[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 203 (Friday, October 19, 2018)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 52983-52986]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-22284]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 52
[EPA-R08-OAR-2018-0309 and EPA-R10-OAR-2018-0316: FRL-9985-28-Region 8
and Region 10]
Determination of Attainment by the Attainment Date and Clean Data
Determination for the Logan, UT-ID 2006 24-Hour PM2.5 Nonattainment
Area
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Final rule.
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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is finalizing a
determination of attainment by the attainment date and a clean data
determination (CDD) for the 2006 24-hour fine particulate matter
(PM2.5) Logan, Utah (UT)-Idaho (ID) nonattainment area.
These determinations are based upon quality-assured, quality-controlled
and certified ambient air monitoring data for the period 2015-2017,
available in the EPA's Air Quality System (AQS) database, showing that
the area has attained the 2006 24-hour PM2.5 National
Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS). Based on the final determination
that the Logan, UT-ID nonattainment area is currently attaining the 24-
hour PM2.5 NAAQS, the EPA is also issuing the final
determination that the obligation for Utah and Idaho to make
submissions to meet certain Clean Air Act (CAA or the Act) requirements
related to attainment of the NAAQS for this area is not applicable for
as long as the area continues to attain the NAAQS. Additionally, the
sanctions and Federal Implementation Plan (FIP) clocks triggered by the
partial disapproval of the contingency measure element for the Idaho
portion of the Logan, UT-ID PM2.5 State Implementation Plan
(SIP) will be suspended.
DATES: This final rule is effective on October 19, 2018.
ADDRESSES: The EPA has established dockets for this action under Docket
ID No. EPA-R08-OAR-2018-0309 and/or Docket ID No. EPA-R10-OAR-2018-
0316. All documents in the docket are listed on the https://www.regulations.gov website. Although listed in the index, some
information is not publicly available, e.g., 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 through http://www.regulations.gov, or please
contact the person identified in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT
section for additional availability information.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Crystal Ostigaard, Air Program, EPA,
Region 8, Mail Code 8P-AR, 1595 Wynkoop Street, Denver, Colorado 80202-
1129, (303) 312-6602, [email protected], or Matthew Jentgen,
Air Planning Unit, Office of Air and Waste (OAW-150), EPA, Region 10,
1200 Sixth Avenue, Suite 900, Seattle, Washington 98101; (206) 553-
0340; [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Throughout this document, wherever ``we'',
``us'' or ``our'' is used, it is intended to refer to the EPA.
I. Background
On October 17, 2006 (71 FR 61144), the EPA revised the level of the
24-hour PM2.5 NAAQS, lowering the primary and secondary
standards from the 1997 standard of 65 micrograms per cubic meter
([micro]g/m\3\) to 35 [micro]g/m\3\. On November 13, 2009 (74 FR
58688), the EPA designated several areas as nonattainment for the 24-
hour PM2.5 NAAQS of 35 [micro]g/m\3\, including the Logan,
Utah UT-ID nonattainment area.
On July 17, 2018 (83 FR 33886), the EPA proposed to determine,
based on the most recent 3 years (2015-2017) of valid data,\1\ that the
Logan, UT-ID nonattainment area has attained the 2006 primary and
secondary 24-hour PM2.5 NAAQS by the December 31, 2017
attainment date. In addition, based on the CDD, the EPA also proposed
to determine that the obligation to submit any remaining attainment-
related SIP revisions arising from classification of the Logan, UT-ID
area as a Moderate nonattainment area under subpart 4 of part D (of
title I of the Act) for the 2006 24-hour PM2.5 NAAQS is not
applicable so long as the area continues to attain the 2006 24-hour
PM2.5 NAAQS. Additional detail can be found in the July 17,
2018 (83 FR 33886) proposed action.
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\1\ Meeting the requirements of 40 CFR part 50, appendix N, and
part 58.
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II. Response to Comments
The EPA received eight public comments on the proposed action.
Three of the comments related to forestry practices and wildfire
management, primarily in California. One comment related to child labor
practices in South America. One comment related to homelessness in
California. Another comment discussed
[[Page 52984]]
water quality issues in Venezuela. Finally, one comment raised issues
concerning lead-based paint. None of these seven comments recommended
that the EPA take a different action than the EPA proposed on July 17,
2018 (83 FR 33886). The eighth comment was received from the Idaho
Conservation League (ICL) and raised issues relevant to this action,
which are addressed below. After reviewing the comments received, the
EPA has determined that the comments, with the exception of the ICL
comment, fall outside the scope of our proposed action or fail to
identify any material issue necessitating a response.
