[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 235 (Wednesday, December 6, 2000)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 76203-76206]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-31053]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 81

[Docket Id-00-01; FRL-6912-4]


Finding of Attainment for PM-10; Portneuf Valley PM-10 
Nonattainment Area, Idaho

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of proposed rule.

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SUMMARY: EPA is proposing to find that the Portneuf Valley 
nonattainment area in Idaho has attained the National Ambient Air 
Quality Standard (NAAQS) for particulate matter with an aerodynamic 
diameter of less than, or equal to a nominal ten micrometers (PM-10) as 
of December 31, 1996.

DATES: Written comments must be received on or before December 26, 
2000.

ADDRESSES: Written comments should be mailed to Debra Suzuki, SIP 
Manager, Office of Air Quality, Mailcode OAQ-107, EPA Region 10, 1200 
Sixth Avenue, Seattle, Washington, 98101. Copies of documents relevant 
to this action are available for public review during normal business 
hours (8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.) at this same address.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Steven K. Body, Office of Air Quality, 
EPA Region 10, 1200 Sixth Avenue, Seattle Washington, 98101, (206) 553-
0782.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Throughout this notice, the words ``we'', 
``us'', or ``our'' means the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

Table of Comments

I. Background
    A. Designation and Classification of PM-10 Nonattainment Areas.
    B. How Does EPA Make Attainment Determinations?
    C. What is the Attainment Date for the Portneuf Valley PM-10 
Nonattainment Area?
    D. What PM-10 Planning has Occurred for the Portneuf Valley PM-
10 Nonattainment Area?
II. EPA's Proposed Action
    A. What Does the Air Quality Data Show As of the December 31, 
1996 Attainment Date?
    B. Does the More Recent Air Quality Data Also Show Attainment?
    C. Request for Public Comment.
III. Administrative Requirements

I. Background

A. Designation and Classification of PM-10 Nonattainment Areas

    Areas meeting the requirements of section 107(d)(4)(B) of the Clean 
Air Act (CAA) were designated nonattainment for PM-10 by operation of 
law and classified ``moderate'' upon enactment of the 1990 Clean Air 
Act Amendments. See generally 42 U.S.C. 7407(d)(4)(B). These areas 
included all former Group I PM-10 planning areas identified in 52 FR 
29383 (August 7, 1987), as further clarified in 55 FR 45799 (October 
31, 1990), and any other areas violating the NAAQS for PM-10 prior to 
January 1, 1989. A Federal Register notice announcing the areas 
designated nonattainment for PM-10 upon enactment of the 1990 
Amendments, known as ``initial'' PM-10 nonattainment areas, was 
published on March 15, 1991 (56 FR 11101) and a subsequent Federal 
Register document correcting the description of some of these areas was 
published on August 8, 1991 (56 FR 37654). The Power-Bannock Counties 
PM-10 nonattainment area was one of these initial moderate PM-10 
nonattainment areas. As discussed below, the Portneuf Valley PM-10 
nonattainment area was originally part of the Power-Bannock Counties 
PM-10 nonattainment area.
    All initial moderate PM-10 nonattainment areas had the same 
applicable attainment date of December 31, 1994. Section 188(d) 
provides the Administrator the authority to grant up to two one-year 
extensions to the attainment date provided certain requirements are 
met. States containing initial moderate PM-10 nonattainment areas were 
required to develop and submit to EPA by November 15, 1991, a SIP 
revision providing implementation of reasonably available control 
measures (RACM), including reasonably available control technology 
(RACT), and a demonstration of whether attainment of the PM-10 NAAQS by 
the December 31, 1994 attainment date was practicable. See section 
189(a).

