[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 29 (Tuesday, February 12, 2019)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 3305-3308]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-01922]


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

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[EPA-R09-OAR-2017-0490; FRL-9988-60-Region 9]


Approval and Promulgation of Implementation Plans; California; 
South Coast Serious Area Plan for the 2006 PM2.5 NAAQS

AGENCY: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Final rule.

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

SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is approving 
portions of a state implementation plan (SIP) revision submitted by 
California to address Clean Air Act (CAA or ``Act'') requirements for 
the 2006 24-hour fine particulate matter (PM2.5) national 
ambient air quality standards (NAAQS or ``standards'') in the Los 
Angeles-South Coast air basin (South Coast) Serious PM2.5 
nonattainment area. The EPA is also approving 2017 and 2019 motor 
vehicle emissions budgets for transportation conformity purposes and 
inter-pollutant trading ratios for use in transportation conformity 
analyses.

DATES: This final rule is effective on March 14, 2019.

ADDRESSES: The EPA has established a docket for this action under 
Docket ID No. EPA-R09-OAR-2017-0490. 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, ``we,'' ``us,'' 
and ``our'' refer to the EPA.

[[Page 3306]]

Table of Contents

I. Background
II. Public Comments and EPA Responses
III. Final Action
IV. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

I. Background

    Epidemiological studies have shown statistically significant 
correlations between elevated levels of PM2.5 (particulate 
matter with a diameter of 2.5 microns or less) and premature mortality. 
Other important health effects associated with PM2.5 
exposure include aggravation of respiratory and cardiovascular disease, 
changes in lung function, and increased respiratory symptoms. 
Individuals particularly sensitive to PM2.5 exposure include 
older adults, people with heart and lung disease, and children.\1\ 
PM2.5 can be emitted directly into the atmosphere as a solid 
or liquid particle (``primary PM2.5'' or ``direct 
PM2.5'') or can be formed in the atmosphere as a result of 
various chemical reactions among precursor pollutants such as nitrogen 
oxides, sulfur oxides, volatile organic compounds, and ammonia 
(``secondary PM2.5'').\2\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \1\ 78 FR 3086, 3088 (January 15, 2013).
    \2\ 72 FR 20586, 20589 (April 25, 2007).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The EPA first established NAAQS for PM2.5 on July 18, 
1997.\3\ On October 17, 2006, the EPA revised the 24-hour NAAQS for 
PM2.5 to provide increased protection of public health by 
lowering the level from 65 micrograms per cubic meter ([micro]g/m\3\) 
to 35 [micro]g/m\3\.\4\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \3\ 62 FR 38652. The initial NAAQS for PM2.5 included 
annual standards of 15.0 [micro]g/m\3\ based on a 3-year average of 
annual mean PM2.5 concentrations and 24-hour (daily) 
standards of 65 [micro]g/m\3\ based on a 3-year average of 98th 
percentile 24-hour concentrations (40 CFR 50.7).
    \4\ 40 CFR 50.13 and 71 FR 61144. In 2012, the EPA revised the 
annual standards to lower them to 12 [micro]g/m\3\ (78 FR 3086 
(January 15, 2013), codified at 40 CFR 50.18). Unless otherwise 
noted, all references to the PM2.5 standards in this 
notice are to the 2006 24-hour NAAQS of 35 [micro]g/m\3\ codified at 
40 CFR 50.13.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Following promulgation of a new or revised NAAQS, the EPA is 
required by CAA section 107(d) to designate areas throughout the nation 
as attaining or not attaining the NAAQS. On November 13, 2009, the EPA 
designated the South Coast as nonattainment for the 2006 24-hour 
PM2.5 standards.\5\ This designation became effective on 
December 14, 2009.\6\ On June 2, 2014, the EPA classified the South 
Coast area as ``Moderate'' nonattainment for both the 1997 
PM2.5 standards and the 2006 PM2.5 standards 
under subpart 4 of part D, title I of the Act.\7\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \5\ 74 FR 58688.
    \6\ 40 CFR 81.305.
    \7\ 79 FR 31566. The EPA took this action in response to a 
decision of the Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit finding that 
the EPA had erred in implementing the PM2.5 NAAQS 
pursuant solely to the general implementation provisions of subpart 
1 of Part D, Title I of the Act, without also considering the 
particulate matter-specific provisions of subpart 4 of Part D. 
Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) v. EPA, 706 F.3d 428 (D.C. 
Cir. 2013).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    On January 13, 2016, the EPA published a final rule reclassifying 
the South Coast area as ``Serious'' nonattainment under subpart 4, 
based on the EPA's determination that the area could not practicably 
attain the 2006 PM2.5 standards by the Moderate area 
attainment date, which was December 31, 2015.\8\ This reclassification 
became effective on February 12, 2016.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \8\ 81 FR 1514.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The local air district with primary responsibility for developing a 
