EPA Proposes to Designate Sheboygan County Nonattainment for 2008 Ozone Standard

The EPA is currently implementing the 2008 National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) for ozone, 0.075 parts per million. On December 20th, the EPA published its proposed determinations in the Federal Register. The EPA intends to designate 43 areas as being in nonattainment of the 2008 ozone standard, including Sheboygan County, Wisconsin.

Wisconsin requested that the EPA designate all Wisconsin counties as attainment. The EPA determined that Sheboygan County should be designated nonattainment based on 2008-2010 air quality data. The EPA also indicated that it would be reevaluating its designation of Kenosha County as attainment based on 2011 air quality data recently submitted by Illinois.

On December 12, the EPA filed a proposed consent decree with the environmental organization WildEarth Guardians concerning deadlines for implementing the 2008 ozone NAAQS. Under the consent decree, the EPA would agree to make final non-attainment determinations by May 31, 2012.

The EPA is accepting public comment on the proposed designations until January 19, 2012. The State of Wisconsin has until February 29, 2012 to submit additional information to the EPA in support of designating Sheboygan County as attainment.

Additional information on the EPA’s ozone standards and designations is available on the Great Lakes Legal Foundation’s Ozone Webpage.

This post was authored by GLLF staff attorney Emily Kelchen.