[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 214 (Friday, November 4, 2011)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 68378-68381]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-28648]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[EPA-R03-OAR-2011-0801; FRL-9487-4]


Approval and Promulgation of Air Quality Implementation Plans; 
District of Columbia, Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia; 
Determinations of Attainment of the 1997 Fine Particle Standard for the 
Metropolitan Washington and Martinsburg-Hagerstown Nonattainment Areas

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Proposed rule.

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SUMMARY: EPA is proposing to make a determination that the Metropolitan 
Washington, District of Columbia-Maryland-Virginia (DC-MD-VA) and 
Martinsburg-Hagerstown, West Virginia-Maryland (WV-MD) fine particle 
(PM2.5) nonattainment areas (hereafter referred to as 
``Areas'') have attained the 1997 annual PM2.5 National 
Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) by the applicable attainment date 
of April 5, 2010. These determinations are based upon complete, 
quality-assured, and certified ambient air monitoring data for the 
2007-2009 monitoring period. EPA is finding these Areas to be in 
attainment, in accordance with the requirements of the Clean Air Act 
(CAA).

DATES: Written comments must be received on or before December 5, 2011.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID Number EPA-
R03-OAR-2011-0801 by one of the following methods:
    A. http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the on-line instructions for 
submitting comments.
    B. Email: [email protected].
    C. Mail: EPA-R03-OAR-2011-0801, Cristina Fernandez, Associate 
Director, Office of Air Quality 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.

[[Page 68379]]

    Instructions: Direct your comments to Docket ID No. EPA-R03-OAR-
2011-0801. 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 email. 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 email comment directly to EPA without 
going through http://www.regulations.gov, your email 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: Irene Shandruk, (215) 814-2166, or by 
email at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Throughout this document, whenever ``we,'' 
``us,'' or ``our'' is used, we mean EPA.
    This supplementary information section is arranged as follows:

I. What is EPA proposing?
II. What is the background of these actions?
III. What is EPA's analysis of the relevant air quality data?
IV. What are the effects of these actions?
V. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

I. What is EPA proposing?

    In accordance with section 179(c)(1) of the CAA, EPA is proposing 
to determine that the Metropolitan Washington, DC-MD-VA 
PM2.5 nonattainment area and the Martinsburg-Hagerstown, WV-
MD PM2.5 nonattainment area have attained the 1997 annual 
PM2.5 NAAQS by the applicable attainment date of April 5, 
2010. The proposal is based upon complete, quality-assured, and 
certified ambient air monitoring data for the 2007-2009 monitoring 
period.

II. What is the background for these actions?

    On July 18, 1997 (62 FR 36852), EPA established a health-based 
PM2.5 NAAQS at 15.0 micrograms per cubic meter ([mu]g/m\3\) 
based on a 3-year average of annual mean PM2.5 
concentrations (hereafter referred to as ``the annual PM2.5 
NAAQS'' or ``the annual standard''). At that time, EPA also established 
a 24-hour standard of 65 [mu]g/m\3\ (the ``1997 24-hour standard''). 
See 40 CFR 50.7. On January 5, 2005 (70 FR 944), EPA published its air 
quality designations and classifications for the 1997 PM2.5 
NAAQS based upon air quality monitoring data from those monitors for 
calendar years 2001-2003. These designations became effective on April 
5, 2005. The Metropolitan Washington, DC-MD-VA and the Martinsburg-
Hagerstown, WV-MD nonattainment areas were designated nonattainment for 
the 1997 PM2.5 NAAQS during this designations process. See 
40 CFR part 81.309 (the District), 40 CFR 81.321 (Maryland), 40 CFR 
81.347 (Virginia), and 40 CFR 81.349 (West Virginia).
    The Metropolitan Washington 1997 annual PM2.5 
nonattainment area consists of the District of Columbia (the District), 
a Northern Virginia portion (Arlington, Fairfax, Loudoun, and Prince 
William Counties and the cities of Alexandria, Falls Church, Fairfax, 
Manassas, and Manassas Park), and Charles, Frederick, Montgomery, and 
Prince George's Counties in Maryland. The Martinsburg-Hagerstown 1997 
annual PM2.5 nonattainment area consists of Washington 
County in Maryland and Berkley County in West Virginia.
    On October 17, 2006 (71 FR 61144), EPA retained the 1997 annual 
PM2.5 NAAQS at 15 [mu]g/m\3\ based on a 3-year average of 
annual mean PM2.5 concentrations, and promulgated a 24-hour 
standard of 35 [mu]g/m\3\ based on a 3-year average of the 98th 
percentile of 24-hour concentrations (the ``2006 24-hour standard''). 
On November 13, 2009, EPA designated the Martinsburg-Hagerstown, WV-MD 
and Metropolitan Washington, DC-MD-VA areas as attainment for the 2006 
24-hour standard (74 FR 58688). In that action, EPA also clarified the 
designations for the NAAQS promulgated in 1997, stating that these 
geographical Areas were designated as nonattainment for the annual 
standard, but attainment for the 1997 24-hour standard (40 CFR part 
81.309 for the District, 40 CFR part 81.321 for Maryland, 40 CFR part 
81.347 for Virginia, and 40 CFR part 81.349 for West Virginia). Today's 
action, however, does not address attainment designations of either the 
1997 or the 2006 24-hour standard.
    In response to legal challenges of the annual standard promulgated 
in 2006, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit 
(DC Circuit) remanded this standard to EPA for further consideration. 
See American Farm Bureau Federation and National Pork Producers 
Council, et al. v. EPA, 559 F.3d 512 (DC Cir. 2009). However, given 
that the 1997 and 2006 annual standards are essentially identical, 
attainment of the 1997 annual standard would also indicate attainment 
of the remanded 2006 annual standard.
    EPA previously made clean data determinations related to the 1997 
annual PM2.5 NAAQS for each of these Areas pursuant to 40 
CFR 51.1004(c). Determinations were made for the Metropolitan 
Washington Area on January 12, 2009 (74 FR 1146) and for the 
Martinsburg-Hagerstown Area on November 20, 2009 (74 FR 60199). These 
clean data determinations remain in effect.
    Under CAA section 179(c), EPA is required to make a determination 
that a nonattainment area has attained by its attainment date, and 
publish that determination in the Federal Register. The determination 
of attainment is not equivalent to a redesignation, and the states must 
still meet the statutory requirements for redesignation in order for 
the Areas to be redesignated to attainment.
    Complete, quality-assured, and certified PM2.5 air 
quality monitoring data recorded in the EPA Air Quality System (AQS) 
database for 2007 through 2009, show that the Metropolitan Washington, 
DC-MD-VA and the

[[Page 68380]]

Martinsburg-Hagerstown, WV-MD nonattainment areas attained the 1997 
annual PM2.5 NAAQS by their applicable attainment date of 
April 5, 2010.

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

    EPA has reviewed the ambient air monitoring data for 
PM2.5, consistent with the requirements contained in 40 CFR 
part 50 and recorded in the data in the EPA AQS database for the 
Metropolitan Washington, DC-MD-VA and the Martinsburg-Hagerstown, WV-MD 
nonattainment areas for the monitoring period from 2007 through 2009. 
On the basis of that review, EPA has concluded that the Areas attained 
the 1997 annual PM2.5 NAAQS based on data for the 2007-2009 
monitoring period.
    Under EPA regulations at 40 CFR 50.7, the annual primary and 
secondary PM2.5 standards are met when the annual arithmetic 
mean concentrations, as determined in accordance with 40 CFR part 50, 
appendix N, is less than or equal to 15.0 [mu]g/m\3\, at all relevant 
monitoring sites. The values calculated in accordance with 40 CFR part 
50, appendix N, are referred to as design values, and these values are 
used to determine if an area is attaining the PM2.5 NAAQS. 
According to the PM2.5 implementation rule, the attainment 
date for these Areas is April 5, 2010 and the monitoring data from 2007 
through 2009 is used to determine if the Areas attained by April 5, 
2010.
    Table 1 shows the annual PM2.5 design values for each 
monitor in the Metropolitan Washington, DC-MD-VA and the Martinsburg-
Hagerstown, WV-MD areas for the years 2007-2009. All 2007-2009 design 
values are below 15.0 [mu]g/m\3\. Based on these data, the Metropolitan 
Washington, DC-MD-VA and the Martinsburg-Hagerstown, WV-MD areas have 
attained the 1997 annual PM2.5 NAAQS by the attainment date. 
A detailed summary of EPA's rationale for proposing these 
determinations may be found in the Technical Support Document (TSD) for 
this action which is available on line at http://www.regulations.gov, 
Docket number EPA-R03-OAR-2011-0801.

              Table 1--1997 Annual PM2.5 Design Values for the Metropolitan Washington, DC-MD-VA and Martinsburg-Hagerstown, WV-MD Areas *
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                                                                                                                                             Certified
                                                                                           2007  Annual    2008  Annual    2009  Annual    design value
                State                           County                 Monitor ID              mean            mean            mean          2007-2009
                                                                                                                                           ([mu]g/m\3\)
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                                                            Metropolitan Washington, DC-VA-MD
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DC...................................  District of Columbia...  110010041...............            13.6            12.0            10.5            12.0
                                       District of Columbia...  110010042...............            13.7            12.3            10.1            12.1
                                       District of Columbia...  110010043...............            13.0            11.6            10.2            11.6
VA...................................  Alexandria.............  No monitor..............  ..............  ..............  ..............  ..............
                                       Arlington..............  510130020...............            13.8            12.0            10.1            11.9
                                       Fairfax................  510590030...............            12.5            11.1             9.8            11.1
                                       Farifax County.........  510591005...............            13.3            11.2             9.5            11.3
                                       Fairfax................  510595001...............            13.5            11.8             9.7            11.7
                                       Falls Church...........  No monitor..............  ..............  ..............  ..............  ..............
                                       Loudoun................  511071005...............            12.8            11.5             9.2            11.2
                                       Manassas...............  No monitor..............  ..............  ..............  ..............  ..............
                                       Manassas Park..........  No monitor..............  ..............  ..............  ..............  ..............
MD...................................  Charles................  No monitor..............  ..............  ..............  ..............  ..............
                                       Frederick..............  No monitor..............  ..............  ..............  ..............  ..............
                                       Montgomery.............  240313001...............            11.7            10.8             9.4            10.7
                                       Prince George's........  240330025...............            14.1            12.4            10.7            12.4
                                       Prince George's........  240330030...............            11.8            10.9             8.7            10.5
                                       Prince George's........  240338003...............            12.4            11.2             8.8            10.8
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                                                              Martinsburg-Hagerstown, WV-MD
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WV...................................  Berkley................  240430009...............            12.9            11.8             9.7            11.5
MD...................................  Washington.............  540030003...............            15.6            14.2            12.1            14.0
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* The data presented in Table 1 are available at http://www.epa.gov/air/airtrends/values.html.

IV. What are the effects of these actions?

    If EPA's proposed determination that the Metropolitan Washington, 
DC-MD-VA and the Martinsburg-Hagerstown, WV-MD nonattainment areas have 
attained the 1997 annual PM2.5 standard by the applicable 
attainment date (April 5, 2010) is finalized, EPA will have met its 
requirement pursuant to section 179(c) of the CAA to make a 
determination based on the Areas' air quality data as of the attainment 
date that the Areas attained the standard by that date. The action 
described above is a proposed determination regarding the Metropolitan 
Washington, DC-MD-VA and the Martinsburg-Hagerstown, WV-MD Areas' 
attainment of the 1997 annual PM2.5 NAAQS.
    Finalizing this proposed action would not constitute a 
redesignation of the Areas to attainment of the 1997 annual 
PM2.5 NAAQS under section 107(d)(3) of the CAA. Further, 
finalizing this proposed action does not involve approving maintenance 
plans for the Areas as required under section 175A of the CAA, nor 
would it find that the Areas have met all other requirements for 
redesignation. Even if EPA finalizes the proposed action, the 
designation status of the Metropolitan Washington, DC-MD-VA and the 
Martinsburg-Hagerstown, WV-MD areas would remain nonattainment for the 
1997 annual PM2.5 NAAQS until such time as EPA determines 
that the Areas meet the CAA requirements for redesignation to 
attainment and take action to redesignate the Metropolitan Washington, 
DC-MD-VA and the Martinsburg-Hagerstown, WV-MD areas.

[[Page 68381]]

    EPA is soliciting comment on the action discussed in this document. 
These comments will be considered before EPA takes final action. Please 
note that if EPA receives adverse comment on either of the proposed 
determinations described above and if that determination may be severed 
from the remainder of the final agency action, EPA may adopt as final 
these provisions of the final agency action that are not the subject of 
an adverse comment.

V. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

    This action proposes to make attainment determinations based on air 
quality data and would not, if finalized, result in the suspension of 
certain Federal requirements and would not impose any additional 
requirements. 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 Clean Air Act; 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, these proposed PM2.5 NAAQS attainment 
determinations for the Metropolitan Washington and Martinsburg-
Hagerstown Areas, do 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, Intergovernmental 
relations, Particulate matter, Reporting and recordkeeping 
requirements.

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

    Dated: October 25, 2011.
W.C. Early,
Acting, Regional Administrator, Region III.
[FR Doc. 2011-28648 Filed 11-3-11; 8:45 am]
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