UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENC
Y REGION

6 The Honorable M aryFallin Governor of Ok lahoma 1445 ROSS AVENUE

,SUITE 1200 DALLAS

,TEXAS

7 5202

-2733 August 19,2 014 2300 North Lincoln Boulevard, Suite 2 12 Oklahoma, City, Oklaho ma73105 Dear Governor Fallin:

Offi ce of the Reg

i onal Adminis

t rat or Thank youfor yourrecommendations dated December 19,2013, onair quality designations for the 2012 revised primary annual fine particle (PM2

.s) National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) throughout Oklah
oma.

I apprecia te t h einformat ion Oklahoma shared with the U.S. E nvironmental Protection Agenc
yaswemoveforward to improve
P M2.s air qu ality. This letter is to noti fy youof the EPA's preliminar

yres ponseto O klahoma's recommendations and to inform youof our approach for completing the initial area designations for the 2012 revised primary annual PM2.s standard. On December 14, 2012,

t he EPA promu lgate d arevised primary annual PM2.s NAAQS (78 FR 3086, January 15, 2013

) .In tha t action, the EPA revised the primary annual PM2.s standard, strengthening

it from 15.0 micro grams percubic meter (J.J.g/m

3 )to 12.0 J.J.g/m

3 ;retained the existing 24-hour PM 2 .s standard at 35 J.l g/m
3 ;retained the existing 24-hou

rPM
1 o (coarse particle) standard at 150 J.lg/m

3 ;and retained the current suite of second aryPM standar ds. The EPA revised the primary annua

l PM2

.s standard based onan integrated assessment of anextensive body of newscientific evidence, which substantially strengthens ourbo dy of knowledge regard ing PM2.s-related hea lth effects. The revised primary annual PM 2 .sstandard wi ll provide increased protection for children, older adults, personswith pre-existing heart and lung dis ease,and other
at -ri sk populations against an arrayof PM 2. s-related adverse health

e ffects, including premature mortality, increased hospital admissions and emergency department visits, and development and exacerbation
of chronic respiratory disease. History shows
usthat better healt h and cleaner air gohand-in-hand with economic growth. Working closely with the st ates and tribe
s ,the E PA is implementing the standards us ing acommonsense approach that imp rovesair qua
l i t yand mi nim
i zesthe burden on state, loca

l ,and tribal governments

.As part of this routine
process

,the EPA is working with the states and tribes to identify areasin the country that meet the standards and those that need to t ake steps to reduce PM 2 .sair pollution. Within one yearof promulgating

aneworrevise d air quality standard, the Clean Ai rAct requires the Governor of each state to submi

t to the EPA
ali st of all areasin the state

,with recommendations
for whether each area meets the standard. As afirs t step in i mpl ementi ngth e2012 annual PM 2.s standard, Governors wereto submit their desi gnation recommenda
t ions, including appropriate areaboundaries

,by December 13, 2013. As required by the Clean Air Act,

t he EPA then designates anareaas"nonatta inment

" i f it is violating the 2012 annual PM2.s NAAQS orif it is contri buting to aviolation of the NAAQS

i na nearby area. C ons
i stent with de s ignations for previous PM 2 .s standards, the EPA intends to usea designation category of"uncl assi fiable

/ att ainm ent" for areasthat are monitoring attainment and for areasthat do not This paper is pri nted with vegetable

-oil-based inks and

i s 100
-percent postconsumer recy c led mate
ri a
l , ch

l ori ne-f r ee- processed and rec yclab

l e.have monitor

s bu t for whi ch th e E PA h as rea son to believe ar e likely
a ttainment and are not con tr ib ut i n g to nearb y vio la t ions

.Addition

a lly, the EPA in tend s to des ig nate as" unclassifi

a ble" those areas

-w h e r e the EPA cann o t d ete rmin e b ase d on av ai lable in fo rmat io n whether the ar e a i s mee
t ing or not mee ting the NAAQS or w h ere the E P A has n o t de t ermined that th e area contr ib u t es to a nearby violation. At thi s time

,the EPA is pr o ce e d ing wit h intend
e d ini t ial are a designation

s u s ing q ua li ty -as su red

,certifi ed air quality monit
o ri ng dat a fr o m 20 1 1 t o 2 0 1 3. We have con s id e r ed t he ann ual PM2.s
d e s i gnat ion r ec omm endations

s ubmitte
d by Oklah om a on December

1 9 ,2 013

,and h av e rev
i ewe d t h e re l ev an t techni
c al i nformation
in cl uding 201
1 -201 3 a i r qual

i ty data. The se data do no t i ndica

t e any vi o l at i o n o f the 2012 annua

l PM2 .s NAAQS in Okl ah om a or co ntribu tion to an y ne arb y area. Accor
d ingly

,th e EP A intends

t o su p port th e s ta te of Oklahoma recommenda

ti on and d e s ign a t e all areas of th e sta t e as uncla

s si fi able
/ attainme

n t. The EP A will m ak e i ts p r e li m i nary designation

d e cis ions and supporting documentation available
to the .ge ne r al public fo r r eview an d comment. We wiU b e announcing

a 30-day publ

i c comment period

s hortly in the Federal
R egi s t er. Aft er c onsider

i ng t he add
i tiona

l i nf o rmation we receiv e, the E PA p lan s t o promu

l gate final annu al P M2 .s d esignations
in D ec ember of2 014. The E P A is comm

i tt ed to work in g with the state
s an d tribes

t o share th e responsibility
of reducin
g PM2.
s air p o llution

.C u rre nt and upc o ming federal stan d ards and safeguar

d s, inclu d in g p o llutio n reduction rules for po wer p lan ts, vehicle

s and fuels

,will as sur e steady progress

t o reduce PM2.s forming

p o ll u ti on and will protect pu b lic h ealth in communit

i es a cross the co un try. We
l ook forward to a c on t in ued dialogue wi th you an d y o ur sta f f as we w o rk to geth e r to i mp
l ement the 2012 annua

l PM2

.s standard

. If you have any q ue stions , p le as e contac

t me a t ( 21 4 ) 665-2100, or have your staff contact Mr. Guy Donald so n, C h ief of t he A ir P l anning Sec
t ion, at ( 214) -665-7242. cc: Mr. Michael Te a gu e Oklahoma Sec r etary of E ne r gy and Environment Mr. Scott Thom p son Executive Di rect or ,Okl aho ma Departm

e nt o f E n vironm

e ntal Qua li ty Mr. Eddie Terr ill Director

,Air Q ua l i ty, Okl ah oma Departmen

t of E nv ironmental

Q u ality Ms. Janet G. Mc C abe Acting Assi stant Admini strat o r for Air and R a d iati on
,U

.S .E nvir o nme n tal Protec

t ion Agenc
y Mr. St e phen D .Pa g e Dire cto r ,Offic e o f Air Qu ali ty Planning an d Sta ndards

,U

.S. E nvironmental Protection Agen
c y