UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY 

REGION 4 

The Honorable Rick Scott 

Governor, State of Florida 

The Capitol 

400 South Monroe Street 

Tallahassee, Florida 32399-0001 

Dear Governor Scott: 

ATLANTA FEDERAL CENTER 

61 FORSYTH STREET 

ATLANTA, GEORGIA 30303-8960 

FEB - 6 2013 

Thank you for your staff's recommendations dated June 13, 2011, and updated on November 28, 2011, 

on air quality designations for the State of Florida for the 2010 revision to the primary National Ambient 

Air Quality Standard for sulfur dioxide (S02). Reducing levels of S02 pollution is an important part of 

the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's commitment to a clean, healthy environment. Exposure to 

S02 can cause a range of adverse health effects, including narrowing of the airways which can cause 

difficulty breathing and increased asthma symptoms. This letter is to notify you of the EPA's 

preliminary intentions regarding your recommended designations. 

On June 3, 2010, the EPA strengthened the health-based or "primary" standard for S02 by establishing a 

standard for 1-hour average S02 concentrations at a level of75 parts per billion. The Clean Air Act 

requires the EPA to complete the initial designations process within two years of promulgating a new or 

revised standard. If the Administrator has insufficient information to make these designations, the EPA 

has the authority to extend the designation process by up to one year. On July 27, 2012, the EPA 

announced that it had insufficient information to complete the designations for the 1-hour so2 standard 

within two years and extended the designations deadline to June 3, 2013. 

At this time, the EPA is proceeding with designating as nonattainment most areas in locations where 

existing monitoring data from 2009-2011 indicate violations of the 1-hour S02 standard. The EPA 

intends to address the designations for all other areas in separate future actions. With input from a 

diverse group of stakeholders, the EPA has developed a comprehensive implementation strategy for 

these future actions that focuses resources on identifying and addressing unhealthy levels of S02. The 

strategy is available at: http://www.epa.gov/airquality/sulfurdioxide/implement.html. The EPA will 

continue to work closely with you and our other partners at the state, tribal and local levels to ensure 

health-protective, commonsense implementation of the 1-hour S02 standard. 

Consistent with the Clean Air Act, after carefully considering Florida's recommendations and all of the 

associated technical information for the 2010 S02 standard, including the most recent air quality data 

from 2009-2011, the EPA intends to designate as nonattainment the following areas, including the 

following counties or portions of counties: 

Internet Address (URL) • http://www.epa.gov 

Recycled/Recyclable • Printed wtth Vegetable 0~ Based Inks on Recycled Paper (Minimum 30% Postconsumer) 
NonattaUunentAJea 

Hillsborough County, FL 

Nassau County, FL 

County 

Hillsborough County (p) 

Nassau County (p) 

(p) indicates portion of county 

The EPA will continue to work with state officials regarding the appropriate boundaries for the areas in 

Florida. If Florida has additional information that you would like the EPA to consider, please submit it 

to us by AprilS, 2013. We also will be publishing a notice in the Federal Register announcing a 30-day 

period for the public to provide input on EPA's preliminary designation decisions regarding the areas 

that we would designate as nonattaUunent based on monitoring data. We intend to promulgate these 

designations for areas with monitored violations of the 2010 S02 standard by June 2013. We are not yet 

prepared to propose designations action or seek public comment on other areas. 

We look forward to a continued dialogue with you and your staff as we work together to implement the 

2010 primary S02 standard. For additional information regarding initial designations on the S02 

standard, please visit our website at www.epa.gov/so2designationS. Should you have any questions, 

please do not hesitate to call me at 404-562-8357 or Beverly Banister of my staff at 404-562-9326. 

Enclosure 

cc: Herschel T. Vinyard Jr. 

Secretary, Florida Department of 

Environmental Protection (FDEP) 

Brian Accardo 

Sincerely, 

~~..~,..9"'7f Gwendolyn Keyes Fleming 

Regional Administrator 

Director, Division of Air Resources Management, FDEP 

Peter Hessling 

Administrator, Pinnellas County Air Quality Division 

Daniela Banu 

Director, Broward County Air Quality Division 

Vincent A. Seibold 

Director, City of Jacksonville Air and Water Quality Division 
H. Patrick Wong 

Director, Miami-Dade County Air Quality Management Division 

Jerry Campbell 

Director, Hillsborough County Air Management Division 

Joe Dittell 

Director, Orange County Environmental Protection Division 

James E. Stormer 

Administrator, Palm Beach County Public Health Department 

Gina McCarthy, Assistant Administrator for Air and Radiation 

Stephen D. Page, Director, Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards