Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 244 / Tuesday, December 20, 2011 / Proposed Rules 78869 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

40 CFR Part 52 

[EPA–R07–OAR–2011–0627; FRL–9608–5] 

Approval and Promulgation of 

Implementation Plans and 

Designations of areas for Air Quality 

Planning Purposes; Missouri and 

Illinois; St. Louis Nonattainment Area; 

Determination of Attainment by 

Applicable Attainment Date for the 

1997 Annual Fine Particulate 

Standards 

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA). 

ACTION: Proposed rule. 

SUMMARY: EPA is proposing to 

determine, pursuant to the Clean Air 

Act (CAA), that the bi-state St. Louis, 

Missouri-Illinois, fine particulate 

(PM2.5) nonattainment area (hereafter 

referred to as ‘‘the St. Louis area’’ or 

‘‘the area’’) has attained the 1997 annual 

PM2.5 national ambient air quality 

standards (NAAQS) by its applicable 

attainment date of April 5, 2010. This 

proposed determination is based on 

quality-assured and certified monitoring 

data for the 2007–2009 monitoring 

period. Based on this data, EPA 

previously determined on May 23, 2011, 

that the area attained the 1997 

standards, and EPA suspended certain 

planning requirements for the area 

based on that determination. EPA is 

now proposing to find that the St. Louis 

area attained the 1997 annual PM2.5

NAAQS by its applicable attainment 

date. EPA is proposing this action 

because it is consistent with the CAA 

and its implementing regulations. 

DATES: Comments must be received on 

or before January 19, 2012. 

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, 

identified by Docket ID No. EPA–R07– 

OAR–2011–0627, by one of the 

following methods: 

1. www.regulations.gov: Follow the 

on-line instructions for submitting 

comments. 

2. Email: brown.steven@epa.gov 

3. Fax: (913) 551–9460. 

4. Mail: Steven Brown, Atmospheric 

Section, Air Planning and Development 

Branch, Air and Waste Management 

Division, U.S. Environmental Protection 

Agency, Region 7, 901 North 5th Street, 

Kansas City, Kansas 66101. 

5. Hand Delivery or Courier: Steven 

Brown, Atmospheric Section, Air 

Planning and Development Branch, Air 

and Waste Management Division, U.S. 

Environmental Protection Agency, 

Region 7, 901 North 5th Street, Kansas 

City, Kansas 66101. Such deliveries are 

only accepted during the Regional 

Office normal hours of operation, and 

special arrangements should be made 

for deliveries of boxed information. The 

Regional Office official hours of 

business are Monday through Friday, 

8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., excluding 

Federal holidays. 

Instructions: Direct your comments to 

Docket ID No. EPA–R07–OAR–2011– 

0627. EPA’s policy is that all comments 

received will be included in the public 

docket without change and may be 

made available online at 

www.regulations.gov, including any 

personal information provided, unless 

the comment includes information 

claimed to be Confidential Business 

Information (CBI) or other information 

whose disclosure is restricted by statute. 

Do not submit through 

www.regulations.gov or email, 

information that you consider to be CBI 

or otherwise protected. The 

www.regulations.gov Web site is an 

‘‘anonymous access’’ system, which 

means EPA will not know your identity 

or contact information unless you 

provide it in the body of your comment. 

If you send an email comment directly 

to EPA without going through 

www.regulations.gov, your email 

address will be automatically captured 

and included as part of the comment 

that is placed in the public docket and 

made available on the Internet. If you 

submit an electronic comment, EPA 

recommends that you include your 

name and other contact information in 

the body of your comment and with any 

disk or CD–ROM you submit. If EPA 

cannot read your comment due to 

technical difficulties and cannot contact 

you for clarification, EPA may not be 

able to consider your comment. 

Electronic files should avoid the use of 

special characters, any form of 

encryption, and be free of any defects or 

viruses. For additional information 

about EPA’s public docket visit the EPA 

Docket Center homepage at http:// 

www.epa.gov/epahome/dockets.htm. 

Docket: All documents in the 

electronic docket are listed in the 

www.regulations.gov index. Although 

listed in the index, some information is 

not publicly available, i.e., CBI or other 

information whose disclosure is 

restricted by statute. Certain other 

material, such as copyrighted material, 

is not placed on the Internet and will be 

publicly available only in hard copy 

form. Publicly available docket 

materials are available either 

electronically in www.regulations.gov or 

in hard copy at the Atmospheric 

Section, Air Planning and Development 

Branch, Air Waste and Management 

Division, U.S. Environmental Protection 

Agency, Region 7, 901 North 5th Street, 

Kansas City, Kansas 66101. EPA 

requests that if at all possible, you 

contact the person listed in the FOR

FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section to 

schedule your inspection. The Regional 

Office’s official hours of business are 

Monday through Friday, 8:30 to 4:30, 

excluding Federal holidays. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: In 

