All National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) undergo periodic review and may be revised to reflect the latest health, environmental, and technological advances. When a new standard is promulgated or an existing standard is revised for lead, the first step in implementation is to determine which areas are, or are not, violating the NAAQS or are contributing to a violation of the NAAQS. During the “designation process,” states submit data and recommendations, which the United States Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) reviews and considers before issuing final designations. All areas of Indiana attain the lead NAAQS. Following are documents relating to U.S. EPA's air quality designations in Indiana for the lead NAAQS.
2008 Annual Lead Standard
U.S. EPA completed air quality designations for the 2008 Lead NAAQS in two rounds. In its first round, U.S. EPA issued nonattainment designations for areas that violated the standard based on 2007-2009 air monitoring data. U.S. EPA took an additional year to issue designations for remaining areas of the country, to allow additional lead air quality data to be collected and evaluated. Round two designations were based on 2008-2010 monitoring data.
- Documents – November 22, 2011 to October 7, 2009 [ZIP]:
- Federal Register Notice Concerning U.S. EPA's Second Round of Designations for the 2008 Lead Standards (November 22, 2011)
- U.S. EPA Letter Concerning Its Preliminary Decision to Designate All Areas of Indiana as Attainment/Unclassifiable Except for the Existing Muncie (Delaware County) Nonattainment Area (June 15, 2011)
- Indiana's Updated Recommendations for the Second Round of Air Quality Designations for the 2008 Lead Standards (December 7, 2010)
- Federal Register Notice Concerning U.S. EPA’s Initial Air Quality Designations for the 2008 Lead Standards (November 22, 2010)
- U.S. EPA's Letter Concerning the Initial Nonattainment Designation for Muncie, Indiana (Delaware County) for the 2008 Lead Standards (November 16, 2010)
- Indiana's Letter of Response to U.S. EPA's Modification of Indiana’s Boundary Recommendation (July 23, 2010)
- U.S. EPA's Letter Concerning Indiana’s Recommendations for Air Quality Designations for the 2008 Lead Standards and U.S. EPA’s Approach to Completing Designations (June 14, 2010)
- Indiana’s Recommendations for Air Quality Designations for the 2008 Lead Standards (October 7, 2009)
Previous Lead Standards
U.S. EPA’s Green Book provides information concerning designations under previous standards:
IDEM’s Nonattainment Status for Indiana Counties page includes additional nonattainment history.