B. How Does EPA Make Attainment Determinations

    All PM-10 nonattainment areas are initially classified ``moderate'' 
by operation of law when they are designated nonattainment. See section 
188(a). Pursuant to sections 179(c) and 188(b)(2) of the Act, we have 
the responsibility of determining within six months of the applicable 
attainment date whether, based on air quality data, PM-10 nonattainment 
areas attained the PM-10 NAAQS by that date. Determinations under 
section 179(c)(1) of the Act are to be based upon the area's ``air 
quality as of the attainment date.'' Section 188(b)(2) is consistent 
with this requirement.
    Generally, we determine whether an area's air quality is meeting 
the PM-10 NAAQS for purposes of section 179(c)(1) and 188(b)(2) based 
upon data gathered at established state and local air monitoring 
stations (SLAMS) and national air monitoring stations (NAMS) in the 
nonattainment areas and entered into the EPA Aerometric Information 
Retrieval System (AIRS). Data entered into the AIRS has been determined 
to meet federal monitoring requirements (see 40 CFR 50.6, 40 CFR part 
50, appendix J, 40 CFR part 53, 40 CFR part 58, appendix A &B) and may 
be used to determine the attainment status of areas. We will also 
consider air quality data from other air monitoring stations in the 
nonattainment area provided that the stations meet the federal 
monitoring requirements for SLAMS. All data are reviewed to determine 
the area's air quality status in accordance with our guidance at 40 CFR 
part 50, appendix K.
    Attainment of the annual PM-10 standard is achieved when the annual

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arithmetic mean PM-10 concentration over a three year period (for 
example 1994, 1995, and 1996 for areas with a December 31, 1996 
attainment date) is equal to or less than 50 micrograms per cubic meter 
(ug/m3). Attainment of the 24-hour standard is determined by 
calculating the expected number of days in a year with PM-10 
concentrations greater than 150 ug/m3. The 24-hour standard is attained 
when the expected number of days with levels above 150 ug/m3 (averaged 
over a three year period) is less than or equal to one. Three 
consecutive years of air quality data are generally required to show 
attainment of the annual and 24-hour standards for PM-10. See 40 CFR 
part 50 and appendix K.

C. What is the Attainment Date for the Portneuf Valley PM-10 
Nonattainment Area

    As stated above, the Power-Bannock Counties PM-10 nonattainment 
area was designated nonattainment for PM-10 and classified as moderate 
under sections 107(d)(4)(B) and 188(a) of the Clean Air Act upon 
enactment of the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990. The area covered 
approximately 266 square miles in south central Idaho and included 
State lands in portions of Power and Bannock Counties, as well as both 
trust and fee lands within the Fort Hall Indian Reservation. The cities 
of Pocatello and Chubbuck were located near the center of this 
nonattainment area on State lands. Approximately 15 miles northwest of 
downtown Pocatello is an area known as the ``industrial complex,'' 
where two major stationary sources of PM-10 are located, which was also 
in the Power-Bannock Counties PM-10 nonattainment area. The boundary 
between the Fort Hall Indian Reservation and State lands runs through 
the industrial complex, with the Astaris-Idaho, LLC facility (formerly 
owned and operated by FMC Corporation) located on the Fort Hall Indian 
Reservation and the J.R. Simplot Corporation facility located on State 
lands immediately adjacent to the Reservation. For an extensive 
discussion of the history of the designation of the Power-Bannock 
Counties PM-10 nonattainment area, please refer to the discussion at 61 
FR 29667, 29668-29670 (June 12, 1996).
    The original attainment date for the Power-Bannock Counties PM-10 
nonattainment area was December 31, 1994. The attainment date was later 
extended to December 31, 1995, and then to December 31, 1996, under the 
authority of section 188(d) of the Act. See 61 FR 20730 (May 8, 1996) 
(first one-year extension); 61 FR 66602 (December 18, 1996) (second 
one-year extension). Effective December 7, 1998, the Power-Bannock 
Counties PM-10 nonattainment area was split into two nonattainment 
areas at the boundary between the Fort Hall Indian Reservation and 
State lands: the Fort Hall PM-10 nonattainment area and the Portneuf 
Valley PM-10 nonattainment area. For a more detailed discussion of the 
rationale behind EPA's decision to split the Power-Bannock County PM-10 
nonattainment area into two separate PM-10 nonattainment areas, please 
refer to the discussion at 63 FR 33597 (June 19, 1998)(proposed action) 
and 63 FR 59722 (November 5, 1998)(final action). The attainment date 
for both nonattainment areas continues to be December 31, 1996.