Region 7, Steven Brown, Atmospheric 

Section, Air Planning And Development 

Branch, Air and Waste Management 

Division, U.S. Environmental Protection 

Agency, Region 7, 901 North 5th Street, 

Kansas City, Kansas 66101. Steven 

Brown may be reached by telephone at 

(913) 551–7718 or via electronic mail at 

brown.steven@epa.gov. In Region 5, 

John Summerhays, Attainment Planning 

and Maintenance Section, Air Programs 

Branch (AR 18J), U.S. Environmental 

Protection Agency, Region 5, 77 West 

Jackson Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois 

60604. The telephone number is (312) 

886–6067. Mr. Summerhays can also be 

reached via electronic mail at 

summerhays.john@epa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. What action is EPA taking? 

II. What is the background for this action? 

III. What is the air quality in the St. Louis 

area for the 1997 annual PM2.5 NAAQS 

for the 2007–2009 monitoring period? 

IV. What is the proposed action, and what is 

the effect of this action? 

V. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews 

I. What action is EPA taking? 

Based on EPA’s review of the qualityassured and certified monitoring data 

for 2007–2009, and in accordance with 

section 179(c)(1) of the CAA, EPA 

proposes to determine that the St. Louis 

area has attained the 1997 annual PM2.5

NAAQS by the applicable attainment 

date of April 5, 2010. The St. Louis area 

is comprised of Jefferson County, 

Franklin County, St. Louis County, St. 

Louis City, and St. Charles in Missouri, 

and Madison, Monroe and St. Clair 

Counties, and Baldwin Township in 

Randolph County in Illinois. 

It is important to distinguish between 

two different types of attainment 

determinations that EPA makes for areas 

that are designated nonattainment. Both 

types require notice-and-comment 

rulemaking. 

(1) Determinations of attainment by 

an area’s attainment date, and 

(2) Determinations of attainment for 

purposes of suspending the State’s 

obligation to submit certain planning 

SIPs linked to attainment. 

This proposed action is with respect 

to Type 1 above. The CAA requires EPA 

to determine whether a nonattainment 


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78870 Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 244 / Tuesday, December 20, 2011 / Proposed Rules 

area has attained the standard as of its 

applicable attainment date. These 

determinations of attainment provide a 

historical snapshot—they evaluate 

attainment only as of an area’s 

attainment deadline, and are issued to 

comply with section 181(b)(2)of the 

CAA for ozone and sections 172 and 179 

of the CAA for PM2.5. Determinations of 

attainment by an attainment deadline 

are separate and independent of the 

second type of attainment 

determinations, as described below. 

On May 23, 2010, EPA published a 

final rulemaking making a 

determination that the St. Louis area 

attained the 1997 annual PM2.5 NAAQS 

based on quality-assured, quality 

controlled and certified ambient air 

monitoring data for the 2007–2009 

monitoring period and thereby 

suspended the requirements for the St. 

Louis area to submit an attainment 

demonstration and associated 

reasonably available control measures 

(RACM), a reasonable further progress 

(RFP) plan, contingency measures, and 

other planning State Implementation 

Plan (SIP) revisions related to 

attainment of the 1997 annual PM2.5

NAAQS so long as the area continues to 

attain the 1997 Annual PM2.5 NAAQS. 

See 76 FR 29652. Further information 

regarding that action is available in the 

notice proposing that action, published 

on March 7, 2011, at 76 FR 12302. 

Today’s proposed action merely 

makes a determination that the St. Louis 

area has attained the 1997 annual PM2.5

NAAQS by its applicable attainment 

date. This action is not a re-proposal of 

the prior attainment determination or of 

the effects of suspending the 

requirements for the St. Louis area to 

submit an attainment demonstration 

and associated RACM, an RFP plan, 

contingency measures, and other 

planning SIP revisions related to 

attainment of the standard. More 

information regarding the 1997 annual 

PM2.5 NAAQS and the area’s attainment 

of that NAAQS is available at 76 FR 

29652 (May 23, 2011). A detailed 

discussion of EPA’s review of the 

monitoring data showing attainment of 

the standard can be found in the March 

7, 2011 proposed action and the May 23, 

2011 final action. 

II. What is the background for this 

action? 

On January 5, 2005, EPA designated 

the St. Louis area as nonattainment for 

the 1997 annual PM2.5 NAAQS. (70 FR 

944) The designation was effective April 

5, 2005. Section 172(a) of the CAA 

requires a state to achieve attainment no 

later than 5 years from the 

nonattainment designation. Thus, the 

St. Louis area had an applicable 

attainment date of April 5, 2010. 

Pursuant to section 179(c) of the CAA, 

EPA is required to make a determination 

whether the area attained the standard 

by its applicable attainment date. 

