Conference on Air Quality Modeling, 48949-48950 [05-16682]

Agencies

• ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 161 (Monday, August 22, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 48949-48950]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-16682]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[AD-FRL-7957-3; Docket No. OAR-2005-0157]


Conference on Air Quality Modeling

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of conference.

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SUMMARY: We announce the Eighth Conference on Air Quality Modeling. 
Such a conference is required by section three hundred twenty of the 
Clean Air Act (CAA) to be held every three years. The purposes of the 
Eighth Conference are to provide an overview of the latest features of 
the new air quality models and to provide a forum for public review and 
comment on potential revisions to the way the Agency determines and 
applies the appropriate air quality models in the future.

DATES: The eighth conference will be held on September 22, 2005 from 9 
a.m. to 5:30 p.m. and on September 23, 2005 from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. 
Requests to speak at the conference should be submitted to the 
individual listed below by September 9, 2005. All written comments must 
be submitted by close of business October 24, 2005.

ADDRESSES: Conference: The conference will be held in the EPA 
Auditorium, Room C111, 109 T.W. Alexander Drive, Research Triangle 
Park, NC.
    Comments: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. OAR-
2005-0157 by one of the following methods: Federal eRulemaking Portal: 
https://www.regulations.gov. Follow the on-line instructions for 
submitting comments. Agency Web site: https://www.epa.gov/edocket. 
EDOCKET, EPA's electronic public docket and comment system, is EPA's 
preferred method for receiving comments. Follow the on-line 
instructions for submitting comments. E-mail: https://www.epa.gov/
edocket. Fax: 202-566-1741. Mail: OAR Docket, Environmental Protection 
Agency, Mailcode: B102, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 
20460. Please include a total of 2 copies. Hand Delivery: EPA/DC, EPA 
West, Room B102, 1301 Constitution Ave., NW., Washington, DC. Such 
deliveries are only accepted during the Docket's normal hours of 
operation, and special arrangements should be made for deliveries of 
boxed information. Instructions: Direct your comments to Docket ID No. 
OAR-2005-0157. EPA's policy is that all comments received will be 
included in the public docket without change and may be made available 
online at https://www.epa.gov/edocket, including any personal 
information provided, unless the comment includes information claimed 
to be Confidential Business Information (CBI) or other information 
whose disclosure is restricted by statute. Do not submit information 
that you consider to be CBI or otherwise protected through EDOCKET, 
regulations.gov, or e-mail. The EPA EDOCKET and the Federal 
regulations.gov Web sites are ``anonymous access'' systems, which means 
EPA will not know your identity or contact information unless you 
provide it in the body of your comment. If you send an e-mail comment 
directly to EPA without going through EDOCKET or regulations.gov, your 
e-mail address will be automatically captured and included as part of 
the comment that is placed in the public docket and made available on 
the Internet. If you submit an electronic comment, EPA recommends that 
you include your name and other contact information in the body of your 
comment and with any disk or CD-ROM you submit. If EPA cannot read your 
comment due to technical difficulties and cannot contact you for 
clarification, EPA may not be able to consider your comment. Electronic 
files should avoid the use of special characters, any form of 
encryption, and be free of any defects or viruses. For additional 
information about EPA's public docket visit EDOCKET on-line or see the 
Federal Register of May 31, 2002 (67 FR 38102). For additional 
instructions on submitting comments, go to unit II of the SUPPLEMENTARY 
INFORMATION section of this document. Docket: All documents in the 
docket are listed in the EDOCKET index at https://www.epa.gov/edocket. 
Although listed in the index, some information is not publicly 
available, i.e., CBI or other information whose disclosure is 
restricted by statute. Certain other material, such as copyrighted 
material, is not placed on the Internet and will be publicly available 
only in hard copy form. Publicly available docket materials are 
available either electronically in EDOCKET or in hard copy at the OAR 
Docket, EPA/DC, EPA West, Room B102, 1301 Constitution Ave., NW., 
Washington, DC. The Public Reading Room is open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 
p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding legal holidays. The telephone 
number for the Public Reading Room is (202) 566-1744, and the telephone 
number for the OAR Docket is (202) 566-1742.
    Background information: Additional information and a more detailed 
agenda are electronically available at https://www.epa.gov/scram001/
8thmodconf.htm.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Warren Peters, U.S. Environmental 
Protection Agency, Mail Drop D243-01, T.W. Alexander Drive, Research 
Triangle Park, NC 27709; telephone: (919) 541-5337; e-mail address: 
peters.warren@epa.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    The Guideline on Air Quality Models (hereafter, called the 
Guideline, which is found in Appendix W to 40 CFR part 51), is used by 
EPA, States, and industry to prepare and review new source permits and 
State Implementation Plan revisions. The Guideline serves as a means by 
which consistency is maintained in air quality analyses. We originally 
published the Guideline in April 1978 and it was incorporated by 
reference in the regulations for the Prevention of Significant 
Deterioration (PSD) of Air Quality in June 1978. We revised the 
Guideline in 1986, and updated it with supplement A in 1987, supplement 
B in July 1993, and supplement C in August 1995. We published the 
Guideline as appendix W to 40 CFR part 51 when we issued supplement B. 
We republished the Guideline in August 1996 (61 FR 41838) to adopt the 
CFR system for labeling paragraphs.
    To support the process of developing and revising the Guideline 
during the period 1977-1988, we held the First, Second and Third 
Conferences on Air Quality Modeling as required by Section 320 of the 
Clean Air Act to help standardize modeling procedures. These modeling 
conferences provided us with comments on the Guideline and associated 
revisions, thereby helping us introduce improved modeling techniques 
into the regulatory process.

