[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 187 (Wednesday, September 28, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page ]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-23983]


[Federal Register: September 28, 1994]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Parts 52 and 81

[CA-64-1-6504; FRL-5080-5]


Approval and Promulgation of Implementation Plans and Designation 
of Areas for Air Quality Planning Purposes; State of California; 
Approval of the Maintenance Plan for the San Francisco Bay Area and 
Redesignation of the San Francisco Bay Area Ozone Nonattainment Area to 
Attainment; Approval of Emissions Inventory; Approval of NOX RACT 
Exemption Petition

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking (NPR).
SUMMARY: On November 12, 1993 the California Air Resources Board (CARB) 
submitted a maintenance plan and a request to redesignate the San 
Francisco Bay Area ozone nonattainment area from nonattainment to 
attainment. The ozone nonattainment area includes the following 
counties: Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo, 
Santa Clara, Solano (part), and Sonoma (part). Under the Clean Air Act, 
nonattainment areas may be redesignated to attainment if sufficient 
data are available to warrant the redesignation and the area meets the 
other Clean Air Act redesignation requirements.
    In today's action, EPA is proposing to approve the State of 
California's submittal because it meets the maintenance plan and 
redesignation requirements. In addition, EPA is proposing to approve 
the nitrogen oxides (NOx) Reasonably Available Control Technology 
(RACT) exemption petition submitted by the Bay Area Air Quality 
Management District (BAAQMD) on April 15, 1994 under section 182(f). 
Finally, EPA is proposing to expedite the approval of the annual and 
peak season 1990 inventory of actual ozone precursor emissions required 
by section 182(a)(1) by parallel processing the emissions inventory.

DATES: Comments must be received by December 27, 1994.

ADDRESSES: Written comments should be addressed to: David P. Howekamp, 
Director, Air and Toxics Division (A-1), United States Environmental 
Protection Agency, Region IX, 75 Hawthorne Street, San Francisco, 
California, 94105.
    Copies of the redesignation request, State submittal and the EPA's 
technical support document (TSD) are available for public review at the 
above address and at the California Air Resources Board, 2020 L Street, 
Sacramento, CA 95814.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Wallace Woo, Chief, Plans Development 
Section (A-2-2), Air Planning Branch, United States Environmental 
Protection Agency, Region IX, 75 Hawthorne Street, San Francisco, 
California, 94105, (415) 744-1207.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Table of Contents

I. Background.
II. Evaluation Criteria.
III. Review of State Submittal.
    1. Attainment of the Standard
    A. The Ozone Standard
    B. The BAAQMD Monitoring Record
    C. The Alum Rock Monitor
    2. Meeting the Applicable Requirements of Section 110 and Part D
    A. Section 110 Requirements
    B. Part D Requirements
    B1. Subpart 1 of Part D--Section 172(c) Plan Provisions
    B2. Subpart 1 of Part D--Section 176(c) Conformity Plan 
Provisions
    B3. Subpart 2 of Part D--Sections 182(a) and 182(b) Requirements
    B4. Section 182(f) NOX RACT Exemption Petition
    a. Section 182(f) Requirements and Exemption Provisions
    b. BAAQMD NOX RACT Exemption Petition
    c. Proposed Action
    3. Fully Approved SIP Under Section 110(k) of the Act
    4. Improvement in Air Quality Due to Permanent and Enforceable 
Measures
    5. Fully Approved Maintenance Plan Under Section 175A
    5A. Emission Inventory--Base Year Inventory
    5B. Demonstration of Maintenance--Projected Inventories
    5C. Verification of Continued Attainment
    5D. Contingency Plan
    5E. Subsequent Maintenance Plan Revisions
IV. Potential Impact of California FIP and SIPs
V. Conclusion

I. Background

    The Clean Air Act, as amended in 1977 (1977 Act) required areas 
that were designated nonattainment based on a failure to meet the ozone 
national ambient air quality standard (NAAQS) to develop SIPs with 
sufficient control measures to expeditiously attain and maintain the 
standard. The San Francisco Bay Area was designated under section 107 
of the 1977 Act as nonattainment with respect to the ozone NAAQS on 
March 3, 1978 (40 CFR 81.305). In accordance with section 110 of the 
1977 Act, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) submitted an ozone 
SIP as required by part D of the 1977 Act on July 25, 1979, which EPA 
took final action to approve in part, disapprove in part (lack of legal 
authority and legislation to implement an inspection and maintenance 
(I/M) program) and conditionally approve in part (resource and 
extension requirements for transportation control measures with respect 
to part D) on March 19, 1982 (47 FR 11866) with respect to the 
requirements of section 110 and part D of the 1977 Act. On July 26, 
1983, CARB submitted the legislation and implementation schedule for an 
I/M program which EPA fully approved on November 25, 1983 (48 FR 
53114). This approval rescinded EPA's earlier disapproval of the San 
Francisco Bay Area's SIP. On February 4, 1983, CARB submitted a SIP 
revision for the San Francisco Bay Area which projected attainment of 
the ozone and carbon monoxide NAAQS by 1987. EPA published final 
approval of this SIP revision and removed the earlier conditional 
approval for the San Francisco Bay Area on December 28, 1983 (48 FR 
57130). In its SIP, CARB projected that the San Francisco Bay Area 
nonattainment area would attain the ozone standard by 1987. The area 
failed to attain the standard.
    In a May 26, 1988 letter, EPA issued a finding under section 
110(a)(2)(H) of the Clean Air Act (the 1988 SIP-Call) that California's 
SIP for the San Francisco Bay Area was substantially inadequate to 
attain and maintain the NAAQS for ozone and carbon monoxide. This 
finding called on California to begin a two phase process which would 
lead to the revision of the plans. The first phase consisted of 
updating the emissions inventory, making certain corrections to the 
area's existing stationary source rules, and beginning to gather other 
pertinent data by August 1988. The second phase consisted of submitting 
a revised SIP containing changes necessary to attain the NAAQS. On June 
13, 1989, EPA notified California that the deadline for the second 
phase of this SIP-Call was September 30, 1991.
    On November 15, 1990, the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 were 
enacted. Public Law 101-549, 104 Stat. 2399, codified at 42 U.S.C. 
7401-7671q. The ozone nonattainment designation for the San Francisco 
Bay Area continued by operation of law according to section 
107(d)(1)(C)(i) of the Clean Air Act, as amended in 1990; furthermore, 
the area was classified by operation of law as moderate for ozone under 
section 181(a)(1). See 56 FR 56694 (Nov. 6, 1991), codified at 40 CFR 
81.305. In a September 5, 1991 letter, EPA notified California that 
earlier deadlines for the SIP-Call were revised to conform with the 
requirements of the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990.
    The BAAQMD more recently has collected ambient monitoring data that 
show no violations of the ozone NAAQS (See discussion in Section III.1 
below). Accordingly, on November 12, 1993 California requested 
redesignation of the area to attainment with respect to the ozone NAAQS 
and submitted an ozone maintenance SIP for the San Francisco Bay Area. 
The three co-lead agencies in the San Francisco Bay Area under section 
174 of the Act, the BAAQMD, the Metropolitan Transportation Commission 
(MTC), and the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG), delegated 
authority to the Joint Air Quality Policy Committee (JAQPC), which is 
composed of representative board members from the three co-lead 
agencies, to hold a joint agency public hearing on the redesignation 
request and maintenance plan. On August 18, 1993, JAQPC held a public 
hearing on the redesignation request and maintenance plan. The plan and 
redesignation request were subsequently adopted by the BAAQMD, MTC and 
ABAG on September 1, 1993, September 22, 1993 and September 16, 1993, 
respectively, at regularly scheduled agency board meetings.
    All SIP submittals to EPA must meet certain minimum administrative 
and technical criteria as set forth in 40 CFR part 51, appendix V (the 
``completeness'' criteria) in order for the Administrator to review and 
take action on the submittal. Section 110(k)(1) of the Act describes 
the mandatory timeframe for EPA's determination of completeness and 
rulemaking action on plan submissions. In accordance with section 
110(k)(1)(B) of the Act, the San Francisco Bay Area's ozone 
redesignation request and maintenance plan was deemed complete by 
operation of law on May 12, 1994. Thus, the submittal is considered 
complete as of November 12, 1993, the date it was submitted.
    On July 21, 1994, CARB sent a letter to EPA requesting ``parallel 
processing'' of certain revisions to the San Francisco Bay Area's ozone 
maintenance plan and SIP, including new contingency measures in the 
maintenance plan, a 1990 emissions inventory, emission statement rule, 
new source review rule, and amendments to various VOC RACT regulations. 
The parallel processing request contained draft copies of the SIP 
revisions that the BAAQMD will adopt this year. The parallel processing 
provision of 40 CFR part 51, appendix V allows EPA to propose action on 
the draft revisions prior to submission of the locally adopted SIP 
revision by the State. At the time of final EPA action, the complete 
revisions must be submitted to EPA by the State.

