[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 73 (Wednesday, April 16, 1997)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 18523-18525]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-9864]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 58
[001-7201a; A-1-FRL-5808-7]
Ambient Air Quality Surveillance; Connecticut/Maine/
Massachusetts/New Hampshire/Rhode Island/Vermont; Modification of the
Ozone Monitoring Season
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Direct final rule.
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SUMMARY: This final rule contains revisions to 40 CFR part 58, Appendix
D, the Ozone Monitoring Season By State Table in Section 2.5. EPA's
approval of these revisions will change the ozone monitoring season for
Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and
Vermont to April 1-September 30.
DATES: This action will become effective June 16, 1997, unless EPA
receives adverse or critical comments by May 16, 1997. If the effective
date is delayed, timely notice will be published in the Federal
Register.
ADDRESSES: Comments may be mailed to Don Porteous, Acting Director,
Office of Environmental Measurement & Evaluation, U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency, Region I, 60 Westview Street, Lexington, MA 02173.
Copies of the documents and data relevant to this action are available
for public inspection during normal business hours, by appointment at
the Office of Environmental Measurement & Evaluation Division, U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency, Region I, 60 Westview Street,
Lexington, MA.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mary Jane Cuzzupe, U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency, Region I, Office of Environmental Measurement &
Evaluation, Ecosystem Assessment, 60 Westview Street, Lexington, MA
02173. Telephone (617) 860-4383.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
During 1993 and 1994, three New England states submitted proposals
to EPA Region 1 to shorten their ozone seasons. In order to maintain a
consistent ozone season throughout the Region, EPA Region 1 made the
decision to process all of the requests together as one package. All of
the states were notified of this decision. On February 7, 1995 (after
numerous discussions with the states, and not wanting to delay
processing these requests), EPA Region 1 sent formal requests to NH, VT
and RI asking them if they were interested in submitting proposals to
shorten their ozone seasons. As a result, the states submitted their
proposals to the Region.
All six New England States have now submitted proposals to EPA
Region 1 to shorten their ozone seasons. The current ozone season for
EPA Region 1 is April 1--October 31. The dates of the state's request
and their proposals are summarized below:
[[Page 18524]]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date of
State letter Proposal
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CT................................ 9/1/93 Apr.-Sept.
ME................................ 11/10/93 May-Sept.
MA................................ 6/28/94 May-Sept.
VT................................ 2/15/95 May-Sept.
RI................................ 2/28/95 Apr.-Sept.
NH................................ 6/14/95 May-Sept.
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II. Review
The current ozone monitoring season for all of the New England
states is April 1--October 31, and is specified in 40 CFR Part 58,
appendix D. In order to determine whether or not the ozone seasons
could be modified for the New England states, the ozone monitoring data
for all six states was reviewed in accordance with the Guideline on
Modification to Monitoring Seasons for Ozone, Technical Support
Division, Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards, March 1990. The
guidance document states that ``the potential for ozone exceedances can
be determined using a variety of procedures. The first and most
reliable is the use of historical ozone monitoring data. A review of
historical ozone data for this purpose must be based on 5 years of most
recent data, in order to ensure that both favorable and unfavorable
meteorological conditions are represented.''
The most recent six years of ambient ozone monitoring data (1990-
1995) for all of the New England states were reviewed (AIRS AMP350 Raw
Data Listing and AIRS AMP355 Standards Reports). The review of the data
demonstrates:
(a) That there were no exceedances of the ozone National Ambient
Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) in October; and
(b) That no concentrations above 0.100 ppm were recorded in
October.
Therefore the test of five years of data without any concentrations
above the recommended value of 0.100 ppm has been satisfied. The
primary data is available for public review as part of the
administrative record at the Office of Environmental Measurement and
Evaluation, U.S. EPA--Region I (See the ADDRESSES section above for the
exact location).
Unfortunately this is not the case for the month of April. There
were two exceedances of the NAAQS, as well as several values reported
above the recommended 0.100 ppm value for each of the Region I states
except for Vermont. The only two years in which no values greater than
0.100 ppm were reported in any of the Region I states were 1992 and
1993.
Although the data for Vermont does satisfy the criteria for April,
the guidance states that the ``ozone season designations should not
result in a patchwork quilt on either a State or national basis.'' As a
result, EPA Region 1 decided to maintain one common ozone season for
all six New England states and modify the season consistently. The
modification will change the ozone season from April 1-October 31 to
April 1-September 30. This action will be beneficial for the states as
they will be able to save monitoring resources by not being required to
measure ozone in the month of October.
It is important to note that shortening the ozone season will
affect the calculation of expected exceedances (40 CFR part 50,
appendix H) for all of New England. If there are any missing days of
data within the new ozone season, a higher calculated number of
expected exceedances will be produced in future retrievals of the
ambient air quality monitoring data as compared to the number of
expected exceedances that would have been calculated within the old
ozone season. The following example serves to clarify this point. There
are 183 days in the new ozone season and 214 days in the old ozone
season. If there were 10 missing days of data, the multiplication
factor for determining the number of expected exceedances would be
calculated as follows: 10/183 = 0.054 in the new ozone season or 10/214
= 0.046 in the old ozone season. Although unlikely, the small increase
in the number of expected exceedances in the new ozone season could
have a significant impact on when marginal non-attainment areas can be
designated as attainment areas.
