[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 153 (Thursday, August 10, 2017)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 37318-37319]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-16901]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 81

[EPA-HQ-OAR-2017-0223; FRL-9965-97-OAR]


Withdrawal of Extension of Deadline for Promulgating Designations 
for the 2015 Ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standards

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Withdrawal of extension of deadline for promulgating 
designations.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is announcing that 
it is withdrawing the 1-year extension of the deadline for promulgating 
initial area designations for the ozone national ambient air quality 
standards (NAAQS) that were promulgated in October 2015. Thus, unless 
and until the Administrator takes additional final action, the 2-year 
deadline for promulgating designations provided in the Clean Air Act 
(CAA) applies.

DATES: The deadline for the EPA to promulgate initial designations for 
the 2015 ozone NAAQS is October 1, 2017.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For questions regarding this action, 
contact

[[Page 37319]]

Carla Oldham, Air Quality Planning Division, Office of Air Quality 
Planning and Standards, Mail Code C539-04, Environmental Protection 
Agency, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina 27711; telephone number: 
(919) 541-3347; email address: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. General Information

A. Does this action apply to me?

    Entities potentially affected by this action include state, local 
and tribal governments that would participate in the initial area 
designation process for the 2015 ozone standards.

B. Where can I get a copy of this document and other related 
information?

    The EPA has established a docket for designations for the 2015 
ozone NAAQS under Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2017-0223. All documents in 
the docket are listed in the http://www.regulations.gov index. Although 
listed in the index, some information is not publicly available, e.g., 
confidential business information or other information whose disclosure 
is restricted by statute. Certain other material, such as copyrighted 
material, will be publicly available only in hard copy. Publicly 
available docket materials are available either electronically in 
http://www.regulations.gov or in hard copy at the EPA Docket Center, 
WJC West Building, Room 3334, 1301 Constitution Avenue NW., Washington, 
DC. The Public Reading Room is open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday 
through Friday, excluding legal holidays. The telephone number for the 
Public Reading Room is (202) 566-1744, and the telephone number for the 
EPA Docket Center is (202) 566-1742.
    An electronic copy of this notice is also available at http://www.epa.gov/ozone-designations along with other information related to 
designations for the 2015 ozone NAAQS.

II. Designations Requirements

    On October 1, 2015, the EPA signed a notice of final rulemaking 
that revised the 8-hour primary and secondary ozone NAAQS (80 FR 65292; 
October 26, 2015). Both standards were lowered from 0.075 parts per 
million (ppm) to a level of 0.070 ppm.
    After the EPA establishes or revises a NAAQS pursuant to CAA 
section 109, the CAA directs the EPA and the states to begin taking 
steps to ensure that those NAAQS are met. The first step is to identify 
areas of the country that meet or do not meet that NAAQS. This step is 
known as the initial area designations. Section 107(d)(1)(A) of the CAA 
provides that, ``By such date as the Administrator may reasonably 
require, but not later than 1 year after promulgation of a new or 
revised national ambient air quality standard for any pollutant under 
section [109], the Governor of each State shall * * * submit to the 
Administrator a list of all areas (or portions thereof) in the State'' 
that designates those areas as nonattainment, attainment, or 
unclassifiable.
    The CAA further provides, ``Upon promulgation or revision of a 
national ambient air quality standard, the Administrator shall 
promulgate the designations of all areas (or portions thereof) * * * as 
expeditiously as practicable, but in no case later than 2 years from 
the date of promulgation of the new or revised national ambient air 
quality standard. Such period may be extended for up to one year in the 
event the Administrator has insufficient information to promulgate the 
designations.'' 42 U.S.C. 7407(d)(1)(B)(i).
    In the EPA guidance, ``Area Designations for the 2015 Ozone 
National Ambient Air Quality Standards,'' the EPA indicated it expected 
to complete the initial area designations by October 1, 2017, 
consistent with the statutory requirement that the EPA designate areas 
no later than 2 years following promulgation of a revised NAAQS.\1\
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    \1\ Memorandum from Janet G. McCabe, Acting Assistant 
Administrator, to Regional Administrators, Regions 1-10. February 
25, 2016.
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III. Withdrawal of Extension of Deadline for Promulgating Designations 
for the 2015 Ozone NAAQS

    In letters sent to states on June 6, 2017, and in a Federal 
Register notice published on June 28, 2017 (82 FR 29246), the EPA 
Administrator Scott Pruitt announced that he was using his authority 
under section 107(d)(1)(B)(i) of the CAA to extend by 1 year, to 
October 1, 2018, the deadline for promulgating initial area 
designations for the 2015 ozone NAAQS. At that time (i.e., in early 
June), it was not clear that the agency would be in the position to 
complete designations for all areas for the 2015 ozone NAAQS in 
accordance with the 2-year statutory deadline of October 1, 2017. For a 
variety of other NAAQS in the past, previous EPA Administrators have 
used the authority under section 107(d)(1)(B)(i) to take additional 
time to complete designations.\2\ The Administrator decided to 
similarly invoke the extension with regard to designations for the 2015 
ozone NAAQS.
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    \2\ For the 2008 ozone NAAQS, see 75 FR 2936 (January 19, 2010); 
for the 2008 lead NAAQS, see 75 FR 71033 (November 22, 2010); for 
the 2010 sulfur dioxide NAAQS, see 77 FR 46295 (August 3, 2012); and 
for the 2012 fine particulate matter NAAQS, see 80 FR 2206 (January 
15, 2015).
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    The EPA has continued to discuss and work with states concerning 
designations, and now understands that the information gaps that formed 
the basis of the extension may not be as expansive as we previously 
believed. The EPA now intends to reassess whether there are areas with 
underlying technical issues, whether there are state designation 
recommendations that the EPA intends to modify, and whether for any 
area there is insufficient information to promulgate the designation. 
The EPA believes this reevaluation will help ensure that more Americans 
are living and working in areas that meet national air quality 
standards. The agency believes that there may be areas of the United 
States for which designations could be promulgated in the next few 
months. Therefore, the EPA is withdrawing its prior announced 1-year 
extension of the deadline for promulgating initial area designations 
for the 2015 ozone NAAQS, and the 2-year deadline for promulgating 
designations provided in section 107(d)(1)(B) of the CAA applies. The 
Administrator may still determine that an extension of time to complete 
designations is necessary, but is not making such a determination at 
this time.

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 81

    Environmental protection, Air pollution control, National parks, 
Wilderness areas.

    Dated: August 2, 2017.
E. Scott Pruitt,
Administrator.
[FR Doc. 2017-16901 Filed 8-9-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6560-50-P