Rule2021-20639
Air Quality Designations; NC: Redesignation of the Brunswick County 2010 Sulfur Dioxide Unclassifiable Area
Primary source
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Published
September 28, 2021
Effective
October 28, 2021
Issuing agencies
Environmental Protection Agency
Abstract
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is approving a submission by the State of North Carolina, through the Department of Air Quality (DAQ), received on April 23, 2021, to redesignate the Brunswick County, North Carolina, unclassifiable area (hereinafter referred to as the "Brunswick County Area" or "Area") to attainment/unclassifiable for the 2010 1-hour primary sulfur dioxide (SO<INF>2</INF>) national ambient air quality standard (hereinafter referred to as the "2010 1-hour SO<INF>2</INF> NAAQS"). Because EPA now has sufficient information to determine that the Brunswick County Area is attaining the 2010 1-hour SO<INF>2</INF> NAAQS, the Agency is approving the State's request to redesignate the Area from unclassifiable to attainment/unclassifiable for the 2010 1-hour SO<INF>2</INF> NAAQS.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 86 Issue 185 (Tuesday, September 28, 2021)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 185 (Tuesday, September 28, 2021)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 53555-53557]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2021-20639]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 81
[EPA-R04-OAR-2021-0322; FRL-8874-02-R4]
Air Quality Designations; NC: Redesignation of the Brunswick
County 2010 Sulfur Dioxide Unclassifiable Area
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Final rule.
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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is approving a
submission by the State of North Carolina, through the Department of
Air Quality (DAQ), received on April 23, 2021, to redesignate the
Brunswick County, North Carolina, unclassifiable area (hereinafter
referred to as the ``Brunswick County Area'' or ``Area'') to
attainment/unclassifiable for the 2010 1-hour primary sulfur dioxide
(SO<INF>2</INF>) national ambient air quality standard (hereinafter
referred to as the ``2010 1-hour SO<INF>2</INF> NAAQS''). Because EPA
now has sufficient information to determine that the Brunswick County
Area is attaining the 2010 1-hour SO<INF>2</INF> NAAQS, the Agency is
approving the State's request to redesignate the Area from
unclassifiable to attainment/unclassifiable for the 2010 1-hour
SO<INF>2</INF> NAAQS.
DATES: This rule is effective October 28, 2021.
ADDRESSES: EPA has established a docket for this action under Docket
Identification No. EPA-R04-OAR-2021-0322. All documents in the docket
are listed on the <a href="http://www.regulations.gov">www.regulations.gov</a> website. Although listed in the
index, some information may not be publicly available, i.e.,
Confidential Business Information or other information whose disclosure
is restricted by statute. Certain other material, such as copyrighted
material, is not placed on the internet and will be publicly available
only in hard copy form. Publicly available docket materials are
available either electronically through <a href="http://www.regulations.gov">www.regulations.gov</a> or in hard
copy at the Air Regulatory Management Section, Air Planning and
Implementation Branch, Air and Radiation Division, U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency, Region 4, 61 Forsyth Street SW, Atlanta, Georgia
30303-8960. EPA requests that if at all possible, you contact the
person listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section to
schedule your inspection. The Regional Office's official hours of
business are Monday through Friday 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., excluding
Federal holidays.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Evan Adams, Air Regulatory Management
Section, Air Planning and Implementation Branch, Air and Radiation
Division, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 4, 61 Forsyth
Street SW, Atlanta, Georgia 30303-8960. Mr. Adams can be reached by
telephone at (404) 562-9009 or via electronic mail at
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#fc9d989d918fd2998a9d92bc998c9dd29b938a"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="563732373b2578332037381633263778313920">[email protected]</span></a>.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
The Clean Air Act (CAA or Act) establishes a process for air
quality management through the establishment and implementation of the
NAAQS. On June 2, 2010, EPA revised the primary SO<INF>2</INF> NAAQS,
establishing a new 1-hour SO<INF>2</INF> standard of 75 parts per
billion (ppb). See 75 FR 35520 (June 22, 2010).\1\ After the
promulgation of a new or revised NAAQS, EPA is required to designate
all areas of the country pursuant to section 107(d)(1)-(2) of the CAA.
For the 2010 1-hour SO<INF>2</INF> NAAQS, designations were based on
EPA's application of the nationwide analytical approach to, and
technical assessment of, the weight of evidence for each area,
including but not limited to available air quality monitoring data and
air quality modeling results.
