UNITED ST ATES E N VI RON M E N T A L PR OTE C TION AGE NCY WASHING T O N D. C. 2046 0

OFFI CE OF THE A D M I N ISTR A T OR SCI E NCE A D VI SORY BO A RD
April 7, 2008

EPA-CASAC-08-009

Honorable S t ephen L. Johnson Adm i nistra tor U.S. Environm ental Protection Agency 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20460

Subject: Clean Air S c ientific Advisory Comm ittee Recommendations Concerning the Final Rule f o r the Natio n al Am bien t Air Quality Standards for Ozone

Dear Adm i nistrator Johnson:

The Clean Air Scientif ic Advisory Comm ittee (C ASAC or Comm ittee), a u gm ented by subjec t-m a tter-exp ert Pa nelis ts — co llec tive l y r e ferred to as the CASAC Ozone Review Panel —

m e t via a public advisory teleconference on Marc h 28, 2008. The purpose of this conference call was to hold follow-on discussions co ncerning the Final Rule f o r the Natio n al Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for ozone, which the Agency published on March 12, 2008. The Ozone Panel roster is attached as Appendix A.

In our m o st-recen t letters to you on this subject — EPA-CASAC-07-001, dated Octo ber 24, 2006, and EPA-CASAC-07-002, dated March 26, 2007 — the CASAC unanim ously recom

m e nded selection of an 8-hour average Ozone NAAQS within the range of 0.060 to 0.070 parts
per m illion f o r the pr im ary (hum an health -based ) Ozone NAAQS. Moreover, with r e gard to the secondary (welfare-related) ozone s t andard, th e Comm ittee recomm ende d an alternative secon

dary standard of cu m u lative form that is subs tantially different from the prim ary Ozon e NAAQS in averaging tim e, level and for m — specifically , the W 126 i ndex within the range of 7 to 15
ppm

- hours, accum u lated over at least the 12 “d ay light” hours and the th ree m a xi m u m ozone months of the summ er gr owing season.

The CASAC now wishes to convey, by m eans of this letter, its additional, unsolicited advice with regard to the prim ar y and secondary Ozone NAAQS. In doing so, the participating members of the CASAC Ozone Review Panel are unanimous in strongly urging you or your successor as E PA Administrator to en sure that these recommendations be considered during the

next re view cycle for th e Ozone NA AQS that will begin nex t y e ar.March 12, 2008 was the first tim e since 1997 th at the prim ary standard for ozone was updated, and the CASAC commends you for taking a st ep in the right direct ion by lowering the prim a ry eight-hour ozone s t andard fro m 0.08 pa rts per m illion to 0.075 ppm. The Committee is also pleased that the Agency has abandoned the ar tificial use of only two decim a l places for the standard, as reported in ppm

. As noted in the CASAC’s previous letters to you on this subject, this practice has allowed the rounding-down of ozone concentrations as high as 0.084 ppm to

m eet the previous standard of 0.08 ppm

.

Nevertheless

, the members of the CA SAC Ozone Review Panel do not en dorse the new primary ozone standard as being suffici ently protective of public health. T h e CASAC — as the Agency’s statutorily-established science advi sory comm ittee for advising you on the national

am bient air quality standards — unanimously recommended decreasing the prim ary standard to within th e range of 0.060–0.070 ppm

. It is the Co mmittee’s consensus scientific op inion that your decision to set the prim ary ozone standard a bove this range fails to satisfy the explicit stipulations of the Clean Air Act that you ensure an adequate m a rgin of saf e ty f o r all ind i v i duals, including s e ns itiv e populations.

As you are well aware, num e rous medical or ganizations and public health groups have also expressed their support of these CASAC reco mm endations. W e sincerely hope that, in light of these scientific judgm ents and the supporting scientific evid ence, you or your successor will select a m o re health-protective prim ary ozone standard during the upcoming review cycle.

The CASAC was also greatly disappointed th at you failed to change the for mof the secondary standard to m a ke it different from the prim ar y standard. As stated in the preamble to the Final Rule, even in th e previ ous 1996 ozone review, “there wa s general agreem ent between the EPA staff, CASAC, and the Adm i nistrator, ... th at a cum u lative, seasonal for mwas more biologically relevant than the pr evious 1-hour and new 8-hour aver age forms (61 FR 65716)” for the secondary standard. Therefore, in bo th the pr evio u s review an d in this rev i ew, the Age n cy sta ff and its advisors agreed that a chang e in the form of the secondar y standard was scientifically well- justifie d.

The CASAC was pleas ed to see that the EPA Deputy Adm i nistrator clearly articulated a robust scientific defense of this position when he responded to Ms. Susan Dudley of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) in a m e mora ndum dated March 7, 2008 that, “In light of the available inform ation, EPA believes that ozone-re lated effects on vegetati on are clearly linked to

cum u lative, seasonal exp o sures and are not app r o p ri ately ch aracterized by th e use of a short-term (8-hour) daily m easure o f ozone exposure.” Ho wever, the C o mm ittee was disappo in ted and surprised that written correspondence from OMB t o the Agency apparently thwarted the opportunity to take a m a jor step forward in setting a separate secondary ozone standard that is different in for m from the prim ary standard. The CASAC is pa rticularly dism ayed at the suggestion that setting a secondary NAAQS that is different from the prim ary NAAQS is so m e how against the law — which is not only at odds with a plain-language reading of the Clean Air Act but is also contrary to the Agency’s previous actions in setting a separate se condary standard for the initial NAAQS for both particulate m a tter and su lfur oxides, the latter of which ( i.e. , for SO 2 ) rem a ins in effect.

2Unfortunately, this scientifi cally-sound approach of usi ng a cum u lative exposure index for welfare effects was not adopted, and the defau lt position of using the pr im ary standard for the secondary s t andard was once again institu ted. K eeping th e s a m e for m for the second ary Ozone NAAQS as for the prim ary standard is not s upported by current scientific knowledge indicating that different indicator variables are needed to protect vegetation comp ared to public health. The CASAC wa s further disappointed th at a secondary standard of th e W 126 for mwas not considered from within the Committee’s previously -recomm ended range of 7 to 15 ppm

- hours. The CASAC sincerely hop es that, in th e n ext round o f

Ozone NAAQS review, the Agency will b e able to support and establish a reasonable and scientific ally-defensible cumula tive form for the secondary standard.

We recognize that it will be difficult to bring the country into comp liance with lower prim ary and secondary ozone standards. However, the fact that it is di fficult does not m ean that it is not achievable. The substa ntial progress m a de to date in lowering ambient ozone levels testif ies to this. The CASAC believes that, in the future, we as a nation ca n devise effective and efficient ways to decrease am bient ozone concen tra tions to a suf f i ciently health - and welfareprotective level. However, in ord e r to support th is vital objective, EPA’s recent record of not adequately funding ozone research m u st end. The CASAC strongly suppor ts the provision of additional fu nds to address the research needs th at Agency staff have identified as bein g necessary for inform ing the process of setting bot h the prim ary and secondary ozone standards.

As always, the m e mbers of the CASAC wish the Agency well in our crucial — and m u

tual — efforts to protect both hum an health and the environm ent.

S i n c e r e l y ,

/Signed/

Dr. Rogene F. Henderson, Chair Clean Air S c ientif ic Advisory Comm ittee

A ttachment: Appendix A

3

### NOTICE

This report has been written as part of the activ ities of the U.S. Environmental Protection A g ency’s (EP A ) Clean Air Scien tif ic Advisory Comm ittee (C ASAC), a Federal advisory comm ittee adm i nistratively-lo cated under the E P A Science Advisory Board (SAB) Staff Office that is char tered to provide extram ural sc ientif ic inf o rm ation and advice to the Adm i nistrator and ot her officials of the EPA. Th e CASAC is structured to provide balanced, expert assessm ent of scien tific m a tters related to issue and problem s facing the A g ency. This report has not been reviewed for approval by the Agency and, hence, the contents of th is repo rt do not n ecess a rily repres ent the views and policies o f the EPA, nor of other agencies in the Execu tive Branch of the Federal governm e nt, nor does m e ntion of trade nam e s or comm ercial products constitute a recommendation for use. CASAC reports are poste d on the SAB W e b site at: http://www.epa.gov/casac

.

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### Appendix A

–

### Roster of the CASA C O z one Review Panel

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Science Advisory Board (SAB) Staff Office Clean Air Scientific Advi sory Committee ( CASAC) CASAC Ozone Review Panel

CASA C MEMBERS Dr. Rogene Henderson (Chair) , Scientist E m eritus, Lovelace Respiratory Research Institute, Albuquerque, NM

Dr. Ellis Co wling , University Distinguished Profess or At-L arge, E m eritus, Colleges of Natural Resources and Agriculture and Life Sciences, No rth Ca rolina State University, Raleigh, NC

Dr. Jam es D. Crapo [M.D.] , Professor, Depart ment of Medicine, National Jewis h Medical and Resear ch Center, Denver, CO

Dr. Douglas Crawford-B rown , § Direc t or, Carolina Environm ental Program ; P r ofessor, Environm ental Sciences and Engineering; and Professor, Public Polic y, Depart m e n t of Environmental Scien ces and Engineering, University of North Carolin a at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC

Dr. Donna Kenski

, † Director of Data Analy s is, Lake Michigan Air Directors Co nsortium (LADCO), Rosem ont, IL

Dr. Ar mist e a d (Ted) Rus sell

, § Georgia Power Distinguished Profe ssor of Envir onm ental Engineering, Environm ental Engineering Group, School of Civil a nd Environm ental Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technolog y, Atlanta, GA

Dr. Jonathan Samet [M.D.]