D. What PM-10 Planning has Occurred for the Portneuf Valley PM-10 
Nonattainment Area

    After the Power-Bannock Counties PM-10 nonattainment area was 
designated nonattainment for PM-10, the Idaho Division of Environmental 
Quality (IDEQ), the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes, and EPA began to work 
together in the early 1990s to prepare the technical elements needed to 
bring the area into attainment and meet the planning requirements of 
title I of the CAA. Based on these technical products, IDEQ, along with 
several local agencies, developed and implemented control measures on 
PM-10 sources in what is now known as the Portneuf Valley PM-10 
nonattainment area. The State submitted these control measures to EPA 
in 1993 as a moderate PM-10 nonattainment state implementation plan 
(SIP) revision under section 189(a) of the Act. The control measures 
submitted by the State include a comprehensive residential wood 
combustion program, controls on fugitive road dust, and a revised 
operating permit for the J.R. Simplot facility, the only major 
stationary source of PM-10 in the Portneuf Valley PM-10 nonattainment 
area. EPA has not yet taken final action to approve the State's 
moderate PM-10 SIP for the area and additional air quality planning 
efforts may be needed because of recent air quality data. EPA will take 
action on IDEQ's SIP revision for the Portneuf Valley PM-10 
nonattainment area in a separate rulemaking. For a discussion of the 
PM-10 planning for the Fort Hall PM-10 Nonattainment Area, please refer 
to 64 FR 7308 (February 12, 1999); 65 FR 51412 (August 23, 2000).

II. EPA's Proposed Action

A. What Does the Air Quality Data Show As of the December 31, 1996 
Attainment Date?

    Whether an area has attained the PM-10 NAAQS is based exclusively 
upon measured air quality levels over the most recent and complete 
three calendar year period. See 40 CFR part 50 and 40 CFR 50, appendix 
K. For an area with a December 31, 1996, attainment date, data reported 
for calendar years 1994, 1995 and 1996 is considered.
    The State of Idaho has established and operated four PM-10 SLAMS 
monitoring sites in the Portneuf Valley PM-10 nonattainment area during 
1994 through 1996. The State began monitoring for PM-10 in 1986 at the 
Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) monitoring site, located approximately one 
mile to the northeast of the industrial complex. A site at Idaho State 
University (ISU), located near downtown Pocatello, began operation in 
1988 and continued operation until June 1999. The Chubbuck School 
monitoring site (CS), located approximately four miles northeast of the 
industrial complex, began operation in 1989 and continued operation 
until July 1999. In 1990, a fourth PM-10 monitoring site was 
established at the intersection of Garrett and Gould (G&G), located 
approximately halfway between the industrial complex and downtown 
Pocatello. All four monitoring sites meet EPA SLAMS network design and 
siting requirements, set forth at 40 CFR part 58, appendices D and E, 
and continue to monitor for PM-10.
    There have been no violations of the annual PM-10 standard at any 
of the State monitors since 1990. A violation of the 24-hour PM-10 
NAAQS was recorded at the ISU and G&G monitoring sites on January 7, 
1993. As a result of the one-in-every six day sampling frequency at 
each of these sites at that time, the expected exceedance rate for the 
1993 calendar year at the SLAMS sites was 6.0. No measured values above 
the level of the 24-hour NAAQS were recorded, however, in the remainder 
of 1993, 1994, 1995, or 1996. Therefore, the three year average (1994, 
1995, 1996) expected exceedance rate at the SLAMS sites as of the 
attainment date of December 31, 1996 is 0.0. This data was discussed in 
detail in the June 19, 1998, Federal Register notice which proposed to 
split the Power-Bannock Counties PM-10 nonattainment area at the State-
Reservation boundary. See 63 FR 33597. In the public comments received 
on that proposal, no one disputed the validity of that data and EPA has 
received no additional air

[[Page 76205]]

quality data since that time for the period from 1994 to 1996 showing 
an exceedence of PM-10 standards. Therefore, EPA proposes to find that 
the Portneuf Valley PM-10 nonattainment area attained the PM-10 
standard by extended attainment date of December 31, 1996.

