[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 113 (Friday, June 12, 1998)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 32173-32175]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-15582]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[SIPTRAX PA039/067-4072; FRL-6107-9]


Approval and Promulgation of Air Quality Implementation Plans; 
Pennsylvania: Attainment Demonstration and Contingency Measures for the 
Liberty Borough PM-10 Nonattainment Area

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Proposed rule and withdrawal of proposed rule.

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SUMMARY: EPA is proposing to approve state implementation plan (SIP) 
revisions submitted by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental 
Protection (PADEP) consisting of an attainment demonstration and 
contingency measures for Allegheny County, Pennsylvania's Liberty 
Borough particulate matter nonattainment area. In fact, EPA is 
reproposing to approve the attainment demonstration because the 
Allegheny County Health Department's (ACHD) modeling analysis 
(submitted as a SIP revision by PADEP) adequately demonstrates that the 
regulatory portion of the attainment plan is sufficient to attain and 
maintain the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for 
particulate matter that was in effect at the time of the submittal, and 
because its analyses have been corroborated by monitored air quality 
data. EPA is proposing to approve the contingency measures for the area 
because they satisfy the requirements of the Clean Air Act (the Act). 
EPA approved the regulatory portion of the attainment plan for the 
Liberty Borough area as a SIP revision in an earlier rulemaking action.
    Because EPA is reproposing approval of the attainment demonstration 
portion of the attainment plan for the Liberty Borough area, it is 
withdrawing its earlier April 11, 1995 (60 FR 18385) proposal to 
approve the County's attainment demonstration. Any interested parties 
who would like to comment on EPA's reproposal to approve the attainment 
demonstration and its proposal to approve the contingency measures for 
the Liberty Borough area should do so at this time by following the 
directions below.
    Elsewhere in the Proposed Rules section of today's Federal 
Register, EPA is also proposing to find that the Liberty Borough area 
has attained the NAAQS for particulate matter and is withdrawing an 
earlier proposal to find that the area did not attain the NAAQS. In the 
Final Rules section of today's Federal Register, EPA is taking direct 
final action to approve source-specific control requirements for the 
USX Clairton Coke Works which further strengthen the SIP for Liberty 
Borough area.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before July 13, 1998.

ADDRESSES: Comments may be mailed to Makeba Morris, Chief, Technical 
Assessment Branch, Mailcode 3AP22, U.S. Environmental Protection 
Agency, Region III, 841 Chestnut Building, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 
19107. Copies of the documents relevant to this action are available 
for public inspection during normal business hours at the Air 
Protection Division, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region III, 
841 Chestnut Building, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19107; the Allegheny 
County Health Department, Department of Air Quality, 301 39th Street, 
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15201; and Pennsylvania Department of 
Environmental Protection, Bureau of Air Quality, P.O. Box 8468, 400 
Market Street, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania 17105.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Denis M. Lohman, (215) 566-2192, or by 
e-mail at [email protected]. While requests for information 
may be made via e-mail, comments for EPA consideration regarding this 
proposal must be submitted in writing to the address indicated above.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

    On January 6, 1994, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental 
Protection (PADEP) submitted an attainment plan to EPA on behalf of 
Allegheny County for the Liberty Borough PM-10 nonattainment 
area.1 (PM-10 is particulate matter smaller than 10 microns 
in diameter.) The purpose of this revision to the PADEP's SIP is to 
fulfill the requirements under section 189 of the Act for a regulatory 
plan to attain the PM-10 NAAQS and to submit a demonstration (including 
air quality modeling) that the plan is sufficient to attain this goal. 
These ``Part D'' requirements are described in more detail in the 
technical support document (TSD) to this rulemaking. Copies of the TSD 
are available, upon request, from the EPA Regional office listed in the 
ADDRESSES section of this document.
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    \1\ The Liberty Borough PM-10 nonattainment area is comprised of 
the City of Clairton and the Boroughs of Glassport, Liberty, 
Lincoln, and Port Vue.
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    On April 11, 1995, EPA proposed to approve the January 1994 
attainment plan submittal, as well as two SIP revisions that the 
Commonwealth had submitted previously (see 60 FR 18385). The attainment 
plan consisted of regulatory requirements to reduce PM-10 emissions and 
an attainment demonstration. After EPA proposed to approve the 
demonstration, the County reported that the PM-10 NAAQS had been 
exceeded twice in March of 1995. These exceedances called the County's 
attainment demonstration into question, and, although EPA took final 
action 2 to approve the regulatory portion of the attainment 
plan (which included limits on a variety of industrial sources), to 
make these regulations part of the SIP and federally enforceable, EPA 
took no action on the attainment demonstration at that time.
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    \2\ See 61 FR 29664.
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    On July 12, 1995, PADEP submitted contingency measures to EPA for 
the Liberty Borough area. Contingency measures, as required by section 
172(c)(9) of the Act, are enforceable emission limitations and/or 
emission reduction measures, beyond what was

[[Page 32174]]

required to demonstrate attainment, that must go into effect upon a 
finding by EPA that an area has failed to attain the particulate matter 
NAAQS.
    On July 18, 1997, EPA revised the NAAQS for particulate 
matter.3 In this notice, however, ``NAAQS'' and ``PM-10 
NAAQS'' refer to the previously existing NAAQS that were in effect at 
the time that the attainment plan was required and submitted.
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    \3\ See 62 FR 38652.
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II. Statutory, Regulatory and Settlement Requirements

    As noted above, areas that became nonattainment for PM-10 by 
operation of the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 must submit a 
demonstration (including air quality modeling) showing that the plan 
will provide for attainment of the PM-10 NAAQS as expeditiously as 
practicable but no later than December 31, 1994. (See section 
189(a)(1)(B) of the Act.) Alternatively, the State may show that 
attainment by December 31, 1994 is impracticable. The 24-hour PM-10 
NAAQS is 150 micrograms/cubic meter (g/m\3\), and the standard 
is attained when the expected number of days per calendar year with a 
24-hour average concentration greater than 150 g/m \3\ is 
equal to or less than one. The annual PM-10 NAAQS is 50 g/m 
\3\, and the standard is attained when the expected annual arithmetic 
mean concentration is less than or equal to 50 g/m \3\ (see 40 
CFR 50.6). The requirements for approvable attainment demonstrations 
are found in 40 CFR 51, Appendix W, the Guideline on Air Quality 
Models.
    On February 21, 1996, the Group Against Smog and Pollution (GASP), 
a citizen's environmental group, sued EPA in order to compel Agency 
action on a number of planning activities regarding the Liberty Borough 
area. The settlement of this suit requires, among other things, that 
EPA to take action on the County's attainment demonstration by March 
31, 1998, in light of air quality data collected from 1995 through 
1997. The TSD includes a detailed summary of the Settlement Agreement's 
provisions.
    Section 172(c)(9) of the Act, requires that all moderate 
nonattainment area SIPs that demonstrate attainment must include 
contingency measures. These measures must take effect without further 
regulatory action by the State or EPA, upon a determination by EPA that 
the area has failed to make reasonable further progress toward 
attainment or has failed to attain the PM-10 NAAQS by the applicable 
statutory attainment date. Contingency measures should consist of other 
available measures that are not already part of the area's control 
strategy, and should contain emission reductions representing 
approximately one year or reasonable further progress toward attainment 
(see the General Preamble to Title I of the Clean Air Act Amendments of 
1990, especially 57 FR 13543-13544).

III. The State Submittals

    Allegheny County produced an attainment demonstration for the 
Liberty Borough area using air quality modeling. The demonstration 
showed that the NAAQS for PM-10 would be attained beginning in 1995 and 
maintained in future years. Allegheny County's analysis shows that, 
even if all sources emitted at their maximum allowable emission rates, 
the 24-hour PM-10 concentration would not exceed 150 g/m \3\ 
more than once per year.4 Similarly, the demonstration shows 
that, in the attainment year, the annual PM-10 concentration will not 
exceed the annual PM-10 NAAQS of 50 g/m\3\. No separate 
analysis to demonstrate that the PM-10 NAAQS will be maintained in 
future years was necessary because the population of the Liberty 
Borough is decreasing.
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    \4\ This demonstration did not account for the additional 
emission reduction requirements on USX Clairton contained in the 
SIP-strengthening, ``post-settlement'' SIP revision being approved 
in the Final Rules section of today's Federal Register .
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    Section 189(e) of the Act requires that all Part D control 
requirements applicable to PM-10 (e.g., RACT, new source review) must 
also apply to PM-10 precursors. The County's analysis, submitted by 
PADEP, demonstrated that while locally emitted sulfur dioxide was a 
significant precursor to ambient PM-10, volatile organics and nitrogen 
oxides were not. Therefore, according to the County's analysis, the PM-
10 control requirements, pursuant to Part D section 189(e) of the Act, 
should apply to sulfur dioxide but not to volatile organics or nitrogen 
oxides. EPA is reproposing to approve Allegheny County's attainment 
demonstration for the Liberty Borough area, submitted by PADEP, because 
the demonstration is technically sound and comports with 40 CFR Part 
51, Appendix W (the Guideline on Air Quality Models). In addition, the 
most recent three full years of air quality data indicate that the area 
is attaining the NAAQS. The TSD for this proposal provides a detailed 
description of EPA's rationale for proposing to approving the County's 
attainment demonstration for the Liberty Borough area. For additional 
information, see EPA's April 11, 1995 proposed approval (60 FR 18385). 
The TSD for that proposal is also available upon request from the EPA 
Regional Office listed in the ADDRESSES section, above.
    The County's contingency measures, submitted by PADEP, consist of 
an amendment to section 2105.21.e of Article XXI. It requires that 
within 30 days following a notice by the ACHD that EPA has made a 
finding that the area has not attained the NAAQS, USX's Clairton Coke 
Works (the largest source of PM-10 in the nonattainment area) shall 
improve procedures to capture pushing emissions by holding hot coke 
under the hood of the pushing emissions control device for at least 67 
seconds immediately after the pusher ram begins to move and the damper 
to the PEC device is opened, or for at least 15 seconds immediately 
following the fall of the last coke into the coke car, whichever is 
longer. This provision is applicable to all USX-Clairton batteries 
except Battery B (which is equipped with a coke-side shed). EPA is 
proposing to approve this submittal because it fulfills the 
requirements of section 172(c)(9), as described above.

