Fact Sheet — Final Area Designations for the 1-Hour Primary National Ambient Air Quality Standard for Sulfur Dioxide Established in 2010 (Round 3) ACTIONS • On December 21, 2017, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) took an additional step to implement the health-based national air quality standard for sulfur dioxide (SO2) set in 2010. EPA has identified or "designated" areas: o "nonattainment" - not meeting the 1-hour health based national air quality standard for SO2 (six areas in three states and two territories), o "unclassifiable" - not enough information to make a determination (23 areas in ten states), or o "attainment/unclassifiable" - meeting the standard and not contributing to a violation of the standard (all remaining areas except where additional SO2 air quality monitoring is underway). The table at the end of this fact sheet provides further details for each area. • On June 3, 2010, the EPA strengthened the health-based or "primary" standard for SO2 by establishing a 1-hour standard at a level of 75 parts per billion. On July 25, 2013, the EPA designated 29 areas in 16 states as nonattainment, but did not at that time designate other areas (Round 1). A March 2, 2015, court-ordered schedule, required the agency to complete the remaining SO2 designations by three specific deadlines: July 2, 2016 (completed), December 31, 2017 (Round 3), and December 31, 2020 (Round 4). • To meet the December 2017 deadline, EPA has designated areas "nonattainment," "unclassifiable," or "attainment/unclassifiable" after evaluating: o air quality modeling and monitoring data used to characterize SO2 air quality; o emissions limits established to control sources of SO2; and o areas not subject to EPA's SO2 Data Requirements Rule. • These final designations will take effect 90 days after the notice is published in the Federal Register. • All remaining areas will be designated by December 31, 2020. For these areas, states chose to install and operate new monitors. The monitors will allow them to generate three full calendar years of data to inform the designation. REQUIREMENTS FOR DESIGNATED AREAS Nonattainment Areas • The Clean Air Act requires air agencies to take steps to control pollution in SO2 nonattainment areas. Those steps may include stricter controls on industrial facilities. ------- • State and local governments detail these steps in plans that demonstrate how they will meet the SO2 standard. Those plans are known as state implementation plans (SIPs). States have 18 months after the effective date of final designations to develop and submit their plans to EPA. • Once designated, nonattainment areas are subject to Nonattainment New Source Review requirements. New Source Review is a permitting program for industrial facilities to ensure that new and modified sources of pollution do not impede progress toward cleaner air. • Nonattainment areas are required to meet the standard as quickly as possible, but no later than five years after the effective date of final designation. Six months after that date, EPA must determine whether the area has attained the standard. If EPA determines that an area has failed to meet the standard, the state has 12 months to submit a SIP revision that demonstrates that the area will attain the standard within five years of EPA's determination. Attainment/Unclassifiable Areas • For attainment areas that have sources covered by the Data Requirements Rule, states must periodically provide EPA with updates on the air quality in those area. Where states choose to use SO2 monitors, the data are reported to EPA's Air Quality System (AQS) annually, with a May 1 certification deadline for the prior year's air quality readings. Where states have chosen to assess air quality using modeling, the rule requires annual emissions reports to be submitted to EPA by July 1 of each year, and must include the state's assessment of whether emissions have changed in a manner that would warrant a new modeling assessment. BACKGROUND • The Clean Air Act requires EPA to issue designations after the agency sets a new National Ambient Air Quality Standard or revises an existing standard. Areas not meeting the standard are designated "nonattainment." • In June 2010, EPA set a 1-hour, health-based national air quality standard for SO2 at 75 parts per billion. The revised standard will improve public health protection, especially for children, the elderly and people with asthma. These groups are susceptible to health problems, including narrowing of the airways which can cause difficulty breathing and increased asthma symptoms, associated with breathing SO2. ------- Round 1: • In July 2013, after reviewing input from the states, EPA designated 29 areas in 16 states as nonattainment for the 2010 S02 standard. Round 2: • On June, 30, 2016, and November 29, 2016, EPA designated 65 areas in 24 states as: o "attainment/unclassifiable" - meeting the 1-hour health based national air quality standard for sulfur dioxide (41 areas), o "nonattainment" - not meeting the standard (7 areas), or o "unclassifiable" - not enough information