The ICL comment raises concerns regarding monitoring data trends at
the Franklin, ID and, to a lesser extent, the Smithfield, UT sites. The
comment states that the 3-year average (2015-2017) at the Franklin, ID
monitoring site was 30 [micro]g/m\3\; however, the 98th percentile rose
each year (18.8, 33.3, and 38.3 [micro]g/m\3\, respectively). The
commenter briefly mentions the Smithfield, UT monitor and how the 98th
percentiles for the three years (2015-2017) rose too, but to a lesser
extent. The comment also asserts that if the 2018 monitoring data at
the Franklin, ID site yields a 98th percentile measurement of greater
than 33.4 [micro]g/m\3\ (the commenter observes that this measurement
is not unreasonable for this site), then the 2016-2018 design value
would exceed the standard of 35 [micro]g/m\3\. The commenter requests
that the EPA addresses why the year-to-year increases in
PM2.5 is occurring, and what regulatory measures are in
place to prevent this area from violating again.
In accordance with section 188(b)(2) of the CAA, the EPA is
required to determine within 6 months of the applicable attainment date
whether a nonattainment area attained the standard by that date. On
September 8, 2017, the EPA extended the attainment date for the Logan,
UT-ID PM2.5 nonattainment area to December 31, 2017, upon
which the EPA proposed a determination of attainment. A determination
of attainment is not equivalent to a redesignation, and the states must
still meet the statutory requirements for redesignation in order for
the area to be redesiginated to attainment. The comment may be
referring to a redesignation rather than a determination that the area
attained by the attainment date and/or a CDD, so the EPA reiterates
that the designation status of the area will remain nonattainment for
the 2006 PM2.5 NAAQS, until such time as the EPA determines
that the area meets the CAA requirements for redesignation to
attainment in CAA section 107(d)(3)(E).
The EPA has established regulations for determining if the 24-hour
PM2.5 NAAQS has been met at 40 CFR 50.13 and part 50,
appendix N, section 4.2. Specifically, under 40 CFR 50.13 and part 50,
appendix N, section 4.2, the 2006 24-hour PM2.5 NAAQS is met
when the 24-hour PM2.5 NAAQS design value at each eligible
monitoring site is less than or equal to 35 [mu]g/m\3\. Three years of
valid annual PM2.5 98th percentile mass concentrations
generally are required to produce a valid design value. The regulations
do not require that there be a downward trend over the course of the
three years used to calculate the design value. Rather, according to
part 50, appendix N, section 4.5, the design value is an average of the
three years of valid annual PM2.5 98th percentile mass
concentrations. Thus, the process the EPA uses to calculate a design
value accounts for the fluctuations in 98th percentiles at the Logan,
UT and Smithfield, UT monitoring sites. Following the requirements of
40 CFR 50.13 and part 50, appendix N, the EPA determined that the
design values at both the Smithfield, UT and Franklin, ID monitors are
below 35 [mu]g/m\3\, thus the proposed determination of attainment by
the attainment date and the proposed CDD are appropriate.
Also, the 3-year design values are lower for the time period used
for this attainment determination compared to the time period when the
area was designated nonattainment. The Logan, UT design value used for
designations \2\ was 36 [mu]g/m\3\ (2006-2008). The first period when
both the Logan, UT and Franklin, ID monitors had valid design values
was in 2008-2010, when the Logan, UT monitor recorded a
PM2.5 24-hour concentration of 43 [mu]g/m\3\ and the
Franklin, ID monitor was 46 [mu]g/m\3\. In comparison, the most recent
design value (2015-2017) is 33 [mu]g/m\3\ for the Logan, UT monitor and
30 [mu]g/m\3\ for the Franklin, ID monitor, which shows attainment.
Moreover, since being designated as a Moderate nonattainment area in
2009, Utah and Idaho have adopted and implemented reasonably available
control measures (RACM), including reasonably available control
technologies (RACT), on sources of direct PM2.5 and
PM2.5 precursors. Based on the overall trend towards
attainment since the area was designated as nonattainment in 2009, as
well as the implementation of RACM on sources in the nonattainment
area, it is unlikely the area will re-violate the 24-hour
PM2.5 NAAQS. Furthermore, as described in detail in our
proposal notice, should the area subsequently violate the 24-hour
PM2.5 NAAQS, in accordance with 40 CFR 51.1015(a)(2), the
EPA would rescind the CDD, and Utah and Idaho would be obligated to
submit a SIP revision to address any deficiencies. Therefore, the EPA
is finalizing our action as proposed.
