               Environmental Protection Agency (EPA): Final Rule
       Fine Particulate Matter National Ambient Air Quality Standards: 
                    State Implementation Plan Requirements
                                 RIN 2060-AQ48
General Comments:
 Reviewer recommends that EPA add a bright-line threshold for precursor thresholds.  There does not appear to be a good rationale provided by EPA about why a threshold is not appropriate.
 Reviewer recommends providing states the flexibility to develop and submit contingency resources.  EPA states on page 66 that it is unlikely that states would use this; however, reviewer recommends providing this flexibility to states in case they wish to use it.
Specific Comments:
 Page 4  -  Reviewer recommends adding the following sentence that is from page 434 of the preamble after the second sentence in the section "entities affected by this rule":
 Parties affected by the conformity-related elements include state and local transportation and air quality agencies, metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs), and federal agencies including the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), the U.S. Department of Defense, the U.S. Department of Interior and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
 Page 21, Table 1  -  In published and on-line material from EPA showing results from the NEI for 2011, Fires (excluding residential wood combustion) don't align with the data in the table in the Rule. As the PM2.5 nonattainment boundaries are now known, the table should reflect the pollutants from the NEI for the nonattainment counties as this more accurately reflects the sources of emissions for all following discussions in the Rule.  The table distorts the view of "mainly fire's" contribution to the PM2.5 that will need control with it being the largest category for PM2.5, VOC and NH3.  Nationally, agricultural burning, prescribed fire and wildfires are attributed in posted NEI summaries as only contributing 34% of PM2.5, (2,123,966 tons), 29% VOC (5,287,143 tons) and 9% of NH3 (369,141 tons).  The reality for addressing nonattainment emissions sources which is the focus of this Rule is substantially different than the national totals for PM2.5 and precursor emissions as can be noted in the EPA's supporting materials for the nonattainment boundaries in the Federal Register.
 Page 26  -  Reviewer recommends adding the following sentence at the end of the second paragraph in section d. SOA formation
 Along these lines, research shows that on a per unit fuel consumed basis, wildfires in forests will produce significantly more VOC emissions than a typical understory prescribed fire.  Wildfires typically occur during the summer whereas wildland prescribed fire activity is typically in other seasons.    
 Page 26  -  Reviewer recommends adding the following sentence after the sentence that starts "For example, chemical reactions involving VOC . . ."
 Total secondary organic aerosol formation potential of coniferous canopy fuels is found to be twice that of understory fuels (litter and grasses) and six times that of Southwestern semi-arid shrubland fuels. These findings indicate that even though canopy fires involve largely flaming combustion, they are likely a potent source of SOA precursors. Canopy fires are frequently associated with catastrophic wildfires and not prescribed fires or lower intensity wildfires.       
 Page 36  -  Reviewer recommends adding the following sentence after the sentence that starts "This is reflective of the distribution of urban . . ."
 With regard to aging biomass burning plumes, field studies show highly variable secondary organic aerosol formation rates as pointed out earlier.  Research indicates there was generally no increase in organic aerosol mass as smoke plumes age, despite compositional changes and increasing oxidation with age and this was in contrast with the substantial levels of SOA formation associated with urban sources.  
 Page 36  -  Reviewer recommends adding the following sentence after the sentence that begins "Section IV.D of this preamble provides . . ."
 See Section IV.D.3. as it pertains to approaches for emissions inventories for primary PM2.5 and precursors for wildfire and wildland prescribed fire.
 Page 37  -  Reviewer recommends adding the following sentence after the sentence that begins "The EPA interprets the CAA to require states to inventory emissions . . ."
 For technical reasons noted above and in Section IV.D.3, EPA is not requiring the state to conduct a precursor analysis for wildland fire sources within the nonattainment area.  
 Page 46  -  Reviewer recommends clarifies how the following sentence will affect both general and transportation conformity
 The use of the term "comprehensive" here refers to the fact that the demonstration covers all existing stationary, area, and mobile sources, rather than major sources alone.
 Page 51  -  Reviewer recommends clarifying whether "significant" in the sentence below is the same as in the transportation conformity rule. 
 The proposal described the concept of including a bright-line threshold of 3 percent of the relevant NAAQS in the rule for precursor demonstrations other than the expeditious attainment approach, such that if an air quality impact was found to exceed the threshold amount, then it would be considered significant.
 Page 52  -  Reviewer recommends clarifying when the draft technical guidance document will be available.
 Page 52  -  Reviewer recommends clarifying whether "insignificant" is the same as the one in the conformity rule.
 Page 57  -  Reviewer recommends providing the timing for moderate nonattainment areas within the first full paragraph.
 Page 58  -  Reviewer recommends providing where a nonattainment area must submit the concentration-based contribution analysis to.
 Page 72-73  -  Reviewer recommends clarifying whether the following sentence will change the definition of base year in the transportation conformity rule.
