Approval and Promulgation of Implementation Plans and Designations of areas for Air Quality Planning Purposes; Missouri and Illinois; St. Louis Nonattainment Area; Determination of Attainment by Applicable Attainment Date for the 1997 Annual Fine Particulate Standards, 78869-78871 [2011-32561]
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Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 244 / Tuesday, December 20, 2011 / Proposed Rules
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
AGENCY
40 CFR Part 52
[EPA–R07–OAR–2011–0627; FRL–9608–5]
Approval and Promulgation of
Implementation Plans and
Designations of areas for Air Quality
Planning Purposes; Missouri and
Illinois; St. Louis Nonattainment Area;
Determination of Attainment by
Applicable Attainment Date for the
1997 Annual Fine Particulate
Standards
Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Proposed rule.
AGENCY:
EPA is proposing to
determine, pursuant to the Clean Air
Act (CAA), that the bi-state St. Louis,
Missouri-Illinois, fine particulate
(PM2.5) nonattainment area (hereafter
referred to as ‘‘the St. Louis area’’ or
‘‘the area’’) has attained the 1997 annual
PM2.5 national ambient air quality
standards (NAAQS) by its applicable
attainment date of April 5, 2010. This
proposed determination is based on
quality-assured and certified monitoring
data for the 2007–2009 monitoring
period. Based on this data, EPA
previously determined on May 23, 2011,
that the area attained the 1997
standards, and EPA suspended certain
planning requirements for the area
based on that determination. EPA is
now proposing to find that the St. Louis
area attained the 1997 annual PM2.5
NAAQS by its applicable attainment
date. EPA is proposing this action
because it is consistent with the CAA
and its implementing regulations.
DATES: Comments must be received on
or before January 19, 2012.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments,
identified by Docket ID No. EPA–R07–
OAR–2011–0627, by one of the
following methods:
1. www.regulations.gov: Follow the
on-line instructions for submitting
comments.
2. Email: brown.steven@epa.gov
3. Fax: (913) 551–9460.
4. Mail: Steven Brown, Atmospheric
Section, Air Planning and Development
Branch, Air and Waste Management
Division, U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency, Region 7, 901 North 5th Street,
Kansas City, Kansas 66101.
5. Hand Delivery or Courier: Steven
Brown, Atmospheric Section, Air
Planning and Development Branch, Air
and Waste Management Division, U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency,
Region 7, 901 North 5th Street, Kansas
pmangrum on DSK3VPTVN1PROD with PROPOSALS-1
SUMMARY:
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City, Kansas 66101. Such deliveries are
only accepted during the Regional
Office normal hours of operation, and
special arrangements should be made
for deliveries of boxed information. The
Regional Office official hours of
business are Monday through Friday,
8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., excluding
Federal holidays.
Instructions: Direct your comments to
Docket ID No. EPA–R07–OAR–2011–
0627. EPA’s policy is that all comments
received will be included in the public
docket without change and may be
made available online at
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 through
www.regulations.gov or email,
information that you consider to be CBI
or otherwise protected. The
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 email comment directly
to EPA without going through
www.regulations.gov, your email
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. For additional information
about EPA’s public docket visit the EPA
Docket Center homepage at https://
www.epa.gov/epahome/dockets.htm.
Docket: All documents in the
electronic docket are listed in the
www.regulations.gov index. Although
listed in the index, some information is
not publicly available, i.e., 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 either
electronically in www.regulations.gov or
in hard copy at the Atmospheric
Section, Air Planning and Development
Branch, Air Waste and Management
PO 00000
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78869
Division, U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency, Region 7, 901 North 5th Street,
Kansas City, Kansas 66101. EPA
requests that if at all possible, you
contact the person listed in the FOR
FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section to
schedule your inspection. The Regional
Office’s official hours of business are
Monday through Friday, 8:30 to 4:30,
excluding Federal holidays.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: In
Region 7, Steven Brown, Atmospheric
Section, Air Planning And Development
Branch, Air and Waste Management
Division, U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency, Region 7, 901 North 5th Street,
Kansas City, Kansas 66101. Steven
Brown may be reached by telephone at
(913) 551–7718 or via electronic mail at
brown.steven@epa.gov. In Region 5,
John Summerhays, Attainment Planning
and Maintenance Section, Air Programs
Branch (AR 18J), U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency, Region 5, 77 West
Jackson Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois
60604. The telephone number is (312)
886–6067. Mr. Summerhays can also be
reached via electronic mail at
summerhays.john@epa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. What action is EPA taking?
II. What is the background for this action?
III. What is the air quality in the St. Louis
area for the 1997 annual PM2.5 NAAQS
for the 2007–2009 monitoring period?
IV. What is the proposed action, and what is
the effect of this action?
V. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews
I. What action is EPA taking?
Based on EPA’s review of the qualityassured and certified monitoring data
for 2007–2009, and in accordance with
section 179(c)(1) of the CAA, EPA
proposes to determine that the St. Louis
area has attained the 1997 annual PM2.5
NAAQS by the applicable attainment
date of April 5, 2010. The St. Louis area
is comprised of Jefferson County,
Franklin County, St. Louis County, St.
Louis City, and St. Charles in Missouri,
and Madison, Monroe and St. Clair
Counties, and Baldwin Township in
Randolph County in Illinois.
It is important to distinguish between
two different types of attainment
determinations that EPA makes for areas
that are designated nonattainment. Both
types require notice-and-comment
rulemaking.
(1) Determinations of attainment by
an area’s attainment date, and
(2) Determinations of attainment for
purposes of suspending the State’s
obligation to submit certain planning
SIPs linked to attainment.
This proposed action is with respect
to Type 1 above. The CAA requires EPA
to determine whether a nonattainment
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Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 244 / Tuesday, December 20, 2011 / Proposed Rules
area has attained the standard as of its
applicable attainment date. These
determinations of attainment provide a
historical snapshot—they evaluate
attainment only as of an area’s
attainment deadline, and are issued to
comply with section 181(b)(2)of the
CAA for ozone and sections 172 and 179
of the CAA for PM2.5. Determinations of
attainment by an attainment deadline
are separate and independent of the
second type of attainment
determinations, as described below.
On May 23, 2010, EPA published a
final rulemaking making a
determination that the St. Louis area
attained the 1997 annual PM2.5 NAAQS
based on quality-assured, quality
controlled and certified ambient air
monitoring data for the 2007–2009
monitoring period and thereby
suspended the requirements for the St.
Louis area to submit an attainment
demonstration and associated
reasonably available control measures
(RACM), a reasonable further progress
(RFP) plan, contingency measures, and
other planning State Implementation
Plan (SIP) revisions related to
attainment of the 1997 annual PM2.5
NAAQS so long as the area continues to
attain the 1997 Annual PM2.5 NAAQS.
See 76 FR 29652. Further information
regarding that action is available in the
notice proposing that action, published
on March 7, 2011, at 76 FR 12302.
Today’s proposed action merely
makes a determination that the St. Louis
area has attained the 1997 annual PM2.5
NAAQS by its applicable attainment
date. This action is not a re-proposal of
the prior attainment determination or of
the effects of suspending the
requirements for the St. Louis area to
submit an attainment demonstration
and associated RACM, an RFP plan,
contingency measures, and other
planning SIP revisions related to
attainment of the standard. More
information regarding the 1997 annual
PM2.5 NAAQS and the area’s attainment
of that NAAQS is available at 76 FR
29652 (May 23, 2011). A detailed
discussion of EPA’s review of the
monitoring data showing attainment of
the standard can be found in the March
7, 2011 proposed action and the May 23,
2011 final action.
II. What is the background for this
action?
On January 5, 2005, EPA designated
the St. Louis area as nonattainment for
the 1997 annual PM2.5 NAAQS. (70 FR
944) The designation was effective April
5, 2005. Section 172(a) of the CAA
requires a state to achieve attainment no
later than 5 years from the
nonattainment designation. Thus, the
St. Louis area had an applicable
attainment date of April 5, 2010.
