Partial Approval and Disapproval of Air Quality Implementation Plans; Arizona; Regional Haze State Implementation Plan for the Second Implementation Period and Prong 4 (Visibility) for the 2015 Ozone and 2012 Particulate Matter Standards

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY <CFR>40 CFR Part 52</CFR> <DEPDOC>[EPA-R09-OAR-2024-0005; FRL-11919-01-R9]</DEPDOC> <SUBJECT>Partial Approval and Disapproval of Air Quality Implementation Plans; Arizona; Regional Haze State Implementation Plan for the Second Implementation Period and Prong 4 (Visibility) for the 2015 Ozone and 2012 Particulate Matter Standards</SUBJECT> <HD SOURCE="HED">AGENCY:</HD> Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). <HD SOURCE="HED">ACTION:</HD> Proposed rule. <SUM> <HD SOURCE="HED">SUMMARY:</HD> The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to partially approve and partially disapprove the regional haze state implementation plan (SIP) revision submitted by Arizona on August 15, 2022 (“2022 Arizona Regional Haze Plan”), under the Clean Air Act (CAA) and the EPA's Regional Haze Rule for the program's second implementation period. Arizona's SIP submission addresses the requirement that states must periodically revise their long-term strategies for making reasonable progress towards the national goal of preventing any future, and remedying any existing, anthropogenic impairment of visibility, including regional haze, in mandatory Class I Federal areas. The SIP submission also addresses other applicable requirements for the second implementation period of the regional haze program. Within this action, the EPA is also proposing to disapprove the visibility transport prong of Arizona's infrastructure SIP submittals for the 2012 annual fine particulate matter (PM <E T="52">2.5</E> ) and 2015 ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS). The EPA is taking this action pursuant to CAA sections 110 and 169A. </SUM> <EFFDATE> <HD SOURCE="HED">DATES:</HD> Written comments must be received on or before July 1, 2024. </EFFDATE> <HD SOURCE="HED">ADDRESSES:</HD> Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-R09-OAR-2024-0005 at <E T="03">https://www.regulations.gov.</E> For comments submitted at <E T="03">Regulations.gov</E> , follow the online instructions for submitting comments. Once submitted, comments cannot be edited or removed from <E T="03">Regulations.gov</E> . 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 ( <E T="03">i.e.,</E> on the web, cloud, or other file sharing system). For additional submission methods, please contact the person identified in the <E T="02">FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT</E> section. For the full EPA public comment policy, information about CBI or multimedia submissions, and general guidance on making effective comments, please visit <E T="03">https://www.epa.gov/dockets/commenting-epa-dockets.</E> 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 <E T="02">FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT</E> section. <FURINF> <HD SOURCE="HED">FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:</HD> Khoi Nguyen, Geographic Strategies & Modeling Section (AIR-2-2), Planning & Analysis Branch, EPA Region IX, 75 Hawthorne Street, San Francisco, CA 94105, (415) 947-4120, or by email at <E T="03">nguyen.khoi@epa.gov.</E> </FURINF> <SUPLINF> <HD SOURCE="HED">SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:</HD> Throughout this document, “we,” “us,” and “our” refer to the EPA. <HD SOURCE="HD1">Table of Contents</HD> <EXTRACT> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">I. What action is the EPA proposing for regional haze?</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">II. Background and Requirements for Regional Haze Plans</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">A. Regional Haze Background</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">B. Roles of Agencies in Addressing Regional Haze</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">III. Requirements for Regional Haze Plans for the Second Implementation Period</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">A. Identification of Class I Areas</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">B. Calculations of Baseline, Current, and Natural Visibility Conditions; Progress to Date; and the Uniform Rate of Progress</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">C. Long-Term Strategy for Regional Haze</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">D. Reasonable Progress Goals</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">E. Monitoring Strategy and Other State Implementation Plan Requirements</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">F. Requirements for Periodic Reports Describing Progress Towards the Reasonable Progress Goals</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">G. Requirements for State and Federal Land Manager Coordination</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">IV. The EPA's Evaluation of Arizona's Regional Haze Submission for the Second Implementation Period</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">A. Background on Arizona's First Implementation Period SIP Submission</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">B. Overview of Arizona's Second Implementation Period SIP Submission</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">C. Identification of