Opinion ID: 786322
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Attainment Deadline

Text: 56 In a related attack on the attainment demonstration, petitioner argues that the model failed to demonstrate attainment by the deadline of November 15, 2007. The EPA measures compliance with the standard over a three-year period, and the standard is violated if the average number of exceedances over a three-year period is greater than one. 40 C.F.R. § 50.9(a) & app. H (2003). For example, three exceedances over a three-year period is compliant because the average number of exceedances does not exceed one. A fourth exceedance over that period would violate the standard. Because of this method for measuring compliance, petitioner argues that New York's plan was required to demonstrate attainment in 2005 and 2006, not just in 2007, since satisfactory levels in 2007 are not sufficient to demonstrate that the standard will be met. 57 We agree with EPA that it is inconsistent with the statutory scheme to require attainment effectively by 2005. First, such a construction runs counter to the plain language of the Act, which sets the attainment date as November 15, 2007. 42 U.S.C. § 7511(a)(1), (2). Indeed, given that clarity of statutory language, if there were in fact a conflict between the statute and EPA's regulations, it would be the regulation that would have to yield and not, as petitioner would have it, the statute. See Chevron, 467 U.S. at 842-43, 104 S.Ct. 2778. Second, other provisions of the Act envision incremental progress up until the attainment date, suggesting that Congress expected attainment by the attainment date and not sooner. See, e.g., § 7511a(c)(2)(B) (requiring at least three percent baseline emissions reductions each year up until the attainment date). 58 EPA asserts that the tension between the specified attainment date in 2007 and the three-year attainment test is resolved by § 181(a)(5) of the Act. § 7511(a)(5). In this section Congress delegated EPA the authority to grant a state up to two one-year extensions of the attainment deadline, if the state met certain criteria in the attainment year. This section provides 59 Upon application by any State, the Administrator may extend for 1 additional year (hereinafter referred to as the Extension Year) the date specified in table 1 of paragraph (1) of this subsection if — 60 (A) the State has complied with all requirements and commitments pertaining to the area in the applicable implementation plan, and 61 (B) no more than 1 exceedance of the national ambient air quality standard level for ozone has occurred in the area in the year preceding the Extension Year. 62 No more than 2 one-year extensions may be issued under this paragraph for a single nonattainment area. 63 § 7511(a)(5). 64 We think this extension provision permits the agency simultaneously to compel attainment by November 15, 2007, and to measure attainment over three years. EPA does not, contrary to petitioner's argument, effectively approve an extension before a state has demonstrated that it warrants one. Rather, the extension provision ensures that although a state might achieve compliance by 2005, EPA may still deem it in compliance if it attains the standard by 2007. We therefore reject the claim that EPA has relaxed the deadline for attainment. Accord Sierra Club, 356 F.3d at 307 n. 9 (upholding EPA's practice of requiring plan to demonstrate attainment by the statutory deadline, reasoning that petitioner's suggested interpretation would effectively move up the statutory deadline by two years). IV Enforceable Commitments A. Under the Act 65 As discussed above, EPA concluded that New York's plan would achieve ozone levels of approximately 129 ppb by the attainment date, a level that still exceeded the national air quality standards. The agency estimated that to meet the national standard the state needed to have additional reductions of 85 tons per day of volatile organic compounds and seven tons per day of nitrogen oxides. 66 New York amended its plan to include as one part of its overall strategy an enforceable commitment to adopt further controls to reduce VOC and NOx emissions to make up this shortfall. The state submitted numerous revisions on a continuing basis as to how it would satisfy its obligations. Those submissions included analysis of whether there were any additional available control measures that the state could take, and it advised EPA it would be adopting six specific regulations based on the Ozone Transfer Commission's recommendations. EPA considered these submissions in conjunction with New York's overall emissions control strategy, and having determined that the plan provided for attainment by the statutory deadline it approved the state's plan. 67 Petitioner insists that neither the Act nor the regulations permit EPA to approve a plan containing unspecified commitments. It asserts the language of the Act compels greater specificity than simply a commitment to implement measures in the future. The key statutory language it points to states that plans must contain enforceable emission limitations and other control measures, means, or techniques (including economic incentives such as fees, marketable permits, and auctions of emissions rights), as well as schedules and timetables for compliance, as may be necessary or appropriate to meet the applicable requirements of this chapter. § 7410(a)(2)(A). Continuing its argument, petitioner contends that enforceable commitments do not qualify as control measures, means, or techniques, pointing to language requiring ozone nonattainment areas to implement all reasonably available control measures as expeditiously as practicable. § 7502(c)(1). 68 We note first the breadth of the essential language, which not only permits a wide array of types of submissions — emission limitations, control measures, means, techniques, fees, permits, auctions, schedules, timetables — but also requires them only as may be necessary or appropriate. In any event, the recited essential terms — control measures, means, and techniques — are not defined in the Act. Cf. § 7602 (definitions clause of the Act). Since Congress has not spoken directly to the question of whether New York's commitment and submissions are encompassed within the Act's relevant language, we will defer to EPA's interpretation of the language, so long as it is reasonable. 69 EPA has determined that New York's enforceable commitment to adopt certain additional NOx and VOC controls constituted a means or technique. This conclusion is not inconsistent with the dictionary definitions of those terms. Means is defined as something by the use or help of which a desired end is attained or made more likely: an agent, tool, device, measure, plan, or policy for accomplishing or furthering a purpose. Webster's Third New International Dictionary 1398 (definition 6). Technique is defined as a technical method of accomplishing a desired aim and as a method, way, [or] manner. Id. at 2348 (definition 2). New York's commitments, particularly with the ongoing reports and updates submitted to EPA, could comfortably fit within these definitions. Given the breadth of the statutory language, EPA's decision to treat an enforceable commitment as a means or technique is reasonable and therefore should be upheld. 70 To determine whether a state's commitment is appropriate, EPA applies a three-factor test asking if: (1) it addresses a limited portion of the reductions needed for attainment; (2) the state could fulfill it; and (3) it was for a reasonable time. Approval and Promulgation of Implementation Plans, New York, 67 Fed.Reg. at 5186-87. With respect to the three factors, EPA observed: first, that New York's commitment addressed only a small portion of the reductions needed, specifically 9.1 percent of the total VOC emission reduction and 0.8 percent of the NOx emission reduction, which EPA considered a minimal portion of the required reductions, id. at 5187; and second, based on its overall evaluation of New York's resources and submissions, that the state possessed the ability to achieve its commitments. Part of the agency's favorable response on this factor was predicated on its understanding that New York intended to adopt the control measures recommended by the Ozone Transport Commission. Id. Third, EPA acknowledged that it would take time for New York's administrative rulemaking process to adopt the required measures. It conceded the state missed the October 31, 2001 submission deadline, but recognized that this delay was due in part to the fact that the Ozone Transport Commission's regulation development process had taken longer than expected. Id. at 5188. EPA nevertheless decided that New York was sufficiently on schedule to ensure that it would attain the standard by the attainment date. This decision represents not an abdication of EPA's responsibility to ensure that the state meets the attainment deadline, as petitioner contends, but a recognition that the regulatory process was reasonably taking more time than had initially been anticipated. 71 The language of the Clean Air Act supports EPA's ruling that the limited acceptance of enforceable commitments, as part of a comprehensive overall strategy, was permissible. EPA's three-factor test ensures that a state's use of commitments is limited in time and scope and capable of being achieved as part of its overall plan. These commitments are enforceable by EPA and by citizen suits, and courts have enforced such commitments after EPA approved them. See BCCA, 355 F.3d at 838-39 & n. 25 (citing cases). 72 Petitioner's reliance on Natural Resources Defense Council v. Environmental Protection Agency (NRDC ), 22 F.3d 1125 (D.C.Cir.1994), is misplaced. In NRDC, the D.C. Circuit held that EPA's acceptance of a plan that contained only commitments was inconsistent with the statutory scheme. The court noted that the Act contemplated a submission timetable that included submission, followed by a completeness determination, followed by approval or disapproval. NRDC held that the completeness determination could not be made unless the submission contained something more than a mere promise to take appropriate but unidentified measures in the future. Id. at 1134. EPA's conditional approval of only commitments, without any completeness determination or substantive review, inappropriately circumvented the Act's timetable. 73 NRDC turned on statutory interpretation of a different clause of the Act so that its legal analysis is not directly relevant to the case at hand. Further, NRDC is factually distinguishable since it did not address the current situation in which the submitted plan includes a comprehensive and detailed plan for attainment. Here EPA did undertake the substantive analysis that was lacking in NRDC and decided it could accept enforceable commitments in view of the fact that they represented only a small portion of an otherwise thorough plan. New York's plan does not lack any substantive elements required of a plan, and most importantly, its enforceable commitments consisted of proposed regulations that were specific enough to allow EPA to evaluate their likely efficacy and contribution to the plan as a whole. Where a state submits specific proposed regulations that it commits to adopt within a limited time, and EPA after reasoned consideration deems the proposals sufficient to make the necessary emission reductions, we will not second-guess EPA's decision simply because the commitments have not yet been enacted. Cf. Sierra Club, 356 F.3d at 302-04 ( NRDC 's prohibition on empty plans extends to those that contain some substantive provisions but lack others; EPA cannot properly evaluate the sufficiency of a plan where substantive provisions are missing). We believe New York's submissions contained adequate detail for EPA to conduct its completeness analysis, and hence that its approval did not circumvent the submission timetable as the plan did in NRDC. B. Under Agency Regulations 74 Contrary to petitioner's contention, EPA's rules and regulations do not prohibit its limited acceptance of commitments. EPA rules provide that the attainment plan must set forth a control strategy for attaining the standard, 40 C.F.R. § 51.111, and that the plan measures must be adopted as rules and regulations enforceable by the State agency. § 51.281. Control strategy is defined broadly as any 75 combination of measures designated to achieve the aggregate reduction of emissions necessary for attainment and maintenance of national standards including, but not limited to, measures such as: 76 (1) Emission limitations. 77 (2) Federal or State emission charges or taxes or other economic incentives or disincentives. 78 (3) Closing or relocation of ... industrial facilities. 79 . . . . 80 (8) Any variation of, or alternative to any measure delineated herein. 81 § 51.100(n)(1)-(8). This definition of control strategy is extremely broad and, by its own terms, not comprehensive. We think EPA's conclusion that New York's plan satisfies its requirements as a control strategy is based on a permissible reading of its regulations. 82 As for the requirement that the provisions be adopted as rules or regulations, we agree with the agency that the commitment is enforceable as a rule, as defined by the Administrative Procedure Act, 5 U.S.C. § 551(4). The commitment is a rule because it was adopted through notice and comment rulemaking, creates specific rights, imposes specific obligations on the state, and is enforceable against it. Accord BCCA, 355 F.3d at 840 n. 29. As such, it constitutes a statement of general or particular applicability and future effect designed to implement, interpret, or prescribe law or policy or describing the organization, procedure, or practice requirements of an agency. § 551(4). 83 EPA's ultimate responsibility is to ensure that a submitted plan contains adequate provisions to achieve attainment by the applicable attainment date. We are satisfied that New York's plan contained sufficiently detailed provisions and that EPA fulfilled its obligation to assess it. V Submission Timetable 84 Finally, petitioner declares that EPA has impermissibly and indefinitely extended the submission deadline for a plan by accepting an enforceable commitment that gives New York time to implement further regulations. 85 The commitment however was adopted as a final rule and is enforceable as of its adoption. We agree with EPA that the fact that part of the process would be concluded in the future does not amount to an extension of the deadline. The broader issue is whether New York had submitted sufficient information by the deadline for EPA to perform its role in assessing the completeness and reasonableness of the state's plan. The enforceable commitments, intended to close a small gap between measured results and the national air quality standards, included progress statements by the state that assured EPA of the specific measures it would take, such as acceptance of the Ozone Transport Commission's recommendations. New York had in fact already begun the process of adopting its additional provisions before its plan was finally approved. These submissions were sufficient for EPA to perform its evaluation, and therefore were not an impermissible circumvention of the deadline. 86 Petitioner thinks that if EPA wanted to approve a plan that contained commitments, it could do so only pursuant to the Act's conditional approval mechanism. 42 U.S.C. § 7410(k)(4). The Act permits conditional approval based on a commitment to adopt a specific provision within one year; if the state fails to comply with its commitment, the conditional approval is treated as a disapproval. Id. Although we recognize that the conditional approval approach might have been an option for EPA, we cannot agree it was EPA's only option. The existence of the conditional approval procedure does not foreclose final approval of a plan that, while containing commitments, is nevertheless sufficiently comprehensive. Nothing in the language of the Act suggests that when conditional approval is available that Congress planned for that procedure to be the only means of approval.