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SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA SMOG RECLASSIFICATION OFFICIALLY PROPOSED

Release Date: 12/11/1997
Contact Information: Randy Wittorp, U.S. EPA, (415)744-1589

                       
      San Francisco -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) signed a federal register notice today officially proposing to reclassify the San Francisco Bay Area from attainment to nonattainment for ozone.  A 60-day public comment period will open upon publication of the proposal in the Federal Register.  This follows an August 21 announcement that the Bay Area no longer meets the public health standard for ozone, the main component of smog, after the Bay Area Air Quality Management District's air monitoring network measured 17 violations of the standard between 1994 and 1996.  This reclassification will protect public health in the near term, requiring the Air District to adopt more air pollution controls to meet the smog standard, until plans to meet a new, more protective standard are due in 2003.  Written comments should be sent to David Jesson, AIR-2, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region IX, 75 Hawthorne Street, San Francisco, CA 94105.  For additional information, please contact U.S. EPA at 415-744-1500 or check out the EPA Region 9 website at www.epa.gov/region09 under Air Programs.  Following review of the public comments, a final action will be published in the Federal Register.