[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 53 (Friday, March 18, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-6456]


[[Page Unknown]]

[Federal Register: March 18, 1994]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Parts 52 and 81

[OH31-1-5650; FRL-4852-5]

 

Designation of Areas for Air Quality Planning Purposes; Ohio

AGENCY: United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA).

ACTION: Proposed rule.

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SUMMARY: On August 6, 1992, USEPA received maintenance plans and a 
request from the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (OEPA) for 
redesignation of Coshocton, Gallia, Morgan, and Washington Counties 
from nonattainment to attainment for sulfur dioxide (SO2). USEPA 
is proposing to approve the maintenance plans and redesignation request 
for Morgan and Washington Counties and deferring action with respect to 
the submittal for Coshocton and Gallia Counties.

DATES: Comments on the request and the proposed USEPA action must be 
received by April 18, 1994.

ADDRESSES: Written comments should be addressed to: William MacDowell, 
Chief, Regulation Development Section, Air Enforcement Branch (AE-17J), 
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 5, 77 West Jackson 
Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois 60604.
    Copies of the materials submitted by the State and the February 9, 
1994, technical support document are available at the following 
addresses for review: (It is recommended that you telephone John 
Summerhays at (312) 886-6067, before visiting the Region 5 office.) 
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (AE-17J), Region 5, Air 
Enforcement Branch, 77 West Jackson Blvd., Chicago, Illinois 60604-
3590.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: John Summerhays, Air Enforcement 
Branch (AE-17J), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 5, 77 
West Jackson Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois 60604-3590, (312) 886-6067

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

    Under section 107(d) of the Clean Air Act, as amended in 1977, 
USEPA promulgated designations of whether each area in the country was 
attaining the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS). (See 
Federal Register of March 3, 1978 (43 FR 8962), and October 5, 1978 (43 
FR 45993).) Included among these designations were nonattainment 
designations for SO2 for Coshocton, Gallia, Morgan, and Washington 
Counties in Ohio. The Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 provided for 
both continuation of preexisting SO2 designations and new criteria 
and procedures for redesignations. These criteria are discussed in the 
``General Preamble for the Implementation of Title I of the Clean Air 
Act Amendments of 1990,'' published at 57 FR 13498 on April 16, 1992, 
and in a USEPA memorandum from John Seitz to the Regional Air Division 
Directors entitled ``Redesignation and Maintenance Plan Requirements 
for Nonattainment Areas,'' dated September 4, 1992.
    On August 6, 1992, USEPA received a submittal from the Ohio 
Environmental Protection Agency (OEPA) requesting redesignation of 
Coshocton, Gallia, Morgan, and Washington Counties from nonattainment 
to attainment for SO2. This submittal also included air quality 
data summaries and daily coal sampling data for the four major power 
plants in the four counties. A subsequent submittal dated July 30, 
1993, provided stack test data for one of these facilities and 
indicated that stack test data for the other facilities would be sent 
shortly.

II. Review of State Submittal

    Section 107(d)(3)(E) of the amended Act provides that 
redesignations of areas from nonattainment to attainment can be 
approved only if five criteria are met:

    (i) USEPA determines that the area has attained the NAAQS;
    (ii) USEPA has fully approved the relevant implementation plan;
    (iii) USEPA determines that the improvement in air quality is 
due to permanent and enforceable reductions in emissions resulting 
from implementation of the applicable implementation plan and 
applicable Federal air pollutant control regulations and other 
permanent and enforceable reductions;
    (iv) USEPA has fully approved a maintenance plan for the area as 
meeting the requirements of Section 175A; and
    (v) the State containing such area has met all requirements 
applicable to the area under Section 110 and part D.

    These criteria and the extent to which these criteria are satisfied 
are discussed individually in the following subsections.

