[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 195 (Tuesday, October 9, 2018)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 50556-50560]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-21878]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 81
[EPA-R05-OAR-2018-0368; EPA-R05-OAR-2018-0556; FRL-9985-10-Region 5]
Air Quality Designation; Illinois; Indiana; Revised Designation
of Illinois and Indiana 2012 PM2.5 Unclassifiable Areas
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Proposed rule.
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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to
approve Illinois' May 8, 2018 request to revise the designation for the
entire state of Illinois from unclassifiable to unclassifiable/
attainment and Indiana's July 3, 2018 request to revise the designation
for the Indiana portions of the Chicago IL-IN and Louisville KY-IN
(herein referred to as Chicago and Louisville) areas from
unclassifiable to unclassifiable/attainment for the 2012 primary and
secondary annual fine particulate matter (PM2.5) National
Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS). EPA is proposing to approve
these requests because valid, quality-assured, and certified ambient
air monitoring data show that the PM2.5 monitors in the
areas are meeting the 2012 primary and secondary annual
PM2.5 NAAQS. This includes data from monitors in Illinois
where data substitution rules have been applied consistent with
applicable regulations.
DATES: Comments must be received on or before November 8, 2018.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-R05-
OAR-2018-0368 (Illinois) or EPA-R05-OAR-2018-0556 (Indiana) 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.
[[Page 50557]]
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: Michelle Becker, Life Scientist,
Attainment Planning and Maintenance Section, Air Programs Branch (AR-
18J), Environmental Protection Agency, Region 5, 77 West Jackson
Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois 60604, (312) 886-3901,
[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. What are the criteria for redesignating an area from
unclassifiable to unclassifiable/attainment?
III. What is EPA's rationale for proposing to revise the designation
areas?
IV. What action is EPA taking?
V. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews
I. Background
The Clean Air Act (CAA) establishes a process for air quality
management through the establishment and implementation of the NAAQS.
After the promulgation of a new or revised NAAQS, EPA is required to
designate areas, pursuant to section 107(d)(1) of the CAA, as
attainment, nonattainment, or unclassifiable. On December 14, 2012, EPA
promulgated a revised primary annual PM2.5 NAAQS to provide
increased protection of public health from fine particle pollution (78
FR 3086, January 15, 2013). In that action, EPA revised the primary
annual PM2.5 standard from 15.0 micrograms per cubic meter
([mu]g/m\3\) to 12.0 [mu]g/m\3\, which is attained when the 3-year
average of the annual arithmetic mean concentration does not exceed
12.0 [mu]g/m\3\. See also 40 CFR 50.18. EPA established the standards
based on significant evidence and numerous health studies demonstrating
that serious health effects are associated with exposures to fine
particulate matter.
The process for designating areas following promulgation of a new
or revised NAAQS is contained in section 107(d)(1) of the CAA. On
January 15, 2015 (80 FR 2206) and April 7, 2015 (80 FR 18535), EPA
designated areas across the country as nonattainment, unclassifiable,
or unclassifiable/attainment for the PM2.5 NAAQS based upon
air quality monitoring data from monitors for calendar years 2011-2013
or 2012-2014.
In the first action referenced above, EPA designated the entire
state of Illinois, including the multi-state areas of Chicago, IL-IN
and St. Louis, MO-IL (herein referred to as St. Louis), as
unclassifiable because the ambient air quality monitoring sites lacked
complete data for the relevant periods, which were from 2011-2013.
Therefore, EPA could not determine, based on available information,
whether those areas were meeting the 2012 PM2.5 NAAQS. EPA
also designated the Louisville area as nonattainment, based on
monitoring data for Clark and Floyd counties for 2011-2013 showing that
a monitor in Clark County had a design value above the standard.
On April 7, 2015 (80 FR 18535), EPA changed the Louisville area
initial designation from nonattainment to unclassifiable. Although
Indiana submitted complete, quality-assured and certified 2014 data
from the Clark County monitor showing it was attaining the NAAQS, EPA
noted that an air quality determination was not possible due to invalid
monitoring data for neighboring Jefferson County, Kentucky.
On May 8, 2018, Illinois submitted to EPA a request to
``redesignate'' the State of Illinois, including the St. Louis area,
from unclassifiable to unclassifiable/attainment based on three years
of quality-assured, certified ambient air monitoring data for the
three-year period of 2015-2017.
On July 3, 2018, Indiana submitted to EPA a request to
``redesignate'' the Louisville and Chicago areas from unclassifiable to
unclassifiable/attainment based on three years of quality-assured,
certified ambient air monitoring data for the three-year period of
2015-2017.
II. What are the criteria for revising a designation an area from
unclassifiable to unclassifiable/attainment?
Section 107(d)(3) of the CAA provides the framework for changing
the area designations for any NAAQS pollutants. Section 107(d)(3)(A)
provides that the Administrator may notify the Governor of any state
that the designation of an area should be revised ``on the basis of air
quality data, planning and control considerations, or any other air
quality-related considerations the Administrator deems appropriate.''
