57872 Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 180 / Friday, September 16, 2011 / Proposed Rules 

1California plans sometimes use the term 

Reactive Organic Gases (ROG) for VOC. These terms 

are essentially synonymous. For simplicity, we use 

the term VOC herein to mean either VOC or ROG. 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

40 CFR Part 52 

[EPA–R09–OAR–2011–0622; FRL–9464–8] 

Approval of Air Quality Implementation 

Plans; California; South Coast; 

Attainment Plan for 1997 8-Hour Ozone 

Standard 

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA). 

ACTION: Proposed rule. 

SUMMARY: EPA is proposing to approve 

state implementation plan (SIP) 

revisions submitted by California to 

provide for attainment of the 1997 8- 

hour ozone national ambient air quality 

standards in the Los Angeles-South 

Coast Area (South Coast). These SIP 

revisions are the South Coast 2007 Air 

Quality Management Plan (South Coast 

2007 AQMP) (revised 2011) and South 

Coast-related portions of the 2007 State 

Strategy (revised 2009 and 2011). EPA is 

proposing to approve the emissions 

inventories, reasonably available control 

measures, provisions for transportation 

control strategies and measures, 

reasonable further progress (RFP) and 

attainment demonstrations, 

transportation conformity motor vehicle 

emissions budgets for all RFP milestone 

years and the attainment year, 

contingency measures for failure to 

make RFP or attain, and Clean Air Act 

section 182(e)(5) new technologies 

provisions and associated commitment 

to adopt contingency measures. EPA is 

also proposing to approve commitments 

to measures and reductions by the 

South Coast Air Quality Management 

District and the California Air Resources 

Board. Simultaneously and in the 

alternative, EPA is proposing to 

disapprove the SIP with respect to 

certain provisions for transportation 

control strategies and measures pending 

resolution of petitions filed before the 

9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in 

Association of Irritated Residents v. 

EPA, 632 F.3d 584 (9th Cir. 2011). 

DATES: Any comments must be 

submitted by October 17, 2011. 

ADDRESSES: Submit comments, 

identified by docket number EPA–R09– 

OAR–2011–0622, by one of the 

following methods: 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: http:// 

www.regulations.gov. Follow the on-line 

instructions. 

• E-mail: tax.wienke@epa.gov. 

• Mail or deliver: Marty Robin, Office 

of Air Planning (AIR–2), U.S. 

Environmental Protection Agency 

Region IX, 75 Hawthorne Street, San 

Francisco, CA 94105. 

Instructions: All comments 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 

Confidential Business Information (CBI) 

or other information whose disclosure is 

restricted by statute. Information that 

you consider CBI or otherwise protected 

should be clearly identified as such and 

should not be submitted through http:// 

www.regulations.gov or e-mail. The 

http://www.regulations.gov Web site is 

an ‘‘anonymous access’’ system, and 

EPA will not know your identity or 

contact information unless you provide 

it in the body of your comment. If you 

send e-mail directly to EPA, your e-mail 

address will be automatically captured 

and included as part of the public 

comment. If EPA cannot read your 

comments due to technical difficulties 

and cannot contact you for clarification, 

EPA may not be able to consider your 

comment. 

Docket: The index to the docket for 

this action is available electronically on 

the http://www.regulations.gov Web site 

and in hard copy at EPA Region IX, 75 

Hawthorne Street, San Francisco, 

California, 94105. While all documents 

in the docket are listed in the index, 

some information may be publicly 

available only at the hard copy location 

(e.g., copyrighted material), and some 

may not be publicly available at either 

location (e.g., CBI). To inspect the hard 

copy materials, please schedule an 

appointment during normal business 

hours with the contact listed in the FOR

FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section 

below. 

Copies of the SIP materials are also 

available for inspection at the following 

locations: 

• California Air Resources Board, 

1001 I Street, Sacramento, California 

95812, and 

• South Coast Air Quality 

Management District, 21865 E. Copley 

Drive, Diamond Bar, California 91765. 

The SIP materials are also electronically 

available at: http://aqmd.gov/aqmp/ 

07aqmp/index.html and http:// 

www.arb.ca.gov/planning/sip/sip.htm. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Wienke Tax, Air Planning Office (AIR– 

2), U.S. Environmental Protection 

Agency, Region IX, (415) 947–4192, 

tax.wienke@epa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Throughout this document, ‘‘we,’’ ‘‘us’’ 

and ‘‘our’’ refer to EPA. 

Table of Contents 

I. The 8-Hour Ozone National Ambient Air 

Quality Standard (NAAQS) and the 

South Coast Nonattainment Area 

A. Background on the 8-Hour Ozone 

NAAQS 

B. The South Coast 8-Hour Ozone 

Nonattainment Area 

II. CAA and Regulatory Requirements for 

Ozone Nonattainment SIPs 

III. California’s State Implementation Plan 

Submittals To Address 8-Hour Ozone 

Nonattainment in the South Coast 

Nonattainment Area 

A. California’s SIP Submittals 

B. CAA Procedural and Administrative 

Requirements for SIP Submissions 

IV. Review of the South Coast 2007 AQMP 

and the South Coast Portion of the 

Revised 2007 State Strategy 

A. Emission Inventories 

B. Reasonably Available Control Measures 

(RACM) Demonstration and Control 

Strategy 

C. Attainment Demonstration 

D. Reasonable Further Progress 

Demonstration 

E. Transportation Control Strategies and 

Transportation Control Measures and 

Vehicle Miles Travelled Offset To Offset 

Emissions Increases From VMT 

Increases, To Provide for RFP and 

Attainment 

F. Contingency Measures 

G. Motor Vehicle Emissions Budgets for 

Transportation Conformity 

H. Other Clean Air Act Requirements 

Applicable to Extreme Ozone 

Nonattainment Areas 

V. EPA’s Proposed Actions 

VI. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews 

I. The 8-Hour Ozone National Ambient 

Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) and the 

South Coast Nonattainment Area 

A. Background on the 8-Hour Ozone 

NAAQS 

Ground-level ozone is formed when 

oxides of nitrogen (NOX) and volatile 

organic compounds (VOC) react in the 

presence of sunlight.1 These two 

pollutants, referred to as ozone 

precursors, are emitted by many types of 

pollution sources, including on- and offroad motor vehicles and engines, power 

plants and industrial facilities, and 

smaller area sources such as lawn and 

garden equipment and paints. 

Scientific evidence indicates that 

adverse public health effects occur 

following exposure to ozone, 

particularly in children and adults with 

lung disease. Breathing air containing 

ozone can reduce lung function and 

inflame airways, which can increase 

respiratory symptoms and aggravate 

asthma or other lung diseases. Ozone 


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2 In March 2008, EPA completed another review 

of the primary and secondary ozone standards and 

tightened them further by lowering the level for 

both to 0.075 ppm. 73 FR 16436 (March 27, 2008). 

3See SCAQMD Governing Board Resolution No. 

07–9 (June 1, 2007), p. 12; CARB Resolution No. 

07–41 (September 27, 2007), p. 8; and letter, James 

Goldstene, Executive Officer, CARB to Wayne 

Nastri, Regional Administrator, EPA Region 9, 

November 28, 2007. 

4See EPA, Air Quality System Quick Look Report 

dated April 14, 2011 in the docket for today’s 

action. A design value is an ambient concentration 

calculated using a specific methodology to evaluate 

monitored air quality data and is used to determine 

whether an area’s air quality is meeting a NAAQS. 

The methodology for calculating design values for 

the 8-hour ozone NAAQS is found in 40 CFR part 

50, Appendix I. This value is preliminary because 

while 2008 and 2009 data are complete, validated, 

and certified, 2010 data have not yet been certified 

by the District. 

5EPA has revised or proposed to revise several 

elements of the 8-hour ozone implementation rule 

since its initial promulgation in 2004. See, e.g., 74 

FR 2936 (January 16, 2009); 75 FR 51960 (August 

24, 2010); and 75 FR 80420 (December 22, 2010). 

None of these revisions affect any provision of the 

rule that is applicable to EPA’s proposed actions on 

the South Coast 2007 8-Hour Ozone Plan. 

6See November 28, 2007 letter to Wayne Nastri, 

Regional Administrator, EPA Region 9, from James 

N. Goldstene, Executive Officer, CARB, with 

enclosures. 

7The South Coast 2007 AQMP is the first South 

Coast Plan to address the 8-hour ozone NAAQS. We 

Continued 

exposure also has been associated with 

increased susceptibility to respiratory 

infections, medication use, doctor visits, 

and emergency department visits and 

hospital admissions for individuals with 

lung disease. Ozone exposure also 

increases the risk of premature death 

from heart or lung disease. Children are 

at increased risk from exposure to ozone 

because their lungs are still developing 

and they are more likely to be active 

outdoors, which increases their 

exposure. See ‘‘Fact Sheet, Proposal To 

Revise the National Ambient Air 

Quality Standards for Ozone,’’ January 

6, 2010 and 75 FR 2938 (January 19, 

2010). 

In 1979, under section 109 of the 

CAA, EPA established primary and 

secondary national ambient air quality 

standards (NAAQS or standard) for 

ozone at 0.12 parts per million (ppm) 

averaged over a 1-hour period. See 44 

FR 8202 (February 8, 1979). 

On July 18, 1997, EPA revised the 

primary and secondary NAAQS for 

ozone to set the acceptable level of 

ozone in the ambient air at 0.08 ppm, 

averaged over an 8-hour period. See 62 

FR 38856 (July 18, 1997).2 EPA set the 

8-hour ozone standard based on 

scientific evidence demonstrating that 

ozone causes adverse health effects at 

lower concentrations and over longer 

periods of time than was understood 

when the pre-existing 1-hour ozone 

standard was set. EPA determined that 

the 8-hour standard would be more 

protective of human health, especially 

children and adults who are active 

outdoors, and individuals with a preexisting respiratory disease, such as 

asthma. 

B. The South Coast 8-Hour Ozone 

Nonattainment Area 

Following promulgation of a new or 

revised NAAQS, EPA is required by the 

Clean Air Act (CAA) to designate areas 

throughout the nation as attaining or not 

attaining the NAAQS. On April 15, 

2004, EPA designated the South Coast 

as nonattainment for the 1997 8-hour 

ozone standard and classified it as 

‘‘severe-17’’ under CAA section 

181(a)(1) and 40 CFR 51.903(a), Table 1. 

See 69 FR 23858 at 23888–89 (April 30, 

2004) and 40 CFR 81.305. The 

designations and classifications became 

effective on June 15, 2004. 

In 2007, California requested that EPA 

reclassify the South Coast from ‘‘severe17’’ to ‘‘extreme’’ nonattainment for the 

1997 8-hour ozone standard under CAA 

section 181(b)(3).3 We granted 

California’s request on May 5, 2010 and 

reclassified the South Coast to extreme 

nonattainment for the 1997 8-hour 

ozone standard effective June 4, 2010. 

See 75 FR 24409. The South Coast 2007 

AQMP was developed to address the 

extreme area planning requirements for 

the 1997 8-hour ozone standard in the 

CAA and EPA’s implementing 

regulations and thus California did not 

need to make additional submittals in 

response to this reclassification. 

The South Coast 8-hour ozone 

nonattainment area is home to about 17 

million people, has a diverse economic 

base, and contains one of the highestvolume port areas in the world. For a 

precise description of the geographic 

boundaries of the South Coast 8-hour 

ozone nonattainment area, see 40 CFR 

81.305. The local air district with 

primary responsibility for developing a 

plan to attain the 1997 8-hour ozone 

NAAQS in this area is the South Coast 

Air Quality Management District 

(District or SCAQMD). 

Ambient 8-hour ozone levels in the 

South Coast are well above the 1997 8- 

hour ozone NAAQS. The maximum 

design value for the area, based on 

monitored readings at the Crestline 

monitor, is 0.112 ppm for the 2008– 

2010 period.4

II. CAA and Regulatory Requirements 

for Ozone Nonattainment SIPs 

States must implement the 1997 8- 

hour ozone standard under Title 1, Part 

D of the CAA, which includes section 

172, ‘‘Nonattainment plan provisions,’’ 

and subpart 2, ‘‘Additional Provisions 

for Ozone Nonattainment Areas’’ 

(sections 181–185). 

In order to assist states in developing 

effective plans to address their ozone 

nonattainment problem, EPA issued the 

8-hour ozone implementation rule. This 

rule was finalized in two phases. The 

first phase of the rule addresses 

classifications for the 1997 8-hour ozone 

standard, applicable attainment dates 

for the various classifications, and the 

timing of emissions reductions needed 

for attainment. See 69 FR 23951 (April 

30, 2004). The second phase addresses 

SIP submittal dates and the 

requirements for reasonably available 

control technology and measures (RACT 

and RACM), reasonable further progress 

(RFP), modeling and attainment 

demonstrations, contingency measures, 

and new source review. See 70 FR 

71612 (November 29, 2005). The rule is 

codified at 40 CFR part 51, subpart X.5

We discuss each of these CAA and 

regulatory requirements for 8-hour 

ozone nonattainment plans in more 

detail below. 

III. California’s State Implementation 

Plan Submittals To Address 8-Hour 

Ozone Nonattainment in the South 

Coast Nonattainment Area 

A. California’s SIP Submittals 

Designation of an area as 

nonattainment starts the process for a 

state to develop and submit to EPA a 

State implementation plan (SIP) 

providing for attainment of the NAAQS 

under title 1, part D of the CAA. For 8- 

hour ozone areas designated as 

nonattainment effective June 15, 2004, 

this attainment SIP was due by June 15, 

2007. See CAA 172(b) and 40 CFR 

51.908(a) and 51.910. 

California has made five SIP 

submittals to address the CAA’s 

planning requirements for attaining the 

1997 8-hour ozone standard in the 

South Coast nonattainment area. We 

refer to these submittals collectively as 

‘‘the South Coast 2007 8-Hour Ozone 

SIP’’ or ‘‘the South Coast 2007 Ozone 

SIP.’’ The two principal ones are the 

District’s 2007 8-Hour Ozone Plan 

(South Coast 2007 AQMP) and the 

California Air Resources Board’s 

(CARB’s) State Strategy for California’s 

2007 State Implementation Plan (2007 

State Strategy). 

1. 2007 South Coast AQMP 

The ‘‘Final 2007 Air Quality 

Management Plan, June 2007’’ (South 

Coast 2007 AQMP) was adopted by the 

District on June 1, 2007 and submitted 

to CARB on October 24, 2007.6 7 On 


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have previously acted on numerous South Coast air 

quality plans for ozone, PM-10, carbon monoxide, 

and NO2, such as the 1997/1999 AQMP. We 

approved the ozone portion of the 1997 South Coast 

AQMP, as amended in 1999, on April 10, 2000 (see 

65 FR 18903). Our most recent action on a SIP 

addressing the CAA requirements for the South 

Coast ozone nonattainment area was our partial 

approval and partial disapproval of the 2003 

AQMP, which addressed 1-hour ozone (see 74 FR 

10176, March 10, 2009). Our 2009 final action was 

challenged in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, 

which published an opinion remanding certain 

aspects of EPA’s action for further action consistent 

with the opinion. See Association of Irritated 

Residents v. EPA, 632 F.3d 584 (9th Cir. 2011). The 

issues in dispute relate to the consequences of an 

EPA disapproval of a SIP submittal, the adequacy 

of EPA’s evaluation of a particular control measure 

from the 2003 State Strategy, and the rationale for 

EPA’s approval of the State’s submittal as meeting 

the requirements of CAA section 182(d)(1)(A) 

(TCMs to offset growth in emissions from growth 

in VMT) in the South Coast. EPA has sought 

rehearing on some of the issues, and the mandate 

in this case has not yet been issued pending action 

by the court on the petition for rehearing. 

8See CARB Resolution No. 07–28, September 27, 

2007 with attachments and letter from James N. 

Goldstene, Executive Officer, CARB, to Wayne 

Nastri, Regional Administrator, EPA Region 9, 

November 16, 2007 with enclosures. 

9The 2007 State Strategy also includes measures 

to be implemented by the California Bureau of 

Automotive Repair (Smog Check improvements) 

and the California Department of Pesticide 

Regulation (VOC reductions from pesticide use). 

See 2007 State Strategy, pp. 64–65 and CARB 

Resolution 7–28, Attachment B, p. 8. 

10See CARB Resolution No. 09–34, April 24, 

2009 and letter, James N. Goldstene, Executive 

Officer, CARB, to Wayne Nastri, Regional 

Administrator, EPA Region 9, August 12, 2009 with 

enclosures. Only pages 11–27 of the 2009 State 

Strategy Status Report are submitted as a SIP 

revision. The balance of the report is for 

informational purposes only. See Attachment A to 

CARB Resolution No. 09–34. 

11See CARB Board Resolution 11–24, April 28, 

2011 and letter, James N. Goldstene, Executive 

Officer, CARB, to Jared Blumenfeld, Regional 

Administrator, EPA Region 9, May 18, 2011 with 

enclosures. 

12Only Appendices B, C, and D of the 2011 

Progress Report are submitted as a SIP revision. The 

balance of the report is for informational purposes 

only. See letter, James Goldstene, Executive Officer, 

CARB, to Jared Blumenfeld, Regional 

Administrator, EPA Region 9, May 18, 2011. 

13See letter, Lynn Terry, Deputy Executive 

Officer, CARB, to Jared Blumenfeld, Regional 

Administrator, EPA Region 9, dated May 19, 2011, 

and enclosed ARB Board Resolution 11–24. 

14See CARB Resolution 11–22, July 21, 2011 and 

letter, James N. Goldstene, Executive Officer, CARB, 

to Jared Blumenfeld, Regional Administrator, EPA 

Region 9, July 29, 2011 with enclosures. Only 

Appendix A of the 2011 Ozone SIP Revision is 

submitted as a SIP revision. The balance of the 

report is for informational purposes only. 

15See letter, Lynn Terry, Executive Officer, 

CARB, to Deborah Jordan, Director, Region 9 Air 

Division, dated August 10, 2011 with attachments. 

November 28, 2007, CARB submitted 

the South Coast 2007 AQMP to EPA. 

The South Coast 2007 AQMP includes 

an 8-hour ozone attainment 

demonstration for the South Coast 

nonattainment area, commitments by 

the SCAQMD to adopt control measures 

to achieve emissions reductions from 

sources under its jurisdiction (primarily 

stationary sources), and motor vehicle 

emissions budgets (budgets) used for 

transportation conformity purposes. The 

attainment demonstration includes air 

quality modeling, an analysis of CAA 

section 172 reasonably available control 

measures (RACM), base year and 

projected year emissions inventories, 

and contingency measures. 

In today’s proposal, we are evaluating 

only those portions of the South Coast 

2007 AQMP and its revisions that are 

relevant to attainment of the 1997 8- 

hour ozone standard in the South Coast. 

2. CARB 2007 State Strategy 

To demonstrate attainment, the South 

Coast 2007 AQMP relies to a large 

extent on measures and commitments in 

CARB’s 2007 State Strategy. The 2007 

State Strategy was adopted by CARB on 

September 27, 2007 and submitted to 

EPA on November 16, 2007.8 It 

describes CARB’s overall approach to 

addressing, in conjunction with local 

plans, attainment of both the 1997 8- 

hour ozone and fine particulate (PM2.5) 

NAAQS not only in the South Coast 

nonattainment area but also in the San 

Joaquin Valley and the Sacramento area. 

It also includes CARB’s commitments to 

propose 15 defined State measures 9 and 

to obtain specific amounts of aggregate 

emissions reductions of NOX and VOC 

emissions in the South Coast from 

sources under the State’s jurisdiction, 

primarily on- and off-road motor 

vehicles and engines. In addition, it 

contains an RFP demonstration and 

contingency measures for the South 

Coast 8-hour ozone nonattainment area. 

On August 12, 2009, CARB submitted 

the ‘‘Status Report on the State Strategy 

for California’s 2007 State 

Implementation Plan (SIP) and 

Proposed Revision to the SIP Reflecting 

Implementation of the 2007 State 

Strategy,’’ dated March 24, 2009 and 

adopted April 24, 2009 (‘‘2009 State 

Strategy Status Report’’).10 This 

submittal updated the 2007 State 

Strategy to reflect its implementation 

during 2007 and 2008. 

