[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 106 (Thursday, June 2, 2011)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 31898-31900]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-13668]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[EPA-R04-OAR-2010-0798-201133; FRL-9314-2]


Approval and Promulgation of Implementation Plans and 
Designations of Areas for Air Quality Planning Purposes; Georgia: Rome; 
Determination of Attainment by Applicable Attainment Date for the 1997 
Annual Fine Particulate Standards

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Proposed rule.

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SUMMARY: EPA is proposing to determine pursuant to the Clean Air Act 
(CAA), that the Rome, Georgia fine particulate (PM2.5) 
nonattainment area (hereafter referred to as ``the Rome Area'' or ``the 
Area'') attained the 1997 annual PM2.5 national ambient air 
quality standards (NAAQS) by the applicable attainment date of April 5, 
2010. The determination of attainment was previously made by EPA on 
April 5, 2011, based on quality-assured and certified monitoring data 
for the 2007-2009 monitoring period, that Rome, Georgia had attained 
the 1997 annual PM2.5 NAAQS. The Rome Area is comprised of 
Floyd County, Georgia in its entirety. EPA is now proposing to find 
that the Rome Area attained the 1997 annual PM2.5 NAAQS by 
its applicable attainment date. EPA is proposing this action because it 
is consistent with the CAA and its implementing regulations.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before July 5, 2011.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-R04-
OAR-2010-0798, by one of the following methods:
    1. http://www.regulations.gov: Follow the on-line instructions for 
submitting comments.
    2. E-mail: [email protected].
    3. Fax: (404) 562-9019.
    4. Mail: EPA-R04-OAR-2010-0798, Regulatory Development Section, Air 
Planning Branch, Air, Pesticides and Toxics Management Division, U.S. 
Environmental Protection Agency, Region 4, 61 Forsyth Street, SW., 
Atlanta, Georgia 30303-8960.
    5. Hand Delivery or Courier: Ms. Lynorae Benjamin, Chief, 
Regulatory Development Section, Air Planning Branch, Air, Pesticides 
and Toxics Management Division, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 
Region 4, 61 Forsyth Street, SW., Atlanta, Georgia 30303-8960. Such 
deliveries are only accepted during the Regional Office's normal hours 
of operation. The Regional Office's official hours of business are 
Monday through Friday, 8:30 to 4:30, excluding Federal holidays.
    Instructions: Direct your comments to Docket ID No. EPA-R04-OAR-
2010-0798. EPA's policy is that all comments received will be included 
in the public docket without change and may be made available online at 
http://www.regulations.gov, 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 through http://www.regulations.gov or e-mail, information that you consider to be CBI 
or otherwise protected. The http://www.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 http://www.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. For additional information about EPA's public 
docket visit the EPA Docket Center homepage at http://www.epa.gov/epahome/dockets.htm.
    Docket: All documents in the electronic docket are listed in the 
http://www.regulations.gov index. Although listed in the index, some 
information is not publicly available, i.e., CBI or other information 
whose disclosure is restricted by statute. Certain other material, such 
as copyrighted material, is not placed on the Internet and will be 
publicly available only in hard copy form. Publicly available docket 
materials are available either electronically in http://www.regulations.gov or in hard copy at the Regulatory Development 
Section, Air Planning Branch, Air, Pesticides and Toxics Management 
Division, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency,

[[Page 31899]]

Region 4, 61 Forsyth Street, SW., Atlanta, Georgia 30303-8960. EPA 
requests that if at all possible, you contact the person listed in the 
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section to schedule your inspection. 
The Regional Office's official hours of business are Monday through 
Friday, 8:30 to 4:30, excluding Federal holidays.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Sara Waterson or Joel Huey of the 
Regulatory Development Section, in the Air Planning Branch, Air, 
Pesticides and Toxics Management Division, U.S. Environmental 
Protection Agency, Region 4, 61 Forsyth Street, SW., Atlanta, Georgia 
30303-8960. Sara Waterson may be reached by phone at (404) 562-9061, or 
via electronic mail at [email protected]. Joel Huey may be reached 
by phone at (404) 562-9104, or via electronic mail at 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. What action is EPA taking?
II. What is the background for this action?
III. What is the air quality in the Rome area for the 1997 annual 
PM2.5 NAAQS for the 2007-2009 monitoring period?
IV. What is the effect of this action?
V. What is the proposed action?
VI. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

I. What action is EPA taking?

    Based on EPA's review of the quality-assured and certified 
monitoring data for 2007-2009, and in accordance with section 179(c)(1) 
of the CAA and EPA's regulations, EPA proposes to determine that the 
Rome Area has attained the 1997 annual PM2.5 NAAQS by the 
applicable attainment date of April 5, 2010.
    On April 5, 2011, EPA published a final rulemaking making a 
determination of attainment to suspend the requirements for the Rome 
Area to submit an attainment demonstration and associated reasonably 
available control measures (RACM), a reasonable further progress (RFP) 
plan, contingency measures, and other planning State Implementation 
Plan (SIP) revisions related to attainment of the standard shall be 
suspended so long as the Area continues to attain the 1997 annual 
PM2.5 NAAQS. See 76 FR 18650. Today's proposed action merely 
makes a determination that the Rome Area has attained the 1997 Annual 
PM2.5 NAAQS by its applicable attainment date. This action 
is not a re-proposal of the attainment determination to suspend the 
requirements for the Rome Area to submit an attainment demonstration 
and associated RACM, a RFP plan, contingency measures, and other 
planning SIP revisions related to attainment of the standard. More 
information regarding the 1997 annual PM2.5 standard and 
EPA's determination of attainment for the Rome Area is available in 76 
FR 18650 (April 5, 2011).