IV. Proposed Action

    EPA is reproposing to approve the attainment demonstration portion 
of the attainment plan for the Liberty Borough PM-10 nonattainment 
area. EPA is also proposing to find that the PM-10 precursor 
requirements of 189(e) of the Act do not apply to volatile organic 
compounds or to nitrogen oxides and that they do apply for sulfur 
dioxide. In addition, EPA is proposing to approve the July 12, 1995 
contingency measures submittal for the area. EPA is withdrawing its 
prior April 11, 1995 proposal to approve the County's attainment 
demonstration for the Liberty Borough area, because three years of air 
quality data are now available to corroborate the County's 
demonstration, and this data provides further information not available 
at the time of the 1995 proposal.
    Nothing in this proposal 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 authority.

V. Administrative Requirements

A. Executive Order 12866

    The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has exempted this 
regulatory action from E.O. 12866 review.

[[Page 32175]]

B. Executive Order 13045

    The proposed rule is not subject to E.O. 13045, entitled 
``Protection of Children from Environmental Health Risks and Safety 
Risks,'' because it is not an ``economically significant'' action under 
E.O. 12866.

C. Regulatory Flexibility 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 
Clean Air Act 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, the 
Administrator certifies that it does not have a significant impact on 
any small entities affected. Moreover, due to the nature of the 
Federal-State relationship under the CAA, preparation of a flexibility 
analysis would constitute Federal inquiry into the economic 
reasonableness of state action. The Clean Air Act forbids EPA to base 
its actions concerning SIPs on such grounds. Union Electric Co. v. U.S. 
EPA, 427 U.S. 246, 255-66 (1976); 42 U.S.C. 7410(a)(2).

D. Unfunded Mandates

    Under section 202 of the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995 
(``Unfunded Mandates Act''), signed into law on March 22, 1995, EPA 
must prepare a budgetary impact statement to accompany any proposed or 
final rule that includes a Federal mandate that may result in estimated 
costs to State, local, or tribal governments in the aggregate; or to 
private sector, of $100 million or more. Under section 205, EPA must 
select the most cost-effective and least burdensome alternative that 
achieves the objectives of the rule and is consistent with statutory 
requirements. Section 203 requires EPA to establish a plan for 
informing and advising any small governments that may be significantly 
or uniquely impacted by the rule.
    EPA has determined that the approval action being proposed does not 
include a Federal mandate that may result in estimated costs of $100 
million or more to either State, local, or tribal governments in the 
aggregate, or to the private sector. This Federal action approves pre-
existing requirements under State or local law, and imposes no new 
requirements. Accordingly, no additional costs to State, local, or 
tribal governments, or to the private sector, result from this action.
    The Administrator's decision to approve or disapprove this SIP 
revision for the Liberty Borough PM-10 nonattainment area revision will 
be based on whether it meets the requirements of section 110(a)(2)(A)-
(K) and part D of the Clean Air Act, as amended, and EPA regulations in 
40 CFR part 51.

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 52

    Environmental protection, Air pollution control, Hydrocarbons, 
Nitrogen dioxide, particulate matter, Sulfur oxide.

    Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.

    Dated: May 28, 1998.
W. Michael McCabe,
Regional Administrator, Region III.
[FR Doc. 98-15582 Filed 6-11-98; 8:45 am]
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