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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 31 / Thursday, February 18, 2021 / Rules and Regulations
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environmental review, and EPA cannot approve until a statement and review are completed and proposed to the public at large.
Response 2
The commenter has misapprehended the purpose of West Virginias second maintenance plan for the 1997 8-hour ozone NAAQS and the criteria for EPAs approval of that plan. As stated in the NPRM, on December 10, 2019, West Virginia submitted a SIP revision for a second maintenance plan for the 1997 8hour ozone NAAQS which focuses on meeting requirements under CAA
section 175A, to which EPA has published longstanding guidance that provides the necessary criteria for an approvable maintenance plan.
The commenter states that EPA
should disapprove the LMP based on a letter submitted to Ohio EPA by the ALA. Neither the commenter nor the ALA has submitted that letter to EPA, and whether the letter is relevant to the LMP or some other Steubenville Plan that is not before EPA is unclear. To the extent that the comment in general terms asserts that the LMP should not be approved due to air quality issues in Steubenville, EPA relies on the analysis in the NPRM, and its response to Comment 1, that this LMP meets the criteria for approval as it adequately demonstrates that the area will maintain the relevant NAAQS for the duration of the plan, contains all required elements of an approvable plan, and the commenter does not offer any data to contradict the data that EPA and West Virginia relied upon, nor does the commenter explain why the data that EPA and West Virginia does not adequately demonstrate maintenance of the NAAQS. See, e.g., International Fabricare Institute v. E.P.A.9. Therefore, EPA disagrees this comment provides a basis for disapproving this LMP.
The commenter additionally states that West Virginias LMP was approved without an Environmental Effects Statement and an environmental review. EPA is unfamiliar with these terms in respect to rulemaking conducted under the Federal Administrative Procedures Act APA,10
the CAA or its implementing regulations relevant to this rulemaking. To the extent the commenter appears to be alleging a defect in West Virginias process for developing and approving this LMP West Virginia submitted to EPA evidence that the State followed all of the procedural requirements of the States laws and constitution in 9 972
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conducting and completing the adoption/issuance of the plan,11 which is in the docket for this rulemaking. 12
To the extent that the comment is directed at EPAs rulemaking on this LMP, EPA has followed all requirements of the APA, the CAA, and regulations thereunder relevant to this rulemaking.
There is no requirement under the APA, the CAA, or its implementing regulations for anything or process called an Environmental Effect statement or environmental review.
This comment therefore provides no basis for EPA to disapprove this LMP.
Comment 3
The commenter asserts that the LMP
should not be approved because of EPAs reliance on the Air Quality Modeling Technical Support Document TSD that was developed for EPAs regional transport rulemaking. The commenter contends that: 1 The TSD
shows maintenance of the area for three years and not 10 years; 2 the modeling was performed for transport purposes across state lines and not to show maintenance of the NAAQS; 3 the modeling was performed for the 2008
and 2015 ozone NAAQS and not the 1997 ozone NAAQS; 4 the TSD has been highly contested by environmental groups and that other states contend EPAs modeling as flawed; and 5 the TSD does not address a recent court decision that threw out EPAs modeling because it modeled to the wrong attainment year. . . . The commenter asserts that the four specific issues it raises with respect to the modeling means that the TSD is flawed, illegal, and is being used improperly for the wrong purpose. . . . The commenter states that EPA must retract its reliance on the modeling for the purposes of this maintenance plan and must find some other way of showing continued maintenance of the 1997 ozone NAAQS.
Response 3
EPA does not agree with the commenter that approval of West Virginias second maintenance plan is not appropriate. The commenter raises concerns about West Virginia and EPAs citation of Air Quality Modeling TSD, 11 40

CFR part 51, Appendix V, 2.1e.
Weirton WV State Submittal and Weirton, WV Completeness Letter of WVDEPs December 10, 2019 submittal. The Weirton WV
State Submittal states that the SIP revision includes documentation that proper administrative procedural requirements have been followed. In addition, the Weirton, WV Completeness Letter, certifies that EPA has determined that the submittal is administratively and technically complete and EPA will proceed to review the SIP submission.
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but the commenter ignores that EPAs primary basis for finding that West Virginia has provided for maintenance of the 1997 8-hour ozone NAAQS in the Weirton Area is the States demonstration that the criteria for a LMP has been met. See 85 FR 38820, June 29, 2020. Specifically, as stated in the NPRM, for decades EPA has interpreted the provision in CAA
section 175A that requires states to provide for maintenance of the NAAQS to be satisfied where areas demonstrate that design values are and have been stable and well below the NAAQSe.g., at 85% of the standard, or in this case at or below 0.071 parts per million ppm. EPA calls such demonstration a limited maintenance plan.
The modeling cited by the commenter was referenced in West Virginias submission and as part of EPAs proposed approval as supplementary supporting information, and we do not agree that the commenters concerns about relying on that modeling are warranted. The commenter contends that the modeling only goes out three years to 2023 and it needs to go out to 10 years, and therefore may not be relied upon. However, the Air Quality Modeling TSD was only relied upon by EPA to provide additional support to indicate that the area is expected to continue to attain the NAAQS during the relevant period. As noted previously, West Virginia primarily met the requirement to demonstrate maintenance of the NAAQS by showing that they met the criteria for an LMP, rather than by modeling or projecting emissions inventories out to a future year. We also do not agree that the State is required to demonstrate maintenance for 10 years; CAA section 175A requires the State to demonstrate maintenance through the 20th year after the area is redesignated, which in this case is 2027.
We also disagree with the commenters contention that because the Air Quality Modeling TSD was performed to analyze the transport of pollution across state lines with respect to other ozone NAAQS, it cannot be relied upon in this action. We acknowledge that the Air Quality Modeling TSD at issue was performed as part of EPAs efforts to address interstate transport pollution under CAA section 110a2DiI. However, the purpose of the Air Quality Modeling TSD is fully in keeping with the question of whether West Virginia is expected to maintain the NAAQS. The Air Quality Modeling TSD identifies which air quality monitors in the United States are projected to have problems attaining or maintaining the 2008 and
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