[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 216 (Wednesday, November 6, 1996)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 57331-57333]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-28478]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[NV-029-0001; FRL-5644-8]


Clean Air Act Reclassification; Nevada-Clark County Nonattainment 
Area; Carbon Monoxide

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: EPA finds that the Clark County, Nevada carbon monoxide (CO) 
nonattainment area has met the criteria

[[Page 57332]]

in section 186(b)(4) of the Clean Air Act (CAA): it exceeded the CO 
National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) once in 1995; it has 
adopted and implemented the CAA required moderate nonattainment area 
control measures; and, it has demonstrated progress towards attaining 
the CO NAAQS. As a result of this finding, EPA grants a one-year 
extension of Clark County's moderate area attainment date from December 
31, 1995 to December 31, 1996. EPA's finding is based on a review of 
monitored air quality data for compliance with the CO NAAQS, as well as 
the air quality planning progress of Clark County. With EPA's extension 
of the CAA mandated attainment date for one year, the Clark County CO 
nonattainment area remains classified as a moderate CO nonattainment 
area. The intended effect of EPA's attainment date extension is to 
allow Nevada and Clark County either to fully implement and strengthen 
current CO control measures, or to adopt additional control measures 
prior to the 1996-97 winter CO season in an effort to attain the CO 
NAAQS.

EFFECTIVE DATE: This action is effective on December 6, 1996.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jerry Wamsley, A-2-2, Air and Toxics 
Division, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 9, 75 Hawthorne 
Street, San Francisco, California 94105, (415) 744-1226.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

A. CAA Requirements and EPA Actions Concerning Designation and 
Classifications

    In 1990, under section 107(d)(1)(C) of the Clean Air Act Amendments 
(CAA), each carbon monoxide (CO) area designated nonattainment prior to 
enactment of the 1990 Amendments was designated nonattainment by 
operation of law. Under section 186(a) of the CAA, each CO area 
designated nonattainment under section 107(d) was also classified by 
operation of law as either ``moderate'' or ``serious'' depending on the 
severity of the area's air quality problem. CO areas with design values 
between 9.1 and 16.4 parts per million (ppm) were classified as 
moderate. States containing areas that were classified as moderate 
nonattainment by operation of law under section 107(d) were required to 
submit State implementation plans (SIPs) designed to attain the CO 
national ambient air quality standard (NAAQS) as expeditiously as 
practicable but no later than December 31, 1995.
    On November 6, 1991, Clark County was designated nonattainment for 
CO and was classified as a ``high'' moderate area given its design 
value of 14.4 ppm (parts per million) (See 56 FR 56694 published in the 
Federal Register on November 6, 1991 and 40 CFR 81.329.) The moderate 
area SIP requirements are set forth in section 187(a) of the CAA and 
differ depending on whether the area's design value is below or above 
12.7 ppm. Clark County is required to meet the ``high'' moderate 
nonattainment area requirements, because of its 14.4 ppm design value, 
and attain the CO NAAQS by December 31, 1995.

B. Reclassification to a Serious Nonattainment Area

    EPA has the responsibility, pursuant to sections 179(c) and 
186(b)(2) of the CAA, of determining within six months of the 
applicable attainment date, December 31, 1995, whether a moderate area 
has attained the CO NAAQS. Under section 186(b)(2)(A), if EPA finds 
that a moderate area has not attained the CO NAAQS, it is reclassified 
as serious by operation of law. Pursuant to section 186(b)(2)(B) of the 
Act, EPA must publish a document in the Federal Register identifying 
areas which failed to attain the standard and therefore must be 
reclassified as serious by operation of law.
    EPA makes attainment determinations for CO nonattainment areas 
based upon whether an area has two years (or eight consecutive 
quarters) of clean air quality data. Section 179(c)(1) of the Act 
states that the attainment determination must be based upon an area's 
``air quality as of the attainment date.'' Consequently, EPA will 
determine whether an area's air quality has met the CO NAAQS by 
December 31, 1995 based upon the most recent two years of air quality 
data entered into the Aerometric Information Retrieval System (AIRS) 
data base.
    The reader should consult EPA's notice of proposed rulemaking for 
this action for a more detailed discussion of the applicable CAA 
requirements and EPA guidance on those requirements and the method of 
calculating CO NAAQS violations for reclassification purposes. Please 
see 61 FR 41759 (August 12, 1996).

C. Attainment Date Extensions

    If a state does not have the two consecutive years of clean data 
necessary to show attainment of the CO NAAQS, it may apply, under 
section 186(a)(4) of the CAA, for a one year attainment date extension. 
At its discretion, EPA may grant an extension if the area has: (1) 
Measured no more than one exceedance of the CO NAAQS at any monitoring 
site in the nonattainment area in the year preceding the extension 
year; and (2) complied with the requirements and commitments pertaining 
to the applicable implementation plan for the area. Consequently, EPA 
will examine the moderate area's air quality planning progress and will 
be disinclined to grant an attainment date extension unless a State 
has, in substantial part, addressed its moderate area CO planning 
obligations. To determine if the State has substantially met these 
planning requirements, EPA will review the State's attainment date 
extension application to assess whether the State has: (1) Adopted and 
substantially implemented control measures to satisfy the requirements 
for a moderate CO nonattainment area; and (2) that reasonable further 
progress is being met for the area.
    If the State cannot make a sufficient demonstration that the area 
has met the extension criteria described above and EPA determines that 
the area has not demonstrated attainment of the CO NAAQS, then the area 
will be reclassified as serious by operation of law pursuant to section 
186(b)(2) of the Act. If an extension is granted, then, at the end of 
the extension year, EPA will review the area's air quality data to 
determine if the area has attained the CO NAAQS.
    Under section 186(a)(4), EPA may grant up to two one year 
extensions if these conditions have been met. However, if the area 
measures a violation of the CO NAAQS during the extension year, the 
area will be unable to qualify for a second one year extension. Then, 
once EPA makes a finding of failure to attain the CO NAAQS, the 
moderate area will be reclassified as serious by operation of law.

