Attainment Extensions for PM-10 Nonattainment Areas: Idaho

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[ID5-2-7505; FRL-5500-4]

Attainment Extensions for PM-10 Nonattainment Areas: Idaho

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: In the August 28, 1995 Federal Register, EPA identified two

nonattainment areas in the State of Idaho which failed to attain the

National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for particulate matter

with an aerodynamic diameter of less than or equal to ten micrometers

(PM-10) by the applicable attainment date of December 31, 1994: the

Power-Bannock Counties PM-10 nonattainment area and the Sandpoint PM-10

nonattainment area. In that same Federal Register, EPA proposed to

grant a one-year extension to the attainment date for those areas, from

December 31, 1994 to December 31, 1995. EPA, by this document, grants

the extensions.

EFFECTIVE DATE: This final rule is effective June 7, 1996.

ADDRESSES: Copies of the State's request and other information

supporting this action are available for inspection during normal

business hours at the following locations: EPA, Office of Air Quality,

1200 Sixth Avenue, Seattle, Washington 98101, and State of Idaho,

Division of Environmental Quality, 1410 N. Hilton, Boise, Idaho 83710.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Steven K. Body, 206/553-0782, EPA,

Office of Air Quality, Seattle, Washington.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

Clean Air Act Requirements

Areas meeting the requirements of section 107(d)(4)(B) of the Act

1 were designated nonattainment for particulate matter with an

aerodynamic diameter of less than or equal to ten micrometers by

operation of law and classified ``moderate'' upon enactment of the 1990

Clean Air Act Amendments. See generally 42 U.S.C. section

7407(d)(4)(B). These areas included all former Group I PM-10 planning

areas identified in 52 FR 29383 (August 7, 1987) as further clarified

in 55 FR 45799 (October 31, 1990), and any other areas violating the

National Ambient Air Quality Standards for PM-10 prior to January 1,

1989.2 A Federal Register notice announcing the areas designated

nonattainment for PM-10 upon enactment of the 1990 Amendments, known as

``initial'' PM-10 nonattainment areas, was published on March 15, 1991

(56 FR 11101) and a subsequent Federal Register notice correcting the

description of some of these areas was published on August 8, 1991 (56

FR 37654). See 56 FR 56694 (November 6, 1991) and 40 CFR 81.313

(codified air quality designations and classifications for the State of

Idaho). All initial moderate PM-10 nonattainment areas have the same

applicable attainment date of December 31, 1994.

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\1\ The 1990 Amendments to the Clean Air Act made significant

changes to the Act. See Public Law No. 101-549, 104 Stat. 2399.

References herein are to the Clean Air Act as amended (``Act'' or

``CAA''), which is codified at 42 U.S.C. Sec. 7401 et seq.

\2\ Many of these other areas were identified in footnote 4 of

the October 31, 1990 Federal Register notice.

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States containing initial moderate PM-10 nonattainment areas were

required to develop and submit to EPA by November 15, 1991, a SIP

revision providing for, among other things, implementation of

reasonably available control measures (RACM), including reasonably

available control technology (RACT), and a demonstration of whether

attainment of the PM-10 NAAQS by the December 31, 1994 attainment date

was practicable. See Section 189(a).

The Act provides the Administrator the discretion of granting a

one-year extension to the attainment date for a moderate PM-10

nonattainment area provided certain criteria are met. See Section

188(d). The statute sets forth two criteria a moderate nonattainment

area must satisfy in order to obtain an extension: (1) the State has

complied with all the requirements and commitments pertaining to the

area in the applicable implementation plan; and (2) the area has no

more than one exceedance of the 24-hour PM-10 standard in the year

preceding the extension year, and the annual mean concentration of PM-

10 in the area for the year preceding the extension year is less than

or equal to the standard. See Section 188(d). As discussed in the

August 28, 1995 Federal Register document (60 FR 44452), in exercising

its discretion to grant extensions for PM-10 nonattainment areas, EPA

will examine the air quality planning progress made in the moderate

area. EPA will be disinclined to grant an attainment date extension

unless a State has, in substantial part, addressed its moderate PM-10

nonattainment area planning obligations as evidenced by whether the

State has: (1) adopted and substantially implemented control measures

that represent RACM/RACT in the moderate nonattainment area; and (2)

demonstrated that the area has made emission reductions amounting to

reasonable further progress toward attainment of the PM-10 NAAQS as

defined in section 171(1) of the Act. See 60 FR 44453.

If the State does not have the requisite number of years of clean

air quality data to show attainment and does not apply or qualify for

an attainment date extension, the area will be reclassified to serious

by operation of law under section 188(b)(2) of the Act. If an extension

to the attainment date is granted, at the end of the extension year EPA

will again determine whether the area has attained the PM-10 NAAQS. If

the requisite three consecutive years of clean air quality data needed

to determine attainment are not met for the area, the State may apply

for a second one-year extension of the attainment date. In order to

qualify for the second one-year extension of the attainment date, the

State must satisfy the same requirements listed above for the first

extension. EPA will also consider the State's PM-10 planning progress

for the area in the year for which the first extension was granted. If

a second extension is granted and the area does not have the requisite

three consecutive years of clean air quality data needed to demonstrate

attainment at the end of the second extension, no further extensions of

the attainment date can be granted and the area will be reclassified

serious by operation of law. See section 188(d).

On August 28, 1995, EPA determined, based on air quality data

showing violations of the PM-10 NAAQS during the period from 1992

through 1994, that the Power-Bannock Counties PM-10 nonattainment area

and Sandpoint PM-10 nonattainment area have each failed

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to attain the PM-10 NAAQS by the applicable attainment date of December

31, 1994. See 60 FR 44454. In that action, EPA also proposed to grant

the State of Idaho's request for a one-year extension of the PM-10

attainment date for these nonattainment areas based on the supporting

information provided by the State.

EPA received two comments on the proposal, both of which supported

EPA's proposal to grant the one-year extension, but one of which

disagreed with EPA's characterization of two underlying issues. In this

notice, EPA is taking final action on its proposal to extend the PM-10

attainment date for the Power-Bannock Counties PM-10 nonattainment area

and the Sandpoint PM-10 nonattainment area from December 31, 1994 to

December 31, 1995.

II. Final Action and Implications

A. Response to Public Comments

EPA received comments from the State of Idaho, Division of

Environmental Quality, North Idaho Regional Office (IDEQ-NIRO) and from

FMC Corporation (FMC), which owns and operates a facility in the Power-

Bannock Counties PM-10 nonattainment area. IDEQ-NIRO strongly endorsed

EPA's proposal to grant a one-year extension to the attainment date for

the Sandpoint PM-10 nonattainment area.

FMC supported EPA's proposal to grant a one-year extension of the

PM-10 attainment date for the Power-Bannock Counties PM-10

nonattainment area, but felt that EPA could have ``more appropriately

characterized'' two issues discussed in the proposal. First, FMC

objected to EPA's failure to acknowledge that FMC has undertaken

efforts to voluntarily reduce particulate emissions from certain

sources within its facility which FMC believes has in turn contributed

to recent indications that the area is approaching attainment of the

standard. Second, FMC stated that EPA should discount the importance of

the Eastern Michaud Flats superfund monitoring Site #2 (EMF Site #2)

monitoring data because FMC asserts that siting considerations and

exceptional events substantially diminish the significance and accuracy

of its measurements. EPA has serious concerns regarding the

sufficiency, and in some cases, the accuracy of the information

provided by FMC in support of its concerns. For example, although EPA

fully supports the voluntary efforts FMC has undertaken to implement

PM-10 reductions at its elemental phosphorus facility, FMC has not

provided documentation to support the claimed emission reductions or to

show that the voluntary improvements meet the RACM/RACT requirement.

Moreover, voluntary actions are not sufficient to meet Clean Air Act

planning requirements for PM-10 nonattainment areas. See sections

110(a)(2)(A) and 172(c)(6) of the Act. Even if accurate and fully

supportable, however, the information provided by FMC in its comments

would not change EPA's decision to grant the Power-Bannock Counties PM-

10 nonattainment area a one-year extension of the attainment date.

Indeed, FMC fully supports the granting of such an extension. The

information provided by FMC, if fully accepted by EPA, would only

strengthen the basis for EPA's decision.

