THE ADMINISTRATOR OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

The Honorabl e Mary R esvaloso Chairwo man ofT orres Martinez Desert Cahu illa Ind ians P.O. Box 1160 Th e rmal , California 92274 Dear C hairwoman Re sva lo so: WASHINGTON D

. C. 20460


# DEC 1 8 2014

I would like to s umm ari ze the U.S. Environmental Protect io n Agency 's recent act io n to address fineparticle pollut i on on your reservatio n. As required by the Clean Air Act , the E P A has determined w h ich areas are meeting the n ational am bient-air-qu a li ty standar d s for fine-p artic le pollution and which areas must take s teps to reduce emi ss ions that contribute to v io lations of the standard. T he EPA on December 14 , 2 012 , strengthened the annual, health-base d fine-particle standard from 15.0 micrograms per cubic meter ().l.g/m 3 ) to 12.0 ).l.g/m3

. Thousands of sci e ntific studi es have linked exposure to these tiny particl es - app r ox imately 1 / 30th th e s ize of a human hai r- with serious health problems including premature death in people with heart and lung disease, nonfatal heart attac k s and increased hospital adm issions and doctor and e mergency - room vis its for respiratory and cardiovascular diseas e . I appreciate th e information you and yo ur staff have s hared with the EP A throughout this process to assess fine-particle-pollution l eve l s in communities across your res e rvati o n and the impact of emission so urce s that could be contributing to unhealthy a ir. After considering your reco mmendations, reviewin g th e most recent certifi e d fine-part icle air-quality data for your reservation and eva luat ing factor s to assess contribution to n earby l evels of fine

- particl e po ll uti on, I have det e rmin ed that no area within th e Torres Martine z D ese rt Cahu i lla Indians reservation vio lates the 2012 standard or contributes to a nearby v io lation of the standard
. As a result , the EPA is designating all of th e Torres M a rtinez D esert Cah uill a Indian s r eservat ion " unclassifiable/ attainment. " Because air-quality monitoring for 2014 is nearly comp lete, the EPA , at a tribe ' s request, w ill evaluate the sta tus of an area base d on it s annual fin e-particle-mon itorin g data f o r 2012- 1 4. If you would like the EPA to re-evaluat e any a r eas w i t hin your res erva ti o n , please submit comp lete, quality -assu red a nd certified air-quality data for 2 014 to the EPA by F e bruary 2 7,2015. I recognize that the EPA shares res ponsibility w ith the s tates and tribe s for man ag ing particle-pollution leve l s. Efforts by states and tribes to attain the 1 997 and 2006 fin e-particle-pol lu tio n standards are a lready working to red u ce u n healthy levels of fi ne-particle pollution. In addition, current and upcoming federal standard s and safeguar d s, including p ollution- re du ctio n rul es for powe r plant s, vehicle s and fuels wi ll ens ure st ead y reductions of fi ne-particle pollution and will protect public health in communities across th e nation.

This paper is printed with vegetable·oil·based inks and is tOO-percent postconsumer recycled material, chlorine-free-processed and recyclable

.Together we have made considerable progress in reducing fine-particle pollution. Nationwide monitored levels of fine-particle pollution have fallen 34 percent since 2000 whe n we first began such monitoring for part icle s of t his size. I am confident this progress w i ll continue as we work toward our shared goal of clean air.

For additional information about these designations , please visit www.epa.gov/pmdesignations.