[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 220 (Wednesday, November 14, 2018)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 56734-56736]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-24740]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[EPA-R09-OAR-2018-0222; FRL-9986-31-Region 9]


Approval of Arizona Air Plan; Hayden Lead Nonattainment Area Plan 
for the 2008 Lead Standard

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is approving a state 
implementation plan (SIP) revision submitted by the State of Arizona to 
meet Clean Air Act (CAA or ``Act'') requirements applicable to the 
Hayden lead nonattainment area (``Hayden Lead NAA''). The EPA is 
approving the base year emissions inventory, the attainment 
demonstration, the control strategy, including reasonably available 
control technology and reasonably available control measures 
demonstrations, the reasonable further progress demonstration, and the 
contingency measure as meeting the requirements of the CAA and the 
EPA's implementing regulations for the 2008 lead national ambient air 
quality standard (NAAQS). We also find that the State has demonstrated 
that the Arizona SIP meets the new source review (NSR) requirements of 
CAA section 172(c)(5) for the Hayden Lead NAA.

DATES: This final rule is effective on December 14, 2018.

ADDRESSES: The EPA has established a docket for this action under 
Docket ID No. EPA-R09-OAR-2018-0222. All documents in the docket are 
listed on the https://www.regulations.gov website. Although listed in 
the index, some information is not publicly available, e.g., 
Confidential Business Information (CBI) or other information whose 
disclosure is restricted by statute. Certain other material, such as 
copyrighted material, is not placed on the internet and will be 
publicly available only in hard copy form. Publicly available docket 
materials are available through https://www.regulations.gov, or please 
contact the person identified in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT 
section for additional availability information.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ginger Vagenas, EPA Region IX, 415-
972-3964, [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Throughout this document, the terms ``we,'' 
``us,'' and ``our'' mean the EPA.

Table of Contents

I. Background
II. Proposed Action and Public Comment
III. Final Action
IV. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

I. Background

    Lead is generally emitted in the form of particles that are 
deposited in water, soil, and dust. People may be exposed to lead by 
inhaling it or by ingesting lead-contaminated food, water, soil, or 
dust. Once in the body, lead is quickly absorbed into the bloodstream 
and can result in a broad range of adverse health effects including 
damage to the central nervous system, cardiovascular function, kidneys, 
immune system, and red blood cells. Children are particularly 
vulnerable to lead exposure, in part because they are more likely to 
ingest lead and in part because their still-developing bodies are more 
sensitive to the effects of lead. The harmful effects to children's 
developing nervous systems (including their brains) arising from lead 
exposure may include IQ \1\ loss, poor academic achievement, long-term 
learning disabilities, and an increased risk of delinquent behavior.
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    \1\ IQ (intelligence quotient) is a score created by dividing a 
person's mental age score, obtained by administering an intelligence 
test, by the person's chronological age, both expressed in terms of 
years and months. ``Glossary of Important Assessment and Measurement 
Terms,'' Philadelphia, PA: National Council on Measurement in 
Education. 2016.
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    The EPA first established a lead standard in 1978 at 1.5 micrograms 
per meter cubed ([micro]g/m\3\) as a quarterly average.\2\ Based on new 
health and scientific data, the EPA revised the federal lead standard 
to 0.15 [micro]g/m\3\ and revised the averaging time for the standard 
on October 15, 2008.\3\ A violation of the standard occurs when ambient 
lead concentrations exceed 0.15 [micro]g/m\3\ averaged over a 3-month 
rolling period.
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    \2\ 43 FR 46246 (October 5, 1978).
    \3\ 73 FR 66964 (November 12, 2008) (``lead NAAQS rule'').
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    Following the promulgation of a new or revised NAAQS, the EPA is 
required by the CAA to designate areas throughout the United States as 
attaining or not attaining the NAAQS. This process is set forth in 
section 107(d)(1) of the Act. After initially being designated 
unclassifiable due to insufficient monitoring data, the Hayden area was 
redesignated nonattainment on September 3, 2014, effective October 3, 
2014.4 5 The designation of the Hayden area as nonattainment 
for the 2008 lead NAAQS triggered requirements under section 191(a) of 
the CAA requiring Arizona to submit a SIP revision with a plan to 
attain the standard as expeditiously as practicable, but no later than 
October 3, 2019.
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    \4\ 79 FR 52205.
    \5\ For an exact description of the Hayden Lead NAA, see 40 CFR 
81.303.
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    The Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) is the air 
quality agency that develops SIP revisions for the Hayden area. The SIP 
revision for the Hayden Lead NAA, entitled ``SIP Revision: Hayden Lead 
Nonattainment Area'' (``2017 Hayden Lead Plan'' or ``Plan'') was 
adopted by ADEQ on March 3, 2017, and submitted to the EPA on the same 
day.\6\ The Plan includes a 2012 base year emissions inventory, a 
demonstration that controls required under the Plan are sufficient to 
bring the area into attainment of the 2008 lead NAAQS, an analysis that 
demonstrates reasonably available control measures/reasonably available 
control technology (RACM/RACT) levels of control are required to be 
implemented, a demonstration that the Plan provides for reasonable 
further progress (RFP) towards attainment, and a contingency measure 
that will be implemented if the area fails to make

