[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 163 (Wednesday, August 22, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 42497-42498]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-17041]
[[Page 42497]]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[EPA-HQ-OAR-2014-0128; FRL-9981-88-OAR]
Release of Risk and Exposure Assessment Plan for the Secondary
National Ambient Air Quality Standard for Oxides of Nitrogen, Oxides of
Sulfur and Particulate Matter
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice of availability.
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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is conducting a
periodic review of the air quality criteria and the secondary National
Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for oxides of nitrogen, oxides of
sulfur, and particulate matter (PM). On or about August 6, 2018, the
EPA will make available for public review the document titled Review of
the Secondary National Ambient Air Quality Standards for Oxides of
Nitrogen, Oxides of Sulfur and Particulate Matter: Risk and Exposure
Assessment Planning Document (REA Planning Document). This plan
presents considerations and the proposed approach for conducting
quantitative analyses of oxides of nitrogen, oxides of sulfur, and PM
exposures and welfare risks in this NAAQS review. This planning
document is intended to facilitate consultation with the Clean Air
Scientific Advisory Committee (CASAC) and public comment on plans for
such quantitative analyses.
DATES: Comments should be received on or before October 22, 2018.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-
OAR-2014-0128, to the Federal eRulemaking Portal: https://www.regulations.gov. Follow the online instructions for submitting
comments. Once submitted, comments cannot be edited or withdrawn. The
EPA may publish any comment received to its public docket. Do not
submit electronically any information you consider to be Confidential
Business Information (CBI) or other information whose disclosure is
restricted by statute. Multimedia submissions (audio, video, etc.) must
be accompanied by a written comment. The written comment is considered
the official comment and should include discussion of all points you
wish to make. The EPA will generally not consider comments or comment
contents located outside of the primary submission (i.e., on the Web,
Cloud, or other file sharing system). For additional submission
methods, the full EPA public comment policy, information about CBI or
multimedia submissions, and general guidance on making effective
comments, please visit https://www2.epa.gov/dockets/commenting-epa-dockets. The REA Planning Document will be available primarily via the
internet at: https://www.epa.gov/naaqs/nitrogen-dioxide-no2-and-sulfur-dioxide-so2-secondary-standards-planning-documents-current.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ginger Tennant, Office of Air Quality
Planning and Standards (Mail Code C504-06), U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park, NC 27711; telephone number:
919-541-4072; fax number: 919-541-0237; or email address:
[email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. General Information
A. What should I consider as I prepare my comments for the EPA?
1. Submitting CBI. Do not submit this information to EPA through
https://www.regulations.gov or email. Clearly mark the part or all of
the information that you claim to be CBI. For CBI information on any
digital storage media that you mail to EPA, mark the outside of the
digital storage media as CBI and then identify electronically within
the digital storage media 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. If you submit any digital storage media that does not
contain CBI, mark the outside of the digital storage media clearly that
it does not contain CBI. Information so marked will not be disclosed
except in accordance with procedures set forth in 40 Code of Federal
Regulations (CFR) part 2. Send or deliver information identified as CBI
only to the following address: OAQPS Document Control Officer (C404-
02), OAQPS, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Research Triangle
Park, North Carolina 27711, Attention Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2014-
0128.
2. Tips for Preparing your Comments. When submitting comments,
remember to:
Identify the notice 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 CFR part or
section number.
Explain why you agree or disagree; suggest alternative and
substitute language for your requested changes.
Describe any assumption 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.
Explain your views as clearly as possible, avoiding the
use of profanity or personal threats.
Make sure to submit your comments by the comment period
deadline identified.
