[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 125 (Friday, July 2, 2021)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 35254-35257]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-14179]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 81

[EPA-R04-OAR-2021-0322; FRL-10025-78-Region 4]


Air Quality Designations; NC: Redesignation of the Brunswick 
County 2010 Sulfur Dioxide Unclassifiable Area

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Proposed rule.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to 
approve a submission by the State of North Carolina, through the 
Department of Air Quality (DAQ), on April 23, 2021, to redesignate the 
Brunswick County, North Carolina, unclassifiable area (hereinafter 
referred to as the ``Brunswick County Area'' or ``Area'') to 
attainment/unclassifiable for the 2010 1-hour primary sulfur dioxide 
(SO2) national ambient air quality standard (hereinafter 
referred to as the ``2010 SO2 1-hour NAAQS''). Because EPA 
now has sufficient information to determine that the Brunswick County 
Area is attaining the 2010 1-hour SO2 national ambient air 
quality standards (NAAQS), the Agency is proposing to approve the 
State's redesignation request, thereby redesignating the Area from 
unclassifiable to attainment/unclassifiable for the 2010 1-hour 
SO2 NAAQS.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before August 2, 2021.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-R04-
OAR-2021-0322 at http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the online 
instructions for submitting comments. Once submitted, comments cannot 
be edited or removed from Regulations.gov. 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., 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: Evan Adams, Air Regulatory Management 
Section, Air Planning and Implementation Branch, Air and Radiation 
Division, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 4, 61 Forsyth 
Street SW, Atlanta, Georgia 30303-8960. Mr. Adams can be reached by 
telephone at (404) 562-9009 or via electronic mail at 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

    The Clean Air Act (CAA or Act) establishes a process for air 
quality management through the establishment and implementation of the 
NAAQS. On June 2, 2010, EPA revised the primary SO2 NAAQS, 
establishing a new 1-hour SO2 standard of 75 parts per 
billion (ppb). See 75 FR 35520 (June 22, 2010).\1\ After the 
promulgation of a new or revised NAAQS, EPA is required to designate 
all areas of the country pursuant to section 107(d)(1)-(2) of the CAA. 
For the 2010 1-hour SO2 NAAQS, designations were based on 
EPA's application of the nationwide analytical approach to, and 
technical assessment of, the weight of evidence for each area, 
including but not limited to available air quality monitoring data and 
air quality modeling results. In advance of designating the Brunswick 
County Area, EPA issued updated designations guidance through a March 
20, 2015, memorandum from Stephen D. Page, Director, U.S. EPA, Office 
of Air Quality Planning and Standards, to Regional Air Division 
Directors, U.S. EPA Regions 1-10, titled ``Updated Guidance for Area 
Designations for the 2010 Primary Sulfur Dioxide National Ambient Air 
Quality Standard.'' This document contains the factors that EPA 
evaluated in determining the appropriate designations and associated 
boundaries when designating the Brunswick County Area, including: (1) 
Air quality characterization via ambient monitoring or dispersion 
modeling results; (2) emissions-related data; (3) meteorology; (4) 
geography and topography; and (5)

[[Page 35255]]