Specifically, section 179(c)(1) of the 

CAA reads as follows: ‘‘As 

expeditiously as practicable after the 

applicable attainment date for any 

nonattainment area, but not later than 6 

months after such date, the 

Administrator shall determine, based on 

the area’s air quality as of the attainment 

date, whether the area attained the 

standard by that date.’’ Today’s action 

makes this determination. 

III. What is the air quality in the St. 

Louis area for the 1997 annual PM2.5

NAAQS for the 2007–2009 monitoring 

period? 

Under EPA regulations at 40 CFR 

50.7, the 1997 annual primary and 

secondary PM2.5 standards are met 

when the annual arithmetic mean 

concentration, as determined in 

accordance with 40 CFR part 50, 

Appendix N, is less than or equal to 

15.0 micrograms per cubic meter (mg/ 

m3) at all relevant monitoring sites in 

the subject area. 

EPA reviewed the ambient air 

monitoring data for the St. Louis area in 

accordance with the provisions of 40 

CFR part 50, Appendix N. All data 

considered have been quality-assured, 

certified, and recorded in EPA’s Air 

Quality System database. This review 

addresses air quality data collected in 

the 3-year period from 2007–2009. The 

3-year period from 2007–2009 provides 

the latest 3-year set of data that EPA 

may use to determine whether the St. 

Louis area attained the standard by its 

applicable attainment date of April 5, 

2010. 

TABLE 1—ANNUAL AVERAGE CONCENTRATIONS IN THE ST. LOUIS AREA (2007–2009) 

[Annual PM2.5 design values for Saint Louis area monitors with complete data for 2007 to 2009] 

State County Monitor Site name 

Annual design 

value 

2007–2009 

IL ....................... Madison .................................................... 17–119–1007 23rd and Madison ..................................... 14.1 

17–119–2009 1700 Annex St .......................................... 12.5 

................................................................... 17–119–3007 54 N. Walcott ............................................ 12.5 

Randolph ................................................... 17–157–0001 ................................................................... 11.4 

Saint Clair ................................................. 17–163–0010 13th and Tudor ......................................... 13.3 

17–163–4001 1500 Caseyville Ave ................................. 12.5 

MO .................... City of Saint Louis .................................... 29–510–0007 Broadway .................................................. 12.8 

29–510–0085 Blair Street ................................................ 12.7 

As shown above in Table 1, during 

the 2007–2009 design period, the St. 

Louis area met the 1997 annual PM2.5

NAAQS. The official annual design 

value for the St. Louis area for the 2007– 

2009 period is 14.1 mg/m3. More 

detailed information on the monitoring 

data for the St. Louis area during the 

2007–2009 design period is provided in 

EPA’s March 7, 2011, proposed 

rulemaking, and EPA’s May 23, 2011, 

final rulemaking regarding the 

determination of attainment for the St. 

Louis area for the 1997 annual PM2.5

NAAQS. See 76 FR 12302 and 76 FR 

29652. 

IV. What is the proposed action, and 

what is the effect of this action? 

This action is a proposed 

determination that the St. Louis area has 

attained the 1997 annual PM2.5 NAAQS 

by its applicable attainment date of 

April 5, 2010, consistent with the CAA 

section 179(c)(1). Finalizing this 

proposed action would not constitute a 

redesignation of the St. Louis area to 

attainment of 1997 annual PM2.5

NAAQS under section 107(d)(3) of the 

CAA because EPA would not have yet 

approved a maintenance plan for the St. 

Louis area as required under CAA 

section 175A, nor a determination that 

the St. Louis area has met all other 

requirements for redesignation under 

the CAA. Even if EPA finalizes today’s 

proposed action, the designation status 


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Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 244 / Tuesday, December 20, 2011 / Proposed Rules 78871 

of the St. Louis area will remain 

nonattainment for the 1997 annual 

PM2.5 NAAQS until such time as EPA 

determines that the CAA requirements 

for redesignation to attainment are met, 

and takes action to finalize that 

determination through a redesignation. 

V. Statutory and Executive Order 

Reviews 

This action proposes to make a 

determination of attainment based on 

air quality, and would not impose 

additional requirements beyond those 

imposed by state law. For that reason, 

this proposed action: 

• Is not a ‘‘significant regulatory 

action’’ subject to review by the Office 

of Management and Budget under 

Executive Order 12866 (58 FR 51735, 

October 4, 1993); 

• Does not impose an information 

collection burden under the provisions 

of the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 

U.S.C. 3501 et seq.); 

• Is certified as not having a 

significant economic impact on a 

substantial number of small entities 

under the Regulatory Flexibility Act 

(5 U.S.C. 601 et seq.); 

• Does not contain any unfunded 

mandate or significantly or uniquely 

affect small governments, as described 

in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act 

of 1995 (Pub. L. 104–4); 

• Does not have Federalism 

implications as specified in Executive 

Order 13132 (64 FR 43255, August 10, 

1999); 

