Air Plan Approval and Attainment Date Extension; 1997 Annual Fine Particulate Matter Nonattainment Area; San Joaquin Valley, California

<RULE> ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY <CFR>40 CFR Part 52</CFR> <DEPDOC>[EPA-R09-OAR-2024-0250 and EPA-R09-OAR-2024-0301; FRL-12006-02-R9]</DEPDOC> <SUBJECT>Air Plan Approval and Attainment Date Extension; 1997 Annual Fine Particulate Matter Nonattainment Area; San Joaquin Valley, California</SUBJECT> <HD SOURCE="HED">AGENCY:</HD> Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). <HD SOURCE="HED">ACTION:</HD> Final rule. <SUM> <HD SOURCE="HED">SUMMARY:</HD> The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is finalizing approval of a state implementation plan (SIP) revision submitted by the State of California to meet Clean Air Act (CAA or “Act”) requirements for the 1997 fine particulate matter (PM <E T="52">2.5</E> ) national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS or “standards”) in the San Joaquin Valley “Serious” nonattainment area. The EPA is also finalizing a one-year extension of the applicable attainment date from December 31, 2023, to December 31, 2024, for the 1997 annual PM <E T="52">2.5</E> San Joaquin Valley, California, nonattainment area based on our evaluation of air quality monitoring data and the extension request and supporting information submitted by the State of California. </SUM> <EFFDATE> <HD SOURCE="HED">DATES:</HD> This rule is effective on December 19, 2024. </EFFDATE> <HD SOURCE="HED">ADDRESSES:</HD> The EPA has established dockets for this action under Docket ID No. EPA-R09-OAR-2024-0250 and EPA-R09-OAR-2024-0301. All documents in the dockets are listed on the <E T="03">https://www.regulations.gov</E> website. Although listed in the index, some information is not publicly available, <E T="03">e.g.,</E> Confidential Business Information (CBI) 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 through <E T="03">https://www.regulations.gov,</E> or please contact the person identified in the <E T="02">FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT</E> section for additional availability information. 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> Ashley Graham, Geographic Strategies and Modeling Section (AIR-2-2), EPA Region IX, 75 Hawthorne Street, San Francisco, CA 94105; phone: (415) 972-3877; email: <E T="03">graham.ashleyr@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. Summary of the Proposed Actions</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">II. Public Comments and EPA Responses</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">A. Comments From CCAC</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">B. Comments From Santa Rosa Rancheria Tachi Yokut Tribe</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">III. Environmental Justice Considerations</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">IV. Final Action</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">V. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews</FP> </EXTRACT> <HD SOURCE="HD1">I. Summary of the Proposed Actions</HD> On July 8, 2024, the EPA proposed two actions related to the CAA requirements for the 1997 annual PM <E T="52">2.5</E> NAAQS in the San Joaquin Valley Serious nonattainment area. In the first action, under CAA section 110(k)(3), the EPA proposed to approve through parallel processing the “Amendments to the 15 µg/m <SU>3</SU> SIP Revision and Agricultural Equipment Incentive Measure for the 1997 PM <E T="52">2.5</E> Standard” (“15 µg/m <SU>3</SU> Plan Amendments”) as a revision to the California SIP. <SU>1</SU> <FTREF/> The 15 µg/m <SU>3</SU> Plan Amendments seek to amend a SIP-approved measure, the “Accelerated Turnover of Agricultural Equipment Incentive Projects” (“Valley Incentive Measure”), to include a quantification of the emissions reductions for the year 2023 from existing agricultural equipment projects from the California Air Resources Board's (CARB's) Carl Moyer Memorial Air Quality Standards Attainment Program (“Carl Moyer”) and CARB's Funding Agricultural Replacement Measures for Emission Reductions (FARMER) program and seek EPA approval of those emission reductions for SIP credit. The 15 µg/m <SU>3</SU> Plan Amendments also seek to revise the aggregate tonnage commitment in the attainment plan for the 1997 annual PM <E T="52">2.5</E> NAAQS ( <E T="03">i.e.,</E> the “Attainment Plan Revision for the 1997 Annual PM <E T="52">2.5</E> Standard” (“15 µg/m <SU>3</SU> SIP Revision”)) by replacing it with a commitment to achieve the same reductions from the Valley Incentive Measure. As part of the EPA's proposal to approve the 15 µg/m <SU>3</SU> Plan Amendments, we proposed to approve the State's demonstration that the Valley Incentive Measure has achieved emissions reductions of 5.0 tons per day (tpd) of nitrogen oxides (NO <E T="52">X</E> ) and 0.27 tpd of direct PM <E T="52">2.5</E> in the year 2023, and proposed to credit the reductions as a substitute measure to meet the aggregate tonnage commitment in the 15 µg/m <SU>3</SU> SIP Revision. <SU>2</SU> <FTREF/> <FTNT> <SU>1</SU>  89 FR 55896 (July 8, 2024). </FTNT> <FTNT> <SU>2</SU>  Id. </FTNT> In the second action, based in part on our proposal to approve the 15 µg/m <SU>3</SU> Plan Amendments, the EPA proposed to grant California's request for a one-year extension of the applicable attainment date from December 31, 2023, to December 31, 2024, for the 1997 annual PM <E T="52">2.5</E> San Joaquin Valley, California, nonattainment area. <SU>3</SU> <FTREF/> The proposed action to extend the applicable attainment date for this nonattainment area was based on the EPA's evaluation of air quality monitoring data and extension request submitted by the State of California, and our determination that the State has satisfied the two statutory criteria for a one-year extension under CAA section 172(a)(2)(C): The State has complied with all requirements and commitments pertaining to the area in the applicable implementation plan, and in accordance with guidance published by the Administrator, no more than the minimal number of exceedances of the relevant national ambient air quality standard has occurred in the area in the year preceding the Extension Year. <FTNT> <SU>3</SU>  89 FR 55901 (July 8, 2024). </FTNT> For details regarding the EPA's reasons for proposing to approve the 15 µg/m <SU>3</SU> Plan Amendments and to grant the one-year extension, please see the July 8, 2024 proposal notices. <SU>4</SU> <FTREF/> <FTNT> <SU>4</SU>  89 FR 55896 and 89 FR 55901. </FTNT> On August 22, 2024, California submitted the final version of the 15 µg/m <SU>3</SU> Plan Amendments to the EPA as a revision to the California SIP. <SU>5</SU> <FTREF/> We have reviewed this submittal and find that it fulfills the SIP completeness criteria of 40 CFR part 51, Appendix V. The SIP submission also includes evidence that adequate public notice was given and that an opportunity for a public hearing was provided consistent with the EPA's implementing regulations in 40 CFR 51.102. Specifically, CARB provided public notice and opportunity for public comment prior to its July 25, 2024 public hearing on and adoption of the 15 µg/m <SU>3</SU> Plan Amendments. <SU>6</SU> <FTREF/> The SIP submission includes proof of publication notices for the public hearing and includes copies of the written and oral comments received during the State's public review processes and CARB's responses thereto. <SU>7</SU> <FTREF/> Therefore, we find that the 15 µg/m <SU>3</SU> Plan Amendments meet the procedural requirements for public notice and hearing in CAA sections 110(a) and 110(l) and 40 CFR 51.102. <FTNT> <SU>5</SU>  Letter dated August 22, 2024, from Steven S. Cliff, Executive Officer, CARB, to Martha Guzman, Regional Administrator, EPA Region 9, with enclosures (submitted electronically August 22, 2024 and supplement submitted electronically October 7, 2024). </FTNT> <FTNT> <SU>6</SU>  CARB, “Notice of Public Meeting to Consider the San Joaquin Valley 2024 State Implementation Plan for the 2012 12 µg/m <SU>3</SU> Annual PM <E T="52">2.5</E> Standard, to Consider Amendments to the Agricultural Equipment Incentive Measure and the 1997 15 µg/m <SU>3</SU> State Implementation Plan Revision, and to Hear an Implementation Update on the 2018 PM <E T="52">2.5</E> Plan,” dated June 14, 2024. </FTNT> <FTNT> <SU>7</SU>  J&K Court Reporting, LLC, “Meeting, State of California, Air Resources Board, Zoom Platform,” July 25, 2024 (transcript of CARB's public hearing), and CARB, “Board Meeting Comments Log and Comments posted that were presented during the Hearing” (written comments received). </FTNT> <HD SOURCE="HD1">II. Public Comments and EPA Responses</HD> The public comment period for the proposed rulemakings opened on July 8, 2024, the date of publication of both proposals in the <E T="04">Federal Register</E> , and closed on August 7, 2024. During this period, the EPA received five comment submissions in response to the proposal to approve the 15 µg/m <SU>3</SU> Plan Amendments, including two comment submissions from anonymous commenters, <SU>8</SU> <FTREF/> one comment submission from a private citizen, <SU>9</SU> <FTREF/> one comment from an environmental consultant, <SU>10</SU> <FTREF/> and one comment letter from CARB. <SU>11</SU> <FTREF/> Three of the five comment submissions generally supported our proposal to approve the 15 µg/m <SU>3</SU> Plan Amendments  <SU>12</SU> <FTREF/> and the remaining two com ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ Preview showing 10k of 56k characters. 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