jurisdictional boundaries.2 3 The guidance also referenced 
EPA's non-binding Monitoring Technical Assistance Document (Monitoring 
TAD) \4\ and Modeling Technical Assistance Document (Modeling TAD),\5\ 
which contain scientifically sound recommendations on how air agencies 
should conduct such monitoring or modeling.
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    \1\ On February 25, 2019 (effective April 17, 2019), EPA issued 
a decision to retain the existing NAAQS for SO2. See 84 
FR 9866 (March 18, 2019).
    \2\ The 2015 memorandum is available at https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2016-04/documents/20150320so2designations.pdf.
    \3\ This designation guidance has since been supplemented by a 
July 22, 2016, designation guidance memorandum from Stephen D. Page, 
Director, U.S. EPA, Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards, to 
Regional Air Division Directors, U.S. EPA Regions 1-10. The 2016 
memorandum is available at https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2016-07/documents/areadesign.pdf.
    \4\ The version of the EPA's ``SO2 NAAQS Designations 
Source-Oriented Monitoring Technical Assistance Document'' 
(Monitoring TAD) available at the time of the Round 2 designations 
action was released in December 2013. The current version of the 
Monitoring TAD was released in February 2016 and superseded the 
version released in December 2013.
    \5\ ``Sulfur Dioxide (SO2) National Ambient Air 
Quality Standards Designations Modeling Technical Assistance 
Document,'' August 2016 draft, available at https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2016-06/documents/so2modelingtad.pdf. EPA 
released earlier drafts of this document in May 2013 and February 
2016.
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    EPA completed the first set of initial area designations for the 
2010 1-hour SO2 NAAQS in 2013 (Round 1). Pursuant to a March 
2, 2015, consent decree and court-ordered schedule,\6\ EPA finalized a 
second set of initial area designations for the 2010 1-hour 
SO2 NAAQS in 2016 (Round 2). The March 2, 2015, consent 
decree identified the following emissions criteria such that EPA must 
designate, in Round 2, an area surrounding any stationary source which 
had: (a) Annual emissions in 2012 exceeding 16,000 tons of 
SO2, or (b) both an annual average emissions rate of at 
least 0.45 pounds of SO2 per one million British thermal 
units, according to EPA's Clean Air Markets Division Database, and 
annual emissions of at least 2,600 tons of SO2 in 2012. 
North Carolina had one source, the Capital Power Incorporated (CPI) 
Southport Cape Fear facility in Brunswick County, that met these Round 
2 criteria.
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    \6\ See Sierra Club et. al. v. McCarthy, Civil Action No. 3:13-
cv-3953-SI (N.D. Cal.) and 79 FR 31325 (June 2, 2014).
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    EPA evaluated the Brunswick County Area, using the five factors 
identified previously, during the Round 2 designations. This evaluation 
is discussed further in Section III of this notice. The CPI Southport 
facility, located on the coast of southeastern North Carolina in the 
southeastern portion of Brunswick County, was an electric power 
generation plant with two electric generating units (EGUs) that were 
permitted to combust a variety of solid fuels, including coal, woody 
biomass fuels, and tire derived fuel. CPI was included in the list of 
facilities to be designated pursuant to the March 2, 2015, Consent 
Decree.\7\
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    \7\ CPI Southport was also subject to EPA's 2015 Data 
Requirements Rule (DRR) for the 2010 SO2 1-hour NAAQS. 
See https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2016-06/documents/nc.pdf for North Carolina's letter and DRR source list, dated 
January 15, 2016. EPA separately promulgated the DRR which required 
states to undertake air quality characterization for areas with 
SO2 sources meeting certain criteria. Specifically, the 
DRR required state air agencies to provide additional monitoring or 
modeling information to characterize air quality in areas associated 
with sources meeting certain criteria or that have otherwise been 
listed under the DRR by EPA or state air agencies, or to instead 
impose federally enforceable emission limitations on those sources 
restricting their annual SO2 emissions to less than 2,000 
tons per year, or provide documentation that the sources have been 
shut down, by specified dates. The information generated by 
implementation of the DRR informed EPA's designations.
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    EPA's March 20, 2015, guidance specified the designation category 
definitions to be used in the Round 2 designations. Specifically, EPA 
defined a ``nonattainment'' area as an area that EPA has determined 
violates the 2010 1-hour SO2 NAAQS based on the most recent 
three years of quality-assured, certified ambient air quality 
monitoring data or an appropriate modeling analysis, or that EPA has 
determined contributes to a violation in a nearby area; and defined an 
``attainment'' area as an area that EPA has determined meets the 2010 
1-hour SO2 NAAQS and does not contribute to a violation of 
the NAAQS in a nearby area based on either: (a) The most recent three 
years of ambient air quality monitoring data from a monitoring network 
in an area that is sufficient to be compared to the NAAQS per EPA 
interpretations in the Monitoring TAD, or (b) an appropriate modeling 
analysis.
    As discussed further in Section III of this notice, EPA was unable 
to determine whether the Brunswick County Area met the definition of a 
nonattainment area or the definition of an attainment area based on the 
available information at the time of the Round 2 designations. As a 
result, EPA designated the Brunswick County Area as unclassifiable in 
the Round 2 designations published on July 12, 2016.\8\ The Area 
includes all six townships (Lockwood Folly Township, Northwest 
Township, Shallotte Township, Smithville Township, Town Creek Township, 
Waccamaw Township) within the jurisdictional boundary of Brunswick 
County. Detailed rationale, analyses, and other information supporting 
EPA's original Round 2 designation for this Area can be found in the 
Round 2 designation's technical support document (TSD) for North 
Carolina. All supporting materials for the original 2010 1-hour 
SO2 NAAQS designation for the Brunswick County Area, 
including the TSD, can be found on EPA's SO2 designations 
website.\9\
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    \8\ See 81 FR 45039 (July 12, 2016, effective September 12, 
2016) codified at 40 CFR 81.334.
    \9\ EPA's SO2 designations website can be found at 
https://www.epa.gov/sulfur-dioxide-designations/epa-completes-second-round-sulfur-dioxide-designations.
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    After reviewing North Carolina's redesignation request under CAA 
section 107(d)(3)(D) and all available information, EPA is proposing to 
redesignate the Brunswick County Area from unclassifiable to 
attainment/unclassifiable for the 2010 1-hour SO2 standard 
based on a valid ambient SO2 design value that adequately 
characterizes the SO2 air quality in the Brunswick County 
Area. See Sections II and III below for more information on the 
criteria to redesignate unclassifiable SO2 areas and the 
rationale for this proposed action.

