[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 76 (Monday, April 20, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 21849-21850]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-08333]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-ORD-2018-0274; FRL-10008-36-ORD]


Integrated Science Assessment for Ozone and Related Photochemical 
Oxidants

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is announcing the 
availability of a final document titled, ``Integrated Science 
Assessment for Ozone and Related Photochemical Oxidants (Final)'' (EPA/
600/R-20/012). The document was prepared by the Center for Public 
Health and Environmental Assessment (CPHEA) within EPA's Office of 
Research and Development (ORD) as part of the review of the primary 
(health-based) and secondary (welfare-based) ozone national ambient air 
quality standards (NAAQS) and represents an update of the 2013 
Integrated Science Assessment (ISA) for ozone and related photochemical 
oxidants. The ISA, in conjunction with additional technical and policy 
assessments, provides the basis for EPA's decisions on the adequacy of 
the current NAAQS and the appropriateness of possible alternative 
standards.

DATES: The document will be available on or about April 24, 2020.

ADDRESSES: The ``Integrated Science Assessment for Ozone and Related 
Photochemical Oxidants (Final)'' will be available primarily via the 
internet on EPA's Integrated Science Assessment for Ozone page at 
https://www.epa.gov/isa/integrated-science-assessment-isa-ozone-and-related-photochemical-oxidants or the public docket at http://www.regulations.gov, Docket ID: EPA-HQ-ORD-2018-0274. A limited number 
of CD-ROM copies will be available. Contact Ms. Marieka Boyd by phone: 
919-541-0031; fax: 919-541-5078; or email: [email protected] to 
request a CD-ROM, and please provide your name, your mailing address, 
and the document title, ``Integrated Science Assessment for Ozone and 
Related Photochemical Oxidants (Final)'' to facilitate processing of 
your request.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, CONTACT:  For technical information, contact 
Dr. Thomas Luben, CPHEA; phone: 919-541-5762; fax: 919-541-1818; or 
email: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Information About the Document

    Section 108(a) of the Clean Air Act directs the Administrator to 
identify certain air pollutants which, among other things, ``cause or 
contribute to air pollution which may reasonably be anticipated to 
endanger public health or welfare''; and to issue air quality criteria 
for them. 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 . . . 
.''. Under section 109 of the Act, EPA is then to establish NAAQS for 
each pollutant for which EPA has issued criteria. Section 109(d)(1) of 
the Act subsequently requires periodic review and, if appropriate, 
revision of existing air quality criteria to reflect advances in 
scientific knowledge on the effects of the pollutant on public health 
or welfare. EPA is also required to review and, if appropriate, revise 
the NAAQS, based on the revised air quality criteria (for more 
information on the NAAQS review process, see https://www.epa.gov/naaqs).
    EPA has established NAAQS for six criteria pollutants. Presently 
the EPA is reviewing the air quality criteria and NAAQS for 
photochemical oxidants and ozone; ozone is the current indicator for 
this NAAQS. Periodically, EPA reviews the scientific basis for these 
standards by preparing an ISA (formerly called an Air Quality Criteria 
Document). The ISA provides the scientific basis for EPA's decisions, 
in conjunction with additional technical and policy assessments, on the 
adequacy of the current NAAQS and the appropriateness of possible 
alternative standards. The Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee 
(CASAC), an independent science advisory committee whose review and 
advisory functions are mandated by Section 109(d)(2) of the Clean Air 
Act, is charged (among other things) with independent scientific review 
of the EPA's air quality criteria.
    On June 26, 2018 (83 FR 29785), EPA formally initiated its current 
review of the air quality criteria for the health and welfare effects 
of ozone and related photochemical oxidants and the primary (health-
based) and secondary (welfare-based) ozone NAAQS, requesting the 
submission of scientific and policy-relevant information on specified 
topics. This information was incorporated into EPA's ``Integrated 
Review Plan for the Review of the Ozone National Ambient Air Quality 
Standards (External Review Draft),'' which was available for public 
comment (83 FR 55163) and discussion by the CASAC via publicly 
accessible teleconference consultation (83 FR 55528). The final 
``Integrated Review Plan for the Review of the Ozone National Ambient 
Air Quality Standards'' was posted to the EPA website in August 2019 
(https://www.epa.gov/naaqs/ozone-o3-air-quality-standards).
    In the development of the draft ISA, webinar workshops were held on 
October 29 and 31, 2018, and November 1 and 5, 2018, to discuss initial 
draft materials with invited EPA and external scientific experts (83 FR 
53472). The input received during these webinar workshops aided in the 
development of the materials presented in the ``Integrated Science 
Assessment for Ozone and Related Photochemical Oxidants (External 
Review Draft)'', which was released on September 19, 2019 (84 FR 50836) 
and is available at: https://cfpub.epa.gov/ncea/isa/recordisplay.cfm?deid=344670. The CASAC met at a public meeting on 
December 3-6, 2019 (84 FR 58713), to review the draft Ozone ISA. A 
public teleconference was then held on February 11, 2020 for CASAC to 
review their draft letter to the Administrator on the draft ISA. This 
meeting was announced in the Federal Register on January 27, 2020 (85 
FR 4656). Subsequently, on February 19, 2020, the CASAC provided a 
letter of their review to the Administrator of the EPA, available at: 
https://yosemite.epa.gov/sab/sabproduct.nsf/
264cb1227d55e02c85257402007446a4/F228E5D4D848BBED85258515006354D0/
$File/EPA-

