[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 83 (Friday, April 29, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 25485-25486]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-09214]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[EPA-HQ-OAR-2018-0279; FRL-9545-03-OAR]
Release of Draft Policy Assessment for the Reconsideration of the
Ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standards
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice of availability.
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SUMMARY: On or about April 28, 2022, the Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) is making available to the public a draft document titled,
Policy Assessment for the Reconsideration of the Ozone National Ambient
Air Quality Standards, External Review Draft (Draft PA). This draft
document was prepared as a part of the current reconsideration of the
2020 final decision on the national ambient air quality standards
(NAAQS) for ozone (O3). When final, the PA is intended to
``bridge the gap'' between the scientific and technical information
assessed in the 2020 Integrated Science Assessment for Ozone and
Related Photochemical Oxidants (2020 ISA), as well as any air quality,
exposure and risk analyses available in the reconsideration, and the
judgments required of the Administrator. 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 must be received on or before May 31, 2022.
ADDRESSES: You may send comments on the draft PA, 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.
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 or Courier (by scheduled appointment only):
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. Out of an abundance
of caution for members of the public and our staff, the EPA Docket
Center and Reading Room are open to the public by appointment only to
reduce the risk of transmitting COVID-19. Our Docket Center staff also
continues to provide remote customer service via email, phone, and
webform. Hand deliveries and couriers may be received by scheduled
appointment only. For further information on EPA Docket Center services
and the current status, please visit us online at https://www.epa.gov/dockets.
The draft document described here will be available on the EPA's
website at https://www.epa.gov/naaqs/ozone-o3-air-quality-standards.
The documents will be accessible under ``Policy Assessments'' for the
current review.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Leigh Meyer, Office of Air Quality
Planning and Standards, (Mail Code C504-06), U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park, NC 27711; telephone number:
919-541-5587, fax number: 919-541-0237; or email: [email protected],
or Mary Hutson, Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards, (Mail
Code C504-06), U.S. Environmental
[[Page 25486]]
Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park, NC 27711; telephone number:
919-541-0715, fax number: 919-541-0237; 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 to EPA's docket at https://www.regulations.gov 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://www.epa.gov/dockets/commenting-epa-dockets.
Due to public health concerns related to COVID-19, the EPA Docket
Center and Reading Room are open to the public by appointment only. Our
Docket Center staff also continues to provide remote customer service
via email, phone, and webform. Hand deliveries or couriers will be
received by scheduled appointment only. For further information and
updates on EPA Docket Center services, please visit us online at
https://www.epa.gov/dockets.
The EPA continues to monitor information carefully and continuously
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.
II. Information About the Documents
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).
In December 2020, the EPA announced its decision to retain the
primary and secondary O3 standards, without revision (85 FR
87256, December 31, 2020). On October 29, 2021, the Agency announced
its decision to reconsider the 2020 O3 NAAQS final
action.\1\ In its announcement of the reconsideration, the Agency
explained that it would reconsider the 2020 decision to retain 2015
standards based on the existing scientific record. In support of the
reconsideration, the EPA is developing an updated PA. The PA, when
final, serves to ``bridge the gap'' between the scientific and
technical information in the 2020 ISA and any air quality, exposure and
risk analyses available in the reconsideration, and the judgements
required of the Administrator. The draft PA builds upon the information
presented in the 2020 ISA, the 2020 PA and additional analyses that
informed the 2020 decision. The draft PA document will be available on
or about April 28, 2022, 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 in an upcoming public meeting of the CASAC. Information about
this public meeting, including the dates and location, was published as
a separate notice in the Federal Register on April 4, 2022 (87 FR
19501). Following the CASAC meeting, the EPA will consider comments
received from the CASAC and the public in preparing the final PA.
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\1\ The press release for this announcement is available at
https://www.epa.gov/ground-level-ozone-pollution/epa-reconsider-previous-administrations-decision-retain-2015-ozone.
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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.
Dated: April 26, 2022.
Panagiotis Tsirigotis,
Director, Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards.
[FR Doc. 2022-09214 Filed 4-28-22; 8:45 am]
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