Approval and Promulgation of Air Quality Implementation Plans; Indiana; Redesignation of the Indiana Portion of the Louisville Area to Attainment of the 1997 Annual Standard for Fine Particulate Matter, 40834-40838 [2016-14806]
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• 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, the SIP is not approved
to apply on any Indian reservation land
or in any other area where EPA or an
Indian tribe has demonstrated that a
tribe has jurisdiction. In those areas of
Indian country, the rule does not have
tribal implications and will not impose
substantial direct costs on tribal
governments or preempt tribal law as
specified by Executive Order 13175 (65
FR 67249, November 9, 2000).
List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 52
Environmental protection, Air
pollution control, Incorporation by
reference, Intergovernmental relations,
Particulate matter, Reporting and
recordkeeping requirements.
Dated: June 14, 2016.
Robert A. Kaplan,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region 5.
[FR Doc. 2016–14894 Filed 6–22–16; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560–50–P
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
AGENCY
40 CFR Parts 52 and 81
[EPA–R05–OAR–2011–0698; FRL–9948–00–
Region 5]
Approval and Promulgation of Air
Quality Implementation Plans; Indiana;
Redesignation of the Indiana Portion of
the Louisville Area to Attainment of the
1997 Annual Standard for Fine
Particulate Matter
Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Proposed rule; supplemental.
asabaliauskas on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with PROPOSALS
AGENCY:
The Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) is issuing a supplement to
its July 11, 2013, proposed approval of
Indiana’s request to redesignate the
Indiana portion of the Louisville,
Indiana-Kentucky, area to attainment for
the 1997 annual national ambient air
quality standard (NAAQS or standard)
for fine particulate matter (PM2.5). After
EPA’s proposed redesignation in 2013,
SUMMARY:
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an audit of the Kentucky monitoring
program identified problems which
invalidated monitoring data for 2012
and the beginning of 2013. Because of
this invalid data, the area could not
meet the requirement that the entire
area must demonstrate attainment of the
standard using the most current three
years of data. This supplemental
proposal provides new quality-assured,
quality-controlled data for the most
recent three years of data showing that
the entire area attains the 1997 PM2.5
standard. In the supplemental proposal
EPA is proposing that the entire
Louisville area is attaining the 1997
PM2.5 NAAQS based on the most recent
three years of data. EPA also discusses
the maintenance plan out-year emission
projections, and the Cross-State Air
Pollution Rule (CSAPR) remanded
budgets impact on the Louisville area—
because the status of these issues has
changed from the initial proposal to
now. EPA is seeking comment only on
the issues raised in this supplemental
proposal, and is not re-opening for
comment other issues raised in the July
11, 2013, proposed approval.
Comments must be received on
or before July 25, 2016.
DATES:
Submit your comments,
identified by Docket ID No. EPA–R05–
OAR–2011–0698 at https://
www.regulations.gov or via email to
blakley.pamela@epa.gov. For comments
submitted at Regulations.gov, follow the
online instructions for submitting
comments. Once submitted, comments
cannot be edited or removed from
Regulations.gov. For either manner of
submission, 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. 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, please contact the person
identified in the FOR FURTHER
INFORMATION CONTACT section. For the
full EPA public comment policy,
information about CBI or multimedia
submissions, and general guidance on
making effective comments, please visit
https://www2.epa.gov/dockets/
commenting-epa-dockets.
ADDRESSES:
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FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Carolyn Persoon, Environmental
Engineer, Control Strategies Section, Air
Programs Branch (AR–18J),
Environmental Protection Agency,
Region 5, 77 West Jackson Boulevard,
Chicago, Illinois 60604, (312) 353–8290,
persoon.carolyn@epa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Throughout this document whenever
‘‘we,’’ ‘‘us,’’ or ‘‘our’’ is used, we mean
EPA. This SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION
section is arranged as follows:
I. What is the background for the
supplemental proposal?
II. On what specific issues is EPA taking
comment?
A. Louisville Area Design Values for 2013–
2015; Entire Area Monitoring Attainment
B. Demonstration of Maintenance
C. CAIR and CSAPR
III. Summary of Proposed Actions
IV. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews
I. What is the background for the
supplemental proposal?
On June 16, 2011, the Indiana
Department of Environmental
Management (IDEM) submitted a
request for EPA to approve the
redesignation of the Indiana portion of
the Louisville (KY-IN) (Madison
Township, Indiana, Jefferson County,
Kentucky and Clark and Floyd Counties,
Indiana) nonattainment area to
attainment of the 1997 PM2.5 annual
standard. Indiana’s June 16, 2011,
redesignation submittal contained
complete, quality-assured and certified
air monitoring data for the years 2008–
2010.
On July 11, 2013, EPA proposed to
determine that the Indiana portion of
the Louisville area had met the
requirements for redesignation under
section 107(d)(3)(E) of the Clean Air Act
(CAA) (78 FR 41735). This proposal was
based upon our review of ambient air
monitoring data from 2009–2011, and
preliminary data from 2012. It contained
several related actions.
First, EPA proposed to approve the
request from IDEM to change the legal
designation of the Indiana portion of the
Louisville area from nonattainment to
attainment for the 1997 annual PM2.5
NAAQS. EPA also proposed to approve
Indiana’s PM2.5 maintenance plan for
the Indiana portion of the Louisville
area as a revision to the Indiana state
implementation plan (SIP) because the
plan met the requirements of section
175A of the CAA. In addition, EPA
proposed to approve emissions
inventories for primary PM2.5, and all its
precursors as satisfying the requirement
in section 172(c)(3) of the CAA for a
comprehensive, current emission
inventory. Finally, EPA proposed a
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motor vehicle emissions budget for the
Indiana portion of the Louisville area.
EPA did not receive adverse comments
on the proposed rulemaking.
In August 2013, EPA issued results of
a technical systems audit on the PM2.5
laboratory in Kentucky, which
invalidated the Jefferson County
monitoring data for all of 2012, and a
small portion of the monitoring data
from 2013 (a portion of the first quarter).
See the docket for the technical systems
audit information. Since the area could
no longer demonstrate attainment of the
standard for the entire area, EPA did not
finalize its proposal. Kentucky began
collecting valid data in early 2013 (the
end of the first quarter) after the
monitoring audit issues had been
addressed, resulting in a valid design
value for the area using 2013–2015 data.
Both Indiana and Kentucky certified
valid data for 2015 in the beginning of
2016. EPA has approved the use of this
quality-assured, quality-controlled
certified complete data for use in
regulatory actions.
