Public Hearing for the Review of the National Ambient Air Quality Standards for Particulate Matter, 26634-26635 [2020-09480]
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26634
Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 87 / Tuesday, May 5, 2020 / Proposed Rules
On
February 20, 2020, the Department
announced the issuance of the NPRM on
Defining Unfair or Deceptive Practices
and placed a copy of the NPRM on the
Department’s website at https://
www.transportation.gov/airconsumer/
latest-news and on the Federal
eRulemaking Portal at https://
www.regulations.gov. On February 28,
2020, the NPRM was published in the
Federal Register, and interested parties
were asked to provide comments on or
before April 28, 2020. The NPRM also
stated that late-filed comments will be
considered to the extent practicable.
The NPRM on Defining Unfair or
Deceptive Practices is intended to
provide greater clarity and certainty
about the Department’s interpretation of
unfair or deceptive practices in the
context of aviation consumer protection
rulemaking and enforcement actions. By
written request, filed April 10, 2020, the
National Consumers League, along with
eight other consumer advocacy
organizations,1 asked the Department to
extend the comment period on the
NPRM until sixty days following the
termination of the President’s national
emergency declaration with respect to
the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID–
19). The advocates assert that the
COVID–19 public health emergency has
created difficulties for advocates in
researching and coordinating their
responses, and in contacting consumers
to provide testimonials with respect to
the NPRM.
Airlines for America (A4A) filed a
letter in the docket opposing the
request. A4A notes that the NPRM is
deemed non-significant. A4A also states
that because the NPRM was issued in
late February, stakeholders have had
adequate time to formulate a response.
The Department has considered the
request to extend the comment period
on the NPRM beyond the published 60day comment period carefully. Given
the assertion from nine major consumer
advocacy organizations that the COVID–
19 public health emergency has made it
difficult, if not impossible, for them to
produce comments that would
substantially add to the record of this
rulemaking by April 28, 2020, and the
low number of comments that the
Department has received on this
rulemaking to date, the Department
believes it is appropriate to provide the
public more time to submit comments
khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with PROPOSALS
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
1 In addition to the National Consumers League,
the letter requesting an extension of the comment
period was signed by Business Travel Coalition,
Consumer Action, Consumer Federation of
America, Consumer Reports, EdOnTravel.com,
FlyersRights.org, Travel Fairness Now, and
Travelers United.
VerDate Sep<11>2014
16:42 May 04, 2020
Jkt 250001
on this rulemaking. However, the
Department finds that extending the
comment period to a date 60 days after
the termination of the President’s
COVID–19 national emergency
declaration may unduly delay the
timely issuance of this priority
rulemaking. Accordingly, the
Department is extending the comment
period for an additional 30 days to May
28, 2020, which should allow interested
parties more time to prepare comments
to the proposed rule without delaying
the rulemaking. The Department will
continue to consider late-filed
comments to the extent practicable.
Issued this 23rd day of April 2020, in
Washington, DC, under authority delegated
in 49 CFR 1.27(n).
Christina G. Aizcorbe,
Deputy General Counsel.
[FR Doc. 2020–08996 Filed 5–4–20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910–9X–P
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
AGENCY
40 CFR Part 50
[EPA–HQ–OAR–2015–0072; FRL–10008–49–
OAR]
RIN 2060–AS50
Public Hearing for the Review of the
National Ambient Air Quality
Standards for Particulate Matter
Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notification of public hearing.
AGENCY:
The Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) is announcing that a
virtual public hearing will be held for
the proposed action titled, ‘‘Review of
the National Ambient Air Quality
Standards for Particulate Matter,’’ which
was signed on April 14, 2020. The
hearing will be held May 20 and 21,
2020. Based on its review of the air
quality criteria and the national ambient
air quality standards (NAAQS) for
particulate matter (PM), the EPA is
proposing to retain both the primary
and secondary PM standards, without
revision.
SUMMARY:
Comments on the proposed
action must be received on or before
June 29, 2020. The EPA will hold a
virtual public hearing on May 20 and
21, 2020. Please refer to the
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section for
additional information on the public
hearing.
