Opinion ID: 187215
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: EPA's Definition of Will in Will Contribute Significantly

Text: North Carolina contends that EPA altered its definition of will from a term that meant certainty in the NOx SIP Call to one that denotes the future tense in CAIR and that EPA made this change without any explanation. See 42 U.S.C. § 7410(a)(2)(D)(i)(I). North Carolina also argues that EPA's interpretation of will violates the plain text of the statute. As a result, EPA did not consider upwind states for consideration in CAIR that contributed to monitored (or certain) nonattainment in North Carolina counties at the time EPA promulgated CAIR; EPA only included upwind states that contributed to projected nonattainment in 2010. In the NOx SIP Call, EPA stated that the term `will' means that SIPs are required to eliminate the appropriate amounts of emissions that presently, or that are expected in the future [to], contribute significantly to nonattainment downwind. NOx SIP Call, 63 Fed.Reg. at 57,375. This isolated phrase provides some support for North Carolina's contention that EPA considered upwind states that contributed to monitored nonattainment at the time it was promulgating the NOx SIP Call to be subject to the rule even if those states did not contribute to projected nonattainment in 2007, the year the rule went into effect. However, EPA later in the same rulemaking explained its approach to measuring nonattainment in more detail: In determining whether a downwind area has a nonattainment problem under the 1-hour standard to which an upwind area may be determined to be a significant contributor, EPA determined whether the downwind area currently has a nonattainment problem, and whether that area would continue to have a nonattainment problem as of the year 2007 assuming that in that area, all controls specifically required under the CAA were implemented, and all required or otherwise expected Federal measures were implemented. If, following implementation of such required CAA controls and Federal measures, the downwind area would remain in nonattainment, then EPA considered that area as having a nonattainment problem to which upwind areas may be determined to be significant contributors. Id. at 57,377. In the NOx SIP Call, EPA interpreted will to indicate sources that presently and at some point in the future will contribute to nonattainment. Because the NOx SIP Call was to go into effect in 2007, that rule used 2007 as the relevant future year for measuring nonattainment. This approach is identical to the one EPA took in CAIR. Because CAIR goes into effect in 2009 and 2010 respectively, those are the future years used in the measurement. See CAIR, 70 Fed.Reg. at 25,241. North Carolina's claims about an arbitrary change in EPA's interpretation of will are unfounded because there was no change. And because will can mean either certainty or indicate the future tense, it was reasonable for EPA to choose to give effect to both interpretations of the word. Simply because CAIR does not include states based upon present-day violations that will be cured by 2010 does not mean that EPA may ignore present-day violations for which there may be another remedy, such as relief pursuant to section 126, 42 U.S.C. § 7426. Therefore we deny North Carolina's petition on this issue.