Finding of Failure To Attain for the Missouri Portion of the St. Louis Nonattainment Area for the 2015 Ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standards, 26240-26244 [2025-11304]
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Federal Register / Vol. 90, No. 117 / Friday, June 20, 2025 / Proposed Rules
J. National Technology Transfer and
Advancement Act (NTTAA)
Section 12(d) of the NTTAA directs
the EPA to use voluntary consensus
standards in its regulatory activities
unless to do so would be inconsistent
with applicable law or otherwise
impractical. The EPA believes that this
action is not subject to the requirements
of section 12(d) of the NTTAA because
application of those requirements would
be inconsistent with the CAA.
List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 52
Environmental protection, Air
pollution control, Incorporation by
reference, Intergovernmental relations,
Sulfur oxides, Reporting and
recordkeeping requirements.
Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.
Dated: June 2, 2025.
Joshua F.W. Cook,
Regional Administrator, Region IX.
[FR Doc. 2025–11326 Filed 6–18–25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560–50–P
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
AGENCY
40 CFR Part 81
[EPA–R7–OAR–2025–0291; FRL–12824–01–
R7]
Finding of Failure To Attain for the
Missouri Portion of the St. Louis
Nonattainment Area for the 2015
Ozone National Ambient Air Quality
Standards
Table of Contents
Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Proposed rule.
AGENCY:
The Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) is accepting comment on
a determination that the Missouri
portion of the St. Louis, MO-IL bi-state
nonattainment area failed to attain the
2015 8-hour ozone National Ambient
Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) by the
applicable attainment date. The effect of
failing to attain by the applicable
attainment date is that the area is
reclassified by operation of law to
‘‘Serious’’ nonattainment for the 2015
ozone NAAQS. On November 25, 2024,
the EPA published a final action in the
Federal Register which determined that
the St. Louis area failed to attain the
2015 ozone NAAQS by the Moderate
area attainment date. That action also
reclassified the area to Serious by
operation of law with an effective date
of December 31, 2024. On January 24,
2025, the EPA received a petition for
reconsideration of that final action from
the State of Missouri. On March 5, 2025,
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EPA Region 7 granted the petition for
reconsideration and stated our intention
to undergo a notice and comment
rulemaking. Therefore, the EPA is
accepting comment on the
determination that the St. Louis area
failed to attain by the attainment date.
The Illinois portion of the St. Louis,
MO-IL bi-state area is addressed
separately.
DATES: Comments must be received on
or before July 21, 2025.
ADDRESSES: You may send comments,
identified by Docket ID No. EPA–R07–
OAR–2025–0291 to https://
www.regulations.gov. Follow the online
instructions for submitting comments.
Instructions: All submissions received
must include the Docket ID No. for this
rulemaking. Comments received will be
posted without change to https://
www.regulations.gov, including any
personal information provided. For
detailed instructions on sending
comments and additional information
on the rulemaking process, see the
‘‘Written Comments’’ heading of the
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of
this document.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Ashley Keas, Environmental Protection
Agency, Region 7 Office, Air and
Radiation Division, 11201 Renner
Boulevard, Lenexa, Kansas 66219;
telephone number: (913) 551–7629;
email address: keas.ashley@epa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Throughout this document ‘‘we,’’ ‘‘us,’’
and ‘‘our’’ refer to the EPA.
I. Written Comments
II. Overview of Action
III. What is the background for this action?
IV. What is the statutory authority for this
action?
V. How does the EPA determine whether an
area has attained the standard?
VI. What is the EPA’s determination for the
area?
VII. What action is the EPA proposing to
take?
VIII. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews
I. Written Comments
Submit your comments, identified by
Docket ID No. EPA–R07–OAR–2025–
0291, at https://www.regulations.gov.
Once submitted, comments cannot be
edited or removed from Regulations.gov.
The EPA may publish any comment
received to its public docket. Do not
submit electronically any information
you consider to be Confidential
Business Information (CBI) or other
information whose disclosure is
restricted by statute. Multimedia
submissions (audio, video, etc.) must be
accompanied by a written comment.
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The written comment is considered the
official comment and should include
discussion of all points you wish to
make. The EPA will generally not
consider comments or comment
contents located outside of the primary
submission i.e., on the web, cloud, or
other file sharing system). For
additional submission methods, the full
EPA public comment policy,
information about CBI or multimedia
submissions, and general guidance on
making effective comments, please visit
https://www.epa.gov/dockets/
commenting-epa-dockets.
II. Overview of Action
On November 25, 2024, the EPA
published a final action in the Federal
Register which determined that the St.
Louis area failed to attain the 2015
ozone NAAQS by the August 3, 2024,
Moderate area attainment date. (See 89
FR 92816) That action also reclassified
the area to Serious by operation of law
with an effective date of December 31,
2024. On January 24, 2025, the EPA
received a petition for reconsideration
of that final action from the State of
Missouri. On March 5, 2025, EPA
Region 7 granted the petition for
reconsideration and stated our intention
to undergo a notice and comment
rulemaking. Therefore, the EPA is
publishing this proposed rule to accept
comment on the determination that the
St. Louis area failed to attain the 2015
ozone standard by the Moderate area
attainment date.
The EPA is required to determine
whether areas designated nonattainment
for an ozone NAAQS attained the
standard by the applicable attainment
date, and to take certain steps for areas
that failed to attain (see CAA section
181(b)(2)). Per the explicit statutory
language of CAA section 181(b)(2), the
EPA’s determination of attainment by
the attainment date must be based on a
nonattainment area’s design value (DV)
as of the attainment date.1
The 2015 ozone NAAQS is met at an
EPA regulatory monitoring site when
the DV does not exceed 0.070 parts per
million (ppm). For Moderate
nonattainment areas for the 2015 ozone
NAAQS, the attainment date was
August 3, 2024. Because the DV is based
1 A DV is a statistic used to compare data
collected at an ambient air quality monitoring site
to the applicable NAAQS to determine compliance
with the standard. The data handling conventions
for calculating DVs for the 2015 ozone NAAQS are
specified in appendix U to 40 CFR part 50. The DV
for the 2015 ozone NAAQS is the 3-year average of
the annual fourth highest daily maximum 8-hour
average ozone concentration. The DV is calculated
for each air quality monitor in an area, and the DV
for an area is the highest DV among the individual
monitoring sites located in the area.
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on the three most recent, complete
calendar years of data, attainment must
occur no later than December 31 of the
year prior to the attainment date (i.e.,
December 31, 2023, in the case of
Moderate nonattainment areas for the
2015 ozone NAAQS). As such, the
EPA’s determinations for the Moderate
nonattainment areas for the 2015 ozone
NAAQS are based upon the complete,
quality-assured, and certified ozone
monitoring data from calendar years
2021, 2022, and 2023.
This action addresses the Missouri
portion of the St. Louis bi-state
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nonattainment area (hereafter St. Louis
area) that was classified as Moderate for
the 2015 ozone NAAQS as of the
Moderate area attainment date of August
3, 2024. Table 1 provides a summary of
the DVs and the EPA’s air quality-based
determinations for the St. Louis area.
