UNITED STATES EN VI RONMENTAL PROTECT I ON AGENCY WASHINGTON, D.C. 20460

The Honorable Rick Scott Governor of Florida PL 05 T he Capitol 400 South Monroe Street Ta ll ahassee, Florida 32399-000 I Dea r Governor Scott: 

## DEC i 

## 8 2014

THE ADMINISTRATOR

I am writing to surnrnarize the U .S. Environmental Protection Agency's rec en t action to address fine particle pollution in your state. As required by the Clea n Air Act, the EPA ha s determ ined which areas are meeting the national ambient air quality standards for fine particle pollution and which areas must take steps to reduce emiss ions that contribute to violations of the standard. On December 14, 2012, the EPA strengthened the annua l, health-b ased fine particle standard from 1 5.0 mi c ro g rams per cubic mete r

**(~tg/m )**  to 12.0

**~g .**  Thousands of scientific s tudi es have linked exposure to these tiny particle s-approx imately l/30th the s ize of a human hair-with se ri o us human health probl e ms including premature death in people with heart and lung disea se, nonfatal heart attacks, and increased hospital admissions and doctor and emergen cy roo m v i s its for respiratory and cardiovascular di seas e. I appreciate the information you and your staff have s hared with the EPA throu g hout this process to assess fine particle pollution levels in communities across your state and the impact of emission sources that co uld be contributing to unhealthy air
. As we have been di scussing with your staff, the EPA recently identified potential data quality issues that may affect the validity of fin e particle poll ution monitoring data for the state of Florida. We will continue to work closely with you to further evalu ate the validity of these data and whether areas in your s tate meet the 2012 annual fin e particle standard. At thi s point , the EPA is de fe rrin g fina l designation s for your state. Once we have determined that sufficient quality assured data are available, we will proceed with a final de signa tion
. The E PA shares respon s ibility with the states and tribe s for managing particle pollution levels. Efforts by s tates and tribes to attain the 1997 and 2006 fin e particl e pollution standards are a lready workin g t o r ed uce unhealthy levels of tine particle pollution. In add ition , current and up coming federal standards and safeguards , includin g pollution reduction rules for power plants, vehicle s and fuels will assure s teady reductions of fine pa rticle pollution and wi II protect public health in communities across the country.

lnt emel Address (URL) • h llp ://www
. epa . gov Recycled/Recyclable • Prinled wilh Vegelab l e Oil Based I nks on 100% Postconsumer, Process Ch l orine Free Recycled PaperTogether , we have made considerable progress to reduce fine part i cle pollut i on. Nationwide, monitored l evels of fine particle pollution have fallen 34 percent since 2000 when we first began nationw i de monitor i ng for p articles of this size. I am confident this progress will continue as we work together towards our shared goal of clean air. For addit i ona l information about these designat i ons, please visit our website at: W\ · V v v .ep a. gov / pmdesig nati o ns .

If you have questions or concerns, please contac t me or your staff may contact Mark Rupp, Deputy Assoc i ate Admin i strator for Intergovernmental Relations , at**rupp.mark(cj~epa.gov** or at (202) 564 - 7178. Sincere l y, «1V ina McCarthy