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SCP 7 1993 

OFFICE OF 

AIR AND RADIATION 

MEMORANDUM 

SUBJECT: State Implementation Plan (SIP) Requirements for Areas 

Submitting Requests for Redesignation to Attainment of 

the Ozone and Carbon Monoxide (CO) National Ambient Air 

Quality Standards 

7ministra

S)on o 4a~ er November 15, 1992 

FROM: Michael H. Shapiro 

Acting Assistant A o 

for Air and Radiation (ANR-443) 

TO: Director, Air, Pesticides and Toxics 

Management Division, Regions I and IV 

Director, Air and Waste Management Division, 

Region II 

Director, Air, Radiation and Toxics Division, 

Region III 

Director, Air and Radiation Division, 

Region V 

Director, Air, Pesticides and Toxics Division, 

Region VI 

Director, Air and Toxics Division, 

Regions VII, VIII, IX, and X 

I. Purpose 

The purpose of this memorandum is to address State requests 

to redesignate from nonattainment to attainment of the ozone and 

CO NAAQS under section 107. Specifically at issue are requests 

submitted on or after November 15, 1992 where outstanding Clean 

Air Act (Act) requirements have not been met. This memo provides 

guidance on the statutorily-mandated control programs that must 

be in the EPA-approved SIP if EPA is to approve the redesignation 

request. The Act's requirements for redesignation and a list of 

EPA's redesignation policy and guidance are included in 

Attachments A and B. In the future, further guidance may be 

provided for redesignations submitted after November 15, 1993. 

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II. Policy Summary 

Section 107(d)(3)(E)(v) of the Act as amended (amended Act) 

provides that the State must have met all applicable requirements 

of section 110 and part D in order to be redesignated. 

Furthermore, section 107(d)(3)(E)(ii) provides that the State 

must have a fully-approved SIP for the area seeking 

redesignation. 

The EPA is interpreting these section 107 provisions to 

require satisfactory completion of the current Act planning 

requirements. Specifically, before EPA can act favorably upon 

any State redesignation request, the statutorily-mandated control 

programs of section 110 and part D(that were due prior to the 

time of the redesignation request) must have been adopted by the 

State and approved by EPA into the SIP. 

Thus, with respect to redesignation requests submitted on or 

after the Act's deadline for submittal of the required programs, 

States must generally adopt and provide for implementation of 

their regulations for all of the programs that were due. States 

must submit these plans to EPA for incorporation into the SIP. 1 

This would include such requirements as emissions inventories 

and/or emission statements. Such requirements must be met in 

order for the area to have a fully-approved , SIP that meets all 

requirements applicable to the area under section 110 and part D. 

The amended Act, however, also provides that upon 

redesignation, a State may move measures from the implemented SIP 

to the contingency plan portion of the SIP if the State 

demonstrates that such measures are not needed for maintaining 

the NAAQS. Many areas sought redesignation at or about the same 

time they were required to adopt and implement the requirements 

due on November 15, 1992. In many instances, the State will be 

abie to immediately move these measures to the contingency plan 

without implementation. 

III. Exceptions to Policy 

The EPA decided to review the requirements to determine if 

something less than full adoption of these regulations would be 

acceptable under the Act for areas seeking redesignation. 

Exceptions to this policy on the States' need to complete the 

full planning and adoption process for the November 15, 1992 

mandated programs are very limited. The language in the Act 

allows a degree of flexibility in only four program areas. These 

are: (1) basic inspection and maintenance (I/M), (2) annual 

updates of vehicle miles traveled (VMT) forecasts and annual 

'Note that this represents a departure from earlier guidance 

for part D new source review (NSR) regulations. 
3 

estimates of actual VMT for CO nonattainment areas, (3) nitrogen 

oxides (NOx) reasonably available control technology (RACT), and 

(4) small business programs (SBP). 

These exceptions are only applicable in areas for which EPA 

approves a redesignation. The States should be aware that if EPA 

denies a redesignation request, rules submitted in accordance 

with this guidance may also be disapprovable. Finally, because 

EPA anticipates issuing onboard regulations by January 1994, 

States seeking redesignation of areas classified as moderate may 

have some flexibility with respect to the Stage II requirement. 

Our guidance for State submittals covering these four 

programs is described in the following paragraphs. 

Basic IjM 

For areas where maintenance plans do not rely on 

implementation of a basic I/M program immediately following 

redesignation, the I/M component of the SIP should include: 

1. Legislative authority for basic I/M such that 

implementing regulations can be adopted without any further 

legislative action. 

2. A provision in the SIP providing that basic I/M be 

placed in the contingency measures portion of the maintenance 

plan upon redesignation. 