The CAA further provides in section 107(d)(3)(D) that even if the
Administrator has not notified a state Governor that a designation
should be revised, the Governor of any state may, on the Governor's own
motion, submit a request to revise the designation of any area, and the
Administrator must approve or deny the request.
When approving or denying a request to redesignate an area, EPA
bases its decision on the air quality data for the area as well as the
considerations provided under section 107(d)(3)(A). While CAA section
107(d)(3)(E) lists specific requirements for redesignations, those
requirements only apply to redesignations of nonattainment areas to
attainment and therefore are not applicable in this context of a
revised designation of an area from unclassifiable to unclassifiable/
attainment. In keeping with section 107(d)(3)(A), areas that request a
revised designation to unclassifiable/attainment must meet the
requirements for attainment areas and thus must meet the relevant
NAAQS. The relevant monitoring data must be collected and quality-
assured in accordance with 40 CFR part 58 and recorded in the EPA Air
Quality System (AQS) database. The designated monitors generally should
have remained at the same location for the duration of the monitoring
period upon which the revised designation request is based.\1\
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\1\ See Memorandum from John Calcagni, Director, EPA Air Quality
Management Division, entitled ``Procedures for Processing Requests
to Redesignate Areas to Attainment'' (September 4, 1992).
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Additionally, appendix N of 40 CFR part 50 specifies the data
handling conventions and computations necessary for determining when
the NAAQS for PM2.5 are met. Appendix N contains data
substitution tests, which allow incomplete monitoring data to be
considered valid in certain instances prescribed by the rules. Appendix
N also provides that, when the data substitution test conditions do not
apply, EPA may consider other factors, such as monitoring site
closures/moves, monitoring diligence, the consistency and levels of the
daily values that are available, and nearby concentrations in
determining whether to use such data. See 4.1(d) of appendix N.
III. What is EPA's rationale for proposing to revise the designation
areas?
In order to revise the designation of an area from unclassifiable
to unclassifiable/attainment for the 2012 primary and secondary annual
PM2.5 NAAQS, the 3-year average of annual arithmetic mean
concentrations (i.e., design value) over the most recent 3-year period
must be less than or equal to 12.0 [micro]g/m\3\ at all monitoring
sites in
[[Page 50558]]
the area over the full 3-year period, as determined in accordance with
40 CFR 50.18 and appendix N of part 50. EPA reviewed PM2.5
monitoring data from monitoring stations in the state of Illinois as
well as the multi-state areas of St. Louis, Chicago, and Louisville for
the 2012 primary and secondary annual PM2.5 NAAQS for the 3-
year period of 2015-2017. These data have been quality-assured,
certified, and recorded in AQS by Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, and
Missouri. As summarized in Tables 1-4, the design values for the
monitors in the areas for the 2015-2017 period are below the 2012
primary and secondary annual PM2.5 NAAQS.
Table 1--2012 Annual PM2.5 Design Values for Monitors in the Chicago, IL-
IN Area for 2015-2017
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2015-2017
Local site name Monitoring design value
site ([mu]g/m\3\)
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Alsip................................... 17-031-0001 9.5
Washington High School.................. 17-031-0022 9.3
Mayfair Pump Station.................... 17-031-0052 9.1
Springfield Pump Station................ 17-031-0057 10.2
Com Ed.................................. 17-031-0076 9.5
Schiller Park........................... 17-031-3103 10.5
Summit.................................. 17-031-3301 9.7
Des Plaines............................. 17-031-4007 9.4
Northbrook.............................. 17-031-4201 8.4
Cicero.................................. 17-031-6005 10.0
Naperville.............................. 17-043-4002 8.3
Elgin................................... 17-089-0003 8.3
Aurora.................................. 17-089-0007 8.3
Cary.................................... 17-111-0001 \+\ 8.2
Joliet.................................. 17-197-1002 7.9
Braidwood............................... 17-197-1011 7.9
Washington School....................... 18-089-0006 9.3
Gary Water *............................ 18-089-0031 9.2
Purdue Calumet Powers Building *........ 18-089-2004 8.7
Water Treatment Plant *................. 18-127-0024 8.3
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* Indiana monitor.
+ Data incomplete.
Table 2--2012 Annual PM2.5 Design Values for St. Louis, MO-IL Monitors
for 2015-2017
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2015-2017
Local site name Monitoring design value
site ([mu]g/m\3\)
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Jerseyville............................. 17-083-0117 \+\ 8.8
Granite City............................ 17-119-1007 9.7
Alton................................... 17-119-2009 8.8
Wood River.............................. 17-119-3007 8.7
Houston................................. 17-157-0001 8.5
East St. Louis.......................... 17-163-0010 9.8
Blair Street *.......................... 29-510-0085 8.8
South Broadway *........................ 29-510-0007 8.7
Arnold West *........................... 29-099-0019 9.3
Ladue *................................. 29-189-3001 9.4
Forest Park *........................... 29-510-0094 8.5
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* Missouri Monitor.
