What is Ozone? (cont.)
The Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 set National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for ground-level ozone that must be met by states across the country. In the Clean Air Act, Congress also established the Ozone Transport Commission (OTC), a working group made up of twelve Northeast states and the District of Columbia to assist states in the Eastern U.S. to meet these targets. The OTC created a NOx Budget Program to help reduce regional ozone levels.
The OTC's efforts included the September 1994 signing of a memorandum of understanding with the EPA. The agreement, signed by all OTC states except Virginia, put in place a cap and trade system with boundaries reflecting the regional nature of the problem.
Compliance In Summer Months
The OTC agreement caps NOx emissions at 219,000 tons during the compliance period
for the years 1999 - 2000 and 143,000 tons starting with the compliance period in
2003. This is less than half the 1990 baseline of 490,000 tons. The cap affects 465 sources
of NOx in participating OTC states, including utilities, independent power producers,
and industrial facilities. The compliance period for the program runs from May
through September, addressing the seasonal nature of the ground-level ozone problem.