[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 109 (Wednesday, June 7, 1995)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 30046-30048]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-13925]



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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 81

[FRL-5217-3]


Clean Air Act Reclassification; Arizona-Phoenix Nonattainment 
Area; PM-10

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Proposed rule.

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SUMMARY: In this action EPA proposes to find that the Phoenix 
metropolitan PM-10 nonattainment area has not attained the PM-10 
national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS) by the Clean Air Act 
(CAA) mandated attainment date for moderate nonattainment areas. 
Section 188(c)(1) of the Act established an attainment date of no later 
than December 31, 1994 for areas classified as moderate nonattainment 
areas under section 107(d)(4)(B) of the CAA. This proposed finding is 
based on monitored air quality data for the PM-10 NAAQS during the 
years 1992-94. If EPA takes final action on this proposed finding, the 
Phoenix Planning Area (PPA) will be reclassified by operation of law as 
a serious nonattainment area for PM-10 under section 188(b)(2)(A) of 
the CAA.

DATES: Comments on this proposed finding must be received in writing by 
July 7, 1995.

ADDRESSES: Comments should be addressed to Robert Pallarino, U.S. 
Environmental Protection Agency, Region 9, Air and Toxics Division, Air 
Planning Branch, Plans Development Section (A-2-2), 75 Hawthorne 
Street, San Francisco, California 94105.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Robert S. Pallarino, U.S. EPA, Region 
9, Air and Toxics Division, Air Planning Branch, Plans Development 
Section (A-2-2), 75 Hawthorne Street, San Francisco, California 94105, 
(415) 744-1212.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

A. CAA Requirements and EPA Actions Concerning Designation and 
Classification

    On November 15, 1990, the date of enactment of the 1990 Clean Air 
Act Amendments, PM-10 areas meeting the qualifications of section 
107(d)(4)(B) of the Act were designated nonattainment by operation of 
law. Once an area is designated nonattainment, section 188 of the Act 
outlines the process for classification of the area and establishes the 
area's attainment date. Pursuant to section 188(a), all PM-10 
nonattainment areas were initially classified as moderate by operation 
of law upon designation as nonattainment. These nonattainment 
designations and moderate area classifications were codified in 40 CFR 
part 81 in a Federal Register document published on November 6, 1991 
(56 FR 56694).
    States containing areas which were designated as moderate 
nonattainment by operation of law under section 107(d)(4)(B) were to 
develop and submit state implementation plans (SIPs) to provide for the 
attainment of the PM-10 NAAQS. Pursuant to section 189(a)(2), those SIP 
revisions were to be submitted to EPA by November 15, 1991.

B. Reclassification as Serious Nonattainment

    EPA has the responsibility, pursuant to sections 179(c) and 
188(b)(2) of the Act, of determining within 6 months of the applicable 
attainment date, whether PM-10 nonattainment areas have attained the 
NAAQS. Section 179(c)(1) of the Act provides that these determinations 
are to be based upon an area's ``air quality as of the attainment 
[[Page 30047]] date'', and section 188(b)(2) is consistent with this 
requirement. EPA makes the determinations of whether an area's air 
quality is meeting the PM-10 NAAQS based upon air quality data gathered 
at monitoring sites in the nonattainment area and entered into the 
Aerometric Information Retrieval System (AIRS). These data are reviewed 
to determine the area's air quality status in accordance with EPA 
guidance at 40 CFR part 50, Appendix K.
    Pursuant to Appendix K, attainment of the annual PM-10 standard is 
achieved when the annual arithmetic mean PM-10 concentration is equal 
to or less than 50 g/m\3\. Attainment of the 24 hour standard 
is determined by calculating the expected number of exceedances of the 
150 g/m\3\ limit per year. The 24 hour standard is attained 
when the expected number of exceedances is 1.0 or less. A total of 3 
consecutive years of clean air quality data is generally necessary to 
show attainment of the 24 hour and annual standards for PM-10. A 
complete year of air quality data, as referred to in 40 CFR part 50, 
Appendix K, is comprised of all 4 calendar quarters with each quarter 
containing data from at least 75 percent of the scheduled sampling 
days.
    Under section 188(b)(2)(A) a moderate PM-10 nonattainment area must 
be reclassified as serious by operation of law after the statutory 
attainment date if the Administrator finds that the area has failed to 
attain the NAAQS. Pursuant to section 188(b)(2)(B) of the Act, EPA must 
publish a document in the Federal Register identifying those areas that 
failed to attain the standard and the resulting reclassifications.

II. Today's Action

    EPA is, by today's action, proposing to find that the PPA did not 
attain the PM-10 NAAQS by the required attainment date of December 31, 
1994. As discussed below, this proposed finding is based upon air 
quality data which revealed violations of the PM-10 NAAQS during 1992-
1994.