3. An enforceable schedule and commitment by the Governor 

or his designee for adoption and implementation of a basic I/M 

program upon a specified, appropriate triggering event. 

Note that, for purposes of consideration of a redesignation 

request submitted after November 15, 1992, the commitment as 

described in the I/M regulation (see 57 FR 52950, November 5, 

1992) is not sufficient to meet the Act's requirement for a 

fully-approved SIP. 

In addition, please note that, EPA's final I/M regulations 

in 40 CFR part 51 require a fully-adopted I/M program by 

November 15, 1993. At this time, our preliminary interpretative 

guidance on basic I/M in this memo is not discussed in the I/M 

regulations. Therefore, EPA is proceeding to establish this 

interpretation through regulatory action, thus enabling EPA to 

accept legislative authority and a commitment to adopt and 

implement basic I/M regulations for those areas being 

redesignated to attainment. 
4 

VMT Forecastina 

The VMT forecasting SIP for CO should include: 

1. Annual forecasts of VMT (i.e., average daily VMT for the 

peak 3-month CO seasons for 1993, 1994, and 1995 in moderate 

areas above 12.7 ppm, and until 2000 in serious areas). 

2. An enforceable commitment by the Governor or his 

designee to estimate actual annual VMT for each of these years 

(by September 30 of the following year) and to update the 

forecast of the VMT in the remaining years. 

3. A request that the commitment be moved to the 

contingency plan portion of the SIP upon redesignation, becoming 

a contingency provision triggered by a specified triggering 

event. 

4. Adopted contingency measures to reduce CO emissions. 

The implementation of such measures is contingent upon either: 

(a) an annual estimate of actual VMT or updated forecast of VMT 

exceeding the previous forecast for that year, or (b) the area 

failing to attain by the CO attainment deadline. These 

contingency measures must meet the requirements of section 

187(a)(3) as interpreted by the April 16, 1992, "General Preamble 

for the Implementation of Title I of the Clean Air Act Amendments 

of 1990," including the requirement that no further action by the 

State is needed for them to take effect. 

NOx RACT 

Section 182(f) provides that States may request an exemption 

from the NOx RACT requirements. The NOx RACT requirements of 

section 182(f) do not apply if additional reductions of NOx would 

not contribute to attainment. Z In an area that did not implement 

the section 182(f) NOx requirement but did meet the ozone 

standard, as demonstrated by adequate monitoring data consistent 

with EPA guidance, it is clear that the additional NOx reductions 

required by section 182(f) would not contribute to attainment, 

although they might contribute to maintenance. Therefore, EPA 

believes that if a State submits a redesignation request along 

with a section 182(f) exemption request based on monitoring data 

demonstrating attainment of the ozone NAAQS, further 

documentation is not required. The State may follow one of two 

approaches in making such a submittal: 

2Note that the section 182(f) exemption for NOx RACT and NSR 

requirements described in this section is applicable only for 

States outside an ozone transport region, since only those States 

fall under the section 182(f) "contribute to attainment" 

provision. 
5 

1. Submit a redesignation request along with a section 

182(f) exemption request based solely upon monitoring data 

showing that the area's air quality is meeting the ozone NAAQS; 

andsubmit a maintenance plan SIP revision, which includes a NOx 

RACT program as a contingency measure. In lieu of adopted NOx 

RACT rules, such a NOx RACT program may consist of an enforceable 

schedule and commitment by the Governor or his designee to adopt 

and implement the NOx RACT rules upon a specified, appropriate 

triggering event. 

2. An exemption request based on both ambient monitoring 

and urban airshed modeling consistent with EPA guidance that 

shows additional NOx reductions would not contribute to 

attainment in the area. In this case, NOx RACT rules do not have 

to be included as a contingency measure of the maintenance plan. 

SBP 

For several reasons, the Act can be interpreted as not 

requiring the section 507 SBP submittal in order for EPA to 

approve a redesignation request. The SBP submittal is required 

regardless of whether there are any designated nonattainment 

areas within the State. In addition, the SBP is not a control 

measure intended to contribute to the emission reductions 

achieved by an area; rather it is a service provided to help 

small businesses comply with requirements of the Act. For the 

above reasons, EPA is interpreting the SBP as not being an 

applicable requirement for any specific nonattainment area that 

is seeking redesignation. However, EPA will continue to ensure 

that States make SBP submittals in a timely fashion. 