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\1\ On February 25, 2019 (effective April 17, 2019), EPA issued
a decision to retain the existing NAAQS for SO<INF>2</INF>. See 84
FR 9866 (March 18, 2019).
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EPA completed the first set of initial area designations for the
2010 1-hour SO<INF>2</INF> NAAQS in 2013 (Round 1). Pursuant to a March
2, 2015, consent decree and court-ordered schedule,\2\ EPA finalized a
second set of initial area designations for the 2010 1-hour
SO<INF>2</INF> NAAQS in 2016 (also called, ``Round 2''). For the Round
2 designations, after review of all available information at that time
of Round 2 designations, including modeling provided by the State, EPA
was unable to determine whether the Brunswick County Area met the
definition of a nonattainment area or the definition of an attainment
area.\3\ As a result, EPA designated the entire Brunswick County Area,
based on modeling of the Capital Power Incorporated (CPI) Southport
Cape Fear facility, as unclassifiable, which was published in the
Federal Register on July 12, 2016.\4\ CPI Southport, located on the
coast of southeastern North Carolina in the southeastern portion of
Brunswick County, was an electric power generation plant with two
[[Page 53556]]
electric generating units (EGUs) that were permitted to combust a
variety of solid fuels, including coal, woody biomass fuels, and tire
derived fuel. The unclassifiable area included all six townships
(Lockwood Folly Township, Northwest Township, Shallotte Township,
Smithville Township, Town Creek Township, Waccamaw Township) within the
jurisdictional boundary of Brunswick County.
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\2\ See Sierra Club et al. v. McCarthy, Civil Action No. 3:13-
cv-3953-SI (N.D. Cal.) and 79 FR 31325 (June 2, 2014).
\3\ EPA's March 20, 2015, guidance specified the designation
category definitions to be used in the Round 2 designations.
Specifically, EPA defined a ``nonattainment'' area as an area that
EPA has determined violates the 2010 1-hour SO<INF>2</INF> NAAQS
based on the most recent three years of quality-assured, certified
ambient air quality monitoring data or an appropriate modeling
analysis, or that EPA has determined contributes to a violation in a
nearby area; and defined an ``attainment'' area as an area that EPA
has determined meets the 2010 1-hour SO<INF>2</INF> NAAQS and does
not contribute to a violation of the NAAQS in a nearby area based on
either: (a) The most recent three years of ambient air quality
monitoring data from a monitoring network in an area that is
sufficient to be compared to the NAAQS, or (b) an appropriate
modeling analysis.
\4\ See 81 FR 45039 (July 12, 2016), effective September 12,
2016) codified at 40 CFR 81.334. Detailed rationale, analyses, and
other information supporting EPA's original Round 2 designation
including all supporting materials for the Brunswick County Area,
including the technical support document (TSD), can be found on
EPA's SO<INF>2</INF> designations website at <a href="https://www.epa.gov/sulfur-dioxide-designations/epa-completes-second-round-sulfur-dioxide-designations">https://www.epa.gov/sulfur-dioxide-designations/epa-completes-second-round-sulfur-dioxide-designations</a>.
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To address EPA's 2015 Data Requirements Rule (DRR),\5\ DAQ decided
to characterize the air quality in the vicinity of the CPI Southport
\6\ facility by installing an air quality monitor (Southport DRR
monitor; AQS ID: 370190005) in the area of maximum concentration for
the facility.\7\ North Carolina began collecting monitoring data on
January 1, 2017.\8\
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\5\ Data Requirements Rule for the 2010 1-Hour Sulfur Dioxide
(SO<INF>2</INF>) Primary National Ambient Air Quality Standard
(NAAQS), Final Rule, 80 FR 51052, August 21, 2015 (<a href="https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2015-08-21/pdf/2015-20367.pdf">https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2015-08-21/pdf/2015-20367.pdf</a>), which
required states to undertake air quality characterization for areas
with SO<INF>2</INF> sources meeting certain criteria. Specifically,
the DRR required state air agencies to provide additional monitoring
or modeling information to characterize air quality in areas
associated with sources meeting certain criteria or that have
otherwise been listed under the DRR by EPA or state air agencies, or
to instead impose federally enforceable emission limitations on
those sources restricting their annual SO<INF>2</INF> emissions to
less than 2,000 tons per year, or provide documentation that the
sources have been shut down, by specified dates. The information
generated by implementation of the DRR informed EPA's designations.
\6\ CPI Southport was subject to EPA's 2015 Data Requirements
Rule (DRR) for the 2010 SO<INF>2</INF> 1-hour NAAQS. See <a href="https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2016-06/documents/nc.pdf">https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2016-06/documents/nc.pdf</a> for
North Carolina's letter and DRR source list, dated January 15, 2016.
