Source: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2007/07/19/E7-13791/determination-of-attainment-approval-and-promulgation-of-implementation-plans-and-designation-of
Timestamp: 2018-03-24 20:22:16
Document Index: 168459377

Matched Legal Cases: ['art 50', 'art 50', 'art 2', 'art 1', 'art 2', 'art 93']

Federal Register :: Determination of Attainment, Approval and Promulgation of Implementation Plans and Designation of Areas for Air Quality Planning Purposes; Indiana; Redesignation of the Clark and Floyd Counties 8-Hour Ozone Nonattainment Area to Attainment
Determination of Attainment, Approval and Promulgation of Implementation Plans and Designation of Areas for Air Quality Planning Purposes; Indiana; Redesignation of the Clark and Floyd Counties 8-Hour Ozone Nonattainment Area to Attainment
FRL-8440-2
https://www.federalregister.gov/d/E7-13791 https://www.federalregister.gov/d/E7-13791
Start Preamble Start Printed Page 39571
On November 15, 2006, the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) submitted a request to EPA for approval of the redesignation of the Indiana portion of the Louisville 8-hour ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) nonattainment area (Clark and Floyd Counties) to attainment of the 8-hour ozone NAAQS and of an ozone maintenance plan for Clark and Floyd Counties as revisions to the Indiana State Implementation Plan (SIP). On May 8, 2007, EPA proposed to approve this submission and no adverse comments have been received. Today, EPA is approving Indiana's request and corresponding SIP revision. In so doing, EPA is making a determination that the Indiana portion of the Louisville 8-hour ozone NAAQS has attained the 8-hour ozone NAAQS. This determination is based on three years of complete, quality-assured ambient air quality monitoring data for the 2003-2005 ozone seasons that demonstrate that the 8-hour ozone NAAQS has been attained in the area. In addition, quality-assured monitoring data for 2006 show that the area continues to attain the standard. Finally, EPA is approving, for purposes of transportation conformity, the motor vehicle emission budgets (MVEBs) for the years 2003 and 2020.
EPA has established a docket for this action under Docket ID No. EPA-R05-OAR-2006-0715. All documents in the docket are listed on the www.regulations.gov Web site. Although listed in the index, 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 at the Environmental Protection Agency, Region 5, Air and Radiation Division, 77 West Jackson Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois 60604. This facility is open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding Federal holidays. We recommend that you telephone Steven Rosenthal, Environmental Engineer, at (312) 886-6052 before visiting the Region 5 office.
The background for today's action is discussed in detail in EPA's May 8, 2007 proposal (72 FR 26057). In that rulemaking, we noted that, 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 ozone concentrations is less than or equal to 0.08 ppm. (See 69 FR 23857 (April 30, 2004) for further information.) The data completeness requirement is met when the average percent of days with valid ambient monitoring data is greater than 90%, and no single year has less than 75% data completeness, as determined in accordance with Appendix I of Part 50.
On November 15, 2006, Indiana submitted a request for the redesignation of Clark and Floyd Counties to attainment for the 8-hour ozone standard. The request included three years of complete, quality-assured data for the period of 2003 through 2005, indicating the 8-hour NAAQS for ozone had been achieved. The data satisfy the applicable CAA requirements discussed above. The May 8, 2007, proposed rule provides a detailed discussion of how Indiana met these requirements.
On December 22, 2006, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit vacated EPA's Phase 1 Implementation Rule for the 8-hour Ozone Standard. (69 FR 23951, April 30, 2004). South Coast Air Quality Management Dist. v. EPA, 472 F.3d 882 (D.C. Cir. 2006). On June 8, 2007, in South Coast Air Quality Management Dist. v. EPA, Docket No. 04-1201, in response to several petitions for rehearing, the D.C. Circuit clarified that the Phase 1 Rule was vacated only with regard to those parts of the rule that had been successfully challenged. Therefore, the Phase 1 Rule provisions related to classifications for areas currently classified under subpart 2 of title I, part D of the Act as 8-hour nonattainment areas, the 8-hour attainment dates and the timing for emissions reductions needed for attainment of the 8-hour ozone NAAQS remain effective. The June 8 decision left intact the Court's rejection of EPA's reasons for implementing the 8-hour standard in certain nonattainment areas under subpart 1 in lieu of subpart 2. By limiting the vacatur, the Court let stand EPA's revocation of the 1-hour standard and those anti-backsliding provisions of the Phase 1 Rule that had not been successfully challenged. The June 8 decision reaffirmed the December 22, 2006 decision that EPA had improperly failed to retain measures required for 1-hour nonattainment areas under the anti-backsliding provisions of the regulations: (1) Nonattainment area New Source Review (NSR) requirements based on an area's 1-hour nonattainment classification; (2) Section 185 penalty fees for 1-hour severe or extreme nonattainment areas; and (3) measures to be implemented pursuant to section 172(c)(9) or 182(c)(9) of the Act, on the contingency of an area not making reasonable further progress toward attainment of the 1-hour NAAQS, or for failure to attain that NAAQS. In addition, the June 8 decision clarified that the Court's reference to conformity requirements for anti-backsliding purposes was limited to requiring the continued use of 1-hour motor vehicle emissions budgets until 8-hour budgets were available for 8-hour conformity determinations. The Court thus clarified that 1-hour conformity determinations are not required for anti-backsliding purposes.
For the reasons set forth in the proposal, EPA does not believe that the Start Printed Page 39572Court's rulings alter any requirements relevant to this redesignation action so as to preclude redesignation, and do not prevent EPA from finalizing this redesignation. EPA believes that the Court's December 22, 2006 and June 8, 2007 decisions impose no impediment to moving forward with redesignation of this area to attainment, because even in light of the Court's decisions, redesignation is appropriate under the relevant redesignation provisions of the Act and longstanding policies regarding redesignation requests.
With respect to the requirement for transportation conformity under the 1-hour standard, the Court in its June 8 decision clarified that for those areas with 1-hour motor vehicle emissions budgets in their 1-hour maintenance plans, anti-backsliding requires only that those 1-hour budgets must be used for 8-hour conformity determinations until replaced by 8-hour budgets. To meet this requirement, conformity determinations in such areas must continue to comply with the applicable requirements of EPA's conformity regulations at 40 CFR Part 93. The Court clarified that 1-hour conformity determinations are not required for anti-backsliding purposes.
EPA provided a 30-day review and comment period and received no comments.
EPA is taking several related actions for the Indiana portion of the Louisville 8-hour nonattainment area (Clark and Floyd Counties). First, EPA is making a determination that Clark and Floyd Counties have attained the 8-hour ozone standard. EPA is also approving the State's request to change the legal designation of Clark and Floyd Counties from nonattainment to attainment of the 8-hour ozone NAAQS. Further, EPA is approving Indiana's maintenance plan SIP revision for Clark and Floyd Counties (such approval being one of the CAA criteria for redesignation to attainment status). The maintenance plan is designed to keep Clark and Floyd Counties in attainment of the 8-hour ozone NAAQS through 2020 by ensuring that the VOC and NOX emissions in both Clark and Floyd Counties and the entire Louisville area will be lower in 2020 than in 2003, an attainment year. Finally, as supported by and consistent with the ozone maintenance plan, EPA is approving the 2003 and the 2020 VOC and NOX MVEBs for the Louisville area for transportation conformity purposes.
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 it is not economically significant. Start Printed Page 39573
2. Section 52.777 is amended by adding paragraph (ii) to read as follows:
2. Section 81.315 is amended by revising the entry for Louisville, KY-IN: Clark and Floyd Counties in the table entitled “Indiana Ozone (8-Hour Standard)” to read as follows:
Clark County. Floyd County July 19, 2007 Attainment
[FR Doc. E7-13791 Filed 7-18-07; 8:45 am]