[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 11 (Tuesday, January 19, 2010)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 2936-2937]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-349]
[[Page 2935]]
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Part II
Environmental Protection Agency
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40 CFR Parts 50, 58 and 81
Ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standards; Final Rule and Proposed
Rule
Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 11 / Tuesday, January 19, 2010 /
Rules and Regulations
[[Page 2936]]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 81
[EPA-HQ-OAR-2009-0476; FRL-9102-2]
Extension of Deadline for Promulgating Designations for the 2008
Ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standards
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Extension of deadline for promulgating designations.
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SUMMARY: EPA is announcing that it is using its authority under the
Clean Air Act (CAA) to extend by 1 year the deadline for promulgating
initial area designations for the ozone national ambient air quality
standards (NAAQS) that were promulgated in March 2008. The new deadline
is March 12, 2011.
DATES: The deadline for EPA to promulgate designations for the 2008
ozone NAAQS is March 12, 2011.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For questions regarding this action,
contact Carla Oldham, Air Quality Planning Division, Office of Air
Quality Planning and Standards, Mail Code C539-04, Environmental
Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina 27711;
telephone number: 919-541-3347; fax number: 919-541-0824; email
address: [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This preamble is organized as follows:
I. General Information
A. Does this action apply to me?
B. Where can I get a copy of this document and other related
information?
II. Background
A. Designations Requirements
B. Reconsideration of the 2008 Ozone NAAQS
III. Extension of Deadline for Promulgating Designations for the
2008 NAAQS
I. General Information
A. Does this action apply to me?
Entities potentially affected by this action include state, local,
and tribal governments that would participate in the initial area
designation process for the 2008 ozone standards.
B. Where can I get a copy of this document and other related
information?
EPA has established a docket for designations for the 2008 ozone
NAAQS under Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2009-0476. All documents in the
docket are listed in the www.regulations.gov index. Although listed in
the index, some information is not publicly available, e.g.,
confidential business information or other information whose disclosure
is restricted by statute. Certain other material, such as copyrighted
material, will be publicly available only in hard copy. Publicly
available docket materials are available either electronically in
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
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 EPA
Docket Center is (202) 566-1742.
An electronic copy of this notice is also available at http://www.epa.gov/ozonedesignations.
II. Background
A. Designations Requirements
On March 12, 2008, EPA promulgated revised 8-hour primary and
secondary ozone NAAQS (73 FR 16436; March 27, 2008). The primary
standard was lowered from 0.08 parts per million (ppm) to a level of
0.075 ppm. EPA also lowered the secondary standard by making it
identical in all respects to the revised primary standard. (The
previous ozone NAAQS were set in 1997 and remain effective.)
After EPA establishes or revises a NAAQS pursuant to CAA section
109, the CAA directs EPA and the states to begin taking steps to ensure
that those NAAQS are met. The first step is to identify areas of the
country that do not meet the new or revised NAAQS. This step is known
as the initial area designations. Section 107(d)(1) of the CAA provides
that, ``By such date as the Administrator may reasonably require, but
not later than 1 year after promulgation of a new or revised national
ambient air quality standard for any pollutant under section 109, the
Governor of each state shall * * * submit to the Administrator a list
of all areas (or portions thereof) in the state'' that designates those
areas as nonattainment, attainment, or unclassifiable. The CAA defines
an area as nonattainment if it is violating the NAAQS or if it is
contributing to a violation in a nearby area. (CAA section
107(d)(1)(A)(i).)
The CAA further provides, ``Upon promulgation or revision of a
national ambient air quality standard, the Administrator shall
promulgate the designations of all areas (or portions thereof) * * * as
expeditiously as practicable, but in no case later than 2 years from
the date of promulgation of the new or revised national ambient air
quality standard. Such period may be extended for up to 1 year in the
event the Administrator has insufficient information to promulgate the
designations.'' (CAA section 107(d)(1)(B).)
After the states submit their recommendations, but no later than
120 days prior to promulgating designations, EPA is required to notify
a state of any intended modifications to the state's recommended
designation. The state then has an opportunity to demonstrate why any
proposed modification is inappropriate. Whether or not a state provides
a recommendation, EPA must promulgate the designation that the Agency
deems appropriate within two years of promulgation of the NAAQS (or
within three years if EPA extends the deadline).
For the March 2008 ozone NAAQS, the deadline for states to submit
designation recommendations to EPA for their areas was March 12, 2009.
EPA has been evaluating these recommendations and conducting additional
analyses to determine whether it is necessary to modify any of the
state recommendations. EPA was originally intending to complete the
initial designations for the 2008 ozone NAAQS on a 2-year schedule, by
March 12, 2010.
B. Reconsideration of the 2008 Ozone NAAQS
On September 16, 2009, the EPA Administrator announced that EPA
would take rulemaking action to reconsider the 2008 primary and
secondary ozone NAAQS to ensure the standards satisfy the CAA. The EPA
stated that it would sign the ozone NAAQS reconsideration proposed rule
by December 21, 2009, and would sign the ozone NAAQS reconsideration
final rule by August 31, 2010. In addition, EPA indicated it would work
with states to accelerate the area designations process and the
timeframe for submission of attainment demonstration state
implementation plans for any new standards promulgated in 2010 as a
result of the reconsideration. This would limit delays associated with
implementing any new standards.
