97-19394. Approval and Promulgation of Implementation Plans Wisconsin  

  • [Federal Register Volume 62, Number 141 (Wednesday, July 23, 1997)]
    [Rules and Regulations]
    [Pages 39446-39448]
    From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
    [FR Doc No: 97-19394]
    
    
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    ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
    
    40 CFR Part 52
    
    [WI66-01-7242; FRL-5861-8]
    
    
    Approval and Promulgation of Implementation Plans Wisconsin
    
    AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
    
    ACTION: Final rule.
    
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    SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency is temporarily delaying 
    the ozone attainment date for Manitowoc County from 1996 to 2007. This 
    action suspends the automatic reclassification of Manitowoc County from 
    moderate to serious nonattainment. Final approval of the new attainment 
    date is dependent upon the results of an attainment demonstration for 
    both upwind and downwind areas. Wisconsin is working toward completion 
    of this attainment demonstration (which is due in mid-1997 for the Lake 
    Michigan States) in conjunction with Illinois, Indiana, and Michigan, 
    following the Phase I/Phase II Ozone Transport Assessment Group 
    approach outlined in EPA's March 2, 1995 guidance memorandum from Mary 
    Nichols entitled ``Ozone Attainment Demonstrations''.
        In this rulemaking, EPA is responding to Wisconsin's submittal of 
    an overwhelming transport petition for Manitowoc County. Photochemical 
    grid modeling was used to demonstrate that transport from upwind areas 
    makes it ``practicably impossible'' for the county to attain the ozone 
    National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) by its original 
    attainment date. EPA's action does not preclude the State of Wisconsin 
    from submitting a request for redesignation to attainment for the 
    county, based on three current years of clean air quality monitoring 
    data.
    
    DATES: This final rule will become effective on August 22, 1997.
    
    ADDRESSES: Copies of the State's submittal and other information are 
    available for inspection during normal business hours at the following 
    location:
    
    Regulation Development Section, Air Programs Branch (AR-18J), United 
    States Environmental Protection Agency, Region 5, 77 West Jackson 
    Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois 60604.
    
    FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Rick Tonielli, Air Programs Branch, 
    Regulation Development Section (AR-18J), United States Environmental 
    Protection Agency, Region 5, Chicago, Illinois 60604, (312) 886-6068.
    
    [[Page 39447]]
    
    SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    
    I. Background
    
        On November 15, 1994, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources 
    submitted a petition to the EPA requesting temporary suspension of the 
    automatic reclassification to serious nonattainment and delay of the 
    attainment date (from 1996 to 2007) for three ozone moderate 
    nonattainment counties (Manitowoc, Sheboygan, and Kewaunee). On May 15, 
    1996, the WDNR submitted a request for redesignation to attainment for 
    the three moderate nonattainment areas based on 3 years of clean air 
    quality data. On August 26, 1996, the counties of Sheboygan and 
    Kewaunee were redesignated to attainment (61 FR 43668-43675). Manitowoc 
    County was not redesignated to attainment due to violations of the 
    ozone national ambient air quality standard (NAAQS) during the summer 
    of 1996. As a result, the overwhelming transport request was applied 
    solely to Manitowoc County.
        On May 5, 1997, EPA published a rulemaking proposing approval of 
    the overwhelming transport petition for Manitowoc County. A discussion 
    of EPA's overwhelming transport policy and the modeling submitted by 
    Wisconsin to demonstrate overwhelming transport is included in that 
    proposed rulemaking (62 FR 24380-24383). During the 30 day public 
    comment period for this final rule, EPA received adverse comments from 
    a private party, who took the position that EPA should redesignate 
    Manitowoc County to attainment.
    
    II. Public Comment/EPA Response
    
    Private Citizen Comment 1
    
        Manitowoc County does not generate the air quality recorded at the 
    Woodland Dunes ozone monitoring site.
    
