[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 34 (Thursday, February 20, 2014)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 9697-9701]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-03639]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[EPA-R10-OAR-2013-0247; FRL-9906-87-Region 10]


Approval and Promulgation of Air Quality Implementation Plans: 
Idaho, Northern Ada County PM10 Second Ten-Year Maintenance 
Plan and Pinehurst PM10 Contingency Measures

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Proposed rule.

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SUMMARY: On March 11, 2013 the Idaho Department of Environmental 
Quality (IDEQ) submitted a revised plan for particulate matter with an 
aerodynamic diameter less than or equal to ten micrometers 
(PM10) for Northern Ada County for the PM10 
National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS). This revised Maintenance 
Plan addresses maintenance of the PM10 standard for a second 
ten-year period beyond redesignation, extends the horizon years, and 
contains revised transportation conformity budgets. The Environmental 
Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to approve this State 
Implementation Plan (SIP) revision. The EPA is also proposing to 
approve the February 15-16, 2011 high wind exceptional event at the 
Boise Fire Station monitor, as well as contingency measures for the 
Pinehurst PM10 Air Quality Improvement Plan. The EPA is 
proposing to approve the second ten-year PM10 Maintenance 
Plan for Northern Ada County and the Pinehurst PM10 
contingency measures under section 110 of the Clean Air Act (CAA). The 
EPA is proposing to approve the February 2011 exceptional event 
pursuant to 40 CFR 50.14.

DATES: Written comments must be received by March 24, 2014.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket Number EPA-R10-
OAR-2013-0247, by one of the following methods:
     www.regulations.gov. Follow the on-line instructions for 
submitting comments.
     Email: [email protected]
     Mail: Lucy Edmondson, Air Quality Planner, Office of Air 
Waste and Toxics, EPA Region 10, Washington Operations Office, 300 
Desmond Drive SE., Suite 102, Lacey, WA 98503.
     Hand Delivery/Courier: Such deliveries are accepted Monday 
through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4:55 p.m., excluding Federal holidays. 
Special arrangements should be made for deliveries of boxed 
information.
    Instructions: Direct your comments to Docket ID No. EPA-R10-OAR-
2013-0247. The EPA's policy is that all comments received will be 
included in the public docket without change and may be made available 
at www.regulations.gov, including any personal information provided, 
unless the comment includes information claimed to be Confidential 
Business Information (CBI) or other information the disclosure of which 
is restricted by statute. Do not submit information that you consider 
to be CBI or otherwise protected through http://www.regulations.gov or 
email. The www.regulations.gov Web site is an ``anonymous access'' 
system, which means the 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 the 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, the EPA recommends that

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you include your name and other contact information in the body of your 
comment and with any disk or CD-ROM you submit. If the EPA cannot read 
your comment due to technical difficulties and cannot contact you for 
clarification, the 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 docket are listed in the 
www.regulations.gov index. Although listed in the index, some 
information is not publicly available, e.g., CBI or other information 
the disclosure of which is restricted by statute. Certain other 
material, such as copyrighted material, will be publicly available only 
in hard copy. Publicly available docket materials are available either 
electronically in www.regulations.gov or in hard copy during normal 
business hours at the Office of Air, Waste and Toxics, EPA Region 10, 
1200 6th Ave, Seattle, Washington 98101.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Lucy Edmondson at (360) 753-9082, 
[email protected], or the above, EPA, Region 10 address.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Table of Contents

I. Purpose
II. Background
III. Current PM10 levels in Ada County
IV. The EPA's Evaluation of the Northern Ada County PM10 
Second Ten-Year Maintenance Plan
V. The EPA's Evaluation of the February 2011 Exception Events 
Request
VI. The EPA's Proposed Approval of Contingency Measures for the 
Pinehurst PM10 Air Quality Improvement Plan
VII. Proposed Action
VIII. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

    Definitions: For the purpose of this document, we are giving 
meaning to certain words or initials as follows:
    (i) The words or initials ``Act'' or ``CAA'' mean or refer to the 
Clean Air Act, unless the context indicates otherwise.
    (ii) The words ``the EPA,'' ``we,'' ``us'' or ``our'' mean or refer 
to the Environmental Protection Agency.
    (iii) The initials ``NAAQS'' mean National Ambient Air Quality 
Standard.
    (iv) The initials ``SIP'' mean or refer to State Implementation 
Plan.
    (v) The word ``State'' means the State of Idaho, unless the context 
indicates otherwise.
    (vi) ``PM10'' means particulate matter with an 
aerodynamic diameter less than or equal to ten micrometers.
    (vii) ``MOVES'' refers to Motor Vehicle Emissions Simulator, the 
EPA's modeling system for mobile sources.

