[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 245 (Wednesday, December 21, 2016)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 93624-93627]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-30477]



[[Page 93624]]

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[EPA-R09-OAR-2016-0669; FRL-9956-66-Region 9]


Determination of Attainment of the 2008 Ozone National Ambient 
Air Quality Standards; Mariposa County, California

AGENCY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Direct final rule.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is taking direct 
final action to determine that the Mariposa County, California Moderate 
Nonattainment Area (NAA) has attained the 2008 8-hour ozone National 
Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS or ``standards''). This 
determination is based on complete, quality-assured and certified data 
for 2013-2015. Preliminary data for 2016 are consistent with continued 
attainment of the standards in the Mariposa County NAA. This 
determination suspends any unfulfilled obligations to submit revisions 
to the state implementation plan (SIP) related to attainment of the 
2008 ozone standards for the Mariposa County NAA for as long as the 
area continues to meet those standards.

DATES: This rule is effective on February 21, 2017 without further 
notice, unless the EPA receives adverse comments by January 20, 2017. 
If the EPA receives such comments, the EPA will publish a timely 
withdrawal in the Federal Register to notify the public that this 
direct final rule will not take effect.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-R09-
OAR-2016-0669 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, the 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. 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 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: Nancy Levin, EPA Region IX, (415) 972-
3848, [email protected].

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

Table of Contents

I. What is the background for this action?
    A. Ozone NAAQS, Area Designations and Classifications
    B. Relevant Statutory and Regulatory Requirements
    C. Ambient Air Quality Monitoring Data
II. What is the EPA's analysis of the Relevant Air Quality data?
    A. Monitoring Network and Data Considerations
    B. Evaluation of the Ambient Air Quality Data
III. What is the effect of this action?
IV. Final Action
V. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

I. What is the background for this action?

A. Ozone NAAQS, Area Designations and Classifications

    The Clean Air Act (CAA or ``Act'') requires the EPA to establish 
national primary and secondary standards for certain widespread 
pollutants, such as ozone, that cause or contribute to air pollution 
that is reasonably anticipated to endanger public health or welfare.\1\ 
In the 1970s, the EPA promulgated primary and secondary ozone 
standards, based on a 1-hour average. In 1997, we replaced the 1-hour 
ozone standards with primary and secondary 8-hour ozone standards. In 
2008, we tightened the 8-hour ozone standards to the level of 0.075 
parts per million (ppm), daily maximum 8-hour average.\2\ See 73 FR 
16436 (March 27, 2008); 40 CFR 50.15. Since the primary and secondary 
ozone standards are the same, we refer to them hereafter in this 
document using the singular ``2008 ozone standard'' (or simply 
``standard'') or NAAQS. The 2008 ozone standard is met at an ambient 
air quality monitoring site when the 3-year average of the annual 
fourth-highest daily maximum 8-hour average ozone concentration is less 
than or equal to 0.075 ppm, as determined in accordance with 40 CFR 
part 50, Appendix P.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \1\ See sections 108 and 109 of the Clean Air Act (CAA or 
``Act''). Primary standards represent ambient air quality standards 
the attainment and maintenance of which the Environmental Protection 
Agency (EPA) has determined, including a margin of safety, are 
requisite to protect the public health. Secondary standards 
represent ambient air quality standards the attainment and 
maintenance of which the EPA has determined are requisite to protect 
the public welfare from any known or anticipated adverse effects 
associated with the presence of such air pollutant in the ambient 
air. CAA section 109(b).
    \2\ In 2015, we tightened the ozone National Ambient Air Quality 
Standards (NAAQS or ``standards'') even further and established 
0.070 parts per million (ppm), 8-hour average, as the new ozone 
NAAQS. See 80 FR 65292 (October 26, 2015). While the 1979 1-hour 
ozone NAAQS and 1997 8-hour ozone NAAQS have been revoked, the 2008 
ozone NAAQS remains in effect.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The EPA designated NAAs for the 2008 ozone standard on May 21, 
2012, effective July 20, 2012 (77 FR 30088). In that action, the EPA 
classified (by operation of law) the Mariposa County, California \3\ 
NAA as a ``Marginal'' nonattainment area. The original attainment date 
for the 2008 ozone standard for this Marginal ozone nonattainment area 
was as expeditious as practicable but not later than July 20, 2015. See 
40 CFR 51.1103.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \3\ Mariposa County is located in central California and is the 
southern-most county within the air basin designated by California 
as the Mountain Counties Air Basin. The nonattainment area 
designation for Mariposa County encompasses the entire county.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    In May 2016, the EPA determined that the Mariposa County NAA failed 
to attain the 2008 ozone standard by the applicable attainment date of 
July 20, 2015, and reclassified the area to the next higher 
classification, i.e., ``Moderate.'' Our determination was based on 
complete, quality-assured and certified data for 2012-2014.\4\ States 
with Moderate ozone NAAs are required to submit revisions to the 
applicable SIP that comply with the requirements set forth in subpart 2 
of part D of title I of the CAA and in the EPA's ozone implementation 
rule for the 2008 ozone NAAQS in 40 CFR part 51, subpart AA. The 
relevant SIP requirements include, among other requirements, attainment 
demonstrations and associated reasonably available control measures 
(RACM), reasonable further progress (RFP) plans, and contingency 
measures for failure to attain or make RFP. The applicable attainment 
date for areas

