[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 159 (Tuesday, August 18, 2015)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 49970-49973]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-20024]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[EPA-R06-OAR-2014-0259; FRL-9932-33-Region 6]


Clean Air Act Redesignation Substitute for the Houston-Galveston-
Brazoria 1-Hour Ozone Nonattainment Area; Texas

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Proposed rule.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to 
approve a redesignation substitute demonstration provided by the State 
of Texas that the Houston-Galveston-Brazoria 1-hour ozone nonattainment 
area (HGB area) has attained the revoked 1-hour ozone National Ambient 
Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) due to permanent and enforceable emission 
reductions, and that it will maintain that NAAQS for ten years from the 
date of the EPA's approval of this demonstration. Final approval of the 
redesignation substitute demonstration will result in the State no 
longer being required to adopt any additional applicable 1-hour ozone 
NAAQS requirements for the area which have not already been approved 
into the State Implementation Plan (SIP). In addition, final approval 
will allow Texas to seek to revise the Texas SIP to remove anti-
backsliding measures from the active portion of its SIP if it can 
demonstrate, pursuant to Clean Air Act (CAA) section 110(1), that such 
revision would not interfere with attainment or maintenance of any 
applicable NAAQS, or any other requirement of the CAA.

DATES: Written comments must be received on or before September 17, 
2015.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket No. EPA-R06-OAR-
2014-0259, by one of the following methods:
     www.regulations.gov. Follow the online instructions.
     Email: Ms. Tracie Donaldson at [email protected].
     Mail or delivery: Ms. Mary Stanton, Chief, Air State and 
Tribal Operations Section (6PD-S), Environmental Protection Agency, 
1445 Ross Avenue, Suite 1200, Dallas, Texas 75202-2733.
    Instructions: Direct your comments to Docket No. EPA-R06-OAR-2014-
0259. 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

[[Page 49971]]

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 
electronically any information that you consider to be CBI or other 
information whose disclosure is restricted by statute. 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. Multimedia 
submissions (audio, video, etc.) must be accompanied by a written 
comment. The written comment is considered the official comment and 
should include discussion of all points you wish to make. The EPA will 
generally not consider comments or comment contents located outside of 
the primary submission (i.e. on the web, cloud, or other file sharing 
system). For additional information on submitting comments, please 
visit http://www2.epa.gov/dockets/commenting-epa-dockets.
    Docket: The index to the docket for this action is available 
electronically at www.regulations.gov and in hard copy at EPA Region 6, 
1445 Ross Avenue, Suite 700, Dallas, Texas. While all documents in the 
docket are listed in the index, some information may be publicly 
available only at the hard copy location (e.g., copyrighted material), 
and some may not be publicly available at either location (e.g., CBI).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Tracie Donaldson, (214) 665-6633, 
[email protected]. To inspect the hard copy materials, please 
contact Ms. Donaldson.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Throughout this document wherever ``we,'' 
``us,'' or ``our'' is used, we mean the EPA.

