[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 161 (Friday, August 19, 2011)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 51927-51929]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-21224]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[EPA-R03-OAR-2011-0474; FRL-9453-4]


Approval and Promulgation of Air Quality Implementation Plans; 
West Virginia; Determination of Clean Data for the 2006 Fine 
Particulate Standard for the Charleston Area

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Proposed rule.

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SUMMARY: EPA is proposing to determine that the Charleston, West 
Virginia nonattainment area for the 2006 fine particulate matter 
(PM2.5) National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) has 
clean data for the 24-hour 2006 PM2.5 NAAQS. This proposed 
determination is based upon quality assured, quality controlled, and 
certified ambient air monitoring data showing that this area has 
monitored attainment of the 2006 PM2.5 NAAQS based on the 
2007-2009 data and data available to date for 2010 in EPA's Air Quality 
System (AQS) database that show the area continues to attain. If this 
proposed determination is made final, the requirements for this area to 
submit an attainment demonstration, associated reasonably available 
control measures, a reasonable further progress plan, contingency 
measures, and other planning State Implementation Plans (SIPs) related 
to attainment of the standard shall be suspended for so long as the 
area continues to meet the 24-hour 2006 PM2.5 NAAQS.

DATES: Written comments must be received on or before September 19, 
2011.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID Number EPA-
R03-OAR-2011-0474 by one of the following methods:
    A. http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the on-line instructions for 
submitting comments.
    B. E-mail: [email protected].
    C. Mail: EPA-R03-OAR-2011-0474, Cristina Fernandez, Associate 
Director, Office of Air Program Planning, Mailcode 3AP30, U.S. 
Environmental Protection Agency, Region III, 1650 Arch Street, 
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19103.
    D. Hand Delivery: At the previously-listed EPA Region III address. 
Such deliveries are only accepted during the Docket's normal hours of 
operation, and special arrangements should be made for deliveries of 
boxed information.
    Instructions: Direct your comments to Docket ID No. EPA-R03-OAR-
2011-0474. 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 information that you 
consider to be CBI or otherwise protected through http://www.regulations.gov or e-mail. 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.
    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 during normal business hours at the 
Air Protection Division, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 
III, 1650 Arch Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19103.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Asrah Khadr, (215) 814-2071, or by e-
mail at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Throughout this document whenever ``we,'' 
``us,'' or ``our'' is used, we mean EPA.
    The following outline is provided to aid in locating information in 
this preamble.

I. What action is EPA taking?
II. What is the effect of this action?
III. What is the Background for this action?
IV. What is EPA's analysis of the relevant air quality data?
V. Proposed Action
VI. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

I. What action is EPA taking?

    EPA is proposing to determine that Charleston, West Virginia 
PM2.5 nonattainment area has clean data for the 24-hour 2006 
PM2.5 NAAQS. This

[[Page 51928]]

determination is based upon quality assured, quality controlled, and 
certified ambient air monitoring data showing that these areas have 
monitored attainment of the 2006 PM2.5 NAAQS based on the 
2007-2009 data and data available to date for 2010 in EPA's AQS 
database.

II. What is the effect of this action?

    If this determination is made final, under the provisions of EPA's 
PM2.5 implementation rule (see 40 CFR section 51.1004(c)), 
the requirements for the Charleston nonattainment area to submit an 
attainment demonstration, associated reasonably available control 
measures (RACM) (including reasonably available control technology 
(RACT)), a reasonable further progress (RFP) plan, contingency 
measures, and any other planning SIPs related to attainment of the 2006 
PM2.5 NAAQS would be suspended for so long as the area 
continues to meet the 24-hour 2006 PM2.5 NAAQS. Furthermore, 
as described below, a final clean data determination would not be 
equivalent to the redesignation of this area to attainment of the 24-
hour 2006 PM2.5 NAAQS.
    If this rulemaking is finalized and EPA subsequently determines, 
after notice-and-comment rulemaking in the Federal Register, this area 
has violated the 24-hour 2006 PM2.5 NAAQS, the basis for the 
suspension of the specific requirements, set forth at 40 CFR 
51.1004(c), would no longer exist and this area would thereafter have 
to address the pertinent requirements.
    This clean data determination that EPA proposes with this Federal 
Register notice, that the air quality data shows attainment of the 24-
hour 2006 PM2.5 NAAQS, is not equivalent to the 
redesignation of this area to attainment. This proposed action, if 
finalized, will not constitute a redesignation to attainment under 
section 107(d)(3) of the Clean Air Act (CAA), because we would not yet 
have an approved maintenance plan for this area as required under 
section 175A of the CAA, nor a determination that this area has met the 
other requirements for redesignation. The designation status of this 
area would remain nonattainment for the 2006 PM2.5 NAAQS 
until such time as EPA determines that this area meets the CAA 
requirements for redesignation to attainment.

III. What is the background for this action?

    The 2006 PM2.5 NAAQS set forth at 40 CFR 50.13 became 
effective on December 18, 2006 (71 FR 61144) and promulgated a 24-hour 
standard of 35 micrograms per cubic meter ([micro]g/m[sup3]) based on a 
3-year average of the 98th percentile of 24-hour concentration. On 
December 14, 2009, (74 FR 58688), EPA made designation determinations, 
as required by CAA section 107(d)(1), for the 24-hour 2006 
PM2.5 NAAQS. The Charleston area is designated as 
nonattainment for the 24-hour 2006 PM2.5 NAAQS.

IV. What is EPA's analysis of the relevant air quality data?

    EPA has reviewed the ambient air monitoring data, consistent with 
the requirements contained in 40 CFR part 50 and recorded in EPA's AQS 
database for the Charleston PM2.5 nonattainment area from 
2007 through the present time. On the basis of that review, EPA has 
concluded that this area meets the 24-hour 2006 PM2.5 NAAQS 
based on the 2007-2009 data and data available to date for 2010 in 
EPA's AQS database.
    Under EPA regulations in 40 CFR part 50, section 50.13 and in 
accordance with Appendix N, the 24-hour primary and secondary 
PM2.5 standards are met when the 98th percentile 24-hour 
concentration is less than or equal to 35 [micro]g/m\3\. Table 1 shows 
the design values for the 2006 24-hour PM2.5 NAAQS for the 
years 2007-2009 and Table 2 shows the preliminary design values for the 
2006 24-hour PM2.5 NAAQS for the year 2010. EPA's review of 
the data indicates that the Charleston, West Virginia PM2.5 
nonattainment area meets the 2006 PM2.5 NAAQS.

                    Table 1--2007-2009 Daily Average Concentrations in the Charleston Area\1\
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                                                                                                   Design value
                   Site name                                 County                  Site No.      ([mu]g/m\3\)
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Charleston....................................  Kanawha.........................     54-039-0010              29
South Charleston..............................  Kanawha.........................     54-039-1005              32
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\1\ The publicly available PM2.5 AQS data and information is available as part of EPA's AirTrends Site at: http://www.epa.gov/airtrends/values.html.


                        Table 2--2010 Daily Average Concentrations in the Charleston Area
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                                                                                                    Preliminary
                   Site name                                 County                  Site No.      design value
                                                                                                   ([mu]g/m\3\)
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Charleston....................................  Kanawha.........................     54-039-0010              25
South Charleston..............................  Kanawha.........................     54-039-1005              28
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V. What's EPA's proposed action?

    EPA is proposing to determine that the Charleston nonattainment 
area has clean data for the 24-hour 2006 PM2.5 NAAQS. As 
provided in 40 CFR 51.1004(c), if EPA finalizes this determination, it 
will suspend the requirements for this area to submit an attainment 
demonstration, associated reasonably available control measures, a 
reasonable further progress plan, contingency measures, and any other 
planning SIPs related to the attainment of the 2006 PM2.5 
NAAQS, so long as these areas continues to meet the standard. EPA is 
soliciting public comments on the issues discussed in this document. 
These comments will be considered before taking final action.

VI. What are the statutory and executive order reviews?

    Under the CAA, the Administrator is required to approve a SIP 
submission that complies with the provisions of the CAA and applicable 
Federal regulations. 42 U.S.C. 7410(k); 40 CFR 52.02(a). Thus, in 
reviewing SIP submissions, EPA's role is to approve state choices, 
provided that they meet the criteria of the CAA. Accordingly, this 
action merely proposes to approve state law as meeting Federal 
requirements and does not impose additional requirements beyond those 
imposed by state law. For that reason, this proposed action:

[[Page 51929]]

     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 rulemaking that the Charleston, West 
Virginia PM2.5 nonattainment area has clean data for the 24-
hour 2006 PM2.5 standard does not have tribal implications 
as specified by Executive Order 13175 (65 FR 67249, November 9, 2000), 
because the SIP is not approved to apply in Indian Country located in 
the state, 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, Incorporation by 
reference, Particulate matter, Reporting and recordkeeping.

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

    Dated: August 8, 2011.
W.C. Early,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region III.
[FR Doc. 2011-21224 Filed 8-18-11; 8:45 am]
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