[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 167 (Monday, August 30, 2004)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 52836-52838]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-19728]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 58

[Docket  ID-04-003a; FRL-7801-6]


Changing the Ozone Monitoring Season in Idaho From April Through 
October to May Through September

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Direct final rule.

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SUMMARY: Currently the ozone monitoring season for Idaho is April 
through October. Based on the ozone monitoring season in adjacent 
states with similar climatology, and analysis of existing ozone 
monitoring data collected in Boise, EPA is approving a change in the 
ozone monitoring season for Idaho to the months of May through 
September.

DATES: This direct final rule is effective October 29, 2004, unless EPA 
receives adverse comments by September 29, 2004. If relevant adverse 
comment is received, EPA will publish a timely withdrawal of the rule 
in the Federal Register informing the public that the rule will not 
take effect.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. ID-04-003, 
by one of the following methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. 
Follow the on-line instructions for submitting comments.
     E-mail: [email protected].
     Fax: (206) 553-0110.
     Mail: Keith A. Rose, Office of Air, Waste and Toxics, 
Environmental Protection Agency Region 10, Mail code: OAQ-107, 1200 
Sixth Ave., Seattle, Washington 98101.

[[Page 52837]]

     Hand Delivery: Environmental Protection Agency Region 10, 
Attn: Keith A. Rose, 9th Floor, 1200 Sixth Ave., Seattle, Washington 
98101. Such deliveries are only accepted during normal hours of 
operation, and special arrangements should be made for deliveries of 
boxed information.
    Instructions: Direct your comments to Docket ID No. ID-04-003. 
EPA's policy is that all comments received will be included in the 
public docket without change, including any personal information 
provided, unless the comment includes information claimed to be 
Confidential Business Information (CBI) or other information whose 
disclosure is restricted by statute. Do not submit information that you 
consider to be CBI or otherwise protected through regulations.gov, or 
e-mail. The Federal regulations.gov Web site is an ``anonymous access'' 
system, which means EPA will not know your identity or contact 
information unless you provide it in the body of your comment. If you 
send an e-mail comment directly to EPA without going through 
regulations.gov, your e-mail address will be automatically captured and 
included as part of the comment that is placed in the public docket and 
made available on the Internet. If you submit an electronic comment, 
EPA recommends that you include your name and other contact information 
in the body of your comment and with any disk or CD-ROM you submit. If 
EPA cannot read your comment due to technical difficulties and cannot 
contact you for clarification, EPA may not be able to consider your 
comment. Electronic files should avoid the use of special characters, 
any form of encryption, and be free of any defects or viruses.
    Docket: Docket materials are publicly available in hard copy at the 
Office of Air, Waste and Toxics, Environmental Protection Agency, Mail 
code: OAQ-107, 1200 Sixth Ave., Seattle, Washington 98101, open from 8 
a.m.-4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding legal holidays. The 
telephone number is (206) 553-1949.
    Comments may be submitted either by mail or electronically. Written 
comments should be mailed to Keith A. Rose, Office of Air, Waste and 
Toxics (OAQ-107), EPA Region 10, 1200 Sixth Avenue, Seattle, 
Washington, 98101. Electronic comments should be sent either to 
[email protected] or to http://www.regulations.gov, which is an 
alternative method for submitting electronic comments to EPA. To submit 
comments, please follow the detailed instructions described in the 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section, part I, General Information. Copies 
of the documents relevant to this action are available for public 
inspection during normal business hours at the EPA, Region 10, Office 
of Air Waste and Toxics, 1200 Sixth Avenue, Seattle, WA.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Keith A. Rose, State and Tribal 
Programs Unit, Office of Air, Waste and Toxics, (OAQ-107), EPA Region 
10, 1200 Sixth Avenue, Seattle WA. 98101, telephone number: (206) 553-
1949, or e-mail address at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Throughout this document, wherever ``we,'' 
``us,'' or ``our'' is used, we mean the EPA. Please note that if EPA 
receives relevant adverse comment on an amendment, paragraph or section 
of this rule and if that provision may be severed from the remainder of 
the rule, EPA may adopt as final those provisions of the rule that are 
not the subject of a relevant adverse comment.

I. General Information

A. What Should I Consider as I Prepare My Comments for EPA?

    1. Submitting Confidential Business Information (CBI). Do not 
submit this information to EPA through regulations.gov or e-mail. 
Clearly mark the part or all of the information that you claim to be 
CBI. For CBI information in a disk or CD-ROM that you mail to EPA, mark 
the outside of the disk or CD-ROM as CBI and then identify 
electronically within the disk or CD-ROM the specific information that 
is claimed as CBI. In addition to one complete version of the comment 
that includes information claimed as CBI, a copy of the comment that 
does not contain the information claimed as CBI must be submitted for 
inclusion in the public docket. Information so marked will not be 
disclosed except in accordance with procedures set forth in 40 Code of 
Federal Regulations (CFR) part 2.
    2. Tips for Preparing Your Comments. When submitting comments, 
remember to:
    i. Identify the rulemaking by docket number and other identifying 
information (subject heading, Federal Register date and page number).
    ii. Follow directions--The Agency may ask you to respond to 
specific questions or organize comments by referencing a CFR part or 
section number.
    iii. Explain why you agree or disagree; suggest alternatives and 
substitute language for your requested changes.
    iv. Describe any assumptions and provide any technical information 
and/or data that you used.
    v. If you estimate potential costs or burdens, explain how you 
arrived at your estimate in sufficient detail to allow for it to be 
reproduced.
    vi. Provide specific examples to illustrate your concerns, and 
suggest alternatives.
    vii. Explain your views as clearly as possible, avoiding the use of 
profanity or personal threats.
    viii. Make sure to submit your comments by the comment period 
deadline identified.

