Source: https://www.federalregister.gov/articles/2012/10/29/2012-26528/determination-of-attainment-for-the-san-francisco-bay-area-nonattainment-area-for-the-2006-fine
Timestamp: 2015-11-28 13:06:12
Document Index: 457630727

Matched Legal Cases: ['art 50', 'art 58', 'art 58', 'art 50', 'art 50', 'art 81', 'art 50', 'art 58', 'art 58', 'art 50', 'art 58', 'art 58', 'art 1', 'art 1']

Federal Register | Determination of Attainment for the San Francisco Bay Area Nonattainment Area for the 2006 Fine Particle Standard; California; Determination Regarding Applicability of Clean Air Act Requirements
Dates: Written comments must be received on or before November 28, 2012.
Comments Close: 11/28/2012
77 FR 65521
-65526 (6 pages)
FRL-9747-1
Document Number: 2012-26528
Shorter URL: https://federalregister.gov/a/2012-26528 Related Topics
CA: Determination of Attainment for the San Francisco Bay Area Nonattainment Area for the 2006 Fine Particle Standard; California; Determination Regarding Applicability of Clean Air Act Requirements
EPA is proposing to determine that the San Francisco Bay Area nonattainment area in California has attained the 2006 24-hour fine particle (PM 2.5) National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS). This proposed determination is based upon complete, quality-assured, and certified ambient air monitoring data showing that this area has monitored attainment of the 2006 24-hour PM 2.5 NAAQS based on the 2009-2011 monitoring period. EPA is further proposing that, if EPA finalizes this determination of attainment, the requirements for this area to submit an attainment demonstration, together with reasonably available control measures (RACM), a reasonable further progress (RFP) plan, and contingency measures for failure to meet RFP and attainment deadlines shall be suspended for so long as the area continues to attain the 2006 24-hour PM 2.5 NAAQS.
Table 1—2009-2011 24-Hour PM 2.5 Monitoring Sites and Design Values for the San Francisco Bay Area Nonattainment Area
Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-R09-OAR-2012-0782 by one of the following methods:
EPA is proposing to determine that the San Francisco Bay Area nonattainment area has clean data for the 2006 24-hour NAAQS for fine particles (generally referring to particles less than or equal to 2.5 micrometers in diameter, PM 2.5). This determination is based upon complete, quality-assured, and certified ambient air monitoring data showing the area has monitored attainment of the 2006 PM 2.5 NAAQS based on 2009-2011 monitoring data. Preliminary data in EPA's Air Quality System (AQS) for 2012 indicate that the area continues to attain the 2006 PM 2.5 NAAQS. Based on this determination, we are also proposing to suspend the obligations on the State of California to submit certain state implementation plan (SIP) revisions related to attainment of this standard for this area for as long as the area continues to attain the standard.
Effective December 14, 2009, EPA established the initial air quality designations for most areas in the United States for the 2006 24-hour PM 2.5 NAAQS. See 74 FR 58688; (November 13, 2009). Among the various areas designated in 2009, EPA designated the San Francisco Bay Area
in California as nonattainment for the 2006 24-hour PM 2.5 NAAQS.
Within three years of the effective date of designations, states with areas designated as nonattainment for the 2006 PM 2.5 NAAQS are required to submit SIP revisions that, among other elements, provide for implementation of reasonably available control measures (RACM), reasonable further progress (RFP), attainment of the standard as expeditiously as practicable but no later than five years from the nonattainment designation (in this instance, no later than December 14, 2014), as well as contingency measures. See CAA section 172(a)(2), 172(c)(1), 172(c)(2), and 172(c)(9). Prior to the due date for submittal of these SIP revisions, the State of California requested that EPA make a determination that the San Francisco Bay Area
nonattainment area has attained the 2006 PM 2.5 NAAQS and determine that attainment-related SIP submittal requirements are not applicable for as long as the area continues to attain the standard. Today's proposal responds to the State's request.
Under EPA regulations in 40 CFR part 50, section 50.13 and in accordance with appendix N, the 2006 24-hour PM 2.5 standard is met when the design value is less than or equal to 35 µg/m
In the San Francisco Bay Area PM 2.5 nonattainment area, the Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD) is the agency responsible for monitoring ambient air quality.
BAAQMD submits annual monitoring network plans to EPA. These plans describe the monitoring network operated by BAAQMD in the San Francisco Bay Area nonattainment area and discuss the status of the air monitoring network, as required under 40 CFR 58.10.
Since 2007, EPA regularly reviews these annual plans for compliance with the applicable reporting requirements in 40 CFR part 58. With respect to PM 2.5, EPA has found that the area's network plans operated by BAAQMD meet the applicable requirements under 40 CFR part 58. See EPA letters to BAAQMD approving its annual network plans for years 2009, 2010, and 2011.
from its Technical System Audit of the BAAQMD Primary Quality Assurance Organization (conducted during the summer of 2009), that the ambient air monitoring network operated by BAAQMD currently meets or exceeds the requirements for the minimum number of SLAMS for PM 2.5 in the San Francisco Bay Area nonattainment area. BAAQMD annually certifies that the data it submits to AQS are complete and quality-assured.
