### &t/l. 

### "B" FRX NO. : 52B-622-1622 Rpr


## . 25 2883 81: 58PM P5

MEMORANDUM



### SUBJECT: Attainment Determination Policy for Sulfur Dioxide NonattainrnentAreas



### FROM: Sally L. Shaver, Director Air Quality Strategies and Standards Division 

### (MD-15)

TO: Director, Air, Pesticides and Toxics Management Division, Regions 

### I and IV Director, Air and Waste Management Division,

Region 

### II Director, Air, Radiation and Toxics Division,

Region Ill Director, Air 

### and Radiation Division,

Region V Director, Air, Pesticides and Toxics Division.

RegionVI Director, Air and Toxics Division,

Regions VII, VIII, IX, and X 

### Purpose

In accordance

### with section lO?(d)(l)(C)

### of the 

### Clean 

### Air Act, severalareas

### that did not 

### meet the 

### primary or 

### secondary national ambient 

### air quality standards (NAAQS) 

### for sulfur dioxide 

### (502) were designated as nonattainrnent areas under operation of 

### law. These 

### areas were listed 

### in 

### an April 

### 22, 1991 Federal Reaister notice 

### (56 FR 16274). 

### In subsequent years. additional 

### SO2 nonattainment areas were designated in 

### Federal Reuister notices dated December

### 21, j993 

### (58 

### FR 67334) 

### and March 

### 10. 1894 (58 FR 

### 111 93).

November '15, 1995 

### marks the attainment deadline 

### for the initial

### group 

### of nonattainment

### areas. No later than six months after the attainment date, 

### EPA must determine whether or not 

### these nonattainrnent

### areas have achieved 

### the 

### $02 NhQS. This memorandum summarizes key issues

### for considerationwhen 

### attainmentFQX NO. : 528-622-1622

determinations

### for SO2 nonattainment areas are to be made.

Determininn Attainment Deadlines

The deadlines for achieving the SO2 

### NAAQS depend 

### upon whether an area fails to meet the primary standard, the 

### secondary standard, or 

### both. Section 

### 192 

### of the Act requires attainment of the 

### primary NMQSin nonattainment areas 

### within five years of the date an area 

### is designated 

### (for areas designated nonattainment 

### by operation of law, the attainment deadlinewould be November 

### 15, 1995). Section 

### 172(a)(2) requiresthe secondary NAAQSto 

### be attained as expeditiously as practicable. 

### If 

### an area is nonattainmentfor both the primary

### and secondary NAAQS, the State still must achieve the primary standard within five years of redesignation

## - even 

### if 

### EPA has granted a State morethan five years to attain 

### the secondary standard. Once established, the deadlines for attaining the 502 

### NAAQS arefixed. 

### No 

### extensions can be granted beyond the initial

### established deadline for attaining the SO2 NAAQS.

Under sedion 179(c)(1) of 

### the Act, 

### EPA has 

### up to 

### six months beyond the attainment date to determine if the area in question has attained the standard. 

### IfEPA determines the area has atlained the NMQS, 

### EPAwill publish

### a Federal Renister notice to this effect, and provide opportunity for public comment 

### before 

### afinal determination is made- if EPA determines the NAAQSwas 

### not attained 

### by the attainment date, 

### the €PA will notifythe State in writing, and 

### publish a Federal

### Reqister notice documenting the failure to attain. These determinationswill 

### be made at the Regional office- level.

Guidance for DetennininqAttainment Status



### The EPA

### will determine whether or 

### not a nonattainment 

### area 

### has attainedthe 

### NAAQS based on air

### au-n avai~ersion moddingiforthat 

### area, grid 

### a demonstration 

### thatfie cmbd&cdenv in the SIP 

### has beenfully implemented. A 

### special or additional 

### SIP submittal

### from 

### the State 

### is not required 

### if

### the State has previously

### submitted a modeled attainment demonstration. If air quality data is 

### used in the attainment determination, itwill 

### be data gatheredfrom air quality monitoring sites that 

### has been entered intothe Aerometric Informatian Retrieval 

### System 

### (AIRS) data base.



### The 

### EPA 

### will begin processing 

### and arralyring data relatedto the attainment

### of the SO2 NMQSimmediately after the applicable attainment datefor the affected



### . 

### areas. Current 

### EPA policy (pursuantto 40 CFR part 

### 58) requires air 

### quality data to be submitted to the AIRS data 

### base no later than 90 

### days after 

### the end 

### ofthe 

### first calendar quarter following 

### the attainment date for the area. Because 

### EPA must makethe attainment determination no later than six months from 

### the attainment date, States 

### should submit 

### the required air quality data as expeditiously as practicable, but 

### no later 

### than 90 days after the end ofthe 

### first calendar quarter following the attainment date forRDM : w-IENKE TQX FAX NO. : 520-622-1622 Apr. 25 20m 01: 51PN P7 

