Rule2022-21653
Air Plan Approval and Air Quality Designation; GA; Redesignation of the Atlanta, Georgia 2015 8-Hour Ozone Nonattainment Area to Attainment
Primary source
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Published
October 17, 2022
Effective
November 16, 2022
Issuing agencies
Environmental Protection Agency
Abstract
On February 28, 2022, the State of Georgia, through the Georgia Environmental Protection Division (GA EPD) of the Department of Natural Resources, submitted a request for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to redesignate the Atlanta, Georgia 2015 8-hour ozone nonattainment area (hereinafter referred to as the "Atlanta Area" or "Area") to attainment for the 2015 8-hour ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS or standards) and to approve a State Implementation Plan (SIP) revision containing a maintenance plan for the Area. EPA is approving the State's plan for maintaining attainment of the 2015 8-hour ozone standard in the Area, including the motor vehicle emission budgets (MVEBs) for nitrogen oxides (NO<INF>X</INF>) and volatile organic compounds (VOC) for the years of 2018 and 2033 for the Area, incorporating the maintenance plan into the SIP, and redesignating the Area to attainment for the 2015 8-hour ozone NAAQS. EPA is also notifying the public of the status of EPA's adequacy determination for the MVEBs for the Area.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 87 Issue 199 (Monday, October 17, 2022)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 199 (Monday, October 17, 2022)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 62733-62736]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2022-21653]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Parts 52 and 81
[EPA-R04-OAR-2022-0290; FRL-10107-02-R4]
Air Plan Approval and Air Quality Designation; GA; Redesignation
of the Atlanta, Georgia 2015 8-Hour Ozone Nonattainment Area to
Attainment
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Final rule.
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SUMMARY: On February 28, 2022, the State of Georgia, through the
Georgia Environmental Protection Division (GA EPD) of the Department of
Natural Resources, submitted a request for the Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) to redesignate the Atlanta, Georgia 2015 8-hour ozone
nonattainment area (hereinafter referred to as the ``Atlanta Area'' or
``Area'') to attainment for the 2015 8-hour ozone National Ambient Air
Quality Standards (NAAQS or standards) and to approve a State
Implementation Plan (SIP) revision containing a maintenance plan for
the Area. EPA is approving the State's plan for maintaining attainment
of the 2015 8-hour ozone standard in the Area, including the motor
vehicle emission budgets (MVEBs) for nitrogen oxides (NO<INF>X</INF>)
and volatile organic compounds (VOC) for the years of 2018 and 2033 for
the Area, incorporating the maintenance plan into the SIP, and
redesignating the Area to attainment for the 2015 8-hour ozone NAAQS.
EPA is also notifying the public of the status of EPA's adequacy
determination for the MVEBs for the Area.
DATES: This rule is effective November 16, 2022.
ADDRESSES: EPA has established a docket for this action under Docket
Identification No. EPA-R04-OAR-2022-0290. 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,
[[Page 62734]]
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: Jane Spann, Air Regulatory Management
Section, Air Planning and Implementation Branch, Air and Radiation
Division, Region 4, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 61 Forsyth
Street SW, Atlanta, Georgia 30303-8960. The telephone number is (404)
562-9029. Ms. Spann can also be reached via electronic mail at
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#d7a4a7b6b9b9f9bdb6b9b297b2a7b6f9b0b8a1"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="83f0f3e2ededade9e2ede6c3e6f3e2ade4ecf5">[email protected]</span></a>.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. This Action
EPA is taking the following separate but related actions: (1)
Approving Georgia's plan for maintaining the 2015 ozone NAAQS
(maintenance plan), including the associated MVEBs for the Atlanta
Area, and incorporating the plan into the SIP, and (2) redesignating
the Atlanta Area to attainment for the 2015 8-hour ozone NAAQS. EPA is
also notifying the public of the status of EPA's adequacy determination
for the MVEBs for the Atlanta Area. The Atlanta Area consists of
Bartow, Clayton, Cobb, DeKalb, Fulton, Gwinnett, and Henry Counties in
Georgia.
EPA is taking final action to approve Georgia's maintenance plan
for the Atlanta Area as meeting the requirements of section 175A, such
approval being one of the Clean Air Act (CAA or Act) criteria for
redesignation to attainment status, and incorporate it into the SIP.
