Proposed Determination of Attainment of the Air Quality in the Liberty Borough, Pennsylvania PM-10 Nonattainment Area

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[FRL-6107-3]

Proposed Determination of Attainment of the Air Quality in the

Liberty Borough, Pennsylvania PM-10 Nonattainment Area

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Proposed finding of attainment and withdrawal of previously

proposed finding.

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SUMMARY: EPA is proposing to find that air quality in the Liberty

Borough, Pennsylvania moderate nonattainment area has attained national

ambient air quality standards (NAAQS) for particulate matter of nominal

aerodynamic diameters smaller than 10 micrometers (PM-10). The Clean

Air Act (the Act) establishes a December 31, 1994 attainment date for

moderate PM-10 nonattainment areas, and requires EPA to determine the

attainment status of such areas by June 30, 1995. For the reasons

explained herein, this proposed finding is based on monitored air

quality data for the area during the years 1995-1997. EPA is also

withdrawing its previous September 19, 1995 proposal to find that the

area did not attain the NAAQS. Elsewhere in the Proposed Rules section,

EPA is also proposing to approve the Allegheny County Health

Department's (ACHD's) attainment demonstration, submitted to EPA by the

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, that the state implementation plan (SIP)

requirements for the Liberty Borough area are sufficient to attain and

maintain the NAAQS. In the same document EPA is also proposing to

approve contingency measures for the area. In the Final Rules section

of today's Federal Register, EPA is taking direct final action to

approve a SIP revision requiring additional control measures at the USX

Clairton coke works. On July 18, 1997, EPA revised the NAAQS for

particulate matter. In this document, ``NAAQS'' and ``PM-10 NAAQS''

refer only to the previously existing NAAQS that were in effect at the

time that the attainment plan was submitted.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before July 13, 1998.

ADDRESSES: Comments may be mailed to Makeba Morris, Chief, Technical

Assessment Branch, Mailcode 3AP22, 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 19107 and

the Allegheny County Health Department, Department of Air Quality, 301

39th Street, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15201.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Denis M. Lohman, (215) 566-2192, or by

e-mail at [email protected]. While requests for information

may be made via e-mail, comments for EPA's consideration regarding this

proposal must be submitted in writing to the address indicated above.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

A. Clean Air Act Requirements

Upon enactment of Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990, PM-10 areas

meeting the criteria of section 107(d)(4)(B) of the Act was designated

nonattainment by operation of law. Once an area is designated

nonattainment, section 188 of the Act outlines the process for

classification of the area and establishes the area's attainment date.

Pursuant to section 188(a), all PM-10 nonattainment areas were

initially classified as moderate by operation of law upon designation

as nonattainment, and the attainment date for these areas were December

31, 1994. These nonattainment designations and moderate area

classifications were codified in 40 CFR part 81 on November 6, 1991 (56

FR 56694).

States containing areas which were designated as moderate

nonattainment by operation of law under section 107(d)(4)(B) were to

develop and submit SIPs to provide for the attainment of the PM-10

NAAQS. Those SIPs were to include the adoption and implementation of

PM-10 reduction requirements which constitute reasonably available

control measures, (RACM), including reasonably available control

technology (RACT). Pursuant to section 189(a)(2) of the Act, those SIP

revisions were to be submitted to EPA by November 15, 1991. Section

188(c)(1) sets December 31, 1994 as the attainment date, and section

188(b)(2) requires that EPA determine the attainment status of the area

by June 30, 1995. EPA is guided in these determinations by 40 CFR 50.6

and 40 CFR part 50, appendix K.

B. Regulatory Activity to Date

On January 6, 1994, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental

Protection (PADEP) submitted an attainment plan to EPA, produced by the

Allegheny County Health Department (ACHD), for the Liberty Borough PM-

10 nonattainment area.1 The purpose of this revision to the

Pennsylvania SIP is to fulfill the requirements under section 189 of

the Act for a regulatory plan to attain the PM-10 NAAQS and to submit a

demonstration (including air quality modeling) that the plan is

sufficient to attain this goal. These ``Part D'' requirements are

described in more detail in the technical support document (TSD) to

this rulemaking. On April 11, 1995, EPA proposed to fully approve the

January 1994 attainment plan submittal, as well as two SIP revisions

that the County had submitted previously (see 60 FR 18385). After EPA

proposed to approve the County's demonstration, the County reported

that the PM-10 NAAQS had been exceeded twice in March of 1995. These

exceedances brought the adequacy of the County's attainment plan into

doubt, and, though EPA took final action to approve the regulatory

portion of the attainment plan (61 FR 29664), EPA took no action on the

modeled attainment demonstration at that time.

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\1\ The Liberty Borough PM-10 nonattainment area is comprised of

the City of Clairton and the Boroughs of Glassport, Liberty,

Lincoln, and Port Vue.

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Pursuant to its obligations under section 188(b)(2), on September

19, 1995, EPA proposed to find that the Liberty Borough moderate

nonattainment area did not attain the NAAQS (60 FR 48439). This

proposal was based on the available air quality data at the time, which

showed that the number of expected exceedances of the

[[Page 32206]]

daily NAAQS (i.e., the number of exceedances per years expected when

missing data and/or trends are taken into account) exceeded the NAAQS

criterion of 1.0 expected exceedances per year. EPA based its

attainment determination on air quality data monitored in the

nonattainment area from 1992 to 1994, the three most recent calendar

years of data available at the time of proposal. In addition, two

exceedances already monitored in 1995 reflected full implementation of

the attainment SIP.

C. The GASP Lawsuit

On February 21, 1996, the Group Against Smog and Pollution (GASP),

a citizen environmental advocacy group, sued EPA in order to compel EPA

action on a number of planning activities regarding the Liberty Borough

area. The Settlement Agreement reached on this suit requires, among

other things, that EPA determine the attainment status of the Liberty

Borough area by March 31, 1998, in light of air quality data collected

from 1995 through 1997. The TSD prepared for this rulemaking provides a

more detailed summary of the Settlement Agreement's provisions. Copies

of the TSD are available upon request from the EPA Regional Office

listed in the ADDRESSES section of this document.

D. Revisions to the PM NAAQS

On July 18, 1997, EPA revised the NAAQS for particulate

matter.2 Currently, both the pre-existing and revised NAAQS

are in effect in the Liberty Borough area. In this document, ``NAAQS''

and ``PM-10 NAAQS'' refer to the previously existing NAAQS that were in

effect at the time and for which the Liberty Borough area was

classified as moderate nonattainment on November 6, 1991.

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\2\ See 62 FR 38652.

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II. Rationale for Today's Proposed Action

Air quality has improved in the Liberty Borough nonattainment area

since 1995, when EPA proposed to find that the area did not attain the

PM-10 NAAQS by the December 31, 1994 attainment date. (See Table 1,

below) Pursuant to the Settlement Agreement, EPA has waited until three

years of air quality data which reflect full implementation of the

County's attainment SIP were available. The data, which were collected

by a monitoring network that meets the requirements of 40 CFR part 58,

show that the air quality of the area has attained the NAAQS. The

number of expected exceedances per year are 0.67, which is less than

the 1.0 allowed by the NAAQS. Although one monitoring station was out

of service during part of the first quarter of 1995, ACHD has credibly

determined that it is unlikely that any exceedances of the NAAQS were

missed. More detail is provided in the TSD, referenced above.

Table 1.--Exceedances of the 24-hour PM-10 NAAQS Measured in Liberty

Borough PM-10 Nonattainment Area 1992-1997 (g/m3)

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Lincoln Lincoln

Date Hi-Vol TEOM Liberty

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1992-1994

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1/28/92................................... ........ ........ 175

12/15/92.................................. 186 ........ ........

5/10/93................................... 167 ........ ........

11/23/93.................................. 223 195 ........

2/19/94................................... 163 ........ ........

3/7/94.................................... 157 ........ ........

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1995-1997

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3/12/95................................... 193 ........ 188

3/13/95................................... 209 193 ........

1996......................................

(2) No exceedances.

1997......................................

(2) Do.

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The 24-hour PM-10 National Ambient Air Quality Standard is 150 g/m3.

The NAAQS is attained at any location when the expected number of

exceedances per year is to 1.0.

The Lincoln station reported incomplete data for the first quarter of

1995.

The Lincoln Hi-Vol was discontinued during the second quarter of 1996.

III. Proposed Action

EPA is proposing to find, pursuant to section 188(b)(2), that the

Liberty Borough moderate nonattainment area has attained the NAAQS for

PM-10. EPA is withdrawing its September 1995 proposal to find that the

area did not attain the NAAQS.

Nothing in this proposal should be construed as permitting or

allowing or establishing a precedent for any future request for

revision to any SIP. Each request for revision to a SIP shall be

considered separately in light of specific technical, economic and

environmental factors and in relation to relevant statutory and

regulatory authority.

IV. Administrative Requirements

A. Executive Order 12866

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has exempted this

regulatory action from E.O. 12866 review.

B. Executive Order 13045

The proposed rule is not subject to E.O. 13045, entitled

``Protection of Children from Environmental Health Risks and Safety

Risks,'' because it is not an ``economically significant'' action under

E.O. 12866.

C. Regulatory Flexibility Act

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.

Determinations of attainment under the Clean Air Act do not impose

any new requirements on small entities. Therefore, EPA certifies that

this determination does not have a significant impact on a substantial

number of small entities.

D. Unfunded Mandates

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

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 being proposed 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 requirements. Accordingly, no

additional costs to State, local, or tribal governments, or to the

private sector, result from this action.

The Regional Administrator's final decision to find that the

Liberty Borough area attained or did not attain the NAAQS will be based

on sections 179(c) and 188(b)(2) of the Clean Air Act, as amended, and

EPA regulations in 40 CFR part 50.

Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.

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Dated: May 28, 1998.

W. Michael McCabe,

Regional Administrator, Region III.

[FR Doc. 98-15583 Filed 6-11-98; 8:45 am]

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