This report was prepared by the Department of Environmental Quality (VDEQ) on behalf of the State Air Pollution Control Board for the Governor and General Assembly pursuant to § 10.1-1307 G of the Code of Virginia. This report details the status of Virginia's air quality, provides an overview of the air compliance and air permitting programs, and briefly summarizes the federal, state and local air quality programs being implemented.

1.1. Air Quality in the Commonwealth

Air quality in Virginia continues to improve. The air quality standards the Commonwealth must attain, however, continue to become more stringent. Earlier this year, EPA published a lower National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) for ozone that may prove challenging for some Virginia localities to meet. Additionally, wildfires in Virginia and North Carolina heavily influenced air quality during June and July of 2008 during time periods when meteorological conditions were such that the wildfire pollution was directed at Virginia population centers.

1.2. Air Quality Policies in the Commonwealth

During this past year, the Air Pollution Control Board and VDEQ issued three permits for electric generating units (EGUs) that set precedent nationwide. During this same period, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published new policies and guidance concerning permitting of emissions of Fine Particulate (PM2.5). EPA’s recently proposed designations for the new PM2.5 NAAQS (published in 2006) note that all areas of the Commonwealth are currently in compliance with the 24-hour PM2.5 standard.

VDEQ’s planning activities for the 2008 ozone NAAQS are on going. This new ozone standard is much more stringent than prior standards and, at this time, some areas in the Commonwealth are unable to meet the new standard.

Efforts toward meeting Clean Air Act (CAA) requirements for the 1997 ozone and PM2.5 NAAQS as well as Regional Haze requirements have been severely hampered by recent decisions of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. These decisions vacated two EPA rules: the Clean Air Interstate Rule (CAIR) and the Clean Air Mercury Rule (CAMR). VDEQ awaits guidance from EPA regarding air quality issues in the absence of these rules.