[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 57 (Wednesday, March 25, 2015)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 15711-15713]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-06731]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[EPA-R03-OAR-2014-0883; FRL-9924-96-Region-3]


Approval and Promulgation of Air Quality Implementation Plans; 
Maryland; Determination of Attainment of the 1997 8-Hour Ozone National 
Ambient Air Quality Standard for the Baltimore, Maryland Serious 
Nonattainment Area

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Proposed rule.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to make 
a determination that the Baltimore, Maryland Serious Nonattainment Area 
(Baltimore Area) has attained the 1997 8-hour ozone National Ambient 
Air Quality Standard (NAAQS). This proposed determination is based upon 
complete, quality-assured, and certified ambient air monitoring data 
that shows the Area has monitored attainment of the 1997 8-hour ozone 
NAAQS for the 2012-2014 monitoring period. If this proposal becomes 
final, the requirement for this Area to submit an attainment 
demonstration, reasonably available control measures (RACM), a 
reasonable further progress (RFP) plan, and contingency measures 
related to attainment of the 1997 8-hour ozone NAAQS shall be suspended 
for so long as the Area continues to attain the 1997 8-hour ozone 
NAAQS. This action does not constitute a redesignation to attainment. 
The Baltimore Area will remain nonattainment for the 1997 8-hour ozone 
NAAQS until such time as EPA determines that the Baltimore Area meets 
the Clean Air Act (CAA) requirements for redesignation to attainment, 
including an approved maintenance plan. This action is being taken 
under the CAA.

DATES: Written comments must be received on or before April 24, 2015.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID Number EPA-
R03-OAR-2014-0883 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-2014-0883, Cristina Fernandez, Associate 
Director, Office of Air Program Planning, Mailcode 3AP30, U.S. 
Environmental Protection Agency, Region III, 1650 Arch Street, 
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19103.
    D. Hand Delivery: At the previously-listed EPA Region III address. 
Such deliveries are only accepted during the Docket's normal hours of 
operation, and special arrangements should be made for deliveries of 
boxed information.
    Instructions: Direct your comments to Docket ID No. EPA-R03-OAR-
2014-0883. 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.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Irene Shandruk, (215) 814-2166, or by 
email at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

    On July 18, 1997, EPA revised the health-based NAAQS for ozone 
based on 8-hour average concentrations. 62 FR 38856. The 8-hour 
averaging period replaced the previous 1-hour averaging period, and the 
level of the NAAQS was changed from 0.12 parts per million (ppm) to 
0.08 ppm. Id. On April 30, 2004 (69 FR 23858), EPA finalized its 
attainment/nonattainment designations for areas across the country for 
the 1997 8-hour ozone NAAQS. These actions became effective on June 15, 
2004. Among those nonattainment areas was the Baltimore Area 
(specifically, Anne Arundel County, Baltimore City, Baltimore County, 
Carroll County, Harford County, and Howard County), which was 
designated as a moderate ozone nonattainment area. Id. Later, the 
Baltimore Area was reclassified as a serious nonattainment area for the 
1997 ozone NAAQS. 77 FR 4901 (February 1, 2012). See 40 CFR 81.321. Air 
quality monitoring data from the 2012-2014 monitoring period indicate 
that the Baltimore Area is now attaining the 1997 8-hour ozone NAAQS.
    Under the provisions of EPA's ozone implementation rule (40 CFR 
51.918), if EPA issues a determination that an area is attaining the 
relevant standard (through a rulemaking that includes public notice and 
comment), it will suspend the area's obligations to submit an 
attainment demonstration, RACM, RFP, contingency measures and other 
planning requirements related to attainment of the 1997 8-hour ozone 
NAAQS for as long as the area continues to attain the standard. This 
suspension remains in effect until such time, if ever, that EPA (i) 
redesignates the area to attainment at which time those requirements no 
longer apply, or (ii) subsequently determines that the area has 
violated the 1997 8-hour ozone NAAQS. Although these requirements are 
suspended, EPA is not precluded

[[Page 15712]]

from acting upon these elements at any time if submitted to EPA for 
review and approval. The determination of attainment is not equivalent 
to a redesignation under section 107(d)(3) of the CAA. The designation 
status of the Baltimore Area will remain nonattainment for the 1997 8-
hour ozone NAAQS until such time as EPA determines that the Baltimore 
Area meets the CAA requirements for redesignation to attainment, 
including an approved maintenance plan. Additionally, the determination 
of attainment is separate from, and does not influence or otherwise 
affect, any future designation determination or requirements for the 
Baltimore Area based on any new or revised ozone NAAQS, and it remains 
in effect regardless of whether EPA designates the Baltimore Area as a 
nonattainment area for purposes of any new or revised ozone NAAQS.

II. EPA's Evaluation

    For ozone, an area may be considered to be attaining the 1997 8-
hour ozone NAAQS if there are no violations, as determined in 
accordance with 40 CFR part 50, based on three complete, consecutive 
calendar years of quality-assured ambient air monitoring data. Under 
EPA regulations at 40 CFR part 50, the 1997 8-hour ozone standard is 
attained when the 3-year average of the annual fourth-highest daily 
maximum 8-hour average ozone concentration at an ozone monitor is less 
than or equal to 0.08 ppm. This 3-year average is referred to as the 
design value. When the design value is less than or equal to 0.084 ppm 
(based on the rounding convention in 40 CFR part 50, Appendix I) at 
each monitor within the area, then the area is attaining the NAAQS. 
Also, the data completeness requirement is met when the average percent 
of days with valid ambient monitoring data is greater than or equal to 
90 percent (%), and no single year has less than 75% data completeness 
as determined in Appendix I of 40 CFR part 50. The data must be 
collected and quality-assured in accordance with 40 CFR part 58, and 
recorded in the EPA Air Quality System (AQS).
    EPA has reviewed the complete, quality-assured and certified ozone 
ambient air monitoring data for the monitoring period for 2012-2014 for 
the Baltimore Area. The design values for each monitor for the years 
2012-2014 are less than or equal to 0.084 ppm, and all monitors meet 
the data completeness requirements (see Table 1). Based on this 2012-
2014 data from the AQS database and consistent with the requirements 
contained in 40 CFR part 50, EPA has concluded that this Area attained 
the 1997 8-hour ozone NAAQS.

                        Table 1--2012-2014 Baltimore Area 1997 8-Hour Ozone Design Values
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                                                                     Average percent (%)      2012-2014 Design
                            Monitor ID                                data completeness         value (ppm)
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24-003-0014.......................................................                     97                  0.074
24-005-1007.......................................................                     95                  0.072
24-005-3001.......................................................                     99                  0.072
24-013-0001.......................................................                     99                  0.069
24-025-1001.......................................................                     98                  0.075
24-025-9001.......................................................                     96                  0.073
24-510-0054.......................................................                     90                  0.064
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    The data in Table 1 are available in EPA's AQS database. The AQS 
report with this data is available in the docket for this rulemaking 
under docket number EPA-R03-OAR-2014-0883 and available online at 
www.regulations.gov, docket number EPA-R03-OAR-2014-0883.

III. Proposed Action

    EPA is proposing to make a determination that the Baltimore Area 
has attained the 1997 8-hour ozone NAAQS. This proposed determination 
is based upon complete, quality-assured, and certified ambient air 
monitoring data that show the Area has monitored attainment of the 1997 
8-hour ozone NAAQS for the 2012-2014 monitoring period. Once this 
proposal is final, the requirement for this Area to submit an 
attainment demonstration, RACM, a RFP plan, contingency measures, and 
other planning requirements related to attainment of the 1997 8-hour 
ozone NAAQS shall be suspended for so long as the Area continues to 
attain the 1997 8-hour ozone NAAQS. Although these requirements are 
suspended, EPA is not precluded from acting upon these elements at any 
time if submitted to EPA for review and approval. Finalizing this 
determination does not constitute a redesignation of the Baltimore Area 
to attainment for the 1997 8-hour ozone NAAQS under CAA section 
107(d)(3). This determination of attainment also does not involve 
approving any maintenance plan for the Baltimore Area and does not 
determine that the Area has met all the requirements for redesignation 
under the CAA, including that the attainment be due to permanent and 
enforceable measures. Therefore, the designation status of the 
Baltimore Area will remain nonattainment for the 1997 8-hour ozone 
NAAQS until such time as EPA takes final rulemaking action to determine 
that such Area meets the CAA requirements for redesignation to 
attainment. EPA is soliciting public comments on the issues discussed 
in this document. These comments will be considered before taking final 
action.

IV. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

    This action proposes to make an attainment determination based on 
air quality data and would, if finalized, result in the suspension of 
certain Federal requirements and would not impose any additional 
requirements. For that reason, this proposed action:
     Is not a ``significant regulatory action'' subject to 
review by the Office of Management and Budget under Executive Order 
12866 (58 FR 51735, October 4, 1993);
     does not impose an information collection burden under the 
provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.);
     is certified as not having a significant economic impact 
on a substantial number of small entities under the Regulatory 
Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 601 et seq.);
     does not contain any unfunded mandate or significantly or 
uniquely affect small governments, as described in the Unfunded 
Mandates Reform Act of 1995 (Public Law 104-4);

[[Page 15713]]

     does not have Federalism implications as specified in 
Executive Order 13132 (64 FR 43255, August 10, 1999);
     is not an economically significant regulatory action based 
on health or safety risks subject to Executive Order 13045 (62 FR 
19885, April 23, 1997);
     is not a significant regulatory action subject to 
Executive Order 13211 (66 FR 28355, May 22, 2001);
     is not subject to requirements of Section 12(d) of the 
National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act of 1995 (15 U.S.C. 272 
note) because application of those requirements would be inconsistent 
with the CAA; and
     does not provide EPA with the discretionary authority to 
address, as appropriate, disproportionate human health or environmental 
effects, using practicable and legally permissible methods, under 
Executive Order 12898 (59 FR 7629, February 16, 1994).
    In addition, this proposed rule, concerning a determination of 
attainment for the 1997 8-hour ozone NAAQS for the Baltimore Area, does 
not have tribal implications as specified by Executive Order 13175 (65 
FR 67249, November 9, 2000), because the State Implementation Plan 
(SIP) is not approved to apply in Indian country located in the state, 
and EPA notes that it will not impose substantial direct costs on 
tribal governments or preempt tribal law.

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 52

    Environmental protection, Air pollution control, Incorporation by 
reference, Intergovernmental relations, Incorporation by reference, 
Ozone, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements.

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

    Dated: March 9, 2015.
William C. Early,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region III.
[FR Doc. 2015-06731 Filed 3-24-15; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6560-50-P