Proposed Determinations of Attainment by the Attainment Date, Extensions of the Attainment Date, and Reclassification of Several Areas Classified as Marginal for the 2015 Ozone Air Quality Standards
As required by the Clean Air Act, EPA has proposed determinations as to whether 31 areas have achieved levels of ground-level ozone pollution (or “smog”) that meet the 2015 health-based air quality standards for ozone (known as the National Ambient Air Quality Standards or NAAQS). This rulemaking, which is required by the Clean Air Act, is necessary to ensure that smog-affected communities achieve healthy air and implement the measures that the Clean Air Act requires to protect public health in these areas.
The areas addressed in this proposal are currently classified as in “Marginal” nonattainment, and were required to attain the standards by August 3, 2021. Within six months after this attainment date, Clean Air Act (CAA) section 181(b)(2) requires EPA to determine whether these areas attained the standard by the attainment date, and if not, take specified actions to ensure these areas achieve attainment expeditiously. EPA based these determinations on the most recent publicly available and certified ozone monitoring data, from the years 2018 - 2020. Read the proposal and a summary fact sheet below.
UPDATE (April 14, 2022) – Please note EPA has identified a typographical error in Table 1 on page 21845 of the April 13, 2022 Federal Register notice that incorrectly indicates a Footnote 9 (see 87 FR 21845). EPA did not intend to include a corresponding footnote in the document, and this error does not otherwise alter the contents of the proposed rule.