[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 138 (Friday, July 18, 1997)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 38421-38432]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-19201]
Presidential Documents
Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 138 / Friday, July 18, 1997 /
Presidential Documents
___________________________________________________________________
Title 3--
The President
[[Page 38421]]
Memorandum of July 16, 1997
Implementation of Revised Air Quality Standards
for Ozone and Particulate Matter
Memorandum for the Administrator of the Environmental
Protection Agency
I have approved the issuance of new air quality
standards to provide important new health protection
for all Americans by further controlling pollution from
ozone and particulate matter. These new standards
promise to improve the lives of millions of Americans
in coming years.
Consistent with my Administration's approach to
regulatory decision making, I also want to ensure that
these new standards are implemented in a common sense,
cost-effective manner. It is critically important that
these standards be implemented in the most flexible,
reasonable, and least burdensome manner, and that the
Federal Government work with State and local
governments and other interested parties to this end.
I have determined that there are certain essential
elements of an approach to implementation that will
accomplish these goals. I direct you to use the
following elements when implementing the new air
quality standards:
1. Implementation of the air quality standards is to be
carried out to maximize common sense, flexibility, and
cost effectiveness;
2. Implementation shall ensure that the Nation
continues its progress toward cleaner air by respecting
the agreements already made by States, communities, and
businesses to clean up the air, and by avoiding
additional burdens with respect to the beneficial
measures already underway in many areas. Implementation
also shall be structured to reward State and local
governments that take early action to provide clean air
to their residents; and to respond to the fact that
pollution travels hundreds of miles and crosses many
State lines;
3. Implementation shall ensure that the Environmental
Protection Agency (``Agency'') completes its next
periodic review of particulate matter, including review
by the Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee, within
5 years of issuance of the new standards, as
contemplated by the Clean Air Act. Thus, by July 2002,
the Agency will have determined, based on data
available from its review, whether to revise or
maintain the standards. This determination will have
been made before any areas have been designated as
``nonattainment'' under the PM2.5 standards
and before imposition of any new controls related to
the PM2.5 standards; and
4. Implementation is to be accomplished with the
minimum amount of paperwork and shall seek to reduce
current paperwork requirements wherever possible.
[[Page 38422]]
Excellent preliminary work on the strategy for carrying
out these implementation principles has been
accomplished by an interagency Administration group and
I commend that group for these important efforts. The
group's work is set out in the attached plan, which is
hereby incorporated by reference.
In order for the implementation of these standards to
proceed in accordance with the goals I have
established, I hereby direct you, in consultation with
all affected agencies and parties, to undertake the
steps appropriate under law to carry out the attached
plan and to complete all necessary guidance and
rulemaking no later than December 31, 1998.
This memorandum is for the purposes of internal
Administration management only, and is not judicially
reviewable.
You are authorized and directed to publish this
determination and plan in the Federal Register.
(Presidential Sig.)
THE WHITE HOUSE
Washington, July 16, 1997.
[[Page 38423]]
Implementation Plan for Revised Air Quality Standards
An interagency Administration group has discussed and
evaluated approaches for the common sense, flexible,
and cost effective implementation of the revised
National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for
ozone and particulate matter (PM). This document
reflects the preliminary work by that group on a
strategy for implementing these health-based standards
consistent with the principles discussed by President
Clinton in his announcement of the standards. The
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will continue to
work with other Federal agencies, State and local
governments, small businesses, industry, and
environmental and public health groups to fully develop
and implement this strategy.
This implementation plan provides a road map for areas
to attain the standards and protect public health
without sacrificing economic growth. The goals of the
plan are to: 1) maintain the progress currently being
made toward cleaner air and respect the agreements and
technological progress already made by communities and
businesses to pursue clean air; 2) reward State and
local governments and businesses that take early action
to reduce air pollution levels through cost-effective
approaches; 3) respond to the fact that pollution can
travel hundreds of miles and cross many State lines; 4)
work with the States to develop control programs which
employ regulatory flexibility to minimize economic
impacts on businesses large and small to the greatest
possible degree consistent with public health
protection; 5) minimize planning and regulatory burdens
for State and local governments and businesses where
air quality problems are regional, not local, in
nature; 6) ensure that air quality planning and related
Federal, State, and local planning are coordinated; and
7) recognize the substantial lead time necessary for
State and local governments and businesses to plan for
and meet standards for a new indicator of PM.