DATES:
You may send comments,
identified by Docket ID No. EPA–HQ–
ADDRESSES:
PO 00000
Frm 00009
Fmt 4702
Sfmt 4702
OAR–2015–0072, by any of the
following methods:
• Federal eRulemaking Portal:
https://www.regulations.gov/ (our
preferred method). Follow the online
instructions for submitting comments.
• Email: a-and-r-Docket@epa.gov.
Include the Docket ID No. EPA–HQ–
OAR–2015–0072 in the subject line of
the message.
Instructions. All submissions received
must include the Docket ID No. for this
document. Comments received may be
posted without change to https://
www.regulations.gov, including any
personal information provided. For
detailed instructions on sending
comments, see the SUPPLEMENTARY
INFORMATION section of this document.
Out of an abundance of caution for
members of the public and our staff, the
EPA Docket Center and Reading Room
was closed to public visitors on March
31, 2020, to reduce the risk of
transmitting COVID–19. Our Docket
Center staff will continue to provide
remote customer service via email,
phone, and webform. We encourage the
public to submit comments via https://
www.regulations.gov or email, as there
is a temporary suspension of mail
delivery to EPA, and no hand deliveries
are currently accepted. For further
information of EPA Docket Center
services and the current status, please
visit us online at https://www.epa.gov/
dockets.
Virtual Public Hearing. The virtual
public hearing will be held via
teleconference May 20 and 21, 2020,
with two sessions each day. The first
session will begin at 9:00 a.m. Eastern
Time (ET) and will conclude at 1:00
p.m. ET. The second session will begin
at 3:00 p.m. ET and will conclude at
7:00 p.m. ET. The EPA may close a
session 15 minutes after the last preregistered speaker has testified if there
are no additional speakers. Refer to the
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section
below for additional information.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For
information or questions about the
public hearing, please contact Ms.
Regina Chappell, U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency, Office of Air Quality
Planning and Standards (OAQPS) (Mail
Code C304–03), Research Triangle Park,
NC 27711; telephone: (919) 541–3650;
email address: chappell.regina@epa.gov.
For information or questions
regarding the review of the PM NAAQS,
please contact Dr. Scott Jenkins, U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency,
OAQPS (Mail Code: C539–02), Research
Triangle Park, NC 27711; telephone:
(919) 541–1167; email address:
jenkins.scott@epa.gov.
E:\FR\FM\05MYP1.SGM
05MYP1
Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 87 / Tuesday, May 5, 2020 / Proposed Rules
The EPA
is reviewing the PM NAAQS as required
by section 109 (42 U.S.C. 7409) of the
Clean Air Act (CAA). The proposed
action for which the EPA is holding a
public hearing was signed on April 14,
2020, and is available at https://
www.epa.gov/naaqs/particulate-matterpm-standards-federal-register-noticescurrent-review. The public hearing will
provide interested parties the
opportunity to present data, views, or
arguments concerning EPA’s proposed
decisions in the current review of the
PM NAAQS. Written statements and
supporting information submitted
during the comment period will be
considered with the same weight as any
oral comments and supporting
information presented at the public
hearings.
Written Comments. Submit your
comments, identified by Docket ID No.
EPA–HQ–OAR–2015–0072, at https://
www.regulations.gov (our preferred
method), or the other methods
identified in the ADDRESSES section.
Once submitted, comments cannot be
edited or removed from the docket. 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
whose disclosure is restricted by statute.
Multimedia submissions (audio, video,
etc.) must be accompanied by a written
submission. The written submission is
considered the official submission and
should include discussion of all points
you wish to make. The EPA will
generally not consider submissions or
submission content 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 https://
www.epa.gov/dockets/commenting-epadockets.
The EPA is temporarily suspending
its Docket Center and Reading Room for
public visitors to reduce the risk of
transmitting COVID–19. Written
comments submitted by mail are
temporarily suspended and no hand
deliveries will be accepted. Our Docket
Center staff will continue to provide
remote customer service via email,
phone, and webform. We encourage the
public to submit comments via https://
www.regulations.gov. For further
information and updates on EPA Docket
Center services, please visit us online at
https://www.epa.gov/dockets.
khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with PROPOSALS
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
VerDate Sep<11>2014
16:42 May 04, 2020
Jkt 250001
The EPA continues to carefully and
continuously monitor information from
the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC), local area health
departments, and our Federal partners
so that we can respond rapidly as
conditions change regarding COVID–19.
Participation in Virtual Public
Hearing. Please note that EPA is
deviating from its typical approach
because the President has declared a
national emergency. Because of current
CDC recommendations, as well as state
and local orders for social distancing to
limit the spread of COVID–19, EPA
cannot hold in-person public meetings
at this time.
The EPA will begin pre-registering
speakers and attendees for the hearing
upon publication of this document in
the Federal Register. EPA will accept
registrations on an individual basis. To
register to speak at the virtual hearing,
individuals may use the online
registration form available via EPA’s
Particulate Matter Pollution web page
for this hearing (https://www.epa.gov/
pm-pollution/national-ambient-airquality-standards-naaqs-pm) or contact
Regina Chappell at (919) 541–3650 or
chappell.regina@epa.gov. The last day
to pre-register to speak at the hearing
will be May 14, 2020. On May 18, 2020,
the EPA will post a general agenda for
the hearing that will list pre-registered
speakers in approximate order at:
https://www.epa.gov/pm-pollution/
national-ambient-air-quality-standardsnaaqs-pm.
The EPA will make every effort to
follow the schedule as closely as
possible on the day of the hearing;
however, please plan for the hearings to
run either ahead of schedule or behind
schedule. Additionally, requests to
speak will be taken the day of the
hearing at the end of each session as
timing allows. The EPA will make every
effort to accommodate all speakers.
Each commenter will have 5 minutes
to provide oral testimony. The EPA
recommends submitting the text of your
oral comments as written comments to
the rulemaking docket. The EPA may
ask clarifying questions during the oral
presentations but will not respond to
the presentations at that time. Written
statements and supporting information
submitted during the comment period
will be considered with the same weight
as oral comments and supporting
information presented at the public
hearing.
The EPA is also asking hearing
attendees to pre-register for the hearing,
even those who don’t intend to provide
testimony. This will help the EPA
ensure that sufficient phone lines will
be available.
PO 00000
Frm 00010
Fmt 4702
Sfmt 4702
26635
Please note that any updates made to
any aspect of the hearing logistics,
including potential additional sessions,
will be posted online at the EPA’s
Particulate Matter Pollution website
(https://www.epa.gov/pm-pollution/
national-ambient-air-quality-standardsnaaqs-pm). While the EPA expects the
hearing to go forward as set forth above,
please monitor our website or contact
the person listed in the FOR FURTHER
INFORMATION CONTACT section to
determine if there are any updates.
If you require the services of a
translator or special accommodations
such as audio description, please preregister for the hearing and describe
your needs by May 13, 2020. EPA may
not be able to arrange accommodations
without advanced notice.
How can I get copies of the proposed
action and other related information?
The EPA has also established the
official public docket for the proposed
action under Docket ID No. EPA–HQ–
OAR–2015–0072. A copy of the
proposed action is available at https://
www.epa.gov/naaqs/particulate-matterpm-standards-federal-register-noticescurrent-review, and any detailed
information related to the proposed
action will be available in the public
docket prior to the public hearings.
Verbatim transcripts of the hearings and
written statements will be included in
the rulemaking docket.
Dated: April 29, 2020.
Panagiotis Tsirigotis,
Director, Office of Air Quality Planning and
Standards.
[FR Doc. 2020–09480 Filed 5–4–20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560–50–P
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
AGENCY
40 CFR Part 52
[EPA–R04–OAR–2019–0612; FRL–10008–
55–Region 4]
Air Plan Approval; SC; NOX SIP Call
and Removal of CAIR
Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Proposed rule.