\7\ The Southport DRR monitor is located at the site of maximum
concentration based on modeling following the procedures in EPA's
February 2016 SO<INF>2</INF> Monitoring TADs, ``SO<INF>2</INF> NAAQS
Designations Source-Oriented Monitoring Technical Assistance
Document'' and 40 CFR parts 50 and 58. More details on the analyses
used to support the monitor placement are contained in the State's
2016 annual monitoring annual network plan located in the docket for
this final action.
\8\ In accordance with the DRR, 40 CFR part 51, subpart BB,
through a letter dated June 30, 2016, North Carolina notified EPA
that the State chose to characterize peak 1-hour SO<INF>2</INF>
concentrations for CPI through air quality monitoring. See <a href="https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2016-07/documents/north_carolina_source_characterization.pdf">https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2016-07/documents/north_carolina_source_characterization.pdf</a>.
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On April 23, 2021, North Carolina submitted a letter to EPA
requesting that the entirety of Brunswick County be redesignated to
attainment/unclassifiable based on the newly available monitoring
information, which demonstrates attainment of the 2010 1-hour
SO<INF>2</INF> NAAQS. To evaluate North Carolina's redesignation
request, EPA considered the design value for the air quality monitor in
Brunswick County by assessing the most recent three consecutive years
(i.e., 2018-2020) of quality-assured, certified ambient air quality
data in the EPA Air Quality System (AQS) using data from the Southport
DRR monitor that was sited and operated in accordance with 40 CFR parts
50 and 58.\9\ As noted previously, the 2010 1-hour SO<INF>2</INF> NAAQS
is met when the design value is 75 ppb or less. The most recent three
years of ambient SO<INF>2</INF> monitoring data available shows that
the Area is attaining the 2010 1-hour SO<INF>2</INF> NAAQS with a
design value of 54 ppb for the period 2018-2020.\10\ Additionally, on
March 31, 2020, the CPI Southport facility ceased operation, and the
DAQ rescinded the facility's operating permit effective April 1,
2021.\11\
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\9\ Procedures for using monitored air quality data to determine
whether a violation has occurred are provided in 40 CFR part 50,
appendix T.
\10\ North Carolina early certified the Southport monitor 2018-
2020 air quality data in AQS on January 13, 2021. See Table 2 in
North Carolina's April 23, 2021, redesignation request.
\11\ The DAQ's April 1, 2021 letter rescinding Air Quality
Permit No. 05884T21 and the January 20, 2021, certified letter from
Mr. Frank Hayward, General Manager, CPI USA North Carolina, LLC--
Southport Plant to Mr. Brad Newland, P.E., Regional Air Quality
Supervisor, Wilmington Regional Office, NC Division of Air Quality,
requesting permit rescission are located in the docket for this
final action.
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After reviewing North Carolina's redesignation request under CAA
section 107(d)(3)(D) and all available information, EPA is now
approving North Carolina's request to redesignate the Brunswick County
Area from unclassifiable to attainment/unclassifiable for the 2010 1-
hour SO<INF>2</INF> NAAQS based on a valid ambient SO<INF>2</INF>
design value that adequately characterizes the SO<INF>2</INF> air
quality in the Brunswick County Area and demonstrates attainment of the
1-hour SO<INF>2</INF> standard.
In a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) published on July 2, 2021
(86 FR 35254), EPA proposed to redesignate to attainment/unclassifiable
the Brunswick County Area in its entirety. As discussed in the NPRM,
this final action is based on the currently available monitoring data
described in that NPRM that demonstrate attainment of the 2010 1-hour
SO<INF>2</INF> NAAQS. The 30-day public comment period for the NPRM
closed on August 16, 2021. EPA did not receive any comments on the
proposed redesignation of Brunswick County, North Carolina. The details
of North Carolina's redesignation request and the rationale for EPA's
actions are further explained in the NPRM.
III. Final Action
EPA is approving North Carolina's April 23, 2021, request to
redesignate the Brunswick County Area from unclassifiable to
attainment/unclassifiable for the 2010 1-hour SO<INF>2</INF> NAAQS. The
final action is based on the currently available monitoring data for
the Brunswick County Area that demonstrate attainment of the 2010 1-
hour SO<INF>2</INF> NAAQS. This approval of the redesignation request
changes the legal designation, found at 40 CFR part 81, of Brunswick
County from unclassifiable to attainment/unclassifiable for the 2010 1-
hour SO<INF>2</INF> NAAQS.
