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[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 70 (Tuesday, April 12, 2011)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 20291-20293]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-8702]

[[Page 20291]]

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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[EPA-R04-OAR-2011-0316-201117; FRL-9293-3]

Approval and Promulgation of Implementation Plans and 
Designations of Areas for Air Quality Planning Purposes; Alabama: 
Birmingham; Determination of Attaining Data for the 1997 Annual Fine 
Particulate Matter Standards

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Proposed rule.

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SUMMARY: EPA is proposing to determine that the Birmingham, Alabama, 
fine particulate (PM2.5) nonattainment area (hereafter 
referred to as the ``Birmingham Area'' or ``Area'') has attained the 
1997 annual average PM2.5 National Ambient Air Quality 
Standards (NAAQS). The Birmingham Area is comprised of Jefferson and 
Shelby Counties in their entireties, and a portion of Walker County in 
Alabama. This proposed determination of attaining data is based upon 
complete, quality-assured and certified ambient air monitoring data for 
the 2008-2010 period showing that the Area has monitored attainment of 
the 1997 annual PM2.5 NAAQS. If EPA finalizes this proposed 
determination of attaining data, the requirements for the Area to 
submit an attainment demonstration and associated reasonably available 
control measures (RACM), a reasonable further progress (RFP) plan, 
contingency measures, and other planning State Implementation Plan 
(SIP) revisions related to attainment of the standard shall be 
suspended so long as the Area continues to attain the annual 
PM2.5 NAAQS.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before May 12, 2011.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-R04-
OAR-2011-0316, by one of the following methods:
    1. http://www.regulations.gov: Follow the on-line instructions for 
submitting comments.
    2. E-mail: benjamin.lynorae@epa.gov.
    3. Fax: (404) 562-9040.
    4. Mail: EPA-R04-OAR-2011-0316, 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.
    5. Hand Delivery: Lynorae Benjamin, Chief, 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. Such deliveries are only 
accepted during the Regional Office normal hours of operation, and 
special arrangements should be made for deliveries of boxed 
information. The Regional Office official hours of business are Monday 
through Friday, 8:30 to 4:30, excluding federal holidays.
    Instructions: Direct your comments to Docket ID No. EPA-R04-OAR-
2011-0316. EPA's policy is that all comments received will be included 
in the public docket without change and may be made available online at 
http://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 through http://www.regulations.gov or e-mail, information that you consider to be CBI 
or otherwise protected. The http://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 e-mail comment directly to EPA without 
going through http://www.regulations.gov, your e-mail 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. For additional information about EPA's public 
docket visit the EPA Docket Center homepage at http://www.epa.gov/epahome/dockets.htm.
    Docket: All documents in the electronic docket are listed in the 
http://www.regulations.gov index. Although listed in the index, some 
information is not publicly available, i.e., 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 in http://www.regulations.gov or in hard copy 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. EPA requests that if at all 
possible, you contact the person listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION 
CONTACT section to schedule your inspection. The Regional Office's 
official hours of business are Monday through Friday, 8:30 to 4:30, 
excluding federal holidays.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Sara Waterson or Joel Huey, 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. Ms. Waterson may be 
reached by phone at (404) 562-9061 or via electronic mail at 
waterson.sara@epa.gov. Mr. Huey may be reached by phone at (404) 562-
9104. Mr. Huey can also be reached via electronic mail at 
huey.joel@epa.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. What action is EPA taking?
II. What is the background for this action?
III. Does the Birmingham area meet the annual PM2.5 
NAAQS?
    A. Criteria
    B. Birmingham Area Air Quality
IV. What is the effect of this action?
V. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

I. What action is EPA taking?

    EPA is proposing to determine that the Birmingham Area (comprised 
of Jefferson and Shelby Counties in their entireties, and a portion of 
Walker County) has attaining data for the 1997 annual PM2.5 
NAAQS. The proposal is based upon complete, quality-assured and 
certified ambient air monitoring data for the 2008-2010 monitoring 
period that show that the Area has monitored attainment of the 1997 
annual PM2.5 NAAQS.

