2024-19616. Finding of Failure to Attain by the Attainment Date for the 2010 1-Hour Primary Sulfur Dioxide National Ambient Air Quality Standard; Louisiana; Evangeline Parish Nonattainment Area

Table 1—Boundary Corner Coordinates of the Evangeline Parish Rectangular Nonattainment Area

UTM 8 Easting (m)	UTM Northing (m)	UTM Zone	Datum
570250	3400300	15	NAD 83
570250	3403300	15	NAD 83
572400	3403300	15	NAD 83
572400	3400300	15	NAD 83

B. Evaluation of SO₂ Emissions Data and Modeling

As noted earlier, the EPA based the nonattainment designation on modeling submitted by LDEQ. In our review of that modeling, as documented in EPA's TSD ^[9] accompanying the designation, we concluded that the source characterization, modeling parameters, and modeling techniques submitted by LDEQ for this designation conformed with the guidelines of the EPA's modeling Technical Assistance Document (TAD).^[10]

The EPA's designation of the Evangeline Parish area relied on the modeled SO₂ emissions for the years 2013 through 2015. Cabot is the only major SO₂ source in the parish. These SO₂ emissions are generated from Cabot's carbon black manufacturing facility through the process of converting carbonaceous feedstock materials into various grades of carbon black in a mostly continuous process, wherein Cabot's feedstock inherently contains sulfur compounds that are combusted, oxidized, and emitted with the tail gas as SO₂. Following the designation, Cabot has not completed the installation of controls to reduce emissions, and the State has not provided a demonstration that the area has attained the NAAQS.

The EPA evaluated annual SO₂ emissions trends for the only major stationary SO₂ source in the area, Cabot Ville Platte facility, via LDEQ's emissions database.^[11] Table 2 lists the total reported SO₂ emissions for each year 2013 through 2022.

Table 2—Annual Emissions From Major Stationary SO ₂ Sources in the Evangeline Parish Nonattainment Area for 2013 Through 2022

[Tons of SO ₂ per year]

Year	Cabot Ville Platte
2013	8,519.76
2014	8,661.39
2015	8,094.10
2016	8,289.22
2017	11,029.06
2018	11,069.91
2019	11,033.92
2020	7,562.72
2021	8,425.99
2022	9.964.47

The 2010 SO₂ NAAQS is met at an ambient air quality monitoring site when the three-year average of the annual (99th percentile) of the daily maximum 1-hour average concentrations is less than or equal to 75 ppb.^[12] CAA section 179(c) requires EPA's determination of whether the area attained by the attainment date to be ( print page 71875) based on the area's air quality as of the attainment date. Therefore, even though EPA is not relying on ambient air quality monitoring data for its proposed determination, because such monitoring data does not exist, the three-year period of 2020 through 2022 is the relevant time period for evaluation in fulfilling the Agency's obligation under CAA section 179(c). EPA compared the annual source emissions from the 2020-2022 period with the annual source emissions from the 2013-2015 period, which were the emissions used in the air quality modeling underlying the EPA's designation of the area as nonattainment. The average of the annual source emissions from 2020-2022 is 8,651 tons per year, higher than the 2013-2015 average of the annual source emissions of 8,469 tons per year. These source emissions data indicate that no reduction in emissions has occurred since designation of the Evangeline Parish NAA; therefore, these data, viewed in light of the 2017 initial designation modeling, demonstrate that air quality did not improve in the area near Cabot ^[13] and support the proposed finding that the Evangeline Parish NAA failed to attain the 2010 SO₂ NAAQS by the statutory attainment date of April 9, 2023.

The peak modeled receptor design value from EPA's designations TSD is summarized in table 3. The modeling analysis showed that the area was violating the NAAQS based on source emissions from 2013-2015, with a modeled DV of 277.6 compared to the NAAQS of 196.4 μg/m³ . Given that average emissions for 2020-2022 have increased since the 2013-2015 period, and no emissions control strategy has been implemented by Cabot by the attainment date, there is no evidence that the State had remedied the original modeled violations by the attainment date.

Table 3—Summary of 2013-2015 Peak Modeled Receptor 1-Hour SO ₂ Design Value for the Evangeline Parish NAA

Averaging period	Data period	Receptor location (UTM zone 15)		99th percentile daily maximum 1-hour SO 2 concentration (μg/m3 )
		UTM easting (m)	UTM northing (m)	Modeled concentration (including background)	NAAQS level
99th Percentile 1-hour Avg	2013-2015	571696	3402478	277.6	196.4 *
* Equivalent to the 2010 NAAQS of 75 ppb using 2.619 μg/m3 conversion factor.

C. Conclusion

We propose to determine that the Evangeline Parish NAA failed to attain the 2010 1-hour SO₂ NAAQS by the statutory attainment date of April 9, 2023, based on data showing that emissions have increased when comparing the 2020-2022 period to the modeled emissions at designation. Based on this increase in emissions, there is nothing to suggest that the area is no longer in violation of the NAAQS as demonstrated by the 2017 modeling analysis for the initial designation of the area. At the time of drafting of this document, Cabot had not fully implemented a control strategy to reduce emissions, and LDEQ had not submitted an attainment plan (SIP revision).

