[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 164 (Friday, August 23, 2002)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 54580-54583]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-21560]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 81
[CA-082-FOAa; FRL-7263-9]
Determination of Attainment of the 1-Hour Ozone Standard for San
Diego County, CA
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Direct final rule.
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SUMMARY: This rulemaking contains EPA's final determination that the
San Diego area has attained the 1-hour ozone air quality standard by
the deadline required by the Clean Air Act. If adverse written comments
are received, we will withdraw the direct final rule and address the
comments received in a new final rule; otherwise no further rulemaking
will occur on this action. Elsewhere in this issue of the Federal
Register, we are proposing to make this finding of attainment.
DATES: This direct final finding is effective October 22, 2002, without
further notice, unless we receive adverse comments by September 23,
2002. If we receive such comments, we will publish a timely withdrawal
in the Federal Register to notify the public that this rule will not
take effect.
ADDRESSES: Please address your comments to: Dave Jesson, Air Planning
Office (AIR-2), Air Division, U.S. EPA, Region 9, 75 Hawthorne Street,
San Francisco, CA 94105-3901.
Copies of the State's submittal are available for public inspection
during normal business hours at EPA's Region 9 office and at the
following locations:
California Air Resources Board, 1001 I Street, Sacramento, CA 95814.
San Diego County Air Pollution Control District, 9150 Chesapeake Drive,
San Diego, CA 92123-1096.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dave Jesson, US EPA Region 9, at (415)
972-3957, or [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Attainment Finding
A. San Diego's Ozone Classification and Current Status
When the Clean Air Act (CAA) Amendments were enacted in 1990, each
area of the country that was designated nonattainment for the 1-hour
ozone national ambient air quality standard (NAAQS), including the San
Diego area, was classified by operation of law as marginal, moderate,
serious, severe, or extreme depending on the severity of the area's air
quality problem.\1\ CAA sections 107(d)(1)(C) and 181(a). The San Diego
area was initially classified as severe. See 40 CFR 81.305 and 56 FR
56694 (November 6, 1991). The area was reclassified as serious after we
determined that the ozone design value used in the original
classification was incorrect. 60 FR 3771 (January 19, 1995).
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\1\ The 1-hour ozone nonattainment area is the ``San Diego
Area,'' which comprises the entire County of San Diego. See 40 CFR
81.305.
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[[Page 54581]]
Upon the San Diego area's reclassification as serious, the CAA
required submittal of a state implementation plan (SIP) demonstrating
attainment of the 1-hour ozone standard as expeditiously as practicable
but no later than November 15, 1999. CAA sections 181(a)(1) and
182(c)(2)(A). The SIP had to meet several other CAA requirements for
serious areas. See generally CAA section 182(c). The San Diego County
Air Pollution Control District (SDCAPCD) adopted a serious area plan
addressing these provisions, and we approved the SIP submittal on
January 8, 1997 (62 FR 1150).
Although the San Diego area did not attain the standard by the
November 15, 1999 deadline, the area did qualify to have that deadline
extended, since the area had complied with all requirements and
commitments in the SIP and recorded no more than 1 exceedance of the
NAAQS in 1999. For areas meeting these provisions, CAA section
181(a)(5) allows us to grant up to two 1-year extensions. On October
11, 2000 (65 FR 65025), we granted the San Diego area a 1-year
attainment date extension to November 15, 2000, and on August 6, 2001
(66 FR 40908), we granted the area a second 1-year extension to
November 15, 2001, since the area again had no more than 1 exceedance
in the previous year.
On March 28, 2002, Richard J. Smith, Acting Director, SDCAPCD,
addressed a letter to Michael P. Kenny, Executive Officer of the
California Air Resources Board (CARB), asking that the State petition
us to make an attainment finding because quality-assured ambient ozone
data show no more than one exceedance at any monitoring station in the
San Diego area for the 1999-2001 period. On June 21, 2002, CARB
formally requested that we make a finding of attainment for the San
Diego area based on the area's design value as of the 2001 attainment
date (letter from Michael P. Kenny to Wayne Nastri, Regional
Administrator, EPA Region 9).