AGENCY:
The Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) is proposing to approve
State Implementation Plan (SIP)
revisions submitted by the State of
South Carolina through letters dated
April 12, 2019, and July 11, 2019 to
establish a SIP-approved state control
program to comply with the Nitrogen
Oxides (NOX) SIP call obligations for
electric generating units (EGUs) and
SUMMARY:
E:\FR\FM\05MYP1.SGM
05MYP1
Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 87 (Tuesday, May 5, 2020)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 26634-26635]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-09480]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 50
[EPA-HQ-OAR-2015-0072; FRL-10008-49-OAR]
RIN 2060-AS50
Public Hearing for the Review of the National Ambient Air Quality
Standards for Particulate Matter
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notification of public hearing.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is announcing that a
virtual public hearing will be held for the proposed action titled,
``Review of the National Ambient Air Quality Standards for Particulate
Matter,'' which was signed on April 14, 2020. The hearing will be held
May 20 and 21, 2020. Based on its review of the air quality criteria
and the national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS) for particulate
matter (PM), the EPA is proposing to retain both the primary and
secondary PM standards, without revision.
DATES: Comments on the proposed action must be received on or before
June 29, 2020. The EPA will hold a virtual public hearing on May 20 and
21, 2020. Please refer to the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section for
additional information on the public hearing.
ADDRESSES: You may send comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-
OAR-2015-0072, by any of the following methods:
Federal eRulemaking Portal: https://www.regulations.gov/
(our preferred method). Follow the online instructions for submitting
comments.
Email: [email protected]. Include the Docket ID No.
EPA-HQ-OAR-2015-0072 in the subject line of the message.
Instructions. All submissions received must include the Docket ID
No. for this document. Comments received may be posted without change
to https://www.regulations.gov, including any personal information
provided. For detailed instructions on sending comments, see the
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this document. Out of an abundance
of caution for members of the public and our staff, the EPA Docket
Center and Reading Room was closed to public visitors on March 31,
2020, to reduce the risk of transmitting COVID-19. Our Docket Center
staff will continue to provide remote customer service via email,
phone, and webform. We encourage the public to submit comments via
https://www.regulations.gov or email, as there is a temporary
suspension of mail delivery to EPA, and no hand deliveries are
currently accepted. For further information of EPA Docket Center
services and the current status, please visit us online at https://www.epa.gov/dockets.
Virtual Public Hearing. The virtual public hearing will be held via
teleconference May 20 and 21, 2020, with two sessions each day. The
first session will begin at 9:00 a.m. Eastern Time (ET) and will
conclude at 1:00 p.m. ET. The second session will begin at 3:00 p.m. ET
and will conclude at 7:00 p.m. ET. The EPA may close a session 15
minutes after the last pre-registered speaker has testified if there
are no additional speakers. Refer to the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION
section below for additional information.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For information or questions about the
public hearing, please contact Ms. Regina Chappell, U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency, Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards (OAQPS)
(Mail Code C304-03), Research Triangle Park, NC 27711; telephone: (919)
541-3650; email address: [email protected].
For information or questions regarding the review of the PM NAAQS,
please contact Dr. Scott Jenkins, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency,
OAQPS (Mail Code: C539-02), Research Triangle Park, NC 27711;
telephone: (919) 541-1167; email address: [email protected].
[[Page 26635]]
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The EPA is reviewing the PM NAAQS as
required by section 109 (42 U.S.C. 7409) of the Clean Air Act (CAA).
The proposed action for which the EPA is holding a public hearing was
signed on April 14, 2020, and is available at https://www.epa.gov/naaqs/particulate-matter-pm-standards-federal-register-notices-current-review. The public hearing will provide interested parties the
opportunity to present data, views, or arguments concerning EPA's
proposed decisions in the current review of the PM NAAQS. Written
statements and supporting information submitted during the comment
period will be considered with the same weight as any oral comments and
supporting information presented at the public hearings.
Written Comments. Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No.
