3220 Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 14 / Monday, January 23, 2012 / Proposed Rules 

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 CAA; 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 proposed 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. 

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 52 

Environmental protection, Air 

pollution control, Intergovernmental 

relations, Ozone, Reporting and 

recordkeeping requirements, Volatile 

organic compounds. 

Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq. 

Dated: January 12, 2012. 

A. Stanley Meiburg, 

Acting Regional Administrator, Region 4. 

[FR Doc. 2012–1220 Filed 1–20–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

40 CFR Part 52 

[EPA–R01–OAR–2011–0960; A–1–FRL– 

9621–2] 

Approval and Promulgation of Air 

Quality Implementation Plans; 

Massachusetts; Determination of 

Attainment of the 1997 Ozone Standard 

for the Western Massachusetts 

Nonattainment Area 

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA). 

ACTION: Proposed rule. 

SUMMARY: The EPA is proposing two 

separate and independent 

determinations regarding the 

Springfield (Western Massachusetts) 

moderate 1997 8-hour ozone 

nonattainment area. First, EPA is 

proposing to determine that the Western 

Massachusetts nonattainment area has 

attained the 1997 8-hour National 

Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) 

for ozone, based upon complete, 

quality-assured, certified ambient air 

monitoring data that show the area has 

monitored attainment of the 1997 8- 

hour ozone NAAQS for the 2007–2009 

and 2008–2010 monitoring periods. 

Preliminary data for 2011 indicate the 

area continues to attain the standard. If 

this proposed determination is made 

final, under the provisions of EPA’s 

ozone implementation rule, the 

requirements for this area to submit an 

attainment demonstration, a reasonable 

further progress plan, contingency 

measures, and other planning State 

Implementation Plans related to 

attainment of the 1997 8-hour ozone 

NAAQS shall be suspended for so long 

as the area continues to attain the 1997 

ozone NAAQS. Second, based on 

complete, quality-assured and certified 

air monitoring data for 2007–2009, EPA 

is proposing to determine that the 

Western Massachusetts nonattainment 

area also attained the 1997 ozone 

NAAQS as of June 15, 2010, its 

applicable attainment date. 

DATES: Written comments must be 

received on or before February 22, 2012. 

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, 

identified by Docket ID Number EPA– 

R01–OAR–2011–0960 by one of the 

following methods: 

1. www.regulations.gov: Follow the 

on-line instructions for submitting 

comments. 

2. Email: arnold.anne@epa.gov. 

3. Fax: (617) 918–0047. 

4. Mail: ‘‘Docket Identification 

Number EPA–R01–OAR–2011–0960,’’ 

Anne Arnold, U.S. Environmental 

Protection Agency, EPA New England 

Regional Office, 5 Post Office Square, 

Suite 100 (mail code: OEP05–2), Boston, 

MA 02109–3912. 

5. Hand Delivery or Courier. Deliver 

your comments to: Anne Arnold, 

Manager, Air Quality Planning Unit, 

Office of Ecosystem Protection, U.S. 

Environmental Protection Agency, EPA 

New England Regional Office, 5 Post 

Office Square, Suite 100, Boston, MA 

02109–3912. Such deliveries are only 

accepted during the Regional Office’s 

normal hours of operation. The Regional 

Office’s official hours of business are 

Monday through Friday, 8:30 to 4:30, 

excluding legal holidays. 

Instructions: Direct your comments to 

Docket ID No. EPA–R01–OAR–2011– 

0960. 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 through 

www.regulations.gov, or email, 

information that you consider to be CBI 

or otherwise protected. 

