83 FR 23407 - Air Plan Approvals; Tennessee: Revisions to Ambient Air Quality Standards

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

Federal Register Volume 83, Issue 98 (May 21, 2018)

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to approve a portion of a revision to the Tennessee State Implementation Plan (SIP) submitted on June 25, 2008, by the State of Tennessee, through the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC), on behalf of the Chattanooga/Hamilton County Air Pollution Control Bureau (Chattanooga/Hamilton County). The SIP submittal includes changes to Chattanooga/Hamilton County's air quality rules that, among other things, modify several ambient air standards. The portion of the SIP revision that EPA is approving is consistent with the requirements of the Clean Air Act (CAA or Act). EPA will act on the other portions of the June 25, 2008, submittal in a separate action.

[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 98 (Monday, May 21, 2018)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 23407-23408]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2018-10688]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 52

[EPA-R04-OAR-2017-0395; FRL-9978-32--Region 4]


Air Plan Approvals; Tennessee: Revisions to Ambient Air Quality 
Standards

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency.

ACTION: Proposed rule.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to 
approve a portion of a revision to the Tennessee State Implementation 
Plan (SIP) submitted on June 25, 2008, by the State of Tennessee, 
through the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation 
(TDEC), on behalf of the Chattanooga/Hamilton County Air Pollution 
Control Bureau (Chattanooga/Hamilton County). The SIP submittal 
includes changes to Chattanooga/Hamilton County's air quality rules 
that, among other things, modify several ambient air standards. The 
portion of the SIP revision that EPA is approving is consistent with 
the requirements of the Clean Air Act (CAA or Act). EPA will act on the 
other portions of the June 25, 2008, submittal in a separate action.

DATES: Written comments must be received on or before June 20, 2018.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-R04-
OAR-2017-0395 at http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the online 
instructions for submitting comments. Once submitted, comments cannot 
be edited or removed from Regulations.gov. 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. EPA will 
generally not consider comments or comment contents located outside of 
the primary submission (i.e., 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: Tiereny Bell, Air Regulatory 
Management Section, Air Planning and Implementation Branch, Air, 
Pesticides and Toxics Management Division, U.S. Environmental 
Protection Agency, Region 4, 61 Forsyth Street SW, Atlanta, Georgia 
30303-8960. Ms. Bell can be reached via telephone at (404) 562-9088 or 
via electronic mail at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

    Sections 108 and 109 of the CAA govern the establishment, review, 
and revision, as appropriate, of the National Ambient Air Quality 
Standards (NAAQS) to protect public health and welfare. The CAA 
requires periodic review of the air quality criteria--the science upon 
which the standards are based--and the standards themselves. EPA's 
regulatory provisions that govern the NAAQS are found at 40 CFR part 
50--National Primary and Secondary Ambient Air Quality Standards.
    On June 25, 2008, TDEC submitted to EPA a SIP revision to the 
Chattanooga/Hamilton County portion of the Tennessee SIP that contains 
changes to a number of Chattanooga-Hamilton County's air quality rules 
in Chapter 4 of Part II, Section 4-41. EPA is proposing to approve 
changes to the SIP through this action that deletes the current version 
and substitutes a revised version of Chapter 4 of Part II, Section 4-
41, Rule 21 of the Chattanooga City Code ``Ambient Air Quality 
Standards.'' \1\ Chattanooga-Hamilton County revised its rule to be 
consistent with changes to federal NAAQS.
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    \1\ EPA will consider the other changes included in Tennessee's 
June 25, 2008, SIP revision in a future rulemaking.
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II. Analysis of State's Submittal

