30204 Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 107 / Monday, June 7, 2021 / Rules and Regulations 

1 73 FR 16436 (March 27, 2008). 

2Throughout this document and in our final rule, 

we use the term ‘‘Severe’’ to refer to Severe areas 

that have up to 15 years to attain the ozone 

standards. The ozone area designation tables in 40 

CFR part 81 specify ‘‘Severe-15’’ to distinguish such 

areas from ‘‘Severe-17’’ areas, which are Severe 

areas that have up to 17 years to attain the ozone 

standards. 

3For the 2008 ozone NAAQS, the design value at 

each monitoring site is the annual fourth-highest 

daily maximum 8-hour average ozone 

concentration, averaged over three years. The 

design value for an area is the highest design value 

among the monitoring sites. 

4 Kern County is located in the southern-most 

portion of California’s Central Valley. The western 

portion of Kern County is part of the San Joaquin 

Valley air basin and is included within the San 

Joaquin Valley ozone nonattainment area. The 

eastern portion of Kern County is part of the Mojave 

Desert air basin. The Eastern Kern ozone 

nonattainment area covers the eastern portion of the 

county excluding Indian Wells Valley. For more 

detail on the boundaries of the Eastern Kern ozone 

nonattainment area, see the 2008 ozone table in 40 

CFR 81.305. 

5 77 FR 30088 (May 21, 2012). 

6 81 FR 26697 (May 4, 2016). 

7 83 FR 31334 (July 5, 2018). 

8Letter dated May 15, 2021, from Richard W. 

Corey, Executive Officer, CARB, to Deborah Jordan, 

Acting Regional Administrator, EPA Region IX. In 

the letter, CARB also requests reclassification of 

Eastern Kern to Serious for the 2015 ozone NAAQS. 

The EPA will take action on the reclassification 

request with respect to the 2015 ozone NAAQS in 

a separate rulemaking. 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

40 CFR Part 81 

[EPA–R09–OAR–2021–0340; FRL–10024– 

58–Region 9] 

Designation of Areas for Air Quality 

Planning Purposes; California; Eastern 

Kern Ozone Nonattainment Area; 

Reclassification to Severe 

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA). 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: Under the Clean Air Act 

(CAA), the Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA) is granting a request by 

the California Air Resources Board 

(CARB) to reclassify the Eastern Kern, 

California (‘‘Eastern Kern’’) ozone 

nonattainment area from ‘‘Serious’’ to 

‘‘Severe’’ for the 2008 ozone national 

ambient air quality standard (NAAQS). 

DATES: This rule is effective on July 7, 

2021. 

ADDRESSES: The EPA has established a 

docket for this action under Docket ID 

No. EPA–R09–OAR–2021–0340. 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 (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 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 

disabilities 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: Ben 

Leers, Air Planning Office (AIR–2), EPA 

Region IX, (415) 947–4279, 

Leers.Benjamin@epa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

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

and ‘‘our’’ refer to the EPA. 

I. Reclassification of Eastern Kern to 

Severe Ozone Nonattainment 

In March 2008, the EPA strengthened 

the primary and secondary eight-hour 

ozone NAAQS from 0.08 parts per 

million (ppm) to 0.075 ppm (‘‘2008 

ozone NAAQS’’).1 In accordance with 

section 107(d) of the CAA, the EPA 

must designate an area ‘‘nonattainment’’ 

if it is violating the NAAQS or if it is 

contributing to a violation of the 

NAAQS in a nearby area. With respect 

to the ozone NAAQS, the EPA further 

classifies nonattainment areas as 

‘‘Marginal,’’ ‘‘Moderate,’’ ‘‘Serious,’’ 

‘‘Severe,’’ 2 or ‘‘Extreme,’’ depending 

upon the ozone design value for an 

area.3 See CAA section 181(a)(1). As a 

general matter, higher classified ozone 

nonattainment areas are subject to a 

greater number of, and more stringent, 

CAA planning requirements than lower 

classified areas but are allowed more 

time to attain the ozone NAAQS. See, 

generally, subpart 2 of part D of title I 

of the CAA. 

