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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 227 / Tuesday, November 30, 2021 / Rules and Regulations
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the anticipated timeline for designations and identified important factors that the EPA recommended states and tribes consider in making their recommendations and that the EPA
intended to consider in promulgating designations. These factors include air quality data, emissions and emissionsrelated data, meteorological data, geography/topography, and jurisdictional boundaries. In the Designations Guidance, the EPA asked that states and tribes submit their designation recommendations, including appropriate area boundaries, to the EPA by October 1, 2016. The EPA
had previously issued two guidance memoranda related to designating areas of Indian country that also apply for designations for the 2015 ozone NAAQS.
See December 20, 2011, memorandum from Stephen D. Page, Director, Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards, to Regional Air Directors, Regions IX, titled, Policy for Establishing Separate Air Quality Designations for Areas of Indian Country, Tribal Designations Guidance and December 20, 2011, memorandum from Stephen D. Page, Director, Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards, to Regional Air Directors, Regions IX, titled, Guidance to Regions for Working with Tribes during the National Ambient Air Quality Standards NAAQS
Designations Process. In the Designation Guidance, the EPA
indicated the Agency expected to complete the initial designations for the 2015 ozone NAAQS on a 2-year schedule, by October 1, 2017, consistent with CAA 107d1Bi.
On November 6, 2017, the EPA
designated as attainment/unclassifiable 2,646 counties,4 including tribal lands within those counties, for which the states recommended a designation of attainment or attainment/unclassifiable.
This represents approximately 85
percent of the counties in the U.S. The EPA also designated a three-county area in Washington as unclassifiable as recommended by the state. Consistent with the EPAs Tribal Designation Guidance, the EPA designated two areas of Indian country Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians and 4 Any reference to counties in this action also includes non-county administrative or statistical areas that are comparable to counties. Louisiana parishes; the organized boroughs of Alaska; the District of Columbia; and the independent cities of the states of Virginia, Maryland, Missouri, and Nevada are equivalent to counties for administrative purposes. Alaskas Unorganized Borough is divided into 10 census areas that are statistically equivalent to counties. As of 2017, there are currently 3,142 counties and countyequivalents in the United States.

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Forest County Potawatomi Community as separate attainment/unclassifiable areas.
On or about December 22, 2017, the EPA sent 120-day letters to Governors and tribal leaders notifying them of the EPAs preliminary response to their designation recommendations for all areas of the country not designated in the November 2017 action, with the exception of eight counties in the San Antonio, Texas metropolitan area. For the areas addressed in the 120-day letters, the EPA requested that states and tribes submit any additional information that they wanted the EPA to consider in making final designation decisions by February 28, 2018, including any certified 2017 air quality monitoring data.
Although not required by section 107d2B of the CAA, the EPA also provided a 30-day public comment period on the designation recommendations from states and tribes and the EPAs intended designations addressed in the 120-day letters to states and tribes. The EPA announced the public comment period in the Federal Register on January 5, 2018 83 FR 651.
On April 30, 2018, the EPA finalized designations for the areas addressed in the December 2017 120-day letter responses to states and tribes.
In response to the Clean Wisconsin court decision relating to that April 30, 2018, action, the EPA has again applied a uniform, nationwide analytical approach and interpretation of CAA
section 107d1 to these areas across the country and reviewed the state and tribal responses and public comments, as well as reviewed the court decision itself, in the Agencys decision to revise certain designations remanded by the court. Comments from the states, tribes and the public, and the EPAs updated responses to significant comments, are also available in the docket along with the individual TSDs for areas with associated remanded counties.
In the Clean Wisconsin decision, the D.C. Circuit directed the EPA to complete a process to revise, as appropriate, its April 2018 designations for the remanded counties as expeditiously as practicable. The CAA
does not require the EPA to follow a specific process when final designations are remanded to the Agency. The EPAs final action reflects a reasonable interpretation of the CAA section 107d requirements, particularly given the courts direction.
Under CAA section 107d2B, the EPA is not required to provide an Administrative Procedure Act APA
public comment period for designations actions. CAA section 107d1Bii
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lays out a particular process when the EPA disagrees with a states recommended designations. In particular, the Administrator must provide the state with 120 days to demonstrate why any proposed modifications to the states recommendation are inappropriate. The EPA notified Texas and Colorado on or about May 24, 2021, that the Agency intended to modify the states recommendations and provided intended designations revisions.
Although not required by section 107d2B of the CAA, the EPA also provided a 30-day public comment period on the designation recommendations from Texas and Colorado and the EPAs intended designations revisions addressed in the 120-day letters.
VII. What air quality data has the EPA
used to designate the remanded areas for the 2015 ozone NAAQS?
For the two remanded counties and associated nonattainment areas addressed in this action, as well the 14
remanded counties addressed in a previous action, the EPA has reevaluated the designations under a uniform, nationwide analytical approach in considering the specific facts and circumstances of the areas using data and information available at the time of the April 30, 2018, final designations action. The EPA has primarily based the revised final ozone designations in this action on air quality monitoring data from the years 2014
2016, which were the most recent data that states were required to certify at the time the EPA notified states of its intended designations and any intended modifications to their recommendations in December 2017. Under 40 CFR 58.16, states are required to report all monitored ozone air quality data and associated quality assurance data within 90 days after the end of each quarterly reporting period, and under 40 CFR
58.15a2, states are required to submit annual summary reports and a data certification letter to the EPA by May 1
for ozone air quality data collected in the previous calendar year. Thus, at the time of the 120-day letters, the most recent certification obligation was for air quality data from 2016. In the 120-day notification letters to states, the EPA
indicated that for the EPA to consider air quality data for the period 2015
2017 in the final designation decisions for any area, a state must submit certified, quality assured 20152017 air quality monitoring data for the area to the EPA by February 28, 2018. Colorado, Texas, and New Mexico did not choose to submit early certified air quality
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