Notice2022-15959
Clean Air Act Grant; Santa Barbara County Air Pollution Control District; Opportunity for Public Hearing
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
July 26, 2022
Issuing agencies
Environmental Protection Agency
Abstract
The EPA is proposing to determine that the reduction in expenditures of non-Federal funds for the Santa Barbara County Air Pollution Control District (SBCAPCD) in support of its continuing air program under section 105 of the Clean Air Act (CAA) for the calendar year 2021 is a result of non-selective reductions in expenditures. This determination, when final, will permit the SBCAPCD to receive grant funding for fiscal year (FY) 2022 from the EPA, under section 105 of the CAA.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 87 Issue 142 (Tuesday, July 26, 2022)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 142 (Tuesday, July 26, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 44389-44391]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2022-15959]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[EPA-R09-OAR-2022-0401; FRL-9786-01-R9]
Clean Air Act Grant; Santa Barbara County Air Pollution Control
District; Opportunity for Public Hearing
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Proposed action; determination with request for comments and
notice of opportunity for public hearing.
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SUMMARY: The EPA is proposing to determine that the reduction in
expenditures of non-Federal funds for the Santa Barbara County Air
Pollution Control District (SBCAPCD) in support of its continuing air
program under section 105 of the Clean Air Act (CAA) for the calendar
year 2021 is a result of non-selective reductions in expenditures. This
determination, when final, will permit the SBCAPCD to receive grant
funding for fiscal year (FY) 2022 from the EPA, under section 105 of
the CAA.
DATES: Comments and/or requests for a public hearing must be received
by the EPA at the address stated below on or before August 25, 2022.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-R09-
OAR-2022-0401 at <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a>. For comments submitted at
<a href="http://Regulations.gov">Regulations.gov</a>, follow the online instructions for submitting
comments. Once submitted, comments cannot be edited or removed from
<a href="http://Regulations.gov">Regulations.gov</a>. The EPA may publish any comment received to its public
docket. Please do not submit any information you consider to be
Proprietary Business Information (PBI) or Confidential Business
Information (CBI) or other information whose disclosure is restricted
by statute. Multimedia submissions (audio, video, etc.) must be
accompanied by a written comment. The written comment is considered the
official comment and should include discussion of all points you wish
to make. The EPA will generally not consider comments or comment
contents located outside of the primary submission (e.g., on the web,
[[Page 44390]]
cloud, or other file sharing system). For additional submission
methods, please contact the person identified in the FOR FURTHER
INFORMATION CONTACT section. For the full EPA public comment policy,
information about PBI/CBI or multimedia submissions, and general
guidance on making effective comments, please visit <a href="https://www.epa.gov/dockets/commenting-epa-dockets">https://www.epa.gov/dockets/commenting-epa-dockets</a>. If you need assistance in a
language other than English or if you are a person with a disability
who needs a reasonable accommodation at no cost to you, please contact
the person identified in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Angela Latigue, EPA Region IX, Grants
& Program Integration Office, Air Division, 75 Hawthorne Street, San
Francisco, CA 94105; phone at (415) 947-4170 or email address at
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#6a060b1e030d1f0f440b040d0f060b2a0f1a0b440d051c"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="365a57425f51435318575851535a577653465718515940">[email protected]</span></a>.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 105 of the CAA provides grant
funding to air pollution control agencies for the prevention and
control of air pollution or implementation of national primary and
secondary ambient air quality standards. In accordance with 40 CFR
35.145(a), the Regional Administrator may provide air pollution control
agencies up to three-fifths of the approved costs of implementing
programs for the prevention and control of air pollution. Air pollution
control agencies are required to provide a 40% cost share (also
referred to as a match requirement) to receive CAA Section 105 grants.
Program activities relevant to the match consist of both recurring and
non-recurring (unique, one-time only) expenses. In addition, section
105(c)(1) of the CAA, 42 U.S.C. 7405(c)(1), requires grant recipients
to meet a maintenance of effort (MOE).