Pursuant to section 179(c) of the CAA,
EPA is required to make a determination
whether the area attained the standard
by its applicable attainment date.
Specifically, section 179(c)(1) of the
CAA reads as follows: ‘‘As
expeditiously as practicable after the
applicable attainment date for any
nonattainment area, but not later than 6
months after such date, the
Administrator shall determine, based on
the area’s air quality as of the attainment
date, whether the area attained the
standard by that date.’’ Today’s action
makes this determination.
III. What is the air quality in the St.
Louis area for the 1997 annual PM2.5
NAAQS for the 2007–2009 monitoring
period?
Under EPA regulations at 40 CFR
50.7, the 1997 annual primary and
secondary PM2.5 standards are met
when the annual arithmetic mean
concentration, as determined in
accordance with 40 CFR part 50,
Appendix N, is less than or equal to
15.0 micrograms per cubic meter (mg/
m3) at all relevant monitoring sites in
the subject area.
EPA reviewed the ambient air
monitoring data for the St. Louis area in
accordance with the provisions of 40
CFR part 50, Appendix N. All data
considered have been quality-assured,
certified, and recorded in EPA’s Air
Quality System database. This review
addresses air quality data collected in
the 3-year period from 2007–2009. The
3-year period from 2007–2009 provides
the latest 3-year set of data that EPA
may use to determine whether the St.
Louis area attained the standard by its
applicable attainment date of April 5,
2010.
TABLE 1—ANNUAL AVERAGE CONCENTRATIONS IN THE ST. LOUIS AREA (2007–2009)
[Annual PM2.5 design values for Saint Louis area monitors with complete data for 2007 to 2009]
State
County
Monitor
IL .......................
Madison ....................................................
...................................................................
Randolph ...................................................
Saint Clair .................................................
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MO ....................
City of Saint Louis ....................................
As shown above in Table 1, during
the 2007–2009 design period, the St.
Louis area met the 1997 annual PM2.5
NAAQS. The official annual design
value for the St. Louis area for the 2007–
2009 period is 14.1 mg/m3. More
detailed information on the monitoring
data for the St. Louis area during the
2007–2009 design period is provided in
EPA’s March 7, 2011, proposed
rulemaking, and EPA’s May 23, 2011,
final rulemaking regarding the
VerDate Mar<15>2010
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17–119–1007
17–119–2009
17–119–3007
17–157–0001
17–163–0010
17–163–4001
29–510–0007
29–510–0085
Site name
23rd and Madison .....................................
1700 Annex St ..........................................
54 N. Walcott ............................................
...................................................................
13th and Tudor .........................................
1500 Caseyville Ave .................................
Broadway ..................................................
Blair Street ................................................
determination of attainment for the St.
Louis area for the 1997 annual PM2.5
NAAQS. See 76 FR 12302 and 76 FR
29652.
IV. What is the proposed action, and
what is the effect of this action?
This action is a proposed
determination that the St. Louis area has
attained the 1997 annual PM2.5 NAAQS
by its applicable attainment date of
April 5, 2010, consistent with the CAA
section 179(c)(1). Finalizing this
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Annual design
value
2007–2009
14.1
12.5
12.5
11.4
13.3
12.5
12.8
12.7
proposed action would not constitute a
redesignation of the St. Louis area to
attainment of 1997 annual PM2.5
NAAQS under section 107(d)(3) of the
CAA because EPA would not have yet
approved a maintenance plan for the St.
Louis area as required under CAA
section 175A, nor a determination that
the St. Louis area has met all other
requirements for redesignation under
the CAA. Even if EPA finalizes today’s
proposed action, the designation status
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of the St. Louis area will remain
nonattainment for the 1997 annual
PM2.5 NAAQS until such time as EPA
determines that the CAA requirements
for redesignation to attainment are met,
and takes action to finalize that
determination through a redesignation.