    On June 25, 2008, TDEC submitted a SIP revision to EPA for review 
and approval. The revision deletes the current version and substitutes 
a revised version of Chapter 4 of Part II, Section 4-41, Rule 21 of the 
Chattanooga City Code ``Ambient Air Quality Standards.'' Chattanooga/
Hamilton County revised rule 21 to reflect all criteria pollutants; 
Carbon Monoxide (CO), Lead (Pb), Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2), 
Particulate Matter (PM10), Ozone (O3), and Sulfur 
Dioxide (SO2), relating to all the national ambient air 
quality standards (NAAQS). See 76 FR 54294 (August 31, 2011), 73 FR 
66964 (November 12, 2008), 75 FR 6474 (February 9, 2010), 61 FR 52852 
(October 8, 1996), 73 FR 16436 (March 27, 2008), 75 FR 35520 (June 22, 
2010), 38 FR 25678 (September 14, 1973). EPA is approving this revision 
to the Chattanooga/Hamilton County portion of the Tennessee SIP to 
maintain consistency with the NAAQS. The Chattanooga/Hamilton County 
rule revision became state-effective on June 11, 2008. EPA has reviewed 
these changes to the Chattanooga/Hamilton County regulations for CO, 
Pb, NO2, PM10, O3 and SO2, 
and has made the preliminary determination that these changes are 
consistent with federal regulation.\2\
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    \2\ The submittal does not address the 2008 8-hour 
O3, 2015 8-hour O3, 2010 SO2, 2010 
NO2, 2012 PM2.5 and 2008 Pb standards because 
these standards were not promulgated at the time the submission was 
provided to EPA.

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[[Page 23408]]

III. Incorporation by Reference

    In this rule, EPA is proposing to include in a final EPA rule 
regulatory text that includes incorporation by reference. In accordance 
with requirements of 1 CFR 51.5, EPA is proposing the incorporation by 
reference of Chapter 4 of Part II, Section 4-41, Rule 21 of the 
Chattanooga City Code ``Ambient Air Quality Standards.'' effective June 
11, 2008, which revised criteria pollutants. EPA has made, and will 
continue to make, these materials generally available through 
www.regulations.gov and at the EPA Region 4 Office (please contact the 
person identified in the For Further Information Contact section of 
this preamble for more information).

IV. Proposed Action

    Pursuant to section 110 of the CAA, EPA is proposing to approve the 
aforementioned changes to Tennessee's SIP for Chapter 4 of Part II, 
Section 4-41, Rule 21. EPA has evaluated the relevant portion of 
Tennessee's June 25, 2008, SIP revision and has determined that it 
meets the applicable requirements of the CAA and EPA regulations.

V. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

    Under the CAA, the Administrator is required to approve a SIP 
submission that complies with the provisions of the Act and applicable 
Federal regulations. See 42 U.S.C. 7410(k); 40 CFR 52.02(a). Thus, in 
reviewing SIP submissions, EPA's role is to approve state choices, 
provided that they meet the criteria of the CAA. This action merely 
proposes to approve state law as meeting Federal requirements and does 
not impose additional requirements beyond those imposed by state law. 
For that reason, this proposed action:
     Is not a significant regulatory action subject to review 
by the Office of Management and Budget under Executive Orders 12866 (58 
FR 51735, October 4, 1993) and 13563 (76 FR 3821, January 21, 2011);
     Is not an Executive Order 13771 (82 FR 9339, February 2, 
2017) regulatory action because SIP approvals are exempted under 
Executive Order 12866;
     Does not impose an information collection burden under the 
provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.);
     Is certified as not having a significant economic impact 
on a substantial number of small entities under the Regulatory 
Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 601 et seq.);
     Does not contain any unfunded mandate or significantly or 
uniquely affect small governments, as described in the Unfunded 
Mandates Reform Act of 1995 (Pub. L. 104-4);
     Does not have Federalism implications as specified in 
Executive Order 13132 (64 FR 43255, August 10, 1999);
     Is not an economically significant regulatory action based 
on health or safety risks subject to Executive Order 13045 (62 FR 
19885, April 23, 1997);
     Is not a significant regulatory action subject to 
Executive Order 13211 (66 FR 28355, May 22, 2001);
     Is not subject to requirements of section 12(d) of the 
National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act of 1995 (15 U.S.C. 272 
note) because application of those requirements would be inconsistent 
with the CAA; and
     Does not provide EPA with the discretionary authority to 
address, as appropriate, disproportionate human health or environmental 
effects, using practicable and legally permissible methods, under 
Executive Order 12898 (59 FR 7629, February 16, 1994).
    The SIP is not approved to apply on any Indian reservation land or 
in any other area where EPA or an Indian tribe has demonstrated that a 
tribe has jurisdiction. In those areas of Indian country, the rule does 
not have tribal implications as specified by Executive Order 13175 (65 
FR 67249, November 9, 2000), nor will it impose substantial direct 
costs on tribal governments or preempt tribal law.

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

    Dated: May 7, 2018.
Onis ``Trey'' Glenn, III,
Regional Administrator, Region 4.
[FR Doc. 2018-10688 Filed 5-18-18; 8:45 am]
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