Air Plan Approval; Virginia; 1997 8-Hour Ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standard Second Maintenance Plan for the Madison and Page Counties (Shenandoah National Park) Area
Key claim: EPA proposes to approve Virginia’s plan to keep Madison and Page Counties (Shenandoah National Park) meeting the 1997 8-hour ozone air standard for a second 10-year maintenance period.
Abstract
(Proposed Rule · Environmental Protection Agency) The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to approve a state implementation plan (SIP) revision submitted by the Commonwealth of Virginia (the Commonwealth or Virginia). This revision pertains to the Commonwealth’s plan, submitted by the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (VADEQ), for maintaining the 1997 8-hour ozone national ambient air quality standard (NAAQS) (referred to as the 1997 ozone NAAQS) in the Madison & Page Counties (Shenandoah NP), VA, Area (Shenandoah NP Area or Area) for the second 10-year maintenance period. This action is being taken under the Clean Air Act (CAA).
Why this matters
Second 10-year maintenance plans extend the maintenance-area regulatory framework — including motor vehicle emissions budgets and transportation conformity obligations — for another decade under a legacy NAAQS, even as newer 2008 and 2015 ozone standards drive most current action. For a small, already-attaining area like the Shenandoah National Park counties, the practical effect is continuity: no return to nonattainment permitting, but ongoing federal oversight of local emissions trends. It illustrates how older NAAQS vintages continue to generate routine SIP workload long after tighter standards take effect.