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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

Environmental Protection Agency

CFR Citation: 40 CFR Part 52

EPA ID: [EPA-R09-OAR-2007-1079; FRL-8509-2]

NOTICE: RULES

ACTION: Approval and Promulgation of Air Quality Implementation Plans; Designation of Areas for Air Quality Planning Purposes:

DOCUMENT ACTION: Direct final rule.

SUBJECT CATEGORY: Approval and Promulgation of Air Quality Implementation Plans; Nevada; Washoe County 8-Hour Ozone Maintenance Plan

DATES: This rule is effective on March 18, 2008 without further notice, unless EPA receives relevant adverse comment by February 19, 2008. If EPA receives such comment, EPA will publish a timely withdrawal in the Federal Register informing the public that this rule will not take effect.

DOCUMENT SUMMARY: EPA is taking direct final action to approve a revision to the Washoe County portion of the Nevada State Implementation Plan. Submitted by the State of Nevada on May 30, 2007, this plan revision consists of a maintenance plan prepared for the purpose of providing for continued attainment of the 8hour ozone standard in Washoe County through the year 2014 and thereby satisfying the related requirements under section 110(a)(1) of the Clean Air Act and EPA's phase 1 rule implementing the 8hour ozone national ambient air quality standard. EPA is taking this action pursuant to those provisions of the Clean Air Act that obligate the Agency to take action on submittals of state implementation plans and plan revisions.

SUMMARY: Nevada; Washoe County 8-Hour Ozone Maintenance Plan,

SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION

Throughout this document, the terms ``we,'' ``us,'' and ``our'' refer to EPA. This supplementary information is organized as follows:
Table of Contents
I. Summary of Action
II. Background

A. Ozone Facts, Effects and Ambient Standard

B. General Description of Washoe County, Nevada

C. Regulatory Context

D. Ambient Ozone Conditions
III. Evaluation of State's Submittal

A. CAA Procedural Requirements

B. Evaluation of Ozone Maintenance Plan

1. Attainment Inventory

2. Maintenance Demonstration

3. Ambient Air Quality Monitoring

4. Verification of Continued Attainment

5. Contingency Plan

6. Conclusion
IV. Final Action and Request for Comment
V. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

I. Summary of Action

On May 30, 2007, the Governor's designee, the Nevada Division of Environmental Protection (NDEP), submitted the Maintenance Plan for the Washoe County 8Hour Ozone Attainment Area (April 2007) (``Washoe County Ozone Maintenance Plan'' or ``Ozone Maintenance Plan'') to EPA for approval as a revision to the Washoe County portion of the Nevada State Implementation Plan (SIP). The Washoe County Ozone Maintenance Plan was developed by the Washoe County District Health Department, Air Quality Management Division (Washoe County AQMD) and adopted by the Washoe County District Board of Health (District Board of Health) on April 26, 2007. Washoe County AQMD prepared the plan to provide for continued attainment of the 8hour ozone national ambient air quality standard (NAAQS) through 2014 and to thereby satisfy the requirements of section 110(a)(1) of the Clean Air Act (CAA or ``Act'') and EPA's phase 1 rule implementing the 8hour ozone NAAQS. The May 30, 2007 SIP revision submittal includes the maintenance plan and related technical appendices, as well as documentation of notice, public hearing, and adoption by the District Board of Health.

For the reasons set forth in this document, and pursuant to section 110(k) of the Act, we are approving the Washoe County Ozone Maintenance Plan as a revision to the Washoe County portion of the Nevada SIP. In so doing, we find that the submitted ozone
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maintenance plan meets all of the applicable requirements of CAA section 110(a)(1) and our phase 1 rule implementing the 8hour ozone NAAQS.
II. Background

A. Ozone Facts, Effects, and Ambient Standard

Ozone is a gas composed of three oxygen atoms. It is not usually emitted directly into the air, but at ground level is created by a chemical reaction between oxides of nitrogen (NOX) and volatile organic compounds (VOC) in the presence of sunlight. Ozone has the same chemical structure whether it occurs miles above the earth or at groundlevel and can be ``good'' or ``bad,'' depending on its location in the atmosphere.

