1 ILLINOIS ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

BUREAU OF AIR



### Responsiveness Summary for Public Questions and Comments on the State Implementation Plan Submittal s for the Chicago 8

- Hour Ozone Nonattainment Area , the Chicago PM 2.5 

### Nonattainment Area , and the Metro

- East 8

- Hour Ozone Nonattainment Area

September 1 6 , 201123

INTRODUCTION

The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (Illinois EPA) has prepared Maintenance Plans for the Chicago and Metro

- East ozone nonattainment areas (NAA). The Maintenance Plans are required before the areas can be redesignated from nonattainment to attainment of the 8

- hour ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) pr omulgated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) in 1997. Similarly, the Illinois EPA has prepared a Maintenance Plan for the Chicago NAA, as required before the areas can be redesignated from nonattainment to attainment of the annual NAAQ S for f i n e p a r t i c u l a t e s ( PM 2.5 ) promulgated by the U.S. EPA in 1997. The Illinois EPA intends to submit requests to the U.S. EPA to redesignate the Chicago NAA to attainment for both ozone and PM 2.5 , and to redesignate the Metro

- East NAA to attainment for ozone in conjunction with the submittal of these Maintenance Plans.

Th e Maintenance Plan s provide for the continued attainment of the 1997 ozone NAAQS for the Chicago and Metro

- East NAAs, and for the continued attainment of the annual PM 2.5 NAAQS for the Chi cago NAA for a period of at least ten years after U.S. EPA has formally redesignated the area s to attainment. The Plan s also provide assurances that even if a subsequent violation of the NAAQS occurs, provisions in the Plan will prevent any future occurre nces through the enactment of contingency measures that would be triggered upon such occurrence.

PUBLIC HEARING AND COMMENT PERIOD

On July 8, 2011

, the Illinois EPA had the Notice of Public Comment Period for State Implementation Plan Submittals for the Chicago and Metro

- East o zone NAAs and the Chicago PM 2.5 NAA published in the Chicago Sun Times and in the Illinois edition of the St. Louis Post Dispatch. Provision was also given in the notice for a public hearing to be held on August 18, 2011

, conditioned on the receipt of a timely request for Public Hearing. Since there were no requests for a public hearing

, the public hearing originally sched uled for August 18, 2011 w as cancelled. The Illinois EP A post ed a notice of Cancellation of the Public Hearing on its website on August 12, 201 1

. As indicated in the Notice of Public Comment, t he public comment period began on July 8, 2011 and closed on August 8, 2011.

COMMENTS AND RESPONSES BY THE ILLINOIS EPA

A commenter suggested that the Chicago ozone maintenance plan may not be adequate to maintain the NAAQS , noting that U

. S

. EPA ’s Air Quality System (AQS) contains the following footnote for the 2008

- 2010 period for the Chicago NAA: “One or more sites in this area has violated the NAAQS prior to 2008

- 2010 and does not have a valid 2008

- 2010 design value.”

The footnote in the cited AQS report occurs when one or more monitors in the NAA do not

mee t the completeness criteria established by U.S. EPA. For the 2008

- 2010 period, design values are not shown in AQS for two monitoring stations in the Chicago area, prompting the footnote cited by the commenter. The two sites are located at Wacker and Adams4

Streets in downtown Chicago (site ID: 17

- 031

- 0042) and 750 Dundee Road in Northbrook (site ID: 17

- 031

- 4201). The monitor at Wacker and Adams is located on the 90 th floor of the Willis Tower (Sears Tower) and is operated as a special purpose monitor durin g the summer months (typically June, July, and August). As a special purpose monitor, the measurements are not used for the purpose of determining the areas attainment status. At Northbrook, the Illinois EPA has historically operated two instruments to m easur e ozone at the same location. The data from the two instruments are distinguished in AQS by POC (Parameter Occurrence Code) Codes 1 and 2. One of the instruments located at Northbrook (POC 2) was an experimental open path analyzer that was difficult and expensive to maintain , and routinely reported lower ozone values than the co

- located instrument. The experimental analyzer was discontinued in 2009. The other instrument operated at this location is the Federal Reference Method (FRM) ozone monitor ( POC 1). It has operated normally during 2008

- 2010, meeting U.S. EPA’s completeness criteria, and for which a valid design value for 2008

- 2010 has been calculated. U.S. EPA confirmed the validity and completeness of ozone measurements , and that all monitoring sites in the Chicago nonattainment area have three years of data showing attainment of the 1997 ozone NAAQS by publishing the Clean Data Determination on April 12, 2011.

