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[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 136 (Friday, July 15, 2011)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 41739-41742]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-17868]

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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[EPA-R03-OAR-2011-0454; FRL-9439-9]

Approval and Promulgation of Air Quality Implementation Plans; 
West Virginia; Determination of Attainment and Determination of Clean 
Data for the Annual 1997 Fine Particle Standard for the Charleston Area

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Proposed rule.

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SUMMARY: EPA is proposing to make two determinations regarding the 
Charleston, West Virginia fine particulate matter (PM2.5) 
nonattainment area (hereafter referred to as ``Charleston Area'' or 
``Area''). First, EPA is proposing to determine that the Area has 
attained the 1997 annual average PM2.5 National Ambient Air 
Quality Standard (NAAQS). This proposed determination of attainment is 
based upon complete, quality-assured, and certified ambient air 
monitoring data for the 2007-2009 period showing that the Charleston 
Area has attained the 1997 annual PM2.5 NAAQS and data 
available to date for 2010 in EPA's Air Quality System (AQS) database 
that show the area continues to attain. If EPA finalizes this proposed 
determination of attainment, the requirements for the Charleston Area 
to submit attainment demonstrations and associated reasonably available 
control measures (RACM), a reasonable further progress (RFP) plan, 
contingency measures, and other planning State Implementation Plan 
(SIP) revisions related to attainment of the standard shall be 
suspended for so long as the Area continues to attain the annual 
PM2.5 NAAQS. Second, EPA is also proposing to determine 
based on quality-assured and certified monitoring data for the 2007-
2009 monitoring period that the area has attained the 1997 annual 
PM2.5 NAAQS, by its applicable attainment date of April 5, 
2010.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before August 15, 2011.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments regarding the Charleston Area, 
identified by Docket ID No. EPA-R03-OAR-2011-0454, by one of the 
following methods:
    A. http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the on-line instructions for 
submitting comments.
    B. E-mail: fernandez.cristina@epa.gov.
    C. Mail: EPA-R03-OAR-2011-0454, Cristina Fernandez, Associate 
Director,

[[Page 41740]]

Office of Air Program Planning, Mail code 3AP30, U.S. Environmental 
Protection Agency, Region III, 1650 Arch Street, Philadelphia, 
Pennsylvania 19103.
    D. Hand Delivery: At the previously-listed EPA Region III address. 
Such deliveries are only accepted during the Docket's normal hours of 
operation, and special arrangements should be made for deliveries of 
boxed information.
    Instructions: Direct your comments to Docket ID No. EPA-R03-OAR-
2011-0454. EPA's policy is that all comments received will be included 
in the public docket without change and may be made available online at 
http://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 information that you 
consider to be CBI or otherwise protected through http://www.regulations.gov or e-mail. The http://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 e-mail comment directly to EPA without 
going through http://www.regulations.gov your e-mail 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 
http://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 http://www.regulations.gov or in hard copy during normal business hours at the 
Air Protection Division, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 
III, 1650 Arch Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19103.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Asrah Khadr, (215) 814-2071, or by e-
mail at khadr.asrah@epa.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
I. What actions is EPA taking?
II. What is the background for these actions?
III. Has the Charleston Area attained the 1997 annual 
PM2.5 standard?
    A. Criteria
    B. Charleston Area Air Quality
    C. How did EPA address air quality in the Charleston Area?
    D. Has the Charleston Area met the 1997 annual PM2.5 
air quality standard?
IV. What is the effect of these actions?
V. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

I. What actions is EPA taking?

    In accordance with section 179(c)(1) of the Clean Air Act (CAA), 42 
United States Code section 7509(c)(1), and 40 Code of Federal Register 
(CFR) section 51.1004(c), EPA is proposing to determine that the 
Charleston Area (composed of Kanawha and Putnam Counties) has attained 
the 1997 annual PM2.5 NAAQS. This proposed action is based 
upon complete, quality-assured, and certified ambient air monitoring 
data for the 2007-2009 monitoring period that show that the Area has 
monitored attainment of the 1997 annual PM2.5 NAAQS and data 
available to date for 2010 that show the Area continues to attain. EPA 
is also proposing to determine, in accordance with EPA's 
PM2.5 Implementation Rule of April 25, 2007 (72 FR 20664), 
that the Charleston Area has attained the 1997 annual PM2.5 
NAAQS by its applicable attainment date of April 5, 2010.

