Air Quality Program Upd

October 5, 2010
Current Schedule for Ongoing 

NAAQS Reviews (Sept 2010)

MILESTONE

POLLUTANT

NO2 Primary SO2 Primary Ozone Reconsideration CO PM NO2/

Seco

Proposal Jun 26, 2009 Nov 16, 2009 Jan 6, 2010 Jan 28, 2011 Feb 2011 July 12Final Rule Jan 22, 2010 Jun 2, 2010 Oct 29, 2010 Aug 12, 2011 Oct 2011 Mar 20

NOTE:Underlined dates indicate court-ordered or settlement agreement deadlines

Next Ozone Review: Proposal in Jun 2013 and Final in Mar 2014
PM10 NAAQS Review

• Consideration could be given to retaining or revising the c

PM10 standard.

– CASAC concluded the current standard should be revised to 

public health protection.

– Staff and CASAC concluded that it is appropriate to retain a 

averaging time.

• To the extent it is judged appropriate to revise the current 

– Staff and CASAC concluded it would be appropriate to cons

the form to the 98th percentile of the annual distribution of 2concentration.

– A 98th percentile form would be expected to provide increas

relative to the current one-expected-exceedance form.

– Potential Range:

• Staff: 85 μg/m3 to 65 μg/m3• CASAC: 75 μg/m3 to 65 μg/m3 
Pre-decisional material -- do not quote or cite

Pollutant NAAQS Promulgation Designations Effective (approximate date) 110(a) SIPs Due (3 yrs after NAAQS 

promulgation)

Attainment 

Demonstration 

Due

PM2.5 (2006) Sept 2006 Dec 2009 Sept 2009 Dec 2012 Pb Oct 2008

Nov 2010/2011

(extra time for new 

monitors)

Oct 2011 May 2012/2013 

NO2(primary) Jan 2010 Feb 2012 Jan 2013 Aug 2013 SO2(primary) June 2010 July 2012 June 2013 Jan 2014 Ozone(all dates tentative)

Oct 2010 Oct 2011

(proposed)

Oct 2013 Feb 2014

(to be proposed)

CO Aug 2011 Sept 2013 Aug 2014 Mar 2015 PM2.5(2011) Oct 2011 Dec 2013 Oct 2014 Dec 2016 NO2/SO2Secondary Mar 2012 Apr 2014 Mar 2015 Oct 2015 

Anticipated NAAQS Implementation Mile
SO2 Designations Milestone

Action Date

Final NAAQS signed June 2, 201Governors’ recommendations due to EPA June 3, 201EPA sends out 120-day letter to all States/Tribes and notifies public via FR

Feb. 4, 201

Deadline for States/Tribes to respond to EPA’s modifications

April 4, 201

Final designations June 3, 201
Designations strategy outlined in 

SO

2 NAAQS rule:

• An area that has both monitoring data and appropriate m

results showing no violations would be designated as “A

• Those with monitored violations will be designated “Non

and must develop attainment plan in 18 months (approxshowing compliance in 5 years (approx. Aug 2017).

• All others will be designated “Unclassifiable” and must e

attainment/maintenance under sec. 110(a)(1) plan due JWould include modeling of significant SO

2 sources and 

emissions controls demonstrating attainment/maintenan2017.

Ozone NAAQS Implementa
Proposed Designation Sched

• EPA proposed designation schedules in t

January 2010 ozone NAAQS proposal

• Primary NAAQS: Proposed accelerated 

schedule

– Final designations in less than 1 year vs. 2 years– States submit recommendations in 129 days vs. 

• Seasonal secondary NAAQS: Took com

on 2 alternative schedules

– Same accelerated schedule as for primary standa– Traditional 2-year schedule allowed under CAA; S

submit recommendations in 1 year.
Designations Assistance

• Plan to offer early interaction/assistance to facilitate develo

states’ recommendations.

• Revised designations guidance with description of each fa

information that might be used to assess.

– 5-factors: air quality data, emissions-related data, meteorolo

geography/topography, jurisdictional boundaries.

– Guidance on qualifying for “rural transport area” classifica– Potential for partial counties in certain cases.

• Plan to share information addressing designation factors s

after NAAQS are final.

– Including ozone source apportionment modeling results whic

the combined impact of multiple factors (emissions, meteorolgeography). 

– 5-factor TSD template
Boundary Decision Criter

• EPA’s goal is national consistency in decisions to ensure l

defensible designations.

