[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 236 (Monday, December 9, 2013)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 73769-73786]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-28940]



[[Page 73769]]

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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Parts 52 and 81

[EPA-R03-OAR-2013-0498; FRL-9903-76-Region 3]


Approval and Promulgation of Air Quality Implementation Plans; 
West Virginia; Approval of the Redesignation Requests of the West 
Virginia Portion of the Steubenville-Weirton, OH-WV Nonattainment Area 
for the 1997 and 2006 Fine Particulate Matter Standards

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Proposed rule.

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SUMMARY: EPA is proposing to approve the State of West Virginia's 
requests to redesignate to attainment the West Virginia portion of the 
Steubenville-Weirton, OH-WV nonattainment area (hereafter ``the 
Steubenville-Weirton Area'' or ``the Area'') for both the 1997 annual 
and the 2006 24-hour fine particulate matter (PM2.5) 
National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS or standards). EPA is 
also proposing to approve as a revision to the West Virginia State 
Implementation Plan (SIP), the associated maintenance plans to show 
maintenance of the 1997 annual and the 2006 24-hour PM2.5 
NAAQS through 2025 for the West Virginia portion of the Area. West 
Virginia's maintenance plans include insignificance findings for the 
mobile source contribution of PM2.5 and nitrogen oxides 
(NOX) emissions to the West Virginia portion of the Area for 
both the 1997 annual and 2006 24-hour PM2.5 standards. EPA 
agrees with these insignificance findings, and is proposing approval of 
such findings for transportation conformity purposes. In addition, EPA 
is proposing to approve the 2008 emissions inventory for the West 
Virginia portion of the Area for the 2006 24-hour PM2.5 
NAAQS. In this rulemaking action, EPA also addresses the effects of two 
decisions of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of 
Columbia (D.C. Circuit or Court): The Court's August 21, 2012 decision 
to vacate and remand to EPA the Cross-State Air Pollution Control Rule 
(CSAPR); and the Court's January 4, 2013 decision to remand to EPA two 
final rules implementing the 1997 annual PM2.5 standard. EPA 
has taken separate rulemaking action to approve the redesignation of 
the Ohio portion of the Steubenville-Weirton Area for the 1997 annual 
and 2006 24-hour PM2.5 NAAQS. These actions are being taken 
under the Clean Air Act. (CAA).

DATES: Written comments must be received on or before January 8, 2014.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID Number EPA-
R03-OAR-2013-0498 by one of the following methods:
    A. www.regulations.gov. Follow the on-line instructions for 
submitting comments.
    B. Email: [email protected].
    C. Mail: EPA-R03-OAR-2013-0498, Cristina Fern[aacute]ndez, 
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.
    Instructions: Direct your comments to Docket ID No. EPA-R03-OAR-
2013-0498. EPA's policy is that all comments received will be included 
in the public docket without change, and may be made available online 
at 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 www.regulations.gov or email. The 
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 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 
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 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 West Virginia Department of Environmental 
Protection, Division of Air Quality, 601 57th Street SE., Charleston, 
West Virginia 25304.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Emlyn V[eacute]lez-Rosa, (215) 814-
2038, or by e-mail at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Table of Contents

I. Background
II. EPA's Requirements
    A. Criteria for Redesignation to Attainment
    B. Requirements of a Maintenance Plan
III. Summary of Proposed Actions
IV. Effects of Recent Court Decisions on Proposed Actions
    A. Effect of the August 21, 2012 D.C. Circuit Decision Regarding 
EPA's CSAPR
    B. Effect of the January 4, 2013 D.C. Circuit Decision Regarding 
PM2.5 Implementation Under Subpart 4 of Part D of Title I 
of the CAA
V. EPA's Analysis of West Virginia's Submittals
    A. Redesignation Requests
    B. Maintenance Plans
    C. Transportation Conformity Insignificance Determinations
VI. Proposed Actions
VII. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

I. Background

    The first air quality standards for PM2.5 were 
established on July 16, 1997 (62 FR 38652, July 18, 1997). EPA 
promulgated an annual standard at a level of 15 micrograms per cubic 
meter ([mu]g/m\3\), based on a three-year average of annual mean 
PM2.5 concentrations (the 1997 annual PM2.5 
standard). In the same rulemaking action, EPA promulgated a 24-hour 
standard of 65 [mu]g/m\3\, based on a three-year average of the 98th 
percentile of 24-hour concentrations.
    On January 5, 2005 (70 FR 944, 1014), EPA published air quality 
area designations for the 1997 PM2.5 standards. In that 
rulemaking action, EPA designated the Steubenville-Weirton Area as 
nonattainment for the 1997 annual PM2.5 standard. The 
Steubenville-Weirton Area is comprised of Brooke County and Hancock 
County in West Virginia (the West Virginia

[[Page 73770]]

portion of the Area), and the Jefferson County in Ohio. See 40 CFR 
81.336 (Ohio) and 40 CFR 81.349 (West Virginia).
    On October 17, 2006 (71 FR 61144), EPA retained the annual average 
standard at 15 [mu]g/m\3\, but revised the 24-hour standard to 35 
[mu]g/m\3\, based again on the three-year average of the 98th 
percentile of 24-hour concentrations (the 2006 annual PM2.5 
standard). On November 13, 2009 (74 FR 58688), EPA published 
designations for the 2006 24-hour PM2.5 NAAQS, which became 
effective on December 14, 2009. In that rulemaking action, EPA 
designated the Steubenville-Weirton Area as nonattainment for the 2006 
24-hour PM2.5 NAAQS. See 77 FR 58775 and also see 40 CFR 
81.336 (Ohio) and 40 CFR 81.349 (West Virginia).
    In response to legal challenges of the 2006 annual PM2.5 
standard, the D.C. 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 (D.C. Cir. 2009). 
However, given that the 1997 and 2006 annual PM2.5 standards 
are essentially identical, attainment of the 1997 annual 
PM2.5 standard would also indicate attainment of the 
remanded 2006 annual PM2.5 standard. Since the Steubenville-
Weirton Area is designated nonattainment for the 1997 annual and 2006 
24-hour PM2.5 standards, today's proposed rulemaking action 
addresses the redesignation to attainment of the West Virginia portion 
of the Steubenville-Weirton Area for these standards.
    On September 14, 2011 (76 FR 56641) and May 14, 2012 (77 FR 28264), 
EPA made determinations that the entire Steubenville-Weirton Area had 
attained the 1997 annual and 2006 24-hour PM2.5 NAAQS, 
respectively. Pursuant to 40 CFR 51.1004(c) and based on these 
determinations, the requirements for the Steubenville-Weirton Area to 
submit an attainment demonstration and associated reasonably available 
control measures (RACM), a reasonable further progress (RFP) plan, 
contingency measures, and other planning SIPs related to the attainment 
of either the 1997 annual or 2006 24-hour PM2.5 NAAQS are 
suspended until such time as: The Area is redesignated to attainment 
for each standard, at which time the requirements no longer apply; or 
EPA determines that the Area has again violated any of the standards, 
at which time such plans are required to be submitted.
    On April 13, 2012 and June 8, 2012, the West Virginia Department of 
Environmental Protection (WVDEP) formally submitted two separate 
requests to redesignate the West Virginia portion of the Steubenville-
Weirton Area from nonattainment to attainment for the 1997 annual and 
the 2006 24-hour PM2.5 NAAQS, respectively. Each submittal 
included a maintenance plan as a SIP revision to ensure continued 
attainment of the standards throughout the West Virginia portion of the 
Area over the next 10 years. The June 8, 2012 submittal also includes a 
2008 comprehensive emissions inventory for PM2.5, 
SO2 and NOX for the 2006 24-hour PM2.5 
NAAQS, which WVDEP supplemented on June 24, 2013 to include emissions 
of VOC and ammonia.
    In this proposed action, EPA is taking into account two recent 
decisions of the D.C. Circuit. In the first of the two Court decisions, 
the D.C. Circuit, on August 21, 2012, issued EME Homer City Generation, 
L.P. v. EPA, 696 F.3d 7 (D.C. Cir. 2012), which vacated and remanded 
CSAPR and ordered EPA to continue administering the Clean Air 
Interstate Rule (CAIR) ``pending . . . development of a valid 
replacement.'' EME Homer City at 38. The D.C. Circuit denied all 
petitions for rehearing on January 24, 2013. In the second decision, on 
January 4, 2013, in Natural Resources Defense Council v. EPA, the D.C. 
Circuit remanded to EPA the ``Final Clean Air Fine Particle 
Implementation Rule'' (72 FR 20586, April 25, 2007) and the 
``Implementation of the New Source Review (NSR) Program for Particulate 
Matter Less than 2.5 Micrometers (PM2.5)'' final rule (73 FR 
28321, May 16, 2008). 706 F.3d 428 (D.C. Cir. 2013).

II. EPA's Requirements

A. Criteria for Redesignation to Attainment

    The CAA provides the requirements for redesignating a nonattainment 
area to attainment. Specifically, section 107(d)(3)(E) of the CAA 
allows for redesignation providing that: (1) EPA determines that the 
area has attained the applicable NAAQS; (2) EPA has fully approved the 
applicable implementation plan for the area under section 110(k); (3) 
EPA determines that the improvement in air quality is due to permanent 
and enforceable reductions in emissions resulting from implementation 
of the applicable SIP and applicable Federal air pollutant control 
regulations and other permanent and enforceable reductions; (4) EPA has 
fully approved a maintenance plan for the area as meeting the 
requirements of section 175A of the CAA; and (5) the state containing 
such area has met all requirements applicable to the area under section 
110 and part D.
    EPA has provided guidance on redesignation in the ``State 
Implementation Plans; General Preamble for the Implementation of Title 
I of the Clear Air Act Amendments of 1990,'' (57 FR 13498, April 16, 
1992) (the ``General Preamble'') and has provided further guidance on 
processing redesignation requests in the following documents: (1) 
``Procedures for Processing Requests to Redesignate Areas to 
Attainment,'' Memorandum from John Calcagni, Director, Air Quality 
Management Division, September 4, 1992 (hereafter the ``1992 Calcagni 
Memorandum''); (2) ``State Implementation Plan (SIP) Actions Submitted 
in Response to Clean Air Act (CAA) Deadlines,'' Memorandum from John 
Calcagni, Director, Air Quality Management Division, October 28, 1992; 
and (3) ``Part D New Source Review (Part D NSR) Requirements for Areas 
Requesting Redesignation to Attainment,'' Memorandum from Mary D. 
Nichols, Assistant Administrator for Air and Radiation, October 14, 
1994.

B. Requirements of a Maintenance Plan

    Section 175A of the CAA sets forth the elements of a maintenance 
plan for areas seeking redesignation from nonattainment to attainment. 
Under section 175A, the plan must demonstrate continued attainment of 
the applicable NAAQS for at least 10 years after approval of a 
redesignation of an area to attainment. Eight years after the 
redesignation, the state must submit a revised maintenance plan 
demonstrating that attainment will continue to be maintained for the 10 
years following the initial 10-year period. To address the possibility 
of future NAAQS violations, the maintenance plan must contain such 
contingency measures, with a schedule for implementation, as EPA deems 
necessary to assure prompt correction of any future PM2.5 
violations.
    The 1992 Calcagni Memorandum provides additional guidance on the 
content of a maintenance plan. The memorandum states that a 
PM2.5 maintenance plan should address the following 
provisions: (1) An attainment emissions inventory; (2) a maintenance 
demonstration showing maintenance for 10 years; (3) a commitment to 
maintain the existing monitoring network; (4) Verification of continued 
attainment; and (5) a contingency plan to prevent or correct future 
violations of the NAAQS.

III. Summary of Proposed Actions

    EPA is proposing to take several rulemaking actions related to the

[[Page 73771]]

redesignation of the West Virginia portion of the Steubenville-Weirton 
Area to attainment for both the 1997 annual and the 2006 24-hour 
PM2.5 NAAQS. EPA is proposing to find that the West Virginia 
portion of the Area meets the requirements for redesignation of the 
1997 annual and the 2006 24-hour PM2.5 NAAQS under section 
107(d)(3)(E) of the CAA. EPA is thus proposing to approve West 
Virginia's requests to change the legal designation of the West 
Virginia portion of the Area from nonattainment to attainment for both 
the 1997 annual and 2006 24-hour PM2.5 NAAQS. This 
rulemaking action does not impact the legal designation of the Ohio 
portion of the Steubenville-Weirton Area. EPA has taken separate 
rulemaking action to redesignate to attainment the Ohio portion of the 
Area for both the 1997 annual and 2006 24-hour PM2.5 NAAQS. 
(September 18, 2013, 78 FR 57273)
    EPA is also proposing to approve the associated maintenance plans 
for the West Virginia portion of the Area as revisions to the West 
Virginia SIP for the 1997 annual and 2006 24-hour PM2.5 
NAAQS, including the insignificance determinations for PM2.5 
and NOX for the onroad mobile source contribution of the 
West Virginia portion of the Area for both the 1997 annual and the 2006 
24-hour PM2.5 standards. The approval of the maintenance 
plans is one of the CAA criteria for redesignation of the West Virginia 
portion of the Area to attainment for both standards. West Virginia's 
maintenance plans are designed to ensure continued attainment in the 
West Virginia portion of the Area of the 1997 annual and 2006 24-hour 
PM2.5 standards, respectively, for 10 years after 
redesignation.
    EPA previously determined that the Steubenville-Weirton Area has 
attained both the 1997 annual and 2006 24-hour PM2.5 NAAQS, 
and EPA is proposing to find that the Area continues to attain both 
standards. Furthermore, under section 172(c)(3) of the CAA, EPA is 
proposing to approve the 2008 comprehensive emissions inventory for the 
West Virginia portion of the Area as part of West Virginia's SIP for 
the 2006 24-hour PM2.5 NAAQS. EPA's analysis of the proposed 
actions is provided in section V. of today's proposed rulemaking 
action.

