Proposed Rule2026-03845
Air Plan Approval; Missouri; Clean Data Determination for the 2015 8-Hour Ozone Standard for the Missouri Portion of the St. Louis Nonattainment Area
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
February 26, 2026
Issuing agencies
Environmental Protection Agency
Abstract
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to determine under the Clean Air Act (CAA) that the Missouri portion of the St. Louis, MO-IL nonattainment area (hereafter also referred to, respectively, as the "St. Louis area" or "area") has achieved clean data for the 2015 ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS or standard). This determination of clean data is based upon complete, quality-assured, and certified ambient air monitoring data for the 2023-2025 design value period showing that the Missouri portion of the area achieved attainment of the 2015 ozone NAAQS. The 2023-2025 design value relies upon EPA concurrence on a portion of the exceptional events request as submitted by the Missouri Department of Natural Resources (MoDNR) on November 3, 2025, and concurred on by the EPA on January 27, 2026. Therefore, the EPA is proposing to approve Missouri's November 3, 2025, Clean Data Determination (CDD) request. If finalized, this proposed CDD would suspend the obligations of the State of Missouri to submit certain nonattainment area planning requirements for as long as the Missouri portion of the St. Louis area continues to attain the 2015 ozone NAAQS. In a separate action, the EPA is proposing a similar determination for the Illinois portion of the St. Louis area.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 91 Issue 38 (Thursday, February 26, 2026)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 91, Number 38 (Thursday, February 26, 2026)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 9519-9523]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2026-03845]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 52
[EPA-R07-OAR-2026-0463; FRL-13204-01-R7]
Air Plan Approval; Missouri; Clean Data Determination for the
2015 8-Hour Ozone Standard for the Missouri Portion of the St. Louis
Nonattainment Area
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Proposed rule.
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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to
determine under the Clean Air Act (CAA) that the Missouri portion of
the St. Louis, MO-IL nonattainment area (hereafter also referred to,
respectively, as the ``St. Louis area'' or ``area'') has achieved clean
data for the 2015 ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS
or standard). This determination of clean data is based upon complete,
quality-assured, and certified ambient air monitoring data for the
2023-2025 design value period showing that the Missouri portion of the
area achieved attainment of the 2015 ozone NAAQS. The 2023-2025 design
value relies upon EPA concurrence on a portion of the exceptional
events request as submitted by the Missouri Department of Natural
Resources (MoDNR) on November 3, 2025, and concurred on by the EPA on
January 27, 2026. Therefore, the EPA is proposing to approve Missouri's
November 3, 2025, Clean Data Determination (CDD) request. If finalized,
this proposed CDD would suspend the obligations of the State of
Missouri to submit certain nonattainment area planning requirements for
as long as the Missouri portion of the St. Louis area continues to
attain the 2015 ozone NAAQS. In a separate action, the EPA is proposing
a similar determination for the Illinois portion of the St. Louis area.
DATES: Comments must be received on or before March 30, 2026.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-R07-
OAR-2026-0463 to <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.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. Do not submit electronically any information you consider to be
Confidential Business Information (CBI) or other information whose
disclosure is restricted by statute. Multimedia
[[Page 9520]]
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 (i.e., on the web, cloud, or other file sharing
system). For additional submission methods, the full EPA public comment
policy, information about 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>.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ashley Keas, Environmental Protection
Agency, Region 7 Office, Air and Radiation Division, 11201 Renner
Boulevard, Lenexa, Kansas 66219; telephone number: (913) 551-7629;
email address: <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#59323c382a77382a31353c20193c2938773e362f"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="cea5abafbde0afbda6a2abb78eabbeafe0a9a1b8">[email protected]</span></a>.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Throughout this document ``we,'' ``us,'' and
``our'' refer to the EPA.
Table of Contents
I. Background
II. Exceptional Events Demonstration
III. Clean Data Determination
IV. Proposed Action
V. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews
I. Background
The EPA has determined that ground-level ozone is detrimental to
human health. On October 1, 2015, the EPA promulgated a revised 8-hour
ozone NAAQS of 0.070 parts per million (ppm). See 80 FR 65292 (October
26, 2015). Under EPA's regulations at 40 CFR part 50, the 2015 ozone
NAAQS is attained in an area when the 3-year average of the annual
fourth highest daily maximum 8-hour average concentration is equal to
or less than 0.070 ppm, when truncated after the thousandth decimal
place, at all of the ozone monitoring sites in the area. See 40 CFR
50.19 and appendix U to 40 CFR part 50.
