Document ID: EPA-HQ-OAR-2013-0691-0022
Agency: epa
Document Type: Supporting & Related Material
Title: 
Posted Date: 2015-03-23T04:00Z

Page 111-112:

After " ... and indicates how the data should be prepared, documented, and publicly reviewed for attainment plan submissions.  

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In such areas we encourage states to consider in any baseline, modeling and SIP attainment inventory used and/or submitted to include emissions expected from projects subject to general conformity, including emissions from wildland fire that may be reasonably expected in the area and may be variable from year to year.

Page 137:

After "States should consider this before determining that a control technology is not reasonable because it may have other, negative environmental impacts that are, on balance, marginal."

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      Wildfire emissions are a component of PM2.5 and precursors and can significantly contribute to periodic particulate.  Besides their effect on air quality, wildfires pose a direct threat to public safety  -  a threat that can be mitigated through management of wildland vegetation. Attempts to suppress wildfires have resulted in unintended consequences, including increased risks to both humans and ecosystems.[3] The use of wildland prescribed fire can influence the occurrence, behavior and effects of catastrophic wildfires which may help manage the contribution of wildfires to particulate levels and periodic peak events. Additionally prescribed fires can have benefits to those plant and animal species that depend upon natural fires for propagation, habitat restoration, and reproduction, as well as myriad ecosystem functions (e.g., carbon sequestration). The EPA understands the importance of prescribed fire which mimics a natural process necessary to manage and maintain fire-adapted ecosystems and climate change adaptation, while reducing risk of uncontrolled emissions from catastrophic wildfires, and is committed to working with federal land managers, tribes, and states to effectively manage prescribed fire use to reduce the impact of wildfire related emissions.
      If wildfire impacts are significant, contributing to exceedances of the standard, states should consider RACM for this source. Fires play an important ecological role across the globe, benefiting those plant and animal species that depend upon natural fires for propagation, habitat restoration, and reproduction. Fires are one tool that can be used to reduce fuel load, unnatural understory, and tree density, helping to reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfires. Some wildfires and the use of prescribed fire can influence the occurrence of catastrophic wildfires which may reduce the probability of fire-induced particulate impacts and subsequent public health effects. RACM for wildfire may include addressing the wildland fuels through fuels management, including the use of prescribed fire and possibly allowing some wildfire to occur naturally, in systems that are ecologically fire dependent. Where appropriate, states, land managers and land owners may consider developing plans to ensure that fuel accumulations are addressed and fuel management efforts are not delayed. RACM for prescribed fires should also be considered. Information is available from DOI and the USDA Forest Service on the ecological role of fire, smoke management programs and basic smoke management practices, and fuels management strategies, and may be considered when determining RACM for prescribed fires. RACM must be determined for each area on a case-by-case basis.

General Conformity:

Last version (end of last paragraph on page 404)

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Significant tracts of land under federal management may also be included in nonattainment area boundaries. The role of fire in these areas should be assessed and emissions budgets developed in concert with those federal land management agencies. Where appropriate, states may consider developing plans for addressing wildland fuels in collaboration with land managers and owners. Information is available from DOI and USDA Forest Service on the ecological role of fire and on smoke management programs and basic smoke management practices and may be considered as potential RACM and mitigation measures to lessen the impacts of wildfires.

Last version (on page 485)

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In such areas we encourage states to consider in any baseline, modeling and SIP attainment inventory used and/or submitted to include emissions expected from projects subject to general conformity, including emissions from wildland fire that may be reasonably expected in the area.

Page 416:

After "While the EPA may agree with an air agency's request to exclude event-influenced air quality monitoring data from regulatory decisions, these regulatory actions require the EPA to provide an opportunity for public comment on the claimed exceptional event and all supporting data prior to the EPA taking final Agency action."

Add loosely from Ozone rule:
If wildfire is a potential contributor to these exceedances and exceptional events, the EPA urges implementing state and local agencies to coordinate with the land management agencies, as appropriate, in developing plans and appropriate public communications regarding public safety and reducing exposure.  This action can directly help states meet their EER obligation whereby "States must provide public notice, public education, and must provide for implementation of reasonable measures to protect public health when an event occurs." When wildfire impacts are significant in a particular area, air agencies and communities may be able to lessen the impacts of wildfires by working collaboratively with land managers and land owners to employ various mitigation measures including taking steps to minimize fuel loading in areas vulnerable to fire.

Page 427 (last version), add new paragraph at end of 179(b) discussion modified from ozone implementation rule to fit PM2.5.

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Where interstate transported emissions contribute to an exceedance or violation and come from natural sources such as wildfires, air agencies can use the provisions in the EPA's Exceptional Events Rule (40 CFR 50.14) to request exclusion of affected data. Once EPA concurs with an air agency's request, the event-influenced data are officially noted and removed from the data set used to calculate official design values.
Because of previously expressed stakeholder feedback regarding implementation of the Exceptional Events Rule and specific stakeholder concerns regarding the analyses that can be used to support wildfire-related exceptional event demonstrations, the EPA intends to propose revisions to the Exceptional Events Rule in a future notice and comment rulemaking effort and will solicit public comment at that time. Additionally, the EPA has approved PM2.5 wildfire influenced exceptional events demonstrations posted on the EER page (http://www.epa.gov/ttn/analysis/exevents.htm ). Depending on the nature and scope of international emission events affecting air quality in the U.S., the EPA may be able to assist states in developing approvable exceptional events demonstrations.