81 FR 22977 - Release of the Draft Integrated Review Plan for the National Ambient Air Quality Standards for Particulate Matter

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

Federal Register Volume 81, Issue 75 (April 19, 2016)

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is announcing the availability for public review of the draft document titled Draft Integrated Review Plan for the National Ambient Air Quality Standards for Particulate Matter (draft IRP). The draft IRP contains the current plans for the review of the air quality criteria for particulate matter (PM) and the primary and secondary national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS) for PM. The primary PM NAAQS are set to protect the public health and the secondary PM NAAQS are set to protect the public welfare from exposures to PM in ambient air.

[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 75 (Tuesday, April 19, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 22977-22978]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2016-09036]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-OAR-2015-0072; FRL-9944-25-OAR]


Release of the Draft Integrated Review Plan for the National 
Ambient Air Quality Standards for Particulate Matter

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of availability and public comment period.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is announcing the 
availability for public review of the draft document titled Draft 
Integrated Review Plan for the National Ambient Air Quality Standards 
for Particulate Matter (draft IRP). The draft IRP contains the current 
plans for the review of the air quality criteria for particulate matter 
(PM) and the primary and secondary national ambient air quality 
standards (NAAQS) for PM. The primary PM NAAQS are set to protect the 
public health and the secondary PM NAAQS are set to protect the public 
welfare from exposures to PM in ambient air.

DATES: Comments should be received on or before June 23, 2016.

ADDRESSES: The draft IRP will be available primarily via the Internet 
at https://www3.epa.gov/ttn/naaqs/standards/pm/s_pm_index.html. Submit 
your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2015-0072, to the 
Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the 
online instructions for submitting comments. Once submitted, comments 
cannot be edited or withdrawn. 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 for which 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 http://www.epa.gov/dockets/commenting-epa-dockets.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Scott Jenkins, Office of Air 
Quality Planning and Standards (mail code C504-06), U.S. Environmental 
Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park, NC 27711; telephone number: 
919-541-1167; fax number: 919-541-5315; email: [email protected].

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 EPA through 
http://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 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 reference a Code of Federal 
Regulations (CFR) part or section number.
     Explain why you agree or disagree; suggest alternative and 
substitute language for your requested changes.
     Describe any assumption 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. 7408) directs the 
Administrator to identify and list certain air pollutants and then to 
issue air quality criteria for those pollutants. The Administrator is 
to list those air pollutants that in his or 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. Revised 
air quality criteria reflect advances in scientific knowledge on the 
effects of the pollutant on public health or welfare. 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 the existing criteria and 
standards as may be appropriate. . . .'' Since the early

[[Page 22978]]

1980s, this independent review function has been performed by the Clean 
Air Scientific Advisory Committee (CASAC).
    Presently, the EPA is reviewing the criteria and the primary and 
secondary NAAQS for PM.\1\ The draft IRP being 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 was prepared jointly by the EPA's National Center for 
Environmental Assessment, within the Office of Research and 
Development, and the EPA's Office of Air Quality Planning and 
Standards, within the Office of Air and Radiation. The draft IRP 
presents the current plan and specifies the anticipated schedule for 
the entire review, the process for conducting the review, and the key 
policy-relevant science issues that will guide the review. The draft 
IRP will be reviewed by CASAC at a teleconference on May 23, 2016.\3\ 
The final IRP will include consideration of CASAC advice and public 
comments received on the draft IRP.
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    \1\ The EPA's call for information for this review was issued on 
December 3, 2014 (79 FR 71764).
    \2\ The EPA held a workshop titled ``Workshop to Discuss Policy-
Relevant Science to Inform EPA's Review of the Primary and Secondary 
NAAQS for PM'' on February 9-11, 2015 (79 FR 71764).
    \3\ 81 FR 13362, March 14, 2016.

    Dated: April 14, 2016.
Stephen Page,
Director, Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards.
[FR Doc. 2016-09036 Filed 4-18-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6560-50-P