II. Evaluation Criteria

    The 1990 Amendments revised section 107(d)(1)(E) to provide five 
specific requirements that an area must meet in order to be 
redesignated from nonattainment to attainment: (1) The area must have 
attained the applicable NAAQS; (2) the area has met all relevant 
requirements under section 110 and part D of the Act; (3) the area has 
a fully approved SIP under section 110(k) of the Act; (4) the air 
quality improvement must be permanent and enforceable; and, (5) the 
area must have a fully approved maintenance plan pursuant to section 
175A of the Act. Section 107(d)(3)(D) allows a Governor to initiate the 
redesignation process for an area to apply for attainment status.

III. Review of State Submittal

    The California redesignation request for the San Francisco Bay Area 
meets the five requirements of section 107(d)(3)(E), noted above. 
Following is a brief description of how the State has fulfilled each of 
these requirements. EPA's technical support document (TSD) contains a 
more detailed analysis of the submittal with respect to certain of 
these evaluation criteria.

1. Attainment of the Ozone NAAQS

A. The Ozone Standard
    Attainment of the ozone NAAQS is determined based on the expected 
number of exceedances in a calendar year. The method for determining 
attainment of the ozone NAAQS is contained in 40 CFR 50.9 and appendix 
H to that section. The simplest method by which expected exceedances 
are calculated is by averaging actual exceedances at each monitoring 
site over a three year period. An area is in attainment of the standard 
if this average results in expected exceedances for each monitoring 
site of 1.0 or less per calendar year. When a valid daily maximum 
hourly average value is not available for each required monitoring day 
during the year, these missing days must be accounted for when 
estimating exceedances for the year. Appendix H provides the formula 
used to estimate the expected number of exceedances for each year.
B. The BAAQMD Monitoring Data
    The State of California's request is based on an analysis of 
quality-assured ozone air quality data which is relevant to both the 
maintenance plan and to the redesignation request. This data comes from 
the BAAQMD State and Local Air Monitoring Station (SLAMS) network which 
is comprised of 23 monitoring stations. The request is based on ambient 
air ozone monitoring data for calendar years 1990 through 1992. This 
data clearly shows an expected exceedance rate for the ozone standard 
of less than 1.0 per year for 22 of the 23 monitors, including each of 
the monitors on which the nonattainment designation was based. The 
exception is the Alum Rock monitor, discussed below, which is a 
monitoring site that was established during the 1992 ozone season. As 
described below, the Alum Rock monitoring site recorded one exceedance 
of the ozone NAAQS in 1992, but EPA believes that due to the 
circumstances of the timing of the establishment of the site, the best 
estimate of the expected exceedance rate for this monitoring site leads 
to the conclusion that the San Francisco Bay Area achieved the ozone 
NAAQS during the 1990-1992 period.
C. The Alum Rock Monitor
    The original Alum Rock monitoring site was located at a fire 
station in the northeast portion of San Jose. The BAAQMD lost its lease 
to this monitoring site in October 1990. Prior to its forced closure, 
the site had not recorded any exceedances of the standard since 1987. A 
new Alum Rock monitoring location was established in August 1992. This 
monitor recorded an exceedance of the ozone NAAQS on September 26, 
1992. The actual monitored value was 0.125 ppm, the lowest possible 
measured value which would be considered an exceedance of the ozone 
NAAQS.
    Because the site was operated for only five months during 1992, 
there is a large gap in data for the new site for 1992. Appendix H 
contains a formula for estimating the number of exceedances for a year 
when there is missing data. Normally, for an established site with two 
previous years of monitoring data, this number would be added to the 
number of exceedances for the two previous years and averaged to yield 
an expected exceedance per year. However, because the new site was 
established at a nearby but different location, it must be considered 
to be a different site. For this reason, the estimated exceedances for 
1992 cannot be averaged over the three year period from 1990 through 
1992. Therefore, while an expected annual exceedance rate can be 
calculated for the Alum Rock site, the lack of three complete years of 
data introduces uncertainties into the calculation using the formula 
contained in appendix H.
    Appendix H does not explicitly address the situation where a new 
site starts up and collects data for only a portion of the calendar 
year. However, this situation has been addressed in an EPA memorandum, 
``Ozone and Carbon Monoxide Design Value Calculations,'' William 
Laxton, Director, Technical Support Division, OAQPS, June 18, 1990 
(Laxton memo). The memo recognizes the disincentive created by applying 
the estimated exceedance calculation for missing data to new sites. The 
missing data penalty created by the calculation is designed to 
encourage prompt repair or replacement of monitors, rather than to 
discourage air pollution control agencies from installing new 
monitoring sites in excess of the number required by 40 CFR part 58. 
For this reason, the Laxton memo essentially allows an agency which 
installs a new monitoring site to base the estimated exceedance 
calculation for the initial year on the portion of the year following 
start-up of the monitor. Based on the underlying reasoning of the 
Laxton memo and the fact that there were no exceedances at any of the 
22 established monitoring sites during June, July and August of 1992, 
EPA calculated expected exceedances for the new Alum Rock site using 
data from August 24, 1992, the date on which the new Alum Rock 
monitoring site was established, through the end of December 1992. That 
calculation results in an estimated expected exceedance calculation of 
1.0 exceedances for 1992. EPA believes that, in light of the 
uncertainties attendant to the lack of three full years of data from 
the Alum Rock monitor, this calculation represents the ``best 
estimate'' of the expected exceedance rate for the Alum Rock monitor in 
1992 and leads to the conclusion that, in all likelihood, the San 
Francisco Bay Area achieved attainment during the 1990-1992 period. The 
lack of any monitored exceedances at any of the other monitors in the 
San Francisco Bay Area's extensive SLAMs network during the June-August 
1992 period provides additional support for EPA's belief that this 
calculation represents the best estimate of expected exceedances at the 
Alum Rock site.
    EPA notes that monitoring at Alum Rock following the end of 1992 
continues to show attainment. This provides further support for the 
conclusion that the best estimate of expected exceedances at the Alum 
Rock site for 1992 is 1.0.
D. Demonstration of Attainment
    In sum, while some uncertainty attaches to the monitoring data from 
the Alum Rock site established in August 1992, EPA believes that the 
data submitted by the BAAQMD provides an adequate demonstration that 
the San Francisco Bay Area attained the ozone NAAQS during the 1990-
1992 period. Moreover, monitoring data from all sites in the Bay Area 
SLAMs network continues to show attainment in 1993 and so far in 1994.
    In order for EPA to take final action approving the San Francisco 
Bay Area redesignation request, monitoring data from all 23 sites in 
the BAAQMD's SLAMs network must continue to demonstrate attainment up 
to the time of final action. Thus, EPA proposes to approve the San 
Francisco Bay Area redesignation only if the monitoring data from the 
entire SLAMs network continues to demonstrate attainment. If the 
monitoring data records a violation of the NAAQS before final action is 
taken on this proposal, the proposed approval of the redesignation will 
be withdrawn and a proposed disapproval substituted for the proposed 
approval.
    In addition to the demonstration discussed above, EPA required 
completion of air network monitoring requirements set forth in 40 CFR 
part 58. This included a quality assurance plan revision and a 
monitoring network review to determine the adequacy of the ozone 
monitoring network. The BAAQMD fulfilled these requirements to complete 
documentation for the air quality demonstration. The BAAQMD has also 
committed to continue monitoring in this area in accordance with 40 CFR 
part 58.
    EPA agreed with the BAAQMD recommendation in its network review 
concerning the need for one additional ozone monitor in the area south 
of San Jose. As a result, the BAAQMD established an additional State 
and Local Air Monitoring Site (SLAMS) at the San Martin site in Santa 
Clara County in April 1994. EPA will review data from this new 
monitoring station as part of its review of the 1994 ozone season.