[[Page 48950]]

    In October 1988, we held the Fourth Conference on Air Quality 
Modeling. Its purpose was to advise the public on new modeling 
techniques and to solicit comments to guide our consideration of any 
rulemaking needed to further revise the Guideline. We held the Fifth 
Conference on Air Quality Modeling in March 1991, which served as a 
public hearing for the proposed revisions to the Guideline. In August 
1995, we held the sixth conference as a forum to update our available 
modeling tools with state-of-the-science techniques for airing these 
issues and for the public to offer new ideas.
    The last conference held was the Seventh Conference on Air Quality 
Modeling in June 28 and 29, 2000, which served as a public hearing for 
the proposed changes to the recommended air quality models in Appendix 
W. Several presentations were made, including the development of an 
enhanced Gaussian dispersion model with boundary layer parameterization 
(AERMOD \1\); the development of the CALPUFF modeling system by Earth 
Tech, Inc. through the Interagency Workgroup on Air Quality Modeling 
(IWAQM \2\); the development and testing of ISC-PRIME by the Electric 
Power Research Institute's building downwash program; and on revisions 
to the Emissions and Dispersion Modeling System (EDMS) by the Federal 
Aviation Administration. In addition, several presentations on models 
for consideration as ``alternative models'' were made and a panel of 
experts discussed meteorological data assimilation for the next 
generation of dispersion models. The proceedings are found in Docket 
No. A-99-05.
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    \1\ AMS/EPA Regulatory MODel; AERMOD is being developed by 
AERMIC: AMS/EPA Regulatory Model Improvement Committee.
    \2\ IWAQM was formed in 1991 to provide a focus for development 
of technically sound regional air quality models for regulatory 
assessments of pollutant source impacts on federal Class I areas. 
IWAQM is an interagency collaboration that includes efforts by EPA, 
U.S. Forest Service, National Park Service, and Fish and Wildlife 
Service.
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Public Participation

    The Eighth Conference on Air Quality Modeling will be open to the 
public; no admission fee is charged and there is no formal 
registration. The conference will begin the first morning with 
introductory remarks by the presiding EPA official. The following 
topics will be presented:

I. AERMOD implementation issues;
II. CALPUFF implementation issues;
III. Assimilated meteorological data for air dispersion models;
IV. New approach for updating (revising) models;
V. Alternative approaches for selection of approved dispersion models; 
and,
VI. Other presentations by the public.

    Those wishing to speak at the conference, whether to volunteer a 
presentation on a special topic or to offer general comment on any of 
the modeling techniques scheduled for presentation, should contact us 
at the address given in the FURTHER INFORMATION section (note the 
cutoff date). Such persons should identify the organization (if any) on 
whose behalf they are speaking and the length of presentation. If a 
presentation of general comments is projected to be longer than 10 
minutes, the presenter should also state why a longer period is needed. 
Persons failing to submit a written notice but desiring to speak at the 
conference should notify the presiding officer immediately before the 
conference and they will be scheduled on a time-available basis.
    The conference will be conducted informally and chaired by an EPA 
official. There will be no sworn testimony or cross examination. A 
verbatim transcript of the conference proceedings will be produced and 
placed in the docket. Speakers should bring extra copies of their 
presentation for inclusion in the docket and for the convenience of the 
reporter. Speakers will be permitted to enter into the record any 
additional written comments that are not presented orally. Additional 
written statements or comments should be sent to the OAR Regulatory 
Docket (see ADDRESSES section). A transcript of the proceedings and a 
copy of all written comments will be maintained in Docket OAR-2005-0157 
which will remain open until October 24, 2005 for the purpose of 
receiving additional comments.

    Dated: August 17, 2005.
Mary E. Henigin,
Acting Director, Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards, Office 
of Air and Radiation.
[FR Doc. 05-16682 Filed 8-19-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P