U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards

Mr. Robert Lingard

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards

109 T. W. Alexander Drive

Mail Code C539-01

Research Triangle Park, NC 27709

Subject: Comments on EPA’s Proposed Rule for Implementation of the 2015 National Ambient Air Quality Standards for Ozone: Nonattainment Area Classifications and State Implementation Plan Requirements (81 Federal Register 81276, Docket Number EPA-HQ-OAR-2016-0202)

The Capital Area Council of Governments (CAPCOG) Central Texas Clean Air Coalition (CAC) and Alamo Area Council of Governments (AACOG) Air Improvement Resources (AIR) Executive Committee appreciate the opportunity to comment on the EPA’s proposal to implement the 2015 Ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS). We host the two largest cities in the country that are not “nonattainment” or “maintenance” areas for any NAAQS, and have successfully implemented innovative voluntary air pollution control efforts in the past to address the 1997 and 2008 Ozone NAAQS. Based on these experiences, we believe that we have unique perspectives on this topic.

The San Antonio area has preliminary 2014-2016 ozone design value of 73 parts per billion (ppb). While our regions retain hope that EPA might exercise its discretion under the Clean Air Act to use the “unclassifiable” designation rather than the “nonattainment” designation for areas with ozone design values at or below 75 ppb or defer designations for such areas by a year, we recognize that there remains a high probability that at least parts of our regions may be designated nonattainment for the 2015 Ozone NAAQS in October 2017the near future.

With San Antonio potentially the largest of the new nonattainment areas for the 2015 Ozone NAAQS, we encourage EPA to focus on finding ways within the Clean Air Act to avoid causing undue burdens on any newly designated nonattainment areas. We support implementation approaches that achieve clean air as expeditiously and efficiently as practicable, while fully accounting for ways in which implementing the 2015 Ozone NAAQS the same way as it has implemented prior standards may not be appropriate for new nonattainment areas. Unfortunately, we believe that EPA’s proposal does not achieve these goals.

We believe that EPA should not assume that the approach it used for implementing the 2008 Ozone NAAQS is appropriate for implementing the 2015 Ozone NAAQS, particularly for new nonattainment areas, . and that EPA should instead pursue the best implementation policy possible within the limits of the law. We believe that EPA has significantly more legal latitude under the Clean Air Act to pursue better approaches to implementing the 2015 Ozone NAAQS than what it has proposed, and should not be dissuaded from considering such approaches simply because it might prompt litigation. We believe that any approach EPA proposes is likely to face litigation, and therefore, it would be better if a wider range of options were considered for this rulemaking.

CAPCOG’s and AACOG’s Air Committees recommend several key items that we hope EPA will consider in moving forward on this rulemaking. The main points we wish to make are the following:

1.  If EPA does proceed with implementing the 2015 Ozone NAAQS under Subpart 2 for all nonattainment areas, we recommend that it consider finding ways to offer some regulatory flexibility on requirements for VOC reductions in areas that are NOX-limited and avoid inadvertently penalizing areas that have taken voluntary action to reduce emissions ahead of a nonattainment designation.

2.  We recommend that EPA retain the 2008 Ozone NAAQS for existing nonattainment areas until those areas are redesignated to ‘attainment’ for that NAAQS. This is preferable to revoking the 2008 Ozone NAAQS one year after initial area designations for the 2015 Ozone NAAQS for such areas in order to avoid further postponing the implementation of emission controls in those areas and the corresponding reduction in ambient ozone concentrations in downwind areas.

3.  We recommend that EPA consider alternative classification approaches or implementation plan requirements that would help avoid postponing emissions reductions in nonattainment areas.

4.  We recommend that EPA consider re-proposing this rulemaking with an option for implementing the 2015 Ozone NAAQS under Title I, Part D, Subpart 1 of the Clean Air Act (CAA) for areas with 8-hour ozone design values of 0.090 parts per million or less, rather than exclusively under Subpart 2 as proposed.

5.  If EPA does proceed with implementing the 2015 Ozone NAAQS under Subpart 2 for all nonattainment areas, we recommend that it consider finding ways to offer some regulatory flexibility on requirements for VOC reductions in areas that are NOX-limited.

6.  We recommend that EPA retain the 2008 Ozone NAAQS for existing nonattainment areas until those areas are redesignated to ‘attainment’ for that NAAQS (option 2) rather than revoking the 2008 Ozone NAAQS one year after initial area designations for the 2015 Ozone NAAQS for such areas (option 1) in order to avoid further postponing the implementation of emission controls in those areas and the corresponding reduction in ambient ozone concentrations in downwind areas.

1. We recommend that EPA consider alternative classification approaches or implementation plan requirements that would help avoid postponing emissions reductions in nonattainment areas.

8.  We support EPA’s addressing 179B petitions on a case-by-case basis and support allowing this provision to be made available to any area that can demonstrate attainment of the NAAQS “but for emissions emanating from outside of the United States,” regardless of whether the boundary of the nonattainment area directly adjoins an international border.

9.  We support the EPA’s addressing 179B petitions on a case-by-case basis and do not support restricting this option to nonattainment areas that adjoin international borders.

1. We recommend that EPA finalize this rulemaking on a timetable the ensures clarity regarding the ozone seasons that will be used as the basis for determining if an area has attained the 2015 Ozone NAAQS by its attainment date and avoid any potential for further litigation/confusion on this topic (i.e., 2017-2019 or 2018-2020 for a “Marginal” area). recommend that EPA be specific regarding the ozone seasons it intends to use as the basis for determining if an area has attained the 2015 Ozone NAAQS by its attainment date and avoid any potential for further litigation/confusion on this topic (i.e., 2017-2019 or 2018-2020 for a “Marginal” area).

We believe that EPA has the opportunity to significantly improve the air quality and economic outcomes of this rulemaking for areas at risk of becoming newly designated nonattainment areas. We also believe that EPA can improve this rulemaking in ways that would also benefit any “near-nonattainment areas” downwind of areas that will be designated nonattainment. We encourage EPA staff to contact us to find mutually agreeable solutions to some of the unique circumstances that we face on this issue.

San Antonio Councilman Ron Nirenberg Travis County Judge Sarah Eckhardt
Chair, AACOG AIR Executive Committee Chair, CAPCOG Clean Air Coalition