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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 167 / Wednesday, September 1, 2021 / Proposed Rules
Directly-emitted PM2.5 and its precursor pollutants i.e., NOX, SO2, VOC, and ammonia are emitted throughout a nonattainment area and can be transported throughout that nonattainment area. Therefore, boundaries for nonattainment areas are drawn to encompass both areas with direct sources of the pollutant problem as well as nearby areas in the same airshed. Initial classifications apply to the entire nonattainment area, i.e., they exactly match the nonattainment area boundaries. The EPA believes this approach best ensures public health protection from the adverse effects of PM2.5 pollution. Therefore, it is generally counterproductive from an air quality and planning perspective to have a disparate classification for a land area located within the boundaries of a nonattainment area, such as the reservation areas of Indian country contained within the SJV PM2.5
nonattainment area. Violations of the 2012 PM2.5 standard, which are measured and modeled throughout the nonattainment area, as well as shared meteorological conditions, would dictate the same conclusion.
Furthermore, emission increases in portions of a PM2.5 nonattainment area that are left classified as Moderate could counteract the effects of efforts to attain the standard within the overall area because less stringent requirements would apply in those Moderate portions relative to those that would apply in the portions of the area reclassified to Serious.
Uniformity of classification throughout a nonattainment area is thus a guiding principle and premise when an area is being reclassified. In this particular case, we are proposing to determine, based on the States demonstration and current ambient air quality trends, that the entire SJV
nonattainment area, including all reservations areas of Indian country and any other area located within the SJV
where a tribe has jurisdiction, cannot practicably attain the 2012 PM2.5
standard by the applicable Moderate area attainment date of December 31, 2021.
In light of the considerations outlined above that support retention of a uniformly-classified PM2.5
nonattainment area, and our proposal to find that it is impracticable for the area to attain by the applicable attainment date, we propose to reclassify the entire SJV nonattainment area, including reservation areas of Indian country and any other area of Indian country located within it where the EPA or a tribe has demonstrated that the tribe has
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jurisdiction, as Serious nonattainment for the 2012 PM2.5 standard.
Generally, the effect of reclassification is to lower the applicable major source threshold for purposes of the NNSR program and the Title V
operating permit program from 100 tpy to 70 tpy,260 thus subjecting additional new or modified stationary sources to these requirements. Reclassification also lowers the de minimis threshold under the CAAs general conformity requirements from 100 tpy to 70 tpy.261
In this case, however, reclassification would not change the major source thresholds because, as a result of the EPAs January 2016 reclassification of the SJV as a Serious nonattainment area for the 2006 PM2.5 NAAQS, the area is already subject to the 70 tpy major source threshold for Serious PM2.5
nonattainment areas in CAA section 189b3.262 Likewise, reclassification would have no impact on the applicable general conformity de minimis thresholds, because the SJV is already subject to the 70 tpy de minimis threshold for PM2.5 and all PM2.5
precursors as a result of the EPAs previous reclassification of the area as Serious for the 2006 PM2.5 NAAQS.263
The EPA has contacted tribal officials to invite government-to-government consultation on this rulemaking effort.264 The EPA specifically solicits additional comment on this proposed rule from tribal officials. We note that although eligible tribes may seek EPA
approval of relevant tribal programs under the CAA, none of the affected tribes will be required to submit an implementation plan as a result of this reclassification.
VII. Review of Contingency Measure Element for the 2006 PM2.5 NAAQS
A. Requirements for Contingency Measures With one exception, the SIP
requirements for contingency measures that apply to areas classified as Serious for the 2006 PM2.5 NAAQS are the same as those described in section IV.H.1 of this document for areas that are classified as Moderate for the 2012
PM2.5 NAAQS and cannot practicably 260 CAA

sections 189b3 and 5012B.
CFR part 93, subpart B.
262 81 FR 2993.
263 Id. and 40 CFR 93.153b.
264 We sent letters dated March 3, 2021, to tribal officials offering government-to-government consultation. See also a summary of the EPAs outreach to tribes in the San Joaquin Valley;
memorandum dated August 3, 2021, from Rory Mays, Air Planning Office, Air and Radiation Division, EPA Region IX, to Docket No. EPAR09
OAR20210543. We did not receive any request for consultation.
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attain the NAAQS by the statutory attainment date, and thus, are not repeated here. However, in addition to the contingency measures requirements that apply to Moderate areas with adequate impracticability demonstrations, states with areas classified as Serious must identify and adopt contingency measures to address the potential for the area to fail to attain the NAAQS by the applicable attainment date.
B. Summary of States Contingency Measure Element for 2006 PM2.5
NAAQS
The EPA deferred action on the contingency measure element of the 2018 PM2.5 Plan for the 2006 PM2.5
NAAQS when we took final action on the other elements in the 2018 PM2.5
Plan for that NAAQS.265 In this section of this document, we are proposing action on the contingency measure element of the 2018 PM2.5 Plan for the 2006 PM2.5 NAAQS.
The 2018 PM2.5 Plan addresses the contingency measure requirement for the 2006 24-hour PM2.5 NAAQS by reference to the contingency measure portion of a December 2018 SIP
submission that involved enhanced enforcement of CARB regulations in the SJV, a commitment to amend the Districts residential wood burning rule i.e., District Rule 4901 to include contingent provisions, and updated emissions estimates for the year following the attainment year for use in evaluating whether the emissions reductions from the contingency measures are sufficient.266 Recently, CARB withdrew the enhanced enforcement portion of the December 2018 SIP submission as it pertained to the 2006 PM2.5 NAAQS in the SJV.267
Accordingly, we have evaluated the relevant portions of the 2018 PM2.5 Plan and District Rule 4901 specifically, section 5.7.3 of Rule 4901 for compliance with the applicable requirements for Serious areas for the 2006 PM2.5 NAAQS.
With respect to the District contingency measure, the 2018 PM2.5
Plan calls for the District to amend District Rule 4901 to include a requirement in the rule with a trigger that that would be activated should the EPA issue a final rulemaking that the SJV failed to meet a regulatory requirement necessitating 265 85

FR 44192, at 44193 July 22, 2020.
PM2.5 Plan, App. H revised February 11, 2020, H24 to H26.
267 Letter dated March 19, 2021, from Richard W.
Corey, Executive Officer, CARB, to Deborah Jordan, Acting Regional Administrator, EPA Region IX, with enclosures.
266 2018

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