5110 Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 20 / Friday, January 30, 2015 / Notices 

Dated: January 27, 2015. 

Cliff Rader, 

Director, NEPA Compliance Division, Office 

of Federal Activities. 

[FR Doc. 2015–01802 Filed 1–29–15; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

[Docket ID No. EPA–HQ–ORD–2013–0232; 

FRL–9922–21–ORD] 

Draft Integrated Science Assessment 

for Oxides of Nitrogen—Health Criteria 

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency. 

ACTION: Notice of Public Comment 

Period. 

SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA) is announcing a 60-day 

public comment period for the draft 

document titled, ‘‘Second External 

Review Draft Integrated Science 

Assessment for Oxides of Nitrogen— 

Health Criteria’’ (EPA/600/R–13/005). 

The draft document was prepared by the 

National Center for Environmental 

Assessment (NCEA) within EPA’s Office 

of Research and Development (ORD) as 

part of the review of the primary 

(health-based) National Ambient Air 

Quality Standards (NAAQS) for nitrogen 

dioxide (NO2). The Integrated Science 

Assessment (ISA), in conjunction with 

additional technical and policy 

assessments, provide the scientific basis 

for EPA decisions on the adequacy of 

the current NAAQS and the 

appropriateness of possible alternative 

standards. EPA is developing a separate 

ISA and NAAQS review for the 

secondary (welfare-based) NAAQS for 

NO2, in conjunction with a review of the 

secondary NAAQS for sulfur dioxide 

(78 FR 53452). 

EPA is releasing this draft document 

to seek review by the Clean Air 

Scientific Advisory Committee (CASAC) 

and the public (meeting date and 

location to be specified in a separate 

Federal Register notice). This draft 

document is not final as described in 

EPA’s information quality guidelines, 

and it does not represent and should not 

be construed to represent Agency policy 

or views. EPA will consider any public 

comments submitted in response to this 

notice when revising the document. 

DATES: The 60-day public comment 

period begins January 30, 2015, and 

ends March 31, 2015. Comments must 

be received on or before March 31, 2015. 

ADDRESSES: The ‘‘Second External 

Review Draft Integrated Science 

Assessment for Oxides of Nitrogen— 

Health Criteria’’ will be available 

primarily via the Internet on NCEA’s 

home page under the Recent Additions 

and Publications menus at http://

www.epa.gov/ncea or the public docket 

at http://www.regulations.gov, Docket 

ID: EPA–HQ–ORD–2013–0232. A 

limited number of CD–ROM copies will 

be available. Contact Ms. Marieka Boyd 

by phone: 919–541–0031; fax: 919–541– 

5078; or email: boyd.marieka@epa.gov 

to request a CD–ROM, and please 

provide your name, your mailing 

address, and the document title, 

‘‘Second External Review Draft 

Integrated Science Assessment for 

Oxides of Nitrogen—Health Criteria’’ to 

facilitate processing of your request. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For 

information on the public comment 

period, contact the ORD Docket at EPA’s 

Headquarters Docket Center; telephone: 

202–566–1752; facsimile: 202–566– 

9744; or email: Docket_ORD@epa.gov. 

For technical information, contact Dr. 

Molini Patel, NCEA; telephone: 919– 

541–1492; facsimile: 919–541–1818; or 

email: patel.molini@epa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Information About the Document 

Section 108(a) of the Clean Air Act 

directs the Administrator to identify 

certain pollutants that, among other 

things, ‘‘cause or contribute to air 

pollution which may reasonably be 

anticipated to endanger public health or 

welfare’’ and to issue air quality criteria 

for them. These 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. . . .’’ 

Under section 109 of the Act, the EPA 

is then to establish NAAQS for each 

pollutant for which EPA has issued 

criteria. Section 109(d) of the Act 

subsequently requires periodic review 

and, if appropriate, revision of existing 

air quality criteria to reflect advances in 

scientific knowledge on the effects of 

the pollutant on public health or 

welfare. EPA is also required to review 

and, if appropriate, revise the NAAQS, 

based on the revised air quality criteria 

(for more information on the NAAQS 

review process, see http://www.epa.gov/ 

ttn/naaqs/review.html). 

