Federal Ozone Plans

2015 8-hour Ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS):

The United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) lowered the national ambient air quality standard (NAAQS) for 8-hour ozone to 0.070 ppm effective October 1, 2015.  

The Sutter Buttes and south Sutter County were designated as marginal and moderate nonattainment areas for the 2015 NAAQS.  The south Sutter County area has requested a voluntary bump up in classification to severe.

The District Board of Directors will hold a public hearing at 4:00 pm on Monday, October 2, 2023, to consider adoption of the Sacramento Regional 2015 National Ambient Air Quality Standards 8-hour Ozone Attainment and Reasonable Further Progress Plan.  The Plan is available to review here: 

Sacramento Regional 2015 National Ambient Air Quality Standards 8-Hour Ozone Attainment and Reasonable Further Progress Plan

To review the public notice or for more information on how to submit comments please visit the public hearing notice webpage or contact Sondra Spaethe at (530) 530-634-7659 ext 210.

On July 18, 2023, the air districts of the Sacramento Federal Ozone Nonattainment Area held a public workshop to review proposed contingency measures for the 2015 O3 State implementation Plan (SIP).

Public Workshop Notice and Staff Report:

On June 7, 2021, the District Board of Directors held a public hearing and adopted a certification that the nonattainment areas' new source review rule (Rule 10.1) meets the requirements in the 40 CFR 51.165 for ozone and its precursors, as amended by the final rule titled Implementation of the 2015 National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for Ozone: Nonattainment Area State Implementation Plan (SIP) Requirements (83 FR 62998, December 6, 2018).

The Reasonably Available Control Technology (RACT) Analysis and Negative Declarations for the 2015 O3 NAAQS was adopted August 3rd, 2020.

The California Air Resources Board prepared the 2017 Baseline Emission Inventory for the state of California for the 2015 O3 NAAQS.  More information can be found at their website: 2017 Baseline Emission Inventory

2008 8-hour Ozone NAAQS:

South Sutter County was designated as a severe nonattainment area for the 2008 Ozone NAAQS, effective July 20, 2012. 

The CARB submitted the Emission Inventory to US EPA on behalf of the California nonattainment districts.

The FRAQMD submitted the Reasonably Available Control Technology Analysis to US EPA in August 2014:

The Sacramento Regional 2008 Ozone Attainment and Reasonable Further Progress Plan was adopted by the FRAQMD Board of Directors on October 2, 2017.  The Plan and public notice are available below:

The Plan adopted an attainment date of 2024 for the region to meet the 0.075 ppm standard.  No new local control measures are needed to meet the attainment date.  After adoption by the CARB, the Plan will be submitted to US EPA for approval.

1997 8-hour Ozone NAAQS:

South Sutter County was designated as nonattainment for the 1997 8-hour Ozone NAAQS as part of the Sacramento Federal Nonattainment Area.  The 2013 Revision to the Sacramento Regional 8-hour Ozone Attainment and Reasonable Further Program Plan was approved by US EPA on January 29, 2015.  The Plan showed that the region would attain the standard by 2018 as required.  The Plan also included FRAQMD commitments to adopt control measures to attain the standard of 0.084 ppm ozone as expeditiously as possible.  For more information please visit US EPA's website.

1-hour Ozone NAAQS

In 1991 the Sacramento region was designated a “serious” nonattainment area for the 1-hour ozone NAAQS with a November 15, 1999 attainment deadline. The Sacramento Federal Nonattainment Area (SFNA) included Sacramento and Yolo counties, Placer and El Dorado counties (except Lake Tahoe Basin portions), Solano County (eastern portion), and Sutter County (southern portion). The 1994 Sacramento Area Regional Ozone Attainment Plan was prepared and demonstrated that a comprehensive control strategy to reduce VOC and NOX emissions could achieve the ozone standard by 2005. In response, EPA granted a reclassification request from a “serious” area to a “severe” area with an extended attainment deadline of November 15, 2005, and approved the 1-hour ozone plan in 1997.

On October 18, 2012, EPA officially determined that SFNA attained the revoked 1-hour ozone NAAQS and to exclude certain 2008 data caused by wildfire exceptional events. This determination is effective as of November 19, 2012.  For more information visit US EPA's website.

On August 24, 2017, the SMAQMD adopted the Sacramento Federal Ozone Nonattainment Area Redesignation Substitution Request for the 1979 1-hour Ozone Standard.  The request establishes that the region meets the Clean Air Act substitution requirements for revoked standards because it has attained the standard through permanent and enforceable measures, and will continue to maintain the standard for 10 years.  The request is available here.

Federal Particulate Matter Plans

2006 24-hour PM2.5 Nation Ambient Air Quality Standard:

The Yuba City-Marysville area was designated nonattainment for the 2006 24-hour PM2.5 standard. The designations became effective Dec 14, 2009.  For information on the 2006 PM2.5 designations, please click here.

The Yuba City-Marysville nonattainment area attained the 2006 24-hour PM2.5 Standard and the FRAQMD Board of Directors adopted a Maintenance Plan and Redesignation Request. The EPA approved the request and redesignated the area to attainment on November 20, 2014.  For information on EPA's finding of attainment, please click here.

The FRAQMD Board of Directors adopted the Plan and directed staff to submit it to the ARB and U.S. EPA as a SIP revision.

 The District prepared a second maintenance plan, as required by the Clean Air Act, demonstrating maintenance of the standard through 2035.  The second maintenance plan will be presented at a public hearing on Monday, April 3, 2023.  Please see the public notice below for information on how to submit comments and attend the public hearing.

For more information on the FRAQMD's Federal Air Quality Plans please contact our Planning Department.