[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 32 (Friday, February 15, 2002)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 7082-7085]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-3769]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 81

[CAO-70-FOA; FRL-7143-2]


Clean Air Act Attainment Finding; Bullhead City and Payson 
Nonattainment Areas, AZ; Sacramento and San Bernardino Nonattainment 
Areas, CA; Particulate Matter of 10 Microns or Less (PM-10)

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: EPA has determined that the Bullhead City and Payson moderate 
PM-10 nonattainment areas in Arizona and the Sacramento and San 
Bernardino moderate PM-10 nonattainment areas in California have 
attained the National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) for 
Particulate Matter with an aerodynamic diameter less than or equal to a 
nominal 10 micrometers (PM-10) by the applicable December 31, 2000, 
attainment date. This determination is based upon monitored air quality 
data for the PM-10 NAAQS during the years 1998-2000. This determination 
of attainment does not redesignate the Bullhead City, Payson, 
Sacramento and San Bernardino areas to attainment for PM-10. The Clean 
Air Act requires that, for an area to be redesignated, five criteria 
must be satisfied including the submittal of a maintenance plan as a 
State Implementation Plan (SIP) revision. This action also corrects the 
effective date listed for the moderate nonattainment classification for 
Bullhead City.

EFFECTIVE DATE: This rule is effective on March 18, 2002.

ADDRESSES: Copies of documents relevant to this action are available 
for public inspection during normal business hours at the Air Planning 
Office of the Air Division, Environmental Protection Agency, Region 9, 
75 Hawthorne Street, San Francisco, California, 94105-3901.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Eleanor Kaplan, Air Planning Office 
(AIR-2), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 9, (415) 947-4147 
or [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Throughout this document, wherever ``we'', 
``us'', or ``our'' are used, we mean the Environmental Protection 
Agency (EPA).

Background

    On July 25, 2001 (see 66 FR 38603), EPA published a notice of 
proposed

[[Page 7083]]

rulemaking that announced our proposed finding that the moderate 
nonattainment areas of Bullhead City and Payson in Arizona and the 
moderate nonattainment areas of San Bernardino and Sacramento in 
California have attained the National Ambient Air Quality Standards 
(NAAQS) for particulate matter of nominal aerodynamic diameters smaller 
than 10 micrometers (PM-10). The rationale for EPA's finding was 
explained in the proposal and will not be restated here. In the 
proposed rule, we also indicated that we were correcting the effective 
date for our classification of Bullhead City as moderate nonattainment 
for PM-10 in part 81 of title 40 of the Code of Federal Regulations. 
The proposed rule provided for a 30-day public comment period which 
ended on August 24, 2001.

Public Comment and EPA Responses

    During the 30-day comment period, we received two comment letters: 
one from the California Air Resources Board (CARB) dated August 24, 
2001, and one from the Sacramento Metropolitan Air Quality Management 
District (``District'') dated August 21, 2001. These two letters 
include specific comments that are relevant to this rulemaking. In 
addition, they contain comments that are not relevant to this 
particular action but relate instead to the original redesignation of 
Sacramento County as nonattainment for PM-10. During the 30-day comment 
period, we received no comments related to the Bullhead City and Payson 
PM-10 nonattainment areas. Subsequent to the 30-day comment period, 
however, the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) 
notified us of an error in the data table for the Payson area that was 
included in the proposed attainment finding, and we have addressed that 
comment in this final action. We have considered all of the comments 
received and are providing the following responses.
    Comment: CARB agrees with EPA's proposed finding that the 
Sacramento and San Bernardino PM-10 nonattainment areas have attained 
the standard. The District expresses its support for the proposed 
finding for Sacramento County.
    Response: With this action and consistent with section 188(b)(2) of 
the Act, EPA is finalizing its attainment findings with respect to all 
four PM-10 nonattainment areas listed in the proposed rule: The 
Bullhead City and Payson PM-10 nonattainment areas in Arizona and the 
Sacramento and San Bernardino PM-10 nonattainment areas in California.
    Comment: Both CARB and the District urge EPA to correct the 
original redesignation of Sacramento County in 1993 as a PM-10 
nonattainment area based on the adverse findings of a data audit 
conducted by CARB in 1996 on the District's PM-10 data that formed the 
basis for our nonattainment redesignation. CARB asserts that EPA staff 
concurred with their findings of invalid data, notes that EPA has used 
its authority under section 110(k)(6) to correct nonattainment 
designations in other areas based on information not available at the 
time of the original nonattainment designation, and notes the drain on 
resources necessary to develop and approve a maintenance plan. Lastly, 
both CARB and the District note that EPA has not formally responded to 
CARB's 1996 letter requesting this corrective action.
    Response: These comments are not relevant to this rulemaking 
because they do not raise questions concerning the validity of the PM-
10 data (from the 1998-2000 period) that provided us with the basis for 
our proposed attainment finding. With respect to CARB's request for a 
correction of our PM-10 nonattainment redesignation of Sacramento 
County, we note that we recently provided CARB with a written response 
indicating that such a corrective action by EPA will not be 
forthcoming. In that written response, we provide responses to the 
additional comments that CARB and the District raise on the 
redesignation issue in their comment letters on the proposed attainment 
finding. EPA is aware of the competing demands on a State's resources 
particularly when it is in nonattainment status for more than one 
criteria pollutant, and we remain committed to working cooperatively 
with CARB and the District in resolving these planning issues.
    Comment: The District states: ``* * * there may be a typo in the 
data table, Summary of PM-10 Air Quality Sacramento County 1998-2000, 
on page 38607 of the Federal Register. The highest 24-hour PM-10 
concentration for the Sacramento-Branch Center monitoring site in 1998 
is incorrectly listed as 86 g/m3, while it is 
correctly recorded as 81 g/m3 in the EPA AIRS 
database and District records.''
    Response: EPA has reviewed the referenced data in the AIRS database 
and concurs with the District that the proposal for this notice 
contained a typographical error in citing the 1998 data for the 
Sacramento Branch Center monitoring site. The corrected table for 
Sacramento reads as follows:

