Rule2021-26674
Air Plan Approval; Rhode Island; 2015 Ozone NAAQS Interstate Transport Requirements
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
December 10, 2021
Effective
January 10, 2022
Issuing agencies
Environmental Protection Agency
Abstract
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is approving a State Implementation Plan (SIP) revision submitted by the State of Rhode Island as meeting the Clean Air Act (CAA) requirement that each State's SIP contain adequate provisions to prohibit emissions that will significantly contribute to nonattainment or interfere with maintenance of the 2015 8-hour ozone national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS) in any other state. This action is being taken in accordance with the CAA.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 86 Issue 235 (Friday, December 10, 2021)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 235 (Friday, December 10, 2021)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 70409-70412]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2021-26674]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 52
[EPA-R01-OAR-2021-0580; FRL-8967-02-R1]
Air Plan Approval; Rhode Island; 2015 Ozone NAAQS Interstate
Transport Requirements
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Final rule.
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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is approving a State
Implementation Plan (SIP) revision submitted by the State of Rhode
Island as meeting the Clean Air Act (CAA) requirement that each State's
SIP contain adequate provisions to prohibit emissions that will
significantly contribute to nonattainment or interfere with maintenance
of the 2015 8-hour ozone national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS)
in any other state. This action is being taken in accordance with the
CAA.
DATES: This rule is effective on January 10, 2022.
ADDRESSES: EPA has established a docket for this action under Docket
Identification No. EPA-R01-OAR-2021-0580. All documents in the docket
are listed on the <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a> website. Although listed
in the index, some information is not publicly available, i.e.,
confidential business information (CBI) 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 at <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a> or at the U.S.
[[Page 70410]]
Environmental Protection Agency, EPA Region 1 Regional Office, Air and
Radiation Division, 5 Post Office Square--Suite 100, Boston, MA. EPA
requests that if at all possible, you contact the contact 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 legal holidays and facility
closures due to COVID-19.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Alison C. Simcox, Air Quality Branch,
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, EPA Region 1, 5 Post Office
Square--Suite 100, (Mail code 05-2), Boston, MA 02109-3912, tel. (617)
918-1684, email <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#2b584246484453054a47425844456b4e5b4a054c445d"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="deadb7b3bdb1a6f0bfb2b7adb1b09ebbaebff0b9b1a8">[email protected]</span></a>.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Throughout this document whenever ``we,''
``us,'' or ``our'' is used, we mean EPA.
Table of Contents
I. Background and Purpose
II. Response to Comments
III. Final Action
IV. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews
I. Background and Purpose
On September 15, 2021, EPA published a notice of proposed
rulemaking (NPRM) for the State of Rhode Island. See 86 FR 51310. The
NPRM proposed approval of a Rhode Island SIP revision that addresses
the CAA requirement to prohibit emissions from the state that
significantly contribute to nonattainment or interfere with maintenance
of the 2015 8-hour ozone NAAQS in other states. See CAA section
110(a)(2)(D)(i)(I) (the ``good neighbor provision''). The SIP revision
was submitted to EPA by Rhode Island on September 23, 2020. The
rationale for EPA's proposed action is given in the NPRM and will not
be repeated here. EPA received two public comments on the NPRM, which
are addressed below.
II. Response to Comments
One anonymous comment supported the EPA's proposed action and
suggested that EPA solicit information from residents of the State of
Rhode Island as well as from residents of downwind states. We note
that, before providing the submission to EPA, the Rhode Island
Department of Environmental Management (RIDEM) distributed it to the
public via the RIDEM website and an electronic mailing list. RIDEM also
gave state residents and other interested parties a 30-day period to
request a public hearing and provide public comments. In addition, EPA
provided the public with a 30-day period to comment in the Federal
Register, the official journal of the U.S. Government that is available
to all downwind states, on the proposed approval of Rhode Island's SIP
revision following publication on September 15, 2021.
The other commenter questioned why the analyses considered the
effects of emissions from Rhode Island on Connecticut and New York, but
seemingly not on Massachusetts--particularly Bristol County,
Massachusetts, parts of which lie directly east of Rhode Island. The
comment states that ``prevailing winds [in this region] travel
eastward'' and that ``EPA data shows [sic] that Bristol County . . .
experiences a disproportionately high `Percent of Total US
Anthropogenic Ozone from Upwind States' compared to other Mass
counties.''
EPA acknowledges that the prevailing winds described by the
commenter do generally move from west to east in the New England area,
and therefore, Massachusetts is downwind of Rhode Island. In fact,
EPA's modeling analysis does consider the impact of emissions from
Rhode Island on all downwind areas within the contiguous 48 states,
including Bristol County, Massachusetts, and, indeed, the data indicate
that the highest projected contribution in 2021 from Rhode Island
sources to an out-of-state area is 2.50 ppb to Bristol County
(monitoring site 250051004; line number 242 on the Design Values and
Contributions spreadsheet).\1\
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\1\ The data are given in the ``Air Quality Modeling Technical
Support Document for the Revised Cross-State Air Pollution Rule
Update'' and ``Ozone Design Values and Contributions Revised CSAPR
Update.xlsx,'' which are included in the docket for this action.
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As explained in the NPRM for this action, EPA uses a four-step
interstate transport framework to address the requirements of the good
neighbor provision for the 2015 ozone NAAQS. The first step is to
identify downwind areas that may have problems attaining and
maintaining the standard (i.e., receptors). The Bristol County
monitor's projected average design value is 63.4 ppb and projected
maximum design value is 65.5 ppb in 2021, which are both below the 2015
ozone NAAQS of 70 ppb. Using EPA's definition of a projected
nonattainment or maintenance receptor provided in the NPRM (a
definition that Rhode Island adopted), EPA's analysis indicates that
the monitor in Bristol County, Massachusetts, is not projected to be a
nonattainment or maintenance receptor in 2021 or later years for the
2015 ozone NAAQS.
