The NAAQS Review Process: 8Hour Ozone

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The NAAQS Review Process 8-Hour Ozone Peggy
WadeRACPC Houston, Texas May 31, 2007
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What Well Cover

• NAAQS Review Process
• Schedule for NAAQS Review
• Current Ozone Review

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Why Review the NAAQS? (Or, cant EPA just leave
well enough alone?)

• Statutory Requirements
• CAA Section 108 requires EPA to list pollutants
  that may reasonably be anticipated to endanger
  public health these are the criteria
  pollutants of O3, CO, NO2, SO2, PM, Pb
• Section 109 directs EPA to promulgate ambient air
  quality standards for the criteria pollutants-
  109(b)(1) primary NAAQS requisite to protect
  public health with an adequate margin of safety-
  109(b)(2) protect public welfare from any
  anticipated adverse effect of the pollutant

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NAAQS Review, cont

• Litigation/Legislation Influence
• Requisite means sufficient but no more than
  necessary
• Adequate Margin of Safety -maximum permissible
  ambient air level which will protect the health
  of any sensitive group-margin of safety
  intended to address uncertainties associated with
  risk assessment/toxicology studies and allow a
  reasonable degree of protection against hazards
  not yet identified
• Welfare effects effects on soil, water, crops,
  animals, visibility, climate, property, personal
  comfort and well-being
• EPA may not consider economic impact when setting
  NAAQS (see Whitman v American Trucking
  Association, 2001)

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NAAQS Review, cont

• Timing Requirements
• 109(d)(1) Not later than 12/31/1980 and every 5
  years thereafter EPA shall complete a thorough
  review of the criteria pollutants and NAAQS
• 109(d)(2) requirement that an independent body
  provide input and recommendations to EPA as part
  of the review process- independent body is the
  Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee (CASAC),
  an academic body in existence since the 1980s

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History of NAAQS Review

• April 1971 0.08 ppm for 1-hour photochemical
  oxidants
• February 1979 0.12 ppm for 1-hour ozone
• March 1993 EPA completed court-ordered review
  but no changes to NAAQS were made
• July 1997 1-hour ozone standard was replaced by
  the 8-hour standard set at 0.08 ppm- heavily
  litigated Congress did not appropriate money to
  EPA for implementation while court cases played
  out

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EPAs Phase I rule

• March 2002 Supreme Court upheld the NAAQS but
  remanded the classification scheme EPA originally
  finalized (ie, all areas would be Subpart 1
  areas)
• April 30, 2004 EPA officially revoked 1-hr
  standard and implemented the 8-hour, effective
  June 15, 2004, with a 1-year grace period for
  transition (69 FR 23966 the Phase I rule)
• - included Subpart 1 and Subpart 2
  classifications
• Implementation began, with first 8-hr SIPs being
  due on 6/15/07- rule was challenged and DC
  Circuit Court vacated rule on 12/22/06- EPA has
  requested a rehearing of the case

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Current Ozone Review

• September 2000 Current review process was
  initiated with a call for information (65 FR
  57810)
• November 2002 Workplan released for public and
  CASAC review
• 2003 Series of workshops held
• January 2005 First EPA staff paper released
  (basically a compilation of the recent
  literature, risk assessments, etc)
• July 2006 Second EPA staff paper released, with
  a focus on 0.70 ppm, but no staff recommendation

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Current Ozone Review

• January 2007 Third and final EPA staff paper
  released recommendation is to lower that
  standard in the range of 0.060 0.080
• Recommend setting a biologically relevant
  secondary standard(ie, a 12-hour measurement
  over 3-month periods)
• No recommendation to retain current standards
• Unanimous CASAC position is to lower the standard
  in the range of 0.060 to 0.070

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Current Ozone Review

• June 20, 2007 Court-ordered deadline for EPA
  proposal of review results
• - public hearings will be held around the nation
• March 12, 2008 court-ordered deadline for EPA
  final rulemaking on NAAQS review

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Possible Implications for Texas

• Difficult to speculate EPA is not bound by CASAC
  recommendation
• In history of NAAQS review, EPA has only decided
  against CASAC opinion once (in most recent PM2.5
  review)
• Even if NAAQS is lowered, multiple factors weigh
  in ultimate decision of nonattainment area
  (source location, demographic trends, MSA
  boundary, etc)
• So, from here on out WE ARE JUST PRETENDING!
  Nothing I say means anything and this is not
  official EPA position on anything!
  But, what if the NAAQS is lowered.

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Monitor Locations
2006 Monitoring Network 73 monitors
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2006 Design Values
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2006 Design Values of Interest

• County Design Value
• Bexar 0.087
• Brewster 0.065
• Cameron 0.065
• El Paso 0.084
• Gregg 0.084
• Harrison 0.080
• Hays 0.072
• Hood 0.089
• Hunt 0.078
• Hidalgo 0.064
• Nueces 0.073
• Smith 0.082
• Travis 0.083
• Victoria 0.071

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Possible New Areas - based on NAAQS of 0.70ppm
(remember this is just pretend!)

• HGB, BPA remain NAAs (even if BPA comes into
  attainment of the current 8-hour)
• DFW likely expansion of NAA to include Hunt and
  Hood counties based on monitored design values
• El Paso would go into 8-hour nonattainment
• East Texas NAA of Gregg, Smith and Harrison
  counties (Tyler/Longview area)
• San Antonio would go nonattainment based on Bexar
  County monitor
• Austin would go nonattainment based on Hays and
  Travis monitors
• Victoria would go nonattainment
• Nueces would go nonattainment
• Counties to watch Brewster, Hidalgo and Cameron,
  counties have 2006 design values of 0.064 0.065
  ppm

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Estimated Timeline (still pretending!)

• March 2008 EPA publishes final NAAQS review
  results
• If NAAQS are modified- EPA will solicit
  recommendations from Governor about what areas
  should be designated nonattainment by September
  2008September 2009 Negotiation between state
  and EPA complete and EPA finalizes nonattainment
  designationsSeptember 2010 Conformity to new
  standards dueSeptember 2012 SIPs for new
  standard due
• timeline based on recent NAAQS review and
  assumes litigation does not delay implementation

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Questions or Comments

• Ozone Monitoring
• Mark Sather
• Sather.Mark_at_epa.gov
• 214-665-8353
• Public access website
• http//www.epa.gov/air/data/index.html
• Peggy Wade
• wade.peggy_at_epa.gov
• 214-665-7247