In today’s proposal, we are evaluating 

only those portions of the 2007 State 

Strategy and its revisions that are 

relevant to attainment of the 1997 8- 

hour ozone standard in the South Coast. 

3. CARB’s 2011 SIP Revisions 

On May 18, 2011, CARB submitted a 

SIP revision entitled Progress Report on 

Implementation of PM2.5 State 

Implementation Plans (SIP) for the 

South Coast and San Joaquin Valley Air 

Basins and Proposed SIP Revisions, 

dated March 29, 2011 and adopted April 

28, 2011, together with the adopting 

resolution and other supporting 

documentation 11 12 (2011 Progress 

Report). Appendix F of this 2011 

Progress Report provides revised control 

measure commitments and a revised 

rule implementation schedule for the 

South Coast 2007 AQMP.13 We refer to 

this SIP revision as the ‘‘2011 Progress 

Report, Appendix F.’’ 

On July 29, 2011, CARB submitted the 

‘‘8-Hour Ozone State Implementation 

Plan Revisions and Technical Revisions 

to the PM2.5 State Implementation Plan 

Transportation Conformity Budgets for 

the South Coast and San Joaquin Valley 

Air Basins,’’ dated June 20, 2011 and 

adopted July 21, 2011 (2011 Ozone SIP 

Revision).14 This SIP revision updates 

the 2007 State Strategy and 2009 State 

Strategy Status Report. Specifically, it 

updates the emissions inventories, RFP 

demonstration, contingency measures, 

and transportation conformity budgets 

for the South Coast to reflect rule 

adoptions and improvements to 

emissions estimates. CARB provided 

supplemental documentation for the 

2011 Ozone SIP Revision on August 10, 

2011 (2011 Ozone SIP Supplement).15

Future references in this proposal to 

the 2007 State Strategy and to the South 

Coast 2007 AQMP will be to the State 

Strategy as revised in 2009 and 2011, 

and the AQMP as revised in 2011, 

respectively, unless otherwise noted. 

B. CAA Procedural and Administrative 

Requirements for SIP Submissions 

CAA sections 110(a)(1) and (2) and 

110(l) require a state to provide 

reasonable public notice and 

opportunity for public hearing prior to 

the adoption and submission of a SIP or 

SIP revision. To meet this requirement, 

every SIP submittal should include 

evidence that adequate public notice 

was given and an opportunity for a 

public hearing was provided consistent 

with EPA’s implementing regulations in 

40 CFR 51.102. 

Both the District and CARB have 

satisfied applicable statutory and 

regulatory requirements for reasonable 

public notice and hearing prior to 

adoption and submission of the South 

Coast 2007 Ozone Plan. The District 

conducted public workshops, provided 

public comment periods, and held 

public hearings prior to the adoption of 

the South Coast 2007 AQMP on June 1, 

2007 (See SCAQMD Governing Board 

Resolution No. 07–9). CARB provided 

the required public notice and 

opportunity for public comment prior to 

its September 27, 2007 public hearing 

on the plan. See CARB Resolution No. 

07–41. The District also provided the 


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16See Letter, Deborah Jordan, Air Division 

Director, US EPA Region 9, to James Goldstene, 

Executive Officer, CARB, dated August 23, 2011. 

17By ‘‘future year baseline inventories’’ or 

‘‘projected baseline inventories,’’ we mean 

projected emissions inventories for future years that 

account for, among other things, the effects of 

economic growth and adopted emissions control 

requirements. 

required public notice and hearing on 

its 2011 revision to the 2007 AQMP. See 

SCAQMD Governing Board Resolution 

11–9. 

CARB conducted public workshops, 

provided public comment periods, and 

held a public hearing prior to the 

adoption of the 2007 State Strategy on 

September 27, 2007 (See CARB 

Resolution No. 07–28). CARB also 

provided the required public notice, 

opportunity for public comment, and a 

public hearing prior to its April 24, 2009 

adoption of the 2009 State Strategy 

Status Report. See CARB Resolution 09– 

34, April 24, 2009. Finally, CARB 

provided the required public notice, 

opportunity for public comment, and a 

public hearing prior to its April 28, 2011 

and July 21, 2011 adoption of the 2011 

Progress Report and the 2011 Ozone SIP 

Revision, respectively. See CARB 

Resolution 11–11, April 28, 2011, and 

CARB Resolution 11–22, July 21, 2011. 

The SIP submittals include proof of 

publication for notices of the District 

and CARB public hearings, as evidence 

that all hearings were properly noticed. 

We find, therefore, that each of the five 

submittals meet the procedural 

requirements for public notice and 

hearing in CAA sections 110(a) and 

110(l). 

CAA section 110(k)(1)(B) requires 

EPA to determine whether a SIP 

submittal is complete within 60 days of 

receipt. This section also provides that 

any plan that EPA has not affirmatively 

determined to be complete or 

incomplete will be deemed complete 6 

months after the date of submission by 

operation of law. EPA’s SIP 

completeness criteria are found in 40 

CFR part 51, Appendix V. 

The November 28, 2007 submittal of 

the South Coast 2007 AQMP became 

complete by operation of law on May 

28, 2008. The November 16, 2007 

submission of the 2007 State Strategy 

and the August 12, 2009 revisions to the 

Strategy became complete by operation 

of law on May 16, 2008 and February 

12, 2010, respectively. 

We determined that CARB’s 2011 

Progress Report submittal of May 18, 

2011 was complete on June 13, 2011. 

See Letter, Deborah Jordan, Air Division 

Director, US EPA Region 9, to James 

Goldstene, Executive Officer, CARB, 

dated June 13, 2011. We determined 

that CARB’s 2011 Ozone SIP Update 

submittal of July 29, 2011 was complete 

on August 23, 2011.16

IV. Review of the South Coast 2007 

AQMP and the South Coast Portion of 

the Revised 2007 State Strategy 

We provide our evaluation of the 

South Coast 2007 8-Hour Ozone SIP’s 

compliance with applicable CAA and 

EPA regulatory requirements below. A 

more detailed evaluation can be found 

in the technical support document 

(TSD) for this proposal, which is 

available online at http:// 

www.regulations.gov under docket 

number EPA–R09–OAR–2011–0622, or 

from the EPA contact listed at the 

beginning of this notice. 

A. Emissions Inventories 

1. Requirements for Emissions 

Inventories 

CAA section 182(a)(1) requires each 

state with an ozone nonattainment area 

classified under subpart 2 to submit, 

within two years of the area’s 

designation as nonattainment, a 

‘‘comprehensive, accurate, current 

inventory of actual emissions from all 

sources’’ of the relevant pollutant or 

pollutants in accordance with guidance 

provided by EPA. CAA 182(a)(1), 40 

CFR 51.915. EPA has issued ‘‘Emissions 

Inventory Guidance for Implementation 

of Ozone and Particulate Matter NAAQS 

and Regional Haze Regulations,’’ (EPA– 

454/R–05–001), November 2005 (‘‘EI 

Guidance’’) which provides guidance on 

how to develop base year and baseline 

emissions inventories for 8-hour ozone, 

PM2.5, and regional haze SIPs. 

For areas that were initially 

designated nonattainment for the 8-hour 

ozone standard in 2004, EPA 

recommends using calendar year 2002 

as the base year for the inventory 

required by CAA section 182(a)(1). EI 

Guidance, p. 8. 

Emissions inventories for ozone 

should include emissions of VOC, NOX, 

and carbon monoxide (CO) and 

represent an average summer week day 

during the ozone season. EI Guidance, 

pp. 14 and 17. States should include 

documentation in their submittals 

explaining how emissions data were 

calculated. 70 FR 71612 at 71664 and EI 

Guidance, p. 40. In estimating mobile 

source emissions, states should use the 

latest emission models and planning 

assumptions available at the time the 

SIP is developed. 66 FR at 32854 and 70 

FR 61612, at 71666. For California, the 

latest available mobile source emissions 

model is EMFAC2007, which EPA 

approved in 2008 for use in SIPs and 

transportation conformity analyses. See 

73 FR 3464 (January 18, 2008). 

2. Emissions Inventories in the South 

Coast 2007 AQMP 

The base year and future year baseline 

inventories for ozone precursors for the 

South Coast ozone nonattainment area 

together with additional documentation 

for the inventories are found in Chapter 

3 and Appendix III of the South Coast 

2007 AQMP.17 These inventories 

represent average summer day (ozone 

season) emissions. Inventories are 

provided for the base year of 2002; the 

RFP milestone years of 2008, 2011, 

2014, 2017, 2020; and the attainment 

year of 2023. The projected baseline 

inventories include reductions from 

Federal, State, and District measures 

adopted prior to 2007. See South Coast 

2007 AQMP, page 3–1 and 2007 State 

Strategy, Appendix A, p. 1. All 

inventories include emissions from 

point, area, on-road and non-road 

sources. 

As a starting point for the South Coast 

2007 AQMP’s inventories, the District 

used CARB’s inventory for the year 

2002. This inventory and CARB’s 

documentation for its inventories can be 

found in Appendices A and F, 

respectively, of the 2007 State Strategy. 

The 2002 inventory for the South Coast 

nonattainment area was projected to 

2005 and future years using CARB’s 

California Emission Forecasting System 

(CEFS). Both base year and projected 

baseline inventories use the most 

current version of California’s mobile 

source emissions model, EMFAC2007, 

for estimating on-road motor vehicle 

emissions. EPA has approved this 

model for use in SIPs and transportation 

conformity analyses. 73 FR 3464 

(January 18, 2008). Off-road inventories 

were developed using the CARB offroad model. 

As part of its 2011 Ozone SIP 

Revision, CARB submitted revised base 

year and future year baseline 

inventories for the South Coast 

nonattainment area. See Table 1 below. 

These revised inventories incorporate 

improved activity data and/or emission 

factors for diesel trucks and buses and 

off-road equipment that were developed 

as part of CARB’s December 2010 

rulemakings amending its In-Use OnRoad Truck and Bus Rule and In-Use 

Off-Road Engine rule. The State 

estimates that these changes collectively 

reduce the 2002 base year total 

inventory in the South Coast by 5 

percent for NOX and less than 2 percent 


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18See Appendix A of 2011 Ozone SIP Revision. 

19The ‘‘General Preamble for the Implementation 

of Title I of the Clean Air Act Amendments of 

1990,’’ published at 57 FR 13498 on April 16, 1992, 

describes EPA’s preliminary view on how we 

would interpret various SIP planning provisions in 

title I of the CAA as amended in 1990, including 

those planning provisions applicable to the 1-hour 

ozone standard. EPA continues to rely on certain 

guidance in the General Preamble to implement the 

8-hour ozone standard under title I. 

20For ozone nonattainment areas classified as 

moderate or above, CAA section 182(b)(2) also 

requires implementation of RACT for all major 

sources of VOC and for each VOC source category 

for which EPA has issued a Control Techniques 

Guideline (CTG). CAA section 182(f) requires that 

RACT under section 182(b)(2) also apply to major 

stationary sources of NOX. In extreme areas, a major 

source is a stationary source that emits or has the 

potential to emit at least 10 tons of VOC or NOX

per year. CAA section 182(e) and (f). Under the 8- 

hour ozone implementation rule, states were 

required to submit SIP revisions meeting the RACT 

for VOC.18 The projected baseline 

inventories for subsequent years were 

also revised to reflect the ongoing effects 

of the 2007–2009 economic recession, 

which has significantly reduced activity 

levels and associated emissions from the 

State’s construction and goods 

movement sectors. CARB estimates that 

emissions levels and growth rates will 

return to normal levels by the 2017– 

2018 timeframe. 2011 Ozone SIP 

Revision, Appendix B. As a result, 

projected emission levels from these 

categories in the years up to 2017–2018 

are now substantially lower than were 

originally projected in the South Coast 

2007 AQMP and 2007 State Strategy as 

submitted in November 2007. These 

recession-related decreases in emissions 

do not in themselves affect the Plan’s 

emissions inventories for the modeling 

validation years (1997, 2004, and 2005), 

the base year (2002), or future years 

(2020 and 2023), and thus do not change 

the carrying capacity estimates in the 

plan (i.e., they do not in themselves 

affect the target level of overall 

emissions reductions needed to 

demonstrate attainment), nor do they 

alter the 2002 adjusted baseline 

emissions, which provide the starting 

point for the reasonable further progress 

demonstration. The principal effect of 

the recession-related decreases in 

projected emissions estimates is to 

reduce the amount of reductions needed 

from the SIP’s control strategy to 

demonstrate RFP in the years prior to 

2018. 

TABLE 1—SOUTH COAST BASE YEAR AND ATTAINMENT YEAR EMISSIONS INVENTORY SUMMARY

[Summer planning inventory emissions in tons per day] a

Emissions inventory category NOx VOC 

Year 2002 2023 2002 2023 

Stationary/Areawide Sources .......................................................... 89 68 318 273 

On-road Mobile Sources .................................................................. 652 140 361 98 

Off-road Mobile Sources .................................................................. 283 170 202 142 

TOTAL ...................................................................................... 1024 378 881 513 

a Numbers may not add up to precise totals due to rounding. Source: 2011 Ozone SIP Revision, Appendix B, p. B–2. 

3. Proposed Action on the Base Year 

Emissions Inventory 

We have reviewed the 2002 base year 

emissions inventory in the South Coast 

2007 AQMP and the inventory 

methodologies used by the District and 

CARB in developing that inventory and 

have determined that the inventory was 

developed consistent with CAA 

requirements as reflected in the 8-hour 

ozone implementation rule, and EPA’s 

guidance. The revised 2002 base year 

inventory is a comprehensive, accurate, 

and current inventory of actual 

emissions of 8-hour ozone precursors in 

the South Coast nonattainment area. We 

therefore propose to approve the base 

year inventory as meeting the 

requirements of CAA section 182(a)(1) 

and EPA’s 8-hour ozone implementation 

rule. 40 CFR 51.915. We provide detail 

on our review of the base year inventory 

in section II.A. of the TSD for this 

proposal. 

B. Reasonably Available Control 

Measures (RACM) Demonstration and 

Control Strategy 

1. Requirements for RACM and Control 

Strategy 

CAA section 172(c)(1) requires that 

each attainment plan ‘‘provide for the 

implementation of all reasonably 

available control measures as 

expeditiously as practicable (including 

such reductions in emissions from 

existing sources in the area as may be 

obtained through the adoption, at a 

minimum, of reasonably available 

control technology), and shall provide 

for attainment of the national primary 

ambient air quality standards.’’ The 8- 

hour ozone implementation rule 

requires that for each nonattainment 

area that is required to submit an 

attainment demonstration, the state 

must also submit concurrently a SIP 

revision demonstrating that it has 

adopted all RACM necessary to 

demonstrate attainment as expeditiously 

as practicable and to meet any RFP 

requirements. 40 CFR 51.912(d). 

EPA has previously provided 

guidance interpreting the RACM 

requirement in the General Preamble at 

13560 19 and in a memorandum entitled 

‘‘Guidance on Reasonably Available 

Control Measures (RACM) Requirements 

and Attainment Demonstration 

Submissions for the Ozone NAAQS,’’ 

John Seitz, November 30, 1999. (Seitz 

memo). In summary, EPA guidance 

provides that to address the requirement 

to adopt all RACM, states should 

consider all potentially reasonable 

control measures for source categories 

in the nonattainment area to determine 

whether they are reasonably available 

for implementation in that area and 

whether they would, if implemented 

individually or collectively, advance the 

area’s attainment date by one year or 

more. See Seitz memo and General 

Preamble at 13560; see also ‘‘State 

Implementation Plans; General 

Preamble for Proposed Rulemaking on 

Approval of Plan Revisions for 

Nonattainment Areas,’’ 44 FR 20372 

(April 4, 1979) and Memorandum dated 

December 14, 2000, from John S. Seitz, 

Director, Office of Air Quality Planning 

and Standards, ‘‘Additional Submission 

on RACM from States with Severe OneHour Ozone Nonattainment Area SIPs.’’ 

Any measures that are necessary to 

meet these requirements that are not 

already either federally promulgated, 

part of the state’s SIP, or otherwise 

creditable in SIPs must be submitted in 

enforceable form as part of a state’s 

attainment plan for the area. 72 FR 

20586, at 20614.20


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requirements of CAA sections 182(b)(2) and 182(f) 

no later than 27 months after designation for the 8- 

hour ozone standard (September 15, 2006 for areas 

designated in April 2004) and to implement the 

required RACT measures no later than 30 months 

after that submittal deadline. See 40 CFR 51.912(a). 

California submitted the CAA section 182 RACT 

SIP for the South Coast 8-hour ozone nonattainment 

area on January 31, 2007, which EPA fully 

approved on December 18, 2008. See 73 FR 76947. 

21The CARB Staff Report on the South Coast 2007 

AQMP, page ES–4, incorrectly states the SCAQMD 

commitments as 19 tpd NOX and 9 tpd VOC. 

CAA section 172(c)(6) requires 

nonattainment plans to ‘‘include 

enforceable emission limitations, and 

such other control measures, means or 

techniques (including economic 

incentives such as fees, marketable 

permits, and auctions of emission 

rights), as well as schedules and 

timetables for compliance, as may be 

necessary or appropriate to provide for 

attainment of such standard in such area 

by the applicable attainment 

date * * *.’’ See also CAA section 

110(a)(2)(A). The ozone implementation 

rule requires that all control measures 

needed for attainment be implemented 

no later than the beginning of the 

attainment year ozone season. 40 CFR 

51.908(d). The attainment year ozone 

season is defined as the ozone season 

immediately preceding a nonattainment 

area’s attainment date. 40 CFR 

51.900(g). 

2. RACM Demonstration and Control 

Strategy 

For the 2007 Ozone Plan and the 2007 

State Strategy, CARB, the District, and 

the local agency (through the South 

Coast’s metropolitan planning 

organization (MPO), the Southern 

California Association of Governments 

(SCAG)) each undertook a process to 

identify and evaluate potential 

reasonably available control measures 

that could contribute to expeditious 

attainment of the 1997 8-hour ozone 

standards in the South Coast 

nonattainment area. We describe each 

agency’s efforts below. 

a. District’s RACM Demonstration and 

Control Strategy 

The District’s RACM demonstration, 

which focuses on stationary and area 

source controls, is described in Chapter 

6 and Appendix VI of the South Coast 

2007 AQMP. In developing the South 

Coast 2007 AQMP, the District 

conducted a process to identify RACM 

for the South Coast that involved public 

meetings to solicit input, evaluation of 

EPA’s suggested RACM, and evaluation 

of other air agencies’ regulations. See 

South Coast 2007 AQMP, Appendix VI. 

To identify potential reasonably 

available measures for the South Coast, 

the District evaluated measures 

implemented in other nonattainment 

areas (including the San Joaquin Valley, 

the San Francisco Bay Area, 

Sacramento, Ventura, Dallas-Fort Worth, 

and the Houston-Galveston area) and 

measures identified by the Lake 

Michigan Air Directors Consortium 

(LADCO), and held meetings with 

CARB, technical experts, local 

government representatives, and the 

public during development of the South 

Coast 2007 AQMP. The District 

sponsored an AQMP summit, which 

generated 200 potential control 

measures. The District also reevaluated 

all 82 of the existing SIP-approved 

District rules and regulations. 

From the set of identified potential 

controls, the District then screened the 

identified measures and rejected those 

that would not individually or 

collectively advance attainment in the 

area, had already been adopted as rules, 

or were in the process of being adopted. 

The remaining measures were evaluated 

taking into account baseline inventories, 

available control technologies, and 

potential emission reductions as well as 

whether the measure could be 

implemented on a schedule that would 

advance attainment of the 1997 8-hour 

ozone standard by at least a year, 

assuming a 2024 deadline. South Coast 

2007 AQMP, Appendix VI. 

In general, EPA believes that the 

District’s current rules and regulations 

are equivalent to or more stringent with 

respect to emissions of ozone precursors 

than those developed by other air 

districts. 

Based on its RACM analysis for 

stationary and area sources under its 

jurisdiction, the District scheduled 15 

new or revised stationary source control 

measures for development and 

adoption, including measures at least as 

stringent as those identified in other 

California districts’ AQMPs and several 

innovative measures. Since submission 

of the AQMP in 2007, the District has 

adopted 13 of these rules and submitted 

them to EPA for approval into the SIP. 