The Clean Air Act (CAA) requires the EPA to set air
quality standards to protect the public health and the
environment without consideration of costs. The 1997
revisions to the NAAQS for ground level ozone and PM
fulfill this requirement. However, the Act recognizes
that the EPA and the States must work together to
develop cost-effective, flexible, and fair
implementation plans if the standards are to be met as
expeditiously as practicable.
There are a number of important linkages between these
pollutants. There is also a linkage between these
pollutants and their precursors and regional haze
problems. Promulgation of the two standards
simultaneously provides a more complete description of
the health and environmental effects associated with
two of the major components of air pollution. It can
help States and local areas better manage their air
quality by focusing on the common precursors of both
pollutants and provides the opportunity to work jointly
with industry to address common sources of multiple air
pollutants in a comprehensive manner. This will lead to
more effective and efficient protection of public
health and the environment.
In addition to the interagency process, the EPA has
been soliciting other input. While the review of the
ozone and PM NAAQS was underway, the EPA convened a
group of air quality experts representing industry,
environmental, and public health groups; State and
local governments; other Federal agencies; and academia
under the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA). This
group was charged by the Administrator of the EPA to
develop innovative, flexible, and cost-effective
implementation strategies that utilize a mix of control
measures to address ozone, PM, and regional haze. This
group will continue working with the EPA to further
develop this strategy.
In addition, all Federal agencies will continue to do
their part in carrying out the Federal responsibilities
in the State/Federal partnership that has been so
successful in improving air quality in the United
States. In addition, the EPA, in partnership with the
other Federal agencies, has developed
[[Page 38424]]
an interagency research program that is described in
Appendix 1 for the coordination of future research on
both ground level ozone and PM.
Implementation of Ozone Standard
Phase-out of 1-hour standard
The revised ozone standard is intended to replace the
current 1-hour standard with an 8-hour standard.
However, the 1-hour standard will continue to apply to
areas not attaining it for an interim period to ensure
an effective transition to the new 8-hour standard.
Subpart 2 of part D of Title I of the CAA addresses the
requirements for different classifications of
nonattainment areas that do not meet the current 1-hour
standard (i.e., marginal, moderate, serious, and
severe). These requirements include such items as
mandatory control measures, annual rate of progress
requirements for emission reductions, and offset ratios
for the emissions from new or modified stationary
sources. These requirements have contributed
significantly to the improvements in air quality since
1990. Although the EPA initially offered an
interpretation of the CAA in the proposed Interim
Implementation Policy (IIP) (61 FR 65764, December 13,
1996) under which the provisions of Subpart 2 would not
apply to existing ozone nonattainment areas once a new
ozone NAAQS is promulgated, the EPA has reconsidered
that interpretation after receiving comments on the
proposed IIP. Based on EPA's legal review, the Agency
has concluded that Subpart 2 should continue to apply
as a matter of law for the purpose of achieving
attainment of the current 1-hour standard. Once an area
attains the 1-hour standard, those provisions will no
longer apply and the area's implementation of the new
8-hour standard would be governed only by the
provisions of Subpart 1 of Part D of Title I.
To streamline the process and minimize the burden on
existing nonattainment areas, the 1-hour standard will
cease to apply to an area upon a determination by the
EPA that an area has attained air quality that meets
the 1-hour standard. In light of the implementation of
the new 8-hour standard, which is more stringent than
the existing 1-hour standard, States will not have to
prepare maintenance plans for those areas that attain
the 1-hour standard. Within 90 days, the EPA will
publish an action identifying existing nonattainment
areas and maintenance areas to which the 1-hour
standard will cease to apply because they have attained
the 1-hour standard.
For areas where the air quality does not currently
attain the 1-hour standard, the 1-hour standard will
continue in effect. The provisions of Subpart 2 would
also apply to designated nonattainment areas until such
time as each area has air quality meeting the 1-hour
standard. At that time, the EPA will take action so
that the 1-hour standard no longer applies to such
areas. In any event, the ``bump-up'' provisions of
Subpart 2, which require areas not attaining the
standard by the applicable attainment date to be
reclassified to the next higher classification, will
not be triggered by the failure of any area to meet the
new 8-hour standard. The purpose of retaining the
current standard is to ensure a smooth legal and
practical transition to the new standard.
Implementation of New 8-hour Ozone standard
This section discusses the general timeline for
implementing the 8-hour standard, the importance of
regional approaches to address ozone and options for
classifying and designating areas relative to the 8-
hour ozone NAAQS.
General Timeline
Following promulgation of a revised NAAQS, the Clean
Air Act provides up to 3 years for State governors to
recommend and the EPA to designate areas according to
their most recent air quality. In addition, States will
have up to 3 years from designation to develop and
submit State Implementation Plans (SIPs) to provide for
attainment of the new standard. Under
[[Page 38425]]
this approach, areas would be designated as
nonattainment for the 8-hour standard by 2000 and would
submit their nonattainment SIPs by 2003. The Act allows
up to 10 years plus two 1-year extensions from the date
of designation for areas to attain the revised NAAQS.
Regional Strategy
Ozone is a pollutant that travels great distances and
it is increasingly clear that it must be addressed as a
regional problem. For the past 2 years the EPA has been
working with the 37 most eastern States through the
Ozone Transport Assessment Group (OTAG) in the belief
that reducing interstate pollution will help all areas
in the OTAG region attain the NAAQS. A regional
approach can reduce compliance costs and allow many
areas to avoid most traditional nonattainment planning
requirements. The OTAG was sponsored by the
Environmental Council of States, with the objective of
evaluating ozone transport and recommending strategies
for mitigating interstate pollution. The OTAG completed
its work in June 1997 and forwarded recommendations to
the EPA. Based on these recommendations, in September
1997, the EPA will propose a rule requiring States in
the OTAG region that are significantly contributing to
nonattainment or interfering with maintenance of
attainment in downwind States to submit SIPs to reduce
their interstate pollution. The EPA will issue the
final rule by September 1998.
If the States choose to establish a regional emission
cap-and-trade system, modeled on the current acid rain
program, reductions can be obtained at a lower cost.
The EPA will encourage and assist the States to develop
and implement such a program. Most important, based on
the EPA's review of the latest modeling, a regional
approach, coupled with the implementation of other
already existing State and Federal Clean Air Act
requirements, will allow the vast majority of areas
that currently meet the 1-hour standard but would not
otherwise meet the new 8-hour standard to achieve
healthful air quality without additional local
controls.
Areas in the OTAG region that would exceed the new
standard after the adoption of the regional strategy,
including areas that do not meet the current 1-hour
standard, will benefit as well because the regional
NOX program will reduce the extent of
additional local measures needed to achieve the 8-hour
standard. In many cases these regional reductions may
be adequate to meet CAA progress requirements for a
number of years, allowing areas to defer additional
local controls.
Transitional Classification
For areas that attain the 1-hour standard but not the
new 8-hour standard, the EPA will follow a flexible
implementation approach that encourages cleaner air
sooner, responds to the fact that ozone is a regional
as well as local problem, and eliminates unnecessary
planning and regulatory burdens for State and local
governments. A primary element of the plan will be the
establishment under Section 172(a)(1) of the CAA of a
special ``transitional'' classification for areas that
participate in a regional strategy and/or that opt to
submit early plans addressing the new 8-hour standard.