plan to attain the 2006 PM2.5 NAAQS in this area is the 
South Coast Air Quality Management District (``District'' or SCAQMD). 
The District works cooperatively with the California Air Resources 
Board (CARB) in preparing these plans. State authority for regulating 
sources in the South Coast is split between the District, which has 
responsibility for regulating stationary and most area sources, and 
CARB, which has responsibility for regulating most mobile sources and 
some categories of consumer products.
    As a consequence of its reclassification as a Serious 
PM2.5 nonattainment area, the South Coast became subject to 
a new attainment date under CAA section 188(c)(2) and to the 
requirement to submit a Serious area plan that satisfies the 
requirements of part D of title I of the Act, including the 
requirements of subpart 4, for the 2006 PM2.5 NAAQS.\9\ As 
explained in the EPA's final reclassification action, the Serious area 
plan for the South Coast must include provisions to assure that the 
best available control measures (BACM) for the control of direct 
PM2.5 and PM2.5 precursors will be implemented no 
later than 4 years after the area is reclassified (CAA section 
189(b)(1)(B)), and a demonstration (including air quality modeling) 
that the plan provides for attainment as expeditiously as practicable 
but no later than December 31, 2019, which is the latest permissible 
attainment date under CAA section 188(c)(2).\10\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \9\ 81 FR 1514, 1518 (January 13, 2016).
    \10\ Id.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    On October 3, 2018, we proposed to approve portions of a SIP 
revision submitted by California to address CAA requirements for the 
2006 24-hour PM2.5 NAAQS in South Coast Serious 
nonattainment area.\11\ The submitted SIP revision is the ``Final 2016 
Air Quality Management Plan (March 2017),'' adopted by the SCAQMD 
Governing Board on March 3, 2017 (``2016 PM2.5 Plan'' or 
``Plan''). CARB submitted the 2016 PM2.5 Plan to the EPA on 
April 27, 2017.\12\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \11\ 83 FR 49872.
    \12\ Letter dated April 27, 2017, from Richard Corey, Executive 
Officer, CARB, to Alexis Strauss, Acting Regional Administrator, EPA 
Region IX, with enclosures. Our proposed rule erroneously stated 
that we were also proposing to act on CARB's ``2016 State Strategy 
for the State Implementation Plan (March 2017),'' also submitted on 
April 27, 2017. That submission, however, is not a necessary 
component of the 2016 PM2.5 Plan. See email dated November 15, 2018, 
from Scott King, CARB, to Ginger Vagenas, EPA Region IX, Subject: 
``RE: question about SC 2006 PM2.5 Plan.''
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The EPA proposed to approve the following portions of the 2016 
PM2.5 Plan under CAA section 110(k)(3): The 2012 base year 
emissions inventory, provisions assuring that BACM, including best 
available control technology (BACT), for the control of direct 
PM2.5 and PM2.5 precursors will be implemented no 
later than 4 years after the area was reclassified, the demonstration 
(including air quality modeling) that the plan provides for attainment 
as expeditiously as practicable but no later than December 31, 2019, 
provisions that require reasonable further progress (RFP) toward 
attainment by the applicable attainment date, quantitative milestones 
that are to be achieved every 3 years until the area is redesignated 
attainment and that demonstrate RFP, and 2017 and 2019 motor vehicle 
emissions budgets.\13\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \13\ 83 FR 49872.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The EPA also proposed to approve the inter-pollutant trading 
mechanism provided in the 2016 PM2.5 Plan and clarified in a 
March 14, 2018 letter from the District, for use in transportation 
conformity analyses for the 2006 PM2.5 NAAQS, in accordance 
with 40 CFR 93.124. Finally, the EPA proposed to find that the 
requirement for contingency measures to be undertaken if the area fails 
to make reasonable further progress under CAA section 172(c)(9) is moot 
as applied to the 2017 milestone year because the State and District 
have demonstrated to the EPA's satisfaction that the 2017 milestones 
have been met. The rationale for our proposed action is included in the 
proposal and will not be restated here. We did not propose any action 
on the attainment contingency measure component of the 2016 
PM2.5 Plan.

II. Public Comments and EPA Responses

    The EPA's proposed action provided a 30-day public comment period 
that ended on November 2, 2018. During this comment period, we received 
three

[[Page 3307]]

anonymous comments. Two of these commenters expressed criticism of a 
political nature unrelated to this action specifically or to 
environmental protection generally. The third commenter raised concerns 
about the damage and risks associated with hydraulic fracturing 
(commonly referred to as ``fracking''). Hydraulic fracturing is not 
addressed in this action. After reviewing these comments, we have 
concluded that they are outside the scope of our proposed action and 
fail to identify any material issue necessitating a response. The 
comments have been added to the docket for this action and are 
accessible at https://www.regulations.gov/docket?D=EPA-R09-OAR-2017-0490.