Today, EPA is publishing a
supplement to its July 11, 2013,
proposed rulemaking. The supplement
is based on valid design values for the
2013–2015 period, demonstrating
attainment of the standard for the entire
Louisville area using the most recent
three years of data. Preliminary data for
2016 shows that the entire Louisville
area continues to attain the standard.
This proposal also discusses the
maintenance plan emission projections
of 2025 and the impact of the budgets
remanded under CSAPR on the
Louisville area because the status of
these issues has changed from the initial
proposal.
II. On what specific issues is EPA
taking comments?
In this portion of EPA’s supplemental
proposal, EPA is soliciting comment on
the limited issue of the 2013–2015
design values demonstrating attainment
of the standard for the entire Louisville
area, the maintenance plan emission
projections for 2025, and the impact on
the Louisville area of the 2015 D.C.
Circuit decision remanding certain
CSAPR budgets.
A. Louisville Area Design Values for
2013–2015; Entire Area Monitoring
Attainment
EPA is proposing to determine that
the Louisville area is attaining the 1997
annual PM2.5 NAAQS based upon the
most recent three years of complete,
certified and quality-assured data.
Under EPA’s regulations at 40 CFR 50.7,
the 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 monitoring sites in
the area. Data are considered to be
sufficient for comparison to the NAAQS
if three consecutive complete years of
data exist. A complete year of air quality
data is comprised of four calendar
quarters, with each quarter containing
data from at least 75% capture of the
scheduled sampling days. In this case,
the 2009–2011 values were calculated
prior to the audit invalidating data
collected in the Kentucky portion of
Louisville for 2012 and beginning of
2013 (portion of the first quarter). The
2013–2015 values are based on qualityassured, quality-controlled, certified
complete data, and only included valid
data collected after the audit issues were
corrected. Preliminary data for 2016
shows the area continues to attain the
standard. The Louisville design value
for the most current three years of data
is 11.7 mg/m3.
TABLE 1—THE 1997 ANNUAL PM2.5 DESIGN VALUES FOR THE LOUISVILLE MONITOR WITH COMPLETE DATA FOR THE
2009–2011,1 AND 2013–2015 DESIGN VALUE IN μg/m3
County
Design value
2009–2011
(μg/m3)
Site
Clark County, IN ..........................................................................................................................
Clark County, IN ..........................................................................................................................
Floyd County, IN ..........................................................................................................................
Jefferson County, KY ...................................................................................................................
Jefferson County, KY ...................................................................................................................
Jefferson County, KY ...................................................................................................................
180190006
180190008
180431004
211110043
211110051
211110067
13.5
11.4
12.3
12.6
12.7
12.1
Design value
2013–2015
(μg/m3)
11.4
9.3
10.0
11.3
11.7
10.5
1 2009–2011 design values are the desigh values for the area prior to date issues, and design values for 2013–2015 are the most recent three
years of monitoring data showing that the area is attaining the standard.
Data recorded at monitors in 2013,
2014, and 2015 are considered valid and
were collected after corrective actions
resulting from the technical systems
audit. These are the data on which EPA
is basing its decision that the Louisville
area has attained the 1997 annual PM2.5
NAAQS.
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B. Demonstration of Maintenance
Along with the redesignation request,
Indiana submitted a revision to its PM2.5
SIP to include a maintenance plan for
the Indiana portion of the Louisville
area, as required by section 175A of the
CAA. Indiana’s plan demonstrates
maintenance of the 1997 annual PM2.5
standard through 2025 by showing that
current and future emissions of oxides
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of nitrogen (NOX), directly emitted
PM2.5, and sulfur dioxide (SO2) in the
area remain at or below attainment year
emission levels. Section 175A requires a
state seeking redesignation to
attainment to submit a SIP revision
which provides for the maintenance of
the NAAQS in the area ‘‘for at least 10
years after the redesignation.’’ See
September 4, 1992, memorandum from
John Calcagni, entitled ‘‘Procedures for
Processing Requests to Redesignate
Areas to Attainment,’’ p. 9. Where the
emissions inventory method of showing
maintenance is used, its purpose is to
show that emissions during the
maintenance period will not increase
over the attainment year inventory.
Calcagni Memorandum, pp. 9–10.
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As discussed in detail in the section
below, the state’s maintenance plan
submission expressly documents that
the area’s emissions inventories will
remain below the attainment year
inventories through 2025. In addition,
for the reasons set forth below, EPA
believes that the state’s submission, in
conjunction with additional supporting
information, further demonstrates that
the area will continue to maintain the
PM2.5 standard at least through 2026.
Thus, if EPA finalizes its proposed
approval of the redesignation request
and maintenance plan in 2016, it will be
based on a showing, in accordance with
section 175A, that the state’s
maintenance plan provides for
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maintenance for at least ten years after
redesignation.
Indiana’s plan demonstrates
maintenance of the 1997 annual PM2.5
NAAQS through 2025 by showing that
current and future emissions of NOX,
directly emitted PM2.5 and SO2 for the
area remain at or below attainment year
emission levels.
The rate of decline in emissions of
PM2.5, NOX, and SO2 from the
attainment year 2008 through 2025
(calculated from Table 2) indicates that
emissions inventory levels not only
significantly decline between 2008 and
2025, but that the reductions will
continue in 2026 and beyond. The
average annual rate of decline is 4,472
tons per year (tpy) for SO2, 1,052 tpy of
NOX, and 8.73 tpy of direct PM for the
Indiana portion of the Louisville area,
and average annual rate of decline is
4,436 tpy for SO2, 2,239 tpy of NOX, and
98.1 tpy of direct PM for the entire
Louisville area. These rates of decline
are consistent with monitored and
projected air quality trends, emissions
reductions achieved through emissions
controls and regulations that will
remain in place beyond 2026 and
through fleet turnover that will continue
beyond 2026, among other factors. We
are proposing to find the mobile source
contribution to these emissions is
expected to remain insignificant in 2026
and beyond because of fleet turnover in
upcoming years that will result in
cleaner vehicles and cleaner fuels.
A maintenance demonstration need
not be based on modeling. See Wall v.
EPA, 265 F.3d 426 (6th Cir. 2001), Sierra
Club v. EPA, 375 F. 3d 537 (7th Cir.
2004). See also 66 FR 53094, 53099–
53100 (October 19, 2001), 68 FR 25413,
25430–25432 (May 12, 2003), 78 FR
53272 (August 29, 2013). Indiana uses
emissions inventory projections for the
years 2015 and 2025 to demonstrate
maintenance for the entire Louisville
area. The projected emissions were
estimated by Indiana, with assistance
from the Lake Michigan Air Directors
Consortium (LADCO) and the Kentucky
Regional Planning and Development
Agency (KIPDA), who used the
MOVES2010a model for mobile source
projections. Projection modeling of
inventory emissions was done for the
2015 interim year emissions using
estimates based on the 2008 and 2015
LADCO modeling inventory, using
LADCO’s growth factors, for all sectors.