Upon promulgation of a new or revised NAAQS, section 107(d)(1)(B)
of the CAA requires the EPA to designate as nonattainment any areas
that are violating the NAAQS. Based on quality-assured ozone monitoring
data from 2015-2017, the EPA designated the St. Louis, MO-IL bi-state
area as Marginal nonattainment for the 2015 Ozone NAAQS with an
effective date of August 3, 2018 (83 FR 25776). At that time, the area
included Boles Township of Franklin County, St. Charles County, St.
Louis County, and St. Louis City in Missouri, and Madison and St. Clair
Counties in Illinois. As part of that same action, the EPA designated
Jefferson County and the remaining portion of Franklin County, in
Missouri, and Monroe County in Illinois, as attainment/unclassifiable.
On July 10, 2020, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of
Columbia remanded the Jefferson County, Missouri, and Monroe County,
Illinois, designations (among other designations) to the EPA. The Court
upheld the EPA's designation of Boles Township as nonattainment and the
remainder of Franklin County as attainment/unclassifiable. In response
to the Court's remand, the EPA revised the Jefferson County, Missouri,
and Monroe County, Illinois designation to nonattainment on June 14,
2021 (86 FR 31438). The St. Louis, MO-IL nonattainment area for the
2015 ozone NAAQS consists of Boles Township in Franklin County,
Jefferson County, St. Charles County, St. Louis County, and St. Louis
City in Missouri; and Madison County, Monroe County, and St. Clair
County in Illinois.
On October 7, 2022 (87 FR 60897), the EPA determined that the St.
Louis area did not attain the standards by the Marginal attainment
date, and the area was reclassified as Moderate by operation of law.
More recently, on November 25, 2024 (89 FR 92816), and December 17,
2024 (89 FR 101901), the EPA determined the Missouri portion of the
area and the Illinois portion of the area, respectively, did not attain
the standards by the Moderate attainment date, and both portions of the
area were reclassified as Serious by operation of law.\1\
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\1\ EPA's rules dated November 24, 2024, and December 17, 2024,
are the subject of ongoing litigation in the U.S. Court of Appeals
for the Eighth Circuit and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh
Circuit, respectively. Both cases are currently held in abeyance.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit granted Missouri's
motion to stay the effectiveness of the underlying action pending
judicial review on June 6, 2025.
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On November 3, 2025, MoDNR submitted an exceptional events (EE)
demonstration to show that the ozone concentration at certain Missouri
monitors during the 2023 ozone season were influenced by wildfire smoke
events originating in Canada. On January 27, 2026, the EPA concurred on
a portion of the state's November 3, 2025, EE demonstration. Ambient
air monitoring data from 2023 to 2025, which pursuant to the EPA's
concurrence on a portion of the Missouri EE demonstration now excludes
exceptional event influenced monitor days, indicates that the Missouri
portion of the St. Louis Area has attained the 2015 ozone NAAQS. The
EPA's Exceptional Events Rule and MoDNR's EE demonstration are
discussed in more detail in section II. of this document. The EPA's
Technical Support Document (TSD) detailing the EPA's rationale for
concurring with a portion of Missouri's EE demonstration is included in
the docket for this action.
II. Exceptional Events Demonstration
Congress has recognized that it may not be appropriate for the EPA
to use certain monitoring data collected by the ambient air quality
monitoring network and maintained in the EPA's Air Quality System (AQS)
database in certain regulatory determinations. Thus, in 2005, Congress
provided the statutory authority for the exclusion of data influenced
by ``exceptional events'' meeting specific criteria by adding section
319(b) to the CAA and granted the EPA with the authority to propose
regulations to review and manage air quality monitoring data influenced
by exceptional events.\2\
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\2\ Under CAA section 319(b), an exceptional event means an
event that (i) affects air quality; (ii) is not reasonably
controllable or preventable; (iii) is an event caused by human
activity that is unlikely to recur at a particular location or a
natural event; and (iv) is determined by EPA under the process
established in regulations promulgated by EPA in accordance with
section 319(b)(2) to be an exceptional event. For the purposes of
section 319(b), an exceptional event does not include (i) stagnation
of air masses or meteorological inversions; (ii) a meteorological
event involving high temperatures or lack of precipitation; or (iii)
air pollution relating to source noncompliance.
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To implement this 2005 CAA amendment, on March 22, 2007, (72 FR
13560), the EPA promulgated the 2007 Exceptional Events Rule. The 2007
Exceptional Events Rule created a regulatory process codified at 40 CFR
parts 50 and 51 (Sec. Sec. 50.1, 50.14, and 51.930). These regulatory
sections, which superseded the EPA's previous guidance on handling data
influenced by events, contain definitions, procedural requirements,
requirements for air agency demonstrations, criteria for the EPA's
approval of the exclusion of event-affected air quality data from the
data set used for regulatory decisions, and requirements for air
agencies to take appropriate and reasonable actions to protect public
health from exceedances or violations of the NAAQS. On October 3, 2016,
(81 FR 68216), the EPA promulgated a comprehensive revision to the 2007
Exceptional Events Rule. The 2016 Exceptional Events Rule revision
included the requirement that, if a state demonstrates that emissions
from a wildfire smoke event caused a specific air pollution
concentration in excess of the NAAQS at a particular air quality
monitoring location and otherwise
[[Page 9521]]
satisfies the requirements of 40 CFR 50.14, the EPA must exclude that
data from use in determinations of exceedances and violations.\3\
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\3\ 40 CFR 50.14(b)(4).
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The CAA provides for the exclusion of air quality monitoring data
from design value calculations when there are NAAQS exceedances caused
by events, such as wildfires, that meet the criteria for an exceptional
event identified in the EPA's Exceptional Events Rule at 40 CFR 50.1,
50.14, and 51.930. For the purposes of this proposed action, on
November 3, 2025, MoDNR submitted an exceptional events demonstration
to show that ozone concentrations recorded at the West Alton monitor
with Site ID 29-183-1002 on May 24, June 3, June 6, June 10, June 17,
and June 24, 2023, and the Maryland Heights monitor with Site ID 29-
189-0014 on June 6, 2023, were caused by the 2023 Canadian wildfires in
the provinces of Alberta, Quebec, Nova Scotia, the Northwest
Territories and British Columbia. The EPA concurred on this request on
January 27, 2026.
The EPA found that Missouri's demonstration met the Exceptional
Events Rule criteria by establishing a clear, causal relationship
between these wildfire events and the monitoring data which have
regulatory significance for purposes of calculating the area's most
recent design value (2023-2025 monitoring data). The removal of this
exceptional event-impacted data, consistent with the CAA and the
implementing regulations, supports a clean data determination (CDD) for
the 2015 ozone NAAQS. As such, the EPA proposes to take final agency
action to approve this CDD based on the concurred dates, summarized in
table 1 of this document and detailed in the docket, and remove from
the data set used for regulatory purposes those monitor days that the
EPA concurred on as influenced by an exceptional event consistent with
CAA section 319(b) and the implementing regulations.\4\
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\4\ At this time, the EPA defers action on other monitor-days
included in the November 3, 2025, Missouri submitted demonstration,
as referenced in the EPA's TSD and associated concurrence letter
included in the docket for this action.
Table 1--EPA Decisions for Missouri Exceptional Events Exclusion
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EPA decision Site name AQS ID Event date
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Concur................................ West Alton.............. 29-183-1002 May 24, 2023.
Concur................................ West Alton.............. 29-183-1002 June 3, 2023.
Concur................................ West Alton.............. 29-183-1002 June 6, 2023.
Concur................................ West Alton.............. 29-183-1002 June 10, 2023.
Concur................................ West Alton.............. 29-183-1002 June 17, 2023.
Concur................................ West Alton.............. 29-183-1002 June 24, 2023.
Concur................................ Maryland Heights........ 29-189-0014 June 6, 2023.