A commenter pointed out that: “ Clean Air Act (CAA) Section 110( l ) pr ohibit s the U

. S

. EPA from approving any SIP revision that may interfere with another NAAQS. 42 U.S.C. § 7410(I). However, I llinois EPA has presented no analysis at all to establish that re

- designating Chicago from nonattainment to attainment and that implementi ng the maintenance plan will not interfere with the 2008 ozone NAAQS of 75 ppb or the 2010 1

- hour nitrogen dioxide NAAQS. ”

The Illinois EPA does not agree that a further analysis of the effects of redesignation on another NAAQS is required or that U.S. EP A cannot approve the SIP revision without such analysis. The Illinois EPA has prepared the Chicago ozone M aintenance P lan consistent with U.S. EPA’s published guidance. The document adequately demonstrate s that the 1997 NAAQS for ozone has been attained in the Chicago NAA based on three consecutive years of ambient air monitoring data . The plan contain s emission estimates of the precursors of ozone for the “attainment year” and multiple “projection years” that demonstrate that the projected level of emissions is sufficient to maintain the NAAQS

. In fact, the emissions projections indicate that ozone precursor emissions will decrease substantially in future years, ensuring continued attainment and maintenance of the NAAQS. The Maintenance P lan provide s commitments to maintain and enforce the control measures that are already in place, to continue monitoring air quality in the NAAs, to prepare periodic updates of the emissions inventories, and to implement contingency

measures , if needed , to correct future exceedances of the NAAQS. Based on these commitments, there is no basis to conclude that approval of the Maintenance Plan will cause backsliding of the air pollution control programs that have allowed the NAAs to reach attainment with t he ozone NAAQS. As Illinois’ Maintenance Plan ha s been prepared in accordance with the requirements specified in U.S. EPA’s guidance document and additional guidance received from U.S. EPA staff , the plan is approvable as a SIP revision

. Further, U.S. E PA has not implement ed the 2008 ozone NAAQS , and has decided not to tighten the standard before 2013

. Should U.S. EPA decide to implement the 2008 ozone5

standard, or to revise it in the future, Illinois is obligated to address the new ozone NAAQS, indepen dent of efforts to redesignate existing NAAs to attainment with the old standard.

With regard to the 2010 NO 2 NAAQS, all ambient monitors in Illinois, including the Chicago area , are meeting the standard and the Illinois EPA has recommended that all counties in Illinois be designated as attainment. U.S. EPA has not yet acted on Illinois’ recommendation. As shown in the Maintenance Plan, NOx emissions (a combination of compounds that includes NO 2 ) are expected to decrease significantly in future years, so there is no basis to conclude that re - designating the Chicago NAA from nonattainment to attainment for the ozone NAAQS, and implementing the o z o n e maintenance plan will interfere with a t t a i n m e n t o r m a i n t e n a n c e o f the 2010 1

- hour N O 2 NAAQS.

A commenter questioned whether air quality improvements were the result of permanent and enforceable emission reductions since the NOx SIP Call and CAIR are cap and trade programs

, and because the NOx SIP Call is no longer in place and CAIR has been vacated by the U

. S

. Court of Appeals

. Illinois EPA agrees that regional emission reductions provided by the NOx SIP Call and CAIR yielded significant air quality improvements, and that these progr ams combined with other emission reduction measures helped the Chicago area to meet the 8

- hour ozone NAAQS. The Illinois EPA does not agree, however, that these measures are not permanent and enforceable. Illinois submitted , and U.S. EPA approved , SIP re visions addressing the requirements of the NOx SIP Call, and , subsequently , the CAIR program. Beginning in 2009, the CAIR program maintained the same emissions budgets as the NOx SIP Call program it replaced. In its decision to vacate the CAIR, the U.S C ourt of Appeals determined that the CAIR emissions budgets should remain in place, until U.S. EPA remedied the identified deficiencies. U.S. EPA recently promulgated the C r o s s - S t a t e A i r P o l l u t i o n R u l e ( C S A P R ) to address the Court’s concerns. Sign i ficantly, the CSAPR

re quires that states meet emissions budgets that are more stringent than CAIR, and provides new requirements that ensure that emission reductions are achieved within each affected state.