These rules are part of the District’s 

enforceable commitment to achieve 

emissions reductions of 9 tons per day 

(tpd) of NOX and 19 tpd of VOC by 

2023. As to the few remaining measures 

that the District rejected from its RACM 

analysis, the District determined that 

these measures would not advance the 

attainment date or contribute to RFP 

due to the insignificant or 

unquantifiable emissions reductions 

they would potentially generate. See 

South Coast 2007 AQMP, Appendix VI. 

The District has made new 

commitments in its South Coast 2007 

AQMP to achieve specific reductions 

from VOC and NOX sources in the South 

Coast area. The District committed to 

adopt and submit measures that will 

achieve the following additional 

emissions reductions by 2023: 9 tpd 

NOX and 19 tpd VOC. See South Coast 

2007 AQMP, Table 4–2A, page 4–10 and 

CARB Staff Report on the South Coast 

2007 AQMP, page 13.21 The District 

expects to meet its emissions reductions 

commitments for VOC and NOX (see 

Table 2 below) by adopting new control 

measures and programs and 

strengthening existing control measures, 

such as those identified in Table 4–2A 

of the South Coast 2007 AQMP (see 

South Coast 2007 AQMP, page 4–10 and 

CARB Staff Report on South Coast 2007 

AQMP, p. 13), and through the 

additional actions summarized in the 

CARB Staff Report on the South Coast 

2007 AQMP (See CARB Staff Report on 

South Coast 2007 AQMP, p. 18). These 

new or revised control measures include 

rules to regulate lubricants, consumer 

products, non-RECLAIM ovens, dryers 

and furnaces, space heaters, facility 

modernizations, livestock waste, and 

residential wood burning. The South 

Coast 2007 AQMP also identifies 22 

measures (beyond the new control 

measures and additional actions just 

discussed) for further review, which 

may yield additional emission 

reductions. 

SCAQMD has committed to adopt and 

implement control measures that will 

achieve the total tonnage of emission 

reductions identified in Tables 2 and 3 

of Appendix F of the 2011 Progress 

report. As discussed above, the District’s 

commitment is to achieve the total 

tonnage of reductions of each pollutant 

by the specified dates. If SCAQMD 

determines that a particular measure is 

infeasible, in whole or in part, SCAQMD 

commits to achieve equivalent 

reductions on the same schedule 

through substitute controls. South Coast 

2007 AQMP, p. 4–73. 


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TABLE 2—DISTRICT SHORT AND INTERMEDIATE TERM CONTROL MEASURES CREDITED IN SOUTH COAST 2007 AQMP 

ATTAINMENT DEMONSTRATION, AS REVISED IN 2011 

Control 

measure Rule No. Title 

Emissions reduction commitment in South 

Coast 2007 

AQMP, as revised in 2011 

Emissions reductions achieved a

NOX VOC 

NOX VOC 

BCM–03 ....... 445 Woodburning fireplaces and 

woodstoves.

n/a ..... n/a ..... 0.1 tpd 0.7 tpd. 

CTS–01 ........ 1144 Metalworking fluids and direct-contact 

lubricants.

n/a ..... 2.0 tpd n/a 4.2 tpd. 

CTS–03 b ...... ........................ Consumer Products Certification and 

Emissions Reductions from the Use 

of Consumer Products at Inst. and 

Comm’l Facilities.

n/a ..... n/a ..... n/a n/a. 

CTS–04 ........ 1143 Consumer Paint Thinners and MultiPurpose Solvents.n/a ..... n/a ..... n/a 10.1 tpd. 

CMB–01 ....... 1147 NOX reductions from miscellaneous 

sources.

4.1 tpd ........... 4.1 tpd 

FUG–02 ....... 461 Gasoline transfer and dispensing ........ n/a ..... 4.0 tpd n/a Met via excess from Rule 1143. 

FUG–04 ....... 1149 Storage Tank and Pipeline Cleaning 

and Degassing.

n/a ..... n/a ..... n/a 0.04 tpd. 

CMB–03 ....... 1111 Further NOX reductions from space 

heaters.

1.1 tpd n/a ..... 3.0 tpd n/a. 

MCS–01 ....... 1110.2 Liquid and gaseous fuels—stationary 

ICEs.

2.2 tpd 9.2 tpd 0.54 tpd 0.3 tpd. 

Measures not yet adopted or not fully approved by EPA c

............................................................... NOX .. VOC ..

MCS–01 ....... 1146 NOX from industrial, institutional, & 

commercial boilers, steam generators, and process heaters.

........... ........... Emissions reductions not currently creditable; EPA 

proposed limited approval/limited disapproval 

published July 8, 2011, see 76 FR 40303. 

1146.1 NOX from small ind, inst, & comm’l 

boilers, steam gens, and proc. htrs.

........... ........... Emissions reductions not currently creditable; EPA 

proposed limited approval/limited disapproval 

published July 8, 2011, see 76 FR 40303. 

EGM–01 ....... 2301 Emissions reductions from new or redevelopment projects.0.8 tpd 0.5 tpd Scheduled for 

adoption in 

2012. 

MCS–05 ....... 1127 Livestock waste .................................... n/a ..... 0.6 tpd EPA has 

not yet 

acted 

on this 

rule. 

FLX–02 ........ ........................ Refinery pilot program .......................... n/a ..... 1.6 tpd Not yet 

adopted. 

MOB–05 ....... ........................ AB923 LDV high emitter program ........ 0.4 tpd 0.7 tpd No rule 

associated 

with 

this 

measure. 

MOB–06 ....... ........................ AB923 MDV high emitter program ....... 0.6 tpd 0.6 tpd No rule 

associated 

with 

this 

measure. 

SIP Commitments and Currently Creditable Reductions 

2023 SIP commitment—NOX ........ 9.2 tpd NOX .................................. SIP-creditable reductions—NOX .. 7.7 tpd. 

2023 SIP commitment—VOC ........ 19.3 tpd VOC ................................ SIP-creditable reductions—VOC .. 15.3 tpd. 

aFrom SCAQMD’s 2011 ‘‘Revisions to PM2.5 and Ozone State Implementation Plan for South Coast Air Basin and Coachella Valley,’’ which 

was included as Appendix F in CARB’s 2011 Progress Report, Tables 2 and 3, and District rule evaluation forms. Some emissions reduction 

commitments were revised from the information originally provided in the South Coast 2007 AQMP. 


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bAdopted by CARB in November 2010. 

cEPA can only credit District rules that have been adopted, submitted to EPA, and approved for credit in the SIP. 

n/a = not applicable. 

TABLE 3—STATUS OF DISTRICT RULES IN THE SOUTH COAST 2007 AQMP FOR 8-HOUR OZONE

Rule Adoption date Implementation date SIP status Federal Register cite 

Rule 445—Woodburning fireplaces 

and woodstoves.

2008 2008–2014 SIP-approved ................................. 74 FR 27716, 06/11/09. 

Rule 461—Gasoline transfer and 

dispensing.

2009 2010–2012 SIP-approved ................................. 71 FR 18216, 04/11/06. 

Rule 1149—storage tank and pipeline cleaning and degreasing.2008 2008 SIP-approved ................................. 74 FR 67821, 12/21/09. 

Rule 1144—Vanishing oils and rust 

inhibitors.

2009 2011 Proposed for SIP-approval ............ 75 FR 41744, 07/15/11. 

Rule 1143—Consumer Paint Thinners and Multi-Purpose Solvents.2009 2011 Proposed for SIP-approval ............ 76 FR 41744, 07/15/11. 

Rule 1147—NOX reductions from 

miscellaneous sources.

2008 2010 SIP-approved ................................. 75 FR 46845, 08/04/10. 

Rule 1111—Further NOX reductions from space heaters.2009 2012–2043 SIP-approved ................................. 75 FR 46845, 08/04/10. 

Rule 1110.2—Liquid and gaseous 

fuels—stationary ICEs.

2008 2011 SIP-approved ................................. 74 FR 18995, 4/27/09. 

Rule 1146—NOX from industrial, 

institutional, commercial boilers, 

steam generators, and process 

heaters.

2008 2011 Submitted ....................................... Proposed limited approval/limited 

disapproval 7/8/11, 76 FR 

40303. 

Rule 1146.1—NOX from small industrial, institutional, commercial 

boilers, steam generators, and 

process heaters.

2008 2011 Submitted ....................................... Proposed limited approval/limited 

disapproval 7/8/11, 76 FR 

40303. 

Rule 1127—Livestock Waste ......... 2006 2011 Submitted to EPA on 10/05/06 ...... Found complete on 10/25/06. 

Refinery Pilot Program ................... 2008 2010 Not yet adopted ............................. N/A. 

Rule 2301—Indirect Source Review.2012 2014 Not yet adopted ............................. N/A. 

AB923—Light duty vehicle high 

emitter program.

(

a

) (a) No rule associated with this measure.N/A. 

AB923—Light duty vehicle high 

emitter program.

(

a

) (a) No rule associated with this measure.N/A. 

aOngoing. 

b. The Local Jurisdiction’s RACM 

Analysis 

The local jurisdiction’s RACM 

analysis was conducted by the 

metropolitan planning organization 

(MPO) for the South Coast region, the 

Southern California Association of 

Governments (SCAG). This analysis 

focused on transportation control 

measures (TCMs). TCMs are, in general, 

measures designed to reduce emissions 

from on-road motor vehicles through 

reductions in vehicle miles traveled or 

traffic congestion. SCAG’s analysis is 

described in Appendix IV–C of the 

South Coast 2007 AQMP. The TCMs in 

the South Coast 2007 AQMP are derived 

from TCM projects in the 2006 SCAG 

Regional Transportation Improvement 

Program (RTIP). This evaluation, 

described beginning on page 49 of 

Appendix IV–C of the South Coast 2007 

AQMP, resulted in extensive local 

government commitments to implement 

programs to reduce auto travel and 

improve traffic flow. South Coast 2007 

AQMP page 6–6 and Appendix IV–C. 

Attachment A to Appendix IV–C 

contains an extensive list of TCMs 

under development and newly 

scheduled TCMs. See South Cost 2007 

AQMP, Appendix IV–C, p. 39. 

SCAG evaluated a wide variety of 

transportation control measures, 

including those measures listed in CAA 

section 108(f), and determined that 

there were no combinations of 

reasonable measures that would 

advance attainment of the 8-hour ozone 

standard in the South Coast. See South 

Coast 2007 AQMP, Appendix IV–C. 

c. CARB’s RACM Demonstration and 

Control Strategy 

Source categories for which CARB has 

primary responsibility for reducing 

emissions in California include most 

new and existing on- and off-road 

engines and vehicles, motor vehicle 

fuels, and consumer products. 

Given the need for significant 

emissions reductions from mobile and 

area sources to meet the NAAQS in 

California nonattainment areas, the 

State of California has been a leader in 

the development of stringent control 

measures nationwide for on-road and 

off-road mobile sources and the fuels 

that power them. See, e.g., 2007 State 

Strategy, p. 37; see also TSD at 

Appendix A. California has unique 

authority under CAA section 209 

(subject to a waiver by EPA) to adopt 

and implement new emission standards 

for many categories of on-road vehicles 

and engines and new and in-use offroad vehicles and engines. 

The State is working with EPA on 

goods movement activities and is 

implementing programs to reduce 

emissions from ship auxiliary engines, 

locomotives, harbor craft and new cargo 

handling equipment. In addition, the 

State has standards for lawn and garden 

equipment, recreational vehicles and 

boats, and other off-road sources that 

require newly manufactured equipment 

to be 80–98 percent cleaner than their 

uncontrolled counterparts. Id. Finally, 

the State has adopted many measures 

that focus on achieving reductions from 

in-use mobile sources that include more 

stringent inspection and maintenance 

requirements in California’s Smog 


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22More information on this public process 

including presentations from the workshops and 

symposium that preceded the adoption of the 2007 

State Strategy can be found at http:// 

www.arb.ca.gov/planning/sip/2007sip/2007sip.htm. 

23California Assembly Bill 2289, passed in 2010, 

requires the Bureau of Automotive Repair (BAR) to 

direct older vehicles to high performing auto 

technicians and test stations for inspection and 

certification effective 2013. Reductions shown for 

the SmogCheck program in the 2011 Progress 

Report do not include reductions from AB 2289 

improvements. See CARB Progress Report 

Supplement, Attachment 5. 

Check program, truck and bus idling 

restrictions, and various incentive 

programs. Appendix A of the TSD 

includes a list of all measures adopted 

by CARB between 1990 and the 

beginning of 2007. These measures, 

reductions from which are reflected in 

the Plan’s baseline inventories, fall into 

two categories: measures that are subject 

to a waiver of Federal pre-emption 

under CAA section 209 (section 209 

waiver measures or waiver measures) 

and those for which the State is not 

required to obtain a waiver (non-waiver 

measures). Emissions reductions from 

waiver measures are fully creditable in 

attainment and RFP demonstrations and 

may be used to meet other CAA 

requirements, such as contingency 

measures. See TSD, section II.C. and 

EPA’s proposed and final approval of 

the SJV 1-Hour Ozone Plan at 74 FR 

33933, 33938 (July 14, 2009) and 75 FR 

10420 (March 8, 2010). Generally, the 

State’s baseline non-waiver measures 

have been approved by EPA into the SIP 

and are fully creditable for meeting CAA 

requirements. See TSD, Appendix A. 

CARB developed its proposed 2007 

State Strategy after an extensive public 

consultation process to identify 

potential SIP measures.22 Through this 

process, CARB identified and has 

committed to develop 15 new or revised 

control measures. See also the 

discussion on enforceable commitments 

below. These measures focus on 

cleaning up the in-use fleet as well as 

increasing the stringency of emissions 

standards for a number of engine 

categories, fuels, and consumer 

products. They build on CARB’s 

existing program, which addresses 

emissions from all types of mobile 

sources through both regulations and 

incentive programs. See Appendix A of 

the TSD. Table 4 lists the defined 

measures in the 2007 State Strategy and 

their current adoption and approval 

status. Table 5 provides the State’s 

current estimate of the expected 

emissions reductions from these 

measures in the attainment year (2023), 

which would contribute to achieving 

the State’s aggregate emission reduction 

commitment for that year. 

TABLE 4—2007 STATE STRATEGY DEFINED MEASURES SCHEDULED FOR CONSIDERATION AND CURRENT STATUS

[Updated July 2011] 

State measure Expected action year Current status 

Smog Check Improvements ................................................. 2007–2009 ................ Elements approved 75 FR 38023 (July 1, 2010).23

Expanded Vehicle Retirement .............................................. 2007 .......................... Adopted by CARB June 2009; by BAR, September 2010. 

Modifications to Reformulated Gasoline Program ................ 2007 .......................... Approved, see 75 FR 26653 (May 2, 2010). 

Cleaner In-use Heavy Duty Trucks ...................................... 2007, .........................

2008, 2010 ................

Proposed approval 76 FR 40652 (July 11, 2011). 

Auxiliary Ship Cold Ironing and Other Clean Technologies 2007–2008 ................ Adopted December 2007. 

Cleaner Main Ship Engines and Fuels ................................. Fuel: 2008–2011 .......

Engines: 2008 ...........

Proposed approval 76 FR 40652 (July 11, 2011). 

Port Truck Modernization ...................................................... 2007, 2008, 2010 ...... Adopted December 2007 and December 2008. 

Accelerated Introduction of Cleaner Locomotives ................ 2008 .......................... Prop 1B funds awarded to upgrade line-haul locomotive 

engines not already accounted for by enforceable 

agreements with the railroads. Those cleaner line-hauls 

will begin operation by 2012. 

Clean Up Existing Harbor Craft ............................................ 2007, 2010 ................ Adopted November 2007, revised June 2010. 

Cleaner In-Use Off-Road Equipment .................................... 2007, 2010 ................ Waiver decision pending. 

New Emissions Standards for Recreational Boats ............... 2013 .......................... Action expected in 2013. 

Expanded Off-Road Recreational Vehicle Emissions Standards.2013 .......................... Action expected in 2013. 

Enhanced Vapor Recovery for Above Ground Storage 

Tanks.

2008 .......................... Adopted June 2007, effective June 2008. 

Additional Evaporative Emissions Standards ....................... 2009, 2013 ................ Action expected 2013. 

Consumer Products Program (I & II) .................................... 2008, 2009, & 2011 .. Approved 74 FR 57074 (November 4, 2009) and 76 FR 

27613 (May 12, 2011). 

Source: 2009 State Strategy Status Report, p. 23, 2011 Progress Report, Table 1, and 2011 Ozone SIP Revision, Appendix A–3. Additional information from http://www.arb.ca.gov. 

TABLE 5—EXPECTED EMISSIONS REDUCTIONS FROM DEFINED MEASURES IN THE 2007 STATE STRATEGY FOR THE SOUTH

COAST

[2023 planning inventory, tpd] 

Measure 2023 NOX 2023 VOC 

Smog Check Improvements (BAR) [partial] ............................................................................................................ 1.2 5.3 

Cleaner In-Use Heavy-Duty Trucks ......................................................................................................................... 27.4 1.3 

Ship Auxiliary Engine Cold Ironing & Clean Technology ........................................................................................ 28.4 0.7 

Cleaner Main Ship Engines and Fuel [engine portion] ........................................................................................... 44.5 0.8 

Clean Up Existing Harbor Craft ............................................................................................................................... 10 0.4 

Cleaner In-Use Off-Road Equipment (>25hp) ......................................................................................................... 3.2 0.3 


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24Consistent with provisions in our 

implementation regulations for the 1997 ozone 

NAAQS at 40 CFR part 51, subpart X, we interpret 

this 10 year timeframe to run from the effective date 

of designation for the 1997 ozone NAAQS. 

TABLE 5—EXPECTED EMISSIONS REDUCTIONS FROM DEFINED MEASURES IN THE 2007 STATE STRATEGY FOR THE SOUTH

COAST—Continued 

[2023 planning inventory, tpd] 

Measure 2023 NOX 2023 VOC 

Consumer Products Program [partial] ..................................................................................................................... — 7.1 

Totals ................................................................................................................................................................ 114.7 15.9 

Source: CARB 2011 Ozone SIP Revision Supplement, Attachment 1. 

The 2007 State Strategy includes an 

enforceable commitment to achieve 

aggregate emissions reductions of 141 

tpd of NOX and 54 tpd of VOC by the 

attainment year (2023). See Table 6. The 

2007 State Strategy demonstrates that 

these CARB commitments, in 

combination with existing SIPcreditable measures, the District’s 

commitments, and reduction 

commitments from the CAA section 

182(e)(5) new technologies provision, 

will be sufficient to attain the 1997 8- 

hour NAAQS in the South Coast 

nonattainment area by the applicable 

attainment date of June 15, 2024. CARB 

also made enforceable commitments to 

achieve aggregate emissions reductions 

in the RFP milestone years of 2014 and 

2020. See 2009 State Strategy Status 

Report, p. 20 and CARB Resolution 07– 

28, Attachment B, p. 4. See Table 6 

below. The nature of these 

commitments is described in the State 

Strategy as follows: 

The total emission reductions from the 

new measures necessary to attain the federal 

standards are an enforceable State 

commitment in the SIP. While the proposed 

State Strategy includes estimates of the 

emission reductions from each of the 

individual new measures, it is important to 

note that the commitment of the State 

Strategy is to achieve the total emission 

reductions necessary to attain the federal 

standards, which would be the aggregate of 

all existing and proposed new measures 

combined. Therefore, if a particular measure 

does not get its expected emission 

reductions, the State still commits to 

achieving the total aggregate emission 

reductions, whether this is realized through 

additional reductions from the new measures 

or from alternative control measures or 

incentive programs. If actual emission 

decreases occur in any air basin for which 

emission reduction commitments have been 

made that are greater than the projected 

emissions reductions from the adopted 

measures in the State Strategy, the actual 

emission decreases may be counted toward 

meeting ARB’s total emission reduction 

commitments. 

CARB Resolution 07–28 (September 27, 

2007), Appendix B, p. 3. 

