[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 144 (Friday, July 30, 2021)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 40975-40977]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-15843]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 35

[EPA-R09-OAR-2021-0359; FRL-8699-01-R9]


Clean Air Act Grant; Santa Barbara County Air Pollution Control 
District; Opportunity for Public Hearing

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notification; proposed determination with request for comments 
and notice of opportunity for public hearing.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to 
determine that the reduction in expenditures of non-Federal funds for 
the Santa Barbara County Air Pollution Control District (SBCAPCD) in 
support of its continuing air program under section 105 of the Clean 
Air Act (CAA), for the calendar year 2020 are a result of non-selective 
reductions in expenditures. This determination, when final, will permit 
the SBCAPCD to receive grant funding for fiscal year (FY) 2021 from the 
EPA under section 105 of the CAA.

DATES: Comments and/or requests for a public hearing must be received 
by the EPA at the address stated below on or before August 30, 2021.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-R09-
OAR-2021-0359 at https://www.regulations.gov. For comments submitted at 
Regulations.gov, follow the online instructions for submitting 
comments. 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 
Proprietary Business Information (PBI) or 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, please contact the person identified in the FOR FURTHER 
INFORMATION CONTACT section. For 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. If you need assistance in a language other than 
English or if you are a person with disabilities who needs a reasonable 
accommodation at no cost to you, please contact the person identified 
in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Angela Latigue, EPA Region IX, Grants 
and Program Integration Office, Air Division, 75 Hawthorne Street, San 
Francisco, CA 94105; phone at (415)

[[Page 40976]]

947-4170 or email address at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 105 of the CAA provides grant 
funding for the continuing air programs of eligible state, local, and 
tribal agencies. In accordance with 40 CFR 35.145(a), the Regional 
Administrator may provide air pollution control agencies up to three-
fifths of the approved costs of implementing programs for the 
prevention and control of air pollution. CAA Section 105 grants require 
a cost share (also referred to as a match requirement) and a 
maintenance of effort (MOE). An eligible agency must meet a minimum 40% 
match. In addition, to remain eligible for section 105 funds, an 
eligible agency must meet an MOE requirement under section 105(c)(1) of 
the CAA, 42 U.S.C. 7405.
    Program activities relevant to the match consist of both recurring 
and non-recurring (unique, one-time only) expenses. The MOE provision 
requires that a state or local agency spend at least the same dollar 
level of funds as it did in the previous grant year, but only for the 
costs of recurring activities. Specifically, section 105(c)(1) of the 
CAA, 42 U.S.C. 7405(c)(1), provides that, ``No agency shall receive any 
grant under this section during any fiscal year when its expenditures 
of non-Federal funds for recurrent expenditures for air pollution 
control programs will be less than its expenditures were for such 
programs during the preceding fiscal year.'' However, pursuant to CAA 
section 105(c)(2), 42 U.S.C. 7405(c)(2), the EPA may still award a 
grant to an agency not meeting the requirements of section 105(c)(1), 
``. . . if the Administrator, after notice and opportunity for public 
hearing, determines that a reduction in expenditures is attributable to 
a non-selective reduction in the expenditures in the programs of all 
Executive branch agencies of the applicable unit of Government.'' These 
statutory requirements are repeated in the EPA's implementing 
regulations at 40 CFR 35.140-35.148. The EPA issued additional guidance 
to recipients on what constitutes a nonselective reduction on September 
30, 2011. In consideration of legislative history, the guidance 
clarified that a non-selective reduction does not necessarily mean that 
each Executive branch agency needs to be reduced in equal proportion. 
However, it must be clear to the EPA, from the weight of evidence, that 
a recipient's CAA-related air program is not being disproportionately 
impacted or singled out for a reduction.
    A section 105 grant recipient must submit a final federal financial 
report no later than 90 days from the close of its grant period that 
documents all of its federal and non-federal expenditures for the 
completed period. The recipient seeking an adjustment to its MOE for 
that period must provide the rationale and the documentation necessary 
to enable the EPA to determine that a nonselective reduction has 
occurred. In order to expedite that determination, the recipient must 
provide details of the budget action and the comparative fiscal impacts 
on all the jurisdiction's executive branch agencies, the recipient 
agency itself, and the agency's air program. The recipient should 
identify any executive branch agencies or programs that should be 
excepted from comparison and explain why. The recipient must provide 
evidence that the air program is not being singled out for a reduction 
or being disproportionately reduced. Documentation in key areas will be 
needed: Budget data specific to the recipient's air program, and 
comparative budget data between the recipient's air program, the agency 
containing the air program, and the other executive branch agencies. 
The EPA may also request information from the recipient about how 
impacts on its program operations will affect its ability to meet its 
CAA obligations and requirements; and documentation that explains the 
cause of the reduction, such as legislative changes or the issuance of 
a new executive order.
    In fiscal year (FY) 2020, the EPA awarded the SBCAPCD $519,277, 
which represented approximately 7% of the SBCAPCD budget. In FY2021, 
the EPA intends to award the SBCAPCD approximately $522,315, which 
represents approximately 7% of the SBCAPCD budget.
    SBCAPCD's final federal financial report for FY2019 indicated that 
SBCAPCD's MOE level was $8,551,345. SBCAPCD's final federal financial 
report for FY2020 indicates that SBCAPCD's MOE level is at $7,890,365. 
The reduced MOE is not sufficient to meet the MOE requirements under 
the CAA Section 105 because it is not equal to or greater than the MOE 
for the previous fiscal year.
    In order for the SBCAPCD to be eligible to receive its FY2021 CAA 
section 105 grant, the EPA must make a determination (after notice and 
an opportunity for a public hearing) that the reduction in expenditures 
is attributable to a non-selective reduction in the expenditures in the 
programs of the SBCAPCD.
    The SBCAPCD is a single-purpose air pollution control agency. It is 
the unit of government for CAA section 105(c)(2) purposes.
    On March 25, 2021, the SBCAPCD submitted a request to the EPA 
seeking a reduction for the required MOE for FY2020. The SBCAPCD 
explained that it was unable to meet its MOE requirement due in large 
part to a budget increase of 21.1% from pass-through monies from the 
California Air Resources Board (CARB) for multiple state projects. The 
State Legislature, through the budget adoption process, placed a strong 
emphasis on the use of funding for voluntary emission reduction 
programs through the network of local air districts. This action 
resulted in a total of over $2.7 million for Santa Barbara County 
projects in FY2019-2020, a 21.1% budget increase received from the 
previous fiscal year. These funds were used to continue expanding the 
reach of the grant programs initiated in FY2018-2019, including the 
Carl Moyer program, Community Air Protection legislation (AB617), the 
Funding Agricultural Replacement Measures for Emissions Reductions 
(FARMER) program, and the Wood Smoke Reduction program. In addition, 
the District experienced a significant reduction in filling vacant 
positions due to the conditions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The 
following table illustrates the District's actual expenditures from 
Federal Fiscal Years (FFY) 2017 through 2020.

