[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]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

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.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

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]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P