2936 Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 11 / Tuesday, January 19, 2010 / Rules and Regulations 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

40 CFR Part 81 

[EPA–HQ–OAR–2009–0476; FRL–9102–2] 

Extension of Deadline for 

Promulgating Designations for the 

2008 Ozone National Ambient Air 

Quality Standards 

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA). 

ACTION: Extension of deadline for 

promulgating designations. 

SUMMARY: EPA is announcing that it is 

using its authority under the Clean Air 

Act (CAA) to extend by 1 year the 

deadline for promulgating initial area 

designations for the ozone national 

ambient air quality standards (NAAQS) 

that were promulgated in March 2008. 

The new deadline is March 12, 2011. 

DATES: The deadline for EPA to 

promulgate designations for the 2008 

ozone NAAQS is March 12, 2011. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For 

questions regarding this action, contact 

Carla Oldham, Air Quality Planning 

Division, Office of Air Quality Planning 

and Standards, Mail Code C539–04, 

Environmental Protection Agency, 

Research Triangle Park, North Carolina 

27711; telephone number: 919–541– 

3347; fax number: 919–541–0824; email 

address: oldham.carla@epa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This 

preamble is organized as follows: 

I. General Information 

A. Does this action apply to me? 

B. Where can I get a copy of this document 

and other related information? 

II. Background 

A. Designations Requirements 

B. Reconsideration of the 2008 Ozone 

NAAQS 

III. Extension of Deadline for Promulgating 

Designations for the 2008 NAAQS 

I. General Information 

A. Does this action apply to me? 

Entities potentially affected by this 

action include state, local, and tribal 

governments that would participate in 

the initial area designation process for 

the 2008 ozone standards. 

B. Where can I get a copy of this 

document and other related 

information? 

EPA has established a docket for 

designations for the 2008 ozone NAAQS 

under Docket ID No. EPA–HQ–OAR– 

2009–0476. All documents in the docket 

are listed in the www.regulations.gov 

index. Although listed in the index, 

some information is not publicly 

available, e.g., confidential business 

information 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 

www.regulations.gov or in hard copy at 

the EPA Docket Center EPA/DC, EPA 

West, Room 3334, 1301 Constitution 

Ave., NW., Washington, DC. The Public 

Reading Room is open from 8:30 a.m. to 

4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, 

excluding legal holidays. The telephone 

number for the Public Reading Room is 

(202) 566–1744, and the telephone 

number for the EPA Docket Center is 

(202) 566–1742. 

An electronic copy of this notice is 

also available at http://www.epa.gov/ 

ozonedesignations. 

II. Background 

A. Designations Requirements 

On March 12, 2008, EPA promulgated 

revised 8-hour primary and secondary 

ozone NAAQS (73 FR 16436; March 27, 

2008). The primary standard was 

lowered from 0.08 parts per million 

(ppm) to a level of 0.075 ppm. EPA also 

lowered the secondary standard by 

making it identical in all respects to the 

revised primary standard. (The previous 

ozone NAAQS were set in 1997 and 

remain effective.) 

After EPA establishes or revises a 

NAAQS pursuant to CAA section 109, 

the CAA directs EPA and the states to 

begin taking steps to ensure that those 

NAAQS are met. The first step is to 

identify areas of the country that do not 

meet the new or revised NAAQS. This 

step is known as the initial area 

designations. Section 107(d)(1) of the 

CAA provides that, ‘‘By such date as the 

Administrator may reasonably require, 

but not later than 1 year after 

promulgation of a new or revised 

national ambient air quality standard for 

any pollutant under section 109, the 

Governor of each state shall * * * 

submit to the Administrator a list of all 

areas (or portions thereof) in the state’’ 

that designates those areas as 

nonattainment, attainment, or 

unclassifiable. The CAA defines an area 

as nonattainment if it is violating the 

NAAQS or if it is contributing to a 

violation in a nearby area. (CAA section 

107(d)(1)(A)(i).) 

The CAA further provides, ‘‘Upon 

promulgation or revision of a national 

ambient air quality standard, the 

Administrator shall promulgate the 

designations of all areas (or portions 

thereof) * * * as expeditiously as 

practicable, but in no case later than 2 

years from the date of promulgation of 

the new or revised national ambient air 

quality standard. Such period may be 

extended for up to 1 year in the event 

the Administrator has insufficient 

information to promulgate the 

designations.’’ (CAA section 

107(d)(1)(B).) 

After the states submit their 

recommendations, but no later than 120 

days prior to promulgating designations, 

EPA is required to notify a state of any 

intended modifications to the state’s 

recommended designation. The state 

then has an opportunity to demonstrate 

why any proposed modification is 

inappropriate. Whether or not a state 

provides a recommendation, EPA must 

promulgate the designation that the 

Agency deems appropriate within two 

years of promulgation of the NAAQS (or 

within three years if EPA extends the 

deadline). 

For the March 2008 ozone NAAQS, 

the deadline for states to submit 

designation recommendations to EPA 

for their areas was March 12, 2009. EPA 

has been evaluating these 

recommendations and conducting 

additional analyses to determine 

whether it is necessary to modify any of 

the state recommendations. EPA was 

originally intending to complete the 

initial designations for the 2008 ozone 

NAAQS on a 2-year schedule, by March 

12, 2010. 

B. Reconsideration of the 2008 Ozone 

NAAQS 

On September 16, 2009, the EPA 

Administrator announced that EPA 

would take rulemaking action to 

reconsider the 2008 primary and 

secondary ozone NAAQS to ensure the 

standards satisfy the CAA. The EPA 

stated that it would sign the ozone 

NAAQS reconsideration proposed rule 

by December 21, 2009, and would sign 

the ozone NAAQS reconsideration final 

rule by August 31, 2010. In addition, 

EPA indicated it would work with states 

to accelerate the area designations 

process and the timeframe for 

submission of attainment demonstration 

state implementation plans for any new 

standards promulgated in 2010 as a 

result of the reconsideration. This 

would limit delays associated with 

implementing any new standards. 

