Source: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2007/10/30/E7-21313/determination-of-nonattainment-and-reclassification-of-the-beaumontport-arthur-8-hour-ozone
Timestamp: 2018-08-15 15:52:58
Document Index: 760341974

Matched Legal Cases: ['art 50', 'art 50', 'art 50', 'art 2', 'art 50', 'art 58', 'art 9']

Federal Register :: Determination of Nonattainment and Reclassification of the Beaumont/Port Arthur 8-Hour Ozone Nonattainment Area; State of Texas; Proposed Rule
72 FR 61310
61310-61315 (6 pages)
FRL-8489-1
E7-21313
D. What Is the BPA Nonattainment Area, and What Is Its Current 8-Hour Ozone Nonattainment Classification?
F. What Happens if the BPA Area Attains the 8-Hour Ozone Standard at the End of 2007?
II. What Is EPA's Evaluation of the BPA Area's 8-Hour Ozone Data?
A. Determination of Nonattainment, Reclassification of the BPA Nonattainment Area and New Attainment Date
B. Proposed Date for Submitting a Revised SIP for the BPA Area
https://www.federalregister.gov/d/E7-21313 https://www.federalregister.gov/d/E7-21313
Start Preamble Start Printed Page 61310
EPA is proposing to find that the Beaumont/Port Arthur (BPA) marginal 8-hour ozone nonattainment area has failed to attain the 8-hour ozone national ambient air quality standard (NAAQS or standard) by June 15, 2007, the attainment deadline set forth in the Clean Air Act (CAA) and Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) for marginal nonattainment areas. If EPA finalizes this finding, the BPA area will then be reclassified, by operation of law, as a moderate 8-hour ozone nonattainment area. The moderate area attainment date for the BPA area would then be as expeditiously as practicable, but no later than June 15, 2010. Once reclassified, Texas must submit State Implementation Plan (SIP) revisions that meet the 8-hour ozone nonattainment requirements for moderate areas as required by the CAA. In this action, EPA is also proposing the schedule for the State's submittal of the SIP revisions required for moderate areas once the area is reclassified.
Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-R06-OAR-2007-0969, by one of the following methods:
Instructions: Direct your comments to Docket ID No. EPA-R06-OAR-2007-0969. EPA's policy is that all comments received will be included in the public docket without change and may be made available online at www.regulations.gov, including any personal information provided, unless the comment includes information claimed to be Confidential Business Information (CBI) or other information whose disclosure is restricted by statute. Do not submit information that you consider to be CBI or otherwise protected through www.regulations.gov or e-mail. The www.regulations.gov Web site is an “anonymous access” system, which means EPA will not know your identity or contact information unless you provide it in the body of your comment. If you send an e-mail comment directly to EPA without going through www.regulations.gov your e-mail address will be automatically captured and included as part of the comment that is placed in the public docket and made available on the Internet. If you submit an electronic comment, EPA recommends that you include your name and other contact information in the body of your comment and with any disk or CD-ROM you submit. If EPA cannot read your comment due to technical difficulties and cannot contact you for clarification, EPA may not be able to consider your comment. Electronic files should avoid the use of special characters, any form of encryption, and be free of any defects or viruses.
Instructions: Direct your comments to Docket ID No. EPA-R06-OAR-2007-0969, EPA's policy is that all comments received will be included in the public docket without change and may be made available online at www.regulations.gov, including any personal information provided, unless the comment includes information claimed to be Confidential Business Information (CBI) or other information whose disclosure is restricted by statute. Do not submit through www.regulations.gov or e-mail, information that you consider to be CBI or otherwise protected. The www.regulations.gov Web site is an “anonymous access” system, which means EPA will not know your identity or contact information unless you provide it in the body of your comment. If you send an e-mail comment directly to EPA without going through www.regulations.gov, your e-mail address will be automatically captured and included as part of the comment that is placed in the public docket and made available on the Internet. If you submit an electronic comment, EPA recommends that you include your name and other contact information in the body of your comment and with any disk or CD-ROM you submit. If EPA cannot read your comment due to technical difficulties and cannot contact you for clarification, EPA may not be able to consider your comment. Electronic files should avoid the use of special characters, any form of encryption, and be free of any defects or viruses. For additional information about EPA's public docket visit the EPA Docket Center homepage at http://www.epa.gov/​epahome/​dockets.htm.
