[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 153 (Thursday, August 10, 2017)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 37318-37319]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-16901]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 81
[EPA-HQ-OAR-2017-0223; FRL-9965-97-OAR]
Withdrawal of Extension of Deadline for Promulgating Designations
for the 2015 Ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standards
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Withdrawal of extension of deadline for promulgating
designations.
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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is announcing that
it is withdrawing the 1-year extension of the deadline for promulgating
initial area designations for the ozone national ambient air quality
standards (NAAQS) that were promulgated in October 2015. Thus, unless
and until the Administrator takes additional final action, the 2-year
deadline for promulgating designations provided in the Clean Air Act
(CAA) applies.
DATES: The deadline for the EPA to promulgate initial designations for
the 2015 ozone NAAQS is October 1, 2017.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For questions regarding this action,
contact
[[Page 37319]]
Carla Oldham, Air Quality Planning Division, Office of Air Quality
Planning and Standards, Mail Code C539-04, Environmental Protection
Agency, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina 27711; telephone number:
(919) 541-3347; email address: [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. General Information
A. Does this action apply to me?
Entities potentially affected by this action include state, local
and tribal governments that would participate in the initial area
designation process for the 2015 ozone standards.
B. Where can I get a copy of this document and other related
information?
The EPA has established a docket for designations for the 2015
ozone NAAQS under Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2017-0223. All documents in
the docket are listed in the http://www.regulations.gov index. Although
listed in the index, some information is not publicly available, e.g.,
confidential business information 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
http://www.regulations.gov or in hard copy at the EPA Docket Center,
WJC West Building, Room 3334, 1301 Constitution Avenue NW., Washington,
DC. The Public Reading Room is open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday
through Friday, excluding legal holidays. The telephone number for the
Public Reading Room is (202) 566-1744, and the telephone number for the
EPA Docket Center is (202) 566-1742.
An electronic copy of this notice is also available at http://www.epa.gov/ozone-designations along with other information related to
designations for the 2015 ozone NAAQS.
II. Designations Requirements
On October 1, 2015, the EPA signed a notice of final rulemaking
that revised the 8-hour primary and secondary ozone NAAQS (80 FR 65292;
October 26, 2015). Both standards were lowered from 0.075 parts per
million (ppm) to a level of 0.070 ppm.
After the EPA establishes or revises a NAAQS pursuant to CAA
section 109, the CAA directs the EPA and the states to begin taking
steps to ensure that those NAAQS are met. The first step is to identify
areas of the country that meet or do not meet that NAAQS. This step is
known as the initial area designations. Section 107(d)(1)(A) of the CAA
provides that, ``By such date as the Administrator may reasonably
require, but not later than 1 year after promulgation of a new or
revised national ambient air quality standard for any pollutant under
section [109], the Governor of each State shall * * * submit to the
Administrator a list of all areas (or portions thereof) in the State''
that designates those areas as nonattainment, attainment, or
unclassifiable.
The CAA further provides, ``Upon promulgation or revision of a
national ambient air quality standard, the Administrator shall
promulgate the designations of all areas (or portions thereof) * * * as
expeditiously as practicable, but in no case later than 2 years from
the date of promulgation of the new or revised national ambient air
quality standard. Such period may be extended for up to one year in the
event the Administrator has insufficient information to promulgate the
designations.'' 42 U.S.C. 7407(d)(1)(B)(i).
In the EPA guidance, ``Area Designations for the 2015 Ozone
National Ambient Air Quality Standards,'' the EPA indicated it expected
to complete the initial area designations by October 1, 2017,
consistent with the statutory requirement that the EPA designate areas
no later than 2 years following promulgation of a revised NAAQS.\1\
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\1\ Memorandum from Janet G. McCabe, Acting Assistant
Administrator, to Regional Administrators, Regions 1-10. February
25, 2016.
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III. Withdrawal of Extension of Deadline for Promulgating Designations
for the 2015 Ozone NAAQS
In letters sent to states on June 6, 2017, and in a Federal
Register notice published on June 28, 2017 (82 FR 29246), the EPA
Administrator Scott Pruitt announced that he was using his authority
under section 107(d)(1)(B)(i) of the CAA to extend by 1 year, to
October 1, 2018, the deadline for promulgating initial area
designations for the 2015 ozone NAAQS. At that time (i.e., in early
June), it was not clear that the agency would be in the position to
complete designations for all areas for the 2015 ozone NAAQS in
accordance with the 2-year statutory deadline of October 1, 2017. For a
variety of other NAAQS in the past, previous EPA Administrators have
used the authority under section 107(d)(1)(B)(i) to take additional
time to complete designations.\2\ The Administrator decided to
similarly invoke the extension with regard to designations for the 2015
ozone NAAQS.
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\2\ For the 2008 ozone NAAQS, see 75 FR 2936 (January 19, 2010);
for the 2008 lead NAAQS, see 75 FR 71033 (November 22, 2010); for
the 2010 sulfur dioxide NAAQS, see 77 FR 46295 (August 3, 2012); and
for the 2012 fine particulate matter NAAQS, see 80 FR 2206 (January
15, 2015).
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The EPA has continued to discuss and work with states concerning
designations, and now understands that the information gaps that formed
the basis of the extension may not be as expansive as we previously
believed. The EPA now intends to reassess whether there are areas with
underlying technical issues, whether there are state designation
recommendations that the EPA intends to modify, and whether for any
area there is insufficient information to promulgate the designation.
The EPA believes this reevaluation will help ensure that more Americans
are living and working in areas that meet national air quality
standards. The agency believes that there may be areas of the United
States for which designations could be promulgated in the next few
months. Therefore, the EPA is withdrawing its prior announced 1-year
extension of the deadline for promulgating initial area designations
for the 2015 ozone NAAQS, and the 2-year deadline for promulgating
designations provided in section 107(d)(1)(B) of the CAA applies. The
Administrator may still determine that an extension of time to complete
designations is necessary, but is not making such a determination at
this time.
List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 81
Environmental protection, Air pollution control, National parks,
Wilderness areas.
Dated: August 2, 2017.
E. Scott Pruitt,
Administrator.
[FR Doc. 2017-16901 Filed 8-9-17; 8:45 am]
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