
[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 184 (Thursday, September 22, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 65353-65354]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-22681]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

 [EPA-HQ-OAR-2013-0146; FRL-9952-68-OAR]


Release of Draft Policy Assessment for the Review of the Primary 
National Ambient Air Quality Standards for Nitrogen Dioxide

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is reviewing the 
primary National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for Nitrogen 
Dioxide (NO2). On or about September 23, 2016, the EPA will 
make available for public review the document titled Policy Assessment 
for the Review of the Primary National Ambient Air Quality Standards 
for Nitrogen Dioxide--External Review Draft (draft PA). This draft PA 
is intended to facilitate the Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee's 
(CASAC's) advice and public input as part of the ongoing review of the 
primary NAAQS for NO2.

DATES: Comments should be received on or before December 8, 2016.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-
OAR-2013-0146, to the Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the online instructions for submitting 
comments. Once submitted, comments cannot be edited or withdrawn. 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 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 http://www2.epa.gov/dockets/commenting-epa-dockets.
    The draft PA will be available primarily via the Internet at http://www.epa.gov/ttn/naaqs/standards/nox/s_nox_index.html.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Jennifer Nichols, Office of Air 
Quality Planning and Standards, Mail Code C504-06, U.S. Environmental 
Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park, NC 27711; telephone number: 
919-541-0708; fax number: 919-541-5315; email: 
nichols.jennifer@epa.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. General Information

A. What should I consider as I prepare my comments for the EPA?

    1. Submitting CBI. Do not submit this information to EPA through 
http://regulations.gov or email. Clearly mark the part or all of the 
information that you claim to be CBI. For CBI information in a disk or 
CD-ROM that you mail to EPA, mark the outside of the disk or CD-ROM as 
CBI and then identify electronically within the disk or CD-ROM the 
specific information that is claimed as CBI. In addition to one

[[Page 65354]]

complete version of the comment that includes information claimed as 
CBI, a copy of the comment that does not contain the information 
claimed as CBI must be submitted for inclusion in the public docket. 
Information so marked will not be disclosed except in accordance with 
procedures set forth in 40 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) part 2.
    2. Tips for Preparing your Comments. When submitting comments, 
remember to:
     Identify the notice by docket number and other identifying 
information (subject heading, Federal Register date and page number).
     Follow directions. The agency may ask you to respond to 
specific questions or organize comments by referencing a CFR part or 
section number.
     Explain why you agree or disagree; suggest alternative and 
substitute language for your requested changes.
     Describe any assumptions and provide any technical 
information and/or data that you used.
     If you estimate potential costs or burdens, explain how 
you arrived at your estimate in sufficient detail to allow for it to be 
reproduced.
     Provide specific examples to illustrate your concerns and 
suggest alternatives.
     Explain your views as clearly as possible, avoiding the 
use of profanity or personal threats.
     Make sure to submit your comments by the comment period 
deadline identified.

II. Information About the Document

    Two sections of the Clean Air Act (CAA) govern the establishment 
and revision of the NAAQS. Section 108 (42 U.S.C. 7408) directs the 
Administrator to identify and list certain air pollutants and then to 
issue air quality criteria for those pollutants. The Administrator is 
to list those air pollutants that in her ``judgment, cause or 
contribute to air pollution which may reasonably be anticipated to 
endanger public health or welfare;'' ``the presence of which in the 
ambient air results from numerous or diverse mobile or stationary 
sources;'' and ``for which * * * [the Administrator] plans to issue air 
quality criteria * * *.'' Air quality criteria are intended 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 [a] 
pollutant in the ambient air * * * '' (42 U.S.C. 7408(b)). Under 
section 109 (42 U.S.C. 7409), the EPA establishes primary (health-
based) and secondary (welfare-based) NAAQS for pollutants for which air 
quality criteria are issued. Section 109(d) requires periodic review 
and, if appropriate, revision of existing air quality criteria. The 
revised air quality criteria reflect advances in scientific knowledge 
on the effects of the pollutant on public health or welfare. The EPA is 
also required to periodically review and revise the NAAQS, if 
appropriate, based on the revised criteria. Section 109(d)(2) requires 
that an independent scientific review committee ``shall complete a 
review of the criteria * * * and the national primary and secondary 
ambient air quality standards * * * and shall recommend to the 
Administrator any new * * * standards and revisions of the existing 
criteria and standards as may be appropriate * * *.'' Since the early 
1980s, this independent review function has been performed by the 
CASAC.
    Presently, the EPA is reviewing the primary NAAQS for 
NO2. The first draft Integrated Science Assessment for 
Oxides of Nitrogen (Health Criteria) (ISA) was released on November 22, 
2013 (78 FR 70040), and the draft Integrated Review Plan for the 
Primary NAAQS for Nitrogen Dioxide (IRP) was released on February 6, 
2014 (79 FR 7184). Both documents were reviewed by the CASAC at a 
public meeting in March 2014, announced in a separate notice (79 FR 
8701, February 13, 2014). The final IRP was released in June 2014 (79 
FR 36801, June 30, 2014) and is available at http://www.epa.gov/ttn/naaqs/standards/nox/s_nox_2012_pd.html. The second draft ISA was made 
available to both the CASAC and the public (80 FR 5110, January 30, 
2015), and was reviewed in addition to the Risk and Exposure Assessment 
Planning Document (REA Planning Document) (80 FR 27304, May 13, 2015) 
at a public meeting in June 2015 (80 FR 22993, April 24, 2015). The 
final ISA was then released in January 2016 (81 FR 4910, January 28, 
2016) after taking into consideration the CASAC's advice and public 
comments.
    The PA, when final, will serve to ``bridge the gap'' between the 
scientific information and the judgments required of the Administrator 
in determining whether to retain or revise the existing primary NAAQS 
for NO2, and, if revision is considered, what revisions may 
be appropriate. The draft PA announced today builds upon information 
presented in the final ISA and the REA Planning Document. The draft PA 
will be available on or about September 16, 2016, through the agency's 
Technology Transfer Network (TTN) Web site at https://www3.epa.gov/ttn/naaqs/standards/nox/s_nox_index.html.
    The EPA is soliciting advice and recommendations from the CASAC by 
means of a review of this draft document at an upcoming public meeting 
of the CASAC, scheduled for November 9-10, 2016. Information about this 
public meeting will be published as a separate notice in the Federal 
Register. Following the CASAC meeting, the EPA will consider comments 
received from the CASAC and the public in preparing revisions to this 
document. The EPA will also consider public comments submitted in 
response to this notice when revising the document. Comments should be 
submitted to the docket, as described above. The document that is the 
subject of today's notice does not represent and should not be 
construed to represent any final EPA policy, viewpoint or 
determination.

    Dated: September 15, 2016.
Stephen Page,
Director, Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards.
[FR Doc. 2016-22681 Filed 9-21-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6560-50-P


