Document ID: EPA-HQ-OAR-2013-0146-0001
Agency: epa
Document Type: Notice
Title: Integrated Review Plan for the Primary National Ambient Air Quality Standards for Oxides of Nitrogen
Posted Date: 2014-02-06T05:00Z

[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 25 (Thursday, February 6, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 7184-7185]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-02607]

[[Page 7184]]

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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-OAR-2013-0146; FRL-9906-22-OAR]

Release of Draft Integrated Review Plan for the Primary National 
Ambient Air Quality Standards for Oxides of Nitrogen

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of availability and public comment period.

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SUMMARY: On or about February 10, 2014, the Environmental Protection 
Agency (EPA) is making available for public review the draft titled, 
Integrated Review Plan for the Primary National Ambient Air Quality 
Standards for Nitrogen Dioxide (draft IRP). This document contains the 
plans for the review of the air quality criteria for oxides of nitrogen 
and national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS) for nitrogen dioxide 
(NO2). The primary NO2 NAAQS provide for the 
protection of public health from exposure to oxides of nitrogen in 
ambient air.

DATES: Comments should be submitted on or before March 13, 2014.

ADDRESSES: This document will be available primarily via the Internet 
at the following Web site: http://www.epa.gov/ttn/naaqs/standards/nox/s_nox_index.html.
    Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2013-
0146, by one of the following methods:
     www.regulations.gov: Follow the on-line instructions for 
submitting comments.
     Email: a-and-r-Docket@epa.gov.
     Fax: 202-566-9744.
     Mail: Air and Radiation Docket and Information Center, 
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Mail Code 2822T, 1200 
Pennsylvania Ave. NW., Washington, DC 20460. Please include a total of 
two copies.
     Hand Delivery: 1301 Constitution Ave. NW., Room 3334, 
Washington, DC. EPA Docket Center, 1301 Constitution Ave. NW., Room 
3334, Washington, DC. Such deliveries are only accepted during the 
Docket's normal hours of operation, and special arrangements should be 
made for deliveries of boxed information.
    Instructions: Direct your comments to Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-
2013-0146. The EPA's policy is that all comments received will be 
included in the public docket without change and may be made available 
online at www.regulations.gov, including any personal information 
provided, unless the comment includes information claimed to be 
Confidential Business Information (CBI) or other information whose 
disclosure is restricted by statute. Do not submit information that you 
consider to be CBI or otherwise protected through www.regulations.gov 
(or email). The www.regulations.gov Web site is an ``anonymous access'' 
system, which means the EPA will not know your identity or contact 
information unless you provide it in the body of your comment. If you 
send an email comment directly to the EPA without going through 
www.regulations.gov, your email address will be automatically captured 
and included as part of the comment that is placed in the public docket 
and made available on the Internet. If you submit an electronic 
comment, the EPA recommends that you include your name and other 
contact information in the body of your comment and with any disk or 
CD-ROM you submit. If the EPA cannot read your comment due to technical 
difficulties and cannot contact you for clarification, the EPA may not 
be able to consider your comment. Electronic files should avoid the use 
of special characters, any form of encryption, and be free of any 
defects or viruses. For additional information about the EPA's public 
docket, visit the EPA Docket Center homepage at http://www.epa.gov/epahome/dockets.htm.
    Docket: All documents in the docket are listed in the 
www.regulations.gov index. Although listed in the index, some 
information is not publicly available, e.g., CBI or other information 
whose disclosure is restricted by statute. Certain other material, such 
as copyrighted material, will be publicly available only in hard copy. 
Publicly available docket materials are available either electronically 
in www.regulations.gov or in hard copy at the Air and Radiation Docket 
and Information Center, EPA/DC, William Jefferson Clinton Building, 
Room 3334, 1301 Constitution Ave. NW., Washington, DC. The Public 
Reading Room is open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through 
Friday, excluding legal holidays. The telephone number for the Public 
Reading Room is 202-566-1744, and the telephone number for the Air and 
Radiation Docket and Information Center is 202-566-1742.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Beth Hassett-Sipple, Office of Air 
Quality Planning and Standards (Mail Code C504-06), U.S. Environmental 
Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park, NC 27711; telephone number: 
919-541-4605; fax number: 919-541-0237; email address: hassett-sipple.beth@epa.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. General Information

