Document ID: EPA-HQ-OAR-2022-0794-0001
Agency: epa
Document Type: Notice
Title: Better Indoor Air Quality Management to Help Reduce COVID-19 and Other Disease Transmission in Buildings: Technical Assistance Needs and Priorities to Improve Public Health
Posted Date: 2022-10-05T04:00Z

[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 192 (Wednesday, October 5, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 60396-60399]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-21590]

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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-OAR-2022-0794; FRL-10225-01-OAR]

Request for Information: Better Indoor Air Quality Management To 
Help Reduce COVID-19 and Other Disease Transmission in Buildings: 
Technical Assistance Needs and Priorities To Improve Public Health

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Radiation and Indoor 
Air.

ACTION: Request for information through public comment.

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SUMMARY: Through this Request for Information (RFI), the Environmental 
Protection Agency (EPA) seeks to promote and advance the widespread 
adoption of actions that lead to improvements in indoor air quality 
(IAQ) in the nation's building stock to help mitigate disease 
transmission (e.g., COVID-19). The agency is announcing a 60-day public 
comment period to solicit information and recommendations from a broad 
array of individuals and organizations with knowledge and

[[Page 60397]]

expertise relating to the built environment and health, indoor air 
quality, epidemiology, disease transmission, social sciences and other 
disciplines. EPA will analyze information received from this RFI to 
consider and support the potential development, improvement, and 
implementation of technical assistance efforts (e.g., information, 
tools, training, guidance) and other strategies (e.g., incentives, 
recognition efforts) to support IAQ related improvements in the 
nation's building stock, with a particular emphasis on schools and 
commercial buildings.

DATES: Comments may be submitted on or before December 5, 2022.

ADDRESSES: You may send comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-
OAR-2022-0794 by any of the following methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: https://www.regulations.gov 
(our preferred method). Follow the online instructions for submitting 
comments.
     Email: [email protected]. Include Docket ID No. EPA-
HQ-OAR-2022-0794 in the subject line of the message.
     U.S. Postal Service Mail: U.S. Environmental Protection 
Agency, EPA Docket Center, Air and Radiation Docket, Mail Code 28221T, 
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20460.
     Hand Delivery/Courier: EPA Docket Center, WJC West 
Building, Room 3334, 1301 Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20004. 
The Docket Center's hours of operations are 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m., 
Monday-Friday (except Federal Holidays).
    Instructions: All submissions received must include the Docket ID 
No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2022-0794 for this rulemaking. Comments received may be 
posted without change to https://www.regulations.gov/, including any 
personal information provided. For detailed instructions on sending 
comments, see the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this document.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Alisa Smith, Office of Radiation and 
Indoor Air/Indoor Environments Division ([email protected], 202-343-
9372) or Ray Lee, Office of Radiation and Indoor Air/Radiation 
Protection Division ([email protected], 202-343-9463).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Submit your comments, identified by Docket 
ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2022-0794, at https://www.regulations.gov (our 
preferred method), or the other methods identified in the ADDRESSES 
section. Once submitted, comments cannot be edited or removed from the 
docket. The EPA may publish any comment received to its public docket. 
Do not submit electronically any information you consider to be 
Confidential Business Information (CBI) or other information whose 
disclosure is restricted by statute. Multimedia submissions (audio, 
video, etc.) must be accompanied by a written comment. The written 
comment is considered the official comment and should include 
discussion of all points you wish to make. The EPA will generally not 
consider comments or comment contents located outside of the primary 
submission (i.e., on the web, cloud, or other file sharing system). For 
additional submission methods, the full EPA public comment policy, 
information about CBI or multimedia submissions, and general guidance 
on making effective comments, please visit https://www.epa.gov/dockets/commenting-epa-dockets.
    You do not need to address every question and should focus on those 
where you have relevant expertise or experience. In your comments, 
please provide a brief description of yourself and your role or 
organization before addressing the question. Please identify the 
question(s) you are responding to by question number when submitting 
your comments.

1.0 Background

The Clean Air in Buildings Challenge

    In March 2022, the Biden-Harris Administration launched the Clean 
Air in Buildings Challenge, a key component of the President's National 
COVID-19 Preparedness Plan. The Clean Air in Buildings Challenge is a 
call to action and a set of guiding principles and best practices to 
encourage and assist building owners and operators with reducing risks 
from airborne viruses and other contaminants indoors through the 
improvement of indoor air quality. The Clean Air in Buildings Challenge 
highlights a range of recommended best practices and resources for 
improving ventilation, filtration, air cleaning and indoor air quality 
in buildings, which can help to better protect the health of building 
occupants and reduce the risk of COVID-19 spread. The Administration 
invited and encouraged all building owners and managers--and 
organizations of all kinds--to take action based on the Clean Air in 
Buildings Challenge best practices guide.
    To further promote awareness of and participation in the Clean Air 
in Buildings Challenge, the Administration also committed to identify 
ways to recognize leaders in this effort including organizations, 
building owners, managers, and operators across sectors and around the 
country for steps they take to improve ventilation, filtration, and 
indoor air quality to protect and promote public health. The intent of 
such recognition would be to provide one means to increase and sustain 
awareness of the need to improve ventilation and indoor air quality in 
our nation's buildings to protect public health, and to acknowledge 
individuals and organizations that have taken these actions and inspire 
others to do so while leveraging the National COVID-19 Preparedness 
Plan and the Clean Air in Buildings Challenge.
    Ventilation, filtration, and air cleaning in buildings are 
essential components of a multilayered approach to preventing disease 
transmission, including COVID-19.
    There are straightforward steps that can be taken to reduce the 
potential for airborne transmission of COVID-19.\1\ The layout, design, 
and operation of a building, including the operation of the heating, 
ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system, as well as occupant 
behaviors, can all impact the potential airborne spread of COVID-19 in 
that building. Although improvements to ventilation, filtration and air 
cleaning cannot on their own eliminate the risk of airborne 
transmission of the virus, increasing ventilation with outdoor air 
accompanied by air filtration and air cleaning are important components 
of a layered prevention strategy to reduce the spread of COVID-19 and 
promote the overall health of building occupants. Additional components 
of a layered COVID-19 prevention strategy may include vaccination, 
physical distancing, wearing masks, and other precautions.
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    \1\ https://www.epa.gov/coronavirus/indoor-air-and-coronavirus-covid-19.
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    Significant public health gains can be achieved by improving 
building ventilation and filtration.
    Well managed IAQ is a critical component of the pandemic response 
and has multiple co-benefits. Improvements in ventilation, filtration, 
air cleaning and other indoor air quality parameters are important for 
the multiple health impacts they achieve; such actions also support 
important performance, productivity, and economic benefits.\2\ For 
example, increases in classroom ventilation rates are associated with 
improvements in student performance.
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    \2\ https://iaqscience.lbl.gov/.

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[[Page 60398]]

