Dear Dr. Rieger:
Thank you for your recent letter regarding your community’s ongoing concerns with fine particulate matter pollution in Southwestern Pennsylvania. As you are aware, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has undertaken reconsideration of the 2020 final decision on the primary (health-based) and secondary (welfare-based) National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for Particulate Matter (PM). On January 27, 2023, EPA published a proposal to lower the level of the primary annual standard for fine particulate matter less than 2.5 microns in diameter (PM2.5).
Specifically, EPA has proposed to revise the primary annual PM2.5 standard by lowering the level from 12.0 micrograms per cubic meter (µg/m3) to within the range of 9.0 to 10.0 µg/m3, while taking comment on alternative annual standard levels down to 8.0 µg/m3 and up to 11.0 µg/m3. EPA also proposes to retain the current primary 24-hour PM2.5 standard (at a level of 35 µg/m3), while taking comment on revising the level as low as 25 µg/m3. Finally, EPA proposes to retain the primary standard for the NAAQS level of the 24-hour fine particulate less than 10 microns in diameter (PM10) without revision and to not change the secondary PM standards at this time, while taking comment on revising the level of the secondary 24-hour PM2.5 standard as low as 25 µg/m3.
Because of your concerns, I want to make sure that you know that EPA is currently accepting public comments during a 60-day public comment period through March 28, 2023. On January 31, 2023, EPA announced via a Federal Register notice that virtual public hearings will be held for the PM NAAQS Reconsideration. The second virtual public hearing will be held this Wednesday, convening at 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time (ET) and concluding at 7:00 p.m. ET. For information or questions about the public hearing, please contact EPA’s public hearing team at (919) 541–0505 or via e-mail atHEIDpublichearing@epa.gov. I will forward your letter to the official docket for our proposed PM Reconsideration action, but I encourage you to submit further comments to the record and to participate in the virtual public hearing, if possible. You can find further information on PM NAAQS, including our current reconsideration proposal athttps://www.epa.gov/pm-
I welcome the opportunity to discuss fine particulate matter pollution and environmental justice with you. My assistant, Rhonda Purnell, will be in touch to schedule a meeting during which Ms. Cristina Fernandez, the Director of the Mid-Atlantic Region Air and Radiation Division, will join us. In the interest of time, I request that it be a virtual meeting.
Thank you again for your interest in this matter and I look forward to visiting the Pittsburgh. region in the near future.
Sincerely,
Adam Ortiz
Regional Administrator