[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]
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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.
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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