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[Federal Register: September 21, 2010 (Volume 75, Number 182)]
[Notices]               
[Page 57463-57465]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr21se10-54]                         

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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-OAR-2007-1145; FRL-9204-1]

 
Review of the Secondary National Ambient Air Quality Standards 
for Oxides of Nitrogen and Oxides of Sulfur

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of availability of draft report.

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SUMMARY: On or about September 13, 2010, the Office of Air Quality 
Planning and Standards (OAQPS) of EPA is making available a draft 
report, Policy Assessment for the Review of the Secondary National 
Ambient Air Quality Standards for Oxides of Nitrogen and Oxides of 
Sulfur: Second External Review Draft. The EPA is releasing this 
preliminary draft document to seek early consultation with the Clean 
Air Scientific Advisory Committee (CASAC) and to solicit public comment 
on the overall structure, framing of key issues and conclusions 
regarding options for key elements of the standards.

DATES: Comments should be submitted on or before November 12, 2010.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-
OAR-2007-1145, by one of the following methods:
    http://www.regulations.gov: Follow the on-line 
instructions for submitting comments.
     E-mail: Comments may be sent by electronic mail (e-mail) 
to a-and-r-

[[Page 57464]]

docket@epa.gov, Attention Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2007-1145.
     Fax: Fax your comments to 202-566-9744, Attention Docket 
ID. No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2007-1145.
     Mail: Send your comments to: Air and Radiation Docket and 
Information Center, Environmental Protection Agency, Mailcode: 2822T, 
1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460, Attention Docket ID 
No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2007-1145.
     Hand Delivery or Courier: Deliver your comments to: EPA 
Docket Center, 1301 Constitution Ave., 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-
2007-1145. 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 http://www.regulations.gov, including any personal 
information provided, unless the comment includes information claimed 
to be Confidential Business Information (CBI) or other information 
whose disclosure is restricted by statute. Do not submit information 
that you consider to be CBI or otherwise protected through http://www.regulations.gov or e-mail. The http://www.regulations.gov Web site 
is an ``anonymous access'' system, which means EPA will not know your 
identity or contact information unless you provide it in the body of 
your comment. If you send an e-mail comment directly to EPA without 
going through http://www.regulations.gov, your e-mail 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, 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 EPA cannot read your comment due to 
technical difficulties and cannot contact you for clarification, 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.
    Docket: All documents in the docket are listed in the http://www.regulations.gov index. Although listed in the index, some 
information is not publicly available, e.g., CBI or other information 
whose disclosure is restricted by statute. Certain other material, such 
as copyrighted material, will be publicly available only in hard copy. 
Publicly available docket materials are available either electronically 
in http://www.regulations.gov or in hard copy at the Air Docket in the 
EPA Docket Center, EPA West, Room 3334, 1301 Constitution Ave., NW., 
Washington, DC. This Docket Facility is open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 
p.m. Monday through Friday, excluding legal holidays. The Docket 
telephone number is 202-566-1742; fax 202-566-9744.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Bryan Hubbell, Office of Air 
Quality Planning and Standards (Mail code C504-02), U.S. Environmental 
Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park, NC 27711; e-mail: 
hubbell.bryan@epa.gov; telephone: 919-541-0621; fax: 919-541-0804.

General Information

    A. What should I consider as I prepare my comments for EPA?
    1. Submitting CBI. Do not submit this information to EPA through 
http://www.regulations.gov or e-mail. 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 CFR part 2.
    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.
     Make sure to submit your comments by the comment period 
deadline identified.
    Under section 108(a) of the Clean Air Act (CAA), the Administrator 
identifies and lists certain pollutants which ``cause or contribute to 
air pollution which may reasonably be anticipated to endanger public 
health or welfare.'' The EPA then issues air quality criteria for 
listed pollutants, which are commonly referred to as ``criteria 
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 [a] pollutant in the ambient air, in 
varying quantities.'' Under section 109 of the CAA, EPA establishes 
national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS) for each listed 
pollutant, with the NAAQS based on the air quality criteria. Section 
109(d) of the CAA 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.
    The EPA is currently conducting a joint review of the existing 
secondary (welfare-based) NAAQS for oxides of nitrogen (NOX) 
and oxides of sulfur (SOX). Because NOX, 
SOX, and their associated transformation products are linked 
from an atmospheric chemistry perspective as well as from an 
environmental effects perspective, and because of the National Research 
Council's 2004 recommendations to consider multiple pollutants in 
forming the scientific basis for the NAAQS, EPA has decided to jointly 
assess the science, risks, and policies relevant to protecting the 
public welfare associated with NOX and SOX. This 
is the first time since NAAQS were established in 1971 that a joint 
review of these two pollutants has been conducted. Since both the CASAC 
and EPA have recognized these interactions historically, and the 
science related to these interactions has continued to evolve and grow 
to the present day, there is a strong basis for considering them 
together.
    As part of this review of the current secondary (welfare-based) 
NAAQS for NOX and SOX, EPA's OAQPS staff are 
preparing a second draft Policy Assessment. The objective of this 
assessment is to evaluate the policy

[[Page 57465]]

implications of the key scientific information contained in the 
document Integrated Science Assessment for Oxides of Nitrogen and 
Sulfur-Ecological Criteria (http://cfpub.epa.gov/ncea/cfm/recordisplay.cfm?deid=201485), prepared by EPA's National Center for 
Environmental Assessment (NCEA) and the results from the analyses 
contained in the Risk and Exposure Assessment for Review of the 
Secondary National Ambient Air Quality Standards for Oxides of Nitrogen 
and Oxides of Sulfur(http://www.epa.gov/ttn/naaqs/standards/no2so2sec/cr_rea.html). The second draft Policy Assessment will be available 
online at: http://www.epa.gov/ttn/naaqs/standards/no2so2sec/index.html. 
This second draft Policy Assessment will be reviewed by the CASAC 
during a public meeting to be held October 6 and 7, 2010. Information 
about this public meeting will be available at http://yosemite.epa.gov/sab/sabpeople.nsf/WebCommittees/CASAC.

    Dated: September 13, 2010.
Alison Davis,
Acting Director, Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards.
[FR Doc. 2010-23540 Filed 9-20-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P
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