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<title>Federal Register, Volume 91 Issue 123 (Monday, June 29, 2026)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 91, Number 123 (Monday, June 29, 2026)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 39019-39027]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2026-13027]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Parts 52 and 81
[EPA-R05-OAR-2025-3654; FRL-13297-02-R5]
Air Plan Approval; Ohio; Redesignation of the Cleveland, OH Area
to Attainment of the 2015 Ozone Standard
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Final rule.
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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is approving the
request from the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (Ohio EPA) to
redesignate the Cleveland, Ohio area to attainment for the 2015 ozone
National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) because the request
meets the statutory requirements for redesignation under the Clean Air
Act (CAA). Ohio EPA submitted this request on December 8, 2025. The EPA
is approving, as a revision to the Ohio State Implementation Plan
(SIP), the State's plan for maintaining the 2015 ozone NAAQS through
2038 in the Cleveland area. The EPA is also finding adequate and
approving Ohio's 2032 and 2038 volatile organic compound (VOC) and
oxides of nitrogen (NO<INF>X</INF>) motor vehicle emissions budgets
(budgets) for the Cleveland area. Additionally, the EPA is adjusting
the deadline for Ohio to submit Serious SIP revisions for the Cleveland
area. Finally, the EPA is approving the Enhanced motor vehicle
inspection and maintenance (I/M) program certification and clean fuel
vehicle program (CFVP) certification SIP revisions submitted by Ohio
EPA on December 19, 2025, and January 12, 2026, pursuant to section 110
and part D of the CAA, because they satisfy Serious SIP requirements
for the Cleveland area under the 2015 ozone NAAQS.
DATES: This final rule is effective on June 29, 2026.
ADDRESSES: The EPA has established a docket for this action under
Docket ID No. EPA-R05-OAR-2025-3654. All documents in the docket are
listed on the <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a> website. Although listed in
the index, some information is not publicly available, i.e.,
Confidential Business Information (CBI), Proprietary Business
Information (PBI), or other information whose disclosure is restricted
by statute. Certain other material, such as copyrighted material, is
not placed on the internet and will be publicly available only in hard
copy form. Publicly available docket materials are available either
through <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a> or please contact the person
identified in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section for
additional information.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Cecilia Magos, Air and Radiation
Division (AR-18J), Environmental Protection Agency, Region 5, 77 West
Jackson Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois 60604, telephone number: (312)
886-7336, email address: <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#711c10161e025f121412181d1810311401105f161e07"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="0f626e68607c216c6a6c6663666e4f6a7f6e21686079">[email protected]</span></a>.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Throughout this document whenever ``we,''
``us,'' or ``our'' is used, we mean the EPA. We use multiple acronyms
and terms in this preamble. While this list may not be exhaustive, to
ease the reading of this preamble and for reference purposes, the EPA
defines the following terms and acronyms here:
CAA Clean Air Act
CAIR Clean Air Interstate Rule
CBI Confidential Business Information
CDD Clean Data Determination
CSAPR Cross-State Air Pollution Rule
CFVP Clean Fuel Vehicle Program
EPA Environmental Protection Agency
EMP Enhanced Monitoring Plan
GHG Greenhouse Gas
I/M Inspection and Maintenance
MOVES Motor Vehicle Emission Simulator
NAAQS National Ambient Air Quality Standard
NO<INF>X</INF> Oxides of Nitrogen
NSR New Source Review
Ohio EPA Ohio Environmental Protection Agency
PBI Proprietary Business Information
ppm parts per million
PSD Prevention of Significant Deterioration
PSM Performance Standard Modeling
RACM Reasonable Available Control Measures
RACT Reasonable Available Control Technology
RFP Reasonable Further Progress
SIP State Implementation Plan
VOC Volatile Organic Compound
Organization of this document. This supplementary information
section is arranged as follows:
I. Executive Summary and Background
II. What action is the EPA taking?
III. Response to Comments
A. Serious SIP Deadline Extension
B. Planning Requirements
C. Repealed Federal Rules
D. Nonattainment New Source Review
IV. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews
I. Executive Summary and Background
The EPA is redesignating the Cleveland area to attainment of the
2015 ozone standard, in accordance with Ohio EPA's December 8, 2025,
submission. The Cleveland area includes Cuyahoga, Geauga, Lake, Lorain,
Medina, Portage, and Summit Counties. The background of this action was
discussed in detail in the EPA's proposal dated April 10, 2026 (91 FR
18355). In that proposal, we noted that, under the CAA, the EPA may
redesignate nonattainment areas to attainment if complete, quality-
assured data show that the area has attained the standard and the area
meets the other CAA redesignation requirements in section 107(d)(3)(E).
