Chevron U.S.A., I nc. v. NRDC, 467 U.S. 837 (1984). 1 T e r r y D o o lit tle C oun t y Manage r K en Buchanan A s s is ta n t C o u n ty M ana ger D eve l opm ent Ser vi ces D on G abr i el son A i r Q ual i t y D i r ect or

Aug ust 16, 2010

via e -m a il ( a -and -r -d oc ke t@ e pa .g ov ) andF ir st C la ss M a il Air Doc ket Attention Docket ID No. EPA-HQ -OAR-2009- 0443 Environmental Protec tion Age ncy Mail Code 6102T 1200 Pennsy lvania Ave nue Washington, D.C. 20460 Re: L ead N onattainment Proposal Aff ecting Hay den, Arizona and Surrounding Environs To whom it may

conce rn: On beha lf of Pinal CountyI ask that the EPA re voke, or a t the very least limit, t he propose d lead nonattainment desig nation aff ecting the ar ea in a nd surrounding Hay den, Arizona. The propose d lead nonattainment desig nation aff ects the a rea around A SARCO's coppe r smelter, located in Hay den, Arizona. The proposed nonattainment boundary g ener ally ref lects the historic, smelter-r elated sulfur diox ide nonattainment boundary . Rely ing on jurisdictional rather than technic al criteria, the EPA' s proposal excludes only that portion of the sulfur dioxide nonattainment ar ea that comprises " I ndian Country ." Pinal submi ts that the lack of c ompetent data pr eclude s the impositi on of any nonattainment desig nation under the new lea d standard. A nd even looking bey ond the lack of competent data, the sing le offe nding monitor doe s not justi fy the EPA' s proposal for

an expansive nonattainment b o u n d ar y. 1. Available D ata Doe s Not Support a Nonattainment De signation The lea d data unde rly ing the EPA' s proposal wa s collecte d prior to the EPA' s 2009 revision of the lead ambient air quality standard. As a g ener al proposition, the EPA has substantial discretion in interpre ting a nd apply ing the pr ov isi on s o f the Cle a n A ir Ac t. 1 Whe n c on sid e ri ng a

state ' s p ro po se d n on a tta inm e nt b ou nd ari e s, the Cle a n A ir Ac t e xpre ssl yCAA §109(d)( 1)(B ()( ii). 2 CAA §301(a) (1). 3 Gene rally , see 40 CF R Part 58. 4 40 CFR § 58.3, 40 CFR Part 58 Appendix A. 5 40 CFR § 58.60. 6 73 Fe d. Reg . 66964 (11/12/2008). 7 I d. @ 67052, 40 CFR §50.16(b). 8 "T his appendix ex plains the data handling c onventions an computations nec essary for 9 de te rm ini ng wh e n th e prima ry a ndse c on da

ry natio na l a mbi e nt air

qu a lit y stand ard s ( NA AQ S) for lea d (Pb) spec ified in § 50.16 are met." 40 CF R Part 50, Appendix R §1(a) 40 CFR Part 50, Appendix R, §3(a). 10 73 Fe d. Reg . 66964, 67055 (8/12/2008). 11 auth orize s th e EPAAd min ist rator to " make su c h mo dif

ic a tio ns a s th e Ad min ist

rator de e ms nece ssary ." That very

broad authority

would allow the EPA to consider a wide r ang e of 2 information and data in formulating a nonattainment de signation and map. H o w e v e r , t h e C l e a n A i r