2. Meeting Applicable Requirements of Section 110 and Part D

    On December 28, 1983 (48 FR 57130), EPA fully approved California's 
SIP for the San Francisco Bay Area as meeting the requirements of 
section 110(a)(2) and part D of the 1977 Act, with the exception of the 
I/M program which was approved on November 25, 1983 (48 FR 53114) and 
committed to specific implementation schedules for the San Francisco 
Bay Area. The amended Act, however, modified section 110(a)(2) and, 
under part D, revised section 172 and added new requirements for all 
nonattainment areas. Therefore, for purposes of redesignation, to meet 
the requirement that the SIP contain all applicable requirements under 
the Act, EPA has reviewed the SIP to ensure that it contains all 
measures that were due under the amended Act prior to or at the time 
the State submitted its redesignation request, as set forth in EPA 
policy.\1\ EPA interprets section 107(d)(3)(E)(v) of the Act to mean 
that, for a redesignation request to be approved, the State must have 
met all requirements that applied to the subject area prior to or at 
the same time as the submission of a complete redesignation request. 
Requirements of the Act that come due subsequently continue to be 
applicable to the area at later dates (see section 175A(c)) and, if 
redesignation of any of the areas is disapproved, the State remains 
obligated to fulfill those requirements. These requirements are 
discussed below.
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    \1\``Procedures for Processing Requests to Redesignate Areas to 
Attainment,'' John Calcagni, Director, Air Quality Management 
Division, September 4, 1992.
    ``State Implementation Plan (SIP) Actions Submitted in Response 
to Clean Air Act (CAA) Deadlines,'' John Calcagni, Director, Air 
Quality Management Division, October 28, 1992.
    ``State Implementation Plan (SIP) Requirements for Areas 
Submitted Requests for Redesignation to Attainment of the Ozone and 
Carbon Monoxide (CO) National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) 
on or after November 15, 1992,'' Michael H. Shapiro, Acting 
Assistant Administrator, September 17, 1993.
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    As discussed earlier in this document, all of the SIP requirements 
must be met by the BAAQMD and approved by EPA into the SIP prior to 
final action on the redesignation request. In the event that these 
requirements are not met, EPA proposes in the alternative to disapprove 
the redesignation request. Based on CARB's July 21, 1994 letter to EPA, 
EPA is ``parallel processing'' certain SIP revisions in this document 
(contingency measures and 1990 emission inventory) and will address the 
other requirements (VOC RACT regulations, emission statement rule, new 
source review) in a separate Federal Register document prior to final 
action on this revision. EPA's decision to parallel process the locally 
adopted contingency measures and 1990 emissions inventory reflect EPA's 
positive technical and administrative review. An EPA letter dated 
August 25, 1994 (Howekamp, EPA, to Boyd, CARB) finds the revised 
baseyear inventory complete (for parallel processing purposes) and 
rescinds the April 13, 1993 finding of incompleteness for the emission 
inventory. An approvability review was performed separately by EPA.
A. Section 110 Requirements
    Although section 110 was amended in 1990, the San Francisco Bay 
Area SIP meets the requirements of amended section 110(a)(2). A number 
of the requirements did not change in substance and, therefore, EPA 
believes that the pre-amendment SIP met these requirements. As to those 
requirements that were amended, see 57 FR 27936 and 23939 (June 23, 
1993), many are duplicative of other requirements of the Act. EPA has 
analyzed the SIP and determined that it is consistent with the 
requirements of amended section 110(a)(2). The SIP contains enforceable 
emission limitations, requires monitoring, compiling, and analyzing 
ambient air quality data, requires preconstruction review of new major 
stationary sources and major modifications to existing ones, provides 
for adequate funding, staff, and associated resources necessary to 
implement its requirements, and requires stationary source emissions 
monitoring and reporting.
B. Part D Requirements
    Before the San Francisco Bay Area may be redesignated to 
attainment, it also must have fulfilled the applicable requirements of 
part D of the Act. Under part D, an area's classification indicates the 
requirements to which it will be subject. Subpart 1 of part D sets 
forth the basic nonattainment requirements applicable to all 
nonattainment areas, classified as well as nonclassifiable. Subpart 2 
of part D establishes additional requirements for nonattainment areas 
classified under table 1 of section 181(a)(1) or table 3 of section 
186(a). The San Francisco Bay Area was classified under table 1 of 
section 181(a)(1) as a moderate ozone nonattainment area (See 56 FR 
56694, codified at 40 CFR 81.305). Therefore, in order to be 
redesignated to attainment, the State must meet the applicable 
requirements of subpart 1 of part D--specifically sections 172(c) and 
176, as well as the applicable requirements of subpart 2 of part D.
    B.1. Subpart 1 of part D--Section 172(c) Plan Provisions. Under 
section 172(b), the Administrator established that States containing 
nonattainment areas shall submit a plan or plan revision meeting the 
applicable requirements of section 172(c) no later than three years 
after an area is designated as nonattainment, i.e., unless EPA 
establishes an earlier date. EPA has determined that the section 
172(c)(2) reasonable further progress (RFP) (with parallel requirements 
for a moderate ozone nonattainment area under subpart 2 of part D, due 
November 15, 1993) was not applicable at the time the State of 
California submitted the San Francisco Bay Area redesignation request 
on November 12, 1993. Also, the 172(c)(9) contingency measures and 
additional 172(c)(1) non-RACT reasonable available control measures 
(RACM) beyond what may already be required in the SIP are no longer 
necessary, since no earlier date was set for these measures and as RFP 
was not due until November 15, 1993. As discussed below in section B3., 
subpart 2 of part D, the BAAQMD is in the process of revising certain 
VOC RACT rules to meet the Clean Air Act requirements.
    The 172(c)(3) emissions inventory requirement has been met by the 
submission and proposed approval of the 1990 base year inventory 
required under subpart 2 of part D, section 182(a)(1).