[[Page 56735]]

RFP or to attain the NAAQS by the applicable deadlines. The Plan also 
describes ADEQ's NSR program and its intention to submit revisions to 
its NSR rules to address deficiencies identified by the EPA.\7\
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    \6\ Letter dated March 3, 2017, from Timothy S. Franquist, 
Director, Air Quality Division, ADEQ, to Alexis Strauss, Acting 
Regional Administrator, EPA Region IX.
    \7\ ADEQ subsequently submitted the changes and, on May 4, 2018, 
the EPA approved the revision into the SIP (83 FR 19631). The SIP 
revision ensures that ADEQ's rules provide for appropriate NSR for 
lead sources undergoing construction or major modification in the 
Hayden Lead NAA.
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II. Proposed Action and Public Comment

    On July 3, 2018, the EPA published a notice of proposed rulemaking 
in which we proposed to approve the Plan as a revision to the Arizona 
SIP.8 9 The rationale for our proposed action is included in 
the proposal, and will not be restated here.
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    \8\ 83 FR 31087.
    \9\ ADEQ has determined that the cause of the nonattainment 
status in the Hayden area is the primary copper smelter owned and 
operated by ASARCO, which accounts for over 99 percent of lead 
emissions, and that the emissions generally come from the hot-metal 
smelting process and lead-bearing fugitive dust. Plan, 38. ADEQ's 
control strategy for the Hayden Lead NAA relies on the 
implementation of two source-specific regulations in the Arizona 
Administrative Code: Rule R18-2-B1301 (limits on Lead Emissions from 
the Hayden Smelter) and Rule R-18-2-B1301.01 (Limits on Lead-Bearing 
Fugitive Dust from the Hayden Smelter), and two associated 
appendices. We approved Rule R-18-B1301.01 and Appendix 15 into the 
Arizona SIP on February 22, 2018 (83 FR 7614) and, in a notice 
signed on October 30, 2018, we approved Rule R18-2-B1301 and 
Appendix 14.
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    The EPA's proposed action provided a 30-day public comment period. 
During this period, we received six anonymous comments. After reviewing 
the comments, we determined that two were ``test comments'' that did 
not include any text and therefore do not necessitate a response. Three 
comments were outside the scope of our proposed action and failed to 
identify any material issue necessitating a response.
    The sixth comment included the observation that the EPA had used 
the term ``off-road'' when describing a portion of mobile source 
inventory, but the term ``non-road'' was used in the table summarizing 
ADEQ's base year emissions inventory. The commenter asked if, to make 
it consistent, would ``off-road'' be used throughout the proposal?
    In the proposal, we explained that emissions can be grouped into 
two general categories: Stationary and mobile. We further noted that 
stationary source category can be subdivided into point and area 
sources and that the mobile source category can be subdivided into on-
road and off-road categories.\10\ In tables 1 and 3, which immediately 
follow that discussion, we listed emissions for point, area, mobile 
source (non-road) and mobile source (on-road) categories.\11\ In our 
proposed action, we used the terms interchangeably and believe their 
equivalent meaning is apparent from the context.
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    \10\ 83 FR 31087, 31090.
    \11\ Id. Note that the terms off-road and non-road do not appear 
elsewhere in the notice.
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    The comments have been added to the docket for this action and are 
accessible at https://www.regulations.gov/docket?D=EPA-R09-OAR-2018-0222.

