[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 199 (Tuesday, October 19, 2021)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 57769-57770]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-22167]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[EPA-R09-OAR-2021-0249; FRL-8724-03-R9]


Rescission of Clean Data Determination and Call for Attainment 
Plan Revision for the Yuma, AZ 1987 PM10 Moderate Nonattainment Area

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Proposed rule; availability of supplemental information and re-
opening of comment period.

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SUMMARY: On June 1, 2021, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) 
published in the Federal Register a proposal to rescind our previously 
issued clean data determination for the Yuma, Arizona ``Moderate'' 
nonattainment area for the 1987 24-hour national ambient air quality 
standard (NAAQS) for particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter 
less than or equal to a nominal 10 micrometers (PM10). We 
also proposed to find that the Arizona State Implementation Plan (SIP) 
is substantially inadequate to attain or maintain the PM10 
standard and to therefore issue a ``SIP call'' requiring Arizona to 
revise the SIP to address this inadequacy. Due to an administrative 
oversight, the contents of the rulemaking docket were not available for 
the full 30-day comment period. Therefore, the EPA is re-opening the 
comment period for the proposed rule for an additional 30 days. 
Furthermore, in response to a letter received during the initial 
comment period, we are also specifically seeking comment regarding the 
appropriate attainment date for the Yuma PM10 nonattainment 
area.

DATES: The comment period for the proposed rule published at 86 FR 
29219 on June 1, 2021, is reopened. Comments must be received on or 
before November 18, 2021.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-R09-
OAR-2021-0249 at https://www.regulations.gov. Follow the online 
instructions for submitting comments. Once submitted, comments cannot 
be edited or removed from www.regulations.gov. 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 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, please contact 
the person identified in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section. 
For the full EPA public comment policy, information about CBI or 
multimedia submissions, and general guidance on making effective 
comments, please visit https://www.epa.gov/dockets/commenting-epa-dockets. If you need assistance in a language other than English or if 
you are a person with disabilities 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: John J. Kelly, Air Planning Office 
(AIR-2), EPA Region IX, (415) 947-4151, [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Throughout this document, ``we,'' ``us,'' 
and ``our,'' refer to the EPA.
    On June 1, 2021, the EPA published in the Federal Register a 
proposal to rescind our previously issued clean data determination for 
the Yuma PM10 nonattainment area.\1\ We also proposed

[[Page 57770]]

to find that the Arizona SIP is substantially inadequate to attain or 
maintain the PM10 standard and to issue a SIP call requiring 
Arizona to revise the SIP to address this inadequacy. We proposed to 
require Arizona to submit this Moderate nonattainment plan SIP 
submission within 18 months of finalizing the SIP call and to set a new 
attainment date of no later than December 31, 2025, because the 
original maximum attainment date for this area under Clean Air Act 
(CAA) section 188(c)(1) was December 31, 1994 (approximately four years 
from the original designation).\2\ We proposed a deadline for 
reasonably available control measures to be fully implemented in the 
area by January 1, 2025, but also recommended that reasonable controls 
be fully implemented as early as January 1, 2023. Earlier 
implementation of reasonable controls would allow high-wind dust events 
during the three-year period preceding the proposed attainment date 
potentially to be considered ``natural events'' under the EPA's 
exceptional events rule.\3\
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    \1\ 86 FR 29219.
    \2\ 86 FR 29221.
    \3\ Id. at footnote 40 (citing 40 CFR 50.14(b)(5)(ii)).
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    The public comment period for the proposed rule started on June 1, 
2021, and ended on July 1, 2021. Due to an inadvertent administrative 
oversight, the EPA did not post all the documents contained in the 
docket until June 23, 2021. The EPA is re-opening the comment period 
for the proposed rule for an additional 30 days, to allow for a full 
comment period with access to the docket.
    During the comment period, the EPA received comments from seven 
commenters including the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality 
(ADEQ). In its comment letter, ADEQ noted that the EPA's authority to 
establish a new attainment date is contained in section 110(k)(5), 
which allows the EPA to adjust any dates applicable to the relevant 
requirements ``as appropriate;'' that such adjusted dates could include 
the attainment date if the original attainment date had elapsed; and 
that CAA section 188(c)(1) ``establishes two alternative attainment 
deadlines for moderate PM10 nonattainment areas: four years 
after designation for areas designated in 1990, and six years after 
designation for all other areas.'' \4\ ADEQ asserted that the CAA does 
not require the EPA to set the new maximum attainment date according to 
the shorter deadline and that ``the six-year deadline would be more 
`appropriate''' for the Yuma PM10 nonattainment area.\5\ In 
particular, ADEQ asserted that the EPA's recommended schedule for 
implementation of reasonable controls by January 1, 2023, ``which 
envisions implementation nineteen months after EPA's proposed finding 
is completely unrealistic.'' \6\
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    \4\ Letter dated June 30, 2021 from Daniel Czecholinski, Air 
Quality Division Director, ADEQ, RE: Proposed Rescission of Clean 
Data Determination and Call for Attainment Plan Revision for the 
Yuma, AZ PM10 Moderate Nonattainment Area, 2.
    \5\ Id. (quoting CAA section 110(k)(5)).
    \6\ Id. (emphasis in original).
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    In response to ADEQ's comment, we are now also seeking comment on a 
possible alternative attainment date for the Yuma PM10 
nonattainment area. As noted by ADEQ, given that the original 
attainment date of December 31, 1994, has elapsed, CAA section 
110(k)(5) provides the EPA with discretion to adjust this date ``as 
appropriate.'' \7\ We initially proposed an attainment date of December 
31, 2025, based on the fact that the Yuma area's original attainment 
date was approximately four years from its designation as a 
nonattainment area in 1990. However, as also noted by ADEQ, for other 
Moderate PM10 nonattainment areas, CAA section 188(c)(1) 
sets a maximum attainment date of the end of the sixth calendar year 
after the area's designation as nonattainment. Therefore, we are 
specifically seeking comment on whether we should set a maximum 
attainment date of December 31, 2027 (roughly six years from the 
expected SIP call effective date), rather than December 31, 2025 
(roughly four years from the expected SIP call effective date), for the 
Yuma PM10 nonattainment area, if we finalize our proposed 
finding of inadequacy and SIP call.
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    \7\ CAA section 110(k)(5) (``Any finding under this paragraph 
shall, to the extent the Administrator deems appropriate, subject 
the State to the requirements of this chapter to which the State was 
subject when it developed and submitted the plan for which such 
finding was made, except that the Administrator may adjust any dates 
applicable under such requirements as appropriate (except that the 
Administrator may not adjust any attainment date prescribed under 
part D of this subchapter, unless such date has elapsed).'').
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    We are also again soliciting public comments on all issues 
discussed in our June 1, 2021 proposal. We will accept comments from 
the public on that proposal until the date listed in the DATES section 
above. We will consider all comments received during both the initial 
comment period and this second comment period before taking final 
action.

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 52

    Environmental protection, Air pollution control, Incorporation by 
reference, Intergovernmental relations, Particulate matter, Pollution.

    Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.

    Dated: October 5, 2021.
Deborah Jordan,
Acting Regional Administrator, Region IX.
[FR Doc. 2021-22167 Filed 10-18-21; 8:45 am]
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