[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 90 (Wednesday, May 8, 1996)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 20730-20732]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-11344]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 52
[ID5-2-7505; FRL-5500-4]
Attainment Extensions for PM-10 Nonattainment Areas: Idaho
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Final rule.
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SUMMARY: In the August 28, 1995 Federal Register, EPA identified two
nonattainment areas in the State of Idaho which failed to attain the
National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for particulate matter
with an aerodynamic diameter of less than or equal to ten micrometers
(PM-10) by the applicable attainment date of December 31, 1994: the
Power-Bannock Counties PM-10 nonattainment area and the Sandpoint PM-10
nonattainment area. In that same Federal Register, EPA proposed to
grant a one-year extension to the attainment date for those areas, from
December 31, 1994 to December 31, 1995. EPA, by this document, grants
the extensions.
EFFECTIVE DATE: This final rule is effective June 7, 1996.
ADDRESSES: Copies of the State's request and other information
supporting this action are available for inspection during normal
business hours at the following locations: EPA, Office of Air Quality,
1200 Sixth Avenue, Seattle, Washington 98101, and State of Idaho,
Division of Environmental Quality, 1410 N. Hilton, Boise, Idaho 83710.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Steven K. Body, 206/553-0782, EPA,
Office of Air Quality, Seattle, Washington.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
Clean Air Act Requirements
Areas meeting the requirements of section 107(d)(4)(B) of the Act
1 were designated nonattainment for particulate matter with an
aerodynamic diameter of less than or equal to ten micrometers by
operation of law and classified ``moderate'' upon enactment of the 1990
Clean Air Act Amendments. See generally 42 U.S.C. section
7407(d)(4)(B). These areas included all former Group I PM-10 planning
areas identified in 52 FR 29383 (August 7, 1987) as further clarified
in 55 FR 45799 (October 31, 1990), and any other areas violating the
National Ambient Air Quality Standards for PM-10 prior to January 1,
1989.2 A Federal Register notice announcing the areas designated
nonattainment for PM-10 upon enactment of the 1990 Amendments, known as
``initial'' PM-10 nonattainment areas, was published on March 15, 1991
(56 FR 11101) and a subsequent Federal Register notice correcting the
description of some of these areas was published on August 8, 1991 (56
FR 37654). See 56 FR 56694 (November 6, 1991) and 40 CFR 81.313
(codified air quality designations and classifications for the State of
Idaho). All initial moderate PM-10 nonattainment areas have the same
applicable attainment date of December 31, 1994.
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\1\ The 1990 Amendments to the Clean Air Act made significant
changes to the Act. See Public Law No. 101-549, 104 Stat. 2399.
References herein are to the Clean Air Act as amended (``Act'' or
``CAA''), which is codified at 42 U.S.C. Sec. 7401 et seq.
\2\ Many of these other areas were identified in footnote 4 of
the October 31, 1990 Federal Register notice.
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States containing initial moderate PM-10 nonattainment areas were
required to develop and submit to EPA by November 15, 1991, a SIP
revision providing for, among other things, implementation of
reasonably available control measures (RACM), including reasonably
available control technology (RACT), and a demonstration of whether
attainment of the PM-10 NAAQS by the December 31, 1994 attainment date
was practicable. See Section 189(a).
The Act provides the Administrator the discretion of granting a
one-year extension to the attainment date for a moderate PM-10
nonattainment area provided certain criteria are met. See Section
188(d). The statute sets forth two criteria a moderate nonattainment
area must satisfy in order to obtain an extension: (1) the State has
complied with all the requirements and commitments pertaining to the
area in the applicable implementation plan; and (2) the area has no
more than one exceedance of the 24-hour PM-10 standard in the year
preceding the extension year, and the annual mean concentration of PM-
10 in the area for the year preceding the extension year is less than
or equal to the standard. See Section 188(d). As discussed in the
August 28, 1995 Federal Register document (60 FR 44452), in exercising
its discretion to grant extensions for PM-10 nonattainment areas, EPA
will examine the air quality planning progress made in the moderate
area. EPA will be disinclined to grant an attainment date extension
unless a State has, in substantial part, addressed its moderate PM-10
nonattainment area planning obligations as evidenced by whether the
State has: (1) adopted and substantially implemented control measures
that represent RACM/RACT in the moderate nonattainment area; and (2)
demonstrated that the area has made emission reductions amounting to
reasonable further progress toward attainment of the PM-10 NAAQS as
defined in section 171(1) of the Act. See 60 FR 44453.