A commenter noted that I llinois EPA’s future emission projections did not consider U

. S

. EPA’s recent announcement that it is repealing the vapor capture requirements for gas stations.

Regarding the Stage II program, on July 15, 2011 the U.S. EPA issued a proposed rule determining that June 30, 2013 will be the date when the “widespread use” of onboard refueling vapor recovery (ORVR)

- equipped vehicles will occur. At this point the U.S. EPA expects “ORVR alone to achieve emissions reductions equal to Stage II alone” so no additional emissions would result from the cessation of the Stage II program. The widespread use determination would not obligate states to remove any existing Stage II vapor recovery requirements and the Chicago 8

- hour ozone Mai ntenance Plan does not propose to end the Stage II program. If at a later date, the Illinois EPA should wish to end the Stage II program in Chicago, a revision to the State Implementation Plan (SIP) would6

have to be adopted and approved by the U.S.EPA dem onstrating that no additional refueling e m i s s i o n s would result. As Stage II is not required in the Metro

- East St. Louis
area, U.S. EPA ’s widespread use determination would have no impact on either regional air quality or the Metro

- East St. Louis 8

- hour ozone Mainte nance Plan.

A commenter stated that I llinois EPA’s projection of future emissions decreases from on

- road motor vehicles is unsupported , and that its emission s calculations from on

- road mobile sources fail to consider U

. S

. EPA’s recent decision to allow 15% ethanol in all gas.

Illinois EPA used the U.S. EPA’s new MOVES2010 model to estimate motor vehicle emissions in both the Chicago and Metro

- East St. Louis areas. This model incorporates emissions factors for all vehicl e category types. The model also incorporates local motor vehicle registration data and national fleet turnover rate statistics

. The reduction in estimated NOx emissions results from the introduction of new vehicles complying with the Tier 2 motor vehicl e emissions standards and the retirement of older vehicles. The Tier 2 program, phased in beginning in 2004, established more stringent NOx emission s standard s

on cars , trucks , and sport utility vehicles. Given the implementation of th ese significantly

m ore stringent emission standard s , the estimated reduction in motor vehicle NOx emissions is reasonable

. Regarding the comment regarding the U.S.EPA’s recent decision to allow the blending of up to 15% ethanol into conventional gasoline, the use of such fuel is limited to flexible

fueled vehicles and model year (MY) 2001 light

- duty cars and trucks, and medium

- duty passenger vehicles. In its “Notice of Decision Granting a Partial Waiver” (76 FR 4662), the U.S.EPA stated that Department of Energy (DOE) testing of MY 2001

- 2006 light duty motor vehicles “strongly supports a determination that E15 will not cause o r contribute to MY2001

- 2006 light

- duty motor vehicles exceeding their applicable exhaust emission standards.” The U.S.EPA further states that “MY 2001

- 2006 light duty motor vehicles should generally be able to meet evaporative emission standards when oper ated on E15 so long as the fuel does not exceed a RVP of 9.0 psi (pounds per square inch)in the summertime volatility control season.” The U.S.EPA goes on to state : “ ...i n fact, such vehicles should have somewhat lower evaporative emissions when operated on 9.0 psi E15 than when operated on currently available in

- use fuel.”

Regarding MY 2007 and newer vehicles, in its November 4, 2010 “Notice of Partial Waiver Decision” (75 FR 68094) the U.S. EPA states that DOE Catalyst Study and other information befo re EPA adequately demonstrates that the impact of E15 on overall emissions, including both immediate and durability related emissions, will not cause or contribute to violations of the emissions standards for these motor vehicle. Likewise, the data and in formation adequately show that E15 will not lead to violations of the evaporative emissions standards, so long as the fuel does not exceed a Reid Vapor Pressure (RVP) of 9.0 psi in the summertime control season.”