TABLE 6—CARB COMMITMENTS TO SPECIFIC AGGREGATE EMISSIONS REDUCTIONS

[Tons per summer day] 

2014 2020 1 2023 

2023 

CAA section 

182(e)(5) 2

VOC ................................................................................................. 46 52 54 40 

NOX .................................................................................................. 152 144 141 241 

Source: 2009 State Strategy Update, p. 20. 

1 No commitments to VOC or NOX reductions in 2017; 2020 commitment in the South Coast is necessary to provide for attainment in the 

downwind nonattainment areas. 

2The anticipated reductions of VOC and NOX from 182(e)(5) measures will be reassessed as new SIPs are developed and revised. 2009 

State Strategy Update, p. 20. 

d. CAA Section 182(e)(5) New or 

Improved Technologies Provisions 

For ozone nonattainment areas 

classified as extreme, the CAA 

recognizes that an attainment 

demonstration may need to rely to a 

certain extent on new or evolving 

technologies, given the relatively long 

time between developing the initial plan 

and attaining the standard and the 

degree of emissions reductions needed 

to attain. To address these needs, CAA 

section 182(e)(5) authorizes EPA to 

approve provisions in an extreme area 

plan which ‘‘anticipate development of 

new control techniques or improvement 

of existing control technologies,’’ and to 

approve an attainment demonstration 

based on such provisions, if the State 

demonstrates that: (1) Such provisions 

are not necessary to achieve the 

incremental emission reductions 

required during the first 10 years after 

November 15, 1990;24 and (2) the State 

has submitted enforceable commitments 

to develop and adopt contingency 

measures to be implemented if the 

anticipated technologies do not achieve 

the planned reductions. CAA 182(e)(5). 

The State must submit these 

contingency measures to EPA no later 

than 3 years before proposed 

implementation of these long-term 

measures, and the contingency 

measures must be ‘‘adequate to produce 

emissions reductions sufficient, in 

conjunction with other approved plan 

provisions, to achieve the periodic 

emissions reductions required by [CAA 

sections 182(b)(1) or (c)(2)] and 

attainment by the applicable dates.’’ Id. 

The General Preamble further 

provides that the new technology 

measures contemplated by section 

182(e)(5) may include those that 

anticipate future technological 

developments as well as those that 

require complex analyses, decision 

making and coordination among a 

number of government agencies. See 

General Preamble at 13524. An 

attainment demonstration that relies on 

long-term new technology measures 

under section 182(e)(5) must identify 

any such measures and contain a 

schedule outlining the steps leading to 

final development and adoption of the 

measures. Id. 

CARB and the SCAQMD have 

demonstrated a clear need for emissions 

reductions from new and improved 

control technologies to reduce air 


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pollution in the South Coast. The 

adopted control measures and 

enforceable commitments, discussed 

above, provide the majority, but not all, 

of the balance of the emissions 

reductions needed to attain by June 15, 

2024. See 2007 State Strategy, p. 54. The 

State Strategy and South Coast AQMP 

rely on commitments to achieve 

additional reductions of 241 tpd NOX

and 40 tpd VOC by 2023 from new and 

improved technologies consistent with 

the requirements of section 182(e)(5). 

See 2009 State Strategy Status Report, p. 

20. The new technology provisions (also 

called ‘‘long-term measures’’) described 

in the revised 2007 State Strategy and 

South Coast 8-Hour Ozone SIP are not 

relied on to demonstrate RFP; they are 

relied on solely for attainment by June 

15, 2024. They are accompanied by an 

enforceable commitment by the State to 

adopt and submit contingency measures 

no later than 3 years before 

implementation, as required by CAA 

section 182(e)(5). We provide our 

analysis of these new technology 

provisions below. 

CARB and the California districts 

have a longstanding history of 

successfully adopting and implementing 

technology-advancing regulations and 

innovative control measures. They have 

worked closely with research scientists 

and the regulated industry to develop 

regulations that are stringent enough to 

compel technology development, yet 

flexible enough to encourage industry 

innovations. CARB has provided a list 

of potential long-term control measures 

which include increased durability of 

emission control equipment in 

passenger vehicles, tighter engine 

emission standards, cleaner ground 

support equipment at airports, and 

prioritizing Federal transportation 

funding to support air quality goals. See 

pp. 56–57 of the 2007 State Strategy. 

The SCAQMD has also provided a list 

of potential advanced control 

technologies and innovative approaches 

that could achieve the long-term 

reductions (See South Coast 2007 

AQMP, pp. 4–54 to 4–71). SCAQMD 

also has an active Technology 

Advancement Office. The South Coast 

technology advancement efforts include, 

though are not limited to: Heavy-Duty 

Class 8 Electric Trucks, Vehicle 

Maintenance, Commercial Green 

Cleaners, Fireplace Gas Log Buy-down, 

Residential Yard Equipment and 

Commercial Leaf Blower Exchange, 

Boiler and Process Heater Efficiency 

Upgrades, Architectural Coating 

Rebates, and zero-emission electric 

delivery trucks. 

CARB has also provided updates to its 

list of potential long-term measures in 

both the 2009 State Strategy update and 

the 2011 ozone SIP revision. The 

SCAQMD has also provided a more 

specific list of potential technologies, 

which may be used to fulfill the new 

technology commitments. SCAQMD’s 

list of potential projects includes (but is 

not limited to) extensive retirement of 

high-emitting light duty vehicles, 

accelerated penetration of zero-emitting 

vehicles, retrofit and I/M for heavy duty 

vehicles, more stringent fuel 

specifications and use of diesel 

alternatives, more stringent marine 

vessel standards and programs, 

advanced and zero-emitting 

technologies for locomotives/cargo 

transportation, accelerated replacement 

of pleasure craft, more stringent aircraft 

standards, and ultra-low VOC 

formulations for consumer products. 

See South Coast AQMP, Table 4–9, p. 4– 

56. See 2009 State Strategy Status 

Report, pp. 25–27 and 2011 Ozone SIP 

Revision, Appendix A, pp. A–8 to A–12. 

To implement the long-term strategy, 

CARB has committed to a process that 

will help ensure that the long-term 

measures are adopted and that 

reductions are achieved by the 

beginning of the last full ozone season 

before the attainment date. CARB is 

coordinating a government, private and 

public effort to establish emission goals 

for critical mobile and stationary 

emission source categories. The effort 

includes periodic assessment of 

technology advancement opportunities 

and updates to the Board and the public 

regarding new emission control 

opportunities and progress in achieving 

the long-term measure reductions. 

CARB’s commitment for implementing 

the long-term strategy also includes (a) 

sharing results through periodic 

briefings to the Board, workshops, 

conferences, symposia, Web site 

postings and other means, (b) working 

to secure resources for continuing 

research and development of new 

technologies, and (c) developing 

schedules for moving from research to 

implementation. Id. 

An initial step in the long-term 

strategy was the signing of a 

Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) 

between the U.S. EPA, CARB and the 

South Coast and San Joaquin Valley Air 

Districts to commit to developing and 

testing new sustainable technologies to 

accelerate progress in meeting air 

quality goals. The goal of the MOA is to 

help align agency research resources to 

evaluate innovative technologies and 

assess new monitoring equipment to 

better measure mobile and stationary 

source emissions. The MOA agencies 

have also established a Clean Air 

Technology Working Group to help 

bring together the necessary participants 

(e.g., scientists, engineers, analysts and 

agency specialists) to achieve the goals 

of the MOA. 2009 State Strategy Status 

Report, pp. 25–27. For the South Coast, 

the focus has been on demonstrating 

new technologies for goods movement 

activities at a large intermodal rail yard 

in the City of San Bernardino, and on 

the more than 1,000 stationary and area 

emission sources in the South Coast 

(e.g., auto repair shops, transportation 

facilities, concrete and aggregate 

operations, military installations, 

printing and coating operations, and 

manufacturing facilities). See 2011 

Ozone SIP Revision, p. A–9. 

Other State programs that may 

achieve emissions reductions to help 

meet CARB’s 182(e)(5) commitment 

include: potential co-benefits from 

California’s climate change programs 

where State legislation (Assembly Bill 

32—Global Warming Solutions Act of 

2006 (AB 32)) aims to reduce 

Greenhouse Gas (GHG) in 2020 to 1990 

levels or by about 30%; California’s Air 

Quality Improvement Program (AQIP), 

an incentive program that supports the 

deployment of hybrid and zero-emission 

vehicles and other advanced 

technologies today in order to achieve 

the large-scale reductions needed in the 

future; and California’s annual research 

program, which identifies projects and 

provides funding to help provide timely 

scientific and technical information 

needed for air quality control programs. 

In addition, the South Coast AQMD has 

identified a clean energy strategy that 

focuses agencies and business leaders 

on using the cleanest technologies, 

making efficient land-use decisions, 

cleaner energy generation (solar and fuel 

cells), modernizing old inefficient 

power plants and improving building 

energy use. See 2011 Ozone SIP 

Revision, pp. A–10 to A–12. 

In addition to its commitment to the 

process discussed above, CARB has 

committed to submit an 8-hour ozone 

SIP revision by 2020 that will: (1) 

Reflect modifications to the 2023 

emission reduction target based on 

updated science and (2) identify 

additional strategies and implementing 

agencies needed to achieve the needed 

reductions by the beginning of the 2023 

ozone season. See 2011 Ozone SIP 

Revision, p. A–8. 

CARB’s 2011 Ozone SIP Revision 

updates and reaffirms both the ‘‘longterm strategy commitment to identify 

and implement advanced technologies 

to reduce ozone-forming emissions in 

the State Strategy’’ and the State’s 

enforceable commitment ‘‘to develop, 

adopt, and submit contingency 

measures by 2020 if advanced 


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25See letter, James Goldstene, Executive Officer, 

CARB, to Jared Blumenfeld, Regional 

Administrator, EPA Region 9, dated August 29, 

2011. 

26EPA’s regulation at 40 CFR 51.903(a) translates 

the maximum attainment periods in Table 1 of 

section 181, which are specifically linked to 

enactment of the 1990 CAA Amendments, for 

purposes of attaining the 1997 8-hour ozone 

NAAQS. 

technology measures do not achieve 

planned reductions.’’ See CARB 

Resolution 11–22, July 21, 2011. Finally, 

CARB has committed to meet annually 

with EPA to discuss strategies to 

maximize the clean air benefits of 

emerging advanced technologies and to 

provide annual summaries of strategies 

and activities.25

The long-term strategy commitment 

for the South Coast 8-Hour Ozone SIP 

satisfies the two criteria in CAA section 

182(e)(5)(A) and (B) as follows. First, as 

mentioned above, the South Coast 8- 

Hour Ozone SIP does not rely on any of 

these new technology reductions to 

demonstrate RFP in any milestone year 

between 2008 and 2020. CARB has 

committed to achieve 241 tpd of NOX

and 40 tpd of VOC reductions through 

new technology measures approved 

under section 182(e)(5) only in the 

attainment year (2023). We note that the 

amount and relative proportion of 

reductions from measures scheduled for 

long-term adoption under section 

182(e)(5), as compared to measures 

already adopted in regulatory form or 

scheduled for near-term adoption, 

should clearly decrease in any future 

SIP update, and that EPA will not 

approve a SIP revision that contains an 

increase in the amount or relative 

proportion of section 182(e)(5) new 

technology measures without a 

convincing showing in a SIP revision 

that the technologies relied upon in the 

near-term rules have been found to be 

technologically infeasible or ineffective 

in achieving emissions reductions in the 

near term. 

Second, CARB has submitted an 

enforceable commitment to submit 

adopted contingency measures to EPA 

by 2020 as required by CAA section 

182(e)(5). See CARB Resolution 11–22, 

July 21, 2011. These contingency 

measures must be adequate to produce 

emissions reductions sufficient, in 

conjunction with other approved plan 

provisions, to achieve the periodic 

emissions reductions required by CAA 

sections 182(b)(1) or (c)(2) and 

attainment by the applicable dates. See 

CAA 182(e)(5). EPA will approve or 

disapprove these contingency measures 

in accordance with CAA section 110. 

Based on the above discussion and 

evaluations, we propose to determine 

that the long-term strategy for the South 

Coast 8-Hour Ozone SIP satisfies the 

requirements of CAA 182(e)(5). 

3. Proposed Actions on RACM 

Demonstration and Control Strategy 

As described above, the District 

evaluated a range of potentially 

available measures for inclusion in its 

2007 Ozone Plan and committed to 

adopt those it found to be reasonably 

available for implementation in the 

South Coast nonattainment area. The 

process and the criteria the District used 

to select certain measures and reject 

others were consistent with EPA’s 

RACM guidance. The evaluation 

processes undertaken by SCAG and the 

State were also consistent with EPA’s 

RACM guidance. See e.g., General 

Preamble at 13560 and Seitz memo. 

Based on our review of these RACM 

analyses and the District’s and 

California’s adopted rules, as well as 

their commitments to adopt and 

implement additional control measures, 

we propose to find that there are, at this 

time, no additional reasonably available 

control measures (including reasonably 

available control technology) that would 

advance attainment of the 1997 8-hour 

ozone standard in the South Coast. 

Therefore, we propose to find that the 

South Coast 2007 AQMP, together with 

the 2007 State Strategy, provide for the 

implementation of all RACM as required 

by CAA section 172(c)(1). 

We propose to approve the 

SCAQMD’s commitments to achieve 

specific aggregate reductions of NOX

and VOC emissions by specific years as 

given in Table 4–2A of the 2007 AQMP, 

as revised by Tables 2 and 3 of the 2007 

Progress Report, Appendix F, and as 

shown in Table 2 above. 

We propose to approve CARB’s 

commitments to propose certain defined 

measures, as given in Table B–1 in 

Appendix B of the 2011 Progress Report, 

and Appendix B, Table B–1 in the 2011 

Ozone SIP Revision. We also propose to 

approve CARB’s commitment to achieve 

the total aggregate emissions reductions 

necessary to demonstrate RFP and to 

attain the 1997 8-hour ozone standard in 

the South Coast nonattainment area, as 

given in 2009 State Strategy Status 

Report, p. 20 and CARB Resolution 07– 

28, Attachment B, p. 4, and shown in 

Table 6 above. See CARB Resolution 

07–28 (September 27, 2007), Appendix 

B, p. 4. 

Finally, we are proposing to approve 

CARB’s and the District’s long-term 

strategy commitments in the South 

Coast 2007 8-Hour Ozone Plan under 

the new technology provisions of CAA 

section 182(e)(5). This proposal is based 

on our proposed findings that these 

commitments satisfy the two criteria in 

CAA section 182(e)(5)(A) and (B). First, 

the South Coast 2007 8-Hour Ozone 

Plan does not rely on any of these new 

technology reductions to demonstrate 

RFP in any milestone year between 2008 

and 2020. CARB has committed to 

achieve 241 tpd of NOX and 40 tpd of 

VOC reductions through new 

technology measures approved under 

section 182(e)(5) only in the attainment 

year (2023). We note that the amount 

and relative proportion of reductions 

from measures scheduled for long-term 

adoption under 182(e)(5), as compared 

to measures already adopted in 

regulatory form or scheduled for nearterm adoption, should clearly decrease 

in any future SIP update, and that EPA 

will not approve a SIP revision that 

contains an increase in the amount or 

relative proportion of 182(e)(5) new 

technology measures without a 

convincing showing in a SIP revision 

that the technologies relied upon in the 

near-term rules have been found to be 

technologically infeasible or ineffective 

in achieving emissions reductions in the 

near-term. 

Second, CARB has submitted an 

enforceable commitment to submit 

adopted contingency measures to EPA 

by 2020 as required by CAA 182(e)(5). 

See CARB Resolution 11–22, July 21, 

2011. These contingency measures must 

be adequate to produce emissions 

reductions sufficient, in conjunction 

with other approved plan provisions, to 

achieve the periodic emissions 

reductions required by CAA section 

182(b)(1) or (c)(2) and attainment by the 

applicable attainment date. See CAA 

182(e)(5). Following the State’s 

submittal of these contingency 

measures, EPA will approve or 

disapprove the provisions in accordance 

with CAA section 110. 

C. Attainment Demonstration 

1. Requirements for Attainment 

Demonstrations 

CAA section 182(c)(2)(A) requires 

states with ozone nonattainment areas 

classified as serious or above to submit 

plans that demonstrate attainment of the 

applicable ambient air quality standard 

as expeditiously as practicable but no 

later than the outside date established in 

the CAA.26 The attainment 

demonstration is due within three years 

of the area’s designation as 

nonattainment (40 CFR 51.908), and 

should include: 

(1) Technical analyses that locate and 

identify sources of emissions that are 


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27Carter, W.P.L., May 8, 2000a. Documentation of 

the SAPRC–99 chemical mechanism for VOC 

reactivity assessment. Report to the California Air 

Resources Board, Contracts 92–329 and 95–308. 

28Future year controlled emissions were 

estimated from the baseline emissions using the 

CEPA control factors for the simulations, are given 

in Table V–4–4 of the 2007 South Coast AQMP, 

Appendix V. 

contributing to violations of the 8-hour 

ozone NAAQS within the 

nonattainment area; 

(2) adopted measures with schedules 

for implementation and other means 

and techniques necessary and 

appropriate for attainment; and 

(3) contingency measures required 

under section 172(c)(9) of the CAA. 

See 70 FR 71612 at 71624. 

The requirements for the first two 

items are described in the sections on 

emissions inventories and RACM above 

(sections IV.A. and IV.C.) and in the 

sections on air quality modeling and 

attainment demonstration that follow 

immediately below. Requirements for 

the third item are described in the 

sections on the control strategy and the 

contingency measures (sections V.B. 

and V.F.), respectively. 

2. Air Quality Modeling in the South 

Coast 2007 AQMP 

Below, we discuss the applicable 

statutory and regulatory requirements 

for modeled attainment demonstrations 

and EPA guidance on air quality 

modeling for the 1997 8-hour ozone 

standard, the air quality modeling 

analysis supporting the attainment 

demonstration in the State’s submittal, 

and our evaluation of these modeling 

analyses as part of the attainment 

demonstration SIP. 

a. CAA and Regulatory Requirements for 

8-Hour Ozone Air Quality Modeling and 

EPA Guidance 

For any ozone nonattainment area 

classified as serious or above, section 

182(c)(2)(A) of the CAA specifically 

requires the State to submit a modeled 

attainment demonstration based on a 

photochemical grid modeling evaluation 

or any other analytical method 

determined by the Administrator to be 

at least as effective as photochemical 

modeling. EPA’s ozone implementation 

rule in 40 CFR section 51.908 also 

specifies this requirement and in 

addition requires that each attainment 

demonstration meet the requirements of 

section 51.112, including Appendix W 

to 40 CFR part 51, as interpreted in EPA 

guidance. See, e.g., ‘‘Guidance on the 

Use of Models and Other Analyses for 

Air Quality Goals in Attainment 

Demonstrations for Ozone, PM2.5, and 

Regional Haze,’’ April 2007 (hereafter 

referred to as ‘‘EPA’s 2007 attainment 

demonstration guidance documents’’). 

These guidance documents describe the 

criteria that an air quality model and its 

application should meet to qualify for 

use in an 8-hour ozone attainment 

demonstration. For more detail on 

EPA’s evaluation of the modeling in the 

South Coast 8-hour ozone attainment 

demonstration, see the ‘‘Modeling and 

Other Analyses Attainment 

Demonstration’’ (section II.B.) of the 

TSD for today’s proposal. The modeling 

section of the TSD also includes a 

complete list of applicable modeling 

guidance documents. These documents 

describe the components of the 

attainment demonstration, explain how 

the modeling and other analyses should 

be conducted, and provide overall 

guidance on the technical analyses for 

attainment demonstrations. 

As with any predictive tool, inherent 

uncertainties are associated with 

photochemical grid modeling. EPA’s 

guidance recognizes these limitations 

and provides recommended approaches 

for considering other analytical 

evidence to help assess whether 

attainment of the NAAQS is likely. This 

process is called a weight of evidence 

(WOE) analysis. 