The www.regulations.gov Web site 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 email comment directly 

to EPA without going through 

www.regulations.gov your email 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 at Office of Ecosystem 

Protection, U.S. Environmental 

Protection Agency, EPA New England 

Regional Office, 5 Post Office Square, 

Suite 100, Boston, MA. EPA requests 

that if at all possible, you contact the 

person listed in the FOR FURTHER

INFORMATION CONTACT section to 

schedule your inspection. The Regional 

Office’s official hours of business are 

Monday through Friday, 8:30 to 4:30, 

excluding legal holidays. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Richard P. Burkhart, Air Quality 

Planning Unit, U.S. Environmental 

Protection Agency, EPA New England 

Regional Office, 5 Post Office Square, 

Suite 100, Boston, MA 02109–3912, 

telephone number (617) 918–1664, fax 

number (617) 918–0664, email 

Burkhart.Richard@epa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 


srobinson on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with PROPOSALS
Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 14 / Monday, January 23, 2012 / Proposed Rules 3221 

Throughout this document whenever 

‘‘we,’’ ‘‘us,’’ or ‘‘our’’ is used, we mean 

EPA. 

Organization of this document. The 

following outline is provided to aid in 

locating information in this preamble. 

I. What actions is EPA taking? 

II. What is the effect of these actions? 

III. What is the background for these actions? 

IV. What is EPA’s analysis of the relevant air 

quality data? 

V. Proposed Actions 

VI. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews 

I. What actions is EPA taking? 

EPA is proposing to determine that 

the Springfield (Western Massachusetts) 

moderate 8-hour ozone nonattainment 

area (hereafter ‘‘the Western 

Massachusetts area’’) has attained the 

1997 8-hour NAAQS for ozone. This 

determination is based upon complete, 

quality-assured and certified ambient air 

monitoring data that show the area has 

monitored attainment of the 1997 ozone 

NAAQS for the 2007–2009 and 2008– 

2010 monitoring periods. Preliminary 

data available for 2011 indicate the area 

continues to attain the standard. In 

addition, pursuant to section 

181(b)(2)(A) of the Clean Air Act (CAA), 

and based upon complete, quality 

assured and certified air monitoring 

data for 2007–2009, EPA is proposing to 

determine that this area attained the 

1997 ozone NAAQS by its applicable 

attainment date (June 15, 2010). 

II. What is the effect of these actions? 

If EPA’s determination that the area is 

attaining the standard is made final, 

under the provisions of EPA’s ozone 

implementation rule (see 40 CFR 

Section 51.918), the requirements for 

the Western Massachusetts moderate 

ozone nonattainment area to submit an 

attainment demonstration, a reasonable 

further progress plan, section 172(c)(9) 

contingency measures, and any other 

planning State Implementation Plans 

(SIPs) related to attainment of the 1997 

8-hour ozone NAAQS would be 

suspended for so long as the area 

continues to attain the 1997 8-hour 

ozone NAAQS. This proposed action, if 

finalized, would not constitute a 

redesignation to attainment under the 

Clean Air Act (CAA) section 107(d)(3), 

because we would not yet have an 

approved maintenance plan for the area 

as required under section 175A of the 

CAA, nor a determination that the area 

has met the other requirements for 

redesignation. The classification and 

designation status of the area would 

remain moderate nonattainment for the 

1997 8-hour ozone NAAQS until such 

time as EPA determines that the area 

meets the CAA requirements for 

redesignation to attainment. 

If this determination of attainment is 

finalized and EPA subsequently 

determines, after notice-and-comment 

rulemaking in the Federal Register, that 

the area has violated the 1997 8-hour 

ozone standard, the basis for the 

suspension of these requirements would 

no longer exist, and the area would 

thereafter have to address the pertinent 

CAA requirements. It should be noted, 

that Massachusetts submitted an 

attainment demonstration, reasonable 

further progress (RFP) plan and 

contingency measures for this area on 

January 31, 2008. EPA has not taken 

action on the attainment demonstration 

but has proposed approval of the RFP 

plan and contingency measures for the 

Western Massachusetts area. (See 75 FR 

57221, September 20, 2010.) 

In addition, under section 

181(b)(2)(A) of the CAA and the 

provisions of EPA’s ozone 

implementation rule (see 40 CFR 

Section 51.902(a)), EPA is proposing to 

determine, that the Western 

Massachusetts area attained the 1997 

ozone NAAQS by its applicable 

attainment date of June 15, 2010. The 

effect of a final determination of 

attainment by the area’s attainment date 

would be to discharge EPA’s obligation 

under section 181(b)(2)(A), and to 

establish that, in accordance with that 

section, the area would not be 

reclassified for failure to attain by its 

applicable attainment date. 