II. What are the criteria for redesignating an area from unclassifiable 
to attainment/unclassifiable?

    Section 107(d)(3)(A) of the CAA 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.'' \10\ The Act 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. In keeping with CAA section 107(d)(3)(A), areas that are 
redesignated to attainment/unclassifiable \11\ must meet the

[[Page 35256]]

requirements for attainment areas and, thus, must meet the relevant 
NAAQS. In addition, the area must not contribute to ambient air quality 
in a nearby area that does not meet the NAAQS. See the definitions for 
nonattainment area, attainment area, and unclassifiable area in CAA 
section 107(d)(1)(A)(i)-(iii).
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    \10\ While CAA section 107(d)(3)(E) also lists specific 
requirements for redesignations, those requirements only apply to 
redesignations of nonattainment areas to attainment and, therefore, 
are not applicable in the context of a redesignation of an area from 
unclassifiable to attainment/unclassifiable.
    \11\ Historically, EPA has designated most areas that do not 
meet the definition of nonattainment as ``unclassifiable/
attainment.'' EPA has reversed the order of the label to be 
``attainment/unclassifiable'' to better convey the definition of the 
designation category and so that the category is more easily 
distinguished from the separate unclassifiable category. See 83 FR 
1098 (January 9, 2018) and 83 FR 25776 (June 4, 2018). EPA reserves 
the ``attainment'' category for when EPA redesignates a 
nonattainment area that has attained the relevant NAAQS and has an 
approved maintenance plan.
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    In its designations under the 2010 1-hour SO2 NAAQS, EPA 
has generally defined an attainment/unclassifiable area as an area 
that, based on available information including (but not limited to) 
appropriate monitoring data and/or modeling analyses, EPA has 
determined meets the NAAQS and determined that the available 
information indicates that the area does not likely contribute to 
ambient air quality in a nearby area that does not meet the NAAQS. EPA 
is proposing to find that the Brunswick County Area now meets the 
definition of attainment/unclassifiable based upon a 3-year certified 
and complete design value of air quality monitoring data that 
demonstrates attainment, i.e., no violations of the 2010 1-hour 
SO2 NAAQS, and the fact that sources in Brunswick County are 
not contributing to a nearby area that is violating the NAAQS. EPA 
preliminarily finds this information sufficient for the purposes of 
redesignating an area from unclassifiable to attainment/unclassifiable. 
Such redesignations are functionally similar to initial designations 
and are not subject to CAA section 107(d)(3)(E), which, amongst other 
things, requires attainment to be due to permanent and enforceable 
measures and which requires a demonstration that the area will maintain 
the NAAQS for 10 years. For the Brunswick County Area, DEQ submitted a 
request to redesignate the area from unclassifiable to attainment/
unclassifiable on April 23, 2021.\12\
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    \12\ This redesignation request is included in the docket for 
this proposed action.
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III. What is EPA's rationale for proposing to redesignate the area?

    The Brunswick County Area includes the CPI Southport facility, 
which met the Round 2 criteria as discussed in Section I of this 
document, and thus, EPA was required to designate the Area in 2016, 
under the March 2, 2015, court-ordered schedule. After review of all 
available information at that time, including modeling provided by the 
State, EPA was unable to determine the Area's attainment status, and 
therefore, designated Brunswick County in its entirety as 
unclassifiable in Round 2 of designations for the 2010 1-hour 
SO2 primary NAAQS on July 12, 2016. EPA's rationale for the 
unclassifiable designation is fully explained in the final Round 2 
designations TSD.\13\ For Brunswick County, DAQ selected the monitoring 
pathway for purposes of air quality characterization pursuant to EPA's 
SO2 Data Requirements Rule (DRR) (80 FR 51052, August 21, 
2015).\14\ Pursuant to requirements under the DRR to characterize the 
air quality in the area around CPI Southport, North Carolina installed 
an SO2 monitor in the area of maximum concentration for the 
CPI Southport facility (in accordance with EPA's Monitoring TAD and 40 
CFR parts 50 and 58) and began collecting data on January 1, 2017.\15\
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    \13\ The final Round 2 designations TSD can be found at https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2016-07/documents/r4_nc_final_designation_tsd_06302016.pdf.
    \14\ Data Requirements Rule for the 2010 1-Hour Sulfur Dioxide 
(SO2) Primary National Ambient Air Quality Standard 
(NAAQS), Final Rule, 80 FR 51052, August 21, 2015 (https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2015-08-21/pdf/2015-20367.pdf). In 
accordance with the DRR, 40 CFR part 51, subpart BB, through a 
letter dated June 30, 2016, North Carolina notified EPA that the 
State chose to characterize peak 1-hour SO2 
concentrations for CPI through air quality monitoring. See https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2016-07/documents/north_carolina_source_characterization.pdf.
    \15\ The monitor is located at the site of maximum concentration 
based on modeling following the procedures in EPA SO2 
Monitoring TADs. More details on the analyses used to support the 
monitor placement are contained in the state's 2016 annual 
monitoring annual network plan located in the docket for this 
proposed action.
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    On April 23, 2021, North Carolina submitted a letter to EPA 
requesting that the entirety of Brunswick County be redesignated to 
attainment/unclassifiable based on the newly available monitoring 
information, which demonstrates attainment of the 2010 1-hour 
SO2 NAAQS. To evaluate North Carolina's redesignation 
request, EPA considered the design value for the air quality monitor in 
Brunswick County by assessing the most recent three consecutive years 
(i.e., 2018-2020) of quality-assured, certified ambient air quality 
data in the EPA Air Quality System (AQS) using data from a monitor that 
was sited and operated in accordance with 40 CFR parts 50 and 58. 
Procedures for using monitored air quality data to determine whether a 
violation has occurred are provided in 40 CFR part 50 Appendix T, as 
revised in the 2010 1-hour SO2 NAAQS rulemaking. As noted 
previously, the 2010 1-hour SO2 NAAQS is met when the design 
value is 75 ppb or less. Table 1, below, contains the most recent three 
years of ambient SO2 monitoring data available and shows 
that the Area is attaining the 2010 1-hour SO2 NAAQS with a 
design value of 54 ppb for the period 2018-2020.\16\
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    \16\ North Carolina early certified the Southport monitor 2018-
2020 air quality data in AQS on January 13, 2021. See Table 2 in 
North Carolina's April 23, 2021, redesignation request.

