UN I TED STATES EN V IRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGEN CY WASHINGTON, D.C. 20460

Th e Ho norable Lincoln D. C hafee Go vernor of Rho de I sland 82 Sm ith Street Provide nce , Rhode I s land 02903 Dear Governor Chafee: 

# IEC 1 8 20 1 4

THE ADMINISTRATOR

I am writing to summarize the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's recent ac tion to addre ss fine particle pollution in your state. As r e quired by the Clean Ai r Ac t , the EPA has dete rmined which areas a

r e meeting the national ambi ent air quality standards for fine particle pollution and w hich areas mu st take ste p s to reduce emiss ions that contribut e to violatio n s of the standard. On December 14,2012 , the E PA s trengthened the annual, health -b ased fin e particle standard from 15.0 mi c rogram s per cubic meter ( J..t g/ m 3 ) to 1 2.0 j.lg / m 3

. Thousands of scientific studi es ha v e linke d exposure to these tiny particl es- approx imat ely 1/3 0th th e s ize of a human hair-with se riou s human h ea l th prob l e ms including pre mature d e ath in people w ith heart and lun g disease, nonfatal heart attack s, and in c rease d hospital admissions and d octo r and emergency room visits for respi rato ry and cardiovascular di sease . I appreciate the inf ormation you and your staff h ave shared with t he EPA throughout thi s process to assess fi ne particle pollution leve ls in communities across your s tate and the impact of emission sources that could be contributing to unhealthy air. After cons id ering your rec o mm e nd ati ons, rev iewing the m ost rece nt cert ifie d fine particl e air quality data for your state and eva l uating factors to assess contribution to nearby levels of fine particl e pollution , I have d e termined that no area within Rhode I sla nd violates th e 20 12 standard or contributes to a nearby v io l ati on of the s tandard. As a re s ult , th e EPA is designatin g a ll of Rh o d e Island "unclassifiable / attainment." Because air quality monitoring for 2014 i s nearly complete , if a state or tribe reques t s it , the E P A will evaluate the statu s of an area based o n its annual fine particle monitoring data for 20 1 2

- 2014. If you wou ld like the EPA to re-evaluate any areas within your state, please submit to t he EP A, complete , qua li ty-assured and certified ai r quality data for 2014 by Februa ry 27,2015. The EP A shares respon s ibili ty with the sta te s and tribes for managing particl e pollution levels. E ffort s by sta tes and trib es to a tta in the 1 997 and 2006 fine particl e pollution s tandards are already working to reduce unhealthy l eve l s of fine particle pollu ti on. ln add iti on, current and upcoming fe deral standards and safeguar ds , includin g pollution reduction rules fo r power plants, vehicles and fue ls will assure steady r edu ctio ns of fine particle p oll uti on and will protect public health in communities acr oss the country.

Internet Address (URL) • http : //www

. epa . gov Recycted/Rec yclable • Pri nted with Vegetable O i l Based I nks on t 00% Postconsumer. Process Chlori ne Free Recycled PaperTogether, we have made considerable progress to reduce tine particle pollution. Nationwide, monitor ed levels of fine particle pollution fell 34 percent since 2000 when we first began nationwide monitoring for particles of this size. I am confident this progress will accelerate as together we continue to work towa rds our shared goal of clean ai r. For additional information about these designations, p l ease visit

our website at: www.epa.gov / pmdesignations .

If you have questions or concerns, please contact me or you r staff may contact Mark Rupp, Deputy Associate Administrator for Intergovernmental Relations, at rupp.mark@epa.gov or at (202) 564-7178.