EPA’s modeling guidance (updated in 

1996, 1999, and 2002) discusses various 

WOE analyses. EPA’s modeling 

guidance was updated in 2005 and 2007 

for the 1997 8-hour attainment 

demonstration procedures to include a 

WOE analysis as an integral part of any 

attainment demonstration. This 

guidance strongly recommends that all 

attainment demonstrations include 

supplemental analyses beyond the 

recommended modeling. These 

supplemental analyses would provide 

additional information such as data 

analyses, and emissions and air quality 

trends, which would help strengthen 

the conclusion based on the 

photochemical grid modeling. A WOE 

analysis is specifically recommended 

for inclusion in any attainment 

demonstration SIP where the modeling 

results predict Future Design Values 

(FDVs) ranging from 82 to less than 88 

ppb (see EPA’s 2007 attainment 

demonstration guidance documents). 

b. 8-Hour Attainment Demonstration 

Modeling and Weight of Evidence in the 

South Coast 2007 AQMP 

i. Photochemical Grid Modeling 

Attainment Demonstration Results 

a. Photochemical Grid Model. The 

model selected for the Final 2007 

AQMP attainment demonstrations is the 

Comprehensive Air Quality Model with 

Extensions (CAMx), version 4.4 

(Environ, 2006), using Statewide Air 

Pollution Research Center-99 (SAPRC– 

99) gas phase mechanisms (Carter, 

2000).27 The modeling system 

(including the photochemical model, 

meteorological inputs, and chemical 

mechanism) is consistent with the 

previous advice of outside peer 

reviewers. CAMx is a state-of-the-art air 

quality model that can simulate ozone 

and PM2.5 concentrations together in a 

‘‘one-atmosphere’’ approach for 

attainment demonstrations. CAMx is 

designed to integrate the output from 

both prognostic and diagnostic 

meteorological models. 

b. Episode Selection. Six 

meteorological episodes from three 

years are used as the basis for the plan. 

The 2003 AQMP benefited from the 

intensive monitoring conducted under 

the 1997 Southern California Ozone 

Study (SCOS 1997) where the August 4– 

7, 1997 episode was the cornerstone of 

the modeling analysis. One of the 

primary modeling episodes that was 

used in the 2003 AQMP, August 5–6, 

1997, was also selected for this plan. In 

addition, five episodes that occurred 

during the Multiple Air Toxics 

Exposure Study III (MATES–III) 

sampling program in 2004 (August 7–8) 

and 2005 (May 21–22, July 15–19, 

August 4–6, and August 27–28) were 

selected. 

c. Model Performance. Model 

performance was evaluated in three 

zones in the South Coast Basin: the San 

Fernando Valley; the eastern San 

Gabriel, Riverside and San Bernardino 

Valleys; and Los Angeles and Orange 

County. Normalized Gross Bias, 

Normalized Gross Error, and Peak 

Prediction Accuracy were determined 

for each area. Although not a 

requirement for determining acceptable 

model performance, the performance 

statistics were compared to the EPA 

performance goals presented in 

guidance documents. The performance 

goals for Normalized Gross Error and 

Peak Prediction Accuracy were met in 

the eastern San Gabriel, Riverside and 

San Bernardino Valleys. In general, the 

statistic for bias (Normalized Gross Bias) 

tends to be negative, indicating that the 

model tends to slightly under-predict 

ozone. Based on their analysis, South 

Coast concludes and EPA agrees that 

model performance is acceptable for this 

application. 

ii. Modeling Approaches for the 

SCAQMD Attainment Demonstration 

CAMx simulations were conducted 

for the base year 2002, and future-year 

2023 baseline and controlled 

emissions.28


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The ozone attainment demonstration 

relies on the use of site-specific relative 

response factors (RRFs) being applied to 

the 2002 weighted design values. The 

RRFs are determined from the future 

year controlled and the 2002 base year 

simulations. The initial screening for 

station days to be included in the 

attainment demonstration included the 

following criteria: (1) Having an 

observed concentration equaling or 

exceeding 85 ppb, and (2) a simulation 

predicted base year (1997, 2004 or 2005) 

concentration over 60 ppb. Additional 

criteria were added to the selection 

process as the simulations were 

evaluated. A minimum of five episode 

days are recommended to determine the 

site specific RRF. The selection criteria 

for the episode days and the process of 

applying the RRFs to the CAMx 

modeling are discussed in more detail 

in the TSD for today’s action. 

iii. Results of SCAQMD Modeling 

The results of the attainment 

demonstration for 2023 indicate that the 

Federal 1997 8-hour ozone standard 

would be attained by June 15, 2024 at 

all monitors with the 2023 controlled 

emissions inventory. The attainment 

targets (420 tpd VOC and 114 tpd NOX) 

are based on both short-term and longterm control measures. With controls in 

place, it is expected that all stations in 

the South Coast ozone nonattainment 

area will meet the Federal 1997 8-hour 

ozone standard in calendar year 2023 

(i.e., by June 15, 2024). The east Basin 

stations of Crestline and Fontana are 

projected to have the highest 8-hour 

ozone design values of 83 ppb and 81 

ppb respectively. Both sites are 

downwind receptors along the primary 

wind transport route that moves 

precursor emissions and developing 

ozone eastward by the daily sea breeze. 

Future year projections of ozone along 

the northerly transport route through 

the San Fernando Valley indicate that 

the ozone design value in the Santa 

Clarita Valley will be 74 ppb, which is 

approximately 13 percent below the 

standard, in 2023. 

In addition to the monitor-based 

attainment test, the AQMP includes an 

unmonitored area analysis. This review 

is intended to ensure that a control 

strategy leads to reductions in ozone at 

other locations which could have 

baseline (and future) design values 

exceeding the NAAQS were a monitor 

deployed there. The unmonitored area 

analysis indicates projected 2024 

controlled 8-hour ozone design 

concentrations at or below 84 ppb for all 

grid cells in the South Coast Air Basin. 

c. EPA’s Evaluation and Proposed 

Conclusion on the Modeling 

Demonstration 

Our evaluation of the air quality 

modeling analyses and supporting 

information provided in the South Coast 

2007 Ozone SIP indicate that the South 

Coast area will attain the 1997 8-hour 

ozone standard by its attainment date of 

June 15, 2024. In addition to the 

attainment demonstration provided in 

the South Coast 2007 Ozone SIP, we 

have considered supplemental technical 

information, including ambient air 

quality monitoring data, which was not 

available at the time the attainment 

modeling was performed by SCAQMD. 

This information is discussed in more 

detail in the TSD. The modeling shows 

significant reductions in ozone from the 

base period. The modeling predicts 

values of 83 ppb or below at all of the 

twenty ozone monitoring stations. The 

most recent ambient air quality data that 

we have reviewed indicate that the area 

is on track to attain the 1997 8-hour 

ozone standard by 2024. The peak ozone 

design values have dropped from 128 

ppb in 2000–2002 to 112 ppb in 2008– 

2010. 

Based on the analysis above and in 

the TSD, EPA proposes to find that the 

air quality modeling provides an 

adequate basis for the RACM, RFP and 

attainment demonstrations in the South 

Coast 2007 8-Hour Ozone Plan. 

3. Enforceable Commitments in the 

Attainment Demonstration 

Table 8 below summarizes the 

measures that are relied upon in the 

South Coast 2007 AQMP’s 8-hour ozone 

attainment demonstration to achieve the 

carrying capacities shown in Table 7. 

This attainment demonstration was 

updated by the 2011 Ozone SIP revision 

to reflect adjustments to future year 

baseline inventories and adopted 

controls. 

TABLE 7—EMISSIONS CARRYING CA

PACITY ESTIMATES FOR THE SOUTH

COAST NONATTAINMENT AREA FOR

8-HOUR OZONE ATTAINMENT

[Tons/day, based on summer planning 

inventory] 

NOX VOC 

114 420 

Source: South Coast 2007 AQMP, Table 5– 

6, page 5–21. 

As shown in Table 8, the majority of 

emissions reductions the State projects 

are needed for attaining the 8-hour 

ozone standard in the South Coast 

nonattainment area by 2024 come from 

baseline measures. These baseline 

measures include numerous adopted 

District and State measures that 

generally have been approved by EPA 

either through the SIP process or the 

CAA section 209 waiver process. See 

Appendices A and B of the TSD for a 

list of these measures. We have also 

accounted for ARB’s improvements to 

the emissions inventories, discussed 

above in section IV.A, in the attainment 

year baseline emissions level (see Table 

8, row D). The remaining reductions 

needed for attainment are to be achieved 

through the District’s and CARB’s 

enforceable commitments to achieve 

aggregate emission reductions in the 

South Coast either through defined 

control measures or through their 

commitments to develop new or 

improved technologies under CAA 

section 182(e)(5). Since the submittal of 

the South Coast 2007 AQMP and 2007 

State Strategy, the District and CARB 

have adopted numerous control 

measures that have significantly 

reduced the amount of emissions 

reductions that still need to be achieved 

through these commitments. See Table 

9. 

TABLE 8—SUMMARY OF SOUTH COAST’S 8-HOUR OZONE ATTAINMENT DEMONSTRATION

[Tons per summer planning day] 

NOX VOC 

A .................. Revised 2002 baseline emissions level ........................................................................ 1024 ....................... 881 

B .................. Attainment target level .................................................................................................. 114 ......................... 420 

C .................. Total reductions needed from 2002 baseline levels to demonstrate attainment (A–B) 910 ......................... 461 

D .................. Attainment year baseline emissions level (from 2011 Ozone SIP Revision Supplement, ‘‘new 2023 baseline’’).493 ......................... 529 

E .................. Reductions from baseline measures and improvements to the emissions inventory 

(A–D).

531 ......................... 352 


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29Based on SIP-creditable measures adopted to 

date, the South Coast 2007 Ozone Plan does not rely 

on enforceable commitments to aggregate emissions 

reductions to demonstrate RFP or to meet any other 

applicable requirement of the CAA. Therefore, we 

discuss here only those enforceable commitments 

relied on to demonstrate attainment. 

30CAA section 182(e)(5) specifically allows EPA 

to approve an attainment demonstration that relies 

on reductions from new technologies. This 

provision is separate from the requirement in CAA 

section 172(c)(6) for enforceable emissions 

limitations under which enforceable commitments 

are considered. As a result, reductions attributed in 

the attainment demonstration to new technologies 

are not considered part of the State’s enforceable 

commitments for purposes of determining the 

percentage of reductions needed for attainment that 

remain as commitments. 

TABLE 8—SUMMARY OF SOUTH COAST’S 8-HOUR OZONE ATTAINMENT DEMONSTRATION—Continued 

[Tons per summer planning day] 

NOX VOC 

F .................. Reductions needed from control strategy measures including reductions from new 

technologies (D–B).

379 ......................... 109 

Source: 2011 Ozone SIP Revision, Appendix B, and 2011 Ozone SIP Revision Supplement. 

TABLE 9—REDUCTIONS NEEDED FOR ATTAINMENT REMAINING AS COMMITMENTS BASED ON SIP–CREDITABLE MEASURES

[Tons per summer planning day in 2023] 

NOX VOC 

A Total reductions needed from baseline and control strategy measures to attain ....................... 910 461 

B Reductions from baseline measures and emissions inventory improvements ............................ 531 352 

C Total reductions from approved measures (District—Table 2 above, and CARB—Table 5 

above).

7.7 + 114.7 = 

122.4 

15.3 + 15.9 = 31.2 

D Total reductions remaining as commitments and reductions from new technology measures 

(A–B–C).

256.6 77.8 

E Reductions remaining as CARB enforceable commitments 1 ...................................................... 14.3 33.1 

F Reductions remaining as District enforceable commitments 2 ..................................................... 1.5 3.9 

G Total reductions remaining as reductions from new technologies (CAA section 182(e)(5) ........ 241 40 

H Percent of reductions needed for attainment from new control measures, not including reductions from new technologies [(E + F)/A].2% 8% 

1 Calculated by subtracting from CARB’s 2023 NOX commitment of 141 tpd and VOC commitment of 54 tpd (Table 8) the adjustments to baseline from State and Federal sources from 2011 Ozone SIP Revision Supplement, Attachment 1 (12 tpd NOX, 5 tpd VOC) and emissions reductions from currently SIP-creditable State measures from Table 5 (114.7 tpd NOX, 15.9 tpd VOC). 

2From Table 2 above in section IV.B., difference between District commitments and SIP-creditable measures. 

As shown in Table 9, reductions in 

the projected baseline inventory from 

measures already adopted by the 

District and State (both prior to and as 

part of the South Coast 2007 AQMP and 

2007 State Strategy), which EPA has 

approved/waived or proposed to 

approve, provide the great majority of 

the emissions reductions needed to 

demonstrate attainment of the 1997 8- 

hour ozone standard in the South Coast. 

The balance is in the form of either 

enforceable commitments to specific 

aggregate emissions reductions by the 

District and CARB, or emissions 

reductions from new or improved 

technologies under CAA section 

182(e)(5). In this section, we discuss the 

enforceable commitments that are a part 

of the attainment demonstration in the 

South Coast 2007 Ozone Plan.29

We believe that, with respect to the 

2007 South Coast 8-hour Ozone SIP, 

circumstances warrant the consideration 

of enforceable commitments as part of 

the attainment demonstration for the 

South Coast. As shown in Table 9 

above, a substantial portion of NOX

emissions reductions and the majority 

of the VOC reductions needed to 

demonstrate attainment in the South 

Coast come from rules and regulations 

that were adopted prior to 2007, i.e., 

from baseline measures. As a result of 

these State and District efforts, most 

sources in the South Coast 

nonattainment area are currently subject 

to stringent rules adopted and approved 

by EPA prior to the development of the 

2007 State Strategy and the South Coast 

2007 AQMP, leaving few opportunities 

(and generally more technologically and 

economically challenging ones) to 

further reduce emissions. In the South 

Coast 2007 AQMP and the 2007 State 

Strategy, the District and CARB 

identified potential control measures 

that could provide many of the 

additional emissions reductions needed 

for attainment. See 2007 Ozone Plan, 

Chapter 5 and 2007 State Strategy, 

Chapter 5. However, the timeline 

needed to develop, adopt, and 

implement these measures went beyond 

the November 2007 submittal date of the 

South Coast 8-hour Ozone SIP. These 

circumstances warrant the District’s and 

CARB’s reliance on enforceable 

commitments as part of the attainment 

demonstration in the South Coast 2007 

AQMP and 2007 State Strategy. 

Given the State’s demonstrated need 

for reliance on enforceable 

commitments, we now consider the 

three factors EPA uses to determine 

whether the use of enforceable 

commitments in lieu of adopted 

measures to meet a CAA planning 

requirements is approvable: (a) Does the 

commitment address a limited portion 

of the statutorily-required program; (b) 

is the state capable of fulfilling its 

commitment; and (c) is the commitment 

for a reasonable and appropriate period 

of time. 

a. Commitments are a Limited Portion of 

Required Reductions 

For the first factor, we look to see if 

the commitment addresses a limited 

portion of a statutory requirement, such 

as the amount of emissions reductions 

needed to demonstrate attainment in a 

nonattainment area. For this calculation, 

reductions assigned to the new 

technologies provision (CAA section 

182(e)(5) are not counted as 

commitments.30

As shown in Table 9 above, the 

remaining portions of the emission 


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reductions needed to demonstrate 

attainment of the 1997 8-hour ozone 

standard in the South Coast 

nonattainment area (i.e., of the State’s 

total enforceable commitments), after 

accounting for State and District 

measures approved/waived by EPA 

since 2007 and emissions reduction 

commitments assigned to CAA section 

182(e)(5) measures, are 15.8 tpd NOX

and 37 tpd VOC. When compared to the 

total reductions needed to demonstrate 

attainment (not including the CAA 

section 182(e)(5) reductions in the 

attainment demonstration), the 

remaining portion of the enforceable 

commitments represents approximately 

2 percent of the needed NOX reductions 

and 8 percent of the needed VOC 

reductions. Historically, EPA has 

approved SIPs with enforceable 

commitments in the range of 10 percent 

or less of the total needed reductions for 

attainment. See our approval of the SJV 

PM10 Plan at 69 FR 30005 (May 26, 

2004), the SJV 1-hour ozone plan at 75 

FR 10420 (March 8, 2010), the HoustonGalveston 1-hour ozone plan at 66 FR 

57160 (November 14, 2001), proposed 

approval of the SJV 2007 PM2.5 SIP at 76 

FR 41338 (July 13, 2011), and proposed 

approval of the South Coast PM2.5 SIP at 

76 FR 41562 (July 14, 2011). Thus, the 

State’s commitment addresses a limited 

proportion of the required emission 

reductions. 

b. The State Is Capable of Fulfilling its 

Commitment 

For the second factor, we consider 

whether the District and State are 

capable of fulfilling their commitments. 

As discussed above, CARB has 

adopted and submitted the 2009 State 

Strategy Status Report and the 2011 

Ozone SIP Revision which update and 

revise the 2007 State Strategy. These 

submittals show that CARB has made 

significant progress in meeting its 

enforceable commitments for the South 

Coast 8-hour ozone nonattainment area 

and several other nonattainment areas 

in California. The District has also made 

significant progress in meeting its 

enforceable commitments for the 

attainment year of 2023. It has adopted 

rules that are projected to achieve 

additional reductions of NOX and VOC 

in future years as shown in Table 2 

above. In addition to the rules discussed 

above, both CARB and the District have 

well-funded incentive grants programs 

to reduce emissions from the on- and 

off-road engine fleets. Reductions from 

several of these programs have yet to be 

quantified and/or credited in the 

attainment demonstration. See, for 

example, Tables 2 and 3 in Appendix F 

of the 2011 Progress Report. 

Given the State’s and District’s efforts 

to date to reduce emissions, we believe 

that the State and District are capable of 

meeting their enforceable commitments 

to adopt measures that will reduce 

emissions of NOX and VOC to the levels 

needed to attain the 1997 8-hour ozone 

standard in the South Coast 8-hour 

ozone nonattainment area by the 

attainment date, as shown in Table 9. 

c. The Commitment Is for a Reasonable 

and Appropriate Timeframe 

For the third and last factor, we 

consider whether the commitment is for 

a reasonable and appropriate period of 

time. 

In order to meet the commitments to 

adopt measures to reduce emissions to 

the levels needed to attain the 1997 8- 

hour ozone standard in the South Coast 

nonattainment area by 2023, the South 

Coast 2007 AQMP and 2007 State 

Strategy include ambitious rule 

development, adoption, and 

implementation schedules. The State 

has committed to adopt the rules 

needed to achieve the few remaining 

reductions by 2023. We believe that this 

period is appropriate given the 

technological and economic challenges 

associated with the control measures 

that will be needed to achieve these 

reductions and the State’s required 

procedures for development and 

adoption of these measures. In addition, 

these reductions are not needed to meet 

earlier RFP targets and the adoption and 

submission timeframe ensures adequate 

time for implementation by the 

beginning of the last full ozone season 

(2023) prior to the June 15, 2024 

attainment date. See Tables 2 and 4 

above. Thus, the commitment is for a 

reasonable and appropriate period of 

time. 

4. Proposed Action on Attainment 

Demonstration 

In order to approve a SIP’s attainment 

demonstration, EPA must make several 

findings. 

First, we must find that the 

demonstration’s technical bases, 

including the emissions inventories and 

air quality modeling, are adequate. As 

discussed above in section IV.A and 

IV.C.2, we are proposing to approve the 

revised base year emissions inventory, 

and to find the air quality modeling 

adequate to support the attainment 

demonstration. 

Second, we must find that the SIP 

provides for expeditious attainment 

through the implementation of all 

RACM. As discussed above in section 

IV.C., we are proposing to approve the 

RACM demonstration in the South 

Coast 2007 AQMP as meeting the 

requirements of CAA section 172(c)(1). 

Third, we must find that the 

emissions reductions that are relied on 

for attainment are creditable and are 

sufficient to provide for attainment. As 

shown in Table 9, the South Coast 2007 

AQMP relies primarily on adopted and 

approved/waived rules to achieve the 

emissions reductions needed to attain 

the 1997 8-hour ozone standards in the 

South Coast by June 15, 2024. The 

balance of the reductions projected to be 

needed for attainment is currently in the 

form of enforceable commitments to 

adopt measures to achieve aggregate 

tonnage reductions of VOC or NOX in 

the near term from available 

technologies and measures, and an 

enforceable commitment to adopt and 

submit in the longer term measures 

relying on the development and 

deployment of new technologies that 

will achieve specific aggregate tonnage 

reductions of VOC and NOX. 

