EPA Proposed Approval of Wisconsin's 2015 Ozone Standard Moderate Nonattainment Area Air Quality Plans

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to approve specific portions of Wisconsin's State Implementation Plan (SIP) submitted to address the 2015 ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) in three Moderate nonattainment areas: Kenosha County (part of the Chicago, IL-IN-WI area), the Milwaukee metro area, and Sheboygan County. These areas have been designated as failing to meet the 2015 ozone standard of 70 parts per billion (ppb) and are now required to submit plans demonstrating a path to compliance. The proposed approval covers four key SIP elements: (1) the Reasonable Further Progress (RFP) demonstration showing emission reductions toward attainment, (2) associated Motor Vehicle Emissions Budgets (Budgets) set for 2023 used in transportation conformity analyses, (3) the motor vehicle inspection and maintenance (I/M) program requiring periodic vehicle emissions testing, and (4) the nonattainment new source review (NNSR) program regulating new or modified industrial sources in the affected areas. Additionally, the EPA is proposing to approve the base year emissions inventory submitted by Wisconsin as satisfying prior Marginal area requirements under the Clean Air Act. This inventory establishes baseline emissions data against which progress is measured. The EPA is simultaneously initiating the adequacy review process for the 2023 Motor Vehicle Emissions Budgets, which determines whether those budgets can be used for federal transportation planning purposes. This action is taken under Sections 110 and Part D of the Clean Air Act. If finalized, it would give Wisconsin's ozone reduction plan the force of federal law, making the state's commitments enforceable at the federal level and allowing transportation projects in those counties to proceed under federal conformity rules.

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