II. What is the background for this action?

    On July 18, 1997 (62 FR 36852), EPA established an annual 
PM2.5 NAAQS at 15.0 micrograms per cubic meter ([mu]g/m\3\) 
based on a 3-year average of annual mean PM2.5 
concentrations. At that time, EPA also established a 24-hour NAAQS of 
65 [mu]g/m\3\. See 40 CFR 50.7. On January 5, 2005 (70 FR 944), EPA 
published its air quality designations and classifications for the 1997 
PM2.5 NAAQS based upon air quality monitoring data from 
those monitors for calendar years 2001-2003. These designations became 
effective on

[[Page 20292]]

April 5, 2005. The Birmingham Area was designated nonattainment for the 
1997 annual PM2.5 NAAQS. See 40 CFR 81.301.
    On October 17, 2006 (71 FR 61144), EPA retained the 1997 annual 
PM2.5 NAAQS at 15.0 [mu]g/m\3\ based on a 3-year average of 
annual mean PM2.5 concentrations, and promulgated a 24-hour 
NAAQS of 35 [mu]g/m\3\ based on a 3-year average of the 98th percentile 
of 24-hour concentrations. On November 13, 2009, EPA designated the 
Birmingham Area as nonattainment for the 2006 24-hour NAAQS (74 FR 
58688).\1\ In that action, EPA also clarified the designations for the 
NAAQS promulgated in 1997, stating that the Birmingham Area was 
designated as nonattainment for the annual NAAQS but attainment for the 
24-hour NAAQS. Thus, today's action does not address attainment of 
either the 1997 24-hour NAAQS.
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    \1\ Although the Birmingham Area is designated nonattainment for 
the 2006 PM2.5 NAAQS, EPA finalized a determination that 
the Area is currently attaining the 2006 PM2.5 NAAQS. See 
75 FR 57186.
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    In response to legal challenges of the annual NAAQS promulgated in 
2006, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit 
(DC Circuit) remanded this NAAQS to EPA for further consideration. See 
American Farm Bureau Federation and National Pork Producers Council, et 
al. v. EPA, 559 F.3d 512 (D.C. Cir. 2009). However, given that the 1997 
and 2006 annual NAAQS are essentially identical, attainment of the 1997 
annual NAAQS would also indicate attainment of the remanded 2006 annual 
NAAQS.
    On April 25, 2007 (72 FR 20664), EPA promulgated its 
PM2.5 implementation rule, codified at 40 CFR part 51, 
subpart Z, in which the Agency provided guidance for state and tribal 
plans to implement the 1997 PM2.5 NAAQS. This rule, at 40 
CFR 51.1004(c), specifies some of the regulatory consequences of 
attaining the NAAQS, as discussed below.

III. Does the Birmingham area meet the annual PM2.5 NAAQS?

A. Criteria

    Today's rulemaking proposes to find that the Birmingham Area is 
attaining the 1997 annual PM2.5 NAAQS, and provides a basis 
for that final action. The Birmingham Area is comprised of Jefferson 
and Shelby Counties in their entireties, and a portion of Walker County 
in Alabama.
    Under EPA regulations at 40 CFR 50.7, the annual primary and 
secondary PM2.5 NAAQS are met when the annual arithmetic 
mean concentration, as determined in accordance with 40 CFR part 50, 
Appendix N, is less than or equal to 15.0 [micro]g/m\3\ at all relevant 
monitoring sites in the Area.

B. Birmingham Area Air Quality

    EPA has reviewed the ambient air monitoring data for the Birmingham 
Area in accordance with the provisions of 40 CFR part 50, Appendix N. 
All data considered have been quality-assured, certified, and recorded 
in EPA's Air Quality System database. This review addresses air quality 
data collected in the 3-year period from 2008-2010.
    The following table provides the annual average concentrations 
averaged over 2008-2010 at all the sites in the Birmingham Area with at 
least 75 percent complete data in each quarter of each of those 3 
years:

     Table 1--Annual Average PM2.5 Concentrations for Monitors in the Birmingham, Alabama Nonattainment Area
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                                                     2008 98th       2009 98th       2010 98th       2008-2010
            Location                 Site No.       Percentile      Percentile      Percentile     Design value
                                                   ([mu]g/m\3\)    ([mu]g/m\3\)    ([mu]g/m\3\)    ([mu]g/m\3\)
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North Birmingham................     01-073-0023            15.5            11.7            13.8            13.7
McAdory.........................     01-073-1005            12.2            10.4            11.8            11.5
Bruce Shaw Road.................     01-073-1009            10.8             9.6            10.1            10.2
Asheville Road..................     01-073-1010            13.2            10.3            12.1            11.9
Wylam...........................     01-073-2003            14.4            11.3            12.4            12.7
Hoover..........................     01-073-2006            12.1            10.3            11.8            11.4
Pinson High School..............     01-073-5002            11.9             9.9            10.9            10.9
Corner School Road..............     01-073-5003            11.5             9.7            10.7            10.6
Pelham High School..............     01-117-0006            11.6             9.8        \2\ 11.3            10.9
Highland Avenue.................     01-127-0002            11.7            10.1            11.3           11.0
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\2\ The Pelham High School monitor did not meet data completeness in the 3rd quarter of 2010.
 

