[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 144 (Friday, July 30, 2021)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 40977-40980]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-15731]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[EPA-R07-OAR-2021-0360; FRL-8707-01-R7]


Air Plan Approval; Approval of Missouri Air Quality 
Implementation Plans; Revisions to St. Louis 2008 8-Hour Ozone 
Maintenance Plan

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Proposed rule.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to 
approve a State Implementation Plan (SIP) revision submitted by the 
State of Missouri on November 12, 2019, revising the 2008 8-hour ozone 
maintenance plan previously approved by EPA on September 20, 2018, 
demonstrating continued maintenance of the 2008 ozone National Ambient 
Air Quality Standard (NAAQS), the 1979 1-Hour and 1997 8-Hour ozone 
standards in the St. Louis area. This revision states that the St. 
Louis area no longer needs to rely on the Inspection and Maintenance 
(I/M) program, and Reformulated Gasoline (RFG) for continued 
maintenance throughout the maintenance period for the 2008 8-Hour ozone 
NAAQS, the 1979 1-Hour ozone NAAQS and 1997 8-Hour ozone NAAQS. EPA is 
proposing to determine that this revision meets the requirements of the 
Clean Air Act.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before August 30, 2021.

ADDRESSES: You may send comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-R07-
OAR-2021-0360 to https://www.regulations.gov. Follow the online 
instructions for submitting comments.
    Instructions: All submissions received must include the Docket ID 
No. for this rulemaking. Comments received will be posted without 
change to https://www.regulations.gov/, including any personal 
information provided. For detailed instructions on sending comments and 
additional information on the rulemaking process, see the ``Written 
Comments'' heading of the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this 
document.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Steven Brown, Environmental Protection 
Agency, Region 7 Office, Air Quality Planning Branch, 11201 Renner 
Boulevard, Lenexa, Kansas 66219; telephone number: (913) 551-7718; 
email address: [email protected].

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

Table of Contents

I. Written Comments
II. What is being addressed in this document?
III. Have the requirements for approval of a SIP revision been met?
IV. What action is the EPA taking?
V. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

I. Written Comments

    Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-R07-OAR-2021-
0360, at https://www.regulations.gov. Once submitted, comments cannot 
be edited or removed from 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 https://www.epa.gov/dockets/commenting-epa-dockets.

II. What is being addressed in this document?

    The EPA is proposing to approve SIP revisions submitted by the 
State of Missouri on November 12, 2019, revising the 2008 8-hour ozone 
maintenance plan previously approved on September 20, 2018 (83 FR 
47572). This SIP revision demonstrates continued maintenance of the 
2008 8-Hour ozone NAAQS, the 1979 1-Hour ozone NAAQS and 1997 8-Hour 
ozone NAAQS in the St. Louis area through the future year of 2030. 
Since the 2008 ozone standard is more stringent than the 1979 and 1997 
ozone standards, and the boundary area for all three designations are 
identical, Missouri is requesting through this SIP revision to also 
replace the previously approved maintenance plans under those older 
standards. The maintenance boundary for these three standards includes 
the Missouri counties of Franklin, Jefferson,

[[Page 40978]]

