THE ADMINISTRATOR OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

The Honorabl e R obert H. Smith C hairman of Pal a Band of Mission Indian s 12196 Pala Miss i on Road Pala , Californi a 92059 Dear Cha i rman Smi th : WASHINGTON , D
. C
. 20460

I would li k e to summarize the U.S. Environmental Pro tection Agency's recent acti o n to address fineparticle pollution on your reservation. As required by the C lean Air Act, the EPA has d et ermined w hi c h areas are meeting the national ambient-air-quali ty standards for fine-particle poll u tio n and w hi ch are as must take steps to reduce emissio n s that contribute to violat i ons of the standard. The EPA on D ecember 14,2012, strengthened the annua l , healt h -based fine-particle stand ard from 1 5.0 micrograms per cubic meter (f..Lg/m3 ) to 1 2.0 f..Lg/m 3

. Thousands of sc ientifi c stud ies have linked exposure to these t i ny particles

- approximately 1 / 30th the size of a human ha ir

- with serious health problems inc luding prematur e death in people with heart and lun g disease, nonfatal heart attacks and increased hospital admissions and doctor and emergency -room visits for respiratory and cardiovascular disease. I appreciate the informati on you and your staff have shared with the EPA throughout thi s process to assess fine-particle-pollution l eve l s i n communities across your re se rvation and th e imp act of emission sources that cou ld be co ntri b uting to unhealthy air. After co n siderin g your recommendations, re v iewing the mo st recent certified fine -parti cle air

- quality d ata for yo ur reservation and evaluating fac tors to assess con tributi o n to nearby levels of fine -p articl e poll u ti on, I have dete rmined that no area within the Pala Band of Mi ss io n Indi an s re se rv ation violates the 20 12 s tandard or contributes t o a nearby v i olation of the standard. As a result , the EPA is designating all of the Pala Band of M iss ion Indians reservation "unclassi fiab le/atta inment." Because ai r-qu a lity monitoring for 2014 is nearl y complete, the EPA, at a tribe's request, will evaluate the status of an area based on its annual fine

- particle-monitoring data for 2012 -14. If you would like the EPA to re-evaluate any areas with jn your reservation , please submit co mplete , qu a lity - assured and certified ai r- quality data for 2014 to the EP A by February 27 , 2015. I recognize that the EPA shares responsibility with the state s and tribes for managing particle-pollution levels. Efforts by states and tribes to attain the 1997 and 2006 fine-particle-po ll ution standards are already working to reduce unhealthy l evels of fine -p article pollution. I n addition, current and upcoming federal s tandard s and safeg uards, including pollution-reduction rul es for power plants, vehicles and fuels w iII ensure s teady reductions of fme-particle poll u ti on and wi ll protect public health in communities across the nation.

This paper is printed with vegetable-oil-based inks and is 100 - percent postconsumer recycled material , chlorine-free-processed and recyclable
.Together we have made considerable progress in reducing fine -p article pollution. Nationwide monitor ed levels of fine-particle pollution have fallen 34 perc e nt since 2000 when we first began such monitoring for particles of this size. I am confident this progre ss will continue as we work toward our shared goal of clean air.

For additional inform ation about thes e designation s, please visit www.epa.gov / pmdesignations.