TABLE 1—SUMMARY OF NONATTAINMENT AREAS IN MISSOURI FOR THE 2015 OZONE NAAQS
2021–2023
Design value
(DV) (ppm)
Nonattainment area
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St. Louis ....................................................
0.074
The EPA is accepting comment on the
finding that the St. Louis area as shown
in Table 1 did not attain by the
attainment date, because the 2021–2023
DV is greater than 0.070 ppm. If the EPA
determines that a nonattainment area
classified as Moderate failed to attain by
the attainment date, CAA section
181(b)(2)(B) requires the EPA to publish
a notice in the Federal Register, no later
than 6 months following the attainment
date, identifying each such area and
identifying the applicable
reclassification. The EPA’s November
25, 2024, action fulfilled the EPA’s
obligation with respect to the St. Louis
area.
Under CAA section 181(b)(2)(A), areas
that EPA finds have failed to attain by
the attainment date are reclassified by
operation of law to the next higher
classification. The reclassification of the
St. Louis Area to Serious became
effective on December 31, 2024, and is
still in effect. As such, the St. Louis area
is currently subject to the Serious area
requirement to attain the 2015 ozone
NAAQS as expeditiously as practicable,
but not later than August 3, 2027.
Similarly, the other Serious area
requirements remain in effect.
Stationary air pollution sources in the
St. Louis ozone nonattainment area
became subject to Serious ozone
nonattainment area New Source Review
(NSR) and Title V permit requirements
as a result of the area’s reclassification.
The source applicability thresholds for
major sources and major source
modification emissions are now 50 tons
per year (tpy) for volatile organic
compounds (VOC) and nitrogen oxides
(NOX). For new and modified major
stationary sources subject to review
under Missouri regulation 10 CSR 10–
6.060, in the EPA approved SIP,2 VOC
2 Specifically, we are referring to the EPAapproved Missouri regulation 10 Code of State
Regulations (CSR) 10–6.060, titled ‘‘Construction
Permits Required.’’ Most recently revised and
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Attainment by the moderate area attainment date
Failed to attain.
and NOX emission increases from the
proposed construction of the new or
modified major stationary sources must
be offset by emission reductions by a
minimum offset ratio of 1.20 to 1 (see
CAA section 182(c)(10)). These
permitting requirements associated with
the Serious classification remain in
effect.
Additionally, Missouri must submit to
the EPA the SIP revisions for this area
that satisfy the statutory and regulatory
requirements applicable to Serious areas
established in CAA section 182(c), the
2015 Ozone NAAQS SIP Requirements
Rule (see 83 FR 62998, December 6,
2018) and the Ozone Reclassifications
Requirements Rule (see 90 FR 5651,
January 17, 2025), which also
established SIP submission and control
measure implementation deadlines for
newly reclassified areas (see 40 CFR
51.1402).
III. What is the background for this
action?
On October 26, 2015, the EPA issued
its final action to revise the NAAQS for
ozone to establish a new 8-hour
standard (see 80 FR 65452, October 26,
2015). In that action, the EPA
promulgated identical tighter primary
and secondary ozone standards
designed to protect public health and
welfare that specified an 8-hour ozone
level of 0.070 ppm. Specifically, the
standards require that the 3-year average
of the annual fourth highest daily
maximum 8-hour average ozone
concentration may not exceed 0.070
ppm.
Effective on August 3, 2018, the EPA
designated 52 areas throughout the
country as nonattainment for the 2015
ozone NAAQS (see 83 FR 25776, June
4, 2018). As part of that action, the EPA
designated the St. Louis, MO-IL bi-state
area as Marginal nonattainment for the
2015 Ozone NAAQS. The area included
approved into Missouri’s SIP on August 11, 2022.
(85 FR 49530)
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Boles Township of Franklin County, St.
Charles County, St. Louis County, and
St. Louis City in Missouri, and Madison
and St. Clair Counties in Illinois. As
part of that same action, EPA designated
Jefferson County and the remaining
portion of Franklin County, in Missouri,
and Monroe County in Illinois, as
attainment/unclassifiable. On July 10,
2020, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the
District of Columbia remanded the
Jefferson County, Missouri, and Monroe
County, Illinois, designations (among
other designations) to the EPA. The
Court upheld EPA’s designation of Boles
Township as nonattainment and the
remainder of Franklin County as
attainment/unclassifiable. In response to
the Court’s remand, the EPA revised the
Jefferson County, Missouri, and Monroe
County, Illinois designation to
nonattainment on May 26, 2021 (86 FR
31438).
In a separate action, the EPA
classified and established attainment
dates for each classification in
accordance with CAA section 181(a)(1),
based on the severity of an area’s ozone
problem, determined by the area’s DV
(see 83 FR 10376, May 8, 2018). The
EPA established the maximum
attainment date for Marginal, Moderate,
and Serious nonattainment areas as 3
years, 6 years, and 9 years, respectively,
from the effective date of the final
designations. Thus, the attainment date
for any nonattainment areas classified as
Marginal for the 2015 ozone NAAQS
was August 3, 2021, the attainment date
for Moderate areas was August 3, 2024,
and the attainment date for Serious
areas is August 3, 2027. On October 7,
2022 (87 FR 60897), the EPA
determined that 22 areas, including the
St. Louis area addressed in this action,
did not attain the standards by the
Marginal attainment date, and were
reclassified as Moderate by operation of
law.
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IV. What is the statutory authority for
this action?
The statutory authority for this
determination is provided by the CAA,
as amended (42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.).
Relevant portions of the CAA include,
but are not necessarily limited to,
sections 181 and 182.
CAA section 107(d) provides that
when the EPA establishes or revises a
NAAQS, the agency must designate
areas of the country as nonattainment,
attainment, or unclassifiable based on
whether an area is not meeting (or is
contributing to air quality in a nearby
area that is not meeting) the NAAQS,
meeting the NAAQS, or cannot be
classified as meeting or not meeting the
NAAQS, respectively. Subpart 2 of part
D of title I of the CAA governs the
classification, state planning, and
emissions control requirements for any
areas designated as nonattainment for a
revised primary ozone NAAQS. In
particular, CAA section 181(a)(1)
requires each area designated as
nonattainment for a revised ozone
NAAQS to be classified at the same time
as the area is designated based on the
extent of the ozone problem in the area
(as determined based on the area’s DV).
Classifications for ozone nonattainment
areas are ‘‘Marginal,’’ ‘‘Moderate,’’
‘‘Serious,’’ ‘‘Severe,’’ and ‘‘Extreme,’’ in
order of stringency. CAA section
181(a)(1) also establishes attainment
dates for each area classified under that
section. CAA section 182 provides the
specific attainment planning and
additional requirements that apply to
each ozone nonattainment area based on
its classification.
