Summary of EPA's Strategy for Implementing the 1997 Ozone and Particulate Matter Air Quality Standards

Note: EPA no longer updates this information, but it may be useful as a reference or resource.

The following document is being retained on the EPA web site for historical information. Much of the original timing and anticipated approaches are no longer applicable, however, as a result of several court rulings regarding the 8-hour ozone and the PM2.5 NAAQS. For further information on this litigation, see the NAAQS website.

FACT SHEET
July 17, 1997

SUMMARY OF EPA'S STRATEGY FOR IMPLEMENTING NEW OZONE AND PARTICULATE MATTER AIR QUALITY STANDARDS

EPA is committed to following a common-sense implementation strategy for meeting the new ozone and particulate matter standards. Outlined in a memorandum from President Clinton dated July 16, 1997, the policy is based on the following principles:

1. Maintain the progress currently being made toward cleaner air, and respect the agreements already made by communities and businesses to clean up the air;

2. Reward State and local governments and businesses that take early action to reduce air pollution levels;

3. Respond to the fact that pollution travels hundreds of miles and crosses many state boundaries;

4. Work with the States to develop control programs that employ regulatory flexibility to reduce economic impacts on large and small businesses to the greatest possible degree consistent with public health protection;

5. Minimize planning and regulatory burdens for local governments and local businesses where air quality problems are regional, not local, in nature;

6. Ensure that air quality planning and related Federal, State and local planning are coordinated; and

7. Recognize the substantial lead time necessary for State and local governments and businesses to plan for and meet standards for a new indicator of particulate matter (PM).

Strategy for Meeting the Revised Air Quality Standard for Ground-level Ozone

EPA's strategy will build on work conducted over past two years by the Ozone Transport Assessment Group (OTAG) -- a group comprised of the state environmental commissioners from the 37 eastern most states. Based on recent recommendations from OTAG, EPA will propose in September 1997 a rule requiring States in the OTAG region that are significantly contributing to nonattainment or interfering with maintenance of attainment in downwind States to submit State Implementation Plans (SIPs) to reduce their interstate pollution. EPA will issue the final rule by September 1998.
Reducing interstate pollution will help all areas in the eastern U.S. attain the 1-hour standard and the new 8-hour standard. By using these cost-effective strategies for reducing ozone levels, it will also mean that these areas can avoid traditional nonattainment planning requirements.

Phase-out of 1-hour Ozone Standard

EPA's revised ozone standards will replace the current 1-hour standard with an 8-hour standard. However, the 1-hour standard will continue to apply to areas not attaining it for an interim period to ensure an effective transition to the new 8-hour standard.
The Clean Air Act includes provisions (Subpart 2 of part D of Title I) that address the requirements for different nonattainment areas that do not meet the 1-hour standard (i.e., those classified as marginal, moderate, serious, severe and extreme.) These requirements include such items as annual rate of progress requirements for emission reductions. These requirements have contributed significantly to the improvements in air quality since 1990.
EPA has concluded that these provisions should continue to apply as a matter of law for the purpose of achieving attainment of the 1-hour standard. Once an area attains the 1-hour standard, those provisions will no longer apply. [An area's implementation of the new 8-hour standard would be governed only by the provisions of Subpart 1 of Part D of Title I.]
To streamline the process and minimize the burden on existing nonattainment areas, the 1-hour standard will cease to apply to an area upon a determination by EPA that an area attains the 1-hour standard. States will not have to prepare maintenance plans for these areas that attain the 1-hour standard.
For areas where the air quality does not currently attain the 1-hour standard, the 1-hour standard will continue in effect. The purpose of retaining the current standard is to ensure a smooth legal and practical transition to the new standard.

Implementing the New 8-hour Ozone standard

General Timeline for Meeting the New Ozone Standard

As provided for under the Clean Air Act, EPA will work with the various Governors to designate areas as nonattainment for ozone by the year 2000 (using the most recently available 3 years worth of air quality data at that time).
Areas will have up to three years (or until 2003) to develop and submit State implementation plans (SIP) to provide for attainment of the new standard.
The Clean Air Act allows up to 10 years from the date of designation for areas to attain the revised standards with the possibility of two one-year extensions.

