[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]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
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.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
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 Once submitted, comments cannot be edited or withdrawn.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:
[email protected].
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