[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 126 (Monday, July 1, 2002)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 44128-44132]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-16463]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Parts 52 and 81

[CA 268-0360; FRL-7239-9]


Approval and Promulgation of Implementation Plans and 
Determination of Attainment of the 1-Hour Ozone Standard for the Santa 
Barbara County Area, California

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Proposed rule.

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SUMMARY: EPA is proposing to determine that the Santa Barbara County 
area has attained the 1-hour ozone air quality standard by the deadline 
required by the Clean Air Act. EPA is also proposing to approve 1-hour 
ozone contingency measures as revisions to the Santa Barbara portion of 
the California State Implementation Plan (SIP).

DATES: Comments on this proposal must be received by July 31, 2002.

ADDRESSES: Please address your comments to: Dave Jesson, Air Planning 
Office (AIR-2), Air Division, U.S. EPA, Region 9, 75 Hawthorne Street, 
San Francisco, CA 94105-3901.
    Copies of the SIP materials are available for public inspection 
during normal business hours at EPA's Region 9 office and at the 
following locations:

California Air Resources Board, 1001 I Street, Sacramento, CA 95814
Santa Barbara County Air Pollution Control District, 26 Castilian 
Drive, Suite B-23, Goleta, CA 93117

    The SIP materials are also electronically available at: http://www.sbcapcd.org/capes.htm

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dave Jesson, US EPA Region 9, at(415) 
972-3957, or [email protected]

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Attainment Finding

A. Santa Barbara's Current Ozone Classification

    The Santa Barbara County nonattainment area (``Santa Barbara 
area'') is currently classified as serious for the 1-hour ozone 
national ambient air quality standard (NAAQS).\1\
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    \1\ The 1-hour ozone nonattainment area is the ``Santa Barbara-
Santa Maria-Lompoc Area,'' which comprises the entire County of 
Santa Barbara. See 40 CFR 81.305.
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    When the Clean Air Act (CAA) Amendments were enacted in 1990, each 
area of the country that was designated nonattainment for the 1-hour 
ozone standard, including the Santa Barbara area, was classified by 
operation of law as marginal, moderate, serious, severe, or extreme 
depending on the severity of the area's air quality problem. CAA 
sections 107(d)(1)(C) and 181(a). The Santa Barbara area was initially 
classified as moderate. See 40 CFR 81.305 and 56 FR 56694 (November 6, 
1991).
    Upon the Santa Barbara area's classification as moderate, the CAA 
required submittal of a state implementation plan (SIP) demonstrating 
attainment of the 1-hour ozone standard as expeditiously as practicable 
but no later than November 15, 1996. CAA sections 181(a)(1) and 
182(b)(1)(A)(i). The SIP had to meet several other CAA requirements for 
moderate areas. See generally CAA section 182(b). The Santa Barbara 
County Air Pollution Control District (SBCAPCD) prepared a moderate 
area plan, which was timely submitted by the California Air Resources 
Board (CARB). CARB later withdrew the attainment demonstration, since 
the area continued to violate the 1-hour standard in 1996. We approved 
the remaining portions of the SIP on January 8, 1997 (62 FR 1187).
    On December 10, 1997 (62 FR 65025), we determined that the area had 
not attained the 1-hour ozone standard by the November 15, 1996 
attainment date. As a result of that finding, the Santa Barbara area 
was reclassified to serious, by operation of law under CAA section 
181(b)(1)(A).
    Upon the area's reclassification to serious, the CAA required 
California to submit a revised SIP demonstrating attainment of the 1-
hour ozone standard in the Santa Barbara area as expeditiously as 
practicable but no later than November 15, 1999. CAA sections 
181(a)(1)and 182(c)(2)(A). In response, SBCAPCD adopted and CARB 
submitted a plan addressing the serious area requirements. EPA fully 
approved this plan on August 14, 2000 (65 FR 49499).

