Rescinding Findings That the 1-Hour Ozone Standard No Longer Applies in Certain Areas

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Parts 50 and 81

[FRL-6505-3]

Rescinding Findings That the 1-Hour Ozone Standard No Longer

Applies in Certain Areas

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice to Reopen Comment Period.

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SUMMARY: The EPA is reopening the comment period for the notice of

proposed rulemaking (NPR) that was published on October 25, 1999 (64 FR

57424) regarding the rescinding of findings made by EPA that the 1-hour

national ambient air quality standard (NAAQS) for ozone no longer

applies in certain areas and which was further clarified on November

18, 1999 (64 FR 63002). The October 25 proposal established a 30-day

comment period, which ended on December 1. The EPA believes this

provided an adequate opportunity to comment on the specific issues

identified in the proposal. However, in response to requests from the

public, EPA is reopening the comment period to January 3, 2000.

[[Page 68660]]

DATES: The EPA is reopening the comment period to end on January 3,

2000, which is 30 days after the date today's notice was signed and

made available on EPA's web site at http://www.epa.gov/airlinks.

Comments must be postmarked by the last day of the comment period and

sent directly to the Docket Office listed in ADDRESSES (in duplicate

form if possible). Please refer to the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION

section for additional information on the comment period.

ADDRESSES: Comments may be submitted to the Office of Air and Radiation

Docket and Information Center (6102), Attention: Docket No. A-99-22,

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 401 M Street SW, room M-1500,

Washington, DC 20460, telephone (202) 260-7548. Comments and data may

also be submitted electronically by following the instructions under

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION of this document. No confidential business

information (CBI) should be submitted through e-mail.

Documents relevant to this action are available for inspection at

the Docket Office, at the above address, between 8 a.m. and 5:30 p.m.,

Monday though Friday, excluding legal holidays. A reasonable copying

fee may be charged for copying.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Questions concerning today's action

should be addressed to Annie Nikbakht, Office of Air Quality Planning

and Standards, Air Quality Strategies and Standards Division, MD-15,

Research Triangle Park, NC, 27711, telephone (919) 541-5246.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Availability of Related Information

The official record for this rulemaking, as well as the public

version, has been established under docket number A-99-22 (including

comments and data submitted electronically as described below). A

public version of this record, including printed, paper versions of

electronic comments, which does not include any information claimed as

CBI, is available for inspection from 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., Monday

through Friday, excluding legal holidays. The official rulemaking

record is located at the address in ADDRESSES at the beginning of this

document. Electronic comments can be sent directly to EPA at: A-and-R-

D[email protected]. Electronic comments must be submitted as an

ASCII file avoiding the use of special characters and any form of

encryption. Comments and data will also be accepted on disks in

WordPerfect in 5.1/6.1 file format or ASCII file format. All comments

and data in electronic form must be identified by the docket number A-

99-22. Electronic comments on this NPR rule may be filed online at many

Federal Depository Libraries.

Additional information relevant to this proposed rulemaking is

available on the Agency's Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards'

(OAQPS) Technology Transfer Network (TTN) via the web at http://

www.epa.gov/ttn/. If assistance is needed in accessing the system, call

the help desk at (919) 541-5384 in Research Triangle Park, NC.

I. Re-opening of Comment Period

The EPA has received requests to reopen the comment period on the

proposal that the 1-hour NAAQS no longer applies in certain areas. See

Docket A-99-22, nos. IV-D-34 (Hunton & Williams, representing the

Utility Air Regulatory Group) and nos. IV-D-36 The Chamber of Commerce

of the United States, William L. Kovacs. This notice responds to those

requests. The commenters identified an administrative error in

docketing the list of areas affected by the proposed rule. The EPA

acknowledges that the list of areas was inadvertently not placed in the

proper docket at the time the proposed rule was published in the

Federal Register. The EPA has corrected this docketing problem and the

list of affected areas is now available in the docket. The EPA is

providing an additional 30 days for the public to comment on the

proposed rule now that the list of affected areas is available in the

docket.

One commenter also requested that EPA reopen the comment period to

allow comments on issues identified in a Stipulation to Stay

Proceedings in a legal challenge to EPA's revocation of the 1-hour

ozone standard in certain areas. Environmental Defense Fund v. Browner,

No. 98-1363, D.C. Cir., filed August 3, 1998. The issues identified in

the Stipulation were as follows: (1) The proposal to modify 40 C.F.R.

Sec. 50.9(b) to provide that after the 8-hour ozone standard

``become[s] fully enforceable under part D of title 1 of the Clean Air

Act (CAA) and subject to no further legal challenge,'' the 1-hour

standard will no longer apply to an area once EPA determines that the

area has air quality meeting the 1-hour standard; (2) Whether a ``fully

enforceable'' 8-hour standard means that CAA section 107(d)

designations for ozone under the 8-hour standard will have been

promulgated by the Administrator prior to any determination that the 1-

hour ozone standard no longer applies to an area; (3) Whether the motor

vehicle emission budget approved or found adequate for the purpose of

implementing the 1-hour ozone standard in a nonattainment area will

remain in effect for transportation conformity purposes during the

period after the 1-hour ozone standard no longer applies to the area

but before a motor vehicle emission budget is approved or found

adequate for the purpose of implementing the 8-hour ozone standard; (4)

Whether the rescission of the nonapplicability determinations for

certain areas should apply retroactively as well as prospectively; and

(5) In the event EPA determines that the rescission will not apply

retroactively, whether EPA will provide other relief to remedy any

additional air pollution that may result from stationary sources and/or

highway projects approved during the regulatory hiatus when the area's

section 107(d) designation was not ``nonattainment.'' The EPA believes

that all of these issues were within the scope of the original

proposal. The EPA included this list of issues in the Stipulation at

the request of the litigants. The EPA agrees that all of these issues

are within the scope of this rulemaking and thus are open for public

comment during the reopened comment period.

II. Public Hearing

One commenter also requested that EPA hold a public hearing in

connection with this proposed rule because the rule was allegedly

subject to the public hearing requirements of section 307(d) of the CAA

as a revision to a NAAQS under section 109 of the CAA. The EPA does not

agree with the commenter. As EPA stated in the proposed rule, EPA was

merely changing a rule that indicated when standards would be

applicable, and was not revising the standards themselves. For this

reason, EPA believes that the proposal is not subject to the public

hearing requirements of section 307(d) and is not providing a public

hearing on the proposal.

List of Subjects

40 CFR Part 50

Environmental protection, Air pollution control, Carbon monoxide,

Lead, Nitrogen dioxide, Ozone, Particulate matter, Sulfur oxides.

40 CFR Part 81

Environmental protection, Air pollution control, National parks,

Wilderness areas.

[[Page 68661]]

Dated: December 1, 1999.

Robert Brenner,

Acting Assistant Administrator for Air and Radiation.

[FR Doc. 99-31757 Filed 12-7-99; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6560-50-P