[[Page 93625]]

classified as Moderate nonattainment for the 2008 ozone NAAQS is as 
expeditious as practicable but not later than July 20, 2018. See 40 CFR 
51.1103.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \4\ 81 FR 26697 (May 4, 2016). The 2012-2014 design value for 
the Mariposa County NAA was 0.078 parts per million, which exceeded 
the 2008 ozone NAAQS of 0.075 ppm, daily maximum 8-hour average. We 
note that today's action is based on the 2013-2015 design value.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

B. Relevant Statutory and Regulatory Requirements

    Under the provisions of EPA's ozone implementation rule for the 
2008 ozone NAAQS, if the EPA issues a determination that an area is 
attaining the relevant standard, also known as a Clean Data 
Determination, the requirements for such area to submit attainment 
demonstrations and associated RACM, RFP plans, contingency measures and 
other planning SIPs related to attainment of the 2008 ozone NAAQS are 
suspended until such time as the area is redesignated to attainment for 
the 2008 ozone NAAQS. However, if the EPA later determines, through 
notice-and-comment rulemaking, that the area has again violated the 
2008 ozone NAAQS, the area is again required to submit such plans. See 
40 CFR 51.1118. While these requirements are suspended, the EPA is not 
precluded from acting upon these SIP elements at any time if submitted 
to the EPA for review and approval.

C. Ambient Air Quality Monitoring Data

    A determination of whether an area's air quality meets the 2008 
ozone NAAQS is generally based upon three consecutive calendar years of 
complete, quality-assured data measured at established State and Local 
Air Monitoring Stations (SLAMS) in the NAA and entered into the EPA Air 
Quality System (AQS) database. Data from ambient air monitoring sites 
operated by state or local agencies in compliance with EPA monitoring 
requirements must be submitted to AQS. Heads of monitoring agencies 
annually certify that these data are accurate to the best of their 
knowledge. Accordingly, the EPA relies primarily on data in AQS when 
determining the attainment status of an area. See 40 CFR 50.15; 40 CFR 
part 50, Appendix P; 40 CFR part 53; 40 CFR part 58, Appendices A, C, D 
and E. All data are reviewed to determine the area's air quality status 
in accordance with 40 CFR part 50, Appendix P.
    The 2008 ozone standard is met at an ambient air quality monitoring 
site when the design value is less than or equal to 0.075 ppm, as 
determined in accordance with 40 CFR part 50, Appendix P. See 40 CFR 
50.15. The design value is a statistic that describes the air quality 
status of a given location relative to the level of the NAAQS. For the 
purpose of comparison with the 2008 ozone standard, the design value 
for a site is the 3-year average of the annual fourth-highest daily 
maximum 8-hour average ozone concentrations. When the design value is 
less than or equal to 0.075 ppm (based on the rounding convention in 40 
CFR part 50, Appendix P) at each monitoring site within the area, then 
the area is meeting the NAAQS. The data completeness requirement is met 
when the 3-year average percent of days with valid monitoring data is 
at least 90 percent, and no single year has less than 75 percent data 
completeness as determined in accordance with 40 CFR part 50, Appendix 
P.

