View Rule

View EO 12866 Meetings Printer-Friendly Version     Download RIN Data in XML

EPA/OAR RIN: 2060-AU15 Publication ID: Fall 2018 
Title: ●Revisit Area Designation for 2010 1-Hour SO2 NAAQS in Freestone and Anderson Counties, Rusk and Panola Counties, and Titus County in Texas 
Abstract:

On December 13, 2016, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) promulgated initial air quality designations for four areas in Texas for the 2010 sulfur dioxide (SO2) primary National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS). The action was a supplement to the second of four expected sets of actions to designate areas of the U.S. for the 2010 SO2 NAAQS. In the December 13, 2016, action, three areas were designated nonattainment and one area was designated unclassifiable. The three nonattainment areas are in Freestone and Anderson Counties, Rusk and Panola Counties, and Titus County in Texas. The nonattainment designation was based on EPA's analysis of air quality modeling submitted by Vistra Energy (owner of three power plants in the nonattainment areas) and Sierra Club. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) maintains that air quality monitoring is the best way to assess air quality around these plants and did not submit a modeling analysis. TCEQ and Vistra Energy have both filed petitions for judicial review of the Round 2 designations and both have administratively petitioned EPA to change the nonattainment designations. In September 2017, EPA responded to Vistra's petition (preceded the TCEQ petition by several months) for reconsideration by indicating an intent to undertake an administrative action with notice and comment to revisit the nonattainment designations, and the 5th Circuit granted EPA's motion to place the judicial petitions in abeyance on this basis. The three areas in Texas remain nonattainment pending the outcome of EPA's intended administrative action. This action will initiate a notice and comment rulemaking to revisit the initial area designations for Freestone and Anderson Counties, Rusk and Panola Counties, and Titus County in Texas.

 
Agency: Environmental Protection Agency(EPA)  Priority: Routine and Frequent 
RIN Status: First time published in the Unified Agenda Agenda Stage of Rulemaking: Proposed Rule Stage 
Major: No  Unfunded Mandates: No 
EO 13771 Designation: Not subject to, not significant 
CFR Citation: 40 CFR 81   
Legal Authority: 42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq. Clean Air Act   
Legal Deadline:  None
Timetable:
Action Date FR Cite
NPRM  10/00/2018 
Final Rule  01/00/2019 
Regulatory Flexibility Analysis Required: No  Government Levels Affected: Federal, Local, State 
Small Entities Affected: No  Federalism: No 
Included in the Regulatory Plan: No 
RIN Data Printed in the FR: No 
Agency Contact:
Corey Mocka
Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Air and Radiation
109 T.W. Alexander Drive, Mail Code C539-01,
Research Triangle Park, NC 27709
Phone:919 541-5142
Email: mocka.corey@epa.gov

Rhea Jones
Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Air and Radiation
MD-13, 109 T.W. Alexander Drive, Mail Code C539-04,
Research Triangle Park, NC 27711
Phone:919 541-2940
Email: jones.rhea@epa.gov