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/ Monday, July 01, 2002
[Federal Register: July 1, 2002 (Volume 67, Number 126)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Page 44128-44132]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr01jy02-33]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Parts 52 and 81
[CA 268-0360; FRL-7239-9]
Approval and Promulgation of Implementation Plans and
Determination of Attainment of the 1-Hour Ozone Standard for the Santa
Barbara County Area, California
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Proposed rule.
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SUMMARY: EPA is proposing to determine that the Santa Barbara County
area has attained the 1-hour ozone air quality standard by the deadline
required by the Clean Air Act. EPA is also proposing to approve 1-hour
ozone contingency measures as revisions to the Santa Barbara portion of
the California State Implementation Plan (SIP).
DATES: Comments on this proposal must be received by July 31, 2002.
ADDRESSES: Please address your comments to: Dave Jesson, Air Planning
Office (AIR-2), Air Division, U.S. EPA, Region 9, 75 Hawthorne Street,
San Francisco, CA 94105-3901.
Copies of the SIP materials are available for public inspection
during normal business hours at EPA's Region 9 office and at the
following locations:
California Air Resources Board, 1001 I Street, Sacramento, CA 95814
Santa Barbara County Air Pollution Control District, 26 Castilian
Drive, Suite B-23, Goleta, CA 93117
The SIP materials are also electronically available at: http://
www.sbcapcd.org/capes.htm
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dave Jesson, US EPA Region 9, at(415)
972-3957, or Jesson.David@epa.gov
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Attainment Finding
A. Santa Barbara's Current Ozone Classification
The Santa Barbara County nonattainment area (``Santa Barbara
area'') is currently classified as serious for the 1-hour ozone
national ambient air quality standard (NAAQS).\1\
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\1\ The 1-hour ozone nonattainment area is the ``Santa Barbara-
Santa Maria-Lompoc Area,'' which comprises the entire County of
Santa Barbara. See 40 CFR 81.305.
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When the Clean Air Act (CAA) Amendments were enacted in 1990, each
area of the country that was designated nonattainment for the 1-hour
ozone standard, including the Santa Barbara area, was classified by
operation of law as marginal, moderate, serious, severe, or extreme
depending on the severity of the area's air quality problem. CAA
sections 107(d)(1)(C) and 181(a). The Santa Barbara area was initially
classified as moderate. See 40 CFR 81.305 and 56 FR 56694 (November 6,
1991).
Upon the Santa Barbara area's classification as moderate, the CAA
required submittal of a state implementation plan (SIP) demonstrating
attainment of the 1-hour ozone standard as expeditiously as practicable
but no later than November 15, 1996. CAA sections 181(a)(1) and
182(b)(1)(A)(i). The SIP had to meet several other CAA requirements for
moderate areas. See generally CAA section 182(b). The Santa Barbara
County Air Pollution Control District (SBCAPCD) prepared a moderate
area plan, which was timely submitted by the California Air Resources
Board (CARB). CARB later withdrew the attainment demonstration, since
the area continued to violate the 1-hour standard in 1996. We approved
the remaining portions of the SIP on January 8, 1997 (62 FR 1187).
On December 10, 1997 (62 FR 65025), we determined that the area had
not attained the 1-hour ozone standard by the November 15, 1996
attainment date. As a result of that finding, the Santa Barbara area
was reclassified to serious, by operation of law under CAA section
181(b)(1)(A).
Upon the area's reclassification to serious, the CAA required
California to submit a revised SIP demonstrating attainment of the 1-
hour ozone standard in the Santa Barbara area as expeditiously as
practicable but no later than November 15, 1999. CAA sections
181(a)(1)and 182(c)(2)(A). In response, SBCAPCD adopted and CARB
submitted a plan addressing the serious area requirements. EPA fully
approved this plan on August 14, 2000 (65 FR 49499).
B. Clean Air Act Provisions for Attainment Findings
Under CAA section 181(b)(2)(A), we must determine within six months
of the applicable attainment date whether an ozone nonattainment area
has attained the standard. If we find that a serious area has not
attained the standard and does not qualify for an extension, it is
reclassified by operation of law to severe.\2\ Under CAA section
[[Page 44129]]
181(b)(2)(A), we must base our determination of attainment or failure
to attain on the area's design value as of its applicable attainment
date, which for the Santa Barbara area was November 15, 1999.