+ Data incomplete.
Table 3--2012 Annual PM2.5 Design Values for Monitors in Remaining
Illinois Areas for 2015-2017
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2015-2017
Local site name Monitoring design value
site ([mu]g/m\3\)
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Champaign............................... 17-019-0006 7.9
Bondville............................... 17-019-1001 7.8
Knight Prairie.......................... 17-065-0002 8.2
Normal.................................. 17-113-2003 8.0
Decatur................................. 17-115-0013 8.4
Peoria.................................. 17-143-0037 8.2
Rock Island............................. 17-161-3002 8.1
Springfield............................. 17-167-0012 8.2
Rockford................................ 17-201-0013 8.3
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Table 4--2012 Annual PM2.5 Design Values for Monitors in the Louisville
Area for 2015-2017
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2015-2017
Local site name Monitoring design value
site ([mu]g/m \3\)
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Jefferson PFAU *........................ 18-019-0006 9.6
Charlestown State Park *................ 18-019-0008 8.0
Green Valley Elementary School *........ 18-043-1004 8.5
Southwick............................... 21-111-0043 9.7
Watson Lane............................. 21-111-0051 9.2
Cannons Lane............................ 21-111-0067 8.6
Durrett Lane............................ 21-111-0075 9.4
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* Indiana monitors.
There are two groups of monitoring sites with incomplete data and
for which data substitution rules were applied under appendix N of 40
CFR part 50. First, Illinois had eight monitoring sites with a data
capture rate below 75 percent during at least one quarter, but had
valid PM2.5 annual design values after applicable data
substitution test conditions were applied consistent with section
4.1(c) of appendix N under 40 CFR part 50. These substitution rules
were automatically applied in the EPA AQS database, and the data from
these monitors all meet the 2012 PM2.5 NAAQS.\2\
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\2\ AQS contains ambient air pollution data collected by EPA,
state, local, and tribal air pollution control agencies from over
thousands of monitors and is used to assess air quality, assist in
attainment/non-attainment designations, evaluate SIPs for non-
attainment areas, and perform modeling for permit review analysis.
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Second, Illinois had two monitoring sites, Cary (17-111-0001) and
Jerseyville (17-183-0117), that had at least one calendar quarter of
data capture below 75 percent and did not meet the substitution test
conditions under section 4.1(c) of appendix N. Because the substitution
test conditions were not applicable, EPA considered other factors under
section 4.1(d) of appendix N, such as monitoring site closures/moves,
the consistency of daily levels, and nearby concentrations in
determining whether the data from the monitors was valid. In addition,
EPA performed a substitution test similar to the test methods specified
in 4.1(c). Based on consideration of these factors, EPA determined that
the data from these monitors could be used and the data showed that the
areas were meeting the PM2.5 NAAQS, as described in the
tables above. For more information regarding EPA's analyses, see the
Technical Support Document titled ``Evaluation of IL Monitors without
valid 2017 PM2.5 Design Values'' (July 2, 2018).
Because the 3-year design values, based on valid, quality-assured
data, demonstrate that the areas meet the 2012 primary and secondary
annual PM2.5 standards, EPA is proposing to revise the
designations of the entire state of Illinois, and the Indiana portions
of the Chicago and Louisville areas from unclassifiable to
unclassifiable/attainment for this NAAQS.
IV. What action is EPA taking?
EPA is proposing to approve Illinois' May 8, 2018 request to revise
the designation of the entire state from unclassifiable to
unclassifiable/attainment as well as Indiana's July 3, 2018 request to
revise the designation of the Indiana portions of the Louisville and
Chicago areas for the 2012 primary and secondary annual
PM2.5 NAAQS. If finalized, approval of the revised
designations requests would change the legal designation, found at 40
CFR part 81, for the state of Illinois and the Indiana counties of
Lake, Porter, Clark, and Floyd from unclassifiable to unclassifiable/
attainment for the 2012 primary and secondary annual PM2.5
NAAQS.
V. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews
Under the CAA the Administrator is required to approve a SIP
submission that complies with the provisions of the CAA and applicable
Federal regulations. 42 U.S.C. 7410(k); 40 CFR 52.02(a). Thus, in
reviewing SIP submissions, EPA's role is to approve state choices,
provided that they meet the criteria of the CAA. Accordingly, this
action merely approves state law as meeting Federal requirements and
does not impose additional requirements beyond those imposed by state
law. 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
specified by Executive Order 13175 (65 FR 67249, November 9, 2000).
[[Page 50560]]
List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 81
Environmental protection, Air pollution control, Particulate
matter.
Dated: September 25, 2018.
James Payne,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region 5.
[FR Doc. 2018-21878 Filed 10-5-18; 8:45 am]
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