US EPA

FEDERAL REGISTER
VOL. 58, No. 131
Proposed Rules

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (EPA)

40 CFR Parts 52 and 81
[OH41-1-5775; FRL-4678-3]

Approval of Maintenance Plan and Designation of Areas for Air Quality Planning Purposes; Ohio

58 FR 37453

DATE: Monday, July 12, 1993
ACTION: Proposed rule.

SUMMARY: USEPA is proposing to approve a redesignation request and maintenance plan for Cuyahoga County, Ohio as a revision to Ohio's State Implementation Plan (SIP) for carbon monoxide.

The revision is based on a request from the State of Ohio to redesignate this area, and approve its maintenance plan, and on the supporting data the State submitted. Under the Clean Air Act, designations can be changed if sufficient data are available to warrant such change.

DATES: Comments on this requested redesignation, SIP revision, and on the proposed USEPA action must be received by August 11, 1993.

ADDRESSES: Written comments should be addressed to:

William L. MacDowell, Chief, Regulation Development Section, Air Enforcement Branch (AE-17J), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 77 West Jackson Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois 60604.

United States Environmental Protection Agency, Region 5, Air and Radiation Division, 77 West Jackson Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois 60604.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: William Jones, Regulation Development Section, Air Enforcement Branch (AE-17J), United States Environmental Protection Agency, 77 West Jackson Boulevard, Region 5, Chicago, Illinois 60604, (312) 886-6058.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under section 107(d) of the pre-amended Clean Air Act (CAA), the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) promulgated the carbon monoxide (CO) attainment status for each area of every State. For Ohio, Cuyahoga County was designated nonattainment for CO, see 43 FR 8962 (March 3, 1978), and 43 FR 45993 (October 5, 1978). On November 15, 1990, the Clean Air Act Amendments (CAAA) of 1990 were enacted. Pub. L. 101-549, 104 Stat. 2399, codified at 42 U.S.C. 7401-7671q. Pursuant to section 107(d)(1)(C), Cuyahoga County retained its designation of nonattainment for CO by operation of law, see 56 FR 56694 (November 6, 1991). At the same time the area was classified as a moderate CO nonattainment area based on a design value of 10.1 parts per million. The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency requested that the area be redesignated to attainment in a letter dated October 16, 1992, and received by USEPA on October 21, 1992. The CO nonattainment area consists of Cuyahoga County. The State of Ohio has met all of the CAAA requirements for redesignation pursuant to section 107(d)(3)(E).

USEPA has provided guidance on processing redesignation requests in a September 4, 1992, memorandum from John Calcagni, Director, Air Quality Management Division, Subject: Procedures for Processing Requests to Redesignate Areas to Attainment (Redesignation Memorandum). This guidance memorandum was used in the evaluation of the submittal. The requirements of section 107(d)(3)(E) are set forth in the following sections.

Section 107(d)(3)(E)(i). The Administrator determines that the area has attained the National Ambient Air Quality Standard.

Consistent with the requirements of 40 CFR 50.8, the most recent two years of carbon monoxide air quality monitoring data, 1991 and 1992, for Cuyahoga County show that the County is currently meeting this requirement. In addition, modeling data submitted by the State supports the monitoring data by showing that the worst traffic intersections in the area are in attainment.

Section 107(d)(3)(E) (ii) and (v). The Administrator has fully approved the applicable implementation plan for the area under section 110(k) and the State containing such area has met all requirements applicable to the area under section 110 and part D.

USEPA has interpreted section 107(d)(3)(E) (ii) and (v) to mean that for purposes of redesignation a State must have a fully approved SIP that meets all of the requirements of section 110 and part D that became due on or before the date of submittal of a complete redesignation request.