B. Does the More Recent Air Quality Data Also Show Attainment?

    Although the attainment date for the Portneuf Valley PM-10 
nonattainment area is December 31, 1996, and the air quality data used 
to judge attainment by that date includes all data collected in 
calendar years 1994, 1995, and 1996, EPA has also reviewed the air 
quality data collected at the State monitoring sites from 1997 through 
the second quarter of 2000. During 1997, the highest measured PM-10 
concentration was recorded at the STP site at a level of 149 ug/m3, 
just below the level of the 24-hour standard. All other measurements in 
the Portneuf Valley PM-10 nonattainment area during 1997 were less than 
100 ug/m3. During 1998, the highest measured PM-10 concentration 
recorded on any of the State monitors was at the CS site, at a level of 
118 ug/m3. The second highest measured PM-10 concentration was at the 
ISU site, at a level of 108 ug/m3. All other measurements in the area 
were less than 100 ug/m3 during 1998.
    During the end of December 1999 and the beginning of January 2000, 
there was a significant air pollution episode in the Portneuf Valley 
and Fort Hall PM-10 nonattainment areas during which elevated levels of 
PM-10 were recorded on the State monitors as well as on the Tribal 
monitors. In addition, both the State of Idaho and the Shoshone-Bannock 
Tribes received a significant number of air quality complaints during 
this time. During this several day episode, three levels above the 
level of the 24-hour PM-10 NAAQS were reported on the State monitors, 
all of which occurred at the G&G site: 183 ug/m3 on December 27, 1999, 
168 ug/m3 on December 29, 1999, and 159 ug/m3 on December 31, 1999. The 
next highest concentration at the G&G site during 1999 was 146 ug/m3 on 
December 26, 1999, which is below the level of the 24-hour PM-10 
standard. The G&G site samples every day between October 1st and March 
30th. The other three State monitoring sites did not report levels 
above 150 ug/m3, the level of the 24-hour PM-10 standard. The next 
highest level reported at any of the other of the State monitoring 
sites during 1999 was 124 ug/m3 recorded at the STP site on December 
26, 1999. The highest reported concentration during 1999 at the ISU 
site was 74 ug/m3 on January 25, 1999, and at the CS site was 39 ug/m3 
on January 30, 1999. During the first two quarters of 2000, the highest 
24-hour PM-10 concentration was recorded at the G&G site, at 112 ug/m3 
on February 6, 2000.
    Although the three days with concentrations above the level of the 
24-hour PM-10 NAAQS reported at the G&G site at the end of 1999 are of 
concern to EPA, these data do not represent a violation of the 24-hour 
PM-10 standard because there were no days with levels above the 24-hour 
PM-10 standard during 1997 and 1998. Three exceedences in three years 
results in an expected exceedance rate of 1.0 for the three-year period 
from 1997 to 1999, just below the rate that would represent a violation 
of the 24-hour PM-10 standard. Should any measured level above the 24-
hour PM-10 standard be recorded at G&G site during the years 2000 or 
2001, however, then a violation of the 24-hour PM-10 standard would 
exist in the Portneuf Valley PM-10 nonattainment area. EPA is 
continuing to closely follow the air quality data reported by the State 
of Idaho for the Portneuf Valley PM-10 nonattainment area.
    In summary, there were no PM-10 concentrations above the level of 
the 24-hour standard at any of the four different SLAMS monitoring 
sites in the Portneuf Valley PM-10 nonattainment area in 1994, 1995, 
and 1996, which indicates that the Portneuf Valley area attained the 
24-hour PM10 NAAQS as of December 31, 1996. Review of the annual 
standard for calendar years 1994, 1995 and 1996 reveals that the 
Portneuf Valley area also attained the annual PM-10 NAAQS as of 
December 31, 1996. The area has continued to attain the 24-hour and 
annual PM-10 standards since that time. Therefore, EPA proposes to find 
that the Portneuf Valley PM-10 nonattainment area attained the PM-10 
NAAQS as of December 31, 1996. If we finalize this proposal, consistent 
with CAA section 188, the area will remain a moderate PM-10 
nonattainment area and will avoid the additional planning requirements 
that apply to serious PM-10 nonattainment areas.
    This proposed finding of attainment should not be confused, 
however, with a redesignation to attainment under CAA section 107(d) 
because Idaho has not submitted a maintenance plan as required under 
section 175(A) of the CAA or met the other CAA requirements for 
redesignations to attainment. The designation status in 40 CFR part 81 
will remain moderate nonattainment for the Portneuf Valley PM-10 
nonattainment area until such time as Idaho meets the CAA requirements 
for redesignations to attainment.

