WASHINGTON STATE DEPARTMENT OF ECOLOGY
Designating Ozone Areas in Washington State
Federal law requires EPA to designate areas of states as attainment, nonattainment, or unclassifiable for the eight-hour ozone standard this year. A designation of "attainment" means an area has met the eight-hour ozone standard during the three-year period 1997-1999. "Nonattainment" means an area has violated the standard during that time period, and the state must develop a plan to bring the area into attainment with the standard. "Unclassifiable" means an area cannot be designated as either attainment or nonattainment because no monitoring data is available.
The designation process starts with a recommendation from the state on the appropriate designations. Washington is considering recommending that all areas of the state, except tribal lands, be designated "attainment/unclassifiable." Tribal lands are not affected because tribes have authority over air quality within the boundaries of their reservations. The state is considering this recommendation because all areas of Washington either have not violated the eight-hour standard, or are not monitored. The state would not be required to take any further actions if all areas are designated attainment/unclassifiable.
EPA will evaluate the state recommendation and the monitoring records to determine the appropriate designation. EPA plans to publish the designations in the Federal Register later this year, but to defer the effective date of the designations until sometime in 2001.
The Department of Ecology will hold a public hearing to receive comments on its recommendation to designate all areas of Washington as attainment/unclassifiable for the eight-hour ozone standard. The hearing is scheduled as follows: Department of Ecology, Headquarters Building, Room 1S-17, 300 Desmond Drive, Lacey, WA, on Wednesday, June 14, 2000, at 2:00 p.m.
Written comments must be postmarked no later than June 14, 2000, and should be sent to Doug Schneider, Department of Ecology, Air Quality Program, P.O. Box 47600, Olympia, WA 98504-7600. If you have special accommodation needs, please call Tami Dahlgren at (360) 407-6830 (voice) or (360) 407-6006 (TDD only) at least one week prior to the hearing.
For more information about the designation of ozone areas in Washington, please contact Doug Schneider, Department of Ecology, Air Quality Program, (360) 407-6874.