B. Clean Air Act Provisions for Attainment Findings
Under CAA section 181(b)(2)(A), we must determine within six months
of the applicable attainment date whether an ozone nonattainment area
has attained the standard. If we find that a serious area has not
attained the standard and does not qualify for an extension, it is
reclassified by operation of law to severe. Under CAA section
181(b)(2)(A), we must base our determination of attainment or failure
to attain on the area's design value as of its applicable attainment
date, which for the San Diego area was November 15, 2001.
The 1-hour ozone NAAQS is 0.12 ppm, not to be exceeded on average
more than 1 day per year over any 3-year period. 40 CFR 50.9 and
appendix H. Under our policies, we determine if an area has attained
the 1-hour standard by calculating, at each monitor, the average number
of days over the standard per year during the preceding 3-year
period.\2\ For this direct final rulemaking, we have based our
determination of attainment on both the design value and the average
number of exceedance days per year as of November 15, 2001.
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\2\ See generally 57 FR 13506 (April 16, 1992) and Memorandum
from D. Kent Berry, Acting Director, Air Quality Management
Division, EPA, to Regional Air Office Directors; ``Procedures for
Processing Bump Ups and Extensions for Marginal Ozone Nonattainment
Areas,'' February 3, 1994. While explicitly applicable only to
marginal areas, the general procedures for evaluating attainment in
this memorandum apply regardless of the initial classification of an
area because all findings of attainment are made pursuant to the
same Clean Air Act requirements in section 181(b)(2).
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The design value is an ambient ozone concentration that indicates
the severity of the ozone problem in an area and is used to determine
the level of emission reductions needed to attain the standard, that
is, it is the ozone level around which a State designs its control
strategy for attaining the ozone standard. A monitor's design value is
the fourth highest ambient concentration recorded at that monitor over
the previous 3 years. An area's design value is the highest of the
design values from the area's monitors.\3\
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\3\ The fourth highest value is used as the design value because
a monitor may record up to 3 exceedances of the standard in a 3-year
period and still show attainment, since 3 exceedances over 3 years
would average 1 day per year, the maximum allowed to show attainment
of the 1-hour ozone standard. If the monitor records a fourth
exceedance in that period, it would average more than 1 exceedance
day per year and would no longer show attainment. Therefore, if a
State can reduce the fourth highest ozone value to below the
standard, thus preventing a fourth exceedance, then it will be able
to demonstrate attainment.
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We make attainment determinations for ozone nonattainment areas
using all available, quality-assured air quality data for the 3-year
period up to and including the attainment date.\4\ Consequently, we
used all of the 1999, 2000, and 2001 quality-assured data available to
determine whether the San Diego area attained the 1-hour ozone standard
by November 15, 2001. From the available air quality data, we have
calculated the average number of days over the standard and the design
value for each ozone monitor in the San Diego nonattainment area.
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\4\ All quality-assured available data include all data
available from the state and local/national air monitoring (SLAMS/
NAMS) network as submitted to EPA's AIRS system and all data
available to EPA from special purpose monitoring (SPM) sites that
meet the requirements of 40 CFR 58.13. See Memorandum John Seitz,
Director, OAQPS, to Regional Air Directors; ``Agency Policy on the
Use of Ozone Special Purpose Monitoring Data,'' August 22, 1997.
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C. Attainment Finding for the San Diego Area
1. Adequacy of the San Diego Area Ozone Monitoring Network
Determining whether or not an area has attained the 1-hour ozone
standard under CAA section 181(b)(1)(A) is based on monitored air
quality data. Thus, the validity of a determination of attainment
depends on whether the monitoring network adequately measures ambient
ozone levels in the area.