The 2025 maintenance year emission
estimates were based on emissions
estimates from the 2015 LADCO
modeling. Table 2 shows the 2008
attainment base year emission estimates
and the 2015 and 2025 emission
projections for the Louisville area, taken
from Indiana’s June 16, 2011,
submission.
TABLE 2—COMPARISON OF 2008, 2015 AND 2025 NOX, DIRECT PM2.5 AND SO2 EMISSION TOTALS (tpy) FOR THE
LOUISVILLE AREA
SO2
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2008 (baseline) .........................................................................................................................................
2015 ..........................................................................................................................................................
2025 ..........................................................................................................................................................
Change 2008–2025 ..................................................................................................................................
Table 2 shows that, for the period
between 2008 and the maintenance
projection for 2025, the Louisville area
will reduce NOX emissions by 38,078
tpy; direct PM2.5 emissions by 1,668 tpy;
and SO2 emissions by 75,420 tpy. The
2025 projected emissions levels are
significantly below attainment year
inventory levels, and, based on the rate
of decline, it is highly improbable that
any increases in these levels will occur
in 2026 and beyond. Thus, the
emissions inventories set forth in Table
2 show that the area will continue to
maintain the annual PM2.5 standards
during the maintenance period and at
least through 2026.
As Table 1 and 2 demonstrate,
monitored PM2.5 design value
concentrations in the Louisville area are
well below the NAAQS in the years
beyond 2008, an attainment year for the
area. Further, those values are trending
downward as time progresses. Based on
the future projections of emissions in
2025 showing significant emissions
reductions in direct PM2.5, NOX, and
SO2, it is very unlikely that monitored
PM2.5 values in 2026 and beyond will
show violations of the NAAQS.
Additionally, the 2013–2015 design
value of 11.7 mg/m3 provides a sufficient
margin for the 1997 standard in the
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NOX
151,503.01 ...........
76,958.54 .............
76,082.07 .............
¥75,420.94 ..........
50% decrease ......
97,533.93 .............
69,936.67 .............
59,455.17 .............
¥38,078.76 ..........
39% decrease ......
unlikely event emissions rise slightly in
the future.
C. CAIR and CSAPR
In its redesignation request and
maintenance plan, the state identified
the Clean Air Interstate Rule (CAIR) as
a permanent and enforceable measure
that contributed to attainment in the
Louisville Area. CAIR created regional
cap-and-trade programs to reduce SO2
and NOX emissions in 27 eastern states,
including Indiana, that contributed to
downwind nonattainment or interfered
with maintenance of the 1997 8-hour
ozone NAAQS and the 1997 PM2.5
NAAQS. See 70 FR 25162 (May 12,
2005). Indiana adopted CAIR budgets
into its SIP on November 1, 2006, with
emission reductions beginning in 2010
and extending into 2015. By 2007, the
beginning of the attainment time period
identified by Indiana, CAIR had begun
achieving emission reductions in the
state.
In 2008, the United States Court of
Appeals for the District of Columbia
Circuit (D.C. Circuit) vacated CAIR,
North Carolina v. EPA, 531 F.3d 896
(D.C. Cir. 2008); but ultimately
remanded the rule to EPA without
vacatur to preserve the environmental
benefits provided by CAIR, North
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PM2.5
6,724.02.
5,540.29.
5,055.61.
¥1,668.41.
25% decrease.
Carolina v. EPA, 550 F.3d 1176, 1178
(D.C. Cir. 2008). On August 8, 2011 (76
FR 48208), acting on the D.C. Circuit’s
remand, EPA promulgated CSAPR to
replace CAIR and, thus, to address the
interstate transport of emissions
contributing to nonattainment and
interfering with maintenance of the two
air quality standards covered by CAIR as
well as the 2006 PM2.5 NAAQS. CSAPR
requires substantial reductions of SO2
and NOX emissions from emission
generating units (EGUs) in 28 states in
the eastern United States. As a general
matter, because CSAPR is CAIR’s
replacement, emissions reductions
associated with CAIR will for most areas
be made permanent and enforceable
through implementation of CSAPR.
Numerous parties filed petitions for
review of CSAPR in the D.C. Circuit,
and on August 21, 2012, the court
issued its ruling, vacating and
remanding CSAPR to EPA and ordering
continued implementation of CAIR.
EME Homer City Generation, L.P. v.
EPA, 696 F.3d 7, 38 (D.C. Cir. 2012). The
D.C. Circuit’s vacatur of CSAPR was
reversed by the United States Supreme
Court on April 29, 2014, and the case
was remanded to the D.C. Circuit to
resolve remaining issues in accordance
with the high court’s ruling. EPA v. EME
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Homer City Generation, L.P., 134 S. Ct.
1584 (2014). On remand, the D.C.
Circuit affirmed CSAPR in most
respects, but invalidated without
vacating some of the CSAPR budgets as
to a number of states. EME Homer City
Generation, L.P. v. EPA, 795 F.3d 118
(D.C. Cir. 2015) (EME Homer City II).
The Phase 2 annual and ozone season
NOX and SO2 budgets for Indiana are
not affected by the Court’s decision. The
litigation over CSAPR ultimately
delayed implementation of that rule for
three years, from January 1, 2012, when
CSAPR’s cap-and-trade programs were
originally scheduled to replace the CAIR
cap-and-trade programs, to January 1,
2015. CSAPR’s Phase 2 budgets were
originally promulgated to begin on
January 1, 2014, and are now scheduled
to begin on January 1, 2017. CSAPR will
continue to operate under the existing
emissions budgets until EPA addresses
the D.C. Circuit’s remand. The Court’s
decision did not affect Indiana’s CSAPR
emissions budgets; therefore, CSAPR
ensures that the NOX and SO2 emissions
reductions associated with CAIR and
CSPAR throughout Indiana are
permanent and enforceable.1
In its redesignation request, Indiana
noted that a number of states
contributed to PM2.5 concentrations in
the Louisville area based on EPA air
quality modeling. Additionally, an air
quality modeling analysis conducted by
IDEM demonstrates that the Louisville
area would be able to attain the PM2.5
standard even in the absence of either
CAIR or CSAPR. See appendices H and
I of Indiana’s redesignation request
found in the docket. This modeling is
available in the docket for this proposed
redesignation action.
To the extent that Louisville relies on
CSAPR for maintenance of the standard,
EPA has identified the Louisville area as
having been significantly impacted by
pollution transported from other states
in both CAIR and CSAPR, and these
rules greatly reduced the tons of SO2
and NOX emissions generated in the
states upwind of the area. The air
quality modeling performed for the
CSAPR rulemaking identified the
following states as having contributed to
PM2.5 concentrations in the Louisville
area: Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky,
Michigan, Missouri, Ohio,
Pennsylvania, Tennessee, West Virginia
and Wisconsin. See 76 FR 48208(August
8, 2011). Even though the first phase of
CAIR implementation for SO2 did not
begin until 2010, many sources began
1 2009–2011 design values are the design values
for the area prior to data issues, and design values
for 2013–2015 are the most recent three years of
monitoring data showing that the area is attaining
the standard.
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reducing their emissions well in
advance of the first compliance deadline
because of the incentives offered by
CAIR for early compliance with the rule.
The emission reductions in the states
upwind of the Louisville area achieved
by CAIR, and made permanent by
CSAPR, are unaffected by the D.C.
Circuit’s remand of CSAPR.2
III. Summary of Proposed Actions
EPA is issuing a supplement to its
action, published July 11, 2013, which
proposed to redesignate the Indiana
portion of the Louisville area to
attainment for the 1997 annual PM2.5
NAAQS, to approve the associated
maintenance plan, and to approve the
state’s emission inventory. EPA is
concluding that the most current three
year design values show that the area is
attaining the standard and preliminary
values show the area continues to attain
the 1997 annual PM2.5 NAAQS. EPA
also determined that the projections
used in the states submittal meet the
requirements of the maintenance plan
out-year emission projections. EPA
concluded that the CSAPR remanded
budgets did not affect the area’s ability
to attain through permanent and
enforceable measures and will not affect
the area’s ability to maintain the
standard. EPA is seeking comment only
on the issues raised in this
supplemental proposal, and is not reopening comment on other issues
addressed in its prior proposal.
IV. Statutory and Executive Order
Reviews
Under the CAA, redesignation of an
area to attainment and the
accompanying approval of a
maintenance plan under section
107(d)(3)(E) are actions that affect the
status of a geographical area and do not
impose any additional regulatory
requirements on sources beyond those
imposed by state law. A redesignation to
attainment does not in and of itself
create any new requirements, but rather
results in the applicability of
requirements contained in the CAA for
areas that have been redesignated to
attainment. Moreover, the Administrator
is required to approve a SIP submission
that complies with the provisions of the
CAA and applicable Federal regulations.
42 U.S.C. 7410(k); 40 CFR 52.02(a).
Thus, in reviewing SIP submissions,
2 The D.C. Circuit in EME Homer City II remanded
the SO2 trading program budgets for four states,
none of which were identified as contributing to the
Louisville area. Moreover, updated air quality
modeling performed for the CSAPR identified that
the Louisville area can attain and maintain the 1997
PM2.5 NAAQS and no modeled issues for the 2012
NAAQS 76 FR 48207, 48241 (August 8, 2011) and
Page memo, March 17, 2016.
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EPA’s role is to approve state choices,
provided that they meet the criteria of
the CAA. Accordingly, these proposed
actions do not impose additional
requirements beyond those imposed by
state law and the CAA. For that reason,
these proposed actions:
• Are not ‘‘significant regulatory
actions’’ subject to review by the Office
of Management and Budget under
Executive Orders 12866 (58 FR 51735,
October 4, 1993) and 13563 (76 FR 3821,
January 21, 2011);
• Do not impose an information
collection burden under the provisions
of the Paperwork Reduction Act (44
U.S.C. 3501 et seq.);
• Are 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.);
• Do 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);
• Do not have Federalism
implications as specified in Executive
Order 13132 (64 FR 43255, August 10,
1999);
• Are not economically significant
regulatory actions based on health or
safety risks subject to Executive Order
13045 (62 FR 19885, April 23, 1997);
• Are not significant regulatory
actions subject to Executive Order
13211 (66 FR 28355, May 22, 2001);
• Are 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
• Do 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 rule does
not have tribal implications as specified
by Executive Order 13175 (65 FR 67249,
November 9, 2000), because a
determination of attainment is an action
that affects the status of a geographical
area and does not impose any new
regulatory requirements on tribes,
impact any existing sources of air
pollution on tribal lands, nor impair the
maintenance of ozone national ambient
air quality standards in tribal lands.
List of Subjects
40 CFR Part 52
Environmental protection, Air
pollution control, Incorporation by
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40838
Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 121 / Thursday, June 23, 2016 / Proposed Rules
reference, Intergovernmental relations,
Particulate matter.
40 CFR Part 81
Environmental protection, Air
pollution control, National parks,
Wilderness areas.
Dated: June 1, 2016.
Robert A. Kaplan,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region 5.
[FR Doc. 2016–14806 Filed 6–22–16; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560–50–P
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration
50 CFR Part 648
[150306232–6491–01]
RIN 0648–BE96
Fisheries of the Northeastern United
States; Monkfish; Framework
Adjustment 9
National Marine Fisheries
Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),
Commerce.
ACTION: Proposed rule; request for
comments.
AGENCY:
We are proposing to approve
and implement regulations submitted by
the New England and Mid-Atlantic
Fishery Management Councils in
Framework Adjustment 9 to the
Monkfish Fishery Management Plan.
This action is necessary to better
achieve the goals and objectives of the
management plan and achieve optimum
yield. The proposed action is intended
to enhance the operational and
economic efficiency of existing
management measures and increase
monkfish landings.
DATES: Public comments must be
received by July 8, 2016.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments
on this document, identified by NOAA–
NMFS–2015–0045, by either of the
following methods:
• Electronic Submission: Submit all
electronic public comments via the
Federal e-Rulemaking Portal. Go to
www.regulations.gov/
#!docketDetail;D=NOAA-NMFS-20150045, click the ‘‘Comment Now!’’ icon,
complete the required fields, and enter
or attach your comments.
• Mail: Submit written comments to
John K. Bullard, Regional
Administrator, National Marine
Fisheries Service, 55 Great Republic
Drive, Gloucester, MA 01930–2276.
asabaliauskas on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with PROPOSALS
SUMMARY:
VerDate Sep<11>2014
17:14 Jun 22, 2016
Jkt 238001
Mark the outside of the envelope:
‘‘Comments on Monkfish Framework
9.’’
