United States Environmental Protection Agency Regional Administrator

Harold Frank, Chairman Forest County Potawatomi Community P.O. Box 340 Crandon, Wisconsin 54520 Dear Chairman Frank: RegionS 77 West Jackson Boulevard Chicago, IL 60604-3590

The purpose ofthis letter is to provide you with additional information concerning the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's designations process for the 2012 primary annual Particulate Matter (PM2s) National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS). Area recommendations for the PM2 

### .s NAAQS were due to EPA on December 13, 2013; at that time we received your designation recommendation ofattainment/unclassifiable. We wantto ensure early, transparent and effective conm1unication in developing area designations for the revised annual PM2 .5 standard. We will keep you informed as we fmalize designations for your tribe's area. Please notify us byJune 13, 2014 if you are interested in consultingwith us regarding a recommended designation. When requested, consultation will be conducted in accordance with the EPA Policy on Consultation and Coordination with Indian Tribes (www.epa.gov/tribal/consultation!consult-policy.htrn).

On December 13, 2012, EPA revised the primary annual NAAQS for PM2

### .s to provide increased protection ofpublic health from fine particle pollution. The new annual PM2.s standard was strengthened from 15 ug/m3 to 12 ug/m3• Establishing initial area designations is a key step in the process ofproviding the health and/or welfare protection intended by the Clean Air Act (CAA). Within two years ofpromulgation ofa new or revised NAAQS, EPA must list and designate all areas in the country as either: Attaimnent-areas that meetthe standard; Nonattainment-areasthat either do not meet the standard, or are contributing to a nearby area that does not meet the standard; or Unclassifiable--areas where there is insufficient information to make a determination as to attainment. These designations are based on current air quality information, recommendations from tribal leaders and state governors, and other relevant information as discussed inthe April 2013 designations guidance onInitialArea Designations for the 2012 RevisedPrimaryAnnualFine Particle NationalAmbientAir Quality Standard. The guidance is currently available onthe EPA's PM Designations website at http

### :1 /www.epa.gov/pmdesignations/2012standards/ docs/april2013guidance.pdf. Additional information about developing tribal air quality designations is available in the September 2013 document Developing

Recycled/Recyclable • Printed with Vegetable Oil Based Inks on 100% Recyckd Paper (100% Post-Consumer)2 Designation Recommendations forAreas of Indian Country, which is available here: http://www.epa.gov/air/tribal/pdfs/DevelopingaDesignationRecommendationforindianCountry.pdf. We plan to formally announce our intended designations for all areas by August 14,2014. At that time we will send another letter to you with our intended designation and offer an additional opportunity to consult with us on any modifications that EPA proposes to make to your tribe's recommendation. In accordance with section 1 07(d) (1 )(B) ofthe CAA, we are required to issue final designations for the primary annual PM2.s NAAQS no later than December 12, 2014. Our designations will be based onthe most recent three calendar years ofcertified, quality-assured monitoring data available, and any other relevant information. Ifyour tribe is interested in consultation or has questions aboutthe designations process, please do not hesitate to contact me or Carolyn Persoon ofmy staffat (312) 353-8290 or persoon.carolyn@epa.gov. Sincerely,

Susan Hedman Regional Administrator

cc: Frank Shepard, Deputy Natural Resources Administrator, Forest County Potawatomi Community Natalene Cummings, Air Quality Program Manager, Forest County Potawatomi Community