V. Statutory and Executive Order
Reviews
This action proposes to make a
determination of attainment based on
air quality, and would not impose
additional requirements beyond those
imposed by state law. For that reason,
this proposed 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 CAA; 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 proposed
determination that the St. Louis area
attained the 1997 annual average PM2.5
NAAQS by its applicable attainment
date does not have tribal implications as
specified by Executive Order 13175 (65
FR 67249, November 9, 2000), because
the SIPs are not approved to apply in
Indian country located in the states, and
EPA notes that it will not impose
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substantial direct costs on tribal
governments or preempt tribal law.
List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 52
Air pollution control, Environmental
protection, Particulate matter, Reporting
and recordkeeping requirements.
Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.
Dated: November 1, 2011.
Mark Hague,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region 7.
Dated: December 9, 2011.
Susan Hedman,
Regional Administrator, Region 5.
[FR Doc. 2011–32561 Filed 12–19–11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560–50–P
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
AGENCY
40 CFR Part 52
[EPA–R09–OAR–2011–0897; FRL–9499–8]
Revisions to the California State
Implementation Plan, South Coast Air
Quality Management District
Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Proposed rule.
AGENCY:
EPA is proposing to approve
a revision to the South Coast Air Quality
Management District (SCAQMD) portion
of the California State Implementation
Plan (SIP). This revision concerns
oxides of nitrogen (NOX) and oxides of
sulfur (SOX) emissions from facilities
emitting 4 tons or more per year of NOX
or SOX in the year 1990 or any
subsequent year under the SCAQMD’s
Regional Clean Air Incentives Market
(RECLAIM) program. We are approving
a local rule that regulates these emission
sources under the Clean Air Act as
amended in 1990 (CAA or the Act).
DATES: Any comments on this proposal
must arrive by January 19, 2012.
ADDRESSES: Submit comments,
identified by docket number EPA–R09–
OAR–2011–0897, by one of the
following methods:
1. Federal eRulemaking Portal:
www.regulations.gov. Follow the on-line
instructions.
2. Email: steckel.andrew@epa.gov.
3. Mail or deliver: Andrew Steckel
(Air–4), U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency Region IX, 75 Hawthorne Street,
San Francisco, CA 94105–3901.
Instructions: All comments will be
included in the public docket without
change and may be made available
online at www.regulations.gov,
including any personal information
provided, unless the comment includes
Confidential Business Information (CBI)
SUMMARY:
PO 00000
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78871
or other information whose disclosure is
restricted by statute. Information that
you consider CBI or otherwise protected
should be clearly identified as such and
should not be submitted through
www.regulations.gov or email.
www.regulations.gov is an ‘‘anonymous
access’’ system, and EPA will not know
your identity or contact information
unless you provide it in the body of
your comment. If you send email
directly to EPA, your email address will
be automatically captured and included
as part of the public comment. 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: Generally, documents in the
docket for this action are available
electronically at www.regulations.gov
and in hard copy at EPA Region IX, 75
Hawthorne Street, San Francisco,
California. While all documents in the
docket are listed at
www.regulations.gov, some information
may be publicly available only at the
hard copy location (e.g., copyrighted
material, large maps), and some may not
be publicly available in either location
(e.g., CBI). To inspect the hard copy
materials, please schedule an
appointment during normal business
hours with the contact listed in the FOR
FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Lily
Wong, EPA Region IX, (415) 947–4114,
wong.lily@epa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This
proposal addresses the following local
rule: SCAQMD Rule 2005, New Source
Review for RECLAIM. In the Rules and
Regulations section of this Federal
Register, we are approving this local
rule in a direct final action without
prior proposal because we believe these
SIP revisions are not controversial. If we
receive adverse comments, however, we
will publish a timely withdrawal of the
direct final rule and address the
comments in subsequent action based
on this proposed rule. Please note that
if we receive adverse comment on an
amendment, paragraph, or section of
this rule and if that provision may be
severed from the remainder of the rule,
we may adopt as final those provisions
of the rule that are not the subject of an
adverse comment.
We do not plan to open a second
comment period, so anyone interested
in commenting should do so at this
time. If we do not receive adverse
comments, no further activity is
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]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 244 (Tuesday, December 20, 2011)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 78869-78871]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-32561]
[[Page 78869]]
=======================================================================
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 52
[EPA-R07-OAR-2011-0627; FRL-9608-5]
Approval and Promulgation of Implementation Plans and
Designations of areas for Air Quality Planning Purposes; Missouri and
Illinois; St. Louis Nonattainment Area; Determination of Attainment by
Applicable Attainment Date for the 1997 Annual Fine Particulate
Standards
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Proposed rule.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: EPA is proposing to determine, pursuant to the Clean Air Act
(CAA), that the bi-state St. Louis, Missouri-Illinois, fine particulate
(PM2.5) nonattainment area (hereafter referred to as ``the
St. Louis area'' or ``the area'') has attained the 1997 annual
PM2.5 national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS) by its
applicable attainment date of April 5, 2010. This proposed
determination is based on quality-assured and certified monitoring data
for the 2007-2009 monitoring period. Based on this data, EPA previously
determined on May 23, 2011, that the area attained the 1997 standards,
and EPA suspended certain planning requirements for the area based on
that determination. EPA is now proposing to find that the St. Louis
area attained the 1997 annual PM2.5 NAAQS by its applicable
attainment date. EPA is proposing this action because it is consistent
with the CAA and its implementing regulations.
DATES: Comments must be received on or before January 19, 2012.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-R07-
OAR-2011-0627, by one of the following methods:
1. www.regulations.gov: Follow the on-line instructions for
submitting comments.
2. Email: brown.steven@epa.gov
3. Fax: (913) 551-9460.
4. Mail: Steven Brown, Atmospheric Section, Air Planning and
Development Branch, Air and Waste Management Division, U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency, Region 7, 901 North 5th Street, Kansas
City, Kansas 66101.
5. Hand Delivery or Courier: Steven Brown, Atmospheric Section, Air
Planning and Development Branch, Air and Waste Management Division,
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 7, 901 North 5th Street,
Kansas City, Kansas 66101. Such deliveries are only accepted during the
Regional Office normal hours of operation, and special arrangements
should be made for deliveries of boxed information. The Regional Office
official hours of business are Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30
p.m., excluding Federal holidays.
Instructions: Direct your comments to Docket ID No. EPA-R07-OAR-
2011-0627. EPA's policy is that all comments received will be included
in the public docket without change and may be made available online at
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 through www.regulations.gov or
email, information that you consider to be CBI or otherwise protected.
The 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 email
comment directly to EPA without going through www.regulations.gov, your
email 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. For additional
information about EPA's public docket visit the EPA Docket Center
homepage at https://www.epa.gov/epahome/dockets.htm.
Docket: All documents in the electronic docket are listed in the
www.regulations.gov index. Although listed in the index, some
information is not publicly available, i.e., 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 either electronically in www.regulations.gov or
in hard copy at the Atmospheric Section, Air Planning and Development
Branch, Air Waste and Management Division, U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency, Region 7, 901 North 5th Street, Kansas City, Kansas
66101. EPA requests that if at all possible, you contact the person
listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section to schedule your
inspection. The Regional Office's official hours of business are Monday
through Friday, 8:30 to 4:30, excluding Federal holidays.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: In Region 7, Steven Brown, Atmospheric
Section, Air Planning And Development Branch, Air and Waste Management
Division, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 7, 901 North 5th
Street, Kansas City, Kansas 66101. Steven Brown may be reached by
telephone at (913) 551-7718 or via electronic mail at
brown.steven@epa.gov. In Region 5, John Summerhays, Attainment Planning
and Maintenance Section, Air Programs Branch (AR 18J), U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency, Region 5, 77 West Jackson Boulevard,
Chicago, Illinois 60604. The telephone number is (312) 886-6067. Mr.
