EPA Designates 211 Counties in 25 States as PM2.5 Non-Attainment

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on 22 December 2008 designated 211 counties in 25 states as non-attainment for the 24-hour national ambient air quality standard (NAAQS) for fine particulate matter (PM2.5).   Typically EPA allows three years from the date a non-attainment designation is published in the federal register (April 2009 in this case) for states to submit state implementation plans (SIPs) detailing how they will achieve attainment.  EPA allows five years from non-attainment designation to achieve attainment.  

Twenty-nine of the EPA’s 211 designated non-attainment counties are in the state of California.  EPA has published a table showing which counties (or parts of counties) in the 25 states are in non-attainment for the PM2.5 designation as well as a fact sheet offering more information about its action.

In 2006, EPA revised its NAAQS for PM2.5 by significantly strengthening the 24-hour standard from 65 micrograms per cubic meter (µg/m3) to 35 µg/m3. Thousands of scientific studies have linked exposure to these tiny particles - approximately 1/30th the size of a human hair - with serious human health problems including premature death in people with heart and lung disease; nonfatal heart attacks; and increased hospital admissions and doctor and emergency room visits for respiratory and cardiovascular disease.

Texas Acception Grant Applications for Emissions Reduction Plans

The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) is accepting applications for two types of grants to reduce air pollution through its Texas Emission Reduction Program (TERP).   Since TERP’s founding in 2002, TCEQ estimates the program has reduced nitrogen oxides (NOx) by 150,000 tons. 

TERP Emission Reduction Incentive Grants fund replacement, repowering or retrofitting of heavy-duty vehicles, equipment, marine vessels, locomotives and other engines.  Approximately $60 million is available for these grants with applications due by 20 February 2009.

Rebate grant funding of $30 million is available for replacement or repowering of on-road and non-road diesel vehicles and equipment.  Applications for rebate funding will be accepted until 30 June 2009 – or until all funding has been distributed. 

Owners of vehicles and equipment that operate in eligible counties in the nonattainment or near-nonattainment areas for national ambient air quality standards qualify for funding.  For detailed application and other information, including summary reports on TERP projects funded to date, visit the TERP Web site or call toll-free at 1-800-919-TERP.

EPA Reports Cap and Trade has Lowered Eastern U.S. Smog Levels - DC Appeals Court Reinstates "Flawed" CAIR Rule

In a 17 December, 2008 NOx Budget Trading Program Progress Report the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) stated more than 100 million Americans are breathing cleaner air due to decreases in smog-forming emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx).  The report says 2007 summertime NOx emissions from power plants and industrial sources were down by 60 percent compared to 2000 levels and 74 percent below 1990 levels in 20 eastern states and the District of Columbia.

The program is a market-based cap and trade partnership between federal and state governments to reduce the regional transport of NOx during the ozone season. The program provides facilities flexibility to choose their control options including installing control technologies, optimizing existing controls, and switching fuels.

The cornerstone of the NOx Budget Trading Program – the Clean Air Interstate Rule (CAIR) – helped
Improve air quality in 95 percent of nonattainment areas in the east, with 64 percent of these areas now below the ozone standard.

In a related development on 22 December 2008 a Washington D.C. Federal Appeals Court reversed an earlier July ruling that found EPA had exceeded its authority in designing CAIR and must rewrite the rule to fix its flaws.  In the December reversal the Appeals Court essentially said having a flawed rule in place was better than having no rule at all - and temporarily reinstated CAIR – which means that smog-forming nitrogen oxides (NOx) must be reduced in 28 states beginning January 1, 2009. 

Environmentalists say the decision could form the basis for stronger controls to be drafted by the new Obama administration.  Industry groups were relieved to know what rules would cover their operations for the moment, but were pleased that the court’s original objections to the flawed rule were unchanged.