Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 163 / Wednesday, August 22, 2018 / Notices 42497 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

[EPA–HQ–OAR–2014–0128; FRL–9981–88– 

OAR] 

Release of Risk and Exposure 

Assessment Plan for the Secondary 

National Ambient Air Quality Standard 

for Oxides of Nitrogen, Oxides of 

Sulfur and Particulate Matter 

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA). 

ACTION: Notice of availability. 

SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA) is conducting a periodic 

review of the air quality criteria and the 

secondary National Ambient Air Quality 

Standards (NAAQS) for oxides of 

nitrogen, oxides of sulfur, and 

particulate matter (PM). On or about 

August 6, 2018, the EPA will make 

available for public review the 

document titled Review of the 

Secondary National Ambient Air 

Quality Standards for Oxides of 

Nitrogen, Oxides of Sulfur and 

Particulate Matter: Risk and Exposure 

Assessment Planning Document (REA 

Planning Document). This plan presents 

considerations and the proposed 

approach for conducting quantitative 

analyses of oxides of nitrogen, oxides of 

sulfur, and PM exposures and welfare 

risks in this NAAQS review. This 

planning document is intended to 

facilitate consultation with the Clean 

Air Scientific Advisory Committee 

(CASAC) and public comment on plans 

for such quantitative analyses. 

DATES: Comments should be received on 

or before October 22, 2018. 

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, 

identified by Docket ID No. EPA–HQ– 

OAR–2014–0128, to the Federal 

eRulemaking Portal: https://

www.regulations.gov. Follow the online 

instructions for submitting comments. 

Once submitted, comments cannot be 

edited or withdrawn. The EPA may 

publish any comment received to its 

public docket. Do not submit 

electronically any information you 

consider to be Confidential Business 

Information (CBI) or other information 

whose disclosure is restricted by statute. 

Multimedia submissions (audio, video, 

etc.) must be accompanied by a written 

comment. The written comment is 

considered the official comment and 

should include discussion of all points 

you wish to make. The EPA will 

generally not consider comments or 

comment contents located outside of the 

primary submission (i.e., on the Web, 

Cloud, or other file sharing system). For 

additional submission methods, the full 

EPA public comment policy, 

information about CBI or multimedia 

submissions, and general guidance on 

making effective comments, please visit 

https://www2.epa.gov/dockets/ 

commenting-epa-dockets. The REA 

Planning Document will be available 

primarily via the internet at: https://

www.epa.gov/naaqs/nitrogen-dioxideno2-and-sulfur-dioxide-so2-secondarystandards-planning-documents-current. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Ginger Tennant, Office of Air Quality 

Planning and Standards (Mail Code 

C504–06), U.S. Environmental 

Protection Agency, Research Triangle 

Park, NC 27711; telephone number: 

919–541–4072; fax number: 919–541– 

0237; or email address: tennant.ginger@

epa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. General Information 

A. What should I consider as I prepare 

my comments for the EPA? 

1. Submitting CBI. Do not submit this 

information to EPA through https://

www.regulations.gov or email. Clearly 

mark the part or all of the information 

that you claim to be CBI. For CBI 

information on any digital storage media 

that you mail to EPA, mark the outside 

of the digital storage media as CBI and 

then identify electronically within the 

digital storage media the specific 

information that is claimed as CBI. In 

addition to one complete version of the 

comment that includes information 

claimed as CBI, a copy of the comment 

that does not contain the information 

claimed as CBI must be submitted for 

inclusion in the public docket. If you 

submit any digital storage media that 

does not contain CBI, mark the outside 

of the digital storage media clearly that 

it does not contain CBI. Information so 

marked will not be disclosed except in 

accordance with procedures set forth in 

40 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 

part 2. Send or deliver information 

identified as CBI only to the following 

address: OAQPS Document Control 

Officer (C404–02), OAQPS, U.S. 

Environmental Protection Agency, 

Research Triangle Park, North Carolina 

27711, Attention Docket ID No. EPA– 

HQ–OAR–2014–0128. 

2. Tips for Preparing your Comments. 

When submitting comments, remember 

to: 

• Identify the notice by docket 

number and other identifying 

information (subject heading, Federal 

Register date and page number). 

• Follow directions. The agency may 

ask you to respond to specific questions 

or organize comments by referencing a 

CFR part or section number. 

• Explain why you agree or disagree; 

suggest alternative and substitute 

language for your requested changes. 

• Describe any assumption and 

provide any technical information and/ 

or data that you used. 

• If you estimate potential costs or 

burdens, explain how you arrived at 

your estimate in sufficient detail to 

allow for it to be reproduced. 

