[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 89 (Monday, May 9, 2022)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 27521-27524]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-09703]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[EPA-R04-OAR-2021-0062; FRL-9504-02-R4]


Air Plan Approval; NC; Great Smoky Mountains National Park, 
Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill and Rocky Mount Areas Limited Maintenance 
Plans for the 1997 8-Hour Ozone NAAQS

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is taking final 
action to approve state implementation plan (SIP) revisions submitted 
by the State of North Carolina, through the North Carolina Department 
of Environment and Natural Resources, Division of Air Quality (NCDAQ), 
in a letter dated September 22, 2020. The SIP revisions include the 
1997 8-hour ozone national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS) 
Limited Maintenance Plans (LMPs) for the Great Smoky Mountains National 
Park (GSMNP), Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill (Triangle) and Rocky Mount, 
North Carolina Areas (collectively, ``Areas''). EPA is finalizing 
approval of the LMPs for the Areas because each LMP provides for the 
maintenance of the 1997 8-hour ozone NAAQS within each of the Areas 
through the end of the second 10-year portion of the maintenance 
period. This action makes certain commitments related to maintenance of 
the 1997 8-hour ozone NAAQS in the Areas federally-enforceable as part 
of the North Carolina SIP.

DATES: This rule is effective June 8, 2022.

ADDRESSES: EPA has established a docket for this action under Docket 
Identification No. EPA-R04-OAR-2021-0062. All documents in the docket 
are listed on the www.regulations.gov website. Although listed in the 
index, some information may not be publicly available, i.e., 
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 either electronically through www.regulations.gov or in hard 
copy at the Air Regulatory Management Section, Air Planning and 
Implementation

[[Page 27522]]

Branch, Air and Radiation Division, U.S. Environmental Protection 
Agency, Region 4, 61 Forsyth Street SW, Atlanta, Georgia 30303-8960. 
EPA requests that if at all possible, you contact the person listed in 
the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section to schedule your 
inspection. The Regional Office's official hours of business are Monday 
through Friday 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., excluding Federal holidays.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dianna Myers, Air Regulatory 
Management Section, Air Planning and Implementation Branch, Air and 
Radiation Division, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 4, 61 
Forsyth Street SW, Atlanta, Georgia 30303-8960. The telephone number is 
(404) 562-9207. Ms. Myers can also be reached via electronic mail at 
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#761b0f13040558121f171818173613061758111900"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="92ffebf7e0e1bcf6fbf3fcfcf3d2f7e2f3bcf5fde4">[email protected]</span></a>.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

    In accordance with the Clean Air Act (CAA or Act), EPA is approving 
the Areas' LMPs for the 1997 8-hour ozone NAAQS, adopted and submitted 
by NCDAQ as revisions to the North Carolina SIP on September 22, 2020. 
On April 15, 2004, EPA published a final rule designating the GSMNP, 
Triangle and Rocky Mount Areas nonattainment for the 1997 8-hour ozone 
NAAQS.\1\ The GSMNP nonattainment area included portions of Haywood and 
Swain Counties. The Triangle nonattainment area included Durham, 
Franklin, Granville, Johnston, Orange, Person and Wake Counties in 
their entirety and the Townships of Baldwin, Center, New Hope and 
Williams in Chatham County. The Rocky Mount nonattainment area included 
Edgecombe and Nash Counties in their entirety. Subsequently, EPA 
approved the maintenance plans for the GSMNP, Triangle and Rocky Mount 
Areas and redesignated the Areas to attainment for the 1997 8-hour 
ozone NAAQS.\2\
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    \1\ See 69 FR 23857.
    \2\ See 74 FR 63995 (December 7, 2009), 72 FR 72948 (December 
26, 2007), and 71 FR 64891 (November 6, 2006).
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    The Areas' LMPs for the 1997 8-hour ozone NAAQS, submitted by NCDAQ 
on September 22, 2020, are designed to maintain the 1997 8-hour ozone 
NAAQS within the GSMNP, Triangle and Rocky Mount Areas through the end 
of the second 10-year portion of the maintenance period beyond 
redesignation. As a general matter, the Areas' LMPs rely on the same 
control measures and relevant contingency provisions to maintain the 
1997 8-hour ozone NAAQS during the second 10-year portion of the 
maintenance period as the maintenance plan submitted by NCDAQ for the 
first 10-year period.
    In a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM), published on February 
11, 2022 (87 FR 7970), EPA proposed to approve the Areas' LMPs because 
the State made a showing, consistent with EPA's prior LMP guidance, 
that the GSMNP, Triangle and Rocky Mount 1997 8-hour NAAQS Areas' ozone 
concentrations are well below the 1997 8-hour ozone NAAQS and have been 
historically stable and that it met the other maintenance plan 
requirements. The details of North Carolina's submission and the 
rationale for EPA's action are explained further in the February 11, 
2022, NPRM. Comments on the February 11, 2022, NPRM were due on or 
before March 14, 2022.

II. Response to Comments

    One Commenter provided two separate comments on the February 11, 
2022, NPRM. EPA's responses to those comments are provided below.
    Comment 1: The Commenter indicates that North Carolina's SIP 
submissions and EPA's proposed approval are reliant on emissions from 
North Carolina's vehicle inspection and maintenance (I/M) program. 
Specifically, the Commenter expresses concerns about the effectiveness 
of the I/M program, citing expired tags, which the Commenter asserts 
indicate lapsed inspections and taxes to support highway safety 
measures.
    Response 1: Neither of the maintenance plans for GSMNP and Rocky 
Mount are reliant on emission reductions from North Carolina's I/M 
program, so the comment is not applicable to this action as it relates 
to those areas. No county in the GSMNP and Rocky Mount Areas is subject 
to the North Carolina I/M program, and in a previous action, EPA 
approved a SIP revision which removed the applicable counties in the 
GSMNP and Rocky Mount Areas from North Carolina's I/M program on the 
basis that the emissions reductions from the program in these counties 
were not necessary to attain or maintain the NAAQS or meet any other 
applicable requirement of the CAA.\3\ See 83 FR 48383 (September 25, 
2018).
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    \3\ Swain County in the GSMNP area was never subject to North 
Carolina's I/M program.
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    With regards to the Triangle Area, the maintenance plan is 
partially reliant on emission reductions from North Carolina's I/M 
program. As mentioned above, the Triangle Area includes Durham, 
Franklin, Granville, Johnston, Orange, Person and Wake Counties in 
their entirety and the Townships of Baldwin, Center, New Hope and 
Williams in Chatham County. Person County was never subject to North 
Carolina's I/M program, and thus, no emissions reductions from Person 
County related to North Carolina's I/M program were ever relied on in 
North Carolina's maintenance plan for the Triangle. Additionally, in 
the aforementioned September 25, 2018 action, EPA approved a SIP 
revision removing Chatham, Granville and Orange Counties in the 
Triangle Area from North Carolina's I/M program, finding that emission 
reductions from North Carolina's I/M programs were not needed from 
Chatham (which includes the Townships of Baldwin, Center, New Hope, and 
Williams), Granville and Orange Counties in the Triangle Area for that 
Area to stay in attainment and show continued maintenance for the 
NAAQS. See 83 FR 48383. Durham, Franklin, Johnston and Wake Counties 
are still subject to North Carolina's I/M program, and in a recent 
action, EPA approved a SIP revision from North Carolina to change the 
model year coverage for vehicles subject to North Carolina's I/M 
program. See 84 FR 47889 (September 11, 2019). In that action, EPA 
affirmed that the change to the model year coverage for vehicles in the 
applicable counites in the Triangle Area would not interfere with NAAQS 
compliance.
    While EPA appreciates the Commenter's concerns related to possible 
expired tags, this is an enforcement and compliance issue, and expired 
tags alone are not indicative of the Triangle Area not being in overall 
compliance with the NAAQS. Ambient air monitoring is the tool that EPA 
uses to determine ongoing compliance with the NAAQS in this Area. 
Currently, the Triangle Area is in compliance for all NAAQS, and has 
been in compliance with all NAAQS for the past several years. EPA also 
notes that EPA's SIP authority does not extend to requiring taxes to 
support highway safety measures, so this concern is not relevant to 
EPA's action.
    Comment 2: The Commenter appears to indicate that monitors in Wake 
County are not sited correctly to measure ambient air quality in the 
County, and therefore, do not provide adequate data to support EPA's 
action. Specifically, the Commenter questions the placement of the 
monitors, the sufficiency of the data that is collected, and the 
methods used to collect the data. In support of these assertions, the 
Commenter compares the Town of Fuquay Varina, metropolitan downtown 
Raleigh, and Durham (``the State Capital''). The Commenter also asserts 
that projects may have been

[[Page 27523]]

``intentionally steered clear'' of monitors ``to provide an unrealistic 
picture of Wake County air degradation.''
    Response 2: EPA disagrees with the Commenter's assertion that the 
monitors in Wake County are not sited appropriately to collect 
sufficient data to determine compliance with the NAAQS and support 
EPA's action. By regulation, states are required annually to submit 
monitoring network plans to provide their strategies for measuring 
ambient air quality statewide. EPA reviews these air monitoring network 
plans and makes determinations as to whether the plans are consistent 
with EPA's monitoring requirements at 40 CFR part 58. EPA last approved 
North Carolina's monitoring network plan on October 27, 2021, and made 
the determination (among other determinations) that North Carolina's 
monitoring network is adequate to measure ambient air quality for ozone 
statewide, including in Wake County.\4\ As discussed in the NPRM, the 
LMPs for the Areas contain the State's commitment to continue to 
maintain a monitoring network in accordance with EPA requirements.
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    \4\ EPA's approval letter for North Carolina's monitoring 
network is included in the docket for this final rulemaking.
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    Further, EPA is not clear on the Commenter's assertion that 
projects may have been ``intentionally steered clear'' of monitors ``to 
provide an unrealistic picture of Wake County air degradation,'' and 
how this relates to air quality in the County. Notably, ozone is not 
directly emitted but instead is formed in the atmosphere under certain 
conditions with a mix of precursors, so it would not be possible for 
projects to be ``intentionally steered clear'' of ozone monitors to 
hypothetically manipulate air quality in the Area. In addition, the 
Commenter does not provide any technical information to support the 
assertions that ambient air quality monitoring in Wake County is not 
adequate.

III. Final Action

    EPA is taking final action to approve the GSMNP, Triangle and Rocky 
Mount LMPs for the 1997 8-hour ozone NAAQS, submitted by NCDAQ on 
September 22, 2020, as revisions to the North Carolina SIP. EPA is 
approving the Areas' LMPs because each LMP includes an sufficient 
update of various elements of the 1997 8-hour ozone NAAQS Maintenance 
Plans approved by EPA for the first 10-year period (including emissions 
inventory, assurance of adequate monitoring and verification of 
continued attainment, and contingency provisions), and retains the 
relevant provisions of the SIP under sections 110(k) and 175A of the 
CAA.
    EPA also finds that the Areas qualify for the LMP option and that 
the Areas' LMPs are sufficient to provide for maintenance of the 1997 
8-hour ozone NAAQS in the Areas over the second 10-year maintenance 
period (i.e., through January 6, 2030 for the GSMNP Area, through 
January 5, 2027, for the Rocky Mount Area, and through December 26, 
2027, for the Triangle Area).

IV. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

    Under the CAA, the Administrator is required to approve a SIP 
submission that complies with the provisions of the Act and applicable 
Federal regulations. See 42 U.S.C. 7410(k); 40 CFR 52.02(a). Thus, in 
reviewing SIP submissions, EPA's role is to approve state choices, 
provided that they meet the criteria of the CAA. These actions merely 
approve state law as meeting Federal requirements and do not impose 
additional requirements beyond those imposed by state law. For that 
reason, these actions:
    <bullet> Are not significant regulatory actions subject to review 
by the Office of Management and Budget under Executive Orders 12866 (58 
FR 51735, October 4, 1993) and 13563 (76 FR 3821, January 21, 2011);
    <bullet> Do not impose information collection burdens under the 
provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.);
    <bullet> Are certified as not having significant economic impacts 
on a substantial number of small entities under the Regulatory 
Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 601 et seq.);
    <bullet> Do not contain any unfunded mandates or significantly or 
uniquely affect small governments, as described in the Unfunded 
Mandates Reform Act of 1995 (Pub. L. 104-4);
    <bullet> Do not have federalism implications as specified in 
Executive Order 13132 (64 FR 43255, August 10, 1999);
    <bullet> Are not economically significant regulatory actions based 
on health or safety risks subject to Executive Order 13045 (62 FR 
19885, April 23, 1997);
    <bullet> Are not significant regulatory actions subject to 
Executive Order 13211 (66 FR 28355, May 22, 2001);
    <bullet> Are 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
    <bullet> Do 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).
    These SIP revisions are not approved to apply on any Indian 
reservation land or in any other area where EPA or an Indian tribe has 
demonstrated that a tribe has jurisdiction. In those areas of Indian 
country, the rule does not have tribal implications as specified by 
Executive Order 13175 (65 FR 67249, November 9, 2000), nor will it 
impose substantial direct costs on tribal governments or preempt tribal 
law.
    The Congressional Review Act, 5 U.S.C. 801 et seq., as added by the 
Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996, generally 
provides that before a rule may take effect, the agency promulgating 
the rule must submit a rule report, which includes a copy of the rule, 
to each House of the Congress and to the Comptroller General of the 
United States. EPA will submit a report containing these actions and 
other required information to the U.S. Senate, the U.S. House of 
Representatives, and the Comptroller General of the United States prior 
to publication of the rule in the Federal Register. A major rule cannot 
take effect until 60 days after it is published in the Federal 
Register. These actions are not a ``major rule'' as defined by 5 U.S.C. 
804(2).
    Under section 307(b)(1) of the CAA, petitions for judicial review 
of these actions must be filed in the United States Court of Appeals 
for the appropriate circuit by July 8, 2022. Filing a petition for 
reconsideration by the Administrator of this final rule 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 such rule or 
action. These actions may not be challenged later in proceedings to 
enforce their requirements. See section 307(b)(2).

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 52

    Environmental protection, Air pollution control, Incorporation by 
reference, Intergovernmental relations, Nitrogen oxides, Ozone, 
Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, Volatile organic compounds.


[[Page 27524]]


    Dated: April 29, 2022.
Daniel Blackman,
Regional Administrator, Region 4.

    For the reasons stated in the preamble, EPA amends 40 CFR part 52 
as follows:

PART 52--APPROVAL AND PROMULGATION OF IMPLEMENTATION PLANS

0
1. The authority citation for part 52 continues to read as follows:

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

Subpart II--North Carolina

0
2. In Sec.  52.1770(e), amend the table by adding an entry for ``1997 
8-hour Ozone NAAQS 2nd Maintenance Plans (Limited Maintenance Plans) 
for the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Raleigh-Durham-Chapel 
Hill, and Rocky Mount, North Carolina Areas'' at the end of the table 
to read as follows:


Sec.  52.1770   Identification of plan.

* * * * *
    (e) * * *

                              EPA-Approved North Carolina Non-Regulatory Provisions
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                                        State       EPA approval     Federal Register
            Provision              effective date       date             citation              Explanation
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                                                   * * * * * *
1997 8-hour Ozone NAAQS 2nd             9/22/2020        5/9/2022  [Insert citation of  ........................
 Maintenance Plans (Limited                                         publication].
 Maintenance Plans) for the Great
 Smoky Mountains National Park,
 Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill, and
 Rocky Mount, North Carolina
 Areas.
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[FR Doc. 2022-09703 Filed 5-6-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P


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