B. Clean Air Act Provisions for Attainment Findings

    Under CAA section 181(b)(2)(A), we must determine within six months 
of the applicable attainment date whether an ozone nonattainment area 
has attained the standard. If we find that a serious area has not 
attained the standard and does not qualify for an extension, it is 
reclassified by operation of law to severe.\2\ Under CAA section

[[Page 44129]]

181(b)(2)(A), we must base our determination of attainment or failure 
to attain on the area's design value as of its applicable attainment 
date, which for the Santa Barbara area was November 15, 1999.
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    \2\ If a states does not have the clean data necessary to show 
attainment of the 1-hour standard but does have clean air in the 
year immediately preceding the attainment date and has fully 
implemented its applicable SIP, it may apply to EPA, under CAA 
section 181(a)(5), for a 1-year extension of the attainment date.
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    The 1-hour ozone NAAQS is 0.12 ppm, not to be exceeded on average 
more than 1 day per year over any 3-year period. 40 CFR 50.9 and 
appendix H. Under our policies, we determine if an area has attained 
the 1-hour standard by calculating, at each monitor, the average number 
of days over the standard per year during the preceding 3-year 
period.\3\ For this proposal, we have based our determination of 
attainment on both the design value and the average number of 
exceedance days per year as of November 15, 1999.
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    \3\ See generally 57 FR 13506 (April 16, 1992) and Memorandum 
from D. Kent Berry, Acting Director, Air Quality Management 
Division, EPA, to Regional Air Office Directors; ``Procedures for 
Processing Bump Ups and Extensions for Marginal Ozone Nonattainment 
Areas,'' February 3, 1994. While explicitly applicable only to 
marginal areas, the general procedures for evaluating attainment in 
this memorandum apply regardless of the initial classification of an 
area because all findings of attainment are made pursuant to the 
same Clean Air Act requirements in section 181(b)(2).
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    The design value is an ambient ozone concentration that indicates 
the severity of the ozone problem in an area and is used to determine 
the level of emission reductions needed to attain the standard, that 
is, it is the ozone level around which a State designs its control 
strategy for attaining the ozone standard. A monitor's design value is 
the fourth highest ambient concentration recorded at that monitor over 
the previous 3 years. An area's design value is the highest of the 
design values from the area's monitors.\4\
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    \4\ The fourth highest value is used as the design value because 
a monitor may record up to 3 exceedances of the standard in a 3-year 
period and still show attainment, since 3 exceedances over 3 years 
would average 1 day per year, the maximum allowed to show attainment 
of the 1-hour ozone standard. If the monitor records a fourth 
exceedance in that period, it would average more than 1 exceedance 
day per year and would no longer show attainment. Therefore, if a 
State can reduce the fourth highest ozone value to below the 
standard, thus preventing a fourth exceedance, then it can 
demonstrate attainment.
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    We make attainment determinations for ozone nonattainment areas 
using all available, quality-assured air quality data for the 3-year 
period up to and including the attainment date.\5\ Consequently, we 
used all of the 1997, 1998, and 1999 quality-assured data available to 
determine whether the Santa Barbara area attained the 1-hour ozone 
standard by November 15, 1999. From the available air quality data, we 
have calculated the average number of days over the standard and the 
design value for each ozone monitor in the Santa Barbara nonattainment 
area.
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    \5\ All quality-assured available data include all data 
available from the state and local/national air monitoring (SLAMS/
NAMS) network as submitted to EPA's AIRS system and all data 
available to EPA from special purpose monitoring (SPM) sites that 
meet the requirements of 40 CFR 58.13. See Memorandum John Seitz, 
Director, OAQPS, to Regional Air Directors; ``Agency Policy on the 
Use of Ozone Special Purpose Monitoring Data,'' August 22, 1997.
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C. Attainment Finding for the Santa Barbara Area

1. Adequacy of the Santa Barbara Area Ozone Monitoring Network
    Determining whether or not an area has attained under CAA section 
181(b)(1)(A) is based on monitored air quality data. Thus, the validity 
of a determination of attainment depends on whether the monitoring 
network adequately measures ambient ozone levels in the area.
    We evaluate 4 basic elements in determining the adequacy of an 
area's ozone monitoring network. The network needs to meet the design 
requirements of 40 CFR part 58, appendix D; the network needs to 
utilize monitoring equipment designated as reference or equivalent 
methods under 40 CFR part 53; and the agency or agencies operating the 
equipment need to have a quality assurance plan in place that meets the 
requirements of 40 CFR part 58, appendix A. The ozone network in the 
Santa Barbara area meets or exceeds these requirements and is therefore 
adequate for use in determining the ozone attainment status of the 
area.
2. The Santa Barbara Area's Ozone Design Value for the 1997-1999 Period
    We have listed in Table 1 the design values and the average number 
of exceedance days per year for the 1997 to 1999 period for each 
monitoring site in the Santa Barbara area. We calculated the design 
values following the procedures in the Laxton memo.\6\
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    \6\ See memorandum, William G. Laxton, Director, Technical 
Support Division, Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards to 
Regional Air Directors, ``Ozone and Carbon Monoxide Design Value 
Calculations,'' June 18, 1990.

