EPA is taking final action to remove requirements relative to the revised PM-10 NAAQS EPA issued in 1997 that were intended to clarify the applicability of the PM-10 National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) issued in 1987 (hereafter referred to as the pre- existing PM-10 NAAQS). These requirements were added to the CFR at that time in anticipation of the transition to the implementation of the revised PM-10 NAAQS, and set forth the criteria under which the pre- existing PM-10 NAAQS would cease to apply and the revised PM-10 NAAQS would then become the solely applicable coarse particle standards. However, a recent ruling of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (D.C. Circuit) vacated the revised PM-10 NAAQS and, thus, removed the basis for these requirements. Therefore, today we are taking final action to remove the requirements from the subsection of the CFR where they are found, thus ensuring that the pre-existing PM-10 standards will continue to apply to all areas where they currently apply. In light of the action taken by the D.C. Circuit, as well as the need from a regulatory and administrative perspective to clarify the status of the pre-existing PM-10 NAAQS, we had previously proposed to remove these requirements as part of our June 26, 2000 proposal "Rescinding the Finding that the Pre-existing PM-10 Standards are No Longer Applicable in Northern Ada County/Boise, Idaho." We have not received any comments on this portion of that proposal to date and are therefore moving forward today to take final action to remove them.