[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 200 (Tuesday, October 17, 2006)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 60853-60854]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-17011]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 50

[EPA-HQ-OAR-2006-0834; FRL-8230-9]


Regulatory Impact Analysis for the Review of the Particulate 
Matter National Ambient Air Quality Standards

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of availability of documents.

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SUMMARY: On October 6, 2006, EPA released the Regulatory Impact 
Analysis (RIA) for the revised particulate matter national ambient air 
quality standards. This RIA provides EPA's estimates of the range of 
the monetized human health benefits, control costs, and net benefits 
associated with meeting the revised suite of standards for fine 
particles (PM2.5) that are published elsewhere in this issue 
of the Federal Register, as well as for meeting a more stringent 
alternative. The final rule established a 24-hour standard of 35 g/
m3 and retained the annual standard of 15 g/m3. 
The EPA also promulgated a final decision to retain the current 24-hour 
PM10 standards and to revoke the current annual 
PM10 standards, in order to maintain protection against the 
health and welfare effects of thoracic coarse particles 
(PM10-2.5). Data and modeling limitations preclude EPA from 
assessing the costs and benefits of retaining the existing 
PM10 24-hour standard.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Ron Evans, Mail Code C439-02, 
Health and Environmental Impacts Division, Office of Air Quality 
Planning and Standards, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Research 
Triangle Park, North Carolina 27711, telephone: (919) 541-5488, e-mail: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

A. How Can I Get Copies of This Document and Other Related Information?

    1. Docket. The EPA has established a docket for this action under 
Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2006-0834. Publicly available docket materials 
are available either electronically through www.regulations.gov or in 
hard copy at the Air and Radiation Docket and

[[Page 60854]]

Information Center in the EPA Docket Center (EPA/DC) EPA West, Room 
B102, 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 
Air and Radiation Docket and Information Center 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/. The EPA also has posted the 
RIA on its Web site for particle pollution and the revised PM standards 
at http://www.epa.gov/pm. Note: The EPA Docket Center suffered damage 
due to flooding during the last week of June 2006. The Docket Center is 
continuing to operate. However, during the cleanup, there will be 
temporary changes to Docket Center telephone numbers, addresses, and 
hours of operation for people who wish to visit the Public Reading Room 
to view documents. Consult EPA's Federal Register notice at 71 FR 38147 
(July 5, 2006) or the EPA Web site at http://www.epa.gov/epahome/dockets.htm for current information on docket status, locations and 
telephone numbers.
    In setting primary ambient air quality standards, EPA's 
responsibility under the law is to establish standards that protect 
public health. The Clean Air Act (CAA) requires EPA, for each criteria 
pollutant, to set a standard that protects public health with ``an 
adequate margin of safety.'' As interpreted by the Agency and the 
courts, the CAA requires EPA to base this decision on health 
considerations; economic factors cannot be considered.
    Although EPA cannot consider costs in setting the primary air 
quality standards, consideration of costs and benefits is essential to 
the efficient implementation of these standards. The impacts of cost, 
benefits, and efficiency are considered by the States when making 
decisions regarding what timelines, strategies, and policies make the 
most sense.
    This PM2.5 NAAQS RIA is focused on development and 
analyses of illustrative control strategies to meet alternative suites 
of standards in 2020, the latest year by which the CAA generally 
requires full attainment of the new standards. Because the States are 
ultimately responsible for implementing strategies to meet the revised 
standards, the RIA provides insights and analysis of a limited number 
of illustrative control strategies that States might adopt to meet the 
revised standards. These strategies are subject to a number of 
important assumptions, uncertainties and limitations, which EPA 
documents in the relevant portions of the analysis.
    The EPA presents this analysis pursuant to Executive Order 12866 
and the guidelines of OMB Circular A-4.\1\ These documents present 
guidelines for EPA to assess the incremental benefits and costs of the 
selected regulatory approach as well as one less stringent, and one 
more stringent, option. In this RIA, the 1997 standards represent the 
less stringent option, and the alternative suite of standards including 
a tighter annual standard of 14 g/m\3\ together with the revised 24-
hour standard of 35 g/m\3\ represents the more stringent option.
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    \1\ For a copy of these requirements, see:http://www.whitehouse.gov/OMB/inforeg/eo12866.pdf and http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/circulars/a004/a-4.html.

    Dated: October 5, 2006.
Jeffrey S. Clarke,
Acting Director, Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards.
 [FR Doc. E6-17011 Filed 10-16-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P