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\2\ If a states does not have the clean data necessary to show
attainment of the 1-hour standard but does have clean air in the
year immediately preceding the attainment date and has fully
implemented its applicable SIP, it may apply to EPA, under CAA
section 181(a)(5), for a 1-year extension of the attainment date.
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The 1-hour ozone NAAQS is 0.12 ppm, not to be exceeded on average
more than 1 day per year over any 3-year period. 40 CFR 50.9 and
appendix H. Under our policies, we determine if an area has attained
the 1-hour standard by calculating, at each monitor, the average number
of days over the standard per year during the preceding 3-year
period.\3\ For this proposal, we have based our determination of
attainment on both the design value and the average number of
exceedance days per year as of November 15, 1999.
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\3\ See generally 57 FR 13506 (April 16, 1992) and Memorandum
from D. Kent Berry, Acting Director, Air Quality Management
Division, EPA, to Regional Air Office Directors; ``Procedures for
Processing Bump Ups and Extensions for Marginal Ozone Nonattainment
Areas,'' February 3, 1994. While explicitly applicable only to
marginal areas, the general procedures for evaluating attainment in
this memorandum apply regardless of the initial classification of an
area because all findings of attainment are made pursuant to the
same Clean Air Act requirements in section 181(b)(2).
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The design value is an ambient ozone concentration that indicates
the severity of the ozone problem in an area and is used to determine
the level of emission reductions needed to attain the standard, that
is, it is the ozone level around which a State designs its control
strategy for attaining the ozone standard. A monitor's design value is
the fourth highest ambient concentration recorded at that monitor over
the previous 3 years. An area's design value is the highest of the
design values from the area's monitors.\4\
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\4\ The fourth highest value is used as the design value because
a monitor may record up to 3 exceedances of the standard in a 3-year
period and still show attainment, since 3 exceedances over 3 years
would average 1 day per year, the maximum allowed to show attainment
of the 1-hour ozone standard. If the monitor records a fourth
exceedance in that period, it would average more than 1 exceedance
day per year and would no longer show attainment. Therefore, if a
State can reduce the fourth highest ozone value to below the
standard, thus preventing a fourth exceedance, then it can
demonstrate attainment.
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We make attainment determinations for ozone nonattainment areas
using all available, quality-assured air quality data for the 3-year
period up to and including the attainment date.\5\ Consequently, we
used all of the 1997, 1998, and 1999 quality-assured data available to
determine whether the Santa Barbara area attained the 1-hour ozone
standard by November 15, 1999. From the available air quality data, we
have calculated the average number of days over the standard and the
design value for each ozone monitor in the Santa Barbara nonattainment
area.
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\5\ All quality-assured available data include all data
available from the state and local/national air monitoring (SLAMS/
NAMS) network as submitted to EPA's AIRS system and all data
available to EPA from special purpose monitoring (SPM) sites that
meet the requirements of 40 CFR 58.13. See Memorandum John Seitz,
Director, OAQPS, to Regional Air Directors; ``Agency Policy on the
Use of Ozone Special Purpose Monitoring Data,'' August 22, 1997.
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C. Attainment Finding for the Santa Barbara Area
1. Adequacy of the Santa Barbara Area Ozone Monitoring Network
Determining whether or not an area has attained under CAA section
181(b)(1)(A) is based on monitored air quality data. Thus, the validity
of a determination of attainment depends on whether the monitoring
network adequately measures ambient ozone levels in the area.
We evaluate 4 basic elements in determining the adequacy of an
area's ozone monitoring network. The network needs to meet the design
requirements of 40 CFR part 58, appendix D; the network needs to
utilize monitoring equipment designated as reference or equivalent
methods under 40 CFR part 53; and the agency or agencies operating the
equipment need to have a quality assurance plan in place that meets the
requirements of 40 CFR part 58, appendix A. The ozone network in the
Santa Barbara area meets or exceeds these requirements and is therefore
adequate for use in determining the ozone attainment status of the
area.
2. The Santa Barbara Area's Ozone Design Value for the 1997-1999 Period
We have listed in Table 1 the design values and the average number
of exceedance days per year for the 1997 to 1999 period for each
monitoring site in the Santa Barbara area. We calculated the design
values following the procedures in the Laxton memo.\6\
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\6\ See memorandum, William G. Laxton, Director, Technical
Support Division, Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards to
Regional Air Directors, ``Ozone and Carbon Monoxide Design Value
Calculations,'' June 18, 1990.
Table 1.--Average Number of Ozone Exceedance Days per Year and Design
Values by Monitor in the Santa Barbara Area, 1997-1999
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Average number of
Site exceedance days Site design value
per year (ppm)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
El Capitan St (SLAMS)............. 0 0.08
Goleta (SLAMS).................... 0 0.09
Lompoc H Street (SLAMS)........... 0 0.08
Santa Barbara (SLAMS)............. 0 0.09
Santa Maria (SLAMS)............... 0 0.07
Santa Ynez (SLAMS)................ 0 0.09
Santa Rosa Island (Nat. Park)..... 0 0.08
Carpinteria (SPM)................. 0 0.11
GTC B (SPM)....................... 0 0.09
Lompoc HS&P (SPM)................. 0 0.09
Paradise Road (SPM)............... 0.3 0.11
Las Flores Canyon (Site 1) (SPM).. 1.0 0.11
Vandenburg AFB STS (SPM).......... 0 0.09
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Note: State or Local Air Monitoring Stations (SLAMS) are operated by
SBCAPCD or CARB, while special purpose monitors (SPMs) are operated
independently by certain permitted stationary sources in the county
under the oversight of the SBCAPCD. All data produced by these SPMs
are submitted to EPA's Aerometric Information Retrieval System-Air
Quality Subsystem (AIRS-AQS) database.
[[Page 44130]]
From Table 1, the highest design value at any monitor, and thus the
design value for the Santa Barbara area is 0.11 ppm at the Carpinteria,
Paradise Road, and Las Flores Canyon sites. No monitor in the Santa
Barbara area recorded an average of more than 1 exceedance of the 1-
hour ozone standard per year during the 1997 to 1999 period.
Because the area's design value is below the 0.12 ppm 1-hour ozone
standard and the area has averaged less than 1 exceedance per year at
each monitor for the 1997 to 1999 period, we propose to find that the
Santa Barbara area has attained the 1-hour ozone standard by its Clean
Air Act mandated attainment date of November 15, 1999.
Although the attainment determination is based on the 1997 to 1999
period, we have also looked at data for 2000 and 2001. During that
period, we found that the area's 1-hour ozone design values were below
0.12 ppm and that the area continued to record less than 1 exceedance
per year on average at each monitoring location.
D. Attainment Findings and Redesignations to Attainment
A finding that an area has attained the 1-hour ozone standard under
CAA section 181(b)(1)(A) does not redesignate the area to attainment
for the 1-hour standard nor does it guarantee a future redesignation to
attainment.
The redesignation of an area to attainment under CAA section
107(d)(3)(E) is a separate process from a finding of attainment under
CAA section 181(b)(1)(A). Unlike an attainment finding where we need
only determine that the area has had the pre-requisite number of clean
years, a redesignation requires multiple determinations. Under section
107(d)(3)(E), these determinations are:
1. We must determine, at the time of the redesignation, that the
area has attained the relevant NAAQS.
2. The State must have a fully approved SIP for the area.
3. We must determine that the improvements in air quality are due
to permanent and enforceable reductions in emissions resulting from
implementation of the SIP and applicable federal regulations and other
permanent and enforceable reductions.
4. We must have fully approved a maintenance plan for the area
under CAA section 175(A).
5. The State must have met all the nonattainment area requirements
applicable to the area.
To address the provisions of CAA section 175(A), Santa Barbara
adopted its 2001 Clean Air Plan (including a maintenance plan) on
November 15, 2001. Although the SBCAPCD is already implementing the
plan, the State does not expect to submit the plan as a SIP revision
until early 2003. CARB has submitted for federal approval at this time,
however, the contingency measures in the maintenance plan. The State
and the SBCAPCD do not intend the delay in submitting the full
maintenance plan to impact the contingency rule adoption schedule
identified in the maintenance plan. See discussion below in Section II.