    As for the 172(c)(5) NSR requirement, once an area is redesignated 
to attainment, this requirement is no longer applicable. The area then 
becomes subject to prevention of significant deterioration (PSD) 
requirements in lieu of the NSR program (57 FR 13564). Currently, the 
San Francisco Bay Area is amending its NSR rule to comply with the 
provisions of the 1990 Clean Air Act amendments. Prior to final action 
on the redesignation request and maintenance plan, EPA will take final 
rulemaking action on the BAAQMD's NSR program with respect to the ozone 
requirements of sections 182(a)(2)(C) and 182(b)(5) in a separate 
Federal Register document. Upon redesignation to attainment, BAAQMD 
will continue with NSR permitting until such time as BAAQMD requests 
delegation of the PSD program for VOC. At that time, the nonattainment 
area requirements of the BAAQMD's NSR program will be placed in the 
contingency plan. See the TSD accompanying this notice for a detailed 
discussion of the NSR requirements and deficiencies in the current 
regulation.
    Finally, for purposes of redesignation, the San Francisco Bay Area 
SIP was reviewed to ensure that all requirements of section 110(a)(2), 
containing general SIP elements, under the Act were satisfied. Title 40 
CFR 52.220 evidences that the San Francisco Bay Area SIP was approved 
under section 110 of the Act, and further that it satisfies all 
applicable part D, title I requirements with the exception of the 
outstanding part D requirements for the ozone SIP, mentioned above.
    B.2. Subpart 1 of Part D-- Section 176 Conformity Plan Provisions. 
Section 176(c) of the Act requires States to revise their SIPs to 
establish criteria and procedures to ensure that Federal actions, 
before they are taken, conform to the air quality planning goals in the 
applicable State SIP. The requirement to determine conformity applies 
to transportation plans, programs and projects developed, funded, or 
approved under title 23 U.S.C. or the Federal Transit Act 
(``transportation conformity''), as well as to all other Federal 
actions (``general conformity''). Section 176 further provides that the 
conformity revisions to be submitted by the States must be consistent 
with Federal conformity regulations that the Act required EPA to 
promulgate. Congress provided for the State revisions to be submitted 
one year after the date for promulgation of final EPA conformity 
regulations. When that date passed without such promulgation, EPA's 
General Preamble for the Implementation of title I informed the State 
that its conformity regulations would establish a submittal date (see 
57 FR 13498, 13557, (April 16, 1992)).
    The EPA promulgated final transportation conformity regulations on 
November 24, 1993 (58 FR 62118) and general conformity regulations on 
November 30, 1993 (58 FR 63214).
    These conformity rules require that States adopt both 
transportation and general conformity provisions in the SIP for areas 
designated nonattainment or subject to a maintenance plan approved 
under CAA section 175A. Pursuant to 40 CFR 51.396 of the transportation 
conformity rule and 40 CFR 51.851 of the general conformity rule, the 
State of California is required to submit a SIP revision containing 
transportation conformity criteria and procedures consistent with those 
established in the Federal rule by November 25, 1994. Similarly, 
California is required to submit a SIP revision containing general 
conformity criteria and procedures consistent with those established in 
the Federal rule by December 1, 1994. Because the deadlines for these 
submittals have not yet come due, they are not applicable requirements 
under section 107(d)(3)(E)(v) and, thus, do not affect approval of this 
redesignation request.
    Moreover, the BAAQMD has committed to revise its SIP to be 
consistent with the final Federal regulations on conformity by the 
applicable November 1994 deadlines (see 40 CFR 51.396(a) and 51.851(a), 
November 24, 1993 (58 FR 62218) and November 30, 1993 (58 FR 63247), 
respectively).
    B.3. Subpart 2 of Part D--Section 182(a) and 182(b) Requirements. 
The San Francisco Bay Area is a moderate ozone nonattainment area. 
Under subpart 2 of part D, such areas must meet the requirements for 
marginal areas under section 182(a)(1) as well as the requirements for 
moderate areas contained in section 182(b). As discussed in section 
2.B.2. above, for purposes of section 107(d)(3)(E)(v), the San 
Francisco Bay Area must meet only those requirements of sections 182 
(a) and (b) which were due prior to or at the time of the submittal of 
a complete redesignation request. The BAAQMD has met the requirements 
of section 182 with the exception of VOC RACT rule corrections, the 
emissions statement rule, and the NSR rule corrections.
    At the request of the CARB, EPA will parallel process the SIP 
revisions required pursuant to section 182(a) and (b) in a separate 
Federal Register notice before final action on the redesignation 
request and maintenance plan (See letter dated July 21, 1994 from James 
D. Boyd, Executive Officer, CARB to Felicia Marcus, Regional 
Administrator, EPA).
    The CARB submitted a 1990 emissions inventory of ozone precursors 
as required by section 182(a)(1) on November 12, 1992. On November 18, 
1993 the CARB submitted a revised 1990 emissions inventory of ozone 
precursors which EPA found incomplete on April 13, 1994 because the 
emissions inventory had not gone through an adequate public notice and 
hearing process. To correct the deficiency, the BAAQMD held a public 
hearing on July 29, 1994 (which was the maintenance plan 1990 
attainment inventory submitted on November 12, 1993) and will submit 
the appropriate documentation to EPA. Through this document, EPA also 
proposes to approve the 1990 emissions inventory as required by section 
182(a)(1).
    Currently, the BAAQMD is in the process of amending certain VOC 
RACT regulations required by sections 182(a)(2)(A) and 182(b)(2) which 
EPA must fully approve into the SIP prior to final action on the 
redesignation request and maintenance plan.2 The following is a 
list of the deficient VOC RACT regulations:
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    \2\EPA has received all of the VOC RACT rules required by 
section 182(a), but the rules do not meet all of EPA requirements 
for full approval. EPA has met extensively with the BAAQMD to 
discuss specific revisions to correct RACT deficiencies. EPA is 
unable to make a definitive determination on the approvability of 
these rules until EPA receives and reviews the formal SIP revision 
from the CARB. 

