UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY REGION IX 75 Hawthorne Street San Francisco, CA 94105·3901

OFFICE OF THE REGIONAL ADMINISTRATOR 

## JUN 29 (ull
The Honorable Mark Macarro Chairman Pechanga Band ofLuiseno Mission Indians Post Office Box 1477 Temecula, California 92593
DearChairman Macarro: Thank you for your recommendation on the air quality designation for the revised primary National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) for nitrogen dioxide (N02 ) on behalfofthe Pechanga Band of Luiseno Mission Indians. This letter is to notify you ofthe U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) preliminary decision to designate the Pechanga Reservation as unclassifiable/attainment and to inform you ofour approach for completing the designations for the revised N02NAAQS. On January 22,2010, the EPA strengthened the health-based NAAQS for N02by setting a new I-hour N02standard at the level of 100 parts per billion (ppb). The EPA also retained with no change, the annual average N02standard of53 ppb. This suite ofstandards will protectpublic health by limiting people's exposures to short-term peak concentrations ofN02 and by limiting community-wide N02 concentrations to levels below those thathave been linked to respiratory-related emergency department visits and hospital admissions in the United States.
In ourNovember 2010 letter to you requesting designation reconunendations, the EPA stated that it expected to designate most areas ofthe country as "unclassifiable," indicating that there are insufficient data to determine whetherornot an area is attaining the revised N02NAAQS. This approach took into account that the new monitoring network requirements established with the revised N02NAAQS will not be in place until January 2013 and that air quality data from these new monitors would not be available to inform these initial designations. The EPA has reviewed yourreconunendations and intends to designate the Pechanga Reservation as "unclassifiable/attainment" rather than "unclassifiable." While the EPA acknowledges that the existing N02monitoring network does notprovide adequate evidence to determine whether or not the new NAAQS is met in all areas, there currently is no evidence ofviolations anywhere. The "unclassifiablel attainment" designation betterreflects the current air quality conditions. The EPA intends to redesignate areas, as appropriate, after sufficient air quality data from the new monitoring network are available. Ifyou have additional information that you want the EPA to consider with respect to the designation of the Pechanga Reservation, please submit it to us by August 29,2011. We are also making the EPA's preliminary designation decisions and supporting documentation available to the general public for review. We are accepting public comments on our preliminary decisions for 30 days after a notice announcing the public commentperiod is published in the FederalRegister. We will review any

Printed on Recycled Papl'rinformation we receive from you and the general public by this date, and we plan to promulgate the final designations by October 31, 2011.
Welookforward to a continued dialogue with you and your staffas we work together to implementthe 2010 N02NAAQS. Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to call me, orhave your staff contactColleen McKaughan ofmy staffat 520-498-0118. Sincerely,

cc: Ms. Syndi Smallwood, Environmental DepartmentDirector