III. What is the background for these 

actions? 

On April 30, 2004 (69 FR 23857), EPA 

designated as nonattainment any area 

that was violating the 1997 8-hour 

ozone NAAQS based on the three most 

recent years (2001–2003) of air quality 

data. The Western Massachusetts area 

was designated as a moderate ozone 

nonattainment area. The Western 

Massachusetts nonattainment area 

consists of Berkshire, Franklin, 

Hampden and Hampshire counties. 

Recent air quality data indicate that the 

Western Massachusetts area is attaining 

the 1997 8-hour ozone standard. 

IV. What is EPA’s analysis of the 

relevant air quality data? 

The EPA has reviewed the ambient air 

monitoring data for ozone, consistent 

with the requirements contained in 40 

CFR Part 50 and recorded in the Air 

Quality Data System (AQS) database, for 

Western Massachusetts, from 2007 

through 2010. 

Under EPA regulations at 40 CFR part 

50, the 1997 8-hour ozone standard is 

attained at a site when the 3-year 

average of the annual fourth-highest 

daily maximum 8-hour average ozone 

concentrations at an ozone monitor is 

less than or equal to 0.08 parts per 

million (ppm) (i.e., 0.084 ppm, based on 

the rounding convention in 40 CFR Part 

50, Appendix I). This 3-year average is 

referred to as the design value. When 

the design value is less than or equal to 

0.084 ppm at each monitoring site 

within the area, then the area is meeting 

the NAAQS. Also, the data 

completeness requirement is met when 

the 3-year average of the percent of days 

with valid ambient monitoring data is 

more than 90%, and no single year has 

less than 75% data completeness as 

determined in Appendix I of 40 CFR 

Part 50. 

Table 1 shows the fourth-highest daily 

maximum 8-hour average ozone 

concentrations for the four Western 

Massachusetts area monitors for the 

years 2007–2009, and the ozone design 

values for these same monitors based on 

2007–2009. Table 2 shows similar data 

for the 2008–2010 monitoring period. 

TABLE 1—2007–2009 FOURTH-HIGH 8-HOUR AVERAGE OZONE CONCENTRATIONS AND 2007–2009 DESIGN VALUES

(PARTS PER MILLION) IN THE WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS AREA

Site ID Site location 4th High 2007 4th High 2008 4th High 2009 Design value 

(2007–2009) 

250034002 ................... Adams 1 .................................................................. 0.080 0.072 0.066 0.072 

250130008 ................... Chicopee ................................................................ 0.098 0.078 0.076 0.084 

250150103 ................... N. Amherst ............................................................. 0.080 0.073 0.070 0.074 

250154002 ................... Ware ...................................................................... 0.087 0.079 0.076 0.080 


srobinson on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with PROPOSALS
3222 Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 14 / Monday, January 23, 2012 / Proposed Rules 

1The data capture percentage for this ozone 

monitor was below EPA data capture requirements 

for the 1997 8-hour ozone NAAQS, for both the 

2007–2009 and 2008–2010 monitoring periods. The 

Massachusetts Department of Environmental 

Protection performed a missing data analysis for 

this site in accordance with the regulatory 

requirements of 40 CFR part 50, Appendix I. The 

Massachusetts missing data analysis used a 

combination of meteorology and air quality data for 

ozone monitors near the Adams site for the missing 

days to decisively conclude that on the days with 

missing ozone data, the ozone levels, if captured, 

would have been below the 1997 8-hour ozone 

NAAQS. Thus, by rule, these days can be counted 

for the purpose of meeting the data completeness 

requirement. The missing data analysis for this site 

was approved by EPA on December 15, 2011. The 

approval letter is in the Docket for this action. 

2Massachusetts submitted an attainment 

demonstration and contingency measures for this 

area on Jan. 31, 2008. EPA has not taken action on 

the attainment demonstration, but has proposed 

approval of the reasonable further progress plan and 

contingency measures. (See 75 FR 57221, Sept. 10, 

2010.) 