                      Table 1--2010 SO2 NAAQS Monitoring Data for the Brunswick County Area
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                                                         2018 99th     2019 99th     2020 99th      2018-2020
             AQS ID                   Monitor site      percentile    percentile    percentile     design value
                                                           (ppb)         (ppb)         (ppb)          (ppb)
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370190005.......................  Southport..........         55 *            60            46               54
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 * Brunswick County SO2 monitoring measurements for the third quarter (July, August, and September) of 2018 did
  not meet the data completeness requirement of 75% data capture. However, a valid design value for 2018 to 2020
  was obtained using the data substitution procedures in 40 CFR part 50, Appendix T, Section 3(c)(ii)(B).

    Additionally, on March 31, 2020, the CPI Southport facility ceased 
operation, and the DAQ rescinded the facility's operating permit 
effective April 1, 2021.\17\ After reviewing North Carolina's request 
under CAA section 107(d)(3)(D) and all available information, EPA is 
proposing to find that the three years of monitored ambient 
SO2 data from 2018-2020 adequately characterize the 
SO2 air quality in Brunswick County and demonstrate 
attainment of the 2010 1-hour SO2 NAAQS in the Area. 
Additionally, there is no evidence of monitored or modeled violations 
in the

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surrounding counties such that the source is contributing to any nearby 
area that does not meet the NAAQS. EPA is therefore proposing to 
approve North Carolina's redesignation request and redesignate the 
Brunswick County Area from unclassifiable to attainment/unclassifiable 
based on the currently available information that demonstrates 
attainment of the 2010 1-hour SO2 NAAQS.
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    \17\ The DAQ's April 1, 2021 letter rescinding Air Quality 
Permit No. 05884T21 and the January 20, 2021, certified letter from 
Mr. Frank Hayward, General Manager, CPI USA North Carolina, LLC--
Southport Plant to Mr. Brad Newland, P.E., Regional Air Quality 
Supervisor, Wilmington Regional Office, NC Division of Air Quality, 
requesting permit recission are located in the docket for this 
proposed action.
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IV. Proposed Action

    EPA is proposing to approve North Carolina's April 23, 2021, 
request to redesignate the Brunswick County Area from unclassifiable to 
attainment/unclassifiable for the 2010 1-hour SO2 NAAQS. As 
discussed in prior sections, this proposed action is based on the 
currently available monitoring data for the Brunswick County Area that 
demonstrate attainment of the 2010 1-hour SO2 primary NAAQS. 
If finalized, approval of the redesignation request would change the 
legal designation for this Area, found at 40 CFR part 81, from 
unclassifiable to attainment/unclassifiable for the 2010 1-hour 
SO2 primary NAAQS.

V. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

    Under the CAA, redesignation of an area to attainment/
unclassifiable is an action that affects the status of a geographical 
area and does not impose any additional regulatory requirements on 
sources beyond those imposed by state law. A redesignation to 
attainment/unclassifiable does not create any new requirements. 
Accordingly, this proposed action merely proposes to redesignate an 
area to attainment/unclassifiable and does not impose additional 
requirements. For that reason, this proposed 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);
     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
     Will not have disproportionate human health or 
environmental effects under Executive Order 12898 (59 FR 7629, February 
16, 1994).
    This proposed action does not 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, this 
proposed action does not have tribal implications as specified by 
Executive Order 13175 (65 FR 67249, November 9, 2000), nor will it 
impose substantial direct costs on tribal governments or preempt tribal 
law.

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 81

    Environmental protection, Air pollution control.

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

    Dated: June 28, 2021.
John Blevins,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region 4.
[FR Doc. 2021-14179 Filed 7-1-21; 8:45 am]
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