[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 113 (Friday, June 12, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 32205-32207]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-15583]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-6107-3]


Proposed Determination of Attainment of the Air Quality in the 
Liberty Borough, Pennsylvania PM-10 Nonattainment Area

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Proposed finding of attainment and withdrawal of previously 
proposed finding.

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SUMMARY: EPA is proposing to find that air quality in the Liberty 
Borough, Pennsylvania moderate nonattainment area has attained national 
ambient air quality standards (NAAQS) for particulate matter of nominal 
aerodynamic diameters smaller than 10 micrometers (PM-10). The Clean 
Air Act (the Act) establishes a December 31, 1994 attainment date for 
moderate PM-10 nonattainment areas, and requires EPA to determine the 
attainment status of such areas by June 30, 1995. For the reasons 
explained herein, this proposed finding is based on monitored air 
quality data for the area during the years 1995-1997. EPA is also 
withdrawing its previous September 19, 1995 proposal to find that the 
area did not attain the NAAQS. Elsewhere in the Proposed Rules section, 
EPA is also proposing to approve the Allegheny County Health 
Department's (ACHD's) attainment demonstration, submitted to EPA by the 
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, that the state implementation plan (SIP) 
requirements for the Liberty Borough area are sufficient to attain and 
maintain the NAAQS. In the same document EPA is also proposing to 
approve contingency measures for the area. In the Final Rules section 
of today's Federal Register, EPA is taking direct final action to 
approve a SIP revision requiring additional control measures at the USX 
Clairton coke works. On July 18, 1997, EPA revised the NAAQS for 
particulate matter. In this document, ``NAAQS'' and ``PM-10 NAAQS'' 
refer only to the previously existing NAAQS that were in effect at the 
time that the attainment plan was submitted.

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, 
Radiation, and Toxics Division, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 
Region III, 841 Chestnut Building, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19107 and 
the Allegheny County Health Department, Department of Air Quality, 301 
39th Street, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15201.

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's consideration regarding this 
proposal must be submitted in writing to the address indicated above.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

A. Clean Air Act Requirements

    Upon enactment of Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990, PM-10 areas 
meeting the criteria of section 107(d)(4)(B) of the Act was 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, and the attainment date for these areas were December 
31, 1994. These nonattainment designations and moderate area 
classifications were codified in 40 CFR part 81 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 SIPs to provide for the attainment of the PM-10 
NAAQS. Those SIPs were to include the adoption and implementation of 
PM-10 reduction requirements which constitute reasonably available 
control measures, (RACM), including reasonably available control 
technology (RACT). Pursuant to section 189(a)(2) of the Act, those SIP 
revisions were to be submitted to EPA by November 15, 1991. Section 
188(c)(1) sets December 31, 1994 as the attainment date, and section 
188(b)(2) requires that EPA determine the attainment status of the area 
by June 30, 1995. EPA is guided in these determinations by 40 CFR 50.6 
and 40 CFR part 50, appendix K.

B. Regulatory Activity to Date

    On January 6, 1994, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental 
Protection (PADEP) submitted an attainment plan to EPA, produced by the 
Allegheny County Health Department (ACHD), for the Liberty Borough PM-
10 nonattainment area.1 The purpose of this revision to the 
Pennsylvania 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. On April 11, 1995, EPA proposed to fully approve the 
January 1994 attainment plan submittal, as well as two SIP revisions 
that the County had submitted previously (see 60 FR 18385). After EPA 
proposed to approve the County's demonstration, the County reported 
that the PM-10 NAAQS had been exceeded twice in March of 1995. These 
exceedances brought the adequacy of the County's attainment plan into 
doubt, and, though EPA took final action to approve the regulatory 
portion of the attainment plan (61 FR 29664), EPA took no action on the 
modeled attainment demonstration at that time.
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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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    Pursuant to its obligations under section 188(b)(2), on September 
19, 1995, EPA proposed to find that the Liberty Borough moderate 
nonattainment area did not attain the NAAQS (60 FR 48439). This 
proposal was based on the available air quality data at the time, which 
showed that the number of expected exceedances of the

[[Page 32206]]

daily NAAQS (i.e., the number of exceedances per years expected when 
missing data and/or trends are taken into account) exceeded the NAAQS 
criterion of 1.0 expected exceedances per year. EPA based its 
attainment determination on air quality data monitored in the 
nonattainment area from 1992 to 1994, the three most recent calendar 
years of data available at the time of proposal. In addition, two 
exceedances already monitored in 1995 reflected full implementation of 
the attainment SIP.

C. The GASP Lawsuit

    On February 21, 1996, the Group Against Smog and Pollution (GASP), 
a citizen environmental advocacy group, sued EPA in order to compel EPA 
action on a number of planning activities regarding the Liberty Borough 
area. The Settlement Agreement reached on this suit requires, among 
other things, that EPA determine the attainment status of the Liberty 
Borough area by March 31, 1998, in light of air quality data collected 
from 1995 through 1997. The TSD prepared for this rulemaking provides a 
more detailed summary of the Settlement Agreement's provisions. Copies 
of the TSD are available upon request from the EPA Regional Office 
listed in the ADDRESSES section of this document.

D. Revisions to the PM NAAQS

    On July 18, 1997, EPA revised the NAAQS for particulate 
matter.2 Currently, both the pre-existing and revised NAAQS 
are in effect in the Liberty Borough area. In this document, ``NAAQS'' 
and ``PM-10 NAAQS'' refer to the previously existing NAAQS that were in 
effect at the time and for which the Liberty Borough area was 
classified as moderate nonattainment on November 6, 1991.
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    \2\ See 62 FR 38652.
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II. Rationale for Today's Proposed Action

    Air quality has improved in the Liberty Borough nonattainment area 
since 1995, when EPA proposed to find that the area did not attain the 
PM-10 NAAQS by the December 31, 1994 attainment date. (See Table 1, 
below) Pursuant to the Settlement Agreement, EPA has waited until three 
years of air quality data which reflect full implementation of the 
County's attainment SIP were available. The data, which were collected 
by a monitoring network that meets the requirements of 40 CFR part 58, 
show that the air quality of the area has attained the NAAQS. The 
number of expected exceedances per year are 0.67, which is less than 
the 1.0 allowed by the NAAQS. Although one monitoring station was out 
of service during part of the first quarter of 1995, ACHD has credibly 
determined that it is unlikely that any exceedances of the NAAQS were 
missed. More detail is provided in the TSD, referenced above.

  Table 1.--Exceedances of the 24-hour PM-10 NAAQS Measured in Liberty  
       Borough PM-10 Nonattainment Area 1992-1997 (g/m3)       
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                             Lincoln   Lincoln          
                   Date                      Hi-Vol     TEOM     Liberty
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                1992-1994                               
------------------------------------------------------------------------
1/28/92...................................  ........  ........       175
12/15/92..................................       186  ........  ........
5/10/93...................................       167  ........  ........
11/23/93..................................       223       195  ........
2/19/94...................................       163  ........  ........
3/7/94....................................       157  ........  ........
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                1995-1997                               
------------------------------------------------------------------------
3/12/95...................................       193  ........       188
3/13/95...................................       209       193  ........
1996......................................                              
(2) No exceedances.                                                     
1997......................................                              
(2)    Do.                                                              
------------------------------------------------------------------------
The 24-hour PM-10 National Ambient Air Quality Standard is 150 g/m3.                                                               
The NAAQS is attained at any location when the expected number of       
  exceedances per year is  to 1.0.                           
The Lincoln station reported incomplete data for the first quarter of   
  1995.                                                                 
The Lincoln Hi-Vol was discontinued during the second quarter of 1996.  

III. Proposed Action

    EPA is proposing to find, pursuant to section 188(b)(2), that the 
Liberty Borough moderate nonattainment area has attained the NAAQS for 
PM-10. EPA is withdrawing its September 1995 proposal to find that the 
area did not attain the NAAQS.
    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 a SIP shall be 
considered separately in light of specific technical, economic and 
environmental factors and in relation to relevant statutory and 
regulatory authority.

IV. Administrative Requirements

A. Executive Order 12866

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

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.
    Determinations of attainment under the Clean Air Act do not impose 
any new requirements on small entities. Therefore, EPA certifies that 
this determination does not have a significant impact on a substantial 
number of small entities.

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 Regional Administrator's final decision to find that the 
Liberty Borough area attained or did not attain the NAAQS will be based 
on sections 179(c) and 188(b)(2) of the Clean Air Act, as amended, and 
EPA regulations in 40 CFR part 50.

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


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    Dated: May 28, 1998.
W. Michael McCabe,
Regional Administrator, Region III.
[FR Doc. 98-15583 Filed 6-11-98; 8:45 am]
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