IV. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews
Under the CAA, redesignation of an area to attainment/
unclassifiable is an action that affects the status of a geographical
area and does not impose any additional regulatory requirements on
sources beyond those imposed by state law. A redesignation to
attainment/unclassifiable does not in and of itself create any new
requirements, but rather results in the applicability of requirements
contained in the CAA for areas that have been redesignated to
attainment. Accordingly, this action merely redesignates an area to
attainment/unclassifiable and does not impose additional requirements.
For that reason, this action:
<bullet> Is not a significant regulatory action subject to review
by the Office of Management and Budget under Executive Orders 12866 (58
FR 51735, October 4, 1993) and 13563 (76 FR 3821, January 21, 2011);
<bullet> Does not impose an information collection burden under the
provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.);
<bullet> Is certified as not having a significant economic impact
on a substantial number of small entities under the Regulatory
Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 601 et seq.);
<bullet> 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);
<bullet> Does not have federalism implications as specified in
Executive Order 13132 (64 FR 43255, August 10, 1999);
<bullet> Is not an economically significant regulatory action based
on health or safety risks subject to Executive Order 13045 (62 FR
19885, April 23, 1997);
<bullet> Is not a significant regulatory action subject to
Executive Order 13211 (66 FR 28355, May 22, 2001);
<bullet> Is not subject to requirements of Section 12(d) of the
National
[[Page 53557]]
Technology Transfer and Advancement Act of 1995 (15 U.S.C. 272 note)
because application of those requirements would be inconsistent with
the CAA; and
<bullet> Will not have disproportionate human health or
environmental effects under Executive Order 12898 (59 FR 7629, February
16, 1994).
This final redesignation does not apply to any Indian reservation
land or in any other area where EPA or an Indian tribe has demonstrated
that a tribe has jurisdiction. In those areas of Indian country, the
rule does not have tribal implications as specified by Executive Order
13175 (65 FR 67249, November 9, 2000), nor will it impose substantial
direct costs on tribal governments or preempt tribal law.
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 action 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 CAA, petitions for judicial review
of this action must be filed in the United States Court of Appeals for
the appropriate circuit by November 29, 2021. Filing a petition for
reconsideration by the Administrator of this final rule does not affect
the finality of this action 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 in 40 CFR Part 81
Environmental protection, Air pollution control, National parks,
Wilderness areas.
Dated: September 20, 2021.
John Blevins,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region 4.
For the reasons stated in the preamble, EPA amends 40 CFR part 81
as follows:
PART 81--DESIGNATION OF AREAS FOR AIR QUALITY PLANNING PURPOSES
0
1. The authority citation for part 81 continues to read as follows:
Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7401, et seq.
0
2. In Sec. 81.334, the table titled ``North Carolina-2010 Sulfur
Dioxide NAAQS [Primary]'' is amended by:
0
a. Revising the ``Designated area'' and ``Date'' column headings;
0
b. Removing the entries for ``Brunswick County, NC'', ``Brunswick
County'', ``Lockwood Folly Township, Northwest Township, Shallotte
Township, Smithville Township, Town Creek Township, Waccamaw
Township'', and ``Rest of State:'';
0
c. Adding an entry for ``Brunswick County'' before ``Buncombe County'';
0
d. Adding an entry for ``Lockwood Folly Township, Northwest Township,
Shallotte Township, Smithville Township, Town Creek Township, Waccamaw
Township'' under ``Brunswick County''; and
0
e. Removing footnote 2 and redesignating footnotes 1 and 3 as footnotes
2 and 1, respectively.
The revisions and additions read as follows:
Sec. 81.334 North Carolina.
* * * * *
North Carolina--2010 Sulfur Dioxide NAAQS
[Primary]
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Designation
Designated area1 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date \2\ Type
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* * * * * * *
Brunswick County.................... October 28, 2021................ Attainment/Unclassifiable.
Lockwood Folly Township,
Northwest Township, Shallotte
Township, Smithville Township,
Town Creek Township, Waccamaw
Township.
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\1\ Includes any Indian country in each county or area, unless otherwise specified. EPA is not determining the
boundaries of any area of Indian country in this table, including any area of Indian country located in the
larger designation area. The inclusion of any Indian country in the designation area is not a determination
that the state has regulatory authority under the Clean Air Act for such Indian country.
\2\ This date is April 9, 2018, unless otherwise noted.
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[FR Doc. 2021-20639 Filed 9-27-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P
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