IV. Effects of Recent Court Decisions on Proposed Actions

A. Effect of the August 21, 2012 D.C. Circuit Decision Regarding EPA's 
CSAPR

1. Background
    EPA recently promulgated CSAPR (76 FR 48208, August 8, 2011), to 
replace CAIR, which has been in place since 2005. See 76 FR 59517. CAIR 
requires significant reductions in emissions of SO2 and 
NOX from electric generating units to limit the interstate 
transport of these pollutants and the ozone and fine particulate matter 
they form in the atmosphere. See 76 FR 70093. The D.C. Circuit 
initially vacated CAIR, North Carolina v. EPA, 531 F.3d 896 (D.C. Cir. 
2008), but ultimately remanded the rule to EPA without vacatur to 
preserve the environmental benefits provided by CAIR, North Carolina v. 
EPA, 550 F.3d 1176, 1178 (D.C. Cir. 2008).
    On December 30, 2011, the D.C. Circuit issued an order addressing 
the status of CSAPR and CAIR in response to motions filed by numerous 
parties seeking a stay of CSAPR pending judicial review. In that order, 
the Court stayed CSAPR pending resolution of the petitions for review 
of that rule in EME Homer City Generation, L.P. v. EPA (No. 11-1302 and 
consolidated cases). The Court also indicated that EPA was expected to 
continue to administer CAIR in the interim until judicial review of 
CSAPR was completed.
    On August 21, 2012, the D.C. Circuit issued a decision to vacate 
CSAPR. In that decision, it also ordered EPA to continue administering 
CAIR ``pending the promulgation of a valid replacement.'' EME Homer 
City, 696 F.3d at 38 (D.C. Circ. 2012). The D.C. Circuit denied all 
petitions for rehearing on January 24, 2013. EPA and other parties have 
filed petitions for certiorari to the U.S. Supreme Court. On June 24, 
2013 the Supreme Court granted EPA's petition for certiorari. 
Nonetheless, EPA intends to continue to act in accordance with the EME 
Homer City opinion.
2. Proposal on This Issue
    In light of these unique circumstances and for the reasons 
explained subsequently, to the extent that attainment is due to 
emission reductions associated with CAIR, EPA is hereby proposing to 
determine that those reductions are sufficiently permanent and 
enforceable for purposes of CAA sections 107(d)(3)(E)(iii) and 175A. 
EPA, therefore, proposes to approve the redesignation requests and the 
related SIP revision for Brooke and Hancock Counties in West Virginia, 
including West Virginia's plan for maintaining attainment of the 1997 
annual and 2006 24-hour PM2.5 standards in the West Virginia 
portion of the Steubenville-Weirton Area.
    As directed by the D.C. Circuit, CAIR remains in place and 
enforceable until substituted by a valid replacement rule. West 
Virginia's SIP revision lists CAIR as a control measure that was 
approved by EPA on August 6, 2009 (74 FR 38536) and became state-
effective on May 1, 2008 for the purpose of reducing SO2 and 
NOX emissions. CAIR was thus in place and getting emission 
reductions when the Steubenville-Weirton Area monitored attainment of 
the 1997 annual and 2006 24-hour PM2.5 NAAQS. The quality-
assured, quality-controlled, certified monitoring data used to 
demonstrate the Area's attainment of both the 1997 annual and 2006 24-
hour PM2.5 NAAQS was also impacted by CAIR.
    To the extent that West Virginia is relying on CAIR in its 
maintenance plan, the recent directive from the D.C. Circuit in EME 
Homer City ensures that the reductions associated with CAIR will be 
permanent and enforceable for the necessary time period. EPA has been 
ordered by the Court to develop a new rule to address interstate 
transport to replace CSAPR, and the opinion makes clear that after 
promulgating that new rule EPA must provide states an opportunity to 
draft and submit SIPs to implement that rule. Thus, CAIR will remain in 
place until: (1) EPA has promulgated a final rule through a notice-and-
comment rulemaking process; (2) states have had an opportunity to draft 
and submit SIPs; (3) EPA has reviewed the SIPs to determine if they can 
be approved; and (4) EPA has taken action on the SIPs, including 
promulgating a Federal Implementation Plan (FIP) if appropriate. The 
Court's clear instruction to EPA that it must continue to administer 
CAIR until a valid replacement exists provides an additional backstop: 
By definition, any rule that replaces CAIR and meets the Court's 
direction would require upwind states to have SIPs that eliminate 
significant contributions to downwind nonattainment and prevent 
interference with maintenance in downwind areas.
    Further, in vacating CSAPR and requiring EPA to continue 
administering CAIR, the D.C. Circuit emphasized that the consequences 
of vacating CAIR ``might be more severe now in light of the reliance 
interests accumulated over the intervening four years.'' EME Homer 
City, 696 F.3d at 38. The accumulated reliance interests include the 
interests of states who reasonably assumed they could rely on 
reductions associated with

[[Page 73772]]

CAIR which brought certain nonattainment areas into attainment with the 
NAAQS. If EPA were prevented from relying on reductions associated with 
CAIR in redesignation actions, states would be forced to impose 
additional, redundant reductions on top of those achieved by CAIR. EPA 
believes this is precisely the type of irrational result the court 
sought to avoid by ordering EPA to continue administering CAIR. For 
these reasons also, EPA believes it is appropriate to allow states to 
rely on CAIR, and the existing emissions reductions achieved by CAIR, 
as sufficiently permanent and enforceable for purposes such as 
redesignation. Following promulgation of the replacement rule, EPA will 
review SIP revisions as appropriate to identify whether there are any 
issues that need to be addressed.

B. Effect of the January 4, 2013 D.C. Circuit Decision Regarding 
PM2.5 Implementation Under Subpart 4 of Part D of Title I of 
the CAA

1. Background
    As discussed previously, on January 4, 2013, in Natural Resources 
Defense Council (NRDC) v. EPA, the D.C. Circuit remanded to EPA the 
``Final Clean Air Fine Particle Implementation Rule'' (72 FR 20586, 
April 25, 2007) and the ``Implementation of the New Source Review (NSR) 
Program for Particulate Matter Less than 2.5 Micrometers 
(PM2.5)'' final rule (73 FR 28321, May 16, 2008) 
(collectively, ``1997 PM2.5 Implementation Rule''). 706 F.3d 
428 (D.C. Cir. 2013). The Court found that EPA erred in implementing 
the 1997 annual PM2.5 NAAQS pursuant to the general 
implementation provisions of subpart 1 of part D of Title I of the CAA 
(subpart 1), rather than the particulate-matter-specific provisions of 
subpart 4 of Part D of Title I (subpart 4). Although the Court did not 
directly address the 2006 24-hour PM2.5 standard, EPA is 
taking into account the Court's position on subpart 4 and the 1997 
annual PM2.5 standard in evaluating redesignations for the 
2006 24-hour PM2.5 standard.
2. Proposal on This Issue
    EPA is proposing to determine that the Court's January 4, 2013 
decision does not prevent EPA from redesignating the West Virginia 
portion of the Steubenville-Weirton Area to attainment for either the 
1997 annual or the 2006 24-hour PM2.5 NAAQS. Even in light 
of the Court's decision, redesignation for this Area is appropriate 
under the CAA and EPA's longstanding interpretations of the CAA's 
provisions regarding redesignation. EPA first explains its longstanding 
interpretation that requirements that are imposed, or that become due, 
after a complete redesignation request is submitted for an area that is 
attaining the standard, are not applicable for purposes of evaluating a 
redesignation request. Second, EPA then shows that, even if EPA applies 
the subpart 4 requirements to the West Virginia redesignation requests 
and disregards the provisions of its 1997 PM2.5 
Implementation Rule recently remanded by the Court, the State's request 
for redesignation of the Area still qualifies for approval. EPA's 
discussion takes into account the effect of the Court's ruling on the 
Area's maintenance plan, which EPA views as approvable when subpart 4 
requirements are considered.
a. Applicable Requirements for Purposes of Evaluating the Redesignation 
Requests
    With respect to the 1997 PM2.5 Implementation Rule, the 
Court's January 4, 2013 ruling rejected EPA's reasons for implementing 
the PM2.5 NAAQS solely in accordance with the provisions of 
subpart 1, and remanded that matter to EPA, so that it could address 
implementation of the 1997 annual PM2.5 NAAQS under subpart 
4, in addition to subpart 1. For the purposes of evaluating the West 
Virginia's redesignation request for the West Virginia portion of the 
Area, to the extent that implementation under subpart 4 would impose 
additional requirements for areas designated nonattainment, EPA 
believes that those requirements are not ``applicable'' for the 
purposes of CAA section 107(d)(3)(E), and thus EPA is not required to 
consider subpart 4 requirements with respect to the redesignation of 
the West Virginia portion of the Steubenville-Weirton Area. Under its 
longstanding interpretation of the CAA, EPA has interpreted section 
107(d)(3)(E) to mean, as a threshold matter, that the part D provisions 
which are ``applicable'' and which must be approved in order for EPA to 
redesignate an area include only those which came due prior to a 
state's submittal of a complete redesignation request. See 1992 
Calcagni Memorandum. See also ``State Implementation Plan (SIP) 
Requirements for Areas Submitting Requests for Redesignation to 
Attainment of the Ozone and Carbon Monoxide (CO) National Ambient Air 
Quality Standards (NAAQS) on or after November 15, 1992,'' Memorandum 
from Michael Shapiro, Acting Assistant Administrator, Air and 
Radiation, September 17, 1993 (Shapiro memorandum); Final Redesignation 
of Detroit-Ann Arbor, (60 FR 12459, 12465-66, March 7, 1995); Final 
Redesignation of St. Louis, Missouri, (68 FR 25418, 25424-27, May 12, 
2003); Sierra Club v. EPA, 375 F.3d 537, 541 (7th Cir. 2004) (upholding 
EPA's redesignation rulemaking applying this interpretation and 
expressly rejecting Sierra Club's view that the meaning of 
``applicable'' under the statute is ``whatever should have been in the 
plan at the time of attainment rather than whatever actually was in the 
plan and already implemented or due at the time of attainment'').\1\ In 
this case, at the time that West Virginia submitted its redesignation 
requests for both standards, the requirements under subpart 4 were not 
due, and indeed, were not yet known to apply.
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    \1\ Applicable requirements of the CAA that come due subsequent 
to the area's submittal of a complete redesignation request remain 
applicable until a redesignation is approved, but are not required 
as a prerequisite to redesignation. Section 175A(c) of the CAA.
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    EPA's view that, for purposes of evaluating the redesignation of 
the West Virginia portion of the Steubenville-Weirton Area, the subpart 
4 requirements were not due at the time West Virginia submitted the 
redesignation requests is in keeping with the EPA's interpretation of 
subpart 2 requirements for subpart 1 ozone areas redesignated 
subsequent to the D.C. Circuit's decision in South Coast Air Quality 
Mgmt. Dist. v. EPA, 472 F.3d 882 (D.C. Cir. 2006). In South Coast, the 
Court found that EPA was not permitted to implement the 1997 8-hour 
ozone standard solely under subpart 1, and held that EPA was required 
under the statute to implement the standard under the ozone-specific 
requirements of subpart 2 as well. Subsequent to the South Coast 
decision, in evaluating and acting upon redesignation requests for the 
1997 8-hour ozone standard that were submitted to EPA for areas under 
subpart 1, EPA applied its longstanding interpretation of the CAA that 
``applicable requirements,'' for purposes of evaluating a 
redesignation, are those that had been due at the time the 
redesignation request was submitted. See, e.g., Proposed Redesignation 
of Manitowoc County and Door County Nonattainment Areas (75 FR 22047, 
22050, April 27, 2010). In those actions, EPA, therefore, did not 
consider subpart 2 requirements to be ``applicable'' for the purposes 
of evaluating whether the area should be redesignated under section 
107(d)(3)(E).
    EPA's interpretation derives from the provisions of section 
107(d)(3). Section

[[Page 73773]]