EPA has previously accepted 

enforceable commitments in lieu of 

adopted control measures in attainment 

demonstrations when the circumstances 

warrant them and the commitments 

meet three criteria. As discussed above 

in section IV.C.3., we believe that 

circumstances here warrant the 

consideration of enforceable 

commitments, and that the three criteria 

are met: (1) The commitments constitute 

a limited portion of the required 

emissions reductions; (2) both the State 

and District are capable of meeting their 

commitments; and (3) the commitments 

are for an appropriate timeframe. Based 

on these evaluations, we are proposing 

to approve the enforceable 

commitments as part of the attainment 

demonstration. 

CAA section 182(e)(5) allows extreme 

ozone nonattainment area plans under 

certain conditions to include provisions 

for the development of new 

technologies in the SIP and allows EPA 

to approve attainment demonstrations 

based, in part, on those provisions. For 

the reasons discussed in section IV.B., 

we propose to find that California has 

met the conditions for relying on new 

technology provisions in its attainment 

demonstration for the South Coast 

nonattainment area. 

For the foregoing reasons, we propose 

to approve the attainment 

demonstration in the South Coast 2007 

Ozone Plan. 


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D. Reasonable Further Progress 

Demonstration 

1. Requirements for Reasonable Further 

Progress 

CAA Section 172(c)(2) requires that 

plans for nonattainment areas shall 

provide for reasonable further progress 

(RFP). RFP is defined in section 171(1) 

as ‘‘such annual incremental reductions 

in emissions of the relevant air pollutant 

as are required by [Part D—Plan 

Requirements for Nonattainment Areas] 

or may reasonably be required by the 

Administrator for the purpose of 

ensuring attainment of the applicable 

[NAAQS] by the applicable date.’’ CAA 

Section 182(b)(1) specifically requires 

that ozone nonattainment areas that are 

classified as moderate or above 

demonstrate a 15 percent reduction in 

ozone precursor emissions between the 

years of 1990 and 1996. For ozone 

nonattainment areas classified as 

serious or higher, section 182(c)(2)(B) 

also requires a 3 percent per year 

reduction of ozone precursor emissions 

until attainment, in addition to the 15 

percent reduction required under CAA 

182(b)(1). 

CAA Section 182(b)(1)(D) prohibits 

the state from including emissions 

reductions from pre-1990 Federal motor 

vehicle programs when demonstrating 

RFP. In other words, the reductions 

from these programs are not creditable 

when demonstrating RFP. 

The ozone implementation rule for 

the 1997 8-hour ozone NAAQS 

interprets the RFP requirements for the 

purposes of the 1997 8-hour ozone 

standards, establishing requirements for 

RFP that depend on the area’s 

classification as well as whether the 

area has an approved 15 percent 

reduction plan for the 1-hour ozone 

standard that covers all of the 8-hour 

ozone nonattainment area. See 40 CFR 

51.910(a) and 70 FR 71612. In 1997, 

EPA approved a 15 percent rate of 

progress (ROP) plan for the South Coast, 

which covers the entire nonattainment 

area for the 1997 8-hour ozone standard. 

See 62 FR 1150 (January 8, 1997). As a 

result, the State does not need to 

demonstrate another 15 percent 

reduction in VOC for this area. Instead, 

under the ozone implementation rule, 

the 8-hour ozone SIP for South Coast 

must provide for an average of 3 percent 

per year of VOC and/or NOX emissions 

reductions for (1) the 6-year period 

beginning January 1 of the year 

following the year used for the baseline 

and (2) all remaining 3-year periods 

after the first 6-year period out to the 

area’s attainment date. 40 CFR 

51.910(a)(1)(ii)(B). Except as specifically 

provided in CAA section 182(b)(1)(C), 

emissions reductions from all SIPapproved, federally promulgated, or 

otherwise SIP-creditable measures that 

occur after the baseline are creditable 

for purposes of demonstrating that the 

RFP targets are met. 

The RFP demonstration must 

calculate and exclude the non-creditable 

reductions described in CAA 

182(b)(1)(D). These non-creditable 

reductions include emissions reductions 

from pre-1990 Federal motor vehicle 

programs. The method for calculating 

the target emissions levels is found in 

Appendix A to the preamble of the 

ozone implementation rule. See 70 FR 

71612 at 71696. 

2. RFP Demonstration in the South 

Coast 2007 AQMP 

California has made several 

submittals to address the RFP 

requirement for the 1997 8-hour ozone 

standard in the South Coast 8-hour 

ozone nonattainment area. The original 

RFP demonstration is in Chapter 6 of 

the South Coast 2007 AQMP. The 

demonstration addresses NOX and VOC 

emissions and uses the 2002 annual 

average inventory as the baseline 

emissions inventory and 2023 as the 

attainment year. See South Coast 2007 

AQMP, Table 6–2A and 6–2B. CARB 

submitted a revised RFP demonstration 

for the South Coast 8-hour ozone 

nonattainment area on July 29, 2011 as 

part of the 2011 Ozone SIP Revision. 

The 2011 submission reflected revisions 

to several significant control measures 

since the submission of the SIP in 2007, 

as well as changes to the on-road diesel 

and off-road construction emissions 

estimates. Table 10 below summarizes 

the South Coast ozone RFP 

demonstration as revised by the 2011 

Ozone SIP Revision. 

TABLE 10—2011 REVISIONS TO THE 8-HOUR OZONE SIP REASONABLE FURTHER PROGRESS CALCULATIONS SOUTH

COAST

[Summer season, tons per day] 

2002 2008 2011 2014 2017 2020 2023 

Baseline ROG ................................................................................................ 880.5 632.0 579.9 535.2 519.8 513.9 513.4. 

CA MVCP/RVP Adjustment ........................................................................... 0.0 56.1 73.0 86.6 93.7 98.3 101.6. 

RACT Corrections .......................................................................................... 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0. 

Adjusted 2002 Baseline ROG in milestone year ........................................... 880.5 824.5 807.6 793.9 786.8 782.3 778.9. 

RFP commitment for ROG reductions from new measures ......................... 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0. 

Future Year ROG with existing and proposed measures ............................. .............. 632.0 579.9 535.2 519.8 513.9 513.4. 

Required % change since previous milestone year (ROG or NOX) compared to 2002 ............................................................................................. .............. 18% 9% 9% 9% 9% 9%. 

Required % change since 2002 (ROG or NOX) ............................................ .............. 18% 27% 36% 45% 54% 63%. 

Target ROG levels ......................................................................................... .............. 676.1 599.8 533.4 479.0 431.7 389.8. 

Apparent shortfall in ROG ............................................................................. .............. ¥44.1 ¥19.9 1.7 40.8 82.2 123.6. 

Apparent shortfall in ROG, % ........................................................................ .............. ¥5.3% ¥2.5% 0.2% 5.2% 10.5% 15.9%. 

ROG shortfall previously provided by NOX substitution, % .......................... .............. 0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.2% 5.2% 10.5%. 

Actual ROG shortfall, % ................................................................................. .............. ¥5.3% ¥2.5% 0.2% 5.0% 5.3% 5.4%. 

Baseline NOX ................................................................................................. 1024.1 728.3 591.2 532.1 478.8 428.2 378.4. 

CA MVCP Adjustment ................................................................................... 0.0 64.7 80.6 93.0 98.3 102.4 105.9. 

Adjusted 2002 Baseline NOX in milestone year ............................................ 1024.1 959.4 943.4 931.1 925.8 921.7 918.2. 

RFP commitment for NOX reductions from new measures .......................... 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0. 

Change in NOX since 2002 ........................................................................... .............. 231.1 352.3 398.9 447.0 493.5 539.7. 

Change in NOX since 2002, % ...................................................................... .............. 24.1% 37.3% 42.8% 48.3% 53.5% 58.8%. 

NOX reductions since 2002 already used for RFP substitution and contingency through last milestone year, % ........................................................ .............. 0.0% 3.0% 3.0% 3.2% 8.2% 13.5%. 

NOX reductions since 2002 available for RFP substitution and contingency 

in this milestone year, % ............................................................................ .............. 24.1% 34.3% 39.8% 45.1% 45.4% 45.3%. 

Change in NOX since 2002 used for ROG substitution in this milestone 

year, % ....................................................................................................... .............. 0.0% 0.0% 0.2% 5.0% 5.3% 5.4%. 


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31See also 60 FR 48896 (September 21, 1995), 

approval of Illinois’ vehicle miles traveled plan for 

the Chicago area; 62 FR 23410 (April 30, 1997) and 

62 FR 35100 (June 30, 1997), proposed and final 

approval of New Jersey’s 15 percent ROP plan and 

other provisions for the New York-New JerseyConnecticut ozone nonattainment area; 66 FR 23849 

(May 10, 2001), approval of New York’s attainment 

demonstration and related provisions for the New 

York-New Jersey-Connecticut ozone nonattainment 

area; 66 FR 57247 (November 14, 2001), approval 

of the VMT offset plan for the Houston-Galveston 

ozone nonattainment area; 70 FR 25688 (May 13, 

2005), approval of the Washington, DC area’s 1-hour 

attainment demonstration and related provisions; 

and 70 FR 34358 (June 14, 2005), approval of 

Atlanta’s VMT plan. 

TABLE 10—2011 REVISIONS TO THE 8-HOUR OZONE SIP REASONABLE FURTHER PROGRESS CALCULATIONS SOUTH

COAST—Continued 

[Summer season, tons per day] 

2002 2008 2011 2014 2017 2020 2023 

Change in NOX since 2002 available for contingency in this milestone 

year, % ....................................................................................................... .............. 3.0% 3.0% 3.0% 3.0% 3.0% 3.0%. 

Change in NOX since 2002 surplus after meeting substitution and contingency needs in this milestone year, % ...................................................... .............. 21.1% 34.3% 39.6% 40.1% 40.0% 39.9%. 

RFP Met? ....................................................................................................... .............. YES YES YES YES YES YES 

Source: CARB 2011 Ozone SIP Revision, Appendix A, Table A–1. 

3. Proposed Action on the RFP 

Demonstration 

CARB has correctly calculated the 

RFP target levels for the appropriate 

years following the method provided in 

the ozone implementation rule and 

preamble. See 40 CFR 51.910 and 70 FR 

71612 at 71631–71650. As shown in 

Table 10, the South Coast 2007 8-hour 

Ozone SIP provides for RFP in each 

milestone year, consistent with 

applicable CAA requirements and EPA 

guidance. We propose, therefore, to 

approve the RFP demonstration under 

sections 182(b)(1) and 182(c)(2) of the 

CAA. 

E. Transportation Control Strategies and 

Transportation Control Measures and 

Vehicle Miles Travelled Offset 

Emissions Increases From VMT 

Increases, To Provide for RFP and 

Attainment 

1. Requirements for Transportation 

Control Strategies and Transportation 

Control Measures To Offset Emissions 

Growth, To Provide for RFP and 

Attainment 

CAA section 182(d)(1)(A) requires 

that areas classified as severe or extreme 

submit transportation control strategies 

(TCSs) and transportation control 

measures (TCMs) sufficient to offset any 

growth in emissions from growth in 

VMT or the number of vehicle trips, and 

to provide (along with other measures) 

the reductions needed to meet the 

applicable RFP requirement. CAA 

section 182(d)(1)(A) also requires that 

states choose and implement such 

measures as are specified in section 

108(f), to the extent needed to 

demonstrate attainment. In selecting the 

measures, Congress directed that States 

‘‘should ensure adequate access to 

downtown, other commercial and 

residential areas, and should avoid 

measures that increase or relocate 

emissions and congestion rather than 

reduce them.’’ CAA 182(d)(1)(A). 

EPA believes that it is appropriate to 

treat the three required elements of 

section 182(d)(1)(A) (i.e., offsetting 

emissions growth, attainment of the RFP 

reduction, and attainment of the ozone 

NAAQS) as separable. As to the first 

element of CAA section 182(d)(1)(A) 

(i.e., offsetting emissions growth), EPA 

has historically interpreted this CAA 

provision to allow areas to meet the 

requirement by demonstrating that 

emissions from motor vehicles decline 

each year through the attainment year. 

General Preamble at 13521, 13522.31

2. Transportation Control Strategies and 

Transportation Control Measures To 

Offset Emissions Growth, To Provide for 

RFP and Attainment in the South Coast 

2007 Ozone SIP 

Information in Table 6–12 on page 

6–27 of the South Coast AQMP 

reproduced in Table 11 shows that onroad motor vehicle emissions of VOC 

and NOX decline steadily in the South 

Coast from 2002 to 2023. This decline 

in emissions is due to EPA’s and 

California’s on-road mobile source 

programs, California’s clean fuels and 

SmogCheck programs, and CARB’s inuse truck and bus rule. As discussed 

above in section IV.B, these programs 

are fully creditable for SIP planning 

purposes in attainment and RFP 

demonstrations, including 

demonstrating compliance with section 

182(d)(1). The on-road emissions in 

Table 11 are calculated using 

EMFAC2007 (the most recent EPAapproved mobile source emissions 

model in California) and the same 

transportation activity projections used 

to develop the RFP and attainment 

demonstrations and transportation 

conformity motor vehicle emissions 

budgets in the South Coast 2007 Ozone 

Plan. South Coast 2007 AQMP, p. 6–23 

and 6–27. 

TABLE 11—ON-ROAD MOTOR VEHICLE EMISSIONS IN THE SOUTH COAST 2002–2023 

[Summer planning inventory, tons per day] 1 2

Year 

Baseline Remaining 

VOC NOX VOC NOX

2002 ................................................................................................. 360 611 360 611 

2003 ................................................................................................. 341 595 341 595 

2004 ................................................................................................. 321 579 321 579 

2005 ................................................................................................. 302 563 302 563 

2006 ................................................................................................. 273 518 273 518 

2007 ................................................................................................. 243 472 243 472 

2008 ................................................................................................. 214 441 210 438 

2009 ................................................................................................. 199 419 195 413 


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32An area would not be eligible for a protective 

finding under the transportation conformity 

regulation if EPA finalizes a disapproval of a 

control strategy implementation plan revision (i.e., 

a plan that demonstrates reasonable further progress 

or attainment) because the plan revision does not 

contain adopted control measures or written 

commitments to enforceable control measures that 

fully satisfy the emissions reductions requirements 

relevant to the statutory provision for which the 

implementation plan revision was submitted. 40 

CFR 93.120(a)(3) 

TABLE 11—ON-ROAD MOTOR VEHICLE EMISSIONS IN THE SOUTH COAST 2002–2023—Continued 

[Summer planning inventory, tons per day] 1 2

Year 

Baseline Remaining 

VOC NOX VOC NOX

2010 ................................................................................................. 186 379 164 330 

2011 ................................................................................................. 176 355 154 291 

2012 ................................................................................................. 166 331 144 252 

2013 ................................................................................................. 157 309 135 219 

2014 ................................................................................................. 148 287 126 191 

2015 ................................................................................................. 142 269 119 174 

2016 ................................................................................................. 135 250 113 162 

2017 ................................................................................................. 129 232 109 160 

2018 ................................................................................................. 124 216 101 135 

2019 ................................................................................................. 119 200 96 120 

2020 ................................................................................................. 114 184 93 112 

2021 ................................................................................................. 110 176 91* 78 

2022 ................................................................................................. 107 169 88* 52 

2023 ................................................................................................. 103 161 86 27 

2024 ................................................................................................. 95 146 76 24 

Source: South Coast 2007 AQMP, Chapter 6, Table 6–12. 

1These values were incorrectly listed as 88 for 2021 and 85 for 2022 in the 2007 South Coast AQMP. See Letter, Elaine Chang, DrPH, Deputy Executive Officer, SCAQMD, to Wienke Tax, EPA Region 9, Air Division, dated August 12, 2011 in the docket for today’s action. 

2 ’’Baseline’’ emissions account for controls adopted prior to the 2007 AQMP. ‘‘Remaining’’ emissions include the impacts of economic growth 

and implementation of the plan’s control strategy. 

As described above in section IV.B., 

SCAG evaluated a wide variety of 

transportation control strategies and 

measures, including those measures 

listed in CAA section 108(f), and 

determined that there were no 

combinations of reasonable measures 

that would expedite attainment of the 8- 

hour ozone standard in the South Coast. 

See South Coast 2007 AQMP, Appendix 

IV–C. 

3. Evaluation and Conclusions 

Because both VOC and NOX

emissions from on-road mobile sources 

decline steadily over the entire time 

period covered by the South Coast 2007 

Ozone Plan, the SIP need not include 

additional TCSs and TCMs to offset 

growth in motor vehicle emissions from 

growth in VMT. We propose, therefore, 

to find that the South Coast 2007 8-hour 

ozone SIP, as corrected on August 12, 

2011, meets the requirement in CAA 

section 182(d)(1)(A) to include TCSs 

and TCMs sufficient to offset any 

growth in emissions from growth in 

VMT or the number of vehicle trips. 

In Association of Irritated Residents v. 

EPA, 632 F.3d 584 (9th Cir. 2011), the 

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth 

Circuit held that, with respect to the 

first element, section 182(d)(1)(A) of the 

CAA requires States to adopt 

transportation control measures and 

strategies whenever vehicle emissions 

are projected to be higher than they 

would have been had vehicle miles 

traveled not increased, even when 

aggregate vehicle emissions are actually 

decreasing. EPA has filed a petition for 

rehearing on this issue. Docket Nos. 09– 

71383 and 09–71404 (consolidated), 

Docket Entry 41–1, Petition for Panel 

Rehearing. 

The Ninth Circuit has yet to issue its 

mandate in the Association of Irritated 

Residents case, and EPA has not 

adopted the court’s interpretation for 

the reasons set forth in the Agency’s 

petition for rehearing, pending a final 

decision by the court. If the court denies 

the Agency’s petition for rehearing and 

issues its mandate before EPA issues a 

final rule on the South Coast 2007 

Ozone SIP, then we anticipate that we 

would not be able to finalize approval 

of the South Coast 2007 Ozone SIP with 

respect to the first element (i.e., 

offsetting emissions growth) of section 

182(d)(1)(A). Therefore, in today’s 

action, and in the alternative to the 

proposed approval, we are 

simultaneously proposing to disapprove 

the South Coast 2007 Ozone SIP with 

respect to the first element (i.e., 

offsetting emissions growth) of section 

182(d)(1)(A) based on the plan’s failure 

to include sufficient transportation 

control strategies and TCMs to offset the 

emissions from growth in VMT. If EPA 

were to finalize the proposed 

disapproval, the area would be eligible 

for a protective finding under the 

transportation conformity rule because 

the submitted SIP contains adopted 

control measures and enforceable 

commitments that fully satisfy the 

emissions reductions requirements for 

reasonable further progress and 

attainment.32 40 CFR 93.120(a)(3) 

As discussed above in section IV.D., 

we are proposing to find that the South 

Coast 2007 8-Hour Ozone SIP provides 

for RFP consistent with all applicable 

CAA and EPA regulatory requirements. 

Therefore, we also propose to find that 

the SIP meets requirement in CAA 

section 182(d)(1)(A) to include TCSs 

and TCMs as necessary to provide 

(along with other measures) the 

reductions needed to meet the 

applicable RFP requirement. 

Finally, as discussed in section IV.B. 

and IV.C. above, we are proposing to 

find that the South Coast 2007 8-Hour 

Ozone SIP provides for expeditious 

attainment of the 1997 8-hour ozone 

standard. Therefore, we propose to find 

that the SIP meets the requirement in 

CAA section 182(d)(1)(A) to include 

strategies and measures to the extent 

needed to demonstrate attainment. 

F. Contingency Measures 

1. Requirements for Contingency 

Measures 

Under the CAA, ozone nonattainment 

areas classified under subpart 2 as 

moderate or above must include in their 

SIPs contingency measures consistent 

with sections 172(c)(9) and 182(c)(9). 