II. What is the EPA's analysis of the Relevant Air Quality data?

A. Monitoring Network and Data Considerations

    The California Air Resources Board (CARB) and local air pollution 
control districts and air quality management districts (``districts'') 
operate ambient air monitoring stations throughout the State of 
California. CARB is the lead monitoring agency in the Primary Quality 
Assurance Organization (PQAO) that includes all the monitoring agencies 
in the State with a few exceptions.5 6
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \5\ A Primary Quality Assurance Organization (PQAO) means a 
monitoring organization, a group of monitoring organizations or 
other organization that is responsible for a set of stations that 
monitor the same pollutant and for which data quality assessments 
can be pooled. Each criteria pollutant sampler/monitor at a 
monitoring station must be associated with only one PQAO. (40 CFR 
58.1).
    \6\ The Bay Area Air Quality Management District (AQMD), the 
South Coast AQMD and the San Diego Air Pollution Control District 
are each designated as the PQAO for their respective ambient air 
monitoring programs.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Within the Mariposa County ozone nonattainment area, there is one 
ozone SLAMS (referred to as the Jerseydale site) that is operated by 
CARB, and one SLAMS (referred to as the Turtleback Dome site in 
Yosemite National Park) that is operated by the National Park Service 
(NPS). The ozone monitoring site operated by NPS at Turtleback Dome is 
one of many sites throughout the U.S. and Canada that comprise the 
Clean Air Status and Trends Network (CASTNET).\7\ Ozone monitors at 
CASTNET sites meet the EPA's ambient air quality monitoring 
requirements of 40 CFR part 58, and data from such sites are submitted 
to AQS. Ozone data from CASTNET sites, such as Turtleback Dome, are 
eligible for use in determining compliance with the ozone NAAQS. CARB 
is the PQAO for the Jerseydale site. The NPS is the PQAO for the 
Turtleback Dome site.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \7\ Clean Air Status and Trends Network (CASTNET) is a national 
monitoring network established to assess trends in pollutant 
concentrations, atmospheric deposition and ecological effects due to 
changes in air pollutant emissions. For additional background on 
CASTNET, see https://www.epa.govfxsp0;/castnet.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    All state and local air monitoring agencies are required to submit 
annual monitoring network plans to the EPA.\8\ An annual monitoring 
network plan discusses the status of the air monitoring network, as 
required under 40 CFR part 58.10. CARB submits the annual monitoring 
network plans for the Jerseydale site.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \8\ See 40 CFR 58.10(a)(1).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Since 2007, the EPA has regularly reviewed these annual monitoring 
network plans for compliance with the applicable reporting requirements 
in 40 CFR part 58. With respect to ozone, the EPA found that the area's 
annual monitoring network plans meet the applicable requirements under 
40 CFR part 58. See EPA letters to CARB approving annual monitoring 
network plans for the years 2013, 2014 and 2015.\9\ The 2016 CASTNET 
annual network plan, dated June 23, 2016, includes the Turtleback Dome 
site.\10\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \9\ Letter from Meredith Kurpius, Manager, Air Quality Analysis 
Office, EPA Region IX, to Karen Magliano, Chief, Air Quality Data 
Branch, Planning and Technical Support Division, CARB, dated March 
7, 2014, approving CARB's 2013 annual monitoring network report; 
letter from Meredith Kurpius, Manager, Air Quality Analysis Office, 
EPA Region IX, to Karen Magliano, Chief, Air Quality Data Branch, 
Planning and Technical Support Division, CARB, dated January 27, 
2015, approving CARB's 2014 annual monitoring report; and letter 
from Meredith Kurpius, Manager, Air Quality Analysis Office, U.S. 
EPA Region IX, to Ravi Ramalingam, Chief Consumer Products and Air 
Quality Assessment Branch, Air Quality Planning and Science 
Division, CARB, dated November 13, 2015, approving CARB's 2015 
annual monitoring network report.
    \10\ The 2016 CASTNET Annual Network Plan is available at 
https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2016-07/documents/castnet_plan_2016_final.pdf.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The EPA also concluded from its Technical System Audit of the CARB 
PQAO (conducted during Summer 2015), that the combined ambient air 
monitoring network operated by CARB currently meets or exceeds the 
requirements for the minimum number of SLAMS for the 2008 ozone 
standard.\11\ All of the monitoring sites in the PQAO are reviewed with 
respect to monitoring objectives, spatial scales and other site 
criteria as required by 40 CFR part 58, Appendix D.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \11\ Letter from Elizabeth J. Adams, Acting Director, Air 
Division, EPA Region IX, to Richard Corey, Executive Officer, CARB, 
dated August 31, 2016, transmitting findings of the EPA's 2015 
Technical System Audit of the CARB's ambient air monitoring program.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    CARB oversees the quality assurance of all data collected within 
the CARB PQAO. Also, CARB annually certifies that the data it submits 
to AQS are

