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Redesignation and Approval and Promulgation of Indiana Implementation Plans
Note: EPA no longer updates this information, but it may be useful as a reference or resource.
[Federal Register: January 10, 2003 (Volume 68, Number 7)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Page 1370-1373]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr10ja03-7]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Parts 52 and 81
[IN148-1a; FRL-7436-2]
Redesignation and Approval and Promulgation of Indiana
Implementation Plans
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Direct final rule.
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SUMMARY: EPA is redesignating Lake County, Indiana, to attainment for
particulate matter with a nominal aerodynamic diameter of 10 microns or
less (PM10). EPA also approves Indiana's plan for continuing
to attain the PM10 standards. Indiana requested these
actions on September 25, 2002. In taking this action, EPA concludes
that this area is meeting the national standards for PM10
and has acceptable plans for assuring continued attainment.
DATES: This rule is effective on March 11, 2003, unless the EPA
receives relevant adverse written comments by February 10, 2003. If EPA
receives adverse comment, we will publish a timely withdrawal of the
rule in the Federal Register and inform the public that the rule will
not take effect.
ADDRESSES: Send comments to: J. Elmer Bortzer, Chief, Regulation
Development Section, Air Programs Branch (AR-18J), United States
Environmental Protection Agency, 77 West Jackson Boulevard, Chicago,
Illinois 60604.
Copies of the State's submittal are available for inspection at the
following address: (We recommend that you telephone John Summerhays at
(312) 886-6067 before visiting the Region 5 Office.)
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 5, Air and Radiation
Division (AR-18J), 77 West Jackson Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois 60604.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: John Summerhays, Regulation
Development Section, Air Programs Branch (AR-18J), U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency, Region 5, Chicago, Illinois 60604, (312) 886-6067.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This supplementary information section is
organized as follows:
I. Review of Redesignation Request
A. Background
B. Review Under Statutory Criteria
1. Has the Area Attained the Standards?
2. Has EPA Fully Approved the Applicable Implementation Plan?
3. Is Attainment Due to Permanent and Enforceable Emission
Reductions?
4. Does the Maintenance Plan Assure Continued Attainment?
5. Has the State Met the Requirements of Section 110 and Part D?
II. Rulemaking Action
III. Administrative Requirements
I. Review of Redesignation Request
A. Background
On November 6, 1991, EPA published a nonattainment designation for
northern Lake County for the PM10 standards as given in
Title 40 of the Code of Federal Regulations Sec. 50.6 (40 CFR
50.6).\1\ (See designations in 40 CFR 81.315.) These standards include
a standard for annual average concentrations and a standard for 24-hour
average concentrations. The area designated nonattainment included the
cities of Gary, East Chicago, Hammond, and Whiting. On September 25,
2002, Indiana requested that the PM10 designation in 40 CFR
81.315 for this area in Lake County be changed from nonattainment to
attainment. Included with this request were a summary of relevant air
quality data, evidence of the opportunity for public review of this
request (including a public hearing held July 18, 2002), and a
discussion of how the various criteria for redesignation have been met.
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\1\ EPA also set revised standards for PM10 as well
as new standards for particles nominally 2.5 microns and smaller
(PM2.5), promulgated on July 18, 1997, and codified at 40
CFR 50.7. However, the Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of
Columbia vacated the revised PM10 standards (American
Trucking Assoc. v. EPA, 175 F.3d 1027). EPA has not promulgated
designations for the revised PM10 standards. Today's
action addresses the 1987 PM10 standards in 40 CFR 50.6,
for which designations remain in effect in 40 CFR part 81.
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Statutory criteria for redesignations from nonattainment to
attainment are given in section 107(d)(3)(E) of the Clean Air Act. EPA
may not promulgate such a redesignation unless: (i) The area has
attained the applicable air quality standards, (ii) the area has a
fully approved State Implementation Plan (SIP) under section 110(k) of
the Act,
[[Page 1371]]
(iii) EPA has determined that the improvement in air quality in the
area is due to permanent and enforceable emission reductions, (iv) EPA
has determined that the maintenance plan for the area has met all of
the requirements of section 175A of the Act, and (v) the state has met
all requirements applicable to the area under section 110 and part D of
the Act.
EPA has issued a variety of relevant guidance memoranda
interpreting the statutory criteria for redesignations and maintenance
plans, most notably including a memorandum dated September 4, 1992,
signed by the Director of EPA's Office of Air Quality Planning and
Standards. In addition, regulations governing the evaluation of
PM10 monitoring data are in appendix K to 40 CFR part 50.
B. Review Under Statutory Criteria
1. Has the Area Attained the Standards?
Title 40 CFR part 50, appendix K provides for evaluating three
years of representative monitoring data. Indiana monitors
PM10 concentrations at numerous locations in Lake County.
