[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 213 (Friday, November 2, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 55163-55164]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-24037]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[EPA-HQ-OAR-2018-0279; FRL-9986-01-OAR]
Release of Draft Integrated Review Plan for the Ozone National
Ambient Air Quality Standards
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice of availability.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: On or about October 29, 2018, the Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) is making available for public review the draft Integrated
Review Plan for the Ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standards (draft
IRP). This document contains the draft plans and the anticipated
schedule for the current review of the air quality criteria and
national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS) for photochemical
oxidants including ozone (O3). The primary and secondary
O3 NAAQS are set to protect the public health and the public
welfare from O3 in ambient air.
DATES: Comments must be received on or before December 3, 2018.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments and related information, identified by
Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2018-0279 to the Federal eRulemaking Portal:
https://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withdrawn.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 (e.g., 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://www2.epa.gov/dockets/commenting-epa-dockets.
This document will be available on the EPA's website at https://www.epa.gov/naaqs/ozone-o3-air-quality-standards. The document will be
accessible under ``Planning Documents'' from the current review.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Deirdre L. Murphy, Office of Air
Quality Planning and Standards, (Mail Code C504-06), U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park, NC 27711; telephone number:
919-541-0729, fax number: 919-541-027; or 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 the EPA
through https://www.regulations.gov or email. Clearly mark the part or
all of the information that you claim to be CBI. For CBI information on
any digital storage media that you mail to the EPA, mark the outside of
the digital storage media as CBI and then identify electronically
within the digital storage media 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. If you submit any digital storage media
that does not contain CBI, mark the outside of the digital storage
media clearly that it does not contain CBI. Information so marked will
not be disclosed except in accordance with procedures set forth in 40
Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) part 2. Send or deliver information
identified as CBI only to the following address: OAQPS Document Control
Officer (C404-02), OAQPS, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency,
Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, 27711, Attention Docket ID No.
EPA-HQ-OAR-2018-0279.
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.
[[Page 55164]]
II. Information About the Project
Two sections of the Clean Air Act (CAA or the Act) govern the
establishment and revision of the NAAQS. Section 108 directs the
Administrator to identify and list certain air pollutants and then
issue ``air quality criteria'' for those pollutants. The air quality
criteria are 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
such pollutant in the ambient air . . .'' (CAA section 108(a)(2)).
Under section 109 of the Act, the EPA is then to establish primary
(health-based) and secondary (welfare-based) NAAQS for each pollutant
for which the EPA has issued air quality criteria. Section 109(d)(1) of
the Act requires periodic review and, if appropriate, revision of
existing air quality criteria. Revised air quality criteria are to
reflect advances in scientific knowledge on the effects of the
pollutant on public health and welfare. Under the same provision, the
EPA is also to periodically review and, if appropriate, revise the
NAAQS, based on the revised air quality criteria.
The Act additionally requires appointment of an independent
scientific review committee that is to periodically review the existing
air quality criteria and NAAQS and to recommend any new standards and
revisions of existing criteria and standards as may be appropriate (CAA
section 109(d)(2)(A)-(B)). Since the early 1980s, the requirement for
an independent scientific review committee has been fulfilled by the
Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee (CASAC).
Presently the EPA is reviewing the air quality criteria and NAAQS
for photochemical oxidants and O3.\1\ The draft document
announced in this notice is being developed as part of the planning
phase for the review. The draft IRP has been prepared jointly by the
EPA's National Center for Environmental Assessment, within the Office
of Research and Development, and the Office of Air Quality Planning and
Standards, within the Office of Air and Radiation. This document will
be available on the EPA's website at https://www.epa.gov/naaqs/ozone-o3-air-quality-standards. The document will be accessible under
``Planning Documents'' from the current review.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ The EPA's call for information for this review was issued on
June 26, 2018 (83 FR 29785).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The draft IRP is being made available for consultation with CASAC
and for public comment. Comments should be submitted to the docket, as
described above, by December 3, 2018. A separate Federal Register
notice will provide details about this meeting and the process for
participation. The final IRP will be prepared in consideration of CASAC
and public comments. The draft document announced in this notice
presents the draft plan for this review, including the anticipated
timeline for the review, the expected process for conducting the
review, and the key policy-relevant science issues that are expected to
guide the review. This draft document does not represent and should not
be construed to represent any final EPA policy, viewpoint, or
determination.
Dated: October 29, 2018.
Panagiotis Tsirigotis,
Director, Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards.
[FR Doc. 2018-24037 Filed 11-1-18; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P