[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 140 (Friday, July 20, 2018)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 34506-34508]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-15623]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[EPA-R02-OAR-2018-0422; FRL-9981-04--Region 2]


Approval and Promulgation of Air Quality Implementation Plans; 
New York; Determination of Attainment of the 2008 8-Hour Ozone National 
Ambient Air Quality Standard for the Jamestown, New York Marginal 
Nonattainment Area

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Proposed rule.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to make 
a determination that the Jamestown, New York Marginal Nonattainment 
Area (Jamestown Area or Area) has attained the 2008 8-hour ozone 
National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS). This proposed 
determination is based upon complete, quality-assured, and certified 
ambient air monitoring data that shows the Area has monitored 
attainment of the 2008 8-hour ozone NAAQS for both the 2012-2014 and 
2015-2017 monitoring periods. This action does not constitute a 
redesignation to attainment. The Jamestown Area will remain 
nonattainment for the 2008 8-hour ozone NAAQS until such time as EPA 
determines that the Jamestown Area meets the Clean Air Act (CAA) 
requirements for redesignation to attainment, including an approved 
maintenance plan. This action is being taken under the CAA.

DATES: Written comments must be received on or before August 20, 2018.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID Number EPA-
R02-OAR-2018-0422 at http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the online 
instructions for submitting comments. Once submitted, comments cannot 
be edited or removed from Regulations.gov. 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, 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: Kirk J. Wieber, (212) 637-3381, or by 
email at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

    On March 12, 2008, EPA revised both the primary and secondary NAAQS 
for ozone to a level of 0.075 parts per million (ppm) (annual fourth-
highest daily maximum 8-hour average concentration, averaged over three 
years) to provide increased protection of public health and the 
environment. 73 FR 16436 (March 27, 2008).\1\ The 2008 ozone NAAQS 
retains the same general form and averaging time as the 0.08 ppm NAAQS 
set in 1997, but is set at a more protective level. On May 21, 2012 (77 
FR 30088), effective July 20, 2012, EPA designated as nonattainment any 
area that was violating the 2008 8-hour ozone NAAQS based on the three 
most recent years (2008-2010) of air monitoring data. The Jamestown 
Area (specifically, Chautauqua County) was designated as a marginal 
ozone nonattainment area. See 40 CFR 81.333.
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    \1\ For a detailed explanation of the calculation of the 3-year 
8-hour average, see 40 CFR part 50, appendix I.
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    Marginal areas designated in the May 21, 2012 rule are required to 
attain the 2008 8-hour ozone NAAQS by the applicable deadline of July 
20, 2015. See 40 CFR 51.903. On May 4, 2016, EPA determined that 
complete, quality-assured, and certified air quality monitoring data 
from the 2012-2014 monitoring period indicated that the Jamestown Area 
attained the 2008 8-hour ozone NAAQS by that attainment date. See 81 FR 
26697.
    Under the provisions of EPA's ozone implementation rule (40 CFR 
51.918), if EPA also issues a determination (as it is proposing to do 
here) that an area is attaining the relevant standard through a 
rulemaking that includes public notice and comment (known informally as 
a Clean Data Determination), the requirements for a State to submit 
certain required planning SIPs related to attainment of the eight-hour 
NAAQS, such as attainment demonstrations, reasonable further progress 
plans and contingency measures, shall be suspended. EPA's action only 
suspends the requirements to submit the SIP revisions discussed 
above.\2\
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    \2\ For more information on the EPA's Clean Data Policy, see 
https://www.epa.gov/ozone-pollution/redesignation-and-clean-data-policy-cdp for documents such as the Memorandum from John S. Seitz, 
Director, Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards, ``Reasonable 
Further Progress, Attainment Demonstration, and Related Requirements 
for Ozone Nonattainment Areas Meeting the Ozone National Ambient Air 
Quality Standard'' (May 10, 1995).
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    This suspension remains in effect until such time, if ever, that 
EPA (i) redesignates the area to attainment, at which time those 
requirements no longer apply, or (ii) subsequently determines that the 
area has violated the 2008 8-hour ozone NAAQS. Although these 
requirements are suspended, if the State provides these submissions to 
EPA for review and approval at any time, EPA is not precluded from 
acting upon them. The determination of attainment is not equivalent to 
a redesignation under section 107(d)(3) of the CAA. The designation 
status of the Jamestown Area will remain nonattainment for the 2008 8-
hour ozone NAAQS until such time as EPA determines that the Area meets 
the CAA requirements for redesignation to attainment, including an 
approved maintenance plan.
    Additionally, the determination of attainment is separate from, and 
does not influence or otherwise affect, any future designation 
determination or requirements for the Jamestown Area based on any new 
or revised ozone NAAQS, and it remains in effect regardless of whether 
EPA designates this Area as a nonattainment area for purposes of any 
new or revised ozone NAAQS.