Class I Areas</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">D. Calculations of Baseline, Current, and Natural Visibility Conditions; Progress to Date; and the Uniform Rate of Progress</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">E. Long-Term Strategy for Regional Haze</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">1. Arizona's Long-Term Strategy in the 2022 Arizona Regional Haze Plan</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">2. The EPA's Evaluation of Arizona's Long-Term Strategy</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">F. Reasonable Progress Goals</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">G. Additional Monitoring To Assess Reasonably Attributable Visibility Impairment</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">H. Monitoring Strategy and Other Implementation Plan Requirements</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">I. Requirements for Periodic Reports Describing Progress Towards the Reasonable Progress Goals</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">J. Requirements for State and Federal Land Manager Coordination</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2"> V. Prong 4 (Visibility) of the 2012 PM <E T="52">2.5</E> NAAQS and 2015 Ozone NAAQS Infrastructure SIPs </FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">A. Infrastructure SIPs</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">B. Prong 4 Requirements</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2"> 1. 2012 PM <E T="52">2.5</E> NAAQS </FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">2. 2015 Ozone NAAQS</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">C. Arizona's Prong 4 Elements</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">D. The EPA's Evaluation of Arizona's Submittal</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">VI. Proposed Action</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">VII. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews</FP> </EXTRACT> <HD SOURCE="HD1">I. What action is the EPA proposing for regional haze? </HD> On August 15, 2022, <SU>1</SU> <FTREF/> the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) submitted the 2022 Arizona Regional Haze Plan. ADEQ supplemented its SIP revision on August 25, 2023, with nonpoint source rules (“2023 Arizona Regional Haze Rules Supplement”). <SU>2</SU> <FTREF/> ADEQ made these SIP submissions to satisfy requirements of the CAA's regional haze program pursuant to CAA sections 169A and 169B and 40 CFR 51.308. The EPA is proposing to partially approve and partially disapprove the 2022 Arizona Regional Haze Plan. For the reasons described in this document, the EPA is proposing to approve the elements of the 2022 Arizona Regional Haze Plan related to requirements contained in 40 CFR 51.308(f)(1), (f)(4)-(6), and (g)(1)-(5). The EPA is proposing to disapprove the elements of the 2022 Arizona Regional Haze Plan related to requirements contained in 40 CFR 51.308(f)(2), (f)(3), and (i)(2)-(4). We are not proposing to act on the 2023 Arizona Regional Haze Rules Supplement at this time. <FTNT> <SU>1</SU>  Letter dated August 15, 2022, from Daniel Czecholinski, Director, Arizona Department of Environmental Quality Air Quality Division, to Martha Guzman, Regional Administrator, EPA Region IX (submitted electronically August 15, 2022). On August 16, 2022, the EPA determined that the SIP submittal met the completeness criteria outlined in 40 CFR part 51, Appendix V. Letter dated August 16, 2022, from Elizabeth Adams, Director, Air and Radiation Division, EPA Region IX, to Daniel Czecholinski, Director, Arizona Department of Environmental Quality Air Quality Division. </FTNT> <FTNT> <SU>2</SU>  Letter dated August 21, 2023, from Daniel Czecholinski, Director, Arizona Department of Environmental Quality Air Quality Division, to Martha Guzman, Regional Administrator, EPA Region IX (submitted electronically August 25, 2023). </FTNT> <HD SOURCE="HD1">II. Background and Requirements for Regional Haze Plans</HD> <HD SOURCE="HD2">A. Regional Haze Background</HD> In the 1977 CAA Amendments, Congress created a program for protecting visibility in the nation's mandatory Class I Federal areas, which include certain national parks and wilderness areas. <SU>3</SU> <FTREF/> The CAA establishes as a national goal the “prevention of any future, and the remedying of any existing, impairment of visibility in mandatory class I Federal areas which impairment results from manmade air pollution.”  <SU>4</SU> <FTREF/> The CAA further directs the EPA to promulgate regulations to assure reasonable progress toward meeting this national goal. <SU>5</SU> <FTREF/> On December 2, 1980, the EPA promulgated regulations to address visibility impairment in mandatory Class I Federal areas (hereinafter referred to as “Class I areas”) that is “reasonably attributable” to a single source or small group of sources. <SU>6</SU> <FTREF/> These regulations, codified at 40 CFR 51.300 through 51.307, represented the first phase of the EPA's efforts to address visibility impairment. In 1990, Congress added section 169B to the CAA to further address visibility impairment, specifically, impairment from re ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ Preview showing 10k of 304k characters. Full document text is stored and available for version comparison. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━