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Air Quality SIP

DRAFT Washington DC-MD-VA 1997 PM2.5 Maintenance Plan
and
Redesignation Request
January 4, 2013

The District of Columbia, the State of Maryland, and the Commonwealth of Virginia request that the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) redesignate the Washington DC-MD-VA 1997 fine particulate (PM2.5) nonattainment area to attainment for this standard pursuant to the provisions under § 107 of the federal Clean Air Act (CAA).

• Link to Full Plan and Appendices
• Link to Public Comment Form

Plan To Improve Air Quality In the Washington, DC-MD-VA Region: State Implementation Plan (SIP) for Fine Particle (PM_2.5)Standard and 2002 Base Year Inventory for the Washington DC-MD-VA Nonattainment Area

The Metropolitan Washington Air Quality Committee (MWAQC) has approved a new air quality plan to reduce fine particle pollution in the region. MWAQC’s new plan goes beyond Clean Air Act requirements in an effort to gain further reductions in fine particle pollution. Fine particle pollution is a mixture of microscopic solids and liquid droplets suspended in air. At 2.5 microns in diameter, the small particles can get deep into lungs and even the bloodstream. People with heart or lung disease, older adults and children are at greater risk from this type of pollution.

The plan, adopted March 7, 2008, will be submitted by the states to EPA to meet the April 5, 2008 deadline.

• Link to Full Plan and Appendices

Plan to Improve Air Quality in the Metropolitan Washington, DC-MD-VA Region: State Implementation Plan (SIP) ("Moderate Area SIP")for 8-Hour Ozone Standard

The EPA-required plan, called a State Implementation Plan (SIP), presents air quality data showing the region will meet the federal standard for ozone -- a harmful gas formed when the sun heats polluted air -- by the fall of 2009. The plan includes a list of measures to reduce pollution from ozone-forming gases. In addition to federal and state measures, local governments and agencies in the region are expanding their purchases of wind energy and low emissions vehicles, and are building upon their energy efficiency programs.

Revised “Plan to Improve Air Quality in the Washington, DC-MD-VA Region, State Implementation Plan (SIP) (“Severe Area SIP”) for Washington, DC-MD-VA Ozone Nonattainment Area

This document, the Severe Area Attainment Plan for the Metropolitan Washington Nonattainment Area, focuses on improving air quality in the Washington region to meet the national air quality standard for ozone (one-hour ozone standard). The Plan consists of two Rate of Progress demonstrations, for the period 1999-2002 and for 2002-2005; and an attainment demonstration for 2005. The Severe Area Attainment Plan shows the progress being made on improving air quality in the Washington nonattainment area and the efforts underway to assure that the region takes all necessary steps to reach the federal health standard for ground-level ozone by 2005.

The Metropolitan Washington Air Quality Committee (MWAQC) approved the revised ”Plan to Improve Air Quality in the Washington, DC-MD-VA Region,” on February 19, 2004. You may view a detail list of SIP approval actions taken by the U.S. EPA on its Mid-Atlantic Air Protection Plan page.

View or Download the SIP Documents (questions about downloading)

FULL Plan (all documents below) as Zip file (68 MB)

Revised SIP/Executive Summary/Table of Contents/Chapters 1-12 (7.2 MB PDF)

Revised SIP Appendices A-B (8 MB PDF)

Revised SIP Appendix C (3.2 MB PDF)

Revised SIP Appendices D - Part 1 (9.5 MB PDF)

Revised SIP Appendices D - Part 2 (8.7 MB PDF)

Revised SIP Appendices D - Part 3 (10 MB PDF)

Revised SIP Appendices D - Part 4 (5.4 MB PDF)

Revised SIP Appendices D - Part 5 (8 MB PDF)

Revised SIP Appendices E-F (726 KB PDF)

Revised SIP Appendices G (5.6 MB PDF)

Revised SIP Appendices H-I (2 MB PDF)

Revised SIP Appendices J (7.7 MB PDF)

Revised SIP Appendices K (1.0 MB PDF)

Revised SIP Appendices L-O (634 KB PDF)

Additional Document of Interest:

Gold Book: State and Local Government Initiatives to Clean the Air (243 KB PDF)
Government agencies in the Washington, DC, ozone nonattainment area have a long history of undertaking emission control measures to improve air quality and protect public health. State and local governments in the area are taking several additional steps that result in improved air quality which are not easily quantifiable or are not being credited in the SIP. This gold book is a compendium of those initiatives. It presents the innovative measures now underway and promising measures for the future that will make a difference in our region’s air quality.