    Challenges and opportunities for improving IAQ in buildings--What 
we've learned to date.
    The Administration and Congress have taken unprecedented steps to 
ensure that funding is available to support the pandemic response. This 
includes funding through the American Rescue Plan which provided $122 
billion to schools and billions more to state, local, and tribal 
governments which they may use, among other uses of the funds, to 
support indoor air quality improvements in schools, small businesses, 
industrial settings, commercial buildings, low-income housing, and 
transportation hubs.\3\
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    \3\ Dowell D, Lindsley WG, Brooks JT. Reducing SARS-CoV-2 in 
Shared Indoor Air. JAMA. Published online June 07, 2022. 
doi:10.1001/jama.2022.9970.
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    School decision makers are implementing HVAC improvements as one 
means to help reduce the spread of COVID-19 and remain open for in 
person learning. CDC recently published the results of the National 
School COVID-19 Prevention Study, an assessment of ventilation 
practices in schools.\4\ This study found ``the most common reported 
ventilation improvement strategies by schools were lower-cost 
strategies, including relocating activities outdoors (74%), inspecting 
and validating existing HVAC systems (71%), and opening doors (67%) or 
windows (67%) when safe to do so. Fewer schools reported more resource-
intensive strategies such as replacing or upgrading HVAC systems (39%) 
or using HEPA filtration systems in classrooms (28%) or eating areas 
(30%). Rural and mid-poverty schools were less likely to report 
implementing several resource-intensive strategies.'' Professional 
organizations, HVAC-related industries, trade unions, and others are 
reporting they are mobilizing their resources to help improve building 
assets, operations, and services to improve indoor air quality. 
Anecdotally, some school representatives are reporting that they face 
challenges implementing improvements that require professional services 
because they have not yet been able to efficiently secure qualified 
workers in a timely manner.
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    \4\ Pampati S, Rasberry CN, McConnell L, et al. Ventilation 
Improvement Strategies Among K-12 Public Schools--The National 
School COVID-19 Prevention Study, United States, February 14-March 
27, 2022. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2022; 71:770-775. DOE: http://dx.doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm7123e2.
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    While recent assessments of the use of federal funds to support 
ventilation and other indoor air quality improvements show encouraging 
action, there remains important work to do to help schools and other 
buildings to improve indoor air. Public health initiatives that inform 
the public about indoor air quality have proven impacts. The EPA 
environmental tobacco smoke risk assessment provided critical public 
health information that led to significant improvements to IAQ through 
state, local, and private smoke-free policies and practices in 
buildings. The Coordinated Federal Action Plan to Reduce Racial and 
Ethnic Asthma Disparities has focused support for community-level 
interventions on the preventable factors, including indoor 
environmental exposures, that underlie persistent and pervasive 
disparities in asthma outcomes. The National Radon Action Plan 
spearheaded by EPA in collaboration with other Federal agencies and 
leading not-for-profit organizations has mobilized a unique public-
private partnership to prevent lung cancer deaths from avoidable radon 
exposure in homes and schools. And State weatherization assistance 
programs, supported with Federal funds, have linked energy efficiency 
with IAQ protective measures such as mold and moisture management, to 
deliver healthier homes for thousands of low-income families. The 
opportunity exists now to scale up proven practices, fast track 
innovative research and development, and mobilize public and private 
assets to make sustained improvements to indoor air quality, reduce 
COVID-19 risk, and improve school and workplace health and safety.

2.0 Request for Information

    Through this RFI, EPA is seeking input from a diverse array of 
stakeholders (e.g., building owners and operators, HVAC professionals, 
engineers, building and construction contractors, academics, 
architects, industrial hygienists, managers, researchers, Federal, 
State, Tribal and local government representatives, school and school 
district leaders and facility managers, industry, philanthropists, non-
governmental organizations and the public at large) about actions, 
strategies, tools and approaches that support ventilation, filtration 
and air cleaning improvements, and other actions that would promote 
sustained improvements in indoor air quality in the nation's building 
stock to help mitigate disease transmission.
    Responses to this RFI will inform ongoing and future efforts by EPA 
and others to support both the implementation and the sustainability of 
proven indoor air quality risk reduction measures with a special focus 
on activities that will address those aspects of building operations 
that can reduce disease transmission indoors.
    EPA is particularly interested in feedback about current 
opportunities and priorities that can be implemented quickly and with 
existing resources. We are also interested in needs, tools, training, 
and other approaches that will lead to sustainable, systems-based 
improvements in the nation's building stock over the longer term and 
any obstacles and how they may be addressed. This RFI is for 
informational gathering purposes only and should not be construed as a 
solicitation or as an obligation on the part of EPA.

