Approval and Promulgation of Maintenance Plan Revisions; Ohio

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[OH116-1; FRL-6112-8]

Approval and Promulgation of Maintenance Plan Revisions; Ohio

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Proposed rule.

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SUMMARY: The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is

proposing to approve an April 27, 1998, request from Ohio, for State

Implementation Plan (SIP) maintenance plan revision for the Dayton-

Springfield (Montgomery, Clark, Greene and Miami Counties) ozone

maintenance area. The revision would remove the air quality triggers

from the area's contingency plan. The contingency plans were included

in the areas' maintenance plan to correct violations of the one hour

ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS), which has been

proposed to be revoked for this area.

DATES: Written comments on this proposal must be received on or before

July 20, 1998.

ADDRESSES: Copies of the documents relevant to this action are

available for inspection during normal business hours at the following

location: Regulation Development Section, Air Programs Branch, (AR-

18J), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 5, 77 West Jackson

Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois 60604.

Please contact Scott Hamilton at (312) 353-4775 before visiting the

Region 5 office.

Written comments should be sent to: J. Elmer Bortzer, Chief,

Regulation Development Section, Air Programs Branch, (AR-18J), U.S.

Environmental Protection Agency, Region 5, 77 West Jackson Boulevard,

Chicago, Illinois 60604.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Scott Hamilton, Environmental

Scientist, Regulation Development Section, Air Programs Branch (AR-

18J), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 5, 77 West Jackson

Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois 60604, (312) 353-4775.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Attainment Areas in Ohio

Since the initial Clean Air Act (CAA) attainment status

designations were made, the Dayton area has attained the one hour ozone

standard and has been redesignated to attainment status for ozone. As a

requirement to being redesignated to attainment status, the

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area developed a maintenance plan. The purpose of the maintenance plan

is to assure maintenance of the one hour ozone NAAQS for at least ten

years.

The maintennce plan included contingency provisions. The purpose of

the contingency provisions are to identify and correct any violation of

the one hour ozone NAAQS in a timely fashion. Triggers are included in

the contingency provisions to identify the need to implement measures

and correct air quality problems until such time as a revised

maintenance or attainment plan could be developed to address the level

of the air quality problem. Triggering events in the contingency plans

could be linked to ozone air quality and/or an emission level of ozone

precursors.

Dayton's maintenance plan was finalized by EPA and published in the

Federal Register on May 5, 1995 (60 FR 22289).

II. One Hour Ozone Standard Revocation

On July 18, 1997, EPA finalized a revision to the NAAQS for ozone

which changed the standard from 0.12 parts per million (ppm) averaged

over one hour, to 0.08 ppm, averaged over eight hours. The EPA is

revoking the one hour standard in separate rulemakings based on an

area's attainment of the one hour ozone standard. The first round of

revocations will be for areas attaining the one hour standard based on

quality assured air monitoring data for the years 1994-1996. The second

round of one hour ozone standard revocations will be for areas

attaining the one hour standard based on quality assured air monitoring

data for the years 1995-1997. After these two rulemakings are

finalized, EPA intends to publish rulemakings on an annual basis

revoking the one hour ozone standard for additional areas that come

into attainment of the one hour standard.

On May 18, 1998, EPA published a proposed rule (63 FR 27247) in the

Federal Register proposing to revoke the one hour ozone standard in

areas attaining the one hour standard based on quality assured air

monitoring data for the years 1995-1997. In that proposal, EPA proposed

to revoke the one hour ozone standard in the Dayton, Ohio ozone

maintenance area.

On July 16, 1997, President Clinton issued a directive to

Administrator Browner on implementation of the new ozone standard, as

well as the current one hour ozone standard (62 FR 38421). In that

directive the President laid out a plan on how the new ozone and

particulate matter standards, as well as the current one hour standard,

are to be implemented. A December 29, 1997, memorandum entitled

``Guidance for Implementing the 1-Hour and Pre-Existing PM10 NAAQS,''

signed by Richard D. Wilson, EPA's Acting Assistant Administrator for

Air and Radiation, reflected that directive. The purpose of the

guidance reflected in the memorandum is to ensure that the momentum

gained by States to attain the one hour ozone NAAQS was not lost when

moving toward implementing the eight hour ozone NAAQS.

The guidance document explains that maintenance plans will remain

in effect for areas where the one hour standard is revoked; however,

those maintenance plans may be revised to withdraw certain contingency

measure provisions that have not been triggered or implemented prior to

EPA's determination of attainment and revocation. Where the contingency

measure is linked to the one hour ozone standard or air quality ozone

concentrations, the measures may be removed from the maintenance plan.

Measures linked to non-air quality elements, such as emissions

increases or vehicle miles traveled, may be removed if the State

demonstrates that removing the measure will not affect an area's

ability to attain the eight hour ozone standard.