[[Page 93626]]

complete and quality-assured. This includes data from all CARB sites, 
including the Jerseydale site.\12\ Data from the Turtleback Dome site 
are certified by the NPS.\13\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \12\ See, e.g., letter from Ravi Ramalingam, Chief, Air Quality 
Data Branch, CARB, to Elizabeth Adams, Acting Director, Air 
Division, EPA Region 9, certifying calendar year 2015 ambient air 
quality data and quality assurance data, May 10, 2016.
    \13\ See, e.g., letter from Barkley Sive, Air Resources Division 
Program Manager, National Park Service, to Lew Weinstock, EPA Office 
of Air Quality Policy and Standards, certifying calendar year 2015 
ambient air quality data and quality assurance, dated April 27, 
2016.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    As noted above, there are two ozone SLAMS monitoring sites 
operating within the Mariposa County NAA. These sites monitor ozone 
concentrations on a continuous basis using EPA reference or equivalent 
methods.14 15
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \14\ See the CARB's Annual Monitoring Network Report for Twenty-
five Districts in California (July 2015). The EPA approved an ozone 
season waiver for the Jerseydale site. See letter from Meredith 
Kurpius, Manager, Air Quality Analysis Office, EPA Region IX, to 
Ravi Ramalingam, Chief, Consumer Products and Air Quality Assessment 
Branch, CARB, dated March 8, 2016. The Jerseydale ozone monitor 
operates only in the warmer six months of the year. The site is at a 
high elevation where access during the winter can be problematic. 
Ozone concentrations during the winter at the Jerseydale site are 
well below the levels of the 2008 ozone standard.
    \15\ See the CARB's Annual Monitoring Network Report for Twenty-
five Districts in California (July 2015).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Lastly, consistent with the requirements contained in 40 CFR part 
50, the EPA has reviewed the quality-assured and certified ozone 
ambient air monitoring data, as recorded in AQS for the applicable 
monitoring period, collected at the monitoring sites in the Mariposa 
County NAA for completeness. The EPA has determined that the data are 
complete.\16\ For the two ozone monitoring sites in Mariposa County, 
daily maximum 8-hour average concentrations are available for at least 
90 percent of the days within the ozone monitoring season, on average 
for the 2013-2015 period, and daily maximum 8-hour average 
concentrations are available for at least 75 percent of the days within 
the ozone monitoring season for each individual year within that 
period.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \16\ See EPA, Air Quality System, Design Value Report, July 25, 
2016.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

B. Evaluation of the Ambient Air Quality Data

    As noted above, the applicable attainment date for the Mariposa 
County ozone NAA is July 20, 2018; however, we have reviewed the data 
collected at the two monitoring sites within that area during the most 
recent three-year period (2013-2015) to determine whether the area has 
already attained the 2008 ozone standard. Table 1 shows the fourth-
highest daily maximum 8-hour ozone concentrations for 2013 through 2015 
at both sites in the Mariposa County ozone NAA and shows the design 
values for 2013-2015. The design value for a given area is based on the 
monitoring site in the area with the highest design value. In this 
case, the design value for 2013-2015 for the Mariposa County ozone NAA 
is at the Jerseydale site and is 0.075 ppm, which is equal to the 
standard (i.e., 0.075 ppm). Therefore, we are determining, based on the 
complete, quality-assured and certified data for 2013-2015, that the 
Mariposa County Moderate ozone NAA has attained the 2008 ozone 
standard. We have also reviewed preliminary data for 2016 and find that 
they are consistent with continued attainment of the standard in the 
Mariposa County NAA.\17\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \17\ See EPA's Ozone Watch. The November 8, 2016 Ozone Watch 
reports that the preliminary 2014-2016 Design Value for Mariposa 
County 2008 ozone NAA is 0.075 ppm. http://oaqpsapps.epa.gov/
;MadeInAQAG/index.php?title=Ozone_Watch.

                 Table 1--2013-2015 Ozone Design Values at Sites Within the Mariposa County NAA
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                     Fourth-highest daily maximum 8-hour ozone
                                     AQS site                   concentration (ppm)                Design value
         Monitoring site          identification ------------------------------------------------   (2013-2015)
                                      number           2013            2014            2015
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Yosemite NP--Turtleback Dome....     06-043-0003           0.073           0.077           0.073           0.074
Jerseydale......................     06-043-0006           0.077           0.077           0.071           0.075
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Source: EPA AQS Quick Look Report (AMP450), August 10, 2016.