A c ta l s o c o n f

e r s u p o n t h e E P A ru l e m ak i n g a u t h o r i t y. 3 Th e EPAha s e xer c ise d th a t auth ority to d e fi ne the re qu isi te s f

or a c omp e te nt m on ito ri ng sy ste m. 4 L ite ra lly , th e EPA ' s mo nit oring data c oll e c tio n r

ule s se t f orth i n Pa rt 58 app ly to e ff orts b y state and loca l ag encie s. On its face , the provisions of those Part 58 rule s do not ex pressly bind the 5 EPAin i ts m on ito ri ng e ff orts. 6 Howeve r, the EPA also e x erc ised that rule- making authority in revising the pre vailing ambient standard f or lea d, and the EPA indclude d in that action a pr ecise reg ulatory definition of the qu a nti ty a ndc ha ra c te r o f d a ta

re qu ir e d to jus tif

y de sig natin g le a d n on a tta inm e nt a re a s. 7 I n particula

r, the EPA' s revised r

ule provides that c ompliance with the lea d NAAQS shall be based on a

conce ntration monitored " acc ordanc e with Appendix R" of 40 CFR Part 50. 8 Appendix R to Part 50 prec isely define s when lea d conce ntration data de rived fr om PM-10 mon ito ri ng data

c oll e c te d w ill be c on sid e re d v a lid

. Mo re sp e c if ic a lly , th e sa mpl ing a nda na ly sis 9 neede d to comply

with the then-a

pplicable pr ovisions of 40 CFR Part 58, Appendix A. 10 Significantly , the Novembe r 2008 re vision to t he lea d NAAQS does implicitly invoke the pr ov isi on s o f P art

58 wi th r e sp e c t to a ny

mon ito ri ng a g e nc y , in c lud ing the EPA . T ho se reg ulatory

revisions specif

ically conditioned the re liance on pr e-2009 le ad monitoring data upon a finding that "the sampling and analy sis methods that were utilized were consistent with ... the provisions of Part 58 of this chapte r including appendic es A, C, and E ...." To the extent the 11 EPA collecte d the monitoring data, then the c hang es to Part 50.16 re quired that the EPA' s eff ort also comply

with the require ments of Part 58, Appe ndix A.No ta bly , th a t same a na ly sis wo ulda lso re qu ir e fo rm a l c omp lia nc e wi th the oth e r q ua lit y 12 assura nce r equire ments under Part 58. Chevron, supra

. 13 To the e xten t so me oth e r a g e nc y c oll e c te d th e data , th e the pr ov isi on s o f P art 58 app ly by the ir ow n te rm s. So reg ardle ss of whethe r the State of A rizona, the EPA, or any one else "ow ned" the re levant pre

20 09 le a d mo nit oring data , th e mon ito ri ng sy ste m a ndmon ito ri ng pr oc e ss w e re re qu ir e d to comply with Part 58, Appendix A. Of pa rticular note , Part 58, Appendix A, §3.3.1.1 require s that for qua lity -assurance pur poses, an a g e nc y op e ratin g a

PM- 10 mon ito ri ng ne tw or k to c oll e c t le a d d a ta

mus t op e rate a t le a st o ne sit e wi th c o- loc a te d mo nit or s c oll e c tin g le a d d a ta . T he imp lic it o bje c tiv e is t o r e qu ir e the re sp on sib le age n cyt o fo rm al l y

d em o n s tra t e i t s ab i l i t y

t o co n d u ctac cu ra t e m o n i t o ri n g. Appar ently , the data in que stion was collecte d by a contr actor

working direc tly

or indirec tly

for the EPA. Appar ently , the data w as ente red in the A I RS AQS data sy stem by ADEQ. No thi ng in the a va ila

ble re c or d in dic a te s th a t a ny of the inv olv e d a g e nc ie s w e re a c tua lly operating c o-located PM-10/lead monitors as re quired by Part 58, Appendix A. Th e re fo re , th e a g e nc y

c on du c tin g the mon ito ri ng didno t me e t th e qu a lit y a ssu ranc e re qu ir e me nts of Part 58, Appe ndix A, §3.3.1.1. There fore , the sampling and ana ly sis methods that were utilized were not consistent with Part 58 g ener ally , and Part 58 Appe ndix A spec ifically , beca use there wer e no quality -assuring coloc a te d le a d mo nit or s in the re le va nt s y ste m. 12 Th e re fo re , th e a va ila

