The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) sets air pollution standards pursuant to the Clean Air Act, which are revised periodically. Metropolitan areas that fail to meet these standards may be designated as “nonattainment areas.” Whenever air pollution standards are revised, the state is required to submit a State Implementation Plan (SIP) with local input. SIPs outline control strategies to reduce air pollution in nonattainment areas.
State Implementation Plans are a compilation of new and previously submitted plans, programs (such as monitoring, modeling, permitting, etc.), district rules, state regulations and federal controls. The scope of the different State Implementation Plan submittals required for each nonattainment area depends on the severity of the nonattainment area. This web page shows NOACA’s SIP planning process and the recent SIP submissions made by the State to the U.S. EPA.
2008 8-hour Ozone Standard:
The U.S. EPA has designated the counties of Ashtabula, Cuyahoga, Geauga, Lake, Lorain, Medina, Portage, and Summit as a marginal nonattainment area for the 2008 8-hour ozone standard. U.S. EPA expects that this area will be able to meet the ozone standards within three years (i.e., by August 2015), usually as a result of recent and pending federal pollution control measures. The designation requires that the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, with local input, fulfill the plan requirements for nonattainment areas (42 USC Part D). Attainment demonstration and SIP revisions are not required at this time.
1997 8-hour Ozone Standard:
U.S. EPA designated the counties of Ashtabula, Cuyahoga, Geauga, Lake, Lorain, Medina, Portage, and Summit as a moderate nonattainment area for the 2008 8-hour ozone standard. On September 15th, 2009 this area was re-designated to attainment for ozone.
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