Approval and Promulgation of Air Quality Implementation Plans; District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia; Approval of the Redesignation Requests and Maintenance Plan of the Washington, DC-MD-VA Nonattainment Area for the 1997 Annual Fine Particulate Matter Standard

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is approving the requests from the District of Columbia (the District), the State of Maryland (Maryland), and the Commonwealth of Virginia (Virginia) (collectively "the States") to redesignate to attainment their respective portions of the Washington, DC-MD-VA nonattainment area (hereafter "the Washington Area" or "the Area") for the 1997 annual fine particulate matter (PM<INF>2.5</INF>) National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS or standard). EPA is also approving, as a revision to their respective State Implementation Plans (SIPs), the common maintenance plan submitted by the States to show maintenance of the 1997 annual PM<INF>2.5</INF> NAAQS through 2025 for the Washington Area. The Washington Area maintenance plan includes motor vehicle emissions budgets (MVEBs) for PM<INF>2.5</INF> and nitrogen oxides (NO<INF>X</INF>) for the Area for the 1997 annual PM<INF>2.5</INF> standard, which EPA is approving for transportation conformity purposes. These actions are being taken under the Clean Air Act (CAA).