If the State does not have the requisite number of years of clean
air quality data to show attainment and does not apply or qualify for
an attainment date extension, the area will be reclassified to serious
by operation of law under section 188(b)(2) of the Act. If an extension
to the attainment date is granted, at the end of the extension year EPA
will again determine whether the area has attained the PM-10 NAAQS. If
the requisite three consecutive years of clean air quality data needed
to determine attainment are not met for the area, the State may apply
for a second one-year extension of the attainment date. In order to
qualify for the second one-year extension of the attainment date, the
State must satisfy the same requirements listed above for the first
extension. EPA will also consider the State's PM-10 planning progress
for the area in the year for which the first extension was granted. If
a second extension is granted and the area does not have the requisite
three consecutive years of clean air quality data needed to demonstrate
attainment at the end of the second extension, no further extensions of
the attainment date can be granted and the area will be reclassified
serious by operation of law. See section 188(d).
On August 28, 1995, EPA determined, based on air quality data
showing violations of the PM-10 NAAQS during the period from 1992
through 1994, that the Power-Bannock Counties PM-10 nonattainment area
and Sandpoint PM-10 nonattainment area have each failed
[[Page 20731]]
to attain the PM-10 NAAQS by the applicable attainment date of December
31, 1994. See 60 FR 44454. In that action, EPA also proposed to grant
the State of Idaho's request for a one-year extension of the PM-10
attainment date for these nonattainment areas based on the supporting
information provided by the State.
EPA received two comments on the proposal, both of which supported
EPA's proposal to grant the one-year extension, but one of which
disagreed with EPA's characterization of two underlying issues. In this
notice, EPA is taking final action on its proposal to extend the PM-10
attainment date for the Power-Bannock Counties PM-10 nonattainment area
and the Sandpoint PM-10 nonattainment area from December 31, 1994 to
December 31, 1995.
II. Final Action and Implications
A. Response to Public Comments
EPA received comments from the State of Idaho, Division of
Environmental Quality, North Idaho Regional Office (IDEQ-NIRO) and from
FMC Corporation (FMC), which owns and operates a facility in the Power-
Bannock Counties PM-10 nonattainment area. IDEQ-NIRO strongly endorsed
EPA's proposal to grant a one-year extension to the attainment date for
the Sandpoint PM-10 nonattainment area.
FMC supported EPA's proposal to grant a one-year extension of the
PM-10 attainment date for the Power-Bannock Counties PM-10
nonattainment area, but felt that EPA could have ``more appropriately
characterized'' two issues discussed in the proposal. First, FMC
objected to EPA's failure to acknowledge that FMC has undertaken
efforts to voluntarily reduce particulate emissions from certain
sources within its facility which FMC believes has in turn contributed
to recent indications that the area is approaching attainment of the
standard. Second, FMC stated that EPA should discount the importance of
the Eastern Michaud Flats superfund monitoring Site #2 (EMF Site #2)
monitoring data because FMC asserts that siting considerations and
exceptional events substantially diminish the significance and accuracy
of its measurements. EPA has serious concerns regarding the
sufficiency, and in some cases, the accuracy of the information
provided by FMC in support of its concerns. For example, although EPA
fully supports the voluntary efforts FMC has undertaken to implement
PM-10 reductions at its elemental phosphorus facility, FMC has not
provided documentation to support the claimed emission reductions or to
show that the voluntary improvements meet the RACM/RACT requirement.
