[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 202 (Thursday, October 20, 2022)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 63701-63703]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-22276]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Parts 52 and 81

[EPA-R09-OAR-2022-0501; FRL-10106-02-R9]


Determination of Attainment by the Attainment Date But for 
International Emissions for the 2015 Ozone National Ambient Air Quality 
Standard; Imperial County, California

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Final action.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA or ``Agency'') is 
determining that the Imperial County nonattainment area would have 
attained the 2015 ozone national ambient air quality standard (NAAQS) 
by the August 3, 2021 ``Marginal'' area attainment date, but for 
emissions emanating from outside the United States. As a result of this 
final action, the Imperial County nonattainment area will no longer be 
subject to the Clean Air Act (CAA) requirements pertaining to 
reclassification upon failure to attain and therefore will remain 
classified as a Marginal nonattainment area for the 2015 ozone NAAQS. 
This action discharges the EPA's statutory obligation to determine 
whether the Imperial County ozone nonattainment area attained the NAAQS 
by the attainment date.

DATES: This final action is effective on November 21, 2022.

ADDRESSES: The EPA has established a docket for this action under 
Docket ID No. EPA-R09-OAR-2022-0501. 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, e.g., 
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 availability information.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ginger Vagenas, Air Planning Office 
(AIR-2), EPA Region IX, 75 Hawthorne Street, San Francisco, CA 94105, 
(415) 972-3964, or by email at [email protected].

[[Page 63702]]


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

Table of Contents

I. Summary of the Proposed Action
II. Public Comment
III. Final Action
IV. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

I. Summary of the Proposed Action

    On August 15, 2022, the EPA proposed to determine, based on a 
demonstration submitted by the State of California, that the Imperial 
County nonattainment area \1\ would have attained the 2015 ozone NAAQS 
\2\ by the ``Marginal'' area attainment date of August 3, 2021, but for 
emissions emanating from outside of the United States (specifically, 
from Mexico), and therefore is not subject to the CAA requirements 
pertaining to reclassification upon failure to attain.\3\ This 
demonstration, entitled ``Imperial County Clean Air Act Section 179B(b) 
Analysis for the 70 ppb 8-Hour Ozone Standard,'' was submitted by the 
California Air Resources Board (CARB) on August 16, 2021. CARB 
submitted additional information on November 24, 2021. Using several 
lines of evidence, CARB evaluated whether, and the extent to which, 
ambient ozone levels in Imperial County are affected by emissions 
emanating from northern Mexico.
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    \1\ The Imperial County nonattainment area for the 2015 ozone 
standard includes the entire county. Both the Quechan Tribe of the 
Fort Yuma Indian Reservation and the Torres Martinez Desert Cahuilla 
Indians have lands within Imperial County. A precise description of 
the Imperial County ozone nonattainment area is contained in 40 CFR 
81.305.
    \2\ Ground-level ozone pollution is formed from the reaction of 
volatile organic compounds (VOC) and oxides of nitrogen 
(NOX) in the presence of sunlight. On October 26, 2015, 
the EPA revised the NAAQS for ozone to establish a new 8-hour ozone 
standard. 80 FR 65452. In that action, the EPA promulgated identical 
revised primary and secondary ozone standards designed to protect 
public health and welfare that specified an 8-hour ozone level of 
0.070 parts per million (ppm). Because the 2015 primary and 
secondary NAAQS for ozone are identical, for convenience, the EPA 
refers to them in the singular as ``the 2015 ozone NAAQS'' or as 
``the standard.''
    \3\ 87 FR 50030.
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    In our proposed rule, we provided background information on the 
ozone standard, area designations and related SIP requirements for 
Marginal ozone nonattainment areas under the CAA, and information on 
the provisions of CAA section 179B, entitled ``International Border 
Areas.'' We also provided our analysis of CARB's demonstration and the 
rationale for our conclusion that Imperial County would have attained 
the 2015 ozone NAAQS, but for emissions emanating from Mexico. We 
stated that, if our proposed determination were to be finalized, the 
EPA's obligation under CAA section 181(b)(2)(A) to determine whether 
the area attained by its attainment date would not apply and the area 
would not be reclassified. The area would remain designated 
nonattainment and thus the State would continue to comply with 
applicable requirements for a Marginal ozone nonattainment area.
    Please see our proposed rule for more information concerning the 
background for this action and for a more detailed discussion of the 
rationale for our determination that Imperial County would have 
attained the 2015 ozone NAAQS by the Marginal area attainment date of 
August 3, 2021, but for emissions emanating from Mexico.

II. Public Comment

    The public comment period on the proposed rule opened on August 15, 
2022, the date of its publication in the Federal Register, and closed 
on September 14, 2022. We did not receive any public comments.

III. Final Action

    For the reasons discussed in detail in the proposed rule and 
summarized herein, the EPA is taking final action under CAA section 
179B(b) to determine, consistent with our evaluation of the ``Imperial 
County Clean Air Act Section 179B(b) Analysis for the 70 ppb 8-Hour 
Ozone Standard,'' that the Imperial County nonattainment area would 
have attained the 2015 ozone NAAQS by the Marginal area attainment date 
of August 3, 2021, but for emissions emanating from Mexico. Therefore, 
the EPA's obligation under section 181(b)(2)(A) to determine whether 
the area attained by its attainment date no longer applies. The area 
will not be reclassified and will remain a Marginal nonattainment area.

