EPA's 1997 Decision on Ozone and Particulate Matter Standards

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

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EPA issued final air quality standards for particulate matter and ozone (otherwise known as soot and smog) on July 16, 1997. This page provides access to plain English fact sheets and the complete text of the rules. There are also several fact sheets related to President Clinton's June 25, 1997 announcement of the decision on the standards.

Court Decision on 1997 Clean Air Rules for Ozone and Particulate Matter

On May 14, 1999, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit issued an opinion regarding the final national ambient air quality standards for ozone and particulate matter that EPA issued in July 1997.

The White House (PDF) and EPA (PDF) issued brief statements on May 14 on the court's opinion.

EPA has asked the U.S. Department of Justice to appeal this decision, and take all judicial steps necessary to overturn the decision. On June 28, 1999, the federal governemnt filed a petition for rehearing (PDF) key aspects of the case in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.

For additional information, refer to the following documents:
June 28, 1999 Federal Government Petition for Rehearing (PDF)
June 28, 1999 EPA Summary on the Impact of the Court's Decision (PDF)
June 28, 1999 EPA Summary of the Court's Decision (PDF)
May 20, 1999 Prepared Oral Statement by Administrator Browner before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee
May 14, 1999 White House Statement on Court's Decision (PDF)
May 14, 1999 U.S. EPA Statement on Court's Decision (PDF)
May 14, 1999 U.S. Appeals Court Decision

1997 Fact Sheets
EPA's 1997 Revised Ozone Standard
EPA's 1997 Revised Particulate Matter Standards
EPA's Monitoring Requirements for Particulate Matter
Proposed Regional Haze Regulations
Summary of EPA's Strategy for Implementing The 1997 Ozone and Particulate Matter Air Quality Standards
EPA's National Ambient Air Quality Standard Review Process
Implementation of EPA Air Quality Standards and the FACA Process

Health and Environmental Effects
Health and Environmental Effects of Ground-Level Ozone
Health and Environmental Effects of Particulate Matter

June 25, 1997 Announcement of Air Quality Standards
Ozone and Particulate Matter Standards
Achieving Clean Air in Common Sense, Flexible and Affordable Ways
Implementation of the Standards

Technical Fact Sheets
Explanation of Data Handling Requirements and Forms of the National Ambient Air Quality Standards for Particulate Matter

1997 Rule Packages

July 1997 Final Particulate Matter NAAQS (PDF)
July 1997 Final Ozone NAAQS (PDF)
Particulate Matter Monitoring Requirements (PDF)
Supplemental Information and Request for Comments; PM_2.5 Federal Reference Method (PDF)
Implementation of 1997 Ozone and PM NAAQS - President Clinton's memorandum to the EPA Administrator (PDF)
Proposed Regional Haze Regulations (PDF)
Complete Visibility Regulatory Language as Amended by 7/18/97 Proposal (PDF)
Regulatory Impact Analysis (RIA)