[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 48 (Friday, March 12, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 11877-11878]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-5576]
[[Page 11877]]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[EPA-HQ-OAR-2007-1145; FRL-9126-8]
Review of the Secondary National Ambient Air Quality Standards
for Oxides of Nitrogen and Oxides of Sulfur
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice of availability of draft report.
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SUMMARY: On or about March 1, 2010, the Office of Air Quality Planning
and Standards (OAQPS) of EPA is making 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: First External
Review Draft. The EPA is releasing 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 and framing of key issues and areas of focus that will be
discussed in a future, complete draft policy assessment document.
DATES: Comments should be submitted on or before April 29, 2010.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-
OAR-2007-1145, by one of the following methods:
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 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 www.regulations.gov
or e-mail. The 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
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
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 www.regulations.gov or in hard copy at the Air Docket in the EPA
Docket Center, EPA West, Room 3334, 1301 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 (Mailcode 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
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
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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 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 are
preparing a first 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 first draft Policy Assessment
will be available online at: http://www.epa.gov/ttn/naaqs/standards/no2so2sec/index.html. This first draft Policy Assessment will be
reviewed by the CASAC during a public meeting to be held April 1 and 2,
2010. Information about this public meeting will be available at http://yosemite.epa.gov/sab/sabpeople.nsf/WebCommittees/CASAC.
Dated: March 9, 2010.
Mary E. Henigin,
Acting Director, Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards.
[FR Doc. 2010-5576 Filed 3-11-10; 8:45 am]
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