-çc)UNITEDSTATESENVIRONMENTALPROTECTIONAGENCY______REGIONIXPRO75HawthorneStreetSanFrancisco,CA941O539O1OFFICEOFTHEFEB072013REGIONALADMINISTRATORMarkMacarroChairmanPechangaBandofLuisenoMissionIndiansP.O.Box1477Temecula,California92593DearChairmanMacarro:ThankyouforyourrecommendationsdatedMay31,2011onairqualitydesignationsforthePechangaBandofLuisenoMissionIndiansforthe2010revisiontotheprimaryNationalAmbientAirQualityStandardforsulfurdioxide(SO2).ReducinglevelsofSO2pollutionisanimportantpartoftheU.S.EnvironmentalProtectionAgency’s(EPA)commitmenttoaclean,healthyenvironment.ExposuretoSO2cancausearangeofadversehealtheffects,includingnarrowingoftheairwayswhichcancausedifficultybreathingandincreasedasthmasymptoms.ThisletteristonotifyyouoftheEPA’spreliminaryintentionsregardingyourrecommendeddesignations.OnJune3,2010,theEPAstrengthenedthehealth-basedor“primary”standardforSO2byestablishingastandardfor1-houraverageSO2concentrationsatalevelof75partsperbillion.TheCleanAirActrequirestheEPAtocompletetheinitialdesignationsprocesswithintwoyearsofpromulgatinganeworrevisedstandard.IftheAdministratorhasinsuflicientinformationtomakethesedesignations,theEPAhastheauthoritytoextendthedesignationprocessbyuptooneyear.OnJuly27,2012,theEPAannouncedthatithadinsufficientinformationtocompletethedesignationsforthe1-hourSO2standardwithintwoyearsandextendedthedesignationsdeadlinetoJune3,2013.AtthistimetheEPAisproceedingwithdesignatingasnonattainmentmostareasinlocationswhereexistingmonitoringdatafrom2009-2011indicateviolationsofthe1-hourSO2standard.TheEPAintendstoaddressthedesignationsforallotherareasinseparatefutureactions.Withinputfromadiversegroupofstakeholders,EPAhasdevelopedacomprehensiveimplementationstrategyforthesefutureactionsthatfocusesresourcesonidentifyingandaddressingunhealthylevelsofSO2.Thestrategyisavailableat:www.epa.gov/airguality/sulfurdioxide/implement.html.TheEPAwillcontinuetoworkcloselywithyouandourotherpartnersatthestate,tribalandlocallevelstoensurehealthprotective,commonsenseimplementationofthe1-hourSO2standard.TheEPA’sreviewofthemostrecentmonitoredairqualitydatafrom2009-2011showsnoviolationsofthe2010SO2standardinanyareasofIndiancountryofthePechangaBandofLuisenoMissionIndians.Consequently,theEPAisnotyetpreparedtoproposedesignationactiononPechangaBandofLuisenoPrinedonRecycledPaperMissionIndiansandisthereforecurrentlydeferringactiontodesignateareasofIndiancountryofthePechangaBandofLuisenoMissionIndians.TheEPAexpectstobeabletoproceedwithdesignationactionforthePechangaBandofLuisenoMissionIndiansonceadditionaldataaregatheredpursuanttoourcomprehensiveimplementationstrategy.InaseparatefutureactionoractionstheEPAwillnotifyyouofourintendeddesignations,andseekpubliccommentontheseactions,nolaterthan120dayspriortopromulgatinganyfmaldesignations.Welookforwardtoacontinueddialoguewithyouandyourstaffasweworktogethertoimplementthe2010primarySO2standard.ForadditionalinformationregardinginitialdesignationsoftheSO2standard,pleasevisitourwebsiteat:www.epa.gov/so2designations.Shouldyouhaveanyquestions,pleasedonothesitatetocallme,orhaveyourstaffcontactDeborahJordan,Director,AirDivisionat415-947-8715,orjordan.deborah@epa.ov.Sincerely,,4JaredBlumenfeldcc:SyndiSmallwood,EnvironmentalDirector,PechangaBandofLuisenoMissionIndiansGinaMcCarthy,AssistantAdministratorforAirandRadiationStephenD.Page,Director,OfficeofAirQualityPlanningandStandards