As EPA stated in the proposal, EPA is currently working on a

proposed rule that would implement a control strategy for sources

located within the Tribal portion of the nonattainment area. It is

through this process that the control measures that have been

voluntarily undertaken by FMC can be, if appropriate, made federally

enforceable and their adequacy in context of the RACM/RACT requirement

can be more appropriately evaluated. Similarly, if EPA proposes to rely

on the data from EMF Site #2 to support its proposed control strategy,

the public comment period on EPA's proposed strategy would be an

appropriate time for FMC to present more information to support its

claim that EMF Site #2 does not meet EPA siting criteria and to request

that specifically identified events should be deemed exceptional and

their effects on the monitoring site discounted.

B. Final Action

EPA is granting the State of Idaho's request for a one-year

extension of the PM-10 attainment date for both the Power-Bannock

Counties PM-10 nonattainment area and the Sandpoint PM-10 nonattainment

area. This determination is based upon available air quality data and a

review of the State's progress in implementing the planning

requirements that apply to moderate PM-10 nonattainment areas. For a

thorough discussion of the basis for EPA's determination, please refer

to the proposal for this action at 60 FR 44452. This action extends the

PM-10 nonattainment date for both the Power-Bannock Counties PM-10

nonattainment area and the Sandpoint PM-10 nonattainment area from

December 31, 1994 to December 31, 1995.

III. Administrative Requirements

A. Docket

Copies of the State's request and all other information relied on

by EPA in granting one-year extension, including public comments on the

proposal received and reviewed by EPA, are maintained in the docket at

the EPA Regional Office. The docket is an organized and complete file

of information submitted to or otherwise considered by EPA in making

this decision. The docket is available for public inspection at the

location listed under the ADDRESSES section of this document.

B. Executive Order 12866

The Office of Management and Budget has exempted this action from

Executive Order 12866.

C. Regulatory Flexibility

Extensions under Section 188(d) of the Clean Air Act do not create

any new requirements, but merely extend the potential date for the

imposition of new requirements. Because this action does not impose any

new requirements, it does not have a significant impact on a

substantial number of small entities.

Under Section 202 of the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995

(``Unfunded Mandates Act''), signed into law on March 22, 1995, EPA

must prepare a budgetary impact statement to accompany any proposed or

final rule that includes a Federal mandate that may result in estimated

costs to State, local, or tribal governments in the aggregate; or to

the private sector, of $100 million or more. Under Section 205, EPA

must select the most cost-effective and least burdensome alternative

that achieves the objectives of the rule and is consistent with

statutory requirements. Section 203 requires EPA to establish a plan

for informing and advising any small governments that may be

significantly or uniquely impacted by the rule.

EPA has determined that the approval action promulgated does not

include a Federal mandate that may result in estimated costs of $100

million or more to either State, local, or tribal governments in the

aggregate, or to the private sector. This Federal action approves pre-

existing requirements under State or local law, and imposes no new

Federal requirements. Accordingly, no additional costs to State, local,

or tribal governments, or to the private sector, result from this

action.

Under section 307(b)(1) of the Clean Air Act, petitions for

judicial review of this action must be filed in the United

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States Court of Appeals for the appropriate circuit by July 8, 1996.

Filing a petition for reconsideration by the Administrator of this

final rule does not affect the finality of this rule for the purposes

of judicial review nor does it extend the time within which a petition

for judicial review may be filed and shall not postpone the

effectiveness of such rule or action. This action may not be challenged

later in proceedings to enforce its requirements. (See section

307(b)(2), 42 U.S.C. 7607(b)(2).)

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 52

Environmental Protection, Air pollution control, Particulate

matter, Intergovernmental relations, Reporting and recordkeeping

requirements.

Note: Incorporation by reference of the Implementation Plan for

the State of Idaho was approved by the Director of the Office of

Federal Register on July 1, 1982.

Dated: April 25, 1996.

Chuck Clarke,

Regional Administrator.

Part 52, chapter I, title 40 of the Code of Federal Regulations is

amended as follows:

PART 52--[AMENDED]

1. The authority citation for Part 52 continues to read as follows:

Authority: 52 U.S.C. 7401-7671q.

Subpart N--Idaho

2. Section 52.691 is added to read as follows:

Sec. 52.691 Extensions.

The Administrator, by authority delegated under section 188(d) of

the Clean Air Act, as amended in 1990, hereby extends for one year

(until December 31, 1995) the attainment date for the Power-Bannock

Counties PM-10 nonattainment area and the Sandpoint PM-10 nonattainment

area.

[FR Doc. 96-11344 Filed 5-7-96; 8:45 am]

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