[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 27 (Friday, February 8, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 2858-2859]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-01562]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-OAR-2018-0226; FRL-9989-06-OAR]
RIN 2060-AT97


Public Hearing and Reopening of Comment Period for Proposed 
Determinations of Attainment by the Attainment Date, Extensions of the 
Attainment Date and Reclassification of Several Areas Classified as 
Moderate for the 2008 Ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standards

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of public hearing and reopening of public comment 
period.

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SUMMARY: On November 14, 2018, the Environmental Protection Agency 
(EPA) proposed a rule titled ``Determinations of Attainment by the 
Attainment Date, Extensions of the Attainment Date and Reclassification 
of Several Areas Classified as Moderate for the 2008 Ozone National 
Ambient Air Quality Standards,'' which allowed for a 30-day public 
review and comment period that closed on December 14, 2018. In the 
proposal, the EPA offered to hold a public hearing if one was requested 
by November 29, 2018. The EPA received multiple requests for a public 
hearing, and, therefore, is announcing in this notice details for a 
scheduled public hearing. The hearing will provide the public with an 
opportunity to present oral testimony on the proposal. In addition, the 
EPA is reopening the public comment period on the proposed rule. The 
additional comment period will ensure the public has sufficient time to 
comment on the proceedings of the public hearing and the proposal.

DATES: The public hearing will be held on Friday, February 15, 2019, 
from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST). The public 
comment period for the proposal will reopen beginning on the date this 
notice is published in the Federal Register and will close 7 days 
following the public hearing, on February 22, 2019.

ADDRESSES: The public hearing will be held at the William Jefferson 
Clinton East Building, 1301 Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC 
20004, in Room 1153. Individuals planning to attend or testify at the 
hearing should be prepared to show valid picture identification, such 
as a driver's license, to the security staff to gain access to the 
meeting room (see under SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION the subsection, 
``Identification Requirements Under the REAL ID Act'').

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: If you have any questions about the 
public hearing, you may contact Ms. Yvonne W. Johnson at (919) 541-3921 
or [email protected]. If you need further information about this 
notice or the proposed rule, please contact Ms. Virginia Raps, Office 
of Air Quality Planning and Standards (OAQPS), Air Quality Policy 
Division, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Mail Code C539-01, 
Research Triangle Park, NC 27711; telephone number: (919) 541-4383; fax 
number: (919) 541-5315; email: [email protected].
    Please note that any updates made to any aspect of the hearing will 
be posted online at https://www.epa.gov/ground-level-ozone-pollution/2008-ozone-national-ambient-air-quality-standards-naaqs-nonattainment. 
While the EPA expects the hearing to go forward as set forth under 
DATES, please monitor the website or contact Ms. Yvonne W. Johnson at 
(919) 541-3921 or [email protected]. The EPA does not intend to 
publish a document in the Federal Register announcing updates.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On November 14, 2018, the EPA proposed to 
make determinations for eleven areas classified as Moderate 
nonattainment for the 2008 ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standards 
(NAAQS) and determine whether each area attained the standards by the 
attainment date, July 20, 2018 (see 83 FR 56781). The EPA proposed to 
determine attainment by the attainment date, grant attainment date 
extensions, or identify areas that will be reclassified, by operation 
of law, from Moderate to Serious nonattainment for failure to attain 
the standards. The EPA also proposed new State Implementation Plan 
(SIP) due dates for the seven areas that failed to attain the standards 
by the attainment date. In its proposal, the EPA offered to hold a 
public hearing to hear public testimony on the proposal if one was 
requested by November 29, 2018. The EPA received multiple requests for 
a public hearing that are posted in the docket for the rulemaking (EPA-
HQ-OAR-2018-0226).
    Testifying at the Public Hearing. If you would like to present oral 
testimony at the public hearing, please register by contacting Ms. 
Yvonne W. Johnson at (919) 541-3921 or [email protected]. The 
hearing schedule, including the list of speakers, periodic breaks in 
the testimony throughout the day, and a lunch hour will be posted prior 
to the hearing on the EPA's website at https://www.epa.gov/ground-
level-ozone-pollution/2008-ozone-

[[Page 2859]]

national-ambient-air-quality-standards-naaqs-nonattainment. The EPA 
will make every effort to follow the schedule as closely as possible on 
the day of the hearing by limiting each testimony to 5 minutes. The EPA 
will make every effort to accommodate all individuals interested in 
providing oral testimony at the hearing. The EPA will not respond to 
presentations at the hearing. However, the EPA may ask clarifying 
questions during oral testimony. The hearing will end at 5:00 p.m. EST 
or 2 hours after the end of testimony from the last registered speaker, 
whichever is earlier. A verbatim transcript of the hearing will be 
included in the docket for the rulemaking.
    Instructions to Provide a Copy of Testimony Prior to the Hearing. 
The EPA encourages those planning to present oral testimony at the 
hearing to provide the EPA with a copy of their testimony 
electronically, i.e., via email or in hard copy form. You may provide a 
copy of the oral testimony to Ms. Yvonne W. Johnson at 
[email protected], or you may contact Ms. Virginia Raps at 
[email protected].
    Instructions for Submitting Comments During the Reopened Comment 
Period. Comments on the proceedings of the public hearing may be 
submitted to the EPA until the end of the reopened comment period, 
February 22, 2019, which is seven days following the scheduled hearing 
date. When submitting your comments during the reopened comment period, 
identify your comments by noting the docket identification--EPA-HQ-OAR-
2018-0226--and include discussion of all points you wish to make. The 
EPA will generally not consider comments located outside your primary 
submission (e.g., on the Web, Cloud, or other file sharing system). 
Follow the online instructions to post your comment to the federal 
eRulemaking Portal: https://www.regulations.gov. Your written comment, 
as submitted online, is considered the official comment, and your 
comment cannot be edited or withdrawn after submission. Written 
statements and supporting information submitted during the reopened 
comment period will be considered with the same weight as any oral 
testimony or supporting information presented at the public hearing. 
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. 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.
    How to obtain copies of this document and other related 
information. The EPA has established a docket for this action--EPA-HQ-
OAR-2018-0226--and an index of the contents of the docket can be 
accessed at https://www.regulations.gov. The EPA has also made 
available information related to the proposed rule on the following 
website: https://www.epa.gov/ground-level-ozone-pollution/2008-ozone-national-ambient-air-quality-standards-naaqs-nonattainment.
    Identification requirements under the REAL ID Act. Individuals 
possessing a driver's license from states and territories that do not 
comply with the REAL ID Act will not be accepted as identification to 
allow entrance into the Federal building in which the hearing will be 
held. The REAL ID Act, passed by Congress in 2005, established new 
requirements for entering federal facilities. These requirements took 
effect on July 21, 2014. Acceptable alternative forms of identification 
include: Passports, enhanced driver's licenses, military identification 
cards and Federal employee badges. For additional information for the 
status of your state regarding the REAL ID Act, go to https://www.dhs.gov/real-id. For additional information on building access and 
alternative forms of identification, go to https://www.epa.gov/aboutepa/visiting-epa-headquarters.
    Docket Access. All available documents are listed in the docket 
index at https://www.regulations.gov. Although listed in the index, 
some information is not publicly available, e.g., CBI or other 
information for which 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 electronically in https://www.regulations.gov or in hard copy 
at the EPA Docket Center Reading Room, William Jefferson Clinton 
Building, 1301 Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20004. The Public 
Reading Room is open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. EST, Monday through 
Friday, excluding federal holidays. The phone number for the Public 
Reading Room is (202) 566-1744.

    Dated: February 4, 2019.
Panagiotis Tsirigotis,
Director, Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards.
[FR Doc. 2019-01562 Filed 2-7-19; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6560-50-P