107(d)(3)(E)(v) states that, for an area to be redesignated, a state 
must meet ``all requirements `applicable' to the area under section 110 
and part D.'' Section 107(d)(3)(E)(ii) provides that the EPA must have 
fully approved the ``applicable'' SIP for the area seeking 
redesignation. These two sections read together support EPA's 
interpretation of ``applicable'' as only those requirements that came 
due prior to submission of a complete redesignation request. First, 
holding states to an ongoing obligation to adopt new CAA requirements 
that arose after the state submitted its redesignation request, in 
order to be redesignated, would make it problematic or impossible for 
EPA to act on redesignation requests in accordance with the 18-month 
deadline Congress set for EPA action in section 107(d)(3)(D). If 
``applicable requirements'' were interpreted to be a continuing flow of 
requirements with no reasonable limitation, states, after submitting a 
redesignation request, would be forced continuously to make additional 
SIP submissions that in turn would require EPA to undertake further 
notice-and-comment rulemaking actions to act on those submissions. This 
would create a regime of unceasing rulemaking that would delay action 
on the redesignation request beyond the 18-month timeframe provided by 
the CAA for this purpose.
    Second, a fundamental premise for redesignating a nonattainment 
area to attainment is that the area has attained the relevant NAAQS due 
to emission reductions from existing controls. Thus, an area for which 
a redesignation request has been submitted would have already attained 
the NAAQS as a result of satisfying statutory requirements that came 
due prior to the submission of the request. Absent a showing that 
unadopted and unimplemented requirements are necessary for future 
maintenance, it is reasonable to view the requirements applicable for 
purposes of evaluating the redesignation request as including only 
those SIP requirements that have already come due. These are the 
requirements that led to attainment of the NAAQS. To require, for 
redesignation approval, that a state also satisfy additional SIP 
requirements coming due after the state submits its complete 
redesignation request, and while EPA is reviewing it, would compel the 
state to do more than is necessary to attain the NAAQS, without a 
showing that the additional requirements are necessary for maintenance.
    In the context of this redesignation, the timing and nature of the 
Court's January 4, 2013 decision in NRDC v. EPA compound the 
consequences of imposing requirements that come due after the 
redesignation request is submitted. West Virginia submitted its two 
redesignation requests for the 1997 annual and the 2006 24-hour 
PM2.5 NAAQS on April 12, 2012 and June 12, 2012, 
respectively, but the Court did not issue its decision remanding EPA's 
1997 PM2.5 Implementation Rule concerning the applicability 
of the provisions of subpart 4 until January 2013.
    To require West Virginia's fully-completed and pending 
redesignation requests for both the 1997 annual and the 2006 24-hour 
PM2.5 NAAQS to comply now with requirements of subpart 4 
that the Court announced only in its January, 2013 decision on the 1997 
PM2.5 Implementation Rule, would be to give retroactive 
effect to such requirements when the State had no notice that it was 
required to meet them. The D.C. Circuit recognized the inequity of this 
type of retroactive impact in Sierra Club v. Whitman, 285 F.3d 63 (D.C. 
Cir. 2002),\2\ where it upheld the District Court's ruling refusing to 
make retroactive EPA's determination that the St. Louis area did not 
meet its attainment deadline. In that case, petitioners urged the Court 
to make EPA's nonattainment determination effective as of the date that 
the statute required, rather than the later date on which EPA actually 
made the determination. The Court rejected this view, stating that 
applying it ``would likely impose large costs on States, which would 
face fines and suits for not implementing air pollution prevention 
plans * * * even though they were not on notice at the time.'' Id. at 
68. Similarly, it would be unreasonable to penalize the State of West 
Virginia by rejecting its redesignation request for an area that is 
already attaining both the 1997 annual and 2006 24-hour 
PM2.5 standards and that met all applicable requirements 
known to be in effect at the time of the requests. For EPA now to 
reject the redesignation requests solely because the State did not 
expressly address subpart 4 requirements of which it had no notice, 
would inflict the same unfairness condemned by the Court in Sierra Club 
v. Whitman.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \2\ Sierra Club v. Whitman was discussed and distinguished in a 
recent D.C. Circuit decision that addressed retroactivity in a quite 
different context, where, unlike the situation here, EPA sought to 
give its regulations retroactive effect. National Petrochemical and 
Refiners Ass'n v. EPA. 630 F.3d 145, 163 (D.C. Cir. 2010), rehearing 
denied 643 F.3d 958 (D.C. Cir. 2011), cert denied 132 S. Ct. 571 
(2011).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

b. Subpart 4 Requirements and West Virginia Redesignation Requests
    Even if EPA were to take the view that the Court's January 4, 2013 
decision requires that, in the context of pending redesignations for 
either the 1997 annual or 2006 24-hour PM2.5 standards, 
subpart 4 requirements were due and in effect at the time West Virginia 
submitted its redesignation requests, EPA proposes to determine that 
the West Virginia portion of the Steubenville-Weirton Area still 
qualifies for redesignation to attainment for both the 1997 annual and 
2006 24-hour PM2.5 standards. As explained subsequently, EPA 
believes that the two redesignation requests for the West Virginia 
portion of the Steubenville-Weirton Area, though not expressed in terms 
of subpart 4 requirements, substantively meet the requirements of that 
subpart for purposes of redesignating the West Virginia portion of the 
Area to attainment for both standards.
    With respect to evaluating the relevant substantive requirements of 
subpart 4 for purposes of redesignating the West Virginia portion of 
the Steubenville-Weirton Area, EPA notes that subpart 4 incorporates 
components of subpart 1 of part D, which contains general air quality 
planning requirements for areas designated as nonattainment. See 
section 172(c). Subpart 4 itself contains specific planning and 
scheduling requirements for coarse particulate matter (PM10) 
\3\ nonattainment areas, and under the Court's January 4, 2013 decision 
in NRDC v. EPA, these same statutory requirements also apply for 
PM2.5 nonattainment areas. EPA has longstanding general 
guidance that interprets the 1990 amendments to the CAA, making 
recommendations to states for meeting the statutory requirements for 
SIPs for nonattainment areas. See, the General Preamble. In the General 
Preamble, EPA discussed the relationship of subpart 1 and subpart 4 SIP 
requirements, and pointed out that subpart 1 requirements were to an 
extent ``subsumed by, or integrally related to, the more specific 
PM10 requirements'' (57 FR 13538, April 16, 1992). The 
subpart 1 requirements include, among other things, provisions for 
attainment demonstrations, RACM, RFP, emissions inventories, and 
contingency measures.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \3\ PM10 refers to particulates nominally 10 
micrometers in diameter or smaller.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    For the purposes of these redesignation requests, in order to 
identify any additional requirements which would apply under subpart 4, 
EPA is considering the Steubenville-

[[Page 73774]]

Weirton Area to be a ``moderate'' PM2.5 nonattainment area. 
Under section 188 of the CAA, all areas designated nonattainment areas 
under subpart 4 would initially be classified by operation of law as 
``moderate'' nonattainment areas, and would remain moderate 
nonattainment areas unless and until EPA reclassifies the area as a 
``serious'' nonattainment area. Accordingly, EPA believes that it is 
appropriate to limit the evaluation of the potential impact of subpart 
4 requirements to those that would be applicable to moderate 
nonattainment areas. Sections 189(a) and (c) of subpart 4 apply to 
moderate nonattainment areas and include the following: (1) An approved 
permit program for construction of new and modified major stationary 
sources (section 189(a)(1)(A)); (2) an attainment demonstration 
(section 189(a)(1)(B)); (3) provisions for RACM (section 189(a)(1)(C)); 
and (4) quantitative milestones demonstrating RFP toward attainment by 
the applicable attainment date (section 189(c)).
    The permit requirements of subpart 4, as contained in section 
189(a)(1)(A), refer to and apply the subpart 1 permit provisions 
requirements of sections 172 and 173 to PM10, without adding 
to them. Consequently, EPA believes that section 189(a)(1)(A) does not 
itself impose for redesignation purposes any additional requirements 
for moderate areas beyond those contained in subpart 1.\4\ In any 
event, in the context of redesignation, EPA has long relied on the 
interpretation that a fully approved nonattainment new source review 
program is not considered an applicable requirement for redesignation, 
provided the area can maintain the standard with a prevention of 
significant deterioration (PSD) program after redesignation. A detailed 
rationale for this view is described in a memorandum from Mary Nichols, 
Assistant Administrator for Air and Radiation, dated October 14, 1994, 
entitled, ``Part D New Source Review Requirements for Areas Requesting 
Redesignation to Attainment.'' See also rulemakings for Detroit, 
Michigan (60 FR 12467-12468, March 7, 1995); Cleveland-Akron-Lorain, 
Ohio (61 FR 20458, 20469-20470, May 7, 1996); Louisville, Kentucky (66 
FR 53665, October 23, 2001); and Grand Rapids, Michigan (61 FR 31834-
31837, June 21, 1996).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \4\ The potential effect of section 189(e) on section 
189(a)(1)(A) for purposes of evaluating these redesignation requests 
is discussed in this rulemaking action.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    With respect to the specific attainment planning requirements under 
subpart 4,\5\ when EPA evaluates a redesignation request under either 
subpart 1 and/or 4, any area that is attaining the PM2.5 
standards is viewed as having satisfied the attainment planning 
requirements for these subparts. For redesignations, EPA has for many 
years interpreted attainment-linked requirements as not applicable for 
areas attaining the standard. In the General Preamble, EPA stated that, 
``The requirements for RFP will not apply in evaluating a request for 
redesignation to attainment since, at a minimum, the air quality data 
for the area must show that the area has already attained. Showing that 
the State will make RFP towards attainment will, therefore, have no 
meaning at that point.''
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \5\ I.e., attainment demonstration, RFP, RACM, milestone 
requirements, contingency measures.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The General Preamble also explained that, ``[t]he section 172(c)(9) 
requirements are directed at ensuring RFP and attainment by the 
applicable date. These requirements no longer apply when an area has 
attained the standard and is eligible for redesignation. Furthermore, 
section 175A for maintenance plans . . . provides specific requirements 
for contingency measures that effectively supersede the requirements of 
section 172(c)(9) for these areas.'' Id. EPA similarly stated in its 
1992 Calcagni Memorandum that, ``The requirements for reasonable 
further progress and other measures needed for attainment will not 
apply for redesignations because they only have meaning for areas not 
attaining the standard.''
    It is evident that even if we were to consider the Court's January 
4, 2013 decision in NRDC v. EPA to mean that attainment-related 
requirements specific to subpart 4 should be imposed retroactively \6\ 
and thus are now past due, those requirements do not apply to an area 
that is attaining the 1997 annual and/or the 2006 24-hour 
PM2.5 NAAQS, for the purpose of evaluating a pending request 
to redesignate the area to attainment. EPA has consistently enunciated 
this interpretation of applicable requirements under section 
107(d)(3)(E) since the General Preamble was published more than twenty 
years ago. Courts have recognized the scope of EPA's authority to 
interpret ``applicable requirements'' in the redesignation context. See 
Sierra Club v. EPA, 375 F.3d 537 (7th Cir. 2004).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \6\ As EPA has explained previously, we do not believe that the 
Court's January 4, 2013 decision should be interpreted so as to 
impose these requirements on the states retroactively. Sierra Club 
v. Whitman, supra.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Moreover, even outside the context of redesignations, EPA has 
viewed the obligations to submit attainment-related SIP planning 
requirements of subpart 4 as inapplicable for areas that EPA determines 
are attaining the 1997 annual and/or the 2006 24-hour PM2.5 
standard. EPA's prior ``Clean Data Policy'' rulemakings for the 
PM10 NAAQS, also governed by the requirements of subpart 4, 
explain EPA's reasoning. They describe the effects of a determination 
of attainment on the attainment-related SIP planning requirements of 
subpart 4. See ``Determination of Attainment for Coso Junction 
Nonattainment Area,'' (75 FR 27944, May 19, 2010). See also Coso 
Junction Proposed PM10 Redesignation, (75 FR 36023, 36027, 
June 24, 2010); Proposed and Final Determinations of Attainment for San 
Joaquin Nonattainment Area (71 FR 40952, 40954-55, July 19, 2006 and 71 
FR 63641, 63643-47, October 30, 2006). In short, EPA in this context 
has also long concluded that to require states to meet superfluous SIP 
planning requirements is not necessary and not required by the CAA, so 
long as those areas continue to attain the relevant NAAQS.
    Elsewhere in this notice, EPA proposes to determine that the 
Steubenville-Weirton Area has attained both the 1997 annual and 2006 
24-hour PM2.5 NAAQS. Under its longstanding interpretation, 
EPA is proposing to determine here that the West Virginia portion of 
the Area meets the attainment-related plan requirements of subparts 1 
and 4 for both the 1997 annual and 2006 24-hour PM2.5 NAAQS. 
Thus, EPA is proposing to conclude that the requirements to submit an 
attainment demonstration under 189(a)(1)(B), a RACM determination under 
section 172(c)(1) and section 189(a)(1)(c), a RFP demonstration under 
189(c)(1), and contingency measure requirements under section 172(c)(9) 
are satisfied for purposes of evaluating these redesignation requests.
c. Subpart 4 and Control of PM2.5 Precursors
    The D.C. Circuit in NRDC v. EPA remanded to EPA the two rules at 
issue in the case with instructions to EPA to re-promulgate them 
consistent with the requirements of subpart 4. EPA in this section 
addresses the Court's opinion with respect to PM2.5 
precursors. While past implementation of subpart 4 for PM10 
has allowed for control of PM10 precursors such as 
NOX from major stationary, mobile, and area sources in order 
to attain the standard as expeditiously as practicable, section 189(e) 
of the CAA specifically provides that control requirements for major 
stationary sources of direct PM10 shall