EPA Will Create a "Transitional" Classification

EPA will create a special "transitional" classification for eligible areas that participate in a regional emissions control strategy and/or that opt to submit early plans addressing the new 8-hour standard.
The "transitional" classification would be available for any area attaining the 1-hour standard but not attaining the 8-hour standard and for any area to which the 1-hour standard no longer applies as of the time EPA promulgates designations for the 8-hour standard.
EPA will revise its rules for new source review (NSR) and conformity so that States will be able to comply with only minor revisions to their existing programs in transitional areas. During this rulemaking, EPA will also reexamine the NSR requirements applicable to existing nonattainment areas, in order to deal with issues of fairness between existing and new nonattainment areas.

What Will Be the Requirements for Specific Kinds of Ozone Nonattainment Areas?

1) Areas that (1) attain the 1-hour standard, (2) do not attain the 8-hour standard, but (3) would attain the 8-hour standard through the implementation of the regional NO_X transport strategy for the East. These areas can be eligible for the new transitional classification if they (1) would attain the standard through implementation of the regional transport strategy and (2) are in a State that by 2000 submits an implementation plan that includes the emission reductions required by EPA's rule for States in the OTAG region. Submitting this plan by 2000 would be 3 years earlier than an attainment SIP would otherwise be required.
2) Areas attaining the 1-hour standard but not attaining the 8-hour standard for which a regional transport strategy is not sufficient for attainment of the 8-hour standard. To encourage early planning and attainment for the new standard, EPA will also make the transitional classification available to areas that will need additional local measures beyond the regional transport strategy to attain the 8-hour standard, as well as to areas that are not affected by the regional transport strategy, provided they meet certain criteria. To receive the transitional classification, these areas must submit a SIP before the designation and classification process in 2000, three years earlier than otherwise required. The SIP must demonstrate attainment of the 8-hour standard and provide for the implementation of the necessary emissions reductions on the same time schedule as the regional transport reductions.
3) Areas not attaining the 1-hour standard and not attaining the 8-hour standard. The majority of areas not attaining the 1-hour standard have made substantial progress in evaluating their air quality problems and developing plans to reduce emissions of ozone-causing pollutants. These areas can be eligible for the transitional classification if they attain the 1-hour standard by the year 2000, submit a SIP for the 8-hour standard prior to the designation and classification process in 2000, and comply with EPA's regional transport rule as applicable.
4) Areas not eligible for the transitional classification For areas that will not meet the 1-hour standard by 2000, their work on planning and control programs to meet the 1-hour standard by their current attainment date (e.g., 2005 for Philadelphia and 2007 for Chicago) will take them a long way toward meeting the 8-hour standard. For virtually all areas, local reductions needed to achieve the 8-hour standard can occur after the attainment date for the 1-hour standard. This approach allows them to make continued progress toward attaining the 8-hour standard throughout the period without requiring new additional local controls for attaining the 8-hour standard until the 1-hour standard is attained.

Next Steps

The approaches outlined above for implementing the ozone standards will be developed in much greater detail. EPA intends to seek advice on these details from a range of stakeholders.
After evaluating their input, EPA will publish guidance and rules (e.g., revisions to New Source Review rules and conformity) by the end of 1998.

Strategy for Meeting the Revised Air Quality Standards for Particulate Matter

Implementing the New PM_2.5 Standards

For the new PM_2.5 standards, several years of monitoring and planning will be required before EPA would require local control measures.
As required under the Clean Air Act, within the next 5 years EPA will complete the next periodic review of the PM air quality standards, including review by the Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee. EPA will have completed its statutory determination before any designations of nonattainment are made for the PM_2.5 standards and before imposition of any control strategies directed at PM_2.5.

