[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 139 (Thursday, July 19, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 42495-42496]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-17626]



[[Page 42495]]

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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-OAR-2008-0699; FRL-9701-3]


Release of Draft Documents Related to the Review of the National 
Ambient Air Quality Standards for Ozone

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Availability of draft documents for public comment.

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SUMMARY: On or about July 16, 2012, the Office of Air Quality Planning 
and Standards (OAQPS) of the EPA is making available for public comment 
two draft assessment documents titled, Health Risk and Exposure 
Assessment for Ozone, First External Review Draft and Welfare Risk and 
Exposure Assessment for Ozone, First External Review Draft. These two 
draft assessment documents describe the quantitative analyses the EPA 
is conducting as part of the review of the national ambient air quality 
standards (NAAQS) for ozone (O3). In addition, on or about 
August 13, 2012, OAQPS will make available for public comment the first 
draft document titled, Policy Assessment for the Review of the Ozone 
National Ambient Air Quality Standards, First External Review Draft, as 
well as appendices and additional technical materials that support the 
first draft Policy Assessment and first draft Risk and Exposure 
Assessments.

DATES: Comments on all documents should be submitted on or before 
September 11, 2012.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-
OAR-2008-0699, by one of the following methods:
     www.regulations.gov: Follow the on-line instructions for 
submitting comments.
     Email: Comments may be sent by electronic mail (email) to 
[email protected], Attention Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2008-0699.
     Fax: Fax your comments to 202-566-9744, Attention Docket 
ID. No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2008-0699.
     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-2008-0699.
     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-
2008-0699. 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 email. The www.regulations.gov Web site is an ``anonymous access'' 
system, which means the EPA will not know your identity or contact 
information unless you provide it in the body of your comment. If you 
send an email comment directly to the EPA without going through 
www.regulations.gov, your email address will be captured automatically 
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, the 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 the EPA cannot read your comment due to technical 
difficulties and cannot contact you for clarification, the 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:  For questions related to the draft 
document titled, Health Risk and Exposure Assessment for Ozone, First 
External Review Draft (EPA-452/P-12-001; July 2012), please contact Ms. 
Karen Wesson, Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards (Mail code 
C504-02), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park, 
NC 27711; email: [email protected]; telephone: 919-541-3515; fax: 
919-541-5315.
    For questions related to the draft document titled, Welfare Risk 
and Exposure Assessment for Ozone, First External Review Draft (EPA-
452/P-12-004; July 2012), please contact Dr. Travis Smith, Office of 
Air Quality Planning and Standards (Mail code C539-07), U.S. 
Environmental Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park, NC 27711; 
email: [email protected]; telephone: 919-541-2035; fax: 919-541-
5315.
    For questions related to the draft document titled, Policy 
Assessment for the Review of the Ozone National Ambient Air Quality 
Standards: First External Review Draft (EPA-452/P-12-002; August 2012), 
please contact Ms. Susan Lyon Stone, Office of Air Quality Planning and 
Standards (Mail code C504-06), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 
Research Triangle Park, NC 27711; email: [email protected]; 
telephone: 919-541-1146; fax: 919-541-0237.

General Information

A. What should I consider as I prepare my comments for the EPA?

    1. Submitting CBI. Do not submit this information to the EPA 
through www.regulations.gov or email. 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 the 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.

[[Page 42496]]

