Source: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2014/11/25/2014-27751/approval-and-promulgation-of-air-quality-implementation-plans-west-virginias-redesignation-request
Timestamp: 2018-07-20 09:24:41
Document Index: 195863284

Matched Legal Cases: ['art 4', 'art 4', 'art 4', '§\u200952', '§\u200952', '§\u200952', '§\u200952', 'art\n3']

Federal Register :: Approval and Promulgation of Air Quality Implementation Plans; West Virginia's Redesignation Request and Associated Maintenance Plan of the West Virginia Portion of the Martinsburg-Hagerstown, WV-MD Nonattainment Area for the 1997 Annual Fine Particulate Matter Standard
70099-70102 (4 pages)
FRL-9919-65-Region 3
https://www.federalregister.gov/d/2014-27751 https://www.federalregister.gov/d/2014-27751
EPA has established a docket for this action under Docket ID Number EPA-R03-OAR-2013-0690. All documents in the docket are listed in the www.regulations.gov Web site. Although listed in the electronic docket, some information is not publicly available, i.e., 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 either electronically through www.regulations.gov or in hard copy for public inspection during normal business hours at the Air Protection Division, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region III, 1650 Arch Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19103. Copies of the State submittal are available at the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection, Division of Air Quality, 601 57th Street SE., Charleston, West Virginia 25304.
On August 5, 2013, the State of West Virginia through the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (WVDEP) formally submitted a request to redesignate the West Virginia portion of the Martinsburg Area from nonattainment to attainment for the 1997 annual PM2.5 NAAQS. Concurrently, WVDEP submitted a maintenance plan for the Area as a SIP revision to ensure continued attainment throughout the Area over the next 10 years. The maintenance plan also Start Printed Page 70100includes a 2007 base year emissions inventory for PM2.5, NOX, sulfur dioxide (SO2), volatile organic compounds (VOC) and ammonia (NH3) for the1997 annual PM2.5 NAAQS in order to meet the emissions inventory requirements of section 172(c)(3) of the CAA. In addition, the maintenance plan includes the 2017 and 2025 PM2.5 and NOX MVEBs used for transportation conformity purposes for Berkeley County, West Virginia for the 1997 annual PM2.5 NAAQS.
On April 16, 2014, the notice of proposed rulemaking (NPR) was signed by the Regional Administrator for this rulemaking action. This NPR was published in the Federal Register on May 5, 2014 (79 FR 25540) and included proposals for several rulemaking actions. First, EPA proposed to find that the Martinsburg Area met the requirements for redesignation of the Area for the 1997 annual PM2.5 NAAQS under section 107(d)(3)(E) of the CAA. Second, EPA proposed approval of the associated maintenance plan as a SIP revision for the 1997 annual PM2.5 NAAQS, which included the 2017 and 2025 for PM2.5 and NOX MVEBs for purposes of transportation conformity. Third, EPA proposed approval of the 2007 comprehensive emissions inventory for the 1997 annual PM2.5 NAAQS to meet the requirements of section 172(c)(3) of the CAA. Finally, EPA proposed to find that the Area continues to attain the1997 annual PM2.5 NAAQS.
In the May 5, 2014 NPR, EPA addressed the effects of one order and two decisions of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia (D.C. Circuit Court) on the approval of the redesignation request and approval: (1) The D.C. Circuit Court's December 30, 2011 order staying Cross-State Air Pollution Control Rule (CSAPR) (i.e. Transport Rule) pending resolution of the petitions for review of that rule in EME Homer City Generation, L.P. v. EPA (No. 11-1302 and consolidated cases); (2) the D.C. Circuit Court's August 21, 2012 decision to vacate and remand to EPA the CSAPR; and, (3) the D.C. Circuit Court's January 4, 2013 decision to remand to EPA two final rules implementing the 1997 annual PM2.5 standard. Details of West Virginia's submittal and the rationale for EPA's proposed actions are explained in the NPR and will not be restated here. No public comments were received on the NPR.
Since the Regional Administrator's signature of the NPR on April 16, 2014, the Supreme Court issued a decision and order, and the D.C. Circuit Court issued an order regarding the status of EPA's regional trading programs for transported air pollution, Clean Air Interstate Rule (CAIR) and CSAPR. On April 29, 2014, the Supreme Court vacated and reversed the D.C. Circuit Court's decision regarding CSAPR and remanded that decision to the D.C. Circuit Court to resolve remaining issues in accordance with its ruling. EPA v. EME Homer City Generation, L.P., 134 S. Ct. 1584 (2014). However, this April 29, 2014 Supreme Court decision did not lift the stay on the implementation of CSAPR issued by the D.C. Circuit Court by order dated December 30, 2011. In light of the April 29, 2014 Supreme Court decision, on June 26, 2014, EPA moved to have the D.C. Circuit Court's December 30, 2011 stay of CSAPR lifted. EME Homer City Generation, L.P. v. EPA, Case No. 11-1302, Document No. 1499505 (D.C. Cir. filed June 26, 2014). In its motion, EPA asked the D.C. Circuit Court to toll CSAPR's compliance deadlines by three years, so that the Phase 1 emissions budgets apply in 2015 and 2016 (instead of 2012 and 2013), and the Phase 2 emissions budgets apply in 2017 and beyond (instead of 2014 and beyond). On October 23, 2014, the D.C. Circuit Court granted EPA's motion and lifted the stay of CSAPR which was imposed on December 30, 2011. EME Homer City Generation, L.P. v. EPA, No. 11-1302 (D.C. Cir. Oct. 23, 2014), Order at 3. EPA intends to act in accordance with the D.C. Circuit Court's October 23, 2014 order and will commence implementation of CSAPR beginning January 2015 pursuant to the D.C. Circuit Court's directive lifting the stay.