  Table 1.--Average Number of Ozone Exceedance Days per Year and Design
         Values by Monitor in the Santa Barbara Area, 1997-1999
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                    Average number of
               Site                  exceedance days   Site design value
                                         per year            (ppm)
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El Capitan St (SLAMS).............                  0               0.08
Goleta (SLAMS)....................                  0               0.09
Lompoc H Street (SLAMS)...........                  0               0.08
Santa Barbara (SLAMS).............                  0               0.09
Santa Maria (SLAMS)...............                  0               0.07
Santa Ynez (SLAMS)................                  0               0.09
Santa Rosa Island (Nat. Park).....                  0               0.08
Carpinteria (SPM).................                  0               0.11
GTC B (SPM).......................                  0               0.09
Lompoc HS&P (SPM).................                  0               0.09
Paradise Road (SPM)...............                0.3               0.11
Las Flores Canyon (Site 1) (SPM)..                1.0               0.11
Vandenburg AFB STS (SPM)..........                  0               0.09
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Note: State or Local Air Monitoring Stations (SLAMS) are operated by
  SBCAPCD or CARB, while special purpose monitors (SPMs) are operated
  independently by certain permitted stationary sources in the county
  under the oversight of the SBCAPCD. All data produced by these SPMs
  are submitted to EPA's Aerometric Information Retrieval System-Air
  Quality Subsystem (AIRS-AQS) database.


[[Page 44130]]

    From Table 1, the highest design value at any monitor, and thus the 
design value for the Santa Barbara area is 0.11 ppm at the Carpinteria, 
Paradise Road, and Las Flores Canyon sites. No monitor in the Santa 
Barbara area recorded an average of more than 1 exceedance of the 1-
hour ozone standard per year during the 1997 to 1999 period.
    Because the area's design value is below the 0.12 ppm 1-hour ozone 
standard and the area has averaged less than 1 exceedance per year at 
each monitor for the 1997 to 1999 period, we propose to find that the 
Santa Barbara area has attained the 1-hour ozone standard by its Clean 
Air Act mandated attainment date of November 15, 1999.
    Although the attainment determination is based on the 1997 to 1999 
period, we have also looked at data for 2000 and 2001. During that 
period, we found that the area's 1-hour ozone design values were below 
0.12 ppm and that the area continued to record less than 1 exceedance 
per year on average at each monitoring location.

D. Attainment Findings and Redesignations to Attainment

    A finding that an area has attained the 1-hour ozone standard under 
CAA section 181(b)(1)(A) does not redesignate the area to attainment 
for the 1-hour standard nor does it guarantee a future redesignation to 
attainment.
    The redesignation of an area to attainment under CAA section 
107(d)(3)(E) is a separate process from a finding of attainment under 
CAA section 181(b)(1)(A). Unlike an attainment finding where we need 
only determine that the area has had the pre-requisite number of clean 
years, a redesignation requires multiple determinations. Under section 
107(d)(3)(E), these determinations are:
    1. We must determine, at the time of the redesignation, that the 
area has attained the relevant NAAQS.
    2. The State must have a fully approved SIP for the area.
    3. We must determine that the improvements in air quality are due 
to permanent and enforceable reductions in emissions resulting from 
implementation of the SIP and applicable federal regulations and other 
permanent and enforceable reductions.
    4. We must have fully approved a maintenance plan for the area 
under CAA section 175(A).
    5. The State must have met all the nonattainment area requirements 
applicable to the area.
    To address the provisions of CAA section 175(A), Santa Barbara 
adopted its 2001 Clean Air Plan (including a maintenance plan) on 
November 15, 2001. Although the SBCAPCD is already implementing the 
plan, the State does not expect to submit the plan as a SIP revision 
until early 2003. CARB has submitted for federal approval at this time, 
however, the contingency measures in the maintenance plan. The State 
and the SBCAPCD do not intend the delay in submitting the full 
maintenance plan to impact the contingency rule adoption schedule 
identified in the maintenance plan. See discussion below in Section II.
    It is possible, although not expected, that the Santa Barbara area 
violate the 1-hour ozone NAAQS before the maintenance plan is approved 
and the area is redesignated to attainment. If such a violation were to 
occur after EPA's finding of attainment under CAA section 181(b)(2)(A), 
and if expedited implementation of contingency measures were to prove 
insufficient to eliminate future violations, EPA believes that issuance 
of a SIP call under CAA section 110(k)(5) would be an appropriate 
response. This SIP call could require the State to submit, by a 
reasonable deadline not to exceed 18 months, a revised plan 
demonstrating expeditious attainment and complying with other 
requirements of Subpart 2 applicable to the area at the time of this 
finding.