     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.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 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, the EPA establishes primary (health-based) and 
secondary (welfare-based) NAAQS for pollutants for which air quality 
criteria are issued. 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, if appropriate, revise the 
NAAQS based on the revised air quality criteria.
    Air quality criteria and NAAQS have been established for 
O3 to provide protection of public health and welfare from 
O3 and other photochemical oxidants. Presently, the EPA is 
reviewing the air quality criteria and NAAQS for O3. The 
EPA's overall plan and schedule for this review is presented in the 
Integrated Review Plan for the Ozone National Ambient Air Quality 
Standards.\1\ A draft of the integrated review plan was released for 
public review and comment in September 2009 and was the subject of a 
consultation with the Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee (CASAC) 
on November 13, 2009 (74 FR 54562; October 22, 2009).\2\ Comments 
received from that consultation and from the public were considered in 
finalizing the plan and in beginning the review of the air quality 
criteria.
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    \1\ EPA 452/R-11-006; April 2011; Available: http://www.epa.gov/ttn/naaqs/standards/ozone/data/2011_04_OzoneIRP.pdf.
    \2\ See http://yosemite.epa.gov/sab/sabproduct.nsf/WebProjectsbyTopicCASAC!OpenView for more information on CASAC 
activities related to the current O3 NAAQS review.
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    As part of the EPA's review of the primary and secondary 
O3 NAAQS,\3\ the Agency is conducting quantitative 
assessments characterizing the: (1) Health risks associated with 
exposure to ambient O3; (2) welfare risks associated with 
exposure to ambient O3; and, (3) associated ambient air 
quality analyses. On or about July 16, 2012, the EPA is making 
available for public comment two draft assessment documents titled, 
Health Risk and Exposure Assessment for Ozone, First External Review 
Draft and Welfare Risk and Exposure Assessment for Ozone, First 
External Review Draft. These draft assessments may be accessed online 
through the EPA's TTN Web site at http://www.epa.gov/ttn/naaqs/standards/ozone/s_o3_index.html.
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    \3\ See http://www.epa.gov/ttn/naaqs/review.html for more 
information on the NAAQS review process.
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    The EPA's plans for conducting these assessments, including the 
proposed scope and methods of the analyses, were presented in two 
planning documents titled, Ozone National Ambient Air Quality 
Standards: Scope and Methods Plan for Health Risk and Exposure 
Assessment and Ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standards: Scope and 
Methods Plan for Welfare Risk and Exposure Assessment (henceforth, 
Scope and Methods Plans).\4\ These documents were released for public 
comment in April 2011, and were the subject of a consultation with the 
CASAC on May 19-20, 2011 (76 FR 23809; April 28, 2011). In May 2012, a 
memo titled, Updates to information presented in the Scope and Methods 
Plans for the Ozone NAAQS Health and Welfare Risk and Exposure 
Assessments, was made available that described changes to elements of 
the scope and methods plans and provided a brief explanation of each 
change and the reason for it.
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    \4\ EPA-452/P-11-001 and -002; April 2011; Available: http://www.epa.gov/ttn/naaqs/standards/ozone/s_o3_2008_pd.html.
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    The draft assessment documents announced today convey the 
approaches taken to assess exposures to ambient O3 and to 
characterize associated health and welfare risks, as well as present 
the initial key results, observations, and related uncertainties 
associated with the quantitative analyses performed.
    In addition, on or about August 13, 2012, the EPA will make 
available the first draft document titled Policy Assessment for the 
Review of the Ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standards, First 
External Review Draft. This document will serve to ``bridge the gap'' 
between the scientific information and the judgments required of the 
Administrator in determining whether it is appropriate to retain or 
revise the standards. The Policy Assessment will build upon information 
presented in the Integrated Science Assessment of Ozone and Related 
Photochemical Oxidants (Third draft) \5\ and the two draft assessment 
documents described above. At the same time, the EPA will make 
available appendices and additional technical materials that support 
the first draft Policy Assessment and first draft Risk and Exposure 
Assessments. The first draft Policy Assessment, appendices, and 
additional technical materials may be accessed online through EPA's TTN 
Web site at http://www.epa.gov/ttn/naaqs/standards/ozone/s_o3_index.html.
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    \5\ U.S. EPA. Integrated Science Assessment of Ozone and Related 
Photochemical Oxidants (Third External Review Draft). U.S. 
Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC, EPA/600/R-10/076C, 
2012; Available: http://cfpub.epa.gov/ncea/isa/recordisplay.cfm?deid=242490#Download.
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    The EPA is soliciting advice and recommendations from the CASAC by 
means of a review of these three draft documents at an upcoming public 
meeting of the CASAC that will be held in September 2012. Information 
about these public meetings, including the dates and locations, will be 
published as a separate notice in the Federal Register. Following the 
CASAC meeting, the EPA will consider comments received from the CASAC 
and the public in preparing revisions to these documents.
    The draft documents briefly described above do not represent and 
should not be construed to represent any final EPA policy, viewpoint, 
or determination. The EPA will consider any public comments submitted 
in response to this notice when revising the documents.

    Dated: July 11, 2012.
Mary Henigin,
Acting Director, Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards.
[FR Doc. 2012-17626 Filed 7-18-12; 8:45 am]
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