II. Information About the Document
Two sections of the Clean Air Act (CAA) govern the establishment
and revision of the NAAQS. Section 108 (42 U.S.C. 7408) directs the
Administrator to identify and list certain air pollutants and then to
issue air quality criteria for those pollutants. The Administrator is
to list those air pollutants that in his ``judgment, cause or
contribute to air pollution which may reasonably be anticipated to
endanger public health or welfare;'' ``the presence of which in the
ambient air results from numerous or diverse mobile or stationary
sources;'' and ``for which . . . [the Administrator] plans to issue air
quality criteria. . . . '' Air quality criteria are intended 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 . . . '' 42 U.S.C. 7408(b). Under section
109 (42 U.S.C. 7409), the EPA establishes primary (health-based) and
secondary (welfare-based) NAAQS for pollutants for which air quality
criteria are issued. Section 109(d) 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 criteria. Section 109(d)(2) requires that an
independent scientific review committee ``shall complete a review of
the criteria . . . and the national primary and secondary ambient air
quality standards . . . and shall recommend to the Administrator any
new . . . standards and revisions of existing criteria and standards as
may be appropriate. . . .'' Since the early
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1980's, this independent review function has been performed by CASAC.
Presently, the EPA is reviewing the secondary NAAQS for oxides of
nitrogen, oxides of sulfur, and PM.\1\ PM was added to this review
after the draft Integrated Review Plan (80 FR 69220, November 9, 2015)
was released to the public and reviewed by CASAC in recognition of
linkages between these pollutants (oxides of nitrogen, oxides of
sulfur, and PM) with respect to deposition and atmospheric chemistry,
as well as from an environmental effects perspective. Additional
welfare effects associated with PM, such as visibility, climate and
materials effects, and the health effects of PM (including particulate
transformation products of oxides of nitrogen and oxides of sulfur) are
considered as part of the review of the NAAQS for PM (81 FR 87933,
December 6, 2016). The health effects of oxides of nitrogen were
considered in a separate assessment that was completed recently as part
of the review of the primary (health-based) NAAQS for oxides of
nitrogen (83 FR 17226, April 18, 2018). Similarly, the health effects
of oxides of sulfur are currently being considered in a separate
assessment as part of the review of the primary NAAQS for oxides of
sulfur (83 FR 26752, June 8, 2018).
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\1\ The EPA's call for information for the NOX/
SOX secondary review was issued on August 29, 2013 (78 FR
53452), and the call for information on the PM review (both
secondary and primary) was issued on December 3, 2014 (79 FR 71764).
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The EPA's overall plan for this review is presented in the
Integrated Review Plan for the Secondary NAAQS for Oxides of Nitrogen,
Oxides of Sulfur and Particulate Matter.\2\ The REA Planning Document
considers the degree to which important uncertainties identified in
quantitative analyses from previous reviews have been addressed by
newly available scientific evidence, tools, or information, including
those in the second external review draft of the Integrated Science
Assessment for Oxides of Nitrogen, Oxides of Sulfur and Particulate
Matter-Ecological Criteria (83 FR 29786, June 26, 2018). Based on these
considerations, the document reaches preliminary conclusions on the
extent to which updated quantitative analyses of exposures or public
welfare risks are warranted in the current review. For updated analyses
that are supported, this planning document presents anticipated
approaches to conducting such analyses. This document will be available
on or about August 6, 2018, on the EPA's Technology Transfer Network
website at https://www.epa.gov/naaqs/nitrogen-dioxide-no2-and-sulfur-dioxide-so2-secondary-standards-planning-documents-current.
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\2\ Available at https://www.epa.gov/naaqs/nitrogen-dioxide-no2-and-sulfur-dioxide-so2-secondary-standards-planning-documents-current.
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The REA Planning Document will be discussed at a public meeting for
review by CASAC and the public. A separate Federal Register notice
provides details about this meeting and the process for participation
(83 FR 31755, July 9, 2018). The EPA will also consider public comments
on the REA Planning Document that are submitted to the docket, as
described above.
Dated: August 2, 2018.
Panagiotis Tsirigotis,
Director, Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards.
[FR Doc. 2018-17041 Filed 8-21-18; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P