Contingency measures are additional 


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33Memorandum, G.T. Helms, Chief, Ozone/ 

Carbon Monoxide Programs Branch to Air Directors, 

‘‘Contingency Measures for Ozone and Carbon 

Monoxide (CO) Redesignations,’’ June 1, 1992. 

measures to be implemented in the 

event the area fails to meet an RFP 

milestone or fails to attain by the 

applicable attainment date. These 

contingency measures must be fully 

adopted rules or control measures that 

are ready to be implemented quickly 

upon failure to meet the milestones or 

attainment. The SIP should contain 

trigger mechanisms for the contingency 

measures, specify a schedule for 

implementation, and indicate that the 

measure will be implemented without 

significant further action by the State or 

by EPA. See 68 FR 32802 at 32837 and 

70 FR 71612 at 71650. 

Additional guidance on the CAA 

contingency measure provisions is 

found in the General Preamble, 57 FR at 

13510–13512 and 13520. The guidance 

indicates that states should adopt and 

submit contingency measures sufficient 

to provide a 3 percent emissions 

reduction from the adjusted RFP 

baseline. EPA concludes this level of 

reductions is generally acceptable to 

offset emission increases while States 

are correcting their SIPs. These 

reductions should be beyond what is 

needed to meet the attainment and/or 

RFP requirement. States may use 

reductions of either VOC or NOX or a 

combination of both to meet the 

contingency measure requirements. 57 

FR at 13520, footnote 6. 

EPA guidance provides that 

contingency measures may be 

implemented early, i.e., prior to the 

milestone or attainment date.33

Consistent with this policy, States are 

allowed to use excess reductions from 

already adopted measures to meet the 

CAA sections 172(c)(9) and 182(c)(9) 

contingency measures requirement. This 

is because the purpose of contingency 

measures is to provide extra reductions 

that are not relied on for RFP or 

attainment, and that will provide a 

cushion while the plan is being revised 

to fully address the failure to meet the 

required milestone. Nothing in the CAA 

precludes a State from implementing 

such measures before they are triggered. 

This approach has been approved by 

EPA in numerous SIPs. See 62 FR 15844 

(April 3, 1997) (approval of the Indiana 

portion of the Chicago area 15 percent 

ROP plan); 62 FR 66279 (December 18, 

1997) (approval of the Illinois portion of 

the Chicago area 15 percent ROP plan); 

66 FR 30811 (June 8, 2001) (proposed 

approval of the Rhode Island post-1996 

ROP plan); 66 FR 586 and 66 FR 634 

(January 3, 2001) (approval of the 

Massachusetts and Connecticut 1-hour 

ozone attainment demonstrations). In 

the only adjudicated challenge to this 

approach, the court upheld it. See LEAN 

v. EPA, 382 F.3d 575 (5th Cir. 2004). 70 

FR 71612 at 71651. 

In addition, CAA section 182(e)(5) 

authorizes EPA to ‘‘approve provisions 

of an implementation plan for an 

Extreme Area which anticipate 

development of new control techniques 

or improvement of existing control 

techniques, and an attainment 

demonstration based on such 

provisions,’’ if the State meets certain 

criteria. CAA 182(e)(5). Such plan 

provisions may include enforceable 

commitments to submit, at a later date, 

contingency measures for failure to 

attain under CAA section 172(c)(9), in 

addition to the contingency measures to 

be implemented if the anticipated 

technologies approved under section 

182(e)(5) do not achieve planned 

reductions. These contingency measures 

must be submitted no later than three 

years before proposed implementation 

of the plan provisions and approved or 

disapproved by EPA in accordance with 

CAA section 110. Id. 

2. Contingency Measures in the South 

Coast 2007 AQMP 

The attainment plan for the South 

Coast nonattainment area includes 

contingency measures to be 

implemented if the area fails to attain by 

its attainment date or fails to meet RFP 

requirements. The contingency 

measures for the South Coast 

nonattainment area are described in 

Chapter 9 of the South Coast 2007 

AQMP, discussed in more detail in 

Appendix IV–A, section 2 of the AQMP, 

and also discussed in Appendix D of the 

2007 State Strategy as updated on 

February 1, 2008. The provisions were 

again updated in CARB’s 2011 Ozone 

SIP Revision, Appendix A. 

Contingency measures for failure to 

make RFP. To provide for contingency 

measures for failure to make RFP, the 

SIP relies on surplus NOX reductions in 

the RFP demonstration. See 2011 Ozone 

SIP Revision, Attachment A, p. A–1. See 

also Table 10 above. 

Contingency measures for failure to 

attain. To provide for contingency 

measures for failure to attain, the SIP 

relies on the additional incremental 

emissions reductions resulting from 

fleet turnover in calendar year 2024. 

This includes the incremental 

additional emissions reductions that 

will occur in 2024 (the year after the 

attainment year) from the continuing 

implementation of both on- and off-road 

motor vehicle controls. For the South 

Coast, these reductions are 2 tpd of NOX

and 1 tpd of VOC. See CARB 2011 

Ozone SIP Supplement, Attachment 2. 

Additionally, as discussed above in 

section IV.B., we are proposing to 

determine that CARB and the SCAQMD 

have satisfied the criteria in section 

182(e)(5) for reliance on the new 

technology provision as part of the 

attainment demonstration in the South 

Coast 8-Hour Ozone SIP. Based on the 

State’s anticipated development of these 

new technologies, CARB has submitted 

an enforceable commitment to submit, 

no later than 2020, additional 

contingency measures under CAA 

section 182(e)(5) that meet the 

requirements for attainment 

contingency measures in CAA section 

172(c)(9), in addition to contingency 

measures to be implemented if the 

anticipated long-term measures 

approved pursuant to section 182(e)(5) 

do not achieve planned reductions. 

CARB Resolution 11–22, July 2011, p. 4. 

3. Proposed Action on the Contingency 

Measures 

Contingency measures for failure to 

make RFP. As discussed above in 

section IV.D., we are proposing to 

approve the South Coast 2007 8-Hour 

Ozone SIP’s RFP demonstration. As 

seen from the RFP demonstration in 

Table 10, there are sufficient excess 

reductions of NOX in each milestone 

year beyond those needed to meet the 

next RFP percent reduction requirement 

to provide the 3 percent of adjusted 

baseline emissions reductions needed to 

meet the RFP contingency measure 

requirement for 2011, 2014, 2017, and 

2020. 

No RFP contingency measures are 

needed for 2008, since the 2011 Ozone 

SIP Revision demonstrates that South 

Coast has already met its 2008 

milestone. See Table 10 above. As a 

result, contingency measures for failure 

to meet the 2008 RFP benchmark would 

never be triggered and thus are not 

needed. 

Contingency measures for failure to 

attain. The incremental additional 

emissions reductions that will occur in 

2024 (the year after the attainment year) 

from the continuing implementation of 

both on- and off-road motor vehicle 

controls may be used to meet the 

contingency measure requirement for 

failure to attain. For the South Coast, 

these reductions are 2 tpd of NOX and 

1 tpd of VOC. See 2011 Ozone SIP 

Revision Supplement, Attachment 2. 

In addition, based on our proposal to 

determine that the State has satisfied the 

criteria in section 182(e)(5) for reliance 

on long-term measures as part of the 

attainment demonstration in the South 

Coast 8-Hour Ozone SIP, we propose to 


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34These contingency measures should, at a 

minimum, ensure that an appropriate level of 

emissions reduction progress continues to be made 

if attainment is not achieved and additional 

planning by the State is needed. See General 

Preamble at 13524. 

35See electronic mail from Douglas Ito, Chief, Air 

Quality and Transportation Planning Branch, 

CARB, to Elizabeth Adams, Deputy Director, Air 

Division, EPA Region 9, dated August 11, 2011. 

approve CARB’s enforceable 

commitment to submit no later than 

2020, additional contingency measures 

under CAA section 182(e)(5) which 

meet the requirements for attainment 

contingency measures in CAA section 

172(c)(9), in addition to contingency 

measures to be implemented if the 

anticipated long-term measures 

approved pursuant to section 182(e)(5) 

do not achieve planned reductions.34

Accordingly, we propose to approve 

the RFP and attainment contingency 

measures in the South Coast 2007 

Ozone SIP under CAA sections 172(c)(9) 

and 182(c)(9), based in part on CARB’s 

commitment to submit by 2020 

additional contingency measures 

meeting the requirements of CAA 

sections 172(c)(9) and 182(e)(5). 

Following the State’s submittal of these 

additional contingency measures, EPA 

will approve or disapprove the 

provisions in accordance with CAA 

section 110. 

G. Motor Vehicle Emissions Budgets for 

Transportation Conformity 

CAA Section 176(c) requires Federal 

actions in nonattainment and 

maintenance areas to conform to the 

SIP’s goals of eliminating or reducing 

the severity and number of violations of 

the NAAQS and achieving expeditious 

attainment of the standard. Conformity 

to the SIP’s goals means that such 

actions will not (1) cause or contribute 

to violations of a NAAQS, (2) worsen 

the severity of an existing violation, or 

(3) delay timely attainment of any 

NAAQS or any interim milestone. 

Actions that involve Federal Highway 

Administration (FHWA) or Federal 

Transit Administration (FTA) funding 

or approval are subject to EPA’s 

transportation conformity rule, which is 

codified in 40 CFR part 93, subpart A. 

Under this rule, metropolitan planning 

organizations (MPOs) in nonattainment 

and maintenance areas coordinate with 

state and local air quality and 

transportation agencies, EPA, FHWA, 

and FTA to demonstrate that an area’s 

regional transportation plans (RTP) and 

transportation improvement programs 

(TIP) conform to the applicable SIP. 

This demonstration is typically done by 

showing that estimated emissions from 

existing and planned highway and 

transit systems are less than or equal to 

the motor vehicle emissions budgets 

(budgets) contained in the SIP. An 

attainment, maintenance, or RFP SIP 

establishes budgets for the attainment 

year, each required RFP year or last year 

of the maintenance plan, as appropriate. 

Budgets are generally established for 

specific years and specific pollutants or 

precursors. 

Ozone attainment and RFP plans 

establish budgets for NOX and VOC. See 

40 CFR 93.102(b)(2)(i). 

Before an MPO may use budgets in a 

submitted SIP, EPA must first either 

determine that the budgets are adequate 

or approve the budgets. In order for us 

to find the budgets adequate and 

approvable, the submittal must meet the 

conformity adequacy requirements of 40 

CFR 93.118(e)(4) and (5) and be 

approvable under all pertinent SIP 

requirements. To meet these 

requirements, the budgets must be 

consistent with the approvable 

attainment and RFP demonstrations and 

reflect all of the motor vehicle control 

measures contained in the attainment 

and RFP demonstrations. See 40 CFR 

93.118(e)(4)(iii), (iv) and (v). 

2. Motor Vehicle Emissions Budgets in 

the South Coast 2007 8-Hour Ozone SIP 

As submitted on November 28, 2007, 

the 2007 South Coast AQMP included a 

set of ozone precursor budgets for VOC 

and NOX for RFP years 2008, 2011, 

2014, 2017 and 2020 and an attainment 

year budget for 2023. On April 30, 2008, 

CARB submitted a SIP revision that 

replaced the original set of 8-hour ozone 

budgets with two sets of replacement 

budgets. CARB labeled these sets as 

‘‘baseline’’ and ‘‘SIP-based’’ budgets 

with sets of 8-hour ozone budgets for 

RFP years 2008, 2011, 2014, 2017, 2020, 

the attainment year 2023, and analysis 

year 2030. See CARB Resolution 07–05, 

which revised the budgets in the 2007 

South Coast AQMP as adopted by the 

District, and which was included in the 

November 28, 2007 submission. 

EPA Region 9 sent a letter to the 

CARB on May 7, 2008 stating that the 

‘‘baseline’’ motor vehicle emissions 

budgets in the amended 2007 South 

Coast SIP for the reasonable further 

progress (RFP) milestone years of 2008, 

2011, 2014, 2017, and 2020 were 

adequate. We found the ‘‘SIP-based’’ 

motor vehicle emissions budgets in the 

amended 2007 South Coast SIP 

inadequate for transportation 

conformity purposes. The amended 

2007 South Coast SIP included ‘‘SIPbased’’ budgets for 2008, 2011, 2014, 

2017, 2020, and 2023. The State has 

included additional on-road mobile 

source emissions reductions in the ‘‘SIPbased’’ budgets from the 2007 State 

Strategy for the California SIP. The 

‘‘baseline’’ budgets include no such 

reductions but rather reflect emissions 

reductions from CARB rules that were 

adopted as of October 2006. EPA has 

determined that the ‘‘SIP-based’’ 

budgets are inadequate because all of 

the ‘‘SIP-based’’ budgets after 2009 

include new emission reductions that 

do not result from specific or 

enforceable control measures. Our 

notice of adequacy/inadequacy of the 

budgets was published on May 15, 2008 

at 73 FR 28110 (corrected on June 18, 

2008 at 73 FR 34837), and was effective 

on May 30, 2008. More information on 

this finding can be found in the TSD for 

today’s action. 

CARB submitted revised budgets for 

the South Coast nonattainment area and 

their documentation in Appendices A 

and C, respectively, of the 2011 Ozone 

SIP Revisions. The revised budgets are 

for NOX and VOC for the RFP years of 

2011, 2014, 2017 and 2020, and the 

attainment year of 2023. No budgets 

were included for the RFP year of 2008 

because it is no longer applicable as a 

conformity analysis year. Additional 

information associated with the motor 

vehicle emission budget calculations 

were provided in Attachment 1 of the 

CARB Ozone SIP Revision supplement 

and an electronic mail from CARB.35

3. Proposed Action on the Revised 

Budgets 

As part of its review of the budgets’ 

approvability, EPA has evaluated the 

revised budgets using our adequacy 

criteria in 40 CFR 93.318(e)(4) and (5). 

As documented in Table H–3 in the 

TSD, we found that they meet each 

adequacy criterion. We have completed 

our detailed review of the 2007 South 

Coast 8-hour Ozone SIP and 

supplemental submittals including the 

2011 Ozone SIP Revision and 2011 

Ozone SIP Supplement, and are 

proposing to approve the SIP’s 

attainment and RFP demonstrations. We 

have also reviewed the proposed 

budgets submitted with the 2011 Ozone 

SIP Revision and have found that they 

are consistent with the attainment and 

RFP demonstrations, were based on 

control measures that have already been 

adopted and implemented, and meet all 

other applicable statutory and 

regulatory requirements including the 

adequacy criteria in 40 CFR 93.118(e)(4) 

and (5). Therefore, we are proposing to 


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approve the 2011, 2014, 2017, 2020, and 

2023 budgets as shown in Table 12. 

TABLE 12—MOTOR VEHICLE EMISSIONS BUDGETS IN THE SOUTH COAST 2007 8-HOUR OZONE SIP AS REVISED ON JULY

21, 2011 

[Tons per summer day] 

2011 2014 2017 2020 2023 

VOC NOX VOC NOX VOC NOX VOC NOX VOC NOX

South Coast Air Basin ...................................... 172 328 136 277 119 224 108 185 99 140 

Source: ‘‘8-Hour Ozone State Implementation Plan Revisions and Technical Revisions to the PM2.5 State Implementation Plan Transportation 

Conformity Budgets for the South Coast and San Joaquin Valley Air Basins,’’ Appendix C, submitted July 29, 2011. 

EPA is not required under its 

transportation conformity rule to find 

budgets adequate prior to proposing 

approval of them. However, we will 

complete the adequacy review of these 

budgets either prior to or concurrently 

with our final action on South Coast 

2007 8-Hour Ozone SIP. We will also 

post the revised budgets on EPA’s 

adequacy review Web page. 

If the budgets are found adequate and/ 

or the proposed approval of the budgets 

is finalized, then these budgets will 

replace the budgets previously found 

adequate and SCAG and the U.S. 

Department of Transportation will be 

required to use the new budgets in 

transportation conformity 

determinations after the effective date of 

the approval or adequacy finding, 

whichever is earlier. For conformity 

determinations, the plan emissions 

should be used at the same level of 

accuracy as in the revised updated 

budgets from the plan (see Section H of 

the TSD for more conformity 

implementation details). 

As stated in section IV.E., if we were 

to finalize a disapproval with respect to 

the plan’s section 182(d)(1)(A) element, 

then the area would be eligible for a 

protective finding under the 

transportation conformity rule because 

the submitted SIP contains adopted 

control measures and enforceable 

commitments that fully satisfy the 

emissions reductions requirements for 

reasonable further progress and 

attainment. 40 CFR 93.120(a)(3). 

H. Other Clean Air Act Requirements 

Applicable to Extreme Ozone 

Nonattainment Areas 

In addition to the requirements 

discussed above, Title I, subpart D of the 

CAA includes other provisions 

applicable to extreme ozone 

nonattainment areas such as the South 

Coast nonattainment area. Below, we 

discuss the current status of each of 

these requirements for informational 

purposes only. 

1. Enhanced Vehicle Inspection and 

Maintenance (I/M) Requirement 

CAA section 182(c)(3) requires states 

with ozone nonattainment areas 

classified under subpart 2 as serious or 

above to implement an enhanced motor 

vehicle inspection and maintenance (I/ 

M) program in those areas. The 

requirements for those programs are 

provided in section 182(c)(3) and 40 

CFR part 51, subpart S. 

On July 1, 2010 (75 FR 38023), EPA 

approved California’s inspection and 

maintenance program in the South 

Coast as meeting the requirements of the 

CAA and applicable EPA regulations for 

enhanced I/M programs. 

2. Reformulated Gasoline Program 

As an extreme ozone nonattainment 

area for the 1-hour ozone standard, the 

South Coast was covered under the 

Federal reformulated gasoline (RFG) 

program. See CAA section 211(k)(10)(D). 

As an 8-hour ozone nonattainment area, 

the South Coast continues to be covered 

under the Federal RFG program. See 40 

CFR 80.70(m)(1)(i) and 70 FR 71685. 

California has its own RFG program 

(California Phase III RFG (CaRFG3)), 

which also applies in the South Coast 

nonattainment area. EPA approved 

CaRFG3 program into the California SIP 

on May 12, 2010. See 75 FR 26633. 

3. New Source Review 

CAA section 182(a)(2)(C) requires 

states to develop SIP revisions 

containing permit programs for each of 

its ozone nonattainment areas. The SIP 

revisions are to include requirements for 

permits in accordance with CAA 

172(c)(5) and 173 for the construction 

and operation of each new or modified 

major stationary source (with respect to 

ozone) anywhere in the nonattainment 

area. See also CAA section 182(e). EPA’s 

implementing regulations for 

nonattainment new source review (NSR) 

programs are in 40 CFR 51.165, and 

guidance specific to ozone 

nonattainment areas was provided in 

the preamble to the 8-hour ozone 

implementation rule, 70 FR 71612 at 

71671–71684. 

On December 4, 1996 (61 FR 64291), 

EPA approved SCAQMD’s NSR rules 

(the District’s Regulation XIII) for the 

South Coast air basin as satisfying the 

NSR requirements in title I, part D of the 

CAA for ‘‘extreme’’ ozone 

nonattainment areas. See also 64 FR 

13514 (March 19, 1999) and 71 FR 

35157 (June 19, 2006). 

4. Clean-fuel Vehicle Program 

CAA sections 182(c)(4)(A) and 246 

require states to submit a SIP revision 

for EPA approval that includes 

measures to implement the Clean-Fuel 

Vehicle Program in serious and above 

ozone nonattainment areas. Section 

182(c)(4)(B) of the Act allows states to 

‘‘opt-out’’ of the clean-fuel vehicle fleet 

program by submitting for EPA approval 

a SIP revision consisting of a program or 

programs that will result in at least 

equivalent long term reductions in 

ozone-producing and toxic air 

emissions. 

In 1994, CARB submitted a SIP 

revision to opt-out of the Federal clean 

fuel fleet program demonstrating that its 

low-emission vehicle (LEV) program 

achieved emission reductions at least as 

large as the Federal program would. We 

approved the substitution of the LEV 

program for a Clean Fuel Fleet program 

into the California SIP on August 27, 

1999. See 64 FR 46849. 

5. Gasoline Vapor Recovery 

CAA section 182(b)(3) mandates that 

States submit a revised SIP by 

November 15, 1992 that requires owners 

or operators of gasoline dispensing 

systems to install and operate gasoline 

vehicle refueling vapor recovery (‘‘Stage 

II’’) systems in ozone nonattainment 

areas classified as moderate and above. 

See General Preamble at 13514. 

California’s ozone nonattainment areas 

had implemented Stage II vapor 

recovery well before the passage of the 

CAA Amendments of 1990. 