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rule No.                            Rule title                          
------------------------------------------------------------------------
8-1.....  General Provisions.                                           
8-2.....  Miscellaneous Operations.                                     
8-4.....  General Solvent & Surface Coating Operations.                 
8-7.....  Gasoline Dispensing Facilities.                               
8-8.....  Wastewater (Oil-Water) Separators.                            
8-11....  Metal Container Closure and Coil Coating.                     
8-12....  Paper, Fabric, and Film Coating.                              
8-13....  Light and Medium Duty Motor Vehicle Assembly Plants.          
8-14....  Surface Coating of Large Appliance and Metal Furniture.       
8-15....  Emulsified and Liquid Asphalts.                               
8-16....  Solvent Cleaning Operations.                                  
8-19....  Surface Coating of Miscellaneous Metal Parts and Products.    
8-20....  Graphic Arts Printing and Coating Operations.                 
8-22....  Valves and Flanges at Chemical Plants.                        
8-23....  Coating of Flat Wood Paneling and Wood Flat Stock.            
8-24....  Pharmaceutical and Cosmetic Manufacturing Operations.         
8-25....  Pump and Compressor Seals at Petroleum Refineries, Chemical   
           Plants, Bulk Plants, and Bulk Terminals.                     
8-28....  Pressure Relief Valves at Petroleum Refineries and Chemical   
           Plants.                                                      
8-29....  Aerospace Assembly and Component Coating Operations.          
8-30....  Semiconductor Manufacturing Operations.                       
8-31....  Surface Coating of Plastic Parts and Products.                
8-32....  Wood Product Coatings.                                        
8-33....  Gasoline Bulk Terminals and Gasoline Delivery Vehicles.       
8-34....  Solid Waste Disposal Sites.                                   
8-35....  Coating, Ink, and Adhesive Manufacturing.                     
8-38....  Flexible and Rigid Disk Manufacturing.                        
8-39....  Gasoline Bulk Plants and Gasoline Delivery Vehicles.          
8-40....  Aeration of Contaminated Soil.                                
8-41....  Vegetable Oil Manufacturing Operations.                       
8-42....  Large Commercial Bakeries.                                    
8-43....  Surface Coating of Marine Vessels.                            
8-45....  Motor Vehicle and Mobile Equipment Coating Operations.        
8-47....  Air Stripping and Soil Vapor Extraction Operations.           
8-50....  Polyester Resin Operations.                                   
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Upon EPA's final approval of these rules and the other corrections 
noted above, the BAAQMD will have met the applicable requirements of 
the Act.
    B4. Section 182(f) NOX RACT Exemption Petition--a. Section 
182(f) Requirements and Exemption Provisions. Section 182(f) of the Act 
requires that the same ozone provisions that apply to major stationary 
sources of VOC under subpart 2 of Part D also apply to major stationary 
sources of NOX. Areas designated nonattainment of the NAAQS for 
ozone, and classified as moderate nonattainment or above, are required 
to adopt RACT rules for major stationary sources of NOX and to 
provide for nonattainment area new source review (NSR) for new sources 
and modifications that are major for NOX. Section 182(f) provides 
further that these requirements do not apply if EPA determines that 
additional NOX reductions would not contribute to attainment of 
the NAAQS, for areas outside the ozone transport region (OTR). Any 
person (including a state) may petition EPA to make such a finding. EPA 
guidance interpreting the section 182(f) exemption provisions provides 
that a state may submit an exemption petition based on three 
consecutive years of air quality monitoring data showing attainment of 
the ozone NAAQS.
    EPA's NOX exemption policy is contained in several 
memoranda3 providing that under section 182(f)(1)(A), an exemption 
from the NOX requirements may be granted for nonattainment areas 
outside the OTR if EPA determines that additional reductions of 
NOX would not contribute to attainment of the NAAQS for those 
areas. In cases where a nonattainment area is demonstrating attainment 
with three consecutive years of air quality monitoring data, without 
having implemented the section 182(f) NOX provisions, it is clear 
that the ``contribute to attainment'' test is met. Thus, a State may 
submit a petition for a section 182(f) exemption based on air quality 
monitoring data.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \3\Michael H. Shapiro, Acting Assistant Administrator for Air 
and Radiation, issued on September 17, 1993, entitled ``State 
Implementation Plan (SIP) Requirements for Areas Submitting Requests 
for Redesignation to Attainment of the Ozone and Carbon Monoxide 
(CO) National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) on or after 
November 15, 1992'', and, ``Guideline for Determining the 
Applicability of Nitrogen Oxide Requirements under Section 182(f),'' 
from John Seitz, Director, Office of Air Quality Planning and 
Standards, to the Regional Division Directors, December 16, 1993, 
and a subsequent revision to portions of these memoranda from John 
S. Seitz, Director of EPA's Office of Air Quality Planning and 
Standards, issued on May 27, 1994, entitled, ``Section 182(f) 
Nitrogen Oxides (NOX) Exemptions--Revised Process and 
Criteria''.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Pursuant to section 182(f)(1) of the Act, the exemption guidance 
outlines circumstances under which EPA would determine whether the new 
NOX requirements would be limited or would not apply. For areas 
that did not implement the section 182(f) NOX requirements but did 
attain the ozone standard, as demonstrated by ambient monitoring data, 
it is clear that the additional NOX reductions required by section 
182(f) would not contribute to attainment, although they might 
contribute to maintenance. In addition, EPA has not received a 
demonstration that the NOX exemption would interfere with 
attainment or maintenance in downwind areas. (See discussion below in 
IV. Potential Impact of California Federal Implementation Plan and 
State Implementation Plan.)
    EPA's conformity rules4,,5 also reference the section 
182(f) exemption process as a means for exempting affected areas from 
NOX conformity requirements. Therefore, ozone nonattainment areas 
that are granted areawide section 182(f) exemptions under this approach 
will also be exempt from the NOX conformity requirements.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \4\``Criteria and Procedures for Determining Conformity to State 
or Federal Implementation Plans or Transportation Plans, Programs, 
and Projects Funded or Approved under Title 23 U.S.C. of the Federal 
Transit Act'', November 24, 1993 (58 FR 62188).
    \5\``Determining Conformity of General Federal Actions to State 
or Federal Implementation Plans; Final Rule'', November 30, 1993 (58 
FR 63214).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    b. BAAQMD NOX RACT Exemption Petition. On April 21, 1993, EPA 
notified the Governor of California of a finding that the State failed 
to submit the NOX RACT provisions by November 15, 1992 as required 
by section 182(f). On April 15, 1994, the BAAQMD submitted a petition 
to EPA requesting that the San Francisco Bay Area ozone nonattainment 
area be exempted from the requirement to implement NOX RACT 
controls pursuant to section 182(f) of the Act. A successful exemption 
demonstration or a complete submittal of the NOX RACT rules would 
cure this deficiency.
    The BAAQMD has not implemented NOX RACT and has submitted 
monitoring data as part of its redesignation request to demonstrate 
attainment of the standard. As discussed above, the BAAQMD has 
monitoring data showing that the area attained the ozone NAAQS since 
the 1990-1992 timeframe. See section III.1. of this notice for a 
detailed discussion of the ozone air quality monitoring data.
    c. Proposed Action. The EPA proposes to grant the BAAQMD section 
182(f) NOX RACT exemption petition based upon the evidence 
provided by the BAAQMD and the BAAQMD's compliance with the 
requirements outlined in EPA's section 182(f) exemption guidance. The 
final approval of this proposed action would exempt the San Francisco 
Bay Area from the requirements to implement the NOX RACT 
requirements and the applicable general and transportation conformity 
provisions for NOX. However, the NOX RACT control measures 
are included as contingency measures in the San Francisco Bay Area's 
maintenance plan (See discussion below, 5E. Contingency Plan).

3. Fully Approved SIP Under Section 110(k) of the Act

    In order for EPA to take final action approving the redesignation 
request and maintenance plan, the San Francisco Bay Area must have a 
fully approved SIP under section 110(k), which also meets the 
applicable requirements of section 110 and Part D. As discussed in 
Section 2.A. above, EPA approved numerous provisions of the San 
Francisco Bay Area SIP under the pre-amended Act and finds that these 
provisions meet the requirements of section 110(a)(2). In addition, EPA 
will take action on the following SIP revisions prior to taking final 
action on the redesignation request and maintenance plan: VOC RACT 
rules, NSR rule, and the emission statement rule. Also, EPA is 
proposing to approve the emissions inventory as required by section 
182(a)(1) through this document. Assuming that these SIP revisions meet 
all requirements for approval, EPA will undertake rulemaking to approve 
them. Once EPA approves these revisions, the San Francisco Bay Area 
will have fulfilled the requirement to have a fully approved SIP under 
section 110(k).
    The proposed approval of the redesignation request is contingent 
upon the BAAQMD fulfilling the requirements of sections 173 and 182 
discussed above prior to final rulemaking. In the alternative, if the 
requirements are not fulfilled, EPA must disapprove the redesignation 
request for the San Francisco Bay Area.

4. Improvement in Air Quality Due to Permanent and Enforceable Measures

    Under the pre-amended Act, EPA approved California's SIP control 
strategy for the San Francisco Bay Area nonattainment area, satisfied 
that the rules and the emission reductions achieved as a result of 
those rules were enforceable. Since enactment of the amended Act, the 
State has made additional submittals as identified in section 182(b) 
above. In addition, EPA finds that the measures listed below contribute 
to the permanence and enforceability of reductions in ambient ozone 
levels in the San Francisco Bay Area. 

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                               Emission 
                                                  BAAQMD reg  reductions
          Selected control measures\1\             8 rule #    1987-1990
                                                               VOC (TPD)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Stationary Sources:                                                     
  Architectural Coatings........................           3         1.8
  Emulsified and Liquid Asphalts................          15         2.0
  Solvent Cleaning Operations...................          16         0.8
  Valves and Flanges at Petroleum Refinery                              
   Complexes....................................          18         1.4
  Graphic Arts Printing and Coating Operations..          20         0.7
  Pump and Compressor Seals at Petroleum                                
   Refineries...................................          25         1.1
  Solid Waste Disposal Sites....................          34         3.1
  Natural Gas and Crude Oil Production                                  
   Refineries...................................          37         0.6
  Motor Vehicles and Mobile Equipment Coating                           
   Operations...................................          45         0.6
  Marine Tank Vessel to Marine Tank Vessel                              
   Loading......................................          46         0.5
  Aerosol Paint Coatings........................          49         0.8
    Stationary Sources Subtotal.................  ..........        13.4
Mobile Sources:                                                         
  ARB Motor Vehicle Program (including Basic I/                         
   M)...........................................         n/a          56
      Total.....................................  ..........          69
------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\Control Measures achieving at least 0.5 TPD reduction of VOC between 
  1987 and 1990.                                                        

    The actual reduction in VOC emissions from 1987 to 1990 was 61 TPD 
which reflects growth in emissions from some sources and reductions in 
emissions due to all control measures.
    In association with its emission inventory discussed in Section 
5.A. below, the State demonstrated that point source VOC emissions were 
not artificially low due to local economic downturn. The BAAQMD 
included trend data for vehicle miles traveled (VMT) and employment in 
the maintenance plan to demonstrate that attainment was not due to 
economic downturn. These trend data indicate that neither VMT growth 
nor daily VMT actually decreased during the attainment period. In 
addition, using employment data as an indicator for stationary source 
emissions, the BAAQMD demonstrated a modest decrease during the 
calendar years 1991 and 1992. The overall effect on the stationary 
source inventory should have been less than a 2% reduction, not enough 
to significantly affect the San Francisco Bay Area's attainment of the 
ozone NAAQS. EPA finds that the combination of existing EPA-approved 
SIP and Federal measures contribute to the permanence and 
enforceability of reductions in ambient ozone levels that have allowed 
the area to attain the NAAQS.

5. Fully Approved Maintenance Plan Under Section 175A

    In today's document, EPA is proposing approval of the State's 
maintenance plan for the San Francisco Bay Area because EPA finds that 
the BAAQMD's submittal meets the requirements of section 175A. If EPA 
determines after public notice and comment that it should give final 
approval to the maintenance plan, the San Francisco Bay Area 
nonattainment area will have a fully approved maintenance plan in 
accordance with section 175A. Section 175A of the Act sets forth the 
elements of a maintenance plan for areas seeking redesignation from 
nonattainment to attainment. The plan must demonstrate continued 
attainment of the applicable NAAQS for at least ten years after the 
Administrator approves a redesignation to attainment. Eight years after 
the redesignation, the State must submit a revised maintenance plan 
which demonstrates attainment for the ten years following the initial 
ten-year period. To provide for the possibility of future NAAQS 
violations, the maintenance plan must contain contingency measures, 
with a schedule for implementation, adequate to assure prompt 
correction of any air quality problems. Each of the section 175A plan 
requirements is discussed below.
    5.A. Emissions Inventory--Base Year Inventory. The BAAQMD adopted 
comprehensive inventories of VOC, NOX, and CO emissions from area, 
stationary, and mobile sources using 1990 as the base year for 
calculations to demonstrate maintenance of the ozone NAAQS. EPA has 
determined that 1990 is an appropriate year on which to base attainment 
level emissions because EPA policy allows States to select any one of 
the three years in the attainment period as the attainment year 
inventory.6
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \6\``Procedures for Processing Requests to Redesignate Areas to 
Attainment,'' John Calcagni, Director, Air Quality Management 
Division, September 4, 1992.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    CARB originally submitted the annual and peak ozone season 1990 
comprehensive inventories of actual emissions as a SIP revision on 
November 12, 1992, and revised them in a submission dated November 18, 
1993. CARB also submitted the San Francisco Bay Area's ozone 
maintenance plan on November 12, 1993 which contained a comprehensive 
1990 emission inventory. EPA policy (September 29, 1992, Calcagni and 
Laxton) allows the public hearing and adoption of the 1990 base year 
inventories to occur with the first related regulatory submittal. CARB 
developed the inventories to meet the requirements of sections 
172(c)(3) and 182(a)(1), in accordance with EPA guidance.
    The State submittal contains the detailed inventory data and 
summaries by county and source category. The BAAQMD provided the 
stationary source estimates, based on source test and mass balance 
computations, as required for annual permit renewal. The CARB and 
BAAQMD generated area source emissions for each source category based 
on emission and activity factors for each county in the nonattainment 
area. These factors are cited or their sources referenced in Methods 
for Assessing Area Source Emissions in California, California Air 
Resources Board, September 1991.
    CARB based on-road mobile source emission and activity estimates on 
CARB's EMFAC7F and BURDEN7C models, respectively. Different emission 
factors and activity rates apply to each type of vehicle, roadway, and 
road condition. Vehicle mix and age data from vehicle registration vary 
within each county. Off-road engine estimates were derived from both 
State and local sources, as cited in the area source document, 
referenced above. The CARB derived VMT estimates from a mix of the 
California ``Highway Performance Monitoring System'' (HPMS) and local 
surveys. Actual, as opposed to allowable, emission estimates were used 
for all source categories.
    The comprehensive base year emissions inventory discussed above has 
been entered into the Aerometric Information Retrieval System (AIRS). 
AIRS is EPA's computerized data storage system for air quality and 
emission source data. EPA, under contract with Radian Corporation, has 
entered the base year emissions inventory of stationary sources into 
AIRS and has also prepared computer software to convert the California 
Emission Data System stationary source data to AIRS/AFS format for 
entry into AIRS. California is responsible for entering 1990 area and 
mobile source (AMS) data into AIRS by October 1994, according to a 
fiscal year 1994 Clean Air Act section 105 air program grant agreement. 
EPA's TSD contains a more detailed analysis of the base year inventory 
for the San Francisco Bay Area.
    On April 13, 1994, EPA found the 1990 base year inventory 
submission incomplete for lack of adequate public notice and adoption. 
Instead of adopting the November 12, 1992 and November 18, 1993 base 
year inventories as submitted by CARB, the BAAQMD held a public hearing 
on a revised 1990 base year inventory on July 29, 1994 which was the 
attainment inventory submitted as part of the maintenance plan. The 
State requested parallel processing of this revised emissions inventory 
to fulfill section 182(a)(1). Based on the State's parallel processing 
request and submission of associated documentation, EPA rescinded the 
finding of incompleteness in an EPA letter dated August 25, 1994 to 
CARB (Howekamp, EPA to Boyd, CARB).
    Following is a table of the revised average peak ozone season 
weekday VOC and NOx emissions for the biogenic and major 
anthropogenic source categories for 1990 (the attainment year 
inventory, 1995, 2000, and 2005. 