In the earth's lower atmosphere, groundlevel ozone is considered ``bad.'' Motor vehicle exhaust and industrial emissions, gasoline vapors, and chemical solvents as well as natural sources emit NOX and VOC that help form ozone. Groundlevel ozone is the primary constituent of smog. Sunlight and hot weather cause ground level ozone to form in harmful concentrations in the air. As a result it is known as a summertime air pollutant. Many urban areas tend to have high levels of ``bad'' ozone, but even rural areas are also subject to increased ozone levels because wind carries ozone and pollutants that form it hundreds of miles away from their original source. ``Good'' ozone occurs naturally in the stratosphere approximately 10 to 30 miles above the earth's surface and forms a layer that protects life on earth from the sun's harmful rays.

Breathing ozone can trigger a variety of health problems including chest pain, coughing, throat irritation, and congestion. It can worsen bronchitis, emphysema, and asthma. Groundlevel ozone also can reduce lung function and inflame the linings of the lungs. Repeated exposure may permanently scar lung tissue. People with lung disease, children, older adults, and people who are active can be affected when ozone levels are unhealthy.

The CAA requires EPA to set national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS) to protect public health and public welfare. EPA has established a NAAQS for ozone at 0.08 parts per million (ppm), daily maximum 8hour average. The 8hour ozone NAAQS is met at an ambient air quality monitoring site when the threeyear average of the annual fourthhighest daily maximum 8hour average ozone concentration is less than or equal to 0.08 ppm. See 40 CFR 50.10 and appendix I. B. General Description of Washoe County, Nevada

Washoe County is located in the northwest portion of Nevada and is bounded by California, Oregon, and the counties of Humboldt, Pershing, Storey, Churchill, Lyon and Carson City. Washoe County is a long, narrow strip, between 30 and 50 miles wide, 190 miles long north and south, and encompasses a land area of 6,608 square miles.

Population density in the county is concentrated for the most part in the eight valleys adjacent to the Truckee River, in the southern onethird of the county. The principal city, Reno (the county seat), is situated in the southern part of the county and is the business and transportation center for northern and western Nevada. Washoe County has experienced rapid growth over the past several decades and has seen its population roughly double since 1980 (from approximately 190,000 in 1980 to approximately 360,000 in 2002). The Washoe County AQMD is the designated agency responsible for air quality management throughout the entire county with the exception of certain types of power plants, which are subject, under Nevada law, to the jurisdiction of NDEP. C. Regulatory Context

Under the Clean Air Act (CAA) as amended in 1970, EPA established national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS) for certain pervasive air pollutants, such as photochemical oxidant, carbon monoxide, and particulate matter. The NAAQS represent concentration levels below which public health and welfare are protected. The 1970 Act also required States to adopt and submit State Implementation Plans (SIPs) to implement, maintain, and enforce the NAAQS. The original Nevada SIP was submitted and approved by EPA in 1972. SIP revisions are required from timetotime to account for new or amended NAAQS or to meet other changed circumstances.

The CAA was significantly amended in 1977, and under the 1977 Amendments, EPA promulgated attainment status designations for all areas of the country with respect to the NAAQS. The Truckee Meadows portion of Washoe County (hydrographic area 87) was designated as a nonattainment area for the NAAQS for photochemical oxidant. See 43 FR 8962, at 9012 (March 3, 1978). The Clean Air Act provides for periodic review and revision of the NAAQS by EPA, and in 1979, EPA established a new NAAQS for ozone of 0.12 ppm, onehour average, to replace the oxidant standard of 0.08 ppm. See 44 FR 8202 (February 8, 1979). Areas designated nonattainment for oxidant were considered to be nonattainment for ozone as well, but States could request redesignation to attainment if monitoring data showed that an area met the ozone NAAQS.

To satisfy the requirements for oxidant/ozone nonattainment areas under the 1977 Amended Act, Washoe County District Board of Health adopted five stationary source rules regulating emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOC): Section 040.070 (``Storage of Petroleum Products''), section 040.075 (``Gasoline Loading into Tank Trucks and Trailers''), section 040.080 (``Gasoline Unloading from Tank Trucks and Trailers into Storage Tanks''), section 040.085 (``Organic Solvents''), and section 040.090 (Cutback Asphalt''). On July 24, 1979, the State of Nevada submitted these five rules to EPA as a revision to the Nevada SIP. EPA approved them as such on April 14, 1981 (46 FR 21758). Meanwhile, late in 1980, the State of Nevada requested that EPA redesignate Truckee Meadows as an attainment area for the thennew ozone NAAQS based on available ozone monitoring data, and in the following year, EPA approved the redesignation of Truckee Meadows from nonattainment for oxidant to attainment for the ozone NAAQS. See 46 FR 37896 (July 23, 1981).

Congress significantly amended the Clean Air Act again in 1990, and under the 1990 Act Amendments, because of an ozone episode in 1990, EPA designated all of Washoe County as a ``marginal'' ozone nonattainment area, effective January 6, 1992. See 56 FR 56694 (November 6, 1991). Under the CAA, as amended in 1990, States with marginal ozone nonattainment areas were required to submit SIP revisions providing for changes to the program for review of new major sources and major modifications (``new source review'' or NSR), base year (1990) inventories of ozone precursor emissions and periodic inventory updates, rules requiring owners of larger stationary sources to submit annual emissions statements, and rules establishing procedures for determining conformity of certain types of projects to the SIP. See CAA sections 182(a) and 176(c).

NDEP has submitted various revisions to the Washoe County portion of the Nevada SIP over the past 15 years to meet these requirements. Specifically, NDEP submitted a SIP revision related to the Washoe County NSR program on
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April 7, 1994, SIP revisions related to ozone precursor emission inventories on November 13, 1992 (year 1990 inventory), January 19, 1996 (year 1993), April 14, 1999 (year 1996), February 5, 2002 (year 1999), and February 3, 2005 (year 2002), a SIP revision related to emission statements (Washoe County District Board of Health section 030.219) on November 13, 1992, and a SIP revision related to general and transportation conformity on July 31, 1995.\1\
\1\ The submittal of the attainment inventory (year 2002) in the Washoe County Ozone Maintenance Plan supersedes all of the previouslysubmitted ozone precursor inventories with the exception of the February 3, 2005 inventory submittal, which provides technical support and documentation for all of the source categories listed in the Ozone Maintenance Plan for year 2002 with the exception of nonroad and onroad vehicles. The NSR and conformity submittals are no longer necessary for ozone purposes, but remain relevant for the purposes of the carbon monoxide and particulate matter (PM10) NAAQS in the Truckee Meadows area of Washoe County. The State may withdraw the District's emission statements rule because it is no longer an ``applicable requirement'' for the Washoe County portion of the Nevada SIP given the county's designation as ``unclassifiable/attainment'' for the 8hour ozone NAAQS and the revocation of the 1hour ozone NAAQS. See 40 CFR 51.900(f).

Improvements to the State's vehicle inspection and maintenance (I/ M) program for the Truckee Meadows planning area to meet EPA's ``basic'' I/M performance standard, though adopted to meet CAA nonattainment planning requirements for carbon monoxide rather than ozone, also provide VOC emissions reductions.\2\ NDEP submitted the upgraded I/M program on June 3, 1994 and submitted updated I/Mrelated statutes and rules on May 11, 2007. We expect to take action on the I/M submittals for Truckee Meadows in the near future in the context of taking action on NDEP's request for redesignation of Truckee Meadows to attainment for the carbon monoxide NAAQS.
\2\ ``Marginal'' ozone nonattainment areas that had, or were required to have, I/M programs in their ozone SIPs prior to the passage of the 1990 CAAA were required to maintain and upgrade their programs under CAA section 182(a). Nevada implemented an I/M program in Truckee Meadows prior to the 1990 CAAA, but the EPAapproved version of the program at that time did not include emissions testing of hydrocarbons (i.e., the corresponding cutpoints in the approved program had been deleted). As such, the pre1990 I/M program in Truckee Meadows is not considered a part of the ozone SIP for that area.

NDEP, on behalf of Washoe County, submitted a maintenance plan for the 1hour ozone NAAQS and a redesignation request to EPA on July 31, 1995. The Washoe County 1hour ozone maintenance plan and redesignation request was revised and resubmitted by NDEP on April 2, 1997 but withdrawn from further consideration at the county's request on September 12, 1997 in the wake of EPA's revision of the ozone NAAQS during the summer of 1997.

In July 1997, subsequent to a periodic review of the ozone NAAQS, EPA established a new ozone NAAQS (0.08 ppm, eighthour average) to replace the 1hour ozone standard. See 62 FR 38856 (July 18, 1997). In 1998, we found that Washoe County was attaining the 1hour ozone NAAQS based on 19941996 monitoring data and listed it as one of the areas in the country where the 1hour ozone NAAQS no longer applied. See 63 FR 31014, at 31065 (June 5, 1998). In 2000, in response to continuing litigation over the 8hour ozone NAAQS, we reinstated the 1hour ozone NAAQS in those areas in which we had found the standard to no longer apply, such as Washoe County. See 65 FR 45182, at 45244 (July 20, 2000). In that 2000 action, we also reinstated Washoe County's classification as a ``marginal'' nonattainment area for the 1hour ozone NAAQS, effective January 16, 2001, see 65 FR 45829 (July 25, 2000). In 2005, we made a second finding of attainment for Washoe County with respect to the 1hour ozone NAAQS. See 70 FR 22803 (May 3, 2005). An attainment finding is but one of the criteria necessary to qualify for redesignation to ``attainment.''

Meanwhile, in 2004, following years of delay associated with court challenges, EPA promulgated area designations for the new 8hour ozone NAAQS. See 69 FR 23858 (April 30, 2004). Washoe County was designated as an ``unclassifiable/attainment'' area, effective June 15, 2004. See 69 FR 23858 at 2391923920. In another EPA rule published on April 30, 2004 (69 FR 23951), which is referred to as the ``Phase 1 8Hour Ozone Implementation Rule'' or ``Phase 1 Rule,'' EPA revoked the onehour ozone NAAQS effective June 15, 2005 and established certain requirements to prevent backsliding in those areas that were designated as nonattainment for the 1hour ozone standard (or that were ``attainment'' but subject to a maintenance plan) at the time of designation for the 8hour ozone standard. EPA codified these requirements at 40 CFR 51.905.

Because Washoe County's designations as of June 15, 2004 (i.e., the date of designation for the 8hour NAAQS) were ``nonattainment'' for the 1hour ozone NAAQS and ``unclassifiable/attainment'' for 8hour ozone NAAQS, a maintenance plan was required for the area under CAA section 110(a)(1) and the Phase 1 Rule. See 40 CFR 51.905(a)(3). States were required to submit CAA section 110(a)(1) ozone maintenance plans by June 15, 2007. WCAQMD prepared the Maintenance Plan for the Washoe County 8Hour Ozone Attainment Area (April 2007) to meet the requirements of section 110(a)(1) and EPA's Phase 1 Rule. In today's action, we are approving the Washoe County Ozone Maintenance Plan as a revision to the Washoe County portion of the Nevada SIP.

D. Ambient Ozone Conditions

Generally, we will determine whether an area's air quality is meeting the NAAQS based upon data gathered at established state and local air monitoring stations (SLAMS) and national air monitoring sites (NAMS) and entered into the Air Quality System (AQS) database. Data entered into AQS has been determined to meet Federal monitoring requirements (see 40 CFR 50.6; 40 CFR part 50, appendix J; 40 CFR part 53; 40 CFR part 58, appendices A and B) and may be used to determine the attainment status of areas. Also, we also take into account data from other air monitoring stations, such as Special Purpose Monitors (SPMs), if the data is collected using a Federal reference method or Federal equivalent method, unless the air monitoring agency demonstrates that the data came from a particular period during which EPA requirements concerning quality assurance, methods, or siting criteria were not met in practice. See 71 FR 61236, at 61302 (October 17, 2006) and 40 CFR 58.20. All data are reviewed to determine the area's air quality status in accordance with 40 CFR part 50, appendix I.

Washoe County AQMD measures ambient ozone concentration at six monitoring sites located in southern Washoe County, including Lemmon Valley, downtown Reno, Sparks, south Reno, Toll Road (Geiger Grade), and Incline Village. All of Washoe County AQMD's ozone monitoring sites are NAMS or SLAMS except for Incline Village, which is a SPM for ozone.

The current ozone NAAQS is met at an ambient air quality monitoring site when the threeyear average of the annual fourthhighest daily maximum 8hour ozone concentration (also referred to as the ``design value'') is less than or equal to 0.08 ppm, and the standard is met within an air quality planning area when the standard is met at all of the monitoring stations. A review of the data gathered at the various ozone monitoring sites in Washoe County and entered into AQS confirms that Washoe County is in attainment of the 8hour ozone NAAQS. Since 1999, the highest design value at any of the ozone monitoring sites is 0.075 ppm, a value
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calculated for the Sparks monitor over the 20012003 period. For the purposes of comparison, due to rounding conventions, no design values less than 0.085 ppm violate the ozone NAAQS. More recently, the highest design value for both 20032005 and 20042006 periods is 0.071 ppm, the value calculated for the downtown Reno, south Reno, and Sparks monitoring sites.

III. Evaluation of State's Submittal

As noted above, EPA promulgated the 8hour ozone NAAQS in 1997 and designated and classified areas for this standard in 2004. In 2004, we also published the Phase 1 Ozone Implementation Rule. Code of Federal Regulations, title 40, part 51, Sec. 51.905(a)(3) and (4), established in that rulemaking, set forth requirements for antibacksliding purposes for areas designated unclassifiable/attainment for the 8hour standard. These provisions required States with such areas to submit 10year maintenance plans under section 110(a)(1) of the CAA if these areas were also nonattainment areas (or were attainment areas subject to a CAA section 175A maintenance plan) under the 1hour ozone standard.\3\ Such plans are to be submitted as revisions to SIPs. Washoe County AQMD prepared the Washoe County Ozone Maintenance Plan in response to these requirements.
\3\ We provided guidance to States regarding section 110(a)(1) ozone maintenance plans in a memorandum from Lydia N. Wegman, Director, Air Quality Strategies and Standards Division, EPA Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards, entitled, ``Maintenance Plan Guidance Document for Certain 8hour Ozone Areas Under Section 110(a)(1) of the Clean Air Act,'' dated May 20, 2005. For the contingency plan element of section 110(a)(1) maintenance plans, our May 20, 2005 guidance cites an EPA policy memorandum from John Calcagni, entitled, ``Procedures for Processing Requests to Redesignate Areas to Attainment,'' dated September 4, 1992. A. CAA Procedural Requirements

Under section 110 of the Act and EPA regulations (at 40 CFR part 51, subpart F), each State must provide reasonable notice and public hearing prior to adoption of SIPs and SIP revisions for subsequent submittal to EPA.

On March 23, April 5, and April 20, 2007, the District Board of Health published a notice in the Reno GazetteJournal, a newspaper of general circulation in the Reno area, of a public hearing to consider the Washoe County Ozone Maintenance Plan. A public hearing was held on April 26, 2007 at District Health Department offices in Reno. On April 26, 2007, the District Board of Health adopted the maintenance plan and forwarded the plan to NDEP. On May 30, 2007, in accordance with Nevada law, the Administrator of NDEP submitted the Ozone Maintenance Plan to EPA. NDEP's May 30, 2007 SIP submittal package includes evidence of public notice, public hearing, and District Board of Health adoption as described above. No public comments were received on the draft maintenance plan. Based on review of these materials, we find that NDEP and the District Board of Health have met the procedural requirements of CAA section 110 and 40 CFR part 51, subpart F.

B. Evaluation of Ozone Maintenance Plan

The 8hour ozone 110(a)(1) maintenance plan must provide for continued maintenance of the 8hour ozone NAAQS in the area for 10 years from the effective date of the area's designation as unclassifiable/attainment for the 8hour ozone NAAQS. At a minimum, the maintenance plan for such areas must include the five following components: Attainment inventory, maintenance demonstration, ambient air quality monitoring, verification of continued attainment, and contingency plan. As explained below, we find that the Washoe County Ozone Maintenance Plan includes all five components, that each component is acceptable, and that the overall plan provides for continued maintenance of the 8hour ozone NAAQS in Washoe County through 2014 (i.e., 10 years beyond 2004, the year of the county's designation for the 8hour ozone NAAQS).

1. Attainment Inventory

The attainment inventory should be based on actual ``typical summer day'' emissions of VOC and NOX. EPA's Phase 1 8Hour Ozone Implementation Rule provides that the 10year maintenance period begins as of the effective date of designation for the 8hour ozone standard for the area. For purposes of an attainment emissions inventory, the State may use one of any of the three years on which the 8hour attainment designation was based (i.e., 2001, 2002, and 2003). The inventory should be consistent with EPA's most recent emissions inventory methods, models, and factors and should be based on the latest planning assumptions regarding population, employment, and motor vehicle activity.

For the Washoe County Ozone Maintenance Plan, Washoe County AQMD prepared an attainment inventory of ``typical summer day'' VOC and NOX emissions for year 2002. Washoe County AQMD's attainment inventory is comprehensive and includes essentially all point, area, mobile and biogenic sources within the county. Table 1 below summarizes the plan's attainment inventory, as well as the plan's inventories for projected VOC and NOX emissions for years 2010 and 2014. Table 1.Washoe County Ozone Precursors Emission Inventory, 2002, 2010 and 2014 [Pounds per typical summer day] Emissions (lb per summer day) Source category Pollutant 2002 2010 2014

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT Eleanor Kaplan, Planning Office (AIR- 2), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region IX, 75 Hawthorne Street, San Francisco, California 941053901, telephone (415) 9474147; fax (415) 9474147; email address kaplan.eleanor@epa.gov.