Approval and Promulgation of Implementation Plans and Designation of Areas for Air Quality Planning Purposes; Wisconsin; Redesignation of the Milwaukee-Racine Area to Attainment for 1997 8-Hour Ozone Standard

EPA is approving a request from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WDNR) to redesignate the Milwaukee-Racine area to attainment for the 1997 8-hour National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS or standard). The Milwaukee-Racine area includes Milwaukee, Ozaukee, Racine, Washington, Waukesha, and Kenosha Counties. WDNR submitted this request on September 11, 2009, and supplemented the submittal on November 16, 2011. These submittals also requested the redesignation of the Sheboygan area (Sheboygan County) to attainment for the 1997 8-hour ozone NAAQS. EPA proposed to approve the redesignation of both areas on February 9, 2012, and provided a 30-day review and comment period. EPA received comments submitted on behalf of Sierra Club and Midwest Environmental Defense Center and from the Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce. EPA is not taking final action on the Sheboygan redesignation request at this time because preliminary 2012 ozone monitoring data indicate that the area has violated the 1997 standard. In addition to approving the redesignation of the Milwaukee- Racine area, EPA is taking several other related actions. EPA is approving, as a revision to the Wisconsin State Implementation Plan (SIP), the State's plan for maintaining the 1997 8-hour ozone standard through 2022 in the Milwaukee-Racine area. EPA is approving the 2005 emissions inventories for the Milwaukee-Racine and Sheboygan areas as meeting the comprehensive emissions inventory requirement of the Clean Air Act (CAA or Act). Finally, EPA finds adequate and is approving the State's 2015 and 2022 Motor Vehicle Emission Budgets (MVEBs) for the Milwaukee-Racine area.