8-Hour Ozone Implementation

EPA released two final rules April 30, 2004, intended to implement a new 8-hour ozone NAAQS standard across the country. Under EPA’s new rules, the vast majority of non-attainment areas (areas not meeting the standard) have been re-categorized as “marginal” or “moderate” non-attainment areas under the 8-hour standard and must achieve attainment within only three years and six years of the effective date of the rules, respectively.  EPA’s reclassification of certain areas as less serious non-attainment areas poses significant, and in a number of cases, insurmountable challenges (e.g., technical infeasibility) to achieving attainment within the statutorily required timeframes.

The 8-hour ozone rule has an infeasible attainment deadline for a number of major U.S. refining and petrochemical manufacturing areas of the nation, including northern New Jersey, Philadelphia, Chicago, and Houston. The two-year window does not provide adequate time for manufacturers to design, permit, procure and install the very stringent emission controls technologies required to attain the standard.  In addition, emission reductions from federal programs such as cleaner diesel/engines are not captured by 2010, putting more pressure on “local” reductions.

In its comments on NAAQS Implementation, NPRA supported:

• EPA’s option to give state and local planning agencies the flexibility necessary to develop air quality control strategies that are responsive to the severity of each area’s 8-hour ozone problem;

• Revoking the 1 hour NAAQS standard;

• Classifying areas to align with their ability to meet attainment deadlines.

Particulate Matter and Ozone (PM and Ozone)    

Both the particulate matter (PM) and ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) have undergone changes that will present regulatory hurdles for the refining and petrochemical industries.  EPA issued final PM standards September 21, 2006, strengthening the 24-hour fine particulate standard and retaining the current annual fine particulate standard.  The changes will mean more counties throughout the nation will be in non-attainment, resulting in additional mobile and stationary controls for those areas.   

EPA announced March 12, 2008 that it would set a more stringent air quality standard for ozone. The final ozone rule sets a primary standard, which is intended to protect human health, at 0.075 parts per million (ppm) and also strengthens a rounding convention that had allowed facilities with levels of up to 0.084 ppm to meet ozone standards under the current standard of 0.080 ppm.  The rule also sets an identical secondary standard for protecting public welfare and the environment despite EPA efforts to set a stricter version of the secondary standard. This change places 500 or more new counties in nonattainment.  Because several refinery expansion projects are located in some of these new nonattainment counties, additional permitting burdens are likely for these projects.  NPRA will continue to advocate for rules that do not place an undue burden on all industrial and commercial operations, while still protecting human health and the environment.

Related Web Links

• EPA National Ambient Air Quality Standards
  
• EPA Ozone Standards
  
• EPA Particulate Matter Standard