Summerhays can also be reached via electronic mail at
summerhays.john@epa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. What action is EPA taking?
II. What is the background for this action?
III. What is the air quality in the St. Louis area for the 1997
annual PM2.5 NAAQS for the 2007-2009 monitoring period?
IV. What is the proposed action, and what is the effect of this
action?
V. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews
I. What action is EPA taking?
Based on EPA's review of the quality-assured and certified
monitoring data for 2007-2009, and in accordance with section 179(c)(1)
of the CAA, EPA proposes to determine that the St. Louis area has
attained the 1997 annual PM2.5 NAAQS by the applicable
attainment date of April 5, 2010. The St. Louis area is comprised of
Jefferson County, Franklin County, St. Louis County, St. Louis City,
and St. Charles in Missouri, and Madison, Monroe and St. Clair
Counties, and Baldwin Township in Randolph County in Illinois.
It is important to distinguish between two different types of
attainment determinations that EPA makes for areas that are designated
nonattainment. Both types require notice-and-comment rulemaking.
(1) Determinations of attainment by an area's attainment date, and
(2) Determinations of attainment for purposes of suspending the
State's obligation to submit certain planning SIPs linked to
attainment.
This proposed action is with respect to Type 1 above. The CAA
requires EPA to determine whether a nonattainment
[[Page 78870]]
area has attained the standard as of its applicable attainment date.
These determinations of attainment provide a historical snapshot--they
evaluate attainment only as of an area's attainment deadline, and are
issued to comply with section 181(b)(2)of the CAA for ozone and
sections 172 and 179 of the CAA for PM2.5. Determinations of
attainment by an attainment deadline are separate and independent of
the second type of attainment determinations, as described below.
On May 23, 2010, EPA published a final rulemaking making a
determination that the St. Louis area attained the 1997 annual
PM2.5 NAAQS based on quality-assured, quality controlled and
certified ambient air monitoring data for the 2007-2009 monitoring
period and thereby suspended the requirements for the St. Louis area to
submit an attainment demonstration and associated reasonably available
control measures (RACM), a reasonable further progress (RFP) plan,
contingency measures, and other planning State Implementation Plan
(SIP) revisions related to attainment of the 1997 annual
PM2.5 NAAQS so long as the area continues to attain the 1997
Annual PM2.5 NAAQS. See 76 FR 29652. Further information
regarding that action is available in the notice proposing that action,
published on March 7, 2011, at 76 FR 12302.
Today's proposed action merely makes a determination that the St.
Louis area has attained the 1997 annual PM2.5 NAAQS by its
applicable attainment date. This action is not a re-proposal of the
prior attainment determination or of the effects of suspending the
requirements for the St. Louis area to submit an attainment
demonstration and associated RACM, an RFP plan, contingency measures,
and other planning SIP revisions related to attainment of the standard.
More information regarding the 1997 annual PM2.5 NAAQS and
the area's attainment of that NAAQS is available at 76 FR 29652 (May
23, 2011). A detailed discussion of EPA's review of the monitoring data
showing attainment of the standard can be found in the March 7, 2011
proposed action and the May 23, 2011 final action.
II. What is the background for this action?
On January 5, 2005, EPA designated the St. Louis area as
nonattainment for the 1997 annual PM2.5 NAAQS. (70 FR 944)
The designation was effective April 5, 2005. Section 172(a) of the CAA
requires a state to achieve attainment no later than 5 years from the
nonattainment designation. Thus, the St. Louis area had an applicable
attainment date of April 5, 2010. Pursuant to section 179(c) of the
CAA, EPA is required to make a determination whether the area attained
the standard by its applicable attainment date. Specifically, section
179(c)(1) of the CAA reads as follows: ``As expeditiously as
practicable after the applicable attainment date for any nonattainment
area, but not later than 6 months after such date, the Administrator
shall determine, based on the area's air quality as of the attainment
date, whether the area attained the standard by that date.'' Today's
action makes this determination.
III. What is the air quality in the St. Louis area for the 1997 annual
PM2.5 NAAQS for the 2007-2009 monitoring period?
Under EPA regulations at 40 CFR 50.7, the 1997 annual primary and
secondary PM2.5 standards are met when the annual arithmetic mean
concentration, as determined in accordance with 40 CFR part 50,
Appendix N, is less than or equal to 15.0 micrograms per cubic meter
([mu]g/m3) at all relevant monitoring sites in the subject area.
EPA reviewed the ambient air monitoring data for the St. Louis area
in accordance with the provisions of 40 CFR part 50, Appendix N. All
data considered have been quality-assured, certified, and recorded in
EPA's Air Quality System database. This review addresses air quality
data collected in the 3-year period from 2007-2009. The 3-year period
from 2007-2009 provides the latest 3-year set of data that EPA may use
to determine whether the St. Louis area attained the standard by its
applicable attainment date of April 5, 2010.
Table 1--Annual Average Concentrations in the St. Louis area (2007-2009)
[Annual PM2.5 design values for Saint Louis area monitors with complete data for 2007 to 2009]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Annual design
State County Monitor Site name value 2007-2009
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
IL.......................... Madison............... 17-119-1007 23rd and Madison...... 14.1
17-119-2009 1700 Annex St......... 12.5
...................... 17-119-3007 54 N. Walcott......... 12.5
Randolph.............. 17-157-0001 ...................... 11.4
Saint Clair........... 17-163-0010 13th and Tudor........ 13.3
17-163-4001 1500 Caseyville Ave... 12.5
MO.......................... City of Saint Louis... 29-510-0007 Broadway.............. 12.8
29-510-0085 Blair Street.......... 12.7
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
As shown above in Table 1, during the 2007-2009 design period, the
St. Louis area met the 1997 annual PM2.5 NAAQS. The official
annual design value for the St. Louis area for the 2007-2009 period is
14.1 [mu]g/m\3\. More detailed information on the monitoring data for
the St. Louis area during the 2007-2009 design period is provided in
EPA's March 7, 2011, proposed rulemaking, and EPA's May 23, 2011, final
rulemaking regarding the determination of attainment for the St. Louis
area for the 1997 annual PM2.5 NAAQS. See 76 FR 12302 and 76
FR 29652.
IV. What is the proposed action, and what is the effect of this action?
This action is a proposed determination that the St. Louis area has
attained the 1997 annual PM2.5 NAAQS by its applicable
attainment date of April 5, 2010, consistent with the CAA section
179(c)(1). Finalizing this proposed action would not constitute a
redesignation of the St. Louis area to attainment of 1997 annual
PM2.5 NAAQS under section 107(d)(3) of the CAA because EPA
would not have yet approved a maintenance plan for the St. Louis area
as required under CAA section 175A, nor a determination that the St.
Louis area has met all other requirements for redesignation under the
CAA. Even if EPA finalizes today's proposed action, the designation
status
[[Page 78871]]
of the St. Louis area will remain nonattainment for the 1997 annual
PM2.5 NAAQS until such time as EPA determines that the CAA
requirements for redesignation to attainment are met, and takes action
to finalize that determination through a redesignation.
V. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews
This action proposes to make a determination of attainment based on
air quality, and would not impose additional requirements beyond those
imposed by state law. For that reason, this proposed 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 CAA; 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 proposed determination that the St. Louis area
attained the 1997 annual average PM2.5 NAAQS by its
applicable attainment date does not have tribal implications as
specified by Executive Order 13175 (65 FR 67249, November 9, 2000),
because the SIPs are not approved to apply in Indian country located in
the states, and EPA notes that it will not impose substantial direct
costs on tribal governments or preempt tribal law.
List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 52
Air pollution control, Environmental protection, Particulate
matter, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements.
Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.
Dated: November 1, 2011.
Mark Hague,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region 7.
Dated: December 9, 2011.
Susan Hedman,
Regional Administrator, Region 5.
[FR Doc. 2011-32561 Filed 12-19-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P