While Bristol County is considered downwind of, and impacted by,
Rhode Island's emissions, EPA's analysis in this first step did not
identify Bristol County as a receptor expected to have problems
maintaining the 2015 ozone NAAQS. Thus, EPA concluded that emissions
from Rhode Island sources, while having an impact on ozone levels in
Bristol County, do not contribute to nonattainment or interfere with
maintenance of the 2015 ozone NAAQS in Bristol County (or elsewhere in
Massachusetts), which is the relevant inquiry under CAA section
110(a)(2)(D)(i)(I).
By comparison, EPA's analysis at step one identified other
receptors, including monitoring sites west of Rhode Island in
Connecticut and in New York that are projected to have problems
attaining and maintaining the 2015 ozone NAAQS. For these receptors,
EPA proceeded to step 2 of the four-step interstate transport
framework, which considers whether emissions from Rhode Island impact
air-quality problems at those receptors sufficiently such that the
state is considered ``linked'' to those receptors and therefore
warrants further review and analysis.
Based on the results of EPA's air-quality analysis described in the
proposal of this action, EPA determined that Rhode Island contributes
well below the screening threshold of one percent of the 2015 ozone
NAAQS (0.70 ppb) to any of these Connecticut or New York receptors, and
is, therefore, not linked to downwind nonattainment and/or maintenance
receptors.<SUP>2 3</SUP> EPA also analyzed emissions trends for ozone
precursors, concluding that emissions from sources in Rhode Island will
continue to decline, which lends further support to the findings from
the air-quality analysis.
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\2\ See Section I of the NPRM for an explanation of EPA's use of
a one percent screening threshold at step 2 of the four-step
interstate transport framework.
\3\ For instance, and as noted in the NPRM, the data indicate
that the highest contribution in 2021 from Rhode Island to an area
projected to have problems maintaining the NAAQS is 0.09 ppb to the
maintenance receptor in Fairfield County, Connecticut.
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In sum, EPA's analysis considered the impact of emissions from
Rhode Island sources on Massachusetts (including Bristol County) but
found that Rhode Island does not contribute to nonattainment or
interfere with maintenance of the 2015 ozone NAAQS in Massachusetts,
because that state is not expected to have problems
[[Page 70411]]
maintaining ozone concentrations below the NAAQS. Furthermore, EPA's
entire analysis concluded that Rhode Island does not significantly
contribute to nonattainment or interfere with maintenance in any other
state for the 2015 ozone NAAQS.
III. Final Action
EPA is approving a Rhode Island SIP revision, which was submitted
on September 23, 2020. This submission is approved as meeting CAA
section 110(a)(2)(D)(i)(I) requirements that Rhode Island's SIP
includes adequate provisions prohibiting any source or other type of
emissions activity within the State from emitting any air pollutant in
amounts that will contribute significantly to nonattainment or
interfere with maintenance of the 2015 ozone NAAQS in any other state.
IV. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews
Under the Clean Air Act, the Administrator is required to approve a
SIP submission that complies with the provisions of the Act and
applicable Federal regulations. 42 U.S.C. 7410(k); 40 CFR 52.02(a).
Thus, in reviewing SIP submissions, EPA's role is to approve state
choices, provided that they meet the criteria of the Clean Air Act.
Accordingly, this action merely approves state law as meeting Federal
requirements and does not impose additional requirements beyond those
imposed by state law. 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 Technology Transfer and Advancement Act of 1995 (15 U.S.C. 272
note) because application of those requirements would be inconsistent
with the Clean Air Act; and
<bullet> Does not provide EPA with the discretionary authority to
address, as appropriate, disproportionate human health or environmental
effects, using practicable and legally permissible methods, under
Executive Order 12898 (59 FR 7629, February 16, 1994).
In addition, the SIP is not approved to apply on 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 and will not impose
substantial direct costs on tribal governments or preempt tribal law as
specified by Executive Order 13175 (65 FR 67249, November 9, 2000).
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 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 February 8, 2022. 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 52
Environmental protection, Air pollution control, Carbon monoxide,
Incorporation by reference, Intergovernmental relations, Lead, Nitrogen
dioxide, Ozone, Particulate matter, Reporting and recordkeeping
requirements, Sulfur oxides, Volatile organic compounds.
Dated: December 3, 2021.
Deborah Szaro,
Acting Regional Administrator, EPA Region 1.
Part 52 of chapter I, title 40 of the Code of Federal Regulations
is amended as follows:
PART 52--APPROVAL AND PROMULGATION OF IMPLEMENTATION PLANS
0
1. The authority citation for part 52 continues to read as follows:
Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.
Subpart OO--Rhode Island
0
2. In Sec. 52.2070(e), amend the table by adding an entry for
``Transport SIP for the 2015 Ozone Standard'' to the end of the table
to read as follows:
Sec. 52.2070 Identification of plan.
* * * * *
(e) * * *
[[Page 70412]]
Rhode Island Non Regulatory
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Applicable
Name of non regulatory SIP geographic or State submittal
provision nonattainment date/effective EPA approved date Explanations
area date
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* * * * * * *
Transport SIP for the 2015 Ozone Statewide......... Submitted 9/23/ 12/10/2021, State submitted a
Standard. 2020. [Insert Federal transport SIP for
Register the 2015 ozone
citation]. standard which
shows that it
does not
significantly
contribute to
ozone
nonattainment or
maintenance in
any other state.
EPA approved this
submittal as
meeting the
requirements of
Clean Air Act
Section
110(a)(2)(D)(i)(I
).
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[FR Doc. 2021-26674 Filed 12-9-21; 8:45 a.m.]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P
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