II. What is the background for these actions?

    On July 18, 1997 (62 FR 36852), EPA established an annual 
PM2.5 NAAQS at 15.0 micrograms per cubic meter ([mu]g/m\3\) 
based on a 3-year average of annual mean PM2.5 
concentrations (hereafter referred to as ``the annual PM2.5 
NAAQS'' or ``the annual standard''). At that time, EPA also established 
a 24-hour standard of 65 [mu]g/m\3\ (the ``1997 24-hour standard''). 
See 40 CFR 50.7. On January 5, 2005 (70 FR 944), EPA published its air 
quality designations and classifications for the 1997 PM2.5 
NAAQS based upon air quality monitoring data from those monitors for 
calendar years 2001-2003. These designations became effective on April 
5, 2005. The Charleston Area was designated nonattainment for the 
annual 1997 PM2.5 NAAQS during this designations process. 
See 40 CFR 81.349 (West Virginia).
    On October 17, 2006 (71 FR 61144), EPA retained the 1997 annual 
PM2.5 NAAQS at 15.0 [mu]g/m\3\ based on a 3-year average of 
annual mean PM2.5 concentrations and promulgated a 24-hour 
standard of 35 [mu]g/m\3\ based on a 3-year average of the 98th 
percentile of 24-hour concentrations (the ``2006 24-hour standard''). 
On November 13, 2009, EPA designated the Charleston Area as 
nonattainment for the 2006 24-hour standard (74 FR 58688). In that 
action, EPA also clarified the designations for the PM2.5 
NAAQS promulgated in 1997, stating that the Charleston Area was 
designated as nonattainment for the annual standard and attainment for 
the 1997 24-hour standard. Today's action, however, does not address 
either the 1997 or the 2006 24-hour standard.
    In response to legal challenges of the annual standard promulgated 
in 2006, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit 
(DC Circuit) remanded this standard to EPA for further consideration. 
See American Farm Bureau Federation and National Pork Producers 
Council, et al. v. EPA, 559 F.3d 512 (DC Circuit 2009). However, given 
that the 1997 and 2006 annual standards are essentially identical, 
attainment of the 1997 annual standard would also indicate attainment 
of the remanded 2006 annual standard.
    On April 25, 2007 (72 FR 20664), EPA promulgated its 
PM2.5 implementation rule, codified at 40 CFR part 51, 
subpart Z, in which the Agency provided guidance for state and tribal 
plans to implement the 1997 PM2.5 standard. This rule, at 40 
CFR 51.1004(c), specifies some of the regulatory consequences of 
attaining the standard, as discussed below.

III. Has the Charleston Area attained the 1997 annual PM2.5 standard?

A. Criteria

    Today's rulemaking proposes to approve that the Charleston Area has 
attained the 1997 annual PM2.5 NAAQS, based on the most 
recent three years of quality-assured data and that the Area attained 
the 1997 annual PM2.5 NAAQS by its applicable attainment 
date of April 5, 2010. Under EPA regulations at 40 CFR 50.7, the annual 
primary and secondary PM2.5 standards are met when the 
annual arithmetic mean concentration, as determined in accordance with 
40 CFR part 50, Appendix N, is less than or equal to 15.0 [micro]g/m\3\ 
at all relevant monitoring sites in the subject area.

B. Charleston Area Air Quality

    EPA has determined that the PM2.5 monitoring network for 
the Charleston Area is adequate. First, the number of

[[Page 41741]]

monitors in the Area meets the minimum regulatory requirements given in 
40 CFR part 58 Appendix D. Second, the monitoring is in accordance with 
state monitoring plans that have been reviewed and approved by EPA.
    Table 1 shows the design values (i.e., the 3-year average of annual 
mean PM2.5 concentrations) for the 1997 annual 
PM2.5 NAAQS for the Charleston Area monitors for the years 
2007-2009. All data considered have been quality-assured, certified, 
and recorded in AQS. The highest 3-year average annual concentration 
for 2007-2009 on this table was recorded in Kanawha County, West 
Virginia at the South Charleston site 54-039-1005, recording a 3-year 
average annual concentration of 14.4 [mu]g/m\3\.
    EPA's review of these data indicates that the Charleston Area has 
met the 1997 annual PM2.5 NAAQS. Table 1 and the related 
discussion below show that based on EPA's analysis of data for 2007-
2009, the Area attained the 1997 annual PM2.5 standard by 
its attainment date of April 5, 2010. In addition, Table 2 and the 
related discussion below, show that the Area continues to attain the 
standard based on data available to date for 2010.

                     Table 1--2007-2009 Annual Average Concentrations in the Charleston Area
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                                                                                                   Design value
                  Site name                                  County                  Site No.      ([mu]g/m\3\)
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Charleston...................................  Kanawha..........................     54-039-0010            13.1
South Charleston.............................  Kanawha..........................     54-039-1005            14.4
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C. How did EPA address the air quality in Charleston?