ble le a d mo nit oring data

do e sn ' t me e t th e va lid ity

te st o f P art

50 Ap pe nd ix R, §3(a). Th erefo re, n o v ali d d ataex is ts to com pare again st th e new lea d NA AQS as d efi ned in 40 CFR §50.16. Ac c or din g ly , Pi na l Co un ty su bmi ts that th e EPAsh ou ld r e fr a in f ro m r e ly ing on that data , r e fr a in from imposing a

lead nonattainment desig nation on the Hay den ar ea ba sed on that data , and de sig nate the are a

a s u nc la ssi fi able un til su c h ti me a s c omp e te nt m on ito ri ng data do e s e xist. 2. Nothing Supports the EPA' s Proposal for a n Ex pansive L ead N onattainment B oundary Where the Clea n Air Ac t affor ds the EPA discretion to ac t, that discretion is still conditioned upon the articulation of a rational basis for the a ction taken. 13 The EPA' s proposal re sts on a single aver ag ed excee dance that occur red at a sing le monitor. Whil e theun de rl y ing of

fe nd ing data

wa s a ll c oll e c te d at a

sin g le po int , th e EPApr op os e s to simplyembra ce the boundarie s of the existi ng sulfur diox ide nonattainment ar ea, e ncompassing so me 25 0 s qu are mil e s.Neither

ADEQ' s analy sis supporting the Gove rnor' s rec ommendation, nor the a naly sis supporting the EPA' s response of

fer any basis to conclude that are as re mote from the Hay den Smelter c omp le x ar e in f

a c t c ur re ntl y a ff lic te d b y a ir bo rn e le a d e mis sio ns . Although nothing supports a conc lusion that residents of the ne arby communities of Kea

rny and Dudley ville are in fac t curre ntly aff licted by airborne lead, a

nonattainment desig nation will have adver se pra ctical e ffe cts on the citizens of those ar eas. In that reg ard, I attach and incorporate a copy of Pinal County ' s comments to ADEQ, dated Novembe r 6, 2009. F or the re a so ns se t f

orth i n th a t le tte r, I

a dd iti on a lly

a sk that to the e xten t th e EPAdo e s c ho os e to impose any

nonattainment desig nation on this area , the desig nation be limited to an are a supported by

the scientific data and a naly sis in the recor d. I submit t hat that re cord doe s not support any

desig nation extending bey ond the immediate envir ons of the Hay den Smelter Complex itself. And at lea st from a Pinal-County -per spective, that rec ord ce rtainly does not support a nonattainment de signation ex tending to the communities of Kea rny and Dudleyville. I app re c ia te y ou r c on sid e ratio n o f the se c omm e nts

. Sin c e re ly y ou rs , / d p g/ Donald P. Gabrielson Direc tor Pin a l Co un ty

Ai r Q ua lit y

enc.

c c w / e n c . v i a

e - m a i l : J a

r e d B l u m e n f

e l d , E P A R e g i o n IX C o l l e e n M c K au g h a n , E P A R e g i o n IX Eric Ma ssey , ADEQT e r r y D o o lit tle C oun t y Manage r K en Buchanan A s s is ta n t C o u n ty M ana ger D eve l opm ent Ser vi ces D on G abr i el son A i r Q ual i t y D i r ect or

November

6, 2009

v ia E -M ail an d F irs t Cla ss M

ail Nanc y Wrona, Direc tor Air Qua lity

Division Ar izon a De pa rtme nt o f E nv ir onme nta l Q ua lity 1110 West W ashing ton Street Phoenix , Arizona 85007 Re: Proposed Hayden lea d nonattainment ar ea Dea r Ms. Wrona: Th ank y ou fo r t he op po rt un ity to c omm e nt o n th is p ro po sa l. 1. On beha lf of Pinal County , Iask for revision of the c urre nt ADEQ proposa l to define a l e a d n o n a t t a i n m e n tar e a

th a ti n c l u d e s s i g n i f

i c an tar e a s o f

P i n a l C o un ty. T h e T o wn o f K ea rn y , wh i ch l i es i nP i n al C o un ty , h as ex p re s s edd i s m ay o v er AD E Q's proposal to include the town w ithin the lead nonattainment ar ea. L ocal lea ders ha

