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UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY 

REGION 8 

1595 Wynkoop Street 

DENVER, CO 80202-1129 

Phone 800-227-8917 

http://www.epa.gov/region08 

JUN 29 2011 

Ref: 8P-AR 

The Honorable Jack Dalrymple 

Governor of North Dakota 

State Capitol 

Bismarck, North Dakota 58505 

Dear Governor Dalrymple: 

Thank you for North Dakota's recommendations on air quality designations for the revised primary 

National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) for nitrogen dioxide (N02) throughout North Dakota. 

This letter is to notify you of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) response to North 

Dakota's designation recommendations, and to inform you of our approach for completing the 

designations for the revised N02NAAQS. 

On January 22, 2010, the EPA strengthened the health-based National Ambient Air Quality Standard for 

N02 by setting a new I-hour N02 standard at the level of 100 parts per billion (ppb). The EPA also 

retained with no change, the annual average N02 standard of 53 ppb. This suite of standards will protect 

public health by limiting people's exposures to short-term peak concentrations ofN02and by limiting 

community-wide N02 concentrations to levels below those that have been linked to respiratory-related 

emergency department visits and hospital admissions in the United States. To determine compliance 

with the new standard, the EPA established new ambient air monitoring and reporting requirements for 

N02. In urban areas, monitors are required near major roads as well as in other locations where 

maximum concentrations are expected. Additional monitors will be required in some large urban areas 

to measure the highest concentrations ofN02that occur more broadly across communities. 

In the preamble to the 2010 N02NAAQS and in the EPA's October 2010 letter to your predecessor 

requesting designation recommendations, the agency stated that it expected to designate most areas of 

the country as "unclassifiable," indicating that there are insufficient data to determine whether or not an 

area is attaining the revised N02NAAQS. This approach took into account that the new monitoring 

network requirements established with the revised N02 NAAQS will not be effective until January 2013 

and that air quality data from these new monitors would not be available to inform these initial 

designations. 

The agency has reviewed North Dakota's recommendations and others, and intends to designate all 

areas of North Dakota, as well as the rest of the country, as "unclassifiable/attainment" rather than 

"unclassifiable." Based on air quality data from 2008-2010, all monitored areas in the country meet the 

20 10 N02 NAAQS. While we acknowledge that the existing N02monitoring network does not provide 
adequate evidence to detennine whether or not the new NAAQS is met in all areas, there currently is no 

evidence of violations anywhere in the country. The "unclassifiable/attainment" designation better 

reflects the current air quality conditions. We plan to redesignate areas, as appropriate, after sufficient 

air quality data from the new monitoring network are available. 

We will designate North Dakota unclassifiable/attainment using the boundaries North Dakota 

recommended to the EPA or revised boundaries you may provide in response to this letter. In past 

designations for N02, for the majority of states, the area of the state where the air quality could not be 

classified, or was better than the national standards, was given a statewide, or rest-of-state designation. 

However, we recommend that you carefully consider the implications for the Prevention of Significant 

Deterioration (PSD) permitting program of having the entire state designated as a single area rather than 

smaller areas (e.g., counties, groups of counties, etc.). To ensure that the size of designated areas is 

consistent with your state's objectives for managing air quality deterioration and economic growth, we 

recommend that your permitting staff be consulted on the area boundary issues. 

If you have additional infonnation that you want the EPA to consider with respect to the EPA's 

designation, 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 comment period is published in the Federal Register. We will review any infonnation'we receive 

from the state of North Dakota and the general public by this date, and we plan to promulgate the final 

designations by October 31,2011. 

We look forward to a continued dialogue with you and your staff as we work together to implement the 

2010 N02 NAAQS. Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to call me, or have your staff 

contact Carl Daly of my staff at (303) 312-6416. 

Sincerely, 

es B. Martin 

R gional Administrator 

cc:	 L. David Glatt, Chief, EHS 

Terry O'Clair, Director, Air Quality 

Gina McCarthy, Assistant Administrator for Air and Radiation 

Stephen D. Page, Director, Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards