[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 170 (Thursday, September 1, 2011)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 54410-54411]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-22451]



[[Page 54410]]

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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[EPA-R03-OAR-2010-0159; FRL-9458-8]


Approval and Promulgation of Air Quality Implementation Plans; 
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania; Section 110(a)(2) Infrastructure 
Requirements for the 1997 8-Hour Ozone and the 1997 and 2006 Fine 
Particulate Matter National Ambient Air Quality Standards

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Proposed rule.

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SUMMARY: EPA is proposing to approve submittals from the Commonwealth 
of Pennsylvania pursuant to the Clean Air Act (CAA) sections 110(k)(2) 
and (3). These submittals address the infrastructure elements specified 
in CAA section 110(a)(2), necessary to implement, maintain, and enforce 
the 1997 8-hour ozone and fine particulate matter (PM2.5) 
national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS) and the 2006 
PM2.5 NAAQS. This proposed action is limited to the 
following infrastructure elements which were subject to EPA's 
completeness findings pursuant to CAA section 110(k)(1) for the 1997 8-
hour ozone NAAQS dated March 27, 2008 and the 1997 PM2.5 
NAAQS dated October 22, 2008: 110(a)(2)(A), (B), (C), (D), (E), (F), 
(G), (H), (J), (K), (L), and (M), or portions thereof; and the 
following infrastructure elements for the 2006 PM2.5 NAAQS: 
110(a)(2)(A), (B), (C), (D), (E), (F), (G), (H), (J), (K), (L), and 
(M), or portions thereof.

DATES: Written comments must be received on or before October 3, 2011.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID Number EPA-
R03-OAR-2010-0159 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-2010-0159, 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-
2010-0159. 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. Copies of the 
State submittal are available at the Pennsylvania Department of 
Environmental Protection, Bureau of Air Quality Control, P.O. Box 8468, 
400 Market Street, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania 17105.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ruth Knapp, (215) 814-2191, or by e-
mail at [email protected] mailto:.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

    On July 18, 1997, EPA promulgated a revised 8-hour ozone NAAQS (62 
FR 38856) and a new PM2.5 NAAQS (62 FR 38652). The revised 
ozone NAAQS is based on 8-hour average concentrations. The 8-hour 
averaging period replaced the previous 1-hour averaging period and the 
level of the NAAQS was changed from 0.12 parts per million (ppm) to 
0.08 ppm. The new PM2.5 NAAQS established a health-based 
PM2.5 standard of 15.0 micrograms per cubic meter ([micro]g/
m\3\) based on a 3-year average of annual mean PM2.5 
concentrations and a 24-hour standard of 65 [micro]g/m\3\ based on a 3-
year average of the 98th percentile of 24-hour concentrations. EPA 
strengthened the 24-hour PM2.5 NAAQS from 65 [micro]g/m\3\ 
to 35 [micro]g/m\3\ on October 17, 2006 (71 FR 61144).
    Section 110(a) of the CAA requires states to submit State 
Implementation Plans (SIPs) that provide for the implementation, 
maintenance, and enforcement of new or revised NAAQS within three years 
following the promulgation of such NAAQS. In March of 2004, 
Earthjustice initiated a lawsuit against EPA for failure to take action 
against states that had not made SIP submissions to meet the 
requirements of sections 110(a)(1) and (2) for the 1997 8-hour ozone 
and PM2.5 NAAQS, i.e., failure to make a ``finding of 
failure to submit the required SIP 110(a) SIP elements.'' On March 10, 
2005, EPA entered into a Consent Decree with Earthjustice that 
obligated EPA to make official findings in accordance with section 
110(k)(1) of the CAA as to whether states have made required complete 
SIP submissions, pursuant to sections 110(a)(1) and (2), by December 
15, 2007 for the 1997 8-hour ozone NAAQS and by October 5, 2008 for the 
1997 PM2.5 NAAQS. EPA made such findings for the 1997 8-hour 
ozone NAAQS on March 27, 2008 (73 FR 16205) and on October 22, 2008 (73 
FR 62902) for the 1997 PM2.5 NAAQS.
    These completeness findings did not include findings relating to: 
(1) Section 110(a)(2)(C) to the extent that such subsection refers to a 
permit program as required by Part D of Title I of the CAA; (2) section 
110(a)(2)(I); and (3) section 110(a)(2)(D)(i)(I). Therefore, this 
action does not cover these specific elements. This action also does 
not include the portion of D(i)(II) that pertains to visibility.
    For the geographic area of Allegheny County, these completeness 
findings noted Pennsylvania's failure to submit a SIP revision 
addressing the portion of

[[Page 54411]]

110(a)(2)(C) relating to the part C permit programs. EPA recognizes 
that such requirement has already been addressed by a Federal 
Implementation Plan (FIP) that remains in place, and concludes that the 
finding of incompleteness does not trigger any additional FIP 
obligations for Pennsylvania. For all other areas of Pennsylvania, the 
Commonwealth has a SIP approved PSD program in place and EPA has found 
that the 110(a)(2) submittals at issue were complete. Therefore, EPA's 
proposed action addresses the Commonwealth's compliance with the 
portion of 110(a)(2) relating to the part C permit programs for all 
geographic areas except Allegheny County.

II. Summary of State Submittal

    Pennsylvania provided multiple submittals to satisfy the section 
110(a)(2) requirements that are the subject of this proposed action for 
the 1997 8-hour ozone NAAQS and the 1997 and 2006 PM2.5 
NAAQS. The submittals shown in Table 1 address the infrastructure 
elements, or portions thereof, identified in section 110(a)(2) that EPA 
is proposing to approve.

Table 1--110(a)(2) Elements, or Portions Thereof, EPA Is Proposing To Approve for the 1997 Ozone and PM2.5 NAAQS
                                    and the 2006 PM2.5 NAAQS for Pennsylvania
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            Submittal date                1997 8-Hour ozone            1997 PM2.5               2006 PM2.5
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December 7, 2007.....................  A, B, C, D(ii), E, F,    A, B, C, D(ii), E, F,
                                        G, H, J, K, L, M.        G, H, J , K, L, M.
December 7, 2007.....................  D(i)(II)PSD............  D(i)(II)PSD.
June 6, 2008.........................  C, D(i)(II)PSD, J......  C, D(i)(II)PSD, J.
June 6, 2008.........................  .......................  K.
April 26, 2010.......................  .......................  G......................  A, B,C, E, F, G, H, J,
                                                                                          K, L, M.
May 24, 2011.........................  .......................  .......................  D(i)(II)PSD, D(ii).
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    EPA will take separate action on the portions of section 
110(a)(2)(C) which pertain to a permit program in part D Title I of the 
CAA as well as the portions of section 110(a)(2)(D)(i)(II) relating to 
visibility.
    EPA analyzed the above identified submissions and is proposing to 
make a determination that such submittals meet the requirements of 
section 110(a)(2)(A), (B), (C), (D), (E), (F), (G), (H), (J), (K), (L), 
and (M), or portions thereof, for the 1997 8-hour ozone and 
PM2.5 NAAQS and the 2006 PM2.5 NAAQS. A detailed 
summary of EPA's review of, and rationale for approving Pennsylvania's 
submittals may be found in the Technical Support Document (TSD) for 
this action, which is available online at http://www.regulations.gov, 
Docket number EPA-R03-OAR-2010-0159.

III. Proposed Action

    EPA is proposing to approve the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania's 
submittals that provide the basic program elements specified in the CAA 
sections 110(a)(2)(A), (B), (C), (D), (E), (F), (G), (H), (J), (K), 
(L), and (M), or portions thereof, necessary to implement, maintain, 
and enforce the 1997 8-hour ozone and PM2.5 NAAQS and the 
2006 PM2.5 NAAQS. EPA is soliciting public comments on the 
issues discussed in this document. These comments will be considered 
before taking final action.

IV. 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:
     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 rule, pertaining to Pennsylvania's 
section 110(a)(2) infrastructure requirements for the 1997 8-hour ozone 
and PM2.5 NAAQS, and the 2006 PM2.5 NAAQS, 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, Nitrogen dioxide, 
Ozone, Particulate matter, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, 
Volatile organic compounds.

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

    Dated: August 22, 2011.
 W.C. Early,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region III.
[FR Doc. 2011-22451 Filed 8-31-11; 8:45 am]
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