Stage II Vanor Recoverv 

Stage II vapor recovery remains an applicable requirement 

for moderate ozone nonattainment areas until EPA promulgates 

onboard vapor recovery regulations. Section 202(a)(6) of the Act 

provides that once onboard regulations are promulgated, the Stage 

II regulations required under section 182(b)(3) are no longer 

applicable for moderate ozone nonattainment areas. Therefore, 

final redesignation for a moderate nonattainment area that occurs 

after EPA's onboard regulations are promulgated does not have to 

include a Stage II SIP control program. For redesignation 

requests that are submitted before EPA promulgates onboard rules 

and that do not include Stage II rules for moderate areas, 

Regional Offices may prepare rulemaking actions proposing to 

approve the redesignation, if appropriate, as long as final 

approval occurs after EPA promulgates onboard regulations. 
G 

IV. Coordination of SIP Submittals and Redesiqnation 

Requests 

If the State elects to follow the approach above, the State 

should submit the SIP control program as described above along 

with the redesignation request and maintenance plan. The EPA 

will review the required SIP submittal(s) against EPA policy and 

guidance and in coordination with the redesignation request and 

maintenance plan. Approvability of the redesignation is directly 

related to the approvability of the SIP submittals (i.e., EPA is 

precluded from approving a redesignation to attainment if the SIP 

is not approvable). 

As a general policy, a State may not relax the adopted and 

implemented SIP for an area upon the area's redesignation to 

attainment. States should continue to implement existing control 

strategies in order to maintain the standard. However, section 

175A recognizes that States may be able to move SIP measures to 

the contingency plan upon redesignation if the State can 

adequately demonstrate that such action will not interfere with 

maintenance of the standard. The type of demonstration necessary 

is dependent upon the pollutant for which the area has been 

redesignated to attainment. 

In order to make such a demonstration for an area 

redesignated to attainment for CO, EPA believes that the State 

could submit a revised control strategy demonstration showing 

that the measure is not necessary to maintain the standard. For 

ozone, the State would need to submit an attainment modeling 

demonstration consistent with EPA's current "Guideline on Air 

Quality Models," showing that the control measure is not needed 

to maintain the standard. The EPA intends to be very cautious in 

approving such revisions in cases where the control measures were 

implemented during the time the area attained the standard; the 

State's demonstration should indicate an ample margin of safety 

with respect to maintenance of the standard. 

V. Conclusion 

In summary, full adoption of all of the statutorily-required 

programs, as well as a schedule and an enforceable commitment for 

an implementation date, are necessary for redesignation to 

attainment from nonattainment for ozone or CO if the 

redesignation request is submitted after the statutory due date 

for the program. The few exceptions to this requirement are 

basic I/M, annual updates of VMT forecasts, and estimates of 

actual VMT, NOx RACT, and SBP. 

If you have any questions, please contact Sharon Reinders at 

(919) 541-5284, or Annie Nikbakht at (919) 541-5246. 
Attachment A 

Criteria For Redesianation Under Section 107(dl 

Section 107(d)(3)(E) of the Act states five criteria that 

must be met before the Administrator may redesignate an area to 

attainment. The criteria are: 

1. The EPA has determined that the NAAQS have been 

attained. 

2. The applicable implementation plan has been fully 

approved by EPA under section 110(k). 

3. The EPA has determined that the improvement in air 

quality is due to permanent and enforceable reductions in 

emissions. 

4. The State has met all applicable requirements for the 

area under section 110 and part D. 

5. The EPA has fully approved a maintenance plan, including 

a contingency plan, for the area under section 175A. 
Attachment B 

The EPA policies for implementing section 107 of the Act for 

redesignations are contained in the following memorandums. 

1. "Procedures for Processing Requests to Redesignate Areas 

to Attainment," John Calcagni, Director, Air Quality Management 

Division, September 4, 1992. 

2. "State Implementation Plan (SIP) Actions Submitted in 

Response to Clean Air Act (CAA) Deadlines," John Calcagni, 

Director, Air Quality Management Division, October 28, 1992. 

3. "Contingency Measures for Ozone and Carbon Monoxide (CO) 

Redesignations," G. T. Helms, Chief, Ozone/Carbon Monoxide 

Programs Branch, June 1, 1992. 

4. "Maintenance Plans for Redesignation of Ozone and Carbon 

Monoxide Nonattainment Areas," G. T. Helms, Chief, Ozone/Carbon 

Monoxide Programs Branch, April 30, 1992. 

In the event that EPA does not approve the redesignation, 

the applicable I/M program requirements and guidance can be found 

in 57 FR 52950, November 5, 1992 and in 40 CFR part 51. The 

applicable VMT forecast guidance is described in the document 

entitled, "Section 187 VMT Forecasting and Tracking Guidance," 

January 1992.