[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 244 (Tuesday, December 20, 2011)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 78872-78874]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-32557]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 81
[EPA-HQ-OAR-2008-0476; FRL- 9608-6]
EPA Responses to State and Tribal 2008 Ozone Designation
Recommendations: Notice of Availability and Public Comment Period
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice of availability and public comment period.
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SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that the EPA has posted its responses
to state and tribal designation recommendations for the 2008 Ozone
National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) on the Agency's Internet
Web site. The EPA invites public comments on its responses during the
comment period
[[Page 78873]]
specified in the DATES section. The EPA sent responses directly to the
states and tribes on or about December 9, 2011, and intends to make
final designation determinations for the 2008 Ozone NAAQS in spring
2012.
DATES: Comments must be received on or before January 19, 2012. Please
refer to SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION for additional information on the
comment period.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-OAR-
HQ-2008-0476, by one of the following methods:
http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the online instructions
for submitting comments.
Email: a-and-r-docket@epa.gov. Attention Docket ID No.
EPA-HQ-OAR-2008-0476.
Fax: (202) 566-9744. Attention Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-
2008-0476.
Mail: Air Docket, Attention Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2008-
0476, Environmental Protection Agency, Mail Code: 6102T, 1200
Pennsylvania Ave. NW., Washington, DC 20460.
Hand Delivery: EPA Docket Center, 1301 Constitution Avenue
NW., Room 3334, Washington, DC. Such deliveries are only accepted
during the Docket's normal hours of operation, and special arrangements
should be made for deliveries of boxed information.
Instructions: Direct your comments to Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-
2008-0476. The EPA's policy is that all comments received will be
included in the public docket without change and may be made available
online at www.regulations.gov, including any personal information
provided, unless the comment includes information claimed to be
confidential business information or other information whose disclosure
is restricted by statute. Do not submit information that you consider
to be confidential business information or otherwise protected through
www.regulations.gov or email. The www.regulations.gov web site is an
``anonymous access'' system, which means the EPA will not know your
identity or contact information unless you provide it in the body of
your comment. If you send an email comment directly to the EPA without
going through www.regulations.gov, your email address will be
automatically captured and included as part of the comment that is
placed in the public docket and made available on the Internet. If you
submit an electronic comment, the EPA recommends that you include your
name and other contact information in the body of your comment and with
any disk or CD-ROM you submit. If the EPA is unable to read your
comment and cannot contact you for clarification due to technical
difficulties, the EPA may not be able to consider your comment.
Electronic files should avoid the use of special characters, any form
of encryption, and be free of any defects or viruses. For additional
information about the EPA's public docket, visit the EPA Docket Center
homepage at http://www.epa.gov/epahome/dockets.htm. For additional
instructions on submitting comments, go to Section II of the
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this document.
Docket: All documents in the docket are listed in the
www.regulations.gov index. Although listed in the index, some
information is not publicly available, i.e., confidential business
information or other information whose disclosure is restricted by
statute. Certain other material, such as copyrighted material, is not
placed on the Internet and will be publicly available only in hard copy
form. Publicly available docket materials are available either
electronically in www.regulations.gov or in hard copy at the EPA Docket
Center, EPA West, Room 3334, 1301 Constitution Avenue NW., Washington,
DC. The Public Reading Room is open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday
through Friday, excluding legal holidays. The telephone number for the
Public Reading Room is (202) 566-1744, and the telephone number for the
Air Docket is (202) 566-1742.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For general questions concerning this
action, please contact Carla Oldham, U.S. EPA, Office of Air Quality
Planning and Standards, Air Quality Planning Division, C539-04,
Research Triangle Park, NC 27711, telephone (919) 541-3347, email at
oldham.carla@epa.gov. For questions about areas in the EPA Region 1,
please contact Richard Burkhart, U.S. EPA, telephone (617) 918-1664,
email at burkhart.richard@epa.gov. For questions about areas in the EPA
Region 2, please contact Bob Kelly, U.S. EPA, telephone (212) 637-3709,
email at kelly.bob@email.gov. For questions about areas in the EPA
Region 3, please contact Maria Pino, U.S. EPA, telephone (215) 814-
2181, email at pino.maria@epa.gov. For questions about areas in the EPA
Region 4, please contact Jane Spann, U.S. EPA, telephone (404) 562-
9029, email at spann.jane@epa.gov. For questions about areas in the EPA
Region 5, please contact Edward Doty, U.S. EPA, telephone (312) 886-
6057, email at doty.edward@epa.gov. For questions about areas in the
EPA Region 6, please contact Guy Donaldson, U.S. EPA, telephone (214)
665-7242, email at donaldson.guy@epa.gov. For questions about areas in
the EPA Region 7, please contact Lachala Kemp, U.S. EPA, telephone
(913) 551-7214, email at kemp.lachala@epa.gov. For questions about
areas in the EPA Region 8, please contact Scott Jackson, U.S. EPA,
telephone (303) 312-6107, email at jackson.scott@epa.gov. For questions
about areas in the EPA Region 9, please contact John J. Kelly, U.S.