St. Charles, and St. Louis along with the City of St. Louis.
    On May 12, 2003 EPA published a final rule stating the St. Louis 
area attained the 1979 1-hour ozone standard, redesignated the area to 
attainment, and approved the state's plan for maintaining the 1-hour 
ozone NAAQS (68 FR 25413). On June 15, 2005 the 1-Hour Ozone NAAQS was 
revoked for all areas except the 8-Hour Ozone nonattainment Early 
Action Compact (EAC) areas. (70 FR 44470). Due to the revocation of the 
1-Hour Ozone standard 1-Hour Ozone designations and classifications 
were removed for all areas except EAC areas that had deferred effective 
dates for their designations under the 8-Hour Ozone 1997 standard. The 
St. Louis area did not participate in the EAC and therefore, the 1-hour 
ozone standard was revoked effective June 15, 2005 for all areas in 
Missouri (70 FR 44470).
    On February 20, 2015, EPA issued a final rulemaking approving the 
State of Missouri's request to redesignate the Missouri portion of the 
St. Louis nonattainment area to attainment and their demonstration for 
maintaining the 1997 8-hour ozone NAAQS through the ten-year 
maintenance period (2025). (80 FR 9207).
    This SIP revision we are acting on in this proposal, removes the 
reliance on the St. Louis Inspection and Maintenance (I/M) program, and 
Reformulated Gasoline (RFG) for continued maintenance of the 2008, 1979 
and 1997 standard. To support this revision, Missouri utilized EPA's 
2014 Motor Vehicle Emissions Simulator (MOVES2014b) emission modeling 
system to project revised mobile source emissions by removing emissions 
reductions related to I/M and RFG throughout the maintenance period to 
the future year of 2030.
    Tables 1 and 2 below compare ozone season day (OSD) precursor 
pollutants of nitrogen oxide (NOX) and volatile organic 
compound (VOC) emissions for the attainment year 2014 to the projection 
year 2030 for point, area, onroad and nonroad source categories of the 
five counties in the St. Louis area. Missouri's emissions analysis show 
decreases in mobile source emissions and a decrease in total source 
category NOX and VOC emissions through the maintenance 
period of 2030. The projections show that NOX emissions will 
decrease by a total of 135.68 tons per OSD (43.1%), while VOC emissions 
will be reduced by 41.36 tons per OSD (20.5%) between 2014 and 2030. 
These decreases in precursor pollutants demonstrate the area will 
continue to meet the 2008, 1979 and 1997 ozone standard throughout the 
maintenance period without relying on the I/M program or RFG 
requirements in the Missouri portion of the maintenance area.

                      Table 1--2014 Total Emissions
------------------------------------------------------------------------
             Source Category                    NOX             VOC
------------------------------------------------------------------------
St. Louis Area NOX & VOC Emissions in
 Tons Per Ozone Season Day (OSD):
    Point Source........................           81.70           13.86
                                         -------------------------------
    Area Source.........................            6.47           69.81
    Onroad Source.......................          111.76           38.21
    Nonroad Source......................           38.44           33.42
                                         -------------------------------
        Total Emissions Tons/OSD........          238.37          155.30
Illinois Area:
    Point Source........................           23.29            9.38
    Area Source.........................            1.53           19.06
    Onroad Source.......................           26.94           10.11
    Nonroad Source......................           24.62            7.47
                                         -------------------------------
        Total Emissions Tons/OSD........           76.38           46.02
                                         -------------------------------
            Grand Total Emmissions......          314.75          201.32
------------------------------------------------------------------------


                      Table 2--2030 Total Emissions
------------------------------------------------------------------------
             Source Category                    NOX             VOC
------------------------------------------------------------------------
St. Louis Area NOX & VOC Emissions in
 Tons Per Ozone Season Day (OSD):
    Point Source........................           93.08           14.31
                                         -------------------------------
    Area Source.........................            6.58           68.60
    Onroad Source.......................           26.01           16.12
    Nonroad Source......................           16.79           22.45
                                         -------------------------------
        Total Emissions Tons/OSD........          142.61          121.48
                                         -------------------------------
Illinois Area:
                                         -------------------------------
    Point Source........................           16.93            8.53
    Area Source.........................   1.51ENT>18.05
    Onroad Source.......................            6.71            3.76
    Nonroad Source......................           11.31            5.09
                                         -------------------------------
        Total Emissions Tons/OSD........           36.46           35.43
                                         -------------------------------

[[Page 40979]]