Detailed results of this monitoring are available in EPA's Air Quality
System (AQS) and on the Internet at http://www.epa.gov/air/data/.
Indiana's submittal summarizes these air quality data.
For the most recent three calendar years, i.e., 1999 to 2001,
Indiana collected PM10 air quality data at five monitoring
locations, including locations in Gary, Hammond, and East Chicago,
where emissions are highest and the highest concentrations are
expected. All sites recorded annual average concentrations below the
annual average standard in all three years. Four of the five sites also
recorded no exceedances of the 24-hour standard and thus clearly meet
this standard. However, the fifth site, located in Gary at 201
Mississippi Street near the USX steel mill, recorded three exceedances
in the 1999 to 2001 period. Thus, further analysis is necessary to
determine whether this site meets the 24-hour standard.
The procedures in appendix K to 40 CFR part 50 for assessing
compliance with the 24-hour standard estimate the number of days per
year that the site is expected to exceed the level of the standard (150
micrograms per cubic meter). If a monitoring site collects complete
information, the number of expected exceedances is simply equal to the
number of measured exceedances. However, if data from a monitor are
missing or inadequate for one or more days, these procedures provide
for the assessment of the additional number (potentially fractional) of
additional exceedances estimated to have occurred on unmonitored or
inadequately monitored days. The number of expected exceedances is then
the sum of the number of measured exceedances plus the additional
inferred number of exceedances expected for unmonitored or inadequately
monitored days. The number of expected exceedances is thus the likely
total number of exceedances that a monitor would have recorded had it
obtained complete data.
Since PM10 concentrations often vary by season, appendix
K provides for estimation of expected exceedances separately for each
quarter year. A location is attaining the standard if the monitor has a
three-year average number of expected exceedances (rounded to the
nearest tenth) of 1.0 or less.
The above Gary monitor recorded two exceedances in 1999, no
exceedances in 2000, and one exceedance in 2001. The exceedances in
1999 both occurred in the last quarter. The monitor at this site is a
continuous instrument that records hourly average values. The data
obtained were adequate (at least 18 hours per day) to be considered
complete for every day during the quarter. Therefore, the number of
expected exceedances for 1999 at this site is equal to the 2.0 measured
exceedances. The year 2000 had 0.0 expected exceedances. For 2001, the
monitor recorded one exceedance in the first quarter out of 87 days
with adequate data; three days in the first quarter had either no data
or insufficient data. This leads to an estimated exceedances of 1.03,
which rounds to a 2001 expected exceedances value of 1.0. Average
expected exceedances for 1999 to 2001 then is 1.0. Consequently, this
site is attaining the standard. More generally, since the monitoring
includes representation of the worst-case locations in Lake County, EPA
concludes that all of Lake County is attaining the PM10
standards.
2. Has EPA Fully Approved the Applicable Implementation Plan?
The principal relevant element of the SIP required under Part D of
Title I of the Clean Air Act for Lake County is a plan for attaining
the particulate matter standards. Indiana submitted this attainment
plan on June 16, 1993, with subsequent supplemental submittals. EPA
approved this attainment plan on June 15, 1995, at 60 FR 31412. Indiana
submitted separate rules addressing requirements for nonattainment area
new source review; EPA approved these rules as satisfying applicable
requirements on October 7, 1994, at 59 FR 51108. While Clean Air Act
section 172(c)(9) identifies a requirement for contingency plans, EPA
has concluded that areas that are attaining the standards need not
submit such contingency plans. (See 57 FR 13564, published April 16,
1992.) This reflects EPA's view that contingency plans under section
172(c)(9) are designed to address the possibility of an area failing to
achieve the expected air quality improvement, that the need for such
plans no longer exists after an area attains the standard, and that an
area that has attained the standard and has a maintenance plan can rely
on the contingency plans in the maintenance plan to address any
recurrence of violations. Thus, EPA concludes that it has approved all
required SIP elements for the Lake County particulate matter
nonattainment area.
3. Is Attainment Due to Permanent and Enforceable Emission Reductions?
Indiana's SIP requires permanent emission reductions at a wide
range of facilities including those facilities that Indiana's modeling
has demonstrated to be the key contributors to prior air quality
problems. The emission reductions result from installation of air
pollution control equipment to capture and control particulate matter
that was previously emitted. The reductions also result from ongoing
measures to reduce emissions from plant roadways and storage piles.
Enforceable emission limits adopted in Title 326 Indiana Administrative
Code Article 6 and approved by EPA (as compiled at http://www.epa.gov/
region5/air/sips/sips.htm) assure the permanence of these emission
reductions. EPA thus concludes that permanent and enforceable emission
reductions have enabled this county to attain the standards.
