[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 110 (Friday, June 7, 2019)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 26627-26630]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-12064]


=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 81

[EPA-HQ-OAR-2019-0011; FRL-9994-83-OAR]
RIN 2060-AU14


Reconsideration of the Area Designation for the 2010 1-Hour 
Sulfur Dioxide (SO2) Primary National Ambient Air Quality Standard for 
Williamson County, Illinois

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Proposed rule.

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

SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to 
reconsider the nonattainment designation under the Clean Air Act (CAA) 
for the Williamson County, Illinois area for the 2010 1-hour sulfur 
dioxide (SO2) primary national ambient air quality standard 
(NAAQS). On June 30, 2016, the EPA Administrator signed a final action 
that designated the Williamson County, Illinois area as nonattainment 
based on a review of available information. On September 12, 2016, 
Southern Illinois Power Cooperative (SIPC), the owner of the largest 
source of SO2 emissions in the area (the Marion Power 
Station), submitted to the EPA an updated modeling analysis that 
characterized SO2 air quality in the area at the time of the 
final designation action. The EPA has reviewed that modeling and 
concludes the available information demonstrates that, as of the date 
of the Administrator's signature on the final action, the Williamson 
County, Illinois area was not violating the 2010 1-hour SO2 
NAAQS and was not contributing to a NAAQS violation in a nearby area. 
Therefore, the EPA is proposing to change the initial designation of 
Williamson County, Illinois, from nonattainment to attainment/
unclassifiable.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before July 8, 2019.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-
OAR-2019-0011, at http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the online 
instructions for submitting comments. Once submitted, comments cannot 
be edited or removed from www.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: For further information concerning 
this action, please contact Corey Mocka, U.S. EPA, Office of Air 
Quality Planning and Standards, Air Quality Policy Division, Mail Code 
C539-01, 109 T.W. Alexander Drive, Research Triangle Park, NC 27709; by 
telephone at (919) 541-5142 or by email at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    Throughout this document wherever ``we,'' ``us,'' or ``our'' is 
used, we mean the EPA.

Table of Contents

I. General Information
II. Background
    A. Designations of Areas for the 1-Hour SO2 NAAQS
    B. Round 2 Designation of Williamson County, Illinois
    C. Petitions and Additional Modeling Received From SIPC 
Subsequent to the Designation of Williamson County
III. Proposed Action
IV. Environmental Justice Considerations
V. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews
    A. Executive Order 12866: Regulatory Planning and Review and 
Executive Order 13563: Improving Regulation and Regulatory Review
    B. Executive Order 13771: Reducing Regulations and Controlling 
Regulatory Costs
    C. Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA)
    D. Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA)
    E. Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA)
    F. Executive Order 13132: Federalism
    G. Executive Order 13175: Consultation and Coordination With 
Indian Tribal Government
    H. Executive Order 13045: Protection of Children From 
Environmental Health and Safety Risks
    I. Executive Order 13211: Actions That Significantly Affect 
Energy Supply, Distribution or Use
    J. National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act (NTTA)
    K. Executive Order 12898: Federal Actions To Address 
Environmental Justice in Minority Populations and Low-Income 
Populations

I. General Information

A. Glossary of Terms and Acronyms

    The following are abbreviations of terms used in this notice.

AERMOD American Meteorological Society/EPA Regulatory Model
APA Administrative Procedure Act
CAA or Act Clean Air Act
CBI Confidential Business Information
CFR Code of Federal Regulations
DC District of Columbia
EPA or Agency Environmental Protection Agency
FR Federal Register
NAAQS National Ambient Air Quality Standards
NTTAA National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act
SIP State Implementation Plan
SIPC Southern Illinois Power Cooperative
SO2 Sulfur Dioxide
RFA Regulatory Flexibility Act
UMRA Unfunded Mandate Reform Act of 1995
TAD Technical Assistance Document
TSD Technical Support Document
U.S. United States

B. Docket

    All documents in the docket are listed in the www.regulations.gov 
index, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2019-0011. Although 
listed in the index, some information is not publicly available, e.g., 
CBI 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 www.regulations.gov or in hard copy 
at the EPA Docket Center. Air dispersion modeling input and output 
files are too large to post in the docket or on the website and must be 
requested from the contact listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION 
CONTACT section or from the EPA Docket Center. The EPA Docket

[[Page 26628]]

Center can be contacted at (202) 566-1744, and is located at EPA Docket 
Center Reading Room, WJC West Building, Room 3334, 1301 Constitution 
Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20004. The hours of operation at the EPA 
Docket Center are 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m., Monday-Friday.