– CAA Sec 107(d): NAA boundary must contain any area that 

NAAQS or that contributes to NAAQS violation in a nearby a

• Suggest Census-defined CSA/CBSA is starting point for te

analysis; analysis could support smaller or larger area.

• Possible decision guides?:

– Counties in CSA/CBSA that contribute at least ___ ppb ozon

violating monitor in the CSA/CBSA are “presumed in”?

– NAA boundary to include sufficient area (e.g., counties or pa

counties) to account for at least ___% of total ozone contribuCSA/CBSA counties to violating monitor(s)?

– “Nearby” includes any area within CSA/CBSA? Beyond that c

to be long-range transport?
Classifications

• Option 1 is consistent with the approach used for the 19

standard.

– Results in largest number of “Marginal” areas (and moderate – Fewer mandatory controls; shorter attainment deadlines with 

probability of “bump-up.”

• Option 2 specifies the Extreme threshold as either the a

of the area with the highest DV at the time we designate

value approximately mid-way betweqen the two highesthe time we finalize the implementation rule.

– Results in more areas in higher classifications.– More mandatory controls, but with more time to attain w/o “b

• Also considering proposing that where states submitted 

reclassification requests under the 1997 NAAQS we wothose requests as applying to this standard unless the sotherwise.

– Would avoid going through separate reclassification process
420 counties violate 0.070 ppm

161 additional counties violate 0.065 ppm for a total of 58174 additional counties violate 0.060 ppm for a total of 655

Counties With Monitors Violating Proposed Primary 8-hour Ground-level Oz

0.060 - 0.070 parts per million

(Based on 2007 – 2009 Air Quality Data)

EPA will not designate areas as nonattainment on these data, but likely on 2008 – 2010 data which are expected to 

> 0.060 ppm > 0.065 ppm > 0.070 ppm

Notes:1. No monitored counties outside the continental U.S. violate. 2. EPA is proposing to determine compliance with a revised primary ozone standard by rounding the 3-year average to three 
83 counties violate 15 ppm-hours

424 additional counties violate 7 ppm-hours for a total of 507

Counties With Monitors Violating Proposed Secondary Seasonal Ground-Leve

7 – 15 parts per million - hours

(Based on 2007 – 2009 Air Quality Data)

EPA will not designate areas as nonattainment on these data, but likely on 2008 – 2010 data which are expected 

> 7 ppm-hours > 15 ppm-hours No monitored counties outside 
Regional Haze
Regional Haze SIP and FIP Dead

• SIPs were due December 17, 2007• EPA made a finding of failure to submit in January 2009 for 

states, DC, and the Virgin Islands

– 14 states had submitted by then, so no findings for those– 16 states on the findings list have submitted since then – so w

final SIPS now

– 16 (out of 25) from CAIR States (AL, DE, FL, GA, IA, KY, LA, M

NJ, NY, SC, TN, TX, WV)

– 14 (out of 28) from non-CAIR States (AR, CA, CT, KS, MN, ND

OK, OR, RI, UT, VT; NM- Bernalillo County) 

• FIPs or final approvals of SIPs for states on the findings list 

January 2011

– We have not taken approval/disapproval action on any states – In the CAIR states, we are considering limited approval/deferr

disapproval until Transport Rule is final

– EPA-Region 8 is preparing a FIP for Montana– Regions are working diligently with states to submit their SIPs 

deadline
Regional Haze SIP and FIP Deadlines 

• We have a consent decree with Wild

Guardians for 7 states to approve the or promulgate FIPs by May 2011

• Oklahoma, North Dakota, New Mexico, Colo

Oregon, Idaho, and California

• EPA-Region 9 is also working on BA

FIPs for Navajo Generating Station in and Four Corners Power Plant in New Mexico – we expect to propose very 
16 of 25 Finasubmitted fro

Status of Final Regional Haze SIPS (Current as of August 20, 2010)
Proposed Transport Rul

• By 2014, EPA modeling projects that implementation of the T

Rule, as proposed, combined with other state and EPA actionreduce 2005 emissions from electric generating units in the c

states by:

– 6.3 million tons of SO2 per year– 1.4 million tons of NOX per year

• 300,000 tons of NOX during ozone season (included 

estimate above)

• These reductions represent a 71% reduction in SO2 and a 52

reduction in NOX. emissions from power plants from 2005 levcovered states.

• In the states and DC covered by the proposed Transport Rule

SO2 emissions would be capped at 2.5 million tons per year and NO emissions would be capped at 1.4 million tons per ye

season NOX emissions will be capped at 600,000 tons per ye
Proposed Transport Rule:

States Required to Reduce Emission