Rule2024-30506
Air Plan Approval; Illinois; Alton Township 2010 Sulfur Dioxide Redesignation and Maintenance Plan
Primary source
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Published
December 30, 2024
Effective
January 29, 2025
Issuing agencies
Environmental Protection Agency
Abstract
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is approving Illinois' request to redesignate the Alton Township nonattainment area in Madison County, Illinois to attainment for the 2010 sulfur dioxide (SO<INF>2</INF>) National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS). EPA is also approving Illinois' maintenance plan for the area. Illinois submitted the request for approval on October 2, 2023. Additionally, EPA is taking final action to determine that the Alton Township area attained the 2010 SO<INF>2</INF> NAAQS by the September 12, 2021, attainment date, fulfilling EPA's obligation under the Clean Air Act (CAA) section 179(c) to determine whether the area attained the relevant NAAQS standard. EPA proposed to approve this action on October 8, 2024, and received no comments.December 30, 2024
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 89 Issue 249 (Monday, December 30, 2024)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 249 (Monday, December 30, 2024)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 106357-106360]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2024-30506]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Parts 52 and 81
[EPA-R05-OAR-2023-0498; FRL-12265-02-R5]
Air Plan Approval; Illinois; Alton Township 2010 Sulfur Dioxide
Redesignation and Maintenance Plan
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Final rule.
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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is approving
Illinois' request to redesignate the Alton Township nonattainment area
in Madison County, Illinois to attainment for the 2010 sulfur dioxide
(SO<INF>2</INF>) National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS). EPA is
also approving Illinois' maintenance plan for the area. Illinois
submitted the request for approval on October 2, 2023. Additionally,
EPA is taking final action to determine that the Alton Township area
attained the 2010 SO<INF>2</INF> NAAQS by the September 12, 2021,
attainment
[[Page 106358]]
date, fulfilling EPA's obligation under the Clean Air Act (CAA) section
179(c) to determine whether the area attained the relevant NAAQS
standard. EPA proposed to approve this action on October 8, 2024, and
received no comments.December 30, 2024
DATES: This final rule is effective on January 29, 2025.
ADDRESSES: EPA has established a docket for this action under Docket ID
No. EPA-R05-OAR-2023-0498. 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), Proprietary Business Information (PBI), 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 through <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a> or at the Environmental Protection Agency, Region
5, Air and Radiation Division, 77 West Jackson Boulevard, Chicago,
Illinois 60604. This facility is open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.,
Monday through Friday, excluding Federal holidays. We recommend that
you telephone Cecilia Magos, at (312) 886-7336, before visiting the
Region 5 office.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Cecilia Magos, Air and Radiation
Division (AR-18J), Environmental Protection Agency, Region 5, 77 West
Jackson Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois 60604, (312) 886-7336,
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#c4a9a5a3abb7eaa7a1a7ada8ada584a1b4a5eaa3abb2"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="b6dbd7d1d9c598d5d3d5dfdadfd7f6d3c6d798d1d9c0">[email protected]</span></a>.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Throughout this document whenever ``we,''
``us,'' or ``our'' is used, we mean EPA.
I. Background Information
On June 22, 2010 (75 FR 35520), EPA revised the primary
SO<INF>2</INF> NAAQS, establishing a new health-based 1-hour standard
of 75 parts per billion (ppb). EPA promulgated designations for this
standard in four rounds. On September 18, 2015, Illinois submitted its
recommendations to EPA to designate certain areas of the state as part
of the Round 2 designations. Illinois recommended a portion of southern
Alton Township in Madison County be designated as nonattainment for the
2010 SO<INF>2</INF> NAAQS. EPA concurred with Illinois' analysis and
published a final action designating the area as nonattainment for the
2010 SO<INF>2</INF> NAAQS effective September 12, 2016 (81 FR 45039).
Illinois submitted an attainment plan for the Alton Township
nonattainment area on December 3, 2018. The plan included computer
modeling that included emissions from the Alton Steel Inc. (Alton
Steel) facility in Alton, Illinois, and emissions from the Ameren
Missouri-Sioux Energy Center (Ameren-Sioux) power plant in Missouri,
located about 13 kilometers west-northwest of the nonattainment area.