II. Background

A. Designations of Areas for the 1-Hour SO2 NAAQS

    In 2010, the EPA issued a notice of final rulemaking that revised 
the primary SO2 NAAQS (75 FR 35520; June 22, 2010). The EPA 
established the revised primary SO2 NAAQS at 75 parts per 
billion (ppb) which is attained when the 3-year average of the annual 
99th percentile of daily maximum 1-hour average concentrations does not 
exceed 75 ppb. The notice for the final rulemaking provides information 
on the health effects of exposures to SO2 concentrations and 
other information on the NAAQS.
    The process for designating areas following promulgation of a new 
or revised NAAQS is contained in CAA section 107(d) (42 U.S.C. 
7407(d)). After promulgation of a new or revised NAAQS, each governor 
or tribal leader is required to recommend air quality designations, 
including the appropriate boundaries for nonattainment areas, to the 
EPA.\1\ The EPA considers these recommendations as part of its duty to 
promulgate the formal area designations and boundaries for the new or 
revised NAAQS. By no later than 120 days prior to promulgating 
designations, the EPA is required to notify states, territories, and 
tribes, as appropriate, of any intended modifications to an area 
designation or boundary recommendation that the EPA deems necessary.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \1\ Tribal leaders are also invited to make air quality 
designation recommendations for areas of Indian country.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

B. Round 2 Designation of Williamson County, Illinois \2\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \2\ The EPA refers to the designations of selected areas, 
including Williamson County, Illinois, for the 1-hour SO2 
NAAQS that the Agency finalized in 2016 as ``Round 2'' designations. 
The EPA also finalized designations for other selected areas in 2013 
(Round 1; see 78 FR 47191) and 2018 (Round 3; see 83 FR 1098 and 83 
FR 14597).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The Marion Power Station, owned by SIPC, is a source of 
SO2 emissions located in southern Williamson County, 
Illinois in a rural area adjacent to the Lake of Egypt. The EPA was 
required under the conditions of a May 2015 enforceable court order to 
designate the area around the Marion Power Station by July 2, 2016 (see 
81 FR 45039).
    In 2011, following the promulgation of the revised SO2 
NAAQS, the state of Illinois initially recommended a designation of 
unclassifiable for Williamson County. In September 2015, Illinois 
updated its recommendation for Williamson County to attainment based on 
air quality modeling conducted by the state and submitted to the EPA. 
No ambient monitoring data were available for any part of the county. 
While formulating the EPA's intended designation, we also received air 
quality modeling from Sierra Club for this area that purported to 
demonstrate the area was not attaining the 2010 SO2 NAAQS. 
In our review of the two modeling submissions, the EPA found the 
state's September 2015 modeling used an emission rate that was below 
actual 2012-2014 emission rates. The Sierra Club's modeling, in 
contrast, used actual 2012-2014 emission rates, consistent with the 
EPA's SO2 NAAQS Designations Modeling Technical Assistance 
Document (TAD). Most other aspects of the Sierra Club modeling were 
similar to the modeling submitted by Illinois, though the Sierra Club 
modeled SO2 air quality at receptors on the facility-owned 
``Northern Property'' adjacent to the main plant (and identified 
nonattainment receptors on that property) and Illinois' modeling did 
not. The Sierra Club modeling used the same building dimensions as the 
Illinois modeling. Neither Illinois' nor Sierra Club's modeling 
suggested that the Marion Power Station (or any other sources in the 
county) contributed to a violation of the NAAQS in any separate nearby 
area. In February 2016, the EPA notified Illinois of our intended 
designation of nonattainment for the entirety of Williamson County 
based primarily on Sierra Club's modeling along with consideration of 
other available evidence.3 4
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \3\ Letter dated February 16, 2016 from Robert A. Kaplan, Acting 
Regional Administrator, EPA Region 5, to Illinois Governor Bruce 
Rauner regarding the EPA's intended designations for the 2010 
SO2 NAAQS, Docket Item No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2014-0464-0127.
    \4\ Illinois Technical Support Document for the EPA's Intended 
Designations, Docket Item No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2014-0464-0128.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    During the March 2016 public comment period on the intended 
nonattainment designation, the EPA received three new modeling runs for 
the area from a consultant to SIPC that purported to demonstrate the 
area around the Marion Power Station was attaining the 2010 
SO2 NAAQS.5 6 These modeling runs were all based 
on actual 2013-2015 emissions. The SIPC modeling runs differed from 
Illinois' modeling in some respects but were the same as the Illinois 
modeling with respect to using the same building geometries and 
excluding modeling receptors on the facility-owned ``Northern 
Property'' adjacent to the main plant. In its comments on the intended 
nonattainment designation for Williamson County, the state endorsed the 
new modeling from the SIPC consultant. After analyzing issues with 
SIPC's modeling, the EPA concluded that SIPC's modeling ``was 
incomplete in the sense that an important receptor area [i.e., the 
Northern Property] was inappropriately excluded from the analysis.'' 
\7\ In the final action signed on June 30, 2016, the EPA designated the 
entirety of Williamson County as nonattainment, based on consideration 
of all submitted modeling. Full reviews of all the modeling analyses 
submitted to the EPA for the designation of Williamson County can be 
found in the technical support document (TSD) for the intended Illinois 
designations and the TSD for the final Illinois designations. This 
designation triggered Illinois' duty to develop and submit to the EPA a 
state implementation plan (SIP) under CAA sections 172, 191 and 192 
demonstrating attainment of the SO2 NAAQS.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \5\ Docket Item No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2014-0464-0318.
    \6\ Two of SIPC's modeling runs used non-regulatory AERMOD 
options that the EPA could not rely on to evaluate whether the 
Williamson County, Illinois area was meeting the 2010 SO2 
NAAQS. The EPA's discussion here and in the TSD for the final 
designations for areas in Illinois thus focus on analyzing the one 
SIPC modeling run that used AERMOD in its regulatory default mode.
    \7\ Illinois Technical Support Document for the EPA's Final 
Designations, Docket Item No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2014-0464-0402.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

