EPA Downgrades Several States' SO2 NAAQS Attainment Designations

February 17, 2016
EPA is proposing to downgrade several states' designations for attaining the agency's 2010 sulfur dioxide (SO2) national ambient air quality standard (NAAQS), in many cases rejecting state suggestions to designate their areas as meeting the standard and instead giving the areas a “nonattainment” or “unclassifiable” status. States are eager to avoid nonattainment designations, which require them to develop state implementation plans showing the strict SO2 air pollution measures they will impose to comply with the NAAQS. Areas in nonattainment face...


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