[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 88 (Wednesday, May 7, 2003)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 24368-24370]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-7640]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Parts 52 and 81

[CA-276-0380; FRL-7461-5]


Approval and Promulgation of Implementation Plans and Designation 
of Areas; California--Indian Wells Valley PM-10 Nonattainment Area

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: EPA is finalizing approval pursuant to the Clean Air Act (CAA 
or the Act) of the moderate area plan and maintenance plan for the 
Indian Wells Valley planning area in California and redesignating the 
area from nonattainment to attainment for the National Ambient Air 
Quality Standards (NAAQS) for particulate matter with an aerodynamic 
diameter less than or equal to a nominal 10 micrometers (PM-10).

EFFECTIVE DATE: This rule is effective on June 6, 2003.

ADDRESSES: You can inspect copies of the administrative record for this 
action at EPA's Region IX office during normal business hours. You can 
inspect copies of the submitted SIP revisions at the following 
locations:

Environmental Protection Agency, Region 9, Air Division, Air Planning 
Office (AIR-2), 75 Hawthorne Street, San Francisco, CA 94105-3901.
Kern County Air Pollution Control District, 2700 ``M'' Street, Suite 
302, Bakersfield, CA 93301.
California Air Resources Board, 1001 I Street, Sacramento, CA 95814.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Karen Irwin, Air Planning Office (AIR-
2), EPA Region 9, at (415) 947-4116 or: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

    On December 17, 2002 we proposed to approve the PM-10 moderate area 
nonattainment plan and maintenance plan and the redesignation request 
for the Indian Wells Valley planning area (Indian Wells plan) submitted 
to EPA by the California Air Resources Board (ARB) on December 5, 
2002.\1\ 67 FR 77196. In the proposal, we discussed in detail the CAA 
provisions for PM-10 moderate area plans, including EPA's clean data 
approach to areas such as the Indian Wells Valley, and the Act's 
requirements for maintenance plans and redesignation to attainment. In 
the proposal, we also evaluated the moderate area plan and maintenance 
plan and redesignation request according to the CAA and applicable EPA 
guidance. The reader is advised to refer to the proposal for these 
detailed discussions as they are not repeated here. In short, EPA, 
among other findings, determined that:
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    \1\ We had previously received a draft of the plan for review.
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    (1) The Indian Wells Valley PM-10 nonattainment area has attained 
the PM-10 NAAQS based on three years of quality assured monitoring 
data;
    (2) The emissions inventory in the plan is current, accurate and 
complete per CAA section 172(c)(3);
    (3) Control measures that can be attributed as responsible for 
bringing the area into attainment meet the Reasonably Available Control 
Measures (RACM) requirement per CAA section 189(a)(1)(C);
    (4) The air quality improvement in the area is due to permanent and 
enforceable measures;
    (5) The plan adequately demonstrates future maintenance of the 
NAAQS for at least ten years into the future;
    (6) The motor vehicle emission budgets contained in the plan meet 
the purposes of CAA section 176(c)(1) and the transportation conformity 
rule at 40 CFR part 93, subpart A; and
    (7) The area's maintenance demonstration does not rely on 
nonattainment New Source Review (NSR) and, therefore, the area need not 
have a fully approved nonattainment NSR program prior to approval of 
the redesignation request.
    EPA did not receive any public comments on the proposed rule.

II. Summary of Action

    With this final action, we are incorporating the moderate area plan 
and maintenance plan and redesignation request for the Indian Wells 
Valley Planning area, September 5, 2002, into the California State 
Implementation Plan (SIP). We are also approving the following 
measures, city ordinances, and commitments into the California SIP:
    1. Fugitive Dust Control Plan for the Naval Air Weapons Station, 
China Lake, California (September 1, 1994).\2\ This plan establishes 
controls for unpaved roads, disturbed vacant land and open storage 
piles.
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    \2\ Appendix D of the Indian Wells plan.
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    2. Kern County 1990 Land Use Ordinance--Chapter 18.55 and Kern 
County Development Standards, Chapter III. This ordinance requires 
paving of streets for new subdivisions according to the County 
Development Standards.\3\
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    \3\ Appendix E of the Indian Wells plan.
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    3. City of Ridgecrest Municipal Code 1980 which requires paving of 
streets for new subdivisions.\4\
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    \4\ Ibid.
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    4. ARB Executive Order G-125-295 which contains a commitment for 
future PM-10 air quality monitoring in the Indian Wells Valley planning 
area.
    We are also approving the following rules as RACM with respect to 
control of process fugitive emissions, however, as indicated by the 
following dates, they are already included in the California SIP: Rule 
401 ``Visible Emissions,'' November 29, 1993; Rule 404.1 ``Particulate 
Matter Concentration, April 18, 1972; and Rule 405 ``Particulate Matter 
Emission Rate,'' July 18, 1983. In addition, we are approving as RACM 
in the Indian Wells area the paving of unpaved roads between 1993 and 
the present \5\ and Bureau of Land Management closure of 83 miles of 
unpaved roads/off-highway vehicle trails, between 1994 and the 
present.\6\
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    \5\ Appendix D of the Indian Wells plan.
    \6\ Appendix E of the Indian Wells plan.
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    With this final action, the Indian Wells Valley PM-10 nonattainment 
area is redesignated to attainment for the 24-hour and annual PM-10 
NAAQS. The CAA requirements of the NSR program are replaced by the 
Prevention of Significant Deterioration program pursuant to 40 CFR 
52.21, per the delegation agreement between EPA and Kern County Air 
Pollution Control District dated August 12, 1999.

III. Administrative Requirements

    Under Executive Order 12866 (58 FR 51735, October 4, 1993), this 
final 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 final 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). It 
merely approves State law as meeting Federal requirements and imposes 
no additional requirements beyond those imposed by State law.
    Accordingly, the Administrator certifies that this rule will not 
have a significant economic impact on a

[[Page 24369]]

substantial number of small entities under the Regulatory Flexibility 
Act (5 U.S.C. 601 et seq.). Because this rule approves 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 
(Pub. L. 104-4).
    This final 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 final 
action merely approves a State rule implementing a Federal standard, 
and does not alter the relationship or the distribution of power and 
responsibilities established in the Clean Air Act. This final 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 be 
inconsistent with applicable law for EPA, when it reviews a SIP 
submission, 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 final 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.).
    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 July 7, 2003. 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

40 CFR Part 52

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

40 CFR Part 81

    Environmental protection, Air pollution control.

    Dated: February 24, 2003.
Alexis Strauss,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region IX.

0
Part 52, chapter I, title 40 of the Code of Federal Regulations is 
amended as follows:

PART 52--[AMENDED]

0
1. The authority citation for Part 52 continues to read as follows:

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

Subpart D--California

0
2. Section 52.220 is amended by adding paragraph (c)(306) to read as 
follows:


Sec.  52.220  Identification of plan.

* * * * *
    (c) * * *
    (306) The following plan was submitted on December 5, 2002, by the 
Governor's designee.
    (i) Incorporation by reference.
    (A) Kern County Air Pollution Control District.
    (1) PM-10 (Respirable Dust) Attainment Demonstration, Maintenance 
Plan, and Redesignation Request (excluding pages 4-1, 4-2, 6-1, 6-2, 
Appendix A, and pages D-12 through D-37 of Appendix D) adopted on 
September 5, 2002.
    (B) California Air Resources Board, California.
    (1) California Air Resources Board Executive Order G-125-295 
adopted on December 4, 2002.
* * * * *

PART 81--[AMENDED]

0
1. The authority citation for part 81 continues to read as follows:

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


0
2. In Sec.  81.305 the PM-10 table is amended by revising the entry for 
the Indian Wells Valley planning area under ``Fresno, Kern, Kings, 
Tulare, San Joaquin, Stanislaus, Madera Counties'' to read as follows:


Sec.  81.305  California.

* * * * *

                                                                    California--PM-10
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                                                                        Date \1\                                      Classification
             Designated area              Designation --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                          Type                      Date \1\                      Type
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                                                                      * * * * * * *
Fresno, Kern, Kings, Tulare, San
 Joaquin, Stanislaus, Madera Counties:
    Indian Wells Valley planning area...      09/5/02  Nonattainment............................      July 7,  Attainment.
                                                                                                         2003
    That portion of Kern County
     contained within Hydrologic Unit
     18090205.
 
                                                                     * * * * * * *
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\1\ This date is November 15, 1990, unless otherwise noted.


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[FR Doc. 03-7640 Filed 5-6-03; 8:45 am]
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