We evaluate 4 basic elements in determining the adequacy of an
area's ozone monitoring network. The network needs to meet the design
requirements of 40 CFR part 58, appendix D; the network needs to
utilize monitoring equipment designated as reference or equivalent
methods under 40 CFR part 53; and the agency or agencies operating the
equipment need to have a quality assurance plan in place that meets the
requirements of 40 CFR part 58, appendix A. The ozone network in the
San Diego area meets or exceeds these requirements and is therefore
adequate for use in determining the ozone attainment status of the
area.
2. The San Diego Area's Ozone Design Value for the 1999-2001 Period
We have listed in Table 1 the design values and the average number
of exceedance days per year for the 1999 to 2001 period for each
monitoring site in the San Diego area. We calculated the design values
following the procedures in the Laxton memo.\5\
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\5\ See memorandum, William G. Laxton, Director, Technical
Support Division, Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards to
Regional Air Directors, ``Ozone and Carbon Monoxide Design Value
Calculations,'' June 18, 1990.
[[Page 54582]]
Table 1.--Average Number of Ozone Exceedance Days per Year and Design
Values by Monitor in San Diego County, 1999-2001
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Average number
Site of exceedance Site design
days per year value (ppm)
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Chula Vista (SLAMS).................... 0 0.10
El Cajon (PAMS/NAMS)................... 0 0.10
Oceanside (SLAMS)...................... 0 0.09
San Diego/Overland (PAMS/NAMS)......... 0.3 0.11
Del Mar (SLAMS)........................ 0 0.09
Escondido (SLAMS)...................... 0.3 0.11
Alpine (PAMS/SLAMS).................... 0.3 0.12
San Diego/12th Street (SLAMS).......... 0 0.09
Camp Pendleton (PAMS/SLAMS)............ 0 0.10
Otay Mesa (SLAMS)...................... 0 0.09
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Note: EPA's monitoring network regulations are codified at 40 CFR 58.
The regulations provide for National Air Monitoring Stations (NAMS),
State or Local Air Monitoring Stations (SLAMS), and Photochemical
Assessment Monitoring Stations (PAMS). All of the stations in the San
Diego County monitoring network are operated by SDCAPCD or CARB. The
monitoring data are submitted to EPA's Aerometric Information
Retrieval System-Air Quality Subsystem (AIRS-AQS) database.
From Table 1, the highest design value at any monitor, and thus the
design value for the San Diego area, is .12 ppm at the Alpine site. No
monitor in the San Diego area recorded an average of more than 1
exceedance of the 1-hour ozone standard per year during the 1999 to
2001 period.
Because the area's design value does not exceed the 0.12 ppm 1-hour
ozone standard and the area has averaged less than 1 exceedance per
year at each monitor for the 1999 to 2001 period, we find that the San
Diego area has attained the 1-hour ozone standard by its Clean Air Act
mandated attainment date of November 15, 2001.
D. Attainment Findings and Redesignations to Attainment
A finding that an area has attained the 1-hour ozone standard under
CAA section 181(b)(1)(A) does not redesignate the area to attainment
for the 1-hour standard nor does it guarantee a future redesignation to
attainment.
The redesignation of an area to attainment under CAA section
107(d)(3)(E) is a separate process from a finding of attainment under
CAA section 181(b)(1)(A). Unlike an attainment finding where we need
only determine that the area has had the prerequisite number of clean
years, a redesignation to attainment requires additional submittals and
multiple determinations. Under CAA section 107(d)(3)(E), we must make
the following determinations:
1. The area has attained the relevant NAAQS at the time of
redesignation.
2. The State has a fully approved SIP for the area.
3. The improvements in air quality are due to permanent and
enforceable reductions in emissions resulting from implementation of
the SIP and applicable federal regulations and other permanent and
enforceable reductions.
4. We have fully approved a maintenance plan for the area under CAA
section 175A.
5. The State has met all the nonattainment area requirements
applicable to the area.