Effective July 20, 2012, the EPA 

designated and classified the Eastern 

Kern 4 area under the CAA as Marginal 

nonattainment for the 2008 ozone 

NAAQS.5 The EPA’s classification of 

the Eastern Kern area as a Marginal 

ozone nonattainment area established a 

requirement that the area attain the 2008 

ozone NAAQS as expeditiously as 

practicable, but no later than three years 

from the date of designation as 

nonattainment, i.e., July 20, 2015. Under 

CAA section 181(b)(2), the EPA is 

required to determine whether an area 

attained the ozone NAAQS by the 

applicable attainment date. In May 

2016, the EPA found that Eastern Kern 

failed to attain the 2008 ozone NAAQS 

by the July 20, 2015 Marginal 

attainment date and reclassified the area 

as Moderate for the 2008 ozone NAAQS 

with a new maximum attainment date of 

July 20, 2018.6

On October 25, 2017, CARB submitted 

the ‘‘Eastern Kern Air Pollution Control 

District 2017 Ozone Attainment Plan for 

the Federal 75 ppb 8-Hour Ozone 

Standard’’ (‘‘the Eastern Kern 2017 

Ozone Plan’’). The Eastern Kern 2017 

Ozone Plan includes a request for 

voluntary reclassification of the Eastern 

Kern ozone nonattainment area from 

Moderate to Serious. Effective August 6, 

2018, the EPA granted CARB’s request 

and reclassified the Eastern Kern ozone 

nonattainment area as Serious for the 

2008 ozone NAAQS with a new 

maximum attainment date of July 20, 

2021.7 By letter dated May 15, 2021, 

CARB submitted a request from the 

Eastern Kern Air Pollution Control 

District to the EPA to voluntarily 

reclassify the Eastern Kern ozone 

nonattainment area from Serious to 

Severe for the 2008 ozone NAAQS.8

Consistent with CAA section 

181(b)(3), we are granting California’s 

request and reclassifying the Eastern 

Kern area from Serious to Severe 

nonattainment for the 2008 ozone 

NAAQS. CAA section 181(b)(3) 

provides for ‘‘voluntary reclassification’’ 

and states: ‘‘The Administrator shall 

grant the request of any State to 

reclassify a nonattainment area in that 

State in accordance with table 1 of 

subsection (a) of this section to a higher 

classification. The Administrator shall 

publish a notice in the Federal Register 

of any such request and of action by the 

Administrator granting the request.’’ 

Under 40 CFR 51.1103(b), a state ‘‘may 

request, and the Administrator must 

approve, a higher classification for any 

reason in accordance with CAA section 

181(b)(3)’’ and 40 CFR 51.1103(a), Table 

1. The EPA is therefore granting CARB’s 

request for voluntary reclassification 

under section 181(b)(3) for the Eastern 

Kern ozone nonattainment area, and the 

EPA is reclassifying the area from 

Serious to Severe for the 2008 ozone 

NAAQS. In the Proposed Rules section 

of this Federal Register, the EPA is 

proposing a schedule for CARB to 

submit the plan elements for a Severe 

ozone nonattainment area. 


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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 107 / Monday, June 7, 2021 / Rules and Regulations 30205 

As a result of this action, the Eastern 

Kern ozone nonattainment area must 

attain the 2008 ozone NAAQS as 

expeditiously as practicable, but no later 

than fifteen years from the effective date 

of designation as nonattainment, i.e., no 

later than July 20, 2027. 

The EPA has determined this action 

falls under the ‘‘good cause’’ exemption 

in section 553(b)(3)(B) of the 

Administrative Procedure Act which, 

upon finding ‘‘good cause,’’ authorizes 

agencies to dispense with public 

participation where public notice and 

comment procedures are 

‘‘impracticable, unnecessary or contrary 

to the public interest.’’ The EPA has 

determined that public notice and 

comment for today’s action is 

unnecessary because our action to 

approve voluntary reclassification 

requests under CAA section 181(b)(3) is 

nondiscretionary both in its issuance 

and in its content. As such, notice and 

comment rulemaking procedures would 

serve no useful purpose. 

II. Statutory and Executive Order 

Reviews 

Under Executive Orders 12866 (58 FR 

51735, October 4, 1993) and 13563 (76 

FR 3821, January 21, 2011), this final 

action is not a ‘‘significant regulatory 

action’’ and therefore is not subject to 

Executive Order 12866. With respect to 

lands under state jurisdiction, voluntary 

reclassifications under CAA section 

181(b)(3) of the CAA are based solely 

upon requests by the state, and the EPA 

is required under the CAA to grant 

them. These actions do not, in and of 

themselves, impose any new 

requirements on any sectors of the 

economy. In addition, because the 

statutory requirements are clearly 

defined with respect to the differently 

classified areas, and because those 

requirements are automatically triggered 

by reclassification, reclassification does 

not impose a materially adverse impact 

under Executive Order 12866. For these 

reasons, this final action is also not 

subject to Executive Order 13211, 

‘‘Actions Concerning Regulations That 

Significantly Affect Energy Supply, 

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

22, 2001). 

In addition, I certify that this final 

rule will not have a significant 

economic impact on a substantial 

number of small entities under the 

Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 601 

et seq.) and that this final rule 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), because the EPA is 

required to grant requests by states for 

voluntary reclassifications and such 

reclassifications in and of themselves do 

not impose any federal 

intergovernmental mandate, and 

because tribes are not subject to 

implementation plan submittal 

deadlines that apply to states as a result 

of reclassifications. 

This rule also does not have tribal 

implications because it will not have a 

substantial direct effect on one or more 

Indian tribes, 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, as 

specified by Executive Order 13175 (65 

FR 67249, November 9, 2000). There are 

no Indian reservation lands or other 

areas where the EPA or an Indian tribe 

has demonstrated that a tribe has 

jurisdiction within the Eastern Kern 

ozone nonattainment area, and thus, 

this reclassification action does not have 

tribal implications and will not impose 

substantial direct costs on tribal 

governments or preempt tribal law as 

specified by Executive Order 13175. 

Executive Order 12898 (59 FR 7629, 

February 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. This 

reclassification action does not provide 

the EPA with the discretionary authority 

to address disproportionate human 

health or environmental effects with 

practical, appropriate, and legally 

permissible methods under Executive 

Order 12898. 

This final action also does not have 

federalism implications because it does 

not have substantial direct effects on the 

states, on the relationship between the 

national government and the states, nor 

on the distribution of power and 

responsibilities among the various 

levels of government, as specified in 

Executive Order 13132 (64 FR 43255, 

August 10, 1999). This final action does 

not alter the relationship or the 

distribution of power and 

responsibilities established in the CAA. 

This rule also is not subject to 

Executive Order 13045, ‘‘Protection of 

Children from Environmental Health 

Risks and Safety Risks’’ (62 FR 19885, 

April 23, 1997), because the EPA 

interprets Executive Order 13045 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. 

Reclassification actions do not 

involve technical standards and thus, 

the requirements of section 12(d) of the 

National Technology Transfer and 

Advancement Act of 1995 (15 U.S.C. 

272 note) do not apply. This rule does 

not impose an information collection 

burden under the provisions of the 

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 

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

The Congressional Review Act (CRA), 

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. The EPA will 

submit a rule report to each House of 

the Congress and to 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. This action is not a 

‘‘major rule’’ as defined by 5 U.S.C. 

804(2). 

Under section 307(b)(1) of the Clean 

Air Act, petitions for judicial review of 

this action must be filed in the United 

States Court of Appeals for the 

appropriate circuit by August 6, 2021. 

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. This action may 

not be challenged later in proceedings to 

enforce its requirements. (See section 

307(b)(2).) 

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 81 

Environmental protection, Air 

pollution control, Intergovernmental 

relations, National parks, Ozone, 

Wilderness areas. 