    EPA Response
    
        EPA's overwhelming transport policy applies to areas which are 
    violating the ozone NAAQS due to emissions occurring upwind. Wisconsin 
    has demonstrated through photochemical grid modeling that overwhelming 
    transport of ozone and its precursors into Manitowoc County is 
    occurring; further, Wisconsin has shown that eliminating emissions in 
    Manitowoc County would not bring the area into attainment. For this 
    reason, EPA is taking action in this notice to grant a temporary delay 
    of the attainment date for Manitowoc County from the end of 1996 to the 
    end of the year 2007. Because the attainment date is no longer the end 
    of 1996, EPA has no basis to reclassify Manitowoc to a serious 
    nonattainment area for failure to attain by the end of 1996. This will 
    mean that the automatic regulatory requirements that would otherwise be 
    applied to Manitowoc County were it reclassified to serious will not be 
    implemented.
    
    Private Citizen Comment 2
    
        If the Woodland Dunes monitor was moved inland, the area would meet 
    the requirements for attainment.
    
    EPA Response
    
        The ozone monitor at the Woodland Dunes site is part of the 
    Photochemical Assessment Monitoring Station (PAMS) network. Its 
    location was chosen to establish the extreme downwind concentrations of 
    ozone and its precursors being transported from the Milwaukee 
    metropolitan area. The high concentrations measured at this site are 
    representative of the ozone being transported into this downwind area. 
    As mentioned previously, Wisconsin has verified through modeling that 
    overwhelming transport is occurring.
        Elevated concentrations are seen on high ozone days at the Woodland 
    Dunes monitor; as the commenter points out, these concentrations are 
    typically higher than those seen at the Manitowoc County inland monitor 
    at the Collins Fire Tower. Ozone concentration measurements are needed 
    from monitors along the lakeshore as well as inland to generate the 
    information needed by EPA and Wisconsin to design strategies to reduce 
    ozone and protect public health.
    
    III. Final Action
    
        The State submittal demonstrated through modeling that emissions 
    from the Manitowoc County moderate nonattainment area do not contribute 
    to the predicted concentrations in that area. It further demonstrated 
    that the high modeled concentrations are due to transport from upwind 
    areas. Therefore, Manitowoc County could not demonstrate modeled 
    attainment of the Ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standards by the 
    required attainment date, November 15, 1996, due to overwhelming 
    transport from upwind areas that have a later attainment date of 
    November 15, 2007. Because the upwind areas (e.g., Chicago and 
    Milwaukee) do not have approved modeling analyses demonstrating that 
    the Manitowoc County moderate nonattainment area could show attainment 
    by a specific date, EPA approves Wisconsin's request to temporarily 
    allow the Manitowoc County moderate nonattainment area to use the 
    upwind area's attainment date of November 15, 2007. This action does 
    not preclude the State from submitting a request for redesignation to 
    attainment for Manitowoc County based on the 3 most recent years of 
    clean air quality monitoring data. Approval of a permanent delay of the 
    attainment date will be dependent on the results of the attainment 
    demonstration for both the upwind and downwind areas, along with the 
    additional provisions detailed in part II(B) of the attachment to the 
    September 1, 1994, guidance memorandum.
    
    IV. General Provisions
    
        Nothing in this action should be construed as permitting, allowing 
    or establishing a precedent for any future request for revision to any 
    SIP. Each request for revision to any SIP shall be considered 
    separately in light of specific technical, economic, and environmental 
    factors and in relation to relevant statutory and regulatory 
    requirements.
        This action has been classified as a Table 3 action for signature 
    by the Regional Administrator under the procedures published in the 
    Federal Register on January 19, 1989 (54 FR 2214-2225), as revised by a 
    July 10, 1995, memorandum from Mary Nichols, Acting Assistant 
    Administrator for Air and Radiation. The Office of Management and 
    Budget has exempted this regulatory action from Executive Order 12866 
    review.
    
