Designation of Areas for Air Quality Purposes; District of Columbia, Maryland, Virginia; Metropolitan Washington, DC Ozone Nonattainment Area

Samenvatting

EPA proposes to issue a finding that the Metropolitan Washington, DC serious ozone nonattainment area (hereinafter referred to as the Washington area) has failed to attain the one-hour ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) by November 15, 1999, the date set forth in the Clean Air Act (CAA or Act) for serious nonattainment areas. If EPA takes final action to issue this proposed finding of nonattainment, the area would be reclassified as a severe ozone nonattainment area. EPA is proposing to set the dates by which the District of Columbia, the State of Maryland and the Commonwealth of Virginia each must submit revisions to its State Implementation Plan (SIP) that adopt the severe area requirements. Finally, EPA is proposing to adjust the dates by which the area must achieve a nine (9) percent reduction in ozone precursor emissions to meet the 2002 rate- of-progress requirement and adjust contingency measure requirements as this relates to the 2002 rate-of-progress requirement.