Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 245 / Friday, December 21, 2018 / Rules and Regulations 65535 

1 80 FR 2206. 2 83 FR 14759. 

Premium Forwarding Service 

Shipping and Mailing Supplies 

Post Office Box Service 

Competitive Ancillary Services 

Nonpostal Services* 

Advertising 

Licensing of Intellectual Property other than 

Officially Licensed Retail Products (OLRP) 

Mail Service Promotion 

Officially Licensed Retail Products (OLRP) 

Passport Photo Service 

Photocopying Service 

Rental, Leasing, Licensing or other Non-Sale 

Disposition of Tangible Property 

Training Facilities and Related Services 

USPS Electronic Postmark (EPM) Program 

Market Tests* 

Customized Delivery 

Global eCommerce Marketplace (GeM) 

Stacy L. Ruble, 

Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 2018–27593 Filed 12–20–18; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 7710–FW–P 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

40 CFR Part 52 

[EPA–R10–OAR–2017–0170; FRL–9988–17– 

Region 10] 

Air Plan Approval; ID, West Silver 

Valley PM2.5 Clean Data Determination 

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA). 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA) is finalizing a 

determination that the West Silver 

Valley, Idaho nonattainment area has 

clean data for the 2012 annual fine 

particulate matter (PM2.5) National 

Ambient Air Quality Standard 

(NAAQS). This clean data 

determination (CDD) is based upon 

quality-assured, quality-controlled, and 

certified ambient air monitoring data 

showing the area has attained the 2012 

PM2.5 NAAQS based on the 2015–2017 

data available in the EPA’s Air Quality 

System (AQS) database. The EPA also is 

taking final agency action on the 

September 2017 wildfire exceptional 

event at the Pinehurst monitoring 

station as having affected PM2.5 and 

PM10 values. Based on this clean data 

determination, the EPA determines that 

the obligation for Idaho to make 

submissions to meet certain Clean Air 

Act (CAA or the Act) requirements 

related to attainment of the NAAQS for 

this area is suspended for as long as the 

area continues to attain the 2012 annual 

PM2.5 NAAQS. Additionally, the 

sanctions and Federal Implementation 

Plan (FIP) clocks triggered by the March 

26, 2018 Finding of Failure to Submit 

action will be suspended. No adverse 

comments were received on this action. 

DATES: This action is effective on 

January 22, 2019. 

ADDRESSES: The EPA has established a 

docket for this action under Docket ID 

No. EPA–R10–OAR–2017–0170. All 

documents in the docket are listed on 

the https://www.regulations.gov 

website. Although listed in the index, 

some information is not publicly 

available, e.g., Confidential Business 

Information or other information the 

disclosure of which 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 through https://

www.regulations.gov, or please contact 

the person identified in the FOR FURTHER

INFORMATION CONTACT section for 

additional availability information. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Justin Spenillo at (206) 553–6125, or 

spenillo.justin@epa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Throughout this document whenever 

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

intended to refer to the EPA. 

Table of Contents 

I. Background 

II. Response to Comments 

III. Final Action 

IV. Statutory and Executive Orders Review 

I. Background 

On December 14, 2012, the 

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) 

revised the level of the primary annual 

PM2.5 standard, lowering the level from 

15.0 micrograms per cubic meter (mg/ 

m3) to 12.0 mg/m3. Effective April 15, 

2015, the EPA made designation 

determinations for the 2012 annual 

PM2.5 NAAQS.1 In that action, EPA 

designated the West Silver Valley area 

in Shoshone County, Idaho (WSV NAA) 

as moderate nonattainment for the 2012 

annual PM2.5 NAAQS. See 40 CFR 

81.313. 

On March 26, 2018, the EPA issued a 

finding of failure to submit under 

section 110(k) of the CAA finding that 

several states, including Idaho, failed to 

submit specific moderate area SIP 

elements for the 2012 annual PM2.5

NAAQS required under subpart 4 of 

part D of Title I of the CAA.2 In 

particular, Idaho failed to submit the 

following specific moderate area SIP 

elements for the WSV NAA: An 

attainment demonstration; control 

strategies, including reasonably 

available control measures (‘‘RACM’’) 

and reasonably available control 

technologies (‘‘RACT’’); a reasonable 

further progress (RFP) plan; quantitative 

milestones; and contingency measures. 

This finding triggered the sanctions 

clock under Section 179 of the CAA, as 

well as an obligation under Section 

110(c) of the CAA for EPA to 

promulgate a FIP no later than 2 years 

from the effective date of the finding. 

On October 22, 2018 (83 FR 53201), 

the EPA proposed to determine, based 

on the most recent 3 years (2015–2017) 

of valid data, that the WSV NAA has 

attained the 2012 PM2.5 annual NAAQS. 

