Determination of Nonattainment as of November 15, 1999, and Reclassification of the Atlanta 1-Hour Ozone Nonattainment Area; State of Georgia

EPA is taking final action to issue a determination that the Metropolitan Atlanta 1-hour serious ozone nonattainment area (hereinafter referred to as the Atlanta area) did not attain the 1-hour ozone national ambient air quality standard (NAAQS) by the November 15, 1999, Clean Air Act (CAA) deadline for serious ozone nonattainment areas. As a result, the Atlanta area is reclassified by operation of law as a severe ozone nonattainment area on the effective date of this rule. The Georgia Environmental Protection Division (GAEPD) must submit by July 1, 2004, a State Implementation Plan (SIP) revision for the Atlanta area that meets the severe area 1-hour ozone nonattainment area requirements of CAA section 182(d). The due date for the section 185 enforcement rule is July 1, 2005, due to the need for the State to acquire the necessary statutory authority to implement this rule. Finally, EPA is adjusting the dates by which the area must achieve a Rate of Progress plan (ROP) to cover an average of 3 percent per year reduction in ozone precursor emissions from 1999 to the attainment year and adjusting contingency measure requirements as this relates to the ROP milestone. In an Order entered on June 16, 2003, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit granted EPA's motion for voluntary vacatur of the EPA's extension of the 1-hour ozone attainment date for the Atlanta area and EPA's approval of the 1-hour ozone attainment demonstration SIP submitted by the GAEPD on July 17, 2001, and remanded the matter to the agency for further proceedings consistent with the court's order. This final determination and this notice are in direct response to and comply with the court's order.