TABLE 2—2008–2010 FOURTH-HIGH 8-HOUR AVERAGE OZONE CONCENTRATIONS AND 2008–2010 DESIGN VALUES

(PARTS PER MILLION) IN THE WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS AREA

Site ID Site location 4th High 2008 4th High 2009 4th High 2010 Design value 

(2008–2010) 

250034002 ... Adams 1 ................................................................................. 0.072 0.066 0.073 0.070 

250130008 ... Chicopee ............................................................................... 0.078 0.076 0.074 0.076 

250150103 ... N. Amherst ............................................................................ 0.073 0.070 0.069 0.070 

250154002 ... Ware ...................................................................................... 0.079 0.076 0.076 0.077 

EPA’s review of these data indicates 

that the Western Massachusetts area 

attained the 1997 8-hour ozone NAAQS 

and met its applicable attainment 

deadline, based on 2007–2009 data. Our 

review also shows that the area 

continues to attain the standard, based 

on complete, quality-assured and 

certified data for the 2008–2010 

monitoring period. Preliminary ozone 

data for the 2011 ozone monitoring 

season also indicate attainment. 

EPA is soliciting public comments on 

the issues discussed in this notice or on 

other relevant matters pertaining to this 

rulemaking action. These comments 

will be considered before EPA takes 

final action. Interested parties may 

participate in the Federal rulemaking 

procedure by submitting written 

comments to the EPA New England 

Regional Office listed in the ADDRESSES

section of this Federal Register. 

V. Proposed Actions 

EPA is proposing two separate and 

independent determinations. First, EPA 

is proposing to determine that the 

Western Massachusetts 1997 8-hour 

ozone moderate nonattainment area has 

attained the 1997 8-hour ozone 

standard, based on complete, qualityassured data for the 2007–2009 and 

2008–2010 monitoring periods. 

Preliminary data available for 2011 

indicate the area continues to attain the 

standard. As provided in 40 CFR 51.918, 

if EPA finalizes this determination, it 

would suspend the requirements for 

Massachusetts to submit planning SIPs 

related to attainment of the 1997 8-hour 

ozone NAAQS for this area, for so long 

as the area continues to attain the 

standard.2 In addition, under section 

181(b)(2)(A) of the Clean Air Act and 

the provisions of EPA’s ozone 

implementation rule (see 40 CFR 

Section 51.902(a)), based upon 

complete, quality-assured and certified 

data for 2007–2009, EPA is proposing to 

determine that this area has attained the 

1997 ozone NAAQS by its applicable 

attainment date of June 15, 2010. 

VI. Statutory and Executive Order 

Reviews 

These actions propose to make 

determinations of attainment based on 

air quality, and would, if finalized, 

result in the suspension of certain 

Federal requirements, and would not 

impose additional requirements beyond 

those imposed by state law. For that 

reason, these proposed actions: 

• Are not a ‘‘significant regulatory 

actions’’ subject to review by the Office 

of Management and Budget under 

Executive Order 12866 (58 FR 51735, 

October 4, 1993); 

• Do not impose an information 

collection burden under the provisions 

of the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 

U.S.C. 3501 et seq.); 

• Are 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.); 

• Do not contain any unfunded 

mandate or significantly or uniquely 

affect small governments, as described 

in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act 

of 1995 (Pub. L. 104–4); 

• Do not have Federalism 

implications as specified in Executive 

Order 13132 (64 FR 43255, August 10, 

1999); 

• Are not economically significant 

regulatory actions based on health or 

safety risks subject to Executive Order 

13045 (62 FR 19885, April 23, 1997); 

• Are not significant regulatory 

actions subject to Executive Order 

13211 (66 FR 28355, May 22, 2001); 

• Are not subject to the 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 

• Do 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. 

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. 

Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq. 

Dated: January 9, 2012. 

H. Curtis Spalding, 

Regional Administrator, EPA New England. 

[FR Doc. 2012–1223 Filed 1–20–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P 


srobinson on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with PROPOSALS