• Is not an economically significant 

regulatory action based on health or 

safety risks subject to Executive Order 

13045 (62 FR 19885, April 23, 1997); 

• Is not a significant regulatory action 

subject to Executive Order 13211 (66 FR 

28355, May 22, 2001); 

• Is not subject to requirements of 

section 12(d) of the National 

Technology Transfer and Advancement 

Act of 1995 (15 U.S.C. 272 note) because 

application of those requirements would 

be inconsistent with the CAA; and 

• Does not provide EPA with the 

discretionary authority to address, as 

appropriate, disproportionate human 

health or environmental effects, using 

practicable and legally permissible 

methods, under Executive Order 12898 

(59 FR 7629, February 16, 1994). 

In addition, this proposed 

determination that the St. Louis area 

attained the 1997 annual average PM2.5

NAAQS by its applicable attainment 

date does not have tribal implications as 

specified by Executive Order 13175 (65 

FR 67249, November 9, 2000), because 

the SIPs are not approved to apply in 

Indian country located in the states, and 

EPA notes that it will not impose 

substantial direct costs on tribal 

governments or preempt tribal law. 

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 52 

Air pollution control, Environmental 

protection, Particulate matter, Reporting 

and recordkeeping requirements. 

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

Dated: November 1, 2011. 

Mark Hague, 

Acting Regional Administrator, Region 7. 

Dated: December 9, 2011. 

Susan Hedman, 

Regional Administrator, Region 5. 

[FR Doc. 2011–32561 Filed 12–19–11; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

40 CFR Part 52 

[EPA–R09–OAR–2011–0897; FRL–9499–8] 

Revisions to the California State 

Implementation Plan, South Coast Air 

Quality Management District 

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA). 

ACTION: Proposed rule. 

SUMMARY: EPA is proposing to approve 

a revision to the South Coast Air Quality 

Management District (SCAQMD) portion 

of the California State Implementation 

Plan (SIP). This revision concerns 

oxides of nitrogen (NOX) and oxides of 

sulfur (SOX) emissions from facilities 

emitting 4 tons or more per year of NOX

or SOX in the year 1990 or any 

subsequent year under the SCAQMD’s 

Regional Clean Air Incentives Market 

(RECLAIM) program. We are approving 

a local rule that regulates these emission 

sources under the Clean Air Act as 

amended in 1990 (CAA or the Act). 

DATES: Any comments on this proposal 

must arrive by January 19, 2012. 

ADDRESSES: Submit comments, 

identified by docket number EPA–R09– 

OAR–2011–0897, by one of the 

following methods: 

1. Federal eRulemaking Portal: 

www.regulations.gov. Follow the on-line 

instructions. 

2. Email: steckel.andrew@epa.gov. 

3. Mail or deliver: Andrew Steckel 

(Air–4), U.S. Environmental Protection 

Agency Region IX, 75 Hawthorne Street, 

San Francisco, CA 94105–3901. 

Instructions: All comments will be 

included in the public docket without 

change and may be made available 

online at www.regulations.gov, 

including any personal information 

provided, unless the comment includes 

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 

www.regulations.gov or email. 

www.regulations.gov 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 email 

directly to EPA, your email address will 

be automatically captured and included 

as part of the public comment. If EPA 

cannot read your comment due to 

technical difficulties and cannot contact 

you for clarification, EPA may not be 

able to consider your comment. 

Electronic files should avoid the use of 

special characters, any form of 

encryption, and be free of any defects or 

viruses. 

Docket: Generally, documents in the 

docket for this action are available 

electronically at www.regulations.gov 

and in hard copy at EPA Region IX, 75 

Hawthorne Street, San Francisco, 

California. While all documents in the 

docket are listed at 

www.regulations.gov, some information 

may be publicly available only at the 

hard copy location (e.g., copyrighted 

material, large maps), and some may not 

be publicly available in 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. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Lily 

Wong, EPA Region IX, (415) 947–4114, 

wong.lily@epa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This 

proposal addresses the following local 

rule: SCAQMD Rule 2005, New Source 

Review for RECLAIM. In the Rules and 

Regulations section of this Federal 

Register, we are approving this local 

rule in a direct final action without 

prior proposal because we believe these 

SIP revisions are not controversial. If we 

receive adverse comments, however, we 

will publish a timely withdrawal of the 

direct final rule and address the 

comments in subsequent action based 

on this proposed rule. Please note that 

if we receive adverse comment on an 

amendment, paragraph, or section of 

this rule and if that provision may be 

severed from the remainder of the rule, 

we may adopt as final those provisions 

of the rule that are not the subject of an 

adverse comment. 

We do not plan to open a second 

comment period, so anyone interested 

in commenting should do so at this 

time. If we do not receive adverse 

comments, no further activity is 


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