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[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 244 (Thursday, December 19, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 103819-103823]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-29507]

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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-R09-OAR-2024-0510; FRL-12382-01-R9]

Finding of Failure To Attain by the Attainment Date for the 2010 
1-Hour Primary Sulfur Dioxide National Ambient Air Quality Standard; 
Guam; Piti-Cabras Nonattainment Area

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Determination of nonattainment.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is determining that 
the Piti-Cabras, Guam, sulfur dioxide (SO2) nonattainment 
area (NAA) failed to attain the 2010 1-hour SO2 primary 
national ambient air quality standard (NAAQS, ``standard,'' or ``2010 
SO2 NAAQS'') by the applicable statutory attainment date of 
April 9, 2023. This determination is based on an analysis of available 
modeling, emissions data, and information concerning control strategy 
implementation. This action addresses the EPA's obligation under Clean 
Air Act (CAA) section 179(c) to determine whether the Piti-Cabras 
SO2 NAA (``Piti-Cabras area'') attained the 2010 
SO2 NAAQS by the April 9, 2023 attainment date.

ADDRESSES: The EPA has established a docket for this action under 
Docket ID No. EPA-R09-OAR-2024-0510. All documents in the docket are 
listed on the https://www.regulations.gov website. Although listed in 
the index, some information is not publicly available, e.g., 
Confidential Business Information 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 through https://www.regulations.gov, or please contact the 
person identified in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section for 
additional availability information. If you need assistance in a 
language other than English or if you are a person with a disability 
who needs a reasonable accommodation at no cost to you, please contact 
the person identified in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Andrew Ledezma, Air Planning Office 
(ARD-2), EPA Region IX, 75 Hawthorne Street, San Francisco, CA 94105, 
(415) 972-3985, or by email at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Throughout this document, ``we,'' ``us,'' 
and ``our'' refer to the EPA.

[[Page 103820]]

Table of Contents

I. Background
    A. The 2010 1-Hour Primary SO4 NAAQS
    B. Designations, Classifications, and Attainment Dates for the 
2010 SO2 NAAQS
    C. Determinations of Attainment by the Attainment Date
II. The EPA's Evaluation and Determination
    A. Area Characterization
    B. Evaluation of SO2 Modeling, Emissions Data, and 
Control Strategy Implementation Information
    C. Conclusion
III. The EPA's Action
IV. Statutory and Executive Order Review

I. Background

A. The 2010 1-Hour Primary SO2 NAAQS

    Under section 109 of the CAA, the EPA has established primary and 
secondary NAAQS for certain pervasive air pollutants (referred to as 
``criteria pollutants'') and conducts periodic reviews of the NAAQS to 
determine whether they should be revised or whether new NAAQS should be 
established. The primary NAAQS represent ambient air quality standards 
that the EPA has determined are requisite to protect public health with 
an adequate margin of safety, while the secondary NAAQS represent 
ambient air quality standards that the EPA has determined are requisite 
to protect public welfare from any known or anticipated adverse effects 
associated with the presence of the air pollutant in the ambient air.
    Under the CAA, the EPA must establish a NAAQS for SO2, 
which is primarily released to the atmosphere through the burning of 
fossil fuels by power plants and other industrial facilities. 
SO2 is also emitted from industrial processes, including 
metal extraction from ore and heavy equipment that burn fuel with a 
high sulfur content. Short term exposure to SO2 can damage 
the human respiratory system and increase breathing difficulties. Small 
children and people with respiratory conditions, such as asthma, are 
more sensitive to the effects of SO2. Sulfur oxides at high 
concentrations in ambient air can also react with compounds to form 
small particulates (fine particulate matter, or ``PM2.5'') 
that can penetrate deeply into the lungs and cause acute health 
problems and/or chronic diseases. The EPA first established primary 
SO2 standards in 1971 at 140 parts per billion (ppb) over a 
24-hour averaging period and at 30 ppb over an annual averaging 
period.\1\
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    \1\ 36 FR 8186 (April 30, 1971).
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    On June 22, 2010, the EPA published in the Federal Register a 
strengthened, primary 1-hour SO2 NAAQS, establishing a new 
standard at a level of 75 ppb, based on the 3-year average of the 
annual 99th percentile of daily maximum 1-hour average concentrations 
of SO2.\2\ The revised SO2 NAAQS provides 
increased protection of public health. Along with revision of the 
SO2 NAAQS, the EPA revoked the 1971 primary annual and 24-
hour SO2 standards for most areas of the country following 
area designations under the new NAAQS.\3\
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    \2\ 75 FR 35520, codified at 40 CFR 50.17.
    \3\ 75 FR at 35592, codified at 40 CFR 50.4(e).
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B. Designations, Classifications, and Attainment Dates for the 2010 SO2 
NAAQS