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36Starting in 2007, EPA’s monitoring rules (see 71 

FR 61236), October 17, 2006) required the submittal 

and EPA action on annual monitoring network 

plans. 

37SCAQMD’s 2010 monitoring network plan can 

be found in the docket for today’s action. 

38See SCAMQD’s 2010 monitoring network plan 

and letter, Matthew Lakin, Chief, Air Quality 

Analysis Office, EPA Region 9, to Dr. Chung Liu, 

Deputy Executive Officer, SCAQMD, dated 

November 1, 2010, approving the 2009 South Coast 

Air Quality Monitoring Network Plan. 

39Section 171(3) of the CAA defines LAER, in 

relevant part, as ‘‘that rate of emissions which 

reflects—(A) the most stringent emission limitation 

which is contained in the implementation plan of 

any State for such class or category of source, unless 

the owner or operator of the proposed source 

demonstrates that such limitations are not 

achievable, or (B) the most stringent emission 

limitation which is achieved in practice by such 

class or category of source, whichever is more 

stringent.’’ 

Under California State law (Health 

and Safety Code Section 41954), CARB 

is required to adopt procedures and 

performance standards for controlling 

gasoline emissions from gasoline 

marketing operations, including transfer 

and storage operations. State law also 

authorizes CARB, in cooperation with 

districts, to certify vapor recovery 

systems, to identify defective 

equipment, and to develop test 

methods. CARB has adopted numerous 

revisions to its vapor recovery program 

regulations. See Table A–7 in Appendix 

A to the TSD for today’s action. See also 

CARB’s Web site, http:// 

www.evrhome.org. 

In the South Coast, the installation 

and operation of ARB-certified vapor 

recovery equipment is required and 

enforced by SCAQMD Rules 461 and 

462, the latest versions of which were 

approved into the SIP on April 11, 2006 

and July 21, 1999, respectively. See 71 

FR 18216 (April 11, 2006) and 64 FR 

39037 (July 21, 2006). 

6. Enhanced [Ambient Air Quality] 

Monitoring 

CAA Section 182(c)(1) requires that 

all ozone nonattainment areas classified 

as serious or above implement measures 

to enhance and improve monitoring for 

ambient concentrations of ozone, NOX, 

and VOCs, and to improve monitoring 

of emissions of NOX and VOCs. 

The South Coast Photochemical 

Assessment Monitoring Station (PAMS) 

network was initiated in 1994 at two 

monitoring sites in the Basin and 

subsequently expanded through 2001. 

The SCAQMD’s Annual Air Quality 

Monitoring Network Plan (July 2010) 

describes the steps the state has taken to 

address the requirements of CAA 

section 182(c)(1). Pages 4 through 6 and 

17 of the monitoring network plan 

describe the South Coast Air Basin’s 

PAMS network.36 37 We have 

determined that the SCAQMD’s PAMS 

network meets EPA requirements for 

enhanced monitoring programs.38 More 

detail is provided in the TSD for today’s 

action. 

7. Clean Fuels or Advanced Control 

Technology for Boilers 

CAA section 182(e)(3) provides that 

SIPs for extreme areas must require each 

new, modified, and existing electric 

utility and industrial and commercial 

boiler that emits more than 25 tons per 

year (tpy) of NOX to either burn as its 

primary fuel natural gas, methanol, or 

ethanol (or a comparably low polluting 

fuel), or use advanced control 

technology (such as catalytic control 

technology or other comparably 

effective control methods). Further 

guidance on this requirement is 

provided in the General Preamble at 

13523. According to the General 

Preamble, a boiler should generally be 

considered as any combustion 

equipment used to produce steam and 

generally does not include a process 

heater that transfers heat from 

combustion gases to process streams. 

General Preamble at 13523, 13524. In 

addition, boilers with rated heat inputs 

less that 15 million Btu (MMBtu) per 

hour which are oil- or gas-fired may 

generally be considered de minimis and 

exempt from these requirements since it 

is unlikely that they will exceed the 25 

tpy NOX emission limit. General 

Preamble at 13524. 

The South Coast 2007 AQMP does not 

directly address CAA section 182(e)(3) 

requirements for 8-hour ozone. CARB 

has previously submitted SIP revisions 

for the South Coast Air Basin addressing 

the clean fuels for boilers requirement 

under section 182(e)(3) for the 1-hour 

ozone standard. See 61 FR 57775 

(November 8, 1996) for EPA’s approval 

of the rule submitted to satisfy the CAA 

section 182(e)(3) requirement in the 

South Coast. 

South Coast Rule 1146 ‘‘Emissions of 

Oxides of Nitrogen from Industrial, 

Institutional and Commercial Boilers, 

Steam Generators and Process Heaters,’’ 

as revised on November 17, 2000 and 

approved by EPA on April 8, 2002 (67 

FR 16640), regulates emissions from 

boilers larger than 5 MMBtu/hour 

burning gaseous or non-gaseous fuels. 

The limits in the rule range between 

0.036 and 0.052 lb/MMBtu, depending 

on the size of the boiler and its capacity 

factor. This limit is lower than the level 

of emissions expected from 

uncontrolled natural gas-fired boilers. 

Thus, the rule essentially requires all 

subject boilers to burn fuels that are 

comparably low polluting (compared to 

natural gas combustion) or to use 

control technologies to achieve 

emissions levels that are similar to those 

obtained by burning natural gas, 

methanol, ethanol, or other comparably 

low polluting fuels. 

South Coast Regulation XIII (New 

Source Review (NSR) Program). 

Regulation XIII (consisting of Rules 

1301, 1302, 1303, 1304, 1306, 1309, 

1309.1, 1310, and 1313), which EPA has 

approved into the South Coast portion 

of the California SIP (see 61 FR 64291, 

December 4, 1996), applies to any new 

or modified boiler proposing to locate in 

the South Coast that emits or has the 

potential to emit at least 10 tons per 

year (tpy) of NOX or VOC, among other 

sources. See Rules 1301 and 1302. 

Under Rule 1303, any such boiler is 

required to employ Best Available 

Control Technology, which must be at 

least as stringent as the Lowest 

Achievable Emissions Rate (LAER) as 

defined in CAA section 171(3). See Rule 

1302(f) and 1303(a). The LAER standard 

essentially requires, at a minimum, 

combustion of low-polluting fuels and/ 

or use of advanced control technologies 

consistent with the requirements of 

CAA section 182(e)(3). See CAA 

171(3).39 Accordingly, the SCAQMD’s 

SIP-approved NSR program in 

Regulation XIII, which establishes 

LAER-level control requirements for any 

new or modified boiler that emits more 

than 10 tpy of NOX, satisfies the 

requirements of CAA section 182(e)(3) 

for each new or modified electric utility 

and industrial and commercial boiler 

that emits more than 25 tpy of NOX. As 

to existing boilers that emit more than 

25 tpy of NOX, the District has 

demonstrated that each such boiler 

currently operating in the South Coast 

either burns as its primary fuel natural 

gas or a comparably low polluting fuel, 

or uses advanced control technology 

such as SCR or another comparably 

effective control method (e.g., SNCR), in 

accordance with SIP-approved 

requirements such as Rule 1146. See 

letter, Elaine Chang, DrPH, Deputy 

Executive Officer, SCAQMD, to 

Elizabeth Adams, Deputy Director, Air 

Division, EPA Region 9, dated August 

23, 2011. 

8. CAA Section 185 Fee Program 

CAA Section 185 requires that the SIP 

for each severe and extreme ozone 

nonattainment area provide that, if the 

area fails to attain by its applicable 

attainment date, each major stationary 

source of VOCs and NOX located in the 


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40SCAQMD submitted Rule 317, ‘‘Clean Air Act 

Non-attainment Fees,’’ a fee-equivalent program to 

address the requirements of section 185 for the 1- 

hour ozone standard, on April 22, 2011. 

nonattainment area shall pay a fee to the 

State as a penalty for such failure for 

each calendar year beginning after the 

attainment date, until the area is 

redesignated as an attainment area for 

ozone. States are not yet required to 

implement CAA section 185 fee 

programs for the 1997 8-hour ozone 

standard.40

V. EPA’s Proposed Actions 

For the reasons discussed above, EPA 

is proposing to fully approve 

California’s attainment SIP for the South 

Coast nonattainment area for the 1997 8- 

hour ozone standard. Simultaneously 

and in the alternative, EPA is proposing 

to disapprove the submitted SIP with 

respect to certain requirements for 

transportation control strategies and 

TCMs pending resolution of petitions 

before the 9th Circuit U.S. Court of 

Appeals in Association of Irritated 

Residents v. EPA, 632 F.3d 584 (9th Cir. 

2011). This SIP submittal consists of the 

South Coast 2007 AQMP (as revised 

March 4, 2011) and those portions of 

CARB’s revised 2007 State Strategy as 

revised in 2009 and 2011 that address 

the CAA’s requirements for attainment 

of the 1997 8-hour ozone NAAQS in the 

South Coast nonattainment area. 

Specifically, EPA is proposing to 

approve under CAA section 110(k)(3) 

the following elements of the South 

Coast 2007 8-Hour Ozone Plan: 

1. The revised 2002 base year 

emissions inventory as meeting the 

requirements of CAA section 182(a)(1) 

and 40 CFR 51.915; 

2. The reasonably available control 

measure demonstration as meeting the 

requirements of CAA section 172(c)(1) 

and 40 CFR 51.912(d); 

3. The reasonable further progress 

demonstration as meeting the 

requirements of CAA sections 172(c)(2) 

and 182(c)(2)(B) and 40 CFR 51.910; 

4. The attainment demonstration as 

meeting the requirements of CAA 

section 182(c)(2)(A) and 40 CFR 51.908; 

5. The provisions for the development 

of new technologies pursuant to CAA 

section 182(e)(5) and CARB’s 

commitment to adopt and submit by 

2020 contingency measures to be 

implemented if the new technologies do 

not achieve the planned emissions 

reductions, as well as additional 

attainment contingency measures 

meeting the requirements of CAA 

section 172(c)(9), pursuant to CAA 

section 182(e)(5); and to develop and 

submit by 2020, revisions to the SIP that 

will (1) reflect modifications to the 2023 

emission reduction target based on 

updated science and (2) identify 

additional strategies and implementing 

agencies needed to achieve the needed 

reductions by the beginning of the 2023 

ozone season. 

6. The contingency measure 

provisions for failure to make RFP and 

to attain as meeting the requirements of 

CAA sections 172(c)(9) and 182(c)(9); 

7. The demonstration that the SIP 

provides for transportation control 

strategies and measures sufficient to 

offset any growth in emissions from 

growth in VMT or the number of vehicle 

trips, and to provide for RFP and 

attainment, as meeting the requirements 

of CAA section 182(d)(1)(A); 

8. The revised motor vehicle 

emissions budgets for the RFP milestone 

years of 2011, 2014, 2017 and 2020, and 

for the attainment year of 2023, because 

they are derived from approvable RFP 

and attainment demonstrations and 

meet the requirements of CAA sections 

176(c) and 40 CFR part 93, subpart A; 

9. The SCAQMD’s commitments to 

achieve specific aggregate emission 

reductions of NOX and VOC as listed in 

Table 4–2A of the South Coast 2007 

AQMP (as revised March 4, 2011); and 

10. CARB’s commitments to propose 

certain defined measures, as listed in 

Table B–1 on page 1 of Appendix B of 

the 2011 Progress Report and in 

Appendix B, Table B–1 of the 2011 

Ozone SIP Revision, to achieve specific 

aggregate emission reductions of VOC 

and NOX in the South Coast 

nonattainment area by 2023 as provided 

in CARB Resolution 07–28, Attachment 

B, and the 2009 State Strategy update, 

p. 20; and to achieve the emissions 

reductions needed to attain the 8-hour 

ozone standard in the South Coast 

nonattainment area as provided in 

CARB Resolution 07–28, Attachment B, 

p. 4, 2009 State Strategy Status Report, 

p. 20. 

Simultaneously and in the alternative, 

if the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th 

Circuit denies the Agency’s petition for 

rehearing in AIR v. EPA and issues its 

mandate before EPA issues a final rule 

on the South Coast 2007 Ozone SIP, we 

propose to disapprove the SIP under 

CAA section 110(k)(3) with respect to 

the first element (i.e., offsetting 

emissions growth) of CAA section 

182(d)(1)(A) based on the plan’s failure 

to include sufficient transportation 

control strategies and TCMs to offset the 

emissions from growth in VMT. 

VI. Statutory and Executive Order 

Reviews 

A. Executive Order 12866, Regulatory 

Planning and Review 

The Office of Management and Budget 

(OMB) has exempted this regulatory 

action from Executive Order 12866, 

entitled ‘‘Regulatory Planning and 

Review.’’ 

B. Paperwork Reduction Act 

This action does not impose an 

information collection burden under the 

provisions of the Paperwork Reduction 

Act, 44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq. Burden is 

defined at 5 CFR 1320.3(b). 

C. Regulatory Flexibility Act 

The Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA) 

generally requires an agency to conduct 

a regulatory flexibility analysis of any 

rule subject to notice and comment 

rulemaking requirements unless the 

agency certifies that the rule will not 

have a significant economic impact on 

a substantial number of small entities. 

Small entities include small businesses, 

small not-for-profit enterprises, and 

small governmental jurisdictions. 

This proposed rule will not have a 

significant impact on a substantial 

number of small entities because 

proposed SIP approvals under section 

110 and subchapter I, part D of the 

Clean Air Act do not create any new 

requirements but simply propose to 

approve requirements that the State is 

already imposing. Therefore, because 

this proposed Federal SIP approval does 

not create any new requirements, I 

certify that this action will not have a 

significant economic impact on a 

substantial number of small entities. 

Moreover, due to the nature of the 

Federal-State relationship under the 

Clean Air Act, preparation of flexibility 

analysis would constitute Federal 

inquiry into the economic 

reasonableness of State action. The 

Clean Air Act forbids EPA to base its 

actions concerning SIPs on such 

grounds. Union Electric Co., v. U.S. 

EPA, 427 U.S. 246, 255–66 (1976); 42 

U.S.C. 7410(a)(2). 

D. Unfunded Mandates Reform Act 

Under sections 202 of the Unfunded 

Mandates Reform Act of 1995 

(‘‘Unfunded Mandates Act’’), signed 

into law on March 22, 1995, EPA must 

prepare a budgetary impact statement to 

accompany any proposed or final rule 

that includes a Federal mandate that 

may result in estimated costs to State, 

local, or tribal governments in the 

aggregate; or to the private sector, of 

$100 million or more. Under section 

205, EPA must select the most costVerDate Mar<15>2010 16:48 Sep 15, 2011 Jkt 223001 PO 00000 Frm 00025 Fmt 4701 Sfmt 4702 E:\FR\FM\16SEP3.SGM 16SEP3

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effective and least burdensome 

alternative that achieves the objectives 

of the rule and is consistent with 

statutory requirements. Section 203 

requires EPA to establish a plan for 

informing and advising any small 

governments that may be significantly 

or uniquely impacted by the rule. 

EPA has determined that the 

proposed approval action does not 

include a Federal mandate that may 

result in estimated costs of $100 million 

or more to either State, local, or tribal 

governments in the aggregate, or to the 

private sector. This Federal action 

proposes to approve pre-existing 

requirements under State or local law, 

and imposes no new requirements. 

Accordingly, no additional costs to 

State, local, or tribal governments, or to 

the private sector, result from this 

action. 

E. Executive Order 13132, Federalism 

Federalism (64 FR 43255, August 10, 

1999) revokes and replaces Executive 

Orders 12612 (Federalism) and 12875 

(Enhancing the Intergovernmental 

Partnership). Executive Order 13132 

requires EPA to develop an accountable 

process to ensure ‘‘meaningful and 

timely input by State and local officials 

in the development of regulatory 

policies that have federalism 

implications.’’ ‘‘Policies that have 

federalism implications’’ is defined in 

the Executive Order to include 

regulations that 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.’’ Under 

Executive Order 13132, EPA may not 

issue a regulation that has federalism 

implications, that imposes substantial 

direct compliance costs, and that is not 

required by statute, unless the Federal 

government provides the funds 

necessary to pay the direct compliance 

costs incurred by State and local 

governments, or EPA consults with 

State and local officials early in the 

process of developing the proposed 

regulation. EPA also may not issue a 

regulation that has federalism 

implications and that preempts State 

law unless the Agency consults with 

State and local officials early in the 

process of developing the proposed 

regulation. 

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, because it 

merely proposes to approve a State rule 

implementing a Federal standard, and 

does not alter the relationship or the 

distribution of power and 

responsibilities established in the Clean 

Air Act. Thus, the requirements of 

section 6 of the Executive Order do not 

apply to this rule. 

F. Executive Order 13175, Coordination 

With Indian Tribal Governments 

Executive Order 13175, entitled 

‘‘Consultation and Coordination with 

Indian Tribal Governments’’ (65 FR 

67249, November 9, 2000), requires EPA 

to develop an accountable process to 

ensure ‘‘meaningful and timely input by 

tribal officials in the development of 

regulatory policies that have tribal 

implications.’’ This proposed rule does 

not have tribal implications, as specified 

in Executive Order 13175. It will not 

have substantial direct effects on tribal 

governments, on the relationship 

between the Federal government and 

Indian tribes, or on the distribution of 

power and responsibilities between the 

Federal government and Indian tribes. 

Thus, Executive Order 13175 does not 

apply to this rule. 

EPA specifically solicits additional 

comment on this proposed rule from 

tribal officials. 

G. Executive Order 13045, Protection of 

Children From Environmental Health 

Risks and Safety Risks 

EPA interprets Executive Order 13045 

(62 FR 19885, April 23, 1997) as 

applying only to those regulatory 

actions that concern health or safety 

risks, such that the analysis required 

under section 5–501 of the Executive 

Order has the potential to influence the 

regulation. This proposed rule is not 

subject to Executive Order 13045, 

because it proposes to approve a State 

rule implementing a Federal standard. 

H. Executive Order 13211, Actions That 

Significantly Affect Energy Supply, 

Distribution, or Use 

This proposed rule is not subject to 

Executive Order 13211, ‘‘Actions 

Concerning Regulations That 

Significantly Affect Energy Supply, 

Distribution, or Use’’ (66 FR 28355, May 

22, 2001) because it is not a significant 

regulatory action under Executive Order 

12866. 

I. National Technology Transfer and 

Advancement Act 

Section 12 of the National Technology 

Transfer and Advancement Act 

(NTTAA) of 1995 requires Federal 

agencies to evaluate existing technical 

standards when developing a new 

regulation. To comply with NTTAA, 

EPA must consider and use ‘‘voluntary 

consensus standards’’ (VCS) if available 

and applicable when developing 

programs and policies unless doing so 

would be inconsistent with applicable 

law or otherwise impractical. 

The EPA believes that VCS are 

inapplicable to this action. Today’s 

action does not require the public to 

perform activities conducive to the use 

of VCS. 

J. Executive Order 12898: Federal 

Actions To Address Environmental 

Justice in Minority Populations and 

Low-Income Population 

Executive Order (EO) 12898 (59 FR 

7629 (Feb. 16, 1994)) establishes Federal 

executive policy on environmental 

justice. Its main provision directs 

Federal agencies, to the greatest extent 

practicable and permitted by law, to 

make environmental justice part of their 

mission by identifying and addressing, 

as appropriate, disproportionately high 

and adverse human health or 

environmental effects of their programs, 

policies, and activities on minority 

populations and low-income 

populations in the United States. EPA 

lacks the discretionary authority to 

address environmental justice in this 

rulemaking. In reviewing SIP 

submittals, EPA’s role is to approve or 

disapprove State choices, based on the 

criteria of the CAA. Accordingly, this 

action merely proposes to approve 

certain State requirements for inclusion 

into the SIP under CAA section 110 and 

subchapter I, part D will not in-and-of 

itself create any new requirements. 

Accordingly, it 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. 

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 52 

Environmental protection, Air 

pollution control, Nitrogen dioxide, 

Ozone, Reporting and recordkeeping 

requirements, Volatile organic 

compounds. 

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

Dated: September 7, 2011. 

Jared Blumenfeld, 

Regional Administrator, EPA Region 9. 

[FR Doc. 2011–23659 Filed 9–15–11; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P 


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