            VOC Emission Inventory Summary\1\ (Tons Per Day)            
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                               1990   1995   2000   2005
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Point.......................................     78     73     75     77
Area........................................    173    154    141    141
Mobile On-Road..............................    300    204    142    104
Mobile Non-Road.............................     81     85     82     84
Anthropogenic Total.........................    631    515    440    406
Biogenics...................................    300    300    300    300
      Total.................................    931    815    740    706
------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\Entries are rounded to the nearest whole number. Totals may not equal
  to sum of column entries.                                             


            NOX Emission Inventory Summary\1\ (Tons Per Day)            
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                              1990   1995   2000    2005
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Point.......................................    131    130    141    146
Area........................................     15     16     17     18
Mobile On-Road..............................    251    194    166    158
Mobile Non-Road.............................    159    164    176    186
      Total.................................    557    504    499   508 
------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\Entries are rounded to the nearest whole number, totals may not equal
  to sum of column entries.                                             

    The BAAQMD provided EPA with the appropriate documentation for 
technical (Base Year 1990 Emission Inventory--Source Category 
Methodologies) and administrative requirements. The revised VOC and 
NOX inventories are 3.4 and 13.5 percent lower, respectively, than 
the reactive organic compound (ROG) and NOX inventories previously 
submitted by the State. The primary reason for the difference between 
the inventories is the use of the BURDEN7F model in place of the 
BURDEN7C model to estimate vehicular emissions. In addition, ROG 
inventories include ethane, which are approximately 4 percent higher 
than VOC inventories.
    5.B. Demonstration of Maintenance--Projected Inventories. The 
BAAQMD developed projected VOC and NOX emissions inventories for 
the years 1990, 1995, 2000 and 2005 by applying growth factors in 
accordance with EPA guidance. The CARB included these 1990 emissions 
inventories for VOC, NOX and CO in the maintenance plan 
submission. These 1990 emission inventories will be entered into AIRS.
    The projected inventories show that the ozone standard will be 
maintained and that emissions are not expected to exceed the level of 
the 1990 inventory during the maintenance period. EPA's TSD contains a 
detailed analysis of the projected emission inventories for the San 
Francisco Bay Area.
    5.C. Verification of Continued Attainment. Continued attainment of 
the ozone NAAQS in the San Francisco Bay Area depends, in part, on the 
State's efforts to track indicators of continued attainment during the 
maintenance period. The BAAQMD will analyze annually the three most 
recent consecutive years of air quality monitoring data to verify 
continued attainment of the national ozone standard, in accordance with 
40 CFR part 50, appendix H. The BAAQMD will submit to EPA an annual 
report by July 1 of each year for data collected from the previous 
calendar year. This information in conjunction with the reports from 
the previous two years will provide adequate information for 
determining continued compliance with the ozone NAAQS. The BAAQMD has 
chosen a violation of the NAAQS as the trigger for the contingency 
plan.
    5.D. Contingency Plan. The level of VOC and NOX emissions in 
the San Francisco Bay Area will largely determine its ability to stay 
in compliance with the ozone NAAQS in the future. Despite best efforts 
to demonstrate continued compliance with the NAAQS, the ambient air 
pollutant concentrations may exceed or violate the NAAQS. Therefore, as 
required pursuant to section 175A, the BAAQMD has provided contingency 
measures with a schedule for implementation in the event of a future 
ozone air quality problem.
    At the time of local adoption of the redesignation request and 
maintenance plan, the BAAQMD identified the enhanced vehicle inspection 
and maintenance program (I/M), required for serious and above ozone 
nonattainment areas, as the contingency measure which would be 
triggered in the event of a violation during the maintenance period. 
Since that time, the State of California has passed legislation for an 
enhanced I/M program which restricts the implementation of the test-
only program to nonattainment areas which are required to implement the 
program under the Clean Air Act. Thus, BAAQMD is prohibited from opting 
into the test-only portion of the enhanced I/M program. However, the 
BAAQMD has selected new measures to fulfill the contingency plan 
requirements of section 175A(d) which are discussed below.
    On April 15, 1994, the BAAQMD, MTC, and ABAG sent a letter to the 
CARB Executive Officer, James Boyd, which committed to adopt basic 
improvements to the I/M program and NOX control measures as the 
new contingency provisions for the maintenance plan. In this letter, 
the BAAQMD, MTC and ABAG, have proposed to implement the basic 
improvements to the I/M program beginning in January 1995 in order to 
ensure continued maintenance of the NAAQS. The emission reductions 
associated with this program go beyond the necessary emission 
reductions required for maintenance and the reductions are not included 
in the BAAQMD's projected inventories in the maintenance plan. These 
improvements yield approximate emission reductions in the amount of 8 
tons per day (TPD) VOC and 7 TPD NOX. The early implementation of 
this contingency provision provides an additional margin of safety for 
the area in maintaining the NAAQS. In addition, in the event of a 
violation during the maintenance period, the BAAQMD will meet with EPA 
within 30 days following the violation to determine which additional 
measures would be appropriate to implement. The additional measures 
contained in the proposal include numerous NOX RACT control 
measures which yield additional NOX reductions through the year 
2001. The chart below lists the additional measures and their 
associated emission reductions. The TSD contains detailed information 
concerning the basic improvements to the I/M program and the NOX 
RACT control measures.

