Air Plan Approval; California; Reasonable Further Progress Plan for the Coachella Valley Ozone Nonattainment Area
Key claim: EPA is proposing to approve California’s plan showing that the Coachella Valley is making required progress toward the 2008 ozone air-quality standards, including its emissions inventory and motor-vehicle emissions budgets.
Abstract
(Proposed Rule · Environmental Protection Agency) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA or “the Agency”) is proposing to approve a state implementation plan (SIP) revision from the State of California to meet the Clean Air Act (CAA) “Extreme” nonattainment area requirements for the Riverside County (Coachella Valley), California ozone nonattainment area (“Coachella Valley”) for the 2008 8-hour ozone national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS or “standards”). Specifically, the Agency is proposing to approve the reasonable further progress (RFP) demonstration and associated emissions inventory and motor vehicle emissions budgets (“budgets”) for the Coachella Valley.
Why this matters
Reasonable Further Progress plans are the mechanism by which Clean Air Act ozone nonattainment areas demonstrate interim emission reductions on the path to attainment, and EPA’s approval locks in the state’s emissions inventory and motor vehicle emissions budgets as federally enforceable. For the Coachella Valley — a long-standing Extreme nonattainment area influenced by transported Los Angeles-basin pollution — approval affects transportation conformity determinations and the regulatory baseline for future SIP revisions.