II. Contingency Measures

    On May 29, 2002, California formally requested that we make a 
finding of attainment for the Santa Barbara area and begin evaluating 
redesignation of the Santa Barbara area to attainment and the adequacy 
of the area's maintenance plan (letter from Michael P. Kenny, CARB 
Executive Officer, to Wayne Nastri, Regional Administrator, EPA Region 
9). The State's letter attached the 2001 Clean Air Plan, which SBCAPCD 
adopted on November 15, 2001, to address the CAA provisions relating to 
maintenance plans for the 1-hour ozone NAAQS.\7\ CARB indicated that 
the State will submit a request that we act on the maintenance plan and 
redesignate the area to attainment in early 2003, at the time the State 
requests our approval of an updated vehicle emission factor model for 
use statewide in SIPs and transportation conformity analyses.
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    \7\ On June 13, 2002, we found that this submittal met the 
completeness criteria in 40 CFR 51 appendix V, including the 
requirement for proper public notice and adoption.
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    The State did request that we act expeditiously to approve the 
specific enforceable contingency measures in the maintenance plan, in 
order to strengthen the SIP and ensure that a remedy will be in place 
if future violations occur. Should the area record a violation of the 
1-hour ozone NAAQS before the area is redesignated to attainment, these 
measures would be expected to provide the remedy.
    The maintenance plan includes a commitment to adopt a group of 
control measures by specific dates from 2001 through 2009, and a 
commitment to evaluate and expedite the adoption process in 
coordination with EPA if Santa Barbara violates the 1-hour ozone NAAQS 
prior to 2015. While the control measures are intended to be 
contingency measures for purposes of the federal 1-hour ozone standard, 
the measures are also proposed to be adopted for the purpose of 
attaining the California State 1-hour ozone standard.
    The measures, their adoption schedule, and associated emission 
reductions are summarized in Table 2, Contingency Measures. The 
measures are described at length in the 2001 Clean Air Plan, Appendix 
B.3, Proposed Emission Control Measures.

                      Table 2.--Contingency Measures Source: 2001 Clean Air Plan, Table 4-3
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                                                                                         Emission reductions in
                                                                                         tons per day (with full
     Rule No.          CAP control measure ID           Description          Adoption        implementation)
                                                                             schedule  -------------------------
                                                                                            VPC          NOX
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323...............  R-SC-1                        Architectural Coatings     2001-2003       0.0998            0
                                                   (Revision).
333...............  N-IC-1, N-IC-3                Stationary IC Engines..    2002-2003       0.0008       0.0128
360...............  N-XC-2                        Large Water Heaters &      2001-2003            0   \1\ 0.0133
                                                   Small Boilers, Steam
                                                   Generators, Process
                                                   Heaters (75,000 Btu/hr
                                                   to <2 MMBtu/hr).

[[Page 44131]]

 
321...............  R-SL-1                        Solvent Degreasers         2004-2006       0.0562            0
                                                   (Revision).
362...............  R-SL-2                        Solvent Cleaning           2004-2006       1.0103            0
                                                   Operations.
363...............  N-IC-2                        Gas Turbines...........    2004-2006            0            0
358...............  R-SL-4                        Electronic Industry--      2007-2009   \2\ 0.0026            0
                                                   Semiconductor
                                                   Manufacturing.
361...............  N-XC-4                        Small Industrial and       2007-2009            0  \3\ 0.0028
                                                   Commercial Boilers,
                                                   Steam Generators, and
                                                   Process Heaters (2
                                                   MMBtu/hr to <5 MMBtu/
                                                   hr).
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\1\ This is with 15% implementation, the highest implementation figure available from the District's analysis.
\2\ The data shown are for source classification code (SCC) number 3-13-065-06 only. The emission data for the
  SCC numbers and the category of emission source (CES) numbers subject to Rule 358 are included in the Rule 321
  or Rule 361 emission reduction summaries.
\3\ The emission reductions shown are based on Rule 361 being a point-of-sale type rule.