Instructions: Comments sent by any
other method, to any other address or
individual, or received after the end of
the comment period, may not be
considered by NMFS. All comments
received are a part of the public record
and will generally be posted for public
viewing on www.regulations.gov
without change. All personal identifying
information (e.g., name, address, etc.),
confidential business information, or
otherwise sensitive information
submitted voluntarily by the sender will
be publicly accessible. NMFS will
accept anonymous comments (enter ‘‘N/
A’’ in the required fields if you wish to
remain anonymous). Attachments to
electronic comments will be accepted in
Microsoft Word, Excel, or Adobe PDF
file formats only.
New England Fishery Management
Council staff prepared an environmental
assessment (EA) for Monkfish
Framework Adjustment 9 that describes
the proposed action and other
considered alternatives. The EA
provides a thorough analysis of the
biological, economic, and social impacts
of the proposed measures and other
considered alternatives, a preliminary
Regulatory Impact Review, and
economic analysis. Copies of the
Framework 9 EA are available on
request from Thomas A. Nies, Executive
Director, New England Fishery
Management Council, 50 Water Street,
Newburyport, MA 01950. This
document is also available from the
following internet addresses: https://
www.greateratlantic.fisheries.noaa.gov/
or https://www.nefmc.org.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Allison Murphy, Fishery Policy Analyst,
(978) 281–9122.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
The monkfish fishery is jointly
managed under the Monkfish Fishery
Management Plan (FMP) by the New
England and the Mid-Atlantic Fishery
Management Councils. The fishery
extends from Maine to North Carolina
from the coast out to the end of the
continental shelf. The Councils manage
the fishery as two management units,
with the Northern Fishery Management
Area (NFMA) covering the Gulf of
Maine (GOM) and northern part of
Georges Bank (GB), and the Southern
Fishery Management Area (SFMA)
extending from the southern flank of GB
through Southern New England (SNE)
and into the Mid-Atlantic (MA) Bight to
North Carolina.
PO 00000
Frm 00016
Fmt 4702
Sfmt 4702
Monkfish are often caught while
fishing for Northeast (NE) multispecies,
particularly in the NFMA. This has
resulted in two closely related fisheries
as a majority of monkfish vessels
operating in the NFMA are issued both
monkfish and NE multispecies permits.
Because this action proposes to modify
some requirements for NE multispecies
sector vessels, it is also considered
Framework Adjustment 54 to the NE
Multispecies FMP.
The monkfish fishery is primarily
managed by landing limits and a yearly
allocation of monkfish days-at-sea
(DAS) calculated to enable vessels
participating in the fishery to catch, but
not exceed, the target total allowable
landings (TAL) and the annual catch
target (ACT, the TAL plus an estimate
of expected discards) in each
management area. Both the ACT and the
TAL are calculated to maximize yield in
the fishery over the long term. Based on
a yearly evaluation of the monkfish
fishery, the Councils may revise existing
management measures through the
framework provisions of the FMP,
including DAS allocations and landing
limits, to better achieve the goals and
objectives of the FMP and achieve
optimum yield (OY), as required by the
Magnuson-Stevens Fishery
Conservation and Management Act.
Amendment 5 (76 FR 30265; May 25,
2011) defined OY as fully harvesting the
ACT.
We completed an operational stock
assessment in May 2013 to update the
state of the monkfish stocks and provide
projections to assist with setting future
catch levels. The 2013 assessment
update revised existing biological
reference points, including a substantial
reduction in the overfishing level, and
concluded that the two monkfish stocks
are neither overfished nor subject to
overfishing.
The monkfish fishery has failed to
fully harvest the available ACT each
year since 2011, particularly in the
NFMA where the under-harvest has
been more substantial. As a result, the
fishery has not been achieving OY in
either area in recent years. The Councils
developed Framework 9 to enhance the
operational efficiency of existing
management measures in an effort to
better achieve OY.
Proposed Measures
1. Monkfish Possession Limits in the
NFMA
This action would revise monkfish
possession limits specified in 50 CFR
648.94 to help increase monkfish
landings and better achieve the ACT
caught in the NFMA. Specifically, this
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]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 121 (Thursday, June 23, 2016)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 40834-40838]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-14806]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Parts 52 and 81
[EPA-R05-OAR-2011-0698; FRL-9948-00-Region 5]
Approval and Promulgation of Air Quality Implementation Plans;
Indiana; Redesignation of the Indiana Portion of the Louisville Area to
Attainment of the 1997 Annual Standard for Fine Particulate Matter
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Proposed rule; supplemental.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is issuing a
supplement to its July 11, 2013, proposed approval of Indiana's request
to redesignate the Indiana portion of the Louisville, Indiana-Kentucky,
area to attainment for the 1997 annual national ambient air quality
standard (NAAQS or standard) for fine particulate matter
(PM2.5). After EPA's proposed redesignation in 2013, an
audit of the Kentucky monitoring program identified problems which
invalidated monitoring data for 2012 and the beginning of 2013. Because
of this invalid data, the area could not meet the requirement that the
entire area must demonstrate attainment of the standard using the most
current three years of data. This supplemental proposal provides new
quality-assured, quality-controlled data for the most recent three
years of data showing that the entire area attains the 1997
PM2.5 standard. In the supplemental proposal EPA is
proposing that the entire Louisville area is attaining the 1997
PM2.5 NAAQS based on the most recent three years of data.
EPA also discusses the maintenance plan out-year emission projections,
and the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule (CSAPR) remanded budgets impact
on the Louisville area--because the status of these issues has changed
from the initial proposal to now. EPA is seeking comment only on the
issues raised in this supplemental proposal, and is not re-opening for
comment other issues raised in the July 11, 2013, proposed approval.
DATES: Comments must be received on or before July 25, 2016.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-R05-
OAR-2011-0698 at https://www.regulations.gov or via email to
blakley.pamela@epa.gov. For comments submitted at Regulations.gov,
follow the online instructions for submitting comments. Once submitted,
comments cannot be edited or removed from Regulations.gov. For either
manner of submission, 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. 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, please contact the person
identified in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section. For the full
EPA public comment policy, information about CBI or multimedia
submissions, and general guidance on making effective comments, please
visit https://www2.epa.gov/dockets/commenting-epa-dockets.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Carolyn Persoon, Environmental
Engineer, Control Strategies Section, Air Programs Branch (AR-18J),
Environmental Protection Agency, Region 5, 77 West Jackson Boulevard,
Chicago, Illinois 60604, (312) 353-8290, persoon.carolyn@epa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Throughout this document whenever ``we,''
``us,'' or ``our'' is used, we mean EPA. This SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION
section is arranged as follows:
I. What is the background for the supplemental proposal?
II. On what specific issues is EPA taking comment?
A. Louisville Area Design Values for 2013-2015; Entire Area
Monitoring Attainment
B. Demonstration of Maintenance
C. CAIR and CSAPR
III. Summary of Proposed Actions
IV. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews
I. What is the background for the supplemental proposal?
On June 16, 2011, the Indiana Department of Environmental
Management (IDEM) submitted a request for EPA to approve the
redesignation of the Indiana portion of the Louisville (KY-IN) (Madison
Township, Indiana, Jefferson County, Kentucky and Clark and Floyd
Counties, Indiana) nonattainment area to attainment of the 1997
PM2.5 annual standard. Indiana's June 16, 2011,
redesignation submittal contained complete, quality-assured and
certified air monitoring data for the years 2008-2010.