I. Purpose

    Section 175A of the CAA requires the submission of a second ten-
year maintenance plan eight years after any nonattainment area is 
redesignated to attainment. This rulemaking proposes approval of the 
second ten-year maintenance plan submitted by IDEQ for the Northern Ada 
County PM10 attainment/maintenance area, which demonstrates 
continued maintenance of the PM10 NAAQS through 2023. In 
this revised maintenance plan, the State has updated mobile source 
PM10 emission levels using the Motor Vehicle Emissions 
Simulator model (MOVES), updated the transportation projections and 
stationary source inventories, and revised the motor vehicle emissions 
budgets (MVEBs). As described below, the EPA has determined that the 
revised maintenance plan demonstrates continued maintenance of the 
PM10 NAAQS and meets the requirements of sections 110 and 
175A of the CAA. In addition, the EPA is approving the exclusion of 
data from the high wind event of February 15-16, 2011, and the 
Contingency Measures for the Pinehurst PM10 Air Quality 
Improvement Plan.

II. Background

    Northern Ada County was identified as an area of concern for 
PM10 with the promulgation of the PM10 NAAQS in 
1987, and was formally designated as a moderate PM10 
nonattainment area upon passage of the 1990 CAA. Idaho developed a SIP 
and submitted it to the EPA in November 1991, later submitting 
revisions in December 1994 and July 1995. The EPA finalized approval of 
the Northern Ada County PM10 SIP on May 30, 1996 (61 FR 
27019). Idaho submitted a maintenance plan and a request to redesignate 
the area to attainment on September 27, 2002, and provided supplemental 
information on July 10, 2003 and July 21, 2003. On October 27, 2003, 
the EPA approved the Northern Ada County PM10 Maintenance 
Plan and redesignated the area to attainment status for PM10 
(68 FR 61106).
    In actions dated August 25, 1994 (59 FR 43475) and May 26, 1995 (60 
FR 27891), the EPA conditionally approved the SIP for the Pinehurst, 
Idaho PM10 nonattainment area. The conditional approval 
concluded that IDEQ had not satisfied the requirement for contingency 
measures for both the City of Pinehurst and the Pinehurst Expansion 
area. The EPA set a deadline of July 20, 1995 for IDEQ to submit the 
required contingency measures. IDEQ met the established deadline with 
its submission ``Contingency Measures for the Pinehurst PM10 
Air Quality Improvement Plan,'' dated July 13, 1995.
    On September 23, 2013, IDEQ submitted documentation in accordance 
with the Exceptional Events Rule (72 FR 13560) to show that the 
monitored PM10 values on February 15-16, 2011 at the Boise 
monitor were due to a high wind event and resulting dust storm that 
originated in Nevada.

III. Current PM10 levels in Ada County

    The national primary and secondary 24-hour ambient air quality 
standards for PM10 are 150 micrograms per cubic meter 
([mu]g/m\3\) based on a 24-hour average concentration. The standard is 
attained when the expected number of days per calendar year with a 24-
hour concentration above 150 [mu]g/m\3\ is equal to or less than one 
per year over a three year period. The Northern Ada County 
PM10 Second Ten-Year Maintenance Plan, submitted by IDEQ on 
March 11, 2013, relies on ambient air quality data from 2007 through 
2011. In addition, we have reviewed ambient air quality data from 2000 
through 2011. With the EPA's December 2013 concurrence on the exclusion 
of data associated with the high wind event of February 15-16, 2011 at 
the Boise Fire Station Monitor, Northern Ada County shows continuous 
attainment of the PM10 NAAQS based on the most recent 2000-
2012 data archived in the EPA's Air Quality System Database 
(www.epa.gov/ttn/airs/airsaqs/detaildata/AQIindex.htm).

IV. The EPA's Evaluation of the Northern Ada County PM10 
Second Ten-Year Maintenance Plan

    The criteria EPA used to review and evaluate the maintenance plan 
are derived from the CAA, the General Preamble for State Implementation 
Plans (57 FR 13498), and the guidance memorandum from John Calcagni, 
Procedures for Processing Requests to Redesignate Areas to Attainment, 
September 4, 1992. The following are the key elements of a maintenance 
plan for PM10: Emissions Inventory, Maintenance 
Demonstration, Monitoring Network/Verification of Continued Attainment, 
Control Strategies, Contingency Measures, and the Motor Vehicle 
Emissions Budget for PM10 as required for Transportation 
Conformity. Below, we describe our evaluation of these elements as they 
pertain to the Northern Ada County PM10 Second Ten-Year 
Maintenance Plan.
    A. Emissions Inventory: An emissions inventory was prepared for the 
entirety of Ada County for the base year of 2008. In addition to the 
base year 2008 inventory, emissions forecasts were

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prepared for future year projections for 2015 and 2023. Using an 
emissions inventory prepared for the entire county enabled IDEQ to 
capture emissions both within and outside of the North Ada County 
PM10 Maintenance Area. The projections in Table 1 below show 
that direct primary emissions of PM10 increase 27% from 2008 
to 2023, while the chemical precursors to secondarily formed 
PM10 significantly decrease. The largest source of primary 
PM10 is fugitive dust from on-road mobile sources and the 
projected PM10 increases are mostly from projected increases 
in on-road vehicle traffic. We find that IDEQ has prepared adequate 
recent and future year emission inventories for the area that meet 
Maintenance Plan requirements.

                                    Table 1--Annual Emissions for Ada County
                                                 [Tons per year]
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                              Year                                     PM10             NOx             SO2
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2008............................................................          20,395          14,149             250
2015............................................................          21,756           9,294             151
2023............................................................          25,875           7,207             172
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    B. Maintenance Demonstration: The EPA-approved Northern Ada County 
First Ten-Year PM10 Maintenance Plan used the CAMx 
photochemical transport model to demonstrate maintenance of the 
PM10 standard. IDEQ used a photochemical transport model for 
the North Ada County First PM10 Ten-Year Maintenance Plan 
because of concerns about secondary production of PM10 from 
the chemical precursors nitrogen oxides (NOX) and sulfur 
dioxide (SO2) and the potential growth in these precursor 
emissions. However, future year emissions projections for 2015 and 2023 
now indicate significant reductions in NOX and 
SO2 from 2008 baseline values, and the PM10 
design values in Northern Ada County have been well below the standard 
over the past decade. The EPA has approved a more simplified roll-
forward modeling approach appropriate for evaluating the effects of 
primary PM10 emissions changes on ambient PM10 
values in Northern Ada County. Use of this more simplified roll-forward 
modeling approach is also a conservative approach because it does not 
allow credit to be taken for emissions reductions in the secondary 
PM10 precursors NOX and SO2. For the 
Northern Ada County PM10 Second Ten-Year Maintenance Plan, 
the roll-forward model can be used to conservatively estimate whether 
the PM10 concentrations can be maintained below the NAAQS in 
future years. With the exception of the high wind exceptional event on 
February 15-16, 2011 at the Boise Fire Station monitor, discussed in 
more detail below, a review of data from 2000-2011 shows that average 
PM10 concentrations remain below the 24-hour PM10 
NAAQS.
    C. Monitoring Network/Verification of Continued Attainment: 
PM10 ambient air monitoring in Northern Ada County consists 
of one monitor, operated by IDEQ, located at Fire Station 5 at 
16th and Front Streets in downtown Boise. The monitor is a tapered 
element oscillating microbalance (TEOM) monitor, which provides 
continuous, real-time direct measurement of PM10 
concentrations. The TEOM monitor is part of the approved IDEQ 
monitoring network and is operated in accordance with 40 CFR Part 58. 
In its submission, IDEQ commits that it will continue to operate an 
appropriate PM10 air quality monitor in accordance with 40 
CFR Part 58 to verify continued attainment of the PM10 
NAAQS. The EPA will continue its annual review of the monitoring 
network to ensure ongoing compliance with the EPA's air monitoring 
requirements and continued maintenance of the PM10 NAAQS.
    D. Control Strategies: The Northern Ada County PM10 
Second Ten-Year Maintenance Plan includes the following control 
strategies, which are the same as those used in the Northern Ada County 
PM10 First Ten-Year Maintenance Plan (61 FR 27019): 1) the 
air quality index program through which IDEQ provides information on 
the measured and predicted ambient air pollution levels along with 
information on mandatory and voluntary open burning bans and indoor 
burning bans; 2) a residential wood burning program; 3) an open burning 
ban; and 4) stationary source controls. The stationary source controls 
include conditions in Tier II permits for eight facilities in the 
maintenance area, as well as The Amalgamated Sugar Company (TASCO) 
factory in Nampa, Idaho that is outside the maintenance area but was 
included within the original modeling domain. The eight facilities are:
     LP Wood Polymers--(now Fiber Composites)
     Mike's Sand and Gravel--(now Clement's Concrete)
     Crookham Company
     Plum Creek Lumber Company
     C. Wright Construction
     Idaho Concrete (3 separate facilities)
    The Tier II permits for the eight facilities in the maintenance 
area include limits on the potential to emit. The Tier II permit for 
the TASCO facility required reductions in PM10 emissions 
from the facility \1\. Retention of the Tier II permits maintains these 
control strategies in a manner that is consistent with applicable 
guidance. The EPA approved these control measures when approving the 
first Ten-Year Maintenance plan and they became federally enforceable 
at that time.
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    \1\ On December 23, 2011, IDEQ finalized Tier II permit number 
T2-2009.0105 for certain TASCO emission units as part of its 
Regional Haze Plan. The conditions of this permit impose additional 
PM10 reductions from the facility that will benefit 
maintenance of the PM10 NAAQS in Ada County.
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    E. Contingency Measures: Section 175A(d) of the CAA requires that a 
maintenance plan include contingency measures to assure that any 
violation of the standard is promptly corrected. To meet this 
requirement, the State has identified appropriate contingency measures 
along with a schedule for the development and implementation of such 
measures. As stated in Section 8 of the Northern Ada County 
PM10 Second Ten-Year Maintenance Plan, the contingency 
measures will be triggered by a violation of the PM10 NAAQS. 
Such a violation will prompt IDEQ to implement one or more contingency 
measures, as appropriate, to correct the violation. Potential 
contingency measures include: (1) adopt local ordinances that require 
covering all loads of material that have the potential to contribute to 
particulate matter pollution; (2) adopt local ordinances that require 
no track-out onto paved roads; (3) adopt local ordinances that prohibit 
burning of outdoor trash; (4) eliminate local permits that allow any 
kind of uncontrolled outdoor burning not specifically allowed under 
state rules; (5) expand mandatory burning

[[Page 9700]]

restrictions to include clean-burning woodstoves during air quality 
alerts; (6) adopt local ordinances that prohibit constructing any 
unpaved roads, driveways or parking lots; (7) revise street sweeping 
plans working with local highway districts and the Idaho Transportation 
Department, based on the latest traffic data so as to prioritize street 
sweeping efforts to reduce fugitive road dust; and (8) analyze the 
impacts from all industrial sources and develop potential emission 
reductions, if necessary to maintain attainment, in accordance with the 
rules. In addition, IDEQ indicates it may evaluate other strategies to 
address any future violations in the most appropriate and cost-
effective manner possible. We find that the contingency measures 
contained in the Northern Ada County PM10 Second Ten-Year 
Maintenance Plan are sufficient and meet the requirements of Section 
175A(d) of the CAA. We note the contingency measures and methodology to 
implement the measures are the same as those we approved in the 
original SIP and the First Ten-Year Maintenance Plan.
    F. Transportation Conformity Requirements: Motor Vehicle Emission 
Budget for PM10: Under Section 176(c) of the CAA, 
transportation plans, programs, and projects in nonattainment or 
maintenance areas that are funded or approved under the Federal Transit 
Act must conform to the applicable SIP. In short, a transportation plan 
is deemed to conform to the applicable SIP if the emissions resulting 
from implementation of that transportation plan are less than or equal 
to the motor vehicle emission level established in the SIP for the 
maintenance year and other analysis years. In this maintenance plan, 
procedures for estimating motor vehicle emissions are well documented. 
On-road mobile source emissions were calculated using the MOVES model. 
The motor vehicle emission budgets for on-road motor vehicle 
PM10 emissions in Ada County for 2008, 2015, 2023 are shown 
in Table 2, below.

                          Table 2-- MVEBs for Northern Ada County PM10 Maintenance Area
                                                 [Tons per day]
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                           Budget year                                 PM10             NOX             VOC
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2008............................................................            31.0            29.5            12.6
2015............................................................            42.9            29.5            12.6
2023............................................................            60.1            34.2            17.2
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    On June 6, 2013, the EPA published a notice of our finding that the 
MVEBs for PM10, NOX, and volatile organic 
compounds (VOC) for the years 2008, 2015 and 2023 in the Northern Ada 
County PM10 Second Ten-Year Maintenance Plan were adequate 
for transportation conformity purposes. This adequacy determination 
became effective on June 21, 2013 (78 FR 34095).

V. The EPA's Evaluation of the February 2011 Exceptional Events Request

    The EPA is proposing to approve the State's request to exclude data 
from February 15-16, 2011 in determining PM10 attainment as 
a high wind exceptional event. The EPA evaluated IDEQ's exceptional 
event demonstration for the flagged values of the 24-hour 
PM10 NAAQS for February 15-16, 2011 at the monitor in Boise, 
Idaho, with respect to the requirements of the EPA's Exceptional Events 
Rule (40 CFR 50.14) and determined that IDEQ met each requirement. The 
EPA concurred on the exceptional event on December 13, 2013. For 
further information, refer to the State's Exceptional Event 
demonstration package and EPA's concurrence and analysis located in the 
docket.

VI. The EPA's Proposed Approval of Contingency Measures for the 
Pinehurst PM10 Air Quality Improvement Plan

    As provided in section 172(c)(9) of the CAA, all nonattainment area 
SIPs that demonstrate attainment must include contingency measures. 
Contingency measures consist of other available measures that are not 
part of the area's control strategy but are included in the plan 
revision as measures to be undertaken if the area fails to make 
reasonable further progress or to attain by the applicable attainment 
date. These measures must take effect in any such case without further 
action by the state.
    In response to the EPA's conditional approval of the Pinehurst 
PM10 nonattainment SIP, IDEQ submitted its ``Contingency 
Measures for the Pinehurst PM10 Air Quality Improvement 
Plan,'' specifying the contingency measures for the Pinehurst 
PM10 nonattainment area. These contingency measures require 
implementation of additional emission control actions in the Pinehurst 
residential wood burning program, including wood stove replacements, 
voluntary wood stove curtailment, public awareness and home 
weatherization. The EPA believes that the implementation of these 
measures, if necessary, would provide additional reductions of 
PM10 emissions and further attainment of the PM10 
NAAQS. The Pinehurst PM10 nonattainment area has monitored 
attainment of the PM10 NAAQS since IDEQ submitted the 
contingency measures for EPA's approval in 1995. The EPA is proposing 
to approve these measures as satisfying the section 172(c)(9) 
contingency measure requirement for the Pinehurst PM10 
attainment plan, finalizing our approval of the plan.

VII. Proposed Action

    The EPA is proposing to approve the Northern Ada County 
PM10 Second Ten-Year Maintenance Plan adopted by IDEQ to 
ensure maintenance of the NAAQS for PM10 in Northern Ada 
County for a second ten-year maintenance period, to protect the health 
and welfare of the area citizens from adverse effects of degraded air 
quality levels. In addition, the EPA is proposing to approve the 
exclusion of data from the high wind event of February 15-16, 2011, and 
the Contingency Measures for the Pinehurst PM10 Air Quality 
Improvement Plan.

VIII. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

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

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Executive Order 12866 (58 FR 51735, October 4, 1993);
     does not impose an information collection burden under the 
provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.);
     is certified as not having a significant economic impact 
on a substantial number of small entities under the Regulatory 
Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 601 et seq.);
     does not contain any unfunded mandate or significantly or 
uniquely affect small governments, as described in the Unfunded 
Mandates Reform Act of 1995 (Pub. L. 104-4);
     does not have Federalism implications as specified in 
Executive Order 13132 (64 FR 43255, August 10, 1999);
     is not an economically significant regulatory action based 
on health or safety risks subject to Executive Order 13045 (62 FR 
19885, April 23, 1997);
     is not a significant regulatory action subject to 
Executive Order 13211 (66 FR 28355, May 22, 2001);
     is not subject to the requirements of Section 12(d) of the 
National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act of 1995 (15 U.S.C. 272 
note) because this action does not involve technical standards; and
     does not provide the 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 rule 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 the EPA notes that it will not impose substantial direct costs on 
tribal governments or preempt tribal law.

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 52

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

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

    Dated: January 23, 2014.
Dennis J. McLerran,
Regional Administrator, Region 10.
[FR Doc. 2014-03639 Filed 2-19-14; 8:45 am]
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