II. Purpose of This Action

    The purpose of this action is to change the ozone monitoring season 
in Idaho from April through October to May through September.

III. Justification for This Action

    Currently the ozone monitoring season for Idaho, as identified in 
40 CFR 58, Appendix D, section 2.5, is April through October. The EPA 
guidance titled, ``Guideline for Selecting and Modifying the Ozone 
Monitoring Season Based on an 8-Hour Ozone Standard'' states that the 
ozone season should extend for months for which the maximum 8-hour 
ozone reading reaches the 8-hour standard (0.08 ppm). The guideline 
also states that the most recent six years of data should be used to 
prepare a histogram of maximum ozone concentrations by month to compare 
to the 8-hour standard. However, if a state which has not collected 
ozone data, and changes in the ozone monitoring season have been 
observed for States with similar climatology, then those changes in the 
ozone monitoring season should also be implemented for the State that 
does not collect adequate ozone data.
    States adjacent to Idaho with similar climatology include Montana, 
Oregon, Utah, and Washington. According to 40 CFR 58, Appendix D, 
section 2.5, the ozone monitoring seasons identified for these states 
are shown in Table 1:

               Table 1.--Ozone Monitoring Seasons by State
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                 State                          Monitoring season
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Montana...............................  June-September.
Utah..................................  May-September.
Oregon................................  May-September.
Washington............................  May-September.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The longest ozone monitoring season for these states is May through 
September. This shows that the monitoring season for Idaho should be 
changed to May through September to be consistent with those states 
with similar climatology.
    Although Idaho itself has not gathered sufficient ozone data to 
support a

[[Page 52838]]

change in monitoring seasons, EPA has evaluated the data which has been 
gathered in the state to ensure any changes in the ozone monitoring 
season based on the guidance will be consistent with information that 
has been collected.The only ozone monitoring site in Idaho where six 
years of ozone data exists is in the Craters of the Moon Monument, 
which is a Class 1 area. The purpose of the Craters of the Moon ozone 
site is to measure ozone trends and to track degradation of air quality 
in a Class 1 area. This monitor has not measured any exceedances of the 
ozone standard since monitoring began at this site in 1992. However, 
the Craters of the Moon site is not representative of ozone 
concentrations which occur in highly populated areas of Idaho, such as 
in the Treasure Valley, where the state capital of Boise is located. 
Ozone monitoring was initiated in the Treasure Valley in May 2000 by 
the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality (IDEQ). As an indication 
of how the Treasure Valley ozone concentrations compare to the 8-hour 
ozone standard (0.08 ppm), IDEQ compared the maximum 8-hour ozone 
concentration for each month during 2001, 2002, and 2003 to the ozone 
standard. The results of this comparison demonstrate that the ozone 
concentrations exceed 80% of the standard, but do not exceed the 
standard, only during the months of May through September. Based on 
this analysis, which conservatively compares the monitoring data to 80% 
of the standard, it is evident that ozone concentrations are only 
likely to exceed the 8-hour standard in the Treasure Valley during the 
months of May through September.

IV. Final Action

    In this action, EPA is approving a change in the ozone monitoring 
season in Idaho. The reference to the ozone monitoring season for Idaho 
found in 40 CFR part 58, Appendix D, section 2.5, will be changed from 
April through October to May through September.

V. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

    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 13211, 
``Actions Concerning Regulations That Significantly Affect Energy 
Supply, Distribution, or Use'' (66 FR 28355, May 22, 2001). This action 
merely changes the ozone monitoring season for Idaho which appears in 
40 CFR Part 58, Appendix D, section 2.5. 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.).
    The Congressional Review Act, 5 U.S.C. 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. 
804(2).
    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 October 29, 2004. 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 58

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

    Dated: July 15, 2004.
Mike Gearheard,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region 10.

0
Part 58, chapter I, title 40 of the Code of Federal Regulations is 
amended as follows:

PART 58--[AMENDED]

0
1. The authority citation for part 58 continues to read as follows:

    Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7410, 7601(a), 7613, and 7619.


0
2. In Appendix D section 2.5 the table entitled ``Ozone Monitoring 
Season by State'' is amended by revising the entry for ``Idaho'' to 
read as follows:

Appendix D to Part 58--Network Design for State and Local Air 
Monitoring Stations (SLAMS), National Air Monitoring Stations (NAMS), 
and Photochemical Assessment Monitoring Stations (PAMS).

* * * * *

2.5 * * *

                    Ozone Monitoring Season by State
------------------------------------------------------------------------
              State                   Begin month          End month
------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
                                * * * * *
Idaho...........................  May                 September.
 
                                * * * * *
------------------------------------------------------------------------

* * * * *

[FR Doc. 04-19728 Filed 8-27-04; 8:45 am]
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