[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 176 (Wednesday, September 11, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 47944-47945]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-19627]



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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-OAR-2015-0072; FRL-9998-63-OAR]


Release of a Draft Document Related to the Review of the National 
Ambient Air Quality Standards for Particulate Matter

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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SUMMARY: On or about September 4, 2019, the Environmental Protection 
Agency (EPA) will make available for public comment a draft document 
titled, Policy Assessment for Review of the National Ambient Air 
Quality Standards for Particulate Matter, External Review Draft (Draft 
PA). This draft document was prepared as part of the current review of 
the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for Particulate 
Matter (PM). When final, the PA is intended to ``bridge the gap'' 
between the currently available scientific information and the 
judgments required of the Administrator in determining whether to 
retain or revise the existing NAAQS for PM.

DATES: Comments should be received on or before November 12, 2019.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by docket ID number EPA-HQ-
OAR-2015-0072, by any of the following methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: https://www.regulations.gov 
(our preferred method). Follow the online instructions for submitting 
comments.
     Email: a-and-r-Docket@epa.gov. Include the Docket ID No. 
EPA-HQ-OAR-2015-0072 in the subject line of the message.
     Fax: (202) 566-9744. Include the Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-
2015-0072 in the subject line of the message.
     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/Courier: 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 PA will 
be available primarily via the internet at https://www.epa.gov/naaqs/particulate-matter-pm-air-quality-standards.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Scott Jenkins, Office of Air 
Quality Planning and Standards (Mail Code C504-06), U.S. Environmental 
Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park, NC 27711; telephone number: 
919-541-1167; fax number: 919-541-5315; email: jenkins.scott@epa.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. General Information

Written Comments

    Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2015-
0072, 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 
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 submission. The written submission is 
considered the official submission and should include discussion of all 
points you wish to make. The EPA will generally not consider 
submissions or submission content 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 https://www.epa.gov/dockets/commenting-epa-dockets.

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 his ``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 . . .'' (42 U.S.C. 7408(a)(1)(A)-(C)). 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(a)(2)). 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 Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee (CASAC).
    Presently, the EPA is reviewing the air quality criteria and NAAQS 
for PM. The EPA's overall plan for this review is presented in the 
Integrated Review Plan for the National Ambient Air Quality Standards 
for Particulate Matter (IRP).\1\ A draft of the Integrated Science 
Assessment for Particulate Matter (ISA) \2\ was reviewed by the CASAC 
at a public meeting in December 2018 (83 FR 55529, November 6, 2018) 
and discussed on a public teleconference in March 2019 (84 FR 8523, 
March 8, 2019). The draft PA announced today draws from the scientific 
evidence assessed in the draft ISA, together with the results of air 
quality and other quantitative analyses, as available. When final, the 
PA is intended to ``bridge the gap'' between the scientific and 
technical information available in the review and the judgments 
required of the Administrator in determining whether to retain or 
revise the existing PM NAAQS. The draft PA will be available on or 
about September 4, 2019,

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on the EPA's website at https://www.epa.gov/naaqs/particulate-matter-pm-air-quality-standards.
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    \1\ The IRP (EPA-452/R-16-005, December 2016) is available at 
https://www.epa.gov/naaqs/particulate-matter-pm-standards-planning-documents-current-review.
    \2\ The draft ISA for PM (EPA/600/R-18/179, October 2018) is 
available at http://cfint.rtpnc.epa.gov/ncea/prod/recordisplay.cfm?deid=341593.
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    The EPA is soliciting advice and recommendations from the CASAC by 
means of a review of the draft PA at an upcoming public meeting. 
Information about this public meeting, including the dates and 
location, 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 the 
draft PA.
    The documents briefly described above do 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 draft PA.

     Dated: September 3, 2019.
Panagiotis Tsirigotis,
Director, Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards.
[FR Doc. 2019-19627 Filed 9-10-19; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6560-50-P


