Opinion ID: 390180
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 8

Heading: the secondary air quality standard

Text: 128 The final challenge to the Administrator's actions that we must consider is LIA's objection to his decision to promulgate a national secondary ambient air quality standard for lead of 1.5 ug Pb/m 3, the same level as the primary standard. The Administrator explained that this decision was based on his conclusion that the evidence on the welfare effects of lead exposure did not justify promulgation of a secondary standard more stringent than the primary standard. LIA argues that the Administrator had no authority to adopt the secondary standard without making supporting findings showing that the standard is necessary to protect the public welfare. It contends that this court's decision in Kennecott Copper Corp. v. EPA, 462 F.2d 846 (D.C.Cir.1972), mandates remand of the secondary standard. In that case we remanded the national secondary air quality standard for sulphur dioxide because the Administrator had failed to enlighten the court as to the basis on which he reached the    standard from the material in the Criteria (Document). Id. at 850. LIA argues that the Administrator should have considered whether the welfare effects of lead exposure would permit him to set a secondary air quality standard higher than the primary standard. Pointing out that the primary standards are supposed to protect public health and that they are based on a 90-day averaging period, LIA argues that it follows that primary standards need be met only in inhabited areas, whereas the secondary standards must also be met in uninhabited areas. Consequently, LIA contends, the Administrator's failure to consider the possibility of setting a higher secondary standard will impose an additional burden on industrial sources located in uninhabited areas which may not be justified by the requirements of protecting the public welfare. 129 LIA's complaint is based on a misconception about the reach of the primary standard. As EPA notes, the primary standard must be met in all parts of the country, whether inhabited or uninhabited. 154 Thus by setting the secondary standard at the same level as the primary standard, the Administrator imposed no additional burdens on the industry, and he properly concentrated his attention on whether the welfare effects of lead exposure justified promulgation of a more stringent secondary standard. Our decision in Kennecott Copper, on which LIA relies, involved an attempt by the Administrator to set a secondary standard which was more stringent than the primary standard without explaining the basis for this decision, see 36 Fed.Reg. 8187, and it is therefore inapposite to the instant case. Furthermore, LIA did not object to the Administrator's proposal to set the secondary standard at the same level as the primary standard either in the comments that it filed on the proposed standards or at any other time during the public comment period. Indeed, so far as we have been able to determine, none of the participants in the rulemaking proceedings commented on the proposal. Accordingly, LIA is precluded from raising this objection by the timeliness requirement of the Act. 155 130