4. Does the Maintenance Plan Assure Continued Attainment?
Under section 175A of the Clean Air Act, maintenance plans must
demonstrate continued attainment of the standards for 10 years after
the redesignation. Thus, Indiana demonstrated maintenance through 2012.
This demonstration focused on industrial sources, especially steel
mills, which were the predominant cause of prior nonattainment in Lake
County. Indiana compiled estimates of industrial source emissions for
1999 and anticipated emissions for 2012, projecting a 21 percent
decline in emissions during that period. This indicates, in turn, that
the area can be
[[Page 1372]]
expected to continue to attain the standards over the next 10 years.
In addition, the attainment plan that EPA approved in 1995
constitutes further evidence that Lake County can be expected to
maintain the standards. This plan reflected maximum allowable
emissions. By relying on an inventory of maximum allowable emissions
from the most significant sources of particulate matter emissions in
the area, the attainment plan demonstrated that the area would achieve
and maintain attainment even if the sources operated at maximum
capacity. This suggests that Lake County can be expected to maintain
the standards permanently unless background impacts, particularly from
area sources such as home heating and motor vehicles, increase
significantly. Trends in home heating emissions can be deduced from
trends in population, which in Lake County has essentially remained
unchanged in the last five years and can be expected to remain
essentially unchanged in the next 10 years as well. Motor vehicle
emissions can be expected to decline, particularly as a result of new
regulations reducing sulfur content of motor fuels and requiring lower
emissions from both gasoline and diesel vehicles. Background
concentrations of PM10 transported into the area can also be
expected to decline as a result of sulfur dioxide emission reductions
from the acid rain program. These factors suggest that Lake County can
be expected to maintain the standards through 2012 and beyond.
Maintenance plans must include contingency measures in case
violations of the air quality standards unexpectedly arise. Indiana has
adopted a rule for contingency planning in 326 Indiana Administrative
Code 6-1-11.2, which EPA approved on October 11, 2002, at 67 FR 63268.
This rule provides two levels of response, depending on the severity of
the air quality problem. A ``Level II'' response occurs when a year's
second high concentration in the area exceeds 140 micrograms per cubic
meter. In this case, the State would assess what controls need to be
implemented to avoid violations of the standard. A ``Level I'' response
occurs when a violation occurs (excluding circumstances where the
violation is attributable to an exceptional event, malfunction, or
noncompliance). In this case, the State assesses the origins of the
violation and adopts any necessary control measures within 18 months.
EPA believes that these provisions satisfy the requirements for
contingency measures as part of Indiana's maintenance plan for
particulate matter for Lake County.
Maintenance plans must also include commitments to continued air
quality monitoring and to submittal of a reassessment of maintenance in
8 years. Indiana commits in its submittal to continue monitoring
PM10 concentrations in accordance with its current
monitoring plan. The core elements of Indiana's maintenance plan are
permanent and will likely assure permanent maintenance, but the State
nevertheless explicitly committed to submit the necessary additional
maintenance plan in 8 years.
EPA's guidance memorandum of September 4, 1992, identifies various
additional recommended features of maintenance plans. Many of these
recommended features are not germane to pollutants like PM10
in areas like Lake County that have plans showing attainment even with
key sources emitting their maximum allowable emissions. Indiana
nevertheless included these features in its maintenance plan.
EPA's guidance states that ``The State should develop an attainment
emission inventory to identify the level of emissions in the area which
is sufficient to attain the NAAQS.'' (Section 5a) Attainment for
PM10 in Lake County is assured not by limiting total
emissions for the area to one specific level, but rather by defining
allowable emissions for each location in the area and assuring that
emissions for each location are at or below the allowable levels. Thus,
the best ``attainment emission inventory'' for Lake County is the
inventory of allowable emissions that Indiana used in its modeled
attainment demonstration. Nevertheless, Indiana also provided estimates
of more recent actual emissions.
Indiana has complied with the ``Maintenance Demonstration and
Monitoring Network'' requirements of EPA's guidance of September 4,
1992 (sections 5b and c), as addressed above. Indiana satisfied the
``Verification of Continued Attainment'' requirement (section 5d) by
periodically examining the air quality data that it will continue to
collect. Finally, Indiana has satisfied the ``Contingency Plan''
requirements (section 5e), as addressed above. Thus, Indiana has
satisfied all requirements for this maintenance plan.
5. Has the State Met the Requirements of Section 110 and Part D?
As noted in the rulemaking on Indiana's particulate matter plan
cited above, published on June 15, 1995, at 60 FR 31412, Indiana has
met the requirements of section 110 and Part D with respect to
particulate matter planning in Lake County. That rulemaking focused on
Indiana's plan for attaining the particulate matter standards in Lake
County, which is the most significant relevant requirement under
section 110 and Part D. That rulemaking also addressed related
requirements for reasonably available control measures and for
reasonable further progress. Indiana was not required to address
transportation conformity for particulate matter because transportation
sources are not significant contributors to PM10
concentrations in Lake County.