    The Pelham High School monitor did not meet data completeness for 
the 3rd quarter of 2010. The 2010 average annual concentration for 
Pelham High School monitor without data substitution is 11.3 [micro]g/
m\3\. The 2010 average annual concentrations for 2008-2010 with data 
substitution is 13.9 [micro]g/m\3\. The 3-year 2008-2010 design value 
with data substitution is 11.8 [micro]g/m\3\; therefore, the monitor 
passes the data substitution test. The official design value for the 
monitor is 10.9 [micro]g/m\3\. The complete procedure for the maximum 
value data substitution test can be found in the EPA guidance document 
``Guideline on Data Handling Conventions for the PM NAAQS,'' dated 
April 1999. The highest 3-year average annual concentration for 2008-
2010 is 13.7 [mu]g/m\3\ at the North Birmingham monitor.
    EPA believes that the Birmingham Area is now meeting the 1997 
annual PM2.5 NAAQS. Since few data are available for 2011, 
the 2008-2010 data represent the most recent available data for EPA to 
use in its assessment. On the basis of this review, EPA is proposing to 
determine that the Birmingham Area has attained the 1997 annual 
PM2.5 NAAQS. EPA is soliciting public comments on its 
proposal to determine that the Birmingham Area has attained the 1997 
annual PM2.5 NAAQS.

IV. What is the effect of this action?

    If this proposed determination of attaining data is made final, the 
requirements for the Birmingham Area to submit an attainment 
demonstration and associated RACM, a RFP plan, contingency measures, 
and any other planning SIPs related to attainment of the 1997 annual 
PM2.5 NAAQS would be suspended for so long as the Area 
continues to attain the PM2.5 NAAQS. See 40 CFR 51.1004(c). 
Notably, as

[[Page 20293]]

described below, any such determination would not be equivalent to the 
redesignation of the Area to attainment for the annual PM2.5 
NAAQS.
    If this proposed rulemaking is finalized and EPA subsequently 
determines, after notice-and-comment rulemaking in the Federal 
Register, that the Area has violated the annual PM2.5 NAAQS, 
the basis for the suspension of the specific requirements would no 
longer exist for the Birmingham Area, and the Area would thereafter 
have to address the applicable requirements. See 40 CFR 51.1004(c).
    Finalizing this proposed action would not constitute a 
redesignation of the Area to attainment of the annual PM2.5 
NAAQS under section 107(d)(3) of the Clean Air Act (CAA). Further, 
finalizing this proposed action does not involve approving a 
maintenance plan for the Area as required under section 175A of the 
CAA, nor would it find that the Area has met all other requirements for 
redesignation. Even if EPA finalizes the proposed action, the 
designation status of the Birmingham Area would remain nonattainment 
for the 1997 annual PM2.5 NAAQS until such time as EPA 
determines that the Area meets the CAA requirements for redesignation 
to attainment and takes action to redesignate the Area.
    This action is only a proposed determination of attaining data that 
the Birmingham Area has attained the 1997 annual PM2.5 
NAAQS. Today's action does not address the 24-hour PM2.5 
NAAQS.
    If the Birmingham Area continues to monitor attainment of the 
annual PM2.5 NAAQS, the requirements for the Birmingham Area 
to submit an attainment demonstration and associated RACM, a RFP plan, 
contingency measures, and any other planning SIPs related to attainment 
of the annual PM2.5 NAAQS will remain suspended.

V. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

    This action proposes to make a determination of attainment based on 
air quality, and would, if finalized, result in the suspension of 
certain federal requirements, and it would not impose additional 
requirements beyond those imposed by state law. 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 1997 annual average PM2.5 NAAQS data 
determination for the Birmingham Area 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.

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: April 4, 2011.
A. Stanley Meiburg,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region 4.
[FR Doc. 2011-8702 Filed 4-11-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P
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