Under CAA section 179(d), if the EPA determines that an area did not attain the NAAQS by the applicable deadline, the responsible air agency has up to 12 months from the publication of the final notice of the determination to submit a revised SIP for the area demonstrating attainment and containing any additional measures that the EPA may reasonably prescribe that can be feasibly implemented in the area in light of technological achievability, costs, and any non-air quality and other air quality-related health and environmental impacts as required. Under CAA section 179(d)(3), such a revised SIP is to achieve attainment of the 2010 SO₂ NAAQS as expeditiously as practicable, but no later than 5 years from the date of notice of the area's failure to attain ( i.e., 5 years after the EPA publishes a final action in the Federal Register determining that the area failed to attain the 2010 SO₂ NAAQS). In addition to triggering requirements for a new SIP submittal, a final determination that a NAA failed to attain the NAAQS by the attainment date would trigger the implementation of contingency measures adopted under 172(c)(9).

III. Proposed Action and Request for Public Comment

Based on the EPA's review of all available evidence described in this document, the EPA is proposing to find that the Evangeline Parish NAA failed to attain the 2010 SO₂ NAAQS by the statutory attainment date of April 9, 2023. This action will not impact the designation status of the NAA, and the Evangeline Parish NAA will remain designated nonattainment for the 2010 SO₂ NAAQS until such time as Louisiana submits to the EPA a SIP with permanent, enforceable limitations that meet the requirements of the CAA, and the EPA takes action to redesignate the area. If finalized, this action will address the EPA's obligation under CAA section 179(c) to determine if the Evangeline Parish NAA attained the 2010 1-hour SO₂ NAAQS by the April 9, 2023, attainment date. The EPA is soliciting public comments on this document; these comments will be considered before taking final action.

IV. Environmental Justice Considerations

Information on Executive Order 12898 (Federal Actions To Address Environmental Justice in Minority Populations and Low-Income Populations, 59 FR 7629, February 16, 1994) and how EPA defines environmental justice (EJ) can be found in the section, below, titled “V. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews.” EPA is providing additional analysis of environmental justice associated with this action, the results of which are being provided for informational and transparency purposes only, not as a basis of our proposed action.

The EPA conducted a screening analysis using EJScreen, an ( print page 71876) environmental justice mapping and screening tool that provides EPA with a nationally consistent dataset and approach for combining various environmental and demographic indicators.^[14] The EJScreen tool presents these indicators at a Census block group (CBG) level or a larger user-specified “buffer” area (around a certain point location or boundary area) that covers multiple CBGs.^[15] An individual CBG is a cluster of contiguous blocks within the same census tract and generally contains between 600 and 3,000 people. EJScreen is not a tool for performing in-depth risk analyses but is instead a screening tool that provides an initial representation of indicators related to environmental justice and is subject to uncertainty in some underlying data ( e.g., some environmental indicators are based on monitoring data which are not uniformly available; others are based on self-reported data).^[16] To help mitigate this uncertainty, we have summarized EJScreen data within a larger “buffer” area covering multiple block groups and representing the average resident within the buffer area surrounding the Cabot carbon black plant in Evangeline Parish.

We use EJScreen environmental indicators to help screen for locations where residents may experience a higher overall pollution burden than would be expected for another block group with the same total population. These indicators of overall pollution burden include estimates of ambient particulate matter (PM_2.5 ) and ozone concentrations, a score for traffic proximity and volume, percentage of pre-1960 housing units (lead paint indicator), and scores for proximity to Superfund sites, risk management plan (RMP) sites, and hazardous waste facilities.^[17] EJScreen also provides information on demographic indicators, including percent low-income, communities of color, linguistic isolation, and less than high school education.

The EPA prepared an EJScreen report covering a buffer area of approximately a 6-mile radius around the Cabot facility. Table 4 presents a summary of some of the more pertinent results from the EPA's screening-level analysis for Cabot compared to the U.S. as a whole. From that report, the area around Cabot does not contain EJ environmental indicator indices greater than the 80th percentiles. The demographic indicators for low income and people with less than a high school education are both at the 90th percentile. The full, detailed EJScreen Community Report is provided in the docket for this action.

Table 4—EJScreen Analysis Summary for Cabot Ville Platte

Variables	EJScreen Values for 6-mile buffer area (radius) around Cabot compared to the U.S. average
	Cabot (Evangeline Parish NAA) (value and percentile in the U.S.)	U.S. average (indicator value)
Pollution Burden Indicators
Particulate matter (PM 2.5 ), annual average	7.78 μg/m3 (37th %ile)	8.45 μg/m3 .
Ozone, summer seasonal average of daily 8-hour max	33.2 ppb (11th %ile)	41 ppb.
Traffic proximity and volume score *	39,000 (10th %ile)	1,700,00.
Lead paint (percentage pre-1960 housing)	0.16% (44th %ile)	0.30%.
Superfund proximity score *	0 (0th %ile)	0.39.
RMP proximity score *	0.02 (0th %ile)	0.57.
Hazardous waste proximity score *	0.62 (37th %ile)	3.5.
Demographic Indicators
People of color population	50% (65th %ile)	40%.
Low-income population	63% (90th %ile)	30%.
Linguistically isolated population	2% (64th %ile)	5%.
Population with less than high school education	28% (90th %ile)	11%.
Population under 5 years of age	7% (67th %ile)	5%.
Population over 64 years of age	16% (51st %ile)	18%.
* The traffic proximity and volume indicator is a score calculated by daily traffic count divided by distance in meters to the road. The Superfund proximity, RMP proximity, and hazardous waste proximity indicators are all scores calculated by site or facility counts divided by distance in kilometers.