ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL

BOARD

July 26, 1983

IN THE MATTER OF:

AMENDMENTS TO CHAPTER

2:

 AIR POLLUTION;

)

 R82-12

PART III:

 AIR QUALITY STANDARDS;

 RULE 313

 (lead)

)

Adopted Rule.

 Final Order.

OPINION AND ORDER OF THE BOARD

 (by J.D. Dumelle):

On June 10, 1982 the Board adopted an Opinion and Order pro-

posing new Rule 313 of Chapter

2:

 Air pollution, which would

establish an ambient air quality standard for lead and its

compounds

 as well

 as an acceptable measurement method for deter-

mining conformance with that standard.

 On December 27,

 1982 the

Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (Agency)

 filed a motion

to amend the proposed rule, and on February 24,

 1983 the Board

adopted a Proposed Rule/First Notice Order which modified the

proposed rule in conformance with an Agency~smotion to allow any

alternative measurement methods to be used so long as that method

had been approved by the United States Environmental Protection

Agency (USEPA) pursuant to procedures referenced in 43 Fed.

 Reg.

46258 as amended.

 No public comments were received during the

first notice period.

 On May 19,

 1983 the Board adopted a

Proposed Rule/Second Notice Order proposing the rule in the same

form as

 it appeared in the First Notice Order except that the

 citation to the Federal Register was changed to the Code of

Federal Regulation’s citation of 40 CFR 50, Appendix G (1982)

for

ease of reference.

 On July 12,

 1983 the Joint Committee on

Adminstrative Rules certified that

 has no objection to the

proposed rule.

The 1970 Clean Air Act Amendments required the Administrator

of the USEPA to promulgate National Ambient Air Quality Standards

(NAAQS)

 for five criteria pollutants

 (TSP, SO

NO

0

 and CO)

under Section 108 of that Act.

 These standards we~ep~omulgated

under Section 109 of that Act in 1971 and were set at levels

necessary to protect the public health and welfare.

In 1976 the court in NRDC,

 Inc., et al.

v.

Train,

411

Supp.

 864 (S.D.N.Y.,

 1976) aff’d 545 F.

 2d 320

 (2d Cir.

 1976)

ordered USEPA to list lead as a criteria pollutant and to develop

an ambient air quality standard.

 USEPA so listed lead on March

31,

 1976, proposed an ambient air quality standard on December

14, 1977

 (42 Fed,

 63092) and published the final rule on

October 5,

1978

 (43 Fed.

 46258).

 The Federal reference

method for collecting and measuring lead and its compounds in

the

 ambient air was also published

 in appendix G of that

53-125

—2—

promulgation, as were final rules

 for the development of state

implementation plans under 40 CFR 51.

 Appendix G was amended on

June 29,

1979

 (44 Fed.

 Reg.

 37915).

The Board has existing rules

 in conformity with federal

regulations which set standards and measurement methods for each

of the original

 five criteria pollutants

 (Rules 307—312 of

Chapter

2:

 Air Pollution).

 However, despite the passage of over

three

 years since the federal lead regulations have been in

effect, no one proposed similar regulations before the Board

concerning

 lead.

 Therefore,

 the Board has proposed this regulation

on its own motion.

Lead is a stable compound, ubiquitously distributed, which

persists and accumulates both in the environment and the human

body.

 Lead is emitted :into the atmosphere by vehicles burning

leaded fuel and by certain stat:Lonary sources.

 It enters the body

through

ingestion

and

inhalation

with

consequent

absorbtion

into

the

bloodstream

and

 distribution

all

body

tissues.

Three body systems appear to be most sensitive to the effects

of lead

—

 the he:natopoietic system, the nervous system, and the

renal

 system.

 It has also been shown to affect normal functioning

of the reproductive, endocrine,

 hepatic, cardiovascular, immuno-

logic, and gastrointestinal systems.

Clearly, high air lead concentrations can cause significant

health risks.

 In developing

 its proposed standards USEPA

determined that the maximum safe blood level

 (geometric mean)

for

young children was

 15 ug Pb/dl

 (deciliter),

 This was based on

blood lead level thresholds for various biologic effects ranging

from the risk of permanent,

 severe neurological damage or death

at levels over 80 ug Pb/dl

 in children to enzyme system inhibition

at levels as low as

 :L0 ug Pb/di.

 Since children appear to be at

greatest risk, that group was used to estab:Lish safe levels.

12 ug

 Pb/d.

 of the

 15 ug Ph/dl

 safe level was found to be

attributable to nonair sources.

The

 3 ug Pb/dl difference was,

therefore, estimated to be the allowable safe contribution to

mean population blood level from lead in the air.

 Since epidemi-

ological data~indicatesa general relationship of 1:2 between air

lead

 (ug Pb/m~

 and blood lead

 (ug Pb/dl), USEPA d~termined

that the air standard should be set at 1.5 ug

 Pb/rn

3The Board proposes to adopt the federal standards of 1.5 ug

Pb/rn

 as well as the federal reference methods.

 In so doing the

Board will have treated lead consistently with the other criteria

pollutants:

 all will

 be subject to enforceable Sta?e standards

and may be enforced through the Board and the State courts.

53-126

—3—

While the Agency has determined that the only non-attainment

area in the State for lead is the Granite City area (see Ill.

sIP, Volume

9:

 Lead,

pp.

 2—3), the potential

 for violation of

the proposed standard is sufficient to justify a State standard

to protect the health and welfare of the People of the State.

Further,

 such a rulemaking may be required for approval of the

Illinois State Implementation Plan.

Although the Agency has apparently taken the position that

the reduction of lead in mobile sources under the Federal Motor

Vehicle Control Program and the federal

 lead-in-gasoline phase-

down regulations along with particulate standards will allow the

State to demonstrate attainment of NAAQS, that position may not

be an accurate one, especially in light of possible amendments

to

the Clean Air Act.

 Promulgation and enforcement of a State

standard should aid in attainment of the NAAQS.

 In ~ny case,

despite taking that position, the Agency has not opposed adoption

 of this rule and has,

in

 fact,

 submitted information in support

of its adoption.

This Opinion and Order is the final Opinion and Order in

this matter and replaces all previous Opinions and Orders.

ORDER

The Board hereby adopts the following new rule.

Rule 313:

 Lead.

(a)

 Standard.

 The ambient air quality standards for lead

and its compounds are 1.5 micrograms per cubic meter,

maximum arithmetic mean averaged over

 a calendar quarter.

(b)

 Measurement Method.

 For determining conformance with

the ambient air quality standards for lead and its

compounds,

 lead and its compounds shall be measured by

the atomic absorbtion spectrornetry or equivalent method

as described in 40 CFR 50, Appendix G(1982).

I, Christan L. Moffett,

 Clerk of the Illinois Pollution

Control Board,,~erebycertify that the above Order was adopted on

the

 day of

 1983 by a

voteof

~p

I. 9//4~~

Christan L. Moffett,

 Clergy

Illinois Pollution Control Board

53-127