C. Request for Public Comment

    We are soliciting public comments on EPA's proposal to find that 
the Portneuf Valley PM-10 nonattainment area has attained the PM-10 
NAAQS as of the December 31, 1996 attainment date. These comments will 
be considered before taking final action. Interested parties may 
participate in the Federal rulemaking process by submitting written 
comments to the EPA Regional office listed in the ADDRESSES section of 
this document.

III. Administrative Requirements

    Under Executive Order 12866 (58 FR 51735, October 4, 1993), this 
proposed action is not a ``significant regulatory action'' and 
therefore is not subject to review by the Office of Management and 
Budget. This proposed action merely makes a determination based on air 
quality date and does not impose any requirements. Accordingly, the 
Administrator certifies that this proposed rule will not have a 
significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities 
under the Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 601 et seq.). Because 
this proposed rule does not impose any enforceable duty, it does not 
contain any unfunded mandate or significantly or uniquely affect small 
governments, as described in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995 
(Public Law 104-4). For the same reason, this proposed rule also does 
not significantly or uniquely affect the communities of tribal 
governments, as specified by Executive Order 13084 (63 FR 27655, May 
10, 1998). This proposed rule will not have substantial direct effects 
on the states, on the relationship between the national government and 
the states, or on the distribution of power and responsibilities among 
the various levels of government, as specified in Executive Order 13132 
(64 FR 43255, August 10, 1999), because it merely makes a determination 
based on air quality date and does not alter the relationship or the 
distribution of power and responsibilities established in the Clean Air 
Act. This proposed rule also is not subject to Executive Order 13045 
(62 FR 19885, April 23, 1997), because it is not economically 
significant.
    As required by section 3 of Executive Order 12988 (61 FR 4729, 
February 7, 1996), in issuing this proposed rule, EPA has taken the 
necessary steps to eliminate drafting errors and ambiguity, minimize 
potential litigation, and provide a clear legal standard for affected 
conduct. EPA has complied

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with Executive Order 12630 (53 FR 8859, March 15, 1988) by examining 
the takings implications of the rule in accordance with the ``Attorney 
General's Supplemental Guidelines for the Evaluation of Risk and 
Avoidance of Unanticipated Takings'' issued under the executive order. 
This rule does not impose an information collection burden under the 
provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et 
seq.).

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 81

    Environmental protection, Air pollution control, Intergovernmental 
relations, Particulate matter, Reporting and recordkeeping 
requirements.

    Dated: November 21, 2000.
Ronald A. Kreizenbeck,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region 10.
[FR Doc. 00-31053 Filed 12-5-00; 8:45 am]
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