IV. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

A. Executive Order 12866: Regulatory Planning and Review and Executive 
Order 13563: Improving Regulation and Regulatory Review

    This action is exempt from review by the Office of Management and 
Budget because it responds to the CAA requirement to determine whether 
areas designated nonattainment for an ozone NAAQS attained the standard 
by the applicable attainment date.

B. Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA)

    This rulemaking does not impose any new information collection 
burden under the PRA not already approved by the Office of Management 
and Budget. This action does not contain any information collection 
activities and serves only to make final a determination that the 
Imperial County Marginal nonattainment area would have attained the 
2015 ozone standard by the August 3, 2021 attainment date but for 
international emissions.

C. Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA)

    I certify that this action will not have a significant economic 
impact on a substantial number of small entities under the RFA. This 
action will not impose any requirements on small entities. The 
determination that the Imperial County Marginal nonattainment area 
would have attained the 2015 ozone standard by the August 3, 2021 
attainment date but for international emissions does not in and of 
itself create any new requirements beyond what is mandated by the CAA. 
Instead, this rulemaking only makes a factual determination, and does 
not directly regulate any entities.

D. Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA)

    This action does not contain any unfunded mandate as described in 
UMRA, 2 U.S.C. 1531-1538 and does not significantly or uniquely affect 
small governments. The action imposes no enforceable duty on any state, 
local, or tribal governments or the private sector.

E. Executive Order 13132: Federalism

    This action does not have federalism implications. It will not have 
substantial direct effects on the states, on the relationship between 
the National Government and the states, or on the distribution of power 
and responsibilities among the various levels of government. The 
division of responsibility between the Federal Government and the 
states for purposes of implementing the NAAQS is established under the 
CAA.

F. Executive Order 13175: Consultation and Coordination With Indian 
Tribal Governments

    This action has tribal implications. However, it will neither 
impose substantial direct compliance costs on federally recognized 
tribal governments, nor preempt tribal law.
    The EPA has identified two tribal areas located within the Imperial 
County nonattainment area, which is the subject of this action 
determining the area would have attained the 2015 ozone NAAQS, but for 
emissions emanating from outside the United States. The EPA invited the 
Quechan Tribe of the Fort Yuma Indian

[[Page 63703]]

Reservation and the Torres Martinez Desert Cahuilla Indians to engage 
in government-to-government consultation in advance of our proposed 
action and communicated with the tribes after the Agency issued the 
proposed rule. The EPA did not receive any requests to consult on this 
action.

G. Executive Order 13045: Protection of Children From Environmental 
Health and Safety Risks

    The EPA interprets Executive Order 13045 as applying to those 
regulatory actions that concern environmental health or safety risks 
that the EPA has reason to believe may disproportionately affect 
children, per the definition of ``covered regulatory action'' in 
section 2-202 of the Executive order. This action is not subject to 
Executive Order 13045 because it does not establish an environmental 
standard intended to mitigate health or safety risks.

H. Executive Order 13211: Actions That Significantly Affect Energy 
Supply, Distribution or Use

    This action is not subject to Executive Order 13211 because it is 
not a significant regulatory action under Executive Order 12866.

I. National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act (NTTAA)

    This rulemaking does not involve technical standards.

J. Executive Order 12898: Federal Actions To Address Environmental 
Justice in Minority Populations and Low-Income Populations

    Executive Order 12898 (59 FR 7629 (Feb. 16, 1994)) establishes 
Federal executive policy on environmental justice. Its main provision 
directs Federal agencies, to the greatest extent practicable and 
permitted by law, to make environmental justice part of their mission 
by identifying and addressing, as appropriate, disproportionately high 
and adverse human health or environmental effects of their programs, 
policies, and activities on minority populations and low-income 
populations in the United States. The EPA's evaluation of this issue is 
contained in the section of the preamble to the proposed rule titled 
``Environmental Justice Considerations.''

K. Congressional Review Act (CRA)

    This rulemaking is exempt from the CRA because it is a rulemaking 
of particular applicability. The rulemaking makes factual 
determinations for specific entities and does not directly regulate any 
entities. The determination of attainment does not in itself create any 
new requirements beyond what is mandated by the CAA.

L. Judicial Review

    Under section 307(b)(1) of the Clean Air Act, petitions for 
judicial review of this action must be filed in the United States Court 
of Appeals for the appropriate circuit by December 19, 2022. Filing a 
petition for reconsideration by the Administrator of this final action 
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, Administrative practice and procedure, 
Air pollution control, Designations and classifications, Incorporation 
by reference, Intergovernmental relations, Nitrogen oxides, Ozone, 
Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, Volatile organic compounds.

40 CFR Part 81

    Environmental protection, Administrative practice and procedure, 
Air pollution control, Designations and classifications, 
Intergovernmental relations, Nitrogen oxides, Ozone, Reporting and 
recordkeeping requirements, Volatile organic compounds.

    Dated: October 6, 2022.
Martha Guzman Aceves,
Regional Administrator, Region IX.
[FR Doc. 2022-22276 Filed 10-19-22; 8:45 am]
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