[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 75 (Tuesday, April 20, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 20595-20596]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-9069]
[[Page 20595]]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[EPA-HQ-OAR-2007-1145; FRL-9139-6]
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 extension of comment period.
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SUMMARY: The EPA is announcing an extension of the public comment
period for a draft assessment document titled, 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
(75 FR 11877; March 12, 2010). The comment period was originally
scheduled to end on April 29, 2010. The extended comment period will
close on May 13, 2010. The Agency is extending the comment period by
two weeks to provide the public with adequate time to conduct
appropriate analysis and prepare meaningful comments.
Although EPA is extending the comment period for the first draft
policy assessment by two weeks, EPA is committed to issuing a proposal
addressing the nitrogen oxides (NOX) and sulfur oxides
(SOX) secondary National Ambient Air Quality Standards
(NAAQS) by July 12, 2011. The extension also will not alter EPA's
internal schedule for providing a second draft policy assessment for
review by the Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee (CASAC) by the
end of July 2010.
The public is encouraged to submit comments by the end of the
original comment period to ensure that EPA has adequate time to
evaluate and respond to those comments. However, all comments received
by May 13, 2010, will be considered in developing the second draft
policy assessment.
DATES: Comments should be submitted on or before May 13, 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 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.
[[Page 20596]]
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 these
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
NAAQS for each listed pollutant, 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. Section 109 (d) also requires
EPA 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.
As part of this review of the current secondary (welfare-based)
NAAQS for NOX and SOX, EPA's Office of Air
Quality Planning and Standards staff have prepared 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 is available online
at: http://www.epa.gov/ttn/naaqs/standards/no2so2sec/index.html. The
first draft Policy Assessment was reviewed by the CASAC during a public
meeting held on April 1 and 2, 2010. Information about this public
meeting is available at http://yosemite.epa.gov/sab/sabpeople.nsf/WebCommittees/CASAC.
At the April 1 and 2, 2010, CASAC meeting, the Committee reviewed
the first draft Policy Assessment, heard public comments, and prepared
a draft letter to the Agency with their advice regarding the first
draft Policy Assessment.
The original comment period for the first draft Policy Assessment
was 60 days, from March 1, 2010, through April 29, 2010. In a letter
dated April 8, 2010, the Utility Air Regulatory Group requested an
extension of the comment period through May 13, 2010. As of April 12,
2010, EPA has received comments from one public commenter presented at
the CASAC meeting on April 1, 2010. Based on our consideration of the
request from the Utility Air Regulatory Group, EPA is granting the
extension of the public comment period through May 13, 2010.
Dated: April 13, 2010.
Jennifer Noonan Edmonds,
Acting Director, Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards.
[FR Doc. 2010-9069 Filed 4-19-10; 8:45 am]
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