[[Page 21850]]

CASAC-20-002.pdf. The letter from the CASAC, as well as public comments 
received on the draft Ozone ISA, can be found in Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-
ORD-2018-0274.
    The Administrator responded to the CASAC's letter on the External 
Review Draft of the Ozone ISA on April 1, 2020, and the letter is 
available at: https://yosemite.epa.gov/sab/sabproduct.nsf/
LookupWebProjectsCurrentCASAC/F228E5D4D848BBED85258515006354D0/$File/
EPA-CASAC-;20-002+Response.pdf. Administrator Wheeler's letter to the 
CASAC indicated the Agency will ``incorporate the CASAC's comments and 
recommendations, to the extent possible, and create a final Ozone ISA 
so that it may be available to inform a proposed decision on any 
necessary revisions of the NAAQS by spring 2020.'' The consensus CASAC 
comments on the draft Ozone ISA (February 19, 2020) recommended that 
the Draft Ozone ISA would benefit from: (1) Critical review, synthesis, 
and discussion of available scientific evidence; (2) reassessment of 
causality determinations and rationale for some new and altered 
causality determinations; and (3) consultation with outside experts on 
high-level, over-arching process aspects related to ISA development and 
consideration of causality. In consideration of these comments while 
preparing the Final Ozone ISA, the EPA added new text and clarified 
existing text in the Preface and in Appendix 10 to more clearly 
articulate how scientific evidence is identified, evaluated and 
summarized in the ISA, revised the causality determination for long-
term ozone exposure and metabolic effects, and will take steps to both 
identify methods for improving the ISA process and to solicit outside 
expertise on best practices for making causality determinations from 
multiple lines of evidence. Additionally, the EPA focused on addressing 
those comments that contributed to improving clarity, could be 
addressed in the near-term, and identified errors in the draft Ozone 
ISA. Lastly, Administrator Wheeler noted, ``for those comments and 
recommendations that are more substantial or cross-cutting and which 
cannot be fully addressed in this timeframe, [the Agency will] develop 
a plan to incorporate these changes into future Ozone ISAs as well as 
ISAs for other criteria pollutant reviews.''

    Dated: April 14, 2020.
Wayne Cascio,
Director, Center for Public Health and Environmental Assessment.
[FR Doc. 2020-08333 Filed 4-17-20; 8:45 am]
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