UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY WASHINGTON, D.C. 20460

The Honorable Robert 

### J. Bentley Governor of A l abama S tate Capito l , 600 Dexter Ave n ue Montgomery, Alabama 36130 Dear Governor Bentley: 

## DEC 1 (} 2014

THE ADMIN I STRATOR

I am wri ting to summarize the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ' s recent ac tion to address fi ne particle pollution in your state. As required by the C lean Air Act, the EPA has determined which areas are meeting the national amb ient air quali ty standards for fine particle pollution and which areas must take steps to reduce emissions that contribute to violations of the standard. On December 14 , 2012, the EPA strengthened the annual , health

-based fine particle standard from 1 5.0 micrograms per cubic meter**(~tg/m )**  to 12.0**~g/m .**  Thousands of scientific studies have linked exposure to these tiny part icles

- approximately 1/ 30th the size of a human hair

- with serious human health problems including premature death in people with heart and lung disease, nonfatal heart attacks , and increased hospi tal admissions and doctor and emergency room v is its for respiratory and cardiovascular disease. I appreciate the information you and your staff have shared with the EPA throughout this process to assess fine particle pollut ion levels in commun ities across your state and the impact of emi ssion sources that could be contributing to unhealthy air. After considering your recommendations, reviewing the most recen t certified fine particle air quality data for your state and evaluating factors to assess cont r ibution to nearby levels of fine particle po ll ution, I am p leased to inform you that at this time, no area within Alabama violates t h e 20 1 2 standard or contributes to a nearby vio lati on of the standard. As a result, the EPA is designating most of your state ' 'unclass ifiab le / attainrnent." As we have been d i scuss ing with your staff, the EPA identified data quality i ssues earlier this year that invalidated fine particle pollution monitoring data for parts of Georgia. As a result, the EPA does not have sufficient air quality monitoring data for 20 1 1-2013 to determine whether Russe ll County, Al abama associated with the Columbus, Georgia area contributes to a nearby vio l ati on at the Georgia monitoring sites if a violation at those sites were to be identified. The EPA expects that for this multistate area, additional monito ri ng data collected after 2013 will provide the requ i site amount of valid data for designations and the EPA is deferring final designations for the area. According ly, the EPA is deferring its final decis i on for Russell County , Alabama.

I n ternet Address (URL) • hllp ://www

. epa . gov Recycled/Recyclable • Pri nted with Vegetable Oi l Based Inks on 100% Poslconsumer

. P r ocess Chlori ne Free Recycled PaperBecause air quality moni t oring fo r 20 1 4 is nearly comple t e, if a s t a t e or tribe reques t s i t , the EPA will evaluate the status of an area based on i t s annual fine particle monitoring data for 20 1 2 - 2014. I f you would like the EPA to re-evaluate any areas wi thi n your state, please submit to the EPA, complete , quality-assured and certified air quality data fo r 2014 by February 27, 2015 . The EPA shares responsibility with the states and tribes for managing particle po llut ion l evels . Efforts

by states and t ri bes to attain the 1997 and 2006 fi n e particle pollution standards are already working to reduce unhealthy l evels of fine particle pollution. In addi t ion, current and upcoming federal sta nd ards and safeguards, including pollut i o n r educt i o n rul es for power pla nts, vehicles an d fuels will assure steady reductions of fine particle pollution and wi ll pro t ec t public h ea lth in communities ac r oss th e country. Toget her , we have made considerable prog re ss to reduce fi n e particle pollution. Natio n wide, monitored levels of fine particle pollution have fallen 34 percent since 2000 w h en we first began nationwide monitoring for p articles of this size . I am confident this p ro g re ss will continue as we work together towards our shared goal of clean air. For addit i ona l in fo rmation about th ese designations, please visit our websi t e at:**'N~w.epa.go v/** **pmde ignations** **.**

If you have questions o r concerns, please co nta ct me or your staff may contact Mark Rupp, Deputy Associate Administrator for In tergovernme nta l Relations , at rupp.mark (a)e pa. go v o r at (202) 564-7178.