UN

I TED STATES

E N VIRONMENTAL

PROTECT

I ON AGENC

Y REG

I ON

6 The Hono

ra

b le Bob
by

Ji ndal Governor

o
f Lou

i siana Post Offic

e B ox

9 4004 Baton

Ro uge, Loui siana 70804 Dear Governor

J

i n da

l

:

1445 ROSS AVENU

E

, SUITE

1200 D AL LAS

, TEXAS 75202

- 2733 August

19, 2014

Offtee

of th

e Reg

i on

a

l A dminist

r a to

r Thank

yo

u for

t he recomm endatio

ns from Secre tary Peggy Hatch

of

t he Louis

ian

a Department

o
f Environmental

Qual

ity da ted Nove mbe

r 5, 2013

, on air quality designations

for the 2012 revised primary
annua

l fine particl

e

( PM2

. s) N

a tion

al Ambie

nt Air

Q
u ality

St andard (NAAQS) throughout Louisiana.

I appreciate

the

i nform ation Louisiana

shar

ed with

the U.S.

En

v iro nmenta

l Protection Agency

as we

m ov

e forw

ar d t

o improve

PM

2 .s ai

r qua lity.
Th

i s letter

i s to no

ti fy you

of the EPA

's preliminary

re

s p ons

e to Louisiana's

reco mmend ations

and

to inform

you

of our

a pproach

for completing t he initial
area

de

s ignations

for the 2012

rev ise

d primary
annua

l PM2

.s standard. On Decemb

er
14

, 2012,

the EPA promulgated

a revised

p rimary annual

PM

2

. s NAA

QS (78 FR 3086, January

15

, 2013

)

. In that action,

the EPA revised

the primary annual

PM

2.s standard, strengthening

it f rom 15.0 micr ograms

per cub

i c me ter

**(~**

**)** to
12 .0

**/m**

**;** re

t ained

the existing 24-hour

PM

2

. s stan dard

at 35

**~g**

**;** retained

t he exist
ing

24

- ho ur PM

10 (c

o arse part

i cle) standard

at 150 **~glm**

**;** and re tained

the curre

n t s

u ite of secondary

P M standa

rds. The EPA revised

the prim

ary annual

PM

2.s

· s tandard

ba sed
on an

i ntegra

ted assess

me

nt of an extensive

body

of new scienti

fic
ev idence

, which s ubstantia

lly strength

e ns our

bo dy of know

l edge regarding

PM2

. s -related

hea

l th effects.

The revised p rimary annua

l P M2

. s stand

ard will provide

i n crease

d protection

for children,

older adults

, person

s with pre -exi sting

he art and lun

g

d isease,

and oth

er at-ris

k po pu
la tions against

an array ofPM2

. s-related adverse health

ef

f ects, inclu ding

pr ema ture mortality,

incr eased hospital

adm issio

ns and emergency departmen

t vis

i t s, and develo pmen

t and exacerbation

of chr

o ni

c respiratory

di sease. History

s ho ws

u
s that better

he alt

h and cleaner

a ir go hand-

in -hand

wi th

e conomic

growt

h

. Worki

ng cl osely with

the stat
es and tribes,

the

E P A
is imp lem ent ing the standar

ds us

i n g

a common

sense approach

t h at im pr oves

a

i r qual

ity an

d minimizes

the burde

n on

s ta te, local,

and

tr ibal governmen

t s. As part

of this rou

t i ne process

, th

e E PA

is working

with

the sta

t es and

tr ibes

to identify

areas

in the country that meet

the standar

ds and those
that

ne ed
to take steps

to reduce

PM

2.s air pollu

t ion. Within

one year

of pr omulgati

ng

a
n ew

or re vised

air qua

l i ty standard,

the Clean

Ai

r Act

r equire

s the Governor

of each state

to sub

m it to the

E P A

a lis

t of all are as
in the
sta
te

, w

i th re co mmenda

t i ons
for

w hethe

r each area meets

the stand

ard

. As

a first step

in

i mplementing

the 2012 annual PM2.s standard, Governors

were

to submit
their designation recommendations,

i ncl ud ing appro

pr

i a te area boundar

ies,

by December

13

, 2013. As required

by the Clean

Air Act,

the EP

A then
des ignates

an area

as

" nonattai
nmen

t " if

i t is violating the 2012 annua

l P M2.

s NAAQS

or
if

i t is contribut

i ng

to

a violat

i o n of the NAAQS

i n

a nearby

area

. Th

i s paper

i s pr

i nte

d wit

h vegetable

- oi

l - based

Inks and

is

1 00

- percent

p o stconsumer

recycl

ed mate

r ial

, ch

l o

r ine

- fre
e-

p ro cessed

a n d

r e c y c la
b

l e

.ConsistentwithdesignationsforpreviousPMz.sstandards,theEPAintends touse a designationcategoryof"unclassifiable/attainment"forareasthataremonitoringattainmentandforareasthatdonothavemonitors butforwhichtheEPAhasreasontobelievearelikelyattainmentandarenotcontributingtonearbyviolations.Additionally,theEPAintendstodesignateas"unclassifiable"thoseareaswheretheEPA·cannotdeterminebasedonavailableinformationwhethertheareaismeetingornotmeetingtheNAAQSorwheretheEPAhasnotdeterminedthattheareacontributestoanearbyviolation.Atthistime,theEPAisproceedingwithintendedinitialareadesignationsusingquality-assured,certifiedairqualitymonitoringdatafrom2011to2013.WehaveconsideredtheannualPMz.sdesignationrecommendationssubmittedbyLouisianaonNovember5,2013,andhavereviewedtherelevanttechnicalinformation including2011-2013airqualitydata.These datadonotindicateanyviolation of the2012annualPMz.sNAAQSinLouisiana orcontributiontoanynearbyarea.Accordingly,theEPAintendstomodifythestateofLouisianarecommendationofattainmentorunclassifiableand designateallareasofthestateasunclassifiable/attainment.TheEPAwillmakeitspreliminarydesignationdecisionsandsupporting documentationavailabletothegeneralpublicforreviewandcomment.Wewillbeannouncinga30-daypubliccommentperiod shortlyintheFederalRegister.Afterconsideringthe additionalinformationwereceive,theEPAplanstopromulgatefinalannualPMz.sdesignationsinDecemberof2014.TheEPAiscommittedtoworkingwiththestatesandtribestosharetheresponsibilityofreducingPMz.sairpollution.Currentandupcoming federalstandardsandsafeguards,includingpollutionreductionrulesforpowerplants,vehiclesandfuels,willassuresteadyprogresstoreducePMz.sformingpollutionandwillprotectpublichealthincommunitiesacrossthecountry.Welookforwardtoacontinueddialoguewithyouandyourstaffasweworktogethertoimplementthe2012annualPMz.sstandard.Ifyouhaveanyquestions,pleasecontactmeat(214)665-2100,orhaveyourstaff contactMr.GuyDonaldson,ChiefoftheAirPlanningSection,at(214)-665-7242.cc:Ms.PeggyHatchSecretary,LouisianaDepartmentofEnvironmentalQualityMs.TeganTreadawayAssistantSecretaryofEnvironmentalServices,LouisianaDepartmentofEnvironmentalQualityMs.JanetG.McCabeActingAssistant AdministratorforAirandRadiation,U.S.EnvironmentalProtectionAgencyMr.StephenD.PageDirector,OfficeofAirQualityPlanningandStandard,U.S.EnvironmentalProtectionAgency