Docket: All documents in the docket are listed in the www.regulations.gov index. Although listed in the index, some information is not publicly available, e.g., CBI or other information whose disclosure is restricted by statute. Certain other material, such as copyrighted material, will be publicly available only in hard copy. Publicly available docket materials are available either electronically in www.regulations.gov or in hard copy at the Air Planning Section (6PD-L), Environmental Protection Agency, 1445 Ross Avenue, Suite 700, Dallas, Texas Start Printed Page 6131175202-2733. The file will be made available by appointment for public inspection in the Region 6 FOIA Review Room between the hours of 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. weekdays except for legal holidays. Contact the person listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT paragraph below or Mr. Bill Deese at 214-665-7253 to make an appointment. If possible, please make the appointment at least two working days in advance of your visit. There will be a 15 cent per page fee for making photocopies of documents. On the day of the visit, please check in at the EPA Region 6 reception area at 1445 Ross Avenue, Suite 700, Dallas, Texas.
The CAA requires EPA to establish a NAAQS for pollutants that “may reasonably be anticipated to endanger public health and welfare” and to develop a primary and secondary standard for each NAAQS. The primary standard is designed to protect human health with an adequate margin of safety and the secondary standard is designed to protect public welfare and the environment. EPA has set NAAQS for six common air pollutants referred to as criteria pollutants: Carbon monoxide, lead, nitrogen dioxide, ozone, particulate matter, and sulfur dioxide. These standards present state and local governments with the air quality levels they must meet to comply with the CAA. Also, these standards allow the American people to assess whether the air quality in their communities is healthful.
On July 18, 1997, EPA promulgated a revised 8-hour ozone standard of 0.08 parts per million (ppm). This new standard is more stringent than the previous 1-hour ozone standard. Under EPA regulations at 40 CFR part 50, the 8-hour ozone standard is attained when the 3 -year average of the annual fourth highest daily maximum 8-hour average ambient air quality ozone concentrations is less than or equal to 0.08 ppm (i.e., 0.084 ppm when rounding is considered). (See, 69 FR 23857, (April 30, 2004) for further information.) Ambient air quality monitoring data for the 3-year period must meet a data completeness requirement. The ambient air quality monitoring data completeness requirement is met when the average percent of days with valid ambient monitoring data is greater than 90 percent, and no single year has less than 75 percent data completeness as determined in Appendix I of part 50. Specifically, section 2.3 of 40 CFR part 50, Appendix I, “Comparisons with the Primary and Secondary Ozone Standards” states:
The primary and secondary ozone ambient air quality standards are met at an ambient air quality monitoring site when the 3-year average of the annual fourth-highest daily maximum 8-hour average ozone concentration is less than or equal to 0.08 ppm. The number of significant figures in the level of the standard dictates the rounding convention for comparing the computed 3-year average annual fourth-highest daily maximum 8-hour average ozone concentration with the level of the standard. The third decimal place of the computed value is rounded, with values equal to or greater than 5 rounding up. Thus, a computed 3-year average ozone concentration of 0.085 ppm is the smallest value that is greater than 0.08 ppm.
Section 110 of the CAA requires states to develop air pollution regulations and control strategies to ensure that state air quality meet the NAAQS established by EPA. Each state must submit these regulations and control strategies to EPA for approval and incorporation into the Federally-enforceable SIP. Each Federally-approved SIP protects air quality primarily by addressing air pollution at its point of origin. They may contain state regulations or other enforceable documents and supporting information such as emission inventories, monitoring networks, and modeling demonstrations.
The BPA 8-hour ozone nonattainment area consists of Hardin, Jefferson, and Orange Counties. For areas subject to Subpart 2 of the CAA, such as the BPA nonattainment area, the maximum period for attainment runs from the effective date of designations and classifications for the 8-hour ozone NAAQS and will be the same periods as provided in Table 1 of CAA Section 181(a): Marginal—3 years; Moderate—6 years; Serious—9 years, Severe—15 or 17 years; and Extreme—20 years. The Phase I Ozone Implementation Rule (April 30, 2004, 69 FR 23951) provides the classification scheme for the 8-hour ozone NAAQS (40 CFR 51.903). The effective date of designations and classifications for the 8-hour ozone NAAQS was June 15, 2004 (April 30, 2004, 69 FR 23858).
The BPA area was designated nonattainment for the 8-hour ozone standard on April 30, 2004, and classified “marginal” based on a design value of 0.091 ppm, with an attainment date of June 15, 2007 (April 30, 2004, 69 FR 23858). The design value of an area, which characterizes the severity of the air quality concern, is represented by the annual fourth-highest daily maximum 8-hour average ozone concentration measured at each monitor averaged over any three-year period.