II. Rulemaking Action
EPA is redesignating Lake County, Indiana, to attainment for
PM10. In addition, EPA is approving Indiana's maintenance
plan for this area.
Clean Air Act section 107(d)(3)(E) identifies five prerequisites
for redesignation of areas from nonattainment to attainment. EPA
concludes that these criteria are met with respect to PM10
in Lake County.
EPA is publishing these actions without a prior proposal because we
view these as noncontroversial actions and anticipate no adverse
comments. However, in the ``Proposed Rules'' section of today's Federal
Register, EPA is publishing a separate document that will serve as the
proposal to approve the redesignation and maintenance plan if adverse
comments are filed. This rule will be effective on March 11, 2003
without further notice unless we receive relevant adverse written
comment by February 10, 2003. If the EPA receives adverse comment, we
will publish a final rule informing the public that this rule will not
take effect. We will address all public comments in a subsequent final
rule based on the proposed rule. We will not institute a second comment
period on this action. Any parties interested in commenting on these
actions must do so at this time.
III. Administrative Requirements
Under Executive Order 12866 (58 FR 51735, October 4, 1993), this
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 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 action
merely changes the attainment status of a portion of a county and
imposes no additional requirements. Accordingly, the Administrator
certifies that this rule will not have a significant economic impact on
a substantial number of small entities under the Regulatory Flexibility
[[Page 1373]]
Act (5 U.S.C. 601 et seq.). Because this rule does not impose any
additional enforceable duty, it does not contain any unfunded mandate
or significantly or uniquely affect small governments, as described in
the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995 (Pub. L. 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 approves a state request
to change the attainment status of an area, and does not alter the
relationship or the distribution of power and responsibilities
established in the Clean Air Act. This 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.
Indiana's request for redesignation did not include any additional
limitations on sources, and thus provided no opportunity to use
voluntary consensus standards (VCS). 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 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.).
The Congressional Review Act, 5 U.S.C. 801 et seq., as added by the
Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996, generally
provides that before a rule may take effect, the agency promulgating
the rule must submit a rule report, which includes a copy of the rule,
to each House of the Congress and to the Comptroller General of the
United States. EPA will submit a report containing this rule and other
required information to the U.S. Senate, the U.S. House of
Representatives, and the Comptroller General of the United States prior
to publication of the rule in the Federal Register. A major rule cannot
take effect until 60 days after it is published in the Federal
Register. This action is not a ``major rule'' as defined by 5 U.S.C.
804(2).
Under section 307(b)(1) of the Clean Air Act, petitions for
judicial review of this action must be filed in the United States Court
of Appeals for the appropriate circuit by March 11, 2003. Filing a
petition for reconsideration by the Administrator of this final rule
does not affect the finality of this rule for the purposes of judicial
review nor does it extend the time within which a petition for judicial
review may be filed, and shall not postpone the effectiveness of such
rule or action. This action may not be challenged later in proceedings
to enforce its requirements. (See section 307(b)(2).)
List of Subjects
40 CFR Part 52
Environmental protection, Air pollution control, Intergovermental
relations, Particulate matter, Reporting and recordkeeping
requirements.
40 CFR Part 81
Air pollution control, National parks, Wilderness areas.
Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.
Dated: December 23, 2002.
David A. Ullrich,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region 5.
Chapter 1, title 40 of the Code of Federal Regulations is amended
as follows:
PART 52--[AMENDED]
1. The authority citation for part 52 continues to read as follows:
Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.
Subpart P--Indiana
2. Section 52.776 is amended by removing and reserving paragraph
(j) and adding paragraph (r) to read as follows:
Sec. 52.776 Control strategy: Particulate matter.
* * * * *
(j) [Reserved]
* * * * *
(r) Approval--EPA is approving the PM10 maintenance plan
for Lake County that Indiana submitted on September 25, 2002.
* * * * *
PART 81--[AMENDED]
1. The authority citation for part 81 continues to read as follows:
Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.
2. Section 81.315 is amended by revising the particulate matter
table entry to read as follows:
Sec. 81.315 Indiana.
* * * * *
Indiana--PM-10
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Designation Classification
Designated area --------------------------------------------
Date Type Date Type
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Lake County: Cities of East 03/11/03 Attainment.
Chicago, Hammond, Whiting, and
Gary.
Vermillion County: Part of 10/27/97 Attainment.
Clinton Township,
Unclassifiable including
sections 15, 16, 21, 22, 27,
28, 33, and 34.
Rest of State................... 11/15/90 Unclassifiable.
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[FR Doc. 03-282 Filed 1-9-03; 8:45 am]
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