[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 51 (Wednesday, March 18, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 11580-11581]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-5843]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[EPA-HQ-OAR-2007-0492; FRL-8779-1]
Review of the National Ambient Air Quality Standards for
Particulate Matter
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice of planning documents for public review and comment.
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SUMMARY: On or about February 27, 2009, the Office of Air Quality
Planning and Standards (OAQPS) of EPA is making available for public
review and comment two planning documents titled: Particulate Matter
National Ambient Air Quality Standards: Scope and Methods Plan for
Health Risk and Exposure Assessment; and Particulate Matter National
Ambient Air Quality Standards: Scope and Methods Plan for Urban
Visibility Impact Assessment. These documents describe EPA's planned
approach for developing quantitative analyses as part of the review of
the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for particulate
matter (PM). EPA is releasing these planning documents to seek
consultation with the Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee (CASAC)
and to solicit public comments.
DATES: Comments should be submitted on or before May 18, 2009.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-
OAR-2007-0492, by one of the following methods:
http://www.regulations.gov: Follow the on-line
instructions for submitting comments.
E-mail: [email protected].
Fax: 202-566-9744.
Mail: EPA-HQ-OAR-2007-0492, Environmental Protection
Agency, Mail code 6102T, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC
20460. Please include a total of two copies.
Hand Delivery: Environmental Protection Agency, EPA West,
Room 3334, 1301 Constitution Ave., NW., Washington, DC. Such deliveries
are only accepted during the Docket's normal hours of operation, and
special arrangements should be made for deliveries of boxed
information.
Instructions: Direct your comments to Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-
2007-0492. The EPA's policy is that all comments received will be
included in the public docket without change and may be made available
online at http://www.regulations.gov, including any personal
information provided, unless the comment includes information claimed
to be Confidential Business Information (CBI) or other information
whose disclosure is restricted by statute. Do not submit information
that you consider to be CBI or otherwise protected through http://www.regulations.gov (or e-mail). The http://www.regulations.gov Web
site is an ``anonymous access'' system, which means EPA will not know
your identity or contact information unless you provide it in the body
of your comment. If you send an e-mail comment directly to EPA without
going through http://www.regulations.gov, your e-mail address will be
automatically captured and included as part of the comment that is
placed in the public docket and made available on the Internet. If you
submit an electronic comment, EPA recommends that you include your name
and other contact information in the body of your comment and with any
disk or CD-ROM you submit. If EPA cannot read your comment due to
technical difficulties and cannot contact you for clarification, EPA
may not be able to consider your comment. Electronic files should avoid
the use of special characters, any form of encryption, and be free of
any defects or viruses. For additional information about EPA's public
docket, visit the EPA Docket Center homepage at http://www.epa.gov/epahome/dockets.htm.
Docket: All documents in the docket are listed in the http://www.regulations.gov index. Although listed in the index, some
information is not publicly available, e.g., CBI or other information
whose disclosure is restricted by statute. Certain other materials,
such as copyrighted material, will be publicly available only in hard
copy. Publicly available docket materials are available either
electronically in http://www.regulations.gov or in hard copy at the Air
and Radiation Docket and Information Center, EPA/DC, EPA West, Room
3334, 1301 Constitution Ave., NW., Washington, DC. The Public Reading
Room is open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday,
excluding legal holidays. The telephone number for the Public Reading
Room is (202) 566-1744, and the telephone number for the Air and
Radiation Docket and Information Center is (202) 566-1742.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Any questions concerning EPA's
Particulate Matter National Ambient Air Quality Standard: Scope and
Methods Plan for Health Risk and Exposure Assessment should be directed
to Ms. Beth Hassett-Sipple at [email protected] or telephone
919-541-4605. Any questions concerning Particulate Matter National
Ambient Air Quality Standards: Scope and Methods Plan for Urban
Visibility Impact Assessment should be directed to Ms. Vicki Sandiford
at [email protected] or telephone 919-541-2629.
General Information
A. What Should I Consider as I Prepare My Comments for EPA?
1. Submitting CBI. Do not submit this information to EPA through
http://www.regulations.gov or e-mail. Clearly mark the part or all of
the information that you claim to be CBI. For CBI information in a disk
or CD-ROM that you mail to EPA, mark the outside of the disk or CD-ROM
as CBI and then identify electronically within the disk or CD-ROM, the
specific information that is claimed as CBI. In addition to one
complete version of the comment that includes information claimed as
CBI, a copy of the comment that does not contain the information
claimed as CBI must be submitted for inclusion in the public docket.
Information so marked will not be disclosed except in accordance with
procedures set forth in 40 CFR part 2.
2. Tips for Preparing Your Comments. When submitting comments,
remember to:
[[Page 11581]]
Identify the rulemaking by docket number and other
identifying information (subject heading, Federal Register date and
page number).
Follow directions--The Agency may ask you to respond to
specific questions or organize comments by referencing a Code of
Federal Regulations (CFR) part or section number.
Explain why you agree or disagree; suggest alternatives
and substitute language for your requested changes.
Describe any assumptions and provide any technical
information and/or data that you used.
If you estimate potential costs or burdens, explain how
you arrived at your estimate in sufficient detail to allow for it to be
reproduced.
Provide specific examples to illustrate your concerns, and
suggest alternatives.
Explain your views as clearly as possible, avoiding the
use of profanity or personal threats.
Make sure to submit your comments by the comment period
deadline identified.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under section 108(a) of the Clean Air Act
(CAA), the Administrator identifies and lists certain pollutants which
``cause or contribute to air pollution which may reasonably be
anticipated to endanger public health or welfare.'' The EPA then issues
air quality criteria for listed pollutants, which are commonly referred
to as ``criteria pollutants.'' The air quality criteria are to
``accurately reflect the latest scientific knowledge useful in
indicating the kind and extent of all identifiable effects on public
health or welfare which may be expected form the presence of [a]
pollutant in the ambient air, in varying quantities.'' Under section
109 of the CAA, EPA establishes NAAQS for each listed pollutant, with
the NAAQS based on the air quality criteria. Section 109(d) of the CAA
requires periodic review and, if appropriate, revision of existing air
quality criteria. The revised air quality criteria reflect advances in
scientific knowledge on the effects of the pollutant on public health
or welfare. The EPA is also required to periodically review and revise
the NAAQS, if appropriate, based on the revised criteria.
Air quality criteria have been established for particulate matter
(PM) and NAAQS have been established for PM2.5 and PM10, to provide
protection for fine and coarse particles, respectively. Presently, EPA
is reviewing the air quality criteria and NAAQS for PM. The EPA's
overall plan and schedule for this review is presented in the
Integrated Review Plan for the National Ambient Air Quality Standards
for Particulate Matter.\1\ A draft of the integrated review plan was
released for public review and comment in October 2007 and was the
subject of a consultation with the Clean Air Scientific Advisory
Committee (CASAC) on November 30, 2007 (72 FR 63177; November 8, 2007).
Comments received from that consultation and from the public were
considered in finalizing the plan and in beginning the review of the
air quality criteria.
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\1\ EPA 452R-08-004; March 2008; Available: http://www.epa.gov/ttn/naaqs/standards/pm/s_pm_2007_pd.html.
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As part of the review of the air quality criteria for PM, EPA's
Office of Research and Development (ORD) has completed a draft
document, Integrated Science Assessment (ISA) for Particulate Matter
(First External Review Draft, December 2008) and requested review by
the CASAC and the public (73 FR 77686; December 19, 2008). In the
future, EPA's OAQPS will prepare a Risk and Exposure Assessment (REA)
focusing on: (1) Human health risk and exposure assessment, and (2)
assessment of urban visibility impairment. The two planning documents
announced today describe the planned approaches for conducting the
quantitative assessments that will be presented in the REA as part of
the review of the primary (health-based) and secondary (welfare-based)
PM NAAQS. These documents are available on the Agency's Technology
Transfer Network (TTN) Web site at http://www.epa.gov/ttn/naaqs/standards/pm/s_pm_index.html. These documents may be accessed in the
``Documents from Current Review'' section under ``Planning Documents.''
These planning documents are intended to provide enough specificity to
facilitate consultation with CASAC, as well as for public review, in
order to obtain advice on the overall scope, approaches and key issues
in advance of the conduct of the quantitative analyses and presentation
of results in the first draft REA. The CASAC consultation on these two
planning documents coincides with its review of the first draft ISA.
This CASAC meeting is scheduled for April 1 and 2, 2009. A separate
Federal Register notice provides additional details about this meeting
and the process for participation (74 FR 7688; February 19, 2009).
Dated: February 27, 2009.
Jeffrey S. Clark,
Acting Director, Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards.
[FR Doc. E9-5843 Filed 3-17-09; 8:45 am]
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