Commissioners Court - Regular Session

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20.

Meeting Date:	02/23/2010
Submitted For:	Gary Boyd	Submitted By:	Gary Boyd, Parks
Department:	Parks

Information

Agenda Item

Discuss and take appropriate action on a Professional Services Agreement (PSA) for technical assistance in preparing written comments for the county in response to the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) proposed rules on ground level ozone as published in the Federal Register January 19, 2010.

Background

The EPA has published proposed rules for National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for Ozone. EPA proposes to set different primary and secondary standards than those set in 2008. The published proposal is to set the 8-hour primary standard at a level within the range of 0.060 to 0.070 parts per million (i.e. 60 to 70 parts per billion or ppb) instead of the present 75 ppb. The stated intent of the revised and lowered standard is to provide for protection of public health and welfare.

EPA is also proposing a secondary standard to be a cumulative, seasonal standard expressed as an annual index of the sum of weighted hourly concentrations, cumulated over 12 hours per day (0800 to 2000 hours) during the 3-month consecutive period within the ozone season. The stated intent of the secondary standard is to protect against adverse effects on vegetation and forests.

On February 2 a hearing for oral comments was held in Houston, Texas. Williamson County Commissioners provided oral comments in that hearing and those comments have been posted on the County's website.

Written comments must be received by March 22, 2010.

The purpose of this PSA is to provide the county with technical support in preparing written comments during the comment period. The County Attorney has reviewed the PSA for form and content.

Comments are to be identified by EPA Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2005-0172.

Fiscal Impact

From/To	Acct No.	Description	Amount

Attachments
Oris proposal for ozone standard comments
EPA Response

Form Review

Inbox	Reviewed By	Date
County Judge Exec Asst.	Wendy Coco	02/18/2010 09:47 AM
Form Started By: Gary Boyd		Started On: 02/17/2010 11:40 AM
Final Approval Date: 02/18/2010