[[Page 73775]]

also apply to PM10 precursors from those sources, except 
where EPA determines that major stationary sources of such precursors 
``do not contribute significantly to PM10 levels which 
exceed the standard in the area.''
    EPA's 1997 PM2.5 Implementation Rule, remanded by the 
D.C. Circuit, contained rebuttable presumptions concerning certain 
PM2.5 precursors applicable to attainment plans and control 
measures related to those plans. Specifically, in 40 CFR 51.1002, EPA 
provided, among other things, that a state was ``not required to 
address VOC [and ammonia] as . . . PM2.5 attainment plan 
precursor[s] and to evaluate sources of VOC [and ammonia] emissions in 
the State for control measures.'' EPA intended these to be rebuttable 
presumptions. EPA established these presumptions at the time because of 
uncertainties regarding the emission inventories for these pollutants 
and the effectiveness of specific control measures in various regions 
of the country in reducing PM2.5 concentrations. EPA also 
left open the possibility for such regulation of VOC and ammonia in 
specific areas where that was necessary.
    The Court in its January 4, 2013 decision made reference to both 
section 189(e) and 40 CFR 51.1002, and stated that, ``In light of our 
disposition, we need not address the petitioners' challenge to the 
presumptions in [40 CFR 51.1002] that volatile organic compounds and 
ammonia are not PM2.5 precursors, as subpart 4 expressly 
governs precursor presumptions.'' NRDC v. EPA, at 27, n.10.
    Elsewhere in the Court's opinion, however, the Court observed 
``Ammonia is a precursor to fine particulate matter, making it a 
precursor to both PM2.5 and PM10. For a 
PM10 nonattainment area governed by subpart 4, a precursor 
is presumptively regulated. See 42 U.S.C. 7513a(e) [section 189(e)].'' 
Id. at 21, n.7.
    For a number of reasons, EPA believes that its proposed 
redesignations of the West Virginia portion of the Steubenville-Weirton 
Area for the 1997 annual and the 2006 PM2.5 NAAQS are 
consistent with the Court's decision on this aspect of subpart 4. 
While, the Court, citing section 189(e), stated that ``for a 
PM10 area governed by subpart 4, a precursor is 
`presumptively regulated,'' the Court expressly declined to decide the 
specific challenge to EPA's 1997 PM2.5 Implementation Rule 
provisions regarding ammonia and VOC as precursors. The Court had no 
occasion to reach whether and how it was substantively necessary to 
regulate any specific precursor in a particular PM2.5 
nonattainment area, and did not address what might be necessary for 
purposes of acting upon a redesignation request.
    However, even if EPA takes the view that the requirements of 
subpart 4 were deemed applicable at the time the state submitted the 
redesignation request, and disregards the 1997 PM2.5 
Implementation Rule's rebuttable presumptions regarding ammonia and VOC 
as PM2.5 precursors (and any similar provisions reflected in 
the guidance for the 2006 24-hour PM2.5 NAAQS), the 
regulatory consequence would be to consider the need for regulation of 
all precursors from any sources in the Area to demonstrate attainment 
and to apply the section 189(e) provisions to major stationary sources 
of precursors. In the case of West Virginia portion of the 
Steubenville-Weirton Area, EPA believes that doing so is consistent 
with proposing redesignation of the West Virginia portion of the Area 
for the 1997 annual and the 2006 24-hour PM2.5 standard. The 
West Virginia portion of the Area has attained both the 1997 annual and 
2006 24-hour PM2.5 standards without any specific additional 
controls of VOC and ammonia emissions from any sources in the Area.
    Precursors in subpart 4 are specifically regulated under the 
provisions of section 189(e), which requires, with important 
exceptions, control requirements for major stationary sources of 
PM10 precursors.\7\ Under subpart 1 and EPA's prior 
implementation rule, all major stationary sources of PM2.5 
precursors were subject to regulation, with the exception of ammonia 
and VOC. Thus, EPA must address here whether additional controls of 
ammonia and VOC from major stationary sources are required under 
section 189(e) of subpart 4 in order to redesignate the West Virginia 
portion of the Area for the 1997 annual and 2006 24-hour 
PM2.5 NAAQS. As explained subsequently, EPA does not believe 
that any additional controls of ammonia and VOC are required in the 
context of these redesignations.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \7\ Under either subpart 1 or subpart 4, for purposes of 
demonstrating attainment as expeditiously as practicable, a state is 
required to evaluate all economically and technologically feasible 
control measures for direct PM emissions and precursor emissions, 
and adopt those measures that are deemed reasonably available.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    In the General Preamble, EPA discusses its approach to implementing 
section 189(e). See 57 FR 13538-13542. With regard to precursor 
regulation under section 189(e), the General Preamble explicitly stated 
that control of VOC under other CAA requirements may suffice to relieve 
a state from the need to adopt precursor controls under section 189(e). 
See 57 FR 13542. EPA in this action proposes to determine that West 
Virginia's SIP has met the provisions of section 189(e) with respect to 
ammonia and VOC as precursors. This proposed supplemental determination 
is based on our findings that: (1) The Steubenville-Weirton Area 
contains no major stationary sources of ammonia; and (2) existing major 
stationary sources of VOC are adequately controlled under other 
provisions of the CAA regulating the ozone NAAQS.\8\ In the 
alternative, EPA proposes to determine that, under the express 
exception provisions of section 189(e), and in the context of the 
redesignations of the West Virginia portion of the Steubenville-Weirton 
Area, which is attaining the 1997 annual and 2006 24-hour 
PM2.5 standards, at present ammonia and VOC precursors from 
major stationary sources do not contribute significantly to levels 
exceeding the 1997 annual or the 2006 24-hour PM2.5 standard 
in the Area. See 57 FR 13539-42.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \8\ The Steubenville-Weirton Area has reduced VOC emissions 
through the implementation of various control programs including VOC 
Reasonably Available Control Technology (RACT) regulations and 
various onroad and nonroad motor vehicle control programs.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    EPA notes that its 1997 PM2.5 Implementation Rule 
provisions in 40 CFR 51.1002 were not directed at evaluation of 
PM2.5 precursors in the context of redesignation, but at SIP 
plans and control measures required to bring a nonattainment area into 
attainment of the 1997 annual or the 2006 24-hour PM2.5 
NAAQS. By contrast, redesignation to attainment primarily requires the 
nonattainment area to have already attained due to permanent and 
enforceable emission reductions, and to demonstrate that controls in 
place can continue to maintain the standard. Thus, even if we regard 
the Court's January 4, 2013 decision as calling for ``presumptive 
regulation'' of ammonia and VOC for PM2.5 under the 
attainment planning provisions of subpart 4, those provisions in and of 
themselves do not require additional controls of these precursors for 
an area that already qualifies for redesignation. Nor does EPA believe 
that requiring West Virginia to address precursors differently than it 
has already would result in a substantively different outcome.
    Although, as EPA has emphasized, its consideration here of 
precursor requirements under subpart 4 is in the context of a 
redesignation to attainment, EPA's existing interpretation of subpart

[[Page 73776]]

4 requirements with respect to precursors in attainment plans for 
PM10 contemplates that states may develop attainment plans 
that regulate only those precursors that are necessary for purposes of 
attainment in the area in question, i.e., states may determine that 
only certain precursors need be regulated for attainment and control 
purposes.\9\ Courts have upheld this approach to the requirements of 
subpart 4 for PM10.\10\ EPA believes that application of 
this approach to PM2.5 precursors under subpart 4 is 
reasonable. Because the Steubenville-Weirton Area has already attained 
both the 1997 annual and 2006 24-hour PM2.5 NAAQS with its 
current approach to regulation of PM2.5 precursors, EPA 
believes that it is reasonable to conclude in the context of this 
redesignation that there is no need to revisit the attainment control 
strategy with respect to the treatment of precursors. Even if the 
Court's decision is construed to impose an obligation, in evaluating 
this redesignation request, to consider additional precursors under 
subpart 4, it would not affect EPA's approval here of West Virginia's 
requests for redesignation of the Steubenville-Weirton Area for the 
1997 annual and 2006 24-hour PM2.5 NAAQS. In the context of 
a redesignation, the Area has shown that it has attained the standards. 
Moreover, the State has shown and EPA is proposing to determine that 
attainment of both 1997 annual and 2006 24-hour PM2.5 NAAQS 
in this Area is due to permanent and enforceable emissions reductions 
on all precursors necessary to provide for continued attainment of the 
standards. It follows logically that no further control of additional 
precursors is necessary. Accordingly, EPA does not view the January 4, 
2013 decision of the Court as precluding redesignation of the West 
Virginia portion of the Steubenville-Weirton Area to attainment for the 
1997 annual and the 2006 24-hour PM2.5 NAAQS at this time.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \9\ See, e.g., ``Approval and Promulgation of Implementation 
Plans for California--San Joaquin Valley PM10 
Nonattainment Area; Serious Area Plan for Nonattainment of the 24-
Hour and Annual PM10 Standards,'' (69 FR 30006, May 26, 
2004) (approving a PM10 attainment plan that impose 
controls on direct PM10 and NOX emissions and 
did not impose controls on SO2, VOC, or ammonia 
emissions).
    \10\ See, e.g., Assoc. of Irritated Residents v. EPA et al., 423 
F.3d 989 (9th Cir. 2005).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    In sum, even if West Virginia was required to address precursors 
for the Steubenville-Weirton Area under subpart 4 rather than under 
subpart 1, as interpreted in EPA's remanded 1997 PM2.5 
Implementation Rule, EPA would still conclude that the West Virginia 
portion of the Area had met all applicable requirements for purposes of 
redesignation in accordance with section 107(d)(3(E)(ii) and (v).

V. EPA's Analysis of West Virginia's Submittals

    EPA is proposing several rulemaking actions for the West Virginia 
portion of the Steubenville-Weirton Area (1) To redesignate the West 
Virginia portion of the Area to attainment for both the 1997 annual and 
the 2006 24-hour PM2.5 NAAQS; and (2) approve into the West 
Virginia SIP the associated maintenance plans for both the 1997 annual 
and the 2006 24-hour PM2.5 NAAQS. EPA is also proposing in 
this rulemaking action to approve the 2008 comprehensive emissions 
inventory to satisfy section 172(c)(3) requirement for the 2006 24-hour 
PM2.5 NAAQS, one of the criteria for redesignation. EPA's 
proposed approvals of the redesignation requests and maintenance plans 
for the 1997 annual and 2006 24-hour PM2.5 NAAQS are based 
upon EPA's determination that the Area continues to attain both 
standards, which EPA is proposing in this rulemaking action, and that 
all other redesignation criteria have been met for the West Virginia 
portion of the Area. The following is a description of how the West 
Virginia's April 13, 2012, June 8, 2012 and June 24, 2013 submittals 
satisfy the requirements of section 107(d)(3)(E) of the CAA for the 
1997 annual and 2006 24-hour PM2.5 standards.

A. Redesignation Requests

1. Attainment
    As noted previously, in a final rulemaking action dated September 
14, 2011 (76 FR 56641), EPA determined that the entire Steubenville-
Weirton Area attained the 1997 annual PM2.5 NAAQS by its 
applicable attainment date, based upon complete, quality-assured, and 
certified ambient air quality monitoring data for the period of 2007-
2009. In that same rulemaking action, EPA also determined that the 
Steubenville-Weirton Area continued to attain the 1997 annual 
PM2.5 standard, based on complete, quality-assured and 
certified ambient air quality monitoring data for 2008-2010. In a 
separate rulemaking action dated May 4, 2012 (77 FR 28264), EPA also 
determined that the Steubenville-Weirton Area has attained the 2006 24-
hour PM2.5 standard, based on complete, quality-assured and 
certified ambient air quality monitoring data for 2008-2010. The basis 
and effect of these determinations of attainment for both the 1997 and 
2006 PM2.5 NAAQS were discussed in the notices of the 
proposed (76 FR 28393 and 76 FR 61291, respectively) and final (76 FR 
56641 and 77 FR 28264, respectively) rulemakings.
    EPA has reviewed the ambient air quality PM2.5 
monitoring data in the Steubenville-Weirton Area, consistent with the 
requirements contained at 40 CFR part 50, and recorded in EPA's Air 
Quality System (AQS). To support the previous determinations of 
attainment of the Area, EPA has reviewed the most recent data in AQS, 
including quality-assured, quality-controlled, and state-certified data 
for 2009-2011 and preliminary state-certified data for 2010-2012. The 
air quality data show that the Steubenville-Weirton Area continues to 
attain both the 1997 annual and 2006 24-hour PM2.5 NAAQS. 
The Area's PM2.5 annual and 24-hour design values \11\ from 
2007-2012 are provided in Tables 1 and 2, respectively.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \11\ As defined in 40 CFR part 50, Appendix N, section (1)(c).

   Table 1--Steubenville-Weirton Area's Annual Design Values for the 1997 annual PM2.5 Standard for the 2007-2009, 2008-2010, 2009-2011, and 2010-2012
                                                            Monitoring Periods, in [mu]g/m\3\
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                                           Annual design values
                                                                                 -----------------------------------------------------------------------
                            County                                 Monitor ID                                                           Preliminary 2010-
                                                                                      2007-2009         2008-2010         2009-2011           2012
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jefferson, OH.................................................       39-081-0017              14.2              13.0              12.5              12.2
Jefferson, OH.................................................       39-081-1001              13.6              12.7              11.8              11.4
Brooke, WV....................................................       54-009-0005              14.4              13.7              13.0              12.7

[[Page 73777]]

 
Brooke, WV....................................................       54-009-0011              14.0              13.1              11.6              11.1
Hancock, WV...................................................       54-029-1004              13.4              12.4              11.7              11.3
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                           Area's Annual Design Value                                         14.4              13.7              13.0              12.7
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Source: EPA AQS Preliminary Design Value Reports (AMP480) dated December 6, 2012, and June 26, 2013.
Note: Monitoring site 54-009-0011 ceased operations temporarily from May to July 2011, due to significance maintenance on the site.


  Table 2--Steubenville-Weirton Area's 24-Hour Design Values for the 2006 24-hour PM2.5 Standard for the 2008-
                        2010, 2009-2011, and 2010-2012 Monitoring Periods, in [mu]g/m\3\
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                            24-Hour design values
                                                           -----------------------------------------------------
                 County                      Monitor ID                                         Preliminary 2010-
                                                                2008-2010         2009-2011           2012
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jefferson, OH...........................       39-081-0017                30                28                27
Jefferson, OH...........................       39-081-1001                28                24                24
Brooke, WV..............................       54-009-0005                31                27                27
Brooke, WV..............................       54-009-0011                31                29                27
Hancock, WV.............................       54-029-1004                31                28                27
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                Area's 24-hour Design Value                               31                29                27
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Source: EPA AQS Preliminary Design Value Reports (AMP480) dated December 6, 2012, and June 26, 2013.
Note: Monitoring site 54-009-0011 ceased operations temporarily from May to July 2011, due to significance
  maintenance on the site.

