co. v.
EPA, 427 U.S. 246, 250 1976; see also Alabama Envtl. Council v. EPA, 711
F.3d 1277, 1280 11th Cir. 2013, Sierra Club v. EPA, 939 F.3d 649, 673 5th Cir.
2019, and Alaska Dept of Envtl.

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2030

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NOX
39.63
18.37
58

VOC
36.01
15.99
52

Conservation v. EPA, 540 U.S. 461, 470
2004. CAA section 110l provides that the Administrator cannot approve a revision of a plan if the revision would interfere with any applicable requirement concerning attainment and reasonable further progress, or any other applicable requirement of the CAA.
Pursuant to section 110k, EPA must approve a SIP revision that meets all applicable CAA requirements, including section 110l.
In EPAs June 30, 2020, NPRM, the Agency provided specific analysis and rationale supporting its proposed approval of Georgias September 16, 2019, SIP revision that demonstrates compliance with the CAA, including section 110l. As Georgia is in nonattainment only for the 2015 8-hour ozone NAAQS, Georgia was only required to obtain offsets to ensure that the TCM removals would not affect attainment of the 2015 8-hour ozone NAAQS. Georgia provided a technical analysis including modeling showing that removal of the TCMs would not impact attainment or maintenance of any NAAQS, and that Georgia secured offsetting, contemporaneous, compensating, equivalent, emissions reductions for the 2015 8-hour ozone NAAQS. EPA reviewed Georgias analysis and agrees with the methodology and the results. EPA is not
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