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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 31 / Thursday, February 18, 2021 / Rules and Regulations SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Throughout this document wherever we, us, or our is used, it is intended to refer to the EPA.

I. Background Information On May 26, 2020, the EPA proposed to approve Washingtons September 30, 2019 and April 3, 2020, SIP submissions as meeting certain infrastructure requirements of the Clean Air Act CAA
for the 2010 sulfur dioxide SO2 and 2015 ozone NAAQS 85 FR 31421. The initial public comment period for this proposed action ended on June 25, 2020. Due to an administrative error, the EPA omitted the technical support document TSD relevant to the proposed action from the docket during the initial comment period, open from May 26, 2020 to June 25, 2020. The EPA
corrected the administrative error and on September 3, 2020, we provided an additional 30 days for public comment on the proposed action 85 FR 54960.
The public comment period ended on October 5, 2020. The EPA received adverse comments on the proposal.
II. Response to Comments The EPA received two adverse comments during the initial comment period related to our administrative docket error that left out the TSD
relevant to the proposed action. The EPA addressed these comments by including the TSD document in the docket and providing an additional 30day comment period. The EPA received one additional comment, unrelated to our administrative docket error, during the initial comment period. We have summarized and responded to the adverse comment below. The full text of the submitted comment may be found in the docket for this action.

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CommentAdequate Resources SummaryAn anonymous commenter stated that, in its proposed approval of CAA section 110a2E, the EPA failed to evaluate adequate funding and resources necessary to carry out the functions delegated to the state and required by the state to carry out the functions of the SIP. The commenter asserted that the EPA must audit Washingtons finances and accounting to make an affirmative determination as to whether the state has the necessary funding and resources. The anonymous commenter also stated that the EPA should affirmatively determine whether Washington actually has the necessary personnel to carry out and operate programs required under the SIP in light of recent COVID19 concerns.

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ResponseCAA section 110a2Ei requires each state to provide necessary assurances that the state will have adequate personnel, funding, and authority under state law necessary to carry out the SIP during the five years following the SIP
submission.1 CAA section 110 does not mandate a specific methodology for the EPA to evaluate the adequacy of resources to implement the SIP. See 76
FR 42549 July 19, 2011, at 42554. The EPA disagrees with the commenters assertion that an audit of the states finances and accounting practices is required in order to satisfy the requirements of 110a2Ei. The EPAs role in evaluating a SIP
submission is to assure that the air agencys SIP contains the necessary structural requirements in order to meet the requirements of a new or revised NAAQS. The EPAs role in approving an infrastructure SIP submission is to determine whether the submission addresses the necessary requirements of the Act, not to evaluate the way in which a SIP is being implemented. See Montana Envtl. Info. Ctr. v. Thomas, 902 F.3d 971, 978 9th Cir. 2018.
In our proposed action, we identified Revised Code of Washington RCW
70.94 2 as providing the Washington Department of Ecology Ecology Director authority to hire personnel to carry out duties of the department, in coordination with local clean air agencies and the Energy Facilities Site Evaluation Council funded and authorized separately under RCW
80.50. According to the Washington Department of Ecology Budget and Program Overview 20192021, Ecology has an operating budget of $43.7 million to perform its air program functions $10.1 million from federal funds, with the remainder from state funds and other permit and fee programs.
Specifically, Washington receives CAA
sections 103 and 105 grant funds from the EPA and provides state matching funds necessary to carry out SIP
requirements. As part of our September 3, 2020 reopening of the public comment period, we supplemented the docket with the general CAA section 105 program grant supporting materials for informational purposes, including 1 EPA guidance identifies a five-year period following the SIP submission as the relevant timeframe for this evaluation. See Stephen D. Page, Director, Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards. Guidance on Infrastructure State Implementation Plan SIP Elements under Clean Air Act Section 110a1 and 110a2.
Memorandum to EPA Air Division Directors, Regions 1 through 10, September 13, 2013, at page 40 2013 guidance.
2 Recently re-codified to RCW 70A.15, with no substantive changes to the statute.

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our most recent review of performance metrics under the grant at the time.3 The EPA expects that the COVID19
pandemic may have impacts on state revenues and could theoretically impact a states ability to adequately implement its SIP. However, the impacts of the pandemic on Washingtons personnel and resources available to satisfy the requirements of CAA section 110a2E in the future is speculative at best. Based on assurances in the states submission and the analysis conducted as part of the EPAs grant programs, we have a reasonable basis to conclude that Washington has satisfied the requirements of section 110a2E.
The EPA finds that Washington has provided the necessary assurances of adequate sources of personnel, funding, and authority under state law to implement its SIP for purposes of the 2010 SO2 and 2015 ozone NAAQS, consistent with the EPAs 2013
guidance. Therefore, it is appropriate to finalize the proposed finding that Washingtons SIP satisfies the requirements of CAA section 110a2E.
III. Final Action The EPA is approving Washingtons September 30, 2019 and April 3, 2020, infrastructure SIP submissions as meeting specific infrastructure requirements of the CAA. We find that the Washington SIP meets the following CAA section 110a2 infrastructure elements for the 2010 SO2 and 2015
ozone NAAQS: A, B, C except for those provisions covered by the PSD
FIP, DiII except for those provisions covered by the PSD and regional haze FIPs, Dii except for those provisions covered by the PSD
FIP, E, F, G, H, J except for those provisions covered by the PSD
FIP, K, L, and M.
IV. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews Under the CAA, the Administrator is required to approve a SIP submission that complies with the provisions of the CAA and applicable Federal regulations.
42 U.S.C. 7410k; 40 CFR 52.02a.
Thus, in reviewing SIP submissions, the EPAs role is to approve state choices, provided that they meet the criteria of the CAA. Accordingly, this proposed action merely approves state law as meeting Federal requirements and does not impose additional requirements beyond those imposed by state law. For that reason, this proposed action:
3 The EPA subsequently updated our review of performance metrics under the CAA section 105
grant program for Federal Fiscal Year 2020, which is included in the docket for this action.

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