                                                Summary of PM-10 Air Quality Sacramento County 1998-2000
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                          Highest 24 hour concentration  (g/m3)          Annual average  (g/m3)          3-year annual
                                         ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------     average
                  Site                                                                                                                     (g/
                                               1998            1999            2000            1998            1999            2000             m3)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
North Highlands.........................              73              73              82              22              26              23              24
Del Paso................................             104             141              58              22              27              21              23
Sacramento--Health Center...............              79              88              86              23              25              31              26
Sacramento--Branch Center Rd............              81              86              56              27              33              27              29
Sacramento--T Street....................              75              99              64              23              29              25              26
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Comment: ADEQ requested a correction of the number given for the 
1999 maximum 24-hour PM-10 concentration in Payson contained in the 
proposal to 56 g/m3 instead of the number that was 
given.
    Response: EPA has reviewed the referenced data and concurs with 
ADEQ that the proposal for this notice contained an error in citing the 
1999 data for the Payson monitoring site. The corrected table for 
Payson reads as follows:

[[Page 7084]]



               Summary of 24 Hour and Annual PM-10 Concentrations (g/m3) Payson 1998-2000
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                      Year
                                                              --------------------------------------------------
                                                                    1998 *            1999             2000
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Maximum 24 Hour Concentration................................              69               56               88
Annual Average...............................................              24               29               24
                                                              --------------------------------------------------
3-Year Annual Average........................................                          26
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EPA's Final Action

    After consideration of the relevant comments received, we have 
decided to finalize our determination under section 188(b)(2) of the 
Act that the Bullhead City, Payson, Sacramento and San Bernardino 
nonattainment areas have attained the PM-10 NAAQS by the applicable 
attainment date. This finding should not be confused with a 
redesignation to attainment under section 107(d) of the Act. The 
designation status in 40 CFR part 81 will remain moderate nonattainment 
for these four PM-10 nonattainment areas until such time as EPA finds 
that these areas have met the requirements under the Act for 
redesignation to attainment.
    In the proposal for this action EPA stated that the current Code of 
Federal Regulations (CFR), Part 81.303, gives an incorrect date, namely 
January 20, 1990, for the classification of Bullhead City as a 
``moderate'' PM-10 nonattainment area. In this action, EPA is 
correcting the current Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), 40 CFR 
81.303, so that the date of Bullhead City's nonattainment 
classification as moderate appears as January 20, 1994.
    EPA is correcting the table contained in the proposal for this 
action titled ``Summary of PM-10 Air Quality Sacramento County 1998-
2000'' to show that the highest 24-hour PM-10 concentration for the 
Sacramento-Branch Center Road monitoring site in 1998 is listed as 81 
g/m3.
    EPA is correcting the table contained in the proposal for this 
action titled ``Summary of 24 hour and Annual PM-10 Concentrations 
(g/m3) Payson 1998-2000'' to show that the 1999 
maximum 24 hour PM-10 concentration in Payson is listed as 56 
g/m3.

Administrative Requirements

A. General Requirements

    Under Executive Order 12866 (58 FR 51735, October 4, 1993), this 
action is not a ``significant regulatory action'' and therefore is not 
subject to review by the Office of Management and Budget. For this 
reason, this action is also not subject to Executive Order 32111, 
``Actions Concerning Regulations That Significantly Affect Energy 
Supply, Distribution, or Use'' (66 FR 28355, May 22, 2001). This action 
merely makes a determination based on air quality data and does not 
impose any requirements. Accordingly, the Administrator certifies that 
this rule will not have a significant economic impact on a substantial 
number of small entities under the Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 
601 et seq.). Because this rule does not impose any additional 
enforceable duty, it does not contain any unfunded mandate or 
significantly or uniquely affect small governments, as described in the 
Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995 (Public Law 104-4). This rule also 
does not have a substantial direct effect on one or more Indian tribes, 
on the relationship between the Federal Government and Indian tribes, 
or on the distribution of power and responsibilities between the 
Federal Government and Indian tribes, as specified by Executive Order 
13175 (65 FR 67249, November 9, 2000), nor will it have substantial 
direct effects on the States, on the relationship between the national 
government and the States, or on the distribution of power and 
responsibilities among the various levels of government, as specified 
in Executive Order 13132 (64 FR 43255, August 10, 1999), because it 
merely makes a determination based on air quality data and does not 
alter the relationship or the distribution of power and 
responsibilities established in the Clean Air Act. This rule also is 
not subject to Executive Order 13045 (62 FR 19885, April 23, 1997), 
because it is not economically significant.
    The requirements of section 12(d) of the National Technology 
Transfer and Advancement Act of 1995 (15 U.S.C. 272 note) do not apply. 
As required by section 3 of Executive Order 12988 (61 FR 4729, February 
7, 1996), in issuing this rule, EPA has taken the necessary steps to 
eliminate drafting errors and ambiguity, minimize potential litigation, 
and provide a clear legal standard for affected conduct. EPA has 
complied with Executive Order 12630 (53 FR 8859, March 15, 1988) by 
examining the takings implications of the rule in accordance with the 
``Attorney General's Supplemental Guidelines for the Evaluation of Risk 
and Avoidance of Unanticipated Takings'' issued under the executive 
order. This rule does not impose an information collection burden under 
the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 
et seq.).
    The Congressional Review Act, 5 U.S.C. section 801 et seq., as 
added by the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 
1996, generally provides that before a rule may take effect, the agency 
promulgating the rule must submit a rule report, which includes a copy 
of the rule, to each House of the Congress and to the Comptroller 
General of the United States. EPA will submit 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 United States 
prior to publication of the rule in the Federal Register. A major rule 
cannot take effect until 60 days after it is published in the Federal 
Register. This action is not a ``major rule'' as defined by 5 U.S.C. 
section 804(2). This rule will be effective March 18, 2002.
    Under section 307(b)(1) of the Clean Air Act, petitions for 
judicial review of this action must be filed in the United States Court 
of Appeals for the appropriate circuit by April 16, 2002. 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 postpone the effectiveness of such 
rule or action. This action may not be challenged later in proceedings 
to enforce its requirements. (See section 307(b)(2))

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 81

    Environmental protection, Air pollution control, Intergovernmental 
relations, Particulate matter, Reporting and recordkeeping 
requirements.

    Dated: January 28, 2002.
Laura Yoshii,
Deputy Regional Administrator, Region 9.

    Part 81, chapter I, title 40 of the Code of Federal Regulations is 
amended as follows:

[[Page 7085]]

PART 81--[AMENDED]

    1. The authority citation for Part 81 continues to read as follows:

    Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7401-7671, et seq.

Subpart D--Arizona

    2. In Sec. 81.303, the table for Arizona-PM-10 is amended by 
revising the entry for Mohave County (part) to read as follows:


Sec. 81.303  Arizona.

* * * * *

                                                  Arizona-PM-10
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                             Designation                             Classification
      Designation area       -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                   Date                 Type                 Date                 Type
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
*                  *                  *                  *                  *                  *
                                                        *
Mohave County (part):
    Bullhead City: T21N, R20-        1/20/94  Nonattainment...........         1/20/94  Moderate.
     21W, excluding Lake
     Mead National
     Recreation Area: T20N,
     R20-22W; T19N, R21-22W
     excluding Fort Mohave
     Indian Reservation.
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[FR Doc. 02-3769 Filed 2-14-02; 8:45 am]
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