## '7TGF&m --age 4 1



### Summary '


### As stated 

### in the beginning, this memorandum provides an ovewiew of EPA's 

### policyfor making attainment determinations for SO2 

### nonattainment 

### areas. While section 

### 107 

### (d)(3)(E) of 

### the 

### Clean Air Act 

### lists 

### other 

### criteria that 

### a State must meet before a 

### nonattainmentarea 

### can be redesignatedto attainment, the demonstration of 

### attainment 

### isthe 

### most fundamental criteria 

### each State 

### is expected to meet.

The 

### Clean Air Act, 

### along with the pertinent parts 

### of 

### the 

### Code of Federal Regulationsare 

### the basis

### for this policy. Additional guidance

### may also be

### found in

### the SO2 

### Guideline Document 

### (EPA452lR-94-008. February 

### 1994). If 

### your or 

### your staff have any additional questions 

### or SO2 program issues needing 

### further discussion, contact 

### Eric Crump 

### at (919) 5414719, 

### or 

### Laura McKelvey at (919) 

### 541-5497.

cc: Joe 

### Paisie, 

### MD-15 Laura McKelvey, 

### MD-15 

## Eric Crump, 

### MD-15 Mike

### Thrift, OGC 

### (2344) 

### Brian Hennessey, Region I 

### (APO) Kirk Wieber, Region 11 

### (2AWM-APB) 

### Dave Campbell, 

### Region Ill (3AM10) 

### Steve Scofield, Region 

### IV Mary 

### Onishack, Region V (AR-18J) 

### Tom 

### Diggs, RegionVI(GT-AP) 

### Wayne Kaiser, RegionVII Laurie Qstrand, RegionVlll Wally 

### Woo, Region 

### IX (A-2-3) Kelly Huynh, Region

### XFFlX NO. : 520-622-1622



### I urge 

### Regions to

### coordinate 

### closelywith OAQPS' Air 

### Quality 

### Standards and Strategies 

### Division 

### in 

### determining whether 

### SO2 

### redesignation requests 

### may 

### be subjectto thispoIicy 

### and to 

### ensure 

### rhat srares' submissionsadequately 

### address

### this and the

### previouspolicies' criteria 

### for 

### redesignating SO2 

### nonactainmentarws to 

### anainment.

cc: 

### Lydia Wegman, AQSSD 

### David 

### Mobley, 

### EMAD Joe 

### Paisie, IPSG 

### Rich Ossias, OGCFRDN : ~IENKETQX FFlX NO. : 528-622-1622 Flpr

## . 25 2883 81 :52PM P9

the area. 

### States should identiQ 

### any issues concerning the validity of the data or discrepancies related to the 

### data during this 

### time period. The 

### EPA will address 

### these issues on a case-by-case 

### basis, in accordance with 40 

### CFR part 50.


### In any attainment determination, 

### modelingwill generally be necessaryto 

### ('I) develop a comprehensive evaluation of source 

### impacts 

### in a given area, and (2) to determine areas of 

### expected high 

### SO2 concentrations based 

### on current conditions. 

### As 

### a general rule, areas designated nonattainment based on modeling

### will not be redesignatedto attainment unless dispersion modeling indicatesattainment has been achieved. Regionaloffices should consult with the Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards for guidance on 

### the needfor modeling in particular circumstances.

Section 179(c)(2) of the Act states that 

### EPA 

### may at any time revise or supplement

### the attainment determination if more complete informationor analysis concerning the 

### area's air quality as of 

### the attainment date is obtained. The EPA interprets this to include

### cases where there are discrepancies concerning the validity of 

### the data, or discrepancies revealed subsequent to an attainment determination,

Even if EPA determines

### that 

### an area 

### may be meeting the 

### SO2 NAAQSfor-a given period of time, 

### this does not relievethe State of its responsibility

### to fulfillthe administrative requirements listed in section 107(d)(3)(A) of the act. Even 

### if 

### EPA determines that 

### an area has attained the 

### NAAQS,the area will remain nonattainment until (I) 

### the State has requested redesignation, and (2) 

### EPA approves the State's request. Consequencesfor Failure 

### to Attain

If 

### an 

### area 

### fails to attain

### the NAAQS 

### by the attainment date, 

### EPA will informthe 

### State by letter, and publish

### a notice in

### the Federal ReaisMr. The 

### €PAwould 

### then expect the State 

### to implement contingency measures in 

### the SIP in accordance with section 172(c)(9) of the Act. The EPA generally expects that aU actions neededto implementthese measureswill occur within the time 

### frame stated 

### in the approved SIP.
Furthermore, Section 179(d) requires the State to submit 

### a SJP revision within one year after 

### the notice of failure to attain the NAAQS is published inthe Federal ~eoister. The revised SIP must meet all the requirementsof sections 

### 7 10 and 

### 172,and also 

### include "additional measures as the Administrator

### may reasonably prescribe. including all measures that mn

### befeasibly implemented

### in the area 

### in light of technological achievability, costs, and any non-air quality 

### and other air quality related health and environmental impacts." One additional measure that could be required 

### is to incorporatethe contingency plan elements developed

### forthe current 

### SIP into the control strategy 

### sfthe revised 

### SIP. A 

### new contingency plan would then haveto be submitted with the SIP revision. The attainment 

### date applicable to the revised

### SIP would 

### be five years from the 

### date of the notice of 

### the failure to attain.