A. Ambient Air Monitoring Data

    The following table lists each of the monitoring sites in the PPA 
where the 24 hour PM-10 NAAQS has been exceeded during 1992-1994:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                            24 hour                     
            Monitoring site              concentration         Date     
------------------------------------------------------------------------
4732 S. Central, PX...................  171 g/  11/20/92       
                                         m\3\                           
4732 S. Central, PX...................  158 g/  12/2/92        
                                         m\3\                           
1475 E. Pecos, CHAN...................  156 g/  11/20/92       
                                         m\3\                           
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The two monitoring sites in the PPA that recorded exceedances of 
the PM-10 NAAQS operate on a one in six day sampling schedule. 
Generally, if PM-10 sampling is scheduled less than every day, EPA 
requires the adjustment of observed exceedances to account for 
incomplete sampling. The method for adjusting the observed exceedances 
is described in 40 CFR Part 50, Appendix K, section 3.1. In the case of 
the Phoenix site, two exceedances of the 24 hour NAAQS were observed in 
1992. After adjusting for incomplete sampling, the number of 
exceedances of the NAAQS in 1992 at this site was 13.1. In the case of 
the Chandler site, one exceedance of the 24 hour NAAQS was observed in 
1992. After adjusting for incomplete sampling, the number of 
exceedances of the NAAQS in 1992 at this site was 11.5.
    According to 40 CFR part 50, the 24 hour NAAQS is attained when the 
expected number of days per calendar year with a 24 hour average 
concentration above 150 g/m\3\ is equal to or less than one. 
In the simplest case, the number of expected exceedances at a site is 
determined by recording the number of exceedances in each calendar year 
and then averaging them over the past three calendar years. Therefore 
from 1992-1994, the number of expected exceedances at the Phoenix and 
Chandler monitoring sites were 4.4 and 3.8, respectively. These 
exceedances cause both the Phoenix site and the Chandler site to be in 
violation of the 24 hour PM-10 NAAQS.
    In addition to violations of the 24 hour NAAQS, the annual standard 
has not been attained at one monitoring site. The East Pecos site in 
Chandler had an annual average of 55 g/m\3\, based on the 
monitoring data collected during 1992-1994.

B. SIP Requirements for Serious Areas

    PM-10 nonattainment areas reclassified as serious under section 
188(b)(2) of the CAA are required to submit, within 18 months of the 
area's reclassification, SIP revisions providing for the implementation 
of best available control measures (BACM) no later than four years from 
the date of reclassification. The SIP also must contain a demonstration 
that the implementation of BACM will provide for attainment of the PM-
10 NAAQS no later than December 31, 2001. EPA has provided specific 
guidance on developing serious area PM-10 SIP revisions in an addendum 
to the General Preamble to Title I of the Clean Air Act. See 59 FR 
41998 (August 16, 1994).

III. Request for Public Comment

    The EPA is requesting comment on all aspects of today's proposal. 
As indicated at the outset of this notice, EPA will consider any 
comments received by July 7, 1995.

IV. Executive Order (EO) 12866

    Under E.O. 12866, 58 FR 51735 (October 4, 1993), EPA is required to 
determine whether regulatory actions are significant and therefore 
should be subject to OMB review, economic analysis, and the 
requirements of the Executive Order. The Executive Order defines a 
``significant regulatory action'' as one that is likely to result in a 
rule that may meet at least one of the four criteria identified in 
section 3(f), including, under paragraph (1), that the rule may ``have 
an annual effect on the economy of $100 million or more or adversely 
affect, in a material way, the economy, a sector of the economy, 
productivity, competition, jobs, the environment, public health or 
safety, or State, local, or tribal governments or communities.''
    The Agency has determined that the finding of failure to attain 
proposed today would result in none of the effects identified in 
section 3(f). Under section 188(b)(2) of the CAA, findings of failure 
to attain and reclassification of nonattainment areas are based upon 
air quality considerations and must occur by operation of law in light 
of certain air quality conditions. They do not, in-and-of-themselves, 
impose any new requirements on any sectors of the economy. In addition, 
because the statutory requirements are clearly defined with respect to 
the differently classified areas, and because those requirements are 
automatically triggered by classifications that, in turn, are triggered 
by air quality values, findings of failure to attain and 
reclassification cannot be said to impose a materially adverse impact 
on State, local, or tribal governments or communities.

V. Regulatory Flexibility

    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.
    As discussed in section IV of this notice, findings of failure to 
attain and [[Page 30048]] reclassification of nonattainment areas under 
section 188(b)(2) of the CAA do not in-and-of-themselves create any new 
requirements. Therefore, I certify that today's proposed action does 
not have a significant impact on small entities.

VI. Unfunded Mandates

    Under sections 202, 203 and 205 of the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act 
of 1995 (Unfunded Mandates Act), signed into law on March 22, 1995, EPA 
must assess whether various actions undertaken in association with 
proposed or final regulations include a Federal mandate that may result 
in estimated costs of $100 million or more to the private sector, or to 
State, local or tribal governments in the aggregate.
    EPA believes, as discussed earlier in section IV of this notice, 
that the proposed finding of failure to attain and reclassification of 
the Phoenix Planning Area are factual determinations based upon air 
quality considerations and must occur by operation of law and, hence, 
do not impose any federal intergovernmental mandate, as defined in 
section 101 of the Unfunded Mandates Act.

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 81

    Environmental protection, Air pollution control, Intergovernmental 
relations, Particulate matter.

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

    Dated: May 25, 1995.
David P. Howekamp,
Acting Regional Administrator.
[FR Doc. 95-13925 Filed 6-6-95; 8:45 am]
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