In a separate rulemaking action, which is being published
simultaneous with this announcement, EPA is proposing to set different
primary and secondary standards than those set in 2008 to provide
requisite protection of public health and welfare, respectively (Ozone
NAAQS Reconsideration Proposal). In that Ozone NAAQS Reconsideration
Proposal, EPA is proposing that the level of the 8-hour
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primary standard, which was set at 0.075 ppm in the 2008 final rule,
should instead be set at a lower level to provide increased protection
for children and other ``at risk'' populations against an array of
ozone-related adverse health effects that range from decreased lung
function and increased respiratory symptoms to serious indicators of
respiratory morbidity.
Additionally, in the Ozone NAAQS Reconsideration Proposal, EPA is
proposing that the secondary ozone standard should be a cumulative,
seasonal standard. Such a standard would provide increased protection
against ozone-related adverse impacts on vegetation and forested
ecosystems in comparison to the secondary standard promulgated in the
2008 NAAQS final rule, which was identical to the revised primary
standard.
III. Extension of Deadline for Promulgating Designations for the 2008
NAAQS
As discussed above, in the Ozone NAAQS Reconsideration Proposal,
EPA proposed to set primary and secondary ozone NAAQS that are
different from and more protective than those promulgated in 2008. EPA
intends to issue the final Ozone NAAQS Reconsideration Rule by August
31, 2010. If, as proposed, EPA promulgates ozone NAAQS in 2010 that
differ from those promulgated in 2008, any requirements to designate
areas and implement the 2008 ozone NAAQS would no longer apply. Because
the ozone NAAQS reconsideration rulemaking action is a reconsideration
of the 2008 ozone NAAQS, rather than a new periodic NAAQS review under
CAA section 109(d)(1), a decision to promulgate different standards
would result in a full replacement of the 2008 ozone NAAQS.\1\ In other
words, if as proposed, EPA concludes in the final Ozone NAAQS
Reconsideration rulemaking that the 2008 ozone standards are not
requisite to protect public health and welfare and promulgates
different ozone standards, there would be no obligation to implement
the 2008 ozone standards, which the final rule would have determined to
be invalid. In this case, the designations process for the 2008
standards would be terminated. Pursuant to the CAA, states and EPA
would then begin a new designations process for the newly promulgated
ozone standards.
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\1\ EPA's action to reconsider the 2008 NAAQS is different than
conducting a new ``review and revise, as appropriate'' action that
CAA section 109(d)(1) requires EPA to take periodically. Under that
statutory obligation, EPA considers the current state of knowledge,
including new scientific information that has become available since
promulgation of the most recent standard to consider whether the
standard should be revised. Unlike a new periodic review, in this
case, EPA is reconsidering the basic validity and appropriateness of
the 2008 decision to promulgate the primary and secondary standards,
restricting itself to consideration of the same scientific
information that was before EPA when it adopted the 2008 standards.
In a new periodic review, EPA evaluates the current state of
knowledge, including more recent scientific information, and makes a
new judgment about what standard is appropriate to protect public
health (primary standard) and welfare (secondary standard) in light
of the then current state of information. In that case, EPA would be
required to address whether and how the implementation requirements
for the replaced standard should continue to apply, see e.g., CAA
section 172(e).
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Because of the significant uncertainty that the Ozone NAAQS
Reconsideration Proposal creates regarding the continued applicability
of the 2008 NAAQS, EPA has determined that there is insufficient
information at this time to promulgate designations. Therefore, in this
action, EPA is announcing that it is using its authority under section
107(d)(1)(B) of the CAA to extend by 1 year the deadline for
promulgating initial area designations for the March 2008 ozone NAAQS.
The new deadline is March 12, 2011. Extending the deadline for
promulgating designations until March 12, 2011, will allow EPA to
complete the Ozone NAAQS Reconsideration rulemaking before determining
whether it is necessary to complete action to finalize designations for
the 2008 ozone NAAQS or, instead, whether it is necessary to begin the
designations process for different NAAQS promulgated pursuant to the
reconsideration. If EPA does not timely complete its reconsideration of
the 2008 ozone NAAQS, EPA will move forward to complete designations
for the 2008 standards no later than March 12, 2011 pursuant to the
designations recommendations that states have already submitted to EPA
for the 2008 standards.
On September 16, 2009, when the EPA Administrator announced her
decision to reconsider the 2008 ozone NAAQS, the Agency also stated its
intention to accelerate the designations process for any 2010 ozone
NAAQS resulting from the reconsideration.
EPA has proposed the designations schedule for any 2010 ozone NAAQS
as part of the Ozone NAAQS Reconsideration rulemaking action.
List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 81
Environmental protection, Air pollution control, National parks,
Wilderness areas.
Dated: January 6, 2010.
Lisa P. Jackson,
Administrator.
[FR Doc. 2010-349 Filed 1-15-10; 8:45 am]
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