C. Petitions and Additional Modeling Received From SIPC Subsequent to 
the Designation of Williamson County

    In September 2016, SIPC submitted a petition for reconsideration of 
the EPA's nonattainment designation for Williamson 
County.8 9 SIPC included several additional modeling runs as 
part of the petition for reconsideration that reflected different 
building dimensions at the Marion Power Station than those used in 
Illinois' modeling, Sierra Club's modeling, and SIPC's previous March 
2016 modeling.\10\ Overall, SIPC's

[[Page 26629]]

September 2016 modeling of actual emissions indicated no violations of 
the NAAQS in the 3-year period of 2013-2015 and did not identify any 
nonattainment receptors on the Northern Property. In January 2017, 
Administrator McCarthy denied SIPC's petition for reconsideration, 
explaining that the petition did not meet the criteria the EPA elected 
to use to evaluate whether the action warranted reconsideration.\11\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \8\ Docket Item No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2014-0464-0427.
    \9\ SIPC also filed a petition for judicial review of the 
designation in the Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, which 
was later transferred to the Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.
    \10\ Accurate representation of building parameters is important 
to better account for the effects on modeled concentrations of 
downwash, eddies, and wakes from buildings. Generally, modeling with 
building downwash effects tends to result in higher modeled ground 
concentrations near the building versus modeling without downwash 
effects. Therefore, an accurate representation of physical 
structures, such as buildings, in the vicinity of a plume is 
important to ensure reliable estimates of ambient air 
concentrations.
    \11\ See the EPA's response to SIPC's September 2016 petition 
for reconsideration, Docket Item Nos. EPA-HQ-OAR-2014-0464-0439 and 
EPA-HQ-OAR-2014-0464-0444. This response letter with enclosures is 
also available at https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2017-01/documents/bonebrake_letter_and_enclosure.pdf.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    In June 2017, SIPC submitted a petition to the EPA seeking error 
correction of the final rule designating Williamson County, Illinois as 
nonattainment. In this June 2017 petition, SIPC requested that the EPA 
correct what SIPC alleged to be particular errors in the EPA's final 
designation action for Williamson County.
    In September 2017, EPA Administrator Pruitt responded to the letter 
transmitting SIPC's petition for error correction by indicating the 
EPA's intention to undertake an administrative action with notice and 
comment to revisit the nonattainment designation.\12\ In its September 
2016 petition for reconsideration, SIPC indicated that the revised 
building dimensions were based on a survey conducted in 2016. On 
November 6, 2018, SIPC submitted to the EPA supplemental information 
with regard to the specifics of and the basis for the revised building 
inputs used in the modeling submitted as part of its September 2016 
petition for reconsideration.\13\ This proposal initiates our notice 
and comment administrative action to reconsider the designation, based 
upon our review of this submitted information that characterizes 
SO2 air quality at the time of this area's designation.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \12\ Upon being informed of the EPA's intention to undertake 
further administrative proceedings regarding this area's 
designation, the D.C. Circuit granted the EPA's motion to place the 
judicial petitions from SIPC in abeyance.
    \13\ Docket Item No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2014-0464-0458.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