To address the provisions of CAA section 175A, SDCAPCD is preparing
an ozone redesignation request and maintenance plan, which is scheduled
for adoption later this year. It is possible, although not expected,
that the San Diego area might violate the 1-hour ozone NAAQS before the
maintenance plan is approved and the area is redesignated to
attainment. If such a violation were to occur after EPA's finding of
attainment under CAA section 181(b)(2)(A) in this rulemaking, EPA
believes that issuance of a SIP call under CAA section 110(k)(5) would
be an appropriate response. This SIP call could require the State to
submit, by a reasonable deadline but not to exceed 18 months, a revised
plan demonstrating expeditious attainment and compliance with other
requirements of subpart 2 applicable to the area at the time of this
finding.
II. Final Action
We are finding that the San Diego area has attained the 1-hour
ozone NAAQS under CAA section 181(b)(2)(A).
We are publishing this action without prior proposal because we
view this as a noncontroversial finding and anticipate no adverse
comments. However, in the proposed rules section of this Federal
Register publication, we are publishing a separate document that will
serve as the proposed finding of attainment if relevant adverse
comments are filed. This rule will be effective October 22, 2002
without further notice unless relevant adverse comments are received by
September 23, 2002. If we receive such comments, this action will be
withdrawn before the effective date. All public comments received will
then be addressed in a subsequent final rule based on the proposed
action. We will not institute a second comment period. Any parties
interested in commenting on this action should do so at this time. If
no such comments are received, the public is advised that this action
will be effective October 22, 2002.
III. Administrative Requirements
Under Executive Order 12866 (58 FR 51735, October 4, 1993), this
action is not a ``significant regulatory action'' and therefore is not
subject to review by the Office of Management and Budget. For this
reason, this action is also not subject to Executive Order 13211,
``Actions Concerning Regulations That Significantly Affect Energy
Supply, Distribution, or Use'' (66 FR 28355, May 22, 2001). This action
merely determines that the San Diego area has attained a previously-
established national ambient air quality standard based on an objective
review of measured air quality data. As such, the action imposes no
additional requirements beyond those imposed by state law. Accordingly,
the Administrator certifies that this rule will not have a significant
economic impact on a substantial number of small entities under the
Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 601 et seq.). Because this rule
does not impose any additional enforceable duty, it does not contain
any unfunded mandate or significantly or uniquely affect small
governments, as described in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995
(Public Law 104-4).
[[Page 54583]]
This rule also does not have tribal implications because it will
not have a substantial direct effect on one or more Indian tribes, on
the relationship between the Federal Government and Indian tribes, or
on the distribution of power and responsibilities between the Federal
Government and Indian tribes, as specified by Executive Order 13175 (65
FR 67249, November 9, 2000). This action also does not have Federalism
implications because it does 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, as specified in Executive Order 13132 (64
FR 43255, August 10, 1999). This action merely makes a determination
based on air quality data, and does not alter the relationship or the
distribution of power and responsibilities established in the Clean Air
Act. This action also is not subject to Executive Order 13045,
``Protection of Children from Environmental Health Risks and Safety
Risks'' (62 FR 19885, April 23, 1997), because it is not economically
significant.
Section 12 of the National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act
(NTTAA) of 1995 requires Federal agencies to evaluate existing
technical standards when developing a new regulation. To comply with
NTTAA, EPA must consider and use voluntary consensus standards (VCS) if
available and applicable when developing programs and policies unless
doing so would be inconsistent with applicable law or otherwise
impractical. EPA believes that VCS are inapplicable to today's final
action because the action does not require the public to perform
activities conducive to the use of VCS. This rule does not impose an
information collection burden under the provisions of the Paperwork
Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.).
List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 81
Environmental protection, Air pollution control, National parks,
Wilderness areas.
Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.
Dated: August 8, 2002.
Keith Takata,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region IX.
[FR Doc. 02-21560 Filed 8-22-02; 8:45 am]
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