    Following promulgation of a new or revised NAAQS, the EPA is 
required to designate all areas of the country as either 
``attainment,'' ``nonattainment,'' or ``unclassifiable,'' pursuant to 
CAA section 107(d)(1).
    On December 21, 2017, the EPA designated as nonattainment six areas 
in three states and two territories in the third round of 
SO2 designations.\4\ With that action, the EPA designated as 
nonattainment the portion of Guam within a 6.074-km radius centered on 
universal transverse mercator (UTM) easting 249,601.60 meters and UTM 
northing 1,489,602 meters (UTM zone 55N).\5\ Pursuant to section 192(a) 
of the CAA, the statutory attainment date for the Piti-Cabras area was 
established as no later than five years after the effective date of the 
initial designation, i.e., April 9, 2023.
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    \4\ 83 FR 1098 (January 9, 2018).
    \5\ For designations technical discussions, see EPA's Technical 
Support Document, Chapter 11, Section 3, 6-26, at https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2017-08/documents/11_guam_so2_rd3-final.pdf, available in the docket for this action.
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    CAA section 191(a) requires states that contain an area designated 
nonattainment for the 2010 1-hour primary SO2 NAAQS to 
develop and submit an NAA state implementation plan (SIP) to the EPA 
within 18 months of the effective date of an area's designation as 
nonattainment. For SO2, a NAA SIP submission (also referred 
to as an attainment plan) must meet the requirements of sections 110, 
172(c), 191, and 192 of the CAA, and provide for attainment of the 
NAAQS by the applicable statutory attainment date, i.e., no later than 
five years from the effective date of the area's nonattainment 
designation. The effective date of the Piti-Cabras area nonattainment 
designation is April 9, 2018, so the attainment plan for the area was 
due on October 9, 2019. On November 3, 2020, the EPA issued a finding 
that Guam failed to submit a SIP revision for the Piti-Cabras area; 
this finding became effective on December 4, 2020.\6\ Guam has not 
submitted a SIP revision for the Piti-Cabras area.
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    \6\ 85 FR 69504 (November 3, 2020).
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C. Determinations of Attainment by the Attainment Date

    Section 179(c)(1) of the CAA requires the EPA to determine whether 
a NAA attained an applicable standard by the applicable statutory 
attainment date based on the area's air quality as of the attainment 
date within six months of the attainment date. Thus, the EPA had a 
mandatory duty under CAA section 179(c) to determine by October 9, 
2023, whether the Piti-Cabras SO2 NAA attained the 2010 
SO2 NAAQS by the statutory attainment date of April 9, 2023.
    A determination of whether an area's air quality meets applicable 
standards is generally based upon the most recent three years of 
complete, quality-assured data gathered at established state and local 
air monitoring stations (SLAMS) in the NAA and other available 
information. The EPA's April 23, 2014 memorandum, ``Guidance for 1-Hour 
SO2 Nonattainment Area SIP Submissions,'' states, ``[t]he 
EPA will determine whether or not an SO2 nonattainment area 
has attained the NAAQS based on air quality monitoring data (when 
available) and air quality dispersion modeling information for the 
affected area, and/or a demonstration that the control strategy has 
been fully implemented.'' \7\
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    \7\ Guidance for 1-Hour SO2 Nonattainment Area SIP 
Submissions; EPA, April 23, 2014, can be found at https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2016-06/documents/20140423guidance_nonattainment_sip.pdf.

