Date: April 8, 2016

MEMORANDUM

SUBJECT: List of Public Comments Submissions Made In Response to the May 15, 2014 Proposed Rule to 

Rescind the Determination of Attainment and Call for Attainment Plans for the New York-N. 

New Jersey-Long Island, NY-NJ-CT 1997 Ozone Nonattainment Area

FROM: H. Lynn Dail, Project Lead

 State and Local Programs Group, Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards

 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

 Research Triangle Park, North Carolina

TO: Docket EPA-HQ-OAR-2015-0468

In the Federal Register (79 FR 27830), dated May 15, 2014, The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) 

proposed to rescind its previously issued determination of attainment (Clean Data Determination) for 

the 1997 8-hour ozone standard for the New York-N. New Jersey-Long Island, (NY-NJ-CT) ozone 

nonattainment area because recent complete, quality-assured monitoring data show that the area had

subsequently violated the 1997 8-hour ozone national ambient air quality standard (NAAQS). In 

addition, EPA proposed to call for revisions to the State Implementation Plans (SIPs) for the States of 

New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. If finalized, this SIP call will require each of these States to 

submit a revised attainment SIP for the 1997 8-hour ozone NAAQS for its portion of the NY-NJ-CT 

moderate nonattainment area within 18 months of final action on this SIP call.

We requested public comments on this proposal and the comment period ended June 14, 2014. The EPA 

received a number of comments that can be accessed through the EPA’s docket website at 

www.regulations.gov. The official docket for the May 15, 2014 proposal is identified by Docket ID 

number EPA-R02-OAR-2014-0251.

In the agency’s August 27, 2015, proposal (80 FR 51992), regarding determinations of attainment of the 

2008 Marginal ozone areas, the EPA discussed how its proposed actions affected the May 2014 

proposed options for responding to a SIP Call for the 1997 8-hour ozone NAAQS and we solicited 

comments. The EPA did not receive adverse comments on its August 27, 2015, proposal to reclassify the 

NY-NJ-CT nonattainment area to Moderate, nor did the EPA receive comments about its statement that 

submitting an attainment plan for the 2008 ozone standard would satisfy a final SIP Call on the 1997 

ozone standard. 

We received a number of comments on the May 15, 2014, proposal (79 FR 27830) to rescind the CDD for 

the NY-NJ-CT 1997 8-hour ozone nonattainment area and the accompanying SIP Call for attainment 

plans. In Table 1 below, we list the specific submissions commenters made into the docket, along with 

each docket number, for the May 15, 2014, proposal. We have included these comment into this 

rulemaking docket and have responded to these comments in a document titled, “Response to 

Comments: Proposed Rule: Rescission of Determination of Attainment and Call for Attainment Plans for 

New York, New Jersey and Connecticut for the 1997 8-Hour Ozone National Ambient Air Quality 

Standards for the NY-NJ-CT 1997 Ozone Nonattainment Area,” which is available in the docket 

associated with this rulemaking.
Table 1. List of Commenters and Associated Docket Numbers 

Docket Number Commenter Name

EPA-R02-OAR-2014-0251-0002 Anonymous Commenter

EPA-R02-OAR-2014-0251-0003 Robert J. Klee, Commissioner, Connecticut Department of 

Energy and Environmental Protection, Hartford, Connecticut

EPA-R02-OAR-2014-0251-0004 Roger Caiazza, Director, Environmental Energy Alliance of New 

York, Albany, New York 

EPA-R02-OAR-2014-0251-0005 Jane Korzinski, Esq., Assistant Commissioner, New Jersey 

Department of Environmental Protection, Trenton, New Jersey

EPA-R02-OAR-2014-0251-0006 Andrea Schmitz, Vice President, Environment, Health and Safety, 

Consolidated Edison Company of New York Incorporated, New 

York, New York

EPA-R02-OAR-2014-0251-0007 Haley Stein, Senior Counsel, Environmental Law Division, New 

York City Law Department, New York, New York

EPA-R02-OAR-2014-0251-0008 Joseph J. Martens, Commissioner, New York State Department 

of Environmental Conservation, Albany, New York

EPA-R02-OAR-2014-0251-0009 Seth L. Johnson, Attorney, Earthjustice, Washington, D.C.