2019-09341: National Ambient Air Quality Standards: Determinations of Attainment, Extensions of the Attainment Date, and Reclassification of Several Areas Classified as Moderate for the 2008 Ozone Standards; Supplemental Proposal; Baltimore, Maryland Area Exceptional Events

Summary

On November 14, 2018, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed several actions related to the attainment date for 11 areas classified as "Moderate" for the 2008 ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS), including proposing to determine that the Baltimore, Maryland nonattainment area (Baltimore Area) attained the standard by the July 20, 2018 attainment date. Under the statute, EPA must determine whether ozone nonattainment areas attained the NAAQS by the attainment date, and, within six months of the attainment date, publish a document in the Federal Register identifying each area that is determined as having failed to attain and identifying the reclassification. EPA is re-opening the comment period for the proposed rule published on November 14, 2018, but only with respect to EPA's proposed determination for the Baltimore Area, because EPA erroneously omitted documents related to the State of Maryland's exceptional events (EE) demonstration related to the 2016 Canadian wildfires, and in the proposal did not mention EPA's concurrence on certain Maryland EE claims that impacted the air quality data that EPA relied on in its proposed determination that the Baltimore Area attained by its 2008 Moderate Area attainment date. This supplemental proposed rule corrects this omission and provides notice of the availability of the documents supporting EPA's analysis.

The agency’s own summary, as published.

What this changes

Amends 2 parts of the Code of Federal Regulations — the standing rules this notice rewrites.

• 40 CFR 52 Approval and Promulgation of Implementation Plans
• 40 CFR 81 Designation of Areas for Air Quality Planning Purposes