    There are two monitors located in Kanawha County. There is a 
monitor located in Charleston and a monitor located in South 
Charleston. There was a Guthrie site monitor also located in Kanawha 
County that was shut down in 2007 because a carbon monitor for the 
PM2.5 chemical speciation network replaced it at its 
respective location. EPA data completeness requirements require at 
least 75 percent of the scheduled sampling days for each quarter have 
valid data. See 40 CFR part 50, Appendix N section 4.1(b). The use of 
less than complete data is subject to the approval of EPA, which may 
consider factors such as monitoring site closures/moves, monitoring 
diligence, and nearby concentrations in determining whether to use such 
data (40 CFR part 50, Appendix N, section 4.1(c)).
    Determinations of attainment are based on three years of complete, 
quality-assured data. Nevertheless, any such assessment should consider 
additional quality-assured data, to the extent that quality-assured 
data exist. In accordance with Appendix N and standard EPA practice, 
this review of data is based on the three most recent years of complete 
data, generally 2007-2009. Quality-assured data are now available for 
2010, which EPA used to compute preliminary design values. The 
Charleston site has a preliminary 2008-2010 design value of 11.8 [mu]g/
m\3\ and the South Charleston site has a preliminary 2008-2010 design 
value of 13.2 [mu]g/m\3\. On the basis of this review, EPA is proposing 
to determine that the Charleston Area has attained the 1997 annual 
PM2.5 NAAQS and is soliciting public comments on its 
proposed determination.

                     Table 2--2008-2010 Annual Average Concentrations in the Charleston Area
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                                                                                                    Preliminary
                  Site name                                  County                  Site No.      design value
                                                                                                   ([mu]g/m\3\)
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Charleston...................................  Kanawha..........................     54-039-0010            11.8
South Charleston.............................  Kanawha..........................     54-039-1005            13.2
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D. Has the Charleston Area met the 1997 annual PM2.5 air 
quality standard?

    EPA has reviewed the ambient air monitoring data for 
PM2.5, consistent with the requirements contained in 40 CFR 
part 50 and recorded the data in the EPA AQS database, for the 
Charleston Area from 2007 through the present time.
    On the basis of this review, EPA proposes to determine that the 
Charleston Area has attained and continues to attain the 1997 annual 
PM2.5 NAAQS based on the quality-assured data for the 2007-
2009 period and preliminary data for the 2008-2010 monitoring period. 
In addition, based on EPA's review of the data for 2007-2009 and in 
accordance with section 179(c)(1) of the CAA and EPA's regulations, EPA 
proposes to determine that the Charleston Area attained the 1997 annual 
PM2.5 NAAQS by its applicable attainment date of April 5, 
2010.

IV. What is the effect of these actions?

    If EPA's proposed determination of attainment, based on the most 
recent three years of quality-assured data is made final, the 
requirements for the Charleston Area to submit attainment 
demonstrations and associated RACM, a RFP plan, contingency measures, 
and any other planning SIPs related to attainment of the 1997 annual 
PM2.5 NAAQS would be suspended for so long as the Charleston 
Area continues to attain the 1997 annual PM2.5 NAAQS. See 40 
CFR 51.1004(c). Notably, as described below, any such determination 
would not be equivalent to the redesignation of the Charleston Area to 
attainment for the 1997 annual PM2.5 NAAQS.
    If this proposed 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 annual 
PM2.5 NAAQS, the basis for the suspension of the specific 
requirements would no longer exist for the Charleston Area, and the 
Area would thereafter have to address the applicable requirements. See 
40 CFR 51.1004(c).
    Finalizing this proposed action would not constitute a 
redesignation of the Area to attainment of the 1997 annual 
PM2.5 NAAQS under section 107(d)(3) of the CAA. Further, 
finalizing this proposed action does not involve approving maintenance 
plans for the Area as required under section 175A of

[[Page 41742]]

the CAA, nor would it find that the Area has met all other requirements 
for redesignation. Even if EPA finalizes the proposed action, the 
designation status of the Charleston Area would remain nonattainment 
for the 1997 annual PM2.5 NAAQS until such time as EPA 
determines that the Area meets the CAA requirements for redesignation 
to attainment and takes action to redesignate the Charleston Area.
    In addition, if EPA's separate and independent proposed 
determination that the Area has attained the 1997 annual 
PM2.5 standard by its applicable attainment date (April 5, 
2010), is finalized, EPA will have met its requirement pursuant to 
section 179(c)(1) of the CAA to make a determination based on the 
Area's air quality data as of the attainment date whether the Area 
attained the standard by that date. These two actions described above 
are proposed determinations regarding the Charleston Area's attainment 
only with respect to the 1997 annual PM2.5 NAAQS. Today's 
actions do not address the 24-hour PM2.5 NAAQS.

V. 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 it would not impose additional 
requirements beyond those imposed by state law. For that reason, these 
proposed actions:
     Are not ``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 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
     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, these proposed 1997 annual PM2.5 NAAQS 
determinations for the Charleston Area do 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, Particulate 
matter, Reporting and record-keeping requirements.

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

    Dated: June 27, 2011.
W. C. Early,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region III.
[FR Doc. 2011-17868 Filed 7-14-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P
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