[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 142 (Tuesday, July 26, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 44389-44391]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-15959]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-R09-OAR-2022-0401; FRL-9786-01-R9]


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

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Proposed action; determination with request for comments and 
notice of opportunity for public hearing.

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SUMMARY: The 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 2021 is a result of non-selective reductions in expenditures. This 
determination, when final, will permit the SBCAPCD to receive grant 
funding for fiscal year (FY) 2022 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 25, 2022.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-R09-
OAR-2022-0401 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. Please do not submit 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 (e.g., on the web,

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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 PBI/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 a disability 
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 
& Program Integration Office, Air Division, 75 Hawthorne Street, San 
Francisco, CA 94105; phone at (415) 947-4170 or email address at 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 105 of the CAA provides grant 
funding to air pollution control agencies for the prevention and 
control of air pollution or implementation of national primary and 
secondary ambient air quality standards. 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. Air pollution 
control agencies are required to provide a 40% cost share (also 
referred to as a match requirement) to receive CAA Section 105 grants. 
Program activities relevant to the match consist of both recurring and 
non-recurring (unique, one-time only) expenses. In addition, section 
105(c)(1) of the CAA, 42 U.S.C. 7405(c)(1), requires grant recipients 
to meet a maintenance of effort (MOE).
    The MOE provision requires that an eligible 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 a memorandum dated 
September 30, 2011, entitled ``Updated Information for Determining a 
Non-Selective Reduction'' with additional guidance to recipients on 
what constitutes a nonselective reduction. 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 120 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 make a determination 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 and the 
recipient's air program. The recipient needs to 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 is needed including 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 which explains the cause of the 
reduction, such as legislative changes or the issuance of a new 
executive order.
    In fiscal year (FY) 2021, the EPA awarded the SBCAPCD $527,490, 
which represented approximately 7% of the SBCAPCD budget. In FY2022, 
the EPA intends to award the SBCAPCD approximately $531,494, which 
represents approximately 7% of the SBCAPCD budget.
    SBCAPCD's final federal financial report for FY2020 indicated that 
SBCAPCD's MOE level was $7,890,365. The MOE level for FY2021 was 
reduced to $7,790,365 after formal approval of a non-selective 
reduction. SBCAPCD's final federal financial report for FY2021 
indicates that SBCAPCD's MOE level is at $7,318,050. This level of 
expenditure is not sufficient to meet the MOE requirements for FY2021 
under 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 FY2022 CAA 
section 105 grant, the EPA must make a determination (after notice and 
an opportunity for a public hearing) that the reduction in expenditures 
from 2021 to 2022 is attributable to a non-selective reduction in 
recurrent 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. The main 
factor for SBCAPCD's MOE shortfall in FY2021 continues to stem from 
weakened economic conditions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic that 
resulted in decreases in services and supplies. This budget category 
was decreased approximately $510,000 from FY19-20 to FY20-21, which is 
approximately an 11.5% decrease to this recurring expenditure.
    The EPA proposes to find that the request for a reset of SBCAPCD's 
MOE meets the requirements for a non-selective reduction under CAA 
section 105. The SBCAPCD's MOE reduction resulted from a loss of 
revenues due to a significant cut back on expenditures caused by the 
COVID-19 pandemic. Increases in pass-through monies from the California 
Air Resources Board for multiple state grant projects also impacted the 
SBCAPCD's overall operating budget. However, such pass-through monies 
are not considered recurrent expenditures and are not included in 
calculating MOE.
    The EPA proposes that the MOE for SBCAPCD's FY2021 CAA section 105 
grant be reduced to $6,700,000 to address the non-selective reduction 
of expenditures discussed above.
    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 25, 2022 on this proposal will be 
considered. The EPA will conduct a public hearing on this proposal only 
if

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a written request for such is received by the EPA by August 25, 2022. 
If no written request for a hearing is received or if the EPA 
determines that the issues raised are insubstantial, the EPA will 
proceed to the final action to award the fiscal year 2022 grant to the 
SBCAPCD.

    Dated: July 20, 2022.
Elizabeth Adams,
Director, Air and Radiation Division, Region IX.
[FR Doc. 2022-15959 Filed 7-25-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P