Projected Ozone Nonattainment Areas
Following yesterday’s news that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will lower the current National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) for ozone from 75 ppb to 70, here is a map showing what sections of the country will be most affected by the revision.
Areas shaded in red are counties or core based statistical areas (CBSA) in the U.S. with EPA-designated air quality monitors that would violate EPA’s new 70 ppb standard. Since less than one-third of all counties within the U.S. actually have monitors, the areas shaded in orange represent those areas without monitors that can be expected to be in violation of the new standard, given that they are adjacent to or part of a larger CBSA in that would be in nonattainment.