In a separate rulemaking action, 

which is being published simultaneous 

with this announcement, EPA is 

proposing to set different primary and 

secondary standards than those set in 

2008 to provide requisite protection of 

public health and welfare, respectively 

(Ozone NAAQS Reconsideration 

Proposal). In that Ozone NAAQS 

Reconsideration Proposal, EPA is 

proposing that the level of the 8-hour 


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Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 11 / Tuesday, January 19, 2010 / Rules and Regulations 2937 

1EPA’s action to reconsider the 2008 NAAQS is 

different than conducting a new ‘‘review and revise, 

as appropriate’’ action that CAA section 109(d)(1) 

requires EPA to take periodically. Under that 

statutory obligation, EPA considers the current state 

of knowledge, including new scientific information 

that has become available since promulgation of the 

most recent standard to consider whether the 

standard should be revised. Unlike a new periodic 

review, in this case, EPA is reconsidering the basic 

validity and appropriateness of the 2008 decision 

to promulgate the primary and secondary standards, 

restricting itself to consideration of the same 

scientific information that was before EPA when it 

adopted the 2008 standards. In a new periodic 

review, EPA evaluates the current state of 

knowledge, including more recent scientific 

information, and makes a new judgment about what 

standard is appropriate to protect public health 

(primary standard) and welfare (secondary 

standard) in light of the then current state of 

information. In that case, EPA would be required 

to address whether and how the implementation 

requirements for the replaced standard should 

continue to apply, see e.g., CAA section 172(e). 

primary standard, which was set at 

0.075 ppm in the 2008 final rule, should 

instead be set at a lower level to provide 

increased protection for children and 

other ‘‘at risk’’ populations against an 

array of ozone-related adverse health 

effects that range from decreased lung 

function and increased respiratory 

symptoms to serious indicators of 

respiratory morbidity. 

Additionally, in the Ozone NAAQS 

Reconsideration Proposal, EPA is 

proposing that the secondary ozone 

standard should be a cumulative, 

seasonal standard. Such a standard 

would provide increased protection 

against ozone-related adverse impacts 

on vegetation and forested ecosystems 

in comparison to the secondary 

standard promulgated in the 2008 

NAAQS final rule, which was identical 

to the revised primary standard. 

III. Extension of Deadline for 

Promulgating Designations for the 2008 

NAAQS 

As discussed above, in the Ozone 

NAAQS Reconsideration Proposal, EPA 

proposed to set primary and secondary 

ozone NAAQS that are different from 

and more protective than those 

promulgated in 2008. EPA intends to 

issue the final Ozone NAAQS 

Reconsideration Rule by August 31, 

2010. If, as proposed, EPA promulgates 

ozone NAAQS in 2010 that differ from 

those promulgated in 2008, any 

requirements to designate areas and 

implement the 2008 ozone NAAQS 

would no longer apply. Because the 

ozone NAAQS reconsideration 

rulemaking action is a reconsideration 

of the 2008 ozone NAAQS, rather than 

a new periodic NAAQS review under 

CAA section 109(d)(1), a decision to 

promulgate different standards would 

result in a full replacement of the 2008 

ozone NAAQS.1 In other words, if as 

proposed, EPA concludes in the final 

Ozone NAAQS Reconsideration 

rulemaking that the 2008 ozone 

standards are not requisite to protect 

public health and welfare and 

promulgates different ozone standards, 

there would be no obligation to 

implement the 2008 ozone standards, 

which the final rule would have 

determined to be invalid. In this case, 

the designations process for the 2008 

standards would be terminated. 

Pursuant to the CAA, states and EPA 

would then begin a new designations 

process for the newly promulgated 

ozone standards. 

Because of the significant uncertainty 

that the Ozone NAAQS Reconsideration 

Proposal creates regarding the 

continued applicability of the 2008 

NAAQS, EPA has determined that there 

is insufficient information at this time to 

promulgate designations. Therefore, in 

this action, EPA is announcing that it is 

using its authority under section 

107(d)(1)(B) of the CAA to extend by 1 

year the deadline for promulgating 

initial area designations for the March 

2008 ozone NAAQS. The new deadline 

is March 12, 2011. Extending the 

deadline for promulgating designations 

until March 12, 2011, will allow EPA to 

complete the Ozone NAAQS 

Reconsideration rulemaking before 

determining whether it is necessary to 

complete action to finalize designations 

for the 2008 ozone NAAQS or, instead, 

whether it is necessary to begin the 

designations process for different 

NAAQS promulgated pursuant to the 

reconsideration. If EPA does not timely 

complete its reconsideration of the 2008 

ozone NAAQS, EPA will move forward 

to complete designations for the 2008 

standards no later than March 12, 2011 

pursuant to the designations 

recommendations that states have 

already submitted to EPA for the 2008 

standards. 

On September 16, 2009, when the 

EPA Administrator announced her 

decision to reconsider the 2008 ozone 

NAAQS, the Agency also stated its 

intention to accelerate the designations 

process for any 2010 ozone NAAQS 

resulting from the reconsideration. 

EPA has proposed the designations 

schedule for any 2010 ozone NAAQS as 

part of the Ozone NAAQS 

Reconsideration rulemaking action. 

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 81 

Environmental protection, Air 

pollution control, National parks, 

Wilderness areas. 

Dated: January 6, 2010. 

Lisa P. Jackson, 

Administrator. 

[FR Doc. 2010–349 Filed 1–15–10; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P 


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