The Midwestern states were only required to do RACT for NOx in the small non-attainment areas which created an inequity. The problem was that when the drafters looked at leveling the playing field they did not go far enough. They said we will look at the 1994 SIPS process and if the states do a regional NOx strategy and regional mobile source strategy, which was the low emission vehicle program, and agree to the OTAG process, which was to get the states in the Midwest involved in the voluntary process, we will approve your application for an attainment demonstration until June of 1997. Indeed, there is an awful lot happening. Mary Nichols, an EPA representative from Illinois, chairs the policy group and I sit on the Strategies and Controls Committee.
Individuals interact with the committee at every level.
While the issues are almost too big to track, hopefully this September regional strategies will be published. These will include NOx reductions from the major power plants, a good national mobile source program, a fuel program, and EPA control of on and off-road vehicles for NOx. Comparing emissions between New York and Ohio, it is clear that a plant in Ohio emits more than all the plants in New York in terms of NOx. The answer to New York's non-attainment for ozone is dead without controls in the Midwest. We could shut New York down, stop the cars, stop the industries, and stop the hair sprays, but it would still be in non-attainment.