[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 34 (Wednesday, February 22, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 11356-11357]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-03432]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[EPA-HQ-OAR-2013-0566; FRL-9959-22-OAR]
Release of Risk and Exposure Assessment Planning Document for the
Review of the Primary National Ambient Air Quality Standards for Sulfur
Oxides
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice of availability.
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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is conducting a
periodic review of the air quality criteria and the primary National
Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for Sulfur Oxides
(SOX). On or about February 16, 2017, the EPA will make
available for public review the document titled Review of the Primary
National Ambient Air Quality Standards for Sulfur Oxides: Risk and
Exposure Assessment Planning Document (REA Planning Document). This
plan presents considerations and the proposed approach for conducting
quantitative analyses of sulfur dioxide (SO2) exposures and
health risks in this NAAQS review. This planning document is intended
to facilitate consultation with the Clean Air Scientific Advisory
Committee (CASAC) and public comment on plans for such quantitative
analyses.
DATES: Comments should be received on or before April 13, 2017.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-
OAR-2013-0566, 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 Once submitted, comments cannot be edited or withdrawn.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
[[Page 11357]]
http://www2.epa.gov/dockets/commenting-epa-dockets. The REA Planning
Document will be available primarily via the Internet at https://www.epa.gov/naaqs/sulfur-dioxide-so2-primary-standards-planning-documents-current-review.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Nicole Hagan, Office of Air
Quality Planning and Standards (Mail Code C504-06), U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park, NC 27711; telephone number:
919-541-3153; 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
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 assumption 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 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 CASAC.
Presently, the EPA is reviewing the air quality criteria and
primary NAAQS for SOx.\1\ The EPA's overall plan for this
review is presented in the Integrated Review Plan for the Primary NAAQS
for Sulfur Dioxide (IRP).\2\ The REA Planning Document considers the
degree to which important uncertainties identified in quantitative
analyses from previous reviews have been addressed by newly available
scientific evidence, tools, or information, including those in the
second draft Integrated Science Assessment for Sulfur Oxides--Health
Criteria (ISA).\3\ Based on these considerations, the document reaches
preliminary conclusions on the extent to which updated quantitative
analyses of exposures or health risks are warranted in the current
review. For updated analyses that are supported, this planning document
presents anticipated approaches to conducting such analyses. This
document will be available on or about February 16, 2017, on the EPA's
Technology Transfer Network Web site at https://www.epa.gov/naaqs/sulfur-dioxide-so2-primary-standards-planning-documents-current-review.
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\1\ The indicator for the current standard is SO2.
\2\ The IRP (EPA-452/R-14-007, October 2014) is available at
https://www.epa.gov/naaqs/sulfur-dioxide-so2-primary-standards-planning-documents-current-review.
\3\ The second draft ISA was made available to both CASAC and
the public in December 2016 (81 FR 89097) and is available at:
https://www.epa.gov/naaqs/sulfur-dioxide-so2-primary-standards-integrated-science-assessments-current-review.
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The REA Planning Document has been made available for consultation
with the CASAC at an upcoming public meeting of the CASAC. A separate
Federal Register notice will provide details about this meeting and the
process for participation. The EPA will also consider public comments
on the REA Planning Document that are submitted to the docket, as
described above.
Dated: February 13, 2017.
Stephen Page,
Director, Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards.
[FR Doc. 2017-03432 Filed 2-21-17; 8:45 am]
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