The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has identified areas in six states as not meeting the new, more stringent National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) for fine particulate matter (PM2.5), set back in 2012. But the rest of the country is not in the clear because EPA is expected to tighten the ozone NAAQS to a level that would put an area in almost every state in violation – and impose unprecedented clean-up costs. Already states are struggling to secure the emission reductions they need to develop “approvable” state implementation plans. EPA is expected to soon publish a finding that at least two states with nitrogen dioxide nonattainment areas failed to submit adequate air plans, potentially leading to Clean Air Act sanctions.
Federal standards for air quality have proved deeply contentious because they compel many states, cities and industries to adopt new measures to cut air pollution at a cost of billions of dollars. Construction companies will feel the effects of tighter limits on PM2.5, ozone and nitrogen dioxide, mainly via restrictions on equipment emissions in areas with poor air quality (direct impact), as well as additional controls on industrial facilities and planning requirements for transportation-related sources (indirect impact). Owners and operators constructing new major sources or major modifications must secure a pre-construction permit – under EPA's nonattainment new source review program– prior to beginning actual construction, which may require emission offsets and stringent technologies to ensure the project will not cause or contribute to a violation of an NAAQS. In addition, local transportation and air quality officials in nonattainment areas must coordinate planning to show that transportation-related emissions from road construction will not interfere with an area’s ability to reach its clean air goals—a process called “transportation conformity.”
Fine Particle Standard
In December 2012, EPA tightened the annual PM2.5 standard from 15.0 micrograms per cubic meter (ug/m³) to 12.0 ug/m³. EPA recently posted its recommended list of 39 counties that do not meet the annual PM2.5 standard, based on air monitoring data from 2011-2013. Those counties are in parts of: CA, ID, IN, KY, OH, and PA. EPA is deferring designations for some other areas (primarily in Georgia, but also affecting single counties in South Carolina and Alabama) because it needs another year of monitoring data. EPA plans to publish official designations this December, and the areas designated “nonattainment will need to take action to improve their air quality.
These designations do not include data from the new near-road monitors required by the 2012 rule. Against AGC’s recommendations, EPA is requiring near-roadway PM2.5 monitors (with compliance dates between January 2015 and January 2017) in each urban area with a population of 1 million or more. These monitors will likely be located at existing near-road monitoring sites set up to measure nitrogen dioxide (see below).
Last May, the D.C. Circuit upheld EPA’s 2012 decision to tighten the NAAQS for PM2.5. National Ass’n of Manufacturers v. EPA, No. 13-1069, (D.C. Cir., 05/09/2014).
Nationally, average PM concentrations have decreased over the years, according to EPA data.
Ozone Standard
Many believe EPA will set the new ozone NAAQS within the 60 parts per billion (ppb) to 70 ppb range, based on the recommendations from Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee (CASAC) and recent staff policy reviews. The recommendation was included in a 597-page final policy assessment, released Aug. 29, which cites scientific data and exposure information that “provide strong support” for revising the current ozone standard of 75 ppb. 
Industry is concerned that the nationwide cost of meeting a tighter ozone NAAQS (within the 60 to 70 ppb range) would be insurmountable. The National Association of Manufacturers, a vocal opponent of lowering the ozone NAAQS, released a new study finding that a tighter ozone standard could cost $270 billion per year and place millions of jobs at risk – click here and see map on right.
The agency is under a court-ordered deadline to revise the existing ozone standard. In April 2014, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California ruled, in Sierra Club et al. v. EPA (No. 13-cv-02809, 4/30/14), that the agency must propose revisions to its ozone NAAQS by December 2014 and issue a final rule by October 1, 2015. EPA last reviewed the ozone standard in 2008, decreasing the standard to 75 ppb. EPA had developed a proposal that would have tightened the standard nationwide, but President Obama directed EPA to withdraw the proposal shortly before the last presidential election. AGC opposed an untimely tightening of the ozone NAAQS and urged EPA to use the latest science.
Nationally, ozone levels have shown a notable decline since 2002. The EPA Administrator herself recently pointed to a “long-term trend” of ozone reductions, “as additional emissions reductions are achieved through existing [federal] regulations” already in place. This statement was made in an Aug. 14 letter and enclosure wherein Administrator McCarthy denied an environmental group’s petition that asked EPA to redesignate 57 areas that allegedly do not meet the ozone standard of 75 ppb, based on the most recent air monitoring data (designations were based on 2008-10 monitoring data, the most recent data available at the time).
EPA found it “appropriate” to allow more time for the affected areas to address air quality issues. EPA states that nationwide emissions of the ozone precursors are expected to decline significantly:
- NOx is expected to decline by 29 percent from 2011 through 2018; and
- VOCs are expected to decline by 10 percent from 2011 through 2018.
Nitrogen Dioxide Standard
EPA recently agreed to issue a finding that Alaska and Washington failed to submit plans to address ambient nitrogen dioxide as part of a proposed consent decree (WildEarth Guardians v. McCarthy, D. Colo., No. 13-cv-02748, consent decree proposed 8/25/14). EPA revised its nitrogen dioxide NAAQS in 2010, requiring roadside monitoring by 2013, against AGC’s advice.
It appears that nitrogen oxide levels are also on the decline. Recently released NASA satellite images show that nitrogen dioxide pollution has decreased across the country even though population and the number of cars on the roads have increased. The shift is the result of regulations, technology improvements and economic changes, scientists say. EPA data also show that nationally, average NO2 concentrations have decreased substantially over the years.
After EPA promulgates a NAAQS, states must review data from their ambient monitoring networks and identify areas that are not attaining the new air standard (called “nonattainment areas”). States must then develop state implementation plans or SIPs that identify what sources of emissions will be reduced, and when, to achieve attainment on the regulatory schedule. The Clean Air Act requires EPA to impose sanctions in areas which fail to submit or implement a SIP (unless the state corrects such failures), including, a 2-to-1 emissions offset for the construction of new polluting sources (18 months after notification to the state), and a ban on most federal highway grants (6 months thereafter).
Please contact Leah Pilconis, senior environmental advisor to AGC, at pilconisl@agc.org if you have questions.