A. Attainment of the SO2 NAAQS

    Air quality standards for SO2 have been set for three 
averaging times: annual (at a level of 80 micrograms per cubic meter 
(g/m3)), 24-hour (at a level of 365 g/m3), 
and 3-hour (at a level of 1300 g/m3). Two types of 
information are used to assess whether these standards are met: ambient 
monitoring data, and dispersion modeling estimates. Monitoring is 
generally conducted at too few locations to fully represent air quality 
near significant SO2 sources. Therefore, it is common to rely more 
on dispersion modeling results in assessing areas' attainment status. 
Indeed, in 1976, for much of Ohio including the four counties addressed 
in Ohio's redesignation request, USEPA promulgated emissions limits 
found through modeling to be necessary to assure attainment. The 
nonattainment designations promulgated in 1978 for these four counties 
reflected comparison of the sources' emissions with these promulgated 
limits. (See Federal Register notices cited above.) Conversely, a 
redesignation of these four counties to attainment must be supported by 
modeling information as well as by any available monitoring 
information. Provided that the source mix in the areas remains largely 
unchanged, the modeling information may reflect the modeling underlying 
the applicable limits (whether approved State limits or federally 
promulgated limits). This would involve the State demonstrating 
attainment by showing that emissions levels are within limits that 
USEPA found would assure attainment. In the typical case involving a 
relatively small number of sources with explicit limits that dominate 
ambient concentrations, such a demonstration would be required to show 
compliance for all such sources.
    USEPA has examined ambient monitoring data from the Air Information 
Retrieval System (AIRS) data base for 1980 to 1992 in the four 
counties. These data indicate exceedance of an SO2 standard on 
only one occasion, an exceedance in 1991 of the 3-hour average standard 
in Morgan County. The 3-hour and 24-hour average standards are not 
violated unless 2 or more exceedances occur in a year. Therefore, no 
SO2 violations were recorded in the four county region during the 
13 years examined.
    The submittal of fuel quality data to support the State's request 
raises several issues. The first issue is whether fuel quality data may 
be used to indicate attainment status, even though stack testing is the 
compliance test method USEPA has approved for sources subject to State 
Implementation Plan (SIP) limits and promulgated for sources subject to 
Federal Implementation Plan (FIP) limits. Since the purpose of this 
review is to assess air quality and not individual source compliance, 
USEPA judges the use of fuel quality data to be appropriate. Indeed, 
fuel quality data in conjunction with atmospheric dispersion analyses 
(in this case previously completed analyses) can provide information 
both for a broader set of times than stack testing and for a broader 
set of locations than ambient monitoring.
    An associated issue involves appropriate averaging times. The 
State's rules provide for 30-day averaging of fuel quality data, and 
USEPA has adopted a policy that gives enforcement priority to sources 
violating applicable limits on a 30-day average basis. Nevertheless, 
for purposes of reviewing whether the four counties are attaining the 
24-hour average SO2 standards, daily fuel quality information was 
used. Fuel quality data showing daily compliance with emissions limits 
which modeling showed would assure attainment is considered evidence of 
attainment of both the annual average and the 24-hour average 
standards. For the 3-hour standard, fuel quality data indicating 
continuous compliance on a 24-hour average basis is to be supplemented 
by stack test results demonstrating compliance on this shorter 
averaging time.
    An additional issue pertaining to the use of fuel quality data 
involves the appropriate conversion factor from fuel sulfur content to 
SO2 emissions. Ohio's rules provide a conversion factor for coal 
of 1.9 pounds of SO2 emissions per pound of sulfur in fuel. 
However, USEPA currently believes that 1.95 pounds of SO2 are 
emitted per pound of sulfur in coal. USEPA's review of the State's fuel 
quality information used this slightly higher conversion factor.
    In support of its redesignation request, the State provided 
available 1989 to 1991 daily coal quality data for Ohio Valley Electric 
Corporation's Kyger Creek Station (in Gallia County), Ohio Power 
Company's Gavin Station (also in Gallia County) and Muskingham River 
Station (in Morgan and Washington Counties), and Columbus and Southern 
Ohio Electric Company's Conesville Station (in Coshocton County). The 
State also provided results of multiple stack tests at the Muskingham 
River Station, and committed to send results of recently completed 
stack tests for the other plants in the near future. Although three of 
the four counties also include at least one industrial source subject 
to source-specific emissions limits, these sources are not located in 
the portion of the county designated nonattainment and do not 
significantly affect nonattainment area air quality.
    The fuel quality data submitted by the State indicate no recent 
violations of air quality standards in the four counties. The Kyger 
Creek data showed no exceedances of the applicable limit on any day 
during the 3 years. The Gavin data showed exceedances for a single 
boiler on three occasions in 1989, but no exceedances in 1990 or 1991. 
The Muskingham River data showed numerous exceedances through May 1989, 
but then during the subsequent 2\1/2\ years only one occasion of coal 
for one boiler exceeding the applicable limit. On this occasion the 
fuel quality for other boilers was enough below the applicable limit to 
compensate for the exceedance at the one boiler, such that use of the 
actual fuel qualities in the modeling analysis underlying the approved 
SIP would indicate attainment. Finally, the Conesville data indicated 
an exceedance at all boilers in April 1989, but no exceedances in the 
subsequent 2\1/2\ years. These periods of compliance, reflecting the 
most recent available data, provide sufficient basis for USEPA to 
conclude that these areas are now attaining annual average and 24-hour 
average air quality standards.
    The fuel quality data, in conjunction with stack test data for the 
Muskingham River Station, also indicate attainment of the 3-hour 
average standard in Morgan and Washington Counties. USEPA has not 
received stack test data for Coshocton or Gallia Counties, and has not 
evaluated whether these counties are attaining the 3-hour standard.

