[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 53 (Monday, March 18, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 19308-19310]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-05507]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[EPA-HQ-OAR-2023-0317; FRL-11157-03-OAR]
Release of Volumes 1 and 2 of the Integrated Review Plan for the
Primary National Ambient Air Quality Standards for Oxides of Nitrogen
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice of availability.
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SUMMARY: On or about March 18, 2024, the Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) is making available to the public Volumes 1 and 2 of the
Integrated Review Plan for the Primary National Ambient Air Quality
Standards for Oxides of Nitrogen (IRP). The national ambient air
quality standards (NAAQS) for oxides of nitrogen are set to protect
public health from nitrogen dioxide (NO2) in ambient air.
Volume 1 of the IRP contains contextual background material for the
current review of the air quality criteria and the primary NAAQS for
oxides of nitrogen. Volume 2
[[Page 19309]]
identifies policy-relevant issues in the review and describes key
considerations in the EPA's development of the Integrated Science
Assessment (ISA). The ISA provides the scientific basis for the EPA's
decisions, in conjunction with additional technical and policy
assessments, for the review of the NAAQS, as described in sections 108
and 109 of the Clean Air Act.
DATES: Comments must be received on or before April 17, 2024.
ADDRESSES: You may send comments on Volume 2 of the IRP, identified by
Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2023-0317, 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: EPA Docket Center, WJC West
Building, Room 3334, 1301 Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20004.
The Docket Center's hours of operation 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 two volumes
described here will be available on the EPA's website at https://www.epa.gov/naaqs/nitrogen-dioxide-no2-primary-air-quality-standards.
The documents will be accessible under ``Planning Documents'' from the
current review.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Iman Hassan, Office of Air Quality
Planning and Standards, (Mail Code C504-06), U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency, 109 T.W. Alexander Drive, P.O. Box 12055, Research
Triangle Park, NC 27711; telephone number: 919-541-2198; or email:
[email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. General Information
Written Comments
Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2023-
0317, 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 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 a 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). 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 the 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 Clean Air
Scientific Advisory Committee (CASAC) has fulfilled the requirement for
an independent scientific review committee.
Presently, the EPA is reviewing the health-based air quality
criteria and primary NAAQS for oxides of nitrogen. The EPA's call for
information for this review was issued on December 9, 2022 (87 FR
75625), and requested the public's assistance in identifying relevant
scientific information for the review that has become available since
the cutoff date for the 2016 ISA (i.e., March 2014).\1\ The documents
announced in this notice have been developed as part of the integrated
review plan (IRP) which is developed in the planning phase for the
review. The documents have been prepared jointly by the EPA's Center
for Public Health and Environmental Assessment within the Office of
Research and Development and the Office of Air Quality Planning and
Standards within the Office of Air and Radiation. These documents will
be available on the EPA's website: https://www.epa.gov/naaqs/nitrogen-dioxide-no2-primary-air-quality-standards, accessible under ``Planning
Documents'' from the current review.
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\1\ Information assessed in the ISA for the last review
generally included studies published prior to March 2014, with some
exceptions.
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The IRP for the current review of the primary NAAQS for oxides of
nitrogen will be comprised of three volumes. Volumes 1 and 2 are the
subject of this notice. Volume 1 provides background information on the
air quality criteria and standards for oxides of nitrogen and may serve
as a reference by the public and the CASAC in their consideration of
the subsequent two volumes. Volume 2 addresses the general approach for
the review and planning for the integrated science assessment (ISA).
Comments are solicited from the public on Volume 2, which will also be
the subject of a consultation with the CASAC, to be announced in a
separate Federal Register notice. This volume identifies policy-
relevant issues in the review and describes key considerations in the
EPA's development of the ISA. Volume 3, which is not yet completed, is
the planning document for quantitative analyses to be considered in the
policy assessment (PA), including exposure and risk analyses, as
warranted. In order that consideration of the availability of new
evidence in the review can inform these plans, the development and
public availability of Volume 3 will generally coincide with that of
the draft ISA, and it will be the subject of a consultation with the
CASAC at that time.
[[Page 19310]]
As described above, comments on Volume 2 of the IRP should be
submitted to the docket by April 17, 2024. A separate Federal Register
notice will provide details about the CASAC consultation meeting and
the process for participation in the CASAC consultation on Volume 2.
The EPA will consider the consultation comments from the CASAC and
public comments on the IRP, Volume 2, in preparation of the ISA for
Oxides of Nitrogen--Health Criteria. Volume 1 of the IRP, also being
made available, provides background or contextual and historical
material for this NAAQS review. These documents do not represent and
should not be construed to represent any final EPA policy, viewpoint,
or determination.
Erika N. Sasser,
Director, Health and Environmental Impacts Division.
[FR Doc. 2024-05507 Filed 3-15-24; 8:45 am]
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