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\2\ November 13, 2009 (74 FR 58688).
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III. Final Action
Pursuant to CAA section 188(b)(2), the EPA is finalizing a
determination, based on the most recent 3 years (2015-2017) of valid
data, that the Logan, UT-ID nonattainment area has attained the 2006
primary and secondary 24-hour PM2.5 NAAQS by the December
31, 2017 attainment date.
In addition, the EPA is finalizing a determination that the
obligation to submit any remaining attainment-related SIP revisions
arising from classification of the Logan, UT-ID area as a Moderate
nonattainment area under subpart 4 of part D (of title I of the Act)
for the 2006 24-hour PM2.5 NAAQS are not applicable under
the Clean Data Policy for so long as the area continues to attain the
2006 24-hour PM2.5 NAAQS. See 40 CFR 51.1015(a). In
particular, the obligation for Utah and Idaho to submit attainment
demonstrations, projected emissions inventories, RACM (including RACT),
reasonable further progress (RFP) plans, motor vehicle emissions
budgets (MVEB), quantitative milestones, and contingency measures, for
the Logan, UT-ID area are suspended until such time as: (1) The area is
redesignated to attainment, after which such requirements are
permanently discharged; or (2) the EPA determines that the area has re-
violated the PM2.5 NAAQS, at which time the state shall
submit such attainment plan elements for the Moderate nonattainment
area by a future date to be determined by the EPA and announced through
publication in the Federal Register at the time the EPA determines the
area is violating the PM2.5 NAAQS.
As discussed in the 2015 PM2.5 SIP Requirements Rule,\3\
the nonattainment base emissions inventory required by section
172(c)(3) is not suspended by this determination because the base
inventory is a requirement independent of planning for an area's
attainment. See 81 FR 58009 at 58028 and 58127-8; 80 FR 15340 at 15441-
2. Additionally, Nonattainment New Source Review
[[Page 52985]]
(NNSR) requirements are discussed in the PM2.5 SIP
Requirements Rule, and required by CAA sections 110(a)(2)(C);
172(c)(5); 173; 189(a); and 189(e), and are not being suspended by a
CDD because this requirement is independent of the area's attainment
planning. See 81 FR 58010 at 58107 and 58127.
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\3\ On August 24, 2016, the EPA finalized the Fine Particulate
Matter National Ambient Air Quality Standards: State Implementation
Plan Requirements (``PM2.5 SIP Requirements Rule''), 81
FR 58010.
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This determination does not invalidate any prior actions that the
EPA has made on any Moderate PM2.5 area attainment plan
elements that were submitted by either the State of Utah or the State
of Idaho for the Logan, UT-ID Moderate PM2.5 area attainment
plans. This action does not preclude either state from submitting, nor
the EPA from acting on, the suspended attainment plan elements. As a
result of this final action, the sanctions and Federal Implementation
Plan (FIP) clocks triggered by the partial disapproval of the
contingency measure element of the Idaho portion of the Logan, UT-ID
PM2.5 SIP are suspended.
This final action does not constitute a redesignation of the Logan,
UT-ID nonattainment area to attainment for the 2006 24-hour
PM2.5 NAAQS under CAA section 107(d)(3) because we have not
yet approved a maintenance plan for Logan, UT-ID 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 remains Moderate nonattainment
for this area until such time as the EPA determines that Utah and Idaho
have met the CAA requirements for redesignation to attainment for the
Logan, UT-ID nonattainment area.
In accordance with 5 U.S.C. 553(d), the EPA finds there is good
cause for these determinations to become effective immediately upon
publication in the Federal Register. The expedited effective date for
these actions is authorized under both 5 U.S.C. 553(d)(1), which
provides that rule actions may become effective less than 30 days after
publication if the rule ``grants or recognizes an exemption or relieves
a restriction,'' and 5 U.S.C. 553(d)(3), which allows an effective date
less than 30 days after publication ``as otherwise provided by the
agency for good cause found and published with the rule.'' As noted
above, this determination of attainment will result in a suspension of
the requirements for Idaho and Utah to submit attainment
demonstrations, projected emissions inventories, RACM (including RACT),
RFP plans, MVEB, quantitative milestones, and contingency measures, so
long as the Logan, UT-ID area continues to attain the PM2.5
NAAQS. Furthermore, the sanctions and FIP clocks triggered by the
partial disapproval of the contingency measure element of the Idaho
portion of the Logan, UT-ID PM2.5 SIP are suspended. The
suspension of these requirements and the suspension of sanctions is
sufficient reason to allow an expedited effective date of this rule
under 5 U.S.C. 553(d)(1). In addition, the suspension of the
obligations of Idaho and Utah to make submissions for these
requirements provides good cause to make this rule effective on the
date of publication of this action in the Federal Register, pursuant to
5 U.S.C. 553(d)(3). The purpose of the 30-day waiting period prescribed
in 5 U.S.C. 553(d) is to give affected parties a reasonable time to
adjust their behavior and prepare before the final rule takes effect.
