New administration offers opportunity for engagement on attainment status and to reduce potential compliance costs of 2015 ozone standards.

Over the past four decades, compliance with the ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) has proven to be among the most costly of Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations. EPA tightened the primary and secondary ozone standards to 70 parts per billion (ppb) in late 2015, which will likely result in more areas of the country being identified as failing to attain the standards. Areas designated “nonattainment” face significant consequences, ranging from regulatory constraints on existing emission sources to expensive emission offset requirements for new or expanded facilities.