Customer
Service
Hotline:
1­
800­
438­
2474
UNITED
STATES
ENVIRONMENTAL
PROTECTION
AGENCY
REGION
III
1650
Arch
Street
Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania
19103­
2029
Richard
F.
Pecora,
Secretary
Maryland
Department
of
the
Environment
1800
Washington
Blvd.
Baltimore,
MD
21230
Dear
Mr.
Pecora:

With
the
signing
of
the
enclosed
Washington
County
Early
Action
Compact
(
EAC)
agreement
and
this
letter,
the
U.
S.
Environmental
Protection
Agency
(
EPA),
in
partnership
with
the
State
of
Maryland
and
Washington
County,
enter
into
a
commitment
to
develop
and
implement
a
comprehensive
air
quality
plan
for
attainment
of
the
8­
hour
ozone
National
Ambient
Air
Quality
Standard
in
Washington
County.
Through
voluntary,
local,
enforceable
measures
to
be
approved
as
part
of
the
State
Implementation
Plan
(
SIP),
the
EAC
is
designed
to
achieve
the
8­
hour
ozone
standard
faster
than
the
Clean
Air
Act
would
otherwise
require.

In
signing
the
EAC,
EPA
recognizes
the
local
area's
commitment
to
early
action
by
provisionally
deferring
the
effective
date
of
the
nonattainment
designation
for
participating
areas
that
are
monitoring
a
violation
of
the
8­
hour
ozone
standard.
The
deferral
of
the
effective
date
of
the
designation
is
contingent
upon
the
participating
area's
meeting
all
terms
and
milestones
of
the
EAC
and
boundary
designations.
EPA
has
not
yet
designated
areas
as
attainment
or
nonattainment
for
the
8­
hour
ozone
standard.
That
will
take
place
by
April,
2004.
Prior
to
EPA's
designations
for
the
8­
hour
ozone
standard,
EPA
will
go
through
a
dialogue
with
interested
stakeholders
concerning
appropriate
designations,
including
soliciting
recommendations
from
the
states
by
April,
2003.
The
metropolitan
statistical
area
(
MSA)
is
EPA's
presumptive
boundary
for
the
8­
hour
ozone
standard,
as
described
in
EPA's
March
28,
2000,
boundary
guidance
memorandum.
While
the
EPA
cannot
prejudge
the
2004
designations
process,
States
are
advised
that
if
an
EAC
area
is
determined
to
be
part
of
an
area
that
is
designated
nonattainment
for
the
8­
hour
ozone
standard,
its
nonattainment
designation
would
not
be
deferred.

Additionally,
the
Office
of
Management
and
Budget
(
OMB)
has
announced
changes
for
Core
Based
Statistical
Areas
(
Vol.
65,
No.
249,
page
82228,
12/
27/
2000)
and
plans
to
publish
new
lists
of
areas
in
June,
2003.
EPA
will
be
evaluating
the
impacts
the
new
lists
will
have
on
establishing
nonattainment
area
boundaries.
At
that
time,
EPA
will
also
look
at
the
nonattainment
boundary
guidance
memo
of
March
28th,
2000
to
see
if
it
might
need
updating.
These
actions
could
potentially
affect
the
EACs.
We
commend
the
Maryland
Department
of
the
Environment's
commitment
to
improve
air
quality
by
pursuing
alternatives
to
conventional
controls
and
providing
local
areas
with
the
flexibility
to
control
air
emissions
from
sources.
We
look
forward
to
our
partnership
with
the
State
of
Maryland
and
Washington
County
to
achieve
air
quality
reductions
earlier
than
would
otherwise
be
required.

If
you
have
any
questions,
please
feel
free
to
contact
me
or
have
your
staff
contact
Judith
M.
Katz,
Director,
Air
Protection
Division,
at
(
215)
814­
2654.

Sincerely,

Donald
S.
Welsh
Regional
Administrator
Enclosure
cc/
enc:
Gregory
I.
Snook,
President
of
the
Board
of
Commissioners
for
Washington
County