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For this proposed action, the EPA will rely on the calculated
design values that exclude the concurred dates for the purpose of
demonstrating attainment of the 2015 8-hour ozone NAAQS. Further
details on Missouri's analyses and the EPA's concurrence can be found
in the docket for this regulatory action. While the EPA has concurred
on a portion of Missouri's request to exclude exceptional event-
influenced air quality monitoring data from regulatory decisions, the
EPA must provide an opportunity for public comment on the concurred
exceptional events, as noted in table 1, and all supporting data prior
to the EPA taking a final clean data determination action which relies
on the revised data set. This proposed action provides the public with
an opportunity to comment on the exceptional events, all supporting
documents, and the EPA's concurrence with Missouri's request for the
events listed in table 1.
III. Clean Data Determination
Following enactment of the CAA Amendments of 1990, the EPA
discussed its interpretation of the requirements for implementing the
NAAQS in the General Preamble for the Implementation of title I of the
CAA Amendments of 1990 (General Preamble), 57 FR 13498, 13564 (April
16, 1992). On November 29, 1995, (70 FR 71612), the EPA set forth what
has become known as its ``Clean Data Policy'' for the 1-hour ozone
NAAQS. Under the Clean Data Policy, for a nonattainment area that can
demonstrate attainment of the standard before implementing CAA
nonattainment measures, the EPA interprets the requirements of the CAA
that are specifically designed to help an area achieve attainment, such
as the requirements for such area to submit attainment demonstrations
and associated RACM, RFP plans, contingency measures for failure to
attain or make reasonable progress, and other planning state
implementation plans (SIPs) related to attainment of the ozone NAAQS,
to be suspended for as long as air quality continues to meet the
standard. Such a determination of attainment under the Clean Data
Policy is known informally as a clean data determination. On December
6, 2018, (83 FR 62998), in the final rule updating implementing
regulations for the 2015 ozone NAAQS, the EPA codified this policy at
40 CFR 51.1318.
An area is attaining the 2015 ozone NAAQS if it meets the 2015
ozone NAAQS based on three complete, consecutive calendar years of
quality-assured air quality data for all monitoring sites in the area.
To attain the 2015 ozone NAAQS, the 3-year average of the annual
fourth-highest daily maximum 8-hour average ozone concentrations (ozone
design values) at each monitor must not exceed 0.070 ppm.\5\ The air
quality data must be collected and quality-assured in accordance with
40 CFR part 58 and recorded in AQS. Ambient air quality monitoring data
for the 3-year period must also meet data completeness requirements. An
ozone design value is valid if daily maximum 8-hour average
concentrations are available for at least 90% of the days within the
ozone monitoring seasons,\6\ on average, for the 3-year period, with a
minimum data completeness of 75% during the ozone monitoring season of
any year during the 3-year period. See section 4 of appendix U to 40
CFR part 50.
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\5\ The rounding convention in 40 CFR part 50, appendix U
dictates that concentrations shall be reported in ``ppm'' to the
third decimal place, with additional digits to the right being
truncated. Thus, a computed 3-year average ozone concentration of
0.071 ppm is greater than 0.070 ppm and would exceed the standard,
but a DV of 0.0709 is truncated to 0.070 and attains the 2015 ozone
NAAQS.
\6\ The ozone season is defined by state in 40 CFR part 58,
appendix D. The ozone season for Missouri and Illinois is March-
October. See 80 FR 65292, at 65466-67 (October 26, 2015).
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On November 3, 2025, the MoDNR sent a clean data determination
request
[[Page 9522]]
to the EPA.\7\ The EPA has reviewed the available ozone monitoring data
from MoDNR's monitoring sites in the St. Louis area for the 2023-2025
period. These data have been quality assured, are recorded in the AQS,
and were certified in advance of the EPA's publication of this
proposal. Specifically, Missouri notified the EPA on December 4, 2025,
that the 2025 ozone season data for all monitors in the Missouri
portion of the St. Louis area had been quality assured and certified in
AQS.\8\ These data demonstrate that the St. Louis area is attaining the
2015 ozone NAAQS. The annual fourth-highest 8-hour ozone concentrations
and the 3-year average of these concentrations (monitoring site ozone
design values) for all Missouri monitoring sites are summarized in
table 2. As explained in section II. of this action, this data excludes
the exceptional event impacted monitoring days.
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\7\ The State's request is included in the docket for this
action. The State's CDD request relies on EPA concurrence on six of
the days included in the State's exceptional events demonstration
for the West Alton ozone monitor and one of the days included in the
demonstration for the Maryland Heights ozone monitor.
\8\ Materials related to Missouri's certification of ozone
season monitoring data is included in the docket for this action.
Table 2--Annual Fourth-Highest Daily Maximum 8-Hour Ozone Concentrations and 3-Year Average of the Fourth-Highest Daily Maximum 8-Hour Ozone
Concentrations for the Missouri Portion of the St. Louis Area
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2023-2025
County Monitor name Monitor site 2023 4th 2024 4th 2025 4th average
ID high (ppm) high (ppm) high (ppm) (ppm)
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Jefferson....................................... Arnold West....................... 29-099-0019 0.078 0.061 0.071 0.070
Saint Charles................................... West Alton........................ 29-183-1002 0.075 0.068 0.069 0.070
Saint Charles................................... Orchard Farm...................... 29-183-1004 0.073 0.067 0.070 0.070
Saint Louis..................................... Pacific........................... 29-189-0005 0.077 0.064 0.069 0.070
Saint Louis..................................... Maryland Heights.................. 29-189-0014 0.078 0.066 0.066 0.070
Saint Louis City................................ Blair Street...................... 29-510-0085 0.077 0.066 0.066 0.069
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The Missouri portion of the St. Louis area's 3-year ozone design
value for 2023-2025 is 0.070 ppm,\9\ which meets the 2015 ozone NAAQS.
Therefore, in this action, the EPA proposes to find that the Missouri
portion of the St. Louis area is attaining the 2015 ozone NAAQS.
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\9\ The monitor ozone design value for the monitor with the
highest 3-year averaged concentration.
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The EPA will not take final action to determine that the St. Louis
area is attaining the NAAQS if the design value of a monitoring site in
the area violates the NAAQS prior to final approval of the clean data
determination. Additionally, the EPA will not take final action to
determine that the Missouri portion of the St. Louis area is attaining
the NAAQS, absent a final action to determine that the Illinois portion
of the St. Louis area is also attaining the NAAQS. Under the EPA's
Clean Data Policy, a clean data determination only has meaning and
effect when an entire area is attaining the NAAQS. In the instance of a
multi-state area like the St. Louis area, this means that all monitors
in both states must have attaining data.
Should this action be finalized, the requirements for MoDNR to
submit attainment demonstrations and associated RACM, RFP plans,
contingency measures for failure to attain or make reasonable further
progress, and planning elements related to attainment of the 2015 ozone
NAAQS for the Missouri portion of the St. Louis area, would be
suspended for as long as the area continues to attain the 2015 ozone
NAAQS. 40 CFR 51.1318.
This action does not constitute a determination of attainment by
the attainment date under CAA section 181(b)(2). In this action, the
EPA is considering the area's design value for the 2023-2025 period,
however the 2023-2025 design value does not serve as the area's most
recent complete and quality-assured design value available as of the
applicable attainment date.
This action does not constitute a redesignation of any portion of
the area to attainment of the 2015 ozone NAAQS under section
107(d)(3)(E) of the CAA, nor does it constitute approval of a
maintenance plan for any portion of the area as required under section
175A of the CAA, nor does it find that any portion of the area has met
all other requirements for redesignation. The Missouri portion of the
St. Louis area will remain designated nonattainment for the 2015 ozone
NAAQS until such time as the EPA determines that the Missouri portion
of the area meets CAA requirements for redesignation to attainment and
takes a separate action to redesignate the Missouri portion of the
area.
IV. Proposed Action
The EPA is proposing to determine that the Missouri portion of the
St. Louis area has attained the 2015 ozone NAAQS and meets the
requirements under the Clean Data Policy for a CDD. This determination
of clean data is based upon complete, quality-assured, and certified
ambient air monitoring data for the 2023-2025 design value period
showing that the Missouri portion of the area achieved attainment of
the 2015 ozone NAAQS. The 2023-2025 design value relies upon EPA
concurrence on a portion of the exceptional events request as submitted
by the Missouri Department of Natural Resources (MoDNR) on November 3,
2025, and concurred on by the EPA on January 27, 2026. Therefore, the
EPA is proposing to approve Missouri's November 3, 2025, CDD request.
As provided in 40 CFR 51.1318, if the EPA finalizes this CDD, the
requirements for the MoDNR to submit attainment demonstrations and
associated RACM, RFP plans, contingency measures for failure to attain
or make reasonable further progress, and planning elements related to
attainment of the 2015 ozone NAAQS for the Missouri portion of the St.
Louis area, are suspended for as long as the Missouri portion of the
area continues to attain the 2015 ozone NAAQS. In a separate action,
the EPA is proposing a similar determination for the Illinois portion
of the St. Louis area.
V. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews
Additional information about these statutes and Executive Orders
can be found at https://www.epa.gov/
[[Page 9523]]
lawsregulations/laws-and-executive-orders.
A. Executive Order 12866: Regulatory Planning and Review and Executive
Order 13563: Improving Regulation and Regulatory Review
This action is not a significant regulatory action and was
therefore not submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB)
for review. This action proposes to issue a clean data determination
for the Missouri portion of the St. Louis area for the 2015 ozone
NAAQS.
B. Executive Order 14192: Unleashing Prosperity Through Deregulation
Executive Order 14192 does not apply because it is not a
significant regulatory action and is therefore exempted from review
under Executive Order 12866.
C. Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA)
This rule does not impose an information collection burden under
the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501
et seq.)
D. Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA)
I certify that this action will not have a significant economic
impact on a substantial number of small entities under the RFA. This
action will not impose any requirements on small entities beyond those
imposed by state law. The proposed clean data determination does not
create any new requirements and does not directly regulate any
entities.
E. Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA)
This action does not contain any unfunded mandate as described in
UMRA, 2 U.S.C. 1531-1538, and does not significantly or uniquely affect
small governments. This action imposes no enforceable duty on any
state, local or Tribal governments or the private sector.
F. Executive Order 13132: Federalism
This action does not have federalism implications. It will not have
substantial direct effects on the states, on the relationship between
the national government and the states, or on the distribution of power
and responsibilities among the various levels of government. This
action proposes a clean data determination for the Missouri portion of
the St. Louis area under the CAA.
G. Executive Order 13175: Coordination With Indian Tribal Governments
This rule does not have Tribal implications, as specified in
Executive Order 13175. It will not have substantial direct effects on
Tribal governments. Thus, Executive Order 13175 does not apply to this
rule.
H. Executive Order 13045: Protection of Children From Environmental
Health Risks and Safety Risks
The EPA interprets Executive Order 13045 as applying only to those
regulatory actions that concern environmental health or safety risks
that the EPA has reason to believe may disproportionately affect
children, per the definition of ``covered regulatory action'' in
section 2-202 of the Executive Order. Therefore, this action is not
subject to Executive Order 13045 because it merely proposes a clean
data determination.
I. Executive Order 13211: Actions That Significantly Affect Energy
Supply, Distribution, or Use
This action is not subject to Executive Order 13211, because it is
not a significant regulatory action under Executive Order 12866.
List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 52
Environmental protection, Air pollution control, Incorporation by
reference, Intergovernmental relations, Nitrogen dioxide, Ozone,
Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, Volatile organic compounds.
Dated: February 18, 2026.
James Macy,
Regional Administrator, Region 7.
For the reasons stated in the preamble, the EPA proposes to amend
40 CFR part 52 as set forth below:
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 AA--Missouri
0
2. In Sec. 52.1342, add paragraph (f) to read as follows:
Sec. 52.1342 Control strategy: Ozone.
* * * * *
(f) Determination of attainment. The EPA has determined, as of
[date of publication of the final rule in the Federal Register], that
the St. Louis Ozone nonattainment area has attained the 2015 8-hour
Ozone NAAQS. This determination suspends the requirements for this area
to submit an attainment demonstration, associated reasonably available
control measures, reasonable further progress, contingency measures,
and other plan elements related to attainment of the standards for as
long as the area continues to meet the 2015 8-hour Ozone NAAQS.
[FR Doc. 2026-03845 Filed 2-25-26; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P
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