, † Professor and Chair m an, Depart ment of Epidem iology , Bl oom berg School of Public Health, Johns Hopki ns Univer sity , Baltim ore, MD

PANEL MEMBERS
Dr. John Bal m es , Professor, Departm e nt of Medicin e , Univers ity of California San Francisc o, University of California

–San Francisco, San Francisco, California

Dr. William (Jim) Gauderman , Professor, Department of Preven tive Medicine, School of M e dicine, University of Southern Cali fornia, Los Angeles, CA

Dr. Paul J. Hanson , Senior Resear ch a nd Development Scientis t, Environm ental Science s D i vision, Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN

Dr. Jack Harkema

, * Professor, Depart ment of Pathobiology , C o l l ege of Veteri nary Medicine, Michigan State Univers ity, East Lansing, MI

Dr. Philip Hopke , Bay a rd D. Clarkson Distinguished Professor, Depart m e nt of Chem ical Engineering, Clarkson University , P o tsdam

, NY

A-1Dr. Michael T. Kleinman , Professor, Depart m e nt of Co mm unity & Environm e n tal Medicine, University of California

–Irvine, Irvine, CA

Dr. Allan Le gge , President, Biosphere Solutio ns, Calgary

, Alberta, Canada

Dr. Morton Lippm ann , Professor, Nelson Institute of Environm en tal Medicine, New York University School of Me dicine, Tuxed o , NY

Dr. Frederick J. Miller

, Consultant, C a ry , NC

Dr. Maria Morandi , Assis t ant Professor of Environmental Sc ience & Oc cupational Health, D e part m e nt of Envir onm ental Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Texas

–Houston Health Science Center, Houston, TX

Dr. Charles Plopper , Professor, Depar t m e nt of Anatom y , Phy s iology and Cell Biology

, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California

–Davis, Davis, Califo r nia

Mr. Richard L. Poirot , E nvironm ental Analy s t, Air Pollutio n Co ntrol Divisio n , Departm e n tof Environm ental Co nservation, Ver m ont Agency of Natural Resources, W a terbury

, VT

Dr. Eli z abeth A. (Lianne) Sheppard , Rese arch Professor, Biosta tistics and Environm ental & Oc cupational Health Sciences, Public Health an d Comm unity Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, WA

Dr. Frank Spei z er , Edward Kass Professor of Medicine, Channing Laborator y , Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA

Dr. Jam es Ultm an , Professor, Che m ical Engineering, Bioengineering Progra m , Pennsy l vania State University , Uni v ersity Park, P A

Dr. Sverr e V e dal , Professor of Medicine, Depart ment of E nvironmental and O ccupational Health Sciences, School of Public He alth and Comm unity Medi cine, University of Washington, Seattle, WA

Dr. James (J im) Z i dek , P r ofessor, Statistics, Science, Univers ity of British Colum b i a , Vanco uver, BC, Canada

Dr. Barbara Zi elinska , Research Professor, Division of Atm o sphe r i c Science, Desert R esearch Institute, Reno, NV

SCIEN C E A DVIS O RY B O AR D STA FF
Mr. Fred Bu tterfield , CASAC Designated Federal Officer, 1200 P e nnsy l vania Avenue, N.W., Washington, DC, 20 4 60, Ph one: 2 0 2 -343- 999 4, Fax: 202- 233 -0643 ( butterf ield.fred@epa.gov )

§ Dr . Cr aw fo r d

- B ro wn was ap poi nted t o t h e Clean Air Scien tific Adv i sory Co mmittee in Octob e r 200 6 ; Dr. Ru ssell

was a m e m b er of the C A SAC Ozone Re view Panel a n d was appoi nted t o t h e Clean Air Scientific Advis o ry C o m

mit t ee in O c t o b e r 200 6.
† Dr

. Ken s ki a n d Dr. Sam e t were a p p o inte d t o the Clean Air Scien tific Adviso ry C o mmit t ee in Octob e r 20 07

.

* D r. Hark em a d i d no t p articipate in th is curren t CASAC Ozo n e Rev i ew Pan e l activ ity.

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