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                                                     Actual FFY 17-   Actual FFY 18-                    Actual FFY 18-   Actual FFY 19-
                    Description                            18               19           Difference           19               20           Difference
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Grant Revenues....................................         $594,385    $2,694,441.77    $2,100,056.77    $2,694,441.77    $2,421,089.07     -$273,352.70
Services and Supplies.............................    $3,547,624.73    $3,731,165.03      $183,540.30    $3,731,165.03    $4,494,987.02      $763,821.99
Salaries and Benefits.............................    $5,306,547.86    $5,751,339.84      $444,791.98    $5,751,339.84    $5,915,694.33      $164,354.49
Funded Full Time Equivalents......................               43               37               -6               37               36               -1
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Program Cost......................................       $6,776,864       $8,551,345              N/A       $8,551,345       $7,890,365              N/A
EPA Funding.......................................         $497,683         $508,027              N/A         $508,027         $519,277              N/A

[[Page 40977]]

 
Non-Recurrent Expenses............................       $1,925,596       $1,986,234          $60,638       $1,986,234       $3,349,440       $1,363,206
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    Total Program Cost............................       $9,200,143      $11,045,606              N/A      $11,045,606      $11,759,083              N/A
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Amount Over/Under MOE Goal *......................          $34,940       $1,774,481  ...............       $1,774,481        -$660,979  ...............
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    The request for a reset of SBCAPCD's MOE meets the requirements for 
a non-selective reduction determination. The SBCAPCD's MOE reduction 
resulted from a loss of revenues due to a significant cut back on 
expenditures caused by the current COVID-19 pandemic, the inability to 
fill vacant positions created by retirements, and the addition of State 
funding for grant pass-throughs, which increased the SBCAPCD's grant 
non-recurring activity.
    The EPA proposes to determine that the SBCAPCD lower the FY2020 MOE 
level to $7,790,365 to meet the CAA section 105(c)(2) criteria as it 
resulted from a non-selective reduction of expenditures.
    This notice constitutes a request for public comment and an 
opportunity for public hearing as required by the CAA. All written 
comments received by August 30, 2021 on this proposal will be 
considered. The EPA will conduct a public hearing on this proposal only 
if a written request for such is received by the EPA by August 30, 
2021. If no written request for a hearing is received, the EPA will 
proceed to the final determination. While notice of the final 
determination will not be published in the Federal Register, copies of 
the determination can be obtained by sending a written request to 
Angela Latigue at the above address.

    Dated: July 8, 2021.
Elizabeth Adams,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region IX.
[FR Doc. 2021-15843 Filed 7-29-21; 8:45 am]
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