[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 123 (Monday, June 27, 2016)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 41444-41447]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-15050]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[EPA-R05-OAR-2016-0276; FRL-9948-19-Region 5]


Determination of Attainment by the Attainment Date; 2008 Ozone 
National Ambient Air Quality Standards; Cleveland, Ohio and St. Louis, 
Missouri-Illinois Areas

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Direct final rule.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is making a 
determination, under the Clean Air Act (CAA), that the Cleveland, Ohio 
(OH) and St. Louis, Missouri-Illinois (MO-IL) areas attained the 2008 
ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS), by the applicable 
attainment date of July 20, 2016. This determination for each area is 
based on complete, quality-assured and certified ozone monitoring data 
for 2013-2015.

DATES: This direct final rule will be effective August 26, 2016, unless 
EPA receives adverse comments by July 27, 2016. If adverse comments are 
received by EPA for an affected area, EPA will publish a timely 
withdrawal of the direct final rule for that area in the Federal 
Register informing the public that the rule will not take effect there.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-R05-
OAR-2016-0276 at http://www.regulations.gov or via email to 
[email protected]. For comments submitted at Regulations.gov, 
follow the online instructions for submitting comments. Once submitted, 
comments cannot be edited or removed from Regulations.gov. For either 
manner of submission, EPA may publish any comment received to its 
public docket. Do not submit electronically any information you 
consider to be Confidential Business Information (CBI) or other 
information whose disclosure is restricted by statute. 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. 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 submission methods, please contact the person 
identified in the For Further Information Contact section. For the full 
EPA public comment policy, information about CBI or multimedia 
submissions, and general guidance on making effective comments, please 
visit http://www2.epa.gov/dockets/commenting-epa-dockets.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kathleen D'Agostino, Environmental 
Scientist, Attainment Planning and Maintenance Section, Air Programs 
Branch (AR-18J), Environmental Protection Agency, Region 5, 77 West 
Jackson Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois 60604, (312) 886-1767, 
[email protected].
    Deborah Bredehoft, Air Planning and Development Branch, 
Environmental Protection Agency, Region 7, 11201 Renner Blvd., Lenexa, 
Kansas 66219, (913) 551-7164, [email protected].

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

I. Background
II. How does EPA determine whether an area has attained the 2008 
ozone standard?
III. What action is EPA taking and what is the rationale?
IV. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

I. Background

    On April 30, 2012, the Cleveland, OH and St. Louis, MO-IL areas 
were designated as nonattainment for the 2008 ozone NAAQS and were 
classified as marginal, effective July 20, 2012 (77 FR 30088, May 21, 
2012). On March 6, 2015 (80 FR 12264), in the final 2008 ozone NAAQS 
SIP requirements rule, EPA established an attainment deadline for 
marginal areas of July 20, 2015.
    The CAA section 181(b)(2) requires the EPA to determine, based on 
an area's ozone design value \1\ as of the

[[Page 41445]]

area's attainment deadline, whether the area has attained the ozone 
standard by that date. The statute provides a mechanism by which states 
that meet certain criteria may request and be granted by the EPA 
Administrator a 1-year extension of an area's attainment deadline.
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    \1\ An area's ozone design value for the 8-hour ozone NAAQS is 
the highest 3-year average of the annual fourth-highest daily 
maximum 8-hour average concentrations of all monitors in the area. 
To determine whether an area has attained the ozone NAAQS prior to 
the attainment date, EPA considers the monitor-specific ozone design 
values in the area for the most recent three years with complete, 
quality-assured, and certified ozone monitoring data prior to the 
attainment deadline (or for an earlier 3-year period if the area 
attains the ozone standard ahead of the attainment deadline).
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    On May 4, 2016 (81 FR 26697), based on EPA's evaluation and 
determination that the areas met the attainment date extension criteria 
of CAA section 181(8)(5), EPA granted the Cleveland and St. Louis areas 
a 1-year extension of the marginal area attainment date to July 20, 
2016.

