§7511d Enforcement for Severe and Extreme Ozone Nonattainment Areas for Failure to Attain

Summary

If a Severe or Extreme ozone area misses its deadline to meet the ozone air quality standard, each major stationary source of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in that area must pay a penalty fee to the State every calendar year after the deadline until the area meets the standard. The fee is $5,000 (adjusted for inflation each year, starting the year after 1990) for each ton of VOCs the source emits above 80 percent of a baseline amount. The baseline is the lower of the source’s actual emissions or its permitted emissions in the attainment year, or, if EPA allows, an average over multiple years for sources with uneven emissions. No fee is charged for years treated as an Extension Year. If EPA finds the State’s fee program is deficient, EPA can collect unpaid fees (and interest) itself. Areas with fewer than 200,000 people can avoid these sanctions if they show ozone transport from other areas kept them from attaining and they met all local requirements.