UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY 

REGION IX AIR DIVISION

Technical Support Document 

for 

EPA’s Proposed Rulemaking 

for the 

Arizona State Implementation Plan 

Arizona Revised Statute (ARS) 28-1098 Vehicle loads; restrictions; 

civil penalties.

Prepared by: Nancy Levin 

August 6, 2013 
RULE IDENTIFICATION

Agency: State of Arizona for Maricopa County

Submittal:

Arizona Revised Statute (ARS) 28-1098 Vehicle loads; 

restrictions; civil penalties. Subsections A.1-3 

Adopted July 2, 2007 

Submitted May 25, 2012 

Determined Complete July 20, 2012 

Revised Submittal: May 21, 2013 

Previous Submittal: 

Arizona Revised Statute (ARS) 28-1098 Vehicle loads; 

restrictions; civil penalties. Subsections A.1-3 

Adopted July 2, 2007 

Submitted December 21, 2007 

Withdrawn: January 25, 2011 

BACKGROUND

Maricopa County is classified as a serious nonattainment area for inhalable, course particulate 

matter less than 10 microns in diameter (PM10). As required by section 189 of the Clean Air Act 

(CAA), Arizona submitted a PM10 plan that included the most stringent measures (MSM) and an 

extension request for attainment no later than December 31, 2006. On January 14, 2002, EPA 

announced the approval of the serious area plan, including the Agricultural Best Management 

Practices (AgBMP) Program as meeting both Best Available Control Measures (BACM) and 

MSM requirements, and also granted a five year extension of the attainment date for both the 24-

hour and annual PM10 standards from December 31, 2001 to December 31, 2006. Both decisions 

were published in the Federal Register on July 25, 2002 (67 FR 48718).

The area did not attain by December 2006, however, triggering the requirement under Section

189(d) of the CAA that a SIP revision providing for annual reductions of PM10 or PM10 

precursors of not less than 5% of the most recent emissions inventory, until the standard 

is attained, be submitted to EPA by December 31, 2007.

The Maricopa Association of Governments (MAG) prepared the 2007 Five Percent Plan for 

PM10, which was approved by the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) 

and submitted to the EPA on December 21, 2007. The SIP contained rule revisions in 

Maricopa County and Pinal County to further reduce PM10 emissions.

Arizona Senate Bill 1552 (2007) addressed the authority to revise rules while adding 

requirements for both Maricopa County and one township in Pinal County. Cities and towns 

in the nonattainment area committed to develop and enforce local ordinances to address PM10 

emissions from vacant lots, unpaved roads and shoulders, off-highway vehicles, and leaf 

blowers. EPA proposed a limited approval and limited disapproval of the Five Percent Plan 

on September 9, 2010 (75 FR 54806). 

After ADEQ withdrew the plan on January 25, 2011, EPA issued a Finding of Failure to 

Submit the Five Percent Plan on February 14, 2011 (76 FR 8300), triggering an 18-month 
sanctions clock and a two-year Federal Implementation Plan clock. Arizona submitted a 

replacement plan, MAG 2012 Five Percent Plan for PM10, on May 25, 2012. EPA found that 

submission complete on July 20, 2012. The statute subsections that are the subject of this 

technical support document (TSD) were included in the submittal. On May 21, 2013 ADEQ 

identified several statute subsections included in the May 25, 2012 submittal for which 

Arizona no longer requested EPA SIP approval. 

Included in the docket for this action (EPA-R09-OAR-2013-0576) is a document that 

identifies the rules that are the subject of EPA’s Federal Register notice, including the rules 

that are the subject of this technical support document (TSD). Two other TSDs that can be 

found in the docket discuss rules that are also included in the Federal Register notice for this 

action. 

Also in the docket for this action is an annotated document that contains the statutes 

submitted by ADEQ on May 25, 2012, showing which of the statute and statute subsections 

are: 

(1) the subject of today’s Federal Register notice (these statute subsections are not 

annotated); 

(2) included in EPA’s April 19, 2013 proposal (78 FR 23527); 

(3) the statute subsections withdrawn by ADEQ on May 21, 2013; and 

(4) the remaining statutes submitted by ADEQ on May 25, 2012 that EPA has not yet acted 

upon. 