II. How does EPA determine whether an area has attained the 2008 ozone 
standard?

    Under EPA regulations at 40 CFR part 50, appendix P, the 2008 ozone 
NAAQS is attained at a site when the 3-year average of the annual 
fourth highest daily maximum 8-hour average ambient air quality ozone 
concentration is less than or equal to 0.075 parts per million (ppm). 
This 3-year average is referred to as the design value. When the design 
value is less than or equal to 0.075 ppm at each ambient air quality 
monitoring site within the area, then the area is deemed to be meeting 
the NAAQS. The rounding convention under 40 CFR part 50, appendix P, 
dictates that concentrations shall be reported in ppm to the third 
decimal place, with additional digits to the right being truncated. 
Thus, a computed 3-year average ozone concentration of 0.076 ppm is 
greater than 0.075 ppm and, therefore, over the standard.
    EPA's determination of attainment is based upon data that have been 
collected and quality-assured in accordance with 40 CFR part 58 and 
recorded in the EPA's Air Quality System database (formerly known as 
the Aerometric Information Retrieval System). Ambient air quality 
monitoring data for the 3-year period must meet a data completeness 
requirement. The ambient air quality monitoring data completeness 
requirement is met when the average percent of required monitoring days 
with valid ambient monitoring data is greater than 90 percent, and no 
single year has less than 75 percent data completeness as determined 
according to appendix P of part 50.

III. What action is EPA taking and what is the rationale?

    EPA is taking this action pursuant to the agency's statutory 
obligation under CAA section 181(b)(2) to determine whether the 
Cleveland and St. Louis nonattainment areas have attained the 2008 
ozone NAAQS by the applicable attainment date of July 20, 2016. In this 
action, EPA is making a determination that the Cleveland and St. Louis 
areas attained the 2008 ozone NAAQS by the applicable deadline of July 
20, 2016, based upon complete, quality-assured and certified ozone 
monitoring data for 2013-2015.\2\
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    \2\ These determinations of attainment do not constitute a 
redesignation to attainment. Redesignations require states to meet a 
number of additional criteria, including EPA approval of a state 
plan to maintain the air quality standard for 10 years after 
redesignation.
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    EPA evaluated data from air quality monitors in the Cleveland and 
St. Louis areas in order to determine the areas' attainment status as 
of the applicable attainment date of July 20, 2016. The data were 
supplied and quality-assured by state and local agencies responsible 
for monitoring ozone air monitoring networks. Table 1 displays the 
2013-2015 design value for each monitor as well as the fourth high 
daily maximum 8-hour ozone concentration for each of the three years 
used to calculate the design value.

                              Table 1--Annual 4th High Daily Maximum 8-Hour Ozone Concentration and Design Value by Monitor
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                                                                                                                                             2013-2015
                Area                         County                    Monitor            2013  4th high  2014  4th high  2015  4th high   design value
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St. Louis, MO-IL...................  Madison, IL...........  Alton 171190008............           0.072           0.072           0.069           0.071
                                                             Maryville 171190009........           0.075           0.070           0.064           0.069
                                                             Wood River 171193007.......           0.069           0.070           0.069           0.069
                                                             5403 State Road 160                   0.071           0.068           0.067           0.068
                                                              171199991.
                                     Saint Clair, IL.......  East Saint Louis 171630010.           0.066           0.067           0.066           0.066
                                     Jefferson, MO.........  Arnold 290990019...........           0.069           0.072           0.069           0.070
                                     Saint Charles, MO.....  West Alton 291831002.......           0.071           0.072           0.070           0.071
                                                             Orchard Farm 291831004.....           0.071           0.072           0.066           0.069
                                     Saint Louis, MO.......  Pacific 291890005..........           0.067           0.065           0.065           0.065
                                                             Maryland Heights 291890014.           0.070           0.072           0.069           0.070
                                     St. Louis City, MO....  St. Louis 295100085........           0.066           0.066           0.063           0.065
Cleveland, OH......................  Ashtabula.............  Conneaut 390071001.........           0.070           0.069           0.070           0.069
                                     Cuyahoga..............  891 E. 152 St. 390350034...           0.069           0.071           0.067           0.069
                                                             E. 14th & Orange 390350060.           0.057           0.066           0.063           0.062
                                                             Berea 390350064............           0.064           0.059           0.066           0.063
                                                             Mayfield 390355002.........           0.065           0.061           0.072           0.066
                                     Geauga................  13000 Auburn 390550004.....           0.065           0.065           0.073           0.067
                                     Lake..................  Eastlake 390850003.........           0.070           0.075           0.074           0.073
                                                             Painesville 390850007......           0.068           0.062           0.070           0.066
                                     Lorain................  Sheffield 390930018........           0.060           0.067           0.062           0.063
                                     Medina................  Ballash Road 391030004.....           0.065           0.064           0.063           0.064
                                     Portage...............  1570 Ravenna Rd. 391331001.           0.058           0.061           0.064           0.061
                                     Summit................  Akron 391530020............           0.060           0.058           0.065           0.061
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    All monitoring sites in the Cleveland and St. Louis areas had 
design values less than 0.075 ppm based on the 2013-2015 monitoring 
period. Thus, EPA is determining, in accordance with section 
181(b)(2)(A) of the CAA and the provisions of the SIP Requirements Rule 
(40 CFR 51.1103), that these areas attained the standard by the 
applicable attainment date of July 20, 2016. EPA's determination is 
based upon three years of complete, quality-assured and certified data.
    We are publishing this action without prior proposal because we 
view this as