3.0 Key Questions

    3.1 In your opinion, what approach(es) could the Federal government 
consider deploying to move decision makers/owners/managers toward 
making and sustaining improved ventilation, filtration, and air 
cleaning practices to reduce the risk of disease transmission?
     What could these efforts look like (e.g., awareness 
campaigns, job training programs, voluntary labeling or other 
recognition programs, financial incentives, rebate programs)?
     How might these efforts function (e.g., public-private 
partnership, expansion of existing public and or private programs)?
     Who are the stakeholders for action (general public, 
industry, government, academia, public health professionals, schools, 
commercial building owners, faith-based community, special-interest 
organizations)?
     What technical assistance, tools, resources, and/or 
guidance is needed by stakeholders?
    3.2 In your opinion, what are the near-term indoor air quality 
related actions that could help schools respond to a COVID-19 disease 
surge?
     What specific supports for improving indoor air quality 
could be helpful to the school community?
     In addition to Federal tools, guidance, and funding 
resources, what other stakeholders are in a position or have assets 
that can help schools address IAQ issues?
     What approaches could a school system consider if they are 
willing and able to make IAQ changes but are having difficulty securing 
labor or supplies to complete their improvements?
    3.3 In your opinion, over the longer term, how can ventilation, 
filtration and air cleaning improvements be prioritized and made 
standard practices in building design, construction, commissioning, 
renovation, and operations and maintenance efforts (e.g.,

[[Page 60399]]

building code adoption, training or other efforts to sustain proper 
practices such as operation and maintenance of HVAC systems as 
designed, weatherization and other retrofit programs)?
     What policies and or practices need to be put in place to 
support such efforts?
     Who can take these actions?
     What tools and technical assistance are needed?
     What are the obstacles to implementing appropriate 
upgrades to HVAC systems, in schools in particular?
    3.4 In your opinion, what is an effective approach for a building 
recognition program (e.g., pledge campaign, performance tiers, 
certification program)?
     What do you think are the primary incentives for decision 
makers to invest in ventilation, filtration, and air cleaning 
improvements and upgrades?
     What are the obstacles that decision makers may be facing?
     What approaches can help ensure buildings and 
organizations of all types can participate in a building recognition 
program?
     How can equity be integrated into a building recognition 
program so that it recognizes various types of significant improvements 
while taking into consideration diversity in the quality of existing 
buildings and differences in available financial resources? Could 
tiered recognition help address this equity consideration and what 
tiering approach should be considered?
    3.5 In your opinion, what are key characteristics of a building 
recognition program that would be needed to document credible efforts 
toward improved ventilation, filtration, and air cleaning in buildings?
     What would be the principal IAQ parameters, measures, or 
other characteristics that could be included?
     How could these parameters, measures or other 
characteristics be assured or verified?
     What are ways to effectively recognize organizations that 
have taken action across a large portion of their building stock or 
occupied spaces within their buildings and or expended significant 
resources in their efforts?
     How frequently would a building need to be re-certified?
     What else could be noted about a building recognition, 
labeling or certification program?
    3.6 In your opinion, what quantifiable metrics or targets could be 
helpful in evaluating or assessing ventilation, filtration, and air 
cleaning parameters in a building?
     What types of tools or technologies could support real 
time assessment of ventilation, filtration and or air cleaning 
parameters in a building?
     What qualitative or quantitative features could be helpful 
in assessing or describing ventilation, filtration, and air cleaning 
parameters in a building?
    3.7 In your opinion, what changes would you recommend to the Clean 
Air in Buildings Challenge best practices document to improve public 
engagement and participation by a broad set of stakeholders?
    3.8 In your opinion, how might lessons from the COVID pandemic be 
useful for long-term efforts to improve ventilation, filtration, air 
cleaning and other indoor air quality parameters in the nation's 
building stock?
    3.9 What else would you like to note about opportunities and issues 
that could improve indoor air quality in the nation's building stock?
    Authority: Title IV of the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization 
Act (SARA); Title III Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA); Clean Air 
Act (CAA).

Jonathan D. Edwards,
Director, Office of Radiation and Indoor Air.
[FR Doc. 2022-21590 Filed 10-4-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P