EPA-HQ-OAR-2015-0072, at https://www.regulations.gov (our preferred
method), or the other methods identified in the ADDRESSES section. Once
submitted, comments cannot be edited or removed from the docket. 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 whose disclosure is
restricted by statute. Multimedia submissions (audio, video, etc.) must
be accompanied by a written submission. The written submission is
considered the official submission and should include discussion of all
points you wish to make. The EPA will generally not consider
submissions or submission content 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 https://www.epa.gov/dockets/commenting-epa-dockets.
The EPA is temporarily suspending its Docket Center and Reading
Room for public visitors to reduce the risk of transmitting COVID-19.
Written comments submitted by mail are temporarily suspended and no
hand deliveries will be accepted. Our Docket Center staff will continue
to provide remote customer service via email, phone, and webform. We
encourage the public to submit comments via https://www.regulations.gov. For further information and updates on EPA Docket
Center services, please visit us online at https://www.epa.gov/dockets.
The EPA continues to carefully and continuously monitor information
from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), local area
health departments, and our Federal partners so that we can respond
rapidly as conditions change regarding COVID-19.
Participation in Virtual Public Hearing. Please note that EPA is
deviating from its typical approach because the President has declared
a national emergency. Because of current CDC recommendations, as well
as state and local orders for social distancing to limit the spread of
COVID-19, EPA cannot hold in-person public meetings at this time.
The EPA will begin pre-registering speakers and attendees for the
hearing upon publication of this document in the Federal Register. EPA
will accept registrations on an individual basis. To register to speak
at the virtual hearing, individuals may use the online registration
form available via EPA's Particulate Matter Pollution web page for this
hearing (https://www.epa.gov/pm-pollution/national-ambient-air-quality-standards-naaqs-pm) or contact Regina Chappell at (919) 541-3650 or
[email protected]. The last day to pre-register to speak at the
hearing will be May 14, 2020. On May 18, 2020, the EPA will post a
general agenda for the hearing that will list pre-registered speakers
in approximate order at: https://www.epa.gov/pm-pollution/national-ambient-air-quality-standards-naaqs-pm.
The EPA will make every effort to follow the schedule as closely as
possible on the day of the hearing; however, please plan for the
hearings to run either ahead of schedule or behind schedule.
Additionally, requests to speak will be taken the day of the hearing at
the end of each session as timing allows. The EPA will make every
effort to accommodate all speakers.
Each commenter will have 5 minutes to provide oral testimony. The
EPA recommends submitting the text of your oral comments as written
comments to the rulemaking docket. The EPA may ask clarifying questions
during the oral presentations but will not respond to the presentations
at that time. Written statements and supporting information submitted
during the comment period will be considered with the same weight as
oral comments and supporting information presented at the public
hearing.
The EPA is also asking hearing attendees to pre-register for the
hearing, even those who don't intend to provide testimony. This will
help the EPA ensure that sufficient phone lines will be available.
Please note that any updates made to any aspect of the hearing
logistics, including potential additional sessions, will be posted
online at the EPA's Particulate Matter Pollution website (https://www.epa.gov/pm-pollution/national-ambient-air-quality-standards-naaqs-pm). While the EPA expects the hearing to go forward as set forth
above, please monitor our website or contact the person listed in the
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section to determine if there are any
updates.
If you require the services of a translator or special
accommodations such as audio description, please pre-register for the
hearing and describe your needs by May 13, 2020. EPA may not be able to
arrange accommodations without advanced notice.
How can I get copies of the proposed action and other related
information?
The EPA has also established the official public docket for the
proposed action under Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2015-0072. A copy of the
proposed action is available at https://www.epa.gov/naaqs/particulate-matter-pm-standards-federal-register-notices-current-review, and any
detailed information related to the proposed action will be available
in the public docket prior to the public hearings. Verbatim transcripts
of the hearings and written statements will be included in the
rulemaking docket.
Dated: April 29, 2020.
Panagiotis Tsirigotis,
Director, Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards.
[FR Doc. 2020-09480 Filed 5-4-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P