III. Final Action

    For the reasons discussed in the proposal, the EPA is approving 
under CAA section 110(k)(3) the 2017 Hayden Lead Plan as a revision to 
the Arizona SIP. Specifically, we are approving:
    (1) The SIP's base year emissions inventory as meeting the 
requirements of CAA section 172(c)(3) and 40 CFR 51.117(e)(1);
    (2) the attainment demonstration, including air quality modeling, 
as meeting the requirements of CAA section 172(c)(1);
    (3) the RACM/RACT demonstration as meeting the requirements of CAA 
section 172(c)(1);
    (4) the RFP demonstration as meeting the requirements of CAA 
section 172(c)(2); and
    (5) the contingency measure as meeting the requirements of the CAA 
section 172(c)(9);
    We also find that the State has demonstrated that the Arizona SIP 
meets the NSR requirements of CAA section 172(c)(5) for the Hayden Lead 
NAA.

IV. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

    Under the CAA, the Administrator is required to approve a SIP 
submission that complies with the provisions of the Act and applicable 
federal regulations. 42 U.S.C. 7410(k); 40 CFR 52.02(a). Thus, in 
reviewing SIP submissions, the 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 (Public Law 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 the EPA with the discretionary authority 
to address disproportionate human health or environmental effects with 
practical, appropriate, 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 the 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). We offered to consult with San Carlos Apache Tribe, which has 
lands adjacent to the Hayden lead nonattainment area. The tribe did not 
respond to the EPA's offer to consult.
    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

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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 January 14, 2019. 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. 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, Lead, and Reporting and 
recordkeeping requirements.


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

    Dated: October 31, 2018.
Deborah Jordan,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region IX.

    Part 52, 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 D--Arizona

0
2. Section 52.120 in paragraph (e), Table 1 is amended by adding, under 
the table heading ``Part D Elements and Plans (Other than for the 
Metropolitan Phoenix and Tucson Areas),'' an entry for ``SIP Revision: 
Hayden Lead Nonattainment Area, excluding Appendix C.'' after the entry 
for ``Maintenance Plan Renewal, 1971 Sulfur Dioxide National Ambient 
Air Quality Standards, Douglas Maintenance Area.'' The addition reads 
as follows:


Sec.  52.120   Identification of plan.

* * * * *
    (e) * * *

                       Table 1--EPA-Approved Non-Regulatory and Quasi-Regulatory Measures
       [Excluding certain resolutions and statutes, which are listed in tables 2 and 3, respectively] \1\
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                                      Applicable
                                     geographic or      State submittal
      Name of SIP provision       nonattainment area         date          EPA approval date      Explanation
                                   or title/subject
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                         The State of Arizona Air Pollution Control Implementation Plan
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                                                  * * * * * * *
SIP Revision: Hayden Lead         Hayden, AZ Lead     March 3, 2017.....  [INSERT Federal     Adopted by the
 Nonattainment Area, excluding     Nonattainment                           Register            Arizona
 Appendix C.                       Area.                                   CITATION],          Department of
                                                                           November 14, 2018.  Environmental
                                                                                               Quality on March
                                                                                               3, 2017.
 
                                                  * * * * * * *
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\1\ Table 1 is divided into three parts: Clean Air Act Section 110(a)(2) State Implementation Plan Elements
  (excluding Part D Elements and Plans), Part D Elements and Plans (other than for the Metropolitan Phoenix or
  Tucson Areas), and Part D Elements and Plans for the Metropolitan Phoenix and Tucson Areas.

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[FR Doc. 2018-24740 Filed 11-13-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6560-50-P