It is possible, although not expected, that the Santa Barbara area
violate the 1-hour ozone NAAQS before the maintenance plan is approved
and the area is redesignated to attainment. If such a violation were to
occur after EPA's finding of attainment under CAA section 181(b)(2)(A),
and if expedited implementation of contingency measures were to prove
insufficient to eliminate future violations, EPA believes that issuance
of a SIP call under CAA section 110(k)(5) would be an appropriate
response. This SIP call could require the State to submit, by a
reasonable deadline not to exceed 18 months, a revised plan
demonstrating expeditious attainment and complying with other
requirements of Subpart 2 applicable to the area at the time of this
finding.
II. Contingency Measures
On May 29, 2002, California formally requested that we make a
finding of attainment for the Santa Barbara area and begin evaluating
redesignation of the Santa Barbara area to attainment and the adequacy
of the area's maintenance plan (letter from Michael P. Kenny, CARB
Executive Officer, to Wayne Nastri, Regional Administrator, EPA Region
9). The State's letter attached the 2001 Clean Air Plan, which SBCAPCD
adopted on November 15, 2001, to address the CAA provisions relating to
maintenance plans for the 1-hour ozone NAAQS.\7\ CARB indicated that
the State will submit a request that we act on the maintenance plan and
redesignate the area to attainment in early 2003, at the time the State
requests our approval of an updated vehicle emission factor model for
use statewide in SIPs and transportation conformity analyses.
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\7\ On June 13, 2002, we found that this submittal met the
completeness criteria in 40 CFR 51 appendix V, including the
requirement for proper public notice and adoption.
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The State did request that we act expeditiously to approve the
specific enforceable contingency measures in the maintenance plan, in
order to strengthen the SIP and ensure that a remedy will be in place
if future violations occur. Should the area record a violation of the
1-hour ozone NAAQS before the area is redesignated to attainment, these
measures would be expected to provide the remedy.
The maintenance plan includes a commitment to adopt a group of
control measures by specific dates from 2001 through 2009, and a
commitment to evaluate and expedite the adoption process in
coordination with EPA if Santa Barbara violates the 1-hour ozone NAAQS
prior to 2015. While the control measures are intended to be
contingency measures for purposes of the federal 1-hour ozone standard,
the measures are also proposed to be adopted for the purpose of
attaining the California State 1-hour ozone standard.
The measures, their adoption schedule, and associated emission
reductions are summarized in Table 2, Contingency Measures. The
measures are described at length in the 2001 Clean Air Plan, Appendix
B.3, Proposed Emission Control Measures.
Table 2.--Contingency Measures Source: 2001 Clean Air Plan, Table 4-3
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Emission reductions in
tons per day (with full
Rule No. CAP control measure ID Description Adoption implementation)
schedule -------------------------
VPC NOX
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
323............... R-SC-1 Architectural Coatings 2001-2003 0.0998 0
(Revision).
333............... N-IC-1, N-IC-3 Stationary IC Engines.. 2002-2003 0.0008 0.0128
360............... N-XC-2 Large Water Heaters & 2001-2003 0 \1\ 0.0133
Small Boilers, Steam
Generators, Process
Heaters (75,000 Btu/hr
to <2 MMBtu/hr).
[[Page 44131]]
321............... R-SL-1 Solvent Degreasers 2004-2006 0.0562 0
(Revision).
362............... R-SL-2 Solvent Cleaning 2004-2006 1.0103 0
Operations.
363............... N-IC-2 Gas Turbines........... 2004-2006 0 0
358............... R-SL-4 Electronic Industry-- 2007-2009 \2\ 0.0026 0
Semiconductor
Manufacturing.
361............... N-XC-4 Small Industrial and 2007-2009 0 \3\ 0.0028
Commercial Boilers,
Steam Generators, and
Process Heaters (2
MMBtu/hr to <5 MMBtu/
hr).
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ This is with 15% implementation, the highest implementation figure available from the District's analysis.
\2\ The data shown are for source classification code (SCC) number 3-13-065-06 only. The emission data for the
SCC numbers and the category of emission source (CES) numbers subject to Rule 358 are included in the Rule 321
or Rule 361 emission reduction summaries.
\3\ The emission reductions shown are based on Rule 361 being a point-of-sale type rule.
The State requested that we approve these measures at this time
under CAA section 110(k), and did not request that we approve them
under the CAA section 175A provisions relating to maintenance plans. We
have therefore reviewed the control measures to determine whether they
meet basic SIP approval requirements and whether the measures would
strengthen the existing SIP. We conclude that the measures are
adequately defined, the implementation of the measures is sufficiently
specific, the associated emission reductions are properly quantified,
and the SBCAPCD has authority to adopt and enforce the measures.