 Accordingly, this final rule requires that the base year inventory for Moderate nonattainment areas must meet the following minimum criteria (1) through (7):
 Page 111  -  Reviewer recommends placing, at the beginning of a section on wildland fire, a summary of the impacts of wildfire emissions and management of the vegetation that is the source of those emissions.  The proposed text appears elsewhere in this Rule as well as in other rules, and will be a useful preface to EPA's discussion of the topic that follows.  Recommended text is provided below after the first full sentence within the final rule section:
 The large contribution that wildfire can make to air pollution (including PM2.5), and wildfire's threat to public safety is well understood.  It is further recognized that this effect can be mitigated through management of wildland vegetation, including through fuels treatments, prescribed fire and some wildfire. Such mitigation can help manage the contribution of fires to PM2.5 levels in nonattainment areas.
 Page 111  -  Reviewer recommends that the use of prescribed fire related to forestry activities (logging slash) be grouped with prescribed fire used for other land management and ecological applications, rather than with the burning of land clearing debris and agricultural residues.  The fact that timber removed may generate revenue to offset the cost of treatments or risk reductions should not be the determining factor in the category that prescribed fire is assigned.  Commercial timber harvest ad management of consequent slash are important tools for managing for timber value, ecosystem benefits and wildfire risk on forested wildlands (e.g., removed dead trees from beetle kill stands or reducing stand density to lessen the vulnerability of trees to beetle kill can be completed as commercial timber sales).  Furthermore, in the Exception Events proposed rule, managed timber is generally grouped with the wildlands, and with the use of fire for ecological benefits.  Reviewer recommends revising the sentence as stated below:
 There are other uses of prescribed fire and other types of burning that occur in nonattainment areas, or that affect downwind nonattainment areas, such as burning of land clearing debris, and agricultural burning, and burning of logging slash on land where the primary purpose of the logging is for commercial timber sale.  
 Page 112  -  Rather than simply reducing prescribed fire emissions, the reviewer suggests that a greater emphasis be placed on reducing impacts from emissions, which has a direct bearing on the purpose of the primary (human health) and secondary (ecosystem protection) air quality standards, as well as a role in the management and improvement of air quality in nonattainment areas.  Reviewer recommends revising the first full paragraph as provided below:
 The EPA also wants to clarify that it is not the intention to in any way discourage federal, state, local or tribal agencies or private land owners from taking situation-appropriate steps to minimize impacts from prescribed fires emissions from prescribed fires on wildlands. The EPA encourages all land owners and managers to apply appropriate basic smoke management practices to reduce impacts and emissions from prescribed fires, especially where a state has determined that prescribed fires are a significant source affecting air quality. The EPA believes that prescribed fire can be used where appropriate and with adequate oversight and diligent implementation, as prescribed fire mimics a natural process necessary to manage and maintain fire-adapted ecosystems and climate change adaptation, while reducing risk of uncontrolled emissions from catastrophic wildfires.  The EPA expects that communication and public comments on draft SIPs and on EPA actions on SIPs may help develop non-binding narratives within SIP submissions that address prescribed fire when it is determined to be a significant source within a nonattainment area.  However, for several reasons, the EPA does not believe it would be effective policy or technically appropriate to recommend that control measures for wildland fire be adopted into the SIP as enforceable measures and credited for emissions reductions (for PM2.5 and precursors) that would help the area attain the standard.
 Page 113  -  Reviewer recommends adding language that was previously discussed regarding wildland fire management policy and in the rationale for not including a wildland fire Reasonably Available Control Measure (RACM).
 Page 113  -  Reviewer recommends revising the sentence as stated below:
 Rather, it simply recommends that once this base level is established, PM2.5 plans should not attempt to expressly project changes in emissions from wildfires or prescribed fires on wildland within the nonattainment area, or in upwind areas included in the modeling domain, over the planning period due to changes in variability in wildfire occurrence and the use of prescribed fire, or other wildland fire management practices.  Moreover, the EPA anticipates that natural trends spatial and temporal patterns of wildland fire emissions will likewise be too uncertain for them to be allowed to have the effect of reducing or increasing the control requirement on conventional anthropogenic sources.
 Page 113  -  Reviewer recommends changing the wording form "some variability" in fire emissions to "high variability" in fire emissions.
 Page 114  -  Reviewer recommends a number of edits concerning the variability in wildfire occurrences as provided below:
 Rather, it simply recommends that once this base level is established, PM2.5 plans should not attempt to expressly project changes in emissions from wildfires or prescribed fires on wildland within the nonattainment area, or in upwind areas included in the modeling domain, over the planning period due to variability in wildfire occurrence and the use of prescribed fire, or other changes in wildland fire management practices. Moreover, the EPA anticipates that natural trends in recent spatial and temporal patterns of wildfire fire emissions will likewise be too uncertain for them to be allowed to have the effect of reducing or increasing the control requirement on conventional anthropogenic sources. The EPA believes that states should plan for the high variability of wildfire occurrence and the ability of landowners to use prescribed fire to mitigate some of the effects of increasing climate extremes. The EPA therefore recommends that baseline wildland fire emissions should generally be held constant over the planning period, regardless of whether wildland fire management practices by land managers are expected, and possibly encouraged, to change.