Section 181(b)(2) prescribes the process for making determinations upon failure of an ozone nonattainment area to attain by its attainment date, and for reclassification of an ozone nonattainment area. Section 181(b)(2)(A) of the Act requires that EPA determine, based on the area's design value (as of the attainment date), whether the area attained the ozone standard by that date. For marginal, moderate, and serious areas, if EPA finds that the nonattainment area has failed to attain the ozone standard by the applicable attainment date, the area must be reclassified by operation of law Start Printed Page 61312to the higher of (1) the next higher classification for the area, or (2) the classification applicable to the area's design value as determined at the time of the required Federal Register notice. Section 181(b)(2)(B) requires EPA to publish in the Federal Register a notice identifying any area that has failed to attain by its attainment date and the resulting reclassification. Different circumstances apply to severe and extreme areas.
The BPA area may attain the 8-hour ozone standard at the end of 2007, based on data from 2005, 2006 and 2007. If EPA determines, after notice and comment rulemaking, that the area has attained the standard at the end of 2007, the requirement to submit SIPs related to attainment of the standard shall be suspended until such time as (1) the area is redesignated to attainment, at which time the requirements no longer apply; or (2) EPA determines that the area has violated the 8-hour ozone NAAQS (40 CFR 51.918). Other requirements not related to attainment would remain in force.
EPA makes attainment determinations for ozone nonattainment areas using available quality-assured air quality data. Quality-assured air quality data from sites in the BPA area is presented in Table 1. For the BPA ozone nonattainment area, the attainment determination is based on 2004-2006 air quality data. The area has a design value of 0.085 ppm. Therefore, pursuant to section 181(b)(2) of the CAA, the BPA nonattainment area did not attain the 8-hour ozone NAAQS by the June 15, 2007, deadline for marginal areas.
Table 1.—BPA Area Fourth Highest 8-Hour Ozone Concentrations And Design Values (ppm) 1
Beaumont (48-245-0009) 0.082 0.081 0.085 0.082
Port Arthur West (48-245-0011) 0.080 0.079 0.085 0.081
Sabine Pass (48-245-0101) 0.091 0.082 0.084 0.085
Hamshire (48-245-0022) 0.084 0.080 0.078 0.080
West Orange (48-361-1001) 0.078 0.078 0.078 0.078
Mauriceville (48-361-1100) 0.066 0.076 0.071 0.071
Jefferson Co. Airport (48-245-0018) 0.084 0.083 0.084 0.083
1 Unlike for the 1-hour ozone standard, design value calculations for the 8-hour ozone standard are based on a rolling three-year average of the annual 4th highest values (40 CFR part 50, Appendix I).
Under Sections 172(a)(2)(C) and 181(a)(5) of the CAA, an area can qualify for up to 2 one-year extensions of its attainment date based on the number of exceedances in the attainment year and if the State has complied with all requirements and commitments pertaining to the area in the applicable implementation plan. For the 8-hour standard, if an area's fourth highest daily maximum 8-hour average value in the attainment year is 0.084 ppm or less (40 CFR 51.907), the area is eligible for up to 2 one-year attainment date extensions. The attainment year is the year immediately preceding the nonattainment area's attainment date. For BPA the attainment year is 2006. In 2006, the area's fourth highest daily maximum 8-hour average was 0.085 ppm. Based on this information, the BPA area currently does not qualify for a 1-year extension of the attainment date.
Section 181(b)(2)(A) of the CAA provides that, when EPA finds that an area failed to attain by the applicable date, the area is reclassified by operation of law to the higher of: The next higher classification or the classification applicable to the area's ozone design value at the time of the required notice under Section 181(b)(2)(B). Section 181(b)(2)(B) requires EPA to publish a notice in the Federal Register identifying the reclassification status of an area that has failed to attain the standard by its attainment date. The classification that would be applicable to the BPA area's ozone design value at the time of today's notice is “marginal” because the area's 2006 calculated design value, based on quality-assured ozone monitoring data from 2004-2006, is 0.085 ppm. By contrast, the next higher classification for the BPA area is “moderate”. Because “moderate” is a higher nonattainment classification than “marginal” under the CAA statutory scheme, upon the effective date of a final rulemaking, the BPA area will be reclassified by operation of law as “moderate”, for failing to attain the standard by the marginal area applicable attainment date of June 15, 2007.
