EPA's Response to State and Tribal Recommendations for Areas Not Meeting the
2012 Revised Primary Annual Fine Particle National Ambient Air Quality

Standard Established in 2012

FACT SHEET

ACTION

•	On August 19, 2014, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) sent letters to state
and tribal representatives in response to their initial recommendations for areas meeting and
not meeting the 2012 revised primary annual fine particle (PM2.5) National Ambient Air
Quality Standards (NAAQS).

•	These initial recommendations from the states and tribes are for the revised annual PM2.5
NAAQS that EPA promulgated on December 14, 2012 (78 FR 3086, January 15, 2013). The
standard was strengthened from 15.0 micrograms per cubic meter ([j,g/m3) to 12.0 [j,g/m3.

This standard is in effect and EPA is moving forward with implementation as required by the
Clean Air Act.

•	EPA intends to designate 14 areas (in six states) with monitors that violate the standards as
"nonattainment."

•	Through a combination of regularly scheduled technical systems audits of non-EPA
laboratories processing state fine particle pollution monitoring data and additional
assessments of data quality, EPA has identified data quality issues that affect the Agency's
proposed designations for a number of areas. To address these areas, EPA intends to
designate as "unclassifiable" 2 territories, 1 area in Indian country, 3 areas in Georgia, the
entire state of Tennessee (except for 3 counties in the Chattanooga area), the entire state of
Illinois, and 2 counties in Indiana and 4 counties and 1 city in Missouri (related to the
unclassifiable status of Illinois). The agency has invalidated PM2.5 data from a number of
monitoring sites that would have been used to assess compliance with the 2012 PM2.5
NAAQS. EPA is working to ensure corrective actions are taken at each of the affected
laboratories.

•	As part of a Clean Air Act process to ensure that all areas have complete data before
designations are made, EPA is deferring designations for 1 year for five areas (primarily in
Georgia, but also affecting single counties in South Carolina and Alabama) because EPA
believes that an additional year of monitoring data will result in 3 years of complete and valid
data needed for designations. A small portion of the monitoring data from these areas was
impacted by a winter storm that caused a power outage at the state-run lab responsible for
processing the data.

•	The Agency intends to designate all other areas of the country as "unclassifiable/attainment."

1


-------
•	States and tribes now have 120 days to work with and provide additional information to EPA
before the Administrator makes final decisions for area designations. EPA plans to make
final designations in December 2014 using air quality monitoring data from 2011, 2012, and
2013.

•	After EPA sets a new NAAQS or revises an existing standard, the Agency works with the
states and some tribes to formally identify or "designate" areas as nonattainment,
attainment/unclassifiable, or unclassifiable.

•	In a forthcoming Federal Register notice, EPA will announce a 30-day opportunity for the
public to comment on the Agency's response to the state and tribal recommendations and the
Agency's intended designations for each state and areas of Indian country.

•	Once designations take effect, they govern what subsequent regulatory actions states, tribes,
and EPA must take to improve or preserve air quality in each area. EPA will work with the
states and tribes to share the responsibility of reducing PM2.5 air pollution.

•	Current and upcoming federal standards and safeguards, including pollution reduction rules
for power plants, vehicles and fuels, will assure steady progress to reduce pollution of fine
particulate matter and will protect public health in communities across the country.

•	History shows us that better health and cleaner air go hand-in-hand with economic growth.
Working closely with the states and tribes, EPA is implementing the 2012 primary annual
PM2.5 standard using a common sense approach that improves air quality and minimizes
burden on state and local governments. As part of this routine process, EPA is working
closely with the states to identify areas in the country that meet the standard and those that
need to take steps to reduce air pollution.

ABOUT DESIGNATIONS

•	The designation process begins with state governors evaluating air quality monitoring data
across their state along with other factors such as sources of pollutants that either directly
emit PM2.5 or emit precursor pollutants that form PM2.5, and weather patterns then making
recommendations to EPA for how all areas in the state should be designated. Tribal leaders
may also make area recommendations but they are not required to do so.

•	After EPA makes final designations, areas designated nonattainment (not meeting the
standard or contributing to a violation in a nearby area) will be required to take action to
improve their air quality.

¦ As required by the Clean Air Act, those actions may include stricter controls on
industrial facilities and additional planning requirements for transportation-related
sources.

2


-------
¦	Nonattainment areas must implement "transportation conformity," which requires
local transportation and air quality officials to coordinate planning to ensure that
transportation-related emissions from projects such as road construction, do not
interfere with an area's ability to reach its clean air goals. Transportation conformity
requirements become effective one year after an area is designated as nonattainment.

¦	Nonattainment areas also are subject to 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.

•	Areas designated "attainment/unclassifiable" (areas that are monitoring attainment and/or for
areas that do not have monitors but for which the EPA has reason to believe are likely
attainment and are not contributing to nearby violations) will not have to take steps to
improve air quality but they must continue to take steps to help prevent their air quality from
deteriorating to unhealthy levels.

•	Areas designated "unclassifiable" (areas where the EPA cannot determine based on available
information whether the area is meeting or not meeting the NAAQS or where the EPA has
not determined that the area contributes to a nearby violation) will not have to take steps to
improve air quality at this time, but they must continue to take steps to help prevent their air
quality from deteriorating to unhealthy levels.

•	Areas for which the Agency has deferred action will be designated at a later date.

•	State, local and tribal governments must detail control requirements in plans demonstrating
how they will meet the 2012 primary annual PM2.5 standard. Those plans are known as state
implementation plans, or SIPs. States must submit their plans to EPA within 18 months from
the effective date of designations - likely by Fall 2016.

•	In April 2013, EPA issued guidance on Area Designations for the 2012 Revised Annual Fine
Particle National Ambient Air Quality Standard, which provided information on the schedule
and process for designating areas for the purpose of implementing the 2012 primary annual
PM2.5 standard.

¦	The guidance also identified factors that the EPA will evaluate in making final
nonattainment areas boundary decisions and that states and tribes should consider as
they make their recommendations for area designations.

¦	These factors are:

Air quality data,

Emissions and emissions related data,

a.	Location of sources and population

b.	Emissions levels and emissions controls

c.	Traffic and commuting patterns

3


-------
d. Growth rates and patterns
Meteorology (weather/transport patterns)

Geography/topography (mountain ranges or other air basin boundaries)
Jurisdictional boundaries (e.g., counties, air districts, reservations, metropolitan
planning organizations)





When considering the above factor analysis, the EPA looked at directly emitted PM2.5 and its
precursors (e.g., nitrogen oxides (NOx), sulfur dioxide (SO2), volatile organic compounds
(VOC), and ammonia (NH3)).

EPA intends to use these factors and additional analytical tools to make its final decisions on
designations and nonattainment area boundaries in December 2014.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

•	For more information on the designation process for the 2012 primary annual PM2.5 standard,
and to view individual letters from EPA to states and tribes, go to EPA's Web site at
http://www.epa.gov/pmdesignations/.

•	Please direct questions to the following staff in the EPA's Office of Air Quality Planning and
Standards: Beth Palma (palma.elizabeth@epa.gov. 919-541-5432) or Martha Keating
(keating.martha@epa.gov. 919-541-9407).

4


-------