1200 Sixth Avenue, Suite 900

Seattle, Washington 98101-3140

,‘l^^n

srgTFS UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

REGION 10

y' L

,kOFFICE OF THE

REGIONAL ADMINISTRATOR

JUN 2 9 2011

The Honorable Sean Parnell

Governor of the State of Alaska

Post Office Box 110001

Juneau, Alaska 99811-0001

Dear Governor Parnell:

Thank you for your recommendations on air quality designations for the revised primary National

Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) for nitrogen dioxide (NO 2) throughout Alaska. This letter is to

notify you of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) response to Alaska's designation

recommendations, and to inform you of our approach for completing the designations for the revised

NO2 NAAQS.

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

(NAAQS) for NO2 by setting a new 1-hour NO2 standard at the level of 100 parts per billion (ppb). This

new standard will protect against adverse health effects associated with short-term exposure to NO 2 ,

including respiratory effects that can result in admission to a hospital. The EPA also retained with no

change, the annual average NO2 standard of 53 ppb. This suite of standards will protect public health by

limiting people's exposures to short-term peak concentrations of NO2 and by limiting community-wide

NO2 concentrations-to levels below those that have hen 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 NO 2 . 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 of NO2 that occur more broadly across communities.

In the preamble to the 2010 NO2 NAAQS and in the EPA's October 2010 letter to you 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 NO2 NAAQS. This approach took into account that the new monitoring network

requirements established with the revised NO2 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 your recommendations and others, and intends to designate all areas of

Alaska, as well as the rest of the country, as "unclassifiablelattaimnent" rather than "unclassifiable."

Based on air quality data from 2008-2010, all monitored areas in the country meet the 2010 NO2

NAAQS. While the EPA acknowledges that the existing NO2 monitoring network does not provide

adequate evidence to determine 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. The EPA intends to redesignate areas, as appropriate, after

sufficient air quality data from the new monitoring network are available.
The EPA intends to designate Alaska unclassifiable/attainment using the boundaries Alaska

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

designations for NO2 , 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, the EPA recommends that your state 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 your state has additional information 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 information we receive

from the State of Alaska 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 NO2 NAAQS. Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to call me, or have your staff

contact Claudia Vaupel at 206-553-6121.

Sincerely,

ci ((Ai(-,..,,f .,

Dennis J. McLerran

Regional Administrator

cc: Larry Hartig

Commissioner, Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation

Alice Edwards

Air Program Director, Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation

Gina McCarthy

Assistant Administrator for Air and Radiation, EPA

Stephen D. Page

Director, Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards, EPA