Section 181(b)(2)(A) of the CAA
requires that within 6 months following
the applicable attainment date, the EPA
shall determine whether an ozone
nonattainment area attained the ozone
standard based on the area’s DV as of
that date. Under CAA section 181(a)(5)
as interpreted by the EPA in 40 CFR
51.1307, upon application by any state,
the EPA may grant a 1-year extension to
the attainment date when certain
criteria are met. One criterion for a first
attainment date extension is that an
area’s fourth highest daily maximum 8hour value for the attainment year must
not exceed the level of the standard. In
the event an area fails to attain the
ozone NAAQS by the applicable
attainment date and is not granted a 1year attainment date extension, CAA
section 181(b)(2)(A) requires the EPA to
make the determination that an ozone
nonattainment area failed to attain the
ozone standard by the applicable
attainment date, and requires the area to
be reclassified by operation of law to the
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higher of: (1) The next higher
classification for the area, or (2) the
classification applicable to the area’s DV
as of the determination of failure to
attain.3 Section 181(b)(2)(B) of the CAA
requires the EPA to publish the
determination of failure to attain and
accompanying reclassification in the
Federal Register no later than 6 months
after the attainment date, which in the
case of the St. Louis area was February
3, 2025. The EPA’s November 25, 2024,
action fulfilled the EPA’s obligation
with respect to the St. Louis area.
Once an area is reclassified, each state
that contains a reclassified area is
required to submit certain SIP revisions
in accordance with its more stringent
classification. The SIP revisions are
intended to, among other things,
demonstrate how the area will attain the
NAAQS as expeditiously as practicable,
but no later than August 3, 2027, the
Serious area attainment date for the
2015 ozone NAAQS. Per CAA section
182(i), a state with a reclassified ozone
nonattainment area must submit the
applicable attainment plan requirements
‘‘according to the schedules prescribed
in connection with such requirements’’
in CAA section 182(c) for Serious areas,
but the EPA ‘‘may adjust applicable
deadlines (other than attainment dates)
to the extent such adjustment is
necessary or appropriate to assure
consistency among the required
submissions.’’ The EPA addressed the
SIP revision and implementation
deadlines for newly reclassified Serious
areas, as well as the continued
applicability of Moderate area
requirements, if they have not yet been
met, in a separate rulemaking. (See 90
FR 5651, January 17, 2025)
V. How does the EPA determine
whether an area has attained the
standard?
The level of the 2015 ozone NAAQS
is 0.070 ppm.4 Under the EPA
regulations at 40 CFR part 50, appendix
U, the 2015 ozone NAAQS is attained at
a site when the 3-year average of the
annual fourth highest daily maximum 8hour average ambient ozone
concentration (i.e., DV) does not exceed
0.070 ppm. When the DV does not
exceed 0.070 ppm at each ambient air
quality monitoring site within the area,
the area is deemed to be attaining the
ozone NAAQS. Each area’s DV is
determined by the highest DV among
3 The nonattainment area named in this action
that failed to attain by the attainment date would
be classified to the next higher classification,
Serious. The affected area’s DV as of the attainment
date does not otherwise place the area in a higher
classification.
4 See 40 CFR 50.19.
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monitors with valid DVs.5 The data
handling convention in appendix P
dictates that concentrations shall be
reported in ‘‘ppm’’ to the third decimal
place, with additional digits to the right
being truncated. Thus, a computed 3year average ozone concentration of
0.071 ppm is greater than 0.070 ppm
and would exceed the standard, but a
computed 3-year average ozone
concentration of 0.0709 ppm is
truncated to 0.070 ppm and attains the
2015 ozone NAAQS.
The EPA’s proposed determination of
attainment is based upon the area’s
design value as of August 3, 2024,
which in turn is calculated using hourly
ozone concentration data for calendar
years 2021, 2022 and 2023 that have
been collected and quality-assured in
accordance with 40 CFR part 58 and
reported to the EPA’s Air Quality
System (AQS) database.6
State and local monitoring network
plans are subject to approval by the EPA
on an annual basis and any interim
modifications to those plans must also
be approved by the EPA.7 The annual
monitoring network plan process is
provided in 40 CFR 58.10 and the
requirements governing system
modifications and monitor
discontinuations are laid out in 40 CFR
58.14. Where state or local agencies seek
to modify the ambient air quality
monitoring networks by discontinuing a
monitor station, the EPA may approve
such modifications subject to the
criteria established in 40 CFR 58.14(c).
The EPA may not approve such
discontinuation if doing so would
5 According to appendix U to 40 CFR part 50,
ambient monitoring sites with a DV of 0.070 ppm
or less must meet minimum data completeness
requirements in order to be considered valid. These
requirements are met for a 3-year period at a site
if daily maximum 8-hour average ozone
concentrations are available for at least 90% of the
days within the ozone monitoring season, on
average, for the 3-year period, with a minimum of
at least 75% of the days within the ozone
monitoring season in any one year. Ozone
monitoring seasons are defined for each State in
appendix D to 40 CFR part 58. DVs greater than
0.070 ppm are considered to be valid regardless of
the data completeness.
6 The EPA maintains the AQS, a database that
contains ambient air pollution data collected by the
EPA, state, local, and tribal air pollution control
agencies. The AQS also contains meteorological
data, descriptive information about each monitoring
station (including its geographic location and its
operator) and data quality assurance/quality control
information. The AQS data is used to (1) assess air
quality, (2) assist in attainment/non-attainment
designations, (3) evaluate SIPs for non-attainment
areas, (4) perform modeling for permit review
analysis, and (5) prepare reports for Congress as
mandated by the CAA. Access is through the
website at https://www.epa.gov/aqs.
7 Annual monitoring network plans for each state
are available at https://www.epa.gov/amtic/statemonitoring-agency-annual-air-monitoring-plansand-network-assessments.
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Federal Register / Vol. 90, No. 117 / Friday, June 20, 2025 / Proposed Rules
compromise data collection needed for
implementation of a NAAQS. If a
monitor has been discontinued subject
to 40 CFR 58.14 such that the
discontinuation results in insufficient
data to calculate a valid DV according
to appendix U to 40 CFR part 50, the
EPA will determine the applicable
area’s attainment status based on the
remaining monitors in the area.
VI. What is the EPA’s determination for
the area?
The EPA is accepting comment on the
finding that the St. Louis nonattainment
area addressed in this action failed to
attain the 2015 ozone NAAQS by the
attainment date of August 3, 2024. As
shown in Table 1, at least one monitor
in this area had a 2021–2023 DV greater
than 0.070 ppm.8 Table 2 shows the
annual fourth highest daily maximum 8hour average ozone concentration and
2021–2023 DV for each monitor in the
St. Louis, MO-IL area.
TABLE 2—2021–2023 FOURTH HIGHEST DAILY MAXIMUM 8-HOUR AVERAGE OZONE CONCENTRATIONS AND DESIGN
VALUES AT ALL MONITORS IN THE ST. LOUIS, MO-IL AREA *
AQS site ID
County
Fourth highest daily maximum 8-hour
average ozone concentration (ppm)
State
2021
290990019
291831002
291831004
291890005
291890014
295100085
171190120
171190122
171193007
171630010
..............
..............
..............
..............
..............
..............
..............
..............
..............
..............
Jefferson ..............................
Saint Charles .......................