B. Fully Approved Implementation Plan

    The second criterion for redesignation to attainment, given in 
section 107(d)(3)(E)(ii), is that the plan be fully approved under 
section 110(k). The plan for the Morgan and Washington Counties 
nonattainment area was approved on May 20, 1988 (53 FR 18087). Although 
this approval was granted under section 110(a)(2) rather than section 
110(k), section 110(a)(2) was the predecessor of and contained similar 
provisions as section 110(k) prior to the enactment of section 110(k) 
in the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990. Thus, USEPA views approval of 
a SIP under section 110(a)(2) prior to the enactment of the 1990 
amendments as sufficient to satisfy the criterion of section 
107(d)(3)(E)(ii).
    The key elements of the plans for Coshocton and Gallia Counties are 
Federal Implementation Plan (FIP) limits promulgated under section 
110(c). Based on questions as to whether such plans satisfy the 
requirements of section 107(d)(3)(E)(ii), USEPA is deferring action on 
Ohio's request for these two counties.

C. Permanent and Enforceable Emission Reductions

    The third criterion for redesignation to attainment is that the 
improvement be attributable to permanent and enforceable emissions 
reductions. For SO2, this criterion could be satisfied, for 
example, by showing that the key sources have switched to fuels with 
sufficiently lower sulfur content to meet permanent, federally 
enforceable fuel quality limits that provide for attainment. For the 
four counties subject to the State's redesignation request, this 
criterion is met because the air quality improvement is due to sources 
switching to coal supplies with reduced sulfur content in order to meet 
enforceable limits.

