[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 212 (Friday, November 1, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 58711-58713]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-23888]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[EPA-HQ-OAR-2018-0279; FRL-10001-31-OAR]
Release of Draft Policy Assessment for the Ozone National Ambient
Air Quality Standards
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice of availability.
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SUMMARY: On or about October 31, 2019, the Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) will make available the document, Policy Assessment for
the Ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standards, External Review Draft
(draft PA). This draft document was prepared as part of the current
review of the national ambient air quality standards
[[Page 58712]]
(NAAQS) for photochemical oxidants including ozone (O3). The
PA, when final, serves to ``bridge the gap'' between the currently
available scientific and technical information and the judgments
required of the Administrator in determining whether to retain or
revise the existing O3 NAAQS. The primary and secondary
O3 NAAQS are set to protect the public health and the public
welfare from O3 and other photochemical oxidants in ambient
air.
DATES: Comments should be received on or before December 16, 2019.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-
OAR-2018-0279, by any of the following methods:
Federal eRulemaking Portal: https://www.regulations.gov
(our preferred method). Follow the online instructions for submitting
comments.
Email: [email protected]. Include the Docket ID No.
EPA-HQ-OAR-2018-0279 in the subject line of the message.
Fax: (202) 566-9744. Include the Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-
2018-0279 in the subject line of the message.
Mail: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, EPA Docket
Center, Office of Air and Radiation Docket, Mail Code 28221T, 1200
Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20460.
Hand Delivery/Courier: EPA Docket Center, WJC West
Building, Room 3334, 1301 Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20004.
The Docket Center's hours of operations are 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m.,
Monday-Friday (except Federal Holidays).
Instructions: All submissions received must include the Docket ID
No. for this notice. Comments received may be posted without change to
https://www.regulations.gov, including any personal information
provided. For detailed instructions on sending comments, see the
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this document. This document will
be available on the EPA's website at https://www.epa.gov/naaqs/ozone-o3-air-quality-standards. The document will be accessible under
``Policy Assessments'' from the current review.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Deirdre L. Murphy, Office of Air
Quality Planning and Standards, (Mail Code C504-06), U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park, NC 27711; telephone number:
919-541-0729, fax number: 919-541-027; or email:
[email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. General Information
Written Comments
Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2018-
0279, at https://www.regulations.gov (our preferred method), or the
other methods identified in the ADDRESSES section. Once submitted,
comments cannot be edited or removed from the docket. 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 submission. The written submission is
considered the official submission and should include discussion of all
points you wish to make. The EPA will generally not consider
submissions or submission content 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://www.epa.gov/dockets/commenting-epa-dockets.
II. Information About the Document
Two sections of the Clean Air Act (CAA or the Act) govern the
establishment and revision of the NAAQS. Section 108 directs the
Administrator to identify and list certain air pollutants and then
issue ``air quality criteria'' for those 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
such pollutant in the ambient air . . .'' (CAA section 108(a)(2)).
Under section 109 of the Act, the EPA is then to establish primary
(health-based) and secondary (welfare-based) NAAQS for each pollutant
for which the EPA has issued air quality criteria. Section 109(d)(1) of
the Act requires periodic review and, if appropriate, revision of
existing air quality criteria. Revised air quality criteria are to
reflect advances in scientific knowledge on the effects of the
pollutant on public health and welfare. Under the same provision, the
EPA is also to periodically review and, if appropriate, revise the
NAAQS, based on the revised air quality criteria.
The Act additionally requires appointment of an independent
scientific review committee that is to periodically review the existing
air quality criteria and NAAQS and to recommend any new standards and
revisions of existing criteria and standards as may be appropriate (CAA
section 109(d)(2)(A)-(B)). Since the early 1980s, the requirement for
an independent scientific review committee has been fulfilled by the
Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee (CASAC).
Presently the EPA is reviewing the air quality criteria and NAAQS
for photochemical oxidants and O3.\1\ The EPA's overall plan
for this review is presented in the Integrated Review Plan for the
Ozone NAAQS (IRP).\2\ As described in the IRP, the EPA is preparing an
Integrated Science Assessment for (ISA), a draft of which was released
in September 2019 for public comment and review by the CASAC (84 FR
50836).\3\ The PA, when final, serves to ``bridge the gap'' between the
scientific and technical information in the final ISA and any air
quality, exposure and risk analyses available in the review, and the
judgments required of the Administrator in determining whether to
retain or revise the existing ozone NAAQS. The draft PA builds upon
information presented in the draft ISA and the draft exposure and risk
analyses (presented in an appendix to the draft PA). The draft PA
document will be available on or about October 31, 2019, on the EPA's
website at https://www.epa.gov/naaqs/ozone-o3-air-quality-standards.
The EPA is soliciting advice and recommendations from the CASAC by
means of a review of this draft document at an upcoming public meeting
of the CASAC. Information about this public meeting, including the
dates and location, 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.
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\1\ The EPA's call for information for this review was issued on
June 26, 2018 (83 FR 29785).
\2\ The IRP (EPA-452/R-19-002, August 2019) is available at
https://www.epa.gov/naaqs/ozone-o3-standards-planning-documents-current-review.
\3\ 3 The draft ISA is available at: https://www.epa.gov/naaqs/ozone-o3-standards-integrated-science-assessments-current-review.
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The draft document briefly described above does 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 document.
[[Page 58713]]
Dated: October 28, 2019.
Panagiotis Tsirigotis,
Director, Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards.
[FR Doc. 2019-23888 Filed 10-31-19; 8:45 am]
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