ve also e x presse d unhappiness over the proposed inc lusion of the unincorporated community of Dudley

ville in the nonattainment are a. In th e a bs e nc e of ob je c tiv e data

to d e mon str a te that lo c a l a ir bo rn e le a d p ro ble ms a c tua lly exis t, Iask that the Gove rnor e x clude both the Town of Ke arny and the c ommunity

of Dudley ville from the impendingproposal to def ine a Ha y den lea d nonattainment ar ea. 2. ADEQ' s September 28, 2009 B oundary Recommendation for the 2008 Revision to the National Ambient Air Q uality Standard for

L ead ( "A DEQ TSD" ) provides ne ither a regulatory

nor an obje ctive basis for extending a nonattainment desig nation to include the Town of Ke arny

or the c ommunity

of Dudley

ville. 3. The EPA' s defa

ult guidanc e dictate s that a lea d nonattainment ar ea f ocus on the g e og ra ph ic c ounty

wh e re the of

fe nd ingmon ito r l ie s. Th e of fe nd ingmon ito r i s in

Gi la C o u n ty, n o tP i n a l C o un ty.The Town of Kea rny lies in Pi nal County , about seve n miles northwest of the of fending monitor. The unincor

porate d community

of Dudley

ville, defined a s Township 6 South, R ang e 16 East, lies in Pinal Count y about four miles south-south-e ast of the of fendingmonitor. 4. An

a ir mon ito ri nge ff

or t w ou ld c le arl y

and ob je c tiv e ly c lari fy wh e the r l e a d le ve ls i n Kea rny or Dudley

ville do, or do not, meet the lea d NAAQS. Ho we ve r, AD EQ ' s ana ly sis pr e se nts no ambi e nt a ir qu a lity mon ito ri ngdata

to demonstrate that the either the Town of Ke arny or Dudley

ville is in fact cur

rently aff licted by elevated conc entrations of airborne lead. Soil s amples quantify

ing sur fac e leve ls of lead will not acc urate ly ref lect the c urre nt impact of lea d emissions. Copper smelters have operated in the Hayden ar ea f or a hund re d y e ars or

mor e . D ur ingmuc h o f t

hat ti me e mis sio ns we re e mitte d thro ug h ta ll stacks without any

controls. For

those rea sons, surfac e conc entrations of lead in Kea rny or Du dle y vil le wi ll b e dis tor

te d b y his tor ic a l im

pa c ts. Soi l sa

mpl e s w ill no t a c c ur a te ly re fl e c t a ir bo rn e le a d le ve ls r e su lti ngfr om t he op e ra tio n o f t he Ha y de n s me lte r i n it s curr ent conf

igur ation. 5. The EPA' s contrac tor conc luded in 2008 that "the major sourc es for elevated ar senic a

nd lea d co ncen tr ati on s ar e li kel y th e pro cess generat ed em is si on s fr om th e sm elt er faci li ti es. " ADEQ TSD, Appe ndix A, pag e 7, ¶3. Once , the Hayden smelter f acility emitted pollutants through a 900 foot tall primary

stack that assure d impact on re mote are as. Now, how ever , emissions from normal oper ation of the conc entrator and smelter occur much closer

to gr ound level. B ased on infor mation and belief , none of those e mission poi nts ex cee d 200 fee t in height r elative to g round le ve l. A s a

re su lt, re a so ne d c on

je c tur e c an o nly

c on c lud e that e mis sio ns fr om t he fa c ili ty w i l l n o th av e a

m e an i n g f

u l amb i e n ti mp a c to nr e c e p t o r s l o c a t e d m i l e s aw ay. That is, impacts from a irborne le ad emissions from proc ess oper ations will occur principally

in the immediate vicinity of the Ha y den smelter c omplex , and not in Kea rny or Dudley ville. 6. AD EQ ' s summa

ry ana ly sis c on c lud e s th a t " [t]he re are no sig nif ic ant s ourc e s o f P b emissions in P inal County ." A DEQ TSD, Ta ble 4-3. Portions of the tailings piles assoc iated with the Ha y den smelting complex do li e in Pinal