D. Maintenance Plan

    The fourth criterion is that USEPA has fully approved a maintenance 
plan pursuant to section 175A. Section 175A requires a plan that 
assures maintenance of the air quality standard for at least 10 years 
beyond the date of redesignation, and includes contingency measures as 
necessary to assure prompt correction of any violations. USEPA has 
published guidance that for SO2, contingency measure requirements 
under section 172(c)(9) (for SIPs) may be satisfied by a State having 
an aggressive program for identifying and resolving any instances of 
sources not complying with limits established to assure attainment. 
(See 57 FR 13547.) Such an enforcement program would also satisfy 
SO2 contingency measure requirements under section 175A. Ohio 
submitted a maintenance plan in conjunction with its redesignation 
request. This action addresses Ohio's maintenance plan as well as its 
redesignation request.
    The maintenance plan submitted by Ohio includes federally mandated 
reductions in diesel fuel sulfur content and the expected power plant 
emission reductions due to acid rain requirements under Title IV of the 
Clean Air Act. In addition, Ohio maintains active tracking of the 
compliance status of sources and commences enforcement action upon 
identifying violators, thereby assuring prompt correction of any 
violations of the air quality standards attributable to the existing 
set of sources. Furthermore, for any new sources with the potential to 
cause air quality standard violations, Federal requirements for the 
Prevention of Significant Deterioration include provisions to prevent 
new violations of the standard. Therefore, USEPA considers the 
requirements of section 175A met, and is proposing to approve Ohio's 
maintenance plan for SO2 for Morgan and Washington Counties. (For 
reasons stated previously, USEPA is not proposing action today with 
respect to the requests for Coshocton and Gallia Counties, and 
accordingly is also not proposing action on the maintenance plan for 
these counties.) If the maintenance plan for Morgan and Washington 
Counties is approved as proposed, Ohio would then satisfy the fourth 
criterion for redesignation of these counties to attainment.

E. Requirements Under Section 110 and Part D

    The fifth criterion is that all requirements under section 110 and 
part D of Title I have been met. USEPA approved the SIP for the Morgan 
and Washington County nonattainment area on May 20, 1988, at 53 FR 
18087. Accordingly, the fifth criterion is satisfied for this area. 
USEPA is not undertaking rulemaking today on whether the federally 
promulgated limits satisfy this criterion for Coshocton or Gallia 
Counties.

III. Summary of Action

    USEPA has reviewed the State's submittals and other related 
material and has concluded that the maintenance plan and redesignation 
request for Morgan and Washington Counties satisfy the applicable 
criteria for approval. Consequently, USEPA proposes to approve the 
maintenance plan for SO2 for Morgan and Washington Counties, and 
to redesignate these two counties to attainment. USEPA is deferring 
action with respect to Ohio's maintenance plans and redesignation 
requests for Coshocton and Gallia Counties.
    Under the Regulatory Flexibility Act, 5 U.S.C. 600 et seq., USEPA 
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, USEPA may certify that the rule will not have a 
significant impact on a substantial number of small entities. Small 
entities include small business, small not-for-profit enterprises, and 
government entities with jurisdiction over populations of less than 
50,000.
    Redesignation of an area either to nonattainment or to attainment 
does not impose any new requirements on small entities. Redesignation 
is an action that affects the status of a geographical area and does 
not impose any regulatory requirements on sources. The Administrator 
certifies that the approval of the redesignation request will not 
affect a substantial number of small entities.
    Nothing in this action should be construed as permitting, allowing 
or establishing a precedent for any future request redesignations. Each 
redesignation request 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 Two action by the 
Regional Administrator under the procedures published in the Federal 
Register on January 19, 1989 (54 FR 2214-2225), based on revised SIP 
processing review tables approved by the Acting Assistant Administrator 
for Air and Radiation on October 4, 1993 (Michael Shapiro's memorandum 
to Regional Administrators). On January 6, 1989, the Office of 
Management and Budget waived Tables Two and Three SIP revisions (54 FR 
222) from the requirements of section 3 of Executive Order 12291 for a 
period of 2 years. USEPA has submitted a request for a permanent waiver 
for Table 2 and Table 3 SIP revisions. OMB has agreed to continue the 
temporary waiver until such time as it rules on USEPA's request. This 
request continued in effect under Executive Order 12866, which 
superseded Executive Order 12291 on September 30, 1993.

    Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7401-7671q.

    Dated: February 18, 1994.
David A. Ullrich,
Acting Regional Administrator.
[FR Doc. 94-6456 Filed 3-17-94; 8:45 am]
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