Quiero saber acerca de...

67866

Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 227 / Tuesday, November 30, 2021 / Rules and Regulations
integrated assessment of an extensive body of new scientific evidence, which substantially strengthens our knowledge regarding ozone-related health and welfare effects, the results of exposure and risk analyses, the advice of the Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee and consideration of public comments.
The process for designating areas following promulgation of a new or revised NAAQS is contained in the CAA
section 107d 42 U.S.C. 7407d. After promulgation of a new or revised NAAQS, the CAA requires the EPA to determine if areas in the country meet the new standards. Accordingly, the EPA designated all areas of the country as to whether they met, or did not meet, the NAAQS in three rounds.1
Several environmental and public health advocacy groups, three local government agencies, and the state of Illinois filed a total of six petitions for review challenging the EPAs 2015
ozone NAAQS designations promulgated on April 30, 2018. The District of Columbia Circuit Court
consolidated the petitions into a single case, Clean Wisconsin v. EPA, 964 F.3d 1145 D.C. Cir. 2020. Collectively, the petitioners challenged aspects of the EPAs final designations for 17 counties associated with nine nonattainment areas. The petitioners primarily argued that the EPA improperly designated counties in whole or part as attainment that should have been designated as nonattainment because of contribution to nearby counties with violating monitors. In its response brief, the EPA
requested voluntary remand of the final designation decisions for 10 counties associated with four nonattainment areas to further review those designations.
On July 10, 2020, the District of Columbia Circuit Court granted the EPAs requests for voluntary remand and also remanded several other counties see Clean Wisconsin, 964 F.3d 1145. In total, the Court remanded back to the EPA 16 counties associated with nine nonattainment areas. The Court did not vacate the initial April 30, 2018, designations, but required the EPA to
issue revised designations as expeditiously as practicable. In response to the Court decision, the EPA
re-evaluated the existing technical record, including data and information, that was used for the initial April 2018
designations under a uniform, nationwide analytical approach, to support either revising or affirming the designations for these remanded counties. Table 1 summarizes the EPAs revised 2015 ozone NAAQS
designations for the two remanded counties that are addressed in this Federal Register document. The technical support documents TSDs that describe the re-evaluation of these counties are included in the public docket. The amended 40 CFR part 81
tables for the revised designations, which appear in the regulatory tables included at the end of this final rule, identify the revised designation for the two remanded counties and the classification for the associated nonattainment areas.

TABLE 1REMAND DESIGNATIONS FOR EL PASO COUNTY, TEXAS AND WELD COUNTY, COLORADO FOR THE 2015 OZONE
NAAQS
Nonattainment area name Mexico a
El Paso-Las Cruces, Texas-New
Denver Metro/North Front Range, Colorado

Remanded county
April 2018 designation
Remand designation
El Paso County, Texas
Weld County, Colorado

Full county attainment
Partial county nonattainment

Full county nonattainment.
Full county nonattainment.

lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with RULES1

a The EPA is expanding the initially designated Don a Ana County Sunland Park Area, New Mexico nonattainment area to include El Paso County, Texas, and for clarity is renaming the area as the El Paso-Las Cruces, Texas-New Mexico nonattainment area.

For the 14 remanded counties addressed in a previous action, as discussed further in Sections V and VI
of this document, the EPA exercised its authority to take final action under section 107d of the CAA. For the remaining two remanded counties addressed in this action El Paso County, Texas and Weld County, Colorado, a different process is required. As discussed in Section V of this document, CAA section 107d specifies that whenever the EPA
Administrator intends to make a modification to a states designation recommendation, the EPA must notify the state and provide the state with the opportunity to submit additional information to demonstrate why the EPAs intended modification is inappropriate. The EPA is required to give the notification no later than 120
days before promulgating the final designation, including any modification thereto.

After re-evaluating the El Paso County, Texas and Weld County, Colorado areas in response to the court remand, the EPA notified Texas and Colorado of the Agencys intent to make modifications to the state recommendations for those two counties and conducted the required 120-day notification process. CAA section 107d1Bii. The EPA also sent a letter to New Mexico notifying that state of the EPAs intended modification of Texass attainment recommendation that would expand the boundary of the existing Dona Ana County Sunland Park Area, NM nonattainment area to include El Paso County, TX and, thus, become a multi-state nonattainment area. The EPA also issued a notice of availability for these letters and offered a public comment period 86 FR 31460;
June 14, 2021.

1 The EPA designated areas for the 2015 ozone NAAQS in three rounds, resulting in 52
nonattainment areas. In Round 1 82 FR 54232;
November 6, 2017, the EPA designated 2,646
counties, two separate tribal areas and five
territories as attainment/unclassifiable, and one area as unclassifiable. In Round 2 83 FR 25776;
April 30, 2018, the EPA designated 51
nonattainment areas, one unclassifiable area, and all remaining areas as attainment/unclassifiable,
VerDate Sep<11>2014

15:56 Nov 29, 2021

Jkt 256001

PO 00000

Frm 00036

Fmt 4700

Sfmt 4700

III. What is ozone and how is it formed?
Ground-level ozone is a gas that is formed by the reaction of volatile organic compounds VOCs and oxides of nitrogen NOX in the atmosphere in the presence of sunlight. These precursor emissions are emitted by many types of pollution sources, including power plants and industrial emissions sources, on-road and off-road motor vehicles and engines, and smaller sources, collectively referred to as area sources. Ozone is predominately a summertime air pollutant. However, high ozone concentrations have also been observed in cold months, where a few areas in the Western United States U.S. have experienced high levels of local VOC and NOX emissions that have formed ozone when snow is on the ground and temperatures are near or below freezing. Ozone and ozone precursors can be transported to an area from sources in nearby areas or from except for the eight counties in the San Antonio, Texas area. In Round 3 83 FR 35136; July 17, 2018, the EPA designated one county in the San Antonio area as nonattainment and the other seven counties as attainment/unclassifiable.

E:FRFM30NOR1.SGM

30NOR1