Data Requirements Rule for 1-Hour SO2 NAAQS (Renewal)

This ICR includes estimates for the submission and processing of emissions and emissions-related information and ambient air dispersion modeling reporting and activities, associated with the 40 CFR part 51 Requirements for Preparation, Adoption and Submittal of Implementation Plans, as they apply to the 2010 1-Hour SO2 Primary NAAQS. These data and information are collected by various state and local air quality management agencies and reported to the EPA. State and local air management agencies chose to submit either monitoring or modeling information in order to meet the initial and on-going requirements, as applicable, to characterize air quality concentrations in areas with specific emissions sources identified under the final SO2 DRR. This proposed ICR Renewal adopts (with some revisions) the estimates contained in the original ICR, and it includes burden estimates for the development, submittal, and processing of the information described above to meet ongoing requirements under the DRR during the period from January 1, 2023 to December 31, 2025. For those state and local air management agencies that chose ambient monitoring rather than modeling to characterize air quality around specific emissions sources during the initial phase of DRR implementation (2016), such monitoring is required by Subpart BB of Part 51, and information collections associated with initial ambient air quality monitoring required under Part 51 were initially included in the prior versions of the DRR ICR. Currently, the DRR requires that ongoing monitoring continue to meet the operational constraints and requirements in 40 CFR Part 58, and any collections associated with ongoing monitoring under the DRR are now covered by the Part 58 ICR (EPA ICR No. 0940.29; OMB No. 2060-0084). Therefore, ongoing collections of ambient monitoring data have been removed from coverage by the DRR ICR to avoid duplicative burden calculations. Future renewals of the Part 58 ICR will continue to cover any collections of ongoing ambient air monitoring data that were initiated under Subpart BB of Part 51, so long as any of those monitors continues to operate. The principal legal authority for this information collection is the Clean Air Act (CAA), 42 U.S.C. 7403, 7410, 7414(a), and 7511a, from which the 40 CFR part 51 regulations were promulgated. In accordance with the requirements of the DRR, where an air agency finds in the annual emissions report for a source subject to the DRR that emissions have increased in an area, the state or the EPA may determine that the state must submit updated air quality modeling data for the area to determine whether or not the area is meeting the 2010 1-Hour SO2 Primary NAAQS. The information requirements included within this ICR are necessary to provide EPA with ambient air quality data, which includes emissions data and/or modeling data, to determine the air quality status of specific areas around the country, to make attainment decisions for those areas with respect to the NAAQS, to assist in developing necessary control strategies in order to ensure attainment of the NAAQS in those areas, to assess national trends in air pollution, to inform the public of air quality, and to determine the populations exposure to various ambient air pollutants. EPAs ability to achieve its goal of attaining the 2010 SO2 1-hour NAAQS in all areas of the United States is directly dependent upon the availability of ambient air quality data (emissions and/or modeling data) requested in this information collection. Additionally, EPA, state and local air quality management agencies, environmental groups, industrial groups, and academic organizations use these data to study atmospheric chemistry, e.g., the formation and fate of SO2 to determine the most appropriate and effective control strategies necessary to reduce air pollution.

The latest form for Data Requirements Rule for 1-Hour SO2 NAAQS (Renewal) expires 2027-06-30 and can be found here.

SO2 Data Requirements Rule (Monitoring Option)

Federal Enterprise Architecture: Environmental Management - Environmental Monitoring and Forecasting