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Community Smog Reduction Agreements to Offer Head Start in Meeting More Protective New Standards
Release Date: 12/11/2003
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(12/11/03) - To help 33 communities achieve new, more protective ground-level ozone standards ahead of schedule, EPA is proposing “Early Action Compacts” that offer flexible approaches to addressing local sources of ozone-causing pollution for selected communities. The 33 communities are close to or exceeding the new national air quality standard for 8-hour ozone and have elected to enter into Early Action Compacts with EPA. These areas will start reducing air pollution at least two years sooner than required by the Clean Air Act. The proposed rule would defer the effective date of non-attainment designations for the new 8-hour ozone standard in Early Action Compact areas – as long as Early Action Compact areas meet agreed upon milestones. On April 15, 2004, EPA will designate areas not attaining the 8-hour ozone standard. The early Action Compact Communities are: Appalachian (Greenville-Spartanburg-Anderson Area), S.C.; Austin-San Marcos Area, Texas; Berkeley-Charleston-Dorchester (Charleston Area), S.C.; Catawba (York-Chester-Lancaster-Union Counties), S.C.-part of Charlotte-Gastonia-Rock Hill Area; Central Midlands (Columbia area), S.C.; Chattanooga Area, Tenn.-Ga.;Denver Area, Colo.; Fayetteville Area, N.C.; Haywood County (near Memphis), Tenn.; Knoxville Area, Tenn.;Low Country (Beaufort area), S.C.; Lower Savannah-Augusta (Augusta-Aiken area), Ga.-S.C.; Memphis Area, Tenn.-Ark.-Miss.; Mountain Area of N.C. (Asheville area), N.C.; Nashville Area, Tenn.; Northeast Texas Area (Longview-Marshall-Tyler Area), Texas; Northern Shenandoah Valley Region (Winchester/ Frederick County), Va.; Oklahoma City Area, Okla.; Pee Dee (Florence Area), S.C.; Putnam County (Central Tennessee, between Nashville and Knoxville), Tenn.; Roanoke Area, Va.; San Antonio Area, Texas; San Juan County (Farmington Area), N.M.; Santee Lynches (Sumter Area), S.C.; Shreveport-Bossier City Area, La.; The Eastern Pan Handle Region (Martinsburg Area), W.Va.; Triad Area (Greensboro-Winston Salem-High Point), N.C.; Tri-Cities Area (Johnson City-Kingsport-Bristol Area), Tenn.; Tulsa Area, Okla.; Unifour Area (Hickory-Morganton-Lenoir Area), N.C.; Upper Savannah (Abbeville-Greenwood Area), S.C.; Waccamaw (Myrtle Beach Area), S.C.;
Washington County (West of Washington, D.C.), Md. For more information on the Early Action Compacts and to review the proposed rule, go to:
https://www.epa.gov/air/eac/ .
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