Notice of Proposed Rule Revisions to Emissions Budgets Set Forth in EPA's Finding of Significant Contribution and Rulemaking for Purposes of Reducing Regional Transport of Ozone for the States of Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island

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On October 27, 1998, EPA published a final action requiring 22 States and the District of Columbia to submit State implementation plan (SIP) revisions to prohibit specified amounts of emissions of oxides of nitrogen (NO X )--one of the precursors to ozone (smog) pollution--for the purpose of reducing NO X and ozone transport across State boundaries in the eastern half of the United States. This action is referred to as the NO X SIP Call. Subsequent to that rulemaking, three States, Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island, approached EPA with concerns about the distribution of the emission reduction requirements to the three States. While the States agreed that the amount of the overall emission reductions that EPA was requiring from the three State region was appropriate, the States had concerns about the specific emission reductions that EPA was requiring from each of the three individual States. In particular, the States were concerned that the emission reduction requirements were inconsistent with the emission reductions that those States were requiring in connection with an existing multi- state effort to reduce NO X and ozone transport across State boundaries in the northe