• Provide specific examples to 

illustrate your concerns and suggest 

alternatives. 

• Explain your views as clearly as 

possible, avoiding the use of profanity 

or personal threats. 

• Make sure to submit your 

comments by the comment period 

deadline identified. 

II. Information About the Document 

Two sections of the Clean Air Act 

(CAA) govern the establishment and 

revision of the NAAQS. Section 108 (42 

U.S.C. 7408) directs the Administrator 

to identify and list certain air pollutants 

and then to issue air quality criteria for 

those pollutants. The Administrator is 

to list those air pollutants that in his 

‘‘judgment, cause or contribute to air 

pollution which may reasonably be 

anticipated to endanger public health or 

welfare;’’ ‘‘the presence of which in the 

ambient air results from numerous or 

diverse mobile or stationary sources;’’ 

and ‘‘for which . . . [the Administrator] 

plans to issue air quality criteria. . . . ’’ 

Air quality criteria are intended to 

‘‘accurately reflect the latest scientific 

knowledge useful in indicating the kind 

and extent of all identifiable effects on 

public health or welfare which may be 

expected from the presence of [a] 

pollutant in the ambient air . . . ’’ 42 

U.S.C. 7408(b). Under section 109 (42 

U.S.C. 7409), the EPA establishes 

primary (health-based) and secondary 

(welfare-based) NAAQS for pollutants 

for which air quality criteria are issued. 

Section 109(d) requires periodic review 

and, if appropriate, revision of existing 

air quality criteria. The revised air 

quality criteria reflect advances in 

scientific knowledge on the effects of 

the pollutant on public health or 

welfare. The EPA is also required to 

periodically review and, if appropriate, 

revise the NAAQS based on the revised 

criteria. Section 109(d)(2) requires that 

an independent scientific review 

committee ‘‘shall complete a review of 

the criteria . . . and the national 

primary and secondary ambient air 

quality standards . . . and shall 

recommend to the Administrator any 

new . . . standards and revisions of 

existing criteria and standards as may be 

appropriate. . . .’’ Since the early 


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42498 Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 163 / Wednesday, August 22, 2018 / Notices 

1The EPA’s call for information for the NOX/SOX

secondary review was issued on August 29, 2013 

(78 FR 53452), and the call for information on the 

PM review (both secondary and primary) was 

issued on December 3, 2014 (79 FR 71764). 

2Available at https://www.epa.gov/naaqs/ 

nitrogen-dioxide-no2-and-sulfur-dioxide-so2- 

secondary-standards-planning-documents-current. 

1980’s, this independent review 

function has been performed by CASAC. 

Presently, the EPA is reviewing the 

secondary NAAQS for oxides of 

nitrogen, oxides of sulfur, and PM.1 PM 

was added to this review after the draft 

Integrated Review Plan (80 FR 69220, 

November 9, 2015) was released to the 

public and reviewed by CASAC in 

recognition of linkages between these 

pollutants (oxides of nitrogen, oxides of 

sulfur, and PM) with respect to 

deposition and atmospheric chemistry, 

as well as from an environmental effects 

perspective. Additional welfare effects 

associated with PM, such as visibility, 

climate and materials effects, and the 

health effects of PM (including 

particulate transformation products of 

oxides of nitrogen and oxides of sulfur) 

are considered as part of the review of 

the NAAQS for PM (81 FR 87933, 

December 6, 2016). The health effects of 

oxides of nitrogen were considered in a 

separate assessment that was completed 

recently as part of the review of the 

primary (health-based) NAAQS for 

oxides of nitrogen (83 FR 17226, April 

18, 2018). Similarly, the health effects of 

oxides of sulfur are currently being 

considered in a separate assessment as 

part of the review of the primary 

NAAQS for oxides of sulfur (83 FR 

26752, June 8, 2018). 

The EPA’s overall plan for this review 

is presented in the Integrated Review 

Plan for the Secondary NAAQS for 

Oxides of Nitrogen, Oxides of Sulfur 

and Particulate Matter.2 The REA 

Planning Document considers the 

degree to which important uncertainties 

identified in quantitative analyses from 

previous reviews have been addressed 

by newly available scientific evidence, 

tools, or information, including those in 

the second external review draft of the 

Integrated Science Assessment for 

Oxides of Nitrogen, Oxides of Sulfur 

and Particulate Matter-Ecological 

Criteria (83 FR 29786, June 26, 2018). 

Based on these considerations, the 

document reaches preliminary 

conclusions on the extent to which 

updated quantitative analyses of 

exposures or public welfare risks are 

warranted in the current review. For 

updated analyses that are supported, 

this planning document presents 

anticipated approaches to conducting 

such analyses. This document will be 

available on or about August 6, 2018, on 

the EPA’s Technology Transfer Network 

website at https://www.epa.gov/naaqs/ 

nitrogen-dioxide-no2-and-sulfurdioxide-so2-secondary-standardsplanning-documents-current. 

The REA Planning Document will be 

discussed at a public meeting for review 

by CASAC and the public. A separate 

Federal Register notice provides details 

about this meeting and the process for 

participation (83 FR 31755, July 9, 

2018). The EPA will also consider 

public comments on the REA Planning 

Document that are submitted to the 

docket, as described above. 

Dated: August 2, 2018. 

Panagiotis Tsirigotis, 

Director, Office of Air Quality Planning and 

Standards. 

[FR Doc. 2018–17041 Filed 8–21–18; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

[FRL–9982–69–OW] 

Clean Water Act; Contractor Access to 

Confidential Business Information 

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA). 

ACTION: Notice of intended transfer of 

confidential business information to 

contractor and its subcontractors and 

consultants. 

SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA) intends to transfer 

confidential business information (CBI), 

collected from numerous industries, to 

ICF International (ICF) and its 

subcontractors and consultants, under 

an EPA contract newly awarded to ICF. 

Transfer of this information is necessary 

for ICF to assist the Office of Water in 

the preparation of economic analyses 

and environmental assessment activities 

conducted in support of Clean Water 

Act regulations and programs, such as 

effluent guidelines and associated 

planning and review activities, and 

water quality standards. Much of the 

information being transferred was or 

will be collected under the authority of 

section 308 of the Clean Water Act 

(CWA) to support effluent guidelines 

development in particular. Interested 

persons may submit comments on this 

intended transfer of information to the 

address noted below. 

DATES: Comments on the transfer of data 

are due August 27, 2018. 

ADDRESSES: Comments may be sent to 

M. Ahmar Siddiqui, Document Control 

Officer, Engineering and Analysis 

Division (4303T), U.S. EPA, 1200 

Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, DC 

20460. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: M. 

Ahmar Siddiqui, Document Control 

Officer, at (202) 566–1044, or via email 

at siddiqui.ahmar@epa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: EPA has 

transferred CBI to its contractors and 

subcontractors as part of the effluent 

guidelines program under 40 CFR 

2.302(h). EPA determined that this 

transfer was necessary to enable the 

contractors, subcontractors, and 

consultants to perform their work in 

supporting EPA in planning, 

developing, and reviewing effluent 

guidelines and standards for certain 

industries. 

Pursuant to 40 CFR 2.302(h)(2), EPA 

is giving notice that it has entered into 

a new contract with ICF, contract 

number 68HE0C18D0001, located in 

Fairfax, Virginia. The purpose of this 

contract is to secure economic and 

environmental assessment support for 

EPA in its development, review, 

implementation, and defense of waterrelated initiatives for a variety of 

industries or states. To obtain assistance 

in responding to this contract, ICF has 

entered into contracts with the 

following subcontractors and 

consultants: The Cadmus Group, LLC 

(located in Waltham, Massachusetts), 

CognistX (located in Pittsburgh, 

Pennsylvania), Great Lakes 

Environmental Center, Inc. (located in 

Traverse City, Michigan), Horizon 

Systems Corporation (located in White 

Stone, Virginia), Innovate! Inc. (located 

in Alexandria, Virginia), LimnoTech 

Inc. (located in Ann Arbor, Michigan), 

Resources for the Future (located in 

Washington, DC), RTI International 

(located in Research Triangle Park, 

North Carolina), Wayne Gray (located in 

Worcester, Massachusetts), Robert 

Johnston (located in Millville, 

Massachusetts), Klaus Moeltner (located 

in Blacksburg, Virginia), Kerry Smith 

(located in Cave Creek, Arizona), and 

Raghavan Srinivasan (located in College 

Station, Texas). 

All EPA contractor, subcontractor, 

and consultant personnel are bound by 

the requirements and sanctions 

contained in their contracts with EPA 

and in EPA’s CBI regulations found at 

40 CFR part 2, subpart B. ICF will 

adhere to an EPA-approved security 

plan which describes procedures to 

protect CBI. ICF will apply the 

procedures in this plan to CBI 

previously gathered by EPA and to CBI 

that may be gathered in the future. The 

security plan specifies that contractor 

personnel are required to sign nondisclosure agreements and are briefed 


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