1. Exceptional Events and Fire Policy Presented by Don Hodge, U.S. EPA Region 9 Interagency Air and Smoke Council meeting May 2, 2012 Disclaimer: Positions and views expressed here represent draft EPA guidance and/or staff recommendations and not final Agency policy

2. Clean Air Act The Basics  Regulates  Criteria pollutants  Visibility  Process  Federal: sets NAAQS and designates attainment  State, Tribal, local: develop implementation plans, regulate emissions, and monitor concentrations and haze  Goal  Maintain or attain air quality meeting standards  As shown by ambient air monitoring data 2

3. Clean Air Act Exceptions Some events are not under regulatory control EER provides the process to exclude valid ambient concentration data from attainment determinations 40 CFR 50.1(j), 40 CFR 50.14 3

4. Definition of “Exceptional Event” 40 CFR 50.1(j)  Affected air quality  Natural or  Caused by human activity and unlikely to recur at a particular location  Event was not reasonably controllable or preventable  Event was not related to:  Weather  Source noncompliance 4

5. Fire Policy purpose  Prescribed fire characteristics  Long-term ecological and human health benefits  Human activity  Likely to recur at same location?  Reasonably controllable or preventable?  Fire Policy intended to clarify application of EER in this case 5

6. Fire Policy process  Interim Fire Policy requirements  State-certified smoke management plan  Basic smoke management practices  Revised Fire Policy development status  EPA leads are revising the draft to address comments from EPA regional offices on Federal Land Managers’ proposed language  Revised draft policy expected summer 2012 6

7. Contacts  Exceptional events  Katherine Hoag, Air Quality Analysis Office  Hoag.Katherine@EPA.gov  415-972-3970  Fire Policy Process  Don Hodge, Agriculture Program  Hodge.Don@EPA.gov Hodge.Don@EPA.gov  415-972-3240 7

8. Demonstration of “Exceptional Event”  Clear causal relationship  Concentrations in excess of normal historical concentrations  No exceedance/violation but for the event 8

9. Exceptional Events Rule The Process 1. State air-quality agencies flag the monitoring data and submit documentation connecting the data to an exceptional event. 2. EPA reviews documentation. Options: concur, not concur, not act. 3. If we concur, we:  Exclude data from NAAQS attainment demonstration  Document our concurrence 9

10. Exceptional Events Guidance Recent Activity 10  Elements currently drafted  High Winds Guidance document  Extensive Q/A  Resources, examples: www.epa.gov/ttn/analysis/exevents.htm  Review and revision timeline  Summer 2011: state/local/tribal and FLM agency comments received  Spring/Summer 2012: finalize response to comments document and send to original commenters  Later in 2012: release revised draft guidance for broader public review and comment via a Notice of Data Availability in the Federal Register  Finalize guidance  Determine next steps regarding potential rule changes  Planned elements  demonstration elements for wildfire / ozone exceptional events  prescribed fire