[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 201 (Tuesday, October 19, 2010)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 64162-64165]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-26258]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 81
[Docket EPA-R10-OAR-2010-0433; FRL-9214-7]
Determination of Attainment for PM10: Eagle River PM10
Nonattainment Area, AK
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Direct final rule.
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SUMMARY: EPA has determined that the Eagle River nonattainment area in
Alaska attained the National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) for
particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter of less than or equal
to a nominal ten micrometers (PM10) as of December 31, 1994.
DATES: This rule is effective on December 20, 2010, without further
notice, unless EPA receives adverse comment by November 18, 2010. If
EPA receives adverse comment, we will publish a timely withdrawal in
the Federal Register informing the public that the rule will not take
effect.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-R10-
OAR-2010-0433, by any of the following methods:
http://www.regulations.gov: Follow the on-line
instructions for submitting comments.
E-mail: [email protected].
Mail: Claudia Vergnani Vaupel, EPA Region 10, Office of
Air, Waste and Toxics, AWT-107, 1200 Sixth Avenue, Suite 900, Seattle,
WA 98101.
Hand Delivery/Courier: EPA Region 10, 1200 Sixth Avenue,
Suite 900, Seattle, WA 98101. Attention: Claudia Vergnani Vaupel,
Office of Air, Waste and Toxics, AWT-107. Such deliveries are only
accepted during normal hours of operation, and special arrangements
should be made for deliveries of boxed information.
Instructions: Direct your comments to Docket ID No. EPA-R10-OAR-
2010-0433. EPA's policy is that all comments received will be included
in the public docket without change and may be made available online at
http://www.regulations.gov, including any personal information
provided, unless the comment includes information claimed to be
Confidential Business Information (CBI) or other information whose
disclosure is restricted by statute. Do not submit information that you
consider to be CBI or otherwise protected through http://www.regulations.gov or e-mail. The http://www.regulations.gov Web site
is an ``anonymous access'' system, which means EPA will not know your
identity or contact information unless you provide it in the body of
your comment. If you send an e-mail comment directly to EPA without
going through http://www.regulations.gov your e-mail address will be
automatically captured and included as part of the comment that is
placed in the public docket and made available on the Internet. If you
submit an electronic comment, EPA recommends that you include your name
and other contact information in the body of your comment and with any
disk or CD-ROM you submit. If EPA cannot read your comment due to
technical difficulties and cannot contact you for clarification, EPA
may not be able to consider your comment. Electronic files should avoid
the use of special characters, any form of encryption, and be free of
any defects or viruses.
Docket: All documents in the docket are listed in the http://www.regulations.gov index. Although listed in the index, some
information is not publicly available, e.g., 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. Publicly available docket
materials are available either electronically in http://www.regulations.gov or in hard copy during normal business hours at the
Office of Air, Waste and Toxics, EPA Region 10, 1200 Sixth Avenue,
Seattle, WA 98101.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Claudia Vergnani Vaupel at telephone
number: (206) 553-6121, e-mail address: [email protected], or the
above EPA, Region 10 address.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Throughout this document wherever ``we'',
``us'' or ``our'' are used, we mean EPA. Information is organized as
follows:
Table of Comments
I. Background
A. PM\10\ Standard
B. The Eagle River PM10 Nonattainment Area
C. Attainment Date for the Eagle River PM\10\ Nonattainment Area
D. PM\10\ Planning in the Eagle River PM10
Nonattainment Area
II. Attainment Determination
A. What are the requirements for attainment determinations?
B. What do the air quality data show as of the December 31, 1994
attainment date?
C. What do more recent air quality data show?
III. EPA's Final Action
IV. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews
I. Background
A. PM10 Standard
The NAAQS are levels for certain ambient air pollutants set by EPA
to protect public health and welfare. PM10, or particulate
matter with an aerodynamic diameter less than or equal to a nominal 10
micrometers, is among the ambient air pollutants for which EPA has
established health-based standards. On July 1, 1987 (52 FR 24634), EPA
promulgated two primary standards for PM10: A 24-hour
standard of 150 micrograms per cubic meter ([mu]g/m\3\) and an annual
PM10 standard of 50 [mu]g/m\3\. EPA also promulgated
secondary PM10 standards that were identical to the primary
standards.
