Brief Overview of Particulate Matter Final Rule
Today, the Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) issued its final rule revising particulate matter air quality standards. The final rule lowers the primary annual fine particulate matter (PM
2.5
) standard from 15 micrograms per cubic meter of air (µg/m 3 ) down to 12 µg/m 3 . EPA had proposed to lower the annual PM
2.5
standard to a range of
12 µg/m 3 to 13 µg/m 3 , and had accepted comment on as low as 11 µg/m 3 . As EPA had proposed, the final rule requires PM
2.5 monitors be moved near road-sides in urban areas with a population of 1 million or more. Stakeholder comments indicate near-road monitors may read as much as 20 percent higher than normally positioned ambient monitors. However, the final rule delays placement of near-road monitors. Areas with a population of 2.5 million or more must have roadside monitors in place by January,
2015, while areas with populations between 1.1 and 2.5 million must install the monitors by January, 2017.
In wins for industry, EPA backed away from a proposal to create a complex deciview-based secondary PM
2.5
standard to protect visibility, instead opting in the final rule to retain current secondary standards. Furthermore, the final rule contains provisions grandfathering certain pending permits, so as to prevent those permits from delay due to changes in the PM
2.5
standards. Specifically, EPA will grandfather permits
(1) deemed complete by December 14, 2012 and (2) where the public notice for a draft permit or preliminary determination has been published prior to the date the final rule becomes effective (60 days after publication in the Federal Register). As EPA had proposed, the final rule does not revise the coarse particulate matter (“PM
10
”) standard.
Regarding implementation schedule, states will submit recommendations for designations under the new lower annual PM
2.5
standard by December 2013, to which
EPA will respond by August 2014. EPA will make final designations by December
2014, which will go into effect 60 days later in early 2015. States will be required to submit implementation plans under the new standard by 2018, and meet the standard by 2020.
EPA claims the final rule will have minimal impact across the country. However,
EPA maps dramatically underestimate the number of counties that will suffer consequences under EPA’s stringent new standards. First, EPA maps only show monitored counties that violate the new standard. Many more counties will ultimately be impacted since EPA expands non-attainment areas beyond counties with failing monitors to the surrounding metropolitan areas. Second, EPA ignores the effect the stringent new standards will have on counties that are currently in non-attainment, but have air quality below the current standard. In fact, of the 66 monitors that flunk the new 12 µg/m 3 standard, nearly 90 percent actually meet the current standard of 15
µg/m 3 and would achieve attainment status but for this rule. Finally, EPA maps do not display the potential impact of the near-road monitoring requirement, which may push numerous additional counties across the country into non-attainment.