In other words, after the one hour standard is revoked for an area,

EPA believes it is permissible to withdraw contingency measures

designed to correct violations of that standard. Since such measures

were designed to address future violations of a standard that no longer

exists, it is no longer necessary to retain them. Furthermore, EPA

believes that future attainment and maintenance planning efforts should

be directed toward attaining the eight hour ozone NAAQS. As part of the

implementation of the eight hour ozone standard, the State's ozone air

quality will be evaluated and eight hour attainment and nonattainment

designations will be made.

III. Review of the State Submittal

In a letter from Donald R. Schregardus, Director, Ohio

Environmental Protection Agency (OEPA) received by EPA on April 27,

1998, OEPA officially requested that all air quality triggers be

deleted from the maintenance plans for the areas in Ohio now attaining

the one hour ozone standard and where EPA has proposed to revoke the

one hour standard. On May 18, 1998, EPA proposed to revoke the one hour

ozone standard in the Dayton area. Therefore, in this Federal Register

document, EPA is proposing to delete the air quality trigger in the

Dayton area's maintenance plan. In a previous Notice of Proposed

Rulemaking, EPA proposed the deletion of air quality triggers in

maintenance plans for other Ohio areas (where the one hour standard was

proposed to be revoked) (see 63 FR 27895).

The OEPA has officially announced a public hearing on this matter

to be held on June 1, 1998.

EPA believes that Ohio's request is consistent with the December

29, 1997 guidance document and the July 16, 1997 Presidential

Directive, and that the request is approvable.

This revision approval is being proposed under a procedure called

parallel processing, whereby EPA proposes rulemaking action

concurrently with the State's procedures for amending its regulations.

If the proposed revision is substantially changed, EPA will evaluate

those changes and may publish another notice of proposed rulemaking. If

no substantial changes are made other than any consistent with this

document, the EPA will publish a final rulemaking on the revisions. The

final rulemaking action by EPA on Ohio's request to revise the

maintenance plan to remove the air quality trigger will occur only

after the one hour ozone standard has been revoked in final and Ohio's

public hearing documentation is submitted to the EPA.

IV. EPA Proposed Action

The EPA is proposing to approve the requested revision to the

Dayton area's maintenance plan. The EPA is parallel processing this

request concurrent with State proceedings on the affected provision.

Written comments must be received by EPA on or by July 20, 1998.

V. Administrative Requirements

A. Executive Order 12866

The Office of Management and Budget has exempted this regulatory

action from Executive Order 12866 review.

B. Executive Order 13045

The proposed rule is not subject to Executive Order 13045, titled

``Protection of Children's Health from Environmental Health Risks and

Safety Risks,'' because it is not an ``economically significant''

action under Executive Order 12866.

C. Future Requests

Nothing in this action should be construed as permitting, allowing

or establishing a precedent for any future request for revision to any

SIP. Each request for revision to the SIP shall be considered

separately in light of specific technical, economic, and environmental

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factors and in relation to relevant statutory and regulatory

requirements.

D. Regulatory Flexibility

The Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA) generally requires an agency

to conduct a regulatory flexibility analysis of any rule subject to

notice and comment rulemaking requirements unless the agency certifies

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. This proposed rule will not have a significant

impact on a substantial number of small entities because 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 create any new requirements, I certify that this action will

not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small

entities. Moreover, due to the nature of the Federal-State relationship

under the Clean Air Act, preparation of a flexibility analysis would

constitute Federal inquiry into the economic reasonableness of the

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, 256-66 (1976) 42 U.S.C. 7410(a)(2).

E. Unfunded Mandates

Under Section 202 of the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995,

signed into law on March 22, 1995, EPA must undertake various actions

in association with 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. 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 the private

sector, result from this action.

F. Audit Privilege and Immunity Law

Nothing in this action should be construed as making any

determination or expressing any position regarding Ohio's audit

privilege and immunity law (sections 3745.70--3745.73 of the Ohio

Revised Code). EPA will be reviewing the effect of the Ohio audit

privilege and immunity law on various Ohio environmental programs,

including those under the Clean Air Act, and taking appropriate

action(s), if any, after thorough analysis and opportunity for Ohio to

state and explain its views and positions on the issues raised by the

law. The action taken herein does not express or imply any viewpoint on

the question of whether there are legal deficiencies in this or any

Ohio Clean Air Act program resulting from the effect of the audit

privilege and immunity law. As a consequence of the review process, the

regulations subject to the action taken herein may be disapproved,

federal approval for the Clean Air Act program under which they are

implemented may be withdrawn, or other appropriate action may be taken,

as necessary.

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 52

Environmental protection, Air pollution control, Hydrocarbons,

Intergovernmental relations, Nitrogen oxides, Ozone.

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

Dated: June 2, 1998.

David A. Ullrich,

Acting Regional Administrator.

[FR Doc. 98-16247 Filed 6-17-98; 8:45 am]

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