    EPA's review of the monitoring data for 2009-2011 and 2010-2012 
supports EPA's previous determinations that the Area has attained the 
1997 annual and 2006 24-hour PM2.5 NAAQS, and that the Area 
continues to attain both standards. In addition, as discussed 
subsequently with respect to the maintenance plan, WVDEP has committed 
to continue monitoring ambient PM2.5 concentrations in 
accordance with 40 CFR part 58. Thus, EPA is proposing to determine 
that the Steubenville-Weirton Area continues to attain the 1997 annual 
and 2006 24-hour PM2.5 NAAQS.
2. The Area Has Met All Applicable Requirements Under Section 110 and 
Subpart 1 of the CAA and Has a Fully Approved SIP Under Section 110(k)
    In accordance with section 107(d)(3)(E)(v), the SIP revisions for 
the 1997 annual and 2006 24-hour PM2.5 standards for the 
West Virginia portion of the Steubenville-Weirton Area must be fully 
approved under section 110(k) and all the requirements applicable to 
the Area under section 110 of the CAA (general SIP requirements) and 
part D of Title I of the CAA (SIP requirements for nonattainment areas) 
must be met.
a. Section 110 General SIP Requirements
    Section 110(a)(2) of Title I of the CAA delineates the general 
requirements for a SIP, which include enforceable emissions limitations 
and other control measures, means, or techniques, provisions for the 
establishment and operation of appropriate devices necessary to collect 
data on ambient air quality, and programs to enforce the limitations. 
The general SIP elements and requirements set forth in section 
110(a)(2) include, but are not limited to the following:
     Submittal of a SIP that has been adopted by the state 
after reasonable public notice and hearing;
     Provisions for establishment and operation of appropriate 
procedures needed to monitor ambient air quality;
     Implementation of a source permit program; provisions for 
the implementation of Part C requirements (PSD);
     Provisions for the implementation of Part D requirements 
for NSR permit programs;
     Provisions for air pollution modeling; and
     Provisions for public and local agency participation in 
planning and emission control rule development.
    Section 110(a)(2)(D) of the CAA requires that SIPs contain certain 
measures to prevent sources in a state from significantly contributing 
to air quality problems in another state. To implement this provision 
for various NAAQS, EPA has required certain states to establish 
programs to address transport of air pollutants in accordance with the 
NOX SIP Call (63 FR 57356, October 27, 1998), amendments to 
the NOX SIP Call (64 FR 26298, May 14, 1999 and 65 FR 11222, 
March 2, 2000), and CAIR (70 FR 25162, May 12, 2005). However, section 
110(a)(2)(D) requirements for a state are not linked with a particular 
nonattainment area's designation and classification in that state. EPA 
believes that the requirements linked with a particular nonattainment 
area's designation and classifications are the relevant measures to 
evaluate in reviewing a redesignation request. The transport SIP 
submittal requirements, where applicable, continue to apply to a state 
regardless of the designation of any one particular area in the state. 
Thus, EPA does not believe that these requirements are applicable 
requirements for purposes of redesignation.
    In addition, EPA believes that the other section 110(a)(2) elements 
not connected with nonattainment plan submissions and not linked with 
an area's attainment status are not applicable requirements for 
purposes of redesignation. The Steubenville-Weirton Area will still be 
subject to these requirements after it is redesignated. EPA concludes 
that the section 110(a)(2) and part D requirements which are linked 
with a particular area's designation and classification are the

[[Page 73778]]

relevant measures to evaluate in reviewing a redesignation request, and 
that section 110(a)(2) elements not linked to the area's nonattainment 
status are not applicable for purposes of redesignation. This approach 
is consistent with EPA's existing policy on applicability of conformity 
(i.e., for redesignations) and oxygenated fuels requirement. See 
Reading, Pennsylvania, proposed and final rulemakings (61 FR 53174, 
October 10, 1996), (62 FR 24826, May 7, 1997); Cleveland-Akron-Lorain, 
Ohio final rulemaking (61 FR 20458, May 7, 1996); and Tampa, Florida, 
final rulemaking (60 FR 62748, December 7, 1995). See also, the 
discussion on this issue in the Cincinnati, Ohio redesignation (65 FR 
at 37890, June 19, 2000), and in the Pittsburgh-Beaver Valley, 
Pennsylvania redesignation (66 FR at 53099, October 19, 2001).
    EPA has reviewed the West Virginia SIP and has concluded that it 
meets the general SIP requirements under section 110(a)(2) of the CAA 
to the extent they are applicable for purposes of redesignation. EPA 
has previously approved provisions of West Virginia's SIP addressing 
section 110(a)(2) requirements, including provisions addressing 
PM2.5. See (76 FR 47062, August 4, 2011). These requirements 
are, however, statewide requirements that are not linked to the 
PM2.5 nonattainment status of the Steubenville-Weirton Area. 
Therefore, EPA believes that these SIP elements are not applicable 
requirements for purposes of review of the State's PM2.5 
redesignation requests.
b. Subpart 4 Requirements
    Subpart 1 sets forth the basic nonattainment plan requirements 
applicable to PM2.5 nonattainment areas. Under section 172, 
states with nonattainment areas must submit plans providing for timely 
attainment and must meet a variety of other requirements.
    The General Preamble for Implementation of Title I discusses the 
evaluation of these requirements in the context of EPA's consideration 
of a redesignation request. The General Preamble sets forth EPA's view 
of applicable requirements for purposes of evaluating redesignation 
requests when an area is attaining the standard. See (57 FR 13498, 
April 16, 1992).
    On June 24, 2009, WVDEP submitted an attainment plan for the West 
Virginia portion of the Steubenville-Weirton Area for the 1997 annual 
PM2.5 NAAQS, which included a 2002 comprehensive emissions 
inventory. As mentioned previously, on September 14, 2011 (76 FR 
56641), EPA made a determination that the Steubenville-Weirton Area had 
attained the 1997 annual PM2.5 NAAQS. This determination of 
attainment was based upon complete, quality-assured and certified 
ambient air quality monitoring data for the period of 2007-2009 showing 
that the entire Area had attained the standard by its applicable 
attainment date of April 5, 2010, and 2008-2010 data showing that the 
Area continued to attain the standard. In a separate rulemaking action 
dated May 14, 2012 (77 FR 28264), EPA made a determination of 
attainment for the Steubenville-Weirton Area for the 2006 24-hour 
PM2.5 NAAQS, based on quality-assured and certified ambient 
air quality monitoring data for the period of 2008-2010.
    Pursuant to 40 CFR 51.2004(c), upon these determinations by EPA 
that the Area has attained the 1997 annual and 2006 24-hour 
PM2.5 NAAQS, the requirement for West Virginia to submit for 
the Steubenville-Weirton Area an attainment demonstration and 
associated RACM, a RFP plan, contingency measures, and other planning 
SIPs related to the attainment of the 1997 annual and the 2006 24-hour 
PM2.5 NAAQS are suspended until the Area is redesignated to 
attainment for each standard or EPA determines that the Area has again 
violated any of the standards, at which time such plans are required to 
be submitted. Thus, because attainment has been reached for the Area 
for the 1997 annual and 2006 24-hour PM2.5 NAAQS and the 
Area continues to attain both standards, no additional measures are 
needed to provide for attainment. Therefore, the requirements of 
section 172(c)(1), 172(c)(2), 172(c)(6), and 172(c)(9) are no longer 
considered to be applicable for purposes of redesignation of the Area 
for both standards.
    Section 172(c)(4) of the CAA requires the identification and 
quantification of allowable emissions for major new and modified 
stationary sources in an area, and section 172(c)(5) requires source 
permits for the construction and operation of new and modified major 
stationary sources anywhere in the nonattainment area. EPA has 
determined that, since PSD requirements will apply after redesignation, 
areas being redesignated need not comply with the requirement that a 
nonattainment NSR program be approved prior to redesignation, provided 
that the area demonstrates maintenance of the NAAQS without part D NSR. 
A more detailed rationale for this view is described in a memorandum 
from Mary Nichols, Asssistant Administrator for Air and Radiation, 
dated October 14, 1994, entitled, ``Part D New Source Review 
Requirements for Areas Requesting Redesignation to Attainment.'' 
Nevertheless, West Virginia currently has an approved NSR program, 
codified in the State's regulation at 45 CSR 19. See (71 FR 64468, 
November 2, 2006) (approving nonattainment NSR program into the SIP) 
and (77 FR 63736, October 17, 2012) (approving revisions to West 
Virginia's PSD program). However, the State's PSD program for 
PM2.5 will become effective in the Steubenville-Weirton Area 
upon redesignation to attainment.
    Section 172(c)(7) of the CAA requires the SIP to meet the 
applicable provisions of section 110(a)(2). As noted previously, we 
believe the West Virginia SIP meets the requirements of section 
110(a)(2) that are applicable for purposes of redesignation.
    As a result of EPA's determinations of attainment of the Area for 
the 1997 annual and 2006 24-hour PM2.5 NAAQS, respectively, 
the only remaining requirement under section 172 to be considered for 
each of the PM2.5 standards is the comprehensive emissions 
inventory required under section 172(c)(3). Section 172(c)(3) of the 
CAA requires submission of a comprehensive, accurate, and current 
inventory of actual emissions. For purposes of the PM2.5 
NAAQS, this emissions inventory should address not only direct 
emissions of PM2.5, but also emissions of all precursors 
with the potential to participate in PM2.5 formation, i.e., 
SO2, NOX, VOC and ammonia.
    The June 24, 2009 submittal is relevant to this proposed action to 
redesignate the West Virginia portion of the Area only with respect to 
the comprehensive emissions inventory requirement of section 172(c)(3) 
for the 1997 annual PM2.5 standard. On April 16, 2013 (78 FR 
22423), EPA approved the 2002 comprehensive emissions inventory 
included in the attainment plan for the 1997 annual PM2.5 
NAAQS, to meet the requirement of section 172(c)(3) for this standard. 
The 2002 comprehensive emissions inventory for the 1997 annual 
PM2.5 standard includes emissions estimates that cover the 
general source categories of point sources, area sources, onroad mobile 
sources, and nonroad mobile sources. The pollutants that comprise the 
2002 emissions inventory are PM2.5, NOX, 
SO2, VOC, and ammonia. An evaluation of West Virginia's 2002 
comprehensive emissions inventory for the West Virginia portion of the 
Area is provided in the Technical Support Document (TSD) prepared by 
EPA for the

[[Page 73779]]

rulemaking action. See Docket ID No. EPA-R03-OAR-2012-0369.
    To satisfy the 172(c)(3) requirement for the 2006 24-hour 
PM2.5 standard, in the June 8, 2012 submittal West Virginia 
requested approval of the 2005 and 2008 comprehensive emissions 
inventories submitted with its maintenance plan. On June 24, 2013, 
WVDEP supplemented its June 8, 2012 submittal with 2008 emissions 
inventories for ammonia and VOC. The entire 2008 emissions inventory is 
the most current accurate and comprehensive emissions inventory of 
direct PM2.5, NOX, SO2, VOC, and 
ammonia for the Area. Thus, as part of this rulemaking action, EPA is 
proposing to approve West Virginia's 2008 comprehensive emissions 
inventory for the 2006 24-hour PM2.5 NAAQS as satisfying the 
requirement of section 172(c)(3) of the CAA for this standard. Final 
approval of the 2008 base year emissions inventory will satisfy the 
emissions inventory requirement under section 172(c)(3) of the CAA for 
the 2006 24-hour PM2.5 NAAQS.
    The entire 2008 comprehensive emissions inventory addresses the 
general source categories of point sources, area sources, onroad mobile 
sources, and nonroad mobile sources. A summary of the 2008 
comprehensive emissions inventory is provided in Table 3. EPA has 
reviewed the documentation provided by WVDEP and found the 2008 
emissions inventory to be approvable. For more information on EPA's 
analysis of the 2008 emissions inventory, see EPA's TSDs dated August 
29, 2013, available in the docket for this rulemaking action at 
www.regulations.gov. See Docket ID No. EPA-R03-OAR-2013-0498.

Table 3--Summary of 2008 Comprehensive Emissions Inventory for the Entire Steubenville-Weirton Area, in Tons per
                                                   Year (TPY)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
             Sector                Direct PM2.5         NOX             SO2            VOC *         Ammonia *
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Point...........................           2,092          38,843         137,669           1,308              94
Area............................             593           1,480             582           1,655             231
Nonroad.........................              40             496               7             739            0.49
Onroad..........................              89           2,530              10           1,924             114
                                 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Total.......................           2,814          43,349         138,268           5,626             439
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* VOC and ammonia emissions were supplemented by WVDEP from EPA's 2008 NEI v.1.5.

    Section 175A requires a state seeking redesignation to attainment 
to submit a SIP revision to provide for the maintenance of the NAAQS in 
the area ``for at least 10 years after the redesignation.'' In 
conjunction with its request to redesignate the West Virginia portion 
of the Area to attainment status, West Virginia submitted SIP revisions 
to provide for maintenance of the 1997 annual and 2006 24-hour 
PM2.5 NAAQS in the West Virginia portion of the Area for at 
least 10 years after redesignation, throughout 2025. West Virginia is 
requesting that EPA approve this SIP revision as meeting the 
requirement of CAA section 175A. Once approved, the maintenance plans 
for the West Virginia portion of the Area will ensure that the SIP for 
West Virginia meets the requirements of the CAA regarding maintenance 
of the 1997 annual and 2006 24-hour PM2.5 NAAQS for the West 
Virginia portion of the Area. EPA's analysis of the maintenance plans 
is provided in section V.B. of this document.
    Section 176(c) of the CAA requires states to establish criteria and 
procedures to ensure that Federally supported or funded projects 
conform to the air quality planning goals in the applicable SIP. The 
requirement to determine conformity applies to transportation plans, 
programs, and projects that are developed, funded or approved under 
title 23 of the United States Code (U.S.C.) and the Federal Transit Act 
(transportation conformity) as well as to all other Federally supported 
or funded projects (general conformity). State transportation 
conformity SIP revisions must be consistent with Federal conformity 
regulations relating to consultation, enforcement and enforceability 
which EPA promulgated pursuant to its authority under the CAA. EPA 
interprets the conformity SIP requirements as not applying for purposes 
of evaluating a redesignation request under CAA section 107(d) because 
state conformity rules are still required after redesignation, and 
Federal conformity rules apply where state rules have not been 
approved. See Wall v. EPA, 265 F. 3d 426 (6th Cir. 2001) (upholding 
this interpretation) and (60 FR 62748, December 7, 1995) (discussing 
Tampa, Florida).
    Thus, for purposes of redesignating to attainment the Steubenville-
Weirton Area for the 1997 annual PM2.5 NAAQS, EPA determines 
that West Virginia has met all the applicable SIP requirements under 
part D of Title I of the CAA. EPA also determines that upon final 
approval of the 2008 comprehensive emissions inventory as proposed in 
this rulemaking action, West Virginia will also meet all the applicable 
SIP requirements under part D of Title I of the CAA for purposes of 
redesignating the Area to attainment for the 2006 24-hour 
PM2.5 NAAQS.
c. The West Virginia Portion of the Area Has a Fully Approved 
Applicable SIP Under Section 110(k) of the CAA
    For purposes of redesignation to attainment for the 1997 annual 
PM2.5 NAAQS, EPA has fully approved all applicable 
requirements of West Virginia's SIP for the Area in accordance with 
section 110(k) of the CAA. Upon final approval of the 2008 
comprehensive emissions inventory as proposed in this rulemaking 
action, EPA will have fully approved all applicable requirements of 
West Virginia's SIP for the Area for purposes of redesignation to 
attainment for the 2006 24-hour PM2.5 NAAQS in accordance 
with section 110(k) of the CAA.
3. Permanent and Enforceable Reductions in Emissions
    For redesignating a nonattainment area to attainment, section 
107(d)(3)(E)(iii) requires EPA to determine that the air quality 
improvement in the area is due to permanent and enforceable reductions 
in emissions resulting from implementation of the SIP and applicable 
Federal air pollution control regulations and other permanent and 
enforceable reductions. In making this demonstration, West Virginia has 
calculated the change in emissions between 2005, a year showing 
nonattainment for both the 1997 and 2006 PM2.5 standards in 
the Steubenville-Weirton Area, and 2008, one of the years for which the

[[Page 73780]]

Steubenville-Weirton Area monitored attainment for both standards. A 
summary of the emissions reductions for PM2.5, 
NOX, and SO2 from 2005 to 2008 submitted by WVDEP 
for the Steubenville-Weirton Area is provided in Table 4. For more 
information on EPA's analysis of the 2005 and 2008 emissions inventory, 
see EPA's TSDs dated August 24, 2012 and August 29, 2013, available in 
the docket for this rulemaking action at www.regulations.gov.