The oxides of nitrogen are one of six 

criteria pollutants for which EPA has 

established NAAQS. Periodically, EPA 

reviews the scientific basis for these 

standards by preparing an ISA (formerly 

called an Air Quality Criteria 

Document). The ISA, in conjunction 

with additional technical and policy 

assessments, provides the scientific 

basis for EPA decisions on the adequacy 

of the current NAAQS and the 

appropriateness of possible alternative 

standards. The CASAC, an independent 

science advisory committee whose 

review and advisory functions are 

mandated by Section 109(d)(2) of the 

Clean Air Act, is charged (among other 

things) with independent scientific 

review of EPA’s air quality criteria. 

On February 10, 2012 (77 FR 7149), 

EPA formally initiated its current 

review of the air quality criteria for the 

health effects of oxides of nitrogen and 

the primary (health-based) NO2 NAAQS, 

requesting the submission of recent 

scientific information on specified 

topics. EPA held a workshop on 

February 29 to March 1, 2012, to gather 

input from scientific experts, both 

internal and external to EPA, as well as 

from the public regarding key science 

and policy issues that will frame the 

review of the health effects of the oxides 

of nitrogen and the primary NO2

NAAQS (77 FR 7149, February 10, 

2012). 

The discussions at this workshop 

guided the development of EPA’s ‘‘Draft 

Plan for Development of the Integrated 

Science Assessment for Nitrogen 

Oxides—Health Criteria,’’ a draft 

‘‘Integrated Review Plan for the Primary 

NAAQS for Nitrogen Dioxide’’ (EPA– 

452/R–14–003) (IRP), and initial draft 

materials for the development of the 

ISA. The draft plan for the development 

of the ISA was made available for public 

comment on May 3, 2013 (78 FR 26026), 

and was discussed by CASAC via a 

publicly accessible teleconference 

consultation on June 5, 2013 (78 FR 

27234, May 9, 2013). On June 11, 2013, 

EPA held a workshop to discuss, with 

invited scientific experts, initial draft 

materials prepared for the development 

of the ISA (78 FR 27374, May 10, 2013). 

The draft IRP was made available in 

February 2014 for public comment and 

CASAC review (79 FR 7184, February 6, 

2014). The IRP was reviewed by CASAC 

at a public meeting on March 12, 2014 

(79 FR 8701, February 13, 2014). The 

final IRP was released in June 2014 (79 

FR 36801, June 30, 2014), and is 

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

naaqs/standards/nox/s_nox_2012_

pd.html. 

Comments on the draft plan for the 

ISA and discussion at the June 11, 2013, 

workshop guided development of the 

‘‘First External Review Draft Integrated 

Science Assessment for Oxides of 

Nitrogen—Health Criteria,’’ which was 

released on November 22, 2013 (78 FR 

70040), and is available at: http://

cfpub.epa.gov/ncea/isa/recor

display.cfm?deid=259167. The CASAC 


asabaliauskas on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 20 / Friday, January 30, 2015 / Notices 5111 

review panel for the oxides of nitrogen 

met at a public meeting on March 12– 

13, 2014, to review the draft ISA along 

with the draft IRP (79 FR 8701, February 

13, 2014). Subsequently, on June 10, 

2014, the CASAC panel provided a 

consensus letter for their review to the 

Administrator of EPA (http://

yosemite.epa.gov/sab/sabproduct.nsf/

264cb1227d55e02c85257402007446a4/

15E4619D3CD3409A85257CF300

69387D/$File/EPA-CASAC-14- 

002+unsigned.pdf). The second external 

review draft ISA was developed with 

consideration of comments received 

from CASAC and the public on the first 

external review draft ISA and includes 

consideration of scientific studies 

published through August 2014. The 

second external review draft ISA will be 

discussed by CASAC at a public 

meeting. In addition to the public 

comment period announced in this 

notice, the public will have an 

opportunity to submit written and/or 

oral comments related to the second 

external review draft ISA to CASAC. A 

separate Federal Register notice will 

inform the public of the exact date and 

time of that CASAC meeting and of the 

procedures for public participation. 

II. How To Submit Technical Comments 

to the Docket at www.regulations.gov 

Submit your comments, identified by 

Docket ID No. EPA–HQ–ORD–2013– 

0232, by one of the following methods: 

• www.regulations.gov: Follow the 

on-line instructions for submitting 

comments. 

• Email: Docket_ORD@epa.gov. 

• Fax: 202–566–9744. 

• Mail: U.S. Environmental 

Protection Agency, EPA’s Docket Center 

(ORD Docket), Mail Code: 28221T, 1200 

Pennsylvania Avenue NW., Washington, 

DC 20460. The phone number is 202– 

566–1752. 

• Hand Delivery: The ORD Docket is 

located in EPA’s Headquarters Docket 

Center, EPA West Building, Room 3334, 

1301 Constitution Avenue NW., 

Washington, DC. EPA’s Docket Center 

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. Such 

deliveries are only accepted during the 

docket’s normal hours of operation, and 

special arrangements should be made 

for deliveries of boxed information. If 

you provide comments by mail or hand 

delivery, please submit three copies of 

the comments. For attachments, provide 

an index, number pages consecutively 

with the comments, and submit an 

unbound original and three copies. 

Instructions: Direct your comments to 

Docket ID No. EPA–HQ–ORD–2013– 

0232. Please ensure that your comments 

are submitted within the specified 

comment period. Comments received 

after the closing date will be marked 

‘‘late,’’ and may only be considered if 

time permits. It is EPA’s policy to 

include all comments it receives in the 

public docket without change and to 

make the comments available online at 

www.regulations.gov, including any 

personal information provided, unless a 

comment includes information claimed 

to be Confidential Business Information 

(CBI) or other information whose 

disclosure is restricted by statute. Do 

not submit information through 

www.regulations.gov or email that you 

consider to be CBI or otherwise 

protected. The 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 

email comment directly to EPA without 

going through www.regulations.gov, 

your email 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. For additional information 

about EPA’s public docket visit EPA’s 

Docket Center homepage at 

www.epa.gov/epahome/dockets.htm. 

Docket: 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., CBI or other information whose 

disclosure is restricted by statute. 

Certain other materials, such as 

copyrighted material, are publicly 

available only in hard copy. Publicly 

available docket materials are available 

either electronically in 

www.regulations.gov or in hard copy at 

the ORD Docket in EPA’s Headquarters 

Docket Center. 

Dated: January 20, 2015. 

Gina Perovich, 

Acting Deputy Director, National Center for 

Environmental Assessment. 

[FR Doc. 2015–01606 Filed 1–29–15; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

[FRL–9922–12–OGC] 

Proposed Settlement Agreement 

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA). 

ACTION: Notice of Proposed Settlement 

Agreement; Request for Public 

Comment. 

SUMMARY: In accordance with section 

113(g) of the Clean Air Act, as amended 

(‘‘Act’’), notice is hereby given of a 

proposed settlement agreement to 

address lawsuits filed by Cliffs Natural 

Resources Inc. (‘‘Cliffs’’), ArcelorMittal 

USA LLC (‘‘ArcelorMittal’’), the State of 

Michigan (collectively, the 

‘‘Petitioners’’) in the United States Court 

of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit: Cliffs 

Natural Resources Inc., et al., v. EPA, 

No. 13–1758 (and consolidated case 

Nos. 13–1761, 13–2126, 13–2129, 13– 

2130) and Cliffs Natural Resources Inc., 

et al., v. EPA, No. 13–3573 (and 

consolidated case Nos. 13–3575, 14– 

1710, and 14–1712). Petitioners filed 

petitions for review challenging EPA’s 

final rule entitled ‘‘Approval and 

Promulgation of Air Quality 

Implementation Plans; States of 

Minnesota and Michigan; Regional Haze 

State Implementation Plan; Federal 

Implementation Plan for Regional Haze’’ 

78 FR 8706 (Feb. 6, 2013) (the ‘‘FIP 

Rule’’). Petitioners also filed petitions 

for review challenging EPA’s final rule 

entitled ‘‘Approval and Promulgation of 

Air Quality Implementation Plans; 

States of Michigan and Minnesota; 

Regional Haze,’’ 78 FR 59825 (Sept. 30, 

2013) (the ‘‘SIP Rule’’). The proposed 

settlement agreement establishes 

deadlines for EPA to take actions. 

DATES: Written comments on the 

proposed settlement agreement must be 

received by March 2, 2015. 

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, 

identified by Docket ID number EPA– 

HQ–OGC–2015–0003, online at 

www.regulations.gov (EPA’s preferred 

method); by email to 

oei.docket@epa.gov; by mail to EPA 

Docket Center, Environmental 

Protection Agency, Mailcode: 2822T, 

1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW., 

Washington, DC 20460–0001; or by 

hand delivery or courier to EPA Docket 

Center, EPA West, Room 3334, 1301 

Constitution Ave. NW., Washington, 

DC, between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. 

Monday through Friday, excluding legal 

holidays. Comments on a disk or CD– 

ROM should be formatted in Word or 

ASCII file, avoiding the use of special 

characters and any form of encryption, 


asabaliauskas on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES