Air Plan Approval; Arizona; Yuma 2015 8-Hour Ozone Nonattainment Area; Redesignation Request and Maintenance Plan

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY <CFR>40 CFR Parts 52 and 81</CFR> <DEPDOC>[EPA-R09-OAR-2024-0339; FRL-12125-01-R9]</DEPDOC> <SUBJECT>Air Plan Approval; Arizona; Yuma 2015 8-Hour Ozone Nonattainment Area; Redesignation Request and Maintenance Plan</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 approve the State of Arizona's request to redesignate the Yuma nonattainment area from nonattainment to attainment for the 8-hour national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS or “standard”) for ozone promulgated in 2015 (“2015 ozone NAAQS”). The EPA is also proposing to approve the “SIP Revision: 2015 Ozone NAAQS, Yuma Redesignation Request and Maintenance Plan” (“Yuma Maintenance Plan” or “Plan”) as a revision to the State Implementation Plan (SIP) for the State of Arizona. The Yuma Maintenance Plan includes, among other elements, an emissions inventory consistent with attainment, a maintenance demonstration, contingency provisions, and a motor vehicle emissions budget for the first ten-year maintenance period. With this proposed rulemaking, the EPA is beginning the adequacy process for the 2020, 2030, and 2037 motor vehicle emissions budgets. The EPA is proposing these actions because this SIP revision meets the applicable Clean Air Act (CAA or “the Act”) requirements for maintenance plans and because the State has met the requirements under the Act for redesignation of a nonattainment area to attainment with respect to the Yuma 2015 ozone NAAQS nonattainment area (“Yuma area”). </SUM> <EFFDATE> <HD SOURCE="HED">DATES:</HD> Written comments must arrive on or before December 5, 2024. </EFFDATE> <HD SOURCE="HED">ADDRESSES:</HD> Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-R09-OAR-2024-0339 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> Andrew Ledezma, Planning and Analysis Branch (AIR-2), Air and Radiation Division, EPA Region IX, 75 Hawthorne Street, San Francisco, CA 94105, (415) 972-3985, or by email at <E T="03">Ledezma.Andrew@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. Background</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">A. The 2015 Ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standards</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">B. The Yuma Area and Regulatory Actions</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">C. CAA and Regulatory Requirements for Redesignations and Maintenance Plans</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">II. Submissions From the State of Arizona To Redesignate the Yuma Area to Attainment for the 2015 Ozone NAAQS</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">A. Summary of State Submissions</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">B. CAA Procedural Requirements for Adoption and Submission of SIP Revisions</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">III. Evaluation of Arizona's Redesignation Request for the Yuma Area</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">A. Evaluation of Whether the Yuma Area Has Attained the 2015 Ozone NAAQS</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">B. The Area Must Have a Fully Approved SIP Meeting the Requirements Applicable for the Purposes of Redesignation Under Section 110 and Part D of the CAA</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">C. The Area Must Show That the Improvement in Air Quality Is Due to Permanent and Enforceable Emissions Reductions</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">D. The Area Must Have a Fully Approved Maintenance Plan Under CAA Section 175A</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">IV. Proposed Action and Request for Public Comment</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">V. Statutory and Executive Order Review</FP> </EXTRACT> <HD SOURCE="HD1">I. Background</HD> <HD SOURCE="HD2">A. The 2015 Ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standards</HD> Ground-level ozone pollution is formed from the reaction of volatile organic compounds (VOC) and oxides of nitrogen (NO <E T="52">X</E> ) in the presence of sunlight. These two pollutants, referred to as ozone precursors, are emitted by many types of sources, including on- and nonroad motor vehicles and engines, power plants and industrial facilities, and smaller area sources such as lawn and garden equipment and paints. Scientific evidence indicates that adverse public health effects occur following exposure to ozone, particularly in children and adults with lung disease. Breathing air containing ozone can reduce lung function and inflame airways, which can increase respiratory symptoms and aggravate asthma or other lung diseases. <SU>1</SU> <FTREF/> <FTNT> <SU>1</SU>  “Fact Sheet—2008 Final Revisions to the National Ambient Air Quality Standards for Ozone,” dated March 2008. </FTNT> Under section 109 of the Act, the EPA promulgates NAAQS for pervasive air pollutants, such as ozone. The NAAQS are concentration levels the EPA has determined to be requisite to protect public health and welfare. On February 8, 1979, the EPA established primary and secondary NAAQS for ozone at 0.12 parts per million (ppm) averaged over a 1-hour period. <SU>2</SU> <FTREF/> On July 18, 1997, the EPA revised the primary and secondary standards for ozone to set the acceptable level of ozone in the ambient air at 0.080 ppm averaged over an 8-hour period (“1997 ozone NAAQS”). <SU>3</SU> <FTREF/> <FTNT> <SU>2</SU>  See 44 FR 8202 (February 8, 1979). </FTNT> <FTNT> <SU>3</SU>  See 62 FR 38856. On April 30, 2004, the EPA designated and classified areas of the country with respect to the 1997 ozone NAAQS. See 69 FR 23858. </FTNT> In 2008, the EPA lowered the 8-hour ozone NAAQS to 0.075 ppm (“2008 ozone NAAQS”) to revise the 1997 ozone NAAQS. <SU>4</SU> <FTREF/> Then, in 2015, the EPA lowered the primary and secondary 8-hour ozone NAAQS to 0.070 ppm (“2015 ozone NAAQS” or “standard”  <SU>5</SU> ). <SU>6</SU> <FTREF/> Most recently, in December 2020, the EPA finalized review of the ozone NAAQS, retaining the form and level of the standards. <SU>7</SU> <FTREF/> As a result, no new ozone area designations were triggered under the CAA, and therefore, no new nonattainment area requirements will apply. This action pertains to only the 2015 ozone NAAQS. <FTNT> <SU>4</SU>  73 FR 16436 (March 27, 2008). </FTNT> <FTNT> <SU>5</SU>  Since the primary and secondary 2015 ozone standards are the same, we hereafter refer to them herein using the singular “2015 ozone NAAQS” or “standard.” <SU>6</SU>  80 FR 65292 (October 26, 2015). </FTNT> <FTNT> <SU>7</SU>  85 FR 87256 (December 31, 2020). This proposed action relates to the requirements for the 2015 ozone NAAQS. Information regarding the December 31, 2020 retention of the prior 2015 ozone NAAQS is provided for reference only. </FTNT> <HD SOURCE="HD2">B. The Yuma Area and Regulatory Actions</HD> Following promulgation of a new or revised NAAQS, the EPA is required by the CAA to promulgate designations for areas throughout the U.S. in accordance with section 107(a)(1) of the CAA. Effective August 3, 2018, the EPA established the initial air quality designations for most areas in the United States for the 2015 ozone NAAQS. <SU>8</SU> <FTREF/> The EPA designated the Yuma area as “Marginal” nonattainment for the 2015 ozone NAAQS based on monitoring data from 2014-2016. Areas classified as Marginal must attain the NAAQS within three years of the effective date of the nonattainment designation. <SU>9</SU> <FTREF/> The Yuma area covers 52 square miles in the Sonoran Desert region of southwestern Arizona and is adjacent to California and the international border with Mexico. <SU>10</SU> <FTREF/> In response to the designation and classification of the Yuma area as a Marginal area, Arizona submitted to the EPA revisions to its nonattainment new source review (NNSR) program. The EPA approved the revisions and determined that the NNSR program meets the applicable NNSR program requirements for areas classified as Marginal nonattainment for the 2015 ozone NAAQS. <SU>11</SU> <FTREF/> Arizona also submitted a plan titled “Marginal Ozone Plan for the Yuma Nonattainment Area” and a technical supplement which address the emissions inventory requirement in CAA section 182(a)(1) and the emissions statement requirement in CAA section 182(a)(3). The EPA approved the emissions inventory for the Yuma area on April 5, 2022, <SU>12</SU> <FTREF/> and the emissions st ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ Preview showing 10k of 76k characters. Full document text is stored and available for version comparison. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━