[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 230 (Friday, November 29, 2019)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 65683-65685]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-25818]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Parts 52 and 81

[EPA-R05-OAR-2019-0394; FRL-10002-56-Region 5]


Designation of Areas for Air Quality Planning Purposes; Ohio; 
Redesignation of the Ohio Portion of the Steubenville Sulfur Dioxide 
Nonattainment Area

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Clean Air Act (CAA), the Environmental 
Protection Agency (EPA) is redesignating the Ohio portion of the 
Steubenville Ohio-West Virginia interstate sulfur dioxide 
(SO2) nonattainment area (Steubenville nonattainment area) 
from nonattainment to attainment. EPA is also approving Ohio's 
maintenance plan. Emissions of SO2 in the area have been 
reduced and the air quality in the nonattainment area is currently well 
below the 2010 SO2 national ambient air quality standard 
(NAAQS).

DATES: This final rule is effective on November 29, 2019.

ADDRESSES: EPA has established a docket for this action under Docket ID 
No. EPA-R05-OAR-2019-0394. All documents in the docket are listed on 
the www.regulations.gov website. Although listed in the index, some 
information is not publicly available, i.e., 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 either 
through www.regulations.gov or at the Environmental Protection Agency, 
Region 5, Air and Radiation Division, 77 West Jackson Boulevard, 
Chicago, Illinois 60604. This facility is open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 
p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding Federal holidays. We recommend 
that you telephone Mary Portanova, Environmental Engineer, at (312) 
353-5954, before visiting the Region 5 office.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mary Portanova, Environmental 
Engineer, Control Strategies Section, Air Programs Branch (AR18J), 
Environmental Protection Agency, Region 5, 77 West Jackson Boulevard, 
Chicago, Illinois 60604, (312) 353-5954, [email protected].

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

I. Background Information

    On September 20, 2019 (84 FR 49492), EPA proposed to redesignate 
the Ohio portion of the Steubenville Ohio-West Virginia interstate 
SO2 nonattainment area from nonattainment to attainment of 
the 2010 SO2 NAAQS. EPA also proposed to approve Ohio's 
SO2 maintenance plan for the area. An explanation of the CAA 
requirements for redesignation, a detailed analysis of the 
redesignation request and maintenance plan, and EPA's reasons for 
proposing approval were provided in the notice of proposed rulemaking 
and will not be restated here. The public comment period for this 
proposed rule ended on October 21, 2019.
    The Steubenville nonattainment area is comprised of a portion of 
Jefferson County, Ohio and a portion of Brooke County, West Virginia. 
The Ohio portion of the Steubenville nonattainment area includes Cross

[[Page 65684]]

Creek Township, Steubenville Township, Warren Township, Wells Township, 
and Steubenville City in Jefferson County.
    Ohio and West Virginia prepared nonattainment State Implementation 
Plans (SIPs) to provide for attainment of the 2010 SO2 NAAQS 
in the Steubenville nonattainment area by the SO2 attainment 
date of October 4, 2018. EPA approved the nonattainment SIPs from Ohio 
and West Virginia on October 22, 2019 (84 FR 56385).

II. Public Comments

    EPA received two public comments on the September 20, 2019 proposal 
to redesignate the Ohio portion of the Steubenville nonattainment area. 
Both comments supported the proposed redesignation. The comments are 
included in the docket for this action.

III. What action is EPA taking?

    EPA is redesignating the Ohio portion of the Steubenville 
nonattainment area from nonattainment to attainment of the 2010 
SO2 NAAQS. The Ohio portion of the Steubenville 
nonattainment area includes Cross Creek Township, Steubenville 
Township, Warren Township, Wells Township, and Steubenville City in 
Jefferson County. Ohio has demonstrated that the area is attaining the 
SO2 standard, and that the improvement in air quality is due 
to permanent and enforceable SO2 emission reductions in the 
nonattainment area. EPA is also approving Ohio's maintenance plan, 
which is designed to ensure that the area will continue to maintain the 
SO2 standard.
    In accordance with 5 U.S.C. 553(d), EPA finds there is good cause 
for these actions to become effective immediately upon publication. 
This is because a delayed effective date is unnecessary due to the 
nature of a redesignation to attainment, which relieves the area from 
certain CAA requirements that would otherwise apply to it. The 
immediate effective date for this action is authorized under both 5 
U.S.C. 553(d)(1), which provides that rulemaking actions may become 
effective less than 30 days after publication if the rule ``grants or 
recognizes an exemption or relieves a restriction,'' and section 
553(d)(3), which allows an effective date less than 30 days after 
publication ``as otherwise provided by the agency for good cause found 
and published with the rule.'' The purpose of the 30-day waiting period 
prescribed in section 553(d) is to give affected parties a reasonable 
time to adjust their behavior and prepare before the final rule takes 
effect. This rule, however, does not create any new regulatory 
requirements such that affected parties would need time to prepare 
before the rule takes effect. Rather, this rule relieves the State of 
planning requirements for this nonattainment area. For these reasons, 
EPA finds good cause under 5 U.S.C. 553(d)(3) for these actions to 
become effective on the date of publication of these actions.