Dated: May 27, 2021. 

Deborah Jordan, 

Acting Regional Administrator, Region IX. 

For the reasons stated in the 

preamble, the EPA amends part 81, 

chapter I, title 40 of the Code of Federal 

Regulations as follows: 


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30206 Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 107 / Monday, June 7, 2021 / Rules and Regulations 

PART 81—DESIGNATION OF AREAS 

FOR AIR QUALITY PLANNING 

PURPOSES 

■ 1. The authority citation for part 81 

continues to read as follows: 

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

Subpart C—Section 107 Attainment 

Status Designations 

■ 2. In § 81.305, the table entitled 

‘‘California—2008 8-Hour Ozone 

NAAQS [Primary and Secondary]’’ is 

amended by revising the entry for ‘‘Kern 

County (Eastern Kern), CA’’ to read as 

follows: 

§ 81.305 California. 

* * * * * 

CALIFORNIA–2008 8-HOUR OZONE NAAQS 

[Primary and secondary] 

Designated area 

Designation Classification 

Date 1 Type Date 1 Type 

* * * * * * * 

Kern County (Eastern Kern), CA: 2 ........................... Nonattainment .. July 7, 2021 ...... Severe-15. 

Kern County (part): 

That portion of Kern County (with the exception of that portion in Hydrologic Unit Number 18090205—the Indian 

Wells Valley) east and south of a line described as follows: Beginning at the Kern-Los Angeles County boundary and running north and east along the northwest 

boundary of the Rancho La Liebre Land Grant to the 

point of intersection with the range line common to 

Range 16 West and Range 17 West, San Bernardino 

Base and Meridian; north along the range line to the 

point of intersection with the Rancho El Tejon Land Grant 

boundary; then southeast, northeast, and northwest along 

the boundary of the Rancho El Tejon Grant to the northwest corner of Section 3, Township 11 North, Range 17 

West; then west 1.2 miles; then north to the Rancho El 

Tejon Land Grant boundary; then northwest along the 

Rancho El Tejon line to the southeast corner of Section 

34, Township 32 South, Range 30 East, Mount Diablo 

Base and Meridian; then north to the northwest corner of 

Section 35, Township 31 South, Range 30 East; then 

northeast along the boundary of the Rancho El Tejon 

Land Grant to the southwest corner of Section 18, Township 31 South, Range 31 East; then east to the southeast 

corner of Section 13, Township 31 South, Range 31 

East; then north along the range line common to Range 

31 East and Range 32 East, Mount Diablo Base and Meridian, to the northwest corner of Section 6, Township 29 

South, Range 32 East; then east to the southwest corner 

of Section 31, Township 28 South, Range 32 East; then 

north along the range line common to Range 31 East and 

Range 32 East to the northwest corner of Section 6, 

Township 28 South, Range 32 East, then west to the 

southeast corner of Section 36, Township 27 South, 

Range 31 East, then north along the range line common 

to Range 31 East and Range 32 East to the Kern-Tulare 

County boundary. 

* * * * * * * * 

1This date is July 20, 2012, unless otherwise noted. 

2Excludes Indian country located in each area, unless otherwise noted. 

[FR Doc. 2021–11704 Filed 6–4–21; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

40 CFR Part 180 

[EPA–HQ–OPP–2021–0138; FRL–10023–34] 

Cellulose, Ethyl Ether; Exemption 

From the Requirement of a Tolerance 

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA). 

ACTION: Final rule. 

SUMMARY: This regulation establishes an 

exemption from the requirement of a 

tolerance for residues of cellulose, ethyl 

ether; number average molecular weight 

13,000 Daltons when used as an inert 

ingredient in a pesticide chemical 

formulation. Exponent, Inc. on behalf of 

Nutrition & Biosciences USA 1, LLC, 

formerly DDP Specialty Electronic 

Materials US, Inc. submitted a petition 

to EPA under the Federal Food, Drug, 

and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA), requesting 

an exemption from the requirement of a 


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