The MOE provision requires that an eligible agency spend at least
the same dollar level of funds as it did in the previous grant year but
only for the costs of recurring activities. Specifically, section
105(c)(1) of the CAA, 42 U.S.C. 7405(c)(1), provides that ``No agency
shall receive any grant under this section during any fiscal year when
its expenditures of non-Federal funds for recurrent expenditures for
air pollution control programs will be less than its expenditures were
for such programs during the preceding fiscal year.'' However, pursuant
to CAA section 105(c)(2), 42 U.S.C. 7405(c)(2), the EPA may still award
a grant to an agency not meeting the requirements of section 105(c)(1),
``. . . if the Administrator, after notice and opportunity for public
hearing, determines that a reduction in expenditures is attributable to
a non-selective reduction in the expenditures in the programs of all
Executive branch agencies of the applicable unit of Government.'' These
statutory requirements are repeated in the EPA's implementing
regulations at 40 CFR 35.140-35.148. The EPA issued a memorandum dated
September 30, 2011, entitled ``Updated Information for Determining a
Non-Selective Reduction'' with additional guidance to recipients on
what constitutes a nonselective reduction. In consideration of
legislative history, the guidance clarified that a non-selective
reduction does not necessarily mean that each executive branch agency
needs to be reduced in equal proportion. However, it must be clear to
the EPA, from the weight of evidence, that a recipient's CAA-related
air program is not being disproportionately impacted or singled out for
a reduction.
A section 105 grant recipient must submit a final federal financial
report no later than 120 days from the close of its grant period that
documents all of its federal and non-federal expenditures for the
completed period. The recipient seeking an adjustment to its MOE for
that period must provide the rationale and the documentation necessary
to enable the EPA to make a determination that a nonselective reduction
has occurred. In order to expedite that determination, the recipient
must provide details of the budget action and the comparative fiscal
impacts on all the jurisdiction's executive branch agencies and the
recipient's air program. The recipient needs to identify any executive
branch agencies or programs that should be excepted from comparison and
explain why. The recipient must provide evidence that the air program
is not being singled out for a reduction or being disproportionately
reduced. Documentation in key areas is needed including budget data
specific to the recipient's air program, and comparative budget data
between the recipient's air program, the agency containing the air
program, and the other executive branch agencies. The EPA may also
request information from the recipient about how impacts on its program
operations will affect its ability to meet its CAA obligations and
requirements; and documentation which explains the cause of the
reduction, such as legislative changes or the issuance of a new
executive order.
In fiscal year (FY) 2021, the EPA awarded the SBCAPCD $527,490,
which represented approximately 7% of the SBCAPCD budget. In FY2022,
the EPA intends to award the SBCAPCD approximately $531,494, which
represents approximately 7% of the SBCAPCD budget.
SBCAPCD's final federal financial report for FY2020 indicated that
SBCAPCD's MOE level was $7,890,365. The MOE level for FY2021 was
reduced to $7,790,365 after formal approval of a non-selective
reduction. SBCAPCD's final federal financial report for FY2021
indicates that SBCAPCD's MOE level is at $7,318,050. This level of
expenditure is not sufficient to meet the MOE requirements for FY2021
under section 105 because it is not equal to or greater than the MOE
for the previous fiscal year.
In order for the SBCAPCD to be eligible to receive its FY2022 CAA
section 105 grant, the EPA must make a determination (after notice and
an opportunity for a public hearing) that the reduction in expenditures
from 2021 to 2022 is attributable to a non-selective reduction in
recurrent expenditures in the programs of the SBCAPCD.
The SBCAPCD is a single-purpose air pollution control agency. It is
the unit of government for CAA section 105(c)(2) purposes. The main
factor for SBCAPCD's MOE shortfall in FY2021 continues to stem from
weakened economic conditions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic that
resulted in decreases in services and supplies. This budget category
was decreased approximately $510,000 from FY19-20 to FY20-21, which is
approximately an 11.5% decrease to this recurring expenditure.
The EPA proposes to find that the request for a reset of SBCAPCD's
MOE meets the requirements for a non-selective reduction under CAA
section 105. The SBCAPCD's MOE reduction resulted from a loss of
revenues due to a significant cut back on expenditures caused by the
COVID-19 pandemic. Increases in pass-through monies from the California
Air Resources Board for multiple state grant projects also impacted the
SBCAPCD's overall operating budget. However, such pass-through monies
are not considered recurrent expenditures and are not included in
calculating MOE.
The EPA proposes that the MOE for SBCAPCD's FY2021 CAA section 105
grant be reduced to $6,700,000 to address the non-selective reduction
of expenditures discussed above.
This notice constitutes a request for public comment and an
opportunity for public hearing as required by the CAA. All written
comments received by August 25, 2022 on this proposal will be
considered. The EPA will conduct a public hearing on this proposal only
if
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a written request for such is received by the EPA by August 25, 2022.
If no written request for a hearing is received or if the EPA
determines that the issues raised are insubstantial, the EPA will
proceed to the final action to award the fiscal year 2022 grant to the
SBCAPCD.
Dated: July 20, 2022.
Elizabeth Adams,
Director, Air and Radiation Division, Region IX.
[FR Doc. 2022-15959 Filed 7-25-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P
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