[[Page 41446]]

a noncontroversial amendment and anticipate no adverse comments. 
However, in the proposed rules section of this Federal Register 
publication, we are publishing a separate document that will serve as 
the proposal to approve each determination if relevant adverse written 
comments are filed. This rule will be effective August 26, 2016 without 
further notice unless we receive relevant adverse written comments by 
July 27, 2016. If we receive such comments, we will withdraw this 
action, for any affected area, before the effective date by publishing 
a subsequent document that will withdraw the final action. All public 
comments received will then be addressed in a subsequent final rule 
based on the proposed action. EPA will not institute a second comment 
period. Any parties interested in commenting on this action should do 
so at this time. Please note that, if EPA receives adverse comment on 
an amendment, paragraph, or section of this rule and if that provision 
may be severed from the remainder of the rule, EPA may adopt as final 
those provisions of the rule that are not the subject of an adverse 
comment. If we do not receive any comments, this action will be 
effective August 26, 2016.

IV. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

    Under section 181(b)(2) of the CAA, a determination of attainment 
is a factual determination based upon air quality considerations. These 
determinations of attainment would, if finalized, result in the 
suspension of certain Federal requirements. For that reason, this 
action:
     Is not a ``significant regulatory action'' subject to 
review by the Office of Management and Budget under Executive Orders 
12866 (58 FR 51735, October 4, 1993) and 13563 (76 FR 3821, January 21, 
2011);
     Does not impose an information collection burden under the 
provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.);
     Is certified as not having a significant economic impact 
on a substantial number of small entities under the Regulatory 
Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 601 et seq.);
     Does not contain any unfunded mandate or significantly or 
uniquely affect small governments, as described in the Unfunded 
Mandates Reform Act of 1995 (Pub. L. 104-4);
     Does not have Federalism implications as specified in 
Executive Order 13132 (64 FR 43255, August 10, 1999);
     Is not an economically significant regulatory action based 
on health or safety risks subject to Executive Order 13045 (62 FR 
19885, April 23, 1997);
     Is not a significant regulatory action subject to 
Executive Order 13211 (66 FR 28355, May 22, 2001);
     Is not subject to requirements of Section 12(d) of the 
National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act of 1995 (15 U.S.C. 272 
note) because application of those requirements would be inconsistent 
with the 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 rule does not have tribal implications because it 
will not have a substantial direct effect on any Indian reservation 
land or in any other area where EPA or an Indian tribe has demonstrated 
that a tribe has jurisdiction. Determinations of attainment do not have 
tribal implications as specified by Executive Order 13175 (65 FR 67249, 
November 9, 2000), because a determination of attainment is an action 
that affects the status of a geographical area and does not impose any 
new regulatory requirements on tribes, impact any existing sources of 
air pollution on tribal lands, nor impair the maintenance of ozone 
national ambient air quality standards in tribal lands.
    The Congressional Review Act, 5 U.S.C. 801 et seq., as added by the 
Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996, generally 
provides that before a rule may take effect, the agency promulgating 
the rule must submit a rule report, which includes a copy of the rule, 
to each House of the Congress and to the Comptroller General of the 
United States. EPA will submit a report containing this action and 
other required information to the U.S. Senate, the U.S. House of 
Representatives, and the Comptroller General of the United States prior 
to publication of the rule in the Federal Register. A major rule cannot 
take effect until 60 days after it is published in the Federal 
Register. This action is not a ``major rule'' as defined by 5 U.S.C. 
804(2).
    Under section 307(b)(1) of the CAA, petitions for judicial review 
of this action must be filed in the United States Court of Appeals for 
the appropriate circuit by August 26, 2016. Filing a petition for 
reconsideration by the Administrator of this final rule does not affect 
the finality of this action for the purposes of judicial review nor 
does it extend the time within which a petition for judicial review may 
be filed, and shall not postpone the effectiveness of such rule or 
action. Parties with objections to this direct final rule are 
encouraged to file a comment in response to the parallel notice of 
proposed rulemaking for this action published in the proposed rules 
section of this Federal Register, rather than file an immediate 
petition for judicial review of this direct final rule, so that EPA can 
withdraw this direct final rule and address the comment in the proposed 
rulemaking. This action may not be challenged later in proceedings to 
enforce its requirements. (See section 307(b)(2).)

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 52

    Environmental protection, Administrative practice and procedure, 
Air pollution control, Designations and classifications, Incorporation 
by reference, Intergovernmental relations, Nitrogen oxides, Ozone, 
Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, Volatile organic compounds.

    Dated: June 15, 2016.
Robert A. Kaplan,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region 5.
    Dated: June 3, 2016.
Mark Hague,
Regional Administrator, Region 7.

    Part 52, chapter I, title 40 of Code of Federal Regulations is 
amended as follows:

PART 52--APPROVAL AND PROMULGATION OF IMPLEMENTATION PLANS

0
1. The authority citation for part 52 continues to read as follows:

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

0
2. Section 52.726 is amended by adding paragraph (qq) to read as 
follows:


Sec.  52.726  Control strategy: Ozone.

* * * * *
    (qq) Determination of attainment. As required by section 
181(b)(2)(A) of the Clean Air Act, EPA has determined that the St. 
Louis, MO-IL marginal 2008 ozone nonattainment area has attained the 
NAAQS by the applicable attainment date of July 20, 2016.
0
3. Section 52.1342 is amended by adding paragraph (d) to read as 
follows:


Sec.  52.1342  Control strategy: Ozone.

* * * * *
    (d) Determination of attainment. As required by section 
181(b)(2)(A) of the Clean Air Act, EPA has determined that the St. 
Louis, MO-IL marginal 2008 ozone nonattainment area has attained

[[Page 41447]]

the NAAQS by the applicable attainment date of July 20, 2016.

0
4. Section 52.1885 is amended by adding paragraph (oo) to read as 
follows:


Sec.  52.1885  Control strategy: Ozone.

* * * * *
    (oo) Determination of attainment. As required by section 
181(b)(2)(A) of the Clean Air Act, EPA has determined that the 
Cleveland, OH marginal 2008 ozone nonattainment area has attained the 
NAAQS by the applicable attainment date of July 20, 2016.

0
5. Section 52.1892 is amended by adding paragraph (g) to read as 
follows:


Sec.  52.1892  Determination of attainment.

* * * * *
    (g) As required by section 181(b)(2)(A) of the Clean Air Act, EPA 
has determined that the Cleveland, OH marginal 2008 ozone nonattainment 
area has attained the NAAQS by the applicable attainment date of July 
20, 2016. This determination is based on complete, quality-assured and 
certified data for the 3-year period 2013-2015.

[FR Doc. 2016-15050 Filed 6-24-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6560-50-P