The EPA also proposed to take final 

agency action on the September 2017 

wildfire exceptional event at the 

Pinehurst monitoring station as having 

affected PM2.5 and PM10 values on 

September 4 through September 8, 2017 

as described in Table 1. 

TABLE 1—24-HR PM2.5 AND PM10 VALUES AT THE PINEHURST MONITORING STATION THAT MEET THE EPA EXCEPTIONAL

EVENT CRITERIA

Date 

24-hr PM2.5 Concentration 

(μg/m3) 

16–079–0017 POC1 

24-hr PM10 Concentration 

(μg/m3) 

16–079–0017 POC3 

9/4/2017 ........................................................................................................................... 144.9 ............................................

9/5/2017 ........................................................................................................................... 222.2 ............................................

9/6/2017 ........................................................................................................................... 147.1 169.6 

9/7/2017 ........................................................................................................................... 123.8 149.8 

9/8/2017 ........................................................................................................................... 116.7 143.7 


amozie on DSK3GDR082PROD with RULES
65536 Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 245 / Friday, December 21, 2018 / Rules and Regulations 

Based on the clean data determination 

(CDD), the EPA also proposed to 

determine that the obligation to submit 

the attainment planning elements for 

the PM2.5 NAAQS are not applicable so 

long as the area continues to attain the 

2012 annual PM2.5 NAAQS. Additional 

detail can be found in the October 22, 

2018, proposed action (83 FR 53201). 

Finally, the action proposed to suspend 

the sanctions and FIP clocks triggered 

by the March 26, 2018, Finding of 

Failure to Submit action. 

II. Response to Comments 

The comment period for the proposed 

action closed on November 21, 2018. 

The EPA received seven supportive 

comments regarding this action. The 

EPA received no adverse comments. All 

comments can be found in the docket 

for this action. 

III. Final Action 

The EPA is finalizing this action as 

proposed. Pursuant to 40 CFR 

51.1015(a), the EPA determines that 

based on 3-years of certified, valid 

monitoring data between 2015 and 

2017, the WSV NAA has attained the 

2012 annual PM2.5 NAAQS. Pursuant to 

50 CFR 50.14, the EPA is also taking 

final action excluding the 2017 24-hr 

PM2.5 and PM10 values listed in Table 1, 

above, at the Pinehurst monitoring 

station because those NAAQS 

exceedances were caused by a wildfire 

exceptional event. Pursuant to 40 CFR 

51.1015(a), and based upon our 

determination that the WSV NAA has 

attained the standard, the EPA 

determines that the obligation to submit 

any attainment-related SIP revisions 

arising from classification of the WSV 

NAA as a moderate nonattainment area 

under subpart 4 of part D, of title I of 

the Act for the 2012 annual PM2.5

NAAQS is not applicable for so long as 

the area continues to attain the 2012 

annual PM2.5 NAAQS. In particular, the 

obligation for Idaho to submit 

attainment demonstrations, projected 

emissions inventories, RACM (including 

RACT), RFP plans, motor vehicle 

emissions budgets, quantitative 

milestones, and contingency measures 

for the WSV NAA are suspended until 

such time as: (1) The area is 

redesignated to attainment, after which 

such requirements are permanently 

discharged; or (2) the EPA determines 

that the area has re-violated the PM2.5

NAAQS, at which time the state shall 

submit such attainment plan elements 

for the Moderate nonattainment area by 

a future date to be determined by the 

EPA and announced through 

publication in the Federal Register at 

the time the EPA determines the area is 

violating the PM2.5 NAAQS. 

Although the obligation has been 

suspended, this action does not 

preclude Idaho from submitting, nor the 

EPA from acting on the suspended 

attainment plan elements. As a result of 

this final action, the sanctions and FIP 

clocks triggered by the EPA’s March 26, 

2018, Finding of Failure to Submit are 

suspended. See 83 FR 14759. 

Today’s final action does not 

constitute a redesignation of the WSV 

NAA to attainment for the 2012 annual 

PM2.5 NAAQS under CAA section 

107(d)(3) because we have not yet 

approved a maintenance plan for WSV 

NAA as meeting the requirements of 

section 175A of the CAA or determined 

that the area has met the other CAA 

requirements for redesignation. The 

classification and designation status in 

40 CFR part 81 remains Moderate 

nonattainment for this area until such 

time as the EPA determines that Idaho 

has met the CAA requirements for 

redesignation to attainment for the WSV 

NAA. 