                BAAQMD NOX Rules as Contingency Measures                
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                 NOX    
      Title regulation 9          Adopted    Implementation   Reductions
                                                year(s)         (TPD)   
------------------------------------------------------------------------
NOX and CO from Industrial,                                             
 Institutional and Commercial                                           
 Boilers, Steam Generators                                              
 (rule 7).....................      9/16/92         1/1/96          14.9
NO2 and CO2 Emissions from                                              
 Stationary Internal                                                    
 Combustion Engines (rule 8)..      1/20/93         1/1/97           8.3
NOX from Stationary Gas                                                 
 Turbines (rule 9)............       5/5/93         1/1/97           7/0
Refinery Boilers, Steam                                                 
 Generators and Process                                                 
 Heaters (rule 10)............       1/5/94        5/31/95           n/a
NOX and CO from Utility                                                 
 Electric Power Generating                                              
 Boilers (rule 11)............      2/16/94        5/31/95         1-2.6
NOX from Glass Melting                                                  
 Furnaces (rule 12)...........      1/19/94  1/1/97-1/1/200             
                                                         1          1.2 
------------------------------------------------------------------------
1Sources already meet RACT standards.                                   

    At the request of CARB, the changes to the contingency plan are 
being parallel processed in accordance with 40 CFR part 51, appendix V 
in order to expedite the approval of the redesignation request and 
maintenance plan. The BAAQMD, MTC and ABAG held a public hearing on the 
new contingency plan on July 29, 1994.
    The contingency measures proposed by the BAAQMD meet the 
requirements of section 175A(d) of the Act.
    5E. Subsequent Maintenance Plan Revisions. In accordance with 
section 175A(b) of the Act, the State has agreed to submit a revised 
maintenance SIP eight years after the area is redesignated to 
attainment. Such revised SIP will provide for maintenance for an 
additional ten years (See letter dated April 15, 1994 from Milton 
Feldstein, BAAQMD to James Boyd, CARB attached to the TSD).

IV. Potential Impact of California Federal Implementation Plans and 
State Implementation Plans

    EPA is under court order to promulgate final federal implementation 
plans (FIPs) for ozone for Los Angeles-South Coast Air Basin Area, the 
Sacramento Metro Area, and the Ventura County Area and for carbon 
monoxide for Los Angeles-South Coast Air Basin Area by February 15, 
1995. EPA discusses the phenomenon of pollutant transport within air 
basins in the proposed FIPs (59 FR 23393, May 5, 1994). EPA 
acknowledges that future modeling analyses could eventually result in 
revisions to the FIP, which may impose additional FIP controls for 
areas not covered by the proposed FIPs, such as the San Francisco Bay 
Area, which is upwind of Sacramento. EPA's proposed action to 
redesignate the San Francisco Bay Area to an attainment area does not 
exclude the possibility of future FIP controls in the area.
    In addition, States are responsible for developing and submitting 
demonstrations which show that the standard will be attained by the 
applicable date for areas where the demonstration of attainment is 
complicated by transport between two areas of different classifications 
(See General Preamble to title I of the Clean Air Act (57 FR 13528, 
April 16, 1992)). Thus, EPA expects the ozone modeling demonstrations 
due by November 15, 1994 required by section 182(c)(2) to address 
transport and to demonstrate attainment for all areas within 
California.
    A recent report released by CARB, ``Preliminary Assessment of 
Transport on San Joaquin Valley Ozone,'' discusses recent simulations 
to assess the impact of transported emissions in the San Joaquin 
Valley. It should be noted that the results discussed in the report are 
based on an extreme scenario in which anthropogenic emissions for the 
San Francisco Bay Area and the Sacramento area are set to zero. In this 
scenario, the report indicates that there would be a decrease in ozone 
measurements of 27% in the Northern San Joaquin Valley, ten percent in 
the Central San Joaquin Valley and seven percent in Southern San 
Joaquin Valley. The results discussed in this report are preliminary. 
EPA will review the final report when it is available.
    EPA is soliciting comment on whether transport has any impact on 
EPA's proposed redesignation of the San Francisco Bay Area to 
attainment.

V. Conclusion

    EPA is soliciting public comments on this document and on issues 
relevant to EPA's proposed action. Comments will be considered before 
taking final action. Interested parties may participate in the Federal 
rulemaking procedure by submitting written comments to the person and 
address listed in the ADDRESSES section at the beginning of this 
notice.

Proposed Action

    In today's document, EPA proposes to approve the San Francisco Bay 
Area's ozone maintenance plan because it meets the requirements of 
section 175A. In addition, the Agency is proposing approval of the 
redesignation request for the ozone nonattainment area, subject to 
final approval of the maintenance plan and provided the hearing notice 
and adoption documentation are submitted for the amendments to the 
contingency plan, because the State has demonstrated compliance with 
the requirements of section 107(d)(3)(E) for redesignation. Finally, 
EPA proposes to approve the emissions inventory as meeting the 
requirements of section 182(a)(1), provided the hearing notice and 
adoption documentation are submitted, and the NOX exemption 
petition which fulfills the requirements of section 182(f). Nothing in 
this action should be construed as permitting or allowing or 
establishing a precedent for any future request for revision to any 
SIP. Each request for revision to the SIP shall be considered 
separately in light of specific technical, economic, and environmental 
factors and in relation to relevant statutory and regulatory 
requirements.
    Ozone State implementation plans (SIP's) are designed to satisfy 
the requirements of part D of the Clean Air Act and to provide for 
attainment and maintenance of the ozone NAAQS. This proposed 
redesignation should not be interpreted as authorizing the State to 
delete, alter, or rescind any of the VOC or NOX emission 
limitations and restrictions contained in the approved ozone SIP. 
Changes to ozone SIP VOC regulations rendering them less stringent than 
those contained in the EPA approved plan cannot be made unless a 
revised plan for attainment and maintenance is submitted to and 
approved by EPA. Unauthorized relaxations, deletions, and changes could 
result in both a finding of nonimplementation (section 173(b) of the 
Clean Air Act) and in a SIP deficiency call made pursuant to section 
110(a)(2)(H) of the Clean Air 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.
    SIP approvals under section 110 and subchapter I, part D of the CAA 
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, it does not have any 
economic impact on any small entities. Redesignation of an area to 
attainment under section 107(d)(3)(E) of the CAA 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. Accordingly, I certify that the approval of the redesignation 
request will not have an impact on any small entities.
    The Office of Management and Budget has exempted this rule from the 
requirements of section 6 of Executive Order 12866.

List of Subjects

40 CFR Part 52

    Environmental protection, Air pollution control, Hydrocarbons, 
Intergovernmental relations, Ozone.

40 CFR Part 81

    Air pollution control, National parks, Wilderness areas.

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

    Dated: August 31, 1994.
Felicia Marcus,
Regional Administrator.
[FR Doc. 94-23983 Filed 9-27-94; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P