SUMMARY OF STATUTORY PROVISIONS

ARS 28-1098 subsection A. 1-3 prevents persons from driving or moving a vehicle on a 

highway “unless the vehicle is constructed or loaded in a manner to prevent any of its load 

from dropping, sifting, leaking or otherwise escaping from the vehicle.” It contains exceptions 

related to cleaning or maintaining the roadway, and for minor pieces of agricultural materials 

such as leaves and stems. 

EPA REVIEW CRITERIA

EPA considered the criteria described and set forth in the following sections of the CAA 

and guidance documents to evaluate these statutes: 

1. Enforceability

Section 110(a) of the Clean Air Act requires enforceable SIP requirements. Several EPA 

guidance documents are used to evaluate rule enforceability, including the “Bluebook” 

(Issues Relating to VOC Regulation Cutpoints, Deficiencies, and Clarification to 

Appendix D), November 24, 1978, 52 FR 45044), and “the Little Bluebook” (Guidance 

Document for Correcting Common VOC & Other Rule Deficiencies), EPA Region 9, 

August 21, 2001. 

2. Non-Interference

EPA must evaluate whether this SIP revision would interfere with any applicable 
requirement concerning attainment and reasonable further progress (RFP) or any 

requirement of the Act (CAA 110(l)) or modify, in a nonattainment area, any SIP-approved 

control requirement in effect before November 15, 1990 (CAA 193). 

EPA EVALUATION

1. Enforceability – We believe these statutory provisions are consistent with the relevant policy 

and guidance regarding enforceability. Requirements are clear and compliance 

determinations are straightforward given the nature of the statutes. 

2. Non-interference – We propose to determine that our approval of the submittal would 

comply with CAA §§110(l) and 193 because (1) the proposed SIP revision would not 

interfere with the on-going process for ensuring that requirements for RFP and attainment of 

the NAAQS are met, and (2) the revision would strengthen the existing SIP-approved 

control requirements. 

DEFICIENCES

We have identified no deficiencies with the statutory provisions evaluated in this TSD sufficient 

for EPA to propose less than full approval. 

ADDITIONAL RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE NEXT STATUTORY OR 

RULE REVISION

The following recommendations are not currently the basis for disapproval of the 

submitted statutes, but are recommended for the next time these provisions are amended. 

We recommend that the cities, towns and/or counties include the following in their ordinance, 

codes or other implementing rules: Definitions of terms (e.g., person, sufficient sand, traction, 

water or another substance, minor pieces), metrics for control requirements (e.g., specifics about 

vehicle construction and loading limits that would prevent the load from dropping, sifting, 

leaking or otherwise escaping from the vehicle), record-keeping and reporting requirements, and 

test-methods, as applicable. As an example, Imperial County Air Pollution Control District 

(ICAPCD), Rule 800 Section C.29 contains a definition of person, and ICAPCD Rule 802 Section F.3. 

contains additional specificity for material transport. 

EPA ACTION

EPA staff believes that the statutory provisions associated with this TSD are consistent with the 

relevant policy and guidance regarding enforceability and SIP relaxations. EPA staff 

recommends approving these provisions in accordance with section 110(k)(3) of the Clean Air 

Act. 

· Arizona Revised Statute (ARS) 28-1098. Vehicle loads; restrictions; civil penalties. 

REFERENCES

1. Issues Relating to VOC Regulation Cutpoints, Deficiencies, and Deviations, (a.k.a., 
Bluebook) EPA OAQPS, May 25, 1988: 

(http://www.epa.gov/ttn/naaqs/ozone/ozonetech/voc_bluebook.pdf). 

2. Guidance Document for Correcting Common VOC & Other Rule Deficiencies, 

(a.k.a., Little Bluebook), EPA Region 9, August 21, 2001: 

(http://www.epa.gov/region09/air/sips/littlebluebook2001.pdf). 

3. State Implementation Plans; General Preamble for the Implementation of Title I of 

the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990, 57 FR 13498 (April 16, 1992); 57 FR 

18070 (April 28, 1992). 

4. State Implementation Plans for Serious PM10 Nonattainment Areas, and Attainment 

Date Waivers for PM10 Nonattainment Areas Generally; Addendum to the General 

Preamble for the Implementation of Title I of the Clean Air Act Amendments of 

1990, 59 FR 41998 (August 16, 1994). 

5. Fugitive Dust Background Document and Technical Information Document for Best 

Available Control Measures, (September 1992). 

6. Imperial County Air Pollution Control District Rules 800 and 802.