IV. Statutory and Executive Orders 

Review 

This action finalizes a determination 

of attainment based on air quality and 

suspends certain federal requirements, 

and thus will not impose additional 

requirements beyond those imposed by 

state law. For this reason, this final 

action: 

• Is not a ‘‘significant regulatory 

action’’ subject to review by the Office 

of Management and Budget under 

Executive Orders 12866 (58 FR 51735, 

October 4, 1993) and 13563 (76 FR 3821, 

January 21, 2011); 

• Is not expected to be an Executive 

Order 13771 (82 FR 9339, February 2, 

2017) regulatory action because this 

action is not significant under Executive 

Order 12866; 

• Does not impose an information 

collection burden under the provisions 

of the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 

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

• Is 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.); 

• Does 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); 

• Does not have federalism 

implications as specified in Executive 

Order 13132 (64 FR 43255, August 10, 

1999); 

• Is not an economically significant 

regulatory action based on health or 

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 the 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, the SIP is not approved 

to apply on any Indian reservation land 

or in any other area where the EPA or 

an Indian tribe has demonstrated that a 

tribe has jurisdiction. In those areas of 

Indian country, the rule does not have 

tribal implications and will not impose 

substantial direct costs on tribal 

governments or preempt tribal law as 

specified by Executive Order 13175 (65 

FR 67249, November 9, 2000). 

The Congressional Review Act, 5 

U.S.C. 801 et seq., as added by the Small 

Business Regulatory Enforcement 

Fairness Act of 1996, generally provides 

that before a rule may take effect, the 

agency promulgating the rule must 

submit a rule report, which includes a 

copy of the rule, to each House of the 

Congress and to the Comptroller General 

of the United States. The EPA will 

submit a report containing this action 

and other required information to the 

U.S. Senate, the U.S. House of 

Representatives, and the Comptroller 

General of the United States prior to 

publication of the rule in the Federal 

Register. A major rule cannot take effect 

until 60 days after it is published in the 

Federal Register. This action is not a 

‘‘major rule’’ as defined by 5 U.S.C. 

804(2). 

Under section 307(b)(1) of the CAA, 

petitions for judicial review of this 

action must be filed in the United States 

Court of Appeals for the appropriate 

circuit by February 19, 2019. Filing a 

petition for reconsideration by the 

Administrator of this final rule does not 

affect the finality of this action 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)). 


amozie on DSK3GDR082PROD with RULES
Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 245 / Friday, December 21, 2018 / Rules and Regulations 65537 

1The criteria pollutants are ozone (O3), nitrogen 

oxides (represented by nitrogen dioxide (NO2)), 

sulfur oxides (represented by sulfur dioxide (SO2)), 

carbon monoxide (CO), particulate matter 

(represented by total suspended particulates (TSP), 

particulates (PM10), and fine particulates (PM2.5)), 

and lead (Pb). Note that Illinois also has air quality 

standard and monitoring rules for ‘‘coarse 

particulate matter’’ (PM2.5–10), although this is not 

a criteria pollutant and is generally considered to 

be included in PM10. 

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 52 

Environmental protection, Air 

pollution control, Incorporation by 

reference, Intergovernmental relations, 

Nitrogen dioxide, Particulate matter, 

Reporting and recordkeeping 

requirements, Sulfur oxides, Volatile 

organic compounds. 

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

Dated: December 4, 2018. 

Michelle L. Pirzadeh, 

Acting Regional Administrator, Region 10. 

[FR Doc. 2018–27607 Filed 12–20–18; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

40 CFR Part 52 

[EPA–RO5–OAR–2018–0302; EPA–R05– 

OAR–2018–0303; EPA–RO5–OAR–2018– 

0589; FRL–9988–04–Region 5] 

Air Plan Approval; Illinois; NAAQS and 

VOC Updates 

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA). 

ACTION: Direct final rule. 

SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA) is approving revised rules 

submitted by the State of Illinois as 

State Implementation Plan (SIP) 

revisions. The submitted rules update 

Illinois definitions and requirements for 

handling monitoring data influenced by 

exceptional events, update 

implementation rules for the 2012 

primary annual National Ambient Air 

Quality Standard (NAAQS) for fine 

particulate matter (PM2.5), and update 

designated reference and equivalent 

methods for multiple NAAQS. In 

addition, the submitted rules amend the 

Illinois Administrative Code (IAC) by 

updating the definition of volatile 

organic compounds (VOC). 

DATES: This direct final rule will be 

effective February 19, 2019, unless EPA 

receives adverse comments by January 

22, 2019. If adverse comments are 

received, EPA will publish a timely 

withdrawal of the direct final rule in the 

Federal Register informing the public 

that the rule will not take effect. 

