Quiero saber acerca de...

lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with PROPOSALS1

Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 112 / Monday, June 14, 2021 / Proposed Rules every area of the country apart from those remanded to the Agency relied on the existing record. As the D.C. Circuit stated in previous cases reviewing EPAs designations decisions, inconsistency is the hallmark of arbitrary agency action. 1 Relying on the data available to the Agency at the time of the April 2018 designations action would prevent inconsistent treatment between the remanded counties and every other area of the country. In addition, this action proposes to expand the boundaries of existing nonattainment areas but does not create any new nonattainment areas.
Understanding that it is important to treat areas across the country consistently, it is that much more important that EPA treat different portions of the same nonattainment area consistently. For example, in this action the EPA is proposing to expand the boundary of the Denver Metro/North Front Range, Colorado nonattainment area to include the entirety of Weld County, rather than excluding the northern portion of the county. It would be illogical in this type of situation for the Agency to use one set of data e.g., 20142016 design values for the previously-designated portion of the nonattainment area, which includes seven full and two partial counties, and a different set e.g., 20172019 or 2018
2020 design values for the new portion of Weld County.
The D.C. Circuits direction to act as expeditiously as practicable also weighs in favor of using the existing record. Gathering and analyzing new data would necessarily have taken much longer, especially because a large portion of the data the EPA generally relies upon in its designations decisionmaking process is obtained outside the Agency, including from states.
Treating different portions of the same nonattainment area consistently also applies to the attainment date for the Denver Metro/North Front Range, Colorado and El Paso-Las Cruces nonattainment areas.
The EPA invites public input on our responses to states regarding these areas during the 30-day comment period provided in this notification. To receive full consideration, input from the public must be submitted to the docket by July 14, 2021. This notification and opportunity for public comment does not affect any rights or obligations of any state, or tribe, or of the EPA, which might otherwise exist pursuant to the CAA section 107d.
1 Catawba County v. EPA, 571 F.3d 20, 51 D.C.
Cir. 2009; see also Mississippi Commn v. EPA, 790
F.3d 138, 160 D.C. Cir. 2015.

VerDate Sep<11>2014

16:49 Jun 11, 2021

Jkt 253001

Please refer to the FOR FURTHER
INFORMATION CONTACT section in this document for specific instructions on submitting comments and locating relevant public documents.
In establishing nonattainment area boundaries for a particular area, CAA
section 107d1A requires the EPA to include within the boundaries both the area that does not meet the standard and any nearby area contributing to ambient air quality in the area that does not meet the NAAQS. We are particularly interested in receiving comments using data in the existing record that support a position that a specific geographic area should not be categorized as full county nonattainment. The EPA encourages commenters to support their feedback using relevant information addressing the CAA section 107d1A criteria.
Describe any assumptions and provide any technical information and/
or data that you used.
Provide specific examples to illustrate your concerns, and suggest alternatives.
Explain your views as clearly as possible.
Provide your input by the comment period deadline identified.
The EPA intends to make final designation determinations for the counties addressed by these responses as expeditiously as practicable, but no earlier than 120 days from the date the EPA notified the states of the Agencys intended designations. This would complete the designation process for the 2015 Ozone NAAQS.
B. What should I consider as I prepare my comments for the EPA?
1. Submitting CBI. Do not submit CBI
information to the EPA through https
www.regulations.gov or email. Clearly mark the part or all of the information that you claim to be CBI. For CBI in a disk or CD ROM that you mail to the EPA, mark the outside of the disk or CD
ROM as CBI and then identify electronically within the disk or CD
ROM the specific information that is claimed as CBI. In addition to one complete version of the comment that includes information claimed as CBI, a copy of the comment that does not contain the information claimed as CBI
must be submitted for inclusion in the public docket. Information so marked will not be disclosed except in accordance with procedures set forth in 40 Code of Federal Regulations CFR
part 2. Send or deliver information identified as CBI only to the following address: Tiffany Purifoy, OAQPS CBI
Officer, U.S. EPA, Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards, Mail Code C40402, Research Triangle Park, NC

PO 00000

Frm 00013

Fmt 4702

Sfmt 4702

31463

27711, telephone 919 5410878, email at purifoy.tiffany@epa.gov, Attention Docket ID No. EPAHQOAR2017
0548. There will be a delay in confirming receipt of CBI packages, because the EPARTP office is closed to reduce the risk of transmitting COVID
19. Due to the office closure, EPA is also requesting that parties notify the OAQPS Document Control Officer via telephone, 919 5410878, or email at purifoy.tiffany@epa.gov when mailing information identified as CBI.
2. Tips for Preparing Your Comments.
When submitting comments, remember to:
Identify the rulemaking by docket number and other identifying information subject heading, Federal Register date and page number.
Follow directions.
Explain why you agree or disagree;
suggest alternatives and substitute language for your requested changes.
C. Where can I find additional information for this rulemaking?
The EPA has also established a website for this rulemaking at https
www.epa.gov/ozone-designations. The website includes the state, territorial and tribal recommendations, the EPAs intended area designations, information supporting the EPAs preliminary designation decisions, the EPAs designation guidance for the 2015
Ozone NAAQS, as well as the rulemaking actions and other related information that the public may find useful.
D. Clean Air Act Section 307b Section 307b1 of the CAA governs judicial review of final actions by the EPA. This section provides, in part, that petitions for review must be filed in the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit: i When the Agency action consists of nationally applicable regulations promulgated, or final action taken, by the Administrator, or ii when such action is locally or regionally applicable, if such action is based on a determination of nationwide scope or effect and if in taking such action the Administrator finds and publishes that such action is based on such a determination. For locally or regionally applicable final actions, the CAA
reserves to EPA complete discretion whether to invoke the exception in ii.
If finalized, the action designating the two areas discussed in this notification for the 2015 ozone NAAQS would be nationally applicable within the meaning of CAA section 307b1. If EPA takes final action designating these two areas, in the alternative, the Administrator intends to exercise the
E:FRFM14JNP1.SGM

14JNP1