Moreover, voluntary actions are not sufficient to meet Clean Air Act
planning requirements for PM-10 nonattainment areas. See sections
110(a)(2)(A) and 172(c)(6) of the Act. Even if accurate and fully
supportable, however, the information provided by FMC in its comments
would not change EPA's decision to grant the Power-Bannock Counties PM-
10 nonattainment area a one-year extension of the attainment date.
Indeed, FMC fully supports the granting of such an extension. The
information provided by FMC, if fully accepted by EPA, would only
strengthen the basis for EPA's decision.
As EPA stated in the proposal, EPA is currently working on a
proposed rule that would implement a control strategy for sources
located within the Tribal portion of the nonattainment area. It is
through this process that the control measures that have been
voluntarily undertaken by FMC can be, if appropriate, made federally
enforceable and their adequacy in context of the RACM/RACT requirement
can be more appropriately evaluated. Similarly, if EPA proposes to rely
on the data from EMF Site #2 to support its proposed control strategy,
the public comment period on EPA's proposed strategy would be an
appropriate time for FMC to present more information to support its
claim that EMF Site #2 does not meet EPA siting criteria and to request
that specifically identified events should be deemed exceptional and
their effects on the monitoring site discounted.
B. Final Action
EPA is granting the State of Idaho's request for a one-year
extension of the PM-10 attainment date for both the Power-Bannock
Counties PM-10 nonattainment area and the Sandpoint PM-10 nonattainment
area. This determination is based upon available air quality data and a
review of the State's progress in implementing the planning
requirements that apply to moderate PM-10 nonattainment areas. For a
thorough discussion of the basis for EPA's determination, please refer
to the proposal for this action at 60 FR 44452. This action extends the
PM-10 nonattainment date for both the Power-Bannock Counties PM-10
nonattainment area and the Sandpoint PM-10 nonattainment area from
December 31, 1994 to December 31, 1995.
III. Administrative Requirements
A. Docket
Copies of the State's request and all other information relied on
by EPA in granting one-year extension, including public comments on the
proposal received and reviewed by EPA, are maintained in the docket at
the EPA Regional Office. The docket is an organized and complete file
of information submitted to or otherwise considered by EPA in making
this decision. The docket is available for public inspection at the
location listed under the ADDRESSES section of this document.
B. Executive Order 12866
The Office of Management and Budget has exempted this action from
Executive Order 12866.
C. Regulatory Flexibility
Extensions under Section 188(d) of the Clean Air Act do not create
any new requirements, but merely extend the potential date for the
imposition of new requirements. Because this action does not impose any
new requirements, it does not have a significant impact on a
substantial number of small entities.
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 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 approval 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.
Under section 307(b)(1) of the Clean Air Act, petitions for
judicial review of this action must be filed in the United
[[Page 20732]]
States Court of Appeals for the appropriate circuit by July 8, 1996.
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), 42 U.S.C. 7607(b)(2).)
List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 52
Environmental Protection, Air pollution control, Particulate
matter, Intergovernmental relations, Reporting and recordkeeping
requirements.
Note: Incorporation by reference of the Implementation Plan for
the State of Idaho was approved by the Director of the Office of
Federal Register on July 1, 1982.
Dated: April 25, 1996.
Chuck Clarke,
Regional Administrator.
Part 52, chapter I, title 40 of the Code of Federal Regulations is
amended as follows:
PART 52--[AMENDED]
1. The authority citation for Part 52 continues to read as follows:
Authority: 52 U.S.C. 7401-7671q.
Subpart N--Idaho
2. Section 52.691 is added to read as follows:
Sec. 52.691 Extensions.
The Administrator, by authority delegated under section 188(d) of
the Clean Air Act, as amended in 1990, hereby extends for one year
(until December 31, 1995) the attainment date for the Power-Bannock
Counties PM-10 nonattainment area and the Sandpoint PM-10 nonattainment
area.
[FR Doc. 96-11344 Filed 5-7-96; 8:45 am]
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