III. Final Action
After reviewing the most recent six years of ozone monitoring data
for CT, ME, MA, VT, RI and NH, EPA Region 1 concluded that the ozone
data meets the guidelines recommended for shortening the ozone season
from April 1--September 30. Based on the above conclusion, EPA is
revising CT, ME, MA, VT, RI and NH's ozone monitoring season in 40 CFR
part 58, appendix D, Section 2.5 to April 1--September 30 of each year
for all monitor types in AIRS.
EPA is publishing this action without prior proposal because the
Agency views this as a noncontroversial amendment and anticipates no
adverse comments. However, in a separate document in this Federal
Register publication, EPA is proposing to approve the changes to the
ozone monitoring seasons for the six New England states should adverse
or critical comments be filed. This action will be effective June 16,
1997 unless adverse or critical comments are received by May 16, 1997.
If the EPA receives such comments, this action will be withdrawn
before the effective date by publishing a subsequent document that will
withdraw the final action. All public comments received will then be
addressed in a subsequent final rule based on this action serving as a
proposed rule. The EPA will not institute a second comment period on
this action. Any parties interested in commenting on this action should
do so at this time. If no such comments are received, the public is
advised that this action will be effective on June 16, 1997.
IV. Administrative Requirements
A. Executive Order 12866
Under Executive Order 12866, (58 FR 51735 (October 4, 1993)) the
Agency must determine whether the regulatory action is ``significant''
and therefore subject to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB)
review and the requirements of the Executive Order. It has been
determined that this rule is not a ``significant regulatory action''
under the terms of E.O. 12866 and is therefore not subject to OMB
review.
B. Regulatory Flexiblity Act
Under the Regulatory Flexibility Act, 5 U.S.C. 600 et. seq., EPA
must prepare a regulatory flexibility analysis assessing the impact of
any proposed or final rule on small entities. 5 U.S.C. 603 and 604.
Alternatively, EPA may certify that the rule will not have a
significant impact on a substantial number of small entities. Small
entities include small businesses, small not-for-profit enterprises,
and government entities with jurisdiction over populations of less than
50,000.
This action does not create any new requirements. Therefore, I
certify that it does not have a significant impact on small entities.
C. Unfunded Mandates
Under Section 202 of the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995
(``Unfunded Mandates Act''), signed into law on March 22, 1995, EPA
must prepare a budgetary impact statement to accompany any proposed or
final rule that includes a Federal mandate that may result in estimated
costs to State, local, or tribal governments in the aggregate; or to
the private sector, of $100 million or more. Under Section 205, EPA
must select the most cost-effective and least burdensome alternative
that achieves the objectives of the rule and is consistent with
statutory requirements. Section 203
[[Page 18525]]
requires EPA to establish a plan for informing and advising any small
governments that may be significantly or uniquely impacted by the rule.
EPA has determined that the approved action promulgated does not
include a Federal mandate that may result in estimated costs of $100
million or more to either State, local, or tribal governments in the
aggregate, or to the private sector.
This Federal action approves pre-existing requirements under State
or local law, and imposes no new Federal requirements. Accordingly, no
additional costs to State, local, or tribal governments, or to the
private sector, result from this action.
D. Submission to Congress and the General Accounting Office
Under 5 U.S.C. 801(a)(1)(A) as added by the Small Business
Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996, EPA submitted a report
containing this rule and other required information to the U.S. Senate,
the U.S. House of Representatives and the Comptroller General of the
General Accounting Office prior to publication of the rule in today's
Federal Register. This rule is not a ``major rule'' as defined by 5
U.S.C. 804(2).
E. Petitions for Judicial Review
Under section 307(b)(1) of the Clean Air Act, petitions for
judicial review of this action must be filed in the United States Court
of Appeals for the appropriate circuit by June 16, 1997. Filing a
petition for reconsideration by the Administrator of this final rule
does not affect the finality of this rule 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).) EPA encourages
interested parties to comment in response to the proposed rule rather
than petition for judicial review, unless the objection arises after
the comment period allowed for in the proposal.
List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 58
Environmental protection, Air pollution control, Hydrocarbons,
Intergovernmental relations, Ozone, Reporting and recordkeeping
requirements.
Dated: March 24, 1997.
John P. DeVillars,
Regional Administrator, Region I.
Part 58 of chapter I, title 40 of the Code of Federal Regulations
is amended as follows:
PART 58--[AMENDED]
1. The authority citation for part 58 continues to read as follows:
Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7410, 7601(a), 7613, 7619.
2. Part 58, Appendix D, section 2.5, the table is amended by
revising the entries for Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New
Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont to read as follows:
Appendix D--Network Design for State and Local Air Monitoring Stations
(SLAMS) and National Air Monitoring Stations (NAMS) and Photochemical
Assessment Monitoring Station (PAMS)
* * * * *
2.5 Ozone (O3) Design Criteria for SLAMS
* * * * *
Ozone Monitoring Season By State
------------------------------------------------------------------------
State Begin month End month
------------------------------------------------------------------------
* * * * * * *
Connecticut................... April................. September.
* * * * * * *
Maine......................... April................. September.
* * * * * * *
Massachusetts................. April................. September.
* * * * * * *
New Hampshire................. April................. September.
* * * * * * *
Rhode Island.................. April................. September.
* * * * * * *
Vermont....................... April................. September.
* * * * * * *
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* * * * *
[FR Doc. 97-9864 Filed 4-15-97; 8:45 am]
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