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[[Page 103821]]

    In the case of the Piti-Cabras area, the relevant three years 
preceding the statutory attainment date are 2020-2022. There are no 
available SO2 monitoring data from the Piti-Cabras 
SO2 NAA in this period, and the only modeling results 
submitted by the Guam Environmental Protection Agency (Guam EPA) were 
the results from the time of designation, which showed violations of 
the NAAQS.\8\ The modeling analysis included the largest sources of 
SO2 emissions in the area and relied upon actual hourly 
emissions rates from 2011-2013. In addition, as noted above, Guam has 
not submitted a modeled attainment demonstration or control strategy 
(via SIP revision) for the NAA.
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    \8\ For designations technical discussions, see EPA's Technical 
Support Document, Chapter 11, Section 3, 6-26, at https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2017-08/documents/11_guam_so2_rd3-final.pdf, available in the docket for this action.
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    In the absence of monitoring data and updated modeling analyses, 
the EPA is evaluating whether the Piti-Cabras area attained the 2010 1-
hour primary SO2 NAAQS by the applicable statutory 
attainment date of April 9, 2023, based on available modeling, 
emissions data, and information concerning control strategy 
implementation.

II. The EPA's Evaluation and Determination

A. Area Characterization

    The Piti-Cabras area is located on the western side of the island 
of Guam, centered on the Piti and Cabras power plants. The Piti 
facility (also referred to as ``MEC'' by Guam), consists of Units 8 and 
9, and the Cabras facility consists of four units (two of which, Cabras 
3 and 4, have ceased operation). These two facilities are the primary 
sources of SO2 in the area. Nearby, the ``TEMES'' power 
plant, commercial marine vessel ports, and the United States Navy 
(``Navy'') marine vessel port are also significant sources of 
SO2.
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    \9\ Id.
    \10\ SO2 NAAQS Designations Modeling Technical 
Assistance Document, EPA, August 2016, available at https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2016-04/documents/so2modelingtad.pdf 
and available in the docket for this action.
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B. Evaluation of SO2 Modeling, Emissions Data, and Control Strategy 
Implementation Information

    First, to determine whether the Piti-Cabras area attained the 
NAAQS, the EPA considered the modeling that was conducted for the 
designation of the Piti-Cabras area as nonattainment. As noted earlier, 
the EPA based the nonattainment designation for the Piti-Cabras area on 
modeling submitted by Guam EPA. In our review of that modeling, as 
documented in the EPA's Technical Support Document (TSD) \9\ 
accompanying the designation, we concluded that the source 
characterization, modeling parameters, and techniques submitted by Guam 
EPA for this designation conformed with the EPA's August 2016 guidance 
document, ``SO2 NAAQS Designations Modeling Technical 
Assistance Document.'' \10\
    The EPA's designation of the Piti-Cabras area relied on the modeled 
SO2 emissions for the years 2011-2013. The Piti, Cabras, and 
TEMES stationary sources, along with marine sources from the commercial 
and Navy ports, were modeled as the largest sources of SO2 
emissions in the Piti-Cabras area. For the stationary sources, 
SO2 emissions are generated by combusting diesel fuel for 
electricity generation. Guam Power Authority (GPA), the owner and 
operator of the Piti, Cabras, and TEMES facilities, compiled the data 
needed to calculate hourly emissions rates for 2011-2013 based on AP-42 
emissions factors and hourly production data for each unit included in 
the modeling. For maritime sources, SO2 emissions are 
generated by fuel combustion from docking and hoteling at the 
commercial and Navy ports. Guam EPA used reports of vessels docking and 
hoteling at the ports and AP-42 emissions factors to calculate hourly 
emissions rates to include in the modeling.
    The peak modeled receptor design value (DV) from the EPA's 
designations TSD is summarized in Table 1. The modeling analysis showed 
that the area was violating the 2010 1-hour primary SO2 
NAAQS based on source emissions from 2011-2013, with a modeled DV of 
585 [micro]g/m\3\, nearly three times the value of the 2010 1-hour 
primary SO2 NAAQS level of 196.4 [micro]g/m\3\ (equivalent 
to 75 ppb).

    Table 1--Summary of 2011-2013 Peak Modeled Receptor 1-Hour SO2 Design Value for the Piti-Cabras Area \a\
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                                                                     99th percentile daily maximum 1-hour SO2
                                                                           concentration ([micro]g/m\3\)
                Averaging period                    Data period  -----------------------------------------------
                                                                     Modeled concentration
                                                                    (including background)        NAAQS level
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99th Percentile 1-hour average..................      2011-2013                         585           \b\ 196.4
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\a\ Retrieved from EPA's Technical Support Document, Chapter 11, Section 3, 6-26, at https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2017-08/documents/11_guam_so2_rd3-final.pdf, available in the docket for this action.
\b\ Equivalent to the 2010 SO2 NAAQS of 75 ppb using 2.619 [micro]g/m\3\ conversion factor.

