[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 188 (Wednesday, September 28, 2016)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 66617-66619]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-23294]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 81

[EPA-R05-OAR-2016-0277; FRL-9953-09-Region 5]


Reclassification of the Sheboygan, Wisconsin Area To Moderate 
Nonattainment for the 2008 Ozone NAAQS

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Proposed rule.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to 
determine that the Sheboygan, Wisconsin area (Sheboygan County) has 
failed to attain the 2008 ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standards 
(NAAQS) by the applicable attainment date of July 20, 2016, and that 
this area is not eligible for an extension of the attainment date. EPA 
is proposing to reclassify this area as ``moderate'' nonattainment for 
the 2008 ozone NAAQS. Once reclassified as moderate, the State of 
Wisconsin must submit State Implementation Plan (SIP) revisions that 
meet the statutory and regulatory requirements that apply to areas 
classified as moderate nonattainment for the 2008 ozone NAAQS. EPA is 
proposing to require submission of the necessary moderate area SIP 
revisions as expeditiously as practicable, but no later than January 1, 
2017.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before October 28, 2016.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-R05-
OAR-2016-0277 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].

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 is EPA proposing and what is the rationale?
IV. Summary of Proposed Actions
V. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

I. Background

    On April 30, 2012, the Sheboygan area was designated as 
nonattainment for the 2008 ozone NAAQS and was classified as marginal, 
effective July 20, 2012 (77 FR 30088, May 21, 2012). On March 6, 2015 
(80 FR 12264), in the implementation rule for the 2008 ozone

[[Page 66618]]

NAAQS, EPA established an attainment deadline of July 20, 2015, for 
marginal areas.
    Clean Air Act (CAA) section 181(b)(2) requires EPA to determine, 
based on an area's ozone design value \1\ as of the 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 
one-year extension of an area's attainment deadline. The CAA also 
requires that areas that have not attained the standard by their 
attainment deadlines be reclassified to either the next ``highest'' 
classification (e.g., marginal to moderate, moderate to serious, etc.) 
or to the classifications applicable to the areas' design values.
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    \1\ An area's ozone design value for the eight-hour ozone NAAQS 
is the highest three-year average of the annual fourth-highest daily 
maximum eight-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 monitored ozone data prior to the 
attainment deadline.
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    On May 4, 2016 (81 FR 26697), based on EPA's evaluation and 
determination that the area met the attainment date extension criteria 
of CAA section 181(8)(5), EPA granted the Sheboygan area a one-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 three-year average of the annual 
fourth-highest daily maximum eight-hour average ambient air quality 
ozone concentration is less than or equal to 0.075 parts per million 
(ppm). This three-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 three-year average ozone concentration of 
0.076 ppm is greater than 0.075 ppm and, therefore, over the standard.
    EPA's determination is based upon data that have been collected and 
quality-assured in accordance with 40 CFR part 58 and recorded in EPA's 
Air Quality System database (formerly known as the Aerometric 
Information Retrieval System). Ambient air quality monitoring data for 
the three-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 is EPA proposing and what is the rationale?

A. Determination of Failure To Attain and Reclassification

    EPA is issuing this proposal pursuant to the agency's statutory 
obligation under CAA section 181(b)(2) to determine whether the 
Sheboygan nonattainment area has attained the 2008 ozone NAAQS by the 
applicable attainment date of July 20, 2016. In this action, EPA is 
proposing to determine that the Sheboygan area failed to attain the 
2008 ozone NAAQS by the applicable attainment date of July 20, 2016. 
This area is not eligible for an additional one-year attainment date 
extension because, at 0.076 ppm, the average of the 2014 and 2015 
annual fourth highest daily maximum eight-hour average ozone 
concentrations for the monitor in the area is greater than 0.075 ppm. 
(2014 and 2015 are the last two full years of complete air quality data 
prior to the July 20, 2016, attainment date.) Table 2 shows the 
relevant monitoring data for the Sheboygan area.

                                                                         Table 2
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                                                                                                                                            2013-2015
                Area                          County                  Monitor          2013  4th high   2014  4th high   2015  4th high      Average
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Sheboygan, WI.......................  Sheboygan.............  Kohler Andre Park                0.078            0.072            0.081            0.077
                                                               551170006.
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    CAA section 181(b)(2)(A) provides that a marginal nonattainment 
area shall be reclassified by operation of law upon a determination by 
the EPA that such area failed to attain the relevant NAAQS by the 
applicable attainment date. Based on quality-assured ozone monitoring 
data from 2013-2015, as shown in Table 2, the new classification 
applicable to the Sheboygan area would be the next higher 
classification of ``moderate'' under the CAA statutory scheme.\2\
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    \2\ The 2013-2015 design value the Sheboygan area does not 
exceed 0.100 ppm, which is the threshold for reclassifying an area 
to serious per CAA section 181(b)(2)(A)(ii) and 40 CFR 51.1103.
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    Moderate nonattainment areas are required to attain the standard 
``as expeditiously as practicable'' but no later than six years after 
the initial designation as nonattainment (which, in the case of the 
Sheboygan area, is July 20, 2018). The attainment deadlines associated 
with each classification are prescribed by the CAA and codified at 40 
CFR 51.1103.