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, 

identified by Docket ID No. EPA–RO5– 

OAR–2018–0302, EPA–RO5–OAR– 

2018–0303, or EPA–RO5–OAR–2018– 

0589 at http://www.regulations.gov, or 

via email to aburano.douglas@epa.gov. 

For comments submitted at 

Regulations.gov, follow the online 

instructions for submitting comments. 

Once submitted, comments cannot be 

edited or removed from Regulations.gov. 

For either manner of submission, EPA 

may publish any comment received to 

its public docket. Do not submit 

electronically any information you 

consider to be Confidential Business 

Information (CBI) or other information 

whose disclosure is restricted by statute. 

Multimedia submissions (audio, video, 

etc.) must be accompanied by a written 

comment. The written comment is 

considered the official comment and 

should include discussion of all points 

you wish to make. EPA will generally 

not consider comments or comment 

contents located outside of the primary 

submission (i.e., on the web, cloud, or 

other file sharing system). For 

additional submission methods, please 

contact the person identified in the FOR

FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section. 

For the full EPA public comment policy, 

information about CBI or multimedia 

submissions, and general guidance on 

making effective comments, please visit 

http://www2.epa.gov/dockets/ 

commenting-epa-dockets. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Samantha Panock, Physical Scientist, 

Attainment Planning and Maintenance 

Section, Air Programs Branch (AR–18J), 

Environmental Protection Agency, 

Region 5, 77 West Jackson Boulevard, 

Chicago, Illinois 60604, (312) 353–8973, 

panock.samantha@epa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Throughout this document whenever 

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

EPA. This supplementary information 

section is arranged as follows: 

I. Background 

II. What are the State rule revisions? 

III. Did the State hold public hearings for 

these submittals? 

IV. What is EPA’s analysis of the State’s 

submittals? 

V. What action is EPA taking? 

VI. Incorporation by Reference 

VII. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews 

I. Background 

Section 109 of the Clean Air Act 

(CAA) requires EPA to establish 

national primary (protective of human 

health) and secondary (protective of 

human welfare) air quality standards for 

pollutants for which air quality criteria 

have been issued under section 108 of 

the CAA (the criteria pollutants 1). 

Individually and collectively these 

standards are referred to as NAAQS. 

Section 109(d)(1) of the CAA requires 

EPA to review, and if necessary, based 

on accumulated health and welfare data, 

to revise each NAAQS every five years. 

If a NAAQS is revised, states whose 

rules include state air quality standards 

may revise their rules to address the 

revised NAAQS and associated 

monitoring requirements, and submit 

them to EPA as SIP revision requests. 

See, e.g., 415 ILCS 5/10(H). Moreover, 

section 10(H) of the ILCS requires that 

Illinois adopt ambient air quality 

standards that are identical-in-substance 

to the Federal NAAQS using identicalin-substance rulemaking procedure (415 

ILCS 5/10(H)(2016). 

The Illinois Environmental Protection 

Agency (IEPA) submitted revisions on 

ambient air quality standards in the 

Illinois SIP to EPA for approval on April 

2, 2018 and July 26, 2018. Specifically, 

these SIP revisions update: (1) Illinois 

ambient air quality definitions and 

requirements for handling monitoring 

data influenced by exceptional events, 

(2) implementation rules for the 2012 

primary annual PM2.5 NAAQS, and (3) 

designated reference and equivalent 

methods for multiple NAAQS. These 

updates correspond to EPA’s 

rulemakings related to NAAQS that 

occurred between July 1, 2016 and 

December 31, 2017. 

IEPA also submitted a revision to the 

definitions for VOC in the Illinois SIP to 

EPA for approval on April 2, 2018. The 

change included the addition of 1,1,2,2- 

Tetrafluoro-1-(2,2,2-trifluoroethoxy) 

ethane to the list of chemical species 

excluded from the Federal definition of 

VOC. This update corresponds to EPA’s 

rulemaking related to VOC regulations 

adopted August 1, 2016. 

II. What are the State rule revisions? 

35 IAC 243.101 Definitions 

Illinois amended 35 IAC 243.101 to 

add and revise definitions regarding the 

exceptional events rule. These 

definitions were adopted by EPA in 

‘‘Treatment of Data Influenced by 

Exceptional Events’’ (81 FR 68216, 

October 3, 2016). 

35 IAC 243.105 Air Quality Monitoring 

Data Influenced by Exceptional Events 

Illinois amended 35 IAC 243.105 to 

update procedural requirements, 

requirements for air agency 

demonstrations, criteria for EPA’s 

approval of the exclusion of event 

influenced air quality data, and 

requirements for air agencies to take 

appropriate and reasonable actions to 

protect public health from exceedances 

or violations of the NAAQS. 


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