 
            Grand Total Emissions.......          179.07          156.91
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    It is important to note approval of this maintenance plan revision 
does not remove the I/M program or the RFG program requirements from 
the SIP.
    In addition, the motor vehicle emissions budgets (MVEBs) from the 
previously SIP approved Maintenance Plan for the 2008 ozone NAAQS \1\ 
and this SIP submittal remain the same. Therefore, there are no new 
MVEBs being created for this SIP revision. EPA found the previously 
approved MVEBs adequate for use with transportation conformity on June 
22, 2018 (83 FR 26598). Therefore, the State of Missouri is required to 
use the MVEBs from the February 16, 2018, Redesignation Request and 
Maintenance Plan for future transportation conformity determinations 
for the St. Louis area until new budgets are created and formally found 
adequate or approved. The finding is available at EPA's conformity 
website: https://www.epa.gov/state-and-local-transportation.
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    \1\ 83 FR 47572, Sept. 20, 2018.
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    EPA is proposing approval of the revised maintenance plan based on 
information provided in the emissions projections, modeling results and 
an evaluation of quality assured air monitoring data submitted as part 
of this revision and in a previously reviewed analysis as part of the 
St. Louis Nonattainment Area 2008 8-hour Ozone NAAQS Redesignation 
rulemaking on September 20, 2018 (83 FR 47572). Current and future 
projections of air quality and emissions data for this revision 
demonstrates maintenance for the 2008, 1979 and 1997 ozone NAAQS.
    This revision only affects maintenance for the 2008, 1979 and 1997 
ozone standards, only removes the reliance upon the I/M program and RFG 
programs and meets the requirements of the Clean Air Act.
    The full text of the plan revisions including Missouri's technical 
demonstration can be found in the State's submission, which is included 
in the docket for this action.

III. Have the requirements for approval of a SIP revision been met?

    The State submission has met the public notice requirements for SIP 
submissions in accordance with 40 CFR 51.102. The submission also 
satisfied the completeness criteria of 40 CFR part 51, appendix V. The 
State provided public notice on this SIP revision from July 29, 2019 to 
September 5, 2019 and received one comment from the Missouri Petroleum 
Marketers and Convenience Store Association, one comment from Abel 
Realty, and twelve comments from EPA. After receiving comments, the 
state revised the submittal language prior to submitting the plan to 
EPA. In addition, as explained above and in more detail in the Missouri 
submittal document, which is part of the docket, the revision meets the 
substantive SIP requirements of the CAA, including section 110 and 
implementing regulations.

IV. What action is the EPA taking?

    We are proposing to approve a SIP revision submitted by the State 
of Missouri on November 12, 2019, revising the 2008 8-hour ozone 
maintenance plan. EPA is proposing to determine that this revision 
would not interfere with attainment or maintenance of the NAAQS or with 
any other CAA requirement. We are processing this as a proposed action 
because we are soliciting comments on this proposed action. Final 
rulemaking will occur after consideration of any comments.

V. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

    Under the Clean Air Act (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);
     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 the National Technology 
Transfer and Advancement Act (NTTA) because this proposed rulemaking 
does not involve technical standards; 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).
    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 proposed 
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).

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 52

    Environmental protection, Air pollution control, Incorporation by 
reference, Ozone.

    Dated: July 19, 2021.
Edward H. Chu,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region 7.

    For the reasons stated in the preamble, the EPA proposes to amend 
40 CFR part 52 as set forth below:

PART 52--APPROVAL AND PROMULGATION OF IMPLEMENTATION PLANS

0
1. The authority citation for part 52 continues to read as follows:


[[Page 40980]]


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

Subpart AA--Missouri

0
2. In Sec.  52.1320, the table in paragraph (e) is amended by adding 
the entry ``(79)'' in numerical order to read as follows:


Sec.  52.1320   Identification of plan.

* * * * *
    (e) * * *

                                EPA-Appoved Missouri Nonregulatory SIP Provisions
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                                        Applicable          State
    Name of nonregulatory SIP          geographic or      submittal     EPA approval date        Explanation
            provision               nonattainment area       date
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                                                  * * * * * * *
(79) Revisions to St. Louis 2008   St. Louis Area:        11/12/2019  [Date of publication  This action replaces
 8-Hour Ozone Maintenance Plan.     Missouri counties                  of the final rule     Maintenance plans
                                    of Franklin,                       in the Federal        for the following
                                    Jefferson, St.                     Register], [Federal   ozone NAAQS: 1979 1-
                                    Charles, and St.                   Register citation     hour (68 FR
                                    Louis along with                   of the final rule].   25413),1997 8-hour
                                    the City of St.                                          (80 FR 9207), 2008
                                    Louis.                                                   8-hour (83 FR
                                                                                             47572).
 
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[FR Doc. 2021-15731 Filed 7-29-21; 8:45 am]
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