I. Background

    In 1979, under section 109 of the Clean Air Act (CAA), EPA 
established primary and secondary NAAQS for ozone at 0.12 parts per 
million (ppm) averaged over a 1-hour period (44 FR 8202, February 8, 
1979). Primary standards are set to protect human health while 
secondary standards are set to protect public welfare. In 1997 we 
revised the primary and secondary NAAQS for ozone to set the acceptable 
level of ozone in the ambient air at 0.08 ppm, averaged over an 8-hour 
period (62 FR 38856, July 18, 1997).\1\ In 2008 we further revised the 
primary and secondary ozone NAAQS to 0.075 ppm, averaged over an 8-hour 
period (73 FR 16436, March 27, 2008). Ozone nonattainment areas are 
classified based on the severity of their ozone levels based on the 
area's ``design value'' (77 FR 30088, 30091, May 21, 2012). The design 
value represents air quality in the area for the most recent 3 years. 
The possible classifications are Marginal, Moderate, Serious, Severe, 
and Extreme. Nonattainment areas with a ``lower'' classification have 
ozone levels that are closer to the NAAQS than areas with a ``higher'' 
classification.
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    \1\ Subsequently, we lowered the 8-hour ozone NAAQS to 0.075 ppm 
and classified the Houston area as a Marginal nonattainment area for 
the 2008 ozone NAAQS. See 73 FR 16436 (March 27, 2008); 77 FR 30088 
30089 (May 21, 2012). This rulemaking does not address the 2008 
ozone NAAQS.
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    In 2004 we published a first phase rule governing implementation of 
the 1997 8-hour ozone NAAQS (Phase 1 Rule) (69 FR 23951, April 30, 
2004). The Phase 1 Rule revoked the 1-hour ozone NAAQS and provided 
that 1-hour ozone nonattainment areas are required to adopt and 
implement ``applicable requirements'' according to the area's 
classification under the 1-hour ozone standard for anti-backsliding 
purposes (40 CFR 51.905(a)(i)). In a revision to the Phase 1 Rule, we 
determined that an area's 1-hour designation and classification as of 
June 15, 2005 would dictate what 1-hour obligations constitute 
``applicable requirements'' (40 CFR 51.900(f), May 26, 2005, 70 FR 
30592).\2\ Applicable anti-backsliding requirements ensure continued 
momentum toward reducing ozone levels (80 FR 12264, 12297, March 6, 
2015). The rules governing ongoing implementation of revoked ozone 
standards, including revisions to applicable requirements, was further 
revised effective April 6, 2015 (40 CFR 51.1100, March 6, 2015, 80 FR 
12264). This final rule also contains provisions addressing a 
redesignation substitute for a revoked ozone standard. See 40 CFR 
51.1105(b).
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    \2\ As of April 6, 2015, 40 CFR 51.900(f) was replaced by 40 CFR 
51.1100(o). See 40 CFR 51.919 and 80 FR 12312, Mar. 6, 2015.
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    The final rule for implementing the 2008 ozone NAAQS provides that 
an area will be subject to the anti-backsliding obligations for a 
revoked NAAQS until we approve (1) a redesignation to attainment for 
the area for the 2008 ozone NAAQS or (2) a demonstration for the area 
in a redesignation substitute procedure for a revoked NAAQS (40 CFR 
51.1105(b)(1)). As explained more fully in the preambles to the 
proposed and final rules, the redesignation substitute demonstration 
must show that the area (1) has attained that revoked NAAQS due to 
permanent and enforceable emission reductions and (2) will maintain 
that revoked NAAQS for 10 years from the date of EPA's approval of the 
showing. The rule also provides that if, after notice and comment 
rulemaking, we approve a redesignation substitute for a revoked NAAQS, 
the state may request that provisions for nonattainment new source 
review (NSR) for that revoked NAAQS be removed, and that other anti-
backsliding obligations for that revoked NAAQS be shifted to 
contingency measures provided that such action is consistent with CAA 
sections 110(l) and 193 (40 CFR 51.1105(b)(2)).
    The HGB area consists of Brazoria, Chambers, Fort Bend, Galveston, 
Harris, Liberty, Montgomery and Waller counties in Texas. Under the 
1990 CAA Amendments the area was classified as a Severe ozone 
nonattainment area for the 1-hour ozone NAAQS (November 6, 1991, 56 FR 
56694 and CAA section 181(a)(1)). We approved a 1-hour ozone attainment 
demonstration for the area (71 FR 52670, September 6, 2006). However, 
the EPA subsequently determined that the area failed to attain the 1-
hour ozone standard by its applicable attainment date of November 15, 
2007 (June 19, 2012, 77 FR 36400). As discussed below, ambient air 
quality monitoring data for ozone indicates that the area is now 
attaining the 1-hour ozone standard.
    Texas provided the ``Redesignation Substitute Report for the 
Houston-Galveston-Brazoria One-Hour Standard Nonattainment Area'' 
(redesignation substitute report) to EPA on July 22, 2014. This report 
was developed consistent with the redesignation substitute option we 
proposed to create in our June 6, 2013 proposal (which was subsequently 
adopted in the March 6, 2015 final rule). The report is available 
through www.regulations.gov (e-docket EPA-R06-OAR-2014-0259).

[[Page 49972]]

II. EPA's Evaluation of the Houston Redesignation Substitute Report

    To determine whether we should approve the 1-hour ozone 
redesignation substitute for the HGB area we evaluated the 
redesignation substitute report provided by Texas and the ambient ozone 
data for the area in the EPA Air Quality System (AQS) database. To 
evaluate the report we used the applicable portions of our September 4, 
1992 memo ``Procedures for Processing Requests to Redesignate Areas to 
Attainment'' (www.epa.gov/ttn/oarpg/t5/memoranda/redesignmem090492.pdf). A detailed discussion of our evaluation can be 
found in the Technical Support Document (TSD) for this action. The TSD 
can be accessed through www.regulations.gov (e-docket EPA-R06-OAR-2014-
0259).

A. Has the area attained the revoked 1-hour ozone NAAQS due to 
permanent and enforceable emission reductions?

    Ambient air quality found in the AQS database shows that the HGB 
area attained the 1-hour ozone standard at the end of 2013 and 
maintained the standard the following year (Table 1). The area 
continues to maintain the 1-hour ozone standard so far in 2015 based on 
available data.