There were 10 PM 2.5 SLAMS located throughout the San Francisco Bay Area PM 2.5 nonattainment area in calendar years 2009, 2010, and 2011. EPA defines specific monitoring site types and spatial scales of representativeness to characterize the nature and location of required monitors. Eight of the sites have a spatial scale of neighborhood scale,
and the monitoring objective is population exposure. Two of the sites (i.e., Oakland (AQS ID 06-001-0009) and San Rafael (AQS ID 06-041-0001)) have a spatial scale of middle scale,
and the monitoring objective is population exposure.
Consistent with the requirements contained in 40 CFR part 50, we have reviewed the quality-assured, and certified PM 2.5 ambient air monitoring data as recorded in AQS for the applicable monitoring period collected at the monitoring sites in the San Francisco Bay Area nonattainment area and have determined that the data are complete except for the PM 2.5 data collected at the San Rafael monitoring site.
With respect to the San Rafael site, PM 2.5 monitoring began in the last quarter of 2009 and was complete for that one quarter. In 2010, valid samples were collected on only 72% of the scheduled sampling days at the San Rafael monitor during the third quarter of 2010 (July, August, and September) resulting in a data set for the third quarter that does not meet the completeness criterion of 75%. All other quarters of data collected at San Rafael in 2010, and all quarters in 2011 met data completeness requirements. Given that the BAAQMD operates more than the minimum number of PM 2.5 monitoring sites in the San Francisco Bay Area,
the overall completeness of data from all sites (other than the San Rafael site), and the limited nature of the incomplete data set from the San Rafael site during the low PM 2.5 concentration season, we believe that the data set compiled from the PM 2.5 monitoring network is sufficient for the purposes of determining whether the San Francisco Bay Area has attained the PM 2.5 NAAQS. See 40 CFR part 50, appendix N, section 4.2(b).
EPA's evaluation of whether the San Francisco Bay Area PM 2.5 nonattainment area has attained the 2006 24-hour PM 2.5 NAAQS is based on our review of the monitoring data and takes into account the adequacy
Table 1 shows the PM 2.5 design values for the San Francisco Bay Area nonattainment area monitors based on ambient air quality monitoring data for the most recent complete three-year period (2009-2011). The data show that the design value for the 2009-2011 period was equal to or less than 35 μg/m
at the monitors.
Therefore, we are proposing to determine, based on the complete, quality-assured data for 2009-2011, that the San Francisco Bay Area has attained the 2006 24-hour PM 2.5 standard. Preliminary data available in AQS for 2012 indicate that the area continues to attain the standard.
Table 1—2009-2011 24-Hour PM 2.5 Monitoring Sites and Design Values for the San Francisco Bay Area Nonattainment Area Back to Top
aPM 2.5 monitoring at the San Rafael site began in the last quarter of 2009.
bDoes not meet data completeness requirements.
Source: Design Value Report, August 10, 2012 (in the docket to this proposed action).
06-001-0007
06-001-0009
06-013-0002
06-041-0001
06-075-0005
06-081-1001
06-085-0002
06-095-0004
06-097-0003
EPA is proposing to determine that the San Francisco Bay Area nonattainment area in California has attained the 2006 24-hour PM 2.5 standard based on the most recent three years of complete, quality-assured, and certified data for 2009-2011. Preliminary data available in AQS for 2012 show that this area continues to attain the standard.
EPA further proposes that, if its proposed determination of attainment is made final, the requirements for the San Francisco Bay Area nonattainment area to submit an attainment demonstration and associated RACM, a RFP plan, contingency measures, and any other planning SIPs related to attainment of the 2006 PM 2.5 NAAQS would be suspended for so long as the area continues to attain the 2006 PM 2.5 NAAQS. EPA's proposal is consistent and in keeping with its long-held interpretation of CAA requirements, as well as with EPA's regulations for similar determinations for ozone (see 40 CFR 51.918) and the 1997 fine particulate matter standards (see 40 CFR 51.1004(c)). As described below, any such determination would not be equivalent to the redesignation of the area to attainment for the 2006 PM 2.5 NAAQS.
Any final action resulting from this proposal would not constitute a redesignation to attainment under CAA section 107(d)(3) because we have not yet approved a maintenance plan for the San Francisco Bay Area nonattainment area as meeting the requirements of section 175A of the CAA or determined that the area has met the other CAA requirements for redesignation. The classification and designation status in 40 CFR part 81 would remain nonattainment for this area until such time as EPA determines that California has met the CAA requirements for redesignating the San Francisco Bay Area nonattainment area to attainment.
If the San Francisco Bay Area nonattainment area continues to monitor attainment of the 2006 PM 2.5 NAAQS, EPA proposes that the requirements for the area to submit an attainment demonstration and associated RACM, a RFP plan, contingency measures, and any other planning requirements related to attainment of the 2006 PM 2.5 NAAQS will remain suspended. If this proposed rulemaking is finalized and EPA subsequently determines, after notice-and-comment rulemaking in the Federal Register, that the area has violated the 2006 PM 2.5 NAAQS, the basis for the suspension of the attainment planning requirements for the area would no longer exist, and the area would thereafter have to address such requirements.
[FR Doc. 2012-26528 Filed 10-26-12; 8:45 am]
2. The San Francisco Bay Area PM 2.5 nonattainment area includes southern Sonoma, Napa, Marin, Contra Costa, San Francisco, Alameda, San Mateo, Santa Clara and the western part of Solano counties.
4. On December 8, 2011, James Goldstene, Executive Officer of the California Air Resources Board, submitted a request to Jared Blumenfeld, Regional Administrator, U.S. EPA Region IX, to find the San Francisco Bay Area PM 2.5 nonattainment area had attained the 2006 24-hour PM 2.5 NAAQS.
5. The PM 2.5 24-hour standard design value is the 3-year average of annual 98th percentile 24-hour average values recorded at each monitoring site [see 40 CFR part 50, appendix N, section 1.0(c)], and the 24-hour PM 2.5 NAAQS is met when the 24-hour standard design value at each monitoring site is less than or equal to 35 µg/m3. .
6. The BAAQMD is one of four monitoring agencies in California designated as a Primary Quality Assurance Organization.
7. Letter from Joe Lapka, Acting Manager, Air Quality Analysis Office, U.S. EPA Region IX, to Gary Kendall, Director of Technical Services, BAAQMD (December 17, 2009) (approving “2008 Air Monitoring Network Report”); Letter from Matthew Lakin, Manager, Air Quality Analysis Office, U.S. EPA Region IX, to Eric Stevenson, Director of Technical Services, BAAQMD (November 1, 2010) (approving the “2009 Air Monitoring Network Review for the Bay Area Air Quality Management District”); Letter from Matthew Lakin, Manager, Air Quality Analysis Office, U.S. EPA Region IX, to Eric Stevenson, Director of Technical Services, BAAQMD (October 31, 2011) (approving BAAQMD's “2010 Air Monitoring Network Report”).
8. Letter from Deborah Jordan, Director, Air Division, U.S. EPA Region IX, to Jack Broadbent, Air Pollution Control Officer, BAAQMD, transmitting “System Audit of the Ambient Monitoring Program: Bay Area Air Quality Management District, May 26-June 4, 2009,” with enclosure, January 18, 2011.
9. See, e.g., letter from Jack Broadbent, Executive Officer, BAAQMD, to Jared Blumenfeld, Regional Administrator, U.S. EPA Region IX, certifying calendar year 2011 ambient air quality data and quality assurance data, April 18, 2012.
10. In this context, “neighborhood” spatial scale defines concentrations within some extended area of the city that has relatively uniform land use with dimensions in the 0.5 to 4.0 kilometers range. See 40 CFR part 58, appendix D, section 1.2.
11. In this context, “middle” spatial scale defines the concentration typical of areas up to several city blocks in size with dimensions ranging from about 100 meters to 0.5 kilometer. See 40 CFR part 58, appendix D, section 1.2.
12. See BAAQMD's 2010 Air Monitoring Network Report (July 1, 2011); U.S. EPA Air Quality System, Monitor Description Report, October 15, 2012.
13. In March, 2012, a community group based in Marin County, California, brought to EPA's attention PM 2.5 data collected in Marin County that was not available in AQS. EPA has reviewed information associated with this monitoring. The monitoring was collected with private, non-Federal Reference Method/Federal Equivalent Method (FRM/FEM) monitors over approximately three months in both winter 2010/2011 and winter 2011/2012. EPA concludes that the monitoring does not meet 40 CFR part 50, appendix L or 40 CFR part 58, and are therefore not appropriate for regulatory use. EPA acknowledges the concerns raised by the community group over wood smoke impacts in sheltered inland valleys during the winter months. Information on additional steps BAAQMD is taking to address wood smoke impacts is described in BAAQMD's September 20, 2012 letter from Jean Roggenkamp, Deputy Air Pollution Control Officer, Bay Area Air Quality Management District, to Amy Zimpfer, U.S. EPA Region IX.
14. Under EPA monitoring regulations, the minimum number of PM 2.5 monitoring sites in the San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) is two, but the BAAQMD operates six such monitoring sites within the San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont MSA portion of the San Francisco Bay Area nonattainment area, including the San Rafael site.
15. Meets the requirements of 40 CFR part 58.
16. While EPA recognizes that 40 CFR 51.1004(c) does not itself expressly apply to the 2006 PM 2.5 standard, the statutory interpretation that it embodies is identical and is applicable to both the 1997 and 2006 PM 2.5 standards.
17. This discussion refers to subpart 1 because subpart 1 contains the requirements relating to attainment of the 2006 PM 2.5 NAAQS.