[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 87 (Tuesday, May 5, 2020)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 26634-26635]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-09480]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 50

[EPA-HQ-OAR-2015-0072; FRL-10008-49-OAR]
RIN 2060-AS50


Public Hearing for the Review of the National Ambient Air Quality 
Standards for Particulate Matter

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notification of public hearing.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is announcing that a 
virtual public hearing will be held for the proposed action titled, 
``Review of the National Ambient Air Quality Standards for Particulate 
Matter,'' which was signed on April 14, 2020. The hearing will be held 
May 20 and 21, 2020. Based on its review of the air quality criteria 
and the national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS) for particulate 
matter (PM), the EPA is proposing to retain both the primary and 
secondary PM standards, without revision.

DATES: Comments on the proposed action must be received on or before 
June 29, 2020. The EPA will hold a virtual public hearing on May 20 and 
21, 2020. Please refer to the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section for 
additional information on the public hearing.

ADDRESSES: You may send comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-
OAR-2015-0072, 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-2015-0072 in the subject line of the message.
    Instructions. All submissions received must include the Docket ID 
No. for this document. 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. Out of an abundance 
of caution for members of the public and our staff, the EPA Docket 
Center and Reading Room was closed to public visitors on March 31, 
2020, to reduce the risk of transmitting COVID-19. Our Docket Center 
staff will continue to provide remote customer service via email, 
phone, and webform. We encourage the public to submit comments via 
https://www.regulations.gov or email, as there is a temporary 
suspension of mail delivery to EPA, and no hand deliveries are 
currently accepted. For further information of EPA Docket Center 
services and the current status, please visit us online at https://www.epa.gov/dockets.
    Virtual Public Hearing. The virtual public hearing will be held via 
teleconference May 20 and 21, 2020, with two sessions each day. The 
first session will begin at 9:00 a.m. Eastern Time (ET) and will 
conclude at 1:00 p.m. ET. The second session will begin at 3:00 p.m. ET 
and will conclude at 7:00 p.m. ET. The EPA may close a session 15 
minutes after the last pre-registered speaker has testified if there 
are no additional speakers. Refer to the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION 
section below for additional information.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For information or questions about the 
public hearing, please contact Ms. Regina Chappell, U.S. Environmental 
Protection Agency, Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards (OAQPS) 
(Mail Code C304-03), Research Triangle Park, NC 27711; telephone: (919) 
541-3650; email address: [email protected].
    For information or questions regarding the review of the PM NAAQS, 
please contact Dr. Scott Jenkins, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 
OAQPS (Mail Code: C539-02), Research Triangle Park, NC 27711; 
telephone: (919) 541-1167; email address: [email protected].

[[Page 26635]]


SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The EPA is reviewing the PM NAAQS as 
required by section 109 (42 U.S.C. 7409) of the Clean Air Act (CAA). 
The proposed action for which the EPA is holding a public hearing was 
signed on April 14, 2020, and is available at https://www.epa.gov/naaqs/particulate-matter-pm-standards-federal-register-notices-current-review. The public hearing will provide interested parties the 
opportunity to present data, views, or arguments concerning EPA's 
proposed decisions in the current review of the PM NAAQS. Written 
statements and supporting information submitted during the comment 
period will be considered with the same weight as any oral comments and 
supporting information presented at the public hearings.
    Written Comments. Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. 
EPA-HQ-OAR-2015-0072, 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.
    The EPA is temporarily suspending its Docket Center and Reading 
Room for public visitors to reduce the risk of transmitting COVID-19. 
Written comments submitted by mail are temporarily suspended and no 
hand deliveries will be accepted. Our Docket Center staff will continue 
to provide remote customer service via email, phone, and webform. We 
encourage the public to submit comments via https://www.regulations.gov. For further information and updates on EPA Docket 
Center services, please visit us online at https://www.epa.gov/dockets.
    The EPA continues to carefully and continuously monitor information 
from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), local area 
health departments, and our Federal partners so that we can respond 
rapidly as conditions change regarding COVID-19.
    Participation in Virtual Public Hearing. Please note that EPA is 
deviating from its typical approach because the President has declared 
a national emergency. Because of current CDC recommendations, as well 
as state and local orders for social distancing to limit the spread of 
COVID-19, EPA cannot hold in-person public meetings at this time.
    The EPA will begin pre-registering speakers and attendees for the 
hearing upon publication of this document in the Federal Register. EPA 
will accept registrations on an individual basis. To register to speak 
at the virtual hearing, individuals may use the online registration 
form available via EPA's Particulate Matter Pollution web page for this 
hearing (https://www.epa.gov/pm-pollution/national-ambient-air-quality-standards-naaqs-pm) or contact Regina Chappell at (919) 541-3650 or 
[email protected]. The last day to pre-register to speak at the 
hearing will be May 14, 2020. On May 18, 2020, the EPA will post a 
general agenda for the hearing that will list pre-registered speakers 
in approximate order at: https://www.epa.gov/pm-pollution/national-ambient-air-quality-standards-naaqs-pm.
    The EPA will make every effort to follow the schedule as closely as 
possible on the day of the hearing; however, please plan for the 
hearings to run either ahead of schedule or behind schedule. 
Additionally, requests to speak will be taken the day of the hearing at 
the end of each session as timing allows. The EPA will make every 
effort to accommodate all speakers.
    Each commenter will have 5 minutes to provide oral testimony. The 
EPA recommends submitting the text of your oral comments as written 
comments to the rulemaking docket. The EPA may ask clarifying questions 
during the oral presentations but will not respond to the presentations 
at that time. Written statements and supporting information submitted 
during the comment period will be considered with the same weight as 
oral comments and supporting information presented at the public 
hearing.
    The EPA is also asking hearing attendees to pre-register for the 
hearing, even those who don't intend to provide testimony. This will 
help the EPA ensure that sufficient phone lines will be available.
    Please note that any updates made to any aspect of the hearing 
logistics, including potential additional sessions, will be posted 
online at the EPA's Particulate Matter Pollution website (https://www.epa.gov/pm-pollution/national-ambient-air-quality-standards-naaqs-pm). While the EPA expects the hearing to go forward as set forth 
above, please monitor our website or contact the person listed in the 
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section to determine if there are any 
updates.
    If you require the services of a translator or special 
accommodations such as audio description, please pre-register for the 
hearing and describe your needs by May 13, 2020. EPA may not be able to 
arrange accommodations without advanced notice.

How can I get copies of the proposed action and other related 
information?

    The EPA has also established the official public docket for the 
proposed action under Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2015-0072. A copy of the 
proposed action is available at https://www.epa.gov/naaqs/particulate-matter-pm-standards-federal-register-notices-current-review, and any 
detailed information related to the proposed action will be available 
in the public docket prior to the public hearings. Verbatim transcripts 
of the hearings and written statements will be included in the 
rulemaking docket.

     Dated: April 29, 2020.
Panagiotis Tsirigotis,
Director, Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards.
[FR Doc. 2020-09480 Filed 5-4-20; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6560-50-P