 Page 115  -  The EPA states that the policy does not require the use of prescribed fire.  Reviewer requests that, as a counterpart to that statement, clear language be inserted to describe that states, communities and land managers may wish to consider the use of fire and other vegetation management to mitigate risk.  Reviewer recommends adding the following sentence after the first full sentence in the second full paragraph:
 If wildfire risks are significant in a particular area, air agencies and communities may be able to lessen the impacts of wildfires by working collaboratively with land managers and land owners to employ various mitigation measures including taking steps to minimize fuel loading in areas vulnerable to fire through the use of fuels treatments, prescribed fire and some wildfires.  
 Page 117  -  Reviewer recommends EPA insert language that has previously been used in other rulemaking to assure EPA's commitment to work with states, tribes, federal land managers, other landowners and stakeholders to help determine an acceptable and appropriate way to use prescribed fire, within the context of air quality regulations and policies.  Reviewer recommends adding the sentence below at the end of the first paragraph:
 The EPA is committed to a dialogue with states, tribes, federal agencies and other stakeholders on an appropriate use of prescribed fires.  
 Page 159  -  Reviewer recommends adding the following sentence at the end of the 1[st] full paragraph that begins with "In addition, the commenters . . ."
 EPA and USDA are also working collaboratively to better understand agricultural ammonia related inputs to photochemical modeling in order to more accurately represent the emission and impacts of ammonia in relation to PM2.5.
 Page 190-195  -  Reviewer strongly recommends discussing some of the comments in detail within the preamble.  This is a rather significant policy change from the previous PM2.5 SIP and significant comments should be discussed in the same level of detail, if not more, than in other sections.
 Page 435  -  Reviewer recommends revising the following section as stated below:
 With regard to transportation conformity, the conformity grace period applies to all areas designated nonattainment for a new or revised PM2.5 NAAQS including the 2012 primary annual PM2.5 NAAQS. The requirements differ depending on whether the nonattainment area is within or adjacent to a includes any part of an MPO designated area designated under 23 U.S.C. 134 or is an isolated rural area. Within 1 year after the effective date of the initial nonattainment designation for a given pollutant and the NAAQS, the MPOs and DOT must make a transportation conformity determination with regard to that pollutant and standard for all of the metropolitan transportation plans and TIPs in the nonattainment area.
 Page 436  -  Reviewer recommends revising the sentence as stated below:
 During a conformity lapse, only certain projects can receive additional federal funding or approvals to proceed.
 Page 436  -  Reviewer recommends revising the sentence as stated below:
 Per the transportation conformity rule, an isolated rural area would be required to make a transportation conformity determination only at the point when a an applicable transportation project needs funding or approval.
 Page 439  -  Reviewer recommends revising the section as stated below:
 This means that, after the effective date of the revocation, areas redesignated to attainment for the 1997 annual PM2.5 NAAQS will no longer be required to make metropolitan transportation plan, TIP, or project-level transportation conformity determinations for that NAAQS. In addition, federal agencies will no longer be required to make conformity determinations for that NAAQS. Areas that remain designated nonattainment for the 1997 annual PM2.5 NAAQS will continue to make transportation plan, TIP, and project-level conformity determinations for that NAAQS and federal agencies will be required to continue to make conformity determinations for that NAAQS in these areas until such time as they attain that NAAQS and are redesignated to attainment (e.g. the effective date of the redesignation notice).
 Page 440, Table 3  -  Reviewer recommends revising the table as stated below:
          Attainment Status
          1997 Primary and Secondary Annual NAAQS
          2012 Primary Annual NAAQS
          Nonattainment
          X
          X
          Redesignated to Attainment (e.g., Maintenance)
          
          X
          
 Page 440, Table 3  -  Reviewer recommends clarifying what the note means as it is unclear.
 Page 441  -  Reviewer recommends clarifying whether EPA is making any similar changes to 40 CFR Part 93 for transportation precursors (e.g., 93.102) related to the sentence below:
 However, because the definition of precursors currently in the general conformity regulations at 40 CFR 93.152(b)(1) does not reflect the rebuttable presumptions for certain PM2.5 precursors, the EPA is finalizing changes to these conformity provisions to make them consistent with the agency's revised precursor requirements.
 Page 556  -  Reviewer recommends adding the following sentence after the sentence that starts "1) A comprehensive precursor demonstration must show . . ."
 It is not required to conduct a precursor analysis which includes wildland fire sources within the nonattainment area if these sources are found to be present.
 Page 560  -  Reviewer recommends adding the following sentence after the sentence that starts "The state shall include in this inventory projected emissions growth . . ."
 The inventory projection is not required for wildland fire sources.  