             Table 1--1-Hour Design Values for the HGB Area
                        [2011-2013 and 2012-2014]
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                   Years                      1-Hour ozone design value
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2011-2013.................................  0.12 ppm (121 parts per
                                             billion).
2012-2014.................................  0.11 ppm (111 parts per
                                             billion).
Preliminary 2013-2015.....................  0.11 ppm (107 parts per
                                             billion).
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    In 2013, all monitors in the HGB area had expected exceedances less 
than the threshold of 1.0 per year and only one monitor in the HGB 
area, the Houston East monitor (C1), had more than 1.0 expected 
exceedance in 2011 and 2012. A more detailed table of expected 1-hour 
ozone exceedances for the HGB monitors based on ozone data can be found 
in the TSD.
    The HGB area redesignation substitute report provides information 
on emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOX) and volatile organic 
compounds (VOCs) and regulations that reduced these emissions. 
NOX and VOCs are ozone precursors. Texas identified control 
measures for both the 1-hour ozone attainment demonstration SIP and the 
1997 ozone attainment demonstration SIP that led to permanent and 
enforceable emission reductions. The 1-hour ozone attainment 
demonstration SIP was approved on September 6, 2006 (71 FR 52670). The 
1997 ozone attainment demonstration SIP was approved on January 2, 2014 
(79 FR 57). Additionally, we have approved SIPs for the HGB area that 
document continuous emissions reductions due to permanent and 
enforceable measures for the 1-hour and 1997 8-hour ozone standards (70 
FR 7407, February 14, 2005; 74 FR 18298, April 22, 2009; 79 FR 51, 
January 2, 2014). Given our previous actions approving Texas SIPs 
pertaining to permanent and enforceable measures, we agree with Texas' 
conclusion that the area has attained the 1-hour ozone NAAQS due to 
permanent and enforceable emission reductions. More detail on our 
review can be found in the TSD.

B. Will the area maintain the revoked 1-hour ozone NAAQS for 10 years 
from the date of our approval?

    To demonstrate that the HGB area will maintain the revoked 1-hour 
ozone NAAQS for 10 years from the date of our approval of the 
redesignation substitute, the Texas report provided information on 
projected emissions of ozone precursors (Tables 2 and 3). The emission 
projections show that (1) NOx emissions will continue to decrease 
through 2026 and (2) VOC emissions will decrease through 2023 and 
increase by 2.71 tons per year (tpy) from 2023 to 2026 (514.49 tpy in 
2023 to 517.20 tpy in 2026, an increase of 0.5%). We reviewed this 
information and agree with the conclusion that the area will maintain 
the revoked 1-hour ozone NAAQS for 10 years from the date of our 
approval. Based on photochemical modeling analyses showing that the 
formation of ozone in the HGB area is more sensitive to NOX 
than to VOC emissions, the small increase in VOC emissions during the 
10-year maintenance period is expected to be more than offset by the 
18% decrease in NOX emissions during this same period. More 
detail on our review can be found in the TSD.

                                        Table 2--NOX Emission Projections
                                                 [tons per day]
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                   Category                        2011       2014       2017       2020       2023       2026
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Point Sources.................................     108.48     126.31     126.82     127.01     127.20     127.39
Area Sources..................................      21.15      22.19      22.90      23.28      23.17      23.23
On-Road Mobile Sources........................     181.28     127.70      88.85      69.80      59.28      54.51
Non-Road Mobile Sources.......................     121.11     106.99      94.99      83.70      75.54      68.98
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    Total.....................................     432.02     383.19     333.56     303.79     285.19     274.11
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                                        Table 3--VOC Emission Projections
                                                 [tons per day]
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                   Category                        2011       2014       2017       2020       2023       2026
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Point Sources.................................      96.11     100.81     102.86     103.29     103.71     104.12
Area Sources..................................     308.74     321.92     332.43     339.67     342.58     346.13
On-Road Mobile Sources........................      80.92      60.43      46.51      40.51      38.09      36.93
Non-Road Mobile Sources.......................      49.92      38.33      33.34      30.86      30.11      30.02
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    Total.....................................     535.69     521.49     515.14     514.33     514.49     517.20
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[[Page 49973]]

