Review of Ozone Air Quality Standard Moves Forward, 7-20-06
EPA’s second draft Staff Paper on the review of the ozone air quality standard recommends that the current standard be retained or slightly strengthened.
The draft Staff Paper recommends a range of .08 ppm to .07 ppm for an eight-hour average standard. The current standard is .08 ppm, but with rounding, exceedances are not measured until concentrations exceed .084 ppm. Options for addressing the rounding issue and the form of the standard (e.g. the number of exceedances that will be allowed before a violation is recorded) will be made public around July 25, 2006.
The second draft Staff Paper and Risk Assessment (listed under technical documents) is available from EPA [epa.gov/ttn/naaqs] online.
The Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee (CASAC) will meet August 24-25, 2006 in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina to review the documents. To speak during the public comment period in person or by telephone, email EPA staffer Fred Butterfield butterfield.fred@epa.gov.
Written comments may be submitted online at www.regulations.gov. Reference Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2005-0172. Comments are due by September 18, 2006.
A June 5, 2006 letter from CASAC to EPA reviewing the final Criteria Document is available from EPA [www.epa.gov/sab] online.
