Comments
on
the
Environmental
Protection
Agency's
Draft
Rule
on
Proposed
PM2.5
De
Minimis
Emission
Levels
for
General
Conformity
Applicability
Office
of
Healthy
Homes
and
Lead
Hazard
Control
Department
of
Housing
and
Urban
Development
January
5,
2006
We
have
the
following
technical
and
editorial
comments
on
the
draft
notice.
If
you
have
questions,
please
contact
Warren
Friedman,
Ph.
D.,
CIH,
Deputy
Director,
HUD
Office
of
Healthy
Homes
and
Lead
Hazard
Control,
451
7th
St.
SW,
Washington,
DC
20410;
202­
755­
1785
x159;
Warren_
Friedman@
HUD.
gov.

Technical
comments:

Page
5,
par.
2,
line
15:
Provide
the
citation
for
"
EPA
[
having]
designated
areas
as
nonattainment
for
PM2.5
on
April
5,
2005."

Page
7,
footnote
2:
Move
this
footnote's
text
into
to
the
main
body
of
the
preamble.
With
the
rule
centered
on
PM2.5,
defining
it
briefly
in
the
main
body
(
rather
than
in
a
footnote)
is
appropriate.

Page
11,
line
16:
The
text
cited
by
the
phrase
"
except
as
described
above
for
lead"
does
not
appear
in
this
draft.
The
text
should
be
restored.

Page
24,
par.
2,
especially
lines
5­
6:
This
paragraph
is
internally
inconsistent.
While
the
proposed
regulation
would
increase
the
de
minimis
emissions
level
from
zero
in
the
absence
of
the
regulation
(
see
the
discussion
in
preamble
unit
I.
D,
How
Does
EPA
Determine
the
De
Minimis
Threshold?)
to
specified
positive
rates,
the
third
sentence
claims
that
the
regulatory
changes
"
do
not
affect
the
health
or
safety
of
minority
or
low
income
populations."
With
EPA
relying
on
that
preamble
discussion,
it
would
be
more
accurate
to
say
that
the
regulatory
changes
"
do
not
disproportionately
affect"
these
populations.(
emphasis
added)

Furthermore,
while
the
second
sentence
is
accurate
in
saying
that,
"
The
proposed
regulations
revisions
revise
procedures
for
other
Federal
agencies
to
follow,"
it
is
problematic
to
shift
the
responsibility
for
the
effect
of
the
proposed
EPA
regulatory
changes
to
other
agencies
by
saying,
"
As
such,
they
[
i.
e.,
the
EPA's
regulatory
changes]
do
not
affect
the
health
or
safety
...."(
emphasis
added)
If
the
EPA
regulation
may
have
an
environmental
justice
effect,
that
effect
should
be
considered
as
a
whole,
including
how
the
regulation
will
affect
the
operations
of
the
agencies
covered
by
it.
(
See
Executive
Order
12898
on
Environmental
Justice,
section
1­
101,
specifically
on"
policies,"
of
which
this
regulation
implements
one,
in
the
Order's
requirement
for
"
identifying
and
addressing,
as
appropriate,
disproportionately
high
and
adverse
human
health
or
environmental
effects
of
its
programs,
policies,
and
activities
on
minority
populations
and
low­
income
populations.")
The
introductory
phrase,
"
As
such,"
should
be
deleted.

As
a
result
of
these
two
changes,
the
third
sentence
should
read,
"
They
do
not
disproportionately
affect
the
health
or
safety
of
minority
or
low
income
populations."
HUD
OHHLHC
Comments
on
EPA's
Draft
Rule
on
Proposed
PM2.5
page
2
De
Minimis
Emission
Levels
for
General
Conformity
Applicability
Editorial
comments:

Page
1,
Summary,
next­
to­
last
line:
Spell
out
the
abbreviated
term
at
this
first
usage:
"
national
ambient
air
quality
standards".

Page
6,
par.
1,
next­
to­
last
line:
Typo:
Add
a
period
after
"
seq".

Page
8,
par.
2,
line
12:
Typo:
"
undo"
should
be
"
undue".

Page
12,
par.
2,
line
2:
Complete
the
regulatory
citation:
"
sub­
paragraphs
(
b)(
1)
and
(
b)(
2)
of
40
CFR
91.153".
The
proposed
rule
also
amends
§
91.152;
the
change
removes
the
ambiguity.

Page
12,
par.
2,
line
5:
Provide
the
regulatory
citation:
"
PM2.5
and
each
of
its
precursors,
as
defined
at
revised
section
91.152."
Without
this,
the
preamble
is
ambiguous
regarding
the
precursors;
the
regulation
covers
certain
ones,
but,
scientifically,
others
exist.

Page
23,
last
line:
Typo:
"
disproportionately",
as
used
in
Executive
Order
12898,
and
for
grammatical
reasons
here.

Page
24,
par.
2,
line
3:
Copy
edit:
Delete
the
duplicative
word
"
revisions".

Various:
Copy
edits:
Eliminate
multiple
spaces
between
words
within
sentences.