Saint Charles .......................
Saint Louis ...........................
Saint Louis ...........................
St. Louis City ........................
Madison ................................
Madison ................................
Madison ................................
Saint Clair ............................
Missouri ................................
Missouri ................................
Missouri ................................
Missouri ................................
Missouri ................................
Missouri ................................
Illinois ...................................
Illinois ...................................
Illinois ...................................
Illinois ...................................
2022
0.073
0.067
0.065
0.065
0.065
0.068
0.070
0.070
0.070
0.066
0.067
0.071
0.067
0.061
0.067
0.068
0.076
0.067
0.072
0.067
2023
0.078
0.080
0.073
0.077
0.081
0.077
0.078
0.078
0.077
0.077
2021–2023
design value
(DV) (ppm)
0.072
0.072
0.068
0.067
0.071
0.071
0.074
0.071
0.073
0.070
* Monitors that did not meet completeness criteria and do not have a valid design value are not shown.
VII. What action is the EPA proposing
to take?
Effective December 31, 2024, the EPA
determined that the Missouri portion of
the St. Louis area failed to attain by the
Moderate 2015 ozone attainment date,
and the area was therefore reclassified
by operation of law to Serious for the
2015 ozone NAAQS. Missouri
submitted a petition for reconsideration
to the Agency on January 24, 2025,
asserting that the state did not have an
opportunity to comment on the
Agency’s determination. The EPA
granted the state’s request for
reconsideration on March 5, 2025, and
is in this proposed notice accepting
comment on the Agency’s determination
that the area failed to attain by the
Moderate 2015 ozone attainment date
based on the area’s design value as of
the attainment date.
C. Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA)
This rule does not impose an
information collection burden under the
provisions of the PRA of 1995 (44 U.S.C.
3501 et seq.). This action does not
contain any information collection
activities and serves only to accept
comment on a determination that the St.
Louis nonattainment area failed to attain
the 2015 ozone standards by the August
3, 2024, Moderate area attainment date.
D. Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA)
I certify that this action will not have
a significant economic impact on a
substantial number of small entities
under the RFA (5 U.S.C. 601 et seq.).
This action will not impose any
requirements on small entities. A
determination of failure to attain the
2015 ozone standards (and resulting
reclassifications), will not in and of
itself create any new requirements
beyond what is mandated by the CAA.
This action would not itself directly
regulate any small entities.
governments. This action does not
impose additional requirements beyond
those imposed by state law.
Accordingly, no additional costs to
State, local, or tribal governments, or to
the private sector, will result from this
action.
F. Executive Order 13132: Federalism
This action does not have federalism
implications. It will not have substantial
direct effects on the states, on the
relationship between the national
government and the states, or on the
distribution of power and
responsibilities among the various
levels of government. The division of
responsibility between the Federal
government and the states for purposes
of implementing the NAAQS is
established under the CAA.
B. Executive Order 14192: Unleashing
Prosperity Through Deregulation
This action is not subject to Executive
Order 14192 (90 FR 9065, February 6,
E. Unfunded Mandates Reform Act
(UMRA)
This action does not contain any
unfunded mandate as described in
UMRA, 2 U.S.C. 1531–1538 and does
not significantly or uniquely affect small
G. Executive Order 13175: Consultation
and Coordination With Indian Tribal
Governments
Executive Order 13175 (65 FR 67249,
November 9, 2000), requires the EPA to
develop an accountable process to
ensure ‘‘meaningful and timely input by
Tribal officials in the development of
regulatory policies that have Tribal
implications.’’ This action does not have
Tribal implications as specified in
Executive Order 13175. This action does
not apply on any Indian reservation
land, any other area where EPA or an
Indian tribe has demonstrated that a
8 See definition of design value in 40 CFR 58.1,
‘‘means the calculated concentration according to
the applicable appendix of part 50 of this chapter
for the highest site in an attainment or
nonattainment area.’’ See also appendix U to 40
CFR part 50.
VIII. Statutory and Executive Order
Reviews
ddrumheller on DSK120RN23PROD with PROPOSALS1
2025) because Section 181 actions are
exempt from review under Executive
Order 12866;
A. Executive Order 12866: Regulatory
Planning and Review
This action is not a ‘‘significant
regulatory action’’ under the terms of
Executive Order 12866 (58 FR 51735,
October 4, 1993).
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Federal Register / Vol. 90, No. 117 / Friday, June 20, 2025 / Proposed Rules
Tribe has jurisdiction, or nonreservation areas of Indian country.
Thus, Executive Order 13175 does not
apply to this action.
H. Executive Order 13045: Protection of
Children From Environmental Health
and Safety Risks
The EPA interprets Executive Order
13045 (62 FR 19885, April 23, 1997) as
applying to those regulatory actions that
concern environmental health or safety
risks that the EPA has reason to believe
may disproportionately affect children,
per the definition of ‘‘covered regulatory
action’’ in section 2–202 of the
Executive Order. This action is not
subject to Executive Order 13045
because it does not establish an
environmental standard intended to
mitigate health or safety risks.
I. Executive Order 13211: Actions That
Significantly Affect Energy Supply,
Distribution, or Use
This action is not subject to Executive
Order 13211 (66 FR 28355, May 22,
2001) because it is not a significant
regulatory action under Executive Order
12866.
J. National Technology Transfer and
Advancement Act (NTTAA)
This rulemaking does not involve
technical standards. Therefore, the EPA
is not considering the use of any
voluntary consensus standards.
List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 81
Environmental protection, Air
pollution control, Intergovernmental
relations, Nitrogen dioxide, Ozone,
Reporting and recordkeeping
requirements, Volatile organic
compounds.
Dated: June 2, 2025.
Edward H. Chu,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region 7.
[FR Doc. 2025–11304 Filed 6–18–25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560–50–P
FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS
COMMISSION
ddrumheller on DSK120RN23PROD with PROPOSALS1
47 CFR Parts 1, 2, 13, 15, 17, 22, 24,
25, 26, 27, 30, 52, 54, 63, 64, 73, 76, 80,
87, 88, 90, 95, 96, 97, 101
[GN Docket No. 25–166; FCC 25–28; FR ID
299066]
Protecting Our Communications
Networks by Promoting Transparency
Regarding Foreign Adversary Control
Federal Communications
Commission.
ACTION: Proposed rule.
AGENCY:
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In this document, the Federal
Communications Commission
(Commission) proposes to protect the
Nation’s communications networks
against foreign adversary threats by
proposing to expand foreign ownership
disclosure requirements for covered
Commission-issued licenses and
authorizations. The proposed
certification and information collection
requirements would fill gaps in the
Commission’s existing rules and give
the Commission, and the public, a new
and comprehensive view of threats from
foreign adversaries in the
communications sector. Specifically, the
Commission proposes to apply new
certification and disclosure
requirements on entities holding every
type of license, permit, or authorization,
rather than only certain specific
licenses, as the Commission currently
does. Furthermore, the Commission
proposes to go beyond foreign
ownership to also cover all regulated
entities controlled by or subject to the
jurisdiction or direction of a foreign
adversary.
SUMMARY:
Comments are due on or before
July 21, 2025, and reply comments are
due on or before August 19, 2025.
ADDRESSES: Pursuant to §§ 1.415 and
1.419 of the Commission’s rules, 47 CFR
1.415, 1.419, interested parties may file
comments and reply comments,
identified by GN Docket No. 25–166, by
any of the following methods:
• Electronic Filers: Comments may be
filed electronically using the internet by
accessing the Commission’s Electronic
Comment Filing System (ECFS): https://
www.fcc.gov/ecfs/. See Electronic Filing
of Documents in Rulemaking
Proceedings, 63 FR 24121 (1998).
• Paper Filers: Parties who choose to
file by paper must file an original and
one copy of each filing.
• Filings can be sent by hand or
messenger delivery, by commercial
courier, or by the U.S. Postal Service.
All filings must be addressed to the
Secretary, Federal Communications
Commission.
• Hand-delivered or messengerdelivered paper filings for the
Commission’s Secretary are accepted
between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. by the FCC’s
mailing contractor at 9050 Junction
Drive, Annapolis Junction, MD 20701.
All hand deliveries must be held
together with rubber bands or fasteners.
Any envelopes and boxes must be
disposed of before entering the building.
• Commercial courier deliveries (any
deliveries not by the U.S. Postal Service)
must be sent to 9050 Junction Drive,
Annapolis Junction, MD 20701.
DATES:
PO 00000
Frm 00021
Fmt 4702
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• Filings sent by U.S. Postal Service
First-Class Mail, Priority Mail, and
Priority Mail Express must be sent to 45
L Street NE, Washington, DC 20554.
Accessible formats. To request
materials in accessible formats for
people with disabilities (Braille, large
print, electronic files, audio format),
send an email to fcc504@fcc.gov or call
the Consumer & Governmental Affairs
Bureau at 202–418–0530 (voice).
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For
further information about the Notice of
Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM), contact
Mason Shefa, Attorney Advisor,
Competition Policy Division, Wireline
Competition Bureau, at Mason.Shefa@
fcc.gov. For additional information
concerning the Paperwork Reduction
Act proposed information collection
requirements contained in this
document, send an email to PRA@
fcc.gov or contact Nicole Ongele at (202)
418–2991.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This is a
summary of the Commission’s NPRM,
FCC 25–28, in GN Docket No. 25–166,
adopted on May 22, 2025, and released
on May 27, 2025. The complete text of
this document is available for download
at https://docs.fcc.gov/public/
attachments/FCC-25-28A1.pdf.
Paperwork Reduction Act: The NPRM
may contain proposed new and revised
information collection requirements.
The Commission, as part of its
continuing effort to reduce paperwork
burdens, invites the general public and
the Office of Management and Budget
(OMB) to comment on the information
collection requirements described in
this document, as required by the
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995,
Public Law 104–13. In addition,
pursuant to the Small Business
Paperwork Relief Act of 2002, Public
Law 107–198, see 44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(4),
we seek specific comment on how we
might further reduce the information
collection burden for small business
concerns with fewer than 25 employees.
Providing Accountability Through
Transparency Act: Consistent with the
Providing Accountability Through
Transparency Act, Public Law 118–9, a
summary of this document will be
available on https://www.fcc.gov/
proposed-rulemakings.
Ex Parte Rules: The proceeding the
NPRM initiates shall be treated as a
‘‘permit-but-disclose’’ proceeding in
accordance with the Commission’s ex
parte rules. Persons making ex parte
presentations must file a copy of any
written presentation or a memorandum
summarizing any oral presentation
within two business days after the
presentation (unless a different deadline
E:\FR\FM\20JNP1.SGM
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]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 117 (Friday, June 20, 2025)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 26240-26244]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2025-11304]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 81
[EPA-R7-OAR-2025-0291; FRL-12824-01-R7]
Finding of Failure To Attain for the Missouri Portion of the St.
Louis Nonattainment Area for the 2015 Ozone National Ambient Air
Quality Standards
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Proposed rule.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is accepting comment
on a determination that the Missouri portion of the St. Louis, MO-IL
bi-state nonattainment area failed to attain the 2015 8-hour ozone
National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) by the applicable
attainment date. The effect of failing to attain by the applicable
attainment date is that the area is reclassified by operation of law to
``Serious'' nonattainment for the 2015 ozone NAAQS. On November 25,
2024, the EPA published a final action in the Federal Register which
determined that the St. Louis area failed to attain the 2015 ozone
NAAQS by the Moderate area attainment date. That action also
reclassified the area to Serious by operation of law with an effective
date of December 31, 2024. On January 24, 2025, the EPA received a
petition for reconsideration of that final action from the State of
Missouri. On March 5, 2025, EPA Region 7 granted the petition for
reconsideration and stated our intention to undergo a notice and
comment rulemaking. Therefore, the EPA is accepting comment on the
determination that the St. Louis area failed to attain by the
attainment date. The Illinois portion of the St. Louis, MO-IL bi-state
area is addressed separately.
DATES: Comments must be received on or before July 21, 2025.
ADDRESSES: You may send comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-R07-
OAR-2025-0291 to https://www.regulations.gov. Follow the online
instructions for submitting comments.
Instructions: All submissions received must include the Docket ID
No. for this rulemaking. Comments received will be posted without
change to https://www.regulations.gov, including any personal
information provided. For detailed instructions on sending comments and
additional information on the rulemaking process, see the ``Written
Comments'' heading of the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this
document.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ashley Keas, Environmental Protection
Agency, Region 7 Office, Air and Radiation Division, 11201 Renner
Boulevard, Lenexa, Kansas 66219; telephone number: (913) 551-7629;
email address: [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Throughout this document ``we,'' ``us,'' and
``our'' refer to the EPA.
Table of Contents
I. Written Comments
II. Overview of Action
III. What is the background for this action?
IV. What is the statutory authority for this action?
V. How does the EPA determine whether an area has attained the
standard?
VI. What is the EPA's determination for the area?
VII. What action is the EPA proposing to take?
VIII. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews
I. Written Comments
Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-R07-OAR-2025-
0291, at https://www.regulations.gov. Once submitted, comments cannot be
edited or removed from Regulations.gov. The EPA may publish any comment
received to its public docket. Do not submit electronically any
information you consider to be Confidential Business Information (CBI)
or other information whose disclosure is restricted by statute.
Multimedia submissions (audio, video, etc.) must be accompanied by a
written comment. The written comment is considered the official comment
and should include discussion of all points you wish to make. The EPA
will generally not consider comments or comment contents located
outside of the primary submission i.e., on the web, cloud, or other
file sharing system). For additional submission methods, the full EPA
public comment policy, information about CBI or multimedia submissions,
and general guidance on making effective comments, please visit https://www.epa.gov/dockets/commenting-epa-dockets.
II. Overview of Action
On November 25, 2024, the EPA published a final action in the
Federal Register which determined that the St. Louis area failed to
attain the 2015 ozone NAAQS by the August 3, 2024, Moderate area
attainment date. (See 89 FR 92816) That action also reclassified the
area to Serious by operation of law with an effective date of December
31, 2024. On January 24, 2025, the EPA received a petition for
reconsideration of that final action from the State of Missouri. On
March 5, 2025, EPA Region 7 granted the petition for reconsideration
and stated our intention to undergo a notice and comment rulemaking.
Therefore, the EPA is publishing this proposed rule to accept comment
on the determination that the St. Louis area failed to attain the 2015
ozone standard by the Moderate area attainment date.
The EPA is required to determine whether areas designated
nonattainment for an ozone NAAQS attained the standard by the
applicable attainment date, and to take certain steps for areas that
failed to attain (see CAA section 181(b)(2)). Per the explicit
statutory language of CAA section 181(b)(2), the EPA's determination of
attainment by the attainment date must be based on a nonattainment
area's design value (DV) as of the attainment date.\1\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ A DV is a statistic used to compare data collected at an
ambient air quality monitoring site to the applicable NAAQS to
determine compliance with the standard. The data handling
conventions for calculating DVs for the 2015 ozone NAAQS are
specified in appendix U to 40 CFR part 50. The DV for the 2015 ozone
NAAQS is the 3-year average of the annual fourth highest daily
maximum 8-hour average ozone concentration. The DV is calculated for
each air quality monitor in an area, and the DV for an area is the
highest DV among the individual monitoring sites located in the
area.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The 2015 ozone NAAQS is met at an EPA regulatory monitoring site
when the DV does not exceed 0.070 parts per million (ppm). For Moderate
nonattainment areas for the 2015 ozone NAAQS, the attainment date was
August 3, 2024. Because the DV is based
[[Page 26241]]
on the three most recent, complete calendar years of data, attainment
must occur no later than December 31 of the year prior to the
attainment date (i.e., December 31, 2023, in the case of Moderate
nonattainment areas for the 2015 ozone NAAQS). As such, the EPA's
determinations for the Moderate nonattainment areas for the 2015 ozone
NAAQS are based upon the complete, quality-assured, and certified ozone
monitoring data from calendar years 2021, 2022, and 2023.
This action addresses the Missouri portion of the St. Louis bi-
state nonattainment area (hereafter St. Louis area) that was classified
as Moderate for the 2015 ozone NAAQS as of the Moderate area attainment
date of August 3, 2024. Table 1 provides a summary of the DVs and the
EPA's air quality-based determinations for the St. Louis area.
Table 1--Summary of Nonattainment Areas in Missouri for the 2015 Ozone
NAAQS
------------------------------------------------------------------------
2021-2023 Attainment by the
Nonattainment area Design value moderate area
(DV) (ppm) attainment date
------------------------------------------------------------------------
St. Louis...................... 0.074 Failed to attain.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
The EPA is accepting comment on the finding that the St. Louis area
as shown in Table 1 did not attain by the attainment date, because the
2021-2023 DV is greater than 0.070 ppm. If the EPA determines that a
nonattainment area classified as Moderate failed to attain by the
attainment date, CAA section 181(b)(2)(B) requires the EPA to publish a
notice in the Federal Register, no later than 6 months following the
attainment date, identifying each such area and identifying the
applicable reclassification. The EPA's November 25, 2024, action
fulfilled the EPA's obligation with respect to the St. Louis area.
Under CAA section 181(b)(2)(A), areas that EPA finds have failed to
attain by the attainment date are reclassified by operation of law to
the next higher classification. The reclassification of the St. Louis
Area to Serious became effective on December 31, 2024, and is still in
effect. As such, the St. Louis area is currently subject to the Serious
area requirement to attain the 2015 ozone NAAQS as expeditiously as
practicable, but not later than August 3, 2027. Similarly, the other
Serious area requirements remain in effect.
Stationary air pollution sources in the St. Louis ozone
nonattainment area became subject to Serious ozone nonattainment area
New Source Review (NSR) and Title V permit requirements as a result of
the area's reclassification. The source applicability thresholds for
major sources and major source modification emissions are now 50 tons
per year (tpy) for volatile organic compounds (VOC) and nitrogen oxides
(NOX). For new and modified major stationary sources subject
to review under Missouri regulation 10 CSR 10-6.060, in the EPA
approved SIP,\2\ VOC and NOX emission increases from the
proposed construction of the new or modified major stationary sources
must be offset by emission reductions by a minimum offset ratio of 1.20
to 1 (see CAA section 182(c)(10)). These permitting requirements
associated with the Serious classification remain in effect.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\2\ Specifically, we are referring to the EPA-approved Missouri
regulation 10 Code of State Regulations (CSR) 10-6.060, titled
``Construction Permits Required.'' Most recently revised and
approved into Missouri's SIP on August 11, 2022. (85 FR 49530)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Additionally, Missouri must submit to the EPA the SIP revisions for
this area that satisfy the statutory and regulatory requirements
applicable to Serious areas established in CAA section 182(c), the 2015
Ozone NAAQS SIP Requirements Rule (see 83 FR 62998, December 6, 2018)
and the Ozone Reclassifications Requirements Rule (see 90 FR 5651,
January 17, 2025), which also established SIP submission and control
measure implementation deadlines for newly reclassified areas (see 40
CFR 51.1402).
III. What is the background for this action?
On October 26, 2015, the EPA issued its final action to revise the
NAAQS for ozone to establish a new 8-hour standard (see 80 FR 65452,
October 26, 2015). In that action, the EPA promulgated identical
tighter primary and secondary ozone standards designed to protect
public health and welfare that specified an 8-hour ozone level of 0.070
ppm. Specifically, the standards require that the 3-year average of the
annual fourth highest daily maximum 8-hour average ozone concentration
may not exceed 0.070 ppm.
Effective on August 3, 2018, the EPA designated 52 areas throughout
the country as nonattainment for the 2015 ozone NAAQS (see 83 FR 25776,
June 4, 2018). As part of that action, the EPA designated the St.
Louis, MO-IL bi-state area as Marginal nonattainment for the 2015 Ozone
NAAQS. The area included Boles Township of Franklin County, St. Charles
County, St. Louis County, and St. Louis City in Missouri, and Madison
and St. Clair Counties in Illinois. As part of that same action, EPA
designated Jefferson County and the remaining portion of Franklin
County, in Missouri, and Monroe County in Illinois, as attainment/
unclassifiable. On July 10, 2020, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the
District of Columbia remanded the Jefferson County, Missouri, and
Monroe County, Illinois, designations (among other designations) to the
EPA. The Court upheld EPA's designation of Boles Township as
nonattainment and the remainder of Franklin County as attainment/
unclassifiable. In response to the Court's remand, the EPA revised the
Jefferson County, Missouri, and Monroe County, Illinois designation to
nonattainment on May 26, 2021 (86 FR 31438).
In a separate action, the EPA classified and established attainment
dates for each classification in accordance with CAA section 181(a)(1),
based on the severity of an area's ozone problem, determined by the
area's DV (see 83 FR 10376, May 8, 2018). The EPA established the
maximum attainment date for Marginal, Moderate, and Serious
nonattainment areas as 3 years, 6 years, and 9 years, respectively,
from the effective date of the final designations. Thus, the attainment
date for any nonattainment areas classified as Marginal for the 2015
ozone NAAQS was August 3, 2021, the attainment date for Moderate areas
was August 3, 2024, and the attainment date for Serious areas is August
3, 2027. On October 7, 2022 (87 FR 60897), the EPA determined that 22
areas, including the St. Louis area addressed in this action, did not
attain the standards by the Marginal attainment date, and were
reclassified as Moderate by operation of law.
[[Page 26242]]
IV. What is the statutory authority for this action?
The statutory authority for this determination is provided by the
CAA, as amended (42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.). Relevant portions of the CAA
include, but are not necessarily limited to, sections 181 and 182.
CAA section 107(d) provides that when the EPA establishes or
revises a NAAQS, the agency must designate areas of the country as
nonattainment, attainment, or unclassifiable based on whether an area
is not meeting (or is contributing to air quality in a nearby area that
is not meeting) the NAAQS, meeting the NAAQS, or cannot be classified
as meeting or not meeting the NAAQS, respectively. Subpart 2 of part D
of title I of the CAA governs the classification, state planning, and
emissions control requirements for any areas designated as
nonattainment for a revised primary ozone NAAQS. In particular, CAA
section 181(a)(1) requires each area designated as nonattainment for a
revised ozone NAAQS to be classified at the same time as the area is
designated based on the extent of the ozone problem in the area (as
determined based on the area's DV). Classifications for ozone
nonattainment areas are ``Marginal,'' ``Moderate,'' ``Serious,''
``Severe,'' and ``Extreme,'' in order of stringency. CAA section
181(a)(1) also establishes attainment dates for each area classified
under that section. CAA section 182 provides the specific attainment
planning and additional requirements that apply to each ozone
nonattainment area based on its classification.
Section 181(b)(2)(A) of the CAA requires that within 6 months
following the applicable attainment date, the EPA shall determine
whether an ozone nonattainment area attained the ozone standard based
on the area's DV as of that date. Under CAA section 181(a)(5) as
interpreted by the EPA in 40 CFR 51.1307, upon application by any
state, the EPA may grant a 1-year extension to the attainment date when
certain criteria are met. One criterion for a first attainment date
extension is that an area's fourth highest daily maximum 8-hour value
for the attainment year must not exceed the level of the standard. In
the event an area fails to attain the ozone NAAQS by the applicable
attainment date and is not granted a 1-year attainment date extension,
CAA section 181(b)(2)(A) requires the EPA to make the determination
that an ozone nonattainment area failed to attain the ozone standard by
the applicable attainment date, and requires the area to be
reclassified by operation of law to the higher of: (1) The next higher
classification for the area, or (2) the classification applicable to
the area's DV as of the determination of failure to attain.\3\ Section
181(b)(2)(B) of the CAA requires the EPA to publish the determination
of failure to attain and accompanying reclassification in the Federal
Register no later than 6 months after the attainment date, which in the
case of the St. Louis area was February 3, 2025. The EPA's November 25,
2024, action fulfilled the EPA's obligation with respect to the St.
Louis area.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\3\ The nonattainment area named in this action that failed to
attain by the attainment date would be classified to the next higher
classification, Serious. The affected area's DV as of the attainment
date does not otherwise place the area in a higher classification.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Once an area is reclassified, each state that contains a
reclassified area is required to submit certain SIP revisions in
accordance with its more stringent classification. The SIP revisions
are intended to, among other things, demonstrate how the area will
attain the NAAQS as expeditiously as practicable, but no later than
August 3, 2027, the Serious area attainment date for the 2015 ozone
NAAQS. Per CAA section 182(i), a state with a reclassified ozone
nonattainment area must submit the applicable attainment plan
requirements ``according to the schedules prescribed in connection with
such requirements'' in CAA section 182(c) for Serious areas, but the
EPA ``may adjust applicable deadlines (other than attainment dates) to
the extent such adjustment is necessary or appropriate to assure
consistency among the required submissions.'' The EPA addressed the SIP
revision and implementation deadlines for newly reclassified Serious
areas, as well as the continued applicability of Moderate area
requirements, if they have not yet been met, in a separate rulemaking.
(See 90 FR 5651, January 17, 2025)
V. How does the EPA determine whether an area has attained the
standard?
The level of the 2015 ozone NAAQS is 0.070 ppm.\4\ Under the EPA
regulations at 40 CFR part 50, appendix U, the 2015 ozone NAAQS is
attained at a site when the 3-year average of the annual fourth highest
daily maximum 8-hour average ambient ozone concentration (i.e., DV)
does not exceed 0.070 ppm. When the DV does not exceed 0.070 ppm at
each ambient air quality monitoring site within the area, the area is
deemed to be attaining the ozone NAAQS. Each area's DV is determined by
the highest DV among monitors with valid DVs.\5\ The data handling
convention in appendix P dictates that concentrations shall be reported
in ``ppm'' to the third decimal place, with additional digits to the
right being truncated. Thus, a computed 3-year average ozone
concentration of 0.071 ppm is greater than 0.070 ppm and would exceed
the standard, but a computed 3-year average ozone concentration of
0.0709 ppm is truncated to 0.070 ppm and attains the 2015 ozone NAAQS.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\4\ See 40 CFR 50.19.
\5\ According to appendix U to 40 CFR part 50, ambient
monitoring sites with a DV of 0.070 ppm or less must meet minimum
data completeness requirements in order to be considered valid.
These requirements are met for a 3-year period at a site if daily
maximum 8-hour average ozone concentrations are available for at
least 90% of the days within the ozone monitoring season, on
average, for the 3-year period, with a minimum of at least 75% of
the days within the ozone monitoring season in any one year. Ozone
monitoring seasons are defined for each State in appendix D to 40
CFR part 58. DVs greater than 0.070 ppm are considered to be valid
regardless of the data completeness.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The EPA's proposed determination of attainment is based upon the
area's design value as of August 3, 2024, which in turn is calculated
using hourly ozone concentration data for calendar years 2021, 2022 and
2023 that have been collected and quality-assured in accordance with 40
CFR part 58 and reported to the EPA's Air Quality System (AQS)
database.\6\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\6\ The EPA maintains the AQS, a database that contains ambient
air pollution data collected by the EPA, state, local, and tribal
air pollution control agencies. The AQS also contains meteorological
data, descriptive information about each monitoring station
(including its geographic location and its operator) and data
quality assurance/quality control information. The AQS data is used
to (1) assess air quality, (2) assist in attainment/non-attainment
designations, (3) evaluate SIPs for non-attainment areas, (4)
perform modeling for permit review analysis, and (5) prepare reports
for Congress as mandated by the CAA. Access is through the website
at https://www.epa.gov/aqs.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
State and local monitoring network plans are subject to approval by
the EPA on an annual basis and any interim modifications to those plans
must also be approved by the EPA.\7\ The annual monitoring network plan
process is provided in 40 CFR 58.10 and the requirements governing
system modifications and monitor discontinuations are laid out in 40
CFR 58.14. Where state or local agencies seek to modify the ambient air
quality monitoring networks by discontinuing a monitor station, the EPA
may approve such modifications subject to the criteria established in
40 CFR 58.14(c). The EPA may not approve such discontinuation if doing
so would
[[Page 26243]]
compromise data collection needed for implementation of a NAAQS. If a
monitor has been discontinued subject to 40 CFR 58.14 such that the
discontinuation results in insufficient data to calculate a valid DV
according to appendix U to 40 CFR part 50, the EPA will determine the
applicable area's attainment status based on the remaining monitors in
the area.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\7\ Annual monitoring network plans for each state are available
at https://www.epa.gov/amtic/state-monitoring-agency-annual-air-monitoring-plans-and-network-assessments.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
VI. What is the EPA's determination for the area?
The EPA is accepting comment on the finding that the St. Louis
nonattainment area addressed in this action failed to attain the 2015
ozone NAAQS by the attainment date of August 3, 2024. As shown in Table
1, at least one monitor in this area had a 2021-2023 DV greater than
0.070 ppm.\8\ Table 2 shows the annual fourth highest daily maximum 8-
hour average ozone concentration and 2021-2023 DV for each monitor in
the St. Louis, MO-IL area.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\8\ See definition of design value in 40 CFR 58.1, ``means the
calculated concentration according to the applicable appendix of
part 50 of this chapter for the highest site in an attainment or
nonattainment area.'' See also appendix U to 40 CFR part 50.
Table 2--2021-2023 Fourth Highest Daily Maximum 8-Hour Average Ozone Concentrations and Design Values at All Monitors in the St. Louis, MO-IL Area *
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fourth highest daily maximum 8-hour
average ozone concentration (ppm) 2021-2023
AQS site ID County State --------------------------------------- design value
2021 2022 2023 (DV) (ppm)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
290990019............................ Jefferson................... Missouri.................... 0.073 0.067 0.078 0.072
291831002............................ Saint Charles............... Missouri.................... 0.067 0.071 0.080 0.072
291831004............................ Saint Charles............... Missouri.................... 0.065 0.067 0.073 0.068
291890005............................ Saint Louis................. Missouri.................... 0.065 0.061 0.077 0.067
291890014............................ Saint Louis................. Missouri.................... 0.065 0.067 0.081 0.071
295100085............................ St. Louis City.............. Missouri.................... 0.068 0.068 0.077 0.071
171190120............................ Madison..................... Illinois.................... 0.070 0.076 0.078 0.074
171190122............................ Madison..................... Illinois.................... 0.070 0.067 0.078 0.071
171193007............................ Madison..................... Illinois.................... 0.070 0.072 0.077 0.073
171630010............................ Saint Clair................. Illinois.................... 0.066 0.067 0.077 0.070
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* Monitors that did not meet completeness criteria and do not have a valid design value are not shown.
VII. What action is the EPA proposing to take?
Effective December 31, 2024, the EPA determined that the Missouri
portion of the St. Louis area failed to attain by the Moderate 2015
ozone attainment date, and the area was therefore reclassified by
operation of law to Serious for the 2015 ozone NAAQS. Missouri
submitted a petition for reconsideration to the Agency on January 24,
2025, asserting that the state did not have an opportunity to comment
on the Agency's determination. The EPA granted the state's request for
reconsideration on March 5, 2025, and is in this proposed notice
accepting comment on the Agency's determination that the area failed to
attain by the Moderate 2015 ozone attainment date based on the area's
design value as of the attainment date.
VIII. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews
A. Executive Order 12866: Regulatory Planning and Review
This action is not a ``significant regulatory action'' under the
terms of Executive Order 12866 (58 FR 51735, October 4, 1993).
B. Executive Order 14192: Unleashing Prosperity Through Deregulation
This action is not subject to Executive Order 14192 (90 FR 9065,
February 6, 2025) because Section 181 actions are exempt from review
under Executive Order 12866;
C. Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA)
This rule does not impose an information collection burden under
the provisions of the PRA of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.). This action
does not contain any information collection activities and serves only
to accept comment on a determination that the St. Louis nonattainment
area failed to attain the 2015 ozone standards by the August 3, 2024,
Moderate area attainment date.
D. Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA)
I certify that this action will not have a significant economic
impact on a substantial number of small entities under the RFA (5
U.S.C. 601 et seq.). This action will not impose any requirements on
small entities. A determination of failure to attain the 2015 ozone
standards (and resulting reclassifications), will not in and of itself
create any new requirements beyond what is mandated by the CAA. This
action would not itself directly regulate any small entities.
E. Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA)
This action does not contain any unfunded mandate as described in
UMRA, 2 U.S.C. 1531-1538 and does not significantly or uniquely affect
small governments. This action does not impose additional requirements
beyond those imposed by state law. Accordingly, no additional costs to
State, local, or tribal governments, or to the private sector, will
result from this action.
F. Executive Order 13132: Federalism
This action does not have federalism implications. It will not have
substantial direct effects on the states, on the relationship between
the national government and the states, or on the distribution of power
and responsibilities among the various levels of government. The
division of responsibility between the Federal government and the
states for purposes of implementing the NAAQS is established under the
CAA.
G. Executive Order 13175: Consultation and Coordination With Indian
Tribal Governments
Executive Order 13175 (65 FR 67249, November 9, 2000), requires the
EPA to develop an accountable process to ensure ``meaningful and timely
input by Tribal officials in the development of regulatory policies
that have Tribal implications.'' This action does not have Tribal
implications as specified in Executive Order 13175. This action does
not apply on any Indian reservation land, any other area where EPA or
an Indian tribe has demonstrated that a
[[Page 26244]]
Tribe has jurisdiction, or non-reservation areas of Indian country.
Thus, Executive Order 13175 does not apply to this action.
H. Executive Order 13045: Protection of Children From Environmental
Health and Safety Risks
The EPA interprets Executive Order 13045 (62 FR 19885, April 23,
1997) as applying to those regulatory actions that concern
environmental health or safety risks that the EPA has reason to believe
may disproportionately affect children, per the definition of ``covered
regulatory action'' in section 2-202 of the Executive Order. This
action is not subject to Executive Order 13045 because it does not
establish an environmental standard intended to mitigate health or
safety risks.
I. Executive Order 13211: Actions That Significantly Affect Energy
Supply, Distribution, or Use
This action is not subject to Executive Order 13211 (66 FR 28355,
May 22, 2001) because it is not a significant regulatory action under
Executive Order 12866.
J. National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act (NTTAA)
This rulemaking does not involve technical standards. Therefore,
the EPA is not considering the use of any voluntary consensus
standards.
List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 81
Environmental protection, Air pollution control, Intergovernmental
relations, Nitrogen dioxide, Ozone, Reporting and recordkeeping
requirements, Volatile organic compounds.
Dated: June 2, 2025.
Edward H. Chu,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region 7.
[FR Doc. 2025-11304 Filed 6-18-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P
