Approval and Promulgation of Implementation Plans; West Virginia: Approval of PM-10 Implementation Plan for the Follansbee Area

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[WV035-6001; FRL-5416-5]

Approval and Promulgation of Implementation Plans; West Virginia:

Approval of PM-10 Implementation Plan for the Follansbee Area

AGENCY: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Proposed rule.

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SUMMARY: On November 22, 1995, the State of West Virginia submitted to

EPA a revised attainment demonstration for the Follansbee, West

Virginia nonattainment area for particulate matter with an aerodynamic

diameter less than or equal to 10 micrometers (PM-10). West Virginia

submitted these revisions to address deficiencies identified by EPA in

a final limited disapproval of the particulate matter plans published

in the Federal Register on July 25, 1994 (59 FR 37696). Today, EPA is

proposing to approve West Virginia's demonstration. By separate notice

today, EPA is making an interim final determination that the revised

demonstration remedies the deficiencies identified in the rulemaking of

July 25, 1994. As a result, the sanctions which could have resulted

from the July 1994 rulemaking shall not apply.

DATES: Comments on this proposed action must be received by March 6,

1996.

ADDRESSES: Comments may be mailed to Marcia L. Spink, Associate

Director, Air

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Programs, Mailcode 3AT00, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region

III, 841 Chestnut Building, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19107. Copies of

the documents relevant to this action are available for public

inspection during normal business hours at the Air, Radiation, and

Toxics Division, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region III, 841

Chestnut Building, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and the West Virginia

Department of Environmental Protection, Office of Air Quality, 1558

Washington Street, East, Charleston, West Virginia.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Thomas A. Casey, (215) 597-2746, at

the EPA Region III address above (Mailcode 3AT22) or via e-mail at

[email protected].

While information may be requested via e-mail, comments must be

submitted in writing to the EPA Region III address above.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

Requirements for PM-10 Nonattainment Areas

The air quality planning requirements for moderate PM-10

nonattainment areas are set out in subparts 1 and 4 of Title I of the

Clean Air Act (Act). EPA has issued a ``General Preamble'' describing

EPA's preliminary views on how EPA intends to review SIP's and SIP

revisions submitted under Title I of the Act, including those State

submittals containing moderate PM-10 nonattainment area SIP

requirements (see generally 57 FR 13498 (April 16, 1992) and 57 FR

18070 (April 28, 1992)).

Upon enactment of the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990, all Group I

areas (and Group II areas that had monitored violations before January

1, 1989) were designated nonattainment by operation of law. A list of

these initial nonattainment areas, including the Follansbee area in

Brooke County, West Virginia and the adjacent Steubenville area in

neighboring Jefferson County, Ohio, was published on March 15, 1991 (56

FR 11101) with corrections on May 20, 1991 (56 FR 23105).1

\1\ The Follansbee, West Virginia nonattainment area was

defined in this notice as the area bounded on the north by the

Market Street Bridge, on the east by West Virginia Route 2, on the

south by the extension of the southern boundary of Steubenville

Township, Jefferson County, Ohio, and on the West by the Ohio/West

Virginia border.

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Those States containing initial moderate PM-10 nonattainment areas

were required to submit to EPA, among other things, the following by

November 15, 1991:

1. Provisions to assure that reasonably available control measures

(RACM) (including such reductions in emissions from existing sources in

the area as may be obtained through the adoption, at a minimum, of

reasonably available control technology--RACT) shall be implemented no

later than December 10, 1993;

2. Either a demonstration (including air quality modeling) that the

plan will provide for attainment as expeditiously as practicable but no

later than December 31, 1994 or a demonstration that attainment by that

date is impracticable;

3. Quantitative milestones which are to be achieved every 3 years

and which demonstrate reasonable further progress (RFP) toward

attainment by December 31, 1994; and

4. Provisions to assure that the control requirements applicable to

major stationary sources of PM-10 also apply to major stationary

sources of PM-10 precursors except where the Administrator determines

that such sources do not contribute significantly to PM-10 levels which

exceed the national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS) in the area.

See sections 172(c), 188, and 189 of the Act.

Some provisions were due at later dates. States with initial

moderate PM-10 nonattainment areas were required to submit permit

programs for the construction and operation of new and modified major

stationary sources of PM-10 by June 30, 1992 (see section 189(a)). Such

States also must submit contingency measures by November 15, 1993 which

become effective without further action by the State or EPA, upon a

determination by EPA that the area has failed to achieve RFP or to

attain the PM-10 NAAQS by the applicable statutory deadline. See

section 172(c)(9) and 57 FR 13543-44.

West Virginia's 1991 Submittal

Pursuant to these requirements, West Virginia submitted a SIP

revision request for the Follansbee area on November 15, 1991. The

submittal contained bilateral consent orders between the State of West

Virginia and six companies requiring reductions in PM-10 emissions from

six sources in the Follansbee area; an air quality modeling analysis

intended to demonstrate that West Virginia's SIP, once revised to

include the consent orders, would be sufficient to attain the PM-10

NAAQS in the Follansbee area; and other supporting information, such as

RACT analyses and an analysis of PM-10 precursors.

On July 25, 1994, EPA took final limited approval and limited

disapproval actions on West Virginia's 1991 submittal (59 FR 37696).

EPA approved the six consent orders for incorporation into the SIP and

determined, among other things, that the revised SIP provided for RACM.

EPA disapproved certain elements of the attainment demonstration

because of technical inadequacies. Specifically, there were errors in

estimates of emissions from coke oven batteries; there was no analysis

of intermediate terrain (terrain between stack height and plume

height); and the demonstration included non-guideline use of the

Gaussian-Plume Multiple Source Air Quality Algorithm (RAM) dispersion

model in a meteorologically rural area. The notice of proposed

rulemaking (59 FR 988) and Technical Support Document to that

rulemaking provides detailed descriptions of these deficiencies and

documents other deficiencies that are more directly related to sources

in Ohio, such as the underestimation of emissions from basic oxygen

furnaces.

EPA took no action on the contingency measures contained in the

1991 SIP submittal with respect to the requirements of 179(c)(9) of the

Act. The General Preamble to Title I of the Clean Air Act Amendments of

1990 established a November 15, 1993 deadline for State submittal of

contingency plans. EPA will take action on the contingency measures in

a separate rulemaking.

West Virginia's 1995 Submittal

On November 22, 1995, West Virginia submitted to EPA additions to

its 1991 attainment demonstration and emissions inventory for the

Follansbee area. While the revised demonstration and inventory rest

largely on the same data as the 1991 submittal, several changes were

made. Specifically, coke oven battery emission estimates were

corrected; the entire emissions inventory was remodeled using EPA's

newly available ISC3 (Industrial Source Complex) model (incorporating

an intermediate terrain analysis and a revised area source algorithm);

the meteorological data were reprocessed using the Meteorological

Processor for Regulatory Models (MPRM); the coordinates of several

sources, which were in error in the original submittal, were corrected;

and certain annual emission rate estimates were refined.

The result of the revised modeling is that West Virginia's SIP (as

revised in 1991), along with Ohio's SIP, is sufficient to attain the

NAAQS. The analysis shows that, even if all sources emit at their

maximum allowable emission rates, the 24-hour PM-10

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concentration will not exceed 150 g/m\3\ more than once per

year in any location in the area. Similarly, the demonstration shows

that, in the attainment year, the annual PM-10 concentration will not

exceed the annual PM-10 NAAQS of 50 g/m\3\. The analysis is

also sufficient to demonstrate that the PM-10 NAAQS will be maintained

in future years because the population the area not increasing. The

analysis was performed in a manner that is consistent with the

Guideline on Air Quality Models (40 CFR 51 Appendix W). For more

details regarding the attainment demonstration, see the Technical

Support Document.

These revisions correct the deficiencies that resulted in EPA's

limited disapproval of the attainment demonstration and emissions

inventory.

II. Today's Proposal

Today, EPA is proposing to approve West Virginia's November 22,

1995 additions to its attainment demonstration and to approve the

demonstration as meeting the requirements of section 189(a)(1)(B) for

an attainment demonstration and the 172(c)(3) requirement for an

accurate emissions inventory. By separate notice today, EPA is making

an interim final determination that the revised demonstration remedies

the deficiencies identified in the rulemaking of July 25, 1994. As a

result, the sanctions which could have resulted from the July 1994

rulemaking shall not apply.

Nothing in this action should be construed as permitting or

allowing or establishing a precedent for any future request for

revision to any state implementation plan. Each request for revision to

the state implementation plan shall be considered separately in light

of specific technical, economic, and environmental factors and in

relation to relevant statutory and regulatory requirements.

SIP approvals under section 110 and subchapter I, part D of the

Clean Air Act do not create any new requirements but simply approve

requirements that the State is already imposing. Therefore, because the

Federal SIP approval does not impose any new requirements, the

Administrator certifies that it does not have a significant impact on

any small entities affected. Moreover, due to the nature of the

Federal-State relationship under the CAA, preparation of a flexibility

analysis would constitute Federal inquiry into the economic

reasonableness of state action. The Clean Air Act forbids EPA to base

its actions concerning SIPs on such grounds. Union Electric Co. v. U.S.

EPA, 427 U.S. 246, 255-66 (1976); 42 U.S.C. 7410(a)(2).

Under the Regulatory Flexibility Act, 5 U.S.C. 600 et seq., EPA

must prepare a regulatory flexibility analysis assessing the impact of

any proposed or final rule on small entities. 5 U.S.C. 603 and 604.

Alternatively, EPA may certify that the rule will not have a

significant impact on a substantial number of small entities. Small

entities include small businesses, small not-for-profit enterprises,

and government entities with jurisdiction over populations of less than

50,000.

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 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 proposed/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.

This action has been classified as a Table 3 action for signature

by the Regional Administrator under the procedures published in the

Federal Register on January 19, 1989 (54 FR 2214-2225), as revised by a

July 10, 1995 memorandum from Mary Nichols, Assistant Administrator for

Air and Radiation. The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has

exempted this regulatory action from E.O. 12866 review.

The Administrator's decision to approve or disapprove West

Virginia's PM-10 attainment demonstration and emissions inventory for

the Follansbee area will be based on whether it meets the requirements

of section 110(a)(2)(A)-(K) and part D of the Clean Air Act, as

amended, and EPA regulations in 40 CFR Part 51.

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 52

Environmental protection, Air pollution control, Intergovernmental

relations, Particulate matter.

Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7401-7671q.

Dated: January 25, 1996.

W. Michael McCabe,

Regional Administrator, Region III.

[FR Doc. 96-2250 Filed 2-2-96; 8:45 am]

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