81 FR 53006 - Technical Correction to the National Ambient Air Quality Standards for Particulate Matter

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

Federal Register Volume 81, Issue 155 (August 11, 2016)

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is taking direct final action to make a technical correction to an equation in an appendix in the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for Particle Pollution. Equation 2 describes an intermediate step in the calculation of the design value for the annual PM<INF>2.5</INF> (particles with an aerodynamic diameter less than or equal to a nominal 2.5 micrometers) NAAQS. This action corrects a scrivener's error in one of the equations used to calculate an annual mean PM<INF>2.5</INF> concentration, to properly account for cases where a site does not have four complete quarters of data and passes one of two substitution tests. This change accurately reflects the intended calculation of the annual mean PM<INF>2.5</INF> design value and is consistent with the text elsewhere in the appendix.

[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 155 (Thursday, August 11, 2016)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 53006-53008]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2016-19034]



[[Page 53006]]

=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 50

[EPA-HQ-OAR-2016-0408; FRL-9950-48-OAR]
RIN 2060-AS89


Technical Correction to the National Ambient Air Quality 
Standards for Particulate Matter

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Direct final rule.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is taking direct 
final action to make a technical correction to an equation in an 
appendix in the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for 
Particle Pollution. Equation 2 describes an intermediate step in the 
calculation of the design value for the annual PM2.5 
(particles with an aerodynamic diameter less than or equal to a nominal 
2.5 micrometers) NAAQS. This action corrects a scrivener's error in one 
of the equations used to calculate an annual mean PM2.5 
concentration, to properly account for cases where a site does not have 
four complete quarters of data and passes one of two substitution 
tests. This change accurately reflects the intended calculation of the 
annual mean PM2.5 design value and is consistent with the 
text elsewhere in the appendix.

DATES: This rule is effective on October 11, 2016 without further 
notice, unless the EPA receives adverse comment by September 12, 2016. 
If the EPA receives adverse comment, we will publish a timely 
withdrawal in the Federal Register informing the public that the rule 
will not take effect.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-
OAR-2016-0408, to the Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the online instructions for submitting 
comments. Once submitted, comments cannot be edited or withdrawn. The 
EPA may publish any comment received to its public docket. Do not 
submit electronically any information you consider to be Confidential 
Business Information (CBI) or other information whose disclosure is 
restricted by statute. Multimedia submissions (audio, video, etc.) must 
be accompanied by a written comment. The written comment is considered 
the official comment and should include discussion of all points you 
wish to make. The EPA will generally not consider comments or comment 
contents located outside of the primary submission (e.g., on the Web, 
Cloud, or other file sharing system).
    For additional submission methods, the full EPA public comment 
policy, information about CBI or multimedia submissions, and general 
guidance on making effective comments, please visit http://www2.epa.gov/dockets/commenting-epa-dockets.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Brett Gantt, U.S. EPA, Office of 
Air Quality Planning and Standards, Air Quality Assessment Division, 
Air Quality Analysis Group (Mail Code: C304-04), Research Triangle 
Park, NC 27711; telephone number: (919) 541-5274; fax number: (919) 
541-3613; email address: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Table of Contents

I. General Information
    A. Why is the EPA using a direct final rule?
    B. Does this action apply to me?
    C. What should I consider as I prepare my comments for the EPA?
II. This Action
III. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews
    A. Executive Order 12866: Regulatory Planning and Review and 
Executive Order 13563: Improving Regulation and Regulatory Review
    B. Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA)
    C. Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA)
    D. Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA)
    E. Executive Order 13132: Federalism
    F. Executive Order 13175: Consultation and Coordination With 
Indian Tribal Governments
    G. Executive Order 13045: Protection of Children From 
Environmental Health Risks and Safety Risks
    H. Executive Order 13211: Actions Concerning Regulations That 
Significantly Affect Energy Supply, Distribution, or Use
    I. National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act
    J. Executive Order 12898: Federal Actions To Address 
Environmental Justice in Minority Populations and Low-Income 
Populations
    K. Congressional Review Act (CRA)

I. General Information

A. Why is the EPA using a direct final rule?

    The EPA is publishing this rule without a prior proposed rule 
because we view this as a non-controversial action and anticipate no 
adverse comment. This action corrects a scrivener's error in an 
intermediate equation in the calculation of the annual PM2.5 
design value to properly account for cases where a site does not have 
four complete quarters of data in a specific year and passes the 
minimum quarterly value substitution test. In the ``Proposed Rules'' 
section of today's Federal Register, we are publishing a separate 
proposed rule to correct this scrivener's error if any adverse comments 
are received on this direct final rule. We will not institute a second 
comment period on this action. Any parties interested in commenting 
must do so at this time. For further information about commenting on 
this rule, see the ADDRESSES section of this document.
    If EPA receives adverse comment, we will publish a timely 
withdrawal in the Federal Register informing the public that this 
direct final rule will not take effect. We would address all public 
comments in any subsequent final rule based on the proposed rule.

B. Does this action apply to me?

    This action applies to you if you are calculating the annual 
PM2.5 design value for a site which does not have four 
complete quarters of data for a specific year and passes the minimum 
quarterly value substitution test.

C. What should I consider as I prepare my comments for the EPA?

    (1) Submitting CBI. Do not submit this information to EPA through 
www.regulations.gov or email. Clearly mark the part or all of the 
information that you claim to be CBI. For CBI information in a disk or 
CD-ROM that you mail to the EPA, mark the outside of the disk or CD-ROM 
as CBI and then identify electronically within the disk or CD-ROM the 
specific information that is claimed as CBI. In addition to one 
complete version of the comment that includes information claimed as 
CBI, a copy of the comment that does not contain the information 
claimed as CBI must be submitted for inclusion in the public docket. 
Information so marked will not be disclosed except in accordance with 
procedures set forth in 40 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) part 2.
    (2) Tips for Preparing Your Comments. When submitting comments, 
remember to:

     Identify the rulemaking by docket number and other 
identifying information (subject heading, Federal Register date and 
page number).
     Follow directions--The agency may ask you to respond to 
specific questions or organize comments by referencing a CFR part or 
section number.
     Explain why you agree or disagree; suggest alternatives 
and substitute language for your requested changes.
     Describe any assumptions and provide any technical 
information and/or data that you used.
     If you estimate potential costs or burdens, explain how 
you arrived at your estimate in sufficient detail to allow for it to 
be reproduced.

[[Page 53007]]

     Provide specific examples to illustrate your concerns, 
and suggest alternatives.
     Explain your views as clearly as possible, avoiding the 
use of profanity or personal threats.
     Make sure to submit your comments by the comment period 
deadline identified.

II. This Action

    On December 14, 2012, the EPA revised the NAAQS for Particle 
Pollution (78 FR 3086). Appendix N to part 50 of this document 
described the data handling conventions and computations necessary for 
determining when the NAAQS for PM2.5 are met. Section 4.4 
described the annual PM2.5 design value calculations, with 
equations 1, 2, and 3 used to calculate the quarterly, annual, and 3-
year average concentrations. Equation 2 erroneously described the 
annual mean as the average of the four quarterly values despite the 
availability of substitution tests for cases when quarterly values do 
not meet the completeness requirements in section 4.1.
    Specifically, the minimum quarterly value substitution test 
described in section 4.1(c)(i) allows for a valid annual 
PM2.5 design value to be calculated when a test design 
value, having deficient quarters substituted with quarter-specific low 
values, is found to be greater than the level of the standard. If the 
minimum quarterly value substitution test is passed, the annual 
PM2.5 design value is calculated from annual means of the 
non-deficient quarterly values, which can range in number from one to 
four for a specific year.
    As currently written, equation 2 is not appropriate for use during 
a minimum quarterly value substitution test and does not accurately 
reflect the intended calculation of the annual mean PM2.5 
concentration in these cases.\1\ Therefore, this action generalizes 
equation 2 to account for cases that pass the minimum quarterly value 
substitution test, yet do not have four non-deficient quarterly values 
in each of the years in the 3-year design value period. This technical 
correction to equation 2 is currently used in the calculation of the 
PM2.5 annual design value, is consistent with the text of 
section 4.1 within appendix N to part 50, and does not affect the 
calculation of annual mean PM2.5 concentrations when four 
complete quarters of data are available.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \1\ If read literally with the scrivener's error, it would be 
erroneous to use Equation 2 to calculate the annual PM2.5 
NAAQS for any year with a deficient quarter of data because the 
equation instructs the user to sum all four quarters when at least 
one of those quarters contains missing data.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

III. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

    A. Executive Order 12866: Regulatory Planning and Review and 
Executive Order 13563: Improving Regulation and Regulatory Review
    This action is not a significant regulatory action and was, 
therefore, not submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) 
for review.

B. Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA)

    This action does not impose an information collection burden under 
the PRA. This action generalizes the calculation of the annual 
PM2.5 NAAQS design values and does not impose additional 
regulatory requirements on organizations monitoring air quality.

C. Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA)

    I certify that this action will not have a significant economic 
impact on a substantial number of small entities under the RFA. This 
action will not impose any requirements on small entities. This action 
corrects the calculation of annual mean PM2.5 concentrations 
and does not impose additional regulatory requirements on sources.

D. Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA)

    This action does not contain any unfunded mandate of $100 million 
or more as described in UMRA, 2 U.S.C. 1531-1538, and does not 
significantly or uniquely affect small governments. This action imposes 
no enforceable duty on any state, local or tribal governments, or the 
private sector.

E. Executive Order 13132: Federalism

    This action does not have federalism implications. It will not have 
substantial direct effects on the states, on the relationship between 
the national government and the states, or on the distribution of power 
and responsibilities among the various levels of government.

F. Executive Order 13175: Consultation and Coordination With Indian 
Tribal Governments

    This action does not have tribal implications, as specified in 
Executive Order 13175. This regulatory action is a technical correction 
to a previously promulgated regulatory action and does not have any 
impact on human health or the environment. Thus, Executive Order 13175 
does not apply to this action.

G. Executive Order 13045: Protection of Children From Environmental 
Health Risks and Safety Risks

    The EPA interprets Executive Order 13045 as applying only to those 
regulatory actions that concern environmental health or safety risks 
that the EPA has reason to believe may disproportionately affect 
children, per the definition of ``covered regulatory action'' in 
section 2-202 of the Executive Order. This action is not subject to 
Executive Order 13045 because it does not concern an environmental 
health risk or safety risk.

H. Executive Order 13211: Actions Concerning Regulations That 
Significantly Affect Energy Supply, Distribution, or Use

    This action is not subject to Executive Order 13211 because it is 
not a significant regulatory action under Executive Order 12866.

I. National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act

    This rulemaking does not involve technical standards.

J. Executive Order 12898: Federal Actions To Address Environmental 
Justice in Minority Populations and Low-Income Populations

    The EPA believes that this action is not subject to Executive Order 
12898 (59 FR 7629, February 16, 1994) because it does not establish an 
environmental health or safety standard. This regulatory action is a 
technical correction to a previously promulgated regulatory action and 
does not have any impact on human health or the environment.

K. Congressional Review Act

    This action is subject to the CRA, and the EPA will submit a rule 
report to each House of the Congress and to the Comptroller General of 
the United States. This action is not a ``major rule'' as defined by 5 
U.S.C. 804(2).

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 50

    Air pollution control, Carbon monoxide, Lead, Nitrogen dioxide, 
Ozone, Particulate matter, Sulfur oxides.

    Dated: August 3, 2016.
Gina McCarthy,
Administrator.

    For the reasons stated in the preamble, title 40, chapter I of the 
Code of Federal Regulations is amended as follows:

[[Page 53008]]

PART 50--NATIONAL PRIMARY AND SECONDARY AMBIENT AIR QUALITY 
STANDARDS

0
1. The authority citation for part 50 continues to read as follows:

    Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.


0
2. In appendix N to part 50, in section 4.4, Equation 2 is revised to 
read as follows:

Appendix N to Part 50--Interpretation of the National Ambient Air 
Quality Standards for PM2.5

* * * * *
    4.4 Equations for the Annual PM2.5 NAAQS
* * * * *
    (b) * * *
    [GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TR11AU16.002
    
Where:


Xy = the annual mean concentration for year y (y = 1, 2, or 3);
nQy = the number of complete quarters Q in year y; and
Xqy = the mean for quarter q of year y (result of equation 1).
* * * * *
[FR Doc. 2016-19034 Filed 8-10-16; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P