The use of reformulated gasoline (RFG) is required in both the Chicago and Metro

- East St. Louis areas. The summertime volatility of these fuels are in the range of 7.0 psi, well below the 9.0 psi level referenced by the U.S.EPA. Based on these statements from the U.S.EPA,7

the Illinois EPA believ es that the use of E15 gasoline blends will not result in any increase in emissions in the ozone control season.

A commenter questioned whether ambient monitoring data is available to the public , since U

. S

. EPA and the Illinois EPA apparently do not have timely data available no their respective web
page s

. The Illinois EPA submits all ambient monitoring data it collects to U.S. EPA’s Technology Transfer System (TTN) Air Quality System (AQS). The AQS Data Mart is a database containing all of the information from the AQS system and is available free of charge to the public

. The AQS Data Mart is available on the internet at :

http://www.epa.gov/ttn/airs/aqsdat amart

U.S. EPA also maintains the following web sites to disseminate air quality data to the public:

AirData @ http://www.epa.gov/air/data/index.html AirExplorer @ http://www.epa.gov/airexplorer/ AirNow @ http://www.airnow.gov/

A commenter pointed out that Chicago Ozone Maintenance Plan fail ed to consider climate change , noting that c limate change might cause existing pollution

- control measures to become inadequate in the future

. The Illinois EPA understands that there is a clear relationship between meteorological conditions and ground level ozone levels, and that climate change may a ffect the frequency and severity of ozone

- conducive meteorological conditions in future years. Although climate change is not directly addressed in the Maintenance Plan, nor is it required to b e

a d d r e s s e d , the Maintenance Plan provides contingency measures that will b e triggered in the event of future NAAQS violations. The Illinois EPA has committed to maintain an adequate monitoring network in the Chicago area and to take corrective actions in the event of future NAAQS violations, whether caused by normal year

- to

- yea r meteorological variability, climate induced adverse conditions, or emissions changes that were not anticipated in the development of the Maintenance Plan. The Illinois EPA has also committed to revise the plan within the next ten years to ensure mainten ance of the NAAQS

.

A commenter stated that the Clean Air Act does not allow for alternative measures in the event that current control measures now in effect must be replaced with equivalent emission reduction

measures

.
I llinois EPA does not agree with the commenter’s statement. Section 110( l ) of the CAA provides for revisions of the SIP as long as the plan does not interfere with attainment or reasonable further progress, or other applicable requirements. To be clear, Illinois’8

Maintenance Plan does n ot rely on alternate measures. In fact, the plan clearly states Illinois’ commitment to keep existing control measures in place after the Chicago NAA has been redesignated to attainment. I n t h e e v e n t t h a t future revisions of Illinois’ SIP become necessary, the Main tenance Plan commits the state to provide equivalent emissions levels using alternate control measures
. Such revisions are subject to review and approval by U.S. EPA.

A commenter noted that the summary of Illinois’ Reasonable Further Progress demonstration contained in the Chicago 8

- hour ozone Maintenance Plan states: “The control measures identified in the RFP document

... will result in a 15.7 percent reduction in VOM emissions from 2002 emissions levels by the year 2008.” The commenter requested that I llinois EPA must prove that these reductions were actually achieved.

T he Illinois EPA does not agree that such a demonstration is require d for the Maintenance Plan, since there is no such requirement in any guidance published to date by U.S. EPA. Further, U.S. EPA has published a Clean Data Determination for the 1997 8

