Clean Air Act Reclassification; Fairbanks, Alaska, Carbon Monoxide Nonattainment Area

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 81

[AK 17-1705; FRL-5872-4]

Clean Air Act Reclassification; Fairbanks, Alaska, Carbon

Monoxide Nonattainment Area

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Proposed rule.

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SUMMARY: This action proposes to find that the Fairbanks North Star

Borough, Alaska, carbon monoxide (CO) nonattainment area has not

attained the CO national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS) by

December 31, 1995, the Clean Air Act (CAA) mandated attainment date for

moderate nonattainment areas. This proposed

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finding is based on EPA's review of monitored air quality data for

compliance with the CO NAAQS. If EPA takes final action on this

proposed finding, the Fairbanks CO nonattainment area will be

reclassified by operation of law as a serious nonattainment area. The

intended effect of such a reclassification would be to allow the State

additional time to submit a new State implementation plan (SIP)

providing for attainment of the CO NAAQS by no later than December 31,

2000, the CAA attainment deadline for serious CO areas.

DATES: Written comments on this proposal must be received by September

8, 1997.

ADDRESSES: Written comments should be addressed to M. Livingston,

Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Air Quality (OAQ 107),

Docket AK 17-1705, 1200 6th Avenue, Seattle, WA 98101. Information

supporting this action is available for inspection during normal

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

1200 Sixth Avenue, Seattle, Washington 98101, and the Alaska Department

of Environmental Conservation (ADEC), 410 Willoughby, Suite 105,

Juneau, Alaska 99801-1795.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Montel Livingstone, (206) 553-0180.

Comment Line: A special CO Fairbanks Air Quality comment line will

be available during normal business hours. The number may be accessed

directly by dialing (206) 553-1388, or it may be accessed through a

toll free telephone number 1-800-424-4372, extension 1388.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

A. CAA Requirements and EPA Actions Concerning Designation and

Classification.

The CAA Amendments of 1990 were enacted on November 15, 1990. Under

section 107(d)(1)(C) of the CAA, each CO area designated nonattainment

prior to enactment of the 1990 Amendments, such as the Fairbanks area,

was designated nonattainment by operation of law upon enactment of the

1990 Amendments. Under section 186(a) of the CAA, each CO area

designated nonattainment under section 107(d) was also classified by

operation of law as either ``moderate'' or ``serious'' depending on the

severity of the area's air quality problem. CO nonattainment areas with

a design value between 9.1-16.4 parts per million (ppm), such as the

Fairbanks area, were classified as moderate. These nonattainment

designations and classifications were codified in 40 CFR part 81. See

56 FR 56694 (November 6, 1991). States containing CO moderate

nonattainment areas that were classified as moderate nonattainment by

operation of law under section 107(d) were required to submit State

implementation plans (SIPs) designed to attain the CO NAAQS as

expeditiously as practicable but no later than December 31, 1995.

1

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\1\ The moderate area SIP requirements are set forth in section

187(a) of the CAA Amendments of 1990 and differ depending on whether

the area's design value is below or above 12.7ppm. The Fairbanks

area has a design value below 12.7ppm. 40 CFR part 81.302.

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B. Reclassification to a Serious Nonattainment Area

1. EPA has the responsibility, pursuant to sections 179(c) and

186(b)(2) of the CAA, of determining, within six months of the

applicable attainment date whether the Fairbanks area has attained the

CO NAAQS. Under section 186(b)(2)(A), if EPA finds that the area has

not attained the CO NAAQS, it is reclassified as serious by operation

of law. Pursuant to section 186(b)(2)(B) of the Act, EPA must publish a

notice in the Federal Register identifying areas which it determines

failed to attain the standard and therefore must be reclassified as

serious by operation of law. 2 EPA makes attainment

determinations for CO nonattainment areas based upon whether an area

has two years (or eight consecutive quarters) of clean air quality

data. 3 Section 179(c)(1) of the CAA states that the

attainment determination must be based upon an area's ``air quality as

of the attainment date.'' Consequently, EPA will determine whether an

area's air quality has met the CO NAAQS by December 31, 1995, based

upon the most recent two years of air quality data entered into the

Aerometric Information Retrieval System (AIRS) data base.

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\2\ Language in the 1996 budget legislation, section 308, H.R.

1099, U.S. House of Representatives, dated April 15, 1996,

restricted EPA from taking the action for Fairbanks, AK proposed

here. ``Sec. 308. None of the funds appropriated under this Act may

be used to implement the requirements of section 186(b)(2), section

187(b) or section 211(m) of the Clean Air Act . . . with respect to

any moderate nonattainment area in which the average daily

temperature is below 0 degrees Fahrenheit. The preceding sentence

shall not be interpreted to preclude assistance from the

Environmental Protection Agency to the State of Alaska to make

progress toward meeting the CO standard in such areas and to resolve

remaining issues regarding the use of oxygenated fuels in such

areas.''

\3\ See generally memorandum from Sally L. Shaver, Director,

Air Quality Strategies and Standards Division, EPA, to Regional Air

Office Directors, entitled ``Criteria for Granting Attainment Date

Extensions, Making Attainment Determinations, and Determinations of

Failure to Attain the NAAQS for Moderate CO Nonattainment Areas,''

October 23, 1995 (Shaver memorandum).

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EPA determines a CO nonattainment area's air quality status in

accordance with 40 CFR part 50.8 and EPA policy. 4 EPA has

promulgated two NAAQS for CO: an 8-hour average concentration and a 1-

hour average concentration. Because there were no violations of the 1-

hour standard recorded in the Fairbanks area in 1994 and 1995, this

document addresses only the air quality status of the Fairbanks area

with respect to the 8-hour standard. The 8-hour CO NAAQS requires that

not more than one non-overlapping 8-hour average per year per

monitoring site can exceed 9.0ppm (values below 9.5 are rounded down to

9.0 and they are not considered exceedances). The second exceedance of

the 8-hour CO NAAQS at a given monitoring site within the same year

constitutes a violation of the CO NAAQS.

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\4\ See memorandum from William G. Laxton, Director Technical

Support Division, entitled ``Ozone and Carbon Monoxide Design Value

Calculations,'' June 18, 1990. See also Shaver memorandum.

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2. SIP Requirements for Serious CO Areas: CO nonattainment areas

reclassified as serious under section 186(b)(2) of the CAA are required

to submit, within 18 months of the area's reclassification, SIP

revisions demonstrating attainment of the CO NAAQS as expeditiously as

practicable but no later than December 31, 2000. The serious CO area

planning requirements are set forth in section 187(b) of the CAA. EPA

has issued two general guidance documents related to the planning

requirements for CO SIPs. The first is the ``General Preamble for the

Implementation of Title I of the CAA Amendments of 1990'' that sets

forth EPA's preliminary views on how the Agency intends to act on SIPs

submitted under Title I of the CAA. See generally 57 FR 13498 (April

16, 1992) and 57 FR 18070 (April 28, 1992). The second general guidance

document for CO SIPs issued by EPA is the ``Technical Support Document

to Aid the States with the Development of Carbon Monoxide State

Implementation Plans,'' July 1992. If the Fairbanks' area is

reclassified to serious, the State would have to submit a SIP revision

to EPA that, in addition to the attainment demonstration, includes: (1)

A forecast of vehicle miles travelled (VMT) for each year before the

attainment year and provisions for annual updates of these forecasts;

(2) adopted contingency measures; and (3) adopted transportation

control measures and strategies to offset any growth in CO emissions

from growth in VMT or

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number of vehicle trips. See CAA sections 187(a)(7), 187(a)(2)(A),

187(a)(3), 187(b)(2), and 187(b)(1). Upon reclassification, contingency

measures in the moderate area plan for the Fairbanks area must be

implemented.

C. Attainment Date Extensions

If the State does not have the two consecutive clean years of data

necessary to show attainment of the NAAQS, it may apply, under section

186(a)(4) of the CAA, for a one year attainment date extension. EPA

may, in its discretion, grant such an extension if the State has: (1)

Complied with the requirements and commitments pertaining to the

applicable implementation plan for the area, and (2) the area has

measured no more than one exceedance of CO NAAQS at any monitoring site

in the nonattainment area in the year preceding 1996, the extension

year. Because the Fairbanks nonattainment area had three exceedances in

1995, the area did not qualify for an extension.

II. This Action

By today's action, EPA is proposing to find that the Fairbanks CO

nonattainment area failed to demonstrate attainment of the CO NAAQS by

December 31, 1995. This proposed finding is based upon air quality data

showing violations of the CO NAAQS during 1995.

Ambient Air Monitoring Data: The following table lists the

monitoring sites in the Fairbanks CO nonattainment area where the 8-

hour CO NAAQS was exceeded during 1995, based on data validated by the

Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation and entered into the

AIRS data base.

1995 Carbon Monoxide Summary Table

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2nd Number of

maximum 8- readings

Address of Monitoring Site hour Date exceeding

average 8-hour

value standard

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675 7th Ave............................ 10.6 1/03/95 3

2nd and Cushman........................ 11.8 1/04/95 9

17th and Gilliam Way................... 11.6 12/29/95 7

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Fairbanks had no violations of the CO NAAQS in 1996. Although one

exceedance occurred in 1996 (9.8 ppm at the 2nd and Cushman site), it

did not constitute as a CO violation in Fairbanks because a violation

of the CO NAAQS means two exceedances of the 8-hour CO NAAQS at a given

monitoring site within the same year. However, two CO NAAQS violations

have been recorded in Fairbanks to-date in 1997, respectively on

January 11, 1997, at the monitoring site located at 2nd and Cushman and

on January 16, 1997, at the monitoring site located at 17th and Gilliam

Way. This data has been validated by ADEC and entered into the AIRS

data base.

In a letter to EPA dated February 11, 1997, the State of Alaska

questioned whether or not Fairbanks should be reclassified to serious

nonattainment status given that (1) there were no CO violations of the

NAAQS in 1996, and (2) a Memorandum of Understanding had been signed,

dated January 23, 1997, between ADEC and the Municipality of Fairbanks

which deals directly with the CO nonattainment problem. In a letter to

the State of Alaska dated March 24, 1997, EPA Region 10 pointed out

that while further delay of reclassification is not possible, the

progress achieved thus far in Fairbanks to improve air quality and

decrease the ambient levels of CO can form the base on which to build

and continue movement towards attaining the CO NAAQS. As noted above,

even though 1996 was a clean year for Fairbanks, two violations were

recorded in January 1997. It is important to continue developing

control strategies to further reduce CO concentrations in order to

attain the CO standard. EPA explained that reclassification is mandated

under section 186(b) of the CAA and the Administrator does not have

authority to decide otherwise once EPA determines the area has failed

to meet the CO NAAQS.

Because the 1995 exceedances are valid for use in determining the

attainment status of the Fairbanks area, EPA is proposing to find,

based on the 1995 CO violations discussed above, that the area did not

attain the CO NAAQS by December 31, 1995.

III. Executive Order (EO) 12866

Under E.O. 12866, 58 FR 51735 (October 4, 1993), EPA is required to

determine whether regulatory actions are significant and therefore

should be subject to OMB review, economic analysis, and the

requirements of the Executive Order. The Executive Order defines a

``significant regulatory action'' as one that is likely to result in a

rule that may meet at least one of the four criteria identified in

section 3(f), including, under paragraph (1), that the rule may ``have

an annual effect on the economy of $100 million or more or adversely

affect, in a material way, the economy, a sector of the economy,

productivity, competition, jobs, the environment, public health or

safety, or State, local or tribal governments or communities.'' The

Agency has determined that the finding of failure to attain proposed

today would result in none of the effects identified in section 3(f).

Under section 186(b)(2) of the CAA, findings of failure to attain and

reclassification of nonattainment areas are based upon air quality

considerations and must occur by operation of law in light of certain

air quality conditions. They do not, in and of themselves, impose any

new requirements on any sectors of the economy. In addition, because

the statutory requirements are clearly defined with respect to the

differently classified areas, and because those requirements are

automatically triggered by classifications that, in turn, are triggered

by air quality values, findings of failure to attain and

reclassification cannot be said to impose a materially adverse impact

on State, local or tribal governments or communities.

IV. Regulatory Flexibility

Under the Regulatory Flexibility Act, 5 U.S.C. 601 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 economic 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. As discussed in section III of this document,

findings of failure to attain and reclassification of nonattainment

areas under section 186(b)(2) of the CAA do not in and of themselves

create any new requirements. Therefore, I certify that today's proposed

action does not have a significant impact on small entities.

V. Unfunded Mandates

Under sections 202, 203, and 205 of the Unfunded Mandates Reform

Act of 1995 (Unfunded Mandates Act), signed into law on March 22, 1995,

EPA must assess whether various actions undertaken in association with

proposed or final regulations include a Federal mandate that may result

in estimated costs of $100 million or more to the private sector, or to

State, local or tribal governments in the aggregate. EPA believes, as

discussed above, that the proposed finding of failure to attain and

reclassification of the Fairbanks nonattainment area are factual

determinations based upon air quality considerations and must occur by

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operation of law and, hence, do not impose any Federal

intergovernmental mandate, as defined in section 101 of the Unfunded

Mandates Act.

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 81

Environmental protection, Air pollution control, Intergovernmental

relations, Carbon monoxide.

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

Dated: August 1, 1997.

Chuck Findley,

Acting Regional Administrator.

[FR Doc. 97-20969 Filed 8-7-97; 8:45 am]

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