IV. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

    Under the CAA, redesignation of an area to attainment and the 
accompanying approval of the maintenance plan under CAA section 
107(d)(3)(E) are actions that affect the status of the geographical 
area and do not impose any additional regulatory requirements on 
sources beyond those required by state law. A redesignation to 
attainment does not in and of itself impose any new requirements, but 
rather results in the application of requirements contained in the CAA 
for areas that have been redesignated to attainment. Moreover, 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 as specified by 
Executive Order 13175 (65 FR 67249, November 9, 2000), because 
redesignation is an action that affects the status of a geographical 
area and does not impose any new regulatory requirements on tribes, 
impact any existing sources of air pollution on tribal lands, nor 
impair the maintenance of ozone national ambient air quality standards 
in tribal lands.
    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. 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).
    Under section 307(b)(1) of the CAA, petitions for judicial review 
of this action must be filed in the United States Court of Appeals for 
the appropriate circuit by January 28, 2020. 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

[[Page 65685]]

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

40 CFR Part 52

    Environmental protection, Air pollution control, Incorporation by 
reference, Intergovernmental relations, Sulfur oxides.

40 CFR Part 81

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

    Dated: November 13, 2019.
Cathy Stepp,
Regional Administrator, Region 5.

    Title 40 CFR parts 52 and 81 are 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.


0
2. In Sec.  52.1870, the table in paragraph (e) is amended under 
``Summary of Criteria Pollutant Maintenance Plan'' by adding an entry 
for ``SO2 (2010)'' before the entry ``CO (1979)'' to read as 
follows:


Sec.  52.1870  Identification of plan.

* * * * *
    (e) * * *

                         EPA-Approved Ohio Nonregulatory and Quasi-Regulatory Provisions
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                            Applicable geographical
          Title              or non-attainment area     State date        EPA approval            Comments
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                                                  * * * * * * *
                                 Summary of Criteria Pollutant Maintenance Plan
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                                                  * * * * * * *
SO2 (2010)...............  Steubenville OH-WV              6/25/2019  11/29/2019, [insert
                            (partial Jefferson                         Federal Register
                            County).                                   citation].
 
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PART 81--DESIGNATION OF AREAS FOR AIR QUALITY PLANNING PURPOSES

0
3. The authority citation for part 81 continues to read as follows:

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


0
4. Section 81.336 is amended by revising the entry ``Steubenville, OH-
WV'' in the table entitled ``Ohio--2010 Sulfur Dioxide NAAQS 
(Primary)'' to read as follows:


Sec.  81.336  Ohio.

* * * * *

                     Ohio--2010 Sulfur Dioxide NAAQS
                                [Primary]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                Designation
       Designated area \1\        --------------------------------------
                                        Date \2\             Type
------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
                              * * * * * * *
Steubenville, OH-WV..............  November 29, 2019  Attainment.
    Jefferson County (part).
        Cross Creek Township,
         Steubenville Township,
         Warren Township, Wells
         Township, Steubenville
         City.
 
                              * * * * * * *
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\1\ Includes any Indian country in each county or area, unless otherwise
  specified. EPA is not determining the boundaries of any area of Indian
  country in this table, including any area of Indian country located in
  the larger designation area. The inclusion of any Indian country in
  the designation area is not a determination that the state has
  regulatory authority under the Clean Air Act for such Indian country.
\2\ This date is April 9, 2018, unless otherwise noted.

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[FR Doc. 2019-25818 Filed 11-27-19; 8:45 am]
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