THE ADMINISTRATOR OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

The Honorable Robert Martin C hairman of Morongo Band of Mission Indian s 12700 Pumarra Road Banning, California 92220 Dear Chairman Martin: WASHINGTON , D
. C
. 20460



## DEC 1 8 2014

I wou ld like to summarize the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ' s recent action to address fine

particle pollution on your reservation. As required by the Clean Air Act , th e EPA has determined which areas are meeting the national ambient-air-quality standard s for fme-particle pollution and whic h areas must take steps to reduce emissions that contribute to vio lat ions of the standar d. The EPA on Decembe r 14 , 2012, strengthened th e ann ual , health

- based fine-particle standard from 15
. 0 micrograms per cubic meter ( J..t g/ m 3) to 12.0

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**.** Thou sands of scientific studie s have linked exposure to these tiny particl es - approximately l/30th th e size o f a human hair

- with se rious health probl ems includin g premature death in people with he art an d lu ng disease, nonfatal heart attacks and increased hospital admissions and doctor and emergency-room v is it s for resp irat ory and cardiovasc ular disease. I apprec iate the inf ormation you and your staff have shared wi th the E P A throughout this pro cess to assess fine-particle-pollution levels in communities across your reservation and the impact of emission sources that could be contr ibuting to unh ealthy air. After rev iewing the most recent certified fineparticle air-quality data for the state of California an d evaluating factors to assess contributi on to ne arby l evels of fine particle pollution, I have determin ed th at some areas in California do not m eet th e 2012 annual fine particle s tand a rd or they contribute to a nea rby violation of the standard. The EPA is des ig nating tho se areas " n o nattainment." Some of these areas also include areas of Indian countr y , including the r eservation of th e Morongo Band of M ission Indians. Nonattainment areas will be required to take action to reduce fine-particle pollution and meet the standard n o late r t han 2021. As required by the Clean Air Act, those actions may includ e stricter co ntrols on industrial facilities and additional planning requirements for transportat ion-related sources. While tribes are not required to take actions, the EPA will work with tribes to d eve lop plans as necessary or appropriate to ens ure tribal areas meet the standard no later than 2021
. B ecause air-quality monitoring for 2014 is nearly co mplete , the EPA , at a tribe's re quest, wi ll evaluate t he s t a tus of an area based on it s annual fine -pa rti c l e-mon i to ring data for 20 12- 14. If yo u would like the EPA to re - evaluate any areas within your reservation , please s ubmi t complete , quality -assured and c e rtified ai r-qu ality data for 2014 to the EPA b y F ebruary 27,2015. I recognize that the EPA shares responsibility with the states and tribe s for managing particle-polluti on leve l s. Efforts by states and tri b es to attain the 1997 and 2006 fine-particle-pollution standard s are a lready working to reduce unhealthy le vel s of fine-particle pollution. In additi o n , current and upcomin g

This paper is printed with vegetable-oil-based inks and is 100-percent postconsumer recycled material , chlorine-free - processed and recyclable
.federal standards an d safeguards , inclu d ing pollution-reduction rules for pow er plants, vehicles and fuels will e nsur e steady r ed uc t i ons of fine- p article p o llut ion and w ill protec t public h ea l t h in communiti es acros s the nation. Together we h ave made considerable progr ess in r e du c ing fine- p art i cle pollution. Nationwide monitored l evels of fine-particle pollution have f allen 34 p ercent since 2000 when we first began such monitoring fo r particl es of thi s size. I am confi d en t this pro gress will continue as we work towar d our shared goa l of clean a i r.

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