On October 31, 1980 (45 FR 72122), USEPA approved a CO SIP for Cuyahoga County, with the exception of the I/M program and the conditionally approved Part D New Source Review (NSR) program (45 FR 72119). The State has submitted an I/M program for the Cleveland area. This program is currently under review and must be approved for the State to have met all of the applicable section 110 and part D requirements. The amended Clean Air Act established new submittal requirements with respect to I/M and NSR. Therefore, USEPA must review the State's submittal, not to determine whether the State met the pre-amended I/M and NSR requirements, but whether the State has acted consistently with respect to the requirements of the amended Act. Section 187(a)(4) establishes the I/M requirements applicable to moderate CO nonattainment areas. Section 187(a)(4) requires the State to have submitted an I/M program immediately upon enactment of the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990. USEPA has interpreted this provision to not require an actual submittal to USEPA until November 15, 1992, see 57 FR 52950 (Nov. 5, 1992); therefore, November 15, 1992, is the date on which the I/M requirement became applicable. Although Ohio is not required to submit an approvable I/M program in order for USEPA to determine that the State has met the applicable requirements of part D, the State must have an approved I/M program prior to redesignation because it has relied on such a program to demonstrate maintenance of the NAAQS.

With respect to NSR, the applicable requirement for moderate CO areas is section 172(c)(5). Section 172(b) establishes a date no later than November 15, 1993, for submittal of the section 172(c) requirements. Since USEPA has not established an earlier date for submittal, the NSR requirement does not become an applicable requirement until November 15, 1993. Since Ohio submitted the redesignation request for Cuyahoga County prior to November 15, 1993, the State need not submit NSR for purposes of USEPA's review of its redesignation request.

The amended Act also specifies new requirements-i.e., requirements not established under the pre-amended Act-for CO nonattainment areas. These include an oxygenated fuels program and an emissions inventory. These requirements were due on November 15, 1992. Since Ohio submitted the redesignation request prior to November 15, 1992, the State was not required to submit these plan elements for purposes of redesignation. However, the State did submit an oxygenated fuels SIP on November 3, 1992. In addition, the State was required to submit an emissions inventory as part of its maintenance plan; USEPA is reviewing that submittal for approval in conjunction with the maintenance plan.

Once the area is redesignated to attainment, the Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD) program, which has been delegated to Ohio, will become effective immediately. The PSD program was delegated to Ohio at Code of Federal Regulations 40 CFR 52.21(u), on May 1, 1980, and amended November 7, 1988.

The State has committed to follow USEPA's conformity regulation upon issuance, as applicable (proposed on January 11, 1993, 58 FR 3768).

Section 107(d)(3)(iii). The Administrator determines that the improvement in air quality is due to permanent and enforceable reductions in emissions resulting from implementation of the applicable implementation plan and applicable Federal air pollutant control regulations and other permanent and enforceable reductions.

The submittal states that the reductions are due to the Federal Motor Vehicle Control Program and changing the existing 1990 anti-tampering program to a tailpipe inspection program coupled with a three point anti-tampering check. The tailpipe inspection program was implemented in January 1991. This provided a 43 percent reduction in CO emissions for mobile sources and a 17 percent reduction in overall CO emissions from 1990 to 1992. The submittal indicates that in 1990, mobile source emissions were 117.77 tons per day and total actual CO emissions were 297.535 tons per day for Cuyahoga County. For 1992, the actual emissions were estimated at 67.17 tons per day for mobile source emissions and 246.982 tons per day for total CO emissions. Therefore, USEPA believes that the improvement in air quality is due to permanent and enforceable reductions in emissions.

Section 107(d)(3)(E)(iv). The Administrator has fully approved a maintenance plan for the area as meeting the requirements of section 175A.

The State submission addresses the attainment inventory, maintenance demonstration, tracking plans progress, and the contingency plan. The State has included a 1992 emissions inventory as the attainment inventory. The inventory satisfies USEPA guidance for an attainment emissions inventory for a redesignation request. The 1992 CO attainment emissions inventory totals in tons per day are 98.55, 81.25, and 67.17 for the point, area, and mobile sources, respectively.