II. What is the background for this action?

    As a nonattainment area for the 1997 annual PM2.5 NAAQS, 
the Rome Area had an applicable attainment date of April 5, 2010 (based 
on 2007-2009 monitoring data). Pursuant to section 179(c) of the CAA, 
EPA is required to make a determination on whether the area attained 
the standard by its applicable attainment date. Specifically, section 
179(c)(1) of the CAA reads as follows: ``As expeditiously as 
practicable after the applicable attainment date for any nonattainment 
area, but not later than 6 months after such date, the Administrator 
shall determine, based on the area's air quality as of the attainment 
date, whether the area attained the standard by that date.''

III. What is the air quality in the Rome area for the 1997 annual 
PM2.5 NAAQS for the 2007-2009 monitoring period?

    Under EPA regulations at 40 CFR 50.7, the 1997 annual primary and 
secondary PM2.5 standards are met when the annual arithmetic 
mean concentration, as determined in accordance with 40 CFR part 50, 
Appendix N, is less than or equal to 15.0 [micro]g/m\3\ at all relevant 
monitoring sites in the subject area.
    EPA reviewed the ambient air monitoring data for the Rome Area in 
accordance with the provisions of 40 CFR part 50, Appendix N. All data 
considered have been quality-assured, certified, and recorded in EPA's 
Air Quality System database. This review addresses air quality data 
collected in the 3-year period 2007-2009, which is the period EPA must 
consider for areas that had an applicable attainment date of April 5, 
2010.

                             Table 1--Annual Average Concentrations in the Rome Area
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                                                                                                 Annual average
                                                         County                  Site No.        concentration
                                                                                                  ([mu]g/m\3\)
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Without data substitution..................  Floyd........................        13-115-0003               13.3
With data substitution.....................  Floyd........................        13-115-0003               14.6
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    As shown in the above table, during the 2007-2009 design period, 
the Rome Area met the 1997 annual PM2.5 NAAQS both with and 
without data substitution. The official annual design value for the 
Rome Area for the 2007-2009 period is 13.3 [mu]g/m\3\. More detailed 
information on the monitoring data for the Rome Area during the 2007-
2009 design period is provided in EPA's April 5, 2011, final rulemaking 
to approve the clean data determination for the Rome Area for the 1997 
annual PM2.5 NAAQS. See 76 FR 18650.

IV. What is the effect of this action?

    This action is only a proposed determination that the Rome Area has 
attained the 1997 annual PM2.5 NAAQS by its applicable 
attainment date of April 5, 2010, consistent with CAA section 
179(c)(1). Finalizing this proposed action would not constitute a 
redesignation of the Rome Area to attainment of 1997 annual 
PM2.5 NAAQS under section 107(d)(3) of the CAA. Further, 
finalizing this proposed action does not involve approving a 
maintenance plan for the Rome Area as required under section 175A of 
the CAA, nor would it find that the Rome Area has met all other 
requirements for redesignation. Even if EPA finalizes today's proposed 
action, the designation status of the Rome Area would remain 
nonattainment for the 1997 annual PM2.5 NAAQS until such 
time as EPA determines that the Area meets the CAA requirements for 
redesignation to attainment and takes action to redesignate the 
Area.\1\
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    \1\ Per section 176(c) of the CAA, transportation conformity 
requirements apply in areas that are designated nonattainment and 
those areas that are redesignated from nonattainment to attainment.
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V. What is the proposed action?

    EPA is proposing to determine, based on quality-assured and 
certified monitoring data for the 2007-2009 monitoring period, that the 
Rome Area has attained the 1997 annual PM2.5 NAAQS by the 
applicable attainment date of April 5, 2010. This proposed

[[Page 31900]]

action is being taken pursuant to section 179(c)(1) of the CAA, and is 
consistent with the CAA and its implementing regulations.

VI. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

    This action proposes to make a determination of attainment based on 
air quality, and would not impose additional requirements beyond those 
imposed by state law. For that reason, this proposed action:
     Is not a ``significant regulatory action'' subject to 
review by the Office of Management and Budget under Executive Order 
12866 (58 FR 51735, October 4, 1993);
     Does not impose an information collection burden under the 
provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.);
     Is certified as not having a significant economic impact 
on a substantial number of small entities under the Regulatory 
Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 601 et seq.);
     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);
     Does not have Federalism implications as specified in 
Executive Order 13132 (64 FR 43255, August 10, 1999);
     Is not an economically significant regulatory action based 
on health or safety risks subject to Executive Order 13045 (62 FR 
19885, April 23, 1997);
     Is not a significant regulatory action subject to 
Executive Order 13211 (66 FR 28355, May 22, 2001);
     Is not subject to requirements of Section 12(d) of the 
National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act of 1995 (15 U.S.C. 272 
note) because application of those requirements would be inconsistent 
with the CAA; and
     Does not provide EPA with the discretionary authority to 
address, as appropriate, disproportionate human health or environmental 
effects, using practicable and legally permissible methods, under 
Executive Order 12898 (59 FR 7629, February 16, 1994).
    In addition, this proposed determination that the Rome Area 
attained the 1997 annual average PM2.5 NAAQS does not have 
Tribal implications as specified by Executive Order 13175 (65 FR 67249, 
November 9, 2000), because the SIPs are not approved to apply in Indian 
country located in the states, and EPA notes that it will not impose 
substantial direct costs on Tribal governments or preempt Tribal law.

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 52

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

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

    Dated: May 23, 2011.
Gwendolyn Keyes Fleming,
Regional Administrator, Region 4.
[FR Doc. 2011-13668 Filed 6-1-11; 8:45 am]
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