III. Final Action

    The EPA is taking final action to approve portions of the 2016 
PM2.5 Plan submitted by the State of California to address 
attainment of the 2006 PM2.5 NAAQS in the South Coast 
PM2.5 Serious nonattainment area. We are finalizing approval 
of the following elements of the 2016 PM2.5 Plan under CAA 
section 110(k)(3):
    1. The 2012 base year emission inventories (CAA section 172(c)(3));
    2. the demonstration that BACM, including BACT, for the control of 
direct PM2.5 and PM2.5 precursors will be 
implemented no later than 4 years after the area was reclassified (CAA 
section 189(b)(1)(B));
    3. the demonstration (including air quality modeling) that the Plan 
provides for attainment as expeditiously as practicable but no later 
than December 31, 2019 (CAA sections 188(c)(2) and 189(b)(1)(A));
    4. Plan provisions that require RFP toward attainment by the 
applicable date (CAA section 172(c)(2));
    5. quantitative milestones that are to be achieved every 3 years 
until the area is redesignated attainment and that demonstrate RFP 
toward attainment by the applicable date (CAA section 189(c));
    6. motor vehicle emissions budgets for 2017 and 2019, as shown in 
Table 1 (CAA section 176(c) and 40 CFR part 93, subpart A); and
    7. the inter-pollutant trading mechanism provided in the 2016 
PM2.5 Plan and clarified in a March 14, 2018 letter from the 
District, for use in transportation conformity analyses for the 2006 
PM2.5 NAAQS, in accordance with 40 CFR 93.124.

                                            Table 1--Budgets for the South Coast for the 2006 PM2.5 Standard
                                                              [Average annual tons per day]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                     2017 (RFP year)                                 2019 (attainment year)
                                                   -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                         PM2.5             NOX              VOC             PM2.5             NOX              VOC
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Budgets...........................................              21              200               99               20              169               83
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    We are also finalizing our proposal to determine that the 
requirement for contingency measures to be undertaken if the area fails 
to make reasonable further progress under CAA section 172(c)(9) is moot 
as applied to the 2017 milestone year because CARB and the District 
have demonstrated to the EPA's satisfaction that the 2017 milestones 
have been met.

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 (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 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).
    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).

[[Page 3308]]

    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 April 15, 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, Ammonia, 
Incorporation by reference, Intergovernmental relations, Oxides of 
nitrogen, Particulate matter, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, 
Sulfur oxides, Volatile organic compounds.

    Dated: December 12, 2018.
Alexis Strauss,
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 F--California

0
2. Section 52.220 is amended by adding paragraph (c)(513)(ii)(B) to 
read as follows:


Sec.  52.220  Identification of plan--in part.

* * * * *
    (c) * * *
    (513) * * *
    (ii) * * *
    (B) South Coast Air Quality Management District. (1) The following 
portions of the ``Final 2016 Air Quality Management Plan (March 
2017),'' adopted March 3, 2017: Chapter 5 (``PM2.5 Modeling 
Approach''), pages 5-17 through 5-27; Appendix III (``Base and Future 
Emission Inventory''), Attachment A (``Annual Average Emissions by 
Source Category in South Coast Air Basin'') for PM2.5, 
NOX, SO2, VOC, and NH3 for years 2012, 2017, 
2019, and 2020 and Attachment D, tables D-1, D-3, D-7 and D-9; Appendix 
IV-A (``SCAQMD's Stationary and Mobile Source Control Measures''), 
Table IV-A-4 and section 2 (``PM2.5 Control Measures''); 
Appendix IV-C (``Regional Transportation Strategy and Control 
Measures''), section IV (``TCM Best Available Control Measure (BACM) 
Analysis for 2006 24-Hour and 2012 Annual PM2.5 NAAQS''); 
Appendix V (``Modeling and Attainment Demonstration''), Chapter 7 
(``24-hour PM2.5 Demonstration'') and Attachment 8 (``24-
hour Unmonitored Area Analysis Supplement''); Appendix VI-A 
(``Reasonably Available Control Measures (RACM)/Best Available Control 
Measures (BACM) Demonstration''), pages VI-A-13 through VI-A-42, 
Attachment VI-A-1 (``Evaluation of SCAQMD Rules and Regulations''), 
Attachment VI-A-2 (``Control Measure Assessment''), and Attachment VI-
A-3 (``California Mobile Source Control Program Best Available Control 
Measures/Reasonably Available Control Measures Assessment''); Appendix 
VI-C (``Reasonable Further Progress (RFP) and Milestone Years''), pages 
VI-C-5 through VI-C-8, and Attachment VI-C-1 (``California Existing 
Mobile Source Control Program''); Appendix VI-D (``General Conformity 
and Transportation Conformity Budget''), pages VI-D-2 through VI-D-6 
and excluding tables VI-D-1 through 3; and Appendix VI-F (``Precursor 
Requirements'').
    (2) Letter dated March 14, 2018 from Philip Fine, Deputy Executive 
Officer, Planning, Rule Development, and Area Sources, South Coast Air 
Quality Management District, to Amy Zimpfer, Associate Director, Air 
Division, EPA Region IX.
    (3) Letter dated June 15, 2018 from Philip Fine, Deputy Executive 
Officer, Planning, Rule Development, and Area Sources, South Coast Air 
Quality Management District, to Amy Zimpfer, Associate Director, Air 
Division, EPA Region IX, regarding ``Condensable and Filterable 
Portions of PM2.5 Emissions in the 2016 AQMD.''
* * * * *
[FR Doc. 2019-01922 Filed 2-11-19; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P