Because many areas will need little or no additional
new local emission reductions to reach attainment,
beyond those reductions that will be achieved through
the regional control strategy, and will come into
attainment earlier than otherwise required, the EPA
will exercise its discretion under the law to eliminate
unnecessary local planning requirements for such areas.
The EPA will revise its rules for new source review
(NSR) and conformity so that States will be able to
comply with only minor revisions to their existing
programs in areas classified as transitional. During
this rulemaking, the EPA will also reexamine the NSR
requirements applicable to existing nonattainment
areas, in order to deal with issues of fairness among
existing and new nonattainment areas. The transitional
classification will be available for any area attaining
the 1-hour standard but not attaining the 8-hour
standard as of the time the EPA promulgates
designations for the 8-hour
[[Page 38426]]
standard. Areas will follow the approaches described
below based on their status.
(1) Areas attaining the 1-hour standard, but not
attaining the 8-hour standard, that would attain the 8-
hour standard through the implementation of the
regional NOX transport strategy for the
East.
Based on the OTAG analyses, areas in the OTAG region
that can reach attainment through implementation of the
regional transport strategy would not be required to
adopt and implement additional local measures. When the
EPA designates these areas under section 107(d), it
will place them in the new transitional classification
if they would attain the standard through
implementation of the regional transport strategy and
are in a State that by 2000 submits an implementation
plan that includes control measures to achieve the
emission reductions required by the EPA's rule for
States in the OTAG region. This is 3 years earlier than
an attainment SIP would otherwise be required. The EPA
anticipates that it will be able to determine whether
such areas will attain based on the OTAG and other
regional modeling and that no additional local modeling
would be required.
(2) Areas attaining the 1-hour standard but not
attaining the 8-hour standard for which a regional
transport strategy is not sufficient for attainment of
the 8-hour standard.
To encourage early planning and attainment for the 8-
hour standard, the EPA will make the transitional
classification available to areas not attaining the 8-
hour standard that will need additional local measures
beyond the regional transport strategy, as well as to
areas that are not affected by the regional transport
strategy, provided they meet certain criteria. To
receive the transitional classification, these areas
must submit an attainment SIP prior to the designation
and classification process in 2000. The SIP must
demonstrate attainment of the 8-hour standard and
provide for the implementation of the necessary
emissions reductions on the same time schedule as the
regional transport reductions. The EPA will work with
affected areas to develop a streamlined attainment
demonstration. By submitting these attainment plans
earlier than would have otherwise been required, these
areas would be eligible for the transitional
classification and its benefits and would achieve
cleaner air much sooner than otherwise required.
(3) Areas not attaining the 1-hour standard and not
attaining the 8-hour standard
The majority of areas not attaining the 1-hour standard
have made substantial progress in evaluating their air
quality problems and developing plans to reduce
emissions of ozone-causing pollutants. These areas will
be eligible for the transitional classification
provided that they attain the 1-hour standard by the
year 2000 and comply with the appropriate provisions of
section (1) or (2) above depending upon which
conditions they meet.
Areas not Eligible for the Transitional Classification
For these areas, their work on planning and control
programs to meet the 1-hour standard by their current
attainment date (e.g., 2005 for Philadelphia and 2007
for Chicago) will take them a long way toward meeting
the 8-hour standard. While the additional local
reductions that they will need to achieve the 8-hour
standard must occur prior to their 8-hour attainment
date (e.g., 2010), for virtually all areas the
additional reductions needed to achieve the 8-hour
standard can occur after the 1-hour attainment date.
This approach allows them to make continued progress
toward attaining the 8-hour standard throughout the
entire period without requiring new additional local
controls for attaining the 8-hour standard until the 1-
hour standard is attained. These areas, however, will
need to submit an implementation plan within 3 years of
designation as nonattainment for the new standard for
achieving the 8-hour standard. Such a plan can rely in
large part on measures needed to attain the 1-hour
standard. For virtually all of these areas, no
additional local control measures beyond those needed
to meet the requirements of Subpart 2 and needed in
response to the regional
[[Page 38427]]
transport strategy would be required to be implemented
prior to their applicable attainment date for the 1-
hour standard. Nonattainment areas that do not attain
the 1-hour standard by their attainment date would
continue to make progress in accordance with the
requirements of Subpart 2; the control measures needed
to meet the progress requirements under Subpart 2 would
generally be sufficient for meeting the control measure
and progress requirements of Subpart 1 as well.
Implementation of Particulate Matter Standards
As required under the Act, within the next 5 years the
EPA will complete the next periodic review of the PM
criteria and standards, including review by the CASAC.
As with all NAAQS reviews, the purpose is to update the
pertinent scientific and technical information and to
determine whether it is appropriate to revise the
standards in order to protect the public health with an
adequate margin of safety or to protect the public
welfare. Although the EPA has concluded that the
current scientific knowledge provides a strong basis
for the revised PM10 and new PM2.5
standards, there remain scientific uncertainties
associated with the health and environmental effects of
PM and the means of reducing them.
The following steps discussed below and in Appendix 1,
Interagency Research Program, will address these
concerns. First, recognizing the importance of
developing a better understanding of the effects of
fine particles on human health, including their causes
and mechanisms, as well as the species and sources of
PM2.5, the EPA will continue to sponsor
research, particularly in these areas. Second, the
Administrator of the EPA will promptly initiate a new
review of the scientific criteria on the effects of
airborne particles on human health and the environment.
Within 90 days, the EPA will develop and provide to
CASAC a plan and proposed schedule for this review to
assure that the review is completed within 5 years. The
plan and schedule will be published in the Federal
Register. Thus, by July 2002, the Agency will have
determined, based on data available from its review,
whether to revise or maintain the standards. This
determination will have been made before any areas have
been designated nonattainment under the PM2.5
standards and before imposition of any new controls
related to the PM2.5 standards.
Implementation of New PM2.5 NAAQS
As set forth in the EPA's final action regarding PM,
the EPA is establishing a new indicator for fine
particles (i.e., PM2.5) and promulgating new
PM2.5 standards. Monitoring and planning
will be required before control measures to address
these standards would be required. Therefore, the first
priority for implementing them is establishment of a
comprehensive monitoring network to determine ambient
fine particle concentrations across the country. The
monitoring network will help the EPA and the States
determine which areas do not meet the new air quality
standards, what are the major sources of PM2.5
in various regions, and what action is needed to clean
up the air. The EPA and the States will consult with
affected stakeholders on the design of the network and
will then establish the network, which will consist of
approximately 1,500 monitors. All monitors will provide
for limited speciation, or analysis of the chemical
composition, of the particles measured. At least 50 of
the monitors will provide for a more comprehensive
speciation of the particles. The EPA will work with
states to deploy the PM2.5 monitoring
network. Based on the ambient monitoring data we have
seen to date, these would generally not include
agricultural areas. The EPA will fund the cost of
purchasing the monitors, as well as the cost of
analyzing particles collected at the monitors to
determine their chemical composition.
Because the EPA is establishing standards for a new
indicator for PM (i.e., PM2.5), it is
critical to develop the best information possible
before attainment and nonattainment designation
decisions are made. Three calendar years of Federal
reference method monitoring data will be used to
determine
[[Page 38428]]
whether areas meet or do not meet the PM2.5
standards. Three years of data will be available from
the earliest monitors in the spring of 2001, and 3
years of data will be available from all monitors in
2004. Following this monitoring schedule and allowing
time for data analysis, Governors and the EPA will not
be able to make the first determinations as to which
areas should be designated nonattainment until at least
2002, 5 years from now. The Clean Air Act, however,
requires that the EPA make designation determinations
(i.e., attainment, nonattainment, or unclassifiable)
within 2 to 3 years of revising a NAAQS. To fulfill
this requirement, in 1999 the EPA will issue
``unclassifiable'' designations for PM2.5.
These designations will not trigger the planning or
control requirements of part D of Title I of the Act.
When the EPA designates PM2.5 nonattainment
areas pursuant to the Governors' recommendations
beginning in 2002, areas will be allowed 3 years to
develop and submit to the EPA pollution control plans
showing how they will meet the new standards. Areas
will then have up to 10 years from their redesignation
to nonattainment to attain the PM2.5
standards with the possibility of two 1-year
extensions.
In developing strategies for attaining the PM2.5
standards, it is important to focus on measures that
decrease emissions that contribute to regional
pollution. Available information indicates that nearly
one-third of the areas projected not to meet the new
PM2.5 standards, primarily in the Eastern
United States, could come into compliance as a result
of the regional SO2 emission reductions
already mandated under the Clean Air Act's acid rain
program, which will be fully implemented between 2000
and 2010. Similarly, the Grand Canyon Visibility
Transport Commission, consisting of Western States and
tribes, committed to reducing regional emissions of
PM2.5 precursors (sulfates, nitrates, and
organics) to improve visibility across the Colorado
Plateau.
As detailed PM2.5 air quality data and data
on the chemical composition of PM2.5 in
different areas become available, the EPA will work
with the States to analyze regional strategies that
could reduce PM2.5 levels. If further cost-
effective regional reductions will help areas meet the
new standard, the EPA will encourage States to work
together to use a cap-and-trade approach similar to
that used to curb acid rain. This acid rain program
delivered environmental benefits at a greatly reduced
cost.
Given the regional dimensions of the PM2.5
problem, local governments and local businesses should
not be required to undertake unnecessary planning and
local regulatory measures when the problem requires
action on a regional basis. Therefore, as long as the
States are doing their part to carry out regional
reduction programs, the areas that would attain the
PM2.5 standards based on full implementation
of the acid rain program would not face new local
requirements. Early identification of other regional
strategies could also assist local areas in completing
their programs to attain the PM2.5 standards
after those areas have been designated nonattainment.
The EPA will also encourage States to coordinate their
PM2.5 control strategy development and
efforts to protect regional visibility. Visibility
monitoring and data analysis will support both
PM2.5 implementation and the visibility
program.
Implementation of Revised PM10 NAAQS
In its rule, the EPA is revising the current set of
PM10 standards. Given that health effects
from coarse particles are still of concern, the overall
goal during this transition period is to ensure that
PM10 control measures remain in place to
maintain the progress that has been achieved toward
attainment of the current PM10 NAAQS (and
which provides benefits for PM2.5) and
protection of public health.
To ensure that this goal is met, the existing PM10
NAAQS will continue to apply until certain critical
actions by the EPA, and by States and local agencies,
have been taken to sustain the progress already made.
For areas
[[Page 38429]]
not attaining the existing PM10 NAAQS when
the revised standards go into effect, those standards
remain in effect until the EPA has completed a section
172(e) rulemaking to prevent backsliding. The EPA will
propose this rulemaking in the Fall of 1997. For areas
attaining the existing PM10 NAAQS, the EPA
will retain the existing PM10 NAAQS until
the State submits and the EPA approves the section 110
SIP which States are required to submit within 3 years
of a NAAQS revision. Once those areas have an approved
SIP, the EPA will take action so the standard no longer
applies. In addition, the EPA will take action within 3
years to designate areas for the revised PM10
standards.
Cost-Effective Implementation Strategies
There is a strong desire to drive the development of
new technologies with the potential of greater emission
reduction at less cost. It was agreed that $10,000 per
ton of emission reduction is the high end of the range
of reasonable cost to impose on sources. Consistent
with the State's ultimate responsibility to attain the
standards, the EPA will encourage the States to design
strategies for attaining the PM and ozone standards
that focus on getting low cost reductions and limiting
the cost of control to under $10,000 per ton for all
sources. Market-based strategies can be used to reduce
compliance costs. The EPA will encourage the use of
concepts such as a Clean Air Investment Fund, which
would allow sources facing control costs higher than
$10,000 a ton for any of these pollutants to pay a set
annual amount per ton to fund cost-effective emissions
reductions from non-traditional and small sources.
Compliance strategies like this will likely lower the
costs of attaining the standards through more efficient
allocation, minimize the regulatory burden for small
and large pollution sources, and serve to stimulate
technology innovation as well.
Additional Future Activities and Coordination with
Other Federal Departments and Agencies
The approaches outlined above for implementation of the
current and new ozone standards will be developed in
the future in much greater detail. In order to ensure
that the final details are practical, incorporate
common sense, and provide the appropriate steps toward
cleaning the air, input is needed from many
stakeholders such as representatives of State and local
governments, industry, environmental groups, and
Federal agencies. The EPA will continue seeking such
advice from a range of stakeholders and, after
evaluating their input, propose the necessary guidance
to make these approaches work. Moreover, the EPA will
continue to work with a number of Federal agencies to
ensure that those agencies comply with these new
standards in cost-effective, common sense ways. The
guidance and rules (e.g., revisions to NSR and
conformity) will be completed by the end of 1998.
The EPA will continue to work with the Small Business
Administration (SBA) because small businesses are
particularly concerned about the potential impact
resulting from future control measures to meet the
revised PM and ozone standards. The EPA, in partnership
with SBA, will work with the States to include in their
SIPs flexible regulatory alternatives that minimize the
economic impact and paperwork burden on small
businesses to the greatest possible degree consistent
with public health protection.
The EPA and the Department of Defense will continue to
work towards assuring that the CAA's general conformity
provisions are applied appropriately so as to maintain
the air quality benefits of this requirement consistent
with the Department's goals for cost-saving
consolidation of the defense infrastructure and the
economic viability for civilian use of former military
bases, in support of base realignment and closure
activities.
[[Page 38430]]
In addition, understanding that critical training using
smoke and obscurants must continue to ensure the
training and readiness of the military, the EPA will
work with the Department of Defense to develop a policy
that ensures that a local area will not be redesignated
to nonattainment solely on the basis of the use of
obscurants or smoke for such purposes. While there is a
need to keep the public informed of violations of air
quality standards, if any were to occur, there is no
need to curtail the training or limit it to certain
weather conditions.
The EPA will also work closely with the Department of
Agriculture and the Agriculture Air Quality Task Force
on any agricultural issues associated with the ozone
and PM standards. By establishing new standards for
particulate matter smaller than 2.5 micrometers in
diameter (PM2.5), as opposed to tightening
the existing standards for particles smaller than 10
micrometers (PM10), the EPA is actually
focusing regulatory attention away from farming and
tilling issues. Indeed, soils and agriculture comprise
a much smaller portion of the PM2.5 problem
than they do of the PM10 problem. The EPA
will issue guidance to the States to ensure that in
meeting the PM2.5 standards they focus their
control strategies on sources of fine particles, rather
than coarse particles (those particles larger than
PM2.5).
Finally, the EPA will continue to work with the
interagency group addressing fire and air quality
issues. The EPA recognizes the inevitability of fire,
and the important role of fire in natural systems. The
interagency group will develop policies and practices
to assure compatibility between fire and air quality
programs consistent with public health, safety, and
environmental protection.
[[Page 38431]]
Appendix 1
Interagency Research Program
The EPA has concluded that the current scientific
knowledge provides a strong basis for the revised ozone
and PM10 standards and the new PM2.5
standards. However, for both pollutants there exist
uncertainties about the health effects and their causes
that can benefit from further study. The complex
chemistry of their formation and the potential for the
regional transport of their precursor pollutants and
ozone and PM also needs to be better understood to
design effective control strategies to reduce their
concentrations in the ambient air. The research program
is structured to prioritize those projects that ensure
research activities are focused on high-priority topics
and that the research carried out by various agencies
is both complementary and timely. The EPA will reach
out to form partnerships with the private sector and
State and local governments in performing the research
wherever possible.
