All News Releases By Date

U.S. EPA PROPOSES TO APPROVE SANTA BARBARA SMOG PLAN

Release Date: 3/21/2000
Contact Information: Dave Schmidt, U.S. EPA, 415-744-1578

     SAN FRANCISCO -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today has proposed to approve the Santa Barbara County Air Pollution Control District's smog reduction plan.  The plan was designed to reduce smog levels sufficiently for the area to attain the national health standard for ozone by 1999.   The area did reach that clean air goal.

     EPA's proposed approval will be published in the Federal Register, and is subject to public comment before EPA makes a final decision.  After final approval, the Air District must submit to EPA a maintenance plan to ensure that the area will continue to meet the health standard for the next 10 years.  If EPA approves the maintenance plan, EPA will redesignate the Santa Barbara region as having attained the one-hour health standard for ozone.  Since 1997, the region has been  classified as a "serious" non-attainment area.

     The plan is available online on the Air District's website, at:
http://www3.sbcapcd.org/capes.htm .  The 30-day public comment period begins as soon as the proposed approval is published in the Federal Register, which is expected in the next two weeks.
Comments can be sent by email to [email protected] , or hard copy can be sent to:  

                          David Jesson
           U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, AIR-2
                         75 Hawthorne St.
                   San Francisco, CA 94105-3901