Also, in the May 5, 2014 NPR, EPA discussed the January 4, 2013 D.C. Circuit Court's decision regarding subpart 4 and a proposed rule, “Identification of Nonattainment Classification and Deadlines for Submission of SIP Provisions for the 1997 and 2006 PM2.5 NAAQS” (the PM2.5 Subpart 4 Classification and Deadline Rule) that EPA issued on November 21, 2013 (78 FR 69806), which identifies the classification under subpart 4 for areas currently designated nonattainment for the 1997 annual and/or 2006 24-hour PM2.5 standards. On June 2, 2014 (79 FR 31566), EPA finalized the rule.
EPA is taking final action on the redesignation request and SIP revisions submitted by the State of West Virginia on August 5, 2013 for the West Virginia portion of the Martinsburg Area for the 1997 annual PM2.5 NAAQS. EPA is approving West Virginia's redesignation request for the 1997 annual PM2.5 NAAQS, because EPA has determined that the request meets the redesignation criteria set forth in section 107(d)(3)(E) of the CAA.
EPA is finding that the West Virginia portion of the Martinsburg Area has attained and is continuing to attain the 1997 annual PM2.5 NAAQS. As explained in the NPR, West Virginia has adequately demonstrated that the improvement in air quality is due to permanent and enforceable emissions reductions. The air quality modeling analysis conducted for the Transport Rule demonstrates that the Area would be able to attain the 1997 annual PM2.5 NAAQS even in the absence of either CAIR or the Transport Rule. EPA's modeling projections show that the ambient monitors in the Area are expected to continue to maintain compliance in the 2012 and 2014 “no CAIR” base cases. Therefore, none of the ambient monitoring sites in the Area are “receptors” that EPA projects will have future nonattainment problems or difficulty maintaining the NAAQS. Given the D.C. Circuit Court's October 23, 2014 order lifting the stay on CSAPR, EPA expects the State's reliance on CAIR to be replaced with reliance on CSAPR beginning in January 2015. CSAPR requires substantial reductions of SO2 and NOX emissions from EGUs in the Eastern United States, including West Virginia, that significantly contribute to downwind nonattainment of the 1997 PM2.5 and ozone NAAQS and 2006 PM2.5 NAAQS. Because CSAPR should result in greater emissions reductions of SO2 and NOX than CAIR in West Virginia and neighboring states, EPA expects the West Virginia portion of the Martinsburg Area to continue to attain the 1997 annual PM2.5 NAAQS through the implementation of CSAPR.
EPA is also approving the associated maintenance plan for the Martinsburg Area as a revision to the West Virginia SIP for the 1997 annual PM2.5 NAAQS because it meets the requirements of section 175A of the CAA. In addition, EPA is approving the 2017 and 2025 PM2.5 and NOX MVEBs submitted by West Virginia for Berkeley County for transportation conformity purposes. Furthermore, EPA is approving the 2007 comprehensive emissions inventory for the 1997 annual PM2.5 NAAQS as a revision to the West Virginia SIP because it meets the requirements of section 172(c)(3) of the CAA. Approval of this redesignation request will change the official designation of the West Virginia portion of the Martinsburg Area from nonattainment to attainment for the 1997 annual PM2.5 NAAQS.Start Printed Page 70101
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 January 26, 2015. 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, approving the redesignation request, the maintenance plan, MVEBs, and the 2007 comprehensive emissions inventory for the West Virginia portion of the Martinsburg Area for the 1997 annual PM2.5 NAAQS, may not be challenged later in proceedings to enforce its requirements. (See section 307(b)(2)).
2. In § 52.2520, the table in paragraph (e) is amended by adding a new entry “1997 Annual PM 2.5 Maintenance Plan for the West Virginia Portion of the Martinsburg, WV-Hagerstown, MD Area” at the end of the table to read as follows:
1997 Annual PM2.5 Maintenance Plan for the West Virginia Portion of the Martinsburg WV-Hagerstown, MD Area Berkeley County 8/5/13 11/25/14 [Insert Federal Register citation] See § 52.2526(k), § 52.2531(h) and § 52.2532(f).
Start Printed Page 70102 Start Amendment Part
3. Section 52.2526 is amended by adding paragraph (k) to read as follows:
4. Section 52.2531 is amended by adding paragraph (h) to read as follows:
5. Section 52.2532 is amended by adding paragraph (f) to read as follows:
Martinsburg Area (Berkeley County) 2017 83 2,621
Martinsburg Area (Berkeley County) 2025 50 1,660
7. Section 81.349 is amended by revising the entry for “Martinsburg, WV-Hagerstown, MD: Berkeley County” and footnote 2 at the end of the table titled “West Virginia—1997 Annual PM 2.5 NAAQS” to read as follows:
Berkeley County 11/25/14 Attainment Moderate