III. Proposed Action

    In September 2016, SIPC submitted to the EPA additional information 
and updated modeling, which included modeling receptors on the Northern 
Property, pertaining to the designation of Williamson County, Illinois. 
On November 6, 2018, SIPC submitted to the EPA supplemental information 
to clarify the specifics of and the basis for the revised building 
inputs used in the September 2016 modeling. A full review of this 
supplemental information is provided in the TSD for this action, which 
is available in the public docket. Based on this review, including 
consideration of this clarifying information, the EPA proposes that the 
September 2016 SIPC modeling is representative of the relevant calendar 
years (2013-2015 actual emissions) of SO2 air quality in 
Williamson County at the time of the final designation on June 30, 
2016.\14\ The EPA also proposes to find that the modeling demonstrates 
that in the 2013-2015 modeling period the area was not violating the 1-
hour SO2 NAAQS or was not contributing to a violation in any 
nearby area at the time of the 2016 final designation.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \14\ Technical Support Document for Williamson County, Illinois 
Modeling Submitted September 2016, Docket No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2019-0011.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    This information includes the addition of receptors in the Northern 
Property and refinements of the building dimensions as processed for 
downwash purposes. The EPA proposes to find that this modeling, with 
our evaluation of the additional information submitted by SIPC 
documenting building dimensions and evidence that modeled predictions 
in the Northern Property are below the 1-hr SO2 NAAQS, 
provides a credible assessment of air quality throughout the area at 
the time of designation. Based on this updated modeling, the EPA 
proposes to conclude that the entire area had no violations of the 1-hr 
SO2 NAAQS in the period 2013-2015, the three most recent 
calendar years prior to our designations final action. Additionally, 
SIPC does not contribute to any nearby nonattainment area. The nearest 
SO2 nonattainment area is over 160 kilometers away, beyond 
the distance at which Marion Power Station would likely have impact on 
SO2 air quality.
    Accordingly, we are proposing to change the initial designation of 
Williamson County, Illinois for the 2010 1-hour SO2 NAAQS. 
Based on the information available to the EPA, we are proposing to 
finalize the Williamson County, Illinois area's initial designation as 
attainment/unclassifiable for that SO2 NAAQS. If the EPA 
takes final action to change Williamson County, Illinois' designation, 
that final action would relieve Illinois of the obligation under CAA 
sections 172, 191, and 192 to submit a SIP that demonstrates attainment 
of the SO2 NAAQS. The EPA invites public input on this 
proposed action regarding the Williamson County, Illinois area during 
the 30-day comment period provided in this notice. At this time, the 
EPA is not taking action or soliciting public comment on the 2010 1-
hour SO2 NAAQS designations for geographic areas beyond 
Williamson County, Illinois. This opportunity for public comment does 
not affect any rights or obligations of any state, territory, or tribe, 
or of the EPA, which might otherwise exist pursuant to the CAA section 
107(d).

IV. Environmental Justice Considerations

    When the EPA establishes a new or revised NAAQS, the CAA requires 
the EPA to designate all areas of the United States as either 
nonattainment, attainment, or unclassifiable. This proposal is 
reconsidering the nonattainment designation for the Williamson County, 
Illinois area for the 2010 1-hour SO2 NAAQS. Area 
designations address environmental justice concerns by ensuring that 
the public is properly informed about the air quality in an area. In 
locations where air quality does not meet the NAAQS, the CAA requires 
relevant state authorities to initiate appropriate air quality 
management actions to ensure that all those residing, working, 
attending school, or otherwise present in those areas are protected, 
regardless of minority and economic status.

V. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

A. Executive Order 12866: Regulatory Planning and Review and Executive 
Order 13563: Improving Regulation and Regulatory Review

    This action is exempt from review by the Office of Management and 
Budget because it is a designation for the Williamson County, Illinois 
area for the 2010 1-hour SO2 NAAQS.