For the contingency plan, the submittal states that in order to assure that ambient CO levels remain below the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS), a contingency plan encompassing a seven-county oxygenated fuels program as outlined in this submittal will be implemented to correct any violation of the CO standard. The submittal further states that Ohio will continue to track the progress of this maintenance demonstration by reviewing both the factors used in preparing the inputs for the hot-spot modeling analyses and the 1992 attainment inventory. This review will be done in 1996 and every three years after.

The CO concentrations were computed using MOBILE4.1, CALINE3, and CAL3QHC for 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 2000, and 2005. The modeling that was performed used USEPA recommended guideline models. The results of the modeling show that the area is expected to maintain the NAAQS through the year 2005.

The State relied on an I/M program as part of its maintenance demonstration. Therefore, in order for USEPA to fully approve the maintenance demonstration, USEPA must first approve the State's I/M submittal. USEPA anticipates taking action on this submittal in the near future. Final action on the maintenance plan and redesignation request will not be taken until such time as USEPA grants final approval to the State's I/M submittal.

USEPA believes that the State submission will satisfy the requirements of section 175A, provided that the State submits a schedule for implementing the contingency plan, USEPA approves the State's I/M plan submittal, and the State commits to maintain an acceptable CO monitoring network in the maintenance area. Therefore, USEPA proposes to fully approve the maintenance plan as meeting the requirements of section 175A, provided that the schedule and commitments are received by the end of the comment period and USEPA takes final action on the State's I/M submittal.

Ohio has adequately responded to May 26, 1988 SIP call.

The State has adequately responded to the SIP call under Section 110(a)(2)(H) of the CAA, which was issued by USEPA to Ohio on May 26, 1988, concerning the Cleveland-Akron-Lorain Consolidated Metropolitan Statistical Area (CMSA) consisting of Portage, Summit, Cuyahoga, Geauga, Lake, Medina, and Lorain Counties, Ohio. In the General Preamble at 57 FR 13564-13565 (April 16, 1992) the requirements for satisfying SIP calls are discussed. The requirements for SIP calls were divided into two phases. In order for CO areas to meet phase I requirements, a Post-1987 emission inventory must be developed. The State submitted a Post-1987 inventory on December 29, 1989, and March 1, 1990. Included in Ohio's redesignation request is a revised version of this emissions inventory for 1990. For phase II the area had to meet the applicable requirements of section 187 of the CAA. Since the applicable requirements of Part D, which includes Section 187, are proposed as being met, provided the I/M program is approved, phase II of the SIP call is also proposed as being met.

Proposed Rulemaking Action

It is proposed that if the I/M program is approved as a part of the CO SIP, the State submits a schedule for implementing the contingency plan and the State commits to maintain an acceptable CO monitoring network in the maintenance area, then the redesignation request will be approved as meeting the section 107(d)(3)(E) conditions of the CAA for redesignation. It is also proposed that the State has met the terms of the May 26, 1988, SIP call for the Cleveland area when Cuyahoga County is redesignated to attainment.

Public comment is solicited on USEPA's proposed rulemaking action. Comments received by August 11, 1993 will be considered in the development of USEPA's final rulemaking action.

Under the Regulatory Flexibility Act, 5 U.S.C. 600 et seq., USEPA 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, USEPA 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.

Redesignation of an area to attainment under section 107(d)(3)(E) of the CAAA does not impose any new requirements on small entities. Redesignation is an action that affects the status of a geographical area and does not impose any regulatory requirements on sources. I certify that the approval of the redesignation request will not affect a substantial number of small entities.

The Office of Management and Budget has exempted this rule from the requirements of section 3 of Executive Order 12291.

List of Subjects

40 CFR Part 52

Air pollution control, Carbon monoxide, Environmental protection, Incorporation by reference, Intergovernmental relations.

40 CFR Part 81

Air pollution control, National parks, Wilderness areas.

Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7401-7671q.

Dated: April 30, 1993.

Valdas V. Adamkus, Regional Administrator.

[FR Doc. 93-16433 Filed 7-9-93; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6560-50-P 1