SUBJECT: 

FROM: 

TO: 

PURPOSE 

UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY 

Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards 

Research Triangle Park, North Carolina 27711 

FEB 3 1994 

Procedures for Processing Bump Ups and Extension 

Requests for Marginal Ozone Nonatta i:nme~t Are~ · 

Air 

D. Kent 

Quality 

Berry, 

Mana?ement 

Acting Director 

Division (MD-15) 

;c:~ . . ~~ {) 

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 III . 

Director; Air and Radiation Division, 

Region V · 

Director, Air, Pesticides and Toxics Division, 

Region VI · 

Director, Air and Toxics Division, 

Regions VII, VIII, IX, and X 

This memorandum provides guidance to the Environmental 

Protection Agency (EPA) Regional Offices and States on two 

important sections of the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments (Act) 

that currently .impact marginal ozone nonat;tainment areas. The 

provisions cover bump ups for fa~lure to attain the national 

ambient air quality standards (NAAQS) and attainment date 

extension requests. Additionally, this memorandum clarifies the 

impact that bump ups have on ozone no~attainment rural transport 

areas, and discusses State submittals of air quality data on an 

accelerated schedule. Finally, this memorandum outlines the 

· steps States need to take when requestin~ voluntary bump up or 

attainment date extensions and the process for. EPA action on such 

requests. 

BACKGROUND 

Section 181(b} (2} of the Act states that within 6 months 

following the applicable attainment date for ozone nonattai nment 

areas, the Administrator shall determine whether the area 

attained the standard · by that date. Fo.r areas that have not 

attained the standard, the A~t states that they shall be 

reclassified by operation of law (bumped up} to the higher ·of: 

1. the n ext higher classification; or 
2 

2 . the classification associated· with the area's design 

value. 

The Act requires the Administrator to publish a notice in 

the Federal Register identifying the areas that. have not attained 

the standard no later than 6 months following the attainment 

date. Section 181{a) (5) of the Act gives the Administrator the 

discretion to grant up to two 1-year extensions· of the attainment 

dates specified in section 181{a) upon application by any State 

if: 

1. the state has c9mplied with all requirements and 

commitments pertaining to the area in the applicable State 

implementation plan {SIP); and 

2. no more than one measured exceedance of the NAAQS for 

ozone has occurred in the area in the year preceding the 

extension year (e.g., in marginal areas no more than one measured 

exceedance of the NAAQS could occur in 1993). This requirement 

does not preclude areas that have more than one measured 

exceedance of the standard · in a year preceding 1993 from 

requesting and receiving an extension. 

POLICY SUMMARY 

This policy statement is directed to bump ups, extension 

requests, rural transport areas (RTA's), air quality data, and 

submittal and processing. 

Bump Ups 

When making the determination as to whether an area has 

attained the NAAQS, EPA will use the most recently available, 

quality-assured air quality data covering the 3-year period up to 

and including the attainment date. For ozone, the average number 

of exceedances per year shall be used to determine whether the 

area has attained. For marginal ozone .nonattainment areas, this 

means that the air quality data for the period 1991 to 1993 will 

be used t o determine whether _the area attained by November 15, 

1993 . 

Extension Requests 

When requesting an extension, States should consider the 

consequences of eventually not attaining the NAAQS. Although 

areas can request two 1-year extensions, those that ultimately 

fail to attain the NAAQS will be bumped up to at least a moderate 

classification by operation of law upon a determination of 

nonattainment. Areas that are bumped up will be subject to the 

SIP requirements applicable to the new classification (see 

subpart 2 of the Act). Section 182{i) of the Act states that the 

attainment dates for reclassified areas cannot be adjusted. For 
3 

moderate areas, the attainment date specified in table 1 of 

section 181 is November 15, 1996. Consequently, areas that are 

bumped up will be under very tight tirneframes to implement the 

new SIP requirements, in addition to achieving the reductions to · 

meet the new attainment date. If a newly classified moderate 

area does not attain the NAAQS by November 15, 1996, it could 

then be bumped up to a serious or severe classification, which 

would impose even more stringent requirements fdr the area to 

meet. 

The EPA, therefore, encourages any State that b~lieves it 

has an area that will be unable to attain by ·its applicable 

deadline to voluntarily request bump up early to maximize the 

available time for implementing the requirements of the next 

higher nonattainment level. Early bump up will help areas avoid 

sanctions andjor Federal implementation plans that could result 

from failure to meet SIP submittal requirements. 

Thus, marginal areas that request extensions under section 

181(a) (5) should document that they have initiated rule 

development activities in order to meet the Act's requirements 

associated with the new classification. The following are 

examples of .such activi.ties, but States should not necessarily 

limit themselves to these: 

1. Documentation that the State has planned or begun the 

necessary monitoring activities to develop information for the 

modeling analysis that will be required for the new 

classification. 

2. For certain control measures such as 

inspection/maintenance, documentation that the State has examined 

its legislative authority and regulatory procedures to determine 

whether or not it can quickly adopt and implement the emissions 

controls needed to meet the new attain.ment date. 

3 . A plan to meet the SIP submittals and attainment date 

required by the higher classification. 

The EPA is interpreting the requirement that the State is 

complying w~th the commitments and requirements in the applicable 

implementation plan, as referenced in section 181(a) (5) of the 

Act pertaining to extensions, to mean that the State is 

implementing the EPA-approved SIP [see section 302(q)]. Thus, in 

any request, the States must also certify that they are · 

implementing the EPA-approved SIP . 

Rural Transport Areas 

In the November 6, 1991 designations and classifications 

final rule (57 FR 56694), a number of areas were designated rural 

·transport . Under section 182(h) of the Act, RTA's are treated as 
4 

meeting sect-ion 182 requirements if they make the submissions 

required of marginal areas in section 182(a) of the Act. The 

provisions for bump ups . in section 181 (b) ( 2) a·nd extension 

requests in section 181(a) (5) are applicable to any RTA that 

fails to meet its attainment dat~. Thus, .RTA's that are bumped 

up will be subject to the attain~ent date for the· higher 

classification, but will be subject only to the SIP submittal 

requirements for marginal areas. However, if th_e characteristics 

of an area drastically change, the Administrator has the 

discretion to revise an area's treatment as an RTA, . and if that 

occurs, the area will be subject to the new SIP requirements 

associated with that classification. 

Air Quality Data 

S~ates that .have marginal ozone nonattainment areas have 

been asked to submit to the EPA Regions their ozone air quality 

data on an accelerated time schedule. (Please refer to the 

memorandum entitled, "Accelerated Reporting of 1993 ozone 

Monitoring Data. in Marginal. · Nonattainment Areas" dated 

December 21, 1993 from D. Kent Berry and Robert Kellam which 

describes the requirements for submission of air quality data on 

an accelerated schedule.) Early reporting of· data will enable 

EPA to make attainment and bump up decisions in a · timeframe 

consistent with the Act. It will also alert the State and EPA to 

the need to begin developing and adopting the additional measures 

for the appropriate higher classification. 

SUBMITTAL AND PROCESSING 

State requests fo~ a 1-year attainment date extension or 

voluntary bump up, as appropriate, should be made coinciding with 

the submittal of the air quality data. Requests for extensions 

of the attainment date should be ·submitted as soon as possible in 

order to ·avoid confusion and allow EPA to expeditiously process 

the extension requests at the same time the bump up: decisions are 

made. 

When requesting an extension, the following materials must 

be included in the submittal: 

1. letter from the Governor or the Governor's designee 

requesting a 1-year extension of the attainment date; 

2. certification that only one or fewer measured 

exceedances of the ozone standard occurred at any valid site in 

the nonattainment area in 1993, supported by the final, cbmplete 

quality-assured 1993 ozone monitoring data; 

3. certification that the State is implementing the EPAapproved SIP; and 
5 

4. documentation that the State has initiated rule 

development activities associated with the moderate 

c lassification. 

Upon submittal of these extension requests, the EPA Regional 

Office will be responsible for review and evaluation to determine 

if all o f the elements described above are included. The 

Regional Office will also be responsible for making the initial 

determination on the e~tension request. ~ · 

Bump ups and extension determinations must go through notice 

and comment rulemaking. Consequently, bump up deci?ions and 

attainment date extensions will be published in the Federal 

Register. Our intent is· to publish the bump up determinations 

and attainment date extension requests in a national notice to be 

signed by the Administrator and to process it as a direct final 

rulemaking. 

If you have any questions on bump ups or attainment date 

extension requests, please contact ·either Sharon Reinders 

(919/541-5284) ·or Denise Gerth (919/541-5550) of my staff. 

cc: Alan Eckert 

Bill Becker