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[Federal Register: October 12, 2010 (Volume 75, Number 196)]
[Rules and Regulations]               
[Page 62470-62472]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr12oc10-13]                         

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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[EPA-R04-OAR-2007-0228-201038; FRL- 9212-6]

 
Approval and Promulgation of Implementation Plans and 
Designations of Areas for Air Quality Planning Purposes; Tennessee: 
Knoxville; Determination of Attaining Data for the 1997 8-Hour Ozone 
Standards

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: On February 19, 2010, the State of Tennessee, through the 
Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC), submitted 
a request to EPA to make a determination that the Knoxville, Tennessee 
nonattainment area for the 1997 8-hour ozone National Ambient Air 
Quality Standards (NAAQS) has attained these standards based on quality 
assured, quality controlled monitoring data from 2007 through 2009. The 
Knoxville 1997 8-hour ozone nonattainment area is comprised of 
Anderson, Blount, Jefferson, Knox, Loudon, and Sevier Counties in their 
entireties, and the portion of Cocke County that falls within the 
boundary of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park (hereafter referred 
to as ``the Knoxville Area''). In this action, EPA is taking final 
action to determine that the Knoxville Area has attained the 1997 8-
hour ozone NAAQS. This determination is based upon complete, quality 
assured, quality controlled, and certified ambient air monitoring data 
for the years 2007-2009 showing that the Knoxville Area has monitored 
attainment of the 1997 8-hour ozone NAAQS. This final action is 
consistent with the CAA, and EPA policy and guidance.

DATES: Effective Date: This final rule is effective on October 12, 
2010.

ADDRESSES: EPA has established a docket for this action under Docket ID 
Number EPA-R04-OAR-2007-0228. All documents in the docket are listed in 
the http://www.regulations.gov Web site. Although listed in the 
electronic docket, some information is not publicly available, i.e., 
confidential business information (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 through http://www.regulations.gov or in hard copy for public inspection during normal 
business hours at the Regulatory Development Section, Air Planning 
Branch, Air, Pesticides and Toxics Management Division, U.S. 
Environmental Protection Agency, Region 4, 61 Forsyth Street, SW., 
Atlanta, Georgia 30303-8960.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Royce Dansby-Sparks, Regulatory 
Development Section, Air Planning Branch, Air, Pesticides and Toxics 
Management Division, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 4, 61 
Forsyth Street, SW., Atlanta, Georgia 30303-8960. Mr. Dansby-Sparks may 
be reached by phone at (404) 562-9187 or via electronic mail at dansby-sparks.royce@epa.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. What action is EPA taking?
II. What is the effect of this action?
III. What is EPA's final action?
IV. What is the effective date?
V. What are the statutory and executive order reviews?

I. What action is EPA taking?

    EPA is determining that the Knoxville Area (comprised of Anderson, 
Blount, Jefferson, Knox, Loudon, and Sevier Counties in their 
entireties, and the portion of Cocke County that falls within the 
boundary of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park) has attaining data 
for the 1997 8-hour ozone NAAQS. This determination is based upon 
quality assured, quality controlled and certified ambient air 
monitoring data that shows the Knoxville Area has monitored attainment 
of the 1997 8-hour ozone NAAQS based on the 2007-2009 data.
    Other specific requirements of the determination and the rationale 
for EPA's final action are explained in the notice of proposed 
rulemaking (NPR) published on August 3, 2010 (75 FR 45568) and will not 
be restated here. The comment period closed on September 2, 2010. No 
comments, adverse or otherwise, were received in response to the NPR.

II. What is the effect of this action?

    This final action, in accordance with 40 CFR 51.918, suspends the 
requirements for this area to submit attainment demonstrations, 
associated reasonably available control measures (RACM), reasonable 
further progress plans (RFP), contingency measures, and other planning 
SIPs related to attainment of the 1997 8-hour ozone NAAQS as long as 
this Area continues to meet the 1997 8-hour ozone NAAQS. Finalizing 
this action does not

[[Page 62471]]

constitute a redesignation of the Knoxville Area to attainment for the 
1997 8-hour ozone NAAQS under section 107(d)(3) of the Clean Air Act 
(CAA). Further, finalizing this action does not involve approving 
maintenance plans for the Area as required under section 175A of the 
CAA, nor does it involve a determination that the Area has met all 
requirements for a redesignation.

III. What is EPA's final action?

    EPA is determining that the Knoxville Area has attaining data for 
the 1997 8-hour ozone NAAQS. This determination is based upon quality 
assured, quality controlled, and certified ambient air monitoring data 
showing that the Knoxville Area has monitored attainment of the 1997 8-
hour ozone NAAQS during the period 2007-2009. This final action, in 
accordance with 40 CFR 51.918, will suspend the requirements for this 
Area to submit attainment demonstrations, associated RACM, RFP plans, 
contingency measures, and other planning SIPs related to attainment of 
the 1997 8-hour ozone NAAQS as long as the Area continues to meet the 
1997 8-hour ozone NAAQS.

IV. What is the effective date?

    An expedited effective date for this action is authorized under 
both 5 U.S.C. 553(d)(1), which provides that rule actions may become 
effective less than 30 days after publication if the rule ``grants or 
recognizes an exemption or relieves a restriction'' and section 5 
U.S.C. 553(d)(3), which allows an effective date less than 30 days 
after publication ``as otherwise provided by the agency for good cause 
found and published with the rule.'' EPA finds that there is good cause 
for this approval to become effective upon publication.
    Approval of a clean data determination relieves the obligation for 
the State of Tennessee to submit for the Knoxville Area an attainment 
demonstration and associated RACM, RFP plan, contingency measures, and 
any other SIP-related planning requirements to attainment of the 1997 
8-hour ozone NAAQS provided the Area does not monitor any violations of 
the ozone standard. The relief from these obligations is sufficient 
reason to allow an expedited effective date of the rule under 5 U.S.C. 
553(d)(1). In addition, Tennessee's relief from these obligations 
provides good cause to make this rule effective immediately upon 
publication, pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553(d)(3). The purpose of the 30-day 
waiting period prescribed in 5 U.S.C. 553(d) is to give affected 
parties a reasonable time to adjust their behavior and prepare before 
the final rule takes effect. Where, as here, the final rule relieves 
obligations rather than imposes obligations, affected parties, such as 
the State of Tennessee and the Knox County Department of Air Quality 
Management, do not need time to adjust and prepare before the rule 
takes effect.

V. What are statutory and executive order reviews?

    Under the CAA, the Administrator is required to approve a SIP 
submission or State request that complies with the provisions of the 
Act and applicable Federal regulations. 42 U.S.C. 7410(k); 40 CFR 
52.02(a). Thus, in reviewing SIP submissions or state requests, EPA's 
role is to approve state choices, provided that they meet the criteria 
of the CAA. Accordingly, this action merely approves state law as 
meeting Federal requirements and does not impose additional 
requirements beyond those imposed by state law. For that reason, this 
action:
     Is not a ``significant regulatory action'' subject to 
review by the Office of Management and Budget under Executive Order 
12866 (58 FR 51735, October 4, 1993);
     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 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.
    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. 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 December 13, 2010. 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, pertaining to the determination of attaining data 
for the 1997 8-hour ozone standard for the Knoxville Area, may not be 
challenged later in proceedings to enforce its requirements. (See 
section 307(b)(2)).

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 52

    Environmental protection, Air pollution control, Ozone, Volatile 
organic compounds.

    Dated: September 27, 2010.
Gwendolyn Keyes Fleming,
Regional Administrator, Region 4.

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Accordingly, 40 CFR part 52 is amended as follows:

PART 52--[AMENDED]

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1. The authority citation for part 52 continues to read as follows:

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

[[Page 62472]]

Subpart RR--Tennessee

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2. Section 52.2235 is amended by adding paragraph (c) to read as 
follows:

Sec.  52.2235  Control strategy: Ozone.

* * * * *
    (c) Determination of Attaining Data. EPA has determined, as of 
October 12, 2010 the Knoxville, Tennessee nonattainment area has 
attaining data for the 1997 8-hour ozone NAAQS. This determination, in 
accordance with 40 CFR 51.918, suspends the requirements for this area 
to submit an attainment demonstration, associated reasonably available 
control measures, a reasonable further progress plan, contingency 
measures, and other planning SIPs related to attainment of the 
standards for as long as this area continues to meet the 1997 8-hour 
ozone NAAQS.

[FR Doc. 2010-25461 Filed 10-8-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P
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