The maintenance plan is designed to keep the Atlanta Area in attainment
of the 2015 8-hour ozone NAAQS through 2033. The maintenance plan
includes 2018 and 2033 MVEBs for NO<INF>X</INF> and VOC for the Atlanta
Area for transportation conformity purposes. EPA is approving these
MVEBs and incorporating them into the SIP. EPA is also taking final
action to determine that the Atlanta Area has met the requirements for
redesignation under section 107(d)(3)(E) of the CAA.
EPA is also notifying the public of the status of EPA's adequacy
process for the MVEBs for the Atlanta Area. The Adequacy comment period
began on February 11, 2022, with EPA's posting of the availability of
Georgia's submission on EPA's Adequacy website (<a href="https://www.epa.gov/state-and-local-transportation/state-implementation-plans-sip-submissions-currently-under-epa">https://www.epa.gov/state-and-local-transportation/state-implementation-plans-sip-submissions-currently-under-epa</a>). The Adequacy comment period for these
MVEBs closed on March 15, 2022. No comments, adverse or otherwise, were
received during the Adequacy comment period.
In summary, this final rulemaking is in response to Georgia's
February 28, 2022, redesignation request and associated SIP submission
that addresses the specific issues summarized above and the necessary
elements described in section 107(d)(3)(E) of the CAA for redesignation
of the Atlanta Area to attainment for the 2015 8-hour ozone NAAQS.
II. Background
Effective August 3, 2018, EPA designated areas as unclassifiable/
attainment or nonattainment for the 2015 8-hour ozone NAAQS that was
promulgated on October 1, 2015. See 80 FR 65292 (October 26, 2015). The
Atlanta Area was designated as nonattainment for the 2015 8-hour ozone
NAAQS and classified as a marginal nonattainment area.\1\ See 83 FR
25776 (June 4, 2018). On February 28, 2022, Georgia requested that EPA
redesignate the Atlanta Area to attainment for the 2015 8-hour ozone
NAAQS and submitted a SIP revision containing the State's plan for
maintaining attainment of the 2015 8-hour ozone standard in the Area,
including 2018 and 2033 MVEBs for NO<INF>X</INF> and VOC for the
Atlanta Area.
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\1\ That Atlanta Area consists of Bartow, Clayton, Cobb, DeKalb,
Fulton, Gwinnett, and Henry Counties in Georgia.
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In a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) published on August 26,
2022, see 87 FR 52487, EPA proposed to approve the maintenance plan,
including the 2018 and 2033 MVEBs for NO<INF>X</INF> and VOC, and
incorporate the plan into the Georgia SIP and to redesignate the Area
to attainment for the 2015 8-hour ozone NAAQS. In that notice, EPA also
notified the public of the status of the Agency's adequacy
determination for the NO<INF>X</INF> and VOC MVEBs for the Atlanta
Area. The details of Georgia's submittal and the rationale for EPA's
actions are further explained in the NPRM. Comments on the August 26,
2022, NPRM were due on or before September 26, 2022. EPA did not
receive any comments on the August 26, 2022, NPRM.
III. Final Action
EPA is approving the aforementioned changes to the SIP. EPA is
taking two separate but related final actions. First, EPA is approving
the maintenance plan for the Atlanta Area, including the NO<INF>X</INF>
and VOC MVEBs for 2018 and 2033, and incorporating it into the Georgia
SIP. The maintenance plan demonstrates that the Area will continue to
maintain the 2015 8-hour ozone NAAQS and that the MVEBs meet all of the
adequacy criteria contained in 40 CFR 93.118(e)(4) and (5). Second, EPA
is approving Georgia's redesignation request for the 2015 8-hour ozone
NAAQS for the Atlanta Area. Approval of the redesignation request
changes the official designation of Bartow, Clayton, Cobb, DeKalb,
Fulton, Gwinnett, and Henry Counties in in the Atlanta Area for the
2015 8-hour ozone NAAQS from nonattainment to attainment, as indicated
at 40 CFR part 81. EPA is also notifying the public that EPA finds the
newly established NO<INF>X</INF> and VOC MVEBs for the Atlanta Area
adequate for the purpose of transportation conformity. Within 24 months
from this final rule, the transportation partners for the Atlanta Area
will need to demonstrate conformity to the new NO<INF>X</INF> and VOC
MVEBs pursuant to 40 CFR 93.104(e).
IV. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews
Under the CAA, redesignation of an area to attainment and the
accompanying approval of a maintenance plan under section 107(d)(3)(E)
are actions that affect the status of a geographical area and do not
impose any additional regulatory requirements on sources beyond those
imposed by state law. A redesignation to attainment 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. Moreover, the Administrator is
required to approve a SIP submission that complies with the provisions
of the Act and applicable Federal regulations. See 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 CAA.
Accordingly, these actions merely approve state law as meeting Federal
requirements and do not impose additional requirements beyond those
imposed by state law. For this reason, these actions:
<bullet> Are not significant regulatory actions 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> Do not impose an information collection burden under the
provisions
[[Page 62735]]
of the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.);
<bullet> Are 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> Do 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> Do not have Federalism implications as specified in
Executive Order 13132 (64 FR 43255, August 10, 1999);
<bullet> Are not economically significant regulatory actions based
on health or safety risks subject to Executive Order 13045 (62 FR
19885, April 23, 1997);
<bullet> Are not significant regulatory actions subject to
Executive Order 13211 (66 FR 28355, May 22, 2001);
<bullet> Are 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 CAA; and
<bullet> Will not have disproportionate human health or
environmental effects under Executive Order 12898 (59 FR 7629, February
16, 1994).
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 rules do
not have tribal implications as specified by Executive Order 13175 (65
FR 67249, November 9, 2000), nor will they 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 these actions 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 rules in the Federal Register. A major rule
cannot take effect until 60 days after it is published in the Federal
Register. These actions are not ``major rules'' as defined by 5 U.S.C.
804(2).
Under section 307(b)(1) of the CAA, petitions for judicial review
of these actions must be filed in the United States Court of Appeals
for the appropriate circuit by December 16, 2022. Filing a petition for
reconsideration by the Administrator of this final rule does not affect
the finality of these actions 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
actions. These actions may not be challenged later in proceedings to
enforce their requirements. See section 307(b)(2).
List of Subjects
40 CFR Part 52
Environmental protection, Air pollution control, Incorporation by
reference, Intergovernmental relations, Nitrogen dioxide, Ozone,
Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, Volatile organic compounds.
40 CFR Part 81
Environmental protection, Air pollution control, Incorporation by
reference.
Dated: September 30, 2022.
Daniel Blackman,
Regional Administrator, Region 4.
For the reasons stated in the preamble, the EPA amends 40 CFR part
52 and part 81 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 L--Georgia
0
2. In Sec. 52.570(e), amend the table by adding a new entry at the end
of the table for ``2015 8-hour Ozone Maintenance Plan for the Atlanta
Area'' to read as follows:
Sec. 52.570 Identification of plan.
* * * * *
(e) * * *
EPA Approved Georgia Non-Regulatory Provisions
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Applicable State submittal
Name of nonregulatory SIP geographic or date/effective EPA approval date Explanation
provision nonattainment area date
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* * * * * * *
2015 8-hour Ozone Maintenance Bartow, Clayton, 2/28/2022 10/17/2022, [Insert
Plan for the Atlanta Area. Cobb, DeKalb, citation of
Fulton, Gwinnett, publication].
and Henry Counties.
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PART 81--DESIGNATION OF AREAS FOR AIR QUALITY PLANNING PURPOSES
0
3. The authority citation for part 81 continues to read as follows:
Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.
0
4. In Sec. 81.311, amend the table entitled ``Georgia--2015 8-Hour
Ozone NAAQS [Primary and Secondary]'' by revising the entry for
``Atlanta, GA,'' to read as follows:
Sec. 81.311 Georgia.
* * * * *
Georgia--2015 8-Hour Ozone NAAQS
[Primary and secondary]
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Designation Classification
Designated area \1\ ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date \2\ Type Date \2\ Type
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Atlanta, GA 11/16/2022 Attainment......................
Bartow County...................................
Clayton County..................................
[[Page 62736]]
Cobb County.....................................
DeKalb County...................................
Fulton County...................................
Gwinnett County.................................
Henry County....................................
* * * * * * *
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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 August 3, 2018, unless otherwise noted.
* * * * *
[FR Doc. 2022-21653 Filed 10-14-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P
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