 Table 4--Emission Reductions of Direct PM2.5 From 2005 to 2008 in the Entire Steubenville-Weirton Area, in Tons
                                                 per Year (TPY)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                                    Net change
                                                 Sector                2005            2008          2005-2008
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Direct PM2.5..........................  Point--EGU..............           1,308           1,373              65
                                        Point--Non-EGU..........             799             719             -80
                                        Area....................             632             563             -69
                                        Locomotive/Marine.......              51              30             -21
                                        Nonroad.................              45              40              -5
                                        Onroad..................             111              89             -22
                                       -------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                           Total................           2,946           2,814            -132
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NOX...................................  Point--EGU..............          41,047          35,487          -5,560
                                        Point--Non-EGU..........           3,866           3,356            -510
                                        Area....................           2,010             531          -1,479
                                        Locomotive/Marine.......           1,458             949            -509
                                        Nonroad.................             575             496             -79
                                        Onroad..................           3,129           2,530            -599
                                       -------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                           Total................          52,083          43,349          -8,736
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SO2...................................  Point--EGU..............         225,595         135,507         -90,088
                                        Point--Non-EGU..........           2,951           2,162            -789
                                        Area....................           1,007             523            -484
                                        Locomotive/Marine.......              79              59             -20
                                        Nonroad.................              39               7             -32
                                        Onroad..................              32              10             -22
                                       -------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                           Total................         229,703         138,268         -91,436
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The reduction in emissions and the corresponding improvement in air 
quality from 2005 to 2008 in the Steubenville-Weirton Area can be 
attributed to a number of regulatory control measures that have been 
implemented in the Area and contributing areas in recent years.
a. Federal Measures Implemented
    Reductions in PM2.5 precursors emissions have occurred 
statewide and in upwind states as a result of Federal emission control 
measures, with additional emission reductions expected to occur in the 
future.
    The Tier 2 Emission Standards for Vehicles and Gasoline Sulfur 
Standards (Tier 2 Standards) have resulted in lower NOX and 
SO2 emissions from new cars and light duty trucks, including 
sport-utility vehicles. These Federal rules were phased in between 2004 
and 2009. EPA has estimated that, after phasing in the new 
requirements, new vehicles emit less NOX in the following 
percentages: Passenger cars (light duty vehicles)--77 percent (%); 
light duty trucks, minivans, and sports utility vehicles--86%; and, 
larger sports utility vehicles, vans, and heavier trucks--69-95%. EPA 
expects fleet wide average emissions to decline by similar percentages 
as new vehicles replace older vehicles. The Tier 2 Standards also 
reduced the sulfur content of gasoline to 30 parts per million (ppm) 
beginning in January 2006, up to a 90 percent reduction.
    EPA issued the Heavy-Duty Diesel Engine Rule in July 2000. This 
rule includes standards limiting the sulfur content of diesel fuel, 
which went into effect in 2004. A second phase took effect in 2007 
which reduced fine particulate emissions from heavy-duty highway 
engines and further reduced the highway diesel fuel sulfur content to 
15 parts per million (ppm). The total program is estimated to achieve a 
90% reduction in direct PM2.5 emissions and a 95% reduction 
in NOX emissions for these new engines using low sulfur 
diesel, compared to existing engines using higher sulfur diesel fuel. 
The reduction in fuel sulfur content also yielded an immediate 
reduction in particulate sulfate emissions from all diesel vehicles.
    In May 2004, EPA promulgated the Nonroad Diesel Rule for large 
nonroad diesel engines, such as those used in construction, 
agriculture, and mining, to be phased in between 2008 and 2014. This 
rule reduces the sulfur content in nonroad diesel fuel by over 99%. 
Prior to 2006, nonroad diesel fuel averaged approximately 3,400 ppm 
sulfur. This rule limited nonroad diesel sulfur content to 500 ppm by 
2006, with a further reduction to 15 ppm by 2010.
b. State and Local Measures
    The Area's air quality is affected by regulation of SO2 
and NOX from power plants (i.e., stationary sources 
containing electric generating units (EGUs)). There are two affected 
EGU sources in Jefferson County (the Ohio portion of the Area): W.H. 
Sammis Power Plant and Cardinal Power Plant.
    EPA issued the NOX SIP Call in 1998 to require 22 states 
and the District of Columbia to reduce NOX emissions from 
large EGUs and large non-EGUs such as industrial boilers, internal 
combustion engines, and cement kilns. See (63 FR 57356, October 27, 
1998). EPA approved West Virginia's Phase I NOX SIP Call 
rule on May 10, 2002 (67 FR 31733) and its Phase II rule on September 
28, 2006 (71 FR 56881). West Virginia's NOX SIP Call rules 
established West Virginia's

[[Page 73781]]

NOX Budget Trading Program and set forth requirements for 
its non-trading sources, respectively. The former enabled West Virginia 
to participate in the EPA-administered regional NOX Budget 
Trading Program under the NOX SIP Call. The emission 
reductions resulting from regulations developed in response to the 
NOX SIP Call are permanent and enforceable.
    On March 10, 2005, EPA issued CAIR, which applies to 27 eastern 
states and the District of Columbia. CAIR relied on 3 separate cap-and-
trade programs to reduce SO2 and NOX emissions. 
On August 4, 2009 (74 FR 38536), EPA approved West Virginia's CAIR 
rules into the West Virginia SIP. West Virginia's NOX SIP 
Call requirements were subsumed by the State's CAIR ozone season 
NOX trading program. On August 8, 2011, EPA promulgated 
CSAPR (76 FR 48208), to replace CAIR, which has been in place since 
2005. The D.C. Circuit initially vacated CAIR, North Carolina v. EPA, 
531 F.3d 896 (D.C. Cir. 2008), but ultimately remanded the rule to EPA 
without vacatur to preserve the environmental benefits provided by 
CAIR, North Carolina v. EPA, 550 F.3d 1176, 1178 (D.C. Cir. 2008). On 
August 21, 2012, the D.C. Circuit issued a decision to vacate CSAPR. In 
that decision, it also ordered EPA to continue administering CAIR 
``pending the promulgation of a valid replacement.'' EME Homer City, 
696 F.3d at 38.
    As noted earlier, EPA believes it is appropriate to allow states to 
rely on the existing emissions reductions achieved by CAIR, as 
sufficiently permanent and enforceable pending a valid replacement 
rule, for purposes such as a redesignation. CAIR was in place and thus 
getting emission reductions when the Steubenville-Weirton Area 
monitored attainment of the 1997 annual and 2006 24-hour 
PM2.5 NAAQS. The monitoring data used to demonstrate the 
Area's attainment of the 1997 annual and 2006 24-hour PM2.5 
NAAQS was impacted by CAIR. EPA finds West Virginia appropriately 
included CAIR as a control measure in this SIP revision.
    Also, a Federal consent decree with the Ohio Edison Company (OHECo) 
required significant emissions reductions of NOX and 
SO2 from seven EGUs at the Sammis Power Station in Jefferson 
County, Ohio. The Federal consent decree established in the Sammis 
Power Station a plant-wide annual emissions limit (PAL) of 
NOX that started on 2005 at 11,371 tons and continued on 
2012 and every year thereafter at 11,863 tons, and a declining PAL of 
SO2 that started on 2005 at 58,000 tons and leveled on 2011 
and every year thereafter at 29,900 tons. From 2005 to 2011, the 
consent decree also established various control measures that consist 
of the installation and continuous operation of various pollution 
control units at each EGU when combusting fossil fuels, including: 
Selective catalytic reduction (SCR), selective non-catalytic reduction 
(SNCR), low NOX burners, overfired air, and advanced 
combustion control optimization to reduce NOX emissions; and 
induct scrubbers, flash dry absorbers, and flue gas desulfurization 
(FGD) systems for reducing SO2 emissions. In 2003, the 
Sammis Power Station emitted 40,430 tons of NOX and 164,400 
tons of SO2. As a result of the control measures established 
by the consent decree, the Sammis Power Station reduced NOX 
emissions by 28,567 tpy by 2007 (42 percent reduction from 2003), and 
SO2 emissions by 134,500 tpy by 2012 (82 percent reduction 
from 2003).
    Additional controls have and will be installed on the Cardinal 
Power Plant, a coal-fired power plant also located in Jefferson County 
that consists of three EGUs, each with approximately a nominal net 
capacity of 600 megawatts (MW). As a result of the American Electric 
Plant (AEP) Federal consent decree, the Cardinal Power Plant was 
required to install and continuously operate SCR systems on each EGU to 
control NOX emissions starting in January 2009, and FGD 
systems to reduce SO2 emissions on Units 1 and 2 by December 
2008 and Unit 3 by December 2012. The Federal consent decree also 
achieves direct particulate matter emissions reductions by establishing 
new emissions rates to each EGU to be achieved by December 2009, and by 
optimizing the operation of the existing electrostatic precipitators 
(ESPs). EPA believes that West Virginia has adequately demonstrated 
that the observed air quality improvement in the West Virginia portion 
of the Area is due to permanent and enforceable reductions in emissions 
resulting from implementation of the SIP, Federal measures, and other 
State-adopted measures.

B. Maintenance Plans

    On April 12, 2012 and June 8, 2012, WVDEP submitted maintenance 
plans for the 1997 annual and 2006 24-hour PM2.5 NAAQS, 
respectively, as required by section 175A of the CAA. EPA's analysis 
for proposing approval of the maintenance plans is provided in this 
section.
1. Attainment Emissions Inventory
    An attainment inventory is comprised of the emissions during the 
time period associated with the monitoring data showing attainment. 
WVDEP determined that the appropriate attainment inventory year for the 
maintenance plans of both standards is 2008, one of the years in the 
periods during which the Steubenville-Weirton Area monitored attainment 
of the 1997 annual and the 2006 24-hour PM2.5 NAAQS, 
respectively, as described previously. The 2008 inventory included in 
the maintenance plans contains primary PM2.5 emissions 
(including condensables), SO2, and NOX. The same 
inventory and supporting documentation was provided in the maintenance 
plans for 2008.
    WVDEP used data from the 2008 annual emissions inventory submitted 
to EPA's National Emissions Inventory (NEI) database and EPA's Clean 
Air Markets Division (CAMD) database to compile their inventory. For 
the 2008 area (non-point) source inventory, WVDEP used the 2008 NEI 
v1.5 data developed by EPA. Commercial marine vessels and locomotive 
emissions were taken from the 2008 NEI v1.5. The nonroad mobile sources 
emissions were generated using EPA's NONROAD model. The 2008 onroad 
mobile source inventory was developed using the most current version of 
EPA's highway mobile source emissions model at the time, MOVES2010a. 
The Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) and the Wood-Washington-
Wirt Interstate Planning Commission performed the onroad mobile source 
analysis in coordination with the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency 
(Ohio EPA) and WVDEP, with additional data provided by Ohio EPA, West 
Virginia Department of Transportation (WVDOT) and WVDEP. The 
maintenance plans also included Ohio's 2008 emissions inventory for the 
Ohio portion of the Area. This inventory include estimates for EGU 
point, non-EGU point, nonroad, area, marine, aircraft, and rail, and 
onroad mobile sources for emissions of PM2.5, 
NOX, and SO2.
    EPA has reviewed the documentation provided by WVDEP and found the 
2008 emissions inventory submitted with the maintenance plans to be 
approvable. For more information on EPA's analysis of the 2008 
emissions inventory, see EPA's TSDs dated August 24, 2012 and August 
29, 2013, available in the docket for this rulemaking action at 
www.regulations.gov.