Therefore, we propose to approve the control measures under CAA section
110(k)(3) as strengthening the SIP.
When the State resubmits the 2001 Clean Air Plan and requests that
we approve it as meeting the CAA section 175A requirements for
maintenance plans, we will review the contingency elements in the Santa
Barbara plan and will determine whether or not these elements fully
satisfy the specific CAA section 175A(d) requirement for contingency
provisions in maintenance plans.
If we finalize approval of the contingency measures under CAA
section 110(k)(3), we expect to work closely with CARB and the SBCAPCD
to evaluate and expedite the rule adoption schedule in the event that
violations are recorded.
III. Summary of EPA Actions
We are proposing to find that the Santa Barbara area attained the
1-hour ozone NAAQS by the CAA deadline. We are proposing to approve
contingency measures in the 2001 Clean Air Plan, as shown in Table 2
above, under CAA section 110(k)(3).
IV. Administrative Requirements
Under Executive Order 12866 (58 FR 51735, October 4, 1993), this
proposed action is not a ``significant regulatory action'' and
therefore is not subject to review by the Office of Management and
Budget. For this reason, this proposed action is also not subject to
Executive Order 13211, ``Actions Concerning Regulations That
Significantly Affect Energy Supply, Distribution, or Use'' (66 FR
28355, May 22, 2001). This proposed action merely approves state law as
meeting Federal requirements and proposes to find that the Santa
Barbara area has attained a previously-established national ambient air
quality standard based on an objective review of measures air quality
data. As such, the action imposes no additional requirements beyond
those imposed by state law. Accordingly, the Administrator certifies
that this proposed rule will not have a significant economic impact on
a substantial number of small entities under the Regulatory Flexibility
Act (5 U.S.C. 601 et seq.). Because this rule proposes to approve pre-
existing requirements under state law and does not impose any
additional enforceable duty beyond that required by state law, it does
not contain any unfunded mandate or significantly or uniquely affect
small governments, as described in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of
1995 (Public Law 104-4).
This rule also does not have tribal implications because it will
not have a substantial direct effect on one or more Indian tribes, on
the relationship between the Federal Government and Indian tribes, or
on the distribution of power and responsibilities between the Federal
Government and Indian tribes, as specified by Executive Order 13175 (65
FR 67249, November 9, 2000). This action also does not have Federalism
implications because it does not have substantial direct effects on the
States, on the relationship between the national government and the
States, or on the distribution of power and responsibilities among the
various levels of government, as specified in Executive Order 13132 (64
FR 43255, August 10, 1999). This action merely proposes to approve a
state rule implementing a Federal standard and proposes to find that an
area has attained applicable air quality standards, and does not alter
the relationship or the distribution of power and responsibilities
established in the Clean Air Act. This proposed rule also is not
subject to Executive Order 13045, ``Protection of Children from
Environmental Health Risks and Safety Risks'' (62 FR 19885, April 23,
1997), because it is not economically significant.
In reviewing SIP submissions, EPA's role is to approve state
choices, provided that they meet the criteria of the Clean Air Act. In
this context, in the absence of a prior existing requirement for the
State to use voluntary consensus standards (VCS), EPA has no authority
to disapprove a SIP submission for failure to use VCS. It would thus be
inconsistent with applicable law for EPA, when it reviews a SIP
submission or the attainment status of an area, to use VCS in place of
a SIP submission that otherwise satisfies the provisions of the Clean
Air Act. Thus, the requirements of section 12(d) of the National
Technology Transfer and Advancement Act of 1995 (15 U.S.C. 272 note) do
not apply. This proposed rule does not impose an information collection
burden under the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44
U.S.C. 3501 et seq.).
List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 52
40 CFR Part 81
Environmental protection, Air pollution control, Intergovernmental
relations, Nitrogen dioxide, Ozone, Reporting and recordkeeping
requirements, Volatile organic compounds.
[[Page 44132]]
Environmental protection, Air pollution control, National parks,
and Wilderness areas.
Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.
Dated: June 21, 2002.
Keith Takata,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region IX.
[FR Doc. 02-16463 Filed 6-28-02; 8:45 am]
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