II. EPA's Evaluation

    For ozone, an area may be considered to be attaining the 2008 8-
hour ozone NAAQS if there are no violations, as determined in 
accordance with 40 CFR part 50, based on three complete, consecutive 
calendar years of quality-assured ambient air monitoring data. Under 
EPA regulations at 40 CFR part 50, the 2008 8-hour ozone NAAQS is 
attained when the 3-year average of the annual fourth-highest daily 
maximum 8-hour average ozone concentrations at an ozone monitor is less 
than or equal to 0.075 ppm. See 40 CFR part 50, appendix P. This 3-year 
average is referred to as the design value. When the design value is 
less than or equal to

[[Page 34507]]

0.075 ppm at each monitor within the area, then the area is attaining 
the NAAQS. Also, the data meets the regulatory completeness requirement 
when the average percent of days with valid ambient monitoring data is 
greater than or equal to 90 percent (%), and no single year has less 
than 75% data completeness as determined in appendix P of 40 CFR part 
50. The data must be collected and quality-assured in accordance with 
40 CFR part 58, and recorded in the EPA Air Quality System (AQS).
    EPA has reviewed the complete, quality-assured, and certified ozone 
ambient air monitoring data for the monitoring periods for both 2012-
2014 and 2015-2017 for the Jamestown Area. For both monitoring periods, 
the design values for the Jamestown monitor in Chautauqua County are 
less than or equal to 0.075 ppm, and the monitor meets the data 
completeness requirements (see Table 1). Based on the 2012-2014 data 
from the AQS database and consistent with the requirements contained in 
40 CFR part 50, EPA has concluded that this Area attained the 2008 8-
hour ozone NAAQS. In addition, complete, quality-assured, and certified 
data through the 2017 ozone season demonstrate that the area continues 
to attain the standard.

                                                 Table 1--Jamestown Area 2008 8-Hour Ozone Design Values
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                                                                                                          2012-2014                         2015-2017
                                                                                         2012-2014     Average percent     2015-2017     Average percent
                               County                                    Site ID        Design value         data         Design value         data
                                                                                           (ppm)         completeness        (ppm)         completeness
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Chautauqua.........................................................     36-013-0006            0.071               97            0.068               96
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    The data in Table 1 are available in EPA's AQS database. The AQS 
report with this data is available in the docket for this rulemaking 
under docket number EPA-R02-OAR-2018-0422 and available online at 
www.regulations.gov, docket number EPA-R02-OAR-2018-0422.

III. Proposed Action

    EPA is proposing to make a determination that the Jamestown Area 
has attained the 2008 8-hour ozone NAAQS. This proposed determination 
(informally known as a Clean Data Determination) is based upon 
complete, quality assured, and certified ambient air monitoring data 
that show the Jamestown Area has monitored attainment of the 2008 8-
hour ozone NAAQS for the 2012-2014 and 2015-2017 monitoring periods. 
Complete and quality assured and certified data for these periods 
demonstrate that the area continues to attain the standard during both 
time periods. As provided in 40 CFR 51.918, if EPA's determination that 
this area has attained the 8-hour ozone standard is made final, it 
would suspend the requirements under CAA section 182(b)(1) for 
submission of a reasonable further progress plan and ozone attainment 
demonstration. In addition, such a final determination would mean the 
requirements of CAA section 172(c)(9) concerning submission of 
contingency measures and any other planning SIP relating to attainment 
of the 2008 8-hour ozone NAAQS shall be suspended for so long as the 
Jamestown Area continues to attain the 2008 8-hour ozone NAAQS. 
Although these requirements would be suspended, EPA would not be 
precluded from acting upon these elements at any time if submitted to 
EPA for review and approval.
    Finalizing this determination would not constitute a redesignation 
of the Jamestown Area to attainment for the 2008 8-hour ozone NAAQS 
under CAA section 107(d)(3). This proposed determination of attainment 
also does not involve approving any maintenance plan for the Jamestown 
Area and does not determine that the Jamestown Area has met all the 
requirements for redesignation under the CAA, including that the 
attainment be due to permanent and enforceable measures. Therefore, the 
designation status of the Jamestown Area will remain nonattainment for 
the 2008 8-hour ozone NAAQS until such time as EPA takes final 
rulemaking action to determine that such Area meets the CAA 
requirements for redesignation to attainment. EPA is soliciting public 
comments on the issues discussed in this document. These comments will 
be considered before taking final action.

IV. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

    This action proposes to make an attainment determination based on 
air quality data and would, if finalized, result in the suspension of 
certain Federal requirements and would not impose any additional 
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);
     Is not an Executive Order 13771 (82 FR 9339, February 2, 
2017) regulatory action because SIP approvals are exempted under 
Executive Order 12866;
     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

[[Page 34508]]

specified by Executive Order 13175 (65 FR 67249, November 9, 2000).

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 52

    Environmental protection, Air pollution control, Incorporation by 
reference, Intergovernmental relations, Nitrogen oxides, Reporting and 
recordkeeping requirements, Volatile organic compounds.

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

    Dated: July 3, 2018.
Peter D. Lopez,
Regional Administrator, Region 2.
[FR Doc. 2018-15623 Filed 7-20-18; 8:45 am]
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