    We note that, on September 24, 2024, GPA sent the EPA draft 
modeling files intended to support a modeled attainment demonstration 
for the Piti-Cabras area.\11\ The EPA is reviewing these files and 
related information and has not yet determined whether they meet the 
requirements for such a demonstration. However, we note that, even if 
the modeling is found to be technically sound, the emissions limits 
relied upon in that modeling did not take effect under Guam law until 
after the attainment date, as explained later in Section II.B of this 
document. Therefore, the results of this modeling cannot be relied upon 
to determine whether the area attained the NAAQS by the attainment 
date.
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    \11\ See two emails dated September 24, 2024 from Roland T. 
Gutierrez, Environmental Manager, GPA, to Gale Hoffnagle, Senior 
Vice President and Technical Director, TRC Corporation, Subject: 
``SIP Modeling Files,'' and from Gale Hoffnagle to Andrew Ledezma, 
EPA, Subject: ``RE: SIP Modeling Files.msg,'' included in the docket 
for this action.
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    Second, to determine whether the Piti-Cabras area attained the 
NAAQS, the EPA considered annual SO2 emissions trends for 
the most significant SO2 sources in the area using emissions 
inventory information provided by Guam EPA. Table 2 lists the average 
reported actual SO2 emissions for 2011-2013, which were the 
emissions used in the air quality modeling underlying the EPA's 
designation of the area as nonattainment, as well as SO2 
emissions for 2020. While the relevant three-year DV period for the 
April 9, 2023

[[Page 103822]]

attainment date was from 2020-2022, we have only received complete 
actual emissions data for 2020. Therefore, we are considering those 
emissions because this is the most recent, complete emissions inventory 
available based on actual emissions from the 2020-2022 DV time period.

 Table 2--Annual Emissions From SO2 Sources in the Piti-Cabras Area for
      2011-2013 Average Actual Emissions and 2020 Actual Emissions
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                    Actual SO2 emissions (tons per year,
                                                    tpy)
           Facility name           -------------------------------------
                                        2011-2013
                                      (average) \a\         2020 \b\
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cabras............................              8,891              6,816
Piti (MEC)........................              4,828              2,297
TEMES.............................                  2               0.11
Marine Vessels....................                 76                 84
                                   -------------------------------------
    Total \c\.....................             13,797              9,197
------------------------------------------------------------------------
\a\ Actual SO2 emissions retrieved from EPA's Technical Support
  Document, Chapter 11, Section 3, 6-26, at https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2017-08/documents/11_guam_so2_rd3-final.pdf, available
  in the docket for this action.
\b\ Actual SO2 emissions retrieved from Guam EPA's April 2024 draft SIP,
  Appendix A, available in the docket for this action.
\c\ Totals may not be a precise addition of all rows due to rounding.

    These data show that some reductions in SO2 emissions 
did occur prior to the attainment date, as annual emissions from 2020 
were 9,197 tpy, approximately 33 percent lower than the 2011-2013 
average emissions of 13,797 tpy. However, there is no evidence that we 
are aware of to suggest that this level of emissions reductions was 
sufficient to attain the NAAQS given that the modeled 2011-2013 design 
value was 585 [micro]g/m\3\, nearly three times the NAAQS level of 
196.4 [micro]g/m\3\. Although the reduction of 4,600 tpy of emissions 
over this time period likely lowered the design value in 2020-2022, as 
compared with 2011-2013, additional information would be needed to 
determine whether such reductions were sufficient to provide for 
attainment of the NAAQS.
    Third, to determine whether the Piti-Cabras area attained the 
NAAQS, the EPA considered the available information about control 
strategy implementation. On June 30, 2023, the Guam Legislature adopted 
Substitute Bill No. 101-37 (COR), ``An Act to Repeal and Reenact Sec.  
1310 of Article 1, Chapter 1, Title 22 Guam Administrative Rules and 
Regulations, Relative to Adopting Updated Emission Standards For Sulfur 
Oxides From Fuel Combustion to Ensure the Island of Guam Meets the 
National Ambient Air Quality Standards For Sulfur Dioxide Transmitted 
by the Guam Environmental Protection Agency.'' Revised Title 22, 
Section 1310 of the Guam Administrative Rules and Regulations (``Rule 
1310'') sets fuel sulfur content limits of 0.2 percent for Cabras Units 
1 and 2, and 0.0015 percent for all other sources except ocean-going 
vessels. The revised rule took effect on July 12, 2023. Rule 1310 was 
designed as the control strategy for attainment of the 2010 
SO2 NAAQS in the Piti-Cabras area but was not adopted and 
implemented until after the applicable attainment date of April 9, 
2023, indicating that the control strategy that Guam EPA believes is 
needed to attain the NAAQS was not fully implemented by that date. 
Furthermore, we note that, while some of the emissions reductions that 
Guam EPA believes are needed for attainment were required to occur 
earlier under a consent decree between the United States and GPA,\12\ 
following a modification to the consent decree,\13\ the compliance 
dates for several of the controls were revised to July 1, 2022 (for 
Piti Units 8 and 9) and December 31, 2022 (for Cabras Units 1 and 2). 
Given that these dates were near to or at the end of the 2020-2022 DV 
period, there is no evidence that the original modeled violations were 
remedied in time to achieve an attaining design value in the three-year 
2020-2022 period.
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    \12\ D. Guam, Case 1:20-cv-00007, Document 5, Filed 04/20/20.
    \13\ D. Guam, Case 1:20-cv-00007, Document 7, Filed 01/14/22.
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C. Conclusion

    We find that the Piti-Cabras area failed to attain the 2010 1-hour 
primary SO2 NAAQS by the statutory attainment date of April 
9, 2023, based on available modeling, emissions data, and information 
concerning control strategy implementation.
    Under CAA section 179(d), if the EPA determines that an area did 
not attain the NAAQS by the applicable deadline, the responsible air 
agency is required, within one year from the publication date of the 
finding, to submit a revised plan for the area demonstrating attainment 
and containing any additional measures that the EPA may reasonably 
prescribe that can be feasibly implemented in the area in light of 
technological achievability, costs, and any non-air quality and other 
air quality-related health and environmental impacts as required. Under 
CAA section 179(d)(3), such a revised SIP submission is required to 
achieve attainment of the 2010 SO2 NAAQS as expeditiously as 
practicable, but no later than five years from the date of notice of 
the area's failure to attain (i.e., five years after the EPA publishes 
a determination in the Federal Register that the area failed to attain 
the 2010 SO2 NAAQS).
    The EPA anticipates that Guam's submission of a complete 
SO2 attainment plan for the new attainment date in response 
to this finding of failure to attain would also address the Territory's 
existing obligations to submit an attainment plan for the 2010 
SO2 NAAQS.

III. The EPA's Action

    Based on the EPA's review of available evidence described in this 
document, the EPA finds that the Piti-Cabras area failed to attain the 
2010 1-hour primary SO2 NAAQS by the statutory attainment 
date of April 9, 2023. This determination triggers the requirements of 
CAA section 179(d) for the Territory of Guam to submit a revision to 
the Guam SIP for the Piti-Cabras nonattainment area to the EPA within 
one year after publication of this determination in the Federal 
Register. The SIP revision must, among other elements, provide for 
attainment of the 1-hour primary SO2 NAAQS in the Piti-

[[Page 103823]]

Cabras nonattainment area as expeditiously as practicable but no later 
than five years after publication of this determination in the Federal 
Register. This action will not affect the designation status of the 
area, and the Piti-Cabras area will remain designated nonattainment for 
the 2010 SO2 NAAQS until the area meets the requirements of 
the CAA for redesignation and the EPA takes action to redesignate the 
area. This action addresses the EPA's obligation under CAA section 
179(c) to determine if the Piti-Cabras area attained the 2010 1-hour 
SO2 NAAQS by the April 9, 2023 attainment date.

IV. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

A. Executive Order 12866: Regulatory Planning and Review, and Executive 
Order 14094: Modernizing Regulatory Review

    This action is not a ``significant regulatory action'' under the 
terms of Executive Order 12866 (58 FR 51735, October 4, 1993) and is 
therefore not subject to review under Executive Order 14094 (88 FR 
21879, April 11, 2023).

B. Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA)

    This action does not impose an information collection burden under 
the provisions of the PRA of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.). This action 
does not contain any information collection activities and serves only 
to make a determination that the Piti-Cabras nonattainment area failed 
to attain the 2010 SO2 primary standard by the April 9, 2023 
attainment date.

C. Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA)

    I certify that this action will not have a significant economic 
impact on a substantial number of small entities under the RFA (5 
U.S.C. 601 et seq.). This action will not impose any requirements on 
small entities. The determination of failure to attain the 2010 1-hour 
primary SO2 NAAQS, does not create any new requirements 
beyond what is mandated by the CAA.

D. Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA)

    This action does not contain any unfunded mandate as described in 
UMRA, 2 U.S.C. 1531-1538 and does not significantly or uniquely affect 
small governments. The action imposes no enforceable duty on any state, 
local or tribal governments or the private sector.

E. Executive Order 13132: Federalism

    This action does not have federalism implications. It 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. The 
division of responsibility between the Federal government and the 
states for purposes of implementing the NAAQS is established under the 
CAA.

F. Executive Order 13175: Consultation and Coordination With Indian 
Tribal Governments

    Executive Order 13175 (65 FR 67249, November 9, 2000), requires the 
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 action does not have Tribal 
implications as specified in Executive Order 13175. This action does 
not apply on any Indian reservation land, any other area where EPA or 
an Indian tribe has demonstrated that a Tribe has jurisdiction, or non-
reservation areas of Indian country. Thus, Executive Order 13175 does 
not apply to this action.

G. Executive Order 13045: Protection of Children From Environmental 
Health and Safety Risks

    The EPA interprets Executive Order 13045 (62 FR 19885, April 23, 
1997) as applying to those regulatory actions that concern 
environmental health or safety risks that the EPA has reason to believe 
may disproportionately affect children, per the definition of ``covered 
regulatory action'' in section 2-202 of the Executive Order. This 
action is not subject to Executive Order 13045 because it does not 
establish an environmental standard intended to mitigate health or 
safety risks.

H. Executive Order 13211: Actions That Significantly Affect Energy 
Supply, Distribution, or Use

    This action is not subject to Executive Order 13211 (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 (NTTAA)

    This action does not involve technical standards. Therefore, the 
EPA is not considering the use of any voluntary consensus standards.

J. Executive Order 12898: Federal Actions To Address Environmental 
Justice in Minority Populations and Low-Income Populations

    Executive Order 12898 (Federal Actions To Address Environmental 
Justice in Minority Populations and Low-Income Populations, 59 FR 7629, 
February 16, 1994) directs Federal agencies to identify and address 
``disproportionately high and adverse human health or environmental 
effects'' of their actions on communities with environmental justice 
(EJ) concerns to the greatest extent practicable and permitted by law. 
The EPA defines EJ as ``the fair treatment and meaningful involvement 
of all people regardless of race, color, national origin, or income 
with respect to the development, implementation, and enforcement of 
environmental laws, regulations, and policies.'' The EPA further 
defines the term fair treatment to mean that ``no group of people 
should bear a disproportionate burden of environmental harms and risks, 
including those resulting from the negative environmental consequences 
of industrial, governmental, and commercial operations or programs and 
policies.''
    The EPA did not perform an EJ analysis and did not consider EJ in 
this action. Due to the nature of the action being taken here, this 
action is expected to have a neutral to positive impact on the air 
quality of the affected area. Consideration of EJ is not required as 
part of this action, and there is no information in the record 
inconsistent with the stated goal of E.O. 12898 of achieving 
environmental justice for communities with EJ concerns.

K. Congressional Review Act

    This action is not a rule and is therefore not subject to the CRA. 
The action is an informal adjudication dealing with the application of 
specific facts to preestablished discernible criteria.

L. Judicial Review

    Under section 307(b)(1) of the CAA, petitions for judicial review 
of this action must be filed in the United States Court of Appeals for 
the appropriate circuit by February 18, 2025. Filing a petition for 
reconsideration by the Administrator of this action does not affect the 
finality of this action for the purposes of judicial review nor does it 
extend the time within which a petition for judicial review may be 
filed, and shall not postpone the effectiveness of this action. This 
action may not be challenged later in proceedings to enforce its 
requirements. (See section 307(b)(2).)

    Dated: December 10, 2024.
Martha Guzman Aceves,
Regional Administrator, Region IX.
[FR Doc. 2024-29507 Filed 12-18-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P
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