- hour ozone NAAQS for the Chicago NAA ( April 12, 2011), which waives CAA planning requirements, including RFP, as long as the nonattainment area continues to meet the NAAQS. However, based on this comment, the Illinois EPA has revised the 2002 VOM emission estimates contained in the Maintenance Plan (Table 4.2 on page 15). T he VOM emission estimates in the draft Maintenance Plan for 2002 did not properly account for changes in U.S. EPA’s emissions estimation guidance that occurred subsequent to preparation of the 2002 inventory. U.S. EPA’s guidance for computing emissions fr om certain area source categories, most significantly for graphic arts, consumer solvents, architectural coatings, and industrial coatings , changed between 2002 and 2008. Illinois EPA’s 2008 emissions estimates were performed using the revised methodology , but the 2002 estimates contained in the draft document were based on the earlier methodology. The final document has been revised to apply a consistent methodology for all years. Comparing VOM emissions in the Chicago NAA from 2002 to 2008 indicates th at VOM emissions decreased significantly during that period, about 210 tons per day. This amount equates to a reduction of about 21%, which exceeds the amount needed to demonstrate RFP.

Metro

- East St. Louis Ozone Maintenance Plan

A commenter suggested th at the Metro

- East ozone maintenance plan may not be adequate to maintain the NAAQS , noting that U

. S

. EPA ’s Air Quality System (AQS) contains the following footnote for the 2008

- 2010 period for the St. Louis NAA: “One or more sites in this area has violated the NAAQS prior to 2008

- 2010 and does not have a valid 2008

- 2010 design value.”

The footnote in the cited AQS report occurs when one or more monitors in the NAA do not meet the completeness criteria establish ed by U.S. EPA. For the 2008

- 2010 period, design values are not shown in AQS for two monitoring stations (three samplers at two locations) in the St. Louis area, prompting the footnote cited by the commenter. The two sites are located at 4520 Margaretta i n St. Louis, MO (site ID: 29

- 510

- 0086) and 4580 South Lindbergh in Sunset Hills, MO (site ID: 29

- 189

- 004). The Missouri Department of Natural Resources (MDNR) discontinued these monitoring stations prior to the 2009 ozone season.9

These monitors were dete rmined by MDNR and U.S. EPA

– Region 7 to be redundant with other monitors in the metropolitan area, and did not measure the highest levels of ozone in the NAA during the years that they operated at those locations. U.S. EPA requires that changes in a sta te’s monitoring network be identified and approved in advance, and contained in the state’s monitoring network plan. MDNR’s 2009 network plan properly and timely identified and justified the need to discontinue these sites . By approving the changes to MD NR’s monitoring network plan, U.S. EPA determined that the revised network was still adequate to characterize ozone air quality in the St. Louis NAA.

A commenter pointed out that: “ Clean Air Act (CAA) Section 110( l ) prohibits the U

. S

. EPA from approving any SIP revision that may interfere with another NAAQS. 42 U.S.C. § 7410(I). However, Illinois EPA has presented no analysis at all to establish that re

- designating Metro

- East from nonattainment to attainment and that implementing the maintenance plan will not interfere with the 2008 ozone NAAQS of 75 ppb or the 2010 1

- hour nitrogen dioxide NAAQS. ”

The Illinois EPA does not agree that a further analysis of the effects of redesignation on another NAAQS is required or that U.S. EPA cannot approve the SIP revision without such analysis. The Illinois EPA has prepared the Metro

- East ozone M aintenance P lan consistent with U.S. EPA’s published guidance. The document adequately demonstrate s that the 1997 NAAQS for ozone has been attained in the St. Louis NAA based on three consecutive years of ambient air monitoring data. The plan contain s emission estimates of the precursors of ozone for the “attainment year” and multiple “projection years” that demonstrate that the projected level of emissions is sufficient to maintain the NAAQS. In fact, the emissions projections indicate that ozone precursor emissions will decrease substantially in future years, ensuring continued attainment and maintenance of the NAAQS. The Maintenance Plan provides commitments to maint ain and enforce the control measures that are already in place, to continue monitoring air quality in the NAAs, to prepare periodic updates of the emissions inventories, and to implement contingency measures, if needed, to correct future exceedances of the NAAQS. Based on these commitments, there is no basis to conclude that approval of the Maintenance Plan will cause backsliding of the air pollution control programs that have allowed the NAAs to reach attainment with the ozone NAAQS. As Illinois’ Mainten ance Plan ha s been prepared in accordance with the requirements specified in U.S. EPA’s guidance document and additional guidance received from U.S. EPA staff , the plan is approvable as a SIP revision

. Further, U.S. EPA has not implemented the 2008 ozone NAAQS, and has decided not to tighten the standard before 2013. Should U.S. EPA decide to implement the 2008 ozone standard, or to revise it in the future, Illinois is obligated to address the new ozone NAAQS, independent of efforts to redesignate existing NAAs to attainment with the old standard.