General Timelines for Meeting PM_2.5 Standards

The first priority will be to establish a comprehensive monitoring network (comprised of 1,500 monitors) to determine ambient fine particle concentrations across the country. The monitoring network will help EPA and the States determine (1) which areas meet or do not meet the new air quality standards, (2) what are the major sources of PM_2.5 in various regions, and (3) what action is needed to clean up the air.
EPA will work with States to deploy the PM_2.5 monitoring network. Based on the ambient monitoring data we have seen to date, monitors would generally not be deployed in agricultural areas.
EPA will fund the cost of purchasing the monitors, as well as the cost of analyzing particles collected at the monitors to determine their chemical composition.
The Clean Air Act requires that EPA make designation determinations (i.e., attainment, nonattainment, or unclassifiable) within two to three years of revising a standard. Since EPA will not have adequate PM_2.5 monitoring data for that purpose, in 1999 EPA will issue "unclassifiable" designations for PM_2.5. These designations will not trigger the planning or control requirements.
Three years of acceptable monitoring data will be available from the earliest monitors by the spring of 2001, and 3 years of data will be available from all monitors in 2004. Allowing time for data analysis, State Governors and EPA will not be able to make the first determinations about which areas should be redesignated from unclassifiable to nonattainment status until at least 2002.
States will have 3 years from date of being designated nonattainment (or until between 2005 and 2008) to develop pollution control plans and submit them to EPA showing how they will meet the new standards.
Areas will then have up to 10 years from their designation as nonattainment to attain the PM_2.5 standards with the possibility of two 1-year extensions.

EPA Actions to Help Meet the PM _2.5 Standards in a Common-Sense Manner

As with ozone, it is important to focus on measures that will decrease emissions that contribute to regional, transported pollution. Available information indicates that, nearly 1/3 of the areas projected to violate the new PM_2.5 standards, primarily in the Eastern United States, could come into compliance as a result of the regional SO₂ emission reductions already mandated under the Clean Air Act's acid rain program, which will be fully implemented between 2000 and 2010.
- As long as the States are doing their part to carry out regional reduction programs, the areas that would attain the PM_2.5 standards based on full implementation of the acid rain program would not face new local requirements.
Similarly, the Grand Canyon Visibility Transport Commission, consisting of Western States and tribes, committed to reducing regional emissions of PM_2.5 precursors (sulfates, nitrates and organics) and organized to improve visibility across the Colorado Plains.
As detailed PM_2.5 air quality data and data on the chemical composition of PM_2.5 in different areas become available, EPA will work with the States to analyze regional strategies that could reduce PM_2.5 levels. If further cost-effective reductions will help areas meet the new standards, EPA will encourage States to work together to use a cap-and-trade approach similar to that used to curb acid rain.
The EPA will also encourage States to coordinate their PM_2.5 control strategy development and efforts to protect regional visibility. Visibility monitoring and data analysis will support both PM_2.5 implementation and the visibility program.

Implementing the Revised PM₁₀ National Air Quality Standard

Given that health effects from coarse particles are still of concern, the overall goal during this transition period is to ensure that PM₁₀ control measures remain in place to maintain the progress that has been achieved toward attainment of the current PM₁₀ standards (which provides benefits for PM_2.5) and protection of public health.
To ensure that this goal is met, the existing PM₁₀ standards will continue to apply until certain critical actions by EPA, and by states and local agencies, have been taken to sustain the progress already made.
For areas not attaining the existing PM₁₀ standards today, those standards remain in effect until EPA completes a rule to prevent "backsliding," or removal of controls needed to achieve clean air. EPA will propose this rule in Fall 1997.
For areas attaining the existing PM₁₀ standards, EPA will retain the existing PM₁₀ standards until the State submits and EPA approves the SIP that States are required to submit under section 110 within 3 years of an air quality standard revision.
EPA will take action within 3 years to designate areas for the revised PM₁₀ standard.

Cost-Effective Implementation Strategies

Consistent with States' ultimate responsibility to attain the standards, EPA will encourage States to design strategies for attaining the PM and ozone standards that focus on getting low cost reductions and providing sources the ability to limit their cost of control to under $10,000 per ton.
EPA will encourage the use of concepts such as a Clean Air Investment Fund that would allow sources facing control costs higher than $10,000 a ton for any of these pollutants to pay a set annual amount per ton to fund cost-effective emission reductions from non-traditional and small sources.
Compliance strategies like this will likely lower costs of attaining the standards through more efficient allocation, minimize the regulatory burden for small and large sources, and serve to stimulate technology innovation.

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EPA's 1997 Decision on Ozone and Particulate Matter Standards