[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 50 (Wednesday, March 15, 2023)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 15940-15941]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-05237]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 50

[EPA-HQ-OAR-2018-0279; FRL-9545-04-OAR]


Release of Draft Policy Assessment for the Reconsideration of the 
Ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standards

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Draft policy assessment; notice of availability.

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SUMMARY: On or about March 1, 2023, the Environmental Protection Agency 
(EPA) is making available to the public a revised draft document 
titled, Policy Assessment for the Reconsideration of the Ozone National 
Ambient Air Quality Standards, External Review Draft Version 2 (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 April 14, 2023.

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. 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 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), Proprietary 
Business Information (PBI), 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

[[Page 15941]]

contents located outside of the primary submission (i.e., on the web, 
cloud, or other file sharing system). Please visit https://www.epa.gov/dockets/commenting-epa-dockets for additional submission methods; the 
full EPA public comment policy; information about CBI, PBI, or 
multimedia submissions; and general guidance on making effective 
comments.

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.
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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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    In April 2022, the EPA made available to the public and to the 
CASAC Ozone Review Panel a prior version of this draft PA. After 
receiving a briefing from the EPA on the draft document (87 FR 19501, 
April 4, 2022), the Panel issued a memo indicating that the Panel would 
pause its review to deliberate on whether a fuller discussion of the 
science was needed prior to its review of the draft PA.\2\ Following 
that deliberation, the Panel engaged in a fuller discussion of the 
scientific information at a number of public meetings (87 FR 41309, 
July 12, 2022; 87 FR 60394, October 5, 2022). Based on this discussion, 
the CASAC determined ``that the existing scientific evidence summarized 
in the 2020 ISA provides a scientifically sound foundation for the 
Agency's reconsideration of the 2020 Ozone NAAQS decision'' and that it 
was not recommending that the 2020 ISA be reopened or revised.\3\ The 
CASAC's letter to the Agency regarding its review of the 2020 ISA 
included comments that referenced the PA. Consideration of those 
comments led to the development of this second version of the draft PA 
for the reconsideration, which is announced in this notice of 
availability. The draft PA largely builds upon the information 
presented in the 2020 ISA, the 2020 PA and additional analyses that 
informed the 2020 decision. This draft PA will be available on or about 
March 1, 2023, 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 February 13, 2023 (88 FR 
9275). 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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    \2\ May 13, 2022, letter from Elizabeth A. Sheppard, Chair, 
Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee, to CASAC Ozone Review Panel 
Members. Re: CASAC Ozone Review Panel Meeting. Available at: https://casac.epa.gov/ords/sab/f?p=105:19:17341438189034:::19:P19_ID:972#materials.
    \3\ November 22, 2022, letter from Elizabeth A. Sheppard, Chair, 
Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee, to Administrator Michael S. 
Regan. Re: CASAC Review of the EPA's Integrated Science Assessment 
(ISA) for Ozone and Related Photochemical Oxidants (Final Report--
April 2020). EPA-CASAC-23-001. Available at: https://casac.epa.gov/ords/sab/f?p=105:18:8476900499267:::RP,18:P18_ID:2614.
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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.

Panagiotis Tsirigotis,
Director, Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards.
[FR Doc. 2023-05237 Filed 3-14-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P