    Regulatory Process
    
        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 economic 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.
        SIP approvals under section 110 and subchapter I, part D of the 
    Clean Air Act do not create any new requirements, but simply approve 
    requirements that the State is already imposing. Therefore, because the 
    Federal SIP-approval does not impose any new requirements, I certify 
    that it does not have a significant economic impact on any small 
    entities.
        Under sections 202, 203, and 205 of the Unfunded Mandates Reform 
    Act of 1995, 2 U.S.C. 1532, 1533, and 1535, EPA must undertake various 
    actions in association with proposed or final rules that include a 
    Federal mandate that may result in estimated costs of $100 million or 
    more to the private sector, or to State,
    
    [[Page 39448]]
    
    local, or tribal governments in the aggregate.
        Through submission of the state implementation plan or plan 
    revisions approved in this section, the State has elected to adopt the 
    program provided for under section 110 of the Clean Air Act. The rules 
    and commitments being approved under this section may bind State, 
    local, and tribal governments to perform certain actions and also may 
    ultimately lead to the private sector being required to perform certain 
    duties. To the extent that the rules and commitments being approved by 
    this action will impose or lead to the imposition of any mandate upon 
    the State, local, or tribal governments either as the owner or operator 
    of a source or as a regulator, or would impose or lead to the 
    imposition of any mandate upon the private sector, EPA's action will 
    impose no new requirements; such sources are already subject to these 
    requirements under State law. Accordingly, no additional costs to 
    State, local, or tribal governments, or to the private sector, result 
    from this action. The EPA has also determined that this action does not 
    include a mandate that may result in estimated costs of $100 million or 
    more to State, local, or tribal governments in the aggregate or to the 
    private sector. Approval of Wisconsin's emissions inventories does not 
    impose any new requirements or have a significant economic impact on 
    small entities.
        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 September 22, 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)).
    
    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 this rule in today's 
    Federal Register. This rule is not a ``major rule'' as defined by 5 
    U.S.C. 804(2).
    
    List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 52
    
        Environmental protection, Air pollution control, Ozone, Volatile 
    organic compounds, Nitrogen oxides.
    
        Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7401-7671(q).
    
        Dated: July 9, 1997.
    David A. Ullrich,
    Acting Regional Administrator.
    
        Parts 52 and 81 of chapter I, title 40 of the Code of Federal 
    Regulations are amended as follows:
    
    Part 52--[AMENDED]
    
        1. The authority citation for part 52 continues to read as follows:
    
        Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7401-7671q.
    
    Subpart YY--Wisconsin
    
        2. Section 52.2585 is amended by adding paragraph (l) to read as 
    follows:
    
    
    Sec. 52.2585  Control strategy: Ozone.
    
    * * * * *
        (l) Wisconsin's November 15, 1994 request for a temporary delay of 
    the ozone attainment date for Manitowoc County from 1996 to 2007 and 
    suspension of the automatic reclassification of Manitowoc County to 
    serious nonattainment for ozone is approved, based on Wisconsin's 
    demonstration through photochemical grid modeling that transport from 
    upwind areas makes it ``practicably impossible'' for the County to 
    attain the ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standard by its original 
    attainment date.
    
    PART 81--[AMENDED]
    
        1. The authority citation for part 81 continues to read as follows:
    
        Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7401-7671q.
    
        2. In Section 81.350, the ``Wisconsin--Ozone'' table is amended by 
    revising the entry for Manitowoc County to read as follows:
    
    
    Sec. 81.350  Wisconsin
    
    * * * * *
    
                                                                        Wisconsin--Ozone                                                                    
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                                                               Designation                                            Classification                        
                Designated area            -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                              Date \1\                   Type                               Date \1\                          Type          
    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                                                                                            
                       *                  *                  *                  *                  *                  *                  *                  
    Manitowoc County Area.................       1/6/92  Nonattainment......................  Aug. 22, 1997......................  Moderate.\2\             
                                                                                                                                                            
                      *                  *                  *                  *                  *                  *                  *                   
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    \1\ This date is November 15, 1990, unless otherwise noted.                                                                                             
    \2\ Attainment date temporarily delayed until November 15, 2007.                                                                                        
    
    * * * * *
    [FR Doc. 97-19394 Filed 7-22-97; 8:45 am]
    BILLING CODE 6560-50-P
    
    
    

Document Information

Effective Date:
8/22/1997
Published:
07/23/1997
Department:
Environmental Protection Agency
Entry Type:
Rule
Action:
Final rule.
Document Number:
97-19394
Dates:
This final rule will become effective on August 22, 1997.
Pages:
39446-39448 (3 pages)
Docket Numbers:
WI66-01-7242, FRL-5861-8
PDF File:
97-19394.pdf
CFR: (2)
40 CFR 52.2585
40 CFR 81.350