QUESTIONS/ANSWERS FOR THE BULLETIN BOARD

Q: What is FACA?

A: The Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA) , 5 U.S.C. App. 2, was enacted in 1972 to open the advisory committee process to public scrutiny and to protect against undue influence by special interest groups over government decision making. Federal advisory committees may be established by statute, the President or by the head of a Federal agency. An advisory committee or subcommittee is established under FACA to obtain advice and recommendations from advisory groups established by or closely tied to the Federal Government.

Information contained in this section of the bulletin board is limited to the activities of the FACA Subcommittee for Development of Ozone, Particulate Matter and Regional Haze Implementation Programs.

Q: Is FACA an open process?

A: Under FACA, advisory committees and/or subcommittees are established and include representatives from various affected groups to ensure that a balanced viewpoint from the interested stakeholders is obtained. For the Subcommittee for Development of Ozone, Particulate Matter and Regional Haze Implementation Programs that EPA established, an open process is envisioned that will examine aspects of the existing implementation programs as well as new approaches that will integrate broad regional and national control strategies with more localized effects. FACA meetings are open to the public and are required to be announced in the Federal Register 15 days prior to the meeting.

Q: What is the difference between an advisory committee and a subcommittee?

A: An advisory committee is any committee (or subcommittee thereof) used to obtain advice and recommendations from advisory groups established by or closely tied to the Government. A subcommittee's advice and/or recommendations must be presented to the full committee before the recommendations are submitted to EPA.

Q: When was the Subcommittee for Development of Ozone, PM and Regional Haze Implementation Programs established?

A: EPA established the subcommittee on September 11, 1995 (60 FR, No. 175, 47171). The subcommittee was established under the auspices of the Clean Air Act Advisory Committee (CAAAC) which was established by EPA pursuant to FACA and announced in the Federal Register on November 8, 1990 (55 FR, No. 217, 46993). The Subcommittee currently is composed of representatives selected from among State, local and tribal agencies, environmental groups, industry, science/academia, private consultants, and other Federal agencies.

Q: What is the purpose of the Subcommittee for Development of Ozone, PM and Regional Haze Implementation Programs?

A: The subcommittee's purpose is to provide advice and recommendations on new integrated approaches for implementing any revised national ambient air quality standards for ozone and particulate matter, as well as a regional haze program. Because of the interrelationship in the atmospheric processes that form ozone and particulate matter, common sources of precursor emissions and related issues such as transport and area designations, the subcommittee is considering these programs in an integrated manner in order to develop cost effective control strategies to meet public health and welfare objectives. The subcommittee is expected to examine key aspects of the implementation programs for ozone and PM, in order to provide for more flexible and cost effective implementation strategies, as well as to provide new approaches that could integrate broad regional and national control strategies with more localized effects.

Q: What is the purpose of the Work Groups and Coordination Group in this FACA process?

A: The purpose of the work groups is to analyze issues, conduct research and draft proposed position papers for the Subcommittee. The work groups are intended to be balanced in terms of representation and consist of both subcommittee and non-subcommittee members. The coordination group is responsible for assuring that the outputs of the various work groups are coordinated and support the overall project goals.

The responsibilities of the four work groups are summarized below:

1.	Science and Technical Support Group

Responsible for preparing an assessment of the current state of the art with respect to emission inventories, air quality models, meteorological models, and analysis of air quality monitoring data. These efforts should be coordinated with the ongoing work of such groups as Ozone Transport Assessment Group (OTAG), Grand Canyon Visibility Transport Commission (GCVTC), Southern Appalachian Mountains Initiative (SAMI), as well as the North American Research Strategy for Tropospheric Ozone (NARSTO). This assessment is anticipated to be a short-term effort to provide baseline information to the other work groups. In the longer term, this work group will provide scientific and technical support to the other work groups as requested.

2.	National and Regional Strategies Group

Responsible for development of broad regional and/or national strategies for addressing pollutant transport issues. The Group should examine broad-based market and trading approaches or other innovative strategies for achieving emission reductions. In doing this, the Group will need to consider the technical, policy and institutional issues associated with these types of approaches from the perspective of both generators and receptors of emissions.

3.	Base Program Analysis and Policies Group

Responsible for conducting a re-examination of the existing base regulatory program to take into account the potential new national ambient air quality standard (NAAQS) as well as the Regional Haze Program and to better integrate broader-based Regional and/or National control programs including the perspective of both a receptor and generator of emissions. This should include reexamination of the designation and classification process to better reflect the associated health risks and definition of air quality problems. An important component of this will be the development of transition policies which will facilitate moving from the existing to new programs.

4.	Communications and Outreach Group

Responsible for developing a focus on the education of the general public to the nature and extent of air quality problems and the associated health and welfare impacts. This should include an explanation of the measures being taken now and in the future to address these problems and the associated costs and benefits. The initial focus of the Group will be to explain the current state of our understanding of health and welfare effects information. This should also include the steps EPA is taking to address them through possible new NAAQS and the Regional Haze Program. Finally, this should describe how EPA, through the subcommittee, is developing new integrated approaches to assure public health and environmental objectives are attained.