B. Executive Order 13771: Reducing Regulations and Controlling 
Regulatory Costs

    This action is not an Executive Order 13771 regulatory action 
because actions such as air quality designations after promulgating a 
new revised NAAQS are exempt under Executive Order 12866.

C. Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA)

    This action does not impose an information collection burden under 
the PRA. In this action, the EPA is reconsidering the SO2 
NAAQS designation for the Williamson County, Illinois area promulgated 
previously on

[[Page 26630]]

July 12, 2016, and does not contain any information collection 
activities.

D. Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA)

    This action under CAA section 107(d) is not subject to the RFA. The 
RFA applies only to rules subject to notice-and-comment rulemaking 
requirements under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), 5 U.S.C. 
553, or any other statute. Section 107(d)(2)(B) of the CAA explicitly 
provides that designations are exempt from the notice-and-comment 
provisions of the APA. In addition, designations under CAA section 
107(d) are not among the list of actions that are subject to the 
notice-and-comment rulemaking requirements of CAA section 307(d).

E. Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA)

    This action does not contain any unfunded mandate as described in 
the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act, 2 U.S.C. 1531-1538 and does not 
significantly or uniquely affect small governments. The action imposes 
no enforceable duty on any state, local, or tribal governments or the 
private sector.

F. Executive Order 13132: Federalism

    This action does not have federalism implications. It will not have 
substantial direct effects on the states, on the relationship between 
the national government and the states, or on the distribution of power 
and responsibilities among the various levels of government. The 
division of responsibility between the federal government and the 
states for purposes of implementing the NAAQS is established under the 
CAA.

G. Executive Order 13175: Consultation and Coordination With Indian 
Tribal Government

    This action does not have tribal implications, as specified in 
Executive Order 13175. This action concerns the designation of 
Williamson County, Illinois for the 2010 SO2 NAAQS. This 
rule does not have a substantial direct effect on one or more Indian 
tribes. This action when final would change the initial designation for 
Williamson County for the 2010 1-hour SO2 NAAQS, but no 
areas of Indian country are intended to be designated or to have their 
designation changed by this action. There are no areas of Indian 
country in or near Williamson County. Furthermore, this rule does not 
affect the relationship or distribution of power and responsibilities 
between the federal government and Indian tribes. The CAA and the 
Tribal Authority Rule establish the relationship of the federal 
government and tribes in developing plans to attain the NAAQS, and this 
rule does nothing to modify that relationship. Thus, Executive Order 
13175 does not apply.

H. Executive Order 13045: Protection of Children From Environmental 
Health and Safety Risks

    The EPA interprets Executive Order 13045 as applying to those 
regulatory actions that concern environmental health or safety risks 
that the EPA has reason to believe may disproportionately affect 
children, per the definition of ``covered regulatory action'' in 
section 2-202 of the Executive Order. This action is not subject to 
Executive Order 13045 because it does not establish an environmental 
standard intended to mitigate health or safety risks.

I. Executive Order 13211: Actions That Significantly Affect Energy 
Supply, Distribution or Use

    This action is not subject to Executive Order 13211 because it is 
not a significant regulatory action under Executive Order 12866.

J. National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act (NTTA)

    This rulemaking does not involve technical standards.

K. Executive Order 12898: Federal Actions To Address Environmental 
Justice in Minority Populations and Low-Income Populations

    The EPA believes that this action does not have disproportionately 
high and adverse human health or environmental effects on minority 
populations, low-income populations, and/or indigenous peoples, as 
specified in Executive Order 12898 (59 FR 7629, February 16, 1994). 
When the EPA establishes a new or revised NAAQS, the CAA requires the 
EPA to designate all areas of the U.S. as either nonattainment, 
attainment, or unclassifiable. This action is reconsidering the 
nonattainment designation for the Williamson County, Illinois area for 
the 2010 1-hour SO2 NAAQS. Area designations address 
environmental justice concerns by ensuring that the public is properly 
informed about the air quality in an area. In locations where air 
quality does not meet the NAAQS, the CAA requires relevant state 
authorities to initiate appropriate air quality management actions to 
ensure that all those residing, working, attending school, or otherwise 
present in those areas are protected, regardless of minority and 
economic status. The documentation for this determination is contained 
in Section IV of this preamble, ``Environmental Justice 
Considerations.''

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 81

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

    Dated: May 28, 2019.
William L. Wehrum,
Assistant Administrator.
[FR Doc. 2019-12064 Filed 6-6-19; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6560-50-P