Implementation of Revised Air Quality Standards for Ozone and Particulate Matter

[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