Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 129 / Thursday, July 5, 2012 / Proposed Rules 39657 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

40 CFR Part 52 

[EPA–R10–OAR–2012–0380; FRL–9693–9] 

Approval and Promulgation of Air 

Quality Implementation Plans; 

Washington; Determination of Clean 

Data for the 2006 24-Hour Fine 

Particulate Standard for the Tacoma, 

Pierce County Nonattainment Area 

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA). 

ACTION: Proposed rule. 

SUMMARY: EPA is proposing to 

determine that the Tacoma, Pierce 

County nonattainment area (hereafter 

referred to as ‘‘Tacoma, Pierce County’’ 

or ‘‘the area’’) for the 2006 24-hour fine 

particulate matter (PM2.5) National 

Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) 

has clean data for the 2006 24-hour 

PM2.5 NAAQS. This proposed 

determination is based upon qualityassured, quality-controlled, and 

certified ambient air monitoring data 

showing that the area has monitored 

attainment of the 2006 PM2.5 NAAQS 

based on the 2009–2011 data available 

in EPA’s Air Quality System (AQS) 

database. If this proposed determination 

is made final, the requirements for the 

area to submit an attainment 

demonstration, associated reasonably 

available control measures (RACM), a 

reasonable further progress plan (RFP), 

contingency measures, and other 

planning State Implementation Plans 

(SIPs) related to attainment of the 

standard shall be suspended for so long 

as the area continues to meet the 2006 

24-hour PM2.5 NAAQS. This action is 

being taken under the Clean Air Act 

(CAA). 

DATES: Written comments must be 

received on or before August 6, 2012. 

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, 

identified by Docket ID No. EPA–R10– 

OAR–2012–0380, by any of the 

following methods: 

• www.regulations.gov: Follow the 

on-line instructions for submitting 

comments. 

• Email: R10- 

Public_Comments@epa.gov. 

• Mail: Jeff Hunt, EPA Region 10, 

Office of Air, Waste and Toxics (AWT– 

107), 1200 Sixth Avenue, Suite 900, 

Seattle, WA 98101. 

• Hand Delivery/Courier: EPA Region 

10, 1200 Sixth Avenue, Suite 900, 

Seattle, WA 98101. Attention: Jeff Hunt, 

Office of Air, Waste and Toxics, AWT– 

107. Such deliveries are only accepted 

during normal hours of operation, and 

special arrangements should be made 

for deliveries of boxed information. 

Instructions: Direct your comments to 

Docket ID No. EPA–R10–OAR–2012– 

0112. EPA’s policy is that all comments 

received will be included in the public 

docket without change and may be 

made available online at 

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 www.regulations.gov 

or email. The 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 email 

comment directly to EPA without going 

through www.regulations.gov your email 

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 docket 

are listed in the www.regulations.gov 

index. Although listed in the index, 

some information is not publicly 

available, e.g., 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. Publicly 

available docket materials are available 

either electronically in 

www.regulations.gov or in hard copy 

during normal business hours at the 

Office of Air, Waste and Toxics, EPA 

Region 10, 1200 Sixth Avenue, Seattle, 

WA 98101. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jeff 

Hunt at telephone number: (206) 553– 

0256, email address: hunt.jeff@epa.gov, 

or the above EPA, Region 10 address. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Throughout this document whenever 

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

EPA. 

The following outline is provided to 

aid in locating information in this 

preamble. 

I. What action is EPA taking? 

II. What is the effect of this action? 

III. What is the background for this action? 

IV. What is EPA’s analysis of the relevant air 

quality data? 

V. What is EPA’s proposed action? 

VI. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews 

I. What action is EPA taking? 

EPA is proposing to determine that 

the area has clean data for the 2006 24- 

hour PM2.5 NAAQS. This determination 

is based upon quality-assured, qualitycontrolled, and certified ambient air 

monitoring data showing that the area 

has monitored attainment of the 2006 

PM2.5 NAAQS based on 2009–2011 

monitoring data. 

II. What is the effect of this action? 

If this determination is made final, 

under the provisions of EPA’s PM2.5

implementation rule (40 CFR 

51.1004(c)), the requirements for the 

area to submit an attainment 

demonstration, associated RACM, RFP 

plan, contingency measures, and any 

other planning SIP requirements related 

to attainment of the 2006 24-hour PM2.5

NAAQS would be suspended for so long 

as the area continues to meet this 

NAAQS. Furthermore, as described 

below, a final clean data determination 

would not be equivalent to a 

redesignation of the area to attainment 

for the 2006 24-hour PM2.5 NAAQS. 

If EPA subsequently determines that 

the area is in violation of the 2006 24- 

hour PM2.5 NAAQS, the basis for the 

suspension of the specific requirements, 

set forth at 40 CFR 51.1004(c), would no 

longer exist and the area would 

thereafter have to address the pertinent 

requirements. 

The proposed clean data 

determination that the air quality data 

shows attainment of the 2006 24-hour 

PM2.5 NAAQS is not equivalent to the 

redesignation of the area to attainment. 

This proposed action, if finalized, will 

not constitute a redesignation to 

attainment under section 107(d)(3) of 

the CAA, because we would not yet 

have an approved maintenance plan for 

the area as required under section 175A 

of the CAA, nor a determination that the 

area has met the other requirements for 

redesignation. The designation status of 

the area would remain nonattainment 

for the 2006 PM2.5 NAAQS until such 

time as EPA determines that the area 

meets the CAA requirements for 

redesignation to attainment. 


wreier-aviles on DSK5TPTVN1PROD with PROPOSALS
39658 Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 129 / Thursday, July 5, 2012 / Proposed Rules 

III. What is the background for this 

action? 

The 2006 PM2.5 NAAQS set forth at 40 

CFR 50.13 became effective on 

December 18, 2006 (71 FR 61144) and 

promulgated a 24-hour standard of 35 

micrograms per cubic meter (mg/m3) 

based on a 3-year average of the 98th 

percentile of 24-hour concentration. On 

December 14, 2009 (74 FR 58688), EPA 

made designation determinations, as 

required by CAA section 107(d)(1), for 

the 2006 24-hour PM2.5 NAAQS. As part 

of that action, Tacoma, Pierce County 

(partial county designation) became 

designated as nonattainment for the 

2006 24-hour PM2.5 NAAQS. 

IV. What is EPA’s analysis of the 

relevant air quality data? 

EPA has reviewed the ambient air 

monitoring data for PM2.5, consistent 

with the requirements contained in 40 

CFR part 50, as recorded in the EPA Air 

Quality System (AQS) database for the 

Tacoma, Pierce County, 2006 24-hour 

PM2.5 nonattainment area. All data 

considered have been recorded in the 

AQS data base, certified as meeting 

quality assurance requirements, and 

determined to have met data 

completeness requirements. On the 

basis of that review, EPA has concluded 

that this area attained the 2006 24-hour 

PM2.5 NAAQS during the 2009–2011 

monitoring period. Under EPA 

regulations at 40 CFR 50.7: ‘‘The 

24-hour primary and secondary PM2.5

standards are met when the 98th 

percentile 24-hour concentration, as 

determined in accordance with 

appendix N of this part, is less than or 

equal to 35 mg/m3.’’ The following table 

shows the design values (the metrics 

calculated in accordance with 40 CFR 

part 50, appendix N, for determining 

compliance with the NAAQS) for the 

2006 24-hour PM2.5 NAAQS for the 

years 2009–2011. Because the 2009– 

2011 design value at the Federal 

Reference Method monitor, Tacoma 

South L Street, is equal to the 2006 24- 

hour PM2.5 NAAQS of 35 mg/m3, EPA is 

proposing to determine that the area has 

monitored attainment for this NAAQS. 

2009–2011 DAILY AVERAGE CONCENTRATIONS IN THE TACOMA, PIERCE COUNTY NONATTAINMENT AREA

Monitor name Monitor ID 

2009–11 Design 

values 

(μg/m3) 

Tacoma South L Street 1 ................................................................................................................................. 530530029 35 

Tacoma Tide flats—2301 Alexander Ave 2 ..................................................................................................... 530530031 24 

Puyallup 5722 66th Ave E2 ............................................................................................................................. 530530022 21 

Puyallup South Hill 2 ........................................................................................................................................ 530531018 22 

1The Tacoma South L Street site is the Federal Reference Method (FRM) monitor used for determining compliance with the 2006 PM2.5

NAAQS. PM2.5 AQS data and information is available as part of EPA’s AirTrends Site at: http://www.epa.gov/airtrends/values.html. More recent 

2011 data is included as part of the docket for this action. 2The three additional monitors located in the nonattainment area listed above are neither Federal Reference Method nor Federal Equivalent 

Method (FEM) monitors but are included to provide supplementary information. Detailed information on how EPA calculated the design values for 

these monitors is included in the docket for this action. 

V. What is EPA’s proposed action? 

EPA is proposing to determine that 

the Tacoma, Pierce County area has 

clean data for the 2006 24-hour PM2.5

NAAQS. As provided in 40 CFR 

51.1004(c), if EPA finalizes this 

determination, it will suspend the 

requirements for the area to submit an 

attainment demonstration, associated 

RACM, RFP, contingency measures, and 

any other planning SIP requirements 

related to the attainment of the 2006 

PM2.5 NAAQS, so long as the area 

continues to meet the standard. EPA is 

soliciting public comments on the 

issues discussed in this document. 

These comments will be considered 

before taking final action. 

VI. Statutory and Executive Order 

Reviews 

This action proposes to make an 

attainment determination based on air 

quality data and would not, if finalized, 

impose any additional requirements. 

For that reason, this proposed 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 proposed rulemaking 

that the Tacoma, Pierce County PM2.5

nonattainment area has clean data for 

the 2006 24-hour PM2.5 standard does 

not impose substantial direct costs on 

tribal governments or preempt tribal law 

as specified by Executive Order 13175 

(65 FR 67249, November 9, 2000). 

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 52 

Environmental protection, Air 

pollution control, Particulate matter, 

Reporting and recordkeeping 

requirements. 

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

Dated: June 19, 2012. 

Julie M. Hagensen, 

Acting Regional Administrator, Region 10. 

[FR Doc. 2012–16312 Filed 7–3–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P 


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