[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 239 (Wednesday, December 12, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 64262-64263]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-30741]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-7117-3]


Regional Haze Regulations; Availability of Draft Guidance 
Documents

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: We, the EPA are announcing today the availability of draft 
guidance to assist State and tribal air pollution control agencies in 
the implementation of regulations governing regional haze which were 
published in the Federal Register on July 1, 1999. These draft 
documents address the establishment of natural visibility conditions 
and the tracking of progress under the regional haze program.

DATES: Comments should be submitted on or before January 11, 2002.

ADDRESSES: Comments should be submitted to Lara Autry, U.S. 
Environmental Protection Agency (MD-14), Research Triangle Park, NC 
27711; E-mail [email protected]. An electronic copy of the draft 
guidance can be accessed at: http://www.epa.gov/ttn/amtic/visinfo.html.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Lara Autry at the same address; E-mail 
[email protected]; telephone (919) 541-5544.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In section 169A of the 1977 Amendments to 
the Clean Air Act, Congress established a national visibility goal as 
the ``prevention of any future, and the remedying of any existing, 
impairment of visibility in mandatory Federal Class I areas which 
impairment results from manmade air pollution.'' 42 U.S.C. 7491. These 
provisions were further supplemented by section 169B of the Clean Air 
Act Amendments of 1990. 42 U.S.C. 7492. States are required to develop 
implementation plans that make ``reasonable progress'' toward this 
goal.
    EPA issued initial visibility regulations in 1980 \1\ that 
addressed visibility impairment in a specific mandatory Federal Class I 
area that is determined to be ``reasonably attributable'' to a single 
source or small group of sources. Regulations to address regional haze 
were deferred until improved techniques could be developed in 
monitoring, modeling, and in understanding the effects of specific 
pollutants on visibility impairment. EPA issued regional haze 
regulations in 1999.\2\
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    \1\ See 45 FR 80084 (December 2, 1980).
    \2\ See 64 FR 35713 (July 1, 1999). See also 40 CFR 51.300-
51.309.
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    The overall framework of the regional haze rule requires States to 
develop SIPs that include (1) reasonable progress goals for improving 
visibility in each mandatory Federal Class I area, and (2) set of 
emission reduction measures to meet these goals. Specifically, States 
will set progress goals for each mandatory Federal Class I area to:
     provide for an improvement in visibility for the 20% most 
impaired (i.e., worst visibility) days over the period of the 
implementation plan, and
     ensure no degradation in visibility for the 20% least 
impaired (i.e., best visibility) days over the same period.
    Baseline visibility conditions for the 20% worst and 20% best days 
are to be determined using monitoring data collected during calendar 
years 2000-2004. Baseline conditions for 2000-2004, progress goals, and 
tracking changes over time are to be expressed in terms of the deciview 
index.\3\
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    \3\ The deciview is a haze index derived from calculated light 
extinction, such that uniform changes in haziness correspond to 
uniform incremental changes in visual perception across the entire 
range of conditions, from pristine to highly impaired. Deciview = 10 
ln(bext/10).
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    Most States (and Tribes as appropriate \4\) participating in 
regional planning organizations will submit regional haze 
implementation plans, including estimates of natural conditions and 
proposed progress goals, in the 2008 time frame. The regional haze SIP 
deadlines are linked to the dates when PM2.5 designations 
are finalized. For states that choose to participate in a regional 
planning organization, the initial (committal) SIP is due within one 
year of the PM2.5 designation and the full control strategy 
SIP is due within three years of the PM2.5 designation, but 
not later than December 31, 2008. For states that choose not to 
participate in a regional planning organization, regional haze SIPs are 
due within one year of the PM2.5 designation (for geographic 
areas designated as attainment or unclassifiable) and within three 
years of the PM2.5 designation (for geographic areas 
designated as nonattainment), which is the same time that control 
strategies to attain the PM2.5 standard are due. In 
developing any progress goal, the State will need to analyze and 
consider in its set of options the rate of improvement between 2004 
(when 2000-2004 baseline conditions are set) and 2018 that, if 
maintained in subsequent implementation periods, would result in 
achieving estimated natural conditions in 2064.
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    \4\ Under the Tribal Air Rule (63 FR 7254; February 12, 1998; 40 
CFR part 49), Tribal governments may elect to implement air programs 
in much the same way as states, including development of Tribal 
implementation plans.
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    The purpose of the draft documents announced in today's notice, 
when completed, will be to provide guidance to the States in 
implementing the regional haze program and to explain how EPA intends 
to exercise its discretion in implementing Clean Air Act provisions and 
EPA regulations concerning the estimation of natural visibility under 
the Regional Haze program. The guidance is designed to implement 
national policy on these issues. Sections 169A and 169B of the Clean 
Air Act and implementing regulations at 40 CFR 51.308 and 51.309 
contain legally binding requirements. When completed and issued, these 
draft guidance documents will not substitute for those provisions or 
regulations, nor will they constitute regulations themselves. Thus, 
they will not impose binding, enforceable requirements on any party, 
and may not apply to a particular situation based upon the 
circumstances. We and State decision

[[Page 64263]]

makers retain the discretion to adopt approaches on a case-by-case 
basis that differ from this guidance where appropriate. Any decisions 
by us regarding a particular State implementation plan (SIP) 
demonstration will only be made based on the statute and regulations. 
Therefore, you are free to raise questions and objections about the 
appropriateness of the application of this guidance to a particular 
situation; we will, and States should, consider whether or not the 
recommendations in this guidance are appropriate in that situation. 
These guidance documents will be living documents and may be revised 
periodically without public notice. We welcome public comments on these 
documents at any time and will consider those comments in any future 
revision of these guidance documents. However, for the purposes of 
completing the current versions of these documents and providing them 
to the State and tribal air pollution control agencies for their use, 
we ask that any comments on these versions be submitted to us not later 
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than January 11, 2002.

    Dated: November 28, 2001.
William Lamason,
Acting Director, Emissions Monitoring Analysis Division.
[FR Doc. 01-30741 Filed 12-11-01; 8:45 am]
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