On March 14, 2019, the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency issued
Construction Permit #18020009 for the Alton Steel facility to operate a
new ladle metallurgy facility (LMF) stack and to remove the downfacing
vents that were contributing to modeled nonattainment at the facility.
EPA included additional dispersion modeling to supplement Illinois'
attainment demonstration to demonstrate that the emission limits
required by the Illinois SIP and submitted for EPA approval provide for
modeled concentrations meeting the 2010 SO<INF>2</INF> NAAQS. EPA
approved Illinois' attainment plan revision on February 21, 2023 (88 FR
10464).
On October 2, 2023, Illinois submitted a redesignation request and
maintenance plan for the Alton Township nonattainment area for the 2010
SO<INF>2</INF> NAAQS. The submitted redesignation request and
maintenance plan includes the Construction Permit issued to Alton Steel
and the Consent Agreement for Ameren-Sioux that has been approved into
the Missouri SIP (87 FR 68634, November 16, 2022) with accepted
SO<INF>2</INF> emissions limits. On October 8, 2024 (89 FR 81409), EPA
proposed to approve the redesignation of the Alton Township area in
Madison County, Illinois from nonattainment to attainment for the 2010
SO<INF>2</INF> NAAQS in accordance with Illinois' request submitted on
October 2, 2023. EPA has determined the area is attaining the 2010
SO<INF>2</INF> NAAQS and that the improvement in air quality is due to
permanent and enforceable SO<INF>2</INF> emission reductions in the
area. EPA is also approving Illinois' maintenance plan, which is
designed to ensure that the area will continue to maintain attainment
of the 2010 SO<INF>2</INF> NAAQS. Additionally, under section 179(c) of
the CAA, EPA is required to determine whether a nonattainment area
attained a standard by the applicable attainment date based on the
area's air quality as of the attainment date. In this action, EPA is
determining that the Alton Township area did attain the 2010
SO<INF>2</INF> NAAQS by the attainment date of September 12, 2021. An
explanation of the CAA requirements, a detailed analysis of the
revisions, and EPA's reasons for proposing approval were provided in
the notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) and will not be restated here.
The public comment period for this proposed rule ended on November 7,
2024. EPA received no comments on the proposal. Therefore, we are
finalizing our action as proposed.
II. Final Action
EPA is approving the redesignation of the Alton Township area from
nonattainment to attainment, meeting the criteria under CAA section
107(d)(3)(E) for the 2010 SO<INF>2</INF> NAAQS in accordance with
Illinois' October 2, 2023, request. EPA is determining that the area is
attaining the 2010 SO<INF>2</INF> NAAQS and that the improvement in air
quality is due to permanent and enforceable SO<INF>2</INF> emission
reductions in the area. On this basis, EPA is approving the
redesignation request from Illinois for the area and changing the legal
designation of the Alton Township area in Madison County at 40 CFR part
81 to attainment for the 2010 SO<INF>2</INF> NAAQS.
EPA is also approving Illinois' maintenance plan under CAA section
175A. The maintenance plan demonstrates that the area will continue to
maintain the 2010 SO<INF>2</INF> NAAQS and includes a process to
develop contingency measures to remedy any future violations of the
2010 SO<INF>2</INF> NAAQS and procedures for evaluation of potential
violations. This includes Illinois' commitment to provide EPA with an
annual emissions report of the newly constructed Alton Steel LMF stack
as part of Illinois' annual network plan submittal to provide ongoing
verification of attainment.
Finally, EPA is determining that the Alton Township area attained
the 2010 SO<INF>2</INF> NAAQS by the September 12, 2021, attainment
date addressing EPA's obligation under CAA section 179(c).
III. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews
Under the CAA, the Administrator is required to approve a SIP
submission that complies with the provisions of the CAA 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 CAA. 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,
[[Page 106359]]
October 4, 1993), and 14094 (88 FR 21879, April 11, 2023);
<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 subject to Executive Order 13045 (62 FR 19885,
April 23, 1997) because it approves a state program;
<bullet> Is not a significant regulatory action subject to
Executive Order 13211 (66 FR 28355, May 22, 2001); and
<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 CAA.
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).
Executive Order 12898 (Federal Actions To Address Environmental
Justice in Minority Populations and Low-Income Populations, 59 FR 7629,
February 16, 1994) directs Federal agencies to identify and address
``disproportionately high and adverse human health or environmental
effects'' of their actions on communities with environmental justice
(EJ) concerns to the greatest extent practicable and permitted by law.
Executive Order 14096 (Revitalizing Our Nation's Commitment to
Environmental Justice for All, 88 FR 25251, April 26, 2023) builds on
and supplements E.O. 12898 and defines EJ as, among other things, the
just treatment and meaningful involvement of all people, regardless of
income, race, color, national origin, or Tribal affiliation, or
disability in agency decision-making and other Federal activities that
affect human health and the environment.
The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency did not evaluate EJ
considerations as part of its SIP submittal; the CAA and applicable
implementing regulations neither prohibit nor require such an
evaluation. EPA performed an EJ analysis, as is described in the
proposed action (October 8, 2024, 89 FR 81409) in the section titled,
``EJ Considerations.'' The analysis was done for the purpose of
providing additional context and information about this rulemaking to
the public, not as a basis of the action. Due to the nature of the
action being taken here, this action is expected to have a neutral to
positive impact on the air quality of the affected area. In addition,
there is no information in the record upon which this decision is based
inconsistent with the stated goal of E.O. 12898/14096 of achieving EJ
for communities with EJ concerns.
This action is subject to the Congressional Review Act, and EPA
will submit a rule report to each House of the Congress and to the
Comptroller General of the United States. 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 February 28, 2025. 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, Incorporation by
reference, Intergovernmental relations, Reporting and recordkeeping
requirements, Sulfur oxides.
Dated: December 16, 2024.
Debra Shore,
Regional Administrator, Region 5.
For the reasons stated in the preamble, title 40 CFR part 52 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.
0
2. In Sec. 52.720, amend the table in paragraph (e), under the heading
``Attainment and Maintenance Plans'' by adding a second entry for
``Sulfur dioxide (2010) maintenance plan'' after the entry for ``Sulfur
dioxide maintenance plan'' to read as follows:
Sec. 52.720 Identification of plan.
* * * * *
(e) * * *
EPA Approved Illinois Nonregulatory and Quasi-Regulatory Provisions
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State
Name of SIP provision Applicable geographic or submittal EPA approval Comments
nonattainment area date date
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* * * * * * *
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Attainment and Maintenance Plans
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* * * * * * *
Sulfur dioxide (2010) Alton Township................ 10/2/2023 12/30/24, ....................
maintenance plan. [INSERT FIRST
PAGE OF
FEDERAL
REGISTER
CITATION].
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[[Page 106360]]
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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. 81.314,amend the table entitled ``Illinois--2010 Sulfur
Dioxide NAAQS [Primary], by revising the entry for ``Alton Township,
IL'''' to read as follows:
Sec. 81.314 Illinois.
* * * * *
Illinois--2010 Sulfur Dioxide NAAQS
[Primary]
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Designation
Designated area \1\ ----------------------------------------
Date \2\ Type
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Alton Township, IL............. 12/30/24 Attainment.
Madison County (part)
Within Alton Township:
Area east of Corporal
Belchik Memorial
Expressway, south of East
Broadway, south of Route
3, and north of Route 143.
* * * * * * *
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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.
* * * * *
[FR Doc. 2024-30506 Filed 12-27-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P
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