Document ID: EPA-HQ-OAR-2003-0083-0720
Agency: epa
Document Type: Supporting & Related Material
Title: 
Posted Date: 2003-09-16T04:00Z

August
11,
2003
By
E­
Mail
and
By
First
Class
Mail
J.
Wick
Havens,
Chief
Air
Resource
Management
Division
Bureau
of
Air
Quality
P.
O.
Box
8468
Harrisburg,
PA
17105­
8468
Re:
Proposal
for
8­
Hour
Ozone
Designations
Dear
Mr.
Havens:

By
notice
published
on
July
5,
2003,
the
Pennsylvania
Department
of
Environmental
Protection
sought
public
input
on
"
Proposed
8­
Hour
Ozone
Attainment/
Nonattainment
Designation
Recommendations"
(
33
Pa.
B.
3183).
Citizens
for
Pennsylvania's
Future
(
PennFuture),
a
conservation
organization
dedicated
to
protecting
Pennsylvania's
air,
land,
and
water,
hereby
submits
comments
on
this
DEP
proposal.

1.
Under
the
federal
Clean
Air
Act,
governors
shall
submit
to
EPA
a
list
of
all
areas
in
the
state,
designating
as
"
nonattainment"
any
area
that
does
not
meet
(
or
that
contributes
to
ambient
air
quality
in
a
nearby
area
that
does
not
meet)
the
national
primary
or
secondary
ambient
air
quality
standard
for
the
pollutant.
42
U.
S.
C.
§
7407(
d)(
1)(
A)(
i).
The
definition
of
nonattainment
has
two
components:
areas
that
do
not
meet
federal
standards
and
areas
that
contribute
to
air
quality
in
nearby
areas
that
do
not
meet
the
standard.

DEP's
proposal
recommends
designations
of
nonattainment
for
33
counties
that
do
not
themselves
meet
8­
hour
ozone
ambient
air
quality
standards
(
Table
I,
List
of
Proposed
Designations).
However,
DEP
provides
no
recommendations
or
even
analysis
of
the
second
component
of
the
nonattainment
definition,
areas
that
contribute
to
nonattainment
in
these
33
counties
or
elsewhere.

This
omission
has
important
consequences,
namely,
the
elimination
of
counties
in
Pennsylvania
from
consideration
for
designation
as
nonattainment
under
the
standards
of
the
Clean
Air
Act.
Such
a
designation,
if
appropriate,
would
support
control
measures
in
these
counties
to
reduce
their
contribution
to
downwind
nonattainment
and
promote
downwind
air
quality.

DEP
must
revise
its
proposal
to
include
an
analysis
of
nonattainment
areas
that
contribute
to
ambient
air
quality
in
downwind
areas
that
do
not
meet
national
air
standards.
2
2.
DEP's
proposal
identifies
30
of
37
Pennsylvania
counties
without
monitoring
data
as
in
attainment
of
the
8­
hour
ozone
standard.
However,
the
absence
of
data
on
air
quality
does
not
provide
a
basis
for
determining
that
a
county
is
in
attainment
of
clean
air
standards.
In
fact,
the
Clean
Air
Act
creates
a
separate
category
for
areas
that
are
"
unclassifiable"
 
that
cannot
be
classified
on
the
basis
of
available
information
as
meeting
or
not
meeting
national
standards
 
separate
from
"
attainment"
areas.

DEP
provides
no
evidence
or
analysis
to
support
its
blanket
designation
of
these
counties
as
in
attainment.
However,
further
investigation
of
air
quality
in
these
counties
could
lead
to
more
accurate
designations.
Several
tools
are
available
to
DEP
when
evaluating
air
quality
in
nonmonitored
areas:

A.
Factors
suggested
by
EPA
for
consideration
by
Tribes
in
EPA's
"
Boundary
Guidance",
1
particularly
for
areas
throughout
Indian
country
that
may
not
have
adequate
or
any
air
quality
ozone
monitors:
geographic
location
of
the
land,
proximity
to
the
nearest
Consolidated/
Metropolitan
Statistical
Area,
prevailing
meteorology,
location
of
nearby
ozone
monitors,
available
ozone
air
quality
data,
and
location
of
nearby
emission
sources
both
inside
and
outside
of
such
areas.

B.
Factors
suggested
by
EPA's
Boundary
Guidance
(
p.
4)
for
use
in
evaluating
the
boundaries
of
nonattainment
areas
based
on
C/
MSAs,
some
of
which
would
also
be
useful
in
designating
the
attainment
status
of
counties
or
areas
further
afield
from
C/
MSAs.

C.
The
spatial
interpolation
of
air
quality
data,
which
EPA's
Office
of
Air
Quality
Planning
and
Standards
is
now
evaluating.
See,
e.
g.,
EPA
Office
of
the
Inspector
General,
"
Consistency
and
Transparency
in
Determination
of
EPA's
Anticipated
Ozone
Designations",
Report
No.
2002­
S­
00016
at
23
(
August
15,
2002).

In
sum,
DEP
has
presented
no
basis
for
its
recommendation
that
30
counties
with
no
monitoring
data
should
be
designated
as
"
attainment"
for
8­
hour
ozone
and
must
reconsider
this
recommendation
based
on
available
information
about
air
quality
and
other
relevant
factors.

3.
In
New
Jersey's
recommendations
on
8­
hour
ozone
designation
to
EPA,
Gov.
James
McGreevey
stated
that
Ocean
County,
New
Jersey
belonged
in
the
Philadelphia
nonattainment
area
because
it
is
"
impacted
by
contributing
emissions
from
that
area"
even
though
it
is
part
of
the
New
York
CMSA
(
letter
of
June
24,
2003,
p.
2).
On
this
subject,
Pennsylvania
DEP
states:

Ocean
County,
New
Jersey,
which
is
part
of
the
NYC
MSA,
has
recently
measured
some
of
the
highest
8­
hour
ozone
values
in
the
Northeast
over
the
last
several
years.
Pennsylvania
believes
it
is
more
appropriate
for
this
1
John
S.
Seitz,
Director,
Office
of
Air
Quality
Planning
and
Standards,
U.
S.
EPA,
"
Boundary
Guidance
on
Air
Quality
Designations
for
the
8­
Hour
Ozone
National
Ambient
Air
Quality
Standards,"
March
28,
2000,
p.
5.
3
county
to
remain
part
of
the
NYC
area
for
planning
purposes.
Philadelphia's
downwind
contribution
to
Ocean
County
and
the
entire
NYC
area
will
need
to
be
addressed
in
the
attainment
plans
developed
by
all
parties
in
conjunction
with
the
Ozone
Transport
Commission.

Proposed
8­
hour
Ozone
Recommendations,
p.
7.
New
Jersey
recommends
that
Ocean
County
become
part
of
the
Philadelphia
area,
while
Pennsylvania
recommends
that
it
remain
part
of
the
New
York
City
area.

From
this
conclusory
exchange,
it
does
not
appear
that
either
side
has
examined
in
detail
the
evidence
that
EPA
will
use
to
determine
the
appropriate
nonattainment
area
for
Ocean
County.
EPA
has
described
the
criteria
for
determining
boundaries
of
nonattainment
areas
in
its
Boundary
Guidance.
Since
EPA's
decision
regarding
Ocean
County
may
have
significant
consequences
for
air
quality
planning
in
the
Philadelphia
nonattainment
area,
DEP
should
apply
the
criteria
of
the
Boundary
Guidance
to
available
evidence
in
preparing
final
recommendations
to
EPA
regarding
Ocean
County.

Sincerely,

Charles
McPhedran
Senior
Attorney