B. Moderate Area SIP Revision Submission Deadline

    Wisconsin will be required to submit a revised SIP that addresses 
the CAA's moderate nonattainment area requirements, as interpreted and 
described in the final ozone NAAQS. See 40 CFR 51.1100 et seq. Those 
requirements include: (1) An attainment demonstration (CAA section 
182(b) and 40 CFR 51.1108); (2) provisions for volatile organic 
compounds (VOC) and nitrogen oxides (NOX) reasonably 
available control technology (RACT) (CAA section 182(b)(2) and 40 CFR 
51.1112(a)-(b)) and reasonably available control measures (RACM) (CAA 
section 172(c)(1) and 40 CFR 51.1112(c)); (3) reasonable further 
progress (RFP) reductions in VOC and/or NOx emissions in the area (CAA 
sections 172(c)(2) and 182(b)(1) and 40 CFR 51.1110); (4) contingency 
measures to be implemented in the event of failure to meet a milestone 
or to attain the standard (CAA section 172(c)(9)); (5) a vehicle 
inspection and maintenance program, if applicable (CAA section 
181(b)(4) and 40 CFR 51.350); and, (6) NOX and VOC emission 
offsets at a ratio of 1.15 to 1 for major source permits (CAA section 
182(b)(5) and 40 CFR 51.165(a)). See also the requirements for moderate 
ozone nonattainment areas set

[[Page 66619]]

forth in CAA section 182(b) and the general nonattainment plan 
provisions required under CAA section 172(c).
    When an area is reclassified under CAA section 181(b)(2), CAA 
section 182(i) requires the state to meet the new requirements 
according to the schedules prescribed in those requirements. It 
provides, however, ``that the Administrator may adjust any applicable 
deadlines (other than attainment dates) to the extent such adjustment 
is necessary or appropriate to assure consistency among the required 
submissions.'' CAA section 182(b), as interpreted by 40 CFR 51.1100 et 
seq., describes the required SIP revisions and associated deadlines for 
a nonattainment area classified as moderate at the time of the initial 
designations. However, these SIP submission deadlines (e.g., three 
years after the effective date of designation for submission of an 
attainment plan and attainment demonstration) have already passed. 
Accordingly, EPA is proposing to exercise its discretion under CAA 
section 182(i) to adjust the SIP submittal deadlines for the Sheboygan 
area.
    In determining an appropriate deadline for the moderate area SIP 
revisions for the Sheboygan area, EPA notes that, pursuant to 40 CFR 
51.1108(d), the state must provide for implementation of all control 
measures needed for attainment no later than the beginning of the 
attainment year ozone season. The attainment year ozone season is the 
ozone season immediately preceding a nonattainment area's attainment 
date. In the case of nonattainment areas classified as moderate for the 
2008 ozone NAAQS, the attainment year ozone season is the 2017 ozone 
season (40 CFR 51.1100(h)).
    Further, in the implementation rule for the 2008 ozone NAAQS, EPA 
established the requirement for areas to implement RACT measures as 
expeditiously as practicable, but no later than January 1 of the fifth 
year after the effective date of a nonattainment designation. (81 FR 
12280) For the nonattainment designations that were effective July 20, 
2012, this would require RACT measures (for areas where they are 
required) to be implemented by January 1, 2017. This implementation 
deadline ensured that RACT measures would be required to be in place no 
later than the last ozone season prior to the moderate area attainment 
date of July 20, 2018.
    The January 1, 2017, SIP submission deadline is consistent with the 
SIP submission deadline established for all other Marginal 
nonattainment areas in the country that were recently reclassified to 
Moderate for the 2008 ozone NAAQS,\3\ and is consistent with the 
timeframes in the CAA as codified in the EPA's implementing 
regulations. Accordingly, EPA is proposing to require Wisconsin to 
submit the required SIP revisions no later than January 1, 2017.
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    \3\ See 81 FR 26697 (May 4, 2016).
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IV. Summary of Proposed Actions

    EPA is proposing to determine that the Sheboygan area failed to 
attain the 2008 ozone NAAQS by the applicable attainment date of July 
20, 2016, is not eligible for an additional one-year attainment date 
extension, and must be reclassified as moderate. EPA is also proposing 
to require Wisconsin to submit SIP revisions to address moderate area 
requirements as expeditiously as practicable, but no later than January 
1, 2017.

V. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

    Under section 181(b)(2) of the CAA, a determination of 
nonattainment is a factual determination based upon air quality 
considerations and the resulting reclassification must occur by 
operation of law. A determination of nonattainment and the resulting 
reclassification of a nonattainment area by operation of law under 
section 181(b)(2) does not in and of itself create any new 
requirements, but rather applies the requirements contained in the CAA. 
For these reasons, 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, the SIP is not approved to apply on any Indian 
reservation land or in any other area where EPA or an Indian tribe has 
demonstrated that a tribe has jurisdiction. In those areas of Indian 
country, the rule does not have tribal implications and will not impose 
substantial direct costs on tribal governments or preempt tribal law as 
specified by Executive Order 13175 (65 FR 67249, November 9, 2000).

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 81

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

    Dated: September 14, 2016.
Robert A. Kaplan,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region 5.
[FR Doc. 2016-23294 Filed 9-27-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6560-50-P