On July 11, 2013, EPA proposed to determine that the Indiana
portion of the Louisville area had met the requirements for
redesignation under section 107(d)(3)(E) of the Clean Air Act (CAA) (78
FR 41735). This proposal was based upon our review of ambient air
monitoring data from 2009-2011, and preliminary data from 2012. It
contained several related actions.
First, EPA proposed to approve the request from IDEM to change the
legal designation of the Indiana portion of the Louisville area from
nonattainment to attainment for the 1997 annual PM2.5 NAAQS.
EPA also proposed to approve Indiana's PM2.5 maintenance
plan for the Indiana portion of the Louisville area as a revision to
the Indiana state implementation plan (SIP) because the plan met the
requirements of section 175A of the CAA. In addition, EPA proposed to
approve emissions inventories for primary PM2.5, and all its
precursors as satisfying the requirement in section 172(c)(3) of the
CAA for a comprehensive, current emission inventory. Finally, EPA
proposed a
[[Page 40835]]
motor vehicle emissions budget for the Indiana portion of the
Louisville area. EPA did not receive adverse comments on the proposed
rulemaking.
In August 2013, EPA issued results of a technical systems audit on
the PM2.5 laboratory in Kentucky, which invalidated the
Jefferson County monitoring data for all of 2012, and a small portion
of the monitoring data from 2013 (a portion of the first quarter). See
the docket for the technical systems audit information. Since the area
could no longer demonstrate attainment of the standard for the entire
area, EPA did not finalize its proposal. Kentucky began collecting
valid data in early 2013 (the end of the first quarter) after the
monitoring audit issues had been addressed, resulting in a valid design
value for the area using 2013-2015 data. Both Indiana and Kentucky
certified valid data for 2015 in the beginning of 2016. EPA has
approved the use of this quality-assured, quality-controlled certified
complete data for use in regulatory actions.
Today, EPA is publishing a supplement to its July 11, 2013,
proposed rulemaking. The supplement is based on valid design values for
the 2013-2015 period, demonstrating attainment of the standard for the
entire Louisville area using the most recent three years of data.
Preliminary data for 2016 shows that the entire Louisville area
continues to attain the standard. This proposal also discusses the
maintenance plan emission projections of 2025 and the impact of the
budgets remanded under CSAPR on the Louisville area because the status
of these issues has changed from the initial proposal.
II. On what specific issues is EPA taking comments?
In this portion of EPA's supplemental proposal, EPA is soliciting
comment on the limited issue of the 2013-2015 design values
demonstrating attainment of the standard for the entire Louisville
area, the maintenance plan emission projections for 2025, and the
impact on the Louisville area of the 2015 D.C. Circuit decision
remanding certain CSAPR budgets.
A. Louisville Area Design Values for 2013-2015; Entire Area Monitoring
Attainment
EPA is proposing to determine that the Louisville area is attaining
the 1997 annual PM2.5 NAAQS based upon the most recent three
years of complete, certified and quality-assured data. Under EPA's
regulations at 40 CFR 50.7, the 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([micro]g/m\3\)at all monitoring sites in the area. Data are
considered to be sufficient for comparison to the NAAQS if three
consecutive complete years of data exist. A complete year of air
quality data is comprised of four calendar quarters, with each quarter
containing data from at least 75% capture of the scheduled sampling
days. In this case, the 2009-2011 values were calculated prior to the
audit invalidating data collected in the Kentucky portion of Louisville
for 2012 and beginning of 2013 (portion of the first quarter). The
2013-2015 values are based on quality-assured, quality-controlled,
certified complete data, and only included valid data collected after
the audit issues were corrected. Preliminary data for 2016 shows the
area continues to attain the standard. The Louisville design value for
the most current three years of data is 11.7 [mu]g/m\3\.
Table 1--The 1997 Annual PM2.5 Design Values for the Louisville Monitor With Complete Data for the 2009-2011,\1\
and 2013-2015 Design Value in [micro]g/m\3\
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Design value Design value
County Site 2009-2011 2013-2015
([mu]g/m\3\) ([mu]g/m\3\)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Clark County, IN................................................ 180190006 13.5 11.4
Clark County, IN................................................ 180190008 11.4 9.3
Floyd County, IN................................................ 180431004 12.3 10.0
Jefferson County, KY............................................ 211110043 12.6 11.3
Jefferson County, KY............................................ 211110051 12.7 11.7
Jefferson County, KY............................................ 211110067 12.1 10.5
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ 2009-2011 design values are the desigh values for the area prior to date issues, and design values for 2013-
2015 are the most recent three years of monitoring data showing that the area is attaining the standard.
Data recorded at monitors in 2013, 2014, and 2015 are considered
valid and were collected after corrective actions resulting from the
technical systems audit. These are the data on which EPA is basing its
decision that the Louisville area has attained the 1997 annual
PM2.5 NAAQS.
B. Demonstration of Maintenance
Along with the redesignation request, Indiana submitted a revision
to its PM2.5 SIP to include a maintenance plan for the
Indiana portion of the Louisville area, as required by section 175A of
the CAA. Indiana's plan demonstrates maintenance of the 1997 annual
PM2.5 standard through 2025 by showing that current and
future emissions of oxides of nitrogen (NOX), directly
emitted PM2.5, and sulfur dioxide (SO2) in the
area remain at or below attainment year emission levels. Section 175A
requires a state seeking redesignation to attainment to submit a SIP
revision which provides for the maintenance of the NAAQS in the area
``for at least 10 years after the redesignation.'' See September 4,
1992, memorandum from John Calcagni, entitled ``Procedures for
Processing Requests to Redesignate Areas to Attainment,'' p. 9. Where
the emissions inventory method of showing maintenance is used, its
purpose is to show that emissions during the maintenance period will
not increase over the attainment year inventory. Calcagni Memorandum,
pp. 9-10.
As discussed in detail in the section below, the state's
maintenance plan submission expressly documents that the area's
emissions inventories will remain below the attainment year inventories
through 2025. In addition, for the reasons set forth below, EPA
believes that the state's submission, in conjunction with additional
supporting information, further demonstrates that the area will
continue to maintain the PM2.5 standard at least through
2026. Thus, if EPA finalizes its proposed approval of the redesignation
request and maintenance plan in 2016, it will be based on a showing, in
accordance with section 175A, that the state's maintenance plan
provides for
[[Page 40836]]
maintenance for at least ten years after redesignation.
Indiana's plan demonstrates maintenance of the 1997 annual
PM2.5 NAAQS through 2025 by showing that current and future
emissions of NOX, directly emitted PM2.5 and
SO2 for the area remain at or below attainment year emission
levels.
The rate of decline in emissions of PM2.5,
NOX, and SO2 from the attainment year 2008
through 2025 (calculated from Table 2) indicates that emissions
inventory levels not only significantly decline between 2008 and 2025,
but that the reductions will continue in 2026 and beyond. The average
annual rate of decline is 4,472 tons per year (tpy) for SO2,
1,052 tpy of NOX, and 8.73 tpy of direct PM for the Indiana
portion of the Louisville area, and average annual rate of decline is
4,436 tpy for SO2, 2,239 tpy of NOX, and 98.1 tpy
of direct PM for the entire Louisville area. These rates of decline are
consistent with monitored and projected air quality trends, emissions
reductions achieved through emissions controls and regulations that
will remain in place beyond 2026 and through fleet turnover that will
continue beyond 2026, among other factors. We are proposing to find the
mobile source contribution to these emissions is expected to remain
insignificant in 2026 and beyond because of fleet turnover in upcoming
years that will result in cleaner vehicles and cleaner fuels.
A maintenance demonstration need not be based on modeling. See Wall
v. EPA, 265 F.3d 426 (6th Cir. 2001), Sierra Club v. EPA, 375 F. 3d 537
(7th Cir. 2004). See also 66 FR 53094, 53099-53100 (October 19, 2001),
68 FR 25413, 25430-25432 (May 12, 2003), 78 FR 53272 (August 29, 2013).
Indiana uses emissions inventory projections for the years 2015 and
2025 to demonstrate maintenance for the entire Louisville area. The
projected emissions were estimated by Indiana, with assistance from the
Lake Michigan Air Directors Consortium (LADCO) and the Kentucky
Regional Planning and Development Agency (KIPDA), who used the
MOVES2010a model for mobile source projections. Projection modeling of
inventory emissions was done for the 2015 interim year emissions using
estimates based on the 2008 and 2015 LADCO modeling inventory, using
LADCO's growth factors, for all sectors. The 2025 maintenance year
emission estimates were based on emissions estimates from the 2015
LADCO modeling. Table 2 shows the 2008 attainment base year emission
estimates and the 2015 and 2025 emission projections for the Louisville
area, taken from Indiana's June 16, 2011, submission.
Table 2--Comparison of 2008, 2015 and 2025 NOX, Direct PM2.5 and SO2 Emission Totals (tpy) for the Louisville
Area
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SO2 NOX PM2.5
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2008 (baseline).................. 151,503.01............... 97,533.93............... 6,724.02.
2015............................. 76,958.54................ 69,936.67............... 5,540.29.
2025............................. 76,082.07................ 59,455.17............... 5,055.61.
Change 2008-2025................. -75,420.94............... -38,078.76.............. -1,668.41.
50% decrease............. 39% decrease............ 25% decrease.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Table 2 shows that, for the period between 2008 and the maintenance
projection for 2025, the Louisville area will reduce NOX
emissions by 38,078 tpy; direct PM2.5 emissions by 1,668
tpy; and SO2 emissions by 75,420 tpy. The 2025 projected
emissions levels are significantly below attainment year inventory
levels, and, based on the rate of decline, it is highly improbable that
any increases in these levels will occur in 2026 and beyond. Thus, the
emissions inventories set forth in Table 2 show that the area will
continue to maintain the annual PM2.5 standards during the
maintenance period and at least through 2026.
As Table 1 and 2 demonstrate, monitored PM2.5 design
value concentrations in the Louisville area are well below the NAAQS in
the years beyond 2008, an attainment year for the area. Further, those
values are trending downward as time progresses. Based on the future
projections of emissions in 2025 showing significant emissions
reductions in direct PM2.5, NOX, and
SO2, it is very unlikely that monitored PM2.5
values in 2026 and beyond will show violations of the NAAQS.
Additionally, the 2013-2015 design value of 11.7 [mu]g/m\3\ provides a
sufficient margin for the 1997 standard in the unlikely event emissions
rise slightly in the future.
C. CAIR and CSAPR
In its redesignation request and maintenance plan, the state
identified the Clean Air Interstate Rule (CAIR) as a permanent and
enforceable measure that contributed to attainment in the Louisville
Area. CAIR created regional cap-and-trade programs to reduce
SO2 and NOX emissions in 27 eastern states,
including Indiana, that contributed to downwind nonattainment or
interfered with maintenance of the 1997 8-hour ozone NAAQS and the 1997
PM2.5 NAAQS. See 70 FR 25162 (May 12, 2005). Indiana adopted
CAIR budgets into its SIP on November 1, 2006, with emission reductions
beginning in 2010 and extending into 2015. By 2007, the beginning of
the attainment time period identified by Indiana, CAIR had begun
achieving emission reductions in the state.
In 2008, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of
Columbia Circuit (D.C. Circuit) vacated CAIR, North Carolina v. EPA,
531 F.3d 896 (D.C. Cir. 2008); but ultimately remanded the rule to EPA
without vacatur to preserve the environmental benefits provided by
CAIR, North Carolina v. EPA, 550 F.3d 1176, 1178 (D.C. Cir. 2008). On
August 8, 2011 (76 FR 48208), acting on the D.C. Circuit's remand, EPA
promulgated CSAPR to replace CAIR and, thus, to address the interstate
transport of emissions contributing to nonattainment and interfering
with maintenance of the two air quality standards covered by CAIR as
well as the 2006 PM2.5 NAAQS. CSAPR requires substantial
reductions of SO2 and NOX emissions from emission
generating units (EGUs) in 28 states in the eastern United States. As a
general matter, because CSAPR is CAIR's replacement, emissions
reductions associated with CAIR will for most areas be made permanent
and enforceable through implementation of CSAPR.