Pursuant to section 181(b)(2), EPA is proposing to find that the BPA area has failed to attain the 8-hour ozone NAAQS by the June 15, 2007, attainment deadline prescribed under the CAA for marginal ozone nonattainment areas. If EPA finalizes this finding and it takes effect, the area shall be reclassified by operation of law from marginal nonattainment to moderate nonattainment. Moderate areas are required to attain the standard “as expeditiously as practicable” but no later than 6 years after designation or June 15, 2010. The “as expeditiously as practicable” attainment date will be determined as part of the action on the required SIP submittal demonstrating attainment of the 8-hour ozone standard. EPA is proposing a schedule by which Texas will submit the SIP revisions necessary for the proposed reclassification to moderate nonattainment of the 8-hour ozone standard.
EPA must address the schedule by which Texas is required to submit a revised SIP. When an area is reclassified, EPA has the authority under section 182(i) of the Act to adjust the Act's submittal deadlines for any new SIP revisions that are required as a result of the reclassification. Pursuant to 40 CFR 51.908(d), for each nonattainment area, the State must provide for implementation of all control measures needed for attainment Start Printed Page 61313no later than the beginning of the attainment year ozone season. The attainment year ozone season is the ozone season immediately preceding a nonattainment area's attainment date, in this case 2009 (40 CFR 51.900(g)). The ozone season is the ozone monitoring season as defined in 40 CFR part 58, Appendix D, section 4.1, Table D-3 (October 17, 2006, 71 FR 61236). For the purposes of this reclassification for the BPA area, January 1st is the beginning of the ozone monitoring season. As a result EPA proposes that the required SIP revision be submitted by Texas as expeditiously as practicable, but no later than January 1, 2009. This timeline also calls for implementation of applicable controls no later than January 1, 2009.
A revised SIP must include the following moderate area requirements: (1) An attainment demonstration (40 CFR 51.908), (2) provisions for reasonably available control technology and reasonably available control measures (40 CFR 51.912), (3) reasonable further progress reductions in volatile organic compound (VOC) and nitrogen oxide (NOX) emissions (40 CFR 51.910), and (4) contingency measures to be implemented in the event of failure to meet a milestone or attain the standard (CAA 172(c)(9)).[2] See also the requirements for moderate ozone nonattainment areas set forth in CAA section 182(b).
As discussed above, the BPA area may attain the 8-hour ozone standard at the end of 2007, based on data from 2005, 2006 and 2007. If, after notice and comment rulemaking, EPA determines that the area does attain the standard at the end of 2007, the requirement to submit SIPs related to attainment of the standard shall be suspended until such time as (1) the area is redesignated to attainment, at which time the requirements no longer apply; or (2) EPA determines that the area has violated the 8-hour ozone NAAQS (40 CFR 51.918).
Pursuant to CAA section 181(b)(2), EPA is proposing to find that the BPA marginal 8-hour ozone nonattainment area has failed to attain the 8-hour ozone NAAQS by June 15, 2007. If EPA finalizes its proposal, the area will by operation of law be reclassified as a moderate 8-hour ozone nonattainment area. Pursuant to section 182(i) of the CAA EPA is also proposing the schedule for submittal of the SIP revisions required for moderate areas once the area is reclassified. EPA proposes that the required SIP revisions be submitted as expeditiously as practicable, but no later than January 1, 2009.
This rule does not impose an information collection burden under the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act, 44 U.S.C. 3501, et seq. This proposed action to reclassify the BPA area as a moderate ozone nonattainment area and to adjust applicable deadlines does not establish any new information collection burden. Burden means the total time, effort, or financial resources expended by persons to generate, maintain, retain, or disclose or provide information to or for a Federal agency. This includes the time needed to review instructions; develop, acquire, install, and utilize technology and systems for the purposes of collecting, validating, and verifying information, processing and maintaining information, and disclosing and providing information; adjust the existing ways to comply with any previously applicable instructions and requirements; train personnel to be able to respond to a collection of information; search data sources; complete and review the collection of information; and transmit or otherwise disclose the information. An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid Office of Management and Budget (OMB) control number. The OMB control numbers for EPA's regulations in 40 CFR are listed in 40 CFR part 9.