to make a determination (17 areas). FOR MORE INFORMATION • For more information on the designation process for the SO2 standard go to EPA's Web site at http://www.epa.eov/sulfur-dioxide-desienations. ------- Round 3 Area Designations - Completed December 2017 State Area Name Counties (p) = partial county EPA Final Designation Alabama* Escambia County Escambia Unclassifiable Mobile County Mobile Unclassifiable Morgan County Morgan Unclassifiable Pike County, Pike Unclassifiable Shelby County, AL Shelby (p) Unclassifiable Washington County Washington Unclassifiable Rest of State Attainment/Unclassifiable Alaska Entire State Attainment/Unclassifiable American Samoa Entire Territory Attainment/Unclassifiable Arizona Coconino County(p) Coconino (p) Navajo Nation Unclassifiable Lands of the Navajo Nation (p) Attainment/Unclassifiable Rest of State Attainment/Unclassifiable Arkansas Rest of State Attainment/Unclassifiable California Entire State Attainment/Unclassifiable Colorado Rest of State Attainment/Unclassifiable Southern Ute Indian Reservation Attainment/Unclassifiable Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas Islands Entire Territory Attainment/Unclassifiable Connecticut Entire State Attainment/Unclassifiable Delaware Entire State Attainment/Unclassifiable District of Columbia Entire District Attainment/Unclassifiable Florida Citrus County, FL Citrus (p) Unclassifiable Hillsborough- Polk County, FL Hillsborough (p) Polk (p) Nonattainment Mulberry, FL Area Hillsborough (p) Polk (p) Unclassifiable Rest of State Attainment/Unclassifiable Georgia* Rest of State Attainment/Unclassifiable Guam Piti-Cabras Piti-Cabras Nonattainment Rest of Territory Attainment/Unclassifiable Hawaii* Kalawao County Attainment/Unclassifiable Kauai County Attainment/Unclassifiable Maui County Attainment/Unclassifiable Idaho Entire State Attainment/Unclassifiable ------- State Area Name Counties (p) = partial county EPA Final Designation Illinois* Rest of State Attainment/Unclassifiable Indiana* Huntington, IN Huntington (p) Nonattainment Rest of State Attainment/Unclassifiable Iowa Linn County, IA Linn Unclassifiable Rest of State Attainment/Unclassifiable Kansas Rest of State Attainment/Unclassifiable Kentucky* Rest of State Attainment/Unclassifiable Louisiana* Evangeline Parish, LA Evangeline Parish (P) Nonattainment St. Mary Parish St. Mary Unclassifiable Rest of State Attainment/Unclassifiable Maine Entire State Attainment/Unclassifiable Maryland* Rest of State Attainment/Unclassifiable Massachusetts Entire State Attainment/Unclassifiable Michigan Rest of State Attainment/Unclassifiable Minnesota Goodhue County Goodhue Unclassifiable Rest of State Attainment/Unclassifiable Mississippi Rest of State Attainment/Unclassifiable Missouri* Rest of State Attainment/Unclassifiable Montana Rest of State Attainment/Unclassifiable Nebraska* Rest of State Attainment/Unclassifiable Nevada Entire State Attainment/Unclassifiable New Hampshire Rest of State Attainment/Unclassifiable New Jersey Entire State Attainment/Unclassifiable New Mexico Rest of State Attainment/Unclassifiable New York* Monroe County Monroe Unclassifiable Rest of State Attainment/Unclassifiable North Carolina* Rest of State Attainment/Unclassifiable North Dakota* Rest of State Attainment/Unclassifiable Ohio Rest of State Attainment/Unclassifiable Oklahoma* Rest of State Attainment/Unclassifiable Oregon Entire State Attainment/Unclassifiable Pennsylvania* Allegheny Allegheny (p) Unclassifiable Cambria County Cambria Unclassifiable Carbon- Schuylkill Area Carbon Schuylkill Unclassifiable Clearfield County Clearfield Unclassifiable Lawrence County Lawrence Unclassifiable ------- State Area Name Counties (p) = partial county EPA Final Designation Lehigh Northampton Area Lehigh Northampton Unclassifiable Rest of State Attainment/Unclassifiable Puerto Rico (municipalities) San Juan, PR Catano Toa Baja (p) San Juan (p) Guaynabo (p) Bayamon (p) Nonattainment Guayama- Salinas, PR Salinas (p) Nonattainment Rest of Territory Attainment/Unclassifiable Rhode Island Entire State Attainment/Unclassifiable South Carolina Entire State Attainment/Unclassifiable South Dakota Rest of State Attainment/Unclassifiable Tennessee Rest of State Attainment/Unclassifiable Texas* Rest of State Attainment/Unclassifiable Utah Entire State Attainment/Unclassifiable Vermont Entire State Attainment/Unclassifiable Virginia* Buchanan County Buchanan Unclassifiable Rest of State Attainment/Unclassifiable Virgin Islands Entire Territory Attainment/Unclassifiable Washington* Lewis County Lewis Unclassifiable Thurston County Thurston Unclassifiable Rest of State Attainment/Unclassifiable West Virginia* Wood County Wood Unclassifiable Rest of State Attainment/Unclassifiable Wisconsin* Rest of State Attainment/Unclassifiable Wyoming* Rest of State Attainment/Unclassifiable *Areas remain that will be designated by December 31, 2020. "Rest of State" in these cases means all areas of the state except for those that will be designated by December 31, 2020. For these areas, states chose to install and operate new monitors. ------- |