A. What should I consider as I prepare my comments for the EPA?

    1. Submitting CBI. Do not submit this information to the EPA 
through www.regulations.gov or email. Clearly mark the part or all of 
the information that you claim to be CBI. For CBI information in a disk 
or CD-ROM that you mail to the EPA, mark the outside of the disk or CD 
ROM as CBI and then identify electronically within the disk or CD ROM 
the specific information that is claimed as CBI. In addition to one 
complete version of the comment that includes information claimed as 
CBI, a copy of the comment that does not contain the information 
claimed as CBI must be submitted for inclusion in the public docket. 
Information so marked will not be disclosed except in accordance with 
procedures set forth in 40 CFR part 2.
    2. Tips for Preparing Your Comments. When submitting comments, 
remember to:
     Identify the rulemaking by docket number and other 
identifying information (subject heading, Federal Register date and 
page number).
     Follow directions--The agency may ask you to respond to 
specific questions or organize comments by referencing a Code of 
Federal Regulations (CFR) part or section number.
     Explain why you agree or disagree; suggest alternatives 
and substitute language for your requested changes.
     Describe any assumptions and provide any technical 
information and/or data that you used.
     If you estimate potential costs or burdens, explain how 
you arrived at your estimate in sufficient detail to allow for it to be 
reproduced.
     Provide specific examples to illustrate your concerns, and 
suggest alternatives.
     Explain your views as clearly as possible, avoiding the 
use of profanity or personal threats.
     Make sure to submit your comments by the comment period 
deadline identified.

II. Information Specific to This Document

    Two sections of the Clean Air Act (CAA) govern the establishment 
and revision of the NAAQS. Section 108 (42 U.S.C. section 7408) directs 
the Administrator to identify and list certain air pollutants and then 
to issue air quality criteria for those pollutants.

[[Page 7185]]

The Administrator is to list those air pollutants that in her 
``judgment, cause or contribute to air pollution which may reasonably 
be anticipated to endanger public health or welfare;'' ``the presence 
of which in the ambient air results from numerous or diverse mobile or 
stationary sources;'' and ``for which . . . [the Administrator] plans 
to issue air quality criteria . . .'' Air quality criteria are intended 
to ``accurately reflect the latest scientific knowledge useful in 
indicating the kind and extent of all identifiable effects on public 
health or welfare which may be expected from the presence of [a] 
pollutant in the ambient air . . .'' 42 U.S.C. 7408(b). Under section 
109 (42 U.S.C. 7409), the EPA establishes primary (health-based) and 
secondary (welfare-based) NAAQS for pollutants for which air quality 
criteria are issued. Section 109(d) requires periodic review and, if 
appropriate, revision of existing air quality criteria. The EPA is also 
required to periodically review and, if appropriate, revise the NAAQS 
based on the revised criteria. Section 109(d)(2) requires that an 
independent scientific review committee ``shall complete a review of 
the criteria . . . and the national primary and secondary ambient air 
quality standards . . . and shall recommend to the Administrator any 
new . . . standards and revisions of existing criteria and standards as 
may be appropriate. . . .'' Since the early 1980's, this independent 
review function has been performed by the Clean Air Scientific Advisory 
Committee (CASAC).
    Presently, the EPA is reviewing the primary NAAQS for 
NO2.\1\ The draft document, announced today, has been 
developed as part of the planning phase for the review. This phase 
began with a science policy workshop to identify issues and questions 
to frame the review.\2\ Drawing from the workshop discussions, the 
draft IRP has been prepared jointly by EPA's National Center for 
Environmental Assessment, within the Office of Research and 
Development, and EPA's Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards, 
within the Office of Air and Radiation.\3\ The draft IRP presents the 
current plan and specifies the schedule for the entire review, the 
process for conducting the review, and the key policy-relevant science 
issues that will guide the review. This document will be available on 
the EPA's Technology Transfer Network (TTN) Web site at http://www.epa.gov/ttn/naaqs/standards/nox/s_nox_index.html http://www.epa.gov/ttn/naaqs/standards/pb/s_pb_index.html, accessible in the 
``Documents from Current Review'' section under ``Planning Documents.''
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    \1\ The EPA's call for information for this review was issued on 
February 10, 2012 (77 FR 7149).
    \2\ The EPA held a workshop titled ``Kickoff Workshop to Inform 
EPA's Review of the Primary NO2 NAAQS'' on February 29 to 
March 1, 2012 (77 FR 7149).
    \3\ Prior to development of this draft IRP, EPA's National 
Center for Environmental Assessment prepared a ``Draft Plan for 
Development of the Integrated Science Assessment for Nitrogen 
Oxides--Health Criteria'' for consultation with CASAC (78 FR 26026; 
78 FR 27234). Comments received during that consultation have been 
considered in preparation of the chapter on the development of the 
integrated science assessment in the draft IRP.
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    The draft IRP is being made available for CASAC review and for 
public comment. Comments should be submitted to the docket, as 
described above, by March 13, 2014. Information about the CASAC review 
meeting on this planning document, including the dates and location, 
will be published as a separate notice in the Federal Register. The 
final IRP will be prepared after considering comments from CASAC and 
the public. This draft document does not represent and should not be 
construed to represent any final EPA policy, viewpoint or 
determination.

    Dated: January 28, 2014.
Mary E. Henigin,
Acting Director, Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards.
[FR Doc. 2014-02607 Filed 2-5-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P