[[Page 73782]]

2. Maintenance Demonstration
    Section 175A requires a state seeking redesignation to attainment 
to submit a SIP revision to provide for the maintenance of the NAAQS in 
the area ``for at least 10 years after the redesignation.'' EPA has 
interpreted this as a showing of maintenance ``for a period of ten 
years following redesignation.'' Where the emissions inventory method 
of showing maintenance is used, its purpose is to show that emissions 
during the maintenance period will not increase over the attainment 
year inventory. See 1992 Calcagni Memorandum, pages 9-10.
    For a demonstration of maintenance, emissions inventories are 
required to be projected to future dates to assess the influence of 
future growth and controls; however, the demonstration need not be 
based on modeling. See Wall v. EPA, supra; Sierra Club v. EPA, supra. 
See also 66 FR 53099-53100 and 68 FR 25430-32. WVDEP uses projection 
inventories to show that the West Virginia portion of the Area will 
remain in attainment and developed projection inventories for an 
interim year of 2015 and a maintenance plan end year of 2025 to show 
that future emissions of NOX, SO2, and direct 
PM2.5 will remain at or below the attainment year 2008 
emissions levels throughout the West Virginia portion of the Area 
through the year 2025.
    EPA has reviewed the documentation provided by WVDEP for developing 
annual 2015 and 2025 emissions inventories for the West Virginia 
portion of the Area. Emissions estimates for 2015 and 2025 for non-EGU 
point and area sources were grown from the 2008 inventory using 
Workforce West Virginia economic forecasts (WV Workforce). There are no 
EGUs located in the WV portion of the Area. Locomotive and marine 
emissions for 2015 and 2025 were also based on the 2008 inventory using 
Workforce WV economic forecasts. The WV Workforce projections were 
selected because they relied more on local data and provided more 
coverage of various categories and a wider range of years based on 2008 
emissions data. Nonroad mobile source emissions estimates for 2015 and 
2025 were developed using monthly NONROAD model runs and summarizations 
of monthly data to obtain annual data values. Onroad mobile emissions 
for 2015 and 2025 were calculated from the emissions factors produced 
by MOVES2010a, as performed by ODOT.
    EPA has determined that the 2015 and 2025 projected emissions 
inventories provided by WVDEP are approvable. For more information on 
EPA's analysis of the emissions inventories, see EPA's TSDs dated 
August 24, 2012 and August 29, 2013, available in the docket for this 
rulemaking action at www.regulations.gov. The maintenance plans also 
included Ohio's emissions inventories for the Ohio portion of the Area 
for 2015 and 2025. These inventories include estimates for EGU point, 
non-EGU point, nonroad, area, marine, aircraft, and rail, and onroad 
mobile sources for emissions of PM2.5, NOX, and 
SO2.
    Tables 5, 6, and 7 provide a summary of the emissions inventories 
for the entire Steubenville-Weirton Area for the 2008 attainment year, 
the 2015 interim year, and the 2025 maintenance plan end year. The 
inventories show that, between 2008 and 2025, the Area is projected to 
reduce direct PM2.5 emissions by 116 tpy, NOX 
emissions by 25,816 tpy and SO2 emissions by 90,823 tpy. 
Thus, the projected emissions inventories show that the West Virginia 
portion of the Steubenville-Weirton Area will continue to maintain the 
1997 annual and 2006 24-hour PM2.5 standards during the 
maintenance period. In addition, EPA has evaluated ammonia and VOC 
emissions of the Area for the maintenance demonstration, and such 
evaluation is addressed on section V.B.6. of this notice.

 Table 5--Comparison of 2008, 2015, and 2025 Emissions of Direct PM2.5 for the Entire Steubenville-Weirton Area,
                                             in Tons per Year (TPY)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                           Direct PM2.5
                                                ----------------------------------------------------------------
                     Sector                                                              Net change   Net change
                                                     2008         2015         2025      2008-2015    2008-2025
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Point--EGU.....................................        1,373        1,405        1,450           32           77
Point--Non-EGU.................................          719          677          630          -42          -89
Area...........................................          563          556          552           -7          -11
Locomotive/Marine..............................           30           27           23           -3           -7
Nonroad........................................           40           29           18          -11          -22
Onroad.........................................           89           45           25          -44          -64
                                                ----------------------------------------------------------------
    Total......................................        2,814        2,741        2,698          -75         -116
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


 Table 6--Comparison of 2008, 2015, and 2025 Emissions of NOX for the Entire Steubenville-Weirton Area, in Tons
                                                 per Year (TPY)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                               NOX
                                                ----------------------------------------------------------------
                     Sector                                                              Net change   Net change
                                                     2008         2015         2025      2008-2015    2008-2025
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Point--EGU.....................................       35,487       19,488       12,632      -15,999      -22,855
Point--Non-EGU.................................        3,356        3,206        3,006         -150         -350
Area...........................................          531          527          523           -4           -8
Locomotive/Marine..............................          949          854          729          -95         -220
Nonroad........................................          496          294          207         -202         -289
Onroad.........................................        2,530        1,194          437       -1,336       -2,093
                                                ----------------------------------------------------------------
    Total......................................       43,349       25,563       17,533      -17,786      -25,815
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


[[Page 73783]]


 Table 7--Comparison of 2008, 2015, and 2025 Emissions of SO2 for the Entire Steubenville-Weirton Area, in Tons
                                                 per Year (TPY)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                               SO2
                                                ----------------------------------------------------------------
                     Sector                                                              Net change   Net change
                                                     2008         2015         2025      2008-2015    2008-2025
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Point--EGU.....................................      135,507       72,203       45,073      -63,304      -90,434
Point--Non-EGU.................................        2,162        2,049        1,867         -113         -295
Area...........................................          523          502          459          -21          -64
Locomotive/Marine..............................           59           51           39           -8          -20
Nonroad........................................            7            1            1           -6           -6
Onroad.........................................           10            7            6           -3           -4
                                                ----------------------------------------------------------------
    Total......................................      138,268       74,813       47,446      -63,455      -90,823
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

3. Monitoring Network
    West Virginia's maintenance plans include a commitment to continue 
to operate its EPA-approved monitoring network, as necessary to 
demonstrate ongoing compliance with the 1997 annual and 2006 24-hour 
PM2.5 NAAQS. There are five PM2.5 monitors in the 
Steubenville-Weirton Area: Two monitors in Brooke County and one in 
Hancock County, West Virginia, and two monitors in Jefferson County, 
Ohio. WVDEP will consult with EPA prior to making any necessary changes 
to the PM2.5 monitoring network and will continue to quality 
assure the monitoring data in accordance with the requirements of 40 
CFR part 58.
4. Verification of Continued Attainment
    To provide for tracking of the emission levels in the West Virginia 
portion of the Area, WVDEP requires major point sources to submit air 
emissions information annually and prepares a new periodic inventory 
for all PM2.5 precursors every three years in accordance 
with EPA's Air Emissions Reporting Requirements (AERR). Emissions 
information will be compared to the attainment year inventory (2008) to 
assure continued attainment with the 1997 annual and 2006 24-hour 
PM2.5 NAAQS and will be used to assess emissions trends, as 
necessary.
5. Contingency Measures
    The contingency plan provisions are designed to promptly correct a 
violation of either the 1997 annual or the 2006 24-hour 
PM2.5 NAAQS that occurs in the Area after redesignation. 
Section 175A of the CAA requires that a maintenance plan include such 
contingency measures as EPA deems necessary to ensure that West 
Virginia will promptly correct a violation of either the 1997 annual or 
the 2006 24-hour PM2.5 NAAQS that occurs in the Area after 
redesignation. The maintenance plan should identify the events that 
would ``trigger'' the adoption and implementation of a contingency 
measure(s), the contingency measure(s) that would be adopted and 
implemented, and the schedule indicating the time frame by which the 
state would adopt and implement the measure(s).
    West Virginia's maintenance plans outline the procedures for the 
adoption and implementation of contingency measures to further reduce 
emissions should a violation occur. West Virginia's contingency 
measures include a warning level response and an action level response. 
An initial warning level response is triggered for the 1997 annual 
PM2.5 NAAQS when the PM2.5 average of the 
weighted annual mean for a single calendar year exceeds 15.5 [micro]g/
m\3\ within the Steubenville-Weirton Area. An initial warning level 
response is triggered for the 2006 24-hour PM2.5 NAAQS when 
the 98th percentile 24-hour PM2.5 concentration for a single 
calendar year exceeds 35.5 [micro]g/m\3\ within the Area. In the case 
of triggering a warning level, a study will be conducted to determine 
if the emissions trends show increasing concentrations of 
PM2.5, and whether this trend, if any, is likely to 
continue. If it is determined through the study that action is 
necessary to reverse emissions increases, West Virginia will follow the 
same procedures for control selection and implementation as for an 
action level response, and implementation of necessary controls will 
take place as expeditiously as possible, but no later than 12 months 
from the end of the most recent calendar year.
    For the 1997 annual PM2.5 NAAQS, the action level 
response will be prompted by any one of the following: (1) A warning 
level response study showing emissions increases; (2) a two-year 
average of the weighted annual mean of 15.0 [micro]g/m\3\ or greater 
occurs within the Area; or (3) a violation of the standard occurs in 
the Area (i.e. a three-year average of the weighted annual means of 
15.0 [micro]g/m\3\ or greater). For the 2006 24-hour PM2.5 
NAAQS, the action level response will be prompted by any one of the 
following: (1) A warning level response study showing emissions 
increases; (2) a two-year average of the 98th percentile of 35 
[micro]g/m\3\ or greater within the Area; or (3) a violation of the 
standard occurs in the Area (i.e. a three-year average of the 98th 
percentile of 35 [micro]g/m\3\ or greater). If an action level response 
is triggered for any of the standards, West Virginia will adopt and 
implement appropriate control measures within 18 months from the end of 
the year in which monitored air quality triggering a response occurs. 
West Virginia will also consider whether additional regulations that 
are not a part of the maintenance plan can be implemented in a timely 
manner to respond to the trigger.
    West Virginia commits to adopt and expeditiously implement the 
necessary corrective actions. West Virginia's potential contingency 
measures include the following: (1) Diesel reduction emission 
strategies; (2) alternative fuels and diesel retrofit programs for 
fleet vehicle operations; (3) PM2.5, SO2, and 
NOX emissions offsets for new and modified major sources; 
(4) concrete manufacturing controls; and (5) additional NOX 
reductions. Additionally, West Virginia has identified a list of 
sources that could potentially be controlled, including: Industrial, 
commercial and institutional (ICI) boilers for SO2 and 
NOX controls, EGUs, process heaters, internal combustion 
engines, combustion turbines, other sources greater than 100 tons per 
year, fleet vehicles, and aggregate processing plants.
6. EPA's Evaluation of VOC and Ammonia Precursors in West Virginia's 
Maintenance Plans
    With regard to the redesignation of the West Virginia portion of 
the Steubenville Weirton Area in evaluating the effect of the Court's 
remand of EPA's

[[Page 73784]]

1997 PM2.5 Implementation Rule, which included presumptions 
against consideration of VOC and ammonia as PM2.5 
precursors, EPA in this proposal is also considering the impact of the 
decision on the maintenance plan required under sections 175A and 
107(d)(3)(E)(iv). To begin with, EPA notes that the area has attained 
both the 1997 annual and 2006 24-hour PM2.5 standard and 
that West Virginia has shown that attainment of these standards is due 
to permanent and enforceable emission reductions.
    EPA proposes to determine that the West Virginia's maintenance plan 
shows continued maintenance of the 1997 annual and 2006 24-hour 
PM2.5 standards by tracking the levels of the precursors 
whose control brought about attainment of the standards in the 
Steubenville-Weirton Area. EPA, therefore, believes that the only 
additional consideration related to the maintenance plan requirements 
that results from the Court's January 4, 2013 decision is that of 
assessing the potential role of VOC and ammonia in demonstrating 
continued maintenance in this Area. As explained subsequently, based 
upon documentation provided by the State and supporting information, 
EPA believes that the maintenance plan for the West Virginia portion of 
the Area need not include any additional emission reductions of VOC or 
ammonia in order to provide for continued maintenance of the 1997 
annual and the 2006 24-hour PM2.5 NAAQS.
    First, as noted previously in EPA's discussion of section 189(e), 
VOC emission levels in the Steubenville-Weirton Area have historically 
been well-controlled under SIP requirements related to ozone and other 
pollutants. Second, total ammonia emissions throughout the 
Steubenville-Weirton Area are low, especially when comparing in 
comparison to the total amounts of SO2, NOX, and 
even direct PM2.5 emissions from sources in the Area.
    West Virginia's maintenance plan shows that significant emissions 
of direct PM2.5, NOX, and SO2 are 
projected to decrease by 116 tpy, 25,816 tpy, and 90, 823 tpy, 
respectively, over the maintenance period in the Area. See Tables 5-7. 
In addition, emissions inventories used in the regulatory impact 
analysis (RIA) for the 2012 PM2.5 NAAQS \12\ show that VOC 
emissions in the Area are projected to decrease by 1,405 tpy between 
2007 and 2020. Ammonia emissions are projected to increase by 150 tpy 
between 2007 and 2020; however this increase is not significant when 
compared with the emissions reductions projected for the other 
precursors. See Table 8. Given that the Steubenville-Weirton Area is 
already attaining the 1997 annual and the 2006 24-hour PM2.5 
NAAQS even with the current level of emissions from sources in the 
Area, the downward trend of emissions inventories would be consistent 
with continued attainment. Indeed, projected emissions reductions for 
the precursors that West Virginia is addressing for purposes of the 
1997 annual and 2006 24-hour PM2.5 NAAQS indicate that the 
Area should continue to attain both standards following the precursor 
control strategy that the State has already elected to pursue. Even if 
VOC and ammonia emissions were to increase unexpectedly between 2007 
and 2025, the overall emissions reductions projected between 2008 and 
2025 of direct PM2.5, NOX and SO2 
would be sufficient to offset any increases. For these reasons, EPA 
believes that local emissions of all of the potential PM2.5 
precursors will not increase to the extent that they will cause 
monitored PM2.5 levels to violate either the 1997 annual or 
2006 24-hour PM2.5 standard during the maintenance period.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \12\ ``Review of the NAAQS for Particulate Matter--Regulatory 
Impact Analysis.'' Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2010-0955.

         Table 8--Comparison of 2007 and 2020 Emissions of VOC and Ammonia for the Entire Steubenville-Weirton Area, in Tons per Year (TPY) \13\
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                VOC                                           Ammonia
                                                         -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                         Sector                                                             Net change                                      Net change
                                                               2007            2020          2007-2020         2007            2020          2007-2020
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Point...................................................           1,316           1,491             175              94             271             177
Area....................................................           1,441           1,443               2             239             241               2
Nonroad.................................................             829             380            -449               1               1               0
Onroad..................................................           1,673             540          -1,133              56              27             -29
Fires...................................................              18              18               0               1               1               0
                                                         -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Total...............................................           5,276           3,872          -1,405             391             542             150
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

     
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \13\ These emissions estimates were taken from the emissions 
inventories developed for the RIA for the 2012 PM2.5 
NAAQS.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    In addition, available air quality modeling analyses show continued 
maintenance of the standard during the maintenance period. The current 
annual design value for the Area is 12.7 [mu]g/m\3\ and the current 24-
hour design value is 27 [mu]g/m\3\, based on preliminary 2010-2012 air 
quality data, which are well below the levels of the 1997 annual and 
2006 24-hour PM2.5 NAAQS. See Tables 1 and 2. Moreover, the 
modeling analysis conducted for the RIA for the 2012 PM2.5 
NAAQS indicates that the design values for the Steubenville-Weirton 
Area are expected to continue to decline through 2020. In the RIA 
analysis, the 2020 modeled annual design value for the Area is 9.3 
[mu]g/m\3\ and the 2020 24-hour design value is 23 [mu]g/m\3\.\14\ 
Given that most precursor emissions are projected to decrease through 
2025, it is reasonable to conclude that monitored PM2.5 
levels in the Area will also continue to decrease through 2025.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \14\ The 2020 projected PM2.5 design values are part 
of the RIA for the 2012 PM2.5 NAAQS.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Thus, EPA believes that there is ample justification to conclude 
that the West Virginia portion of the Steubenville-Weirton Area should 
be redesignated, even taking into consideration the emissions of other 
precursors potentially relevant to PM2.5. After 
consideration of the D.C. Circuit's January 4, 2013 decision, and for 
the reasons set forth in this notice, EPA proposes to approve West 
Virginia's maintenance plans and requests to redesignate its portion of 
the Steubenville-Weirton Area to attainment for the 1997 annual and 
2006 24-hour PM2.5 standards. This proposed approval is 
based on a showing that the West Virginia's maintenance plans provides 
for maintenance of both the

[[Page 73785]]

1997 annual and 2006 24-hour PM2.5 standards for at least 
ten years after redesignation, throughout 2025, in accordance with 
section 175A.

C. Transportation Conformity Insignificance Determinations

    Transportation conformity is required under section 176(c) of the 
CAA to ensure that Federally supported highway, transit projects, and 
other activities are consistent with (conform to) the purpose of the 
SIP. The CAA requires Federal actions in nonattainment and maintenance 
areas to ``conform to'' the goals of SIP. This means that such actions 
will not cause or contribute to violations of a NAAQS; worsen the 
severity of an existing violation; or delay timely attainment of any 
NAAQS or any interim milestone. Actions involving Federal Highway 
Administration (FHWA) or Federal Transit Administration (FTA) funding 
or approval are subject to the Transportation Conformity Rule (40 CFR 
part 93, subpart A). Under this rule, metropolitan planning 
organizations (MPOs) in nonattainment and maintenance areas coordinate 
with state air quality and transportation agencies, EPA, FHWA, and FTA 
to demonstrate that their metropolitan transportation plans and 
transportation improvement plans (TIPs) conform to applicable SIPs. 
This is typically determined by showing that estimated emissions from 
existing and planned highway and transit systems are less than or equal 
to the motor vehicle emissions budgets (MVEBs) contained in a SIP.
    For MVEBs to be approvable, they must meet, at a minimum, EPA's 
adequacy criteria found at 40 CFR 93.118(e)(4). However, in certain 
instances, the Transportation Conformity Rule allows areas to forgo 
establishment of a MVEB where it is demonstrated that the regional 
motor vehicle emissions for a particular pollutant or precursor are an 
insignificant contributor to the air quality problem in an area. The 
general criteria for insignificance determinations can be found in 40 
CFR 93.109(f). Insignificance determinations are based on a number of 
factors, including the percentage of motor vehicle emissions in the 
context of the total SIP inventory; the current state of air quality as 
determined by monitoring data for the relevant NAAQS; the absence of 
SIP motor vehicle control measures; and the historical trends and 
future projections of the growth of motor vehicle emissions. EPA's 
rationale for providing for insignificance determinations is described 
in the July 1, 2004, revision to the Transportation Conformity Rule at 
69 FR 40004. Specifically, the rationale is explained on page 40061 
under the subsection XXIII.B. entitled, ``Areas With Insignificant 
Motor Vehicle Emissions.''
    As part of the 1997 annual and the 2006 24-hour PM2.5 
NAAQS redesignation requests and maintenance plans, West Virginia is 
requesting that EPA finds that onroad emission of direct 
PM2.5 and NOX emissions for the Steubenville-
Weirton Area are insignificant for transportation conformity purposes. 
On August 15, 2013, EPA initiated an adequacy review of the findings of 
insignificance for both the 1997 annual and the 2006 24-hour 
PM2.5 NAAQS that West Virginia included in its redesignation 
submittals. As such, notices of the submission of these findings were 
posted on the adequacy Web site (http://epa.gov/otaq/stateresources/transconf/currsips.htm). The public comment period closed on September 
16, 2013. There were no public comments. EPA is acting on making these 
adequacy findings final through a separate notice of adequacy. 
Consistent with EPA's adequacy review of West Virginia's redesignation 
requests and maintenance plans and EPA's thorough review of the entire 
SIP submissions, EPA is proposing to approve West Virginia's 
insignificance determinations for the onroad motor vehicle contribution 
of PM2.5 and NOX emissions to the overall 
PM2.5 emissions for the 1997 annual and the 2006 24-hour 
PM2.5 NAAQS for the Steubenville-Weirton Area.
    Because EPA finds that West Virginia's submittals meet the criteria 
in the Transportation Conformity Rule for insignificance findings for 
motor vehicle emissions of PM2.5 and NOX in the 
Steubenville-Weirton Area, it is not necessary to establish 
PM2.5 and NOX MVEBs for the Area. EPA finds that 
the submittals demonstrate that PM2.5 and NOX, 
regional motor vehicle emissions are insignificant contributors to the 
annual and daily PM2.5 air quality in the Steubenville-
Weirton Area. These findings are based on the following: (1) The State 
provided information that projects that onroad mobile source 
NOX constitutes 5 percent or less of the Area's total 
NOX emissions in 2015 and 2025 due to continuing fleet 
turnover; (2) the State provided information that projects that onroad 
mobile source PM2.5 emissions constitute 3.59% of the Area's 
total PM2.5 emissions and decreases significantly in later 
analysis years to 1.84% (2015) and 1.21% (2025); (3) there are no SIP 
requirements for motor vehicle control measures for the Steubenville-
Weirton Area and it is unlikely that motor vehicle control measures 
will be implemented for PM2.5 in the Area in the future; and 
(4) the Area has attained both the 1997 annual and the 2006 24-hour 
PM2.5 NAAQS. As a result, MVEBs for PM2.5 and 
NOX are not required for the Steubenville-Weirton Area to 
maintain the 1997 annual and the 2006 24-hour PM2.5 NAAQS. 
EPA is proposing to approve the findings of insignificant contribution 
by onroad sources for PM2.5 and NOX, resulting in 
no proposed MVEBs for the Steubenville-Weirton Area for the 2015 and 
2025 projected maintenance years. Onroad emissions were calculated 
using the EPA required MOVES2010a model.
    West Virginia did not provide emission budgets for SO2, 
VOC, and ammonia because it concluded, consistent with the presumptions 
regarding these precursors in the Transportation Conformity Rule at 40 
CFR 93.102(b)(2)(v), which predated and was not disturbed by the 
litigation on the 1997 PM2.5 Implementation Rule, that 
emissions of these precursors from motor vehicles are not significant 
contributors to the Area's PM2.5 air quality problem.
    EPA issued conformity regulations to implement the 1997 annual 
PM2.5 NAAQS in July 2004 and May 2005 (69 FR 40004, July 1, 
2004 and 70 FR 24280, May 6, 2005, respectively). Those actions were 
not part of the final rule recently remanded to EPA by the Court of 
Appeals for the District of Columbia in NRDC v. EPA, No. 08-1250 (Jan. 
4, 2013), in which the Court remanded to EPA the 1997 PM2.5 
Implementation Rule because it concluded that EPA must implement that 
NAAQS pursuant to the PM-specific implementation provisions of subpart 
4, rather than solely under the general provisions of subpart 1. That 
decision does not affect EPA's proposed approval of the insignificance 
findings.
    First, as noted above, EPA's conformity rule implementing the 1997 
annual PM2.5 NAAQS was a separate action from the overall 
PM2.5 implementation rule addressed by the Court and was not 
considered or disturbed by the decision. Therefore, the conformity 
regulations were not at issue in NRDC v. EPA.\15\ In addition, as

[[Page 73786]]

discussed in section V.A.1 of this rulemaking action, the air quality 
data show that the Steubenville-Weirton Area continues to attain both 
the 1997 annual and 2006 24-hour PM2.5 NAAQS. Further, the 
State's maintenance plan shows continued maintenance through 2025 by 
demonstrating that NOX, SO2, and direct 
PM2.5 emissions continue to decrease through the maintenance 
period. With regard to SO2, the 2005 final conformity rule 
(70 FR 24280) based its presumption concerning onroad SO2 
MVEBs on emissions inventories that show that SO2 emissions 
from onroad sources constitute a ``de minimis'' portion of total 
SO2 emissions. For the Steubenville-Weirton Area, onroad 
mobile source SO2 constitutes less than one tenth of one 
percent (<0.1%) of the Area's total SO2 emissions in the 
2015 and 2025 horizon years. For more information on EPA's review of 
the determination of insignificance, see the TSD dated September 24, 
2013, available in the docket for this rulemaking action at 
www.regulations.gov.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \15\ The 2004 rulemaking action addressed most of the 
transportation conformity requirements that apply in 
PM2.5 nonattainment and maintenance areas. The 2005 
conformity rule included provisions addressing treatment of 
PM2.5 precursors in MVEBs. See 40 CFR 93.102(b)(2). While 
none of these provisions were challenged in the NRDC case, EPA also 
notes that the Court declined to address challenges to EPA's 
presumptions regarding PM2.5 precursors in the 
PM2.5 implementation rule. NRDC v. EPA, at 27, n. 10.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

VI. Proposed Actions

    EPA is proposing to approve the two redesignation requests of the 
West Virginia portion of the Steubenville-Weirton Area from 
nonattainment to attainment for the 1997 annual and the 2006 24-hour 
PM2.5 NAAQS, respectively. EPA has evaluated West Virginia's 
redesignation requests and determined that upon approval of the 2008 
comprehensive emissions inventory for the 2006 24-hour PM2.5 
NAAQS proposed as part of this rulemaking action, it would meet the 
redesignation criteria set forth in section 107(d)(3)(E) of the CAA for 
both standards. EPA believes that the monitoring data demonstrate that 
the Steubenville-Weirton Area is attaining and will continue to attain 
the 1997 annual and 2006 24-hour PM2.5 NAAQS. EPA is also 
proposing to approve the associated maintenance plans for the West 
Virginia portion of the Area as a revision to the West Virginia SIP for 
the 1997 annual and 2006 24-hour PM2.5 standards because it 
meets the requirements of CAA section 175A for both standards. For 
transportation conformity purposes, EPA is also proposing to approve 
for both the 1997 annual and 2006 24-hour PM2.5 standards 
West Virginia's determinations that onroad emissions of 
PM2.5 and NOX are insignificant contributors to 
PM2.5 concentrations in the Steubenville-Weirton Area. Final 
approval of the redesignation requests would change the official 
designations of the West Virginia portion of the Steubenville-Weirton 
Area for the 1997 annual and the 2006 24-hour PM2.5 NAAQS, 
respectively, found at 40 CFR part 81, from nonattainment to 
attainment, and would incorporate into the West Virginia SIP the 
associated maintenance plans ensuring continued attainment of the 1997 
annual and 2006 24-hour PM2.5 NAAQS in the West Virginia 
portion of the Area for the next 10 years, until 2025. EPA is 
soliciting public comments on the issues discussed in this document. 
These comments will be considered before taking final action.

VII. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

    Under the CAA, redesignation of an area to attainment and the 
accompanying approval of the maintenance plan under CAA section 
107(d)(3)(E) are actions that affect the status of geographical area 
and do not impose any additional regulatory requirements on sources 
beyond those required by state law. A redesignation to attainment does 
not in and of itself impose any new requirements, but rather results in 
the application of requirements contained in the CAA for areas that 
have been redesignated to attainment. Moreover, the Administrator is 
required to approve a SIP submission that complies with the provisions 
of the Act 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 and the CAA. 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 (Publ. 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 rulemaking, in which EPA is proposing approval of 
the redesignation requests and maintenance plans for the West Virginia 
portion of the Steubenville-Weirton Area for the 1997 annual and 2006 
24-hour PM2.5 NAAQS and the 2008 comprehensive emissions 
inventory for the 2006 24-hour 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

40 CFR Part 52

    Environmental protection, Air pollution control, Nitrogen oxides, 
Particulate matter, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, Sulfur 
oxides, Volatile organic compounds.

40 CFR Part 81

    Air pollution control, National parks, Wilderness areas.

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

    Dated: November 20, 2013.
W.C. Early,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region III.
[FR Doc. 2013-28940 Filed 12-6-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P