Release of the Draft Policy Assessment for the Particulate Matter National Ambient Air Quality Standards, 56263-56264 [2021-22067]

Agencies

• ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 193 (Friday, October 8, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 56263-56264]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-22067]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-OAR-2015-0072; FRL-8635-03-OAR]


Release of the Draft Policy Assessment for the Particulate Matter 
National Ambient Air Quality Standards

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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SUMMARY: On or about October 8, 2021, the Environmental Protection 
Agency (EPA) will make available for public comment a draft document 
titled, Policy Assessment for Reconsideration of the National Ambient 
Air Quality Standards for Particulate Matter, External Review Draft 
(Draft PA). This draft document was prepared as a part of the current 
reconsideration of the 2020 final decision on the National Ambient Air 
Quality Standards (NAAQS) for Particulate Matter (PM). When final, the 
PA is intended to ``bridge the gap'' between the scientific and 
technical information assessed in the 2019 Integrated Science 
Assessment for Particulate Matter (2019 ISA) and Supplement to the 2019 
Integrated Science Assessment for Particulate Matter (ISA Supplement) 
and the judgments required of the Administrator in determining whether 
to retain or revise the existing PM NAAQS.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before December 14, 2021.

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.
     Mail: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, EPA Docket 
Center, Office of Air and Radiation Docket, Mail Code 28221T, 1200 
Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20460.
     Hand Delivery or Courier (by scheduled appointment only): 
EPA

[[Page 56264]]

Docket Center, WJC West Building, Room 3334, 1301 Constitution Avenue 
NW, Washington, DC 20004. The Docket Center's hours of operations are 
8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m., Monday-Friday (except Federal Holidays).
    Instructions: All submissions received must include the Docket ID 
No. for this notice. 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. This document will 
be available on the EPA's website at https://www.epa.gov/naaqs/particulate-matter-pm-air-quality-standards. The document will be 
accessible under ``Policy Assessments'' from the current review.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Lars Perlmutt, Office of Air 
Quality Planning and Standards, (Mail Code C539-04), U.S. Environmental 
Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park, NC 27711; telephone number: 
919-541-3037, fax number: 919-541-5315; or email: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. General Information

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 to 
EPA's docket at https://www.regulations.gov 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 
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 https://www.epa.gov/dockets/commenting-epa-dockets.
    Due to public health concerns, the EPA Docket Center and Reading 
Room are open to the public by appointment only. Our Docket Center 
staff continues to provide remote customer service via email, phone, 
and webform. Hand deliveries or couriers will be received by scheduled 
appointment only. For further information and updates on EPA Docket 
Center services, please visit us online at https://www.epa.gov/dockets.

II. Information About the Document

    Two sections of the Clean Air Act (CAA or the Act) govern the 
establishment and revision of the NAAQS. Section 108 directs the 
Administrator to identify and list certain air pollutants and then 
issue ``air quality criteria'' for those pollutants. The air quality 
criteria are 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 
such pollutant in the ambient air . . .'' (CAA section 108(a)(2)). 
Under section 109 of the Act, the EPA is then to establish primary 
(health-based) and secondary (welfare-based) NAAQS for each pollutant 
for which the EPA has issued air quality criteria. Section 109(d)(1) of 
the Act requires periodic review and, if appropriate, revision of 
existing air quality criteria. Revised air quality criteria are to 
reflect advances in scientific knowledge on the effects of the 
pollutant on public health and welfare. Under the same provision, the 
EPA is also to periodically review and, if appropriate, revise the 
NAAQS, based on the revised air quality criteria.
    The Act additionally requires appointment of an independent 
scientific review committee that is to periodically review the existing 
air quality criteria and NAAQS and to recommend any new standards and 
revisions of existing criteria and standards as may be appropriate (CAA 
section 109(d)(2)(A)-(B)). Since the early 1980s, the requirement for 
an independent scientific review committee has been fulfilled by the 
Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee (CASAC).
    In December 2020, the EPA announced its final decision to retain 
the primary and secondary PM2.5 and PM10 
standards, without revision (85 FR 82684, December 18, 2020).\1\ On 
June 10, 2021, the Agency announced its decision to reconsider the 2020 
p.m. NAAQS final action.\2\ In its announcement of the reconsideration 
of the PM NAAQS, the Agency explained that, in support of the 
reconsideration, it would develop an ISA Supplement and an updated PA. 
A draft of the ISA Supplement was released in September 2021, for 
public comment and review by the CASAC. The PA, when final, serves to 
``bridge the gap'' between the scientific and technical information in 
the 2019 ISA and ISA Supplement and any air quality, exposure and risk 
analyses available in the reconsideration, and the judgments required 
of the Administrator in determining whether to retain or revise the 
existing PM NAAQS. The draft PA builds upon the information presented 
in the 2019 ISA, the ISA Supplement, and the 2020 PA. The draft PA 
document will be available on or about October 8, 2021, on the EPA's 
website at https://www.epa.gov/naaqs/particulate-matter-pm-air-quality-standards. The EPA is soliciting advice and recommendations from the 
CASAC by means of a review of this draft document at an upcoming public 
meeting of the CASAC. Information about this public meeting, including 
the dates and location, will be published as a separate notice in the 
Federal Register. Following the CASAC meeting, the EPA will consider 
comments received from the CASAC and the public in preparing revisions 
to this document.
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    \1\ Other welfare effects of PM, such as ecological effects, are 
being considered in the separate, on-going review of the secondary 
NAAQS for oxides of nitrogen and oxides of sulfur. Accordingly, the 
public welfare protection provided by the secondary PM standards 
against ecological effects such as those related to deposition of 
nitrogen- and sulfur-containing compounds in vulnerable ecosystems 
is being considered in that separate review.
    \2\ The press release for this announcement is available at: 
https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/epa-reexamine-health-standards-harmful-soot-previous-administration-left-unchanged.
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    The draft document briefly described above does not represent and 
should not be construed to represent any final EPA policy, viewpoint, 
or determination. The EPA will consider any public comments submitted 
in response to this notice when revising the document.

    Dated: October 5, 2021.
Panagiotis Tsirigotis,
Director, Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards.
[FR Doc. 2021-22067 Filed 10-7-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P