EPA, telephone (415) 947-4151, email at kelly.johnj@epa.gov. For
questions about areas in EPA Region 10, please contact Claudia Vaupel,
U.S. EPA, telephone (206) 553-6121, email at vaupel.claudia@epa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background and Purpose
On March 12, 2008, the EPA revised the NAAQS for ozone to provide
increased protection of public health and welfare from ozone pollution
(73 FR 16436; March 27, 2008). The process for designating areas
following promulgation of a new or revised NAAQS is contained in Clean
Air Act (CAA) section 107(d) (42 U.S.C. 7407). Following the
promulgation of a new or revised standard, each governor or tribal
leader has an opportunity to recommend air quality designations,
including the appropriate boundaries for nonattainment areas, to the
EPA. The EPA considers these recommendations as part of its duty to
promulgate the formal area designations and boundaries for the new or
revised standards. By no later than 120 days prior to promulgating
designations, the EPA is required to notify states and tribes of any
intended modification to an area designation or boundary recommendation
that the EPA deems necessary. On or around December 9, 2011, the EPA
notified states and tribes of its intended area designations for the
2008 Ozone NAAQS. States and tribes now have an opportunity to
demonstrate why they believe an intended modification by the EPA may be
inappropriate. The EPA encouraged states and tribes to provide comments
and additional information for consideration by the EPA in finalizing
designations. The EPA plans to make final designation decisions for the
2008 Ozone NAAQS in spring 2012.
The purpose of this notice is to solicit public comments from
interested parties other than states and tribes on the EPA's recent
responses to the state and tribal
[[Page 78874]]
designation recommendations for the 2008 Ozone NAAQS. These responses
can be found on the EPA's Internet Web site at http://www.epa.gov/ozonedesignations and also in the public docket for ozone designations
at Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2008-0476. The CAA section 107(d) provides
a process for designations that involves recommendations by states and
tribes to the EPA and responses from the EPA to those parties, prior to
the EPA promulgating final designations and boundaries. The EPA is not
required under the CAA section 107(d) to seek public comment during the
designation process, but is electing to do so for the 2008 Ozone NAAQS
in order to gather additional information for the EPA to consider
before making final designations. The EPA invites public comment on its
responses to states and tribes during the 30-day comment period
provided by this notice. Due to the statutory timeframe for
promulgating designations set out in the CAA section 107(d), the EPA
will not be able to consider any public comments submitted after
January 19, 2012. This notice and opportunity for public comment does
not affect any rights or obligations of any state, tribe or the EPA
which might otherwise exist pursuant to the CAA section 107(d).
Please refer to the ADDRESSES section above in this document for
specific instructions on submitting comments and locating relevant
public documents.
In establishing nonattainment area boundaries, the EPA is required
to identify the area that does not meet the 2008 Ozone NAAQS and any
nearby area that is contributing to the area that does not meet that
standard. We are particularly interested in receiving comments,
supported by relevant information, if you believe that a specific
geographic area that the EPA is proposing to identify as a
nonattainment area should not be categorized by the CAA section 107(d)
criteria as nonattainment, or if you believe that a specific area not
proposed by the EPA to be identified as a nonattainment area should in
fact be categorized as nonattainment using the CAA section 107(d)
criteria. Please be as specific as possible in supporting your views.
Describe any assumptions and provide any technical
information and/or data that you used.
Provide specific examples to illustrate your concerns, and
suggest alternatives.
Explain your views as clearly as possible.
Make sure to submit your comments by the comment period
deadline identified in the DATES section above.
II. Instructions for Submitting Public Comments
What should I consider as I prepare my comments for the EPA?
1. Submitting Confidential Business Information. Do not submit this
information to the EPA through www.regulations.gov or email. Clearly
mark the part or all of the information that you claim to be
confidential business information. For confidential business
information in a disk or CD-ROM that you mail to the EPA, mark the
outside of the disk or CD-ROM as confidential business information and
then identify electronically within the disk or CD-ROM the specific
information that is claimed as confidential business information. In
addition to one complete version of the comment that includes
information claimed as confidential business information, a copy of the
comment that does not contain the information claimed as confidential
business information 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 CFR part 2. Send or deliver
information identified as confidential business information only to the
following address: Roberto Morales, U.S. EPA, Office of Air Quality
Planning and Standards, Mail Code C404-02, Research Triangle Park, NC
27711, telephone (919) 541-0880, email at morales.roberto@epa.gov,
Attention Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2008-0476.
2. Tips for Preparing Your Comments. When submitting comments,
remember to:
Identify the rulemaking 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 Code of
Federal Regulations (CFR) part or section number.
Explain why you agree or disagree; suggest alternatives
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.
III. Internet Web Site for Rulemaking Information
The EPA has also established a Web site for this rulemaking at
www.epa.gov/ozonedesignations. The Web site includes the state and
tribal designation recommendations, information supporting the EPA's
preliminary designation decisions, as well as the rulemaking actions
and other related information that the public may find useful.
Dated: December 13, 2011.
Jennifer Noonan Edmonds,
Acting Director, Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards.
[FR Doc. 2011-32557 Filed 12-19-11; 8:45 am]
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