[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 20 (Monday, January 31, 2022)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 4812-4815]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-01649]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Parts 52 and 81

[EPA-R07-OAR-2021-0667; FRL-9105-02-R7]


Air Plan Approval; Missouri Redesignation Request and Associated 
Maintenance Plan for the Jackson County 2010 SO2 1-Hour NAAQS 
Nonattainment Area

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: On February 18, 2021, the State of Missouri submitted a 
request for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to redesignate 
the Jackson County, Missouri, 2010 1-hour sulfur dioxide 
(SO2) National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) 
nonattainment area to attainment and approve a State Implementation 
Plan (SIP) revision containing a maintenance plan for the area. The 
State provided a supplement to the maintenance plan on

[[Page 4813]]

September 7, 2021. In response to these submittals, the EPA is taking 
the following final actions: Approve the State's plan for maintaining 
attainment of the 2010 1-hour SO2 primary standard in the 
area; and approve the State's request to redesignate the Jackson County 
SO2 nonattainment area to attainment for the 2010 1-hour 
SO2 primary standard. This redesignation action addresses 
the EPA's obligation under a consent decree which establishes a 
deadline of March 31, 2022, for the EPA to determine under Clean Air 
Act (CAA) section 179(c) whether the Jackson County SO2 
nonattainment area attained the NAAQS by the October 4, 2018, 
attainment date.

DATES: This final rule is effective on March 2, 2022.

ADDRESSES: The EPA has established a docket for this action under 
Docket ID No. EPA-R07-OAR-2021-0667. All documents in the docket are 
listed on the https://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 through https://www.regulations.gov or please 
contact the person identified in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT 
section for additional information.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Wendy Vit, Environmental Protection 
Agency, Region 7 Office, Air Quality Planning Branch, 11201 Renner 
Boulevard, Lenexa, Kansas 66219 at (913) 551-7697 or by email at 
[email protected].

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

Table of Contents

I. What is being addressed in this document?
II. Have the requirements for approval of a SIP revision been met?
III. What are the actions the EPA is taking?
IV. Environmental Justice Concerns
V. Incorporation by Reference
VI. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

I. What is being addressed in this document?

    On February 18, 2021, the State submitted a request for 
redesignation of the Jackson County SO2 nonattainment area 
to attainment and a SIP revision containing a 10-year maintenance plan 
for the area. On September 7, 2021, the State submitted a supplement to 
the maintenance plan consisting of a Consent Agreement between Missouri 
and Vicinity Energy--Kansas City (Vicinity, formerly Veolia-Kansas 
City) and an updated air dispersion modeling demonstration to support 
the redesignation. The EPA's proposal at 86 FR 59075 [October 26, 2021] 
discusses the EPA's review of the redesignation request, the 
maintenance plan, and the maintenance plan supplement (including the 
Consent Agreement and updated modeling demonstration) and provides 
support for the EPA's proposed approval of the request to redesignate 
the area to attainment and for proposed approval of the 10-year 
maintenance plan. Additional analysis of the redesignation request, 10-
year maintenance plan, Consent Agreement, and supplemental modeling 
information is provided in a Technical Support Document (TSD) included 
in this docket. The public comment period on the EPA's proposed rule 
opened on October 26, 2021, the date of its publication in the Federal 
Register and closed on November 26, 2021. During this period, the EPA 
received no comments.

II. 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 the February 2021 SIP submittal from 
November 2, 2020, to December 10, 2020 and held a public hearing on 
December 3, 2020. The State received and addressed three comments from 
one source (the EPA). The State revised the maintenance plan based on 
public comment prior to submitting it to the EPA. Missouri held a 
public hearing for the September 2021 maintenance plan supplement on 
July 29, 2021, and made the supplement available for public review and 
comment from June 28, 2021, through August 5, 2021. Missouri did not 
receive any public comments on the maintenance plan supplement.
    In addition, as explained in the EPA's proposed rule (and in more 
detail in the technical support document which is included in the 
docket for this action), the revision meets the substantive SIP 
requirements of the CAA, including section 110 and implementing 
regulations.

III. What are the actions the EPA is taking?

    The EPA is taking final action to approve the maintenance plan for 
the Jackson County 2010 SO2 1-hour NAAQS nonattainment area 
into the Missouri SIP (as compliant with CAA section 175A). The 
maintenance plan demonstrates that the area will continue to maintain 
the 2010 1-hour SO2 NAAQS and includes a process to develop 
contingency measures to remedy any future violations of the 2010 1-hour 
SO2 NAAQS and procedures for evaluation of potential 
violations.
    Additionally, the EPA is taking final action to determine that the 
Jackson County 2010 SO2 1-hour NAAQS nonattainment area has 
met the criteria under CAA section 107(d)(3)(E) for redesignation from 
nonattainment to attainment for the 2010 1-hour SO2 NAAQS. 
On this basis, the EPA is approving Missouri's redesignation request 
for the area and changing the legal designation of the portion of 
Jackson County designated nonattainment at 40 CFR part 81 to attainment 
for the 2010 1-hour SO2 NAAQS.

IV. Environmental Justice Concerns

    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. Area designations address environmental 
justice concerns by ensuring that the public is properly informed about 
the air quality in an area. If an area is designated nonattainment of 
the NAAQS, the CAA provides for the EPA to redesignate the area to 
attainment upon a demonstration by the state authority that air quality 
is attaining the NAAQS and will continue to maintain the NAAQS in order 
to ensure that all those residing, working, attending school, or 
otherwise present in those areas are protected, regardless of minority 
and economic status.
    The EPA utilized the EJSCREEN tool to evaluate environmental and 
demographic indicators within the area. The tool outputs are contained 
in the docket for this action. The demographic indicators from EPA's 
EJSCREEN tool demonstrate that there are vulnerable populations in the 
area, including people of color, low-income populations, linguistically 
isolated populations, and populations with less than high school-level 
education.
    This action addresses a redesignation determination for the Jackson 
County, Missouri, area. Under CAA section 107(d)(3), the 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. 
As discussed in this document and the

[[Page 4814]]

associated technical support document, Missouri has demonstrated that 
the air quality in the Jackson County area is attaining the NAAQS and 
will continue to maintain the NAAQS. For these reasons, this action 
does not result in disproportionately high and adverse human health or 
environmental effects on minority populations, low-income populations 
and/or indigenous peoples.

V. Incorporation by Reference

    In this document, the EPA is amending regulatory text that includes 
incorporation by reference. In accordance with the requirements of 1 
CFR 51.5, the EPA is finalizing the incorporation by reference of the 
Missouri State Implementation Plan described in the amendments to 40 
CFR part 52 set forth below. The EPA has made, and will continue to 
make, these materials generally available through www.regulations.gov 
and at the EPA Region 7 Office (please contact the person identified in 
the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section of this document for more 
information).

VI. 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, if 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 rulemaking does not 
involve technical standards; and
     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). The basis for 
this determination is contained in Section IV of this action, 
``Environmental Justice Concerns.''
    The SIP is not approved to apply on any Indian reservation land or 
in any other area where the 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 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).
    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 April 1, 2022. 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 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, Maintenance plan, Redesignation, Sulfur oxides.

40 CFR Part 81

    Environmental protection, Air pollution control, Designations, 
Intergovernmental relations, Redesignation, Reporting and recordkeeping 
requirements, Sulfur oxides.

    Dated: January 14, 2022.
Meghan A. McCollister,
Regional Administrator, Region 7.

    For the reasons stated in the preamble, EPA amends 40 CFR parts 52 
and 81 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:

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

Subpart AA--Missouri

0
2. In Sec.  52.1320:
0
a. The table in paragraph (d) is amended by adding the entry ``(35)'' 
in numerical order.
0
b. The table in paragraph (e) is amended by adding the entry ``(82)'' 
in numerical order.
    The additions read as follows:


Sec.  52.1320  Identification of plan.

* * * * *
    (d) * * *

[[Page 4815]]



                            EPA-Approved Missouri Source-Specific Permits and Orders
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                                                           State
          Name of source             Order/permit No.    effective    EPA approval date         Explanation
                                                            date
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                                                  * * * * * * *
(35) Vicinity Energy--Kansas City  Consent Agreement      6/25/2021  1/31/2022 [insert
                                    No. APCP-2021-007.                Federal Register
                                                                      citation].
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    (e) * * *

                               EPA-Approved Missouri Nonregulatory SIP Provisions
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                                        Applicable          State
    Name of nonregulatory SIP          geographic or      submittal     EPA approval date        Explanation
             revision               nonattainment area       date
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                                                  * * * * * * *
(82) Jackson County 1-hour SO2     Jackson County......   2/18/2021;  1/31/2022, [insert    This action approves
 NAAQS Maintenance Plan and                                 9/7/2021   Federal Register      the Maintenance
 Maintenance Plan Supplement.                                          citation].            Plan and the
                                                                                             Maintenance Plan
                                                                                             Supplement for the
                                                                                             Jackson County
                                                                                             area.
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0
3. In Sec.  52.1343, add paragraph (d) to read as follows:


Sec.  52.1343  Control strategy: Sulfur dioxide.

* * * * *
    (d) Redesignation to attainment. As of March 2, 2022, the Jackson 
County 2010 SO2 nonattainment area is redesignated to 
attainment of the 2010 SO2 1-hour National Ambient Air 
Quality Standard (NAAQS) in accordance with the requirements of Clean 
Air Act (CAA) section 107(d)(3) and EPA has approved its maintenance 
plan and maintenance plan supplement as meeting the requirements of CAA 
section 175A.

PART 81--DESIGNATION OF AREAS FOR AIR QUALITY PLANNING PURPOSES

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

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

Subpart C--Section 107 Attainment Status Designations

0
5. In Sec.  81.326, revise the entry ``Jackson County, MO'' in the 
table entitled ``Missouri--2010 Sulfur Dioxide NAAQS [Primary]'' to 
read as follows:


Sec.  81.326  Missouri.

* * * * *

                   Missouri--2010 Sulfur Dioxide NAAQS
                                [Primary]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                Designation
       Designated area \1\       ---------------------------------------
                                     Date \2\              Type
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jackson County, MO..............        3/2/2022  Attainment.
Jackson County (part).
The portion of Jackson County
 bounded by I-70/I-670 and the
 Missouri River to the north;
 and, to the west of I-435 to
 the state line separating
 Missouri and Kansas.
 
                              * * * * * * *
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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. 2022-01649 Filed 1-28-22; 8:45 am]
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