    The State requested that we approve these measures at this time 
under CAA section 110(k), and did not request that we approve them 
under the CAA section 175A provisions relating to maintenance plans. We 
have therefore reviewed the control measures to determine whether they 
meet basic SIP approval requirements and whether the measures would 
strengthen the existing SIP. We conclude that the measures are 
adequately defined, the implementation of the measures is sufficiently 
specific, the associated emission reductions are properly quantified, 
and the SBCAPCD has authority to adopt and enforce the measures. 
Therefore, we propose to approve the control measures under CAA section 
110(k)(3) as strengthening the SIP.
    When the State resubmits the 2001 Clean Air Plan and requests that 
we approve it as meeting the CAA section 175A requirements for 
maintenance plans, we will review the contingency elements in the Santa 
Barbara plan and will determine whether or not these elements fully 
satisfy the specific CAA section 175A(d) requirement for contingency 
provisions in maintenance plans.
    If we finalize approval of the contingency measures under CAA 
section 110(k)(3), we expect to work closely with CARB and the SBCAPCD 
to evaluate and expedite the rule adoption schedule in the event that 
violations are recorded.

III. Summary of EPA Actions

    We are proposing to find that the Santa Barbara area attained the 
1-hour ozone NAAQS by the CAA deadline. We are proposing to approve 
contingency measures in the 2001 Clean Air Plan, as shown in Table 2 
above, under CAA section 110(k)(3).

IV. Administrative Requirements

    Under Executive Order 12866 (58 FR 51735, October 4, 1993), this 
proposed 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 proposed action is also not subject to 
Executive Order 13211, ``Actions Concerning Regulations That 
Significantly Affect Energy Supply, Distribution, or Use'' (66 FR 
28355, May 22, 2001). This proposed action merely approves state law as 
meeting Federal requirements and proposes to find that the Santa 
Barbara area has attained a previously-established national ambient air 
quality standard based on an objective review of measures air quality 
data. As such, the action imposes no additional requirements beyond 
those imposed by state law. Accordingly, the Administrator certifies 
that this proposed 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 proposes to approve pre-
existing requirements under state law and does not impose any 
additional enforceable duty beyond that required by state law, 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 tribal implications because it will 
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). This action also does not have Federalism 
implications because it does not 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). This action merely proposes to approve a 
state rule implementing a Federal standard and proposes to find that an 
area has attained applicable air quality standards, and does not alter 
the relationship or the distribution of power and responsibilities 
established in the Clean Air Act. This proposed rule also is not 
subject to Executive Order 13045, ``Protection of Children from 
Environmental Health Risks and Safety Risks'' (62 FR 19885, April 23, 
1997), because it is not economically significant.
    In reviewing SIP submissions, EPA's role is to approve state 
choices, provided that they meet the criteria of the Clean Air Act. In 
this context, in the absence of a prior existing requirement for the 
State to use voluntary consensus standards (VCS), EPA has no authority 
to disapprove a SIP submission for failure to use VCS. It would thus be 
inconsistent with applicable law for EPA, when it reviews a SIP 
submission or the attainment status of an area, to use VCS in place of 
a SIP submission that otherwise satisfies the provisions of the Clean 
Air Act. Thus, 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. This proposed 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.).

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 52

40 CFR Part 81

    Environmental protection, Air pollution control, Intergovernmental 
relations, Nitrogen dioxide, Ozone, Reporting and recordkeeping 
requirements, Volatile organic compounds.

[[Page 44132]]

  

    Environmental protection, Air pollution control, National parks, 
and Wilderness areas.

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

    Dated: June 21, 2002.
Keith Takata,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region IX.
[FR Doc. 02-16463 Filed 6-28-02; 8:45 am]
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