Particulate Matter Research
As discussed elsewhere, the EPA will complete another
full scientific and technical review of the PM
standards by 2002. Simultaneous with the planning for
the current criteria review in 1993, the EPA began a
process of increasing emphasis on PM research. As
discussed above, commenters on the proposed PM NAAQS
also expressed significant concerns about the science.
The steps discussed below are intended to address the
concerns raised by the commenters.
Based on the recently completed comprehensive
scientific review, the EPA is again reassessing its
research priorities to address the most recent
understanding of these uncertainties with the
development of two documents, entitled PM Research
Needs for Human Health Risk Assessment and ORD PM
Research Program Strategy. These documents are designed
to highlight significant health research needs and EPA/
ORD's strategy to address a subset of those needs as
well as research needs for implementing the standards.
Both documents were reviewed by the Clean Air
Scientific Advisory Committee (CASAC) in a November
1996 meeting, and are currently undergoing revisions to
address CASAC comments.
These documents, in turn, will help to guide an
expansion of an ongoing government-wide effort to
target and coordinate Federal research on particulate
matter. The EPA, in partnership with other Federal
agencies, will develop a greatly expanded coordinated
interagency PM research program. The program will
contribute to expanding the science associated with
particulate matter health effects, as well as
developing improved monitoring methods and cost-
effective mitigation strategies. For example, the
Department of Health and Human Services is conducting
research on respiratory disease and could undertake
surveillance of PM-related health effects. Significant
emphasis will be placed on coordinating research on
health effects, biological mechanism causing effects,
monitoring, source-receptor relationships, speciation
of PM, identification of sources, control technologies
and regional transport for particulate matter with
corresponding research on ozone and other related
pollutants including regional haze. To assist State and
local efforts in completing planning requirements and
reducing PM, the EPA will work cooperatively with the
Department of Agriculture, Department of Defense,
Department of Energy, Department of Transportation, and
other affected Federal agencies to refine existing,
limited analytical models for PM10 and to
develop new reliable predictive models for
PM2.5.
Tropospheric (Ground Level) Ozone Research
To ensure that the ozone NAAQS and their implementation
continue to be based on the best available science, the
EPA will continue its research efforts on tropospheric
or ground level ozone. As with the setting and
implementation of virtually all health-based
environmental standards, there remain scientific
uncertainties associated with the effects of ozone and
the means of reducing them. The EPA has participated in
an intergovernmental
[[Page 38432]]
public/private partnership called the North American
Research Strategy for Tropospheric Ozone (NARSTO) that
involves a coordinated effort to identify and address
key issues in the emissions, transport, and mitigation
of photochemical pollutants. Further, with the
completion of the ozone Criteria Document, the EPA has
reassessed the uncertainties and research needs on the
health and ecological effects of ozone at workshops
held in March and May 1997, respectively. The EPA is
currently developing a health and ecological effects
research needs document for ozone, which will be
submitted for review by CASAC.
In addition, the EPA will continue broader efforts to
coordinate Federal research on tropospheric ozone. The
public/private NARSTO partnership is a model
cooperative effort already begun in the area of
atmospheric processes and risk management. NARSTO's
membership spans government, utilities and other
industries, and the academic community--all following a
single national research agenda. The EPA will also work
in partnership with other Federal agencies to address
research needs on ozone health and ecological effects.
For example, the Department of Health and Human
Services is conducting research on respiratory disease
and could undertake surveillance of ozone-related
health effects. These research efforts will be
coordinated to ensure research activities are focused
on high-priority topics and that the research carried
out by various agencies is complementary. Significant
emphasis will be placed on coordinating both health
effects, monitoring, source-receptor, and control
technologies for ozone with corresponding research on
particulate matter and other related pollutants subject
to significant regional transport.
[FR Doc. 97-19201
Filed 7-17-97; 12:50pm]
Billing code 6560-50-P