Where, as here, the final rule suspends requirements rather than
imposes obligations, affected parties, such as Idaho and Utah, do not
need time to adjust and prepare before the rule takes effect.
IV. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews
This action finalizes a determination of attainment based on air
quality and suspends certain federal requirements, and thus would not
impose additional requirements beyond those imposed by state law. For
this reason, this final action:
Is not a ``significant regulatory action'' subject to
review by the Office of Management and Budget under Executive Orders
12866 (58 FR 51735, October 4, 1993) and 13563 (76 FR 3821, January 21,
2011);
Is not expected to be an Executive Order 13771 (82 FR
9339, February 2, 2017) regulatory action because this action is not
significant under Executive Order 12866;
Does not impose an information collection burden under the
provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.);
Is certified as not having a significant economic impact
on a substantial number of small entities under the Regulatory
Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 601 et seq.);
Does not contain any unfunded mandate or significantly or
uniquely affect small governments, as described in the Unfunded
Mandates Reform Act of 1995 (Pub. L. 104-4);
Does not have federalism implications as specified in
Executive Order 13132 (64 FR 43255, August 10, 1999);
Is not an economically significant regulatory action based
on health or safety risks subject to Executive Order 13045 (62 FR
19885, April 23, 1997);
Is not a significant regulatory action subject to
Executive Order 13211 (66 FR 28355, May 22, 2001);
Is not subject to requirements of Section 12(d) of the
National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act of 1995 (15 U.S.C. 272
note) because application of those requirements would be inconsistent
with the CAA; and
Does not provide the EPA with the discretionary authority
to address, as appropriate, disproportionate human health or
environmental effects, using practicable and legally permissible
methods, under Executive Order 12898 (59 FR 7629, February 16, 1994).
In addition, the SIP is not approved to apply on any Indian
reservation land or in any other area where the EPA or an Indian tribe
has demonstrated that a tribe has jurisdiction. In those areas of
Indian country, the rule does not have tribal implications and will not
impose substantial direct costs on tribal governments or preempt tribal
law as specified by Executive Order 13175 (65 FR 67249, November 9,
2000).
The Congressional Review Act, 5 U.S.C. 801 et seq., as added by the
Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996, generally
provides that before a rule may take effect, the agency promulgating
the rule must submit a rule report, which includes a copy of the rule,
to each House of the Congress and to the Comptroller General of the
United States. The EPA will submit a report containing this action and
other required information to the U.S. Senate, the U.S. House of
Representatives, and the Comptroller General of the United States prior
to publication of the rule in the Federal Register. A major rule cannot
take effect until 60 days after it is published in the Federal
Register. This action is not a ``major rule'' as defined by 5 U.S.C.
804(2).
Under section 307(b)(1) of the CAA, petitions for judicial review
of this action must be filed in the United States Court of Appeals for
the appropriate circuit by December 18, 2018. Filing a petition for
reconsideration by the Administrator of this final rule does not affect
the finality of this action for the purposes of judicial review nor
does it extend the time within which a petition for judicial review may
be filed, and shall not postpone the effectiveness of such rule or
action. This action may not be challenged later in proceedings to
enforce its requirements. (See section 307(b)(2).)
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List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 52
Environmental protection, Air pollution control, Incorporation by
reference, Intergovernmental relations, Nitrogen dioxide, Particulate
matter, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, Sulfur oxides,
Volatile organic compounds.
Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.
Dated: September 27, 2018.
Douglas H. Benevento,
Regional Administrator, Region 8.
Dated: September 27, 2018.
Chris Hladick,
Regional Administrator, Region 10.
[FR Doc. 2018-22284 Filed 10-18-18; 8:45 am]
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