10 County . Those tailing s piles may contribute to wind-blown PM exceeda nces. B ut the

10 EPA' s contrac tor conc luded that when hig h winds potentially contributed PM emissions fr om t he ta ili ng s p ile s ( e.g. No ve mbe r 9 , 2 00 8) , th os e e ve nts did no t c oin c ide wi th "e levated a

rsenic, le ad, or c admium conce ntrations." A DEQ TSD, Appe ndix A, pag e 7, ¶2. Certainly , nothing sug g ests that meaning ful source s of lead e missions exis t in either Kea rny or Dudley

ville. I ncluding those communities in a nonattainment ar ea w ill do no thi ngto r e du c e e mis sio ns .7. Given the nature of the lead NA AQS, assessed a s a three -month aver ag e, pre vailing w ind

patterns will drive longterm ave rag e re sults. The EPA's c ontrac tor conc luded that "[d]uring most of these sa mple periods, the pr evailingwind direc tion was from the northea st, and the ASARCO smelter fa cility was g ener ally

upwind [of the Hayden Station monitor] ." A DEQ TSD, Appe ndix A, pag e 3, ¶4. The Town of

Kea rny lies to the northwest of the sme lter, and w ould not be aff ecte d by e mis sio ns c arr ie d b y

tho se pr e va ili ngwi nd s. Dudley ville lies to the south-southeast of the smelter, a nd would not be af

fec ted by e mis sio ns c arr ie d b y

tho se pr e va ili ngwi nd s. 8. AD EQ do e s n ote re c ur ri ngse a so na l inve rs ion s in the Ha y de n a re a , w hic h c ou ld t e nd

to tr a p p o l l u t an t s i nth e r e g i o n . A D E Q T S D , S e c t i o n4

. 6 M e t e o r o l o g y. Howeve r, ADEQ also ac knowledg es that " [t ]he density of lea d particle s cause s ambient emissions to settl e nea

r the sourc e." ADEQ TSD, Ta ble 4-3. As discusse d above, ambient emissions from the cur rent Ha y den smelter c omplex occur relatively near to the g round. The Ha y den Maintena

nce Y ard monitoringstation, located a bout one-ha lf mile from the smelter, appa

rently does violate the le ad NAA QS. Howeve r, the Ha y den Hig h School monitor, located just over a mile from the smelter, doe s not appea r to violate the lea d NAAQS. ADE Q TSD, Figure 4- 1. Given that the Ke arny

is at least seve n miles from the smelter, pr ox imity does not justify extending the pr oposed nonattainment a rea to include the Town. Given that Dudley

ville lies about four miles from the sme lter, proximi ty does not justify extending the pr oposed nonattainment a rea to include the Dudley

ville are a. 9. In th e a

bs e nc e of re le va nt l oc a l a ir

qu a lity mon ito ri ngdata , o r m od e lin g ana ly sis pr oje c tin g loc a l im

pa c ts, or so me oth e r f

a c tua l ba sis to c on c lud e that an a ir qu a lity problem exists , the citizens of Kea rny and Dudley

ville lack the be nefit of a

meaning ful justification for the ne g ative impacts on pe ace of mind and prope rty values that will flow from a nona

ttainment desig nation. Acc ording ly , Iask that ADEQ trim back its rec ommendation to exclude the Town of Kea rny and Dudley

ville from the propose d lead nonattainment are a. I f you have a

ny questions, please c ontact either me at 502-866- 6915. Sin c e re ly y ours ,

Don Gabr ielson Direc torPin a l Co un ty Ai r Q ua lity cc via e-ma il: Supervisor Pete Rios Supervisor David Snider S u p e r v i s o r B r yanM artyn Br ian Davidson, AD EQ