[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 221 (Wednesday, November 17, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 70258-70259]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-28969]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[EPA-HQ-OAR-2007-1145; FRL-9227-7]
Review of the Secondary National Ambient Air Quality Standards
for Oxides of Nitrogen and Oxides of Sulfur
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Extension of comment period.
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SUMMARY: The Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards (OAQPS) of
EPA recently made available a draft report, Policy Assessment for the
Review of the Secondary National Ambient Air Quality Standards for
Oxides of Nitrogen and Oxides of Sulfur: Second External Review Draft
(75 FR 57463, September 21, 2010). The EPA released this preliminary
draft document to seek early consultation with the Clean Air Scientific
Advisory Committee (CASAC) and to solicit public comment on the overall
structure, framing of key issues and conclusions regarding options for
key elements of the standards. Four supplementary materials were
released at a later date (75 FR 61486, October 5, 2010). The
supplementary materials were: an errata sheet for Chapter 5; an
addendum for Chapter 5; an additional Table 7-1 (summary of key
uncertainties); and an additional table for Chapter 9 (summary of
options for elements of the nitrogen oxides (NOX) and sulfur
oxides (SOX) standard). Comments were originally scheduled
to be submitted on or before November 12, 2010. A request for an
extension to the comment period has been received. The EPA is granting
this extension to allow stakeholders and the public with adequate time
to conduct appropriate analysis and meaningful comments. Therefore, the
comment period is being moved from November 12, 2010, to November 26,
2010.
DATES: Comments should be submitted on or before November 26, 2010.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-
OAR-2007-1145, by one of the following methods:
http://www.regulations.gov: Follow the on-line
instructions for submitting comments.
E-mail: Comments may be sent by electronic mail (e-mail)
to [email protected], Attention Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2007-
1145.
Fax: Fax your comments to 202-566-9744, Attention Docket
ID. No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2007-1145.
Mail: Send your comments to: Air and Radiation Docket and
Information Center, Environmental Protection Agency, Mailcode: 2822T,
1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460, Attention Docket ID
No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2007-1145.
Hand Delivery or Courier: Deliver your comments to: EPA
Docket Center, 1301 Constitution Ave., NW., Room 3334, 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-
2007-1145. 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.
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 material, 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 Docket in the
EPA Docket Center, EPA West, Room 3334, 1301
[[Page 70259]]
Constitution Ave., NW., Washington, DC. This Docket Facility is open
from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, excluding legal
holidays. The Docket telephone number is 202-566-1742; fax 202-566-
9744.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Bryan Hubbell, Office of Air
Quality Planning and Standards (Mail code C504-02), U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park, NC 27711; e-mail:
[email protected]; telephone: 919-541-0621; fax: 919-541-0804.
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:
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.
Make sure to submit your comments by the comment period
deadline identified.
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 NOX and 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 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
NOX and SOX. 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 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 this review of the current secondary (welfare-based)
NAAQS for NOX and SOX, EPA's OAQPS staff prepared
a second draft Policy Assessment. The objective of this assessment is
to evaluate the policy implications of the key scientific information
contained in the document Integrated Science Assessment for Oxides of
Nitrogen and Sulfur-Ecological Criteria (http://cfpub.epa.gov/ncea/cfm/recordisplay.cfm?deid=201485), prepared by EPA's National Center for
Environmental Assessment (NCEA) and the results from the analyses
contained in the Risk and Exposure Assessment for Review of the
Secondary National Ambient Air Quality Standards for Oxides of Nitrogen
and Oxides of Sulfur (http://www.epa.gov/ttn/naaqs/standards/no2so2sec/cr_rea.html). The second draft Policy Assessment plus the
supplementary materials are available online at: http://www.epa.gov/ttn/naaqs/standards/no2so2sec/index.html. This second draft Policy
Assessment was reviewed by the CASAC during a public meeting which was
held on October 6 and 7, 2010.
Dated: November 8, 2010.
Jennifer Noonan Edmonds,
Acting Director, Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards.
[FR Doc. 2010-28969 Filed 11-16-10; 8:45 am]
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