III. What is the effect of this action?

    With this determination that the Mariposa County ozone NAA has 
attained the 2008 ozone NAAQS, the obligation on the State of 
California to submit SIP revisions related to attainment of the 2008 
ozone standard in Mariposa County, including but not limited to SIP 
revisions demonstrating attainment and RFP, is suspended until such 
time as Mariposa County is redesignated to attainment for the 2008 
ozone standard, at which time the requirements no longer apply. 
However, if the EPA determines, through notice-and-comment rulemaking, 
that Mariposa County has once again violated the 2008 ozone NAAQS, then 
the area is again required to submit the attainment-related SIP 
revisions. See 40 CFR 51.1118.
    This final determination of attainment for the Mariposa County NAA 
does not constitute a redesignation to attainment. Under CAA section 
107(d)(3)(E), redesignations to attainment require states to meet a 
number of additional statutory criteria, including EPA's approval of a 
SIP revision demonstrating maintenance of the standard for 10 years 
after redesignation. The designation status of the Mariposa County area 
will remain Moderate nonattainment for the 2008 ozone NAAQS until such 
time as the EPA determines that the area meets the CAA requirements for 
redesignation to attainment.

IV. Final Action

    The EPA is taking direct final action to determine that the 
Mariposa County Moderate ozone NAA has attained the 2008 ozone standard 
based on complete, quality-assured and certified ambient air quality 
monitoring data for the 2013-2015 monitoring period. Preliminary data 
for 2016 are consistent with continued attainment of the standard in 
the Mariposa County NAA. Upon the effective date of this determination, 
the requirements for the Mariposa County NAA to submit planning SIPs 
related to attainment of the standard are suspended until the area is 
redesignated or the EPA determines that the area has violated the 
standard, at which time the area would again be required to submit such 
plans.
    We do not think anyone will object to this determination, so we are 
finalizing it without proposing it in advance. However, in the Proposed 
Rules section of this Federal Register, we are simultaneously proposing 
to make the same determination made herein. If we

[[Page 93627]]

receive adverse comments by January 20, 2017, we will publish a timely 
withdrawal in the Federal Register to notify the public that the direct 
final action will not take effect and we will address the comments in a 
subsequent final action based on the proposal. If we do not receive 
timely adverse comments, the direct final action will be effective 
without further notice on February 21, 2017.

V. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

    This action makes a determination based on air quality data and 
does not impose additional requirements beyond those imposed by state 
law. For that reason, the 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 (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 application of those requirements would be inconsistent 
with the CAA; 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 obligations discussed herein do not apply to Indian 
tribes, and thus this action will not impose substantial direct costs 
on tribal governments or preempt tribal law.
    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. The 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 Clean Air Act, petitions for 
judicial review of this action must be filed in the United States Court 
of Appeals for the appropriate circuit by February 21, 2017. 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 today's Federal Register, rather than file an 
immediate petition for judicial review of this direct final rule, so 
that the 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, Air pollution control, Incorporation by 
reference, Intergovernmental relations, Oxides of Nitrogen, Ozone, 
Volatile organic compounds.

    Dated: December 2, 2016.
Deborah Jordan,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region IX.

    Chapter I, title 40 of the 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.

Subpart F--California

0
2. Section 52.282 is amended by adding paragraph (j) to read as 
follows:


Sec.  52.282  Control strategy and regulations: Ozone

* * * * *
    (j) Determination of attainment. The EPA has determined that, as of 
February 21, 2017, the Mariposa County 2008 8-hour ozone nonattainment 
area in California has attained the 2008 ozone standard, based upon 
complete, quality-assured and certified data for 2013-2015. Under the 
provisions of the EPA's ozone implementation rule (see 40 CFR 51.1118), 
this determination suspends the requirements for the area to submit 
attainment demonstrations and associated reasonably available control 
measures, reasonable further progress plans, contingency measures for 
failure to attain or make reasonable further progress and other 
planning SIPs related to attainment of the 2008 ozone standard for as 
long as the area continues to attain the 2008 ozone standard. If the 
EPA determines, after notice-and-comment rulemaking, that the Mariposa 
County ozone nonattainment area no longer meets the 2008 ozone 
standard, the corresponding determination of attainment for this area 
shall be withdrawn.
[FR Doc. 2016-30477 Filed 12-20-16; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P