Effective December 18, 2006, EPA revoked the annual PM10
standard but retained the 24-hour PM10 standard. 71 FR 61144
(October 17, 2006). The 24-hour PM10 standard is attained
when the expected number of days per calendar year with a 24-hour
concentration above 154 [mu]g/m\3\, as determined in accordance with 40
CFR part 50, appendix K, is equal to or less than one.\1\ 40 CFR 50.6
and 40 CFR part 50, appendix K.
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\1\ An exceedance is defined as a daily value that is above the
level of the 24-hour standard (150 [mu]g/m\3\) after rounding to the
nearest 10 [mu]g/m\3\ (i.e. values ending in 5 or greater are to be
rounded up). Thus, a recorded value of 154 [mu]g/m\3\ would not be
an exceedance since it would be rounded to 150[mu]/m\3\ whereas a
recorded value of 155 [mu]g/m\3\ would be an exceedance since it
would be rounded to 160 [mu]/m\3\. See 40 CFR part 50, appendix K,
section 1.0.
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[[Page 64163]]
B. The Eagle River PM10 Nonattainment Area
On August 7, 1987 (52 FR 29383), EPA identified a number of areas
across the country as PM10 ``Group I'' areas of concern,
that is, areas with a 95% or greater likelihood of violating the
PM10 NAAQS and requiring substantial planning efforts. The
Eagle River PM10 nonattainment area was identified as a
Group I area of concern.
Areas meeting the requirements of section 107(d)(4)(B) were
designated nonattainment for PM10 by operation of law and
classified ``moderate'' upon enactment of the 1990 Clean Air Act
Amendments. See generally 42 U.S.C. 7407(d)(4)(B). These areas included
all former Group I PM10 planning areas identified in 52 FR
29383 (August 7, 1987), and further clarified in 55 FR 45799 (October
31, 1990), and any other areas violating the NAAQS for PM10
prior to January 1, 1989. A Federal Register notice announcing the
areas designated nonattainment for PM10 upon enactment of
the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments, known as ``initial'' PM10
nonattainment areas, was published on March 15, 1991 (56 FR 11101). The
Eagle River PM10 nonattainment area was one of these initial
moderate PM10 nonattainment areas.
C. Attainment Date for the Eagle River PM10 Nonattainment Area
All initial moderate PM10 nonattainment areas had the
same applicable attainment date of December 31, 1994. States containing
initial moderate PM10 nonattainment areas were required to
develop and submit to EPA by November 15, 1991, a state implementation
plan (SIP) revision providing implementation of reasonably available
control measures (RACM), including reasonably available control
technology (RACT), and a demonstration of whether attainment of the
PM10 NAAQS by the December 31, 1994, attainment date was
practicable. See section 189(a).
D. PM10 Planning in the Eagle River PM10 Nonattainment Area
After the Eagle River PM10 nonattainment area was
designated nonattainment for PM10, the Alaska Department of
Environmental Conservation (ADEC) began in the early 1990s to prepare
the technical elements needed to bring the area into attainment and
meet the planning requirements of title I of the CAA. Based on these
technical products ADEC, developed and implemented control measures on
PM10 sources in the Eagle River PM10
nonattainment area. The State submitted these control measures to EPA
on October 15, 1991, as a moderate PM10 nonattainment SIP
revision under section 189(a) of the Act. The control strategy focused
on implementing road surfacing and paving projects to reduce fugitive
dust from paved and unpaved streets and windblown dust. EPA took final
action to approve the State's moderate PM10 SIP on August
13, 1993. See 58 FR 43084.
II. Attainment Determination
A. What are the requirements for attainment determinations?
Generally, EPA determines whether an area's air quality is meeting
the PM10 NAAQS based upon complete, quality-assured data
gathered at established state and local air monitoring stations (SLAMS)
and national air monitoring stations (NAMS) in the nonattainment areas
and entered into the EPA Air Quality System (AQS). Data from air
monitors operated by state/local/tribal agencies in compliance with EPA
monitoring requirements must be submitted to AQS. EPA relies primarily
on data in AQS when determining the attainment status of an area. See
40 CFR 50.6; 40 CFR part 50, appendix J; 40 CFR part 53; 40 CFR part
58, appendix A. EPA will also consider air quality data from other air
monitoring stations in the nonattainment area provided that the
stations meet the Federal monitoring requirements for SLAMS, including
the quality assurance and quality control criteria in 40 CFR part 58,
appendix A. 40 CFR 58.14 (2006) and 58.20 (2007); \2\ 71 FR 61236,
61242 (October 17, 2006). All valid data are reviewed to determine the
area's air quality status in accordance with 40 CFR part 50, appendix
K.
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\2\ EPA promulgated amendments to the ambient air monitoring
regulations in 40 CFR parts 53 and 58 on October 17, 2006. See 71 FR
61236. The requirements for Special Purpose Monitors were revised
and moved from 40 CFR 58.14 to 40 CFR 58.20.
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Attainment of the 24-hour PM10 standard is determined by
calculating the expected number of exceedances of the standard in a
year. The 24-hour standard is attained when the expected number of days
per calendar year with a 24-hour concentration above 154 [mu]g/m\3\, as
determined in accordance with 40 CFR part 50, appendix K, is less than
or equal to one. Generally, three consecutive years of air quality data
are required to show attainment of the 24-hour PM10
standard. See 40 CFR part 50 and appendix K.
B. What do the air quality data show as of the December 31, 1994
attainment date?
Because the Eagle River PM10 nonattainment area has a
December 31, 1994, attainment date, our determination of whether or not
the area attained the standard is based on 1992, 1993 and 1994 complete
quality-assured data for the area. During that period, the State of
Alaska operated two PM10 SLAMS monitoring sites within the
Eagle River nonattainment area: the Parkgate site and the Baronoff
site. Both monitoring sites met EPA SLAMS network design and siting
requirements set forth at 40 CFR part 58, appendices D and E. The
Parkgate site began operation in 1985 and continues to operate. The
Baronoff site began operating in May of 1992 and ceased operation in
1996.
Parkgate Site
Our review of complete quality-assured air quality data from the
Parkgate site for the period from January 1, 1992 through December 31,
1994, shows that one 24-hour PM10 value, reported on
September 16, 1992, exceeded the level of the 24-hour standard.\3\ This
24-hour value was flagged by ADEC in AQS as a special event due to a
volcanic eruption. Under EPA's 1994 guidance,\4\ data may be excluded
from regulatory determinations related to exceedances or violations of
the NAAQS if it is adequately demonstrated that a special event caused
the exceedance or violation. EPA concurred on this exceedance as a
special event in a letter to ADEC on May 24, 1995. Consequently, this
value is excluded from expected exceedance calculations. Because there
was no other recorded exceedance of the 24-hour PM10
standard during calendar years 1992-1994, the expected PM10
exceedance rate for the 1992-1994 period at the Parkgate site is 0.0.
Therefore, the Parkgate site has demonstrated attainment for the 24-
hour PM10
[[Page 64164]]
NAAQS as of the attainment date of December 31, 1994.
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\3\ To meet data completeness criteria, missing data in the
first quarter of 1994 was substituted according to EPA guidance. See
``PM10 SIP Development Guideline'' (EPA-450/2-86-001,
June 1987), ``Guideline on Exceptions to Data Requirements for
Determining Attainment of Particulate Matter Standards'' (EPA-450 4-
87-005, April 1987), and the data completeness discussion in the
Memorandum from Chris Hall entitled ``Eagle River PM10
Attainment Determination,'' (October 5, 2010).
\4\``Guideline on the Identification and Handling of Ambient Air
Quality Data Affected by Special Events or Special Conditions''
(EPA-454/D-94-001, September, 1994).
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Additionally, we evaluated expected exceedances for the three-year
period prior to and after the attainment date. Because other than the
September 1992 special event, no other exceedance was recorded during
calendar years 1991 through 1997, the Parkgate site has also
demonstrated attainment of the 24-hour PM10 NAAQS for
calendar years 1991-1993, 1993-1995, 1994-1996, and 1995-1997.
Baronoff Monitoring Site
EPA also reviewed the data from the Baronoff site, the other SLAMS
site in the Eagle River PM10 nonattainment area that was
operating during the 1992-1994 period. Because this monitor began
operating on May 27, 1992, and did not operate for one full quarter
during the 1992-1994 period, the data from this monitor cannot be used
for making a determination of attainment for the 1992-1994 period.\5\
Even so, we can evaluate whether the data from this monitor show that
the Eagle River PM10 nonattainment area failed to attain for
the 1992-1994 period. Although the Baronoff site recorded three
exceedances of the 24-hour PM10 NAAQS in the 1992-1994
period (all in 1992), these values were flagged by ADEC as special
events due to a volcanic eruption. EPA concurred on the flagged
exceedances in a May 24, 1995, letter to ADEC and thus these values are
excluded from the expected exceedance calculations. Outside of these
flagged exceedances there has been no other exceedance of the 24-hour
PM10 standard at the Baronoff site from May 27, 1992 through
December 31, 1994 (nor through October 1, 1996, when the monitor ceased
operation). We therefore conclude that data from the Baronoff site does
not show the Eagle River PM10 nonattainment area failed to
attain the PM10 standard by the December 31, 1994,
attainment date.\6\
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\5\ Because data for the 1st quarter 1992 was less than 50%
complete, the substitution guidance used for the Parkgate site was
not used for this site.
\6\ Based on the available data, the site does not show a
violation of the 24-hour PM10 NAAQS. See 40 CFR part 50,
appendix K, section 2.3(c).
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C. What does more recent air quality data show?
Although the attainment date for the Eagle River PM10
nonattainment area is December 31, 1994, and the air quality data used
to determine attainment by that date includes all data collected in
calendar years 1992, 1993, and 1994, EPA has also reviewed the air
quality data collected at the State monitoring sites from January 1992
through the most recent available data in AQS. The Parkgate site
recorded one exceedance of the standard in each of the years 2007 and
2009. These exceedances were timely flagged by ADEC as exceptional
events due to high winds and will be evaluated by EPA under the
Exceptional Events Rule and addressed in a separate action.\7\ Under
the Exceptional Events Rule, EPA may exclude data from regulatory
determinations related to exceedances or violations of the NAAQS if it
is adequately demonstrated that an exceptional event caused the
exceedance or violation. 40 CFR 50.1, 50.14. If in the future EPA
determines, after notice-and-comment rulemaking, that the area is no
longer attaining the PM10 NAAQS, EPA will publish such
determination in the Federal Register.
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\7\ Note that ADEC has recently advised EPA of an exceedance in
September 2010 that they also intend to flag as a high wind
exceptional event.
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III. EPA's Final Action
EPA is determining that the Eagle River area has attained the
PM10 standard based on the three years of complete, quality-
assured data as of the attainment date of December 31, 1994. For the
period from 1992-1994, the expected exceedance rate of 0.0 for the
Parkgate site is equal to or less than the expected exceedance rate of
1.0 that is allowed under the PM10 NAAQS. Because complete
quality-assured data for this period show an expected exceedance rate
equal to or below the PM10 standard, EPA concludes that the
area has met the standard. EPA therefore determines that the Eagle
River nonattainment area has attained the 24-hour PM10 NAAQS
as of the December 31, 1994, attainment date.
IV. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews
Under the Clean Air Act, 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, EPA's role is to approve state
choices, provided that they meet the criteria of the Clean Air Act.
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 Order
12866 (58 FR 51735, October 4, 1993);
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 Section 12(d) of the
National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act of 1995 (15 U.S.C. 272
note) because application of those requirements would be inconsistent
with the Clean Air Act; and
Does not provide EPA with the discretionary authority to
address, as appropriate, disproportionate human health or environmental
effects, using practicable and legally permissible methods, under
Executive Order 12898 (59 FR 7629, February 16, 1994).
In addition, this rule does not have tribal implications as specified
by Executive Order 13175 (65 FR 67249, November 9, 2000), because the
SIP is not approved to apply in Indian country located in the state,
and EPA notes that it will not impose substantial direct costs on
tribal governments or preempt tribal law.
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).
[[Page 64165]]
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 20, 2010. 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. Parties with objections to this direct final
rule are encouraged to file a comment in response to the parallel
notice of proposed rulemaking for this action published in the proposed
rules section of today's Federal Register, rather than file an
immediate petition for judicial review of this direct final rule, so
that EPA can withdraw this direct final rule and address the comment in
the proposed rulemaking. This action may not be challenged later in
proceedings to enforce its requirements. See section 307(b)(2).
List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 81
Environmental protection, Air pollution control, Intergovernmental
relations, Particulate matter, Reporting and recordkeeping
requirements.
Dated: October 7, 2010.
Dennis J. McLerran,
Regional Administrator, Region 10.
[FR Doc. 2010-26258 Filed 10-18-10; 8:45 am]
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