Numerous parties filed petitions for review of CSAPR in the D.C.
Circuit, and on August 21, 2012, the court issued its ruling, vacating
and remanding CSAPR to EPA and ordering continued implementation of
CAIR. EME Homer City Generation, L.P. v. EPA, 696 F.3d 7, 38 (D.C. Cir.
2012). The D.C. Circuit's vacatur of CSAPR was reversed by the United
States Supreme Court on April 29, 2014, and the case was remanded to
the D.C. Circuit to resolve remaining issues in accordance with the
high court's ruling. EPA v. EME
[[Page 40837]]
Homer City Generation, L.P., 134 S. Ct. 1584 (2014). On remand, the
D.C. Circuit affirmed CSAPR in most respects, but invalidated without
vacating some of the CSAPR budgets as to a number of states. EME Homer
City Generation, L.P. v. EPA, 795 F.3d 118 (D.C. Cir. 2015) (EME Homer
City II). The Phase 2 annual and ozone season NOX and
SO2 budgets for Indiana are not affected by the Court's
decision. The litigation over CSAPR ultimately delayed implementation
of that rule for three years, from January 1, 2012, when CSAPR's cap-
and-trade programs were originally scheduled to replace the CAIR cap-
and-trade programs, to January 1, 2015. CSAPR's Phase 2 budgets were
originally promulgated to begin on January 1, 2014, and are now
scheduled to begin on January 1, 2017. CSAPR will continue to operate
under the existing emissions budgets until EPA addresses the D.C.
Circuit's remand. The Court's decision did not affect Indiana's CSAPR
emissions budgets; therefore, CSAPR ensures that the NOX and
SO2 emissions reductions associated with CAIR and CSPAR
throughout Indiana are permanent and enforceable.\1\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ 2009-2011 design values are the design values for the area
prior to data issues, and design values for 2013-2015 are the most
recent three years of monitoring data showing that the area is
attaining the standard.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
In its redesignation request, Indiana noted that a number of states
contributed to PM2.5 concentrations in the Louisville area
based on EPA air quality modeling. Additionally, an air quality
modeling analysis conducted by IDEM demonstrates that the Louisville
area would be able to attain the PM2.5 standard even in the
absence of either CAIR or CSAPR. See appendices H and I of Indiana's
redesignation request found in the docket. This modeling is available
in the docket for this proposed redesignation action.
To the extent that Louisville relies on CSAPR for maintenance of
the standard, EPA has identified the Louisville area as having been
significantly impacted by pollution transported from other states in
both CAIR and CSAPR, and these rules greatly reduced the tons of
SO2 and NOX emissions generated in the states
upwind of the area. The air quality modeling performed for the CSAPR
rulemaking identified the following states as having contributed to
PM2.5 concentrations in the Louisville area: Illinois,
Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee,
West Virginia and Wisconsin. See 76 FR 48208(August 8, 2011). Even
though the first phase of CAIR implementation for SO2 did
not begin until 2010, many sources began reducing their emissions well
in advance of the first compliance deadline because of the incentives
offered by CAIR for early compliance with the rule. The emission
reductions in the states upwind of the Louisville area achieved by
CAIR, and made permanent by CSAPR, are unaffected by the D.C. Circuit's
remand of CSAPR.\2\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\2\ The D.C. Circuit in EME Homer City II remanded the
SO2 trading program budgets for four states, none of
which were identified as contributing to the Louisville area.
Moreover, updated air quality modeling performed for the CSAPR
identified that the Louisville area can attain and maintain the 1997
PM2.5 NAAQS and no modeled issues for the 2012 NAAQS 76
FR 48207, 48241 (August 8, 2011) and Page memo, March 17, 2016.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
III. Summary of Proposed Actions
EPA is issuing a supplement to its action, published July 11, 2013,
which proposed to redesignate the Indiana portion of the Louisville
area to attainment for the 1997 annual PM2.5 NAAQS, to
approve the associated maintenance plan, and to approve the state's
emission inventory. EPA is concluding that the most current three year
design values show that the area is attaining the standard and
preliminary values show the area continues to attain the 1997 annual
PM2.5 NAAQS. EPA also determined that the projections used
in the states submittal meet the requirements of the maintenance plan
out-year emission projections. EPA concluded that the CSAPR remanded
budgets did not affect the area's ability to attain through permanent
and enforceable measures and will not affect the area's ability to
maintain the standard. EPA is seeking comment only on the issues raised
in this supplemental proposal, and is not re-opening comment on other
issues addressed in its prior proposal.
IV. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews
Under the CAA, redesignation of an area to attainment and the
accompanying approval of a maintenance plan under section 107(d)(3)(E)
are actions that affect the status of a geographical area and do not
impose any additional regulatory requirements on sources beyond those
imposed by state law. A redesignation to attainment does not in and of
itself create any new requirements, but rather results in the
applicability of requirements contained in the CAA for areas that have
been redesignated to attainment. Moreover, the Administrator is
required to approve a SIP submission that complies with the provisions
of the CAA 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 CAA.
Accordingly, these proposed actions do not impose additional
requirements beyond those imposed by state law and the CAA. For that
reason, these proposed actions:
Are not ``significant regulatory actions'' subject to
review by the Office of Management and Budget under Executive Orders
12866 (58 FR 51735, October 4, 1993) and 13563 (76 FR 3821, January 21,
2011);
Do not impose an information collection burden under the
provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.);
Are 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.);
Do 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);
Do not have Federalism implications as specified in
Executive Order 13132 (64 FR 43255, August 10, 1999);
Are not economically significant regulatory actions based
on health or safety risks subject to Executive Order 13045 (62 FR
19885, April 23, 1997);
Are not significant regulatory actions subject to
Executive Order 13211 (66 FR 28355, May 22, 2001);
Are 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
Do 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 rule does not have tribal implications
as specified by Executive Order 13175 (65 FR 67249, November 9, 2000),
because a determination of attainment is an action that affects the
status of a geographical area and does not impose any new regulatory
requirements on tribes, impact any existing sources of air pollution on
tribal lands, nor impair the maintenance of ozone national ambient air
quality standards in tribal lands.
List of Subjects
40 CFR Part 52
Environmental protection, Air pollution control, Incorporation by
[[Page 40838]]
reference, Intergovernmental relations, Particulate matter.
40 CFR Part 81
Environmental protection, Air pollution control, National parks,
Wilderness areas.
Dated: June 1, 2016.
Robert A. Kaplan,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region 5.
[FR Doc. 2016-14806 Filed 6-22-16; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P