D. EPA's Proposed Attainment Date Extension for Clark County

    On August 12, 1996, EPA proposed to find that the Clark County, 
Nevada carbon monoxide (CO) nonattainment area has met the criteria in 
section 186(b)(4) of the Clean Air Act (CAA): it exceeded the CO 
National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) once in 1995; it has 
adopted and implemented the CAA required moderate nonattainment area CO 
control measures; and, it has demonstrated progress towards attaining 
the CO NAAQS. As a result of this finding, EPA proposed to grant a one-
year extension of Clark County's moderate area attainment date from 
December 31, 1995 to December 31, 1996. EPA's proposed finding was 
based on a review of monitored air quality data from 1994

[[Page 57333]]

and 1995 for compliance with the CO NAAQS, as well as the air quality 
planning progress of Clark County.
    The reader should consult EPA's notice of proposed rulemaking for a 
more detailed discussion of monitored air quality in Clark County, 
especially CO values observed in 1995 and 1996, and for EPA's review of 
Clark County's attainment date extension application. Please see 61 FR 
41759 (August 12, 1996).

II. Response to Comments on Proposed Finding

    During the public comment period on EPA's proposed finding, EPA 
received no comments.

III. Today's Final Action

    EPA takes final action on its proposal and finds that the Clark 
County CO nonattainment area has met the criteria in section 186(b)(4) 
of the CAA. As a result of this finding, EPA grants a one-year 
extension of Clark County's moderate area attainment date from December 
31, 1995 to December 31, 1996. This finding is based on both EPA's 
review of 1994 and 1995 monitored air quality data for compliance with 
the CO NAAQS and EPA's review of Clark County's application for an 
attainment date extension. With this final action, Clark County remains 
classified as a moderate CO nonattainment area.
    After December 31, 1996, EPA will again review the air quality data 
for Clark County to determine if it has attained the CO NAAQS. If Clark 
County measures violations of the CO NAAQS during 1996, the area will 
be unable to qualify for a second one year extension. Then, after an 
EPA finding of failure to attain the CO NAAQS, Clark County would be 
reclassified as a serious carbon monoxide nonattainment area by 
operation of law.

IV. Regulatory Process

A. 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 extending attainment dates would not 
result in the effects identified in section 3(f). Under section 
186(a)(4) of the CAA, attainment date extensions are based upon air 
quality conditions and planning considerations and are either 
administrative in nature, or 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.

B. Regulatory Flexibility

    Under the Regulatory Flexibility Act, 5 U.S.C. 601 et seq., EPA 
must prepare a regulatory flexibility analysis assessing the impact of 
any proposed or final rule on small entities. 5 U.S.C 603 and 604. 
Alternatively, EPA may certify that the rule will not have a 
significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities. 
Small entities include small businesses, small not-for-profit 
enterprises, and government entities with jurisdiction over populations 
of less than 50,000.
    As discussed in section IV. of this document, attainment date 
extensions under section 186(a)(4) of the CAA do not create any new 
requirements. Therefore, I certify that today's proposed action does 
not have a significant impact on small entities.

C. 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 above, that the finding that Clark County nonattainment area 
meets the criteria in section 186(a)(4) and thereby qualifies for an 
attainment date extension is a factual determination based upon air 
quality considerations and must occur by operation of law and, hence, 
does not impose any Federal intergovernmental mandate, as defined in 
section 101 of the Unfunded Mandates Act.

D. Submission to Congress and the General Accounting Office

    Under 5 U.S.C. 801(a)(1)(A) as added by the Small Business 
Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996, EPA submitted a report 
containing this rule and other required information to the U.S. Senate, 
the U.S. House of Representatives and the Comptroller General of the 
General Accounting Office prior to publication of the rule in today's 
Federal Register. This rule is not a ``major rule'' as defined by 5 
U.S.C. 804(2).

E. Petitions for Judicial Review

    Under section 307(b)(1) of the Clean Air Act, petitionsfor judicial 
review of this action must be filed in the United States Court of 
Appeals for the appropriate circuit by January 6, 1997. Filing a 
petition for reconsideration by the Administrator of this final rule 
does not affect the finality of this rule for the purposes of judicial 
review nor does it extend the time within which a petition for judicial 
review may be filed, and shall not post pone the effectiveness of such 
rule or action. This action may not be challenged later in proceedings 
to enforce it requirements. (See section 307(b)(2).)

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 52

    Environmental protection, Air pollution control, Carbon monoxide, 
Intergovernmental relations, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements.

    Dated: October 17, 1996.
Felicia Marcus,
Regional Administrator.

    Part 52, chapter I, title 40 of the Code of Federal Regulations is 
amended as follows:

PART 52--[AMENDED]

    1. The authority citation for part 52 continues to read as follows:

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

Subpart DD--Nevada

    2. Subpart DD is amended by adding Sec. 52.1478 to read as follows:


Sec. 52.1478  Extensions.

    The Administrator, by the authority delegated under section 
186(a)(4) of the Clean Air Act as amended in 1990, hereby extends for 
one year, until December 31, 1996, the attainment date for the Clark 
County (Las Vegas Valley), Nevada carbon monoxide nonattainment area.
[FR Doc. 96-28478 Filed 11-5-96; 8:45 am]
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