[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 183 (Wednesday, September 23, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 48543-48544]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-22951]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[EPA-HQ-OAR-2007-1145; FRL-8959-6]
Final Risk and Exposure Assessment Report for Secondary National
Ambient Air Quality Standards for Oxides of Nitrogen and Oxides of
Sulfur
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice of availability of final report.
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SUMMARY: On or about September 15, 2009, the Office of Air Quality
Planning and Standards (OAQPS) of EPA is making available a final
report, Risk and Exposure Assessment for Review of the Secondary
National Ambient Air Quality Standards for Oxides of Nitrogen and
Oxides of Sulfur: Final Report. The purpose of this document is to
convey the approach taken to assess environmental exposures to ambient
oxides of nitrogen and sulfur and to characterize associated public
welfare risks, as well as to present the results of those assessments.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Anne Rea, Office of Air Quality
Planning and Standards (Mail code C539-02), U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park, NC 27711; e-mail:
[email protected]; telephone: 919-541-0053; fax: 919-541-0840.
General Information
A. How Can I Get Copies of This Document and Other Related Information?
1. Docket. EPA has established a docket for this action under
Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2007-1145. Publicly available docket materials
are available either electronically through http://www.regulations.gov
or in hard copy at the EPA Docket Center (EPA/DC), EPA West, Room 3334,
1301 Constitution Ave., NW., Washington, DC. The EPA Docket Center
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 Office
of Air and Radiation Docket is (202) 566-1742.
2. Electronic Access. You may access this Federal Register document
electronically through the EPA Internet under the ``Federal Register''
listings at http://www.epa.gov/fedrgstr/.
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 from the presence of [a] pollutant in the ambient air, in
varying quantities.'' Under section 109 of the CAA, EPA establishes
National Ambient Air Quality Standards (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.
The EPA is currently conducting a joint review of the existing
secondary (welfare-based) NAAQS for oxides of nitrogen (NOX)
and oxides of sulfur (SOX). Because NOX,
SOX, and their associated transformation products are linked
from an atmospheric chemistry perspective as well as from an
environmental effects perspective, and because of the National Research
Council's (NRC's) 2004 recommendations to consider multiple pollutants
in forming the scientific basis for the NAAQS, EPA has decided to
jointly assess the science, risks, and policies relevant to protecting
the public welfare associated with oxides of nitrogen and oxides of
sulfur. This is the first time since NAAQS were established in 1971
that a joint review of these two pollutants has been conducted. Since
both the Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee (CASAC) and EPA have
recognized these interactions historically, and the science related to
these interactions has continued to evolve and grow to the present day,
there is a strong basis for considering them together.
As part of its review of the secondary NAAQS for NOX and
SOX, EPA is preparing an assessment of exposures and
characterization of risks for adverse ecological effects associated
with atmospheric NOX and SOX deposition. A draft
plan describing the proposed approaches to assessing ecological
exposures and effects is described in the draft document, Draft Scope
and Methods Plan for Risk/Exposure Assessment: Secondary NAAQS Review
for Oxides of Nitrogen and Oxides of Sulfur. This document was released
for public review and comment in March 2008 and was the subject of a
consultation with the CASAC on April 2 and 3, 2008. Comments received
from that consultation were considered in developing the document
titled, Risk and Exposure Assessment to Support the Review of the
Secondary National Ambient Air Quality Standards for Oxides of Nitrogen
and Oxides of Sulfur: First Draft, which was released for public review
and comment in August 2008. This document was the subject of a CASAC
review on October 1-2, 2008. Comments received from that review were
considered in developing the document titled, Risk and Exposure
Assessment to Support the Review of the Secondary National Ambient Air
Quality Standards for Oxides of Nitrogen and Oxides of Sulfur: Second
Draft, which was released for public review and comment in June 2009
and was the subject of a CASAC review on July 22-23, 2009. In preparing
the final risk and exposure assessment report, EPA considered comments
received from CASAC and the public at and subsequent to that meeting.
The Risk and Exposure Assessment for Review of the Secondary
National Ambient Air Quality Standards for Oxides of Nitrogen and
Oxides of Sulfur: Final Report being released at this time conveys the
approach taken to assess ecological effects due to the deposition of
ambient NOX and SOX,
[[Page 48544]]
and presents the results of these analyses. This document will be
available online at: http://www.epa.gov/ttn/naaqs/standards/no2so2sec/cr_rea.html.
Dated: September 14, 2009.
Jennifer Noonan Edmonds,
Acting Director, Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards.
[FR Doc. E9-22951 Filed 9-22-09; 8:45 am]
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