With regard to the 2010 NO 2 NAAQS, all ambient monitors in Illinois, including the Metro

- East area , are meeting the standard and the Illinois EPA has recomme nded that all counties in Illinois be designated as attainment. U.S. EPA has not yet acted on Illinois’ recommendation. As shown in the Maintenance Plan, NOx emissions (a combination of compounds that includes NO 2 ) are expected to decrease significantly in future years, so there is no basis to conclude that re - designating the Metro

- East NAA from nonattainment10

to attainment of the ozone NAAQS , and implementing the maintenance plan will interfere with the 2010 1

- hour nitrogen dioxide NAAQS.

A commenter questioned whether air quality improvements in the Metro

- East area were the result of permanent and enforceable emission reductions since the NOx SIP Call and CAIR are cap and trade programs , and because the NOx SIP Call is no longer in place a nd CAIR has been vacated by the U

. S

. Court of Appeals

.
The Illinois EPA believes that these comm ents have been addressed in its previous responses for the Chicago ozone nonattainment area.

A commenter pointed out that I llinois EPA ’s emission projections do not account for emissions from the Prairie State Generating Station which should be in operation, and thus polluting, prior to 2015.

The Prairie State Generating Station is located in Washington County, Illinois and is expected to be in operation by 2012. As require d, Illinois EPA’s emissions projections include only those emissions occurring or projected to occur within the boundaries of the nonattainment area, which includes Madison, Monroe, St. Clair, and Jersey counties in Illinois. The Illinois EPA acknowledges that the Prairie State Generating Station is located in close proximity to the Metro

- East ozone nonattainment area and emissions from it will cause air quality impacts within the NAA. Before issuing a PSD permit to Prairie State, the Illinois EPA require d the company to address its potential impact on the St. Louis ozone nonattainment area. Prairie State adequately demonstrated that future emissions from the facility will not interfere with the area’s ability to attain and maintain the NAAQS.

A commen ter identified the same “defects” in the Metro

- East Ozone Maintenance Plan identified previously in comments on the Chicago Ozone Maintenance Plan

, includ ing : (1) failing to consider increased emissions from U

. S

. EPA’s repealing the vapor capture requirements for gas stations and allowing up to 15% ethanol in gasoline; (2) assuming that vehicle turn over will reduce mass on

- road emissions even though purchasing larger new vehicles can offset this; (3) failing to m ake ambient monitoring data available to the public; (4) failing to consider climate change impacts on future ambient ozone levels; (5) relying on unidentified alternate measures with no legal authority to do so.

The Illinois EPA believes that these comm ents have been addressed in its previous responses for the Chicago ozone nonattainment area.

A commenter questioned whether PM 2.5 air quality improvements in Chicago were the result of permanent and enforceable emission reductions since the NOx SIP Call an d CAIR are cap and trade programs , and because the NOx SIP Call is no longer in place and CAIR has been vacated by the U

. S

. Court of Appeals

.11

The Illinois EPA believes that th is comment ha s been addressed in its previous responses for the Chicago ozone n onattainment area.

A commenter identified the same “defects” in the Chicago PM 2.5 Maintenance Plan identified previously in comments on the Chicago Ozone Maintenance Plan

, includ ing : (1) failing to consider increased emission from U

. S

. EPA’s repealing the vapor capture requirements for gas stations and allowing up to 15% ethanol in gasoline; (2) assuming that vehicle turn over will reduce mass on

- road emissions even though purchasing larger new vehicles offset this; and (3) failing to m ake ambient monitoring data available to the public.

The Illinois EPA believes that these comments have been addressed in its previous responses for the Chicago ozone nonattainment area.