Title II of the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995 (UMRA), Public Law 104-4, establishes requirements for Federal agencies to assess the effects of their regulatory actions on State, local, and Tribal governments and the private sector. Under section 202 of the UMRA, EPA generally must prepare a written statement, including a cost-benefit analysis, for proposed and final rules with “Federal mandates” that may result in expenditures to State, local, and Tribal governments, in the aggregate, or to the private sector, of $100 million or more in any one year. Before promulgating an EPA rule for which a written statement is needed, section 205 of the UMRA generally requires EPA to identify and consider a reasonable number of regulatory alternatives and adopt the least costly, most cost-effective or least burdensome alternative that achieves the objectives of the rule. The provisions of section Start Printed Page 61314205 do not apply when they are inconsistent with applicable law. Moreover, section 205 allows EPA to adopt an alternative other than the least costly, most cost-effective or least burdensome alternative if the Administrator publishes with the final rule an explanation to why that alternative was not adopted. Before EPA establishes any regulatory requirements that may significantly or uniquely affect small governments, including Tribal governments, it must have developed under section 203 of the UMRA a small government agency plan. The plan must provide for notifying potentially affected small governments, enabling officials of affected small governments to have meaningful and timely input in the development of EPA regulatory proposals with significant Federal intergovernmental mandates, and informing, educating, and advising small governments on compliance with the regulatory requirements.
This proposed rule 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, as specified in Executive Order 13132. This action merely proposes to determine that the BPA area had not attained by its applicable attainment date, and to reclassify the BPA area as a moderate ozone nonattainment area and to adjust applicable deadlines. Thus, Executive Order 13132 does not apply to this rule.
Executive Order 13175, entitled “Consultation and Coordination with Indian Tribal Governments” (65 FR 67249, November 9, 2000), requires 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 merely proposes to determine that the BPA area has not attained by its applicable attainment date, and to reclassify the BPA area as a moderate ozone nonattainment area and to adjust applicable deadlines The Clean Air Act and the Tribal Authority Rule establish the relationship of the Federal government and Tribes in developing plans to attain the NAAQS, and this rule does nothing to modify that relationship. Thus, Executive Order 13175 does not apply to this rule.
Executive Order 13045: “Protection of Children From Environmental Health and Safety Risks” (62 FR 19885, April 23, 1997) applies to any rule that (1) is determined to be “economically significant” as defined under Executive Order 12866, and (2) concerns an environmental health or safety risk that EPA has reason to believe may have disproportionate effect on children. If the regulatory action meets both criteria, the Agency must evaluate the environmental health or safety effects of the planned rule on children, and explain why the planned regulation is preferable to other potentially effective and reasonably feasible alternatives considered by the Agency. This action is not subject to Executive Order 13045 because it is not economically significant as defined in E.O. 12866, and because the Agency does not have reason to believe the environmental health risks or safety risks addressed by this rule present a disproportionate risk to children. This action merely proposes to determine that the BPA area has not attained the standard by the applicable attainment date, and to reclassify the BPA area as a moderate ozone nonattainment area and to adjust applicable deadlines.
As noted in the proposed rule, Section 12(d) of the National Technology Transfer Advancement Act of 1995 (NTTAA), Public Law No. 104-113, section 12(d) (15 U.S.C. 272 note) directs EPA to use voluntary consensus standards (VCS) in its regulatory activities unless to do so would be inconsistent with applicable law or otherwise impractical. Voluntary consensus standards are technical standards (e.g., materials specifications, test methods, sampling procedures, and business practices) that are developed or adopted by VCS bodies. The NTTAA directs EPA to provide Congress, through OMB, explanations when the Agency decides not to use available and applicable VCS. This action merely proposes to determine that the BPA nonattainment area has not attained by its applicable attainment date, and to reclassify the BPA “marginal” nonattainment area as a “moderate” ozone nonattainment area and to adjust applicable deadlines. Therefore, EPA did not consider the use of any voluntary consensus standards.
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, Start Printed Page 61315policies, and activities on minority populations and low-income populations in the United States.
EPA has determined that this proposed rule will not have disproportionately high and adverse human health or environmental effects on minority or low-income populations because it does not affect the level of protection provided to human health or the environment. This action merely proposes to determine that the BPA nonattainment area has not attained by its applicable attainment date, and to reclassify the BPA nonattainment area as a moderate ozone nonattainment area and to adjust applicable deadlines.
2. A vehicle inspection and maintenance (I/M) program would normally be listed as a requirement for an ozone moderate or above nonattainment area. However, the Federal I/M flexibility Amendments of 1995 determined the urbanized areas with populations less than 200,000 for 1990 (such as BPA) are not mandated to participate in the I/M program (60 FR 48027, September 18, 1995).
[FR Doc. E7-21313 Filed 10-29-07; 8:45 am]