The proposed rule provides a detailed discussion of how Ohio has met
these CAA requirements
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and the EPA's rationale for approving the redesignation request.
As discussed in the proposed rule, quality-assured and certified
monitoring data for 2023-2025 show that the area has attained the 2015
ozone standard, and the EPA has determined that attainment is due to
permanent and enforceable measures. The EPA is approving, as a revision
to the Ohio SIP, the State's maintenance plan for the area. The
maintenance plan is designed to keep the Cleveland area in attainment
of the 2015 ozone NAAQS through 2038. Additionally, the EPA is finding
adequate and approving Ohio's newly adopted 2032 and 2038 motor vehicle
emissions budgets for NO<INF>X</INF> and VOC in the area that are
supported by Ohio's maintenance demonstration.
The EPA is also adjusting the deadline for Ohio to submit Serious
SIP revisions for the Cleveland area to no later than December 5, 2026.
Finally, as discussed in the proposed rule, the EPA is approving
several elements which meet section 110 and part D of the CAA and the
EPA's regulations for an area which is classified as Serious
nonattainment for the 2015 ozone NAAQS. These elements include Enhanced
I/M certification and CFVP certification SIP revisions submitted by
Ohio EPA on December 19, 2025, and supplemented on January 12, 2026. In
separate actions, the EPA is approving Ohio's VOC and NO<INF>X</INF>
reasonably available control technology (RACT) submissions as meeting
the requirements for Moderate nonattainment areas. With these approvals
of Ohio's SIP submissions, all SIP requirements applicable to
redesignation are fully approved.
After publication of the proposed redesignation rule, the EPA
finalized an additional rulemaking related to attainment of the 2015
ozone standard in the Cleveland nonattainment area. The EPA issued a
determination that the area is attaining the 2015 ozone NAAQS based on
air quality monitoring data from 2023 through 2025, i.e., a clean data
determination (CDD), on May 14, 2026 (91 FR 27211). In issuing the CDD,
the EPA took notice and comment on its concurrence with a December 8,
2025, exceptional event demonstration submitted by Ohio EPA. The
demonstration requested exclusion of wildfire event-influenced data
from the 2023-2025 design value period for the 2015 ozone NAAQS for the
Cleveland nonattainment area.
II. What action is the EPA taking?
The EPA finds that the Cleveland area is meeting the requirements
for redesignation under section 107(d)(3)(E) of the CAA. The EPA is
changing the legal designation of the Cleveland area from nonattainment
to attainment for the 2015 ozone NAAQS in accordance with Ohio EPA's
December 8, 2025, request. The EPA is approving the State's plan for
maintaining the 2015 ozone NAAQS in the Cleveland area through 2038. As
part of the maintenance plan, the EPA is finding adequate and approving
the newly established 2032 and 2038 motor vehicle emissions budgets for
the Cleveland area. The EPA is adjusting the deadline for Ohio to
submit Serious SIP revisions for the Cleveland area to no later than
December 5, 2026. Finally, pursuant to section 110 and part D of the
CAA, the EPA is approving the Enhanced I/M certification and CFVP
certification SIP revisions submitted by Ohio EPA on December 19, 2025,
and supplemented on January 12, 2026.
In accordance with 5 U.S.C. 553(d), the EPA finds there is good
cause for these actions to become effective immediately upon
publication. This is because a delayed effective date is unnecessary
due to the nature of a redesignation to attainment, which relieves the
area from certain CAA requirements that would otherwise apply to it.
The immediate effective date for this action is authorized under both 5
U.S.C. 553(d)(1), which provides that rulemaking actions may become
effective less than 30 days after publication if the rule ``grants or
recognizes an exemption or relieves a restriction,'' and section
553(d)(3), which allows an effective date less than 30 days after
publication ``as otherwise provided by the agency for good cause found
and published with the rule.'' The purpose of the 30-day waiting period
prescribed in secti
Disclosed Labs