[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 56 (Thursday, March 23, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 17571-17572]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-06010]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-OAR-2023-0063; FRL-10797-02-OAR]


Draft Guidance on the Preparation of State Implementation Plan 
Provisions That Address the Nonattainment Area Contingency Measure 
Requirements for Ozone and Particulate Matter

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of availability and public comment period.

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SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that the Environmental Protection 
Agency (EPA) has posted on its website a draft guidance document 
titled, ``Draft Guidance on the Preparation of State Implementation 
Plan Provisions that Address the Nonattainment Area Contingency Measure 
Requirements for Ozone and Particulate Matter.'' The EPA invites the 
public to review and provide input on certain issues in its draft 
guidance document during the comment period specified in the DATES 
section. The issues for which EPA is seeking input are identified in 
sections 3, 4, and 5 of the draft guidance document.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before April 24, 2023. Please 
refer to SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION for additional information on the 
comment period.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-
OAR-2023-0063], at https://www.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 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 http://www2.epa.gov/dockets/commenting-epa-dockets.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For general questions concerning this 
draft guidance document, please contact Michael Ling, U.S. EPA, Office 
of Air Quality Planning and Standards, Air Quality Policy Division, 
C539-01, Research Triangle Park, NC 27711, telephone (919) 541-4729, 
email at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Purpose

    The purpose of the draft guidance on which the EPA is inviting 
public comment is to assist air agencies that are required to prepare 
nonattainment plan state implementation plan submissions for ozone or 
particulate matter under Part D of Title I of the Clean Air Act (CAA). 
Specifically, the draft guidance focuses on the requirement for those 
plans to include contingency measures (CMs), which are control 
requirements that would take effect if an area fails to attain an ozone 
or particulate matter National Ambient Air Quality Standard by an 
applicable attainment date, or fails to meet reasonable further 
progress requirements. These CM requirements are specified in CAA 
section 172(c)(9) for nonattainment areas generally, and in CAA section 
182(c)(9) for ozone nonattainment areas classified Serious and higher.
    The draft guidance focuses on three aspects of CM guidance that the 
EPA is revising or updating, summarized later in this notice, for which 
EPA is seeking input. The document also provides additional information 
to summarize EPA's existing guidance for CMs more broadly, including 
aspects that EPA is not changing, to ensure clarity and national 
consistency. In sections 3, 4 and 5 of the draft guidance, EPA is 
seeking input on the three key new or revised aspects of EPA's CM 
guidance. First, the guidance addresses the method that air agencies 
should use to calculate the EPA-recommended amount of emissions 
reductions that CMs should provide. Second, the guidance provides 
recommendations for an infeasibility justification, for an air agency 
to use if it cannot identify feasible CMs in a sufficient quantity to 
produce the recommended amount of CM emission reductions. Third, the 
guidance changes the recommended time period within which reductions 
from CMs should occur, which the EPA generally recommended to be one 
year, but which the EPA is now recommending be changed to 2 years if 
there are insufficient CMs available to achieve the recommended amount 
of emissions reductions within 1 year.

II. Instructions for Submitting Public Comments and Internet Website 
for Guidance Document Information

A. What should I consider as I prepare my comments for the EPA?

    1. Submitting CBI. Do not submit information containing CBI to the 
EPA through https://www.regulations.gov/. Clearly mark the part or all 
of the information that you claim to be CBI. For CBI information on any 
digital

[[Page 17572]]

storage media that you mail to the EPA, note the docket ID, mark the 
outside of the digital storage media as CBI, and identify 
electronically within the digital storage media the specific 
information that is claimed as CBI. In addition to one complete version 
of the comments that includes information claimed as CBI, you must 
submit a copy of the comments that does not contain the information 
claimed as CBI directly to the public docket through the procedures 
outlined in Instructions above. If you submit any digital storage media 
that does not contain CBI, mark the outside of the digital storage 
media clearly that it does not contain CBI and note the docket ID. 
Information not marked as CBI will be included in the public docket and 
the EPA's electronic public docket without prior notice. Information 
marked as CBI will not be disclosed except in accordance with 
procedures set forth in 40 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) part 2. 
Our preferred method to receive CBI is for it to be transmitted 
electronically using email attachments, File Transfer Protocol (FTP), 
or other online file sharing services (e.g., Dropbox, OneDrive, Google 
Drive). Electronic submissions must be transmitted directly to the 
OAQPS CBI Office at the email address [email protected], and as 
described earlier, should include clear CBI markings and note the 
docket ID. If assistance is needed with submitting large electronic 
files that exceed the file size limit for email attachments, and if you 
do not have your own file sharing service, please email 
[email protected] to request a file transfer link. If sending CBI 
information through the postal service, please send it to the following 
address: OAQPS Document Control Officer (C404-02), OAQPS, U.S. 
Environmental Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina 
27711, Attention Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2023-0063. The mailed CBI 
material should be double wrapped and clearly marked. Any CBI markings 
should not show through the outer envelope.
    2. Tips for Preparing Your Comments. When submitting comments, 
remember to:
     Identify the draft guidance by docket number and other 
identifying information (subject heading, Federal Register date and 
page number).
     Follow directions.
     Explain why you agree or disagree; suggest alternatives 
and substitute language for your requested changes.

B. Where can I find additional information for this draft guidance?

    A copy of the draft guidance can be found in the docket and a 
website for this draft guidance at https://www.epa.gov/air-quality-implementation-plans/draft-contingency-measures-guidance.

Scott Mathias,
Director, Air Quality Policy Division, Office of Air Quality Planning 
and Standards.
[FR Doc. 2023-06010 Filed 3-22-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P