III. Proposed Action

    Based on the CAA's criteria for redesignation to attainment (CAA 
section 107(d)(3)(E)) and the regulation providing for a redesignation 
substitute (40 CFR 51.1105(b)), EPA is proposing to find that Texas has 
successfully demonstrated it has met the requirements for approval of a 
redesignation substitute for the revoked 1979 1-hour ozone NAAQS. We 
are proposing to approve the redesignation substitute for the HGB area 
based on our determination that the demonstration provided by the State 
of Texas shows that the HGB area has attained the revoked 1-hour ozone 
NAAQS due to permanent and enforceable emission reductions, and that it 
will maintain that NAAQS for ten years from the date of the EPA's 
approval of this demonstration. As we no longer redesignate 
nonattainment areas to attainment for the revoked 1-hour ozone NAAQS, 
approval of the demonstration would serve as a redesignation substitute 
under the EPA's implementing regulations. Under this proposed action, 
Texas would no longer be required to adopt any additional applicable 1-
hour ozone NAAQS requirements for the area which have not already been 
approved into the SIP (40 CFR 51.1105(b)(1)). If this proposed action 
is finalized, it would also allow the state to request that the EPA 
approve the removal or revision of the 1-hour ozone NAAQS nonattainment 
NSR provisions in the SIP and, upon a showing of consistency with the 
anti-backsliding checks in CAA sections 110(1) and 193 (if applicable), 
shift 1-hour ozone NAAQS requirements that are contained in the active 
portion of the SIP to the contingency measures portion of the SIP (40 
CFR 51.1105(b)(2)). We note that because the HGB area was classified as 
Severe nonattainment for the 1997 ozone NAAQS, the Severe 
classification NSR requirements would continue to apply if the 1-hour 
NSR provisions are removed (October 1, 2008, 73 FR 56983).

IV. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

    Under Executive Orders 12866 (58 FR 51735, October 4, 1993) and 
13563 (76 FR 3821, January 21, 2011), this action is not a 
``significant regulatory action'' and therefore is not subject to 
review by the Office of Management and Budget. For this reason, this 
action is also not subject to Executive Order 13211, ``Actions 
Concerning Regulations That Significantly Affect Energy Supply, 
Distribution, or Use'' (66 FR 28355, May 22, 2001). This action merely 
proposes to approve a demonstration provided by the State of Texas and 
find that the HGB area is no longer subject to the anti-backsliding 
obligations for additional measures for the revoked 1-hour ozone NAAQS; 
and imposes no additional requirements. Accordingly, I certify that 
this proposed rule will not have a significant economic impact on a 
substantial number of small entities under the Regulatory Flexibility 
Act (5 U.S.C. 601 et seq.). Because this proposed rule does not impose 
any additional enforceable duties, it 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). 
This proposed rule also does not have a substantial direct effect on 
one or more Indian Tribes, on the relationship between the Federal 
Government and Indian Tribes, or on the distribution of power and 
responsibilities between the Federal Government and Indian Tribes, as 
specified by Executive Order 13175 (65 FR 67249, November 9, 2000), nor 
will it have substantial direct effects on the States, on the 
relationship between the national government and the States, or on the 
distribution of power and responsibilities among the various levels of 
government, as specified in Executive Order 13132 (64 FR 43255, August 
10, 1999), because it merely proposes to approve a demonstration 
provided by the State of Texas and find that the HGB area is no longer 
subject to the anti-backsliding obligations for additional measures for 
the revoked 1-hour ozone NAAQS; and does not alter the relationship or 
the distribution of power and responsibilities established in the CAA. 
This proposed rule also is not subject to Executive Order 13045 (62 FR 
19885, April 23, 1997), because it is not economically significant.
    The proposed rule does not impose an information collection burden 
under the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 
3501 et seq.). Additionally, this proposed rule does not involve 
establishment of technical standards, and thus, the requirements of 
section 12(d) of the National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act 
of 1995 (15 U.S.C. 272 note) do not apply.
    Executive Order 12898 (59 FR 7629, February 16, 1994) establishes 
Federal executive policy on environmental justice. Its main provision 
directs Federal agencies, to the greatest extent practicable and 
permitted by law, to make environmental justice part of their mission 
by identifying and addressing, as appropriate, disproportionately high 
and adverse human health or environmental effects of their programs, 
policies, and activities on minority populations and low-income 
populations in the United States. EPA has determined that this proposed 
rule will not have disproportionately high and adverse human health or 
environmental effects on minority or low-income populations because it 
does not affect the level of protection provided to human health or the 
environment. The rulemaking does not affect the level of protection 
provided to human health or the environment because approving the 
demonstration provided by Texas and finding that the HGB area is no 
longer subject to the anti-backsliding obligations for additional 
measures for the revoked 1-hour ozone NAAQS does not alter the emission 
reduction measures that are required to be implemented in the HGB area, 
which was classified as Severe nonattainment for the 1997 8-hour ozone 
standard. See 73 FR 56983, October 1, 2008, and 40 CFR 51.1105. 
Additionally, the proposed rule is not an economically significant 
regulatory action based on health or safety risks subject to Executive 
Order 13045 (62 FR 19885, April 23, 1997).

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 52

    Environmental protection, Air pollution control, Ozone.

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

    Dated: July 29, 2015.
Ron Curry,
Regional Administrator, Region 6.
[FR Doc. 2015-20024 Filed 8-17-15; 8:45 am]
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