[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 127 (Monday, July 1, 1996)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 33879-33881]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-16670]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 81

[WA 54-7127; FRL-5529-9]


Clean Air Act Reclassification; Spokane, Washington Carbon 
Monoxide Nonattainment Area

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Proposed rule.

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SUMMARY: EPA proposes to find that the Spokane, Washington carbon 
monoxide (CO) nonattainment area has not attained the CO national 
ambient air quality standard (NAAQS) by the Clean Air Act (CAA) 
mandated attainment date for moderate nonattainment areas, December 31, 
1995. This proposed finding is based on EPA's review of monitored air 
quality data for compliance with the CO NAAQS. If EPA takes final 
action on this proposed finding, the Spokane CO nonattainment area will 
be reclassified by operation of law as a serious nonattainment area. 
The intended effect of such a reclassification would be to allow the 
State additional time to submit a new State implementation plan (SIP) 
providing for attainment of the CO NAAQS by no later than December 31, 
2000, the CAA attainment deadline for serious CO areas.

DATES: Written comments on this proposal must be received by July 31, 
1996.

ADDRESSES: Written comments should be sent to: Montel Livingston, SIP 
Manager, Office of Air Quality, M/S OAQ-107, EPA Region 10, Docket #54-
7127, 1200 Sixth Avenue, Seattle, Washington 98101. The rulemaking 
docket for this notice is available for public review during normal 
business hours at the following location: EPA, Region 10, Office of Air 
Quality, M/S OAQ-107, 1200 Sixth Avenue, Seattle, Washington 98101. 
Copies of the docket are also available at the Washington Department of 
Ecology, Attention Tami Dahlgren, Olympia, Washington 98504-7600, 
telephone (360) 407-6830; and at the Spokane County Air Pollution 
Control Authority, West 1101 College, Suite 403, Spokane, Washington 
99201, telephone (509) 456-4727.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: William M. Hedgebeth of the EPA Region 
10 Office of Air Quality, (206) 553-7369.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

A. CAA Requirements and EPA Actions Concerning Designation and 
Classifications

    The CAA Amendments of 1990 (CAAA) were enacted on November 15, 
1990. Under section 107(d)(1)(C) of the CAA, each carbon monoxide (CO) 
area designated nonattainment prior to enactment of the 1990 
Amendments, such as the Spokane area, was designated nonattainment by 
operation of law upon enactment of the 1990 Amendments. Under section 
186(a) of

[[Page 33880]]

the CAA, each CO area designated nonattainment under section 107(d) was 
also classified by operation of law as either ``moderate'' or 
``serious'' depending on the severity of the area's air quality 
problem. CO areas with design values between 9.1 and 16.4 parts per 
million (ppm), such as the Spokane area, were classified as moderate. 
These nonattainment designations and classifications were codified in 
40 CFR part 81. See 56 FR 56694 (November 6, 1991). States containing 
areas that were classified as moderate nonattainment by operation of 
law under section 107(d) were required to submit State implementation 
plans (SIPs) designed to attain the CO national ambient air quality 
standard (NAAQS) as expeditiously as practicable but no later than 
December 31, 1995.<SUP>1
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    \1\ The moderate area SIP requirements are set forth in section 
187(a) of the Act and differ depending on whether the area's design 
value is below or above 12.7 ppm. The Spokane area has a design 
value above 12.7 ppm. 40 CFR part 81.348.
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B. Reclassification to a Serious Nonattainment Area

    1. EPA has the responsibility, pursuant to sections 179(c) and 
186(b)(2) of the CAA, of determining, within six months of the 
applicable attainment date whether the Spokane area has attained the CO 
NAAQS. Under section 186(b)(2)(A), if EPA finds that the area has not 
attained the CO NAAQS, it is reclassified as serious by operation of 
law. Pursuant to section 186(b)(2)(B) of the Act, EPA must publish a 
notice in the Federal Register identifying areas which failed to attain 
the standard and therefore must be reclassified as serious by operation 
of law. EPA makes attainment determinations for CO nonattainment areas 
based upon whether an area has two years (or eight consecutive 
quarters) of clean air quality data.<SUP>2 Section 179(c)(1) of the CAA 
states that the attainment determination must be based upon an area's 
``air quality as of the attainment date.'' Consequently, EPA will 
determine whether an area's air quality has met the CO NAAQS by 
December 31, 1995, based upon the most recent two years of air quality 
data entered into the Aerometric Information Retrieval System (AIRS) 
data base.
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    \2\ See generally memorandum from Sally L. Shaver, Director, Air 
Quality Strategies and Standards Division, EPA, to Regional Air 
Office Directors, entitled ``Criteria for Granting Attainment Date 
Extensions, Making Attainment Determinations, and Determinations of 
Failure to Attain the NAAQS for Moderate CO Nonattainment Areas,'' 
October 23, 1995 (Shaver memorandum).
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    EPA determines a CO nonattainment area's air quality status in 
accordance with 40 CFR part 50.8 and EPA policy.\3\ EPA has promulgated 
two NAAQS for CO: an 8-hour average concentration and a 1-hour average 
concentration. Because there were no violations of the 1-hour standard 
in the Spokane area in 1994 and 1995, this notice addresses only the 
air quality status of the Spokane area with respect to the 8-hour 
standard. The 8-hour CO NAAQS requires that not more than one non-
overlapping 8-hour average per year per monitoring site can exceed 9.0 
ppm (values below 9.5 are rounded down to 9.0 and they are not 
considered exceedances). The second exceedance of the 8-hour CO NAAQS 
at a given monitoring site within the same year constitutes a violation 
of the CO NAAQS.
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    \3\ See memorandum from William G. Laxton, Director Technical 
Support Division, entitled ``Ozone and Carbon Monoxide Design Value 
Calculations'', June 18, 1990. See also Shaver memorandum.
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    2. SIP Requirements for Serious CO Areas: CO nonattainment areas 
reclassified as serious under section 186(b)(2) of the CAA are required 
to submit, within 18 months of the area's reclassification, SIP 
revisions demonstrating attainment of the CO NAAQS as expeditiously as 
practicable but no later than December 31, 2000. The serious CO area 
planning requirements are set forth in section 187(b) of the CAA. EPA 
has issued two general guidance documents related to the planning 
requirements for CO SIPs. The first is the ``General Preamble for the 
Implementation of Title I of the CAAA of 1990'' that sets forth EPA's 
preliminary views on how the Agency intends to act on SIPs submitted 
under Title I of the CAA. See generally 57 FR 13498 (April 16, 1992) 
and 57 FR 18070 (April 28, 1992). The second general guidance document 
for CO SIPs issued by EPA is the ``Technical Support Document to Aid 
the States with the Development of Carbon Monoxide State Implementation 
Plans,'' July 1992. If the Spokane area is reclassified to serious, the 
State would have to submit a SIP revision to EPA that, in addition to 
the attainment demonstration, includes: (1) A forecast of vehicle miles 
travelled (VMT) for each year before the attainment year and provisions 
for annual updates of these forecasts; (2) adopted contingency 
measures; and (3) adopted transportation control measures and 
strategies to offset any growth in CO emissions from growth in VMT or 
number of vehicle trips. See CAA sections 187(a)(7), 187(a)(2)(A), 
187(a)(3), 187(b)(2), and 187(b)(1). Upon reclassification, contingency 
measures in the moderate area plan for the Spokane area must be 
implemented.

C. Attainment Date Extensions

    If a state does not have the two consecutive years of clean data 
necessary to show attainment of the NAAQS, it may apply, under section 
186(a)(4) of the CAA, for a one year attainment date extension. EPA 
may, in its discretion, grant such an extension if the state has: (1) 
Complied with the requirements and commitments pertaining to the 
applicable implementation plan for the area, and (2) the area has 
measured no more than one exceedance of the CO NAAQS at any monitoring 
site in the nonattainment area in the year preceding the extension 
year. Under section 186(a)(4), EPA may grant up to two such extensions 
if these conditions have been met. Because the Spokane nonattainment 
area had four exceedances in 1995, the area does not qualify for an 
extension.

II. This Action

    By today's action, EPA is proposing to find that the Spokane CO 
nonattainment area has failed to demonstrate attainment of the CO NAAQS 
by December 31, 1995. This proposed finding is based upon air quality 
data showing violations of the CO NAAQS during 1995.
    Ambient Air Monitoring Data: The following table lists the 
monitoring site in the Spokane CO nonattainment area where the 8-hour 
CO NAAQS has been exceeded during 1995, based on data validated by the 
Washington Department of Ecology and entered into the AIRS data base.

      Exceedances of 8-hour CO NAAQS for Spokane Nonattainment Area     
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                   1995                 
        Monitoring site         ----------------------------------------
                                  Concentration     Date of exceedance  
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3rd and Washington.............  10.4 ppm.......  Jan. 9, 1995.         
3rd and Washington.............  13.1 ppm.......  Dec. 11, 1995.        
3rd and Washington.............  11.2 ppm.......  Dec. 12, 1995.        
3rd and Washington.............  9.6 ppm........  Dec. 15, 1995.        
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    In letters to EPA of February 20, 1996, and March 19, 1996, the 
City of Spokane raised questions whether the monitoring data from the 
CO monitor located at 3rd Avenue and Washington Street is 
representative of the ambient air. In a letter to the City of Spokane 
dated April

[[Page 33881]]

9, 1996, EPA Region 10 advised that any analysis of whether the monitor 
was properly sited would need to be conducted in the context of 40 CFR 
part 58, Appendix E, which provides specific criteria for the placement 
of CO monitors, including consideration of the placement of such 
monitors vis-a-vis street canyons and traffic corridors. In addition, 
the State of Washington Department of Ecology provided EPA with copies 
of four audit reports from 1995 which indicate that that CO monitor met 
the Part 58 siting criteria and that the monitor was reporting 
accurately with the acceptance criteria. This information was provided 
to the City of Spokane in a letter dated May 28, 1996.
    EPA believes that the 1995 exceedances are valid for use in 
determining the attainment status of the Spokane area. EPA is therefore 
proposing to find, based on the 1995 CO violations discussed above, 
that the area did not attain the CO NAAQS by December 31, 1995.

III. Executive Order (EO) 12866

    Under E.O. 12866, 58 FR 51735 (October 4, 1993), EPA is required to 
determine whether regulatory actions are significant and therefore 
should be subject to OMB review, economic analysis, and the 
requirements of the Executive Order. The Executive Order defines a 
``significant regulatory action'' as one that is likely to result in a 
rule that may meet at least one of the four criteria identified in 
section 3(f), including, under paragraph (1), that the rule may ``have 
an annual effect on the economy of $100 million or more or adversely 
affect, in a material way, the economy, a sector of the economy, 
productivity, competition, jobs, the environment, public health or 
safety, or State, local, or tribal governments or communities.'' The 
Agency has determined that the finding of failure to attain proposed 
today would result in none of the effects identified in section 3(f). 
Under section 186(b)(2) of the CAA, findings of failure to attain and 
reclassification of nonattainment areas are based upon air quality 
considerations and must occur by operation of law in light of certain 
air quality conditions. They 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 classifications that, in turn, are triggered 
by air quality values, findings of failure to attain and 
reclassification cannot be said to impose a materially adverse impact 
on State, local, or tribal governments or communities.

IV. Regulatory Flexibility

    Under the Regulatory Flexibility Act, 5 U.S.C. 601 et seq., EPA 
must prepare a regulatory flexibility analysis assessing the impact of 
any proposed or final rule on small entities. 5 U.S.C 603 and 604. 
Alternatively, EPA may certify that the rule will not have a 
significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities. 
Small entities include small businesses, small not-for-profit 
enterprises, and government entities with jurisdiction over populations 
of less than 50,000. As discussed in section III of this notice, 
findings of failure to attain and reclassification of nonattainment 
areas under section 186(b)(2) of the CAA do not in and of themselves 
create any new requirements. Therefore, I certify that today's proposed 
action does not have a significant impact on small entities.

V. Unfunded Mandates

    Under sections 202, 203 and 205 of the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act 
of 1995 (Unfunded Mandates Act), signed into law on March 22, 1995, EPA 
must assess whether various actions undertaken in association with 
proposed or final regulations include a Federal mandate that may result 
in estimated costs of $100 million or more to the private sector, or to 
State, local or tribal governments in the aggregate. EPA believes, as 
discussed above, that the proposed finding of failure to attain and 
reclassification of the Spokane nonattainment area are factual 
determinations based upon air quality considerations and must occur by 
operation of law and, hence, do not impose any Federal 
intergovernmental mandate, as defined in section 101 of the Unfunded 
Mandates Act.

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 81

    Environmental protection, Air pollution control